Continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion therapy is associated with reduced retinopathy progression compared with multiple daily injections of insulin

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: We aimed to compare diabetic retinopathy outcomes in people with type 1 diabetes following introduction of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) therapy with outcomes in people receiving continuing therapy with multiple daily insulin injections (MDI). METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study using the Scottish Care Information – Diabetes database for retinal screening outcomes and HbA(1c) changes in 204 adults commenced on CSII therapy between 2013 and 2016, and 211 adults eligible for CSII during the same period but who continued on MDI therapy. Diabetic retinopathy progression (time to minimum one-grade worsening in diabetic retinopathy from baseline grading) was plotted for CSII and MDI cohorts using Kaplan–Meier curves, and outcomes were compared using multivariate Cox regression analysis adjusting for age, sex, baseline HbA(1c), blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking status and socioeconomic quintile. Impact of baseline HbA(1c) and change in HbA(1c) on diabetic retinopathy progression was assessed within CSII and MDI cohorts. RESULTS: CSII participants were significantly younger, were from less socially deprived areas, and had lower HbA(1c) and higher diastolic BP at baseline. There was a larger reduction in HbA(1c) at 1 year in those on CSII vs MDI (−6 mmol/mol [−0.6%] vs −2 mmol/mol [−0.2%], p < 0.01). Diabetic retinopathy progression occurred in a smaller proportion of adults following commencement of CSII vs continued MDI therapy over mean 2.3 year follow-up (26.5% vs 18.6%, p = 0.0097). High baseline HbA(1c) (75 mmol/mol [9%]) was associated with diabetic retinopathy progression in the MDI group (p = 0.0049) but not the CSII group (p = 0.93). Change in HbA(1c) at follow-up, irrespective of baseline glycaemic status, did not significantly affect diabetic retinopathy progression in either group. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: CSII was associated with reduced diabetic retinopathy progression compared with continued MDI therapy, and may be protective against diabetic retinopathy progression for those with high baseline HbA(1c). Progression of diabetic retinopathy over 3 years was not associated with a change in HbA(1c). GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text] SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains peer-reviewed but unedited supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00125-021-05456-w

Many faces of low mass neutralino dark matter in the unconstrained MSSM, LHC data and new signals

If all strongly interacting sparticles (the squarks and the gluinos) in an unconstrained minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) are heavier than the corresponding mass lower limits in the minimal supergravity (mSUGRA) model, obtained by the current LHC experiments, then the existing data allow a variety of electroweak (EW) sectors with light sparticles yielding dark matter (DM) relic density allowed by the WMAP data. Some of the sparticles may lie just above the existing lower bounds from LEP and lead to many novel DM producing mechanisms not common in mSUGRA. This is illustrated by revisiting the above squark-gluino mass limits obtained by the ATLAS Collaboration, with an unconstrained EW sector with masses not correlated with the strong sector. Using their selection criteria and the corresponding cross section limits, we find at the generator level using Pythia, that the changes in the mass limits, if any, are by at most 10-12% in most scenarios. In some cases, however, the relaxation of the gluino mass limits are larger ($\approx 20$). If a subset of the strongly interacting sparticles in an unconstrained MSSM are within the reach of the LHC, then signals sensitive to the EW sector may be obtained. This is illustrated by simulating the $blj$\etslash, $l= e and \mu$, and $b\tau j$\etslash signals in i) the light stop scenario and ii) the light stop-gluino scenario with various light EW sectors allowed by the WMAP data. Some of the more general models may be realized with non-universal scalar and gaugino masses.Comment: 27 pages, 1 figure, references added, minor changes in text, to appear in JHE

Development of 100^{100}Mo-containing scintillating bolometers for a high-sensitivity neutrinoless double-beta decay search

We report recent achievements in the development of scintillating bolometers to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay of $^{100}$Mo. The presented results have been obtained in the framework of the LUMINEU, LUCIFER and EDELWEISS collaborations, and are now part of the R\&D activities towards CUPID (CUORE Update with Particle IDentification), a proposed next-generation double-beta decay experiment based on the CUORE experience. We have developed a technology for the production of large mass ($\sim$1 kg), high optical quality, radiopure zinc and lithium molybdate crystal scintillators (ZnMoO$_4$ and Li$_2$MoO$_4$, respectively) from deeply purified natural and $^{100}$Mo-enriched molybdenum. The procedure is applied for a routine production of enriched crystals. Furthermore, the technology of a single detector module consisting of a large-volume ($\sim 100$~cm$^3$) Zn$^{100}$MoO$_4$ and Li$_2$$^{100}$MoO$_4$ scintillating bolometer has been established, demonstrating performance and radiopurity that are close to satisfy the demands of CUPID. In particular, the FWHM energy resolution of the detectors at 2615 keV --- near the $Q$-value of the double-beta transition of $^{100}$Mo (3034~keV) --- is $\approx$ 4--10~keV. The achieved rejection of $\alpha$-induced dominant background above 2.6~MeV is at the level of more than 99.9\%. The bulk activity of $^{232}$Th ($^{228}$Th) and $^{226}$Ra in the crystals is below 10 $\mu$Bq/kg. Both crystallization and detector technologies favor Li$_2$MoO$_4$, which was selected as a main element for the realization of a CUPID demonstrator (CUPID-0/Mo) with $\sim$7 kg of $^{100}$Mo

A stochastic model for predator-prey systems: basic properties, stability and computer simulation.

A simple stochastic description of a model of a predator-prey system is given. The evolution of the system is described by means of Ito's stochastic differential equations (SDEs), which are the natural stochastic generalization of the Lotka-Volterra deterministic differential equations. Since these SDEs do not satisfy the usual conditions for the existence and uniqueness of the solution, we state a theorem of existence; moreover we study the stability of the equilibrium point and perform a computer simulation to study the behaviour of the trajectories of solutions with given initial data and to estimate first and second moments