| 1. |
- Hudson, Lawrence N, et al.
(author)
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The database of the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) project
- 2017
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In: Ecology and Evolution. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2045-7758. ; 7:1, s. 145-188
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The PREDICTS project-Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)-has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used this evidence base to develop global and regional statistical models of how local biodiversity responds to these measures. We describe and make freely available this 2016 release of the database, containing more than 3.2 million records sampled at over 26,000 locations and representing over 47,000 species. We outline how the database can help in answering a range of questions in ecology and conservation biology. To our knowledge, this is the largest and most geographically and taxonomically representative database of spatial comparisons of biodiversity that has been collated to date; it will be useful to researchers and international efforts wishing to model and understand the global status of biodiversity.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Coyle, Daisy H, et al.
(author)
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Estimating the potential impact of the Australian government's reformulation targets on household sugar purchases.
- 2021
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In: International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. - : Springer Nature. - 1479-5868. ; 18:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Countries around the world are putting in place sugar reformulation targets for packaged foods to reduce excess sugar consumption. The Australian government released its voluntary sugar reformulation targets for nine food categories in 2020. We estimated the potential impact of these targets on household sugar purchases and examined differences by income. For comparison, we also modelled the potential impact of the UK sugar reduction targets on per capita sugar purchases as the UK has one of the most comprehensive sugar reduction strategies in the world.METHODS: Grocery purchase data from a nationally representative consumer panel (n=7,188) in Australia was linked with a large database (FoodSwitch) with product-specific sugar content information for packaged foods (n=25,261); both datasets were collected in 2018. Potential reductions in per capita sugar purchases were calculated overall and by food category. Differences in sugar reduction across income level were assessed by analysis of variance.RESULTS: In 2018, the total sugar acquired from packaged food and beverage purchases consumed at-home was 56.1 g/day per capita. Australia's voluntary reformulation targets for sugar covered 2,471/25,261 (9.8%) unique products in the FoodSwitch dataset. Under the scenario that all food companies adhered to the voluntary targets, sugar purchases were estimated to be reduced by 0.9 g/day per capita, which represents a 1.5% reduction in sugar purchased from packaged foods. However, if Australia adopted the UK targets, over twice as many products would be covered (n=4,667), and this would result in a more than four times greater reduction in sugar purchases (4.1 g/day per capita). It was also estimated that if all food companies complied with Australia's voluntary sugar targets, reductions to sugar would be slightly greater in low-income households compared with high-income households by 0.3 g/day (95%CI 0.2 - 0.4 g/day, p<0.001).CONCLUSIONS: Sugar-reduction policies have the potential to substantially reduce population sugar consumption and may help to reduce health inequalities related to excess sugar consumption. However, the current reformulation targets in Australia are estimated to achieve only a small reduction to sugar intakes, particularly in comparison to the UK's sugar reduction program.
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| 4. |
- Coyle, Daisy H, et al.
(author)
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Socio-economic difference in purchases of ultra-processed foods in Australia : an analysis of a nationally representative household grocery purchasing panel.
- 2022
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In: International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1479-5868. ; 19:1, s. 148-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Consumption of ultra-processed foods is associated with increased risk of obesity and non-communicable diseases. Little is known about current patterns of ultra-processed foods intake in Australia. The aim of this study was to examine the amount and type of ultra-processed foods purchased by Australian households in 2019 and determine whether purchases differed by socio-economic status (SES). We also assessed whether purchases of ultra-processed foods changed between 2015 and 2019. METHODS: We used grocery purchase data from a nationally representative consumer panel in Australia to assess packaged and unpackaged grocery purchases that were brought home between 2015 to 2019. Ultra-processed foods were identified according to the NOVA system, which classifies foods according to the nature, extent and purpose of industrial food processing. Purchases of ultra-processed foods were calculated per capita, using two outcomes: grams/day and percent of total energy. The top food categories contributing to purchases of ultra-processed foods in 2019 were identified, and differences in ultra-processed food purchases by SES (Index of Relative Social Advantage and Disadvantage) were assessed using survey-weighted linear regression. Changes in purchases of ultra-processed foods between 2015 to 2019 were examined overall and by SES using mixed linear models.RESULTS: In 2019, the mean ± SD total grocery purchases made by Australian households was 881.1 ± 511.9 g/d per capita. Of this, 424.2 ± 319.0 g/d per capita was attributable to purchases of ultra-processed foods, which represented 56.4% of total energy purchased. The largest food categories contributing to total energy purchased included mass-produced, packaged breads (8.2% of total energy purchased), chocolate and sweets (5.7%), biscuits and crackers (5.7%) and ice-cream and edible ices (4.3%). In 2019, purchases of ultra-processed foods were significantly higher for the lowest SES households compared to all other SES quintiles (P < 0.001). There were no major changes in purchases of ultra-processed foods overall or by SES over the five-year period.CONCLUSIONS: Between 2015 and 2019, ultra-processed foods have consistently made up the majority of groceries purchased by Australians, particularly for the lowest SES households. Policies that reduce ultra-processed food consumption may reduce diet-related health inequalities.
