This study highlights the outstanding photo-initiating properties of two new visible-light absorbing benzophenone porphyrin-based photosensitizers (
PBP
and
PBPZn
) for the free-radical (FRP), ...cationic (CP) photopolymerization and thiol-ene reactions under visible LEDs exposure (405, 505 and 530 nm) under air or in laminate, and at low intensities. As confirmed by electronic paramagnetic resonance spin trapping (EPR ST) and Laser Flash Photolysis studies, both porphyrins play a dual role as electron donor molecule when combined with iodonium salt (Iod) and participate in a H-abstraction reaction in association with
N
-methyldiethanol amine (MDEA) or thiol derivatives (cysteamine or
N
-acetylcysteine). For the first time, interesting kinetic profiles for the polymerization of a bio-based monomer (SOA) are observed under blue and green-light irradiation. Notably, the 4-methylphenyl-, aminoalkyl- and thiyl radicals which are generated from the photolysis of porphyrin/Iod, porphyrin/MDEA and porphyrin/cysteamine (or
N
-acetylcysteine) respectively, can initiate the radical polymerization of SOA and very high FCs are observed; up to 90% under LED@405 nm and >60% under LED@530 nm exposure. Finally,
PBPZn
-based materials demonstrated photoactivable properties for antibacterial applications. Under visible-light irradiation, these materials can produce biocide reactive oxygen species (ROS) leading to a tremendous inhibition of
S. aureus
proliferation.
This study highlights the outstanding photo-initiating properties of two new visible-light absorbing benzophenone porphyrin-based photosensitizers for the synthesis of photoactivable materials with antibacterial properties.
Aims
To describe the population distribution and socio‐economic position of residents across all states and territories of Australia, stratified using the 7 Modified Monash Model classifications. The ...numerical summary, and the methods described, can be applied by a variety of end users including workforce planners, researchers, policy‐makers and funding bodies for guiding future investment under different scenarios, and aid in evaluating geographically focused programs.
Context
The Commonwealth Department of Health is transitioning to the Modified Monash Model to objectively describe geographical access. This change applies to the Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training Program, one of the Australian Government's key policies to address the maldistribution of the rural health workforce. Unlike the previously applied Australian Statistical Geography Standard‐Remoteness Areas, a summary of the population in each Modified Monash Model classification is not available, nor is a socio‐economic overview of the communities within these areas.
Approach
Spatial analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics data (Modified Monash Model, population data and the Index of Relative Socio‐economic Advantage and Disadvantage collected or derived from the 2016 census) at the Statistical Area 1—the smallest unit for the release of census data.
Conclusion
Linking the Modified Monash Model, a socio‐economic index and granular population data at the national level highlights the disadvantage of many residents in small rural towns (Modified Monash 5). The Modified Monash Model does not exhibit a continuum of the largest population residing in the most accessible classification and the smallest population residing in the least accessible classification that is seen in the Australian Statistical Geography Standard‐Remoteness Areas. Coupled with policy relevance, the advantage of using the Modified Monash Model as the basis for analysis is that it highlights areas that have both a critical mass of residents and differing levels of socio‐economic advantage and disadvantage. This will help end users to target funding to those regions where there is potential to improve access to services for the greatest number of rural residents.
Full text
Available for:
DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VSZLJ
Context: In Australia, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) are geographically proximal to where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People reside and are valued for ...providing holistic and culturally safe primary health care. Partnering with ACCHOs in research is appropriate for redressing health inequities experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People, which includes a high burden of chronic disease. Historically, some approaches to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research have been unethical. Greater accountability in the research process, transparency in reporting, and use of culturally appropriate research methodologies are key recommendations to improving the ethical integrity of research. The need for strengthening the reporting of health research involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People and Indigenous peoples globally led to the development of the CONSolIDated critERia for strengthening the reporting of health research involving Indigenous peoples (CONSIDER statement), which is a synthesis of international ethical guidelines. This project report uses the CONSIDER statement to critically reflect on participatory research undertaken in partnership with an ACCHO in the rural context and to identify lessons of value for future research. Issue: By using the CONSIDER statement as a tool for critical reflection, it was identified that processes used to establish a research partnership with an ACCHO were key to setting the research agenda, including identifying ethical issues, the needs of local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People, and expectations from the research. The participation of Aboriginal community members throughout the entire research process was not only methodologically important but was also ethically appropriate. Research activities in this project included opportunities for Aboriginal community members to directly share their perspectives and experiences and develop local solutions to issues affecting them. Outcomes included evidence to support future funding applications, community-derived priorities that assisted with government reporting, and locally identified methods for addressing chronic disease management. Key to this was building the research capacity and capability of local Aboriginal community members, which also reflected the ethical principles of reciprocity and equity. This also provided opportunities for non-Indigenous researchers to learn from local Aboriginal community members and develop skills in culturally appropriate research. Lessons learned: Using the CONSIDER statement was beneficial in enabling researchers to critically reflect on a participatory research project undertaken in partnership with a rural ACCHO. Researchers identified that participatory approaches can be used to generate research of relevance to local Aboriginal community members and their ACCHOs, and to support health service reporting, and future funding applications. Research timelines and activities needed to be flexible and adaptable, to allow for staff turnover and unforeseen events of cultural significance. Similarly, it is important for researchers to be receptive to change and open to learning. Although research partnerships are established on trust and mutual respect, it is recommended that greater formal provisions are required to protect the intellectual property of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities involved in research. These lessons are likely to be transferrable to other settings and are of value to researchers seeking to partner with ACCHOs in research.
