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Ambient air synthesis of multi-layer CVD graphene films for low-cost, efficient counter electrode material in dye-sensitized solar cells
Get PDF© 2018 Elsevier B.V. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
This author accepted manuscript is made available following 12 month embargo from date of publication (February 2018) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyGraphene holds great promise as a substitute counter electrode (CE) material to replace the conventional Pt in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). However, lengthy chemical processing with hazardous chemicals, high production cost and the poor quality of the graphene flakes produced impedes their utilization as a CE material in DSSCs. Herein, we demonstrate a low-cost synthesis of multi-layer graphene films using a thermal chemical vapour deposition (CVD) process in an ambient-air environment without expensive compressed gases while using a renewable source namely soybean oil. Utilization of our low-cost graphene film in DSSCs exhibits excellent electrocatalytic activity and high electrical conductivity, and thus delivers superior photovoltaic (PV) efficiency compared to the devices fabricated with graphene films produced from commonly adopted chemical methods. Even though no additional treatments such as heteroatom doping are applied, our low-cost graphene showed great promise in DSSCs. Further enhancement in the efficiency of our multi-layer graphene film based DSSCs is readily achievable by applying simple functional treatments (for example SOCl2). Finally, material cost analysis of our multi-layer graphene film compared to commercial Pt electrode suggests that we can reduce the CE material cost by five fold, making our CVD graphene film a realistic option for application in commercial DSSC systems
Serve Size and Estimated Energy and Protein Contents of Meals Prepared by ‘Meals on Wheels’ South Australia Inc.: Findings from a Meal Audit Study
Get PDF© 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).An audit of ‘standard’ (STD) and ‘energy and protein fortified’ (HEHP) meals from Meals on Wheels (MOW) South Australia’s summer menu was conducted to evaluate the consistency, and serve size and nutrient contents, of their menu items. Twenty soups, 20 mains and 20 desserts from each of the STD and HEHP menus were prepared at the MOW South Australia’s kitchen and delivered to three ‘sham(dummy)-clients’ over a 5-week period. Each meal component was weighed in triplicate, to the nearest gram, the variation within the serve weight was calculated, and the overall energy and protein content of each meal was determined using FoodWorks (Xyris Software, Highgate Hill, Queensland, Australia). On average, the variability for soups and mains was ≤6% and for desserts was ≤10% and although the measured serve sizes of the MOW meals were consistently smaller than prescribed serve size, the differences were minor. As a percentage of recommended daily intakes (RDIs) for adults aged over 60 years, we calculated that the STD meals contained 21–39% for energy and 42–63% for protein while the HEHP meals contained 29–55% for energy and 46–69% for protein. These findings demonstrate that MOW meals currently meet the voluntary meal guidelines for energy and protein
Regional variation in the characteristics, incidence and outcomes of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Australia and New Zealand: Results from the Aus-ROC Epistry
Get PDF© 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY-NC-ND/4.0/).Introduction
The aim of this study was to investigate regional variation in the characteristics, incidence and outcomes of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in Australia and New Zealand.
Methods
This was a population-based cohort study of OHCA using data from the Aus-ROC Australian and New Zealand OHCA Epistry over the period of 01 January 2015–31 December 2015. Seven ambulance services contributed data to the Epistry with a capture population of 19.8 million people. All OHCA attended by ambulance, regardless of aetiology or patient age, were included.
Results
In 2015, there were 19,722 OHCA cases recorded in the Aus-ROC Epistry with an overall crude incidence of 102.5 cases per 100,000 population (range: 51.0–107.7 per 100,000 population). Of all OHCA cases attended by EMS (excluding EMS-witnessed cases), bystander CPR was performed in 41% of cases (range: 36%–50%). Resuscitation was attempted (by EMS) in 48% of cases (range: 40%–68%). The crude incidence for attempted resuscitation cases was 47.6 per 100,000 population (range: 34.7–54.1 per 100,000 population). Of cases with attempted resuscitation, 28% survived the event (range: 21%–36%) and 12% survived to hospital discharge or 30 days (range: 9%–17%; data provided by five ambulance services).
