Objective To compare the use and effect of a computer based information system for cancer patients that is personalised using each patient's medical record with a system providing only general information and with information provided in booklets. Design Randomised trial with three groups. Data collected at start of radiotherapy, one week later (when information provided), three weeks later, and three months later. Participants 525 patients started radical radiotherapy; 438 completed follow up. Interventions Two groups were offered information via computer (personalised or general information, or both) with open access to computer thereafter; the third group was offered a selection of information booklets. Outcomes Patients' views and preferences, use of computer and information, and psychological status; doctors' perceptions; cost of interventions. Results More patients offered the personalised information said that they had learnt something new, thought the information was relevant, used the computer again, and showed their computer printouts to others. There were no major differences in doctors' perceptions of patients. More of the general computer group were anxious at three months. With an electronic patient record system, in the long run the personalised information system would cost no more than the general system. Full access to booklets cost twice as much as the general system. Conclusions Patients preferred computer systems that provided information from their medical records to systems that just provided general information. This has implications for the design and implementation of electronic patient record systems and reliance on general sources of patient information.

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Estradiol-treated mice and estradiol-treated ovariectomized rats support vaginal infections with Candida albicans for several months; low-grade uterine infections occur in around half the animals. A comparison has been made and the relative advantages discussed of quantifying these infections by sampling with a wire loop and plating on BiGGY agar, sampling by vaginal washing, or removal and homogenization of the vagina followed by dilution and plate counting.In the course of screening and evaluating compounds for antifungal activity we have used vaginal infections with Candida albicans in estradiol-treated mice and estradioltreated ovariectomized rats; success or otherwise of treatment was evaluated by plating vaginal samples recovered with a wire loop on BiGGY agar and scoring growth following incubation [2][3][4]. By this method, infections in untreated mice were found to persist for 2 months and in rats for at least 5 months [4]. Essentially similar methods of evaluating the intensity of infection were used by Scholer [5] who first described the rat model, and by others such as Smith et al. [6] in experimental studies with the model. With the same purpose in mind, McRipley et al. [1] described a vaginal washing technique as a means of following infection and evaluating antifungal efficacy, and compared yeast recoveries using vaginal lavage and vaginal homogenates. Although animals can be repeatedly sampled by means of a wire loop or vaginal lavage, the ultimate in quantitating an infection is to remove the vagina, homogenize it and do a plate count following appropriate dilution. In the course of more fundamental studies of the vaginal infection we realized we were getting a different impression of the situation when we used smears on BiGGY agar than when we did total counts using vaginal homogenates. The present study was undertaken to compare in one experiment the three different approaches to the quantification of vaginal infections.

ICI 195,739 shows superior potency to other azoles in eliminating vaginal candidosis or dermatophyte infections in animal models of infection by both oral dosing and topical application; effective doses are in the range of 0.5-5.0 mg/kg/day or 0.01-0.30% in a topical formulation. ICI 195,739 is likewise effective in models of systemic fungal infection; 1, 10, 25 mg/kg/day will protect animals given a lethal inoculum of C. albicans, C. neoformans, or A. fumigatus, respectively, as long as dosing is continued, showing activity in this respect superior to that of other azoles tested. ICI 195,739 will suppress infections in mice with T. cruzi and prevent mortality with five daily doses of 1 mg/kg; cure rather than suppression of patent infections has been achieved with 35 daily doses of 10 mg/kg.

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