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a culture of service...
March, 2014
© 2014, Hardy Diagnostics,
all rights reserved
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TransPRO
A better swab
for better specimen absorption and release
Hardy's TransPRO specimen collection system utilizes the new patented HydraFlock technology. It is designed to enhance your specimen recovery and produce superior results.
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Brainteasers
Have a cup of coffee and get ready to stimulate your neurons!
...
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For brighter colors
and easier read-out...
Did you know that Hardy Diagnostics was the first company to introduce chromogenic media to America?
See
our complete line of HardyCHROM products.
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Phraseology...
"America"
Ever wondered where the word America came from?
The word first showed up on a map of the world dated in 1507 by the German cartographer, Martin Waldseemuller, as shown below.
So where did Martin get the word? He named the American east coast after Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian cartographer, merchant, and explorer who, a few years earlier, published his letters describing his travels to the east coast of South America and the Caribbean Sea.
Above is the expanded view of the western section of Waldseemuller's map showing that he was the first to name the American continent. This map has been on display at the Library of Congress in Washington DC since 2007
.
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Pharyngitis is not just about Strep...
Looking for Arcanobacterium?
Arcanobacterium heamolyticum
is also a well known cause of pharyngitis, just like Strep. Hardy's biplate facilitates the recovery and identification of both Group A Strep and Arcanonbacterium from throat cultures.
Learn
more...
Order
the biplate
Request
a sample
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Think about it...
* How does the snow plow driver go to work?
* Exactly how much wood
would
a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
* If you genetically crossed pig and bush, would you get a hedgehog?
* How does a thermos flask know whether to keep the drinks cold or warm?
* How long a minute is depends on what side of the bathroom door you're on.
* If yesterday was today, then why wouldn't today be yesterday?
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"Newsletter@HardyDiagnostics.com
"
to your address book, trusted sender list, or contact list.
If you wish to unsubscribe, click on the SafeUnsubscribe link at the bottom of this page.
Thanks!
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A year ago, Hardy Diagnostics became an employee-owned company. The common term for this is an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Program). After a certain length of service, all employees become stockholders of the corporation.
At Hardy Diagnostics, you can expect us to act like we own the place...because we do!
View
the Press Release.
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Wisdom to ponder...
Ludwig Van Beethoven
1770 ~ 1827
Beloved German composer; started going deaf in his twenties becoming completely deaf in his early forties. Much is known about him since historians still have his "conversation books" in which he communicated with his friends by writing in a book.
"Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy."
"This is the mark of a really admirable man: steadfastness in the face of trouble."
"Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life."
"Recommend virtue to your children; it alone, not money, can make them happy. I speak from experience."
"Music should strike fire from the heart of man, and bring tears from the eyes of woman."
"Anyone who tells a lie has not a pure heart, and cannot make a good soup."
"Beethoven can write music, thank God, but he can do nothing else on earth."
Beethoven's plaster death mask created two days after his death in 1827.
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QUICK LINKS...
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Want to receive the MicroBytes
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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 33rd year of serving microbiologists.
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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 detailed technical inserts, comprised of over 4,500 pages of information regarding microbiology.
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Services over 9,000 labs and maintains a worldwide network of over 40
distributors.
Send a
message to the president
.
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Micro Musings...
"But, baby, I've
got
to move fast, I'm only a 24 hour virus!"
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Black Plague Kills
Lab Researcher
___________________________________
Dr. Casadaban was working with an
attenuated
strain of
Yersinia pestis
in his lab,
yet died of septicemic black plague.
How can this be?
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B is longer than A, right?
No..actually it is not.
"Believe half of what you see
and none of what you hear."
~ Marvin Gaye ~
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Respiratory pathogens found in the smoggy air
At times, the smog in Beijing can be so thick it is known to cause the "Beijing cough." However, the particles in Beijing's soupy smog may be more than simple airborne debris.
