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Passive radiative cooling without energy consumption is increasingly being explored as an eco‐friendly alternative to electric cooling for mitigating heat stress caused by global warming. Incorporating radiative cooling into personal thermal management has garnered widespread interest. However, existing sub‐ambient radiative cooling textiles face challenges related to inferior solar reflectance, poor outdoor durability, or health concerns. Here, a durable multilayer silk textile (MST) is developed that achieves excellent comprehensive performance for the first time, including both ultrahigh solar reflectance (96.5%) and ultrahigh infrared emittance (97.1%), safety, air and moisture permeability, high mechanical strength, washability, abrasion resistance, surface hydrophobicity, and UV resistance. The MST achieves a remarkable sub‐ambient temperature drop of 5.1 °C under 892.4 W m−2 of ultra‐strong solar radiation and surpasses both commercial silk and cotton textiles at noon with temperature reductions of 6.0 and 8.3 °C, respectively. For proof of concept, a hat using the MST is fabricated, which shows improved cooling performance compared to commercial hats. Considering its outstanding cooling performance, durability, zero energy consumption, abundant raw materials, and scalable production ability, it is believed that the radiative cooling MST holds great promise for practical applications in daytime personal thermal management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To assess the population health impact of high temperatures on workplace health and safety by estimating the burden of heat‐attributable occupational injury in Australia. Study design, setting: Retrospective observational study; estimation of burden of occupational injury in Australia attributable to high temperatures during 2014–19, based on Safe Work Australia (work‐related traumatic injury fatalities and workers' compensation databases) and Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data (Australian Burden of Disease Study and National Hospital Morbidity databases), and a meta‐analysis of climate zone‐specific risk data. Main outcome measure: Burden of heat‐attributable occupational injuries as disability‐adjusted life years (DALYs), comprising the numbers of years of life lived with disability (YLDs) and years of life lost (YLLs), nationally, by Köppen–Geiger climate zone, and by state and territory. Results: During 2014–19, an estimated 42 884 years of healthy life were lost to occupational injury, comprising 39 485 YLLs (92.1%) and 3399 YLDs (7.9%), at a rate of 0.80 DALYs per 1000 workers per year. A total of 967 occupational injury‐related DALYs were attributable to heat (2.3% of occupational injury‐related DALYs), comprising 890 YLLs (92%) and 77 YLDs (8%). By climate zone, the heat‐attributable proportion was largest in the tropical Am (12 DALYs; 3.5%) and Aw zones (34 DALYs; 3.5%); by state and territory, the proportion was largest in New South Wales and Queensland (each 2.9%), which also included the largest numbers of heat‐attributable occupational injury‐related DALYs (NSW: 379 DALYs, 39% of national total; Queensland: 308 DALYs; 32%). Conclusion: An estimated 2.3% of the occupational injury burden in Australia is attributable to high ambient temperatures. To prevent this burden increasing with global warming, adaptive measures and industry‐based policies are needed to safeguard workplace health and safety, particularly in heat‐exposed industries, such as agriculture, transport, and construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore animal science and veterinary students' and livestock farmers' perceptions concerning Q fever prevention. Design: An online survey with an open‐ended question seeking knowledge and perceptions about Q fever prevention was distributed among participants during March‐September 2019. We applied thematic analysis to identify emerging themes. Setting: Animal science and veterinary students enrolled at the University of Adelaide and members of Livestock South Australia representing cattle, sheep and goat farmers in South Australia. Participants: A total of56 animal science and veterinary students and 154 livestock farmers responded to the open‐ended question. Interventions: Not applicable. Main outcome measures: Perceived challenges and opportunities for a coordinated Q fever prevention approach including human vaccination reported by the participants. Results: Two major themes arose in each group. Students and farmers viewed Q fever vaccination as important. However, excessive cost for students was a barrier and for farmers, it was general practitioners' lack of knowledge of Q fever and access to an accredited immunisation provider. Similarly, both groups highlighted the need for education and increasing public and community awareness of Q fever. Conclusion: Our findings underscore that a sector‐wide approach involving community awareness programmes, education and training for general practitioners, and subsidised vaccination as well as commitment from government and industry partners may contribute to reducing the burden of Q fever among at‐risk populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advanced heat‐managing textiles not only improve the comfort of individual