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.

Graphitic carbon nitride materials: controllable synthesis and applications in fuel cells and photocatalysis

Abstract: Graphitic carbon nitrides (g-C3N4) are becoming increasingly significant due to the theoretical prediction of their unusual properties and promising applications ranging from photocatalysis, heterogeneous catalysis, to fuel cells. Recently, a variety of nanostructured and nanoporous g-C3N4 materials have been developed for a wide range of new applications. This feature article gives, at first, an overview on the synthesis of g-C3N4 nanomaterials with controllable structure and morphology, and secondly, presents and categorizes applications of g-C3N4 as multifunctional metal-free catalysts for environmental protection, energy conversion and storage. A special emphasis is placed on the potential applications of nanostructured g-C3N4 in the areas of artificial photocatalysis for hydrogen production, oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) for fuel cells, and metal-free heterogeneous catalysis. Finally, this perspective highlights crucial issues that should be addressed in the future in the aforementioned exciting research areas.

Global imprint of climate change on marine life

Abstract: Research that combines all available studies of biological responses to regional and global climate change shows that 81–83% of all observations were consistent with the expected impacts of climate change These findings were replicated across taxa and oceanic basins Past meta-analyses of the response of marine organisms to climate change have examined a limited range of locations1,2, taxonomic groups2,3,4 and/or biological responses5,6 This has precluded a robust overview of the effect of climate change in the global ocean Here, we synthesized all available studies of the consistency of marine ecological observations with expectations under climate change This yielded a meta-database of 1,735 marine biological responses for which either regional or global climate change was considered as a driver Included were instances of marine taxa responding as expected, in a manner inconsistent with expectations, and taxa demonstrating no response From this database, 81–83% of all observations for distribution, phenology, community composition, abundance, demography and calcification across taxa and ocean basins were consistent with the expected impacts of climate change Of the species responding to climate change, rates of distribution shifts were, on average, consistent with those required to track ocean surface temperature changes Conversely, we did not find a relationship between regional shifts in spring phenology and the seasonality of temperature Rates of observed shifts in species’ distributions and phenology are comparable to, or greater, than those for terrestrial systems

Regression to the mean: what it is and how to deal with it

Abstract: Background Regression to the mean (RTM) is a statistical phenomenon that can make natural variation in repeated data look like real change. It happens when unusually large or small measurements tend to be followed by measurements that are closer to the mean. Methods We give some examples of the phenomenon, and discuss methods to overcome it at the design and analysis stages of a study. Results The effect of RTM in a sample becomes more noticeable with increasing measurement error and when follow-up measurements are only examined on a sub-sample selected using a baseline value. Conclusions RTM is a ubiquitous phenomenon in repeated data and should always be considered as a possible cause of an observed change. Its effect can be alleviated through better study design and use of suitable statistical methods.

Age and gender differences in objectively measured physical activity in youth.

Abstract: TROST. S. G., R. R. PATE, J. F. SALLIS, P. S. FREEDSON, W. C. TAYLOR, M. DOWDA, and J. SIRARD. Age and gender differences in objectively measured physical activity in youth. Med. Sci. Sports Ererc., Vol. 34, No. 2, pp. 350-355, 2002. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate age and gender differences in objectively measured physical activity (PA) in a population-based sample of students in grades 1-12. Methods: Participants (185 male, 190 female) wore a CSA 7164 accelerometer for 7 consecutive days. To examine age-related trends. students were grouped as follows: grades 1-3 (N = 90), grades 4-6 (N = 91), grades 7-9 (N = 96). and grades 10-12 (N = 92). Bouts of PA and minutes spent in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and vigorous PA (VPA) were examined. Results: Daily MVPA and VPA exhibited a significant inverse relationship with grade level, with the largest differences occurring between grades 1d-3 and 4-6. Boys were more active than girls; however, for overall PA, the magnitudes of the gender differences were modest. Participation in continuous 20-min bouts of PA was low to nonexistent. Conclusion: Our results support the notion that PA declines rapidly during childhood and adolescence and that accelerometers are feasible alternatives to self-report methods in moderately sized population-level surveillance studies.