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Background/Aims: The growing prevalence of sedentary behaviour across the life course is linked to an increased risk of chronic venous disease and related mortality, warranting the need for non-invasive interventions to improve blood flow and lower extremity function. The aim of this study was to investigate the change in venous blood flow, heart rate and blood pressure after 8 minutes of using the Leeper device, Circulation Booster and light intensity walking. Methods: A quasi-experimental crossover study involving 11 participants (eight women, three men, mean age 23.91 years, standard deviation 1.04 years) was conducted using Leeper and Circulation Booster devices and light intensity walking. During each intervention, participants exercised for 8 minutes, and blood flow was recorded at 0, 4 and 8 minutes. Heart rate and blood pressure were recorded at 0 and 8 minutes. Blood flow was the primary outcome measure, and heart rate and blood pressure were secondary outcomes. Participants rested for 10 minutes between exercise. A two-way repeated measures analysis of variance was used to analyse the effect of intervention and time on blood flow, blood pressure and heart rate. Results: There was no significant interaction between intervention and time on blood flow (P=0.180) indicating that blood flow did not change over time depending on intervention. There was no significant main effect of time on blood flow (P=0.206), indicating that no intervention caused a significant increase or decrease in blood flow after 8 minutes of exercise. Conclusions: The interventions involving the Leeper and Circulation Booster devices and light intensity walking did not appear to significantly increase blood flow in young adults. Further studies involving participants from older age groups and those with pathological interventions are warranted to examine the potential effectiveness of these interventions. Implications for practice: The findings may assist with the advice that allied health professionals provide regarding the use of seated exercise trainers and EMS devices and their ability to influence changes in blood flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulpal modifications taking place during prosthetic tooth preparation using worn-out burs may represent a risk for the vitality of the dental pulp. The aim of this in vivo study was to evaluate whether the wear of diamond burs has an influence on the vascular microdynamics at the level of the dental pulp, during vertical preparation for zirconia crowns. The study was performed with a split-mouth design and included 32 vital permanent monoradicular teeth (20 maxillary and 12 mandibular), from six subjects, aged between 20 and 50 years. The teeth were randomly assigned to two study groups of 16 teeth each. For prosthetic preparation, new burs were used in the first group, and burs at their 5th use were used in the second group. Four consecutive determinations of the pulpal blood flow by Laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF—laser Doppler MoorLab instrument VMS-LDF2, Moor Instruments Ltd., Axminster, UK) were taken for each tooth included in the study: before the preparation (control values), immediately, at 24 h, and at 7 days after the prosthetic preparation. A four-way ANOVA statistical analysis was applied to analyze the effect of four considered factors (bur wear degree, time of measurement, tooth number, and tooth location) on the pulpal blood flow (PBF). A significant increase in pulpal blood flow compared to the baseline was recorded immediately after preparation (p < 0.01), at 24 h (p < 0.01), and at 7 days (p < 0.05) in both groups, but more pronounced in the case of burs at the 5th use. The blood flow was significantly higher in upper jaw teeth, irrespective of the measurement time. In conclusion, the use of worn-out diamond burs produces lasting modifications in the pulpal blood flow of teeth that undergo prosthetic crown preparation. ISRCTN registry: ISRCTN49594720. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Four-dimensional flow CMR allows for a comprehensive assessment of the blood flow kinetic energy of the ventricles of the heart. In comparison to standard two-dimensional image acquisition, 4D flow CMR is felt to offer superior reproducibility, which is important when repeated examinations may be required. The objective was to evaluate the inter-observer and intra-observer reproducibility of blood flow kinetic energy assessment using 4D flow of the left ventricle in 20 healthy volunteers across two centres in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Data description: This dataset contains 4D flow CMR blood flow kinetic energy data for 20 healthy volunteers with no known cardiovascular disease. Presented is kinetic energy data for the entire cardiac cycle (global), the systolic and diastolic components, in addition to blood flow kinetic energy for both early and late diastolic filling. This data is available for reuse and would be valuable in supporting other research, such as allowing for larger sample sizes with more statistical power for further analysis of these variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of the study was to elicit beliefs about hypertension among Nigerian immigrants in the United Kingdom. Background: The distributions of cardiovascular risk factors and diseases are not shared equally across ethnic and economic groups in the United Kingdom. Its burden is more clustered among minority ethnic populations and migrant groups including black African Nigerian migrants. Similar patterns have been reported across Europe, Australia, Canada, Nordic countries and the United States of America. There are about 300 distinct ethnic groups in Nigeria and reliable information about their beliefs about hypertension is not available. Given that the United Kingdom has a large community of Nigerian immigrants from these different ethno-cultural backgrounds, understanding their unique beliefs about hypertension may help promote appropriate care for this population in the United Kingdom and Nigeria. Setting: A single Pentecostal church community in West London Participants: Twenty-seven Nigerian migrant members of the church entered and completed the study Methods and outcome measure: A qualitative interview study was conducted. The interviews were analysed using thematic framework analysis. The outcome measures were emerging themes from the thematic framework analysis. Results: Participants expressed beliefs in four major areas related to hypertension: (1) The Meaning of the term hypertension, (2) Perceptions of causation, (3) Effects of hypertension, and (4) Perceptions of treatment. The study revealed a diversity of beliefs about hypertension which incorporated both orthodox and culturally framed ideas. Conclusions: This study identified important beliefs among Nigerian migrants about hypertension that can contribute to our understanding of the management of hypertension in this group and suggests the need for further research to determine whether these beliefs may be representative of this group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cold water immersion reduces exercise-induced muscle damage. Benefits may partly arise from a decline in limb blood flow; however, no study has comprehensively investigated the influence of different degrees of cooling undertaken via cold water immersion on limb blood flow responses.Purpose: To determine the influence of cold (8°C) and cool (22°C) water immersion on lower limb and cutaneous blood flow.Study Design: Controlled laboratory study.Methods: Nine men were placed in a semireclined position and lowered into 8°C or 22°C water to the iliac crest for two 5-minute periods interspersed with 2 minutes of nonimmersion. Rectal and thigh skin temperature, deep and superficial muscle temperature, heart rate, mean arterial pressure, thigh cutaneous blood velocity (laser Doppler), and superficial femoral artery blood flow (duplex ultrasound) were measured during immersion and for 30 minutes after immersion. Indices of vascular conductance were calculated (flux and blood flow/mean arterial pressure).Results: Reductions in rectal temperature (8°C, 0.2° ± 0.1°C; 22°C, 0.1° ± 0.1°C) and thigh skin temperature (8°C, 6.2° ± 0.5°C; 22°C, 3.2° ± 0.2°C) were greater in 8°C water than in 22°C (P < .01). Femoral artery conductance was reduced to a similar extent immediately after immersion (~30%) and 30 minutes after immersion (~40%) under both conditions (P < .01). In contrast, there was less thigh cutaneous vasoconstriction during and after immersion in 8°C water compared with 22°C (P = .01).Conclusion: These data suggest that immersion at both temperatures resulted in similar whole limb blood flow but, paradoxically, more blood was distributed to the skin in the colder water. This suggests that colder temperatures may be associated with reduced muscle blood flow, which could provide an explanation for the benefits of cold water immersion in alleviating exercise-induced muscle damage in sports and athletic contexts.Clinical Relevance: Colder water temperatures may be more effective in the treatment of exercise-induced muscle damage and injury rehabilitation because of greater reductions in muscle blood flow. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