This study describes the role of two novel visible-light sensitive mono-allyl (TXA) and di-allyl sulfone (TXo2A) thioxanthone derivatives as photosensitizers and photoinitiators (PIs) for ...free-radical and cationic polymerizations (FRP and CP) and thiol-ene processes upon visible-light emitting diode exposure (LEDs@405 nm, 455 and 470 nm). The photoactivable groups incorporated into TXA and TXo2A have extended their absorption to the visible region up to 510 nm. TXo2A is the first example of a monomeric photoinitiator having two allyl side-chain groups. These new photoinitiating systems have first demonstrated unambiguously that they can be used as PIs and H donor molecules upon visible LED irradiation for the FRP of acrylates without additives. TXA and TXo2A also show highly efficient initiating properties when associated with judicious co-initiators
i.e.
an iodonium salt (Iod) as an electron acceptor, a tertiary amine (methyldiethanol amine, MDEA) as an electron donor, or a thiol derivative (trimethylolpropane tris (3-mercaptopropionate, TT) as a H-donor, under air and in laminate, for FRP, CP and thiol-ene reactions. These unprecedented initiating combinations promote high acrylate and epoxy conversions even under air, with a higher efficiency than the well-known CQ (and TX)-based photoinitiating systems used as references. As evidenced by nanosecond laser flash photolysis (LFP), electron paramagnetic resonance spin-trapping (EPR ST) and fluorescence/phosphorescence experiments, TXA (or TXo2A) can play a triple role, first as a proton/proton-coupled electron transfer initiator using MDEA or TT, as an electron donor when associated with Iod, and free-radical PIs following an intermolecular electron/proton transfer reaction. Interestingly, the photoinduced 3D interpenetrated polymer network (IPN) synthesized
via
the concomitant FRP and CP of an acrylate/epoxide monomer mixture upon LED@405 or 455 nm exposure has shown the capability to support viable cell proliferation without any cytotoxicity.
Allyl-amino thioxanthone derivatives as new visible-light photoinitiators for efficient free-radical, cationic and thiol-ene polymerizations.
It is not clear when and how animals start to discriminate between male and female conspecifics and how this distinction drives their social behaviour. A study on pheasants found that 1-week-old ...chicks (
Phasianus colchicus
) preferentially aggregated with same-sex peers and this trend became more pronounced through development, suggesting that sexual segregation increases during ontogeny. However, it remains unclear whether this ability depends on experience or develops spontaneously. Using a similar experimental protocol, we investigated whether sex discrimination is present at birth in domestic chickens (
Gallus gallus
) by testing the social preferences of young chicks with clutch mates. We measured the amount of time spent close to male and female conspecifics in visually inexperienced chicks. Soon after hatching, both males and females preferentially aggregated with females. To clarify whether the experience with conspecifics modifies the initial preference for females, we used an imprinting procedure. We exposed chicks to conspecifics of the same sex, different sex or both sexes for 3 days and then tested their preferences to aggregate with males or females. No sex preference was observed after 3 days of imprinting exposure. The disappearance of the initial sex preference shows that, although chicks can discriminate between conspecifics of different sex, sex segregation does not influence sex preferences in the first week of life. We suggest that the absence of sexual assortment in the first week of age can enhance the social cohesion of the flock.
Significant statement
The ability to discriminate males from females affects a wide range of social behaviours, including the preferences for own sex conspecifics during sex segregation and the choice of a partner in the mating period. However, it remains unclear when and how males and females start to discriminate members of the same/different sex. We tested the domestic chicks to explore whether sex discrimination is present at birth or appears later on. Males and females discriminated between sexes at hatching and preferred to spend more time with female chicks. However, this preference disappeared after exposure to same-sex, different-sex or mixed-sex chicks. The lack of a preference for a specific sex may increase group cohesion postponing the appearance of sex segregation later in life, when chicks move further from their group.
Full text
Available for:
EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, ODKLJ, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Targeted chronic disease programs are vital to improving health outcomes for Indigenous people globally. In Australia it is not known where evaluated chronic disease programs for Aboriginal and ...Torres Strait Islander people have been implemented. This scoping review geographically examines where evaluated chronic disease programs for Aboriginal people have been implemented in the Australian primary health care setting. Secondary objectives include scoping programs for evidence of partnerships with Aboriginal organisations, and use of ethical protocols. By doing so, geographical gaps in the literature and variations in ethical approaches to conducting program evaluations are highlighted.
