The role of metformin response in lipid metabolism in patients with recent-onset type 2 diabetes: HbA1c level as a criterion for designating patients as responders or nonresponders to metformin

Background: In this study, we investigated whether response to metformin, the most frequently drug for diabetes treatment, influences the therapeutic effects of antilipidemic medication in newly diagnosed patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: A total of 150 patients with T2DM were classified into two groups following 3 months of metformin therapy (1000mg twice daily): responders (patients showing >1% reduction in HbA1c from baseline) and nonresponders (patients showing <1% reduction in HbA1c from baseline). The patients received atorvastatin 20 mg, gemfibrozil 300 mg, or atorvastatin 20 mg and gemfibrozil 300 mg daily. Principal Findings: HbA1c and fasting glucose levels were significantly different between baseline and 3 months among responders receiving atorvastatin; however, these differences were not statistically significant in nonresponders. Atherogenic ratios of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C/HDL-C; p = 0.002), total cholesterol to HDL-C (TC/HDL-C; p<0.001) and AIP (the atherogenic index of plasma; p = 0.004) decreased significantly in responders receiving atorvastatin than in nonresponders. Moreover, responders receiving atorvastatin showed a significant increase in HDL-C levels but nonresponders receiving atorvastatin did not (p = 0.007). The multivariate model identified a significant association between metformin response (as the independent variable) and TG, TC, HDL-C and LDL-C (dependent variables; Wilk's λ = 0.927, p = 0.036). Conclusions: Metformin response affects therapeutic outcomes of atorvastatin on atherogenic lipid markers in patients newly diagnosed with T2DM. Metformin has a greater impact on BMI in responders of metformin compared to nonresponders. Adoption of better therapeutic strategies for reducing atherogenic lipid markers may be necessary for metformin nonresponders. © 2016 Kashi et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Optimizing the single screw extruder die head to produce organic-based fertilizer pellet

Abstract: Pellet production is an effective method for efficient use; reduce transportation costs and improvement of economic efficiency for organic wastes such as vermicompost and municipal solid waste compost. Physical and rheological properties of the material are essential for the design of pellet machine accessories. In this study the rheological parameters of yield stress (σ0), shear stress (τ0) and velocity factors (α and β) were determined by using a capillary rheometer. The number of holes of single screw extruder die was also determined according to achieved results. The experiments on the materials at 45% moisture content resulted the values, σ0 = 0.09 MPa, τ0 = 0.009 MPa, α = 3.1 MPa sm-1and β = 0.11 MPa sm-1for paste compost and σ0= 0.506 MPa, τ0 = 0.02498 MPa, α = 0.0357 MPa sm-1and β = 0.00145 MPa sm-1for vermicompost. The best results were achieved for single screw extruder with 10 holes for paste compost and with 7 holes for vermicompost. Keywords: rheology, capillary rheometer, compost, vermicompost, pellet, extruder, biomass

The Rapid and Sensitive Quantitative Determination of Galactose by Combined Enzymatic and Colorimetric Method: Application in Neonatal Screening

The quantitative measurement of galactose in blood is essential for the early diagnosis, treatment, and dietary monitoring of galactosemia patients. In this communication, we aimed to develop a rapid, sensitive, and cost-effective combined method for galactose determination in dry blood spots. This procedure was based on the combination of enzymatic reactions of galactose dehydrogenase (GalDH), dihydrolipoyl dehydrogenase (DLD), and alkaline phosphates with a colorimetric system. The incubation time and the concentration of enzymes used in new method were also optimized. The analytical performance was studied by the precision, recovery, linearity, and sensitivity parameters. Statistical analysis was applied to method comparison experiment. The regression equation and correlation coefficient (R2) were Y = 0.0085x + 0.032 and R2 = 0.998, respectively. This assay exhibited a recovery in the range of 91.7–114.3 % and had the limit detection of 0.5 mg/dl for galactose. The between-run coefficient of variation (CV) was between 2.6 and 11.1 . The within-run CV was between 4.9 and 9.2 . Our results indicated that the new and reference methods were in agreement because no significant biases exist between them. Briefly, a quick and reliable combined enzymatic and colorimetric assay was presented for application in newborn mass screening and monitoring of galactosemia patients. © 2016 Springer Science+Business Media New Yor

