There was no evidence of a difference in recurrence rates at the classic level of significance (5%), but the lowest recurrence rates were seen in people who wore the highest degree of compression. Therefore, patients should wear the highest level of compression that is comfortable.

The influence of body composition on fertility in female Red deer was studied in a free‐ranging population in central Scotland. Fertility was positively and independently related to body weight and kidney fat weight and negatively to jaw length. Differences in fertility between age classes were apparently due to age‐specific differences in body weight, kidney fat, jaw length and previous reproductive history. However, all other things being equal, hinds that had reared a calf in the previous summer had a greater probability of being pregnant than hinds that had not.

No abstract

1. Twenty-six gilts were used in an experiment to study the effects of level of feed intake on the growth and chemical composition of the gravid uterus and mammary tissue at several stages of gestation. The animals were given either 1.8 or 2.5 kg feed/d (20 or 30 MJ metabolizable energy (ME) respectively) and were slaughtered at intervals between days 40 and 110 of gestation. The gravid uterus was dissected into fetal, placental, fluid and empty uterus components. From day 70 of gestation the mammary tissue was also dissected. The fresh weight and dry matter (DM), energy and nitrogen contents of the various tissues were determined.2. (a) With the exception of the fluid component, there was a significant increase ( P < 0.01) in the fresh weight of each tissue with both stage of gestation and level of feeding. At comparable litter sizes the total weight of the fetuses in late gestation was 16% higher with the higher feed intake. (b) The DM content of the individual uterine tissues increased significantly ( P < 0.01) with increase in stage of gestation so that the mean DM content of the gravid uterus increased from 74.6g/kg at day 50 to 103.1 and 159,0g/kg at days 90 and 110 of gestation respectively. (c) Neither stage of gestation nor feeding level influenced the respective energy contents of the individual uterine tissues, when expressed per g DM. The mean energy content of the total gravid uterus was 19.5 kJ/g DM. (d) The N content (g/g fresh weight) of the tissues increased with stage of gestation and was generally higher at the higher feeding level. The mean N contents (g/g DM) of the fetal, placental, fluid and empty uterine tissues were 0.090, 0,101, 0.098 and 0.128 respectively.3. The mammary tissue was the most variable of all the tissues investigated. Whereas the fresh weight and N content increased with stage of gestation, both the DM and energy content decreased. 4.Gompertz equations were fitted to describe the effects of stage of gestation, level of feed intake and litter size on the fresh weight and chemical content of the individual uterine tissues, total gravid uterus and mammary tissue. The use of these equations for calculating the nutrient requirements of pregnancy is demonstrated.5. It was calculated that between days 50 and 110 of gestation the ME requirement for reproduction increased from 3 to 12% of maternal energy intake. The calculated requirement for protein was from 7 to 41 % of maternal dietary protein intake respectively.In order to predict the nutrient requirements throughout pregnancy, it is necessary to know the changes which occur in both the reproductive and maternal tissues. In the past, the nutrient requirements of the pregnant sow have been based on an empirical approach by which reproductive characteristics such as sow-weight gain, litter size and average birth weight of the piglets have been assessed in relation to various nutritional inputs (e.g. Agricultural Research Council, 1967 (1976). These results describe only the extent to which the fetal and other reproductive tiss...

I . Measurements of energy and nitrogen balances were made on thirty-eight individually housed pigs (initial body-weights 21-38 kg) at environmental temperatures of 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30" with four levels of feeding at each temperature. Values for energy retention (ER), protein (P) and fat ( F ) deposition and body weight gain (AW) were calculated at each temperature at metabolizable energy (ME) intakes equivalent to once (M; 40 kJ/kg0.7s per d), twice (zM), three (3M) and four (4M) times the thermoneutral maintenance energy requirement.2. ER at each plane of nutrition increased with temperature to maximal values between approximately 20 and 25'; ER was negative at four of the five environmental temperatures at M.3. P increased significantly with increase in M E intake but was dependent on environmental temperatures only at intakes of M and 2M. The increase in P per unit increment in ME intake decreased from 0.16 at 10' to 0.12 at 30". The net efficiency of protein utilization also decreased with increase in environmental temperature from 0.54 at 10' to 0.39 at 30". 4. F increased significantly with increase in M E intake, but was more temperature-dependent than P, increasing to maximum values estimated to be between 20 and 25' at each level of intake; F at 30' was less than that at 2 5 O . The increase in F per unit increment in ME intake decreased from 063 at 10' to 0.51 at 30". .The optimum temperature for AW was dependent upon ME intake, varying from above 30" at M to less than 20' at 4M. The reduction in AW per 1' at 15" was also dependent upon the level of intake decreasing from 1.63 g/kg0.75 per d at M to -0.09 at 4M. 6. For a 35 kg pig the reduction in P, as a result of a I' decrease in temperature at 15" at an intake corresponding to 2.5M, a a s equivalent to a 4 g/d reduction in food intake; the corresponding equivalent for Fwas 28 g/d.In the mature animal, variations in food intake produce changes in body composition that are largely confined to the fat content, whereas in the growing animal the consumption of food is associated with increments in both protein and fat formation. In recent years there has been an increase in investigation into energy retention in the growing animal, with the associated importance of such investigation for meat production, for example in the pig (Kotarbinska, 1969; Fuller & Boyne, 1971 ;Verstegen, Close, Start & Mount, 1973; Thorbek, 1975) and for growth and development in man (Waterlow, Hill & Spady, 1976).Energy retention (ER) in the body takes place at a rate that is dependent on the interaction between the level of intake of metabolizable energy (ME) on the one hand, and the animal's need for maintenance and thermoregulation on the other. A considerable thermal demand by the environment leads to a reduction in the ME that the animal has available for growth when it is on a given level of food intake (Blaxter, 1977).The present work on energy retention in the growing pig has accordingly involved several planes of nutrition and levels of environmental temperature. T...

Summary A radioimmunoassay for neuron specific enolase (NSE), a marker of neuroendocrine differentiation, has been evaluated in small cell lung cancer (SCLC). In untreated patients 25/38 (68%) with localized SCLC had raised blood levels of NSE (>13 ng ml-1), in extensive disease 34/39 (87%) patients had raised NSE levels. In patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) the serum levels were raised in 16/94 (17%). In extensive tumours of non-pulmonary origin NSE levels were increased in 24/116 (20%) patients. Longitudinal studies indicated a good correlation between the response to chemotherapy and fall of NSE levels. Tumour progression was accompanied by a rising NSE in 25/29 patients, with doubling times of 7-90 days. In patients with progression with a normal NSE the recurrence was a NSCLC. Cerebral metastases occurring as the only recurrence during clinical complete remission were not accompanied by a rise of NSE. Serum NSE levels provides a valuable monitor for SCLC during and after chemotherapy.

Pentoxifylline increased the proportion healing compared with placebo to the same extent as shown in recent systematic reviews, although this finding was only statistically significant when a secondary adjusted analysis was conducted. Four-layer bandaging produced higher healing rates than single-layer bandaging. There was no difference in time to healing between knitted viscose and hydrocolloid dressings.

Improvements in perceived health were significantly greater in patients whose ulcers had completely healed. Methods of treatment which offer improved healing for patients with venous leg ulceration are likely to improve patients' perceived health status.