1st Discussion

SCENARIO 1: Michael dropped a beaker of a hazardous liquid on the laboratory floor and toxic fumes immediately began emanating from the liquid. Nico, the laboratory manager yelled at Michael, using profanity and called him derogatory names.

STEP 2:

Key Concept: Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

Standard Operating Procedures provide detailed instructions on how to carry out tasks around the lab. The purpose of SOPs is to achieve standardization and quality performance.

Standard Operating Procedures were obviously not utilized in this scenario. As soon as a safety mishap occurs, the natural reaction should be to follow one’s training for hazardous spills or find guidance on how to deal with it. Instead, the laboratory manager decides to yell at Michael. This reaction makes the hazardous situation worse as the fumes are still emanating. The SOP should have been followed to deal with the mishap.

Key Concept: Direct Costs

Direct Costs are the money that is used to pay for salaries, employee benefits, equipment, and consumable supplies.

Michael has dropped a beaker on the floor and created a hazardous spill. The beaker which is most likely broken will have to be replaced. The spill will have to be cleaned up with a spill kit of some sort. To replace these items they’ll be direct costs as these are consumable supplies.

Key Concept: Laboratory information management system (LIMS)

Laboratory information management system (LIMS) is software that allows for tracking supplies to order, providing the location of materials, access to safety information, and tracking the progress of samples.

The laboratory information management system (LIMS) would be a good place to look for safety information on what to do after spilling a hazardous material. It will also help with ordering the items they need to replace after the spill.

Part 3:

The three concepts can all be related to each other by the concept of Standard Operating Procedures. If Scenario 1 had an SOP, they would have known how to deal quickly and safely with the hazardous spill. The SOP most likely would have referred them to the concept of Laboratory information management system (LIMS). This software would let them access the safety data sheets to safely clean up the spill or administer first aid if needed. Once the hazard was taken care of, they could have used LIMS to identify the direct costs that would need to be purchased to replace the consumable supplies that were used.

Response 1:

2nd Discussion

Week 1 Discussion

NSCI 3017380 Laboratory Management and Safety

Step 1:

SCENARIO 5: Harper, a laboratory manager at Symbronic Technologies Inc,  checks on the progress for lab technician Laurie weekly and on the progress for lab technician David bi-weekly. Both Laurie and David had been collecting quality data and meeting their deadlines for more than two years.

Step 2:

For the purpose of this discussion Scenario 5 has been chosen and these are the 3 concepts that I have chosen to use to exlpain and describe their relevance in regards to Scenario 5. The 3 concepts are listed below.

1.SMART

2.Laboratory information management system (LIMS) software

3.Budget Management

Harper is the laboratory manager or the lead scientists who is responsible for checking on the status and progress of lab technician Laurie, once a week and also on the progress and status of lab technician David biweekly week. Since these three individuals have been working together for the past 2 years it looks like there are systems in place and dates and times that Harper has established for her weekly and biweekly touch bases with Laurie and David respectively. There are many concepts and tools and techniques that Harper can use to manage her lab technicians one of them is the SMART goal developed by George Doran, Arthur Miller and James Cunningham from their 1981 article titled, “There’s a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management goals and objectives”.

The word SMART in SMART goals stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. Using the SMART goals method Harper would be able to create a chart or a check off list which is individually customized and crafted for Laurie and David so that their individual statistics can have a time stamp for monitoring data and also allow Harper to collect the unique and specific data that Laurie and David are individually responsible for. To help better explain how Harper can use this type of goal monitoring system let us establish a very basic and simple experimental setting. Lets say Laurie is collecting data on adult, male lab mice that are 1 year old and have been exposed to the COVID -19 virus at a 5% concentration into their blood stream. Like wise David is collecting data on adult, male lab mice that are 1 year old and have been exposed to the COVID-19 virus at a 10% concentration through their blood stream. Beside the different concentrations of the virus that the lab mice have been introduced to every other aspect of the clinical setting and study for these mice is identical for both Laurie and Davids mice.