Effect of moisture content and particle size on energy consumption for dairy cattle manure pellets

Physical and mechanical properties of pellets are needed to make pellet form in storage of raw materials and energy consumption.  Dairy cattle manure, sieved by a two-level size of 30 and 50, were used to make pellets by a hydraulic press with mold diameter of 6 mm, in five moisture levels of 15%, 17.5%, 20%, 22.5% and 25% and two pressure levels of 100 and 150 MPa.  The results of the tests were analyzed using Excel and MATLAB softwares.  Results showed that the compression energy as well as friction energy of size 30 increased with the increasing moisture content from 15% to 20%, and decreased with the increasing moisture content from 20% to 25%, and both are under pressure levels of 100 and 150 MPa.  The compression energy and friction energy of the size 50 decreased with the increasing moisture content for both pressure levels of 100 and 150 MPa.  The energy consumption of compression was found to be greater at the pressure of 150 MPa than that of 100 MPa.  The greater amount of energy consumption was used for compression.  The maximum amount of friction energy was 16.7%, while the minimum was 11.23% for both pressure levels of 100 and 150 MPa. Keywords: energy consumption, compression energy, dairy cattle manure, friction energy, pellet, pressure  

Biomass estimation of seaweeds in the intertidal waters of the Oman Sea along the coasts of Sistan-o-Baluchistan Province

Sampling and determination of seaweed biomass was carried out in the Oman Sea coasts along the intertidal waters of Sistan & Baluchistan province stretching 300Km from Guater area to Jood from October 2001 to September 2002. The regions covered included Guater, Passabandar, Beris, Kachoo, Ramin, Chabahar, Pozm, Gurdim, Tang, and Jood as sampling stations from east to west. The intertidal zone was determined by measuring and recording of geographical positions by GPS. Fifteen transects were aligned randomly each month with equal distance to the coast. All sampling attempts were made by applying quadrats 50*50cm in dimension. The samples were transferred to the lab and the weight of each species was measured after being cleaned, and identified. The biomass of each species per unit area and in the total area was obtained after determining the average weight of species. During the research, 69 species were collected, of which, 16 species were green algae, 18 species were brown algae and 35 species were red algae. There were some important families including green algae (Ulvaceae and Caulerpaceae), brown algae (Sargassaceae and Dictyotaceae) and red algae (Gracilariaceae, Gelidiaceae and Hypneaceae). Wet biomass of seaweeds in the total area of Sistan & Baluchestan coasts was 10286340.3 kg of which 2645192.1kg (25.7%) were green algae, 2955963.9kg (28.7%) were brown algae and 4685184.2 kg (45.5%) were red algae. The estimated monthly average was 264522.3, 295327.9 and 467089.7Kg for green, brown and red algae respectively. The maximum biomass was 15.4kg/m ^(2) seen in Chabahar and the minimum biomass was 4.9kg/m ^(2) obtained in Pozm

Livestock manure management and pelleting

Densification of livestock manure, such as pelleting, can increase bulk density, improve storability, reduce transportation costs, and make these materials easier to handle using existing handling and storage equipment for grains. &nbsp;Determination of physical and rheological properties of composted manure is necessary to obtain the parameters related to designing and constructing a suitable pelleting machine for producing compost pellets. &nbsp;The objectives of this research were to study the physical properties, friction characteristics, and shearing behavior of composted cattle manure. &nbsp;The following properties, particle size distribution, bulk density, angle of repose, friction coefficient and shear strength were investigated, and the effects of moisture content (20%, 30%, 40%, 50% and 60%) and particle size (0.3, 0.6, 1.18 and 2 mm) on&nbsp; these properties were studied. &nbsp;The results show that the moisture content and particle size are critical parameters to design pelleting machine. It was found that the effects of moisture content and particle size on all measured parameters were significant.&nbsp;Keywords: livestock manure, densification, pelleting, physical properties, moisture content, particle size&nbsp;&nbsp

