INTRODUCTION Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) lower respiratory tract disease is characterised by narrowing of the airways resulting in increased airway resistance, air-trapping and respiratory acidosis. These problems might be overcome using helium-oxygen gas mixture. However, the effect of mechanical ventilation with heliox in these patients is unclear. The objective of this prospective cros...

The respiratory effects of benzodiazepines have been controversial. This investigation aimed to study the effects of oral alprazolam on ventilation. In a randomised, double-blind cross-over protocol, 20 healthy men ingested 1 mg of alprazolam or placebo in random order, 1 week apart. Ventilation was unobtrusively monitored by inductance plethysmography along with end-tidal PCO(2) and pulse oxim...

BACKGROUND Optimal sedation and analgesia is a challenge in paediatric intensive care units (PICU) because of difficulties in scoring systems and specific metabolism inducing tolerance and withdrawal. Excessive sedation is associated with prolonged mechanical ventilation and hospitalisation. Adult and paediatric data suggest that goal-directed sedation algorithms reduce the duration of mechanic...

Background: Weaning from mechanical ventilation in the intensive care unit is an important step in the treatment process. More patients in less than 6 hours after cardiac surgery can be separated from mechanical ventilation and extubated. However, 20-40% of patients after cardiac surgery, due to dysfunctional ventilator weaning response (DVWR), still remain under mechanical ventilation. Therefo...

An idealised, staggered array of 9 6m 3 cubes was built to gain an understanding of the influence of other buildings on the natural ventilation rate of a building. The instrumented cube contained 24 temperature measurements, 32 surface pressure taps, CO2 sensors and 2 sonic anemometers, with 5 more placed outside to measure wind velocities. Ventilation rate was measured when the cube was sealed...

Approximately 20% of all mechanically ventilated patients fail their first attempt to wean. Prolonged mechanical ventilation increases morbidity, mortality, and costs. No single weaning parameter predicts patient ability to wean. Weaning studies suggest that daily trials of spontaneous breathing for appropriate patients assured by standing protocol and driven by respiratory care practitioners a...

An inflation catheter technique has been devised for providing general anaesthesia during laryngoscopy using the control module of the Nuffield Anaesthetic Ventilator driven by 50% nitrous oxide in oxygen. The system is simple and reliable in use and ensures adequate pulmonary ventilation.

Purpose Ventilation is driven by weather conditions, occupant actions and mechanical ventilation, so can be highly variable. This paper reports on the development of two analysis algorithms designed to facilitate investigation ventilation in occupied homes over time. Design/methodology/approach These application CO 2 concentration decay tracer gas technique. The first algorithm identifies perio...

The variability of cross-shore thermally driven exchange was examined using ensemble-averages of observations from the Kilo Nalu Observatory on the south shore of Oahu Hawaii. The crossshore vertical shear, δVz, top-bottom temperature difference, ∆Tz, and cross-shore advective heat flux, Qex, were analyzed to evaluate the influence of the surface heat flux, the cross-shore wind and the M2 tide ...