Is it any wonder? On commissioning an ‘uncommissioned’ atmosphere: a reply to Hillary and Sumartojo

This article is a reply to Fiona Hillary and Shanti Sumartojo’s “Empty-Nursery Blue: On Atmosphere, Meaning and Methodology in Melbourne Street Art”, published in Public Art Dialogue in October 2014.1 Hillary and Sumartojo present a welcome addition to the literature on street art and graffiti in their sustained analytic focus on a particular work of street art and its place-based reception. However, their analysis of Adrian Doyle’s Empty Nursery Blue is compromised by their largely unacknowledged investment and involvement as commissioners and curators of the work. Further, Hillary and Sumartojo’s adoption of the concept of affective atmosphere and a positive sense of enchantment operates to discount viewers’ contradictory social-emotional responses to the work. While the authors’ attempt to incorporate authoethnographic methods appears promising, in practice this bears little in common with the critically reflexive practice of autoethnography, and is rather used as a circular rhetorical device to demonstrate the presence of the very notion of enchantment so central to the authors’ interpretation of Empty Nursery Blue. The liminal status of Empty Nursery Blue as apparently uncommissioned street art and as commissioned public art presents an unacknowledged tension at the core of this partial interpretation that may yet be ultimately productive of the very notion of wonder and enchantment. A critical expansion of the notion of enchantment to encompass a variety of affective responses and forms of material and ethical engagement is suggested

Continuous transversus abdominis plane (TAP) blocks for postoperative pain control after hernia surgery: a randomized, triple-masked, placebo-controlled study.

BackgroundSingle-injection transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block provides postoperative analgesia and decreases supplemental analgesic requirements. However, there is currently no evidence from randomized, controlled studies investigating the possible benefits of continuous TAP blocks. Therefore, the aim of this randomized, triple-masked, placebo-controlled study was to determine if benefits are afforded by adding a multiple-day, ambulatory, continuous ropivacaine TAP block to a single-injection block following hernia surgery.MethodsPreoperatively, subjects undergoing unilateral inguinal (N=19) or peri-umbilical (N=1) hernia surgery received unilateral or bilateral TAP perineural catheter(s), respectively. All received a ropivacaine 0.5% (20 mL) bolus via the catheter(s). Subjects were randomized to either postoperative perineural ropivacaine 0.2% or normal saline using portable infusion pump(s). Subjects were discharged home where the catheter(s) were removed the evening of postoperative day (POD) 2. Subjects were contacted on POD 0-3. The primary endpoint was average pain with movement (scale: 0-10) queried on POD 1.ResultsTwenty subjects of a target 30 were enrolled due to the primary surgeon's unanticipated departure from the institution. Average pain queried on POD 1 for subjects receiving ropivacaine (N=10) was a mean (standard deviation) of 3.0 (2.6) vs 2.8 (2.7) for subjects receiving saline (N=10; 95% confidence interval difference in means -2.9 to 3.4; P=0.86). There were no statistically significant differences detected between treatment groups in any secondary endpoint.ConclusionsThe results of this study do not support adding an ambulatory, continuous ropivacaine infusion to a single-injection ropivacaine TAP block for hernia surgery. However, the present investigation was underpowered, and further study is warranted

Continuous Transversus Abdominis Plane (TAP) Blocks for Postoperative Pain Control after Hernia Surgery: A Randomized, Triple-Masked, Placebo-Controlled Study

BackgroundSingle-injection transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block provides postoperative analgesia and decreases supplemental analgesic requirements. However, there is currently no evidence from randomized, controlled studies investigating the possible benefits of continuous TAP blocks. Therefore, the aim of this randomized, triple-masked, placebo-controlled study was to determine if benefits are afforded by adding a multiple-day, ambulatory, continuous ropivacaine TAP block to a single-injection block following hernia surgery.MethodsPreoperatively, subjects undergoing unilateral inguinal (N=19) or peri-umbilical (N=1) hernia surgery received unilateral or bilateral TAP perineural catheter(s), respectively. All received a ropivacaine 0.5% (20 mL) bolus via the catheter(s). Subjects were randomized to either postoperative perineural ropivacaine 0.2% or normal saline using portable infusion pump(s). Subjects were discharged home where the catheter(s) were removed the evening of postoperative day (POD) 2. Subjects were contacted on POD 0-3. The primary endpoint was average pain with movement (scale: 0-10) queried on POD 1.ResultsTwenty subjects of a target 30 were enrolled due to the primary surgeon's unanticipated departure from the institution. Average pain queried on POD 1 for subjects receiving ropivacaine (N=10) was a mean (standard deviation) of 3.0 (2.6) vs 2.8 (2.7) for subjects receiving saline (N=10; 95% confidence interval difference in means -2.9 to 3.4; P=0.86). There were no statistically significant differences detected between treatment groups in any secondary endpoint.ConclusionsThe results of this study do not support adding an ambulatory, continuous ropivacaine infusion to a single-injection ropivacaine TAP block for hernia surgery. However, the present investigation was underpowered, and further study is warranted

Maximizing the Science and Resource Mapping Potential of Orbital VSWIR Spectral Measurements of Mars

International audienc

Short-term Effects of Burning and Disking on Songbird Use of Floodplain Conservation Easements

Extensive conversion of Midwestern riparian areas for agricultural production has had many consequences including reduced habitat for nesting birds. However, more than 120,000 ha of riparian habitat have been restored in this region through USDA conservation programs. In 2001 and 2002, we assessed songbird responses to burning and disking for management of conservation easements in east-central Iowa. We randomly assigned herbaceous riparian fields to burning and disking treatments and collected data on density and species richness of songbirds in these habitats. Total density of grassland and wetland species and red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) were reduced by burning in the first and second breeding seasons after burning; common yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) density decreased with burning only in the first season. Disking led to increased density of grassland and wetland birds and greater overall avian conservation value on treated relative to untreated fields in the year after treatment. Changes associated with burning and disking treatments were likely related to changes in both vegetation structure and abundance of arthropod food resources. Despite decreased bird densities with burning, fire is a necessary management tool to control woody vegetation. Overall, both burning and disking appear to be effective management practices for maintaining herbaceous riparian habitats for grassland birds.This article is from American Midland Naturalis 165 (2011): 257, doi:10.1674/0003-0031-165.2.257.</p