Conclusion
In the first results of the Aus-ROC Australian and New Zealand OHCA Epistry, significant regional variation in the incidence, characteristics and outcomes was observed. Understanding the system-level and public health drivers of this variation will assist in optimisation of the chain of survival provided to OHCA patients with the aim of improving outcomes
Magnesium and Human Health: Perspectives and Research Directions
Get PDFCopyright © 2018 Abdullah M. Al Alawi et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Magnesium is the fourth most abundant cation in the body. It has several functions in the human body including its role as a cofactor for more than 300 enzymatic reactions. Several studies have shown that hypomagnesemia is a common electrolyte derangement in clinical setting especially in patients admitted to intensive care unit where it has been found to be associated with increase mortality and hospital stay. Hypomagnesemia can be caused by a wide range of inherited and acquired diseases. It can also be a side effect of several medications. Many studies have reported that reduced levels of magnesium are associated with a wide range of chronic diseases. Magnesium can play important therapeutic and preventive role in several conditions such as diabetes, osteoporosis, bronchial asthma, preeclampsia, migraine, and cardiovascular diseases. This review is aimed at comprehensively collating the current available published evidence and clinical correlates of magnesium disorders
Protease-Activated Receptor 1 is Implicated in Irritable Bowel Syndrome Mediators-Induced Signalling to Thoracic Human Sensory Neurons
Get PDFCopyright © 2018 International Association for the Study of Pain
This author accepted manuscript is made available following 12 month embargo from date of publication (April 2018) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyProteases and Protease-Activated Receptors (PARs) are major mediators involved in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Our objectives were to decipher the expression and functionality (calcium signaling) of PARs in human dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons, and to define mechanisms involved in human sensory neuron signaling by IBS patient mediators.
Human thoracic DRG were obtained from the national disease resource interchange. Expression of PAR1, PAR2 and PAR4 was assessed by immunohistochemistry and RT-qPCR in whole DRG or in primary cultures of isolated neurons. Calcium signaling in response to PAR agonist peptides (PAR-AP), their inactive peptides (PAR-IP), thrombin (10u/ml), supernatants from colonic biopsies of IBS patients or healthy controls (HC), with or without PAR1 or PAR4 antagonist were studied in cultured human DRG neurons.
PAR1, PAR2 and PAR4 were all expressed in human DRG, respectively in 20%, 40% and 40% of the sensory neurons. PAR1-AP increased intracellular calcium concentration in a dose-dependent manner. This increase was inhibited by PAR1 antagonism. In contrast, PAR2-AP, PAR4-AP and PAR-IP did not cause calcium mobilization. PAR1-AP-induced calcium flux was significantly reduced by pre-incubation with PAR4-AP, but not with PAR2-AP. Thrombin increased calcium flux, which was inhibited by a PAR1 antagonist and increased by a PAR4 antagonist. Supernatants from colonic biopsies of IBS patients induced calcium flux in human sensory neurons compared to HC, this induction was reversed by a PAR1 antagonist.
Taken together, our results highlight that PAR1 antagonism should be investigated as a new therapeutic target for IBS symptoms
Validation of a risk prediction model for Barrett’s esophagus in an Australian population
Get PDFCreative Commons License: This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License. By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.Background: Esophageal adenocarcinoma is a disease that has a high mortality rate, the only known precursor being Barrett’s esophagus (BE). While screening for BE is not cost-effective at the population level, targeted screening might be beneficial. We have developed a risk prediction model to identify people with BE, and here we present the external validation of this model.
Materials and methods: A cohort study was undertaken to validate a risk prediction model for BE. Individuals with endoscopy and histopathology proven BE completed a questionnaire containing variables previously identified as risk factors for this condition. Their responses were combined with data from a population sample for analysis. Risk scores were derived for each participant. Overall performance of the risk prediction model in terms of calibration and discrimination was assessed.
