Polyphenol-rich diets improve glucose metabolism in people at high cardiometabolic risk: a controlled randomised intervention trial

Dietary polyphenols and long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCn3) are associated with lower cardiovascular risk. This may relate to their influence on glucose metabolism and diabetes risk. We evaluated the effects of diets naturally rich in polyphenols and/or LCn3 of marine origin on glucose metabolism in people at high cardiometabolic risk

Le vie del dialogo nell’Islam

Islam e dialogo tra le religioni; libertà di religione e di coscienza da una prospettiva musulmana riformatrice e nei suoi rapporti con l’Occidente- Indice #4- Introduzione, Andrea Pacini #8- I. Islam e dialogo. Riflessioni su un tema d’attualità #12- II. Religioni del mondo: dialogo o conflitto. Alla ricerca di un dialogo di testimonianza, di emulazione e di convergenza #38- III. La libertà di religione e di coscienza: una prospettiva musulmana riformatrice #62- IV. Libertà religiosa e trasmissione della fede nella modernità #78- V. La libertà di religione e di coscienza: diritto dell’uomo o vocazione dell’uomo? Riflessione sulla libertà di coscienza come elemento costitutivo della natura umana alla luce del Corano #98- VI. Una comunità di comunità. Il diritto alla differenza e le vie dell’armonia. Contributi a una teoria del pluralismo #110- VII. Islam e Occidente. Al di là dei confronti polemici, delle ambiguità e dei complessi #128- VIII. L’identità culturale vista nell’ambito di una cultura mondiale in via di formazione #148- Riferimenti bibliografici #16

Integrated tools for quality promotion and project control

Public administrations, called upon to integrate the principles and criteria of Do No Significant Harm (DNSH) and Environmental Social, Governance (ESG) in the planning, design and production of their investments, now find themselves operating within new decision-making scenerios and models, in the very broad framework of standards, including specialised ones, certification protocols and framework levels for sustainability assessment and reporting. This paper reports on a research experience aimed at defining tools and guidelines to incentivise and assess the environmental and social quality of projects and works (a collaboration between Agenzia del Demanio and Politecnico di Milano). It documents the challenges, limits and opportunities arising from overlapping compulsory regulations, standards and voluntary certification protocols for the qualification of public works

Mathematical Model of Glucagon Kinetics for the Assessment of Insulin-Mediated Glucagon Inhibition During an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test

none6siGlucagon is secreted from the pancreatic alpha cells and plays an important role in the maintenance of glucose homeostasis, by interacting with insulin. The plasma glucose levels determine whether glucagon secretion or insulin secretion is activated or inhibited. Despite its relevance, some aspects of glucagon secretion and kinetics remain unclear. To gain insight into this, we aimed to develop a mathematical model of the glucagon kinetics during an oral glucose tolerance test, which is sufficiently simple to be used in the clinical practice. The proposed model included two first-order differential equations -one describing glucagon and the other describing C-peptide in a compartment remote from plasma - and yielded a parameter of possible clinical relevance (i.e., SGLUCA(t), glucagon-inhibition sensitivity to glucose-induced insulin secretion). Model was validated on mean glucagon data derived from the scientific literature, yielding values for SGLUCA(t) ranging from -15.03 to 2.75 (ng of glucagon·nmol of C-peptide-1). A further validation on a total of 100 virtual subjects provided reliable results (mean residuals between -1.5 and 1.5 ng·L-1) and a negative significant linear correlation (r = -0.74, p < 0.0001, 95% CI: -0.82 - -0.64) between SGLUCA(t) and the ratio between the areas under the curve of suprabasal remote C-peptide and glucagon. Model reliability was also proven by the ability to capture different patterns in glucagon kinetics. In conclusion, the proposed model reliably reproduces glucagon kinetics and is characterized by sufficient simplicity to be possibly used in the clinical