Design, construction and evaluation of shear vane device for biomass yield stress determination

Abstarct Agglomerate followed by pelleting is one of the efficient methods to decrease transport costs and increase economic efficiency of biomass material. Understanding the rheological properties of biomass is necessary for pelleting process optimization as well as the design of devices with enough energy and pressure to determine the effect of different variables on the density and durability of pellets. The rheological properties of extruded material is depended to properties and moisture content of the raw material, used for extrusion. Therefore, in this study a shear vane was developed to determine the rheological properties of biomass materials. The output rotation of the electromotor was measured by a rotary encoder and the forces to the vane blades, inserted by the material, were measured by a bending loadcell. The experiments were done at moisture content levels of 35, 40 and 45%, and rotational speed of the shear vane container at three levels of 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 rpm. The results showed that the higher maximum torque was achieved at 35% moisture content and rotational speed of 0.1 rpm. The lowest maximum torque was found at 35% moisture content and rotational speed of 0.2 rpm. The maximum shear stress and yield stress were obtained at 35% moisture content and rotational speed of 0.1 rpm while the minimum shear stress and yield stress were found at 35% moisture content and rotational speed of 0.2 rpm

Effective moisture diffusivity and mathematical modeling of drying compost pellet

Compost compression processes, such as pelleting, increase bulk density, improve storability, reduce transportation costs and make easier materials handling using existing equipment for handling and storage of grains. It is important to prevent quality deterioration of pellets in long time storage. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the moisture content of the pellets to less than  or less. In this research the drying kinetics of compost pellets were studied at air temperatures of 50, 60 and 70 , air velocities of 0.5, 1 and 1.5 , particle sizes of 1.18 and 2 mm and pellet diameters of 6 and 8 mm. The maximum effective moisture diffusivity (1.78× ) was obtained at air velocity of , air temperature of 70 , particle size of 1.18 mm and pellet diameter of 8 mm. The activation energy of compost pellets varied from to  under different conditions. The Page model was selected as the most suitable model, based on the statistical analysis

Optimization compressive strength biomass pellet from compost using Taguchi method

Compression is important to prevent a deterioration in quality pellets for long term storage and the moisture content of the pellets must be reduced to or less. In this research the quality of pellet of compost was studied at air temperatures of 50, 60 and 70, air velocities of 0.5, 1, and 1.5 m/s, particle sizes of 16(1.18mm) and 10(2mm) and pellet diameters of 6 and 8 mm. The Taguchi quality engineering method was used to investigate the effects of parameters on compressive strength of pellet. An orthogonal array, signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio analysis of variance (ANOVA) were employed to analyze the effect of these compressive strength parameters. Thus, the optimal performance for the compressive strength of pellet was obtained at first level of factor A, i.e. the particle size (16 (1.18 mm)), third level of air temperature (70 ).and second level of air velocity (1 m/s). Finalliy, confirmation tests verified that the Taguchi method was successful in compressive strength of pellet

Silent osteonecrosis of the femoral head following high-dose corticosteroids in patients with systemic rheumatic diseases

Background: Osteonecrosis (ON) is known to be one of the most disabling complications following corticosteroid (CS) medications. However, evidence regarding risk of asymptomatic prevalence of ON among different diseases and the impact of variable steroid regimens are conflicting. We aimed to determine the prevalence of ON of femoral head in asymptomatic patients with systemic rheumatic diseases who received high-dose CS and also clarify its relationship with different dosages and regimens. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 50 consecutive patients receiving high-dose CS for rheumatic diseases who have no pelvic pain were recruited. MRI of both hips was performed on all patients using a 1.5 Tesla to diagnose ON. Results: Of 50 subjects, 18 (36) developed ON of the femoral head. Groups with and without ON were comparable in terms of sex, age and mean starting CS dose. There was no statistical difference in the type of CS regimen including daily dose, peak dose and cumulative dose between the two groups. However, silent ON was associated with both the cumulative CS dose and the duration of CS therapy. Conclusion: According to high prevalence of ON in our selected patients with no other identifiable risk factor for ON, monitoring of high risk patients with periodic hip MRI would help diagnose necrosis in early stage