WEIGHING, SHIPPING & ALIQUOTING:

            AFTER A HIGH VACUUM DRYING, ALL EXTRACT BOTTLES GO TO THE SHIPPING AND WEIGHING GROUP WHERE THE WEIGHT OF EACH EXTRACT IS TAKEN AND ENTERED INTO THE COMPUTER RECORD.  LABELING OF EACH BOTTLE IS CHECKED FOR ACCURACY, AND AN ADDITIONAL BARCODE  LABEL IS APPLIED.

            FROM EACH BOTTLE OF EXTRACT ONE 250 mg ALIQUOTS ARE TAKEN, WHICH GETS ITS OWN, UNIQUE BARCODED NUMBER.  THIS ALIQUOT IS REDISSOLVED AND DISTRIBUTED INTO DEEP WELL & DAUGHTER  MICROTITER PLATES, TO BE USED IN VARIOUS TESTING LABS.   PREPARATION OF EXTRACTS IN MICROTITER FORMAT IS A MAJOR PORTION OF THE WORK OF THE GROUP.  ALIQUOTS OF >150,000 EXISTING EXTRACTS ARE IN MICROTITRE PLATES, AVAILABLE FOR TESTING AND DISTRIBUTION.

              THE DTP REPOSITORY SERVES AS A ‘LIBRARY’, A PERMANENT STORAGE LOCATION FOR EXTRACTS, ALIQUOTS AND MICROTITER PLATES FROM WHICH DISTRIBUTIONS CAN BE MADE FOR TESTING.  MORE THAN 48,000 ALIQUOTS OF NATURAL PRODUCTS EXTRACTS HAVE BEEN DISTRIBUTED TO NON-NIH ORGANIZATIONS THROUGH THE OPEN/ACTIVE REPOSITORY (OAR) PROGRAM FOR TESTING IN THEIR OWN UNIQUE BIOASSAY SYSTEMS.  DISTRIBUTION IN MICROTITER PLATE FORMAT WAS BEGUN IN 1998.   

             COMPUTER SUPPORT IS PROVIDED BY ONE INDIVIDUAL WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR DATA UPLOADING TO AND DOWNLOADING FROM ORACLE DATABASES, FOR MAINTAINING THE LOCAL AREA NETWORK THAT THE ENTIRE LAB OPERATES ON, FOR CREATING AND MAINTAINING COMPUTER INTERFACE PROGRAMS, FOR BARCODING EQUIPMENT, AND FOR TRAINING ON COMPUTER OPERATED AND SCIENTIFIC EQUIPMENT.

            CUSTOMIZED PRINTOUTS, REPORTS AND SEARCHES ARE PERFORMED AS REQUESTED.  TABLES AND COLOR GRAPHS SUCH AS THIS POSTER  ARE MADE FOR MEETINGS AND REPORTS.  OTHER CAPABILITIES INCLUDE COMPUTER SEARCHES OF CHEMICAL ABSTRACTS & OTHER ON-LINE DATABASES, AND THE MAINTENANCE OF A 24 HOUR PER DAY FAX.  CUSTOMIZED SOFTWARE HAS BEEN WRITTEN BY THE SYSTEMS MAINTAINER IN SUPPORT OF  SUBCONTRACTS AND OUTSIDE COLLABORATORS THAT ALLOWS THEM  TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO THE DTP IN A FORMAT COMPATIBLE WITH THE CURRENT NPRSS SYSTEM.  THE SUBMISSIONS FROM THE SUBCONTRACTORS AND EXTERNAL COLLABORATORS ARE REVIEWED FOR COMPLETENESS AND THE DATA THEN UPLOADED TO THE VAX 10000.

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