Abstract With the launch of Global Precipitation Measurement Dual-Frequency Radar (GPM-DPR) in 2014, renewed interest retrievals snowfall atmospheric column has occurred. The current operational GPM-DPR retrieval largely underestimates surface accumulation. Here, a neural network (NN) trained on data that are synthetically derived from state-of-the-art ice particle scattering models and measure...

BACKGROUND This study evaluated the performance of a new weight estimation strategy (Mercy Method) with four existing weight-estimation methods (APLS, ARC, Broselow, and Nelson) in children from Ouelessebougou, Mali. METHODS Otherwise healthy children, 2 mos to 16 yrs, were enrolled and weight, height, humeral length (HL) and mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) obtained by trained raters. Weig...

The mechanisms by which vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) contribute to lung cancer growth have not been fully elucidated. This study aimed to assess the role of VEGF and sICAM-1 in control of pleural effusions (PE) and survival in patients with primary human lung adenocarcinoma. Using enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay, the conce...

BACKGROUND Transthoracic ultrasound (US) is an important instrument to identify pleural effusions and safely conduct invasive procedures. It also allows systematic scanning of the pleural surface, though its value remains uncertain for differentiation between malignant (MPE) and nonmalignant pleural effusion (non-MPE) in routine clinical practice. OBJECTIVES To evaluate the utility of US feat...

In this paper we study stochastic dynamic games with many players that are relevant for a wide range of social, economic, and engineering applications. The standard solution concept for such games is Markov perfect equilibrium (MPE), but it is well known that MPE computation becomes intractable as the number of players increases. Further, MPE demands a perhaps implausible level of rationality o...

L-thyroxine (LT4) withdrawal prior to radioactive iodine (RAI) ablation therapy is a commonly used method for successful treatment of patients with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). However, a prolonged period of hypothyroidism induced by LT4 withdrawal is sometimes associated with impaired quality of life and cardiopulmonary dysfunction in PTC patients. Furthermore, LT4 withdrawal may have a tro...

OBJECTIVES To assess plasma steady-state pharmacokinetics (PK) of rifampicin, isoniazid, saquinavir and ritonavir in HIV and tuberculosis (TB) co-infected patients, and investigate potential interactions between TB drugs and protease inhibitors (PIs). METHODS Open-label, single-arm, sequential PK study including 22 patients with HIV infection and TB. During the first 2 months, patients receiv...

Bloodstream infections are amongst the most serious infections of hospitalised patients and are associated with high mortality, especially amongst those with severe sepsis and septic shock. A range of organ dysfunctions, together with drug interactions and other therapeutic interventions (e.g. haemodynamically active drugs and continuous renal replacement therapies) may have a strong impact on ...

Erythropoietin (EPO) has a highly conserved structure among mammals, and thus recombinant human EPO (rHuEPO) has biological activity in various species. This study explores the interspecies relationships of the pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of rHuEPO. The PK parameters such as clearance (CL) and volume of distribution (V(ss)) after i.v. doses of rHuEPO were obtained in several...

Over the last decades, the interest in the relationships between the pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of antimicrobial agents has increased and, therefore, the use of PK/PD indices and expressions has spread widely. The appropriate definition and use of these parameters is a matter of controversy. This paper contains a proposal to use PK/PD expressions for antimicrobial agents an...