Competing Interests: Dr. Ashley reports a fellowship from the United Negro College Fund, Merck. Dr. Moore
reports support from MedImmune for the aptamer analysis during the conduct of the
study. Dr. White reports personal fees and other support from Boehringer-Ingelheim,
personal fees and other support from Kadmon Pharmaceuticals, and grants from Actelion,
all outside the submitted work. Dr. Flaherty reports grants and personal fees from
Boehringer Ingelheim, grants and personal fees from Roche/Genentech, personal fees
from Gilead, personal fees from Ikaria, personal fees from MedImmune, personal fees
from Veracyte, personal fees from Intermune, grants from Afferent, grants from Bristol
Myers Squibb, outside the submitted work. Dr. Martinez reports non-financial support
from Bayer, non-financial support from Centocor, non-financial support from Gilead,
non-financial support from Promedior, personal fees from Ikaria, personal fees from
Genentech, personal fees from Nycomed/Takeda, personal fees from Pfizer, personal
fees from Vertex, personal fees from American Thoracic Society, personal fees from
Inova Health System, personal fees from MedScape, personal fees from Spectrum Health
System, personal fees from University of Texas Southwestern, personal fees from Stromedix/Biogen,
personal fees from Axon Communications, from Johnson & Johnson, from Genzyme, personal
fees from National Association for Continuing Education, personal fees from Boehringer
Ingelheim, personal fees from Veracyte, personal fees from AcademicCME, grants from
Boehringer Ingelheim, grants from Roche/Genentech, personal fees from Falco, and personal
fees from Kadman during the conduct of the study; personal fees from Forest, personal
fees from Janssens, personal fees from GSK, personal fees from Nycomed/Takeda, personal
fees from Amgen, personal fees from Astra Zeneca, personal fees from CSA Medical,
personal fees from Ikaria/Bellerophon, personal fees from Forest, personal fees from
Genentech, personal fees from GSK, personal fees from Janssens, personal fees from
Merck, personal fees from Pearl, personal fees from Nycomed/Takeda, personal fees
from Pfizer, personal fees from Roche, personal fees from CME Incite, personal fees
from Inova Health System, personal fees from Miller Medical, personal fees from National
Association for Continuing Education, personal fees from Paradigm, personal fees from
Peer Voice, personal fees from St. John's Hospital, personal fees from St. Mary’s
Hospital, personal fees from UpToDate, personal fees from GSK, personal fees from
Boehringer Ingelheim, personal fees from GSK, personal fees from Nycomed/Takeda, personal
fees from Informa, personal fees from Annenberg, personal fees from California Society
for Allergy and Immunology, personal fees from Haymarket Communications, personal
fees from Integritas, personal fees from InThought, personal fees from Western Society
of Allergy and Immunology, personal fees from AstraZeneca, personal fees from Theravance,
personal fees from Boehringer ingelheim, personal fees from Carden Jennings, personal
fees from Novartis, personal fees from Sunovion, personal fees from Novartis, and
personal fees from Axon outside the submitted work; Dr. Grant is employed by MedImmune,
Gaithersburg, MD, USA. Drs. Xia, O’Dwyer, and Murray have nothing to disclose. This
does not alter the authors’ adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.