| blood bank | A place, usually a separate part or division of a hospital laboratory or a separtate free-standing facility, in which blood is collected from donors, typed, separated into several components, stored, and/or prepared for transfusion to recipients. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| bank | 1. A mound, pile, or ridge of earth, raised above the surrounding level; hence, anything shaped like a mound or ridge of earth; as, a bank of clouds; a bank of snow. "They cast up a bank against the city." (2 Sam. Xx. 15) 2. A steep acclivity, as the slope of a hill, or the side of a ravine. 3. The margin of a watercourse; the rising ground bordering a lake, river, or sea, or forming the edge of a cutting, or other hollow. "Tiber trembled underneath her banks." (Shak) 4. An elevation, or rising ground, under the sea; a shoal, shelf, or shallow; as, the banks of Newfoundland. 5. <chemical> The face of the coal at which miners are working. A deposit of ore or coal, worked by excavations above water level. The ground at the top of a shaft; as, ores are brought to bank. <zoology> Bank beaver, the otter. Bank swallow, a small American and European swallow (Clivicola riparia) that nests in a hole which it excavates in a bank. Origin: OE. Banke; akin to E. Bench, and prob. Of Scand. Origin.; cf. Icel. Bakki. See Bench. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| gene bank | A group of genes which are coordinately controlled. (09 Oct 1997) |
| clone bank | <molecular biology> A collection of DNA molecules, derived from restriction fragments that have been cloned in vectors, that includes all or part of the genetic material of an organism. (18 Nov 1997) |
| sperm bank | A facility where sperm are kept frozen in liquid nitrogen for later use in artificial insemination. (09 Oct 1997) |
| national practitioner data bank | A databank established by the health care quality improvement act of 1986 authorizing the department of health and human services to collect and release information on the professional competence and conduct of physicians, dentists, nurses, and other health care practitioners. The data include adverse actions on physicians' malpractice, licensure, hospital privileges, concealing of pertinent information, and the like. (12 Dec 1998) |
| european molecular biology lab gene bank | <molecular biology> A large database of DNA sequence data in Heidelberg, Germany, compiled from international sources. It is the European equivalent to the Genbank DNA sequence databank in the United States of America. WWW: EMbase. (09 Oct 1997) |
| eye bank | A place where corneas of eyes removed after death are preserved for subsequent keratoplasty. (05 Mar 2000) |
| ABO blood group | <haematology> The major human blood type system which describes the oligosaccharide glycoprotein antigens found on the surface of human blood cells. According to the type of antigen present, a person may be assigned a blood type of A, B, AB or O. A second type of antigen, the Rh factor, renders a positive or negative blood type. The ABO blood group system is important because it determines who can donate blood to or accept blood from whom. Type A or AB blood will cause an immune reaction in people with type B blood and type B and AB blood will cause a reaction in people with type A blood. Conversely, type O blood has no A or B antigens, so people with type O blood are universal donors. And since AB blood already produces both antigens, people who are type AB can accept any of the other blood types without suffering an immune reaction. (04 Jul 1999) |
| Almen's test for blood | Glacial acetic acid, gum guaiac solution, and hydrogen peroxide are added to an aqueous suspension of the suspected stain; if occult blood or blood pigment is present, a blue colour develops. Synonym: guaiac test, Schonbein's test, van Deen's test. (05 Mar 2000) |
| arterial blood | Blood that is oxygenated in the lungs, found in the left chambers of the heart and in the arteries, and relatively bright red. (05 Mar 2000) |
| arterial blood gas | A test which analyses arterial blood for oxygen, carbon dioxide and bicarbonate content in addition to blood pH. Used to test the effectiveness of respiration. Acronym: ABG (17 Oct 1997) |
| blood | <haematology> Considered a circulating tissue composed of a fluid portion (plasma) with suspended formed elements (red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets). Arterial blood is the means by which oxygen and nutrients are transported to tissues, venous blood is the means by which carbon dioxide and metabolic by-products are transported for excretion. (05 Jan 1998) |
| blood agar | <cell culture> An agar-based medium which hasbeen enriched with sterilised, defibinated blood (sheep, rabbit or horse). It is used for primary plating andsubculturing, especially to determine bacterial haemolysis. (09 Oct 1997) |
| blood-air barrier | The barrier between capillary blood and alveolar air comprising the alveolar epithelium and capillary endothelium with their adherent basement membranes and epithelial cell cytoplasm. Gaseous exchange occurs across this membrane. (12 Dec 1998) |