Results: Scores from 95 individuals with BE and 636 individuals from the general population were analyzed. The Brier score was 0.118, suggesting reasonable overall performance. The area under the receiver operating characteristic was 0.83 (95% CI 0.78–0.87). The Hosmer–Lemeshow statistic was p=0.14. Minimizing false positives and false negatives, the model achieved a sensitivity of 74% and a specificity of 73%.
Conclusion: This study has validated a risk prediction model for BE that has a higher sensitivity than previous models
How institutional forces, ideas and actors shaped population health planning in Australian regional primary health care organisations
Get PDFThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.Abstract
Background
Worldwide, there are competing norms driving health system changes and reorganisation. One such norm is that of health systems’ responsibilities for population health as distinct from a focus on clinical services. In this paper we report on a case study of population health planning in Australian primary health care (PHC) organisations (Medicare Locals, 2011–2015). Drawing on institutional theory, we describe how institutional forces, ideas and actors shaped such planning.
Methods
We reviewed the planning documents of the 61 Medicare Locals and rated population health activities in each Medicare Local. We also conducted an online survey and 50 interviews with Medicare Local senior staff, and an interview and focus group with Federal Department of Health staff.
Results
Despite policy emphasis on population health, Medicare Locals reported higher levels of effort and capacity in providing clinical services. Health promotion and social determinants of health activities were undertaken on an ad hoc basis. Regulatory conditions imposed by the federal government including funding priorities and time schedules, were the predominant forces constraining population health planning. In some Medicare Locals, this was in conflict with the normative values and what Medicare Locals felt ought to be done. The alignment between the governmental and the cultural-cognitive forces of a narrow biomedical approach privileged clinical practice and ascribed less legitimacy to action on social determinants of health. Our study also shed light on the range of PHC actors and how their agency influenced Medicare Locals’ performance in population health. The presence of senior staff or community boards with a strong commitment to population health were important in directing action towards population health and equity.
Conclusions
There are numerous institutional, normative and cultural factors influencing population health planning. The experience of Australian Medicare Locals highlights the difficulties of planning in such a way that the impact of the social determinants on health and health equity are taken into account. The policy environment favours a focus on clinical services to the detriment of health promotion informed by a social determinants focus
Connecting the dots between breast cancer, obesity and alcohol consumption in middle-aged women: ecological and case control studies
Get PDFThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.Abstract
Background
Breast cancer (BC) incidence in Australian women aged 45 to 64 years (‘middle-aged’) has tripled in the past 50 years, along with increasing alcohol consumption and obesity in middle-age women. Alcohol and obesity have been individually associated with BC but little is known about how these factors might interact. Chronic psychological stress has been associated with, but not causally linked to, BC. Here, alcohol could represent the ‘missing link’ – reflecting self-medication. Using an exploratory cross-sectional design, we investigated inter-correlations of alcohol intake and overweight/obesity and their association with BC incidence in middle-aged women. We also explored the role of stress and various lifestyle factors in these relationships.
Methods
We analysed population data on BC incidence, alcohol consumption, overweight/obesity, and psychological stress. A case control study was conducted using an online survey. Cases (n = 80) were diagnosed with BC and controls (n = 235) were women in the same age range with no BC history. Participants reported lifestyle data (including alcohol consumption, weight history) over consecutive 10-year life periods. Data were analysed using a range of bivariate and multivariate techniques including correlation matrices, multivariate binomial regressions and multilevel logistic regression.
Results
Ecological inter-correlations were found between BC and alcohol consumption and between BC and obesity but not between other variables in the matrix. Strong pairwise correlations were found between stress and alcohol and between stress and obesity.
BMI tended to be higher in cases relative to controls across reported life history. Alcohol consumption was not associated with case-control status. Few correlations were found between lifestyle factors and stress, although smoking and alcohol consumption were correlated in some periods. Obesity occurring during the ages of 31 to 40 years emerged as an independent predictor of BC (OR 3.5 95% CI: 1.3–9.4).
