| Acute Toxicity |
Adverse effects that result from a single dose or single exposure of a chemical; any poisonous effect produced within a short period of time, usually less than 96 hours. This term normally is used to describe effects in experimental animals. |
| Adaptation |
Changes in an organism's structure or habits that help it adjust to its surroundings. |
| Agricultural User Sector (or Market) |
Pesticides applied by owner/operators and custom/commercial applicators to farms and facilities involved in production of raw agricultural commodities, principally food, fiber, and tobacco; includes non-crop and post-harvest use as well as crop/field applications. |
| Burglary (ucr) |
The unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or a theft (excludes tents, trailers, and other mobile units used for recreational purposes). For the UCR, the crime of burglary can be reported if (1) an unlawful entry of an unlocked structure has occurred, (2) a breaking and entering (of a secured structure) has taken place, or (3) a burglary has been attempted. |
| Business Nonimmigrant |
An alien coming temporarily to the United States to engage in commercial transactions which do not involve gainful employment in the United States, i.e., engaged in international commerce on behalf of a foreign firm, not employed in the U.S. labor market, and receives no salary from U.S. sources. |
| B-1/b-2 Tourist/visitor Visas |
Available to all visitors coming to the U.S for business or pleasure. B-1 business visitor visas are for a short duration and must not involve local employment. Nationals of certain countries may be eligible to visit the US for up to 90 days without obtaining a visa. |
| Chronic Effect |
An adverse effect on any living organism in which symptoms develop slowly over a long period of time or recur frequently. |
| Chronic Effect |
An adverse effect on a human or animal in which symptoms recur frequently or develop slowly over a long period of time. |
| Cistern |
A small tank (usually covered) or a storage facility used to store water for a home or farm. Often used to store rain water. |
| Discounted Cash Flow |
Used in measuring the return from a real estate investment, the present value of a future income stream as determined by a given discount rate. |
| Discounted Effective Rent |
The cash flows over the term of the lease, discounted to the present value. |
| Discounting |
The process of reducing the value of money received in the future to reflect the opportunity cost of waiting to receive the money. |
| Estoppel Certificate |
A document in which a borrower certifies the amount owed on a mortgage loan and the rate of interest. |
| Ethics |
The system of moral principles and rules that become standards for conduct. |
| Eviction |
The lawful expulsion of an occupant from real property. |
| Femur |
The bone that connects the pelvis to the knee. The longest and thickest bone in the human body, also known as the thigh bone. |
| Fen-phen |
An abrreviated term for fenfluramine phentermine, Fen-Phen is a drug combination used for weight loss purposes. Fen-Phen has been linked to heart valve disease in numerous cases, prompting the FDA to request that manufacturers recall the drug. |
| Fentanyl |
A drug also known as "fentanil" is a potentent synthetic naroctic analgesic with a rapid onset and a short duration of action. The drug is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine. Fentanyl is available as a skin patch, lozenge, pills, shots, a film that dissolves in your mouth, or by intravenous. |
| Good Delivery |
(1) Delivery of a security, from a seller to a buyer, that complies with all terms of the contract of sale.
(2) For a new, to-be-announced MBS, good delivery is delivery by the seller that conforms to rules published by the Bond Market Association (BMA). |
| Good Faith Deposit |
a deposit made by a purchaser of real estate to evidence an honesty. |
| Good Faith Estimate |
A document that lenders are required by regulation to provide all applicants for covered real estate loans. This document discloses the anticipated expenses that the applicant(s) will have to pay if the covered transaction is approved and closed. |
| Help-line |
A help-line or hot-line is a secure telephone line that is connected to an ethics office or the office of an ombudsman. Employees use this tool to contact the ethics office or ombudsman to report a violation or receive advice on matters that concern them. A current best practice is that no call to a help-line is refused except for grievance matters under a labor–management bargaining agreement. |
| Handicapped Individual |
Based on the definition provided by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504, an individual is "handicapped" if he or she has: a mental or physical impairment which substantially limits one or more of such person's major life activities; has a record of such;is regarded as having such impairment. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 amended this definition to exclude individuals who are currently engaged in the use of illegal drugs. Individuals who are rehabilitated drug users or engaged in a supervised drug rehabilitation program and are no longer using drugs are also covered by the definition. The term “individual with handicaps” does not include any individual whose current use of alcohol prevents such an individual from performing the duties of the job in question or whose employment, by reason of such current alcohol abuse,would constitute a direct threat to property or the safety of others. |
| Health Savings Accounts (hsa) |
A tax-free account that can be used by employees to pay for qualified medical expenses. Contributions do not have to be spent the year they are deposited. Money in the account earns interest and accumulates tax free, so the funds can be used now and in the future. If an employee leaves the job, he or she can take the account with him or her and continue to use it to pay for qualified healthcare expenses. To be eligible for a Health Savings Account, an individual must be covered by a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP), must not be covered by other health insurance (does not apply to specific injury insurance and accident, disability, dental care, vision care, long-term care), is not eligible for
