| AACCN | American Association of Critical Care Nurses |
|---|---|
| AACN | American Association of Colleges of Nursing; American Association of Critical-Care Nurses |
| CCC | care-cure coordination; cathodal closure contraction; chronic calculous cholecystitis; chronic catar... |
| CCL | carcinoma cell line; certified cell line; Charcot-Leyden crystal; continuing care level; critical ca... |
| CCM | cerebrocostomandibular [syndrome]; chemical cleavage of mismatch; congestive cardiomyopathy; cranioc... |
| illness, chronic | An illness that has persisted for a long period of time. It is a continuing disease process. (12 Dec 1998) |
|---|---|
| environmental illness | A polysymptomatic condition believed by clinical ecologists to result from immune dysregulation induced by common foods, allergens, and chemicals, resulting in various physical and mental disorders. The medical community has remained largely skeptical of the existence of this "disease", given the plethora of symptoms attributed to environmental illness, the lack of reproducible laboratory abnormalities, and the use of unproven therapies to treat the condition. (12 Dec 1998) |
| functional illness | A physical disorder with no known or detectable organic basis to explain the symptoms. See: behaviour disorder, neurosis. Synonym: dynamic disease, functional disease, functional illness. (05 Mar 2000) |
| critical | 1. Denoting or of the nature of a crisis. 2. Denoting a morbid condition in which death is possible. 3. In sufficient quantity as to constitute a turning point. (05 Mar 2000) |
| critical angle | The angle of incidence at which a ray of light, in passing between two media, changes from refraction to total reflection. Synonym: limiting angle. (05 Mar 2000) |
| critical care | Health care provided to a critically ill patient during a medical emergency or crisis. (12 Dec 1998) |
| critical care unit | A hospital facility for provision of intensive nursing and medical care of critically ill patients, characterised by high quality and quantity of continuous nursing and medical supervision and by use of sophisticated monitoring and resuscitative equipment; may be organised for the care of specific patient groups, e.g., neonatal or newborn ICU, neurological ICU, pulmonary ICU. Synonym: critical care unit. (05 Mar 2000) |
| critical concentration | <chemistry> The minimum concentration of units needed before a biological polymer will form. Examples of biopolymers are microtubules from tubulin units, polypeptides from amino acid units, polysaccharides from simple sugar units, etc. (09 Oct 1997) |
| critical dissolved oxygen concentration | <biology> The minimum concentration of oxygen in the water needed for the growth of a culture which has been submerged, where oxygen is the limiting factor to the growth of the culture. (09 Oct 1997) |
| critical flicker fusion frequency | The minimal number of flashes of light per second at which an intermittent light stimulus no longer stimulates a continuous visual sensation. (05 Mar 2000) |
| critical gradient | <botany> The maximum stable inclination of an unsupported slope under the most adverse conditions that it will likely experience, as determined by current engineering technology. (09 Oct 1997) |
| critical habitat | <ecology> Specific areas within the geographic area occupied by a species at the time it is listed in accordance with the Endangered Species act. Specific areas outside the geographical area occupied by a species at the time it is listed if there is a determination that such areas are essential for conservation of the species. (09 Oct 1997) |
| critical mass | <chemistry, radiobiology> The minimum amount of mass of a combination of radioactive substances needed for the substances to generate and lose an exactly balanced number of neutrons to make a chain reaction which will keep going by itself. (09 Oct 1997) |
| critical micelle concentration | The concentration at which an amphipathic molecule (e.g., a phospholipid) will form a micelle. (05 Mar 2000) |
| critical organ | The organ or physiologic system that for a given source of radiation would first reach its legally defined maximum permissible radiation exposure as the dose of radiopharmaceutical is increased; e.g., the kidney is the critical organ when 197Hg-chlormerodrin is given. (05 Mar 2000) |