Transmission electron microscopy analysis of UV laser implanted gold nanoparticles and their influence on photoluminescence enhancement from silicon nanocrystals.

The photoluminescence of silicon nanocrystals is significantly enhanced via laser-based implantation of gold nanoparticles into silicon suboxide. This study is to explore in detail the nanoscale interactions between silicon nanocrystals embedded in the oxide matrix and gold nanoparticles through transmission electron microscopy. The influence of gold nanoparticle size and distance from the silicon nanocrystals is investigated and correlated with photoluminescence enhancement.

Underlying health biases in previously-infected SARS-CoV-2 vaccination recipients: A cohort study.

Objectives: Observational studies may over- or under-estimate SARS-CoV-2 vaccine effectiveness (VE) depending on whether healthier (i.e. healthy vaccine effect (HVE)) or more ill individuals are preferentially vaccinated.

Validation of the death reflection scale among older people.

Background: Human beings possess the capacity to cognize their own mortality, which compels them to process death awareness. The present study seeks to validate the Death Reflection Scale (DRS) among older individuals, which measures growth-oriented cognitions and prosocial behavior following confrontation with death awareness.

Materials And Methods: DRS was validated using a cross-sectional online survey of older adults (50+).

Estimates of SARS-CoV-2 Infections and Population Immunity After the COVID-19 Pandemic in Austria: Analysis of National Wastewater Data.

Background: Postpandemic surveillance data on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections may help inform future public health policies regarding severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) testing, vaccinations, or other COVID-19 measures. We estimate the total SARS-CoV-2 infections in Austria after the end of the pandemic from wastewater data and utilize these estimates to calculate the average national levels of SARS-CoV-2 infection protection and COVID-19 death protection.

Methods: We estimated the total SARS-CoV-2 infections in Austria after the end of the pandemic (5 May 2023, per World Health Organization) up to May 2024 from wastewater data using a previously published model.

COVID-19 case fatality rate and infection fatality rate from 2020 to 2023: Nationwide analysis in Austria.

Background: Comprehensive analyses of COVID-19 case fatality rates (CFRs) and infection fatality rates (IFRs) that span the entire pandemic are not yet available but critical to retrospectively evaluate the COVID-19 disease burden and its related public health policies. We used nationwide individual participant data from Austria, the continental country with the highest SARS-CoV-2 testing rate per capita, to calculate COVID-19 CFR and estimate IFR covering the entire pandemic.

Methods: This retrospective observational study included all Austrian residents and covered the time from February 2020 to May 2023, examining CFRs overall, monthly, and during dominant SARS-CoV-2 variant periods.

Long-term effectiveness of an ultra-rapid rollout vaccination campaign with BNT162b2 on the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

In 2021, an ultra-rapid rollout vaccination campaign in the Schwaz district, Tyrol, Austria, delivered the COVID-19 vaccine BNT162b2 to 66.9% of eligible residents (dose 1: March 11-16, dose 2: April 8-13). Alongside the campaign, we recruited 11,955 residents into the prospective study REDUCE, of whom 3,859 participated in a booster vaccination initiative (November 20-28, 2021).

Effectiveness of the First and Second Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Vaccine Dose: A Nationwide Cohort Study From Austria on Hybrid Versus Natural Immunity.

Background: We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccinations in previously SARS-CoV-2-infected adults in the general population of Austria during the Delta wave and with extended follow-up.

Methods: In a nationwide retrospective cohort study, we calculated age-, sex-, and nursing home residency-adjusted Cox proportional hazard ratios (HRs) of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) deaths, SARS-CoV-2 infections, and non-COVID-19 deaths from 1 October to 31 December 2021, and secondarily with extended follow-up to 30 June 2022. Relative vaccine effectiveness (rVE) is rVE = (1 - HR) × 100.

Characterization and Simulation of Shear-Induced Damage in Selective-Laser-Sintered Polyamide 12.

This paper presents the characterisation of selective-laser-sintered (SLS) samples of polyamide 12 (PA12) under shear loading. PA12 is a semi-crystalline thermoplastic and is used in various industries. Its behaviour under shear stress, which is particularly important for product reliability, has not yet been sufficiently investigated.

Effectiveness of a fourth SARS-CoV-2 vaccine dose in previously infected individuals from Austria.

Introduction: Evidence is limited on the effectiveness of a fourth vaccine dose against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in populations with prior severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections. We estimated the risk of COVID-19 deaths and SARS-CoV-2 infections according to vaccination status in previously infected individuals in Austria.

Methods: This is a nationwide retrospective observational study.

Implementation of a Surveillance System for Severe Acute Respiratory Infections at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Austria: Protocol for a Retrospective Longitudinal Feasibility Study.

Background: The risk of a large number of severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) cases emerging is a global concern. SARI can overwhelm the health care capacity and cause several deaths. Therefore, the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety will explore the feasibility of implementing an automatic electronically based SARI surveillance system at a tertiary care hospital in Austria as part of the hospital network, initiated by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Diagnostic Study to Assess the Performance of a New Urinary Antigen Test-A National Study in Three Referral University Hospitals in Austria during 2014-2017.

Background: We evaluated the performance of a rapid diagnostic antigen test (Coris) as an index test versus the urinary Antigen ELISA (Bartels) as the reference test.

