Photoperiod and population density interact to affect reproductive and immune function in male prairie voles.

Seasonal breeding of rodents is often associated with changes in adrenal function; altered adrenal function could account, in part, for seasonal changes in immune function and, ultimately, influence seasonal fluctuations in survival. Animals commonly monitor the annual change in photoperiod to ascertain the time of year and to make appropriate seasonal adjustments in physiology and behavior. Several extrinsic factors affect reproductive responsiveness to photoperiod.

Risk factors for leg ulcer recurrence: a randomized trial of two types of compression stocking.

Patients with recently healed leg ulceration were entered into a study of leg ulcer recurrence. In all, 188 patients [69% women, mean age = 72 (SD = 12) years] were entered into the study, of whom 166 were considered suitable for ready-made stockings and were randomized to one of two class II below-knee compression stockings and followed for at least 18 months. The remaining patients required either made-to-measure stockings (5) or could not tolerate stockings owing to friable skin and were treated by other methods (17).

Photoperiodic effects on steroid negative feedback in female prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster).

Breeding in prairie voles is mainly restricted to the autumn and winter of most years. The organization of estrus in female prairie voles is unusual because behavioral estrus is induced by chemosensory stimuli from the urine of adult conspecific males. Isolated females exhibit undetectable levels of estradiol and never display estrous behavior, yet exposure to male urine causes a cascade of endocrine changes that evoke estrogen secretion from the ovaries and estrous behavior within 24 hr.

A model for change in delivering community leg ulcer care.

Leg ulcer care has largely been provided by community nursing staff in the UK. However, the treatment of leg ulcers has been accompanied by high cost and poor healing rates. As part of an initiative in a single district of the UK, six community leg ulcer clinics were established and a system of audits implemented to monitor their progress over two years.

Factors associated with healing leg ulceration with high compression.

To investigate factors relevant to the healing of leg ulceration by high compression, patients were interviewed using a standard questionnaire prior to treatment with a four-layer bandage high-compression system in six community ulcer clinics. We explored the relation of size, ulcer duration and medical history to healing. Cumulative healing rates were high using this method, being 69% after 12 weeks and 83% after 24 weeks.

Venous ulcer healing: effect of socioeconomic factors in London.

Objective: To determine which social and clinical factors are associated with healing in patients with venous ulceration.

Design: Patients were questioned about social factors at their first visit to a community ulcer clinic. They were treated by high compression bandage system and were interviewed again after 12 weeks.

Venous leg ulceration: treatment by high compression bandaging.

Venous leg ulceration is a major tissue viability problem that is becoming better recognized as clinical wound care practice changes from being anecdotal-based to research-based. The current prevalence of leg ulceration in the UK, Sweden and Australia is approximately 1 percent of the adult population, and approximately half a million in the United States. Between 70 and 90 percent of leg ulcers in the UK are venous in origin.

The effects of photoperiod on olfactory c-fos expression in prairie voles, Microtus ochrogaster.

Reproduction stops among the majority of prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) during the winter. Short day lengths suppress male reproductive function dramatically in the laboratory, but photoperiod exerts only subtle effects on female reproductive function. Thus, the regulation of seasonal breeding in this species remains partially unspecified.

Ankle pulses are not sufficient to detect impaired arterial circulation in patients with leg ulcers.

Much debate has taken place on the use of Doppler ultrasound in the community setting. A sequential study of patients attending a community ulcer clinic was undertaken to identify community nurses' ability to detect arterial disease by palpation of pedal pulses and to compare these figures with the recording of a resting pressure index. A total of 462 patients (553 limbs) were studied; 167 (31%) had no detectable pulses at the ankle.

Reviews.

THE NURSING MANAGEMENT OF LEG ULCERS IN THE COMMUNITY WOUND BALLISTICS AND THE SCIENTIFIC BACKGROUND.

Reproductive and nonreproductive responsiveness to photoperiod in laboratory rats.

Laboratory rats (Rattus norvegicus) have been traditionally considered nonphotoperiodic because reproductive function is unaffected by day length. However, at least three experimental manipulations of rats--perinatal androgen injection, peripubertal androgen implants, and peripubertal olfactory bulbectomy--have been reported to unmask reproductive responsiveness to photoperiod. The physiological means by which early testosterone treatment or olfactory bulbectomy affect the expression of photoperiodism were hypothesized to operate through similar underlying mechanism(s) that involved gonadotropin and prolactin blood levels.

Proenkephalin transgenic mice: a short promoter confers high testis expression and reduced fertility.

The regulation and possible function of the preproenkephalin gene in testis were studied in vivo in transgenic mice containing: (1) bases -193 to +210 of the human proenkephalin gene and an additional one kilobase of 3' proenkephalin flanking sequence driving expression of bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT), and (2) the same promoter and flanking sequences driving expression of a rat proenkephalin cDNA. Five lines of mice, designated HEC1-5, expressed the first construct and 10, HER1-10, the second. Each HEC male and many HER males showed dramatic expression of the transgene in the testis, although much lower expression was observed in the brain and other enkephalin-producing tissues.

A prerequisite underlining the treatment programme. Risk factors associated with venous disease.

Although venous disease affects about a quarter of the UK population, little is known about its epidemiology. An understanding of the associated risk factors, however, can help mitigate the progression, severity and outcome of the disease process.

Day length influences proceptive behavior of female prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster).

Prairie voles typically do not breed during the winter; instead, they typically confine breeding to the spring and summer. One proximate cue contributing to this seasonal change in breeding among males is photoperiod. However, photoperiod does not appear to affect female fecundity.

A pioneering service to the community. The Riverside Community Leg Ulcer Project.

1. Leg ulceration is an extensive problem that is often poorly managed. 2.

Letters.

THE DIFFICULTY OF SECURING RESEARCH FUNDING POSTNATAL CARE THE DANGERS OF WATER-FILLED GLOVES.

The Charing Cross high compression four-layer bandage system.

A guide to the uses and contraindications of compression bandaging and an explanation of the Charing Cross System.

Winter adaptations of male deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) and prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) that vary in reproductive responsiveness to photoperiod.

Individuals of many nontropical rodent species restrict breeding to the spring and summer. Seasonal reproductive quiescence putatively reflects the energetic incompatibility of breeding and thermoregulatory activities. However, so-called "out-of-season" breeding occurs in virtually all rodent populations examined, suggesting that the incompatibility can be resolved.

Community leg ulcer clinics: cost-effectiveness.

This study investigates the cost-effectiveness and efficacy of a new service provided by community leg ulcer clinics, and compares it with treatment in existing hospital-based venous ulcer care clinics. Data were provided prospectively from district nurses and retrospectively from patients. Success in treatment was assessed as a percentage of ulcers completely healed after 12 weeks of treatment, analysed by the up-table method.

Community clinics for leg ulcers and impact on healing.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of community clinics for leg ulcers.

Design: All patients with leg ulceration were invited to community clinics that offered treatment developed in a hospital research clinic. Patients without serious arterial disease (Doppler ankle/brachial index > 0.

Assessing a calcium alginate dressing for venous ulcers of the leg.

A small study of Tegagel calcium alginate dressings is described, with a discussion of the methodology employed.

Letters.

THE IMPORTANCE OF NUTRITION COMPARATIVE STUDIES USING THE PEGASUS AIRWAVE SYSTEM COMPRESSION BANDAGING CORRECTIONS.