Laboratory Principles and Practices Study Guide

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering clinical laboratory reagents, water specifications, glassware, pipetting techniques, and safety regulations based on the lecture notes.

Centrifugation

A basic separation technique that uses centrifugal force to separate solid matter from a liquid suspension, such as separating plasma from blood cells.

Analytical Reagent (AR)

The most common chemical grade used in analytical laboratories, suitable for most analytical procedures.

Ultrapure Chemically Pure (CP)

A reagent that undergoes additional purification steps for use in molecular diagnostics (like PCR), immunoassays, and standardization to prevent contaminants.

United States Pharmacopoeia (USP)

A type of reagent grade required for drug manufacturing.

Technical or Commercial Grade

Chemicals utilized for manufacturing food and beverages, but not intended for use in the Clinical Laboratory.

Room Temperature Range

$$20-28\,^\circ\text{C}$$

Lyophilized

Reagents that are in powdered form and require the addition of a specific amount of water to achieve the final concentration.

Deionized Water

Water that has undergone distillation followed by ion exchange to remove internal ions.

Reverse Osmosis (RO) Water

Water purified by applying pressure to force it through a semi-permeable membrane.

Reagent Grade Water

The purest type of water, purified through ultrafiltration, UV light, or sterilization via ozone treatment; used for molecular diagnostics like mixing primers.

Clinical Laboratory Reagent Water (CLRW)

The type of water utilized in the laboratory for mixing reagents, often included in reagent packaging.

Instrument Feed Water

Water used to wash machine probes, which are needle-like components of $16$ to $18$ gauge thickness.

Solute

The substance dissolved in a liquid, referred to as analytes, such as glucose, proteins, or lipids.

Solvent

The liquid in which a solute is dissolved; water is the universal solvent in the lab, while plasma is the solvent in the human body.

Borosilicate Glass

Highly resistant glassware (common brand Pyrex) that can withstand extreme heat and cold, including boiling.

Flint Glass

A thin, disposable type of glass also known as soda lime, commonly used for medicine ampules.

To Contain (TC)

Vessels such as Volumetric flasks, Erlenmeyer flasks, and Griffin beakers that are intended to hold a specific volume.

To Deliver (TD)

Vessels like Graduated Cylinders designed to transfer or dispense a specific volume of liquid.

Meniscus Reading Rules

Read the lower meniscus for clear solutions and the upper meniscus for viscous solutions.

Blowout Pipette

Identified by a continuous etched ring or two small rings near the top; requires the last drop to be expelled using a bulb.

Self-draining Pipette

Has no etched rings; allows the contents to drain by gravity for dispensing.

Mohr Pipette

A measuring pipette that has no graduation marks at the tip and is self-draining.

Serologic Pipette

A measuring pipette with graduation marks throughout, classified as a blowout pipette.

Ostwald-Folin Pipette

A transfer pipette for fluids with viscosity greater than water, featuring two etched rings for blowout.

Volumetric Pipette

A self-draining transfer pipette designed to dispense aqueous solutions with the greatest degree of accuracy and precision.

Fixed Volume Automatic Pipette

Pipettes capable of holding set volumes ranging from $1.5\,ul$ to $2,000\,ul$ ($2\,ml$).

Air Displacement Pipette

A routinely used pipette that requires a disposable tip and uses an air cushion to move the liquid.

Positive Displacement Pipette

A pipette equipped with a disposable piston, similar to a syringe, used for specific liquid transfers.

Burette

A wide, long, graduated tube with a stopcock used in titration, typically holding volumes between $25-100\,mL$.

Analytical Balance

A highly sensitive weighing instrument enclosed in glass to prevent air currents from disrupting the measurement.

Filtration

A separation technique using paper to separate solids from a liquid (filtrate).

Dialysis

The separation of macromolecules from a solvent or smaller substances.

Fume Hood

Safety equipment required to contain and expel noxious or hazardous fumes from chemical reagents.

Biosafety Cabinet (BSC)

Equipment containing HEPA filters to filter out airborne pathogens or aerosols when working with infectious biological specimens.

Universal Precaution

The safety principle of treating everything and everyone as potentially infectious.

Blood Spillage Disinfectants

Hypochlorite (10% bleach) and Lysol.

NFPA Hazard Code Colors

Blue (Health), Red (Flammability), Yellow (Instability/Reactivity), and White (Specific Hazard).

Carcinogenic Chemicals

Chemicals that cause cancer after several years of continuous exposure.

Ergonomic Hazards

Workplace conditions such as poor chair support or improper pipetting positions that cause back pain or physical strain.