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Environmentally friendly preparation of nanoparticles for organic photovoltaics
Get PDFAqueous nanoparticle dispersions were prepared from a conjugated polymer poly[thiophene-2,5-diyl-alt-5,10-bis((2-hexyldecyl)oxy)dithieno[3,2-c:3′,2′-h][1,5]naphthyridine-2,7-diyl] (PTNT) and fullerene blend utilizing chloroform as well as a non-chlorinated and environmentally benign solvent, o-xylene, as the miniemulsion dispersed phase solvent. The nanoparticles (NPs) in the solid-state film were found to coalesce and offered a smooth surface topography upon thermal annealing. Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) with photoactive layer processed from the nanoparticle dispersions prepared using chloroform as the miniemulsion dispersed phase solvent were found to have a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 1.04%, which increased to 1.65% for devices utilizing NPs prepared from o-xylene. Physical, thermal and optical properties of NPs prepared using both chloroform and o-xylene were systematically studied using dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and correlated to their photovoltaic properties. The PL results indicate different morphology of NPs in the solid state were achieved by varying miniemulsion dispersed phase solvent.The authors thank the Flinders University and the South Australian government for financial support. This research was supported by the Australian Research Council's Discovery Projects funding scheme (Project DP170102467). The device fabrication facilities including the glove box and thermal evaporator at Flinders University are supported by the Australian Nano Fabrication Facility (ANFF) and the Australian Microscopy and Microanalysis Research Facility (AMMRF), which are gratefully acknowledged. Special thanks to the University of Newcastle Electron Microscopy and X-ray Unit. This work was performed in part at the Materials node of the Australian National Fabrication Facility, which is a company established under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy to provide nano- and microfabrication facilities for Australia's researchers. The ALS is supported by the Director, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231
Online platform for healthy weight loss in adults with overweight and obesity - the “POEmaS” project: a randomized controlled trial
Get PDFOpen Access
This 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.Background
Obesity is a major health problem in Brazil affecting 19% of Brazilian adults with a rising incidence over the last 10 years. Moreover, low fruit/vegetables consumption and high sweetened beverage intake are major issues. Facing the challenge of universal healthcare access, internet-based programs have the potential to reach a large number of inhabitants, be widely accessible and cost effective. Our aim is to assess the efficacy of a web-based platform to promote weight loss and diet and physical activity habits change in a Brazilian adult population.
Methods
We designed a three-arm parallel randomized controlled trial including 18–60 years university students or employees with 25 kg/m2 minimum body mass index (BMI). Pregnancy, conditions with specific dietary requirements and participation in other weight loss programs are exclusion criteria. Participants are allocated to one of three groups: (1) waitlist with minimal intervention, (2) web-based platform, (3) web-based platform plus online dietician assistance. Assessors are blinded. Weight and BMI loss are the primary outcomes. Diet and physical activity behaviours, health perception and online activity features are secondary outcomes. The intervention comprises recommendations of diet and physical activity habits tailored to the Brazilian population and principles of behaviour change. The web-based platform has online social network and gamification features. Analysis will be on an intention-to-treat basis at 12 and 24 weeks after baseline. Differences in weight loss between groups will be performed by analysis of covariate. Linear regression will be used to assess whether treatment group allocation is an independent predictor of weight loss. The study was approved by the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) Ethics Research Committee. All participants signed an informed consent form prior to recruitment.
Discussion
We present the study protocol of a three arm parallel randomized controlled trial which aims to test the efficacy of an online platform to promote weight loss for adults with overweight and obesity. We anticipate that the adoption of healthy lifestyle habits and weight loss will be more important in participants randomized to the online platform group.This study was supported with grants from the National Institute of Science
and Technology for Health Technology Assessment (IATS)
–
CNPq/Brazil. AM
Beleigoli was supported by Prêmio CAPES de Teses. AL Ribeiro was supported
by CNPq (research fellowship number 310679/2016
–
8) and FAPEMIG
(PPM-00428-17)
Cruciferous and Total Vegetable Intakes Are Inversely Associated With Subclinical Atherosclerosis in Older Adult Women
Get PDFThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for
commercial purposes.Background
Dietary patterns rich in fruits and vegetables are considered to reduce atherosclerotic disease presentation and are reported to be inversely associated with subclinical measures of atherosclerosis, such as carotid artery intima‐media thickness (IMT) and plaque. However, the effect of vegetable intake alone, and relationships to specific types of vegetables containing different phytochemical profiles, is important. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations of total vegetable intake and specific vegetables grouped according to phytochemical constituents with common carotid artery IMT (CCA‐IMT) and carotid plaque severity in a cohort of older adult women (aged ≥70 years).
