Psychoactive and other ceremonial plants from a 2,000-year-old Maya ritual deposit at Yaxnohcah, Mexico.

For millennia, healing and psychoactive plants have been part of the medicinal and ceremonial fabric of elaborate rituals and everyday religious practices throughout Mesoamerica. Despite the essential nature of these ritual practices to the societal framework of past cultures, a clear understanding of the ceremonial life of the ancient Maya remains stubbornly elusive. Here we record the discovery of a special ritual deposit, likely wrapped in a bundle, located beneath the end field of a Late Preclassic ballcourt in the Helena complex of the Maya city of Yaxnohcah.

Single vs. multiple fraction non-inferiority trial of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy for the comprehensive treatment of oligo-metastases/progression: SIMPLIFY-SABR-COMET.

Background: Radiotherapy delivery regimens can vary between a single fraction (SF) and multiple fractions (MF) given daily for up to several weeks depending on the location of the cancer or metastases. With limited evidence comparing fractionation regimens for oligometastases, there is support to explore toxicity levels to nearby organs at risk as a primary outcome while using SF and MF stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) as well as explore differences in patient-reported quality of life and experience.

Methods: This study will randomize 598 patients in a 1:1 ratio between the standard arm (MF SABR) and the experimental arm (SF SABR).

Blood culture quality assurance: what Australasian laboratories are measuring and opportunities for improvement.

Blood cultures are among the most important specimen types received and processed by the microbiology laboratory. Several publications list which variables should be measured to ensure quality. We undertook a qualitative structured questionnaire of Australian and New Zealand clinical microbiology laboratories to document current blood culture practices and to determine whether expected quality standards are being met.

RCPAQAP audit of antimicrobial reporting in Australian and New Zealand laboratories: opportunities for laboratory contribution to antimicrobial stewardship.

Objectives: A 2017 laboratory survey conducted by the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia Quality Assurance Programs (RCPAQAP) asked participants which antimicrobials they would report for given organisms in either blood or urine cultures in order to identify opportunities for improvement of antimicrobial reporting.

Methods: Over-reporting was defined as reporting of broad-spectrum antimicrobials on isolates susceptible to narrow-spectrum antimicrobials. Inappropriate reporting was defined as reporting antimicrobials not appropriate for the site of infection.

Anxiety: etiology, treatment, and Christian perspectives.

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States, affecting 18% or more of adults. Anxiety is a natural response to stress and danger but becomes pathological when excessive and uncontrollable. This article discusses symptoms, risk factors, neurobiology and pathophysiology, psychotherapies and medications used in treatment, nursing interventions, and biblical Christian understanding and support for managing anxiety.

The frequency and potential clinical impact of non-analytical errors in the RCPA Microbiology QAP 1987-2008.

Background: Reliable reporting of laboratory results is an important component in the diagnosis and management of infectious diseases. We investigated the frequency of pre- and post-analytical errors by participants in the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA) Microbiology Quality Assurance Program (MQAP).

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed MQAP data 1987-1991 and 2004-2008.