resistance (redirected from Resistances)

resistance /re·sis·tance/ (re-zis´tans)

1. opposition, or counteracting force.

2. the natural ability of an organism to resist microorganisms or toxins produced in disease.

3. the opposition to the flow of electrical current between two points of a circuit. Symbol R or .

4. in psychiatry, conscious or unconscious defenses that prevent material in the unconscious from coming into awareness.

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airway resistance  the opposition of the tracheobronchial tree to air flow. Symbols RA, RAW.

androgen resistance  resistance of target organs to the action of androgens; the result is any of a spectrum of defects. In mild to incomplete types the person may have a definite male phenotype but infertility, or may have ambiguous genitalia. In the complete type the person has a female phenotype but XY chromosomes.

drug resistance  the ability of a microorganism to withstand the effects of a drug that are lethal to most members of its species.

electrical resistance  resistance (3).

multidrug resistance , multiple drug resistance in some malignant cell lines, resistance to many structurally unrelated chemotherapy agents in cells that have developed natural resistance to a single cytotoxic compound.

vascular resistance  the opposition to blood flow in a vascular bed.

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re·sis·tance (r-zstns)

n.

1. The capacity of an organism to defend itself against a disease.

2. The capacity of an organism, a tissue, or a cell to withstand the effects of a harmful physical or environmental agent.

3. The opposition of a body or substance to current passing through it, resulting in a change of electrical energy into heat or another form of energy.

4. In psychoanalysis, a process in which the ego opposes the conscious recall of repressed unpleasant experiences.

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resistance,

n ability of an individual to ward off the damaging effects of physical, chemical, or microbiologic injury; an immeasurable factor controlled and qualified by numerous local, systemic, and metabolic processes such as blood supply to tissues, nutritional status, age, and antibody formative ability.

resistance, abrasion,

n an object's capacity to oppose the type of movement that results in physical weathering. A greater degree of abrasion resistance is beneficial in the long-term preservation of the teeth's appearance and structure.

resistance, cross-,

n a state in which an organism is insensitive to several drugs of similar chemical nature.

resistance form,

n See form, resistance.

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resistance

1. opposition, or counteracting force, as opposition of a conductor to passage of electricity or other energy or substance.

2. the natural ability of a normal organism to remain unaffected by noxious agents in its environment. See also immunity.

3. acquired ability of a bacterium or helminth or arthropod parasite to survive in the presence of concentrations of a chemical which are normally lethal to the organisms of that species. Occurs usually as a result of prolonged growth of the organism in sublethal concentrations of the agent and the survival of the organisms which have the least innate susceptibility to the agent. Has serious implications for animals which may find themselves without a suitable remedy for a disease, and for humans who may experience transfer of a resistant organism from the food supply.

4. in studies of respiration, an expression of the opposition to flow of air produced by the tissues of the air passages, in terms of pressure per amount of air per unit of time.

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drug resistance

the ability of a microorganism to withstand doses of a drug that are lethal to most members of its species.

peripheral resistance

resistance to the passage of blood through the small blood vessels, especially the arterioles.

transferable resistance

antimicrobial resistance genes carried by bacteria on plasmids or transposons can often be readily acquired by other strains of the same species, by different species, and sometimes by organisms in different genera. Of considerable import in consideration of the implications of antimicrobial therapy in animal populations and in public health. The full significance is difficult to ascertain.