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Serology
Serology is the scientific study of Serum (blood), serum and other body fluids. In practice, the term usually refers to the medical diagnosis, diagnostic identification of Antibody, antibodies in the serum. Such antibodies are typically formed in response to an infection (against a given microorganism), against other foreign proteins (in response, for example, to a Acute hemolytic transfusion reaction, mismatched blood transfusion), or to one's own proteins (in instances of autoimmune disease). In either case, the procedure is simple. Serological tests Serological tests are diagnostic methods that are used to identify antibodies and antigens in a patient's sample. Serological tests may be performed to diagnose infections and autoimmune illnesses, to check if a person has immunity (medical), immunity to certain diseases, and in many other situations, such as determining an individual's blood type. Serological tests may also be used in forensic serology to investigate crime scene evid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forensic Serology
Forensic serology is the detection, identification, classification, and study of various bodily fluids such as blood, semen, saliva, and urine, and their relationship to a crime scene. A forensic serologist may also be involved in DNA Analysis, DNA analysis and bloodstain pattern analysis. Serology testing begins with Presumptive and confirmatory tests, presumptive tests which gives the analyst an indication that a specific bodily fluid may be present, but cannot completely confirm its presence. Following the presumptive tests, Presumptive and confirmatory tests, confirmatory tests are done on the same sample to confirm what the unknown substance actually is. Blood detection Blood is composed of liquid plasma and serum with solid components consisting of red blood cells (erythrocytes), white blood cells (leukocytes), and platelets (thrombocytes). To detect blood at a crime scene or in the laboratory, an array of tests can be used. The most publicized test by crime shows is the Lumin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Serum (blood)
Serum () is the fluid and solvent component of blood which does not play a role in clotting. It may be defined as blood plasma without the clotting factors, or as blood with all cells and clotting factors removed. Serum contains all proteins except clotting factors (involved in blood clotting), including all electrolytes, antibodies, antigens, hormones; and any exogenous substances (e.g., drugs, microorganisms). Serum also does not contain all the formed elements of blood, which include blood cells, white blood cells ( leukocytes, lymphocytes), red blood cells ( erythrocytes), and platelets. The study of serum is serology. Serum is used in numerous diagnostic tests as well as blood typing. Measuring the concentration of various molecules can be useful for many applications, such as determining the therapeutic index of a drug candidate in a clinical trial. To obtain serum, a blood sample is allowed to clot ( coagulation). The sample is then centrifuged to remove th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antibody Titer
Titer (American English) or titre (British English) is a way of expressing concentration. Titer testing employs serial dilution to obtain approximate quantitative information from an analytical procedure that inherently only evaluates as positive or negative. The titer corresponds to the highest dilution factor that still yields a positive reading. For example, positive readings in the first 8 serial, twofold dilutions translate into a titer of 1:256 (i.e., 2−8). Titres are sometimes expressed by the denominator only, for example 1:256 is written 256. The term also has two other, conflicting meanings. In titration, the titer is the ratio of actual to nominal concentration of a titrant, e.g. a titer of 0.5 would require 1/0.5 = 2 times more titrant than nominal. This is to compensate for possible degradation of the titrant solution. Second, in textile engineering, titre is also a synonym for linear density. Etymology Titer has the same origin as the word "title", from the Fre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blood Transfusion
Blood transfusion is the process of transferring blood products into a person's Circulatory system, circulation intravenously. Transfusions are used for various medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood. Early transfusions used whole blood, but modern medical practice commonly uses only components of the blood, such as red blood cells, blood plasma, plasma, platelets, and other clotting factors. White blood cells are transfused only in very rare circumstances, since granulocyte transfusion has limited applications. Whole blood has come back into use in the Major trauma, trauma setting. Red blood cells (RBC) contain hemoglobin and supply the Cell (biology), cells of the body with oxygen. White blood cells are not commonly used during transfusions, but they are part of the immune system and also fight infections. Plasma is the "yellowish" liquid part of blood, which acts as a buffer and contains proteins and other important substances needed for the body's overall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Complement-fixation
The complement fixation test is an immunological medical test that can be used to detect the presence of either specific antibody or specific antigen in a patient's serum, based on whether complement fixation occurs. It was widely used to diagnose infections, particularly with microbes that are not easily detected by culture methods, and in rheumatic diseases. However, in clinical diagnostics labs it has been largely superseded by other serological methods such as ELISA and by DNA-based methods of pathogen detection, particularly PCR. Process The complement system is a system of serum proteins that react with antigen-antibody complexes. If this reaction occurs on a cell surface, it will result in the formation of trans-membrane pores and therefore destruction of the cell. The basic steps of a complement fixation test are as follows: # Serum is separated from the patient. # Patients naturally have different levels of complement proteins in their serum. To negate any effects th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pathogen