Methods and Results
Total vegetable intake was calculated at baseline (1998) using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Vegetable types included cruciferous, allium, yellow/orange/red, leafy green, and legumes. In 2001, CCA‐IMT (n=954) and carotid focal plaque (n=968) were assessed using high‐resolution B‐mode carotid ultrasonography. Mean (SD) total vegetable intake was 199.9 (78.0) g/d. Women consuming ≥3 servings of vegetables each day had ≈4.6% to 5.0% lower mean CCA‐IMT (P=0.014) and maximum CCA‐IMT (P=0.004) compared with participants consuming 0.05). No associations were observed between vegetables and plaque severity (P>0.05).
Conclusions
Increasing vegetables in the diet with a focus on consuming cruciferous vegetables may have benefits for the prevention of subclinical atherosclerosis in older adult women
Systems, Self, and Sovereignty: Non-Indigenous Practitioners Negotiate Whiteness in Aboriginal Partnerships
Get PDFThis is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Australia is built upon a foundation of colonial conquest, and it continues to implement government policies
and systems of management based on a colonising logic and the denial of Indigenous sovereignty. This study
employed qualitative methods and discourse analysis to draw on the experiences of six non-Indigenous
Australians employed by the South Australian Government in Aboriginal partnerships and natural resource
management. Drawing on critical Whiteness studies, the article reveals that participants in this cohort are
largely critical of colonial structures of government and the inequalities that arise. Despite this critical
awareness, there was often a difficulty in finding a language to describe the fog of Whiteness, along with the
tendency to describe ecological knowledge at the expense of more complex issues of First Nations sovereignty
Effect of 6 months of hybrid closed-loop insulin delivery in adults with type 1 diabetes: a randomised controlled trial protocol
Get PDFNo commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted. This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/Introduction Manual determination of insulin dosing largely fails to optimise glucose control in type 1 diabetes. Automated insulin delivery via closed-loop systems has improved glucose control in short-term studies. The objective of the present study is to determine the effectiveness of 6 months’ closed-loop compared with manually determined insulin dosing on time-in-target glucose range in adults with type 1 diabetes.
Methods and analysis This open-label, seven-centre, randomised controlled parallel group clinical trial will compare home-based hybrid closed-loop versus standard diabetes therapy in Australia. Adults aged ≥25 years with type 1 diabetes using intensive insulin therapy (via multiple daily injections or insulin pump, total enrolment target n=120) will undertake a run-in period including diabetes and carbohydrate-counting education, clinical optimisation and baseline data collection. Participants will then be randomised 1:1 either to 26 weeks of MiniMed 670G hybrid closed-loop system therapy (Medtronic, Northridge, CA, USA) or continuation of their current diabetes therapy. The hybrid closed-loop system delivers insulin automatically to address basal requirements and correct to target glucose level, while bolus doses for meals require user initiation and carbohydrate estimation. Analysis will be intention to treat, with the primary outcome time in continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) target range (3.9–10.0 mmol/L) during the final 3 weeks of intervention. Secondary outcomes include: other CGM parameters, HbA1c, severe hypoglycaemia, psychosocial well-being, sleep, cognition, electrocardiography, costs, quality of life, biomarkers of vascular health and hybrid closed-loop system performance. Semistructured interviews will assess the expectations and experiences of a subgroup of hybrid closed-loop users.This study is funded by the Australian Research Council (with the
funding administered by JDRF Australia), and by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. Material support is being provided via a grant from
the Medtronic External Research Program. SAM is supported by a JDRF Early-
