Inter-individual variability in equine antibody responses to African snake venoms follows heavy-tailed distributions with implications for antivenom production

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  Inter-individual variability in equine antibody responses to African snake venoms follows heavy-tailed distributions with implications for antivenom production Abstract Variability in the antibody response of horses used for snake antivenom manufacture is well recognized, yet its statistical structure and implications for industrial productivity remain poorly characterized. In this study, we quantified antivenom antibody titers by ELISA in a cohort of 14 horses immunized with venoms from the clinically most important snakes in sub-Saharan Africa. To integrate antibody levels with plasma availability, we calculated the Cumulative Plasma Productivity (CPP) by converting individual plasma volumes into titer-corrected equivalents and sequentially pooling these volumes according to their corrected contribution. Distributional analysis revealed right-skewed, heavy-tailed patterns better approximated by a log-normal model than by a strict Pareto (power-law) form, with approximately 20–3...

Previous Blog Entries (Personal Blog NOT Scientific Publications)

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 It was brought to my attention by Danni Sherwood that there were a number of omissions, inconsistencies, and errors in my last personal blog post. In my haste to produce my own content, much of the data was synthesized and not properly vetted or researched in many instances by me personally. My sincerest apologies for this oversight, as this should have occurred prior to the content being published to a wide audience. I will no longer post personal content and/or opinions in the future unless the material has been edited properly and verified prior to its publication. 

Thank you all for understanding.