Gram stain info

Search results for Gram stain in NLTN Library

University of Pennsylvania Medical Center Gram stain tutorial & atlas

MicrobeLibrary Gram stain tutorial

Video

Public domain Army correspondence courses

Many Army correspondence courses are available to the general public on an informal,  noncredit basis through the General Dennis J. Reimer Training and Doctrine Digital Library at the US Army Training Support Center.

3/14/08 – The links below have been updated.

Courses of potential interest to laboratorians include (NOTE: Click on the “View” button or “Downloadable files” link to access course material):

Bacteriology

Clinical Chemistry I (*NEW*)

Clinical Chemistry II (*NEW*)

Hematology I

Hematology II

Immunohematology and Blood Banking I

Immunohematology and Blood Banking II

Immunology

Laboratory Centrifuge

Laboratory Mathematics

Mycology

Parasitology I

Parasitology II

Principles of Epidemiology and Microbiology

Urinalysis

New items in the NLTN Lending Library – Sept/Oct 2007

‘Immunology and Evolution of Infectious Disease’ by Steven Frank, an online book from the NCBI Bookshelf, is among the items recently added to the NLTN Library Index.

From the book description:

From HIV to influenza, the battle between infectious agents and the immune system is at the heart of disease. Knowledge of how and why parasites vary to escape recognition by the immune system is central to vaccine design, the control of epidemics, and our fundamental understanding of parasite ecology and evolution. As the first comprehensive synthesis of parasite variation at the molecular, population, and evolutionary levels, this book is essential reading for students and researchers throughout biology and biomedicine. The author uses an evolutionary perspective to meld the terms and findings of molecular biology, immunology, pathogen biology, and population dynamics.

We have also added some “hard copy” books:

• Germs: Biological Weapons and America’s Secret War by Judith Miller, Stephen Engelberg, and William Broad
• The Biology of Doom: The History of America’s Secret Germ Warfare Project by Ed Regis
• Plague: A Story of Science, Rivalry, and the Scourge That Won’t Go Away by Edward Marriott
• Anthrax: The Investigation of a Deadly Outbreak by Jeanne Guillemin
• Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs: Biological and Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World by Adrienne Mayor

Fire extinguisher tutorial

A nifty online tutorial on portable fire extinguishers is available at FireExtinguisher.com - in English or Spanish (Macromedia Flash required).

“Ghost in Your Genes”: NOVA program on epigenetics – Oct 16

‘Ghost in Your Genes’ is the title of the NOVA program on epigenetics scheduled to air tomorrow (Oct 16).  The PBS website has lots of supplementary material, including an online preview; be sure to check their “Links and Books” page.

From the program description:

Scientists have long puzzled over the different fates of identical twins: both have the same genes, yet only one may develop a serious disease like cancer or autism. What’s going on? Does something else besides genes determine who we are? NOVA explores this startling possibility in this program.

The “something else” turns out to be a network of chemical switches that sit on our DNA, turning genes off and on. Called collectively the epigenome, the switches appear to play a major role in everything from how our cells keep their identity to whether we contract dread diseases. Epigenetic switches may even help mold our personalities—or so it appears to Canadian researchers studying a group of epigenetically modified rats.

BioWorksU – new biotech and health career website

BioWorksU.com is a new interactive website that uses games, experiments and other activities to introduce students from the 4th grade up to careers in biotechnology and health care.

Students can learn about DNA extraction, genetic crossing, and identification of the parts of cells. An ambulance maze game requires students to answer health-related questions to proceed through the maze, and a fill-a-prescription game asks players to translate a Latin prescription and perform math.

The site is structured as a virtual university where students can register to earn credits toward a “degree.” There are also career profile videos and information on colleges and universities. Teachers will find lesson plans, such as one on lab equipment for grades 4-8.

The site was created by the Indianapolis Private Industry Council, funded in part by the US Dept of Labor.

Press release from Inside Indiana Business.

NLTN Library user profile – Dr. Paul Park, California Food and Drug Laboratory Branch

Paul Park has been top of the charts as our most frequent NLTN Library user for the past two years. Dr Park is Research Scientist IV, Food and Drug Laboratory Branch (FDLB), California Department of Public Health (where the NLTN Library is housed, so he has a “home field advantage.”) His group recently received an award from the International Association for Food Protection “in recognition of their innovative work in the development and optimization of the recirculating immunomagnetic separation (RIMS) technique in successfully identifying E. coli outbreak strains from food and environmental samples,” stemming from last year’s outbreak of E. coli in spinach.

This is ‘outbreak season,’ a busy time for the FDLB,  recently involved in investigating possible Listeria monocytogenes in tofu and E. coli in bagged salad mix.

Here are Park’s comments on the library and NLTN: “NLTN is a very important source for me in getting information in microbiology. The books are generally up to date and provide valuable background information on subjects that I am looking for. Of particular interest to me are 1) microarrays (there are 4 books on it) – as it provides background info on the subject; 2) bioterror – organisms and “effects” and 3) training materials – such as microscopy and DNA techniques.

I particularly value the audio/video portion of NLTN – especially the training videos. Of course, the frequent NLTN training seminars via the web are invaluable – and I like the fact that the speaker’s slides are available for download before and after the session.”

Epidemiology course podcasts from UC Berkeley

UC Berkeley is making many courses freely available as podcasts, including this Fall 2007 course in Epidemiologic Methods I (link).

From the course description:

Principles and methods of epidemiology: study design, selection, and definition of cases and controls; sampling, data collection, analysis, and inference.

ASCP: “HPV testing and vaccinations may change scope of training for laboratory professionals”

link to full story

TB Training resources

Search for mycobacteriology at NLTN Library:

Here are the results:

Some additional web resources:

• TB Education and Training Resources – a service of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of Tuberculosis Elimination (DTBE), includes a comprehensive links page
• Francis J. Curry National TB Center – offers free training resources, including some online courses with CEUs