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BackgroundThere are well‐documented geographical differences in cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality for non‐Hispanic whites. However, it remains unknown whether similar geographical variation in CVD mortality exists for Asian American subgroups. This study aims to examine geographical differences in CVD mortality among Asian American subgroups living in the United States and whether they are consistent with geographical differences observed among non‐Hispanic whites. Methods and ResultsUsing US death records from 2003 to 2011 (n=3 897 040 CVD deaths), age‐adjusted CVD mortality rates per 100 000 population and age‐adjusted mortality rate ratios were calculated for the 6 largest Asian American subgroups (Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese) and compared with non‐Hispanic whites. There were consistently lower mortality rates for all Asian American subgroups compared with non‐Hispanic whites across divisions for CVD mortality and ischemic heart disease mortality. However, cerebrovascular disease mortality demonstrated substantial geographical differences by Asian American subgroup. There were a number of regional divisions where certain Asian American subgroups (Filipino and Japanese men, Korean and Vietnamese men and women) possessed no mortality advantage compared with non‐Hispanic whites. The most striking geographical variation was with Filipino men (age‐adjusted mortality rate ratio=1.18; 95% CI, 1.14–1.24) and Japanese men (age‐adjusted mortality rate ratio=1.05; 95% CI: 1.00–1.11) in the Pacific division who had significantly higher cerebrovascular mortality than non‐Hispanic whites. ConclusionsThere was substantial geographical variation in Asian American subgroup mortality for cerebrovascular disease when compared with non‐Hispanic whites. It deserves increased attention to prioritize prevention and treatment in the Pacific division where approximately 80% of Filipinos CVD deaths and 90% of Japanese CVD deaths occur in the United States.

BackgroundOur current understanding of Asian American mortality patterns has been distorted by the historical aggregation of diverse Asian subgroups on death certificates, masking important differences in the leading causes of death across subgroups. In this analysis, we aim to fill an important knowledge gap in Asian American health by reporting leading causes of mortality by disaggregated Asian American subgroups.Methods and findingsWe examined national mortality records for the six largest Asian subgroups (Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese) and non-Hispanic Whites (NHWs) from 2003-2011, and ranked the leading causes of death. We calculated all-cause and cause-specific age-adjusted rates, temporal trends with annual percent changes, and rate ratios by race/ethnicity and sex. Rankings revealed that as an aggregated group, cancer was the leading cause of death for Asian Americans. When disaggregated, there was notable heterogeneity. Among women, cancer was the leading cause of death for every group except Asian Indians. In men, cancer was the leading cause of death among Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese men, while heart disease was the leading cause of death among Asian Indians, Filipino and Japanese men. The proportion of death due to heart disease for Asian Indian males was nearly double that of cancer (31% vs. 18%). Temporal trends showed increased mortality of cancer and diabetes in Asian Indians and Vietnamese; increased stroke mortality in Asian Indians; increased suicide mortality in Koreans; and increased mortality from Alzheimer's disease for all racial/ethnic groups from 2003-2011. All-cause rate ratios revealed that overall mortality is lower in Asian Americans compared to NHWs.ConclusionsOur findings show heterogeneity in the leading causes of death among Asian American subgroups. Additional research should focus on culturally competent and cost-effective approaches to prevent and treat specific diseases among these growing diverse populations.

Groundwater springs are significant landscape features for humans and the biota that occupies their habitat. Many springs become inactive where groundwater exploitation by humans has lowered the water table or artesian pressure. In order to assess this impact, it is important to identify and locate active, and with more difficulty, inactive springs. Using a variety of archival, environmental and field-based data, this study presents a protocol for the determination of the location and status of springs across the Great Artesian Basin of Australia. This protocol underpins a database of springs, which is not only important for the assessment of spring ecosystems, but also contributes to understand groundwater extraction impacts and hydrogeological processes. The database indicates that 30.0% of discharge (artesian) springs in the Great Artesian Basin are entirely inactive and another 11.8% are partially inactive. For the outcrop (gravity) springs of the Basin, only 1.9% are entirely inactive and 7.4% partially inactive, and for the outcrop springs in the Tertiary sandstone overlying the Basin 30.9% are inactive and 18.2% are partially inactive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Hypertension (HTN) is a known major cardiovascular disease risk factor, but prevalence, treatment, and control of HTN among rapidly growing minority groups such as Asian Americans and Hispanics are unknown largely due to either underrepresentation in epidemiologic studies or aggregation of Asian American subgroups. Methods A three-year cross-section (2010-2012) of patients from a large ambulatory care setting in northern California was examined in the following subgroups: Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Mexicans, non-Hispanic Blacks (NHBs), and non-Hispanic Whites (NHWs). We defined HTN as two separate nonemergent office visit blood pressure measurements =140/90 mm Hg, physician diagnosis of HTN, or use of antihypertensive medications. results A total of 208,985 patients were included in the study. Age-adjusted HTN prevalence ranged from 30.0% in Chinese women to 59.9% in Filipino men. Most minority subgroups had lower or similar odds of having HTN compared with NHWs, except for Filipinos and NHBs whose odds were significantly higher after adjusting for patient demographic and clinical characteristics. Asian Americans and NHBs were more likely to be treated for HTN compared with NHWs. Achievement of blood pres- sure control was lower among Filipino women (odds ratio = 0.82, 99% confidence interval 0.70-0.96) and NHB men (odds ratio = 0.73, 99% confidence interval 0.58-0.91), compared with NHW women and men. conclusions Substantial racial/ethnic variation in HTN prevalence, treatment, and control was found in our study population. Filipino and NHB women and men are at especially high risk for HTN and may have more difficulty in achieving adequate blood pressure control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A detailed, chemical mechanism has been compiled for modeling the combustion of C1-C3 hydrocarbon-nitrous oxide mixtures. The compiled, chemical mechanism has been compared and validated against available data in the literature, including flame structure measurements of hydrogen-nitrous oxide and ammonia-nitrous oxide flames, flow reactor data on hydrogen-nitrous oxide and moist, nitrous oxide decomposition mixtures, shock tube ignition delay data on hydrogen- and methane-nitrous oxide mixtures, experimental flame speed data on carbon monoxide-nitrous oxide mixtures, and experimental, laminar flame speed data for hydrogen-, methane-, acetylene-, and propane-nitrous oxide mixtures. Feature sensitivity studies and reaction path analyses have been employed to elucidate important pathways to the overall reaction rate for these systems, and include the nitrous oxide decomposition step (N2O(+M) ⇌ N2 + O(+M)) and nitrous oxide reactions with H atoms (N2O + H ⇌ N2 + OH and N2O + H ⇌ NH + NO). Modifications to the compiled mechanism were considered on the basis of the most sensitive reactions with the highest apparent rate constant uncertainty, to closely predict the various experimental data considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]