Medicare and can’t be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return. |
| Insurance Binder |
A preliminary, temporary insurance agreement that obligates the insurance company to pay the insured if the loss insured against occurs after the binder is issued but before the insurance policy is issued. |
| Intangible Assets |
Assets (such as goodwill) with no tangible, physical characteristics that are of monetary value. |
| Inventory Turnover |
Defined as the cost of goods sold for an accounting period divided by the average inventory value for that period. |
| Job Related |
Essential to job performance. The knowledge, skills, abilities, and experience necessary to perform a particular job. Tests are job related if they test whether an applicant or employee can perform the job in question. A rule or practice is job related if it is necessary for the safe and efficient performance of a particular job. For example, a rule prohibiting employees from wearing loose, flowing clothing around high speed rotating equipment is job related. However, the same rule applied in an office with no rotating equipment is not job related, and may have a disparate impact on some ethnic minorities. |
| Joinder |
joinder in civil law falls under two categories: joinder of claims, and joinder of parties. Joinder of claims is addressed in U.S. law by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure No. 18(a). That Rule allows claimants to consolidate all claims that they have against an individual who is already a party to the case. Claimants may bring new claims even if these new claims are not related to the claims already stated. Note that joinder of claims is never compulsory (i.e., joinder is always permissive), and that joinder of claims requires that the court's subject matter jurisdiction requirements regarding the new claims be met for each new claim. |
| Joint And Several Liability |
In civil litigation is a situation in which the concurrent acts of two or more defendants bring harm to the plantiff. Such acts need not occur simultaneously, but must contribute to the same event. In such a case, the damages may be collected from one or more of the defendants. If the court does not apportion blame in specific shares, the damages may be collected from any and all defendants. If a defandant does not have the financial wherewithal to pay, the others must make up the difference. |
| Knob-and-tube Wiring |
An old-fashioned wiring system that has been replaced by fuses and circuit breakers. |
| Kickback |
Payment made to someone for referral of a customer or business. Unlike a commission, a kickback is made without the customer's knowledge; thus, the referral could have been made without the customer's best interest at heart. |
| Kiosk |
A kiosk is a freestanding structure (open sides, usually multi sided) located in a shopping center or mall from which merchandise is sold. A multi-sided structure found in a shopping mall or center. |
| Loan Application |
The first step toward submitting a home loan requires the borrower to itemize basic financial information. |
| Loan Application Fee |
A fee charged by lenders to for making a loan application. |
| Loan Balance |
The amount of money remaining to be paid on an amortizing loan at a given time. |
| Market-based Reform |
Reliance on competition in the health care market to assure services of acceptable cost and quality to consumers without government mandates or involvement in rate-setting, financing, or administration. Can also refer to the reduction of barriers in the operation of a health care market. |
| Market Basket |
Components of the overall cost of health care used to determine the Consumer Price Index (CPI). |
| Market Basket Index |
An index of the annual change in the prices of goods and services providers used to produce health services. There are separate market baskets for PPS hospital operating inputs and capital inputs; and SNF, home health agency and renal dialysis facility operating and capital inputs. (MedPAC, 1998) [refer to recent Health Care Financing Review issues for examples of Market Basket Index tables and figures.] |
| Non-infectious |
Not spread by infectious agents. Used to describe diseases such a heart disease, most cancers, and cirrhosis. Often used synonymously with "noncommunicable." (PHIP, 1996) |
| Nonparticipating Physician |
A physician who does not sign a participation agreement and, therefore, is not obligated to accept assignment on all Medicare claims. See Assignment, Participating Physician, Participating Physician and Supplier Program. (MedPAC, 1998) |
| Nonparticipating Provider |
A health care provider who has not contracted with the carrier or health plan to be a participating provider of health care. |
| Office (low Rise) |
Fewer than seven stories high above ground level. |
| Office (mid Rise) |
Between seven and twenty-five stories above ground level |
| Office (high Rise) |
Higher than twenty-five stories above ground level. |
| Pattern Analysis |
The clinical and statistical analysis of data sets. Frequently used ESRD data sets include the PMMIS, USRDS, the core indicators, Network files, or CMS analytic files. |
| Pay-as-you-go Financing |
A financing scheme in which taxes are scheduled to produce just as much income as required to pay current benefits, with trust fund assets built up only to the extent needed to prevent exhaustion of the fund by random fluctuations. |
| Pay For Skills |
Is compensation that rewards individuals for developing the various skills necessary for certain roles or jobs. (Pierson and Williams, 1994) |
| Qualified Individual With A Disability |
An individual with a disability who satisfies the requisite skill, experience, education and other job-related requirements of the employment position such individual holds or desires, and who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of such position. |
| Qualified Medical Child Support Order (qmcso) |
An order, decree, judgment or administrative notice (including a settlement agreement) requiring health coverage for a child; issued by a domestic relations court or other court of competent jurisdiction or through an administrative process established under state law. |