but also reduce the energy consumption of the heat‐managing systems of building. To meet the demand of heat‐managing in a dynamic environment, responsive textiles with tunable thermal convection and radiation have been developed, while the design of fabrics with tunable thermal conduction remains unexplored. Here, a humidity‐driven and flexible thermal conductance regulating material is developed that shows an unprecedented switching ratio up to 14×, which is composed of brick‐and‐mortar structured graphene and silk sericin (GS). This work investigates the microstructure variation in response to humidity experimentally and theoretically. The regulation can be ascribed to the hydration/dehydration of sericin and the subsequent changing in graphene–sericin interfacial thermal conductance. It is demonstrated that the GS can be facilely coated on ordinary textiles through dyeing to achieve responsive thermal‐managing clothes with a significant and reversible response toward the variation of environment humidity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines to what extent the linguistic features in argumentative and narrative essays of L2 learners are influenced by the communicative functions of genres and learners' genre experience. The genres of texts in textbooks were used as a rough estimation of students' genre exposure and 11 linguistic complexity measures were analyzed to check the linguistic differences between genres. The results indicated that linguistic features in L2 writing were not solely decided by the communicative function of genres. Furthermore, due to the effects of genre input, learners' genre knowledge may change, which could influence their language use in writing. This study first attempts to explore genre effects from a perspective of learners and its findings have important implications for future research, language instruction and assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The frailty index is used to measure the health status of older individuals. However, its association with self‐neglect, social support and sociodemographic characteristics of older adults is underexplored. The purpose of the present study was to explore such associations among the rural older adults in Anhui Province of China, and to provide scientific evidence for policy‐makers to improve the health and well‐being of older adults in rural China. Methods: A cross‐sectional survey was undertaken among 3048 older adults in rural China. The frailty index was measured by an accumulation of deficits of 40 items. Ordinal logistic regression models were carried out to explore the associations of self‐neglect, social support and sociodemographic characteristics with the frailty index. Results: The frailty rate was 15.8% among the participants. Older adults who showed self‐neglect, were female, had a lower education level, had a lower monthly income and did not drink alcohol were more prone to having frailty in the 60–76 years age group, whereas older adults who showed self‐neglect, had poor social support, were female, were not smokers and did not drink alcohol were more likely to have frailty in the ≥77 years age group (P < 0.05). The interaction effect on frailty between self‐neglect and social support was found in the 60–76 years age group. Conclusions: Age differences were shown in the associations between self‐neglect, social support, sociodemographic characteristics and frailty index, which suggests different measures should be used accordingly for frailty prevention and management. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2018; 18: 987–996 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: There are ongoing concerns about treatment failure with azithromycin for the treatment of rectal chlamydia. Aim: To investigate treatment efficacy of two treatments for rectal chlamydial infection. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of all patients diagnosed with rectal chlamydial infection between 2009 and 2015 in Adelaide, Australia. Patients were treated with either azithromycin (1 g single dose) or doxycycline (100 mg twice a day for 10 days) and returned for repeat testing 14–180 days after treatment commenced. Log‐binomial models were used to estimate the relative risk (RR) of recurrent rectal chlamydia associated with the treatment with azithromycin versus doxycycline. Results: In men, rectal chlamydia prevalence was 6.7%, and in women, it was 8.1%. Of the 526 patients diagnosed with rectal chlamydial infections, 419 (79.7%), 93 (17.7%) and 14 (2.6%) patients were treated with doxycycline, azithromycin or other medication respectively. Of these patients, 173 (41.3%) of 419 doxycycline‐treated patients and 31 (33.3%) of 93 azithromycin‐treated patients were retested between 14 and 180 days after treatment commenced (P = 0.16). Among these patients, the repeat rectal chlamydia test was less commonly positive in those treated with doxycycline (5.8%; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.03–0.10) compared with those treated with azithromycin (19.4%; 95% CI 0.09–0.36) and (P = 0.01). In the multivariate analysis, azithromycin‐treated patients had a significantly higher risk of a positive test in the 14 and 180 days after treatment commenced (adjusted relative risk (aRR) 2.96, 95% CI 1.16–7.57). Conclusion: The