| feed-forward activation | The activation of an enzyme by a precursor of the substrate of that enzyme. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| upstream activation site | A DNA sequence that regulates transcription like an enhancer but does notwork if its located downstream from a promoter. (09 Oct 1997) |
| low-activation materials | <radiobiology> In fission reactors, one is forced to deal with the radioactive byproducts of the fission process, but in fusion reactors one generally has a choice of what materials to expose to neutrons produced by the fusion process. A major problem for fusion reactors is developing materials (such as for the reactor vacuum vessel structure) which can be exposed to high levels of neutron bombardment without becoming permanently radioactive. Candidate structural materials which have relatively low induced radiactivation (generally relative to stainless steel) are known as low-activation materials, these include titanium, vanadium, and silicon-carbide. (09 Oct 1997) |
| lymphocyte activation | <haematology> The change in morphology and behaviour of lymphocytes exposed to a mitogen or to an antigen to which they have been primed. The result is the production of lymphoblasts, cells that are actively engaged in protein synthesis and that divide to form effector populations. Should not be confused with transformation of the type associated with oncogenic viruses and activation is therefore perhaps a better term. (18 Nov 1997) |