Let’s explain each step of the SMART goal system to collected data.

Specific- Specifically Laurie and David are collection data on the lab mice exposed to COVID-19 virus. Harper should have two separate sheets for each lab tech and mention under the letter S or Specific is there is a change in any of the lab settings or not.

Measurable – Laurie and David should be collecting data on how the virus is affecting their own samples of mice exposed to different concentrations of the virus. Harper should maintain a separate sheet for both Laurie and David to monitor their progress or use software that allows Harper to organize all the data collected by Laurie and David is an organized and scientific manner.

Attainable- Harper can monitor if Laurie and David have attained their goal of the study that they are both monitoring and documenting. The goal that Harper is trying to attain from her lab technicians is whether the mice are showing symptoms of the virus at a slower or higher rate depending on the concentration of virus in each mice population.

Realistic – Harper has to ensure that she has set up specific, measurable and attainable expectations that are realistic and reasonable to the clinical study being conducted by Laurie and David.

Timely – Lastly Harper would have to set a timeline for the results of this study by Laurie and David. Harper should organize her schedule so that she has enough, uninterrupted time dedicated to her touch bases with Laurie and David. These timely touch bases, weekly for Laurie and biweekly for David,  will help hold Laurie and David accountable for their clinical budget spending, if the data being collected is showing a pattern or not and if the data collected is relevant to the clinical study being conducted. Setting an end date for the clinical study is crucial and essential because clinical resources and manpower is not wasted on redundant data and the funding grants that are usually paid for by the tax payer are not wasted. Laurie and David have been time conscience and have been consistently submitting their work on time so by continuing to follow the SMART goal plan and having weekly and biweekly touch bases with Laurie and David respectively seem to be benefitting them.

Laboratory information management system (LIMS) software:

Laboratory information management systems software is specifically designed for labs, clinical studies, any type of research in any type of industry, for instance Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical, medical and literally any other research field. There are many companies that offer their version of different charts, tables and data collecting formats that allow researchers and scientists to choose which worksheet will allow them to collect all the pertinent data needed from the clinical study to determine next steps in the clinical study. Harper would’ve to have a clear understanding of what Laurie and David are studying in their clinical settings. This is where Harper would have her touch bases with each lab tech and go over what the expectation and the budget is and collaborate to see which LIMS software is being used and if it is the most efficient and detailed software that is needed for the study. Companies like Thermofisher and Ovation have many different data collecting platforms and worksheets that are customizable and even better these companies have phone numbers to call to get further assistance.

Budget Management:

Being lab manager Harper has to keep a close eye on her lab’s spending and depending on her management style she might allow her lab techs to order their own supplies within budget or Harper might have her lab techs submit a request for lab equipment or supplies and if the request is reasonable and within budget Harper can order what was requested. Harper would benefit from using some sort of budget monitoring software of tracker sheet or if she is more of a pen and paper type of manager then Harper would need to generate or create a worksheet that contains all the the categories that Harper would need to monitor. Daily monitoring of her lab spending is crucial to keep track off so that she does not over or underspend and is able to provide for her staff within reason. A lot of the funding that Harper is using for salaries, lab equipment and supplies are through grants that are usually tax payer funded and so Harper will be held at a very high accountable if there is any mismanage of the funds and so will Laurie and David is they are not using their lab resources efficiently and adequately. Mismanagement of funds might lead to the termination of jobs and clinical studies and experiments that otherwise could have been helpful.

Step 3:

Summary

If Harper uses the SMART goal method she will be able to have structure and cohesiveness to her touch bases with the lab techs and be able to set expectation and hold her lab techs accountable for their part in the clinical study. By using LIMS Harper will be able to collect and organize all the pivotal data that her lab techs deliver to her so that she can run analysis to determine if the clinical study or experiment is viable and reliable. The organization of the data will also allow Harper to see the experiment from a bird’s eye view which also allows Harper to encourage or discourage any behaviors or mannerisms from the lab techs that could enhance or debilitate the experiment respectively. With the data collected from the SMART goal and LIMS allows Harper to analyze and scrutinize if the budget is being used in the most efficient manner and to be able to take progressive and necessary action in a timely style.