Methods: Prospective diagnostic accuracy study (2014-2017) at three university hospitals in Austria.

Results: A total of 996 patients were included in the study.

Poverty in old age in times of COVID-19-Empirical results from Austria.

Early in the pandemic, researchers were cautioning that COVID-19 and the associated health policy countermeasures would have an increased negative impact on groups that were already vulnerable before the pandemic. One of these groups are older people affected by poverty, who according to official figures make up 13.9% of older population in Austria.

Ultra-rapid rollout vaccination with BNT162b2 to reduce SARS-CoV-2 infections in the general population.

This study aimed to determine the impact of ultra-rapid rollout vaccination on incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Vaccination with BNT162b2 was provided to 66.9% of eligible residents of the Schwaz district in Tyrol, Austria, within six days per dose (first dose: 11-16 March 2021, second dose: 8-13 April 2021).

Viral variant-resolved wastewater surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 at national scale.

SARS-CoV-2 surveillance by wastewater-based epidemiology is poised to provide a complementary approach to sequencing individual cases. However, robust quantification of variants and de novo detection of emerging variants remains challenging for existing strategies. We deep sequenced 3,413 wastewater samples representing 94 municipal catchments, covering >59% of the population of Austria, from December 2020 to February 2022.

[Physical activity in older individuals].

Background: Physical activity is a key factor for maintaining health in old age. Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, studies have shown that there has been a decrease in physical activity; thus, considerations are now needed on how to (re)activate older individuals. One approach is to ask which factors had a positive influence on physical activity before the pandemic and to address these through interventions.

Ready for Vaccination? COVID-19 Vaccination Willingness of Older People in Austria.

In spite of findings highlighting higher health risk from infection compared to younger people, a certain percentage of older people in Austria still lack a valid vaccination certificate. The current gaps in vaccination coverage in countries such as Austria are likely to be in large part due to vaccination refusal and pose or will pose problems for the health system and consequently for all of society should the initial findings on Omicron coronavirus infectivity prove true. Surprisingly, only a few studies around the globe explicitly address older people's COVID-19 vaccination willingness.

Examining the Impact of COVID-19 Experiences on Reported Psychological Burden Increase in Older Persons: The Effects of Illness Severity and Social Proximity.

Previous findings have provided indications that experience of COVID-19 illness of self and other affect mental health unfavorably. However, prior studies do not satisfactorily differentiate according to severity of COVID-19 illness or social proximity, which are both hypothesized to be relevant factors for increased psychological burden. This study provides an in-depth examination of the impact of Covid-19 experience of self and other on mental health, considering illness severity as well as proximity to the infected person (self, close and distant network).

Freeform shaping of fused silica substrates via viscous deformation induced by a laser patterned, stressed film.

Freeform optics enable improved optical solutions but their fabrication usually requires complicated precision machining processes. We report on an approach for freeform shaping of optical surfaces via a stress-induced viscous deformation of glass plates. We studied the deformation of fused silica substrates covered by specifically laser patterned films of substoichiometric silicon oxide during annealing at about 1100 °C in an oxidizing ambient.

Assessing the impact of SARS-CoV-2 prevention measures in Austrian schools using agent-based simulations and cluster tracing data.

We aim to identify those measures that effectively control the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in Austrian schools. Using cluster tracing data we calibrate an agent-based epidemiological model and consider situations where the B1.617.

[Development of loneliness in old age in times of COVID-19].

The article investigates the development of loneliness before and in the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic against the background of the socio-economic situation of older people. For this purpose, variance analyses are carried out with data from Lower Austria utilizing two surveys (pre-pandemic, peri-pandemic). The analyses show that older people are not a homogeneous group, i.

Hitting Close to Home: The Effect of COVID-19 Illness in the Social Environment on Psychological Burden in Older Adults.

This study examines the impact of COVID-19 experience of infection in the individual's social environment on psychological burden controlling for a broad range of factors using data on an older population (50+ years). Based on the empirical evidence of preexisting studies, it is hypothesized that psychological burden will increase concurrent to the severity of COVID-19 experience (tested positive, hospitalized, and death) independent of the other stressors resulting from the pandemic, such as a subjective sense of uncertainty or financial burden. Data of the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in EUROPE, and a European cross-national panel study were used to examine this hypothesis.

Optical Investigation of Individual Red Blood Cells for Determining Cell Count and Cellular Hemoglobin Concentration in a Microfluidic Channel.

We demonstrate a blood analysis routine by observing red blood cells through light and digital holographic microscopy in a microfluidic channel. With this setup a determination of red blood cell (RBC) concentration, the mean corpuscular volume (MCV), and corpuscular hemoglobin concentration mean (CHCM) is feasible. Cell count variations in between measurements differed by 2.

Performance of Four IgM Antibody Assays in the Diagnosis of Measles Virus Primary Infection and Cases with a Serological Profile Indicating Reinfection.

The object of this study was to determine the diagnostic performance of four commercially available IgM tests in the diagnosis of measles virus (MeV) primary infection and cases with a serological profile indicating reinfection. Sera from 187 patients with MeV primary infection, 30 patients with suspected reinfection (after vaccine failure), and 153 patients with rash-like symptoms after exclusion of MeV infection were retested with four IgM tests. MeV infection was verified by reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR), and primary and suspected reinfections were differentiated by IgG avidity and neutralization assays.