The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, the positive predictive value (PPV) curve and the negative predictive value (NPV) curve are three measures of performance for a continuous diagnostic biomarker. The ROC, PPV and NPV curves are often estimated empirically to avoid assumptions about the distributional form of the biomarkers. Recently, there has been a push to incorporate group se...

One of the most common performance measures in selection and management of projects is the Net Present Value (NPV). In the paper, we study a case when initial data about the NPV parameters (cash flows and the discount rate) are represented in the form of intervals supplied by experts. A method for computing the NPV based on using random set theory is proposed and three conditions of independenc...

OBJECTIVES We hypothesized that a period of cuirass negative pressure ventilation (NPV) would augment the cardiac output of patients in the early postoperative period after complete correction of tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). BACKGROUND Diastolic right ventricular dysfunction can lead to a low-output state in an important minority of patients after TOF repair. In these patients, the diastolic pu...

Many bloodstream infections (BSI) in patients with central venous catheters (CVC) are not catheter-related (CR). Assessment of catheter involvement without catheter withdrawal has not been studied in candidemia. We assessed the value of conservative techniques to evaluate catheters as the origin of candidemia in patients with CVC in a prospective cohort study (superficial Gram stain and culture...

To assess the physiologic effects of continuous negative extrathoracic pressure (CNEP), negative pressure ventilation (NPV), and negative extrathoracic end-expiratory pressure (NEEP) added to NPV in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), we measured in seven patients ventilatory pattern, arterial blood gases, respiratory mechanics, and pressure- time p...

The African armyworm, Spodoptera exempta, is a major pest in sub-Saharan Africa. A nucleopolyhedrovirus (NPV) is often recorded in later population outbreaks and can cause very high levels of mortality. Research has been addressing whether this NPV can be developed into a strategic biological control agent. As part of this study, the variation in natural populations of NPV is being studied. An ...