Eletrocardiographic monitoring in COPD patients receiving tiotropium.

Tiotropium is a once-daily, inhaled anticholinergic for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease that acts as a prolonged antagonist of the M3-receptor. To ascertain whether electrophysiologic effects can be detected following tiotropium treatment in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, serial electrocardiograms were incorporated into multiple placebo-controlled clinical trials including long-term (6 and 12-month) trials with tiotropium 18 mcg daily (n=2,128) and a 4-week dose-ranging study with tiotropium up to 36 mcg daily (n= 169). In addition, 24-hour electrocardiographic (Holter) monitoring was performed as part of a 6-week, placebo-controlled trial with tiotropium 18 mcg daily (n= 121).

Influence of different release times on spontaneous breathing pattern during airway pressure release ventilation.

Objective: Airway pressure release ventilation (APRV) is a ventilatory mode with a time cycled change between an upper (P(high)) and lower (P(low)) airway pressure level. APRV is unique because it allows unrestricted spontaneous breathing throughout the ventilatory cycle. We studied the influence of different release times (time of P(low)) on breathing pattern and gas exchange in patients during partial mechanical ventilation.

Proportional assist versus pressure support ventilation: effects on breathing pattern and respiratory work of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Objective: To investigate the breathing pattern and the inspiratory work of breathing (WOB(I)) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) assisted with proportional assist ventilation (PAV) and conventional pressure support ventilation (PSV).

Design: Prospective controlled study.

Setting: Intensive care unit of a university hospital.

Monitoring perioperative changes in distribution of pulmonary ventilation by functional electrical impedance tomography.

Background: Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a noninvasive technique providing cross-sectional images of the thorax. We have tested an extended evaluation procedure, the functional EIT (f-EIT), to identify the local shifts of ventilation known to occur during the transition between spontaneous, controlled and assisted ventilation modes.

Methods: Ten patients scheduled for elective laparotomy were studied in the surgical ward, operating theatre and ICU during spontaneous and different modes of mechanical ventilation.

[Variation in inspiratory gas flow in pressure support ventilation. The effect on respiratory mechanics and respiratory work].

Unlabelled: During pressure support ventilation (PSV), the timing of the breathing cycle is mainly controlled by the patient. Therefore, the delivered flow pattern during PSV might be better synchronised with the patient's demands than during volume-assisted ventilation. In several modern ventilators, inspiration is terminated when the inspiratory flow decreases to 25% of the initial peak value.

Earth-Based Observations of the Galileo Probe Entry Site.

Earth-based observations of Jupiter indicate that the Galileo probe probably entered Jupiter's atmosphere just inside a region that has less cloud cover and drier conditions than more than 99 percent of the rest of the planet. The visual appearance of the clouds at the site was generally dark at longer wavelengths. The tropospheric and stratospheric temperature fields have a strong longitudinal wave structure that is expected to manifest itself in the vertical temperature profile.

Effect of low-level PEEP on inspiratory work of breathing in intubated patients, both with healthy lungs and with COPD.

Objective: Evaluation of low-level PEEP (5 cm H2O) and the two different CPAP trigger modes in the Bennett 7200a ventilator (demand-valve and flow-by trigger modes) on inspiratory work of breathing (Wi) during the weaning phase.

Design: Prospective controlled study.

Setting: The intensive care unit of a university hospital.

[Difficult intubation due to facial malformations in a child. The laryngeal mask as an aid].

Variations in anatomy of the bony and soft-tissue structures of the neck and facial cranium due to trauma, disease, or dysmorphic syndromes may lead to severe intubation problems. These patients are admitted for mandibulofacial and otolaryngologic surgery. It is important to inspect the patient's outer and inner pharyngeal structures carefully during preoperative assessment, as suggested by Mallampati.

Spatial Organization and Time Dependence of Jupiter's Tropospheric Temperatures, 1980-1993.

The spatial organization and time dependence of Jupiter's temperatures near 250-millibar pressure were measured through a jovian year by imaging thermal emission at 18 micrometers. The temperature field is influenced by seasonal radiative forcing, and its banded organization is closely correlated with the visible cloud field. Evidence was found for a quasi-periodic oscillation of temperatures in the Equatorial Zone, a correlation between tropospheric and stratospheric waves in the North Equatorial Belt, and slowly moving thermal features in the North and South Equatorial Belts.

Thermal maps of jupiter: spatial organization and time dependence of stratospheric temperatures, 1980 to 1990.

The spatial organization and time dependence of Jupiter's stratospheric temperatures have been measured by observing thermal emission from the 7.8-micrometer CH(4) band. These temperatures, observed through the greater part of a Jovian year, exhibit the influence of seasonal radiative forcing.

Infrared emission from P/Halley's dust coma during March 1986.

2 to 20 micrometers photometry of the inner dust coma of comet Halley was obtained at the NASA IRTF on Mar 6.85, 12.8, 13.