Emergency department use among Asian adults living in the United States: Results from the National Health Interview Survey (2006 – 2013)

This paper presents secondary analyses of the National Health Interview Survey data focused on emergency department (ED) utilization among Asian adults residing in the United States. National Health Interview Survey data provided from survey years 2006-2013 was pooled and disaggregated by single-race Asian ethnic subgroups (Filipino, Chinese, Asian Indian, other Asian). We explored trends in reports of an ED visit over the survey years for the purpose of determining whether reports of an ED visit increased or decreased over survey years. We also explored background/biologic, environment, access to care, and behavior factors and their associations with having an ED visit. The majority of respondents were foreign-born (75.9%) and had lived in the United States for ten or more years (54.3%). Estimates for reports of any ED visits ranged from 8.3% for the Chinese to 15.3% for the Filipino subgroups. Filipinos were more likely to have an ED visit compared to the Chinese and other Asians (except Asian Indians). For the eight years of survey data, estimates indicate a trend of fewer reports of any ED visit among the Asian Indian and Filipino subgroups. Among Filipinos, having diabetes and a smoking history were associated with an ED visit. The odds of an ED visit were higher among Asians in the youngest age category, among other Asians born in the United States, and among those who saw/talked to a mental health professional within the previous year. As there is a paucity of information available about ED use among Asians or Asian subgroups, this report adds to the literature on patterns of health care utilization among Asian subgroups living in the United States with a specific focus on ED utilization

Google Earth Visualizations: Preview and Delivery of Hydrographic and Other Marine Datasets

Existing hydrographic data analysis and visualization tools are very powerful, but lack easy access to web data management tools. Virtual globe software provides a gateway to a host of important data products in formats usable by specialized tools such as CARIS, Fledermaus, and Arc/Info. With virtual globe interfaces, users see complimentary and consistent geographic representations of available data in an easy-tonavigate format. We present a preview of visualizations that build upon virtual globe software. These examples are viewed in Google Earth, but could also be implemented in a number of alternative programs (e.g. NASA World Wind, Dapple, OSSIM Planet). We have assembled Google Earth visualizations from three datasets to illustrate each of the four primary types of data (handle point, line, area, and time data). The USCG Marine Information for Safety and Law Enforcement (MISLE) database of ship incidents illustrates point data. A short sample of the USCG National Automatic Identification System logs (N-AIS) demonstrates rendering of line data. Area data is exemplified in the United Nations Convention f the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) multibeam bathymetry. Point, line and area data are combined to present a preview of S57 chart information. Finally, the MISLE database uses time to show maritime incidents that occurred in US waterways. The visualizations for our initial work were created with hand coding and small scripts. However, tools such as Fledermaus and RockWare have added Google Earth export functionality that makes authoring Google Earth resources easy to construct. For large dataset that require additional processing and analyses, Google Earth visualizations can offer users a range of download formats and suggest what software to use. We believe that this virtual globe-based-approach can make geospatial data sets more widely accessible via the world-wide-web

Time Dependent Density Functional Theory of Dynamical Response in 3d and 4d Metals

Two different but complementary quantum mechanical many-body problems are investigated. These problems include both static and dynamic aspects of the electronelectron interaction in real materials. In Chapter One, we take up the cases of Ag and Ni with a microscopic evaluation of the dielectric function and loss function using the formalism of time dependent density functional theory and all-electron techniques. We address the striking line shapes that have been recently observed via inelastic scattering experiments. The present work reveals three relevant energy scales for excitations in the selected systems. These scales are argued to be generic to a large number of 3d and 4d metals, and include the threshold for excitation of d electrons, final state energies, and the plasmon energy. Our results for Ag corroborate the experimental interpretation of the anomalous dispersion of the nominal plasmon loss, and shed new light on the striking line shape as well as predicting an anomalous dispersion of the nominal plasmon lifetime. In agreement with experiment, the theoretical loss spectrum of Ni is found to be equally complex with two prominent loss features at ~22eV and ~28 eV. The ab initio results demonstrate that both phase space and a strong modulation of d → p transitions lead to the predicted behavior. Moreover, in contrast to the canonical description that has been used to describe these features, we find them to be quite different from plasma oscillations. In Chapter Two, we address static properties of the electron-electron interaction as it pertains to ground state properties. In the exchange-only method one approximates the exchange-correlation energy functional of density functional theory by its Hartree-Fock form, ensuring that the method adheres to several scaling laws and identities which are violated by the local density and generalized gradient approximations. Although there is no formal correspondence to eigenvalue gaps determined by photoemission or inverse photoemission, we find that exchange-only results partially remove the discrepancy between these energy gaps and those obtained based on the local density approximation. However, we also find marked discrepancies with other recent theoretical treatments. Suggestions for future research are made

A Human Torque Teno Virus Encodes a MicroRNA That Inhibits Interferon Signaling

Rodney P. Kincaid, James M. Burke, Jennifer C. Cox, Christopher S. Sullivan, The University of Texas at Austin, Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Austin, Texas, United States of AmericaEthel-Michele de Villiers, Division for the Characterization of Tumorviruses, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, GermanyTorque teno viruses (TTVs) are a group of viruses with small, circular DNA genomes. Members of this family are thought to ubiquitously infect humans, although causal disease associations are currently lacking. At present, there is no understanding of how infection with this diverse group of viruses is so prevalent. Using a combined computational and synthetic approach, we predict and identify miRNA-coding regions in diverse human TTVs and provide evidence for TTV miRNA production in vivo. The TTV miRNAs are transcribed by RNA polymerase II, processed by Drosha and Dicer, and are active in RISC. A TTV mutant defective for miRNA production replicates as well as wild type virus genome; demonstrating that the TTV miRNA is dispensable for genome replication in a cell culture model. We demonstrate that a recombinant TTV genome is capable of expressing an exogenous miRNA, indicating the potential utility of TTV as a small RNA vector. Gene expression profiling of host cells identifies N-myc (and STAT) interactor (NMI) as a target of a TTV miRNA. NMI transcripts are directly regulated through a binding site in the 3′UTR. SiRNA knockdown of NMI contributes to a decreased response to interferon signaling. Consistent with this, we show that a TTV miRNA mediates a decreased response to IFN and increased cellular proliferation in the presence of IFN. Thus, we add Annelloviridae to the growing list of virus families that encode miRNAs, and suggest that miRNA-mediated immune evasion can contribute to the pervasiveness associated with some of these viruses.This work was supported by grants RO1AI077746 from the National Institutes of Health, RP110098 from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, a Burroughs Wellcome Investigators in Pathogenesis Award to CSS, a UT Austin Powers Graduate Fellowship to RPK, a UT Austin Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology fellowship, and the DKFZ for EMdV. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Molecular BiosciencesMicrobiologyEmail: [email protected]