Recommendations for the implementation of international standardization of glycated hemoglobin in Italy.

This document is issued by the Italian Society of Clinical Biochemistry and Clinical Molecular Biology (SIBioC) and a number of other National Scientific Societies and Associations in order to promote a coordinated plan for implementing the standardization of glycated hemoglobin (HbA(1c)) measurement in Italy according to the recommendations by the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC). Changes in reporting HbA(1c) results, new units, how to relate old and new units, a timeline for changes and definition of the analytical goals are the main issues discussed

Recommendations for the implementation of international standardization of glycated hemoglobin in Italy

This document is issued by the Italian Society of Clinical Biochemistry and Clinical Molecular Biology (SIBioC) and a number of other National Scientific Societies and Associations in order to promote a coordinated plan for implementing the standardization of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) measurement in Italy according to the recommendations by the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC). Changes in reporting HbA1c results, new units, how to relate old and new units, a timeline for changes and definition of the analytical goals are the main issues discussed. © 2010 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York

Simulating residential demand response: Improving socio-technical assumptions in activity-based models of energy demand

Demand response is receiving increasing interest as a new form of flexibility within lowcarbon power systems. Energy models are an important tool to assess the potential capability of demand side contributions. This paper critically reviews the assumptions in current models and introduces a new conceptual framework to better facilitate such an assessment. We propose three dimensions along which change could occur, namely technology, activities and service expectations. Using this framework, the socio-technical assumptions underpinning ‘bottom-up’ activity-based energy demand models are identified and a number of shortcomings are discussed. First, links between appliance usage and activities are not evidence-based. We propose new data collection approaches to address this gap. Second, aside from thermal comfort, service expectations, which can be an important source of flexibility, are underrepresented and their inclusion into demand models would improve their predicative power in this area. Finally, flexibility can be present over a range of time scales, from immediate responses, to longer term trends. Longitudinal time use data from participants in demand response schemes may be able to illuminate these. The recommendations of this paper seek to enhance the current state-of-the-art in activity-based models and to provide useful tools for the assessment of demand response