Medical Laboratory Observer articles from February 2004

Medical Laboratory Observer archives from February 2004

Think prepared!(From the Editor)(Trust for America's Health, governement funding for bioterrorism control)
February 1, 2004... In 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower professed, "History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. We must acquire proficiency in defense and display stamina in purpose." Where I grew up, ordinary folk--having...

More "salutes" for military MLTs.(Readers Respond)(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2004... Thank you for writing and running the article on laboratory personnel in the United States Armed Forces ("Where the heroes are: A tribute to military MLTs," December 2003, p. 22). The military's outstanding training programs for MLTs, MTs, and...

For all laboratorians.(Readers Respond)(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2004... I am one of the permanent readers of MLO. With a great interest and pleasure, I read your editorial on a monthly basis. The one from December [2003] ("Summer in the dead of winter," p. 6) was excellent, and I must admit that I reviewed it...

DETA coating for better DNA retention.(New Technology)(3-trimethoxysilylpropyl diethylenetriamine)(Dr. Carlo G. Pantano)
February 1, 2004... DETA coating for better DNA retention. Penn State material scientists have developed a coating made of organic molecules that tethers DNA to a glass surface, that may make DNA microarrays denser and more affordable. The coating is licensed by...

Century-old smallpox scabs discovered.(Medical History)
February 1, 2004... Century-old smallpox scabs discovered. Scabs from 19th-century smallpox vaccinations were found in a New Mexico university library. Inger Damon, chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) pox virus group, thinks since the...

Unique laboratorians.(News)(Cricetomys gambianus-giant pouched rats )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Unique laboratorians. In an unusual report from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, the Associated Press reported on Dec. 15 that giant pouched rats (Cricetomys gambianus) trained to sniff out land mines in Africa are now learning--with the help of a...

Diagnostic tests for common STDs and HSV-2.(Sexually Transmitted Diseases)(Cover Story)
February 1, 2004... CONTINUING EDUCATION [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] To earn CEUs, see test on page 22. LEARNING OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this article the reader will be able to: 1. Identify the most important standard test for common...

Real-time STD reporting is just around the corner!(Information management of Diagnostic reports)(United States. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
February 1, 2004... The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a goal of receiving all legally reportable laboratory results from all agencies in real time. Real-time transfer of results will need to come from the testing agency, through the state...

President Susanne Garay discusses the changing complexion of Remel.(Executive Forecast)(Remel manufactures and distributers)(Interview)
February 1, 2004... Dottie Dunham: Remel manufactures and distributes to diagnostic-testing markets worldwide. What global trends in that field will influence the direction of the company in the next five years? Susanne Garay: The diagnostic market has...

The challenges of prostate cancer detection.(Clinical Issues)
February 1, 2004... The American Cancer Society estimates that 220,900 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer last year in the United States, with 28,900 deaths attributable to the disease. When the prostate biopsy test results for one of our co-workers came back...

Reporting mixed urine culture.(Experts Focus on Lab Concerns)
February 1, 2004... Q Our OB/GYN POL recently switched to a hospital reference lab. When we send a CCMS urine for culture, this lab performs a Gram stain if the dipstick is positive for leukocytes and/or nitrites. Our previous reference lab did not do this. Is...

Plastic discard tubes.(Experts Focus on Lab Concerns)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Q If you have a PT only to draw, and are using plastic tubes, what do you use as a discard tube since the red-stopper tube cannot be used? With glass tubes, we draw the red-stopper tube as the discard tube, then the citrate tube. A As of...

Erroneous reports.(Experts Focus on Lab Concerns)
February 1, 2004... Q I have read that when submitting a corrected report, the original (erroneous) report is to be left on the chart, because if the physician treated based on erroneous data, evidence of that data was needed to support his treatment. Our lab...

Homeland security and bioterrorism applications: detection of bioweapon pathogens by microfluidic-based electrophoretic DNA analysis.(Lab Management)
February 1, 2004... Today, we live with the knowledge that terrorism is a global threat. Since the events of September 11, 2001, we have become especially aware of our vulnerability to terrorism at home. Increasingly, we are learning to respond to this threat with...

Being diplomatic without sacrificing the message.(Addressing Management Issues)
February 1, 2004... Q My manager has told me that I am too assertive and that I border on being aggressive. She said that I need to be more diplomatic. I am very effective in getting positive outcomes from my team. How can I be more diplomatic (and, therefore,...

Losing vacation time.(Addressing Management Issues)
February 1, 2004... Q The laboratory for which I work has the policy that only 40 hours (one week) of vacation can be carried over to the next calendar year. Many of us will not be able to take all of our earned vacation this year and will lose it. We cannot take...

Phlebotomy: the vital link between the patient and the lab.(Product Focus)
February 1, 2004... Phlebotomy has evolved into a profession that requires specialized education and training. Apart from having to master the many required techniques and skills associated with blood drawing and sundry sample collection, phlebotomists also need...

Labs obliged to perform properly ordered tests.(Liability and the Lab)
February 1, 2004... Q I am a med tech at a rural hospital. We have just started beta naturietic peptide (BNP) testing in our lab. When the manufacturer trained us, we were told that the method we use is for a diagnostic tool only. Some of our physicians, however,...