SummaryBackground: Surveys still show a wide variation in routine use of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) prophylaxis despite its established place in current patient management. This article reviews the mechanism of action, efficacy and complications of stockings in preventing DVT. Methods: Relevant publications indexed in Medline (1966–1998) and the Cochrane database were identified. Appropriate articles identified from the reference lists of the above searches were also selected and reviewed. Results and conclusion: Graduated compression stockings reduce the overall cross-sectional area of the limb, increase the linear velocity of venous flow, reduce venous wall distension and improve valvular function. Fifteen randomized controlled trials of graduated compression stockings alone were reviewed. Stockings reduced the relative risk of DVT by 64 per cent in general surgical patients and 57 per cent following total hip replacement. The effect of stockings was enhanced by combination with pharmacological agents such as heparin; the combination is recommended in patients at moderate or high risk of DVT. Knee-length stockings are as effective and should replace above-knee stockings. Complications are rare and avoidable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

First Person is a series of interviews with the first authors of a selection of papers published in Journal of Cell Science, helping early-career researchers promote themselves alongside their papers. Ioannis Xanthis is first author on ‘β1 integrin is a sensor of blood flow direction’, published in JCS. Ioannis conducted the research described in this articlewhile aPhDstudent in Prof. Paul Evans’s lab at IICD, University of Sheffield Medical School, Sheffield, UK. He is now a postdoctoral research assistant in lab of Dr Thomas Iskratsch at the School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK, investigating vascular biomechanics and bioengineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The annual incidence of acute spinal cord injury in the UK is 15–40 cases per million. More than half of these injuries are the result of road traffic accidents, with falls, industrial accidents, sports or violence making up most of the remainder. Violent injury accounts for only a small percentage of cases in the UK. The typical patient is male (male to female ratio is 4:1) and young (peak incidence is at 20–40 years). The initial mechanical trauma leads to injury of the neural elements, this is the primary injury. Blood vessels are damaged, axons disrupted and neural cell membranes broken. The spinal cord swells and is compressed in the spinal canal. Ischaemia occurs when the cord swelling exceeds venous blood pressure. This leads to failure of autoregulation of blood flow. The ischaemia leads to a release of toxins from neural cells triggering a secondary injury. The main goal in the management of spinal cord injuries is to prevent secondary injury. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The author comments on a study by researchers at the University of Cambridge in England which proposed a hemodynamic index featuring the time constant of cerebral arterial bed which describes how fast the cerebral arterial bed, distal to the point of transcranial Doppler Ultrasound (TCD) reflects the flow velocities of each single blood moving into the brain arteries. A description of how the researchers measured the cerebral time constant and the results of the preliminary study is presented.

Presents a letter to the author on the effect of a novel prosthetic anal neosphincter on human colonic blood flow in Great Britain. Possibility of the inclusion of the end artery in the sphincter mechanism; Occlusion of mucosal blood flow; Inflation of the sphincter for the analysis of its effect on the mucosal blood flow.

Presents a reply from the author on the effect of a novel prosthetic anal neosphincter on human colonic blood flow in Great Britain. Difference between colonic and anal canal blood flow; Position of the end artery in relation to the neosphincter; Analysis on the blood flow with increasing inflation pressure.

Comments on the article In vivo pressure profiles of thigh-length graduated compression stocking published in the periodical British Journal of Surgery. Enhancement of femoral vein blood flow velocity; Mechanism of compression therapy. Usefulness of antiembolism stockings.

Examines the effect of changes in temperature on peripheral blood flow in systemic sclerosis in Great Britain. Symptoms of the disease; Measurement of the finger pulp blood flow by laser-doppler flowmetry; Recommendation of warming before entering cold environments.