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a culture of service...
March, 2011
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Take a chance at winning a FREE iPad...
Take our survey!
In order to help us with our continuous quality improvement program, we want to know what you think about the service you receive from Hardy or your other vendors. Take this short survey and get a chance to win a free Apple iPad computer!
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Brainteasers
Take our quicky
intelligence test
Enter here
if you dare
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Foodborne Illness
Time to onset of symptoms
Foodborne intestinal illness can be difficult to diagnose. Below are listed the incubation times to onset of symptoms for each of the more common bacterial pathogens compared to enteric viruses.
Staphylococcus aureus
1 to 6 hours
Bacillus cereus
(upper GI symtoms)
8 to 16 hours
Clostridium perfringens
Bacillus cereus
(lower GI symptoms)
2 to 36 hours (mean 6-12)
Salmonella
Shigella
Campylobacter
Yersina
Vibrio
12 to 74 hours (mean 18-36)
Enteric viruses
3 to 5 days
For more information, see the FDA's
Bad Bug Book.
For a new and simplified method to screen for Salmonella and Shigella from stool specimens, consider the new
HardyCHROM SS
plate.
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FOOD MICRO
Hardy Diagnostics offers a complete selection of microbiology supplies for the food and beverage microbiologist. Please see our extensive
catalog
of products for your lab.
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Getting Real
Can you match the real names
to the following celebrity
stage names?
1. Woody Allen
2. Tony Curtis
3. Stevie Wonder
4. Roy Rogers
5. Mel Brooks
6. Yves St. Laurent
A.
Steveland Judkins
B.
Bernard Schwartz
C.
Melvin Kaminsky
D.
Allen Konigsberg
E.
Leonard Franklin Sly
F.
Henri Donat Mathieu
Answers
1. D; 2. B; 3. A; 4. E; 5. C; 6. F
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Think about it...
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If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?
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If 'pro' is the opposite to 'con'; is Congress the opposite to progress?
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If it is illegal to drink and drive, why do bars have parking lots?
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Why do we call it a hamburger when it is made from beef?
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If a mime is arrested, do they tell him he has the right to remain silent?
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Quotes overheard
at airport security...
"We rub you the wrong way, so you can be on your way."
"Can't see London, can't see France, unless we see your underpants."
"Grope discounts available."
"We are now free to move about your pants."
"Legalize gate rape."
"If we did our job any better, we'd have to buy you dinner first."
"
Don't worry, my hands are still warm from the last guy."
"Throw a few back at the airport Chili's and you won't even notice."
"Our motto: "TSA . . .Touchin', Squeezin', Arrestin'"
"The stroke of the hand is now the law of the land."
"We do cavity searches far better than your dentist can!"
"Cough"
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Foot in
Mouth
Disease
"Color television! Bah!
I won't believe it
until I see it in
black and white."
Samuel Goldwyn
Founder of the movie studio
"Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer"
MGM
1882 to 1974
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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...
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Is celebrating its 30th year of serving microbiologists?
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Manufactures over
3,000 products
for microbiology for you to choose from.
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Maintains seven distribution centers in the U.S. for faster turn around time to your lab.
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Is
ISO 13485
certified for the manufacture of medical devices to give you confidence in our products.
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Offers you its technical manual,
HUGO
, which contains over 4,500 pages of information regarding microbiology.
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Maintains a worldwide network of over 30 distributors.
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Micro Musings..
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Radiation Spreading?
There have been recent reports of radioactive dust spreading to other parts of the globe due to the tragic nuclear reactor explosions in Japan.
One of the most abundant substances in the cloud of radioactive steam released by the failing nuclear power plants is iodine-131-a radioactive form of the element, iodine, that is found throughout nature. Iodine-131 poses a special health risk because of its cancer-causing effect on the thyroid gland.
Due to the threat of radiation exposure and the possibility of thyroid cancer as an outcome, potassium iodide tablets have been in increasing demand, in spite of warnings against their use. See the
CDC's recommendations
for KI tablets here.
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A service from Hardy...
CUSTOM MEDIA
Do you have a special formula
that you would like to have
made for your lab?
Please allow Hardy Diagnostics to prepare a price quote for you. Hardy has over 30 years of experience in the manufacturing of culture media. Its manufacturing facility is fully licensed by the FDA and is ISO 13485 (medical devices) certified to the highest quality standards. We will prepare your product in any fill size, in any container, to your specifications.
Request a price quote
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From the
Microbiology
Hall of Fame
. . .
Joseph Lister
The father of modern
antisepsis and surgery
In the middle 1800s, Joseph Lister, a surgeon in Glasgow, read a paper published by the French chemist, Louis Pasteur. In this paper, Pasteur claimed that rotting and fermentation in anaerobic conditions were caused by microorganisms. As a surgeon, Lister was well acquainted with the high rate of wound infections at his hospital, due to the fact that hand washing by the hospital staff was not yet a common practice. Pasteur suggested three methods for the control of microorganisms: heat, filtration, and exposure to chemical solutions.
Inspired by Pasteur's writings, Lister began to experiment with various solutions. The most successful one was carbolic acid (phenol), which he used to spray incision wounds, dressings, and surgical instruments. He described his new methods in a paper published in 1867. As a result, the rate of gangrene decreased, which saved many lives, especially due to the prevention of battlefield induced infections.
In an attempt to create the first "clean room," he sprayed his 5% phenol solution into the air of the surgery suite, but later had to abandon the idea due to the toxic effects experienced by the surgeons (photo below).
He became a popular lecturer in Britain on the subject of antisepsis in the ensuing years, as he developed methods of sterile technique in surgery. In 1879, the mouthwash "Listerine" was named in his honor. In addition, the pathogenic food bacteria, "Listeria" also bears his name.
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Take the MicroBytes survey...
Should America be
involved in overthrowing
Gaddafi in Libya
?
Take our survey
and espress your thoughts on this subject.
Selected comments will be published in next month's MicroBytes (without names).
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Should we tighten up
our gun control laws?
See
what the MicroBytes
readers said in last month's survey!
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Wisdom to ponder...
"The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age. "
"You see much more of your children once they leave home."
"I think knowing what you cannot do is more important than knowing what you can."
"I'd rather regret the things I've done than regret the things I haven't done."
"I'm not funny. What I am is brave."
"Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world."
"One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn't pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself."
"The more things you do, the more you can do."
________________
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Advice from the Founders...
"I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection.
'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct,
will pursue his principles unto death."
Thomas Paine
American Author, Revolutionary,
and Journalist
1737 ~ 1809
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Seeing is Bel
ieving?
What do you see in this picture? Move your head from side to side. Do you see a diamond? Now get up close and look again. Where are the borders to the diamond? Not there?
Hmmm . . .
________
"Believe half of what you see and none of what you hear."
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The Answer...
Seeing is Bel
ieving?
So where did this "hole
"
come from?
Did this one stump you last month? The answer lies in the fact that the hypoteneuse of the top triangle is not exactly straight; it is slightly curved. The area above this sagging line and what should be the straight line is exactly equal to the area within the white "hole" of the bottom triangle!
________
"Believe half of what you see and none of what you hear."
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