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UEMS: European Union of Medical Specialists.

Under-5 Mortality, Estimated: the quotient between the number of deaths in children under 5 year of age in a given year and the number of live births in that year, for a given country, territory, or geographic area, expressed per 1,000 live births. Technical Note: Data correspond to mid-year estimated values, obtained by linear interpolation of the corresponding United Nations fertility medium-variant quinquennial population projections.

Under-Registered Deaths: the difference between the number of estimated deaths, according to the corresponding period life tables, and the number of currently registered deaths, expressed as a percentage of the total estimated deaths at a given year, in a given country, territory, or geographic area.

Under-The-Table Payments: informal, unofficial payments which are usually prohibited in order to obtain one's wishes/ demands/ needs fulfilled in a timely manner/to a larger extent than by following the official rules and regulations.

Unemployed Proportion of the Labor Force: the number of members of the total population or of a given sex of the economically active population, who are unemployed but are available to work and seeking employment. This includes members who have lost their jobs and those who have voluntarily left work, at a specific point in time, expressed as a percentage of the economically active population in total or by sex. An economically active individual is considered employed if he or she falls into one of the following categories: has in-currency or in-kind paid employment, is self-employed, works in a family business, or is not working temporarily for a particular reason. Technical Note: Unemployment rates represent mid-year estimated values, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates and definitions. The ILO definition of unemployment notwithstanding, reference periods, criteria for seeking work, and the treatment of people temporarily laid off and those seeking work for the first time vary across countries. Informal sector employment is difficult to quantify in the absence of regulation for registering and tracking informal activities.

Uninformative: the term used to describe the situation when the two homologous chromosomes from an individual cannot be distinguished from one another at a given locus; homozygous is an alternative term.

Uniparental Disomy: inheritance of two copies of part or all of a chromosome from one parent and no copy from the other parent.

Uniparental Heterodisomy: inheritance of two homologous chromosomes from one parent.

Uniparental Isodisomy: inheritance of two identical chromosomes from one parent.

Unique Identifier (ID): a unique identifier is assigned by a register to each registered trial. This identifier is unique to a specific register. If a trial is registered on more than one register they may have more than one unique identifier.

Unique Trial: a trial is considered a single, unique trial if it is conducted according to a single document (the protocol) that describes the objective(s), design, methodology, statistical considerations, and organization of a trial.

Univariate Analysis: analyses may be Univariate or multivariate as they examine one or more variables at a time, respectively.

Universal Health Insurance: a national plan providing health insurance or services to all citizens, or to all residents.

Unplanned Pregnancy: a pregnancy that is not expected.

Unsafe Abortion: a procedure for terminating unwanted pregnancy either by persons lacking the necessary skills or in an environment lacking the minimal medical standards or both.

Unwanted Pregnancy: a pregnancy that for a variety of often overlapping reasons is unexpected and undesired. Reasons a pregnancy may be unwanted include, but are not limited to, social/cultural, environmental, economic, and/or health factors.

Upper Genital Tract Infection: includes infection of endometrium, fallopian tubes, ovaries and surrounding tissues.

Uracil: a nitrogenous base normally found in RNA but not DNA; uracil is capable of forming a base pair with adenine. See also -- base pair, nucleotide.

Ureters: two very thin muscular tubes about 8 or 9 inches long that transport urine from the kidneys to the bladder.

Urethra: narrow tube through which urine flows from the bladder to the outside of the body; the opening of the urethra is at the end of the penis in men and just above the vaginal opening in women.

Urethral Dilatation: procedure in which a metal rod, called a dilator, is passed through the urethra for purpose of opening a urethral stricture.

Urethral Obstruction: blockage of the urethra causing difficulty with urination, usually caused by a stricture or, in men, by an enlarged prostate.

Urethral Pressure Profilometry (UPP): test used to measure pressures in the urethra.

Urethral Sphincter Mechanism: segment of the urethra that influences storage and emptying of urine in the bladder. It controls bladder voiding by relaxing, which opens the outlet from the bladder, allowing urine to flow from the bladder to the outside of the body. A deficiency of the urethral sphincter mechanism may allow leakage of urine in the absence of a detrusor contraction.

Urethral Stricture: narrowing of the urethra.

Urethrocele: prolapse or falling down of the urethra into the vaginal wall.

Urge: sensation from the bladder producing the desire to void.

Urge Incontinence: involuntary and accidental loss of urine when the person is aware of the need to get to the bathroom but is not able to hold the urine long enough to get there. Usually, it is accompanied by or immediately preceded by urgency.

Urgency: strong, intense, and often sudden desire to void. Urgency, with or without urge incontinence, usually with frequency and nocturia, can be described as overactive bladder syndrome, urge syndrome, or urgency-frequency syndrome.

Urinary Frequency: voiding more than eight times in a 24-hour period.

Urinary Frequency Volume Chart: records the volumes voided as well as the time of each micturition, day and night, for at least 24 hours.

Urinary Incontinence (UI): involuntary or accidental loss (leakage) of urine.

Urinary Retention: inability to empty urine from the bladder, which can be caused by atonic bladder or obstruction of the urethra.

Urinary System: Part of the body (kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra) that produces, stores, and eliminates urine.

Urinary Tract: Passageway from the pelvis of the kidney to the urinary orifice through the ureters, bladder, and urethra.

Urinary Tract Infection (UTI): infection in the urinary tract caused by the invasion of disease-causing micro-organisms that proceed to establish themselves, multiply, and produce various symptoms in their host. UTI in women is known as cystitis. In men, infection is usually associated with obstruction to the flow of urine, such as prostate gland enlargement.

Urinate: to void or to pass urine.

Urination: act of passing urine.

Urine: waste products filtered from the blood and combined with excess water by the kidneys.

Urine Culture: test to determine whether bacteria is present in the urine. The type of bacteria can be determined by the color and appearance of the colonies. The number of bacteria is determined by estimating the number of colonies per milliliter.

Urodynamic Assessment: tests designed to duplicate as nearly as possible the symptoms of incontinence in the way that people actually experience them. These tests determine the anatomic and functional status of the urinary bladder and urethra.

Uroflowmetry: urodynamic test that measures urine flow either visually, electronically, or with the use of a disposable flowmeter unit.

Urosepsis: infection of the urinary tract that causes bacteria to enter the blood-stream, causing tissue destruction.

User Charge: user charges are charges for goods or services that the user, or patient, is required to pay.

Uterine Prolapse: uterus has dropped from its normal position, and the cervix is closer to or may protrude outside the vagina.

Utilization: the number of health services used, often expressed per 1000 persons per month or year.

UTRN (Universal Trial Reference Number): the UTRN is a number, obtained by the trial's Sponsor, early in the history of the trial. The intention is that this number will then become part of the trial's identity. Trial investigators will be encouraged to use the UTRN whenever they communicate information in relation to the trial, and specifically to document it in the trial protocol. The aim of the UTRN is to facilitate the unique identification of clinical trials submitted to the Central Repository and hence the Search Portal.

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