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| 5. |
- Coyle, Daisy H, et al.
(author)
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The Contribution of Major Food Categories and Companies to Household Purchases of Added Sugar in Australia.
- 2022
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In: Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. - : Elsevier. - 2212-2672 .- 2212-2680. ; 122:2, s. 345-353.e3
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: The Australian Government will soon be releasing a series of sugar reformulation targets for packaged foods.OBJECTIVE: To estimate the amount of added sugar purchased from packaged food and beverages and the relative contribution that food categories and food companies made to these purchases in 2018. The secondary objective was to examine differences in purchases of added sugar across income levels.DESIGN: Cross-sectional study.PARTICIPANTS/SETTING: We used 1 year of grocery purchase data from a nationally representative panel of Australian households (the NielsenIQ Homescan panel), combined with a packaged food and beverage database (FoodSwitch).MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Added sugar purchases (grams per day per capita), purchase-weighted added sugar content (grams per 100 g) and total weight of products (with added sugar) purchased (grams per day per capita).STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED: Food categories and food companies were ranked according to their contribution to added sugar purchases. Differences in added sugar purchases by income levels were assessed by 1-factor analysis of variance.RESULTS: Added sugar information was available from 7188 households and across 26,291 unique foods and beverages. On average, the amount of added sugar acquired from packaged foods and beverages was (mean ± SE) 35.9 ± 0.01 g/d per capita. Low-income households purchased 11.0 g/d (95% CI: 10.9-11.0 g/d, P < .001) more added sugar from packaged products than high-income households per capita. The top 10 food categories accounted for 82.2% of added sugar purchased, largely due to purchases of chocolate and sweets, soft drinks, and ice cream and edible ices. Out of 994 food companies, the top 10 companies contributed to 62.1% of added sugar purchases.CONCLUSIONS: The Australian Government can strengthen their proposed sugar reduction program by adding further category-specific targets, prioritizing engagement with key food companies and considering a broader range of policies to reduce added sugar intakes across the Australian population.
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| 6. |
- Davies, Tazman, et al.
(author)
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An Innovative Machine Learning Approach to Predict the Dietary Fiber Content of Packaged Foods
- 2021
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In: Nutrients. - : MDPI. - 2072-6643. ; 13:9
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Underconsumption of dietary fiber is prevalent worldwide and is associated with multiple adverse health conditions. Despite the importance of fiber, the labeling of fiber content on packaged foods and beverages is voluntary in most countries, making it challenging for consumers and policy makers to monitor fiber consumption. Here, we developed a machine learning approach for automated and systematic prediction of fiber content using nutrient information commonly available on packaged products. An Australian packaged food dataset with known fiber content information was divided into training (n = 8986) and test datasets (n = 2455). Utilization of a k-nearest neighbors machine learning algorithm explained a greater proportion of variance in fiber content than an existing manual fiber prediction approach (R-2 = 0.84 vs. R-2 = 0.68). Our findings highlight the opportunity to use machine learning to efficiently predict the fiber content of packaged products on a large scale.
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| 7. |
- Frazier-Wood, Alexis C., et al.
(author)
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Genetic variants associated with subjective well-being, depressive symptoms, and neuroticism identified through genome-wide analyses
- 2016
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In: Nature Genetics. - : Nature Research (part of Springer Nature). - 1061-4036 .- 1546-1718. ; 48, s. 624-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Very few genetic variants have been associated with depression and neuroticism, likely because of limitations on sample size in previous studies. Subjective well-being, a phenotype that is genetically correlated with both of these traits, has not yet been studied with genome-wide data. We conducted genome-wide association studies of three phenotypes: subjective well-being (n = 298,420), depressive symptoms (n = 161,460), and neuroticism (n = 170,911). We identify 3 variants associated with subjective well-being, 2 variants associated with depressive symptoms, and 11 variants associated with neuroticism, including 2 inversion polymorphisms. The two loci associated with depressive symptoms replicate in an independent depression sample. Joint analyses that exploit the high genetic correlations between the phenotypes (vertical bar(p) over cap vertical bar approximate to 0.8) strengthen the overall credibility of the findings and allow us to identify additional variants. Across our phenotypes, loci regulating expression in central nervous system and adrenal or pancreas tissues are strongly enriched for association.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Hassan, Kahin Akram, et al.
