[Prognosis of colorectal cancer and socio-economic inequalities].

It is well established that socio-economic status is a major prognostic factor for many cancers, including colorectal cancer. The aims of this review are (i) to report epidemiological data showing how socio-economic status influences colorectal cancer survival, (ii) to attempt to describe the mechanisms underlying these survival inequalities, and (iii) to assess their impact on survival of colorectal cancer

Isotropic and anisotropic collision-induced Raman scattering by monoatomic gas mixtures: Ne-Ar

We report the long-overdue collision-induced Raman scattering spectrum by a pair of unlike rare gas atoms. Absolute-unit scattering intensities, both isotropic and anisotropic, are given for Ne-Ar, along with the depolarization ratio for this system, recorded by a gaseous room-temperature mixture over a wide range of frequency shift. We make a critical comparison with spectra computed quantum-mechanically on the basis of modern pair-polarizability representations for Ne-Ar, of either ab initio or density functional theory methods. We report a value for the Kerr second virial coefficient, deduced from our measurements. Our data are especially intended to add to the vital yet hitherto incomplete knowledge of the role of collision-induced processes in atmospheric environments

Anisotropic collision-induced Raman scattering by Ne-Ne: Evidence for a nonsmooth spectral wing

We report the anisotropic collision-induced scattering (CIS) spectrum of two neon atoms at room temperature. The covered spectral range hitherto restricted to 170 cm−1 is here tripled. Both our measurements and quantum-mechanical calculations obtained on the basis of large-scale ab initio anisotropy representations reveal a well-defined saddle-shaped wing. This peculiar structure is experimental evidence of a binary CIS line shape with an aspect other than a smooth wing in a logarithmic plot. Equally interesting is the fact that this feature has been predicted (though only qualitatively) by the simple semiempirical model long ago reported by Meinander, Tabisz and Zoppi J. Chem. Phys. 84 3005 (1986), but no emphasis had at that time been placed on the aspect of the wing of the model spectrum probably due to the lack of high-frequency experimental data

Collision-induced Raman scattering and the peculiar case of neon: Anisotropic spectrum, anisotropy, and the inverse scattering problem

Owing in part to the p orbitals of its filled L shell, neon has repeatedly come on stage for its peculiar properties. In the context of collision-induced Raman spectroscopy, in particular, we have shown, in a brief report published a few years ago [M. Chrysos et al., Phys. Rev. A 80, 054701 (2009)], that the room-temperature anisotropic Raman lineshape of Ne–Ne exhibits, in the far wing of the spectrum, a peculiar structure with an aspect other than a smooth wing (on a logarithmic plot) which contrasts with any of the existing studies, and whose explanation lies in the distinct way in which overlap and exchange interactions interfere with the classical electrostatic ones in making the polarizability anisotropy, α ∥ − α ⊥. Here, we delve deeper into that study by reporting data for that spectrum up to 450 cm−1 and for even- and odd-order spectral moments up to M 6, as well as quantum lineshapes, generated from SCF, CCSD, and CCSD(T) models for α ∥ − α ⊥, which are critically compared with the experiment. On account of the knowledge of the spectrum over the augmented frequency domain, we show how the inverse scattering problem can be tackled both effectively and economically, and we report an analytic function for the anisotropy whose quantum lineshape faithfully reproduces our observations

Estimating excess hazard ratios and net survival when covariate data are missing: strategies for multiple imputation.

BACKGROUND: Net survival is the survival probability we would observe if the disease under study were the only cause of death. When estimated from routinely collected population-based cancer registry data, this indicator is a key metric for cancer control. Unfortunately, such data typically contain a non-negligible proportion of missing values on important prognostic factors (eg, tumor stage). METHODS: We carried out an empirical study to compare the performance of complete records analysis and several multiple imputation strategies when net survival is estimated via a flexible parametric proportional hazards model that includes stage, a partially observed categorical covariate. Starting from fully observed cancer registry data, we induced missingness on stage under three scenarios. For each of these scenarios, we simulated 100 incomplete datasets and evaluated the performance of the different strategies. RESULTS: Ordinal logistic models are not suitable for the imputation of tumor stage. Complete records analysis may lead to grossly misleading estimates of net survival, even when the missing data mechanism is conditionally independent of survival time given the covariates and the bias on the excess hazard ratios estimates is negligible. CONCLUSIONS: As key covariates are unlikely missing completely at random, studies estimating net survival should not use complete records. When the missingness can be inferred from available data, appropriate multiple imputation should be performed. In the context of flexible parametric proportional hazards models with a partially observed stage covariate, a multinomial logistic imputation model for stage should be used and should include the Nelson-Aalen cumulative hazard estimate and the event indicator

A novel ecological methodology for constructing ethnic-majority life tables in the absence of individual ethnicity information.

BACKGROUND: Deprivation-specific life tables have been in use for some time, but health outcomes are also known to vary by ethnicity over and above deprivation. The mortality experiences of ethnic groups are little studied in the UK, however, because ethnicity is not captured on death certificates. METHODS: Population data for all Output Areas (OAs) in England and Wales were stratified by age-group, sex and ethnic proportion, and matched to the deaths counts in that OA from 2000 to 2002. We modelled the relationship between mortality, age, deprivation and ethnic proportion. We predicted mortality rates for an area that contained the maximum proportion of each ethnic group reported in any area in England and Wales, using a generalised linear model with a Poisson distribution adjusted for deprivation. RESULTS: After adjustment, Asian and White life expectancies between 1 and 80 years were very similar. Black men and women had lower life expectancies: men by 4 years and women by around 1.5 years. The Asian population had the lowest mortality of all groups over age 45 in women and over 50 in men, whereas the Black population had the highest rates throughout, except in girls under 15. CONCLUSIONS: We adopted a novel ecological method of constructing ethnic-majority life tables, adjusted for deprivation. There is still diversity within these three broad ethnic groups, but our data show important residual differences in mortality for Black men and women. These ethnic life tables can be used to inform public health planning and correctly account for background mortality in ethnic subgroups of the population

Analysing population-based cancer survival - settling the controversies.

BACKGROUND: The relative survival field has seen a lot of development in the last decade, resulting in many different and even opposing suggestions on how to approach the analysis. METHODS: We carefully define and explain the differences between the various measures of survival (overall survival, crude mortality, net survival and relative survival ratio) and study their differences using colon and prostate cancer data extracted from the national population-based cancer registry of Slovenia as well as simulated data. RESULTS: The colon and prostate cancer data demonstrate clearly that when analysing population-based data, it is useful to split the overall mortality in crude probabilities of dying from cancer and from other causes. Complemented by net survival, it provides a complete picture of cancer survival in a given population. But when comparisons of different populations as defined for example by place or time are of interest, our simulated data demonstrate that net survival is the only measure to be used. CONCLUSIONS: The choice of the method should be done in two steps: first, one should determine the measure of interest and second, one should choose among the methods that estimate that measure consistently

Anisotropic collision-induced Raman scattering by the Kr:Xe gas mixture

We report anisotropic collision-induced Raman scattering intensities by the Kr–Xe atomic pair recorded in a gas mixture of Kr and Xe at room temperature. We compare them to quantum-mechanical calculations on the basis of modern incremental polarizability models of either ab initio post-Hartree–Fock or density functional theory methods