| Qualified Plan |
A defined benefit or defined contribution pension plan covered by ERISA and IRS regulations qualifying for certain tax advantages for both the employer and the participant. |
| Rank Order |
A rating method where the performance of a group,process or product is arranged in a particular order, such as highest to lowest. |
| Readiliy Achievable |
Easily accomplishable and able to be carried out without much difficulty or expense. In determining whether an action is readily achievable, factors to be considered include nature and cost of the action, overall financial resources and the effect on expenses and resources, legitimate safety requirements, impact on the operation of a site and, if applicable, overall financial resources, size and type of operation of any parent corporation or entity. |
| Reasonable Accommodation |
Modifying or adjusting a job process or a work environment to better enable a qualified individual with a disability to be considered for or perform the essential functions of a job. |
| Secured Credit Cards |
Credit cards that require collateral (property, such as a house, car or deposit of money) for approval. Generally, secured credit cards are for people with no credit or poor credit who are trying to build or rebuild their credit history. |
| Secured Debt |
where the debtor has given the creditor a legal right to take certain described property of the debtor (such as the debtor’s car or home), using proper procedures, if the secured debt is not paid |
| Security |
Assets (cash or property) used to guarantee a loan. The collateral can be cash or property (such as a vehicle, a house, bonds, an insurance policy, jewelry, etc.). The lender can seize the assets if payments are not made according to the agreement (i.e. if the account becomes delinquent). |
| Therapeutic Devices |
May include hospital beds, crutches, wheelchairs, ramps, intravenous pumps and respirators. Also see durable medical equipment and assistive technology. |
| Third-party Administrator (tpa) |
Claims administration service conducted by entities specializing in the management of self-insured benefit programs. The TPA may collect premiums, determine employee eligibility, determine covered services, pay claims, prepare management information reports and provide other administrative services. The TPA is often able to provide reinsurance brokering, cost containment programs, and a full range of employee communication programs. Insurers may sell administrative services to self-insured employers, but this is described as "administrative services only." |
| Third-party Payer |
A payer that neither gives nor receives the care (the patient and the provider are the first two parties). Usually an insurance company or government agency. |
| U.s. Department. Of Housing And Urban Development (hud) |
A federal agency that oversees the Federal Housing Administration and a variety of housing and community development programs. |
| Unconscionable Contracts |
An agreement that is so unfair and one-sided that the courts will refuse to honor it. |
| Underlayment |
A layer of wood between the subfloor and the floor. |
| Variable Lease |
Allows for increases in the rental charges during the lease period. One of the more common is the graduated lease which provides for specified rent increases at set future dates. Another is the index lease, which allows rent to be increased or decreased periodically based on changes in the consumer price index or some other indicator. |
| Variance |
a special exemption of a zoning law to allow the property to be used in a manner different from an existing law. |
| Variate |
A single item in a group. |
| Weighted Average Technique |
When reconciling appraisal approaches, the application of a weight to each approach for averaging |
| Wetlands |
Watery areas such as swamps, marshes and floodplains. |
| Wholesale Agreements |
An agreement of a loan originator to work exclusively with a single lender. |
| X12n/tg2/wg19 |
The Health Care Implementation Coordination Work Group (WG19) of the Health Care Task Group (TG2) of the Insurance Subcommittee (N) of X12. This is now X12N/TG3/WG3. |
| X12n/tg2/wg2 |
The Health Care Claims Work Group (WG2) of the Health Care Task Group (TG2) of the Insurance Subcommittee (N) of X12. This group maintains the X12 837 Health Care Claim or Encounter transaction. |
| X12n/tg2/wg3 |
The Health Care Claim Payments Work Group (WG3) of the Health Care Task Group (TG2) of the Insurance Subcommittee (N) of X12. This group maintains the X12 835 Health Care Claim Payment & Remittance Advice transaction. |
| Yield To Maturity (ytm) |
concepts used to determine the rate of return an investor will receive if a long–term, interest–bearing investment such as a bond, is held to its maturity date. It takes into account purchase price, redemption value, time to maturity, coupon yield and the time between interest payments. Recognizing time value of money, it is the discount rate at which the present value of all future payments would equal the present price of the bond (also referred to as "internal rate of return"). It is implicitly assumed that coupons are reinvested at the YTM rate. YTM can be approximated using a bond value table (also referred to as a "bond yield table") or can be determined using a programmable calculator equipped for bond mathematics calculations. |
| Ytm |
An acronym for Yield to Maturity |
| Youthful Offender |
A person, adjudicated in criminal court, who may be above the statutory age limit for juvniles but is below a specified upper age limit, for whom special correctional commitments and special record-sealing procedures are made available by statute. |
| Zeros |
An informal name for szero coupon bonds |
| Z Bond |
Another name for Z Tranche |
| Z Score |
One of the oldest and most well-known insolvency prediction formulas. The Z score, developed by Dr. Robert Altman, is a financial model that uses historical financial data to calculate a score. The Z score successfully predicts bankruptcy with well over 90 percent accuracy using data from one year prior and is over 70 percent accurate using data from as many as five years prior to bankruptcy. Other financial models claim even higher accuracy levels. |
