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a culture of service...
April, 2011
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New chromogenic release... HardyCHROM VRE 
Now there's an easy way to screen for Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus (VRE). You can clearly distinguish between colonies of vancomycin resistant E. faecalis (red) and E. faecium (blue). Learn more... Request samples for evaluation...
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Brainteasers
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Do you do
Parasitology?
Request a free 25 page booklet by the world renown parasitologist, Lynne Garcia, in which she answers your most frequently asked questions.
View our parasitology catalog.
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Ban dead bugs... Is Your Thio Filtered?  The inclusion of dead bacteria in liquid culture media is unavoidable. However, their presence can produce a misleading false diagnosis.
Find out about Hardy's filtered Thioglycollate... Request samples for evaluation...
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Getting Real
Can you match the real names to the following celebrity stage names?
1. Charlie Sheen
2. Bob Dylan
3. Bozo the Clown
4. Bono
5. Dr. Seuss
6. Chuck Norris
A. Theodore Geise
B. Larry Harmon
C. Paul Hewson
D. Robert Zimmerman
E. Carlos Irwin Estevez
F. Carlos Ray
Answers
1. E; 2. D; 3. B; 4. C; 5. A; 6. F
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Think about it...
- Why is it that people in the 60's took acid to make the world weird; when now the world is weird, and people take Prozac to make it normal?
- How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?
- Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, 'I think I'll squeeze these dangly things and drink whatever comes out?'
- If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?
- Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?
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Modern engineering
on a budget...
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Famous
Snarky
Remarks
"I like long walks. . .
especially when they are taken by people
who annoy me."
~ Noel Coward
English actor, composer, director, playwright, and singer
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QUICK LINKS...
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Want to receive the MicroBytes Newsletter at home? CLICK HERE
Want to review past issues
of MicroBytes?
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Did you know?
Hardy Diagnostics...
- Is celebrating its 30th year of serving microbiologists?
- Manufactures over 3,000 products for microbiology for you to choose from.
- Maintains seven distribution centers in the U.S. for faster turn around time to your lab.
- Is ISO 13485 certified for the manufacture of medical devices to give you confidence in our products.
- Offers you its technical manual, HUGO, which contains over 4,500 pages of information regarding microbiology.
- Maintains a worldwide network of over 30 distributors.
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"The first law of dietetics
seems to be:
if it tastes good,
it's bad for you."
Isaac Asimov
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Micro Musings..
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Superbugs...
Tastes like Chicken?
Learn more about an important and alarming source of ESBL producing bacteria.
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From the
Microbiology
Hall of Fame . . .
Robert Bunsen
1811 ~ 1899
The inventor of the famous laboratory burner
In 1855, Robert Bunsen developed a special laboratory burner that produced a very hot and clean burning flame, known today as the "Bunsen Burner." Bunsen was a German chemist who used his famous burner for research on emission spectra of heated elements (spectrum analysis). His research eventually led to a crude prototype of today's spectrophotometer.
Bunsen's burner allows gas to flow up from the base through a small hole at the bottom of the barrel. There are open slots in the side of the tube bottom to admit air into the stream by utilizing the Venturi effect. The addition of more air (oxygen) causes the flame to be hotter and appears blue. A cooler flame with less oxygen appears yellow.
Even though his invention was not intended for microbiology, it was adopted by early microbiologists for its utility in sterilizing inoculation loops.
Robert Bunsen is also known for his discovery of the elements cesium and rubidium.
His dedication to research was not without its hazards. Bunsen once worked with cacodyl, an arsenic compound, that spontaneously exploded and cost him the sight in his right eye; also, he almost died from exposure to arsenic.
In spite of his laboratory escapades, he managed to live to a ripe old age of 88!
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Take our new survey!
Should hospitals be required by law to publicly report infection rates, surgical complications, and medication errors?
Note: Currently, hospital acquired infection (HAI) rates are required to be publicly reported in 26 states. In addition, 12 states also have laws requiring the screening and/or reporting of hospital acquired MRSA infections.
Take our survey and let your thoughts be known! Results and selected comments will be published in MicroBytes next month.
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See the survey results...
Should America be
involved in overthrowing
Gaddafi in Libya?
See what your fellow MicroBytes readers thought about this question from last month.
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What happens when you drink a soda?
Here are the physiologic actions that occur in your body
when you down a soda...
* In the first 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.) You don't immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor allowing you to keep it down. * 20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get its hands on into fat. (There's plenty of that at this particular moment) * 40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, as a response your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked preventing drowsiness. * 45 minutes: Your body increases your dopamine production stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way. * >60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium. * >60 Minutes: The caffeine's diuretic properties come into play (It makes you have to pee). It is now assured that you'll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium and zinc that was headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolyte and water. * >60 minutes: As the rave inside of you dies down you'll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You've also now, literally, urinated away all the water that was in the soda. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like even having the ability to hydrate your system or build strong bones and teeth. by Wade Meredith
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Wisdom to ponder... 
Bono
Irish lead singer of U2, humanitarian, philanthropist, and world wide leader in the
war on poverty
"Fear is the opposite of faith." "It's not enough to rage against the lie...you've got to replace it with the truth." "Music can change the world because it can change people." "As a rock star, I have two instincts, I want to have fun, and I want to change the world. I have a chance to do both." "The less you know, the more you believe." "To be one, to be united is a great thing. But to respect the right to be different is maybe even greater." "We thought that we had the answers, it was the questions we had wrong." "You see, idealism detached from action is just a dream. But idealism allied with pragmatism, with rolling up your sleeves and making the world bend a bit, is very exciting. It's very real. It's very strong." "I believe in the kingdom come. Then all the colors will bleed into one." "I love this work I do. It's a privilege to serve the poor." "If I could put it simply, I would say that I believe there's a force of love and logic in the world, a force of love and logic behind the universe. And I believe in the poetic genius of a creator who would choose to express such unfathomable power as a child born in straw poverty." "Eight million people die every year for the price of going out with your friends to the movies and buying an ice cream. Literally for about $30 a head per year, you could save 8 million lives. Isn't that extraordinary? Preventable disease - not calamity, not famine, nothing like that. Preventable disease - just for the lack of medicines. That is cheap, that is a bargain." ________________
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Advice from the Founders...
"While all other sciences have advanced, that of government is at a standstill -
little better understood,
little better practiced now
than three or four thousand years ago."
John Adams
Second president of the United States
1735 ~ 1826
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Seeing is Believing?
At first glance you may see two very wavy ropes. Look more carefully, and you will see that they actually make up two perfect concentric circles.
________
"Believe half of what you see
and none of what you hear."
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