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This study examined associations between cigarette smoking, cancer, and self-reported physical (SF-36® Physical Component Summary Score, [PCS]) and mental health (SF36® Mental Component Summary Score, [MCS]) among 123,567 Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in managed care plans. As expected for a sample of older individuals, the SF-36® PCS mean (42.6) was lower than the U.S. general population mean of 50. The SF-36® MCS mean (51.7) for the sample was higher than the general population mean. In addition, least squares means revealed significantly poorer health for current smokers and those who recently quit, regardless of their cancer status. Although statistically significant, the differences between current smokers and never smokers were small among those with or without cancer. Encouraging smokers to quit and providing abstinence support to persons who have recently quit may help reduce health-related impacts of cigarette use., INTRODUCTION Cigarette smoking increases the risk for several types of cancer, including cancers of the lip, oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, pancreas, larynx, lung, uterine cervix, urinary bladder, and kidney (Centers [...]

The impetus for most significant developments in charge-coupled-device (CCD) technology is to address the challenges of end-user applications. As new generations of 'tailored performance' detectors are implemented in increasingly creative [...]

Microsoft's $64.95 Creative Writer and The Learning Company's $89.95 Student Writing Center for Windows are both excellent software programs that help children to become more skillful and creative writers. Both programs aim to make learning to write fun.

Technology, Trends, and Gizmos (*1): A Timeline for the '90s...and Beyond A Computer Under Every Teacher's Arm As laptop computers become smaller and lighter, a major teacher's organization, inspired by […]

Interferons are factors produced by cells of the immune system that are involved in the stimulation and development of an immune response. A 20 to 40 percent response rate has been reported with alpha-interferon therapy in patients with Kaposi's sarcoma, a malignant disease that is related to early-stage acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Patients with Kaposi's sarcoma who were treated with alpha-interferon had lower levels of infection, and some activity against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV, which causes AIDS) has been shown. However, alpha-interferon can only be given at certain doses because the drug can be toxic to blood cells and cause liver complications. Blood cell toxicity has also been noted with the drug zidovudine, which is used to treat AIDS. When alpha-interferon and zidovudine are used together in a combined therapy, the maximum dose that can be used to prevent toxicity is one half of the dose of each drug when it is used alone. However, beta-interferon, which has many of the same immunological effects as alpha-interferon, including antiviral activity, can be used at higher doses before toxicity develops. The efficacy of high doses of beta-interferon was examined in 38 patients with AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma. The majority of the patients, however, were in the later stages of AIDS and had clinical or laboratory conditions which predicted a poor response to interferon treatment. AIDS and Kaposi's sarcoma remained stable in 40 percent of the patients for more than 26 weeks. However, only 16 percent of the patients showed a favorable response to the beta-interferon treatment. Some antiviral activity was seen with the use of beta-interferon, and there was a decrease in the number of infections that would be expected in a similar group of patients. Minimal toxicity was primarily localized to the skin. Therefore, the response of patients with Kaposi's sarcoma to beta-interferon, as with alpha-interferon, is minimal at advanced stages of AIDS. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Patients with malignant glioma, a tumor affecting the glia cells that form the supporting tissue of the nervous system, have a very poor prognosis. In addition, the available chemotherapeutic agents may produce serious toxicity in the brain and retina. For these reasons, considerable attention has been paid to biological response modifiers, a loosely related class of pharmacological compounds that affect cell growth and act upon the immune system. Among these compounds is beta-interferon, which has been shown to have some antitumor activity in both tissue culture experiments and in patients. Although beta-interferon causes side effects such as fatigue, fever, chills, and myalgia when administered systemically, it is well tolerated when injected directly into the tumor itself. In order to determine patient tolerance to beta-serine-interferon, doses from 5 to 180 million units were administered to 20 patients with recurrent glioma. The interferon was administered through an Ommaya brand reservoir which was implanted with its catheter tip in the center of the tumor cavity after surgical removal of the bulk of glioma. All 20 patients have died, but 12 lived long enough for evaluation. Of those 12, 3 had their disease stabilized for 5 to 18 months. There was no correlation between the interferon dose and survival. Since all patients also received radiotherapy and six had received chemotherapy, few conclusions can be drawn about the efficacy of interferon. It can be stated, however, that even the maximum dose used in this study was well tolerated by the patients. The Ommaya reservoir, which functions well when used to administer drugs directly into the cerebrospinal fluid, had a tendency to clog when implanted into a tumor bed. Obstruction of the catheter or infection occurred in 30 percent of the patients in this study. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Imagine a case in which an insurer hires counsel to defend an action on behalf of its insured and must decide whether to accept or reject a settlement offer that [...]

Banks which finance or have interests in foreign investments in Cuba may reduce the risks arising from the Helms-Burton Act in three ways. They can request their borrowers to submit documents certifying that the property was not confiscated or subject to a claim by a US citizen. They may also request investors for indemnification costs should they incur any liability. Lastly, they may reduce their loans to companies with active investments in the country., Under the recently enacted Helms-Burton Act, designed to put pressure on President Castro's regime by discouraging foreign investment in Cuba, the U.S. State Department has issued 'advisory' letters to three [...]

Attend to your Web site's Reader User Interface, and everybody benefits. The look of your Web page depends on the Graphical User Interface-or GUI (pronounced 'gooey'). That's the 'show business' […]

English/Language Arts: A Focus on Literature We've come a long way since the days when a major educational computing conference had only one language arts presentation to put on its […]