Novel furfural-complexed approach to synthesizing carbon-Doped ZnO with breakthrough photocatalytic efficacy.

Introduction: The efficiency of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles for environmental decontamination is limited by their reliance on ultraviolet (UV) light and rapid charge carrier recombination. Carbon doping has been proposed to address these challenges by potentially enhancing visible light absorption and charge separation.

Objectives: This study aims to introduce a novel, single-step synthesis method for carbon-doped ZnO (C-Z) nanoparticles, leveraging the decomposition of zinc nitrate hexahydrate and furfural under a nitrogen atmosphere to improve photocatalytic activity under visible light.

A two-fold SPR-SERS sensor utilizing gold nanoparticles and graphene thin membrane as a spacer in a 3D composite structure.

Localized surface plasmonic resonance (LSPR) biosensing using optical fibers has gained popularity due to its label-free approach and high sensitivity to changes in the nanoparticle surface's local index of refraction. However, improving sensitivity remains a challenge. In this study, a two-step approach was employed to fabricate a composite structure using gold nanoparticles and monolayer graphene (Gr-AuNPs).

Co-functioning of 2AP precursor amino acids enhances 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline under salt stress in aromatic rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars.

Aromatic rice (Oryza sativa) fetches a premium price due to the pleasant aroma. The major aroma compound 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (2AP) has been found to be enhanced under stress. This condition can be considered to study the genes, precursors, enzymes, and metabolites involved in elevated levels of 2AP biosynthesis.

Clustering of COVID-19 data for knowledge discovery using c-means and fuzzy c-means.

In this work, the partitioning clustering of COVID-19 data using c-Means (cM) and Fuzy c-Means (Fc-M) algorithms is carried out. Based on the data available from January 2020 with respect to location, i.e.

Australian Injury Comorbidity Indices (AICIs) to predict burden and readmission among hospital-admitted injury patients.

Background: Existing comorbidity measures predict mortality among general patient populations. Due to the lack of outcome specific and patient-group specific measures, the existing indices are also applied to non-mortality outcomes in injury epidemiology. This study derived indices to capture the association between comorbidity, and burden and readmission outcomes for injury populations.

The Australian Injury Comorbidity Indices (AICIs) to predict in-hospital complications: A population-based data linkage study.

Background: Hospital-admitted patients are at risk of experiencing certain adverse outcomes during their hospital-stay. Patients may need to be admitted to the intensive care unit or be placed on the ventilator while there is also a possibility for complications to develop. Pre-existing comorbidity could increase the risk of these outcomes.

The Australian Injury Comorbidity Index to Predict Mortality.

Study Objective: Existing comorbidity indices such as the Charlson comorbidity index are dated yet still widely used. This study derives and validates up-to-date comorbidity indices for hospital-admitted injury patients, specific to mortality outcomes.

Methods: Injury-related hospital admissions data for 2 cohorts of patients in the Australian state of Victoria were linked to mortality data: July 2012 to June 2014 (161,334 patients) and July 2006 to June 2015 (614,762 patients).

Effect of comorbidity on injury outcomes: a review of existing indices.

Purpose: Accounting for comorbidity in predicting outcomes for patients is vital in clinical care, epidemiological research, and health service planning. The aim of this study was to review published literature to compare the performance of existing comorbidity indices and their use in injury populations.

Methods: A thematic literature search for comorbidity indices and/or injury outcomes was conducted.

Complications, burden and in-hospital death among hospital treated injury patients in Victoria, Australia: a data linkage study.

Background: A wide range of outcome measures can be calculated for hospital-treated injury patients. These include mortality, use of critical care services, complications, length of stay, treatment costs, readmission and nursing care after discharge. Each address different aspects and phases of injury recovery and can yield vastly different results.

Experiences of racism among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults living in the Australian state of Victoria: a cross-sectional population-based study.

Background: Racism is a key determinant of the health of Indigenous Australians that may explain the unremitting gap in health and socioeconomic outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. We quantified the population-based prevalence of experiences of racism of Indigenous adults in the Australian state of Victoria and investigated whether this was independent of social determinants and lifestyle risk factors.

Methods: We combined data from the 2011, 2012 and 2014 Victorian Population Health Surveys to obtain a sample size of 33,833 Victorian adults, including 387 Indigenous adults.

Perceived racism may partially explain the gap in health between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Victorians: A cross-sectional population based study.

Background: There is a persistent gap in the health of Aboriginal Victorians compared with non-Aboriginal Victorians, where Aboriginal Victorians have poorer health. Currently, the most commonly touted explanation for this gap revolves around health behaviours known as 'lifestyle risk factors'. Yet the gap in health is similarly matched by persistent gaps in social and economic outcomes that reflect past and ongoing discrimination of Aboriginal peoples across Australia.

The association of vitamin D status and dietary calcium intake with individual components of the metabolic syndrome: a population-based study in Victoria, Australia.

Unlabelled: This study examined the associations between 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD), dietary calcium (Ca) intake, and individual components of the metabolic syndrome (MetS).

Methods: We analyzed a population-based sample of 18-75-year-old adults (=3387) from the Victorian Health Monitor survey.

Results: After adjustment for sociodemographic, physical, and dietary factors, as well as other MetS components, every 10 nmol/l increment in 25-OHD was associated with reduced adjusted odds ratio (AOR) of elevated triglycerides (TG) [AOR: 0.

Vitamin D status is inversely associated with markers of risk for type 2 diabetes: A population based study in Victoria, Australia.