(author)
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A Study on Visual Representations for Active Plant Wall Data Analysis
- 2019
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In: DATA. - : MDPI. - 2306-5729. ; 4:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The indoor climate is closely related to human health, well-being, and comfort. Thus, an understanding of the indoor climate is vital. One way to improve the indoor climates is to place an aesthetically pleasing active plant wall in the environment. By collecting data using sensors placed in and around the plant wall both the indoor climate and the status of the plant wall can be monitored and analyzed. This manuscript presents a user study with domain experts in this field with a focus on the representation of such data. The experts explored this data with a Line graph, a Horizon graph, and a Stacked area graph to better understand the status of the active plant wall and the indoor climate. Qualitative measures were collected with Think-aloud protocol and semi-structured interviews. The study resulted in four categories of analysis tasks: Overview, Detail, Perception, and Complexity. The Line graph was found to be preferred for use in providing an overview, and the Horizon graph for detailed analysis, revealing patterns and showing discernible trends, while the Stacked area graph was generally not preferred. Based on these findings, directions for future research are discussed and formulated. The results and future directions of this research can facilitate the analysis of multivariate temporal data, both for domain users and visualization researchers.
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| 10. |
- Hudson, Lawrence N., et al.
(author)
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The PREDICTS database : a global database of how local terrestrial biodiversity responds to human impacts
- 2014
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In: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 4:24, s. 4701-4735
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Biodiversity continues to decline in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures such as habitat destruction, exploitation, pollution and introduction of alien species. Existing global databases of species' threat status or population time series are dominated by charismatic species. The collation of datasets with broad taxonomic and biogeographic extents, and that support computation of a range of biodiversity indicators, is necessary to enable better understanding of historical declines and to project - and avert - future declines. We describe and assess a new database of more than 1.6 million samples from 78 countries representing over 28,000 species, collated from existing spatial comparisons of local-scale biodiversity exposed to different intensities and types of anthropogenic pressures, from terrestrial sites around the world. The database contains measurements taken in 208 (of 814) ecoregions, 13 (of 14) biomes, 25 (of 35) biodiversity hotspots and 16 (of 17) megadiverse countries. The database contains more than 1% of the total number of all species described, and more than 1% of the described species within many taxonomic groups - including flowering plants, gymnosperms, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, beetles, lepidopterans and hymenopterans. The dataset, which is still being added to, is therefore already considerably larger and more representative than those used by previous quantitative models of biodiversity trends and responses. The database is being assembled as part of the PREDICTS project (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems - ). We make site-level summary data available alongside this article. The full database will be publicly available in 2015.
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| 11. |
- Settele, Josef, et al.
(author)
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Rice ecosystem services in South-east Asia
- 2018
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In: Paddy and Water Environment. - : Springer. - 1611-2490 .- 1611-2504. ; 16:2, s. 211-224
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)
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| 12. |
- Villa, Luisa L., et al.
(author)
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Immunologic responses following administration of a vaccine targeting human papillomavirus Types 6, 11, 16, and 18
- 2006
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In: Vaccine. - : Elsevier BV. - 1873-2518 .- 0264-410X. ; 24:27-28, s. 5571-5583
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection causes cervical cancer and genital warts. Young women (1106) were randomized to receive one of three formulations of a quadrivalent HPV (Types 6/11/16/18) L1 virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine or one of two placebo formulations. The goal was to assess vaccine safety and immunogenicity in baseline HPV 6/11/16 or 18-naive and previously infected subjects. All three formulations were highly immunogenic. At Month 2 (postdose 1), among women with vaccine-type antibodies at baseline, vaccine-induced anti-HPV responses were similar to 12- to 26-fold higher than those observed in baseline-naive women, suggesting an anamnestic response. Following an initial, similar sized decline, anti-HPV responses plateaued and remained stable through end-of-study (3.0 years). No vaccine-related serious adverse experiences were reported. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 13. |
- Yu, Rixin, et al.
(author)
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Effect of Turbulence on HCCI Combustion
- 2007
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In: Session: Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) (Part 4 of 8) Combustion Modeling / Optical Diagnostics. - 400 Commonwealth Drive, Warrendale, PA, United States : SAE International.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper presents large eddy simulation (LES) and experimental studies of the combustion process of ethanol/air mixture in an experimental optical HCCI engine. The fuel is injected to the intake port manifolds to generate uniform fuel/air mixture in the cylinder. Two different piston shapes, one with a flat disc and one with a square bowl, were employed to generate different in-cylinder turbulence and temperature field prior to auto-ignition. The aim of this study was to scrutinize the effect of in-cylinder turbulence on the temperature field and on the combustion process. The fuel tracer, acetone, is measured using laser induced fluorescence (LIF) to characterize the reaction fronts, and chemiluminescence images were recorded using a high speed camera, with a 0.25 crank angle degree resolution, to further illustrate the combustion process. Pressure in the cylinder is recorded in the experiments. Spatial and temporal resolved LES was used to gain information on the turbulence mixing, heat transfer and combustion process. It was shown that gas temperature in the piston bowl is generally higher than that in the squish, leading to an earlier ignition in the bowl. Compared to the disc engine, the square bowl engine has a higher temperature inhomogeneity owing to the turbulence wall heat transfer. The experimentally observed higher combustion duration and slower pressure rise rate in the square bowl engine as compared to the disc engine can be explained by the higher temperature inhomogeneity in the square bowl engine.
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