Assessing the performance of the Asian/Pacific islander identification algorithm to infer Hmong ethnicity from electronic health records in California.

OBJECTIVE:This study assesses the performance of the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries Asian/Pacific Islander Identification Algorithm (NAPIIA) to infer Hmong ethnicity. DESIGN AND SETTING:Analyses of electronic health records (EHRs) from 1 January 2011 to 1 October 2015. The NAPIIA was applied to the EHR data, and self-reported Hmong ethnicity from a questionnaire was used as the gold standard. Sensitivity, specificity, positive (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPVs) were calculated comparing the source data ethnicity inferred by the algorithm with the self-reported ethnicity from the questionnaire. PARTICIPANTS:EHRs indicating Hmong, Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean ethnicity who met the original study inclusion criteria were analysed. RESULTS:The NAPIIA had a sensitivity of 78%, a specificity of 99.9%, a PPV of 96% and an NPV of 99%. The prevalence of Hmong population in the sample was 3.9%. CONCLUSION:The high sensitivity of the NAPIIA indicates its effectiveness in detecting Hmong ethnicity. The applicability of the NAPIIA to a multitude of Asian subgroups can advance Asian health disparity research by enabling researchers to disaggregate Asian data and unmask health challenges of different Asian subgroups

Vesseled Cultures; Figures of Diasporic Comforts

The Domestic sphere of the Chinese American home is a promising site where continuous identities and memories of routine name are at play. In the kitchen, engaging in rituals of food making - a natural home endeavor- fosters reconnection and reconciliation with a past identity long forgotten. Architectural extrapolation is then seen through means of practices like fermenting vegetables and observation of domestic rituals between the individuals and their surroundings - whether it be the orchestration of food (the process), the jar in which the vegetables and brine rest (the vessel), or the patterns of kitchen utilities being used (the environment). From defamiliarizing these built constructs, we aim to challenge the often independent and disconnected nature of pickling by focusing on reconstructing objects made for Chinese American diaspora. These objects will be constructed to reflect their emerging sensibilities, providing intrinsic comfort in the practices they dictate and serving as a living heirloom echoing forgotten identity

Interaction of Serum- and Glucocorticoid Regulated Kinase 1 (SGK1) with the WW-Domains of Nedd4-2 Is Required for Epithelial Sodium Channel Regulation

The epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) is an integral component of the pathway for Na(+) absorption in epithelial cells. The ubiquitin ligases Nedd4 and Nedd4-2 bind to ENaC and decrease its activity. Conversely, Serum- and Glucocorticoid regulated Kinase-1 (SGK1), a downstream mediator of aldosterone, increases ENaC activity. This effect is at least partly mediated by direct interaction between SGK and Nedd4-2. SGK binds both Nedd4 and Nedd4-2, but it is only able to phosphorylate Nedd4-2. Phosphorylation of Nedd4-2 reduces its ability to bind to ENaC, due to the interaction of phosphorylated Nedd4-2 with 14-3-3 proteins, and hence increases ENaC activity. WW-domains in Nedd4-like proteins bind PY-motifs (PPXY) present in ENaC subunits, and SGK also has a PY-motif.Here we show that single or tandem WW-domains of Nedd4 and Nedd4-2 mediate binding to SGK and that different WW-domains of Nedd4 and Nedd4-2 are involved. Our data also show that WW-domains 2 and 3 of Nedd4-2 mediate the interaction with SGK in a cooperative manner, that activated SGK has increased affinity for the WW-domains of Nedd4-2 in vitro, and a greater stimulatory effect on ENaC Na(+) transport compared to wildtype SGK. Further, SGK lacking a PY motif failed to stimulate ENaC activity in the presence of Nedd4-2.Binding of Nedd4-2 WW-domains to SGK is necessary for SGK-induced ENaC activity

Prevalence of invasive fungal disease in hematological patients at a tertiary university hospital in Singapore

