Effect of sedation with detomidine and butorphanol on pulmonary gas exchange in the horse

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Sedation with α₂-agonists in the horse is reported to be accompanied by impairment of arterial oxygenation. The present study was undertaken to investigate pulmonary gas exchange using the Multiple Inert Gas Elimination Technique (MIGET), during sedation with the α₂-agonist detomidine alone and in combination with the opioid butorphanol.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Seven Standardbred trotter horses aged 3–7 years and weighing 380–520 kg, were studied. The protocol consisted of three consecutive measurements; in the unsedated horse, after intravenous administration of detomidine (0.02 mg/kg) and after subsequent butorphanol administration (0.025 mg/kg). Pulmonary function and haemodynamic effects were investigated. The distribution of ventilation-perfusion ratios (V_A/Q) was estimated with MIGET.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>During detomidine sedation, arterial oxygen tension (PaO₂) decreased (12.8 ± 0.7 to 10.8 ± 1.2 kPa) and arterial carbon dioxide tension (PaCO₂) increased (5.9 ± 0.3 to 6.1 ± 0.2 kPa) compared to measurements in the unsedated horse. Mismatch between ventilation and perfusion in the lungs was evident, but no increase in intrapulmonary shunt could be detected. Respiratory rate and minute ventilation did not change. Heart rate and cardiac output decreased, while pulmonary and systemic blood pressure and vascular resistance increased. Addition of butorphanol resulted in a significant decrease in ventilation and increase in PaCO₂. Alveolar-arterial oxygen content difference P(A-a)O₂remained impaired after butorphanol administration, the V_A/Q distribution improved as the decreased ventilation and persistent low blood flow was well matched. Also after subsequent butorphanol no increase in intrapulmonary shunt was evident.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results of the present study suggest that both pulmonary and cardiovascular factors contribute to the impaired pulmonary gas exchange during detomidine and butorphanol sedation in the horse.</p

HIROMB, an operational eddy-resolving model for the Baltic Sea

HIROMB is a 3-dimensional baroclinic model of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, designed for daily operational use. The model is mainly developed by Eckhard Kleine at the German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) in Hamburg, Germany, and is based on a similar model, running in operational mode at that institution. The operational forecasts at SMHI starled already in 1995 with a daily 24-hour forecast and were later extended to 48 hours. The model is forced by SMHI's operational atmospheric model (HIRLAM), but also by river runoff from an operational hydrological model and wave radiation stress from a wind wave model. The present version of the model is set up on a nested grid, where a 12 nautical mile (nm) grid covers the whole area, while Skagerrak, Kattegat, the Belt Sea and the Baltic Sea are covered with a 1 nm grid. A parallelized version of the model has been developed and runs on a distributed memory parallel computer

Milk for small infants

This study investigated weight patterns of infants born SGA, in relation to two different feeding regimens during hospital stay. We compared 21 SGA infants prescribed 200 mL/kg milk on day 2, with 21 infants, prescribed 170 mL/kg on day 9. The infants fed according to the proactive nutrition policy tolerated large volumes of milk and showed lower weight loss. Conclusion: A proactive nutrition policy demonstrably reduces weight loss in SGA infants.</p

Application of 3-D ensemble variational data assimilation to a Baltic Sea reanalysis 1989-2013

A 3-D ensemble variational (3DEnVar) data assimilation method has been implemented and tested for oceanographic data assimilation of sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface salinity (SSS), sea ice concentration (SIC), and salinity and temperature profiles. To damp spurious long-range correlations in the ensemble statistics, horizontal and vertical localisation was implemented using empirical orthogonal functions. The results show that the 3DEnVar method is indeed possible to use in oceanographic data assimilation. So far, only a seasonally dependent ensemble has been used, based on historical model simulations. Near-surface experiments showed that the ensemble statistics gave inhomogeneous and anisotropic horizontal structure functions, and assimilation of real SST and SIC fields gave smooth, realistic increment fields. The implementation was multivariate, and results showed that the cross-correlations between variables work in an intuitive way, for example, decreasing SST where SIC was increased and vice versa. The profile data assimilation also gave good results. The results from a 25-year reanalysis showed that the vertical salinity and temperature structure were significantly improved, compared to both dependent and independent data