(n.) The quality or state of being ambiguous; doubtfulness or uncertainty, particularly as to the signification of language, arising from its admitting of more than one meaning; an equivocal word or expression.
Example Sentences:
(1) Along the spectrum of loyalties lie multiple loyalties and ambiguous loyalties, and the latter, if unresolved, create moral ambiguities.
(2) This examination has proved an important help in the diagnosis of all the cases of sexual ambiguity.
(3) Exogenous activators of PKC stimulate insulin secretion from B cells, but attempts to define a physiological role for PKC by using inhibitors of this enzyme have produced ambiguous results.
(4) The aza analogue (RS)-3-hydroxy-2,5-pyrrolidinedione-3-acetic acid (6) of the five-membered citric anhydride (2) was prepared in the sequence citric acid----2-phenyl-1,3-dioxolan-4-one-5,5-diacetic acid (1)----citric acid beta-amide (3)----6 and used to resolve ambiguities in the mechanism of the citrate synthase reaction.
(5) Results obtained with this analog can be ambiguous, since 2-DOG can be phosphorylated by hexokinases of animal cells.
(6) Ultrasound has also proven useful in evaluating patients with ambiguous genitalia, amenorrhea and suspected PID and also is an effective means of localizing intrauterine contraceptive devices.
(7) Authors have previously published April 1988 a lecture where they criticize the bad denomination "passed coma" full of ambiguity for public mind, to which "brain death" ought to be preferred.
(8) There were, though, large omissions and ambiguities that will need to be filled in and clarified as polling day nears.
(9) "Prostatic acid phosphatase" is a term that has been used widely and ambiguously to refer to acid phosphatase, which 1) is elevated in the sera of patients with various diseases of the prostate, 2) is inhibited by one or more specific inhibitors, 3) attacks one or more specific substrates, 4) has certain unique antigenic properties, 5) is extracted from homogenates of prostate, and 6) is obtained from prostate secretions, etc.
(10) We have Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris coming to those platforms this December, and Tomb Raider: The Definitive Edition is available on PS4.” However, there is still some slight ambiguity about whether the deal is for Winter 2015 only.
(11) This ambiguity was resolved by using resealed ghosts, which are unable to incorporate oleic acid into phospholipids.
(12) This report describes a minicomputer-based translation system (TRANSOFT) that employs word order rearrangement followed by word-for-word translation and resolution of ambiguities based on context.
(13) Authors report a ring chromosome 18 (18 r) in a four year old boy, with low birth weight, retarded growth and development, microcephaly and plagiocephaly, horizontal nystagmus, ambiguous genitalia, clinodactyly of the fifth finger, distal axial triradius, whorls pattern in 8 fingers in dermatoglyphic.
(14) Membrane potential trajectories of 68 bulbar respiratory neurones from the peri-solitary and peri-ambigual areas of the brain-stem were recorded in anaesthetized cats to explore the synaptic influences of post-inspiratory neurones upon the medullary inspiratory network.
(15) As well, two-dimensional 15N-1H heteronuclear spectroscopy was used to resolve a number of ambiguities present in the homonuclear spectra due to resonance redundancies.
(16) The axon of the labeled bulbospinal neuron had axonal collaterals which were distributed within the region of the nucleus ambiguous of the ipsilateral medulla.
(17) Of the 406 tests there have been 85 positive, 296 negative and 25 ambiguous reports.
(18) In a second experiment schizophrenics were significantly different from the depressives in showing less inclination to select a metaphorical meaning to an ambiguous adjective in a sentence.
(19) Three-quarters of the sample was impaired on at least one of four discourse tests (knowing the alternate meanings of ambiguous words in context; getting the point of figurative or metaphoric expressions; bridging the inferential gaps between events in stereotyped social situations; and producing speech acts that express the apparent intentions of others).
(20) Yet, the apparent ambiguities of science confuse the courts, the juries, and the public.
(2) Psychiatry is criticized for imprecise diagnosis, conceptual vagaries, jargon, therapeutic impotence and class bias.
(3) In percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) the relationships between transstenotic pressure gradient, diameter stenosis, and lesion length are imprecisely known.
(4) The potency of this product is determined by in-vivo bioassay in hypophysectomized rats, which is imprecise, costly and invasive, and there have been suggestions that it could safely be replaced with in-vitro or physico-chemical alternatives.
(5) Total assay imprecision (CV) varied between 11% and 21%.
(6) Two reading passages, one with nasal consonants and one without, were tape-recorded for 72 subjects: 34 selected as having precise articulation and 38 selected as having imprecise articulation.
(7) However, because of imprecise definitions of terms, these studies show noncomparable results.
(8) The present study challenges the previous reports, suggesting that these findings emerged because of imprecise methodologic procedures.
(9) We investigated the possibility that the spatial imprecision of amblyopic eyes can be accounted for by the relative insensitivity to contrast that has been documented for these eyes.
(10) This expert system, by using the fuzzy and certainty factor concepts, is able to handle imprecise and incomplete medical knowledge which has become informative.
(11) In this report, computer simulation is used to evaluate and compare quality-control rules designed to detect increases in within-run or between-run imprecision.
(12) The total imprecision (1 standard deviation) of a single measurement is about 15% of the value for each analyte.
(13) John Rawles's criticism of QALYs are seen as being both imprecise and largely unhelpful.
(14) The within-run imprecision of all electrodes was excellent.
(15) Imprecise definitions of these complications of necrotizing pancreatitis make inter-institutional comparisons of previously identified data dubious.
(16) It is concluded that tests for detection of SGA babies remain imprecise in practice, gestational weight alone correlates poorly with fetal well-being, and the need remains for sensitive tests to detect babies with genuine morbidity.
(17) Numerous clinicians criticise the insufficiency and imprecision, and the incoherency of the analyses of biological calculations by the usual clinical methods and thus frequently avoid prescribing such an examination.
(18) We conclude that inconsistent findings on the effect of menopausal status in the association of breast cancer with some reproductive factors are partly due to statistical imprecision and differential misclassification bias associated with different age-based or menses-based definitions of menopause.
(19) Using referral as a criterion, the question related to potential demand displayed a sensitivity of only 53%, probably because of the imprecise wording, while the specificity appeared to be 82%.
(20) Even admitting some imprecision for this estimate, the remarkable differences at the structural gene level shown by the species analyzed, suggest they had an early origin.