QC for stain.(Industry Spotlight)
February 1, 2004... The Hardy Q-Slide is a convenient ready-to-stain control that tests both stain solutions and staining techniques. Positive and negative stain control organisms are affixed to the circles in each Q-Slide. Up to four patient specimens (in the...

Microarray slide handling.(Industry Spotlight)
February 1, 2004... Constructed from polypropylene and able to withstand temperatures of 220[degrees]F (104[degrees]C), the mBox Microarray Slide Handling system provides a secure and efficient means of immersing batches of 20 slides in liquids during blocking,...

Serum protein assay.(Industry Spotlight)
February 1, 2004... A new addition to the QuickGel line of agarose electrophoresis kits, the QuickGel Serum Protein Assay can be used with the SPIFE system or with the new standalone QuickGel chamber. The kits come with applicators and are ideal for small runs or...

Third-generation homogeneous HDL.(Industry Spotlight)
February 1, 2004... Based on the accelerator selective detergent or ASD methodology, the HDL Ultra is a color-developing product for the quantitative determination of HDL cholesterol. The stable, ready-to-use, two-reagent liquid system is easy to set up on most...

Quiet and compact.(Industry Spotlight)
February 1, 2004... Recently introduced, the Z150A compact centrifuge has a six-place rotor for 10-mL to 15-mL common blood-collection tubes, or smaller tubes with the use of adapters. The unit's two speeds provide fast separation of platelets from plasma with...

Fewer false positives.(Industry Spotlight)
February 1, 2004... BBL CHROMagar 0157 is a chromogenic medium with a highly specific enzymatic reaction that isolates and presumptively identifies E. coli 0157 and differentiates it from other E. coli strains. With fewer false-positives than conventional media,...

One-button start-up.(Industry Spotlight)
February 1, 2004... Offering rapid concentration of multiple small samples, the CentriVap Benchtop Centrifugal Concentrator has a large chamber that holds more samples and offers greater throughput. The system includes the concentrator, cold trap, chemical trap,...

Dual binocular head.(Industry Spotlight)
February 1, 2004... The Revelation III medical-grade microscope offers a new dual binocular head option, which allows two technicians to view specimens simultaneously, facilitating specialized teaching and training in the lab. The dual binocular head comes...

Purification of total RNA.(Industry Spotlight)
February 1, 2004... Providing walk-away automation for the isolation of total RNA from cultured cells using silica-coated magnetic particle technology, the BioRobot EZ1 system eliminates tedious centrifugation. The system combines unparalleled ease of use with...

Flexible antibiotic system.(Industry Spotlight)
February 1, 2004... A complete solution for microbiology antibiotic and identification testing, the new BIOMIC Vision 2004 AST/ID system uses a color digital camera to instantly read and interpret zone sizes and determine accurate MICs from standard disk tests....

Optimum barrier protection.(Industry Spotlight)
February 1, 2004... Offering protection, tactile sensitivity, and comfort, the Micro-Touch Affinity powder/latex-free exam gloves offer a new level of comfort for users required to wear gloves for extended periods. Developed from polychloroprene, the gloves have a...

12-slide FISH processing system.(Industry Spotlight)
February 1, 2004... A programmable temperature-controlled 12-slide processing system called the ThermoBrite can also be used as a fixed temperature slide warmer. The system allows the user to program up to 40 temperature/time protocols and automates the...

Personal-size freezers.(Industry Spotlight)
February 1, 2004... Ensuring sample security, the new compact, 3.6 cu. ft., ultra-low temperature (-86[degrees]C) freezer, Model U101, can be placed either on or under benches, optimizing lab space while offering an internal stacking kit system, which doubles the...

Diagnostic test for IBD.(Industry Spotlight)
February 1, 2004... The IBD-CHEK diagnostic test aids in identifying patients with active inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and rule out those with irritable bowel syndrome, a noninflammatory condition. The test is based on elevated levels of fecal lactoferrin,...

Consistent and intense tissue staining.(Industry Spotlight)
February 1, 2004... An easy-to-use instrument for maximizing immunohistochemical-staining protocols, the IHC Select Manual Staining system requires minimal operator input, is compact, and offers a format for standardized staining of two to 40 IHC slides...

Fully automated immunotyping.(Industry Spotlight)
February 1, 2004... Optimizing the concept of liquid flow electrophoresis for clinical diagnostic applications, the CAPILLARYS has been designed for continuous feed of samples providing unsurpassed, walk-away throughput of up to 80 serum protein results per hour....

Rapid enzyme immunoassay.(Industry Spotlight)
February 1, 2004... The ImmunoCard Mycoplasma, a rapid enzyme immunoassay, is an in-vitro qualitative procedure for the detection of IgM to Mycoplasma pneumoniae in human serum. This simple self-contained device with color-change technology is used in the...

New prostrate cancer marker.(Industry Spotlight)
February 1, 2004... Offering improved specificity over traditional and free-to-total prostrate specific antigen (PSA) tests, this new complexed PSA (cPSA) test is more accurate and has been shown to be 10% to 20% more specific than commercially available tPSA...

Laboratory proficiency testing sports anomalies.(Washington Report)(United States. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
February 1, 2004... Proficiency testing (PT) seems to send shivers of dread throughout laboratories across the nation. It would seem to be a simple thing, given that it is really just another analysis--like hundreds we all do each day in the laboratory. ...