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The use of newer azoles as prophylaxis in hematological patients undergoing stem cell transplantation or immunosuppressive chemotherapy has been shown to decrease the risk of developing invasive fungal disease (IFD). However, the cost-effectiveness of such a strategy is dependent on the local epidemiology of IFD. We conducted an audit of hematological patients with IFD in our institution in order to derive the prevalence and types of IFD that occur locally.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>We conducted a retrospective chart review of all hematological patients who developed possible, probable or definite IFD according to EORTC/MSG criteria in the period from Oct 2007 to Apr 2010. The prevalence of IFD was determined via correlation with institutional database records of all hematological patients treated at our institution over the same time period.</p> <p>There were 39 cases of IFD diagnosed during the study period, with 8 (20.5%) possible, 19 (48.7%) probable and 12 (30.8%) definite cases of IFD. <it>Aspergillus </it>spp. accounted for 83.9% of all probable and definite infections. There was 1 case each of <it>Rhinocladelia </it>spp., <it>Coprinopsis cinerea</it>, <it>Exserohilum </it>spp. sinusitis and <it>Rhizopus </it>spp. sinusitis. IFD occurred in 12 of 124 (9.7%) AML and 4 of 103 (3.9%) ALL patients treated at our institution respectively. There were 10 (16.1%) infections among 62 allogeneic HSCT recipients, six of whom were having concurrent graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Five other cases occurred after allogeneic HSCT failure, following salvage chemotherapy for disease relapse. The prevalence of IFD during induction chemotherapy was 8.9% (11 of 124 cases) for AML and 1.0% (1 of 103 cases) for ALL. Fluconazole prophylaxis had been provided for 28 out of the 39 (71.8%) cases, while 4 (10.3%) were on itraconazole prophylaxis. The in-hospital mortality was 28.2% (11 of 39 cases), of which 5 (12.8%) deaths were attributed to IFD.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The burden of IFD is high in our institution, especially in allogeneic HSCT recipients and patients on induction chemotherapy for AML. A prophylactic strategy directed against invasive mould infections for local high-risk patients may be considered as the comparative costs of treatment, prolonged hospitalisation and subsequent delayed chemotherapy favours such an approach.</p

Improved Measurements of Partial Rate Asymmetry in B -> h h Decays

We report improved measurements of the partial rate asymmetry (Acp) in B -> h h decays with 140fb^-1 of data collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB e+e- collider. Here h stands for a charged or neutral pion or kaon and in total five decay modes are included: K-+ pi+-, K0s pi-+, K-+ pi0, pi-+ pi0 and K0s pi0. The flavor of the last decay mode is determined from the accompanying B meson. Using a data sample 4.7 times larger than that of our previous measurement, we find Acp(K-+ pi+-) -0.088+-0.035+-0.013, 2.4 sigma from zero. Results for other decay modes are also presented.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur

Silencing of IQGAP1 by shRNA inhibits the invasion of ovarian carcinoma HO-8910PM cells in vitro

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>IQGAP1 is a scaffolding protein and overexpressed in many human tumors, including ovarian cancer. However, the contribution of IQGAP1 to invasive properties of ovarian cancer cells remains unknown. Here, we investigated the effect of IQGAP1-specific short hairpin RNA (shRNA) expressing plasmids on metastatic potential of ovarian cancer HO-8910PM cells.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We used RT-PCR and Western blot analysis to characterize expression of IQGAP1 in three human ovarian cancer-derived cell lines SK-OV-3, HO-8910 and HO-8910PM. We then determined whether expression of endogenous IQGAP1 correlated with invasive and migratory ability by using an in vitro Matrigel assay and cell migration assay. We further knocked down IQGAP1 using shRNA expressing plasmids controlled by U1 promoter in HO-8910PM cells and examined the proliferation activity, invasive and migration potential of IQGAP1 shRNA transfectants using MTT assay, in vitro Matrigel-coated invasion assay and migration assay.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>IQGAP1 expression level seemed to be closely associated with the enhanced invasion and migration in ovarian cancer cell lines. Levels of both IQGAP1 mRNA and protein were significantly reduced in HO-8910PM cells transfected with plasmid-based IQGAP1-specific shRNAs. RNAi-mediated knockdown of IQGAP1 expression in HO-8910PM cells resulted in a significant decrease in cell invasion and migration.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our findings support the hypothesis that IQGAP1 promotes tumor progression and identify IQGAP1 as a potential therapeutic strategy for ovarian cancer and some other tumors with over-expression of the IQGAP1 gene.</p

Search for CP violation in the decay B0->D*+-D-+

We report a search for CP-violating asymmetry in B0 -> D*+- D-+ decays. The analysis employs two methods of B0 reconstruction: full and partial. In the full reconstruction method all daughter particles of the B0 are required to be detected; the partial reconstruction technique requires a fully reconstructed D- and only a slow pion from the D*+ -> D0 pi_slow+ decay. From a fit to the distribution of the time interval corresponding to the distance between two B meson decay points we calculate the CP-violating parameters and find the significance of nonzero CP asymmetry to be 2.7 standard deviations.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure