Four luminometers and their swab units were evaluated for detecting ATP by surface swabbing.Testing included pipetting known quantities of ATP directly onto the sivabs; pipetting known levels of bacteria and yeast directly onto the swabs and swabbing samples of bacteria and yeast from a surface. None of these instruments and swab detection kits provided consistent, reproducible detection ofATP standards or ATPfrom microorganisms even at high concentrations.All of the sivab kits/instruments shoived poor linearity in measuring known quantities of ATP and shoived high variability in ATP readings with replicate swabs containing identical concentrations of microorganisms. Since good linearity and reproducibility could be obtained using a liquid sample assay of ATP standards without swabs, it is suggested that the swab method itself may be unreliable. ATP may not be effectively released from microorganisms on swabs; ATP may adsorb to the swab interfering with detection and/or the swab might block light transmission. Sivabs of bacterial/yeast suspensions dried on a sterilized surface, provided the most inconsistent ATP readings and lacked linearity. A reason for the poor detection of microbial ATP by surface swabbing could be the inability to pick up microorganisms effectively.Key Words: ATP, bioluminometers, microorganisms, brewery, hygiene, swab. INTRODUCTIONpick up residual ATP and microorganisms followed by a step to release microbial ATP. Light produced from an All living cells contain ATP (adenosine triphosphate) enzyme-coupled assay is then measured in a luminometer which can be extracted and assayed using the enzyme and corre]ated directly to ATP levels in the original coupled luciferin/luciferase assayW-K This reaction sampie. Thjs reaction can be accomplished in seconds produces light (photons) which is directly proportional providing near instantaneous measurements of ATP. If a to the amount of ATP present in the sample^U8. The surface has been properly cleaned and sanitized there light output can be precisely measured in a luminometer should be little or no ATP present (free or contained or with a CCD camera"". Microbial and non-microbial withjn microorganisms). However, as residues from the ATP (which usually refers to free ATP not contained fermentation process and microorganisms are left within a microorganism) can be differentiated by first behind and/or are not removed during cleaning and measuring the free ATP in a sample followed by the sanitation, ATP levels are shown to increase. Therefore, enzymic destruction of the free ATP. Microbial ATP can tr,e method is theoretically very useful for assaying the then be released by lysing the microorganisms present in effectiveness of cleaning and sanitation, the sample and can be measured by the luciferin/ luciferase assay. However, for most surface hygiene Silliker Laboratories Group, Inc. investigated five monitoring, total ATP is measured by releasing all ATP different luminometers and found large differences in from microbial sources and measuring the fr...

BOOK REVIEWS INFOTRAP. Belmont, CA, Information Access Company, September 1985. Price varies with size of installation.Laser (videodisc) technology is in the forefront of the information I industry. A 12-inch videodisc has the potential to store the,equivalent of 5,000 floppy diskettes. This technology has already been adapted to the storage of bibliographic information by the Library of Congress, which stores the text of part of its collection on videodiscs in the interest of preservation. Private ventures in applying the technology include storing MARC records on laser disks; libraries involved in retrospective conversions may avoid the cost of searching records in online systems such as OCLC and RLIN by using these videodiscs. It was inevitable that laser technology would be used for indexing projects, due to its storage capacity and the fact that the retrieval process is virtually error-free.Infotrac'nl is the first application of this technology to legal indexing which has come to our attention. It became available in the summer of 1985 to libraries under a combination lease-to-purchase and user-fee agreement. As of August 1985, when the Case Western Reserve University Law Library received the system on a trial basis, a subscription included up to four IBM microcomputers and monitors, one videodisc player, one videodisc interface unit, four printers, cabling and security enclosures, and the program diskette (the software needed to search the videodisc). Subscribers also receive a new, updated and cumulated, videodisc each month, which is as simple to replace as putting a record on a turntable. It is this replaceable videodisc which stores the index entries.A user chooses between two databases in the Infotracm system:

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