"The impact of vitamin C and E, Magnesium and Zinc on glycemic control and insulin resistance in type II diabetic patients "

Background: The present study designed to assess the effect of Mg+Zn, vitamin C+E, and combination of these micronutrients on glycemic control and insulin resistance in type 2 diabetic patients Methods: In a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled clinical trial, 69 type 2 diabetic patients were randomly divided into four groups, each group receiving one of the following daily supplement for 3 months; group M: 200 mg and 30 mg Zn (n=16), group V: 200 mg vitamin C and 150 mg vitamin E (n=18), group MV: minerals plus vitamins (n=17), group P: placebo (n=18).Fasting blood glucose, fructosamine, HbA1c and serum insulin were measured at the beginning and at the end of 3 months supplementation. Insulin resistance was calculated by HOMA score. Treatment effects were analyzed by general linear modeling. Results: After 3 months of supplementation fasting blood glucose decreased in MV group (165±46 vs 177±41 mg/dl, p=0.035). There was no significant change in fructoseamin, HbA1c, serum insulin or insulin resistance in treatment groups. Conclusion: The results of the present study provide evidence for the effects of combination of Mg, Zn and vitamin C and E supplementations on improvement of fasting blood glucose but not fructosamine, HbA1c, serum insulin or insulin resistance in type 2 diabetic patients

ASCORBIC ACID STATUS IN 6-60 MONTH OLD CHILDREN IN SIRJAN VILLAGES

Six- to sixty months old children were studied in Sirjan villages, divided into villages with or without a health house (HH). All the 893 children were medically examined and their food intake was assessed, using the 24-hours dietary recall method. Ascorbic acid was determined in blood samples of 199 children. The results obtained are as follows: 1; the average vitamin C intake for all the children were more than the respective RDA, being 32.3+32 mg. In the 13-24 months group, however, the intake was 25.1+17.8 mg. 2; As compared with the standard, a smaller percentage of 6-12 months old subgroup suffered from vitamin C deficiency relative to other subgroups, which might be because of breast feeding. 3; Altogether 30% of the children had a low intake. 4; the mean total blood ascorbic acid in all the subgroups was significantly higher than the standard. 5; There was no significant difference between the two regions with regard to blood ascorbic acid, there was no difference in two sexes either. 6; only 1.5% of all the children had a low blood vitamin C level. 7; A low dietary intake of vitamin C was a nutritional problem among the children, but biochemical and clinical findings did not confirm this

Lipid status and its relationship with hormones and anthropometric indices in Hirsute women

Relationships among lipids, hormones and anthropometric indices of patients in a reproductive endocrinology outpatient clinic were investigated. Subjects were divided into 2 groups according to their hirsutism score (Hirsute score>=8, N=102; And non-hirsute score<8, N=83). Weight (Wt), height (Ht), waist (W) and hip (H) circumferences were measured in all women and serum levels of lipids, hormones and glucose were determined in about one half of them. Hirsute women were heavier and had higher waist to hip ratio (WHR) and waist to height ratio, increased LDL and decreased progesterone levels (In all cases, P<0.04). In 26 subjects with a high serum androgen level (Testosterone, and"or androstenedione and/or DHEAS) there was a significant correlation between triglyceride and testosterone levels (P<0.02). Multiple regression analysis showed that WHR was an independent variable for cholesterol and LDL; Age for triglyceride; Glucose for HDL; And androstenedione for the LDL/HDL ratio. It is concluded that altered blood lipid profiles in women with hirsutism and"or hyperandrogenism may be the result of obesity, testosterone or androstenedione blood levels

Resource scarcity in palladium membrane applications for carbon capture in integrated gasification combined cycle units

Recently, many reviews on pre-combustion CO2 capture (CCS) in an IGCC plant have been focused on the techno-economic performance of palladium-based membrane reactor modules downstream of conventional steam reforming or shift reactors. Although the determination and minimisation of the amount of palladium necessary for a specific power production capacity has been the target of many research studies, surprisingly little attention has been paid in the open literature to the availability of this metal in the large quantities required for large scale applications. To fill this gap, the scope of this work was to compare the amount of palladium needed for pre-combustion CCS with Pd-membranes and the available production capacity of palladium. Two specific techno-economic studies with a different net IGCC power output were selected from the literature. In each case, the amount of palladium that is necessary for the plant to be in operation was compared with the world supply and demand for palladium. The results show that even for a power plant of "only" 1 GWe net electricity production utilizing membranes with the best reported performance, a relatively large (~0.7%) amount of palladium is required compared to the total world supply. Considering the total worldwide electricity production from fossil fuels (14,455 TWh in 2010) a tremendous increase in the world supply of Palladium would be required to redirect from the traditional IGCC power plants without CO2 capture units to the new membrane technology. We conclude that large scale pre-combustion capture of CO2 using palladium membranes seems to be unfeasible and research on Pd-based membrane reactors should focus on small(er) scale applications

THE EFFECT OF SUPPLEMENTARY CALCIUM ON SERUM LIPIDS, LIPOPROTEINS AND APOLIPOPROTEINS IN HEALTHY ADULT WOMEN AGED 18-30 YEARS

Introduction: Several authors have noted that oral calcium treatment was associated with a change in serum Lipids and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. In present sutdy, we determined the effect of supplementary caicium on serum total cholesterol. TG, HOLe, LDLc, LDLcl HDLe, Apo AI, Apo B and Apo All Apo B profile in young healthy adult women.
 Methods: 53 volunteers were divided into two groups randomly, the treatment group received 1000 mg/day calcium (four doses of 625 mgs calcium carbonate) for one complete menstrual period and the control group received placebo (dextrose). Total cholesterol, TG and HDLc was determined enzymatically, Apo AI and Apo B was determined immunoturbidimetrically.
 Results: There were no correlation between any of the studied variables and calcium intake from food, calcium supplement did not change correlation coefficient of LDLc with HDLc and Apo AI with Apo B. Compared to placebo, calcium carbonate decreased serum Apo B concentration (13.7 mg/dl , p < 0.01) and incrdased Apo All Apo B (0.32 unit, P < 0.05) and TG (15.75 mg/dl, p <0.05) but the changes in other variables were not significant.
 Conclusion: These results suggest that calcium supplement increase serum TG and ApoAll Apo B but decrease Apo B. It seems that calcium supplementation may be useful for people who receive less calcium than recommended dietary allowance

Micro-structured membrane reactors for water gas shift reaction

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