Conclusions
This study provides ecological evidence correlating obesity and alcohol consumption with BC incidence. Case-control findings suggest lifetime BMI may be important with particular risk associated with obesity prior to 40 years of age. Stress was ecologically linked to alcohol and obesity but not to BC incidence and was differentially correlated with alcohol and smoking among cases and controls. Our findings support prevention efforts targeting weight in women below 40 years of age and, potentially, lifelong alcohol consumption to reduce BC risk in middle-aged women
Random and systematic sampling error when hooking fish to monitor skin fluke (Benedenia seriolae) and gill fluke (Zeuxapta seriolae) burden in Australian farmed yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi)
Get PDF© 2018 Elsevier. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license:http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
This author accepted manuscript is made available following 12 month embargo from date of publication (February 2018) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyThe Australian farmed yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi, YTK) industry monitor skin fluke (Benedenia seriolae) and gill fluke (Zeuxapta seriolae) burden by pooling the fluke count of 10 hooked YTK. The random and systematic error of this sampling strategy was evaluated to assess potential impact on treatment decisions.
Fluke abundance (fluke count per fish) in a study cage (estimated 30,502 fish) was assessed five times using the current sampling protocol and its repeatability was estimated the repeatability coefficient (CR) and the coefficient of variation (CV). Individual body weight, fork length, fluke abundance, prevalence, intensity (fluke count per infested fish) and density (fluke count per Kg of fish) were compared between 100 hooked and 100 seined YTK (assumed representative of the entire population) to estimate potential selection bias.
Depending on the fluke species and age category, CR (expected difference in parasite count between 2 sampling iterations) ranged from 0.78 to 114 flukes per fish. Capturing YTK by hooking increased the selection of fish of a weight and length in the lowest 5th percentile of the cage (RR = 5.75, 95% CI: 2.06–16.03, P-value = 0.0001). These lower end YTK had on average an extra 31 juveniles and 6 adults Z. seriolae per Kg of fish and an extra 3 juvenile and 0.4 adult B. seriolae per Kg of fish, compared to the rest of the cage population (P-value < 0.05).
Hooking YTK on the edge of the study cage biases sampling towards the smallest and most heavily infested fish in the population, resulting in poor repeatability (more variability amongst sampled fish) and an overestimation of parasite burden in the population. In this particular commercial situation these finding supported that health management program, where the finding of an underestimation of parasite burden could provide a production impact on the study population. In instances where fish populations and parasite burdens are more homogenous, sampling error may be less severe. Sampling error when capturing fish from sea cage is difficult to predict. The amplitude and direction of this error should be investigated for a given cultured fish species across a range of parasite burden and fish profile scenarios
Th17 Cytokines Disrupt the Airway Mucosal Barrier in Chronic Rhinosinusitis
Get PDFCopyright © 2016 Mahnaz Ramezanpour et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Cytokine mediated changes in paracellular permeability contribute to a multitude of pathological conditions including chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of interferons and of Th1, Th2, and Th17 cytokines on respiratory epithelium barrier function. Cytokines and interferons were applied to the basolateral side of air-liquid interface (ALI) cultures of primary human nasal epithelial cells (HNECs) from CRS with nasal polyp patients. Transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) and permeability of FITC-conjugated dextrans were measured over time. Additionally, the expression of the tight junction protein Zona Occludens-1 (ZO-1) was examined via immunofluorescence. Data was analysed using ANOVA, followed by Tukey HSD post hoc test. Our results showed that application of interferons and of Th1 or Th2 cytokines did not affect the mucosal barrier function. In contrast, the Th17 cytokines IL-17, IL-22, and IL-26 showed a significant disruption of the epithelial barrier, evidenced by a loss of TEER, increased paracellular permeability of FITC-dextrans, and discontinuous ZO-1 immunolocalisation. These results indicate that Th17 cytokines may contribute to the development of CRSwNP by promoting a leaky mucosal barrier