Sources

George Doran, Arthur Miller and James Cunningham. (1981, November). “There’s a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management goals and objectives” . (No. 1). https://cce.bard.edu/files/Setting-Goals.pdf

Response 2:

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You may use this website as a resource to identify a species that can be used for this discussion: http://www.evergladescisma.org/species/

Choose an invasive, exotic organism that is found in Florida that was introduced to Florida through natural or artificial means. Be sure you know the difference between an exotic and an invasive exotic. A species is exotic if they come from someplace other than Florida but do not cause appreciable harm to native habitats, economy or human health. A species is invasive when they cause significant harm to native habitats, the economy, and/or human health. This assignment is about invasive species. Plants or animals, land based, freshwater, or marine organisms may be used. Respond to the following questions, using complete sentences and correct grammar. Show all your sources.

(1) Identify your species with its common name and scientific name (It is useful to include a picture). Describe why your chosen species an invasive exotic, as defined for this assignment. What are its impacts on native plants, animals, and/or habitats?

(2) How was the species introduced and how did it spread in Florida?

(3) Discuss any control or eradication efforts for your species. Are they working?

(4) Think about invasive species in general. Are there different ethical questions and controversies involved in attempts to eradicate (“kill”) invasive plants compared to invasive animals?

(5) How would you decide on an appropriate, ethical control method for invasive species? Would the type of invasive animal (insect, fish, reptile, bird, mammal) play a role?  What if you had to make this decision?

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The Real Story: The Day the Cats were Parachuted In

Some years ago, the ABC Health Services sent supplies of DDT to Gyanpur to control the mosquitoes that were spreading malaria among the people. As the DDT was sprayed, the mosquitoes were quickly wiped out. But there were thousands of lizards in the village that ate these mosquitoes (which had absorbed the sprayed DDT) and they, in turn, kept accumulating the DDT in their bodies. When these lizards ate mosquitoes, they also absorbed a lot of the DDT. Due to the accumulation of so much DDT in their bodies, the lizards became very inactive and slow. This made it easier for cats to catch the lizards, one of their favorite foods. At about the same time, people also found that hordes of caterpillars had moved in to feed on the roofing materials of their homes. They realized that the lizards, which had previously kept the caterpillar population under control, were now being eaten by the cats. And now, all over Gyanpur, the cats that ate the lizards died from DDT poisoning. Then rats moved in because there were no cats to control their population. With the rats came a new danger: plague. Officials sent out emergency calls for cats, which were sent in by airplane and dropped by parachute

Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words:

• Choose an ecosystem that interests you. Describe the ecosystem you selected and the inhabitants of the ecosystem.
• Think about the balance between the inhabitants of that ecosystem. What might happen if one small thing was changed? Choose an example of one change, describe it, and then discuss what the impacts that change might have on the ecosystem.
• Considering the change you discussed, what action would need to be taken to reverse the change and restore the ecosystem? Would all impacts be reversible? Why or why not?

