University of Queensland

About: University of Queensland is a education organization based out in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 51138 authors who have published 155721 publications receiving 5717659 citations. The organization is also known as: UQ & The University of Queensland.

The Epidemiology of neck pain

Abstract: Neck pain is becoming increasingly common throughout the world. It has a considerable impact on individuals and their families, communities, health-care systems, and businesses. There is substantial heterogeneity between neck pain epidemiological studies, which makes it difficult to compare or pool data from different studies. The estimated 1 year incidence of neck pain from available studies ranges between 10.4% and 21.3% with a higher incidence noted in office and computer workers. While some studies report that between 33% and 65% of people have recovered from an episode of neck pain at 1 year, most cases run an episodic course over a person's lifetime and, thus, relapses are common. The overall prevalence of neck pain in the general population ranges between 0.4% and 86.8% (mean: 23.1%); point prevalence ranges from 0.4% to 41.5% (mean: 14.4%); and 1 year prevalence ranges from 4.8% to 79.5% (mean: 25.8%). Prevalence is generally higher in women, higher in high-income countries compared with low- and middle-income countries and higher in urban areas compared with rural areas. Many environmental and personal factors influence the onset and course of neck pain. Most studies indicate a higher incidence of neck pain among women and an increased risk of developing neck pain until the 35-49-year age group, after which the risk begins to decline. The Global Burden of Disease 2005 Study is currently making estimates of the global burden of neck pain in relation to impairment and activity limitation, and results will be available in 2011.

Grain refinement of magnesium alloys

Abstract: The literature on grain refinement of magnesium alloys is reviewed with regard to two broad groups of alloys: alloys that contain aluminum and alloys that do not contain aluminum. The alloys that are free of aluminum are generally very well refined by Zr master alloys. On the other hand, the understanding of grain refinement in aluminum bearing alloys is poor and in many cases confusing probably due to the interaction between impurity elements and aluminum in affecting the potency of nucleant particles. A grain refinement model that was developed for aluminum alloys is presented, which takes into account both alloy chemistry and nucleant particle potency. This model is applied to experimental data for a range of magnesium alloys. It is shown that by using this analytical approach, new information on the refinement of magnesium alloys is obtained as well as providing a method of characterizing the effectiveness of new refiners. The new information revealed by the model has identified new directions for further research. Future research needs to focus on gaining a better understanding of the detailed mechanisms by which refinement occurs and gathering data to improve our ability to predict grain refinement for particular combinations of alloy and impurity chemistry and nucleant particles.