Career Patient-Orientated Diabetes Research Award. MIdB was supported by a
Raine Clinical Research Fellowship. AJJ is supported by an NHMRC Practitioner
Fellowship. JS is supported by core funding to the Australian Centre for Behavioural
Research in Diabetes provided by Diabetes Victoria and Deakin University
The Microtubule-Modulating Drug Epothilone D Alters Dendritic Spine Morphology in a Mouse Model of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
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open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted,
provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the
original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic
practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply
with these terms.Microtubule dynamics underpin a plethora of roles involved in the intricate development,
structure, function, and maintenance of the central nervous system. Within the injured
brain, microtubules are vulnerable to misalignment and dissolution in neurons and have
been implicated in injury-induced glial responses and adaptive neuroplasticity in the
aftermath of injury. Unfortunately, there is a current lack of therapeutic options for treating
traumatic brain injury (TBI). Thus, using a clinically relevant model of mild TBI, lateral
fluid percussion injury (FPI) in adult male Thy1-YFPH mice, we investigated the potential
therapeutic effects of the brain-penetrant microtubule-stabilizing agent, epothilone D. At
7 days following a single mild lateral FPI the ipsilateral hemisphere was characterized by
mild astroglial activation and a stereotypical and widespread pattern of axonal damage
in the internal and external capsule white matter tracts. These alterations occurred in the
absence of other overt signs of trauma: there were no alterations in cortical thickness
or in the number of cortical projection neurons, axons or dendrites expressing YFP.
Interestingly, a single low dose of epothilone D administered immediately following FPI
(and sham-operation) caused significant alterations in the dendritic spines of layer 5
cortical projection neurons, while the astroglial response and axonal pathology were
unaffected. Specifically, spine length was significantly decreased, whereas the density
of mushroom spines was significantly increased following epothilone D treatment.
Together, these findings have implications for the use of microtubule stabilizing agents
in manipulating injury-induced synaptic plasticity and indicate that further study into
the viability of microtubule stabilization as a therapeutic strategy in combating TBI is
warranted.This research was supported by the National Health and
Medical Research Council of Australia, Select Foundation,
Brain Foundation Australia, Motor Accident Insurance Board
Tasmania, Flack Foundation, Internal Research Grant Scheme
(University of Tasmania), and Tasmanian Masonic Centenary
Medical Research Foundation
Post-stroke sleep-disordered breathing - pathophysiology and therapy options
Get PDFNote: This article was submitted to
Otorhinolaryngology - Head and
Neck Surgery,
a section of the journal
Frontiers in Surgery. This is an open-access
article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License
(CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided
the original author(s) and the copyright owner are credited and that the original
publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice.
No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with
these terms.Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), encompassing both obstructive and central sleep
apnea, is prevalent in at least 50% of stroke patients. Small studies have shown vast
improvements in post-stroke functional recovery outcomes after the treatment of SDB
by continuous positive airway pressure. However, compliance to this therapy is very poor
in this complex patient group. There are alternative therapy options for SDB that may
be more amenable for use in at least some post-stroke patients, including mandibular
advancement, supine avoidance, and oxygen therapy. There are few studies, however,
that demonstrate efficacy and compliance with these alternative therapies currently.