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Exercise Set 2 – A little bit of atmospheric physics [Total 40 marks] Complete the table below by filling in the temperature in °C, °F, or K, as needed. Indoor air temperature Coldest wind chill (N.S.) Boiling point of nitrogen Surface of the Sun °C 20°C 6500°C °F -40°F K 77.5 K [8 points] 2. Imagine a puddle of water, 1 cm deep. Direct sun rays are used to evaporate the water at 0°C. How long will it take to evaporate the water completely? [The latent heat of vaporisation for water is 540 cal. g-1 at 100°C and 600 cal. g-1 at 0°C. The solar constant is 1.97 cal.cm-2 .min-1 , or 1372 W .m-2. Remember that one cubic centimetre (1 cm3) of water = 1 g, so you can consider the puddle to be made up of lots of cubes of water, each 1 cm deep, and 1 cm2 on their top surfaces.] [2 points] How long will it take at 33°C? (You will need to estimate the latent heat of vapourisation at 33°C.) [2 points] Comment on these results. Why do you think the calculations show it should take only slightly longer on a cold day than on a hot day, when you know well enough that a shallow puddle can lie around for hours in the winter, but will be gone in minutes in the summer? What other factors might come into play? Why does the River Nile not evaporate to dryness when it flows from Khartoum to Cairo through the Sahara Desert? [2 points] 3. Construct a graph of January, July and annual temperatures against latitude for a north-south transect through North America from Corpus Christi, Texas, to Churchill, Manitoba. As best as you can fit a straight line through each set of data. Corpus Christi to Churchill climatic data transect – Graph [4 points] Comment on any significant trends – why do you think the winter data display a steeper slope than the summer data (refer to Figure 2.24 in the text). [2 points] 4. Recall that relative humidity is a function of the actual vapour pressure and the saturation vapour pressure (text, p. 106): where VP = vapour pressure, and W = mixing ratio. The subscript s refers to the saturation vapour pressure or mixing ratio. Compare the actual water content of the air over the sunny Sahara with that of a blizzard in Baffin Bay. In the Sahara, use a temperature of 40°C and a RH of 10%. Use mixing ratios (W/Ws) for your calculations, so that you will end up with water content in g/kg, which is more meaningful than mb here. Calculate the mixing ratio by reversing the above equation and solving for W. Determine the saturation mixing ratio by referring to Table 4-1 in the text. Then do the same for the Baffin Bay blizzard, where the air temperature is -10°C and the RH = 100%. [2 marks] 5. In the tropical rain forest latitudes, intense solar heating causes air to rise along a zone sometimes referred to as the “thermal equator” or the “inter-tropical convergence zone”. You know that the active tropospheric part of the atmosphere is a maximum of 18 km at the equator. Suppose the air at sea level has a temperature of 30°C. What would be its temperature at 18 km assuming it rises by the dry adiabatic lapse rate? [2 marks] Obviously (I hope) the air never gets that cold! Why not? [2 marks] 6. On the map below are shown the pressure values for a set of weather stations. On a weather chart, pressure is usually shown as a three-digit number, which at first bears no obvious relation to the millibar or kilopascal or inches of mercury units at all! For this exercise we will work in millibars. The numbers reported represent the last two digits and first decimal place in millibars – the leading 9 or 10 is simply dropped off. In other words, the pressure in Toronto shows 101 – insert either a 9 or 10 in front to get the pressure (910.1 or 1010.1 mb). Meteorologists are well aware that a pressure of 910 or so mb would only be found in the eye of an extreme hurricane (See Figure 6-3, p.163), while 1010 mb is just slightly below average sea level pressure. No hurricane was obvious in Toronto that day so we can conclude the pressure was 1010.1 mb. As a general rule, atmospheric pressure doesn’t exceed the range of 960 to 1040 mb, so “high numbers” (above 500) on the map below need a ‘9’ in front of them, while “low numbers” (below 500) need a ’10’. Click here for a page-sized version of this map to print. [10 points] Draw contours on the map at 4 mb intervals. Begin by identifying the area of lowest pressure (remember numbers will be in the 800’s and 900’s), and encircle all the numbers lower than 988 (i.e., 880) with the 988 isobar; then do all the numbers lower than 992 mb (i.e., 920’s on the map) with the 992 mb isobar, and so on until you complete the map. Label each isobar with the millibar value as you go. Notice that pressure refers to the centre of the symbol, not where the pressure values are actually written. If you are unfamiliar to drawing contours, you might find the flash animation at http://ees.acadiau.ca/~raeside/2753/contours.swf useful. b. Identify the areas of high and low pressure with a large H and a large L. c. Solid symbols indicate the sky was overcast (possibly raining too) at the time of reading; unfilled symbols indicate at least half the sky was clear. What general relationship do you see between atmospheric pressure and the nature of sky cover? [2 marks]

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