A growing body of evidence suggests a protective role of vitamin D on the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We investigated this relationship in a population sample from one Australian state. The data of 3,393 Australian adults aged 18-75 years who participated in the 2009-2010 Victorian Health Monitor survey was analyzed.

The associations of vitamin D status and dietary calcium with the metabolic syndrome: an analysis of the Victorian Health Monitor survey.

Objective: To examine the associations between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), dietary Ca intake and presence of the metabolic syndrome (MetS).

Design: A stratified cluster sample of a population aged 18-75 years from the Victorian Health Monitor survey.

Setting: Non-institutionalized adults living in private dwellings in Victoria, Australia.

Social determinants and psychological distress among Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander adults in the Australian state of Victoria: a cross-sectional population based study.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults in the Australian state of Victoria have a higher prevalence of psychological distress than their non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander counterparts. We sought to explain this inequality, focussing on the social determinants of health. We used population-based survey data from the 2008 Victorian Population Health Survey; a cross-sectional landline computer-assisted telephone survey of 34,168 randomly selected adults.

Inequalities in the social determinants of health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People: a cross-sectional population-based study in the Australian state of Victoria.

Introduction: Aboriginal Australians are a culturally, linguistically and experientially diverse population, for whom national statistics may mask important geographic differences in their health and the determinants of their health. We sought to identify the determinants of health of Aboriginal adults who lived in the state of Victoria, compared with their non-Aboriginal counterparts.

Methods: We obtained data from the 2008 Victorian Population Health Survey: a cross-sectional computer-assisted telephone interview survey of 34,168 randomly selected adults.

Prevalence and factors associated with polypharmacy in Victorian adults with intellectual disability.

Although polypharmacy is a medication safety concern leading to increased risk of non-adherence, adverse drug reaction and drug-drug interactions, polypharmacy and associated risk factors has rarely been investigated involving people with ID at a population level. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the prevalence of polypharmacy and to evaluate the role of different factors associated with polypharmacy in a state-wide representative population of adults with ID. In a population-based survey in Victoria, Australia, 897 people with ID 18 years of age or older were selected by simple random sampling.

Potentially avoidable hospitalisation for constipation in Victoria, Australia in 2010-11.

Background: When primary care of constipation fails, the patient may need emergency hospitalisation for disimpaction. This study aimed to provide population-based data on the number of unplanned admissions and the cost to the healthcare system for constipation in Victoria, Australia in financial year 2010-11.

Methods: The Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset was examined to find the number of emergency hospital separations coded as constipation (ICD-10-AM Code K390).

Factors relating to hospitalisation and economic burden of paediatric constipation in the state of Victoria, Australia, 2002-2009.

Aim: Constipation is common, with severe symptoms requiring hospitalisation. Constipation can be a primary (present at admission and requires treatment or investigation) or principal (first listed) diagnosis for hospitalisation. In the USA, constipation is the second most common ambulatory care digestive diagnosis with total costs >US$1.

Social determinants and lifestyle risk factors only partially explain the higher prevalence of food insecurity among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the Australian state of Victoria: a cross-sectional study.

Background: The prevalence of food insecurity is substantially higher among Australians of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent. The purpose of this study is to explain the relationship between food insecurity and Aboriginal and Torres Islander status in the state of Victoria.

Methods: Data were obtained from the 2008 Victorian Population Health Survey; a cross-sectional landline computer-assisted telephone interview survey of 34,168 randomly selected Victorians aged 18 years and older; including 339 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

A molecular bridge: connecting type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's disease.

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) are complex diseases commonly associated with aging. Accumulating evidence indicates a connection between these two diseases at the molecular level. Much of what we currently know about T2D and AD is derived from in vivo and in vitro studies.

Health and wellbeing of Victorian adults with intellectual disability compared to the general Victorian population.

Multiple measures of health and wellbeing of people with intellectual disability (ID) and the general Victorian population were compared using representative population level data. The sample consisted of adults with ID (N=897) and the general Victorian population (N=34,168) living in the state of Victoria in Australia. Proxy respondents were interviewed on behalf of people with ID, while respondents from the general Victorian population were interviewed directly.

Blood lead levels in the adult Victorian population: results from the Victorian Health Monitor.

Objective: To estimate blood lead levels (BLLs) in the adult Victorian population and compare the distribution of BLLs with the current national reference level to better inform public health prevention and management of lead toxicity.

Methods: Population-based cross-sectional health measurement survey of 50 randomly selected Census Collection Districts (CDs) throughout Victoria. The Victorian Health Monitor (VHM) was conducted over 12 months from May 2009 to April 2010.

Small area analysis of ambulatory care sensitive conditions in Victoria, Australia.

Ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs) are used as a measure of access to primary health care. The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with variation in ACSC admissions at a small area level in Victoria, Australia. The study was ecologic, using Victorian Primary Care Partnerships (PCPs) as the unit of analysis.

Opposing socioeconomic gradients in overweight and obese adults.

Objective: Investigate the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and prevalence of overweight and/or obesity, by sex, using total annual household income as the indicator of SES and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended ranges of self-reported Body Mass Index (BMI) as the indicator of overweight and/or obesity.

Methods: Total annual household income and BMI data were obtained from the Victorian Population Health Survey (VPHS), an annual computer-assisted telephone survey of the health and well-being of Victorian adults aged 18 years and older. Statistical analysis was conducted using ordinary least squares linear regression on the logarithms of age-standardised prevalence estimates of overweight (25.