| faction | 1. One of the divisions or parties of charioteers (distinguished by their colours) in the games of the circus. 2. A party, in political society, combined or acting in union, in opposition to the government, or state; usually applied to a minority, but it may be applied to a majority; a combination or clique of partisans of any kind, acting for their own interests, especially if greedy, clamorous, and reckless of the common good. 3. Tumult; discord; dissension. "They remained at Newbury in great faction among themselves." (Clarendon) Synonym: Combination, clique, junto. See Cabal. Origin: L. Factio a doing, a company of persons acting together, a faction: cf. F. Faction See Fashion. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| factitial dermatitis | Self-induced skin lesions resulting from habitual rubbing, scratching or hair-pulling, malingering, or mental disturbance. Synonym: dermatitis autophytica, factitial dermatitis, feigned eruption. (05 Mar 2000) |
| factitious | Artificial; self-induced; not naturally occurring. Origin: L. Factitius, made by art, fr. Facio, to make (05 Mar 2000) |
| factitious disorder | A mental disorder in which the individual intentionally produces symptoms of illness or feigns illness for psychological reasons rather than for environmental goals. (05 Mar 2000) |
| factitious disorders | Disorders characterised by physical or psychological symptoms that are not real, genuine, or natural. (12 Dec 1998) |
| factitious purpura | Self-induced, often painful, ecchymoses. (05 Mar 2000) |
| factitious urticaria | A form of urticaria in which whealing occurs in the site and in the configuration of application of stroking (pressure, friction) of the skin. Synonym: autographism, dermagraphy, dermatography, dermographia, dermographism, dermography, factitious urticaria, skin writing, urticaria factitia. Origin: dermato-+ G. Grapho, to write (05 Mar 2000) |
| factor | <pharmacology> Any of several substances or activities that are necessary to produce a result, for example a coagulation factor. Often, use of the term factor indicates that the chemical nature of the substance or its mechanism of action is unknown, as in endocrinology, where factors are renamed as hormones when their chemical nature is determined. (18 Nov 1997) |
| factor 3 | Operational name given to an incompletely characterised selenium-containing natural product which, in minute amounts, prevents liver damage in rats due to deficiency of vitamin E, factor III in the vitamin B12 series, 5-hydroxybenzimidazole, analogue of the usual B12 nucleotide components. (05 Mar 2000) |
| factor A | A component of the properdin system; a hydrazine-sensitive b1-globulin (mw about 180,000), now known to be C3 (third component of complement). (05 Mar 2000) |
| factor analysis, statistical | A set of statistical methods for analyzing the correlations among several variables in order to estimate the number of fundamental dimensions that underlie the observed data and to describe and measure those dimensions. It is used frequently in the development of scoring systems for rating scales and questionnaires. (12 Dec 1998) |
| factor B | <enzyme> A glycine-rich, heat-labile beta-glycoprotein found in blood. It is a proactivator of complement 3 in the alternate pathway of complement activation. Factor b is converted by factor d to c3 convertase. Registry number: EC 3.4.21.47 (12 Dec 1998) |
| factor D | <enzyme> A serum protein which during the alternate pathway of complement activation converts the inactive properdin factor b to c3 convertase. Registry number: EC 3.4.21.46 (12 Dec 1998) |
| factor E | A serum protein (mw 160,000) required for activation of C3 (third component of complement) by cobra venom factor. See: properdin system. (05 Mar 2000) |
| factor Gm | A factor that determines certain of the allotypes of human immunoglobulins; found only on the g chains of IgG (gamma-globulin). (05 Mar 2000) |