findings suggest that doxycycline may be more effective than azithromycin in treating rectal chlamydial infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: A major heatwave occurred in Australia in early 2009 with considerable and varied health impacts in South Australia (SA) and Victoria. The aim of this study was to investigate the heat-adaptive behaviours of older people in these states. Methods: A computer-assisted telephone survey of 1000 residents of SA and Victoria aged 65 years or older was conducted at the end of summer 2010-2011. Results: The majority of respondents reported undertaking heat-adaptive behaviours. In SA, there was a significantly higher proportion of households with air conditioning compared to Victoria, and a higher recall of heat-health messages. In both states, self-reported morbidity during heatwaves was higher in women, persons with poorer health and those with cardiovascular conditions. Conclusion: An increase in global temperatures in conjunction with an ageing population is a concern for public health. Our findings suggest acclimatisation to hot weather may influence behaviours and health outcomes in older people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses a very important issue in Australian rural and remote regions: the effects of climate change on various aspects including natural resources, agricultural activity, population health, and social and economic development. The objective is to briefly characterise the consequences of climate change in rural Australia and what we can do to prevent further impact in our rural communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The MJA-Lancet Countdown on health and climate change was established in 2017 and produced its first Australian national assessment in 2018. It examined 41 indicators across five broad domains: climate change impacts, exposures and vulnerability; adaptation, planning and resilience for health; mitigation actions and health co-benefits; economics and finance; and public and political engagement. It found that, overall, Australia is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change on health, and that policy inaction in this regard threatens Australian lives. In this report we present the 2019 update. We track progress on health and climate change in Australia across the same five broad domains and many of the same indicators as in 2018. A number of new indicators are introduced this year, including one focused on wildfire exposure, and another on engagement in health and climate change in the corporate sector. Several of the previously reported indicators are not included this year, either due to their discontinuation by the parent project, the Lancet Countdown, or because insufficient new data were available for us to meaningfully provide an update to the indicator. In a year marked by an Australian federal election in which climate change featured prominently, we find mixed progress on health and climate change in this country. There has been progress in renewable energy generation, including substantial employment increases in this sector. There has also been some progress at state and local government level. However, there continues to be no engagement on health and climate change in the Australian federal Parliament, and Australia performs poorly across many of the indicators in comparison to other developed countries; for example, it is one of the world's largest net exporters of coal and its electricity generation from low carbon sources is low. We also find significantly increasing exposure of Australians to heatwaves and, in most states and territories, continuing elevated suicide rates at higher temperatures. We conclude that Australia remains at significant risk of declines in health due to climate change, and that substantial and sustained national action is urgently required in order to prevent this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wearable devices have become very important for collecting health information and monitoring the condition of seriously ill patients. However, most recently developed wearable devices can only monitor limited signals within a very small range of values. A novel sensor is fabricated by modifying the surface of polyimide nanowires with silver nanoparticles. These nanowire sensors can sense both pressure and temperature changes and have antimicrobial properties. The fabricated sensor can detect a wide range of pressure variation from 5 KPa to 100 KPa. A theoretical model is developed to explain the sensing mechanism of the silver‐nanoparticle‐modified polyimide nanowires. The experimental and theoretical results for the nanowires are in good agreement. By attaching these sensors to human joints and fingers, real‐time information can be detected for human motion, such as walking or holding a hot cup of water. The excellent performance of this device shows that it has great potential for use in artificial skins for detecting temperature and human motion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective Exciton Dissociation and Reduced Charge Recombination in Thick-Film Organic Solar Cells via Incorporation of Insulating Polypropylene In article no. 1900087, Jian-Qiang Liu, Xiao-Tao Hao, and co-workers introduce polypropylene into a bulk heterojunction consisting of donors and acceptors to fabricate effective organic solar cells with a thick active layer. The incorporation of polypropylene improves the crystallinity of the donor and reduces the aggregation size of the acceptor, which facilitates exciton dissociation and charge transition and inhibits the recombination of carriers. [Extracted from the article]