In biology, a pathogen (, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of"), in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a Germ theory of disease, germ. The term ''pathogen'' came into use in the 1880s. Typically, the term ''pathogen'' is used to describe an ''infectious'' microorganism or agent, such as a virus, bacterium, protozoan, prion, viroid, or fungus. Small animals, such as helminths and insects, can also cause or Transmission (medicine), transmit disease. However, these animals are usually referred to as parasites rather than pathogens. The scientific study of microscopic organisms, including microscopic pathogenic organisms, is called microbiology, while parasitology refers to the scientific study of parasites and the organisms that host them. There are several pathways through which pathogens can invade a host. The principal pathways have different episodic time ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chemiluminescence
Chemiluminescence (also chemoluminescence) is the emission of light (luminescence) as the result of a chemical reaction, i.e. a chemical reaction results in a flash or glow of light. A standard example of chemiluminescence in the laboratory setting is the luminol test. Here, blood is indicated by luminescence upon contact with iron in hemoglobin. When chemiluminescence takes place in living organisms, the phenomenon is called bioluminescence. A light stick emits light by chemiluminescence. Physical description As in many chemical reactions, chemiluminescence starts with the combining of two compounds, say A and B, to give a product C. Unlike most chemical reactions, the product C converts to a further product, which is produced in an electronically excited state often indicated with an asterisk: : A + B → C : C → D* D* then emits a photon (''h''ν), to give the ground state of D: I : D* → D + ''h''ν In theory, one photon of light should be given off for each mol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microbiology
Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, protistology, mycology, immunology, and parasitology. The organisms that constitute the microbial world are characterized as either prokaryotes or eukaryotes; eukaryote, Eukaryotic microorganisms possess membrane-bound organelles and include fungi and protists, whereas prokaryote, prokaryotic organisms are conventionally classified as lacking membrane-bound organelles and include Bacteria and Archaea. Microbiologists traditionally relied on culture, staining, and microscopy for the isolation and identification of microorganisms. However, less than 1% of the microorganisms present in common environments can be cultured in isolation using c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Syphilis
Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The primary stage classically presents with a single chancre (a firm, painless, non-itchy Ulcer_(dermatology), skin ulceration usually between 1 cm and 2 cm in diameter), though there may be multiple sores. In secondary syphilis, a diffuse rash occurs, which frequently involves the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. There may also be sores in the mouth or vagina. Latent syphilis has no symptoms and can last years. In tertiary syphilis, there are Gumma (pathology), gummas (soft, non-cancerous growths), neurological problems, or heart symptoms. Syphilis has been known as "The Great Imitator, the great imitator", because it may cause symptoms similar to many other diseases. Syphilis is most commonly spread through human sexual activi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Culture (microbiology)
A microbiological culture, or microbial culture, is a method of multiplying microbial organisms by letting them reproduce in predetermined culture medium under controlled laboratory conditions. Microbial cultures are foundational and basic diagnostic methods used as research tools in molecular biology. The term ''culture'' can also refer to the microorganisms being grown. Microbial cultures are used to determine the type of organism, its abundance in the sample being tested, or both. It is one of the primary diagnostic methods of microbiology and used as a tool to determine the cause of infectious disease by letting the agent multiply in a predetermined medium. For example, a throat culture is taken by scraping the lining of tissue in the back of the throat and blotting the sample into a medium to be able to screen for harmful microorganisms, such as ''Streptococcus pyogenes'', the causative agent of strep throat. Furthermore, the term culture is more generally used informally ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Treponema Pallidum
''Treponema pallidum'', formerly known as ''Spirochaeta pallida'', is a Microaerophile, microaerophilic, Gram-negative bacteria, gram-negative, spirochaete bacterium with subspecies that cause the diseases syphilis, bejel (also known as endemic syphilis), and yaws. It is known to be transmitted only among humans and baboons. ''T. pallidum'' can enter the host through mucosal membranes or open lesions in the skin and is primarily spread through sexual contact. It is a helically coiled microorganism usually 6–15 μm long and 0.1–0.2 μm wide. ''T. pallidum'''s lack of both a Citric acid cycle, tricarboxylic acid cycle and processes for oxidative phosphorylation results in minimal metabolic activity. As a Chemoorganoheterotrophic, chemoorganoheterotroph, ''Treponema pallidum'' is an obligate parasite that acquires its glucose carbon source from its host. Glucose can be used not only as a primary carbon source but also in glycolytic mechanisms to generate ATP needed to power the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
