Multiple recent studies have demonstrated the limited utility of morphological methods used singly for species identification of clinically relevant aspergilli. It is being increasingly recognised that comparative sequence based methods used in conjunction with traditional phenotype based methods can offer better resolution of species within this genus. Recognising the growing role of molecular...

OBJECTIVES To assess the ability of gait speed alone and a three-item lower extremity performance battery to predict 12-month rates of hospitalization, decline in health, and decline in function in primary care settings serving older adults. DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING Primary care programs of a Medicare health maintenance organization (HMO) and Veterans Affairs (VA) system. ...

Failures in information flow from clinical handover are the leading cause of sentinel events in the USA and associated with nearly half of all adverse events and over a tenth of preventable adverse events in Australia. Verbal clinical handover provides a good picture of the background clinical history and current state of clinical management of a group of patients cared for by a nursing team. H...

Cerebral microdialysis, introduced in experimental studies 40 years ago, has been used clinically since 1992 for the neurochemical monitoring of patients in intensive care. The principles underlying this technique are closely related to brain metabolism. The study of the metabolites detected at brain interstitial tissue level, through the semipermeable membrane of the device, allows us to asses...

In a clinical skills assessment, the decision to pass or fail an examinee should be based on the test content or on the examinees' performance. The process of deciding a pass score is known as setting a standard of the examination. This requires a properly selected panel of expert judges and a suitable standard setting method, which best fits the purpose of the examination. Six standard setting...

INTRODUCTION There has been much federal and local health planning for an influenza pandemic in the United States, but little is known about the ability of the clinical community to deal quickly and effectively with a potentially overwhelming surge of pandemic influenza patients. PROBLEM The attitudes and expectations of emergency physicians, emergency nurses, hospital nursing supervisors, ho...