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a culture of service...
September, 2011
© 2011, Hardy Diagnostics,
all rights reserved
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Hardy Introduces...
HardyCHROM Carbapenemase
A New Screening Medium for Carbapenem Resistant Bacteria
Hardy's latest release of chromogenic media is used for the initial screening of Gram-negative enterics that are resistant to the carbapenems, such as, imipenem, meropenem, and ertapenem.
See the Instructions for Use (IFU).
Request samples for evaluation in your lab.
Learn about other exciting new products from Hardy.
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EZ Gram
Negative ID
· Accurate - Convenient 12 substrate identification system for the most commonly encountered Enterobacteriacea (additional strip available for unusual GN's, oxidase positives and non-fermentors).
· Rapid - Results in as little as 24 hours.
· Interpretation - Vivid color reactions for easy read-out.
· Incubator Only - No additional equipment is required.
· Easy-to-Use - Simple inoculation procedure.
· Software - Free Identification software is available upon request. Microgen GN ID-AFor the most common Gram-negative enterobacteriacea 60 ID strips/box Microgen GN ID-BAdd-on strip for unusual Gram-negatives, oxidase positive, and non-fermentative Gram negatives. 24 ID Strips/box |
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Brainteasers
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Micro Tips...
Q: How can I keep my plated media from drying out in the incubator?
A: Your incubator can be humidified by placing a beaker of water in it. Put a few drops of dish detergent in it to prevent contamination. Do not use anything stronger than this, since the toxic fumes could inhibit growth of your cultures!
Do you have a tip that you would like to share with thousands of MicroBytes readers? Click here.
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Phraseology
"By the Skin
of my Teeth"
Teeth have no skin, at least the last time I checked. So where did this strange saying come from?
This phrase, meaning a narrow escape from disaster, originates from the story of Job in the Bible. Poor Job lost all his friends and possessions; then covered with boils and in a complete state of despair, he says in Job chapter 20:
"My breath is offensive to my wife. I am loathsome to my own family. Even the little boys scorn me; when I appear, they ridicule me.
All my intimate friends detest me; those I love have turned against me. I am nothing but skin and bones; I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth."
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An Emerging Killer
Deaths due to prescription drugs have exceeded that of traffic accidents for the first time in history. New statistics released by the CDC show that in 2009, there were 37,485 deaths due to prescription medication in the U.S.; that's one death every 14 minutes. By contrast, deaths due to traffic accidents have dropped by nearly one third since the 1970's.
Much of the problem is due to the overuse of prescription pain killers and anti-anxiety drugs. Drug deaths among adults have tripled from 2000 to 2008. The states with the highest drug overdose death rates are Alaska, Rhode Island, New Mexico, and West Virginia.
The number of prescriptions for the strongest pain pills filled at California pharmacies, for instance, increased more than 43% since 2007 - and the doses grew by even more, nearly 50%, according to a review of prescribing data collected by the state.
As alarming as this may be, the numbers seem small in comparison to the total estimated 784,000 iatrogenic deaths (due to medical mistakes).
Ref: LA Times
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Think about it...
- If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?
- Why is it when you get from here to there, you're still here and not there?
- Why do croutons come in airtight packages? It's just stale bread.
- Before they invented drawing boards, what did they go back to?
- Did Roman paramedics refer to IV's as "4's"?
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Famous Snarky Remarks
"If you don't read the newspaper, you are uninformed;
if you do read the
newspaper, you are
misinformed."
Mark Twain
American Author
1835 ~ 1910
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Wisdom to ponder... 
Paul McCartney
The left handed
bass playing Beatle.
Called the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history" by the Guinness World Records.
"If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian."
"I can't deal with the press; I hate all those Beatles questions."
"I used to think anyone doing anything weird was weird. Now I know that it is the people that call others weird that are weird."
"I don't ever try to make a serious social comment."
"It was Elvis who really got me hooked on beat music. When I heard "Heartbreak Hotel" I thought, this is it."
"Where I come from, you don't really talk about how much you're earning. Those things are private. My dad never told my mum how much he was earning. I'm certainly not going to tell the world. I'm doing well."
"I definitely did look up to John. We all looked up to John. He was older and he was very much the leader; he was the quickest wit and the smartest."
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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 31st 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.
Send a message to the president.
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Micro Musings..
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Do you use control organisms?How do you want your microorganisms? in a pellet? on a swab? quantified? traceable to ATCC? Hardy Diagnostics offers hundreds of choices when it comes to control organisms. See our 44 page catalog of MBL lyophilized microorganisms. 
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?
- What drug was collected from the urine of wounded soldiers and recycled to others?
- What drug was tested by the U.S. Public Health Service using Guatemalan prostitutes to infect prisoners?
- Which messy lab was responsible for the most important medical discovery of the 20th Century?
hint
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A chocolate a day...
Before, you had to make up one; now you have a good excuse... In a recent meta analysis, researchers from the UK pooled the results of seven studies that collectively included more than 114,000 participants. The analysis states that the highest levels of chocolate consumption (that would be dark chocolate, of course) were associated with: - 37 percent reduction in cardiovascular disease, and
- 29 percent reduction in stroke
The authors concluded that: "Based on observational evidence, levels of chocolate consumption seem to be associated with a substantial reduction in the risk of cardiometabolic disorders."
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See the comments
from the MicroBytes Readers....
Should we be funding
research to clone humans?
"There is absolutely no doubt about it, and I may not be the one that does it, but the cloned child is coming. If we intensify our efforts we can have a cloned baby within a year or two."
Panayiotis Zavos, PhD, Genetic Engineer and
Reproductive Science Researcher
Your fellow MicroBytes readers
had some very strong opinions!
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Take our survey...
Post your comments...
Should we increase oil exploration
and drilling in America?
At its peak in production, which occurred in
the 1970s, the U.S. produced about 10 million barrels of oil a day. Now, after 41 years of fairly steady decline, we produce about 5.5 million barrels a day, whereas we consume 20 million barrels daily.
Tell us what you think!
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Advice from the Founders...
"I predict future happiness for Americans
if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."
Thomas Jefferson
The third president of the United States
Author of the Declaration of Independence
1743 ~ 1826
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Seeing is Believing?
Nice building...but impossible to build.
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"Believe half of what you see
and none of what you hear." ~ Marvin Gaye
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Anyway
People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered; Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God; It was never between you and them anyway.
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Mother Teresa
1910 ~ 1997
Albanian Nun
Ministered to the poor, sick,
and dying for 45 years.
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We're giving away one
free kindle
every month to those who "like us"!
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Generally speaking,
you aren't learning much
when your lips are moving.
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"Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen."
Mark Twain.
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