Smart Buildings and Smart Grids (Dagstuhl Seminar 15091)

This report provides an overview of the program, discussions, and outcomes of Dagstuhl Seminar 15091 "Smart Buildings and Smart Grids", which took place from 22-27 February 2015 at Schloss Dagstuhl - Leibniz Center for Informatics. The main goal of the seminar was to provide a forum for leading Energy Informatics (EI) researchers to discuss their recent research on Smart Buildings and Smart Grids, to further elaborate EI research agenda and methods, and to kick-start new research projects with industry. The report contains abstracts of talks that were held by the participants and the outcomes of several discussion sessions on the focal topics of the seminar (e.g., information technology driven developments in building and power system management, as well as cross-cutting topics, such as computer networks, data management, and system design

Reduced decline of lung diffusing capacity in COPD patients with diabetes and metformin treatment

We studied whether in patients with COPD the use of metformin for diabetes treatment was linked to a pattern of lung function decline consistent with the hypothesis of anti-aging effects of metformin. Patients of GOLD grades 1-4 of the COSYCONET cohort with follow-up data of up to 4.5 y were included. The annual decline in lung function (FEV1, FVC) and CO diffusing capacity (KCO, TLCO) in %predicted at baseline was evaluated for associations with age, sex, BMI, pack-years, smoking status, baseline lung function, exacerbation risk, respiratory symptoms, cardiac disease, as well as metformin-containing therapy compared to patients without diabetes and metformin. Among 2741 patients, 1541 (mean age 64.4 y, 601 female) fulfilled the inclusion criteria. In the group with metformin treatment vs. non-diabetes the mean annual decline in KCO and TLCO was significantly lower (0.2 vs 2.3, 0.8 vs. 2.8%predicted, respectively;p < 0.05 each), but not the decline of FEV1 and FVC. These results were confirmed using multiple regression and propensity score analyses. Our findings demonstrate an association between the annual decline of lung diffusing capacity and the intake of metformin in patients with COPD consistent with the hypothesis of anti-aging effects of metformin as reflected in a surrogate marker of emphysema