The objectives, inclusion criteria and methods for this scoping review were specified in advance and documented in a published protocol. This scoping review was undertaken in accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) scoping review methodology. The search included 11 academic databases, clinical trial registries, and the grey literature.
The search resulted in 6894 citations, with 241 retrieved from the grey literature and targeted organisation websites. Title, abstract, and full-text screening was conducted by two independent reviewers, with 314 citations undergoing full review. Of these, 74 citations evaluating 50 programs met the inclusion criteria. Of the programs included in the geographical analysis (n = 40), 32.1% were implemented in Major Cities and 29.6% in Very Remote areas of Australia. A smaller proportion of programs were delivered in Inner Regional (12.3%), Outer Regional (18.5%) and Remote areas (7.4%) of Australia. Overall, 90% (n = 45) of the included programs collaborated with an Aboriginal organisation in the implementation and/or evaluation of the program. Variation in the use of ethical guidelines and protocols in the evaluation process was evident.
A greater focus on the evaluation of chronic disease programs for Aboriginal people residing in Inner and Outer Regional areas, and Remote areas of Australia is required. Across all geographical areas further efforts should be made to conduct evaluations in partnership with Aboriginal communities residing in the geographical region of program implementation. The need for more scientifically and ethically rigorous approaches to Aboriginal health program evaluations is evident.
Full text
Available for:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Evolve and resequence (E&R) is a new approach to investigate the genomic responses to selection during experimental evolution. By using whole genome sequencing of pools of individuals (Pool-Seq), ...this method can identify selected variants in controlled and replicable experimental settings. Reviewing the current state of the field, we show that E&R can be powerful enough to identify causative genes and possibly even single-nucleotide polymorphisms. We also discuss how the experimental design and the complexity of the trait could result in a large number of false positive candidates. We suggest experimental and analytical strategies to maximize the power of E&R to uncover the genotype-phenotype link and serve as an important research tool for a broad range of evolutionary questions.
Full text
Available for:
DOBA, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
New bridged silsesquioxanes derived from isosorbide were synthesized, according to the sol–gel process, by acidic or basic hydrolysis and condensation of a bis-trimethoxysilyl precursor. The latter ...was prepared by thiol-ene photoaddition of 3-(trimethoxysilyl)-1-propane thiol on diallyl isosorbide ether synthesized by a phase-transfer-catalyzed reaction of allyl bromide with isosorbide. The structure of those hybrid networks prepared according to a sol–gel process was investigated by 29Si solid-state NMR and X-ray diffraction experiments. Acid hydrolysis leads to the formation of randomly branched structures while basic catalysis promotes the creation of clusters. The anisotropic character of the hybrid networks was evidenced by cross polarized optical light observations (birefringence), demonstrating an organization at the micrometric-scale. These hybrid networks derived from isosorbide showed a thermal stability up to 360 °C.
Display omitted
•New nano/microstructured bridged silsesquioxane materials based on substainable isosorbide moieties have been synthesized.•The self-organization of these networks at the nanometric scale was demonstrated.•The potential optical properties of the hybrid materials have been evidenced by highlighting birefringence areas.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
In this work, we present an original stereolithography strategy based on multibranched Ru-complexes with a high two-photon initiating ability allowing the 'one-pot' direct laser writing of ECL-active ...materials deposited onto electro-active surfaces at the μm scale.
A highly two-photon active multipolar Ru-complex is used as a reactive photoinitiator for the direct integration and microstructuration of ECL-active materials on electroactive substrates.
To examine the 6-month outcomes of visual performance and positional stability of a capsule-fixated intraocular lens (IOL), FEMTIS Comfort MF15, extended depth-focus (EDOF) version, after cataract ...surgery performed using femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery capsulotomy.
Vision Eye Institute, Sydney, Australia.
Prospective open-label postregistration data collection.
Three-month and 6-month outcomes were measured including visual function, stability of IOL position, and quantitative measurement of glare and halo. Subjective patient satisfaction and spectacle independence rates were documented with a subjective questionnaire. A computer simulator was used to quantify the incidence and severity of unwanted visual phenomena allowing comparison with other EDOF and multifocal IOLs.
Forty-four eyes of 25 patients were included in the study. There were 19 bilateral cases. The median shift in IOL position over 6 months (from surgery to 6 months) was 0.095 ± 0.09 mm. There was a marked improvement in uncorrected and corrected distance visual acuity from the preoperative to the 6-month mark. Patient satisfaction and spectacle independence levels were high. There was no IOL enclevation, negative dysphotopsia, decentration, or capsular phimosis.
To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to report outcomes after insertion of the FEMTIS capsulorhexis-fixated EDOF IOL. This IOL offers excellent refractive predictability, functional range of vision, and minimal unwanted visual phenomena. The attachment to the anterior capsulorhexis is shown to be stable over time with no significant shift in the position or capsular phimosis. There was high patient satisfaction with spectacle independence.
PDF