Recently, Chinese researchers used genetic sequencing to identify 1,300 different microbial species in the polluted blanket that covers the city. Most of these species are benign environmental strains, but a few may cause human allergies and respiratory disease. On particularly heavy smog days, the proportion of DNA in the smog from these allergens and pathogens increases, suggesting that vulnerable groups, such as the elderly or immune compromised, may be at increased respiratory risk.
In the past few years, metagenomics (looking at a cluster of environmental genomes to identify broad families or genera) has been the focus of sampling. However, this study represents the first time a broad survey has attempted to pinpoint a particular species to determine its pathogenicity.
Researchers divided air samples by particle size (those less than 2.5µm (PM2.5) and those up to 10µm (PM10)) and took 14 measurements over 7 consecutive days.
On days when visibility was at its worst, Beijing's particle counts measured 20 times that of the World Health Organization (WHO) limits for air quality.
In the Beijing study, DNA sequences were compared to a large gene database, and the most abundant species identified was
Geodermatophilus obscurus
, a common soil bacterium. However, researchers also found
Streptococcus pneumoniae, Aspergillus fumigatus,
and a host of fecal species. Moreover, the proportion of potential pathogens in the samples increased from two to four times on the smoggiest days; but it's difficult to say whether these results represent viable or nonviable cells.
In the future, data from this study could be used to compare microbes from patients with respiratory infections to determine if the same organisms are present. This data could then help determine if smoggier days result in increased infection rates.
Information from the Beijing report is similar to data obtained from a study conducted in Italy, and points to increasing evidence of the need to study microbial-airborne particulate health effects. Yet microbes traveling through the air are nothing new. As the brown haze continues to grow in big cities like Beijing, it may be necessary for researchers to look more closely at ways to reduce particulate counts that, in the end, may be more broadly damaging to public health than circulating microbes.
~ Kerry Pierce
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HardyCHROM SS is a new patented chromogenic media designed to streamline the screening of stool specimens for
Salmonella
and
Shigella
.
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Would you like to eliminate annoying false positives from
Proteus
spp?
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Would you like to reduce the time to report out positives from three down to two days?
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Take the MicroBytes Survey.
..
Was the ban on incandescent bulbs
a good thing?
By Federal law it is now illegal to manufacture or import incandescent light bulbs 40 watts or higher in America.
Incandescent bulbs can require up to seven times as much energy as some alternative bulbs. Only 10% of the energy is used for light, the remaining 90% is converted to wasted heat.
However, the alternative compact fluorescent bulbs contain toxic mercury and LED bulbs are much more expensive.
Proponents say the law was good for the environment and will significantly reduce energy consumption.
Naysayers claim that the government should not interfere with our freedom of choice.
What do you say?
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Intelligence Test
1) How long did the Hundred Years' War last?
2) Which country makes Panama hats?
3) From which animal do we get cat gut?
4) In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution?
5) What is a camel's hair brush made of?
6) The Canary Islands in the Pacific are named after what animal?
7) What was King George VI's first name?
8) What color is a purple finch?
9) Where are Chinese gooseberries from?
10) What is the color of the black box in a commercial airplane?
11) Who is buried in Grant's Tomb
Scroll to bottom to see answers...
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Inside of me there's a thin person struggling to get out....
but I can usually sedate her with 3 or 4 cupcakes
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Evolutionary paranoia
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Online
Ordering
Made
Easy!
Watch
a short video
to learn how easy it is
to order from Hardy on-line!
Pick
. Click. You're Done!
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ANSWERS TO THE QUIZ ABOVE
1) How long did the Hundred Years War last?
116 years
2) Which country makes Panama hats?
Ecuador
3) From which animal do we get cat gut?
Sheep and Horses
4) In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution?
November
5) What is a camel's hair brush made of?
Squirrel Fur
6) The Canary Islands in the Pacific are named after what animal?
Dogs
7) What was King George VI's first name?
Albert
8 ) What color is a purple finch?
Crimson
9) Where are Chinese gooseberries from?
New Zealand
10) What is the color of the black box in a commercial airplane?
Orange
11) Who is buried in Grant's Tomb?
Ulysses S. Grant
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