PURPOSE Results of a study comparing the performance of allometric versus consensus guideline-recommended vancomycin dosing in achieving initial trough concentrations within the desired range are reported. METHODS A retrospective study was conducted to compare selected outcomes with 2 vancomycin dosing methods: (1) dosing by total body weight, as recommended in current consensus guidelines, a...

The relationship between tree height and diameter is fundamental in determining community and ecosystem structure as well as estimates of biomass and carbon storage. Yet our understanding of how tree allometry relates to climate and whole organismal function is limited. We used the Forest Inventory and Analysis National Program database to determine height-diameter allometries of 2,976,937 indi...

Although the evolution and function of "exaggerated" bony projections in ornithischian dinosaurs has been subject to significant debate recently, our understanding of the structure and morphology of their epidermal keratinized coverings is greatly limited. The holotype of Borealopelta, a new nodosaurid ankylosaur, preserves osteoderms and extensive epidermal structures (dark organic residues), ...

The design of living beings is not only a matter of molecular biology but also of geometry and physics. This was once more demonstrated with a biophysical model by G. B. West et al. (1) that had been fine-tuned to predict the famous scaling law of metabolism (2), namely a 3/4 power relation between body mass and energy consumption. While properties and predictions of the model are remarkable, a...

The hemimetabolous migratory locust Locusta migratoria progresses through five instars to the adult, increasing in size from 0.02 to 0.95 g, a 45-fold change. Hopping locomotion occurs at all life stages and is supported by aerobic metabolism and provision of oxygen through the tracheal system. This allometric study investigates the effect of body mass (Mb) on oxygen consumption rate (MO2, μmol...

PURPOSE To evaluate the best method for dosing busulfan in children, we retrospectively analyzed two different data sets from three different dosing regimens by means of population pharmacokinetics using NONMEM. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN The development data set consisted of plasma samples from 94 children, in the age range of 0.4 to 18.8 years, receiving either oral or intravenous busulfan. The ex...

Traditional classifications of the Old World monkey tribe Papionini (Primates: Cercopithecinae) recognized the mangabey genera Cercocebus and Lophocebus as sister taxa. However, molecular studies have consistently found the mangabeys to be diphyletic, with Cercocebus and Mandrillus forming a clade to the exclusion of all other papionins. Recent studies have identified cranial and postcranial fe...

BACKGROUND To optimize antimicrobial dosing in different animal species, pharmacokinetic information is necessary. Due to the plethora of cephalosporin antimicrobials and animal species in which they are used, assessment of pharmacokinetics in all species is unfeasible. In this study we aimed to describe pharmacokinetic data of cephalosporins by reviewing the available literature for food produ...

The allometric equations developed by Whittaker et al. (1974) at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest have been used to estimate biomass and productivity in northern hardwood forest systems for over three decades. Few other species-specific allometric estimates of belowground biomass are available, because of the difficulty of collecting the data, and such equations are rarely validated. Using...

Allometric relationships among morphological traits underlie important patterns in ecology. These relationships are often phylogenetically shared; thus quantifying allometric relationships may allow for estimating difficult-to-measure traits across species. One such trait, proboscis length in bees, is assumed to be important in structuring bee communities and plant-pollinator networks. However,...