Furthermore, novel SDB-phenotyping approaches may help to provide important
clinical information to direct therapy selection in individual patients. Prior to realizing
individualized therapy, we need a better understanding of the pathophysiology of SDB
in post-stroke patients, including the role of inherent phenotypic traits, as well as the
contribution of stroke size and location. This review summarizes the available literature
on SDB pathophysiology and treatment in post-stroke patients, identifies gaps in the
literature, and sets out areas for further research
Identification and In Vitro Expansion of Buccal Epithelial Cells
Get PDFThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Ex vivo-expanded buccal mucosal epithelial (BME) cell transplantation has been used to reconstruct the ocular surface. Methods for enrichment and maintenance of BME progenitor cells in ex vivo cultures may improve the outcome of BME cell transplantation. However, the parameter of cell seeding density in this context has largely been neglected. This study investigates how varying cell seeding density influences BME cell proliferation and differentiation on tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS). The highest cell proliferation activity was seen when cells were seeded at 5×104 cells/cm2. Both below and above this density, the cell proliferation rate decreased sharply. Differential immunofluorescence analysis of surface markers associated with the BME progenitor cell population (p63, CK19, and ABCG2), the differentiated cell marker CK10 and connexin 50 (Cx50) revealed that the initial cell seeding density also significantly affected the progenitor cell marker expression profile. Hence, this study demonstrates that seeding density has a profound effect on the proliferation and differentiation of BME stem cells in vitro, and this is relevant to downstream cell therapy applications.The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by ‘NHMRC Australia Project grant’, grant agreement No. 595901
Identification of novel mutations causing pediatric cataract in Bhutan, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka
Get PDFThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the
original work is properly cited.Background: Pediatric cataract is an important cause of blindness and visual
impairment in children. A large proportion of pediatric cataracts are inherited, and
many genes have been described for this heterogeneous Mendelian disease. Surveys
of schools for the blind in Bhutan, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka have identified
many children with this condition and we aimed to identify the genetic causes of
inherited cataract in these populations.
Methods: We screened, in parallel, 51 causative genes for inherited cataracts in
33 probands by Ampliseq enrichment and sequencing on an Ion Torrent PGM.
Rare novel protein coding variants were assessed for segregation in family members,
where possible, by Sanger sequencing.
Results: We identified 24 rare (frequency <1% in public databases) or novel protein
coding variants in 12 probands and confirmed segregation of variants with disease
in the extended family where possible. Of these, six are predicted to be the cause of
disease in the patient, with four other variants also highly likely to be pathogenic.
Conclusion: This study found that 20%–30% of patients in these countries have a
mutation in a known cataract causing gene, which is considerably lower than the
60%–70% reported in Caucasian cohorts. This suggests that additional cataract
genes remain to be discovered in this cohort of Asian pediatric cataract patients.Channel 7 Children’s Research
Foundation; the Ophthalmic Research
Institute of Australia; Centre for
Excellence grant from the National Health
and Medical Research Council of
Australia (NHMRC); NHMRC Senior
Research Fellowship; NHMRC
Practitioner Fellowship; Australian
Government Research Training Program
Scholarship; Pennicott Foundatio
Motility of the left colon in children and adolescents with functional constipation; a retrospective comparison between solid-state and water-perfused colonic manometry
Get PDFThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in
any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.Background: Using water-perfused
(WP) high-resolution
manometry, we recently
demonstrated that children with functional constipation (FC) lacked the postprandial
increase in distal colonic cyclic motor patterns that was observed in healthy adults.
Our aim was to determine if similar results could be detected using a solid-state
(SS)
manometry catheter.
Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of 19 children with FC (median age
11.1 years, 58% male) who underwent colonic manometry with a SS catheter (36
sensors, 3 cm apart). Data were compared with previously published data using a WP
catheter (36 sensors, 1.5 cm apart) recorded from 18 children with FC (median age
15 years; 28% male).
Key Results: The cyclic motor patterns recorded by the SS catheter did not differ
from those previously recorded by the WP catheter. There was no detected increase
in this activity in response to the meal in either group. Long-single motor patterns
were recorded in most patients (n = 16, 84%) with the SS catheter. The number of
these events did not differ from the WP recordings. In the SS data, HAPCs were observed
in 4 children prior to the meal, in 5 after the meal. This did not differ significantly
from the WP data.
Conclusions & Inferences: These data recorded by SS manometry did not differ from
WP manometry data. Regardless of the catheter used, both studies revealed an abnormal
colonic response to a meal, indicating a pathology which is not related to the
catheter used to record these data.Ilan Koppen received financial support from
The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts
and Sciences (Academy Ter Meulen Grant)
and the European Society for Paediatric
Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
(Charlotte Anderson Travel Award) to
conduct this research