Transfer standard device to improve the traceable calibration of physiotherapy ultrasound machines.

Ultrasound (US) physiotherapy as a clinical treatment is extremely common in the Western world. Internationally, regulation to ensure safe application of US physiotherapy by regular calibration ranges from nil to mandatory. The need for a portable power standard (PPS) has been addressed within a European Community (EC)-funded project.

Rain, winds and haze during the Huygens probe's descent to Titan's surface.

The irreversible conversion of methane into higher hydrocarbons in Titan's stratosphere implies a surface or subsurface methane reservoir. Recent measurements from the cameras aboard the Cassini orbiter fail to see a global reservoir, but the methane and smog in Titan's atmosphere impedes the search for hydrocarbons on the surface. Here we report spectra and high-resolution images obtained by the Huygens Probe Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer instrument in Titan's atmosphere.

Age and comorbidity impact surgical therapy in older bladder carcinoma patients: a population-based study.

Background: Bladder carcinoma often occurs in older patients who also may have other comorbid conditions that could influence the administration of surgical therapy. The current study was conducted to describe the distribution of comorbid conditions in patients with bladder carcinoma and ascertain whether these conditions, as grouped by the American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status classification, affected the choice of surgical therapy.

Methods: The authors examined six population-based cancer registries from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program in 1992.

Survival experience of black patients and white patients with bladder carcinoma.

Background: Blacks are less likely than whites to develop bladder carcinoma. However, once they are diagnosed, black patients experience poorer survival. The authors investigated which factors were related to survival differences in black patients and white patients with bladder carcinoma stratified by extent of disease.

The National Bladder Cancer Group's experience: invasive and metastatic bladder cancer selected reports.

The National Bladder Cancer Group, a multidisciplinary organization that was originally the therapeutic arm of the National Bladder Cancer Project, reported the results of trials using cisplatin with and without cyclophosphamide in patients with advanced bladder cancer. The objective response rate in both arms was 16% of 109 patients with no difference between the arms. Other studies included cisplatin and irradiation for patients who had comorbid conditions that prevented cystectomy (local response--cT2 11/13 patients; cT3 & cT4 2/4 patients).

Bladder cancer: race differences in extent of disease at diagnosis.

Background: Blacks are less likely than whites to develop bladder cancer; although once diagnosed, blacks experience poorer survival. This study sought to examine multiple biological and behavioral factors and their influence on extent of disease.

Methods: A population-based cohort of black bladder cancer patients and a random sample of frequency-matched white bladder cancer patients, stratified by age, gender, and race were identified through cancer registry systems in metropolitan Atlanta, New Orleans, and the San Francisco/Oakland area.