BHS008-2 Physiology Haematology and Transfusion Science

1. Demonstrate understanding of fundamental physiological processes and homeostasis, and apply knowledge of laboratory haematology techniques to analyse health and disease

2. Apply knowledge of various physiological and haematological laboratory techniques to the assessment of human health and disease and/or blood transfusion.

What am I required to do in this assignment?

• You will submit a report based around an analysis of datasets from a series of haematology lab techniques that are used to analyse blood cells in biomedical and other laboratories

• Your report should also describe the techniques used and explain their widespread applications

• You must ensure that your report is written in your own words AND that all information is cited/referenced appropriately. Do not copy from friends, lecturers, the protocol, websites, books, journal articles etc. Plagiarism of any kind will be seen as an academic offence.

• In addition to the instructions provided in this assignment brief, you must access, read and use the document/s in the Referral

Assignment type Electronic submission, lab report

Unit learning outcomes 1. Demonstrate understanding of fundamental physiological processes and homeostasis, and apply knowledge of laboratory haematology techniques to analyse health and disease. Apply knowledge of various physiological and haematological laboratory techniques to the assessment of human health and disease and/or blood transfusion

• Produce a scientific report according to expectations described in this assignment brief

• Understand a range of practical tasks in the laboratory which are relevant to haematology and blood transfusion

• Discuss the role of the practical experiments in diagnosing blood related disorders

How do I produce high quality work that merits a good grade?

• Follow the brief carefully for details on what should be included

• Consult the criteria table on the last page – this is what your work is assessed against

• Follow the instructions below on the structure and requirements of your report:

You are asked to hand in a report of up to 2000 words. You are expected to produce a report written in full paragraphs of scientific English, with professionally presented figures. You are advised to read scientific papers/articles published in reputable scientific journals to get an idea of style used in scientific writing and data presentation.

The introduction will set the scene for your report. This report will be on the haematological techniques used to analyse blood.

Introduce the components of blood and its functions. You should briefly explain how and why blood cells are analysed by haematologists. Your Introduction MUST include an explanation of the basic principles of the following haematological techniques:

• Preparation of a blood smear and Giemsa & Romanowsky staining

• The precipitin test for ABO typing

• Cell counting using a haemocytometer

You MUST use the data provided on BREO to write your Results section. This data, split into Parts A, B, C and D can be found in the folder ‘Referral Assignment’ on BREO. You may use images from the data file in your report but you still must include drawings as specified below. The result section should not start with figures! A short paragraph should introduce the results by explaining to your reader what you are about to show them and why.

A. Describe your morphological observations of the five cells in detail. You should also include hand-drawn fully-labelled scientific pictures of your haematological observations from the micrographs in Fig. 1. With reasons for your identification, state the identity of each cell type, their function and abundance in normal human blood. Explain why they stain differently with Giemsa, with reference to cell morphology and biology.

B. Describe in full text your observations from the four human blood smears. Which one of the blood smears is normal? Suggest diagnoses for any smears that exhibit cellular abnormalities, explaining your rationale for your diagnosis.

C. Calculate and state a result for the leukocyte count, showing your calculations, expressing the final result in cells/ml

D. Determine the blood type of the individual patient samples based on the agglutination test results

• Elaborate on the importance of haematological techniques in diagnosis and research using examples from published scientific journal articles

• Explain what follow up, further tests or treatment is required for the patients whose blood smears are seen in Part B of the data file

• Evaluate the use of a haemocytometer for cell counting (as seen in data Part C), comparing it to an alternative method of cell counting

A short list of full references in the correct UoB Harvard format should be included at the end in a reference list. You must also provide intext citations of any references you use throughout (in brackets at the appropriate point in the text). Do not cite any websites please. Find guidance at the following link you can also complete AIR on BREO.

You MUST NOT copy any text from any sources, even if you cite the source – you must write about what you have read in your own words – this is very important.

How does this assignment relate to what we are doing in scheduled sessions?

The techniques discussed are closely linked to the lectures in the course. This assessment will allow you to:

• Apply knowledge of various haematological laboratory techniques to the assessment and analysis of human health and disease and/or blood transfusion

• Evaluate a range of laboratory techniques which are relevant to haematology and blood transfusion

• Discuss the role of the practical experiments in diagnosing blood related disorders

How will my assignment be marked?

Your assignment will be marked according to the threshold expectations and the criteria on the following page.

You can use them to evaluate your own work and consider your grade before you submit.