Deakin University

About: Deakin University is a education organization based out in Burwood, Victoria, Australia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 12118 authors who have published 46470 publications receiving 1188841 citations. The organization is also known as: Deakin.

The Rising Prevalence of Diabetes and Impaired Glucose Tolerance: The Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study

Abstract: OBJECTIVE —To determine the population-based prevalence of diabetes and other categories of glucose intolerance (impaired glucose tolerance [IGT] and impaired fasting glucose [IFG]) in Australia and to compare the prevalence with previous Australian data. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS —A national sample involving 11,247 participants aged ≥25 years living in 42 randomly selected areas from the six states and the Northern Territory were examined in a cross-sectional survey using the 75-g oral glucose tolerance test to assess fasting and 2-h plasma glucose concentrations. The World Health Organization diagnostic criteria were used to determine the prevalence of abnormal glucose tolerance. RESULTS —The prevalence of diabetes in Australia was 8.0% in men and 6.8% in women, and an additional 17.4% of men and 15.4% of women had IGT or IFG. Even in the youngest age group (25–34 years), 5.7% of subjects had abnormal glucose tolerance. The overall diabetes prevalence in Australia was 7.4%, and an additional 16.4% had IGT or IFG. Diabetes prevalence has more than doubled since 1981, and this is only partially explained by changes in age profile and obesity. CONCLUSIONS —Australia has a rapidly rising prevalence of diabetes and other categories of abnormal glucose tolerance. The prevalence of abnormal glucose tolerance in Australia is one of the highest yet reported from a developed nation with a predominantly Europid background.

Objectively Measured Sedentary Time, Physical Activity, and Metabolic Risk: The Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study (AusDiab)

Abstract: OBJECTIVE —We examined the associations of objectively measured sedentary time and physical activity with continuous indexes of metabolic risk in Australian adults without known diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS —An accelerometer was used to derive the percentage of monitoring time spent sedentary and in light-intensity and moderate-to-vigorous–intensity activity, as well as mean activity intensity, in 169 Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study (AusDiab) participants (mean age 53.4 years). Associations with waist circumference, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, resting blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, and a clustered metabolic risk score were examined. RESULTS —Independent of time spent in moderate-to-vigorous–intensity activity, there were significant associations of sedentary time, light-intensity time, and mean activity intensity with waist circumference and clustered metabolic risk. Independent of waist circumference, moderate-to-vigorous–intensity activity time was significantly beneficially associated with triglycerides. CONCLUSIONS —These findings highlight the importance of decreasing sedentary time, as well as increasing time spent in physical activity, for metabolic health.

Molecule-Level g-C3N4 Coordinated Transition Metals as a New Class of Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Electrode Reactions

Abstract: Organometallic complexes with metal–nitrogen/carbon (M–N/C) coordination are the most important alternatives to precious metal catalysts for oxygen reduction and evolution reactions (ORR and OER) in energy conversion devices. Here, we designed and developed a range of molecule-level graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) coordinated transition metals (M–C3N4) as a new generation of M–N/C catalysts for these oxygen electrode reactions. As a proof-of-concept example, we conducted theoretical evaluation and experimental validation on a cobalt–C3N4 catalyst with a desired molecular configuration, which possesses comparable electrocatalytic activity to that of precious metal benchmarks for the ORR and OER in alkaline media. The correlation of experimental and computational results confirms that this high activity originates from the precise M–N2 coordination in the g-C3N4 matrix. Moreover, the reversible ORR/OER activity trend for a wide variety of M−C3N4 complexes has been constructed to provide guidance for the m...

System Boundary Selection in Life-Cycle Inventories Using Hybrid Approaches

Abstract: Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is a method for evaluating the environmental impacts of products holistically, including direct and supply chain impacts. The current LCA methodologies and the standards by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) impose practical difficulties for drawing system boundaries; decisions on inclusion or exclusion of processes in an analysis (the cutoff criteria) are typically not made on a scientific basis. In particular, the requirement of deciding which processes could be excluded from the inventory can be rather difficult to meet because many excluded processes have often never been assessed by the practitioner, and therefore, their negligibility cannot be guaranteed. LCA studies utilizing economic input-output analysis have shown that, in practice, excluded processes can contribute as much to the product system under study as included processes; thus, the subjective determination of the system boundary may lead to invalid results. System boundaries in LCA are discussed herein with particular attention to outlining hybrid approaches as methods for resolving the boundary selection problem in LCA. An input-output model can be used to describe at least a part of a product system, and an ISO-compatible system boundary selection procedure can be designed by applying hybrid input-output-assisted approaches. There are several hybrid input-output analysis-based LCA methods that can be implemented in practice for broadening system boundary and also for ISO compliance.