Testing Methods

Question 1

Absorbance.

Answer 1

Amount of light that is ab­sorbed or retained and therefore not able to pass through or be transmitted through a solution.

Question 2

Amplicon.

Answer 2

A source of DNA or RNA that is the source or product of natural or artificial amplification or replication.

Question 3

Beer-Lambert’s (Beer’s) Law.

Answer 3

In a solution, color intensity at a constant depth is directly proportional to concentration.

Question 4

Chemiluminescence.

Answer 4

An analytical method in which the emission of light (luminescence), as the result of a chemical reaction is measured.

Question 5

Chromatography.

Answer 5

Method of analysis in which the solutes, dissolved in a common sol­vent, are separated from one another by dif­ferential distribution of the solutes between two phases (a mobile phase and a stationary phase).

Question 6

Colorimetry.

Answer 6

Technique used to determine the concentration of a substance by the variation in intensity of its color.

Question 7

Coulometry.

Answer 7

Technique in which the charge required to completely electrolyze a sample is measured.

Question 8

Electrophoresis.

Answer 8

Movement of charged par­ticles in an electrical field; technique used to separate mixtures of ionic solutes by the dif­ferences in their rates of migration in an elec­trical field.

Question 9

Flow Cytometry.

Answer 9

Enumeration and differentiation of blood cells by passing them through a focused beam of a laser.

Question 10

Immunoassay.

Answer 10

Assays using antigen­ antibody reactions to detect the presence of a specific constituent.

Question 11

Immunofluorescence.

Answer 11

Technique used for rapid identification of an antigen by treating it with a known antibody tagged with a fluores­cent dye and observing the resulting charac­teristic antigen­/antibody reaction; will appear luminous in ultraviolet light projected using a fluorescent microscope.

Question 12

Ion-selective Electrode (ISE).

Answer 12

A specific type of electrode that converts the activity of a specific ion dissolved in a solution into an electrical po­tential, which can be measured by potentiometry (voltmeter or pH meter). An ISE can be used to measure ion concentrations in blood plasma or serum, water, food, and pharmaceuticals.

Question 13

Nephelometry.

Answer 13

Measurement of light that has been scattered when it strikes a particle in a liquid; the nephelometer measures the amount of light scattered.

Question 14

Photometry.

Answer 14

Technique used to determine the quantitative concentration of a substance by measuring the variation in its color intensity by use of a photometer.

Question 15

Spectrophotometry.

Answer 15

Quantitative measuring technique in which the color of a solution of an unknown concentration is compared with the color of a similar solution of known concentration.

Question 16

Standard Calibration Curve.

Answer 16

Plotting of percent transmission or absorbance readings on graph paper for several known standard solutions of varying concentrations will enable construction of a “standard curve” for a particular assay.

Question 17

Turbidimetry.

Answer 17

The measurement in the loss of light intensity transmitted through a solution because of the light being scattered as a result of turbidimetry of a solution.

Question 18

Western Blot.

Answer 18

Antigenic proteins or nucleic acids are separated by gel elec­trophoresis and transferred or blotted onto membrane filter paper antiserum from the patient is allowed to react with the filter paper, and by use of labeled anti­antibody detectors, the specific antibody bound to its homologous antigen is detected.