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Objective: To determine, from population based clinical data, changes in the survival of Danish patients examined by coronary angiography for known or suspected ischaemic heart disease (IHD) during the 1990s. Design: Follow up study. Setting: The departments of cardiology at Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, and Skejby Hospital, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark. Patients: Patients with IHD (n = 7021) who underwent first time coronary angiography in 1992, 1996, or 2000. Main Outcomes Measures: Three year survival was compared between cohorts and with that of the general population. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate mortality ratios adjusted for differences in patient characteristics. Results: Survival improved substantially--for example, adjusted mortality ratio was 0.69 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.55 to 0.87) when comparing patients from 2000 with patients from 1992. The absolute standardised survival rates after three years of follow up were 87.1% (95% CI 85.4% to 88.8%), 89.9% (95% CI 88.5% to 91.3%), and 91.2% (95% CI 90.3% to 92.1%) among patients examined in 1992, 1996, and 2000, respectively. The improvement was not explained by the improvement in overall survival in the general population during the study period. Conclusions: The survival of Danish patients with known or suspected IHD appears to have improved substantially during the 1990s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To examine the congruence in perceptions and attitudes of legislators and the public regarding tobacco and tobacco control policies.Methods: Two cross-sectional surveys were used, one of elected federal and provincial legislators and one of adult residents in Ontario, Canada. Perceptions and attitudes were analyzed as dependent variables using multiple logistic regression, and adjusted for age, sex, educational attainment, and smoking status.Findings: Congruence was found in most instances, however, some differences were found. Legislators were more likely than the public to agree that most smokers are addicted and were more supportive of a smoking ban in workplaces, but these differences disappeared after controlling for socio-demographic characteristics. Legislators were also more aware than the public of the magnitude of deaths due to tobacco compared to alcohol, whereas the public was more supportive of strong penalties against stores that sell cigarettes to minors.Conclusions: Our findings provide considerable evidence for congruence in the "real-world" (unadjusted) perceptions and attitudes of Ontario legislators and the Ontario public toward tobacco control policies. Such findings are positive for tobacco control advocates and should be leveraged to bring forward strong tobacco policies in the political arena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A one-dimensional complex scaled finite element method was applied on an adiabatic basis of B2 in order to find rovibronic term energy values for the (1)3Πg; (v, N)=(0–8, 0–25) and (2)3Πg; (v, N)=(0–10, 0–25) levels. The method was also applied to the (1)3Πg; (v, N)=(0–8, 0–25) and (2)3Πg; (v, N)=(0–1, 0–25) levels in a strictly diabatic framework. Adiabatic single-channel and diabatic coupled-channel total wavefunctions were obtained and used in order to identify the vibrational levels. Comparing levels for the interacting two-state (1–2)3Πg and three-state (1–3)3Πg system, a constant energy shift of about 1.7 cm−1 is found. Comparisons between the adiabatic Born–Oppenheimer (BO) and the diabatic (1)3Πg; (v, N)=(0–8, 0–25) levels show differences between −20 and 7 cm−1, while the corresponding shifts for the (2)3Πg; (v, N)=(0, 0–25) and (1, 0–25) levels are about 50 and 60 cm−1, respectively. A comparison between our three-state approximation and experimental observations of the (2)3Πg–A3Πu electronic transition shows a difference in the line positions of about 665 cm−1. The calculated widths for all but the (1)3Πg; (v, N)=(7–8, 0–25), as well as the (2)3Πg; (v, N)=(0, 0–25) BO and diabatic rovibronic levels, have small but with N increasing predissociation rates. The (1)3Πg; (v>8, N=0–25) BO and the (2)3Πg; (v, N)=(1, 0–25) diabatic levels are strongly predissociated with widths ≥16 cm−1. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

OBJECTIVES: The Women Physicians' Health Study (WPHS) offers a unique opportunity to examine the counseling and screening practices of women physicians in various specialties. In this study we describe the prevalence of self-reported counseling on smoking cessation among non-primary care women physicians and examine the association between their demographic, professional, and personal characteristics and such counseling on smoking cessation. METHODS: Conducted in 1993-1994, WPHS is a nationally representative cross-sectional mailed survey of U.S. women physicians with 4,501 respondents representing all major specialties. Physicians in 9 specialty areas were grouped in 6 categories: (1) anesthesiology; (2) general surgery and surgical subspecialties; (3) emergency medicine; (4) medical subspecialties; (5) psychiatry; and (6) other. Frequent counseling was defined as having counseled patients who were known smokers at every visit or at least once a year. RESULTS: Overall, 45% of the physicians frequently counseled smokers to quit. Medical subspecialists (80%) were most likely and psychiatrists (29%) least likely to counsel frequently. Specialty, perceived relevance of counseling to the physician's practice, and self-confidence in counseling about smoking cessation were associated with frequent counseling. CONCLUSION: Cessation counseling by non-primary care physicians can reduce tobacco-related morbidity and mortality. Increasing perceived relevance and self-confidence among this group of physicians, combined with implementation of system changes and the creation of physician accountability can facilitate the provision of such counseling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radiosensitization of human gastrointestinal tumors by 5fluorouracil (5-FU) has been studied in vitro and clinically in human cancer therapy trials. The bacterial enzyme cytosine deaminase (CD) converts the nontoxic prodrug 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC) into 5-FU. Human colon cancer cells stably expressing CD have been shown by other investigators to be sensitized to radiation following treatment with 5-FC. We previously used an adenoviral vector under control of the cytomegalovirus promoter (AdCMVCD) encoding the CD gene in combination with 5-FC and a single fraction of radiation exposure to enhance cytotoxicity to human cholangiocarcinoma cells in vitro and in vivo. The purpose of this study was to determine whether AdCMVCD infection and 5FC with multiple fraction low-dose radiotherapy results in enhanced cytotoxicity. In the present study, we utilized AdCMVCD and 5-FC with single fraction radiotherapy to demonstrate enhanced cytotoxicity to WiDr human colon carcinoma cells in vitro. Additionally, we tested this gene therapy/prodrug treatment strategy employing a fractionated radiation dosing schema in animal models of WiDr colon carcinoma and SK-ChA-1 cholangiocarcinoma. A prolonged WiDr tumor regrowth delay was obtained with AdCMVCD infection in combination with systemic delivery of 5-FC and fractionated external beam radiation therapy compared with control animals treated without radiation, without 5-FC, or without AdCMVCD. The results of treatment with AdCMVCD + 5-FC + radiation therapy to cholangiocarcinoma xenografts were equivalent to those obtained with systemic 5-FU administration + radiation. Thus, the use of AdCMVCD can be effectively combined with clinically relevant 5-FC and radiation administration schemes to achieve enhanced tumor cell killing and increased control of established tumors of human gastrointestinal malignancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]