BACKGROUND Proportional assist ventilation+ (PAV+) delivers airway pressure (P aw) in proportion to patient effort (P mus) by using the equation of motion of the respiratory system. PAV+ calculates automatically respiratory mechanics (elastance and resistance); the work of breathing (WOB) is estimated by the ventilator. The accuracy of P mus estimation and hence accuracy of the delivered P aw a...

Pathogens are common and diverse in natural communities and have been implicated in the success of host invasions. Yet few studies have experimentally measured how pathogens impact native versus exotic hosts, particularly when individual hosts are simultaneously coinfected by diverse pathogens. To estimate effects of interactions among multiple pathogens within host individuals on both transmis...

BACKGROUND The mechanism that confers adverse cardiovascular prognosis in patients with the metabolic syndrome (MetS) remains unclear. We sought to investigate the association of MetS and its component risk factors with progression of coronary atherosclerosis. METHODS We performed a systematic review of 3459 patients who participated in 7 clinical trials that monitored coronary atheroma progr...

Percutaneous Aortic Valve (PAV) replacement is an attractive alternative to open heart surgery, especially for patients considered to be poor surgical candidates. Despite this, PAV replacement still has its limitations and associated risks. Bioprosthetic heart valves still have poor long-term durability due to calcification and mechanical failure. In addition, the implantation procedure often p...

One of the major factors determining the incidence of Barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) on autumn-sown cereals is the viruliferous state of immigrant winged aphids. This variable is assessed routinely using the enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA). However, the threshold for virus detection by ELISA can lead to false negative results for aphids carrying less than 10(6) particles. Although m...

We hypothesized that increased chemical control instability (CCI) in men could partially explain the male predominance in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). CCI was assessed by sequentially increasing respiratory control system loop gain (LG) with proportional-assist ventilation (PAV) in 10 men (age 24-48 yr) and 9 women (age 22-36 yr) until periodic breathing or awakening occurred. Women were stud...

AIM Large plaque burden, expansive vascular remodelling, and spotty calcification have been considered as important morphologies of high-risk plaques causing acute coronary events. Although non-occlusive rupture of high-risk plaques has been proposed as a mechanism for disease progression in post-mortem studies, the natural history of coronary atherosclerosis in stable patients with high-risk p...

Objective. The purpose of the Study of Coronary Atheroma by Intravascular Ultrasound: Effect of Rosuvastatin Versus Atorvastatin (SATURN) trial was to compare the effects of two intensive statin regimens on the progression of coronary atherosclerosis and to assess their safety and side-effect profiles. Design. Serial intravascular ultrasonography was performed in 1,039 patients with coronary di...

The genome of some icosahedral RNA viruses plays an essential role in capsid assembly and structure. In T=3 particles of the nodavirus Pariacoto virus (PaV), a remarkable 35% of the single-stranded RNA genome is icosahedrally ordered. This ordered RNA can be visualized at high resolution by X-ray crystallography as a dodecahedral cage consisting of 30 24-nucleotide A-form RNA duplex segments th...

Introduction Proportional assist ventilation (PAV+) is a partial ventilatory support mode delivering airway pressure (Paw) in proportion to patient effort, enhancing patient-ventilator interactions. The ventilator estimates muscular pressure by using the respiratory system equation of motion with the instantaneous volume (V) and flow (V ́) and the automatically calculated compliance and resistan...