| virus latency | The ability of a pathogenic virus to lie dormant within a cell (latent infection). In eukaryotes, subsequent activation and viral replication is thought to be caused by extracellular stimulation of cellular transcription factors. Latency in bacteriophage is maintained by the expression of virally encoded repressors. (12 Dec 1998) |
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| multiple sleep latency test | A test of the propensity to fall asleep, done by performing polysomnography during multiple brief opportunities to sleep. (05 Mar 2000) |
| latency | 1. <physiology> The time between onset of a stimulus and peak of the ensuing action potential. 2. <microbiology> Of an infection, a period in which the infection is present in the host without producing overt symptoms. (18 Nov 1997) |
| latency period | <psychology> The period from about 5 to 7 years to adolescence when there is an apparent cessation of psychosexual development. (12 Dec 1998) |
| latency phase | In psychoanalytic personality theory, the period of psychosexual development in children, extending from about age 5 to the beginning of adolescence at age 12, during which the apparent cessation of sexual preoccupation during this period stems from a strong, aggressive blockade of libidinal and sexual impulses in an effort to avoid oedipal relationships; during this phase, boys and girls are inclined to choose friends and join groups of their own sex. Synonym: latency period. (05 Mar 2000) |
| anamnestic response | <immunology> Archaic term now replaced by such terms as secondary immune response, immune memory. (18 Nov 1997) |
| audiometry, evoked response | A form of electrophysiologic audiometry in which an analog computer is included in the circuit to average out ongoing or spontaneous brain wave activity. A characteristic pattern of response to a sound stimulus may then become evident. Evoked response audiometry is known also as electric response audiometry. (12 Dec 1998) |
| auditory brainstem response audiometry | An electrophysiologic measure of auditory function utilizing responses produced by the auditory nerve and the brainstem to repetitive acoustic stimuli. (05 Mar 2000) |
| biological response modifier | <pharmacology, oncology> A substance used in adjuvant therapy that takes advantage of the bodys own natural defense mechanisms to inhibit the growth of a tumour. (16 Dec 1997) |
| biological response modifiers | Substances that stimulate the body's response to infection and disease. The body naturally produces small amounts of these substances. Scientists can produce some of them in the laboratory in large amounts and use them in cancer treatment. Also called BRMs. (12 Dec 1998) |
| biphasic response | Two separate and distinct responses that are separated in time, immediate reaction to an antigenic challenge followed by a recurrence of symptoms after an interval of quiescence. (05 Mar 2000) |
| booster response | The response of the immune system to the second or subsequent occasion on which it encounters a specific antigen. (18 Nov 1997) |
| brainstem evoked response audiometry | An electrophysiologic measure of auditory function utilizing responses produced by the auditory nerve and the brainstem to repetitive acoustic stimuli. (05 Mar 2000) |
| galvanic skin response | A change in electrical resistance of the skin, occurring in emotion and in certain other conditions. (12 Dec 1998) |
| recruiting response | <neurology> The gradual increase to a maximum in a reflex when a stimulus of unaltered intensity is prolonged. (12 Dec 1998) |