We describe a case of a 26 yr old primigravida at 39 weeks' gestation, with a diagnosis of peripartum cardiomyopathy, requiring urgent Caesarean section. The patient presented in severe heart failure and active labour. A general anaesthetic, using a target-controlled infusion of propofol and an intravenous infusion of remifentanil, was used to provide stable anaesthesia and analgesia for a successful delivery. The unusual diagnosis of peripartum cardiomyopathy and the potential benefits of the use of remifentanil in high-risk obstetric surgery are discussed.

SummaryThe aim of this study was to determine whether infusion sets containing antisyphon devices increased the time to initial¯ow from syringe drivers. The antisyphon devices assessed were those manufactured by B Braun, Wescott and Vygon. Each device was placed between a 50-ml syringe and a spiral extension set and primed with saline. A fourth syringe and spiral extension set acted as a control. The infusion sets were placed in four identical syringe drivers and started simultaneously. The time from pressing the start button until the initial¯ow for each infusion set (start-up time) was recorded. The test was conducted 15 times each at 2 ml.h À1 , 10 ml.h À1 and 50 ml.h À1 . At 2 ml.h À1 the start-up time was signi®cantly longer with all the antisyphon sets compared with the control (p`0.0001). At higher infusion rates the differences between the antisyphon sets and the control were less pronounced. Clinicians who use syringe driver infusions should be aware of this delay between the activation of the infusion pump and the onset of¯ow and take steps to prevent it.

SummaryThis study reports the subjective, psychomotor and physiological properties of subanaesthetic concentrations of xenon. Ten healthy male volunteers received either xenon or nitrous oxide in a randomised crossover study design. The subjects breathed either xenon (Xe) or nitrous oxide (N 2 O) from a closed circuit breathing system, according to a randomised, double-blind protocol.

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<p>Advances in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology have resulted in the development of engineered nanoparticles, with unique physico-chemical properties, and their applications to all the sectors of industry, including the petroleum industry. This presentation will discuss several advances and applications of silica-based nanofluids in chemical enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes related to interfacial phenomena in multiphase systems and physics of multiphase flow in porous media, and in particular the oil recovery characteristics resulting from nanofluids based low-salinity water flooding and chemical EOR processes. Laboratory experiments were carried out using homogeneous sandpack columns simulating oil-wet and water-wet reservoirs. To simulate oil-wet reservoirs, the sandpack columns were saturated with a light crude oil (West Texas Intermediate) at first. While in the case of the simulated water-wet reservoirs, these reservoirs were made by saturating the sandpack columns initially with a 1.0 wt% brine (NaCl) and then followed by an injection of the light crude oil. The subsequent oil-saturated (oil-wet system) and oil-brine mixture (water-wet system) within the sandpack columns were then subject to water flooding (non-sequenced recovery) or EOR processes (sequenced recovery) utilizing brine and/or surfactant as controls as well as low (0.01 wt%) and high (0.1 wt%) silica-based nanofluids. When compared with the high concentration of silica-based nanofluid, the low silica-based nanofluid concentration produced low fractional and cumulative oil recovery results in the water flooding process of oil recovery for both oil-wet and water-wet reservoir systems; however, the low silica-based nanofluid concentration was found to be the most effective with EOR process for both oil-wet and water-wet reservoir systems. Our findings permit to choose optimal concentrations of silica nanoparticles to be employed for either water flooding or EOR processes in order to increase the oil extraction efficiency.</p>