Botany. 1  a tuft of silky hairs at the end of a seed. 2  the leafy crown of a tree; cluster of leaves at the end of a stem. 3  a terminal cluster of bracts, as in the pineapple.
The flexible pads are called base-isolators, whereas the structures protected by means of these devices are called base-isolated buildings. The main feature of the base isolation technology is that it introduces flexibility in the structure.
Ampholytes are amphoteric molecules that contain both acidic and basic groups and will exist mostly as zwitterions in a certain range of pH. The pH at which the average charge is zero is known as the molecule's isoelectric point. Ampholytes are used to establish a stable pH gradient for use in isoelectric focusing.