Sedation of adult critically ill ventilated patients in intensive care units: a national survey

Pain management presents exciting opportunities for nurse anesthetists. Today there are thousands of pain clinics and pain services dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of chronic and acute pain. By becoming familiar with the principles involved in the management of chronic and acute pain, the different treatment modalities available, and the organization of pain clinics and pain services, nurse anesthetists will be able to take advantage of the opportunities they provide.     

Effects of repeated superovulation and surgical oocyte collection on ovarian response and natural breeding ability of the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii)

The aim of this study was to assess the response of a marsupial, the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii) to repeated superovulation and surgical oocyte collection and monitor any effects on subsequent natural breeding ability. Animals (n = 5 per group) were superovulated once, twice or three times with pig FSH (pFSH; 6 mg administered twice per day for 4 days) followed by 4 mg pig LH (pLH). There was an interval of either 5-6 weeks (n = 9) or 12 weeks (n = 1) between the first and second superovulation and 13-17 weeks (n = 5) between the second and third superovulation. Oocytes were collected surgically after each treatment. Serum was collected at the time of each treatment to monitor the formation of anti-pFSH and anti-pLH antibodies. Animals were allowed to mate naturally in the season following superovulation treatment(s). There was no significant difference between groups in the number of large follicles (2-5 mm diameter, mean +/- standard error) produced in response to the first (21.2 +/- 4.3), second (18.0 +/- 6.5) or third (29.0 +/- 4.9) superovulation treatment. Eggs were recovered from approximately 80% of follicles that were flushed during laparotomy. There were significant concentrations of anti-pFSH and anti-pLH antibodies (P < 0.05) detected in previously superovulated animals at the time of the second superovulation but not at the time of the third superovulation. The anti-gonadotrophin antibodies present at the time of repeated superovulation did not cause a significant decrease in average number of follicles. All animals produced pouch young in the breeding seasons after repeated superovulation. Combined with other reproductive technologies, repeated superovulation has the potential to increase the production of offspring from rare or valuable marsupials in captivity.     

Motion estimation using a complex-valued wavelet transform

This paper describes a new motion estimation algorithm that is potentially useful for both computer vision and video compression applications. It is hierarchical in structure, using a separable two-dimensional (2-D) discrete wavelet transform (DWT) on each frame to efficiently construct a multiresolution pyramid of subimages. The DWT is based on a complex-valued pair of four-tap FIR filters with Gabor-like characteristics. The resulting complex DWT (CDWT) effectively implements an analysis by an ensemble of Gabor-like filters with a variety of orientations and scales. The phase difference between the subband coefficients of each frame at a given subpel bears a predictable relation to a local translation in the region of the reference frame subtended by that subpel. That relation is used to estimate the displacement field at the coarsest scale of the multiresolution pyramid. Each estimate is accompanied by a directional confidence measure in the form of the parameters of a quadratic matching surface. The initial estimate field is progressively refined by a coarse-to fine strategy in which finer scale information is appropriately incorporated at each stage. The accuracy, efficiency, and robustness of the new algorithm are demonstrated in comparison testing against hierarchical implementations of intensity gradient-based and fractional-precision block matching motion estimators