The mechanism of action of probiotics (e.g., having an impact on the intestinal microbiota or enhancing immune function) was dropped from the definition to encompass health effects due to novel mechanisms and to allow application of the term before the mechanism is confirmed.
Noun. 1. electronegativity - (chemistry) the tendency of an atom or radical to attract electrons in the formation of an ionic bond. negativity.
The electronegativity of atoms increases as we move from left to right across a period in the periodic table. As we move from left to right across a period the nuclear charge is increasing faster than the electron shielding, so the attraction that the atoms have for the valence electrons increases. higher electronegativity means that the atom will attract bonded electrons to it more strongly. The electronegativity of an atom is a measure of the ability of the atom in a molecule to attract shared electrons to itself. Electronegativity values have been calculated for every atom in the periodic table.