Effect of an integrated support programme on the concerns and wellbeing of women with breast cancer: a national service evaluation.

PURPOSE: To carry out a national service evaluation of the integrated cancer support programme offered by The Haven using the Measure Yourself Concerns and Wellbeing (MYCaW) outcome questionnaire. METHODS: Breast cancer survivors who visited one of three Haven centres in the UK completed the MYCaW questionnaire before and after 6 one-hour complementary therapy sessions. RESULTS: Statistically significant decreases in mean baseline scores (indicating improvement) for concerns and wellbeing were observed after treatment: concern 1 (5.09 ± 1.04 vs 3.17 ± 1.60, p < 0.0001, n = 402), concern 2 (4.69 ± 1.08 vs 3.08 ± 1.56, p < 0.0001, n = 372), and wellbeing (3.30 ± 1.41 vs 2.63 ± 1.28, p < 0.0001, n = 402). The therapies most commonly used were acupuncture, nutrition, massage and aromatherapy, shiatsu, counselling and reflexology. After therapy, 91% of reported scores (n = 328) rated the concern as being a little better, much better or gone. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that women with breast cancer find the Haven integrated support programme valuable for addressing their main concerns and improving their feeling of wellbeing.

Pavement temperature and burns: streets of fire.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To measure pavement temperatures over a 24-hour period to determine when patients are at risk for burns and to report cases of pavement burns with predisposing factors. DESIGN: Descriptive study of pavement temperatures and retrospective case series of 23 patients with pavement burns admitted to the Maricopa Medical Center during the years 1986 to 1992. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-three patients with pavement burns serious enough for them to be admitted to the burn center. RESULTS: We measured the temperatures of asphalt, cement, and other outdoor materials hourly for one 24-hour period using a thermocouple thermometer. Asphalt pavement was hot enough to cause burns from 9 AM to 7 PM during the summer months. It was hot enough to cause a second-degree burn within 35 seconds from 10 AM to 5 PM. The group of burned patients could be divided into three categories: incapacitated, restrained, and sensory deficient. All burns involved less than 13% of the total body surface area. CONCLUSION: During summer days in the desert, pavement is often hot enough to cause burns and does so with regularity in the southwestern United States. No one should be allowed to remain in contact with hot pavement, even transiently.

Herpes simplex virus variants restraint to high concentrations of acyclovir exist in clinical isolates.

Acyclovir (ACV) has been shown to inhibit the replication of herpes simplex virus (HSV) in vitro. We examined a wide variety of HSV clinical isolates for the presence of naturally occurring ACV-resistant (ACVr) variants. Although the ACV doses that inhibited 50% of these isolates were within the range of doses inhibiting 50% of the ACV-susceptible wild-type strains, we successfully isolated variants resistant to high ACV concentrations (25 to 75 microM) from each virion population even in the absence of prior drug exposure. Furthermore, we demonstrated, by fluctuation analysis of two encephalitis strains, that the ACVr variants were clonally distributed in the virus populations before exposure to ACV and did not result from rapid adaptation to ACV. All variants isolated after a single exposure to a high dose of ACV were true ACVr variants, as demonstrated by their plating efficiencies in the presence of ACV. We found that 36 and 50% of the ACVr variants of the two strains examined in detail displayed plating efficiencies in phosphonoacetic acid of greater than 0.1, possibly indicating that many of the ACVr variants contained alterations in the DNA polymerase gene locus. Because the distribution of ACVr variants in natural populations is relatively high (10(-4), these results suggest that selection of ACVr strains during ACV therapy is possible.

Diurnal behavior of Lemur mongoz at Ampijoroa, Madagascar.

Lemur mongoz was observed for 28 h between February and July in Ampijoroa, northwestern Madagascar. The animals were diurnal, with peaks of activity in mid-morning and late afternoon. This finding contrasts with other reports that L. mongoz at the same site and somewhat later in the year are nocturnal. Group size was three or four. L. mongoz associated with L. fulvus during group progression and feeding and when giving alarm responses to man. Vocal signals consist of a range of intergrading grunts and shrieks; olfactory signals of apparent scent marking with the anogenital region, forehead, and palms of the hands; visual signals of mainly unritualized body movements and postures. All of these signals are quite similar to signals of L. fulvus.

Development of behavior in Lemur macaco in the first nineteen weeks.

Eight young Lemur macaco were observed in a zoo during the first 19 weeks of life. Data were obtained on general motor development, development of independence from the mother, contributions of mothers and young to thhe maintenance of proximity, nursing, grooming, relations between twins, play, feeding, sexual dichromatism, and communication. The results are compared with similar data from other prosimians and from anthropoid primates, and some suggestions made about the evolutionary and adaptive significance of certain aspects of L. macaco development.

Discrimination between males and females by scent in Lemur fulvus.

Two captive male Lemur fulvus were presented with scents of conspecific males and females, outside the mating season. Both subjects sniffed male scents significantly more than female scents. Male and female scents did not elicit significantly different amounts of scent marking. None of the responses of either subject suggested any discrimination of sub-species by scent.

Recognition fo territorial boundaries by olfactory cues in mice (Mus musculus L.).

Effects of varying olfactory cues on the behavior of domestic male mice (Mus musculus) towards territorial boundaries were studied. Territories were established by three pairs of males in a 154 X 86 X 10 cm Plexiglas pen with a moveable floor. After establishment of territories, the floor was shifted 19 cm a total of 21 times on different days. After 13 of these shifts the floor was subsequently covered with perforated sheet metal. In all 8 of the uncovered shifts, and in 8 of the 13 covered shifts, the mice behaved as though the boundary was moved in the predicted direction and distance. The results indicate that mice can use olfactory cues to recognize territorial boundaries.

Discrimination between individuals by scent in Lemur fulvus.

When a captive Lemur fulvus is habituated to the scent of another L. fulvus by repeatedly presenting it with that individual's scent, and is then presented with the scent of a second individual, the amount of sniffing of the scents increases, indicating that it discriminated between the scents of the two individuals. The two individuals' scents were significantly discriminated in eight of eleven different combinations of scent receiver and pair of scent donors. The two scent donors were always of the same sex and subspecies, and they could be discriminated by members of their own or of another sex or subspecies.