Post-Meal Glucose Peaks at Home Associate with Carotid Intima-Media Thickness in Type 2 Diabetes

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PERFORMANCE COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT THERMAL FLUIDS IN CONCENTRATING SOLAR PLANTS

Concentrating Solar Plants (CSP) represent a feasible alternative to fossil fuel driven power plants. Anyway, technical and economic issues severely prevent their large diffusion over the world. In this paper, a numerical investigation is accomplished to predict the performance of a CSP without thermal storage (TES). A stationary, 1-D model of heat transfer fluid (HTF) is presented, taking into account the heat losses occurring along the Heat Collector Element (HCE). A Southern Italy location is considered for the solar plant simulation, and two HTF thermal oils, Therminol VP1 and Therminol 62, are compared in terms of thermal power delivered to the power plant block. HTF temperature distribution and velocity profile along the solar plant are obtained to evaluate the performance of a coupled Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) plant, simulated using the DWSIM programme, emphasizing the differences when using three different types of working fluids, i.e. wet, dry and isentropic

Long Non-coding RNAs as Important Biomarkers in Laryngeal Cancer and Other Head and Neck Tumours

Head and neck carcinoma (HNC) is a heterogeneous disease encompassing a variety of tumors according to the origin. Laryngeal cancer (LC) represents one of the most frequent tumors in the head and neck region. Despite clinical studies and advance in treatment, satisfactory curative strategy has not yet been reached. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the identification of specific molecular signatures that better predict the clinical outcomes and markers that serve as suitable therapeutic targets. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) are reported as important regulators of gene expression and represent an innovative pharmacological application as molecular biomarkers in cancer. The purpose of this review is to discuss the most relevant epigenetic and histological prognostic biomarkers in HNC, with particular focus on LC. We summarize the emerging roles of long non-coding RNAs in HNC and LC development and their possible use in early diagnosis

Post-meal glucose peaks at home associate with carotid intima-media thickness in type 2 diabetes

Context: Two-hour postprandial hyperglycemia is related to chronic complications of diabetes and is currently used in the international guidelines to drive the therapy. Objective: Our objective was to assess the size and timing of post-meal glucose peaks in the everyday life of type 2 diabetic patients and the relationship with carotid atherosclerosis. Design, Setting, and Patients: This was an observational study performed in 644 outpatients with type 2 diabetes attending diabetes clinics located in the area of the Campania County, South Italy, who provided complete home blood glucose profiles and centralized carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) assessment. The study was conducted from 2001-2005. Main Outcome Measures: Incremental glucose peak (IGP) was the maximal incremental increase in blood glucose obtained at any point after the meal. CIMT was assessed by carotid sonography. Results: The level of glycosylated hemoglobin and CIMT progressively increased across quintiles of IGP (P for trend = 0.01 for both). In univariate analysis, all examined glycemic parameters were significantly correlated with CIMT. IGP (r = 0.40; P = 0.006) showed the strongest correlation with CIMT, which remained significant in multiple linear regression analysis (R-2 = 0.26; P = 0.01). IGP was associated with a significant increase of CIMT in tertiles of glycosylated hemoglobin. IGP occurred within 1 h from the start of the meal in 95% of the entire diabetic population. Conclusion: IGPs are frequent in the everyday life of patients with type 2 diabetes, occur for most (95%) within 1 h after meal, timing of IGPs is not influenced by treatment (diet or drugs), and IGPs correlate with CIMT