| disimpaction | 1. Separation of impaction in a fractured bone. 2. Removal of faeces, usually manually, in faecal impaction. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| disinfect | To destroy pathogenic microorganisms in or on any substance or to inhibit their growth and vital activity. (05 Mar 2000) |
| disinfectant | An agent that disinfects, applied particularly to agents used on inanimate objects. Compare: antiseptic. (18 Nov 1997) |
| disinfectants | Substances used on inanimate objects that destroy harmful microorganisms or inhibit their activity. Disinfectants are classed as complete, destroying spores as well as vegetative forms of microorganisms, or incomplete, destroying only vegetative forms of the organisms. They are distinguished from antiseptics, which are local anti-infective agents used on humans and other animals. (12 Dec 1998) |
| disinfection | <dentistry> A cleaning process which destroys of most microorganism, but not highly resistant forms such as bacterial and mycotic spores or the AIDS virus. (08 Jan 1998) |
| disinfestation | Physical or chemical process to destroy or remove small undesirable animal forms, particularly arthropods or rodents, present upon the person, clothing, or environment of an individual or domestic animals. (05 Mar 2000) |
| disinherit | 1. To cut off from an inheritance or from hereditary succession; to prevent, as an heir, from coming into possession of any property or right, which, by law or custom, would devolve on him in the course of descent. "Of how fair a portion Adam disinherited his whole posterity!" (South) 2. To deprive of heritage; to dispossess. "And disinherit Chaos, that reigns here." (Milton) Origin: Cf. Disherit, Disheir. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| disinhibition | Inhibition of an inhibition; removal of an inhibitory effect by a stimulus, as when a conditioned reflex has undergone extinction but is restored by some extraneous stimulus. (05 Mar 2000) |
| disinsection | Freeing an area from insects. Origin: L. Dis-, apart, + insect (05 Mar 2000) |
| disintegrate | To separate into integrant parts; to reduce to fragments or to powder; to break up, or cause to fall to pieces, as a rock, by blows of a hammer, frost, rain, and other mechanical or atmospheric influences. "Marlites are not disintegrated by exposure to the atmosphere, at least in six years." (Kirwan) Origin: L. Dis- + integratus, p. P. Of integrare to renew, repair, fr. Integer entire, whole. See Integer. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| disintegration | The process by which anything is disintegrated; the condition of anything which is disintegrated. <geology> Specifically The wearing away or falling to pieces of rocks or strata, produced by atmospheric action, frost, ice, etc. "Society had need of further disintegration before it could begin to reconstruct itself locally." (Motley) Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| disintegration constant | <physics, radiobiology> The fraction of the amount of a radionuclide that undergoes transition per unit time. Formally: Lamda=dP/dt Where dP is the probability of a given nucleus undergoing spontaneous nuclear transition in the time interval dt. (16 Dec 1997) |
| disintegrator | <mechanics> A machine for grinding or pulverizing by percussion. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| disintegrin | <protein> Peptides found in the venoms of various snakes of the viper family, that inhibit the function of some integrins of the _1 and _3 classes. They were first identified as inhibitors of platelet aggregation and were subsequently shown to bind with high affinity to integrins and to block the interaction of integrins with RGD containing proteins for example they block the binding of the platelet integrin _IIb_3 to fibrinogen. Disintegrins are effective inhibitors at molar concentrations 500-2000x lower than short RGDX peptides. They are cysteine rich peptides ranging from 45 to 84 amino acids in length and almost all of them have a conserved RGD sequence on a _ turn, presumed to be the site that binds to integrins. The assumption is that their biological role in the venom is to inhibit blood clotting. Found in many snake species, where they are called variously albolabrin, applagin, batroxostatin, bitistatin, echistatin, elegantin, flavouridin, halysin, kistrin, triflavin and trigramin. (18 Nov 1997) |
| disintegrins | <chemical> A family of polypeptides purified from snake venoms, which contain the arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (rgd) sequence. The rgd tripeptide binds to integrin receptors and thus competitively inhibits normal integrin-ligand interactions. Disintegrins thus block adhesive functions and act as platelet aggregation inhibitors. Pharmacological action: platelet aggregation inhibitors. (12 Dec 1998) |