BACKGROUND Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are the current complement to microscopy for ensuring prompt malaria treatment. We determined the performance of three candidate RDTs (Paracheck™-Pf, SD Bioline malaria Ag-Pf and SD Bioline malaria Ag-Pf/pan) for rapid diagnosis of malaria in the Central African Republic. METHODS Blood samples from consecutive febrile patients who attended for laborato...

INTRODUCTION Diagnostic criteria for acute lung injury (ALI) and Acute Respiratory Distress syndrome (ARDS) includes acute onset of disease, chest radiograph demonstrating bilateral pulmonary infiltrates, lack of significant left ventricular dysfunction and Pao2/Fio2 (PF) ratio ≤300 for ALI or ≤200 for ARDS. Recent criteria require invasive arterial sampling. The pulse oximetric saturation Spo2...

Subsurface migration of greenhouse gases and other gaseous phase contaminants is predominantly controlled by soil gas diffusion coefficient (Dp) and its variations with soil-air content (ε) and soil moisture (or potential) status. Buckingham (1904) stated that Dp is proportional to ε X with X characterizing the tortuosity and connectivity of air-filled pore space. In the Buckingham model, as we...

Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) is characterized by focal seizures, associated with hippocampal sclerosis, and often resistance to antiepileptic drugs. The parafascicular nucleus (PF) of the thalamus is involved in the generation of physiological oscillatory rhythms. It receives excitatory inputs from the cortex and inhibitory inputs from the basal ganglia, a system implicated in the contr...

Endocannabinoid signaling has been demonstrated to mediate depolarization-induced suppression of excitation at climbing fiber (CF) and parallel fiber (PF) synapses onto cerebellar Purkinje cells. Here, we show that CF-evoked release of cannabinoids (CBs) additionally suppresses a presynaptic form of long-term potentiation (LTP) at PF synapses. PF-LTP can be induced by 8 Hz PF tetanization but i...

OBJECTIVE Braces used to treat (PF) osteoarthritis (OA) may reduce contact stress across the PF joint. We hypothesised that in PF OA, braces would decrease knee pain and shrink PF bone marrow lesions (BMLs). METHODS Eligible subjects had painful PF OA. Subjects were randomly allocated to brace or no brace for 6 weeks. Knee MRIs were acquired at baseline and 6 weeks. We measured BMLs on post-c...

Sensor systems are not always equipped with the ability to track targets. Sudden maneuvers of a target can have a great impact on the sensor system, which will increase the miss rate and rate of false target detection. The use of the generic particle filter (PF) algorithm is well known for target tracking, but it can not overcome the degeneracy of particles and cumulation of estimation errors. ...

Dinuclear and polymer complexes of 4-phenylpyridine (4-phpy), pyazine (pyz), 4,4′-bipyridine (4,4′-bpy) were prepared by using cis-[Rh2(4-Me-pf)2(O2CR)2] (4-Me-pf- =N,N’-bis(4-methylphenyl)formamidinate anion; R = CF3 CMe3) as precursor dinuclear units. The structures cis-[Rh2II,II(4-Me-pf)2(O2CR)2(4-phpy)2] cis-[Rh2II,III(4-Me-pf)2(O2CCMe3)2(4-phpy)2]BF4 [Rh2II,II(4-Me-pf)2(O2CR)2(L)]n (L pyz ...

STUDY OBJECTIVES To determine if soluble leukocyte selectin (sL-selectin) levels in serum and pleural fluid (PF) are an inflammatory marker that differentiates pleural effusion transudates from exudates. DESIGN sL-selectin PF and serum levels were measured in consecutive patients and compared to established criteria. SETTING A tertiary-care military medical center. PATIENTS One hundred tw...

Paeoniflorin (PF) is the main active component of the commonly used Traditional Chinese Medicine peony, Paeonia Suffruticosa. PF has diverse biological functions and exhibits anti‐oxidative, anti‐inflammatory and anti‐apoptotic activity. Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) is a catalyzing enzyme that is involved in the synthesis of nitric oxide (NO). NO has an important regulatory role in th...