Biological Specimens
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Biological Specimens
A biological specimen (also called a biospecimen) is a biological laboratory specimen held by a biorepository for research. Such a specimen would be taken by sampling so as to be representative of any other specimen taken from the source of the specimen. When biological specimens are stored, ideally they remain equivalent to freshly-collected specimens for the purposes of research. Human biological specimens are stored in a type of biorepository called a biobank, and the science of preserving biological specimens is most active in the field of biobanking. Quality control Setting broad standards for quality of biological specimens was initially an underdeveloped aspect of biobank growth. There is currently discussion on what standards should be in place and who should manage those standards. Since many organizations set their own standards and since biobanks are necessarily used by multiple organizations and typically are driven towards expansion, the harmonization of standard op ...
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Venipuncture
In medicine, venipuncture or venepuncture is the process of obtaining intravenous access for the purpose of venous Sampling (medicine)#blood, blood sampling (also called ''phlebotomy'') or intravenous therapy. In healthcare, this procedure is performed by Medical Laboratory Scientist, medical laboratory scientists, physician, medical practitioners, some EMTs, paramedics, phlebotomists, Kidney dialysis, dialysis technicians, and other nursing staff. In veterinary medicine, the procedure is performed by veterinarians and Paraveterinary worker, veterinary technicians. It is essential to follow a standard procedure for the collection of blood specimens to get accurate laboratory results. Any error in collecting the blood or filling the test tubes may lead to erroneous laboratory results. Venipuncture is one of the most routinely performed invasive procedures and is carried out for any of five reasons: # to obtain blood for diagnostic purposes; # to monitor levels of blood component ...
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Stool Sample
A stool test is a medical diagnostic technique that involves the collection and analysis of fecal matter. Microbial analysis (culturing), microscopy and chemical tests are among the tests performed on stool samples. Collection Stool samples should be sent to the laboratory as soon as possible after collection and should not be refrigerated prior to by the laboratory. Visual examination The patient and/or health care worker in the office or at the bedside is able to make some important observations. * Color * Texture/consistency—formed * Classify type of feces (diagnostic triad for irritable bowel syndrome) based on Bristol stool scale Cancer screening Fecal occult blood test and fecal immunochemical test are the most common stool tests to diagnose many conditions that caused by bleeding in the gastrointestinal system, including colorectal cancer or stomach cancer. The American College of Gastroenterology has recommended the abandoning of gFOBT testing as a colorectal c ...
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Feces
Feces (also known as faeces American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, or fæces; : faex) are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contain a relatively small amount of metabolic waste products such as bacterially-altered bilirubin and dead epithelial cells from the lining of the gut. Feces are discharged through the anus or cloaca during defecation. Feces can be used as fertilizer or soil conditioner in agriculture. They can also be burned as dry animal dung fuel, fuel or dried and used for wattle and daub, construction. Some medicinal uses have been found. In the case of human feces, fecal transplants or fecal bacteriotherapy are in use. Urine and feces together are called excretion, excreta. Characteristics The distinctive odor of feces is due to skatole, and thiols (sulfur-containing compounds), as well as amines and carboxylic acids. Sk ...
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Urination
Urination is the release of urine from the bladder through the urethra in Placentalia, placental mammals, or through the cloaca in other vertebrates. It is the urinary system's form of excretion. It is also known medically as micturition, voiding, uresis, or, rarely, emiction, and known colloquially by various names including peeing, weeing, pissing, and euphemistically number one. The process of urination is under voluntary control in healthy humans and #Animals, other animals, but may occur as a reflex in infants, some elderly individuals, and those with neurological injury. It is normal for adult humans to urinate up to seven times during the day. In some animals, in addition to expelling waste material, urination #Other animals, can mark territory or express submissiveness. Physiologically, urination involves coordination between the central nervous system, central, autonomic nervous system, autonomic, and somatic nervous systems. Brain centres that regulate urination in ...
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Urine
Urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in humans and many other animals. In placental mammals, urine flows from the Kidney (vertebrates), kidneys through the ureters to the urinary bladder and exits the urethra through the penile meatus (males) or urethral meatus of the vulva (females) during urination. In other vertebrates, urine is excreted through the cloaca. Urine contains water-soluble by-products of Cell (biology), cellular metabolism that are rich in nitrogen and must be clearance (medicine), cleared from the Circulatory system, bloodstream, such as urea, uric acid and creatinine. A urinalysis can detect nitrogenous wastes of the mammalian body. Urine plays an important role in the earth's nitrogen cycle. In balanced ecosystems, urine fertilizes the soil and thus helps plants to grow. Therefore, Reuse of excreta, urine can be used as a fertilizer. Some animals use it to territory (animal)#Scent marking, mark their territories. Historically, aged or fermented urine (kn ...