Climate plays an important role in human health and it is well established that climate change can have very significant impacts in this regard. In partnership with The Lancet and the MJA, we present the inaugural Australian Countdown assessment of progress on climate change and health. This comprehensive assessment examines 41 indicators across five broad sections: climate change impacts, exposures and vulnerability; adaptation, planning and resilience for health; mitigation actions and health co-benefits; economics and finance; and public and political engagement. These indicators and the methods used for each are largely consistent with those of the Lancet Countdown global assessment published in October 2017, but with an Australian focus. Significant developments include the addition of a new indicator on mental health. Overall, we find that Australia is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change on health, and that policy inaction in this regard threatens Australian lives. In a number of respects, Australia has gone backwards and now lags behind other high income countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom. Examples include the persistence of a very high carbon-intensive energy system in Australia, and its slow transition to renewables and low carbon electricity generation. However, we also find some examples of good progress, such as heatwave response planning. Given the overall poor state of progress on climate change and health in Australia, this country now has an enormous opportunity to take action and protect human health and lives. Australia has the technical knowhow and intellect to do this, and our annual updates of this assessment will track Australia's engagement with and progress on this vitally important issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issue Addressed: Many studies world wide have provided evidence that older persons are a sub-population at increased risk of heat-related morbidity and mortality. This article gives an overview of the current state of knowledge of risk factors and provides commentary on the role of health promotion in the prevention of a climate change-related increase in elderly heat casualties.Methods: A search of peer-reviewed medical and epidemiological literature and community health websites was conducted in order to gain an in-depth understanding of heat-susceptibility in the elderly and preventive strategies. Key search words included: elderly, aged, older, heat, thermoregulation, heat wave, mortality, heat effects, dehydration, heat-related illness, adaptation, adaptive capacity.Results: The reasons underlying reduced heat tolerance in this group are multi-faceted, comprising physiological, social and behavioural limitations, with comorbidities and polypharmacy being contributing factors. Additionally, some older persons may be unable or reluctant to undertake adaptations necessary to maintain thermal homeostasis due to diminished awareness of the heat, lowered thirst sensation, mobility or cognitive impairments, a lowered perception of risk, or economic concerns.Conclusion: With older persons in poor health being particularly vulnerable to heat, preventive messages need to promote protective behaviours and help build resilience as temperatures rise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issue Addressed: The high mortality and morbidity associated with the 2009 heat wave across South Eastern Australia highlighted the need for effective heat-related health promotion and preventive strategies. The adverse health effects of extreme heat are largely preventable, and heat-related health promotion can advise the public about the dangers of hot weather and how to reduce health risks. The South Australian State Emergency Service has outlined a co-ordinated response system in their Extreme Heat Arrangements for South Australia. This paper evaluates the health impacts at the temperature trigger levels incorporated in this plan.Methods: Heat events in Adelaide between 1994 and 2009 were compared in terms of heat duration, heat intensity and their impact on mortality and ambulance call-outs.The health impacts for events meeting specific temperature triggers were estimated.Results: Individual heat events varied in terms of estimated excess mortality and ambulance call-outs. Increased mortality was associated with heat events of 3 or more consecutive days with maximum temperature (T(max)) > or = 43 degrees C or average daily temperature (ADT) > or = 34 degrees C, while ambulance call-outs increased significantly at lower T(max) levels.The two events reaching the temperature triggers for an extreme heat warning were associated with a 44% (95% CI 26-63%) increase in mortality.Conclusions: The results support the temperature trigger for an extreme heat warning within the Extreme Heat Arrangements for Adelaide, and indicate a limited health impact at lower temperature triggers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]