Nurses' perceptions of point of care testing in critical care: A cross-sectional survey.

Background: Nurses working in critical care (intensive or high dependency care units) perform a multitude of tasks including point-of-care testing (POCT), where diagnostic tests are performed at or near a patient's bedside. POCT can speed up clinical decision-making, but errors can occur at any point in the pre-analytical phase.

Aim: To investigate nurses' perceptions of current POCT practice in critical care pre and post the COVID-19 pandemic.

Blood sampling in adult critical care: a mixed methods study.

There are few studies exploring blood sampling practice in critical care. In particular, the views of nursing staff are missing from the literature. The aim of this mixed methods study was to understand blood sampling practice at a single centre National Specialist Orthopaedic NHS trust in London, England.

Fire and grass-bedding construction 200 thousand years ago at Border Cave, South Africa.

Early plant use is seldom described in the archaeological record because of poor preservation. We report the discovery of grass bedding used to create comfortable areas for sleeping and working by people who lived in Border Cave at least 200,000 years ago. Sheaves of grass belonging to the broad-leafed Panicoideae subfamily were placed near the back of the cave on ash layers that were often remnants of bedding burned for site maintenance.

Sites of Circadian Clock Neuron Plasticity Mediate Sensory Integration and Entrainment.

Networks of circadian timekeeping in the brain display marked daily changes in neuronal morphology. In Drosophila melanogaster, the striking daily structural remodeling of the dorsal medial termini of the small ventral lateral neurons has long been hypothesized to mediate endogenous circadian timekeeping. To test this model, we have specifically abrogated these sites of daily neuronal remodeling through the reprogramming of neural development and assessed the effects on circadian timekeeping and clock outputs.

The effect of curing hepatitis C with direct-acting antiviral treatment on endothelial function.

Background: Epidemiological data suggest that chronic HCV infection (CHC) is associated with increased cardiovascular risk, but it is unknown if it is associated with endothelial dysfunction. We aimed to assess the effect of antiviral treatment on endothelial function in non-cirrhotic adults with CHC.

Methods: Self-controlled before and after study.