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Blood Plasma Fractionation
Blood plasma fractionation are the general processes separating the various components of blood plasma, which in turn is a component of blood obtained through blood fractionation. Plasma-derived immunoglobulins are giving a new narrative to healthcare across a wide range of autoimmune inflammatory diseases. Blood plasma Blood plasma is the liquid component of whole blood, and makes up approximately 55% of the total blood volume. It is composed primarily of water with small amounts of minerals, salts, ions, nutrients, and proteins in solution. In whole blood, red blood cells, leukocytes, and platelets are suspended within the plasma. Plasma proteins Plasma contains a large variety of proteins including albumin, immunoglobulins, and clotting proteins such as fibrinogen.Brodniewicz-Proba, T. 1991. "Human Plasma Fractionation and the Impact of New Technologies on the Use and Quality of Plasma-derived Products". ''Blood Reviews''. Vol. 5. pp. 245–57. Albumin constitutes a ...
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Blood Plasma
Blood plasma is a light Amber (color), amber-colored liquid component of blood in which blood cells are absent, but which contains Blood protein, proteins and other constituents of whole blood in Suspension (chemistry), suspension. It makes up about 55% of the body's total blood volume. It is the Intravascular compartment, intravascular part of extracellular fluid (all body fluid outside cells). It is mostly water (up to 95% by volume), and contains important dissolved proteins (6–8%; e.g., serum albumins, globulins, and fibrinogen), glucose, clotting factors, electrolytes (, , , , , etc.), hormones, carbon dioxide (plasma being the main medium for excretory product transportation), and oxygen. It plays a vital role in an intravascular osmotic effect that keeps electrolyte concentration balanced and protects the body from infection and other blood-related disorders. Blood plasma can be separated from whole blood through blood fractionation, by adding an anticoagulant to a tube ...
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Proteomics
Proteomics is the large-scale study of proteins. Proteins are vital macromolecules of all living organisms, with many functions such as the formation of structural fibers of muscle tissue, enzymatic digestion of food, or synthesis and replication of DNA. In addition, other kinds of proteins include antibodies that protect an organism from infection, and hormones that send important signals throughout the body. The proteome is the entire set of proteins produced or modified by an organism or system. Proteomics enables the identification of ever-increasing numbers of proteins. This varies with time and distinct requirements, or stresses, that a cell or organism undergoes. Proteomics is an interdisciplinary domain that has benefited greatly from the genetic information of various genome projects, including the Human Genome Project. It covers the exploration of proteomes from the overall level of protein composition, structure, and activity, and is an important component of function ...
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Biopsy
A biopsy is a medical test commonly performed by a surgeon, interventional radiologist, an interventional radiologist, or an interventional cardiology, interventional cardiologist. The process involves the extraction of sampling (medicine), sample Cell (biology), cells or Biological tissue, tissues for examination to determine the presence or extent of a disease. The tissue is then Histopathology, fixed, dehydrated, embedded, sectioned, stained and mounted before it is generally examined under a microscope by a pathologist; it may also be analyzed chemically. When an entire lump or suspicious area is removed, the procedure is called an excisional biopsy. An incisional biopsy or core biopsy samples a portion of the abnormal tissue without attempting to remove the entire lesion or tumor. When a sample of tissue or fluid is removed with a needle in such a way that cells are removed without preserving the histological architecture of the tissue cells, the procedure is called a needle as ...
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Mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA and mDNA) is the DNA located in the mitochondrion, mitochondria organelles in a eukaryotic cell that converts chemical energy from food into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA is a small portion of the DNA contained in a eukaryotic cell; most of the DNA is in the cell nucleus, and, in plants and algae, the DNA also is found in plastids, such as chloroplasts. Mitochondrial DNA is responsible for coding of 13 essential subunits of the complex oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) system which has a role in cellular energy conversion. Human mitochondrial DNA was the first significant part of the human genome to be sequenced. This sequencing revealed that human mtDNA has 16,569 base pairs and encodes 13 proteins. As in other vertebrates, the human mitochondrial genetic code differs slightly from nuclear DNA. Since animal mtDNA evolves faster than nuclear genetic markers, it represents a mainstay of phylogenetics and evolutionary biology. It als ...
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Organ (anatomy)
In a multicellular organism, an organ is a collection of Tissue (biology), tissues joined in a structural unit to serve a common function. In the biological organization, hierarchy of life, an organ lies between Tissue (biology), tissue and an organ system. Tissues are formed from same type Cell (biology), cells to act together in a function. Tissues of different types combine to form an organ which has a specific function. The Gastrointestinal tract, intestinal wall for example is formed by epithelial tissue and smooth muscle tissue. Two or more organs working together in the execution of a specific body function form an organ system, also called a biological system or body system. An organ's tissues can be broadly categorized as parenchyma, the functional tissue, and stroma (tissue), stroma, the structural tissue with supportive, connective, or ancillary functions. For example, the gland's tissue that makes the hormones is the parenchyma, whereas the stroma includes the nerve t ...
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