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Buckley, J.

Publications and source records attributed to Buckley, J..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

Point of care influenza testing using Alere-i Influenza A & B assay: a practical assessment

We assessed the utility of the Alere i Influenza A & B point of care influenza test (Ai-POCIT) with laboratory testing using RT-PCR. 270 adult hospital patients had both Ai-POCIT and laboratory influenza tests conducted on the same sample. Overall, 30% and 32% influenza tests were positive by Ai-POCIT and RT-PCR, respectively. The sensitivity of the Ai-POCIT for influenza A, influenza B and any influenza were 93%, 100%, and 95%, respectively. Specificity was 100% for both viruses, but an 11% test failure rate indicates the need for better training of users. We believe that the use of nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs resulted in the observed high performance of the Ai-POCIT in comparison to other published studies. Ai-POCIT was regarded as very useful by front line clinical staff for clinical decision making and acute bed management.

microbiology

Working memory availability affects neural indices of distractor processing during visual search

Working memory and selective attention are traditionally viewed as distinct processes in human cognition. However, increasing research demonstrates significant overlap between these constructs such that as working memory availability decreases, individuals perform worse on attention-based tasks. To date, the neural mechanisms involved in this interaction are unknown. We measured three candidate lateralized event-related potential components (N2pc, Ptc, and SPCN) to observe the effects of increased working memory load on selective processing of targets and distractors. We found that increased working memory load impaired the processing of distractors, but not targets, and this was reflected in attentuation of the Ptc to distractors. We also found that individual performance on the task is related to the neural response to both targets and distractors. This study suggests that working memory availability impacts individuals ability to disengage from irrelevant stimuli, and that individual differences in visual search ability under load are related to both target and distractor processing.

neuroscience