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Analyses at the county level show lower mortality rates where there are more primary care physicians, but this is not the case for specialist supply. These findings confirm those of previous studies at the state and other levels. Increasing the supply of specialists will not improve the United States' position in population health relative to other industrialized countries, and it is likely to lead to greater disparities in health status and outcomes. Adverse effects from inappropriate or unnecessary specialist use may be responsible for the absence of relationship between specialist supply and mortality. M a n y i n t e r nat i o na l c o m pa r i s o n s and within-country studies confirm the relationship between the adequacy of a health system's primary care infrastructure and better health outcomes.1 This study examines the heretofore unexplored relationship between specialist physician supply and death rates, based on data from U.S counties. After presenting our analysis, we discuss the complicated issues surrounding specialist supply and population health and the policy implications of our findings. Study Data And MethodsThe period 1996-2000 is the most recent containing the complete set of our chosen study variables for 3,075 counties (99.9 percent of all U.S. counties). We used counties so that we could determine the robustness of prior state-level analyses.Age-adjusted standardized mortality rates are expressed as the number of deaths per 1,000 population. All-cause mortality is among the most commonly used health status indicators, especially in studies on income inequality and health.2 Heart disease and cancer are the two specific leading causes of death. Regarding the definition of specialist versus primary care, physicians engaging in office-

Molecular markers, due to their stability, cost-effectiveness and ease of use provide an immensely popular tool for a variety of applications including genome mapping, gene tagging, genetic diversity diversity, phylogenetic analysis and forensic investigations. In the last three decades, a number of molecular marker techniques have been developed and exploited worldwide in different systems. However, only a handful of these techniques, namely RFLPs, RAPDs, AFLPs, ISSRs, SSRs and SNPs have received global acceptance. A recent revolution in DNA sequencing techniques has taken the discovery and application of molecular markers to high-throughput and ultrahigh-throughput levels. Although, the choice of marker will obviously depend on the targeted use, microsatellites, SNPs and genotyping by sequencing (GBS) largely fulfill most of the user requirements. Further, modern transcriptomic and functional markers will lead the ventures onto high-density genetic map construction, identification of QTLs, breeding and conservation strategies in times to come in combination with other high throughput techniques. This review presents an overview of different marker technologies and their variants with a comparative account of their characteristic features and applications.

Background-Even as the burden of cardiovascular disease in the United States is increasing as the population grows and ages, the number of active cardiothoracic surgeons has fallen for the first time in 20 years. Meanwhile, the treatment of patients with coronary artery disease continues to evolve amid uncertain changes in technology. This study evaluates current and future requirements for cardiothoracic surgeons in light of decreasing rates of coronary artery bypass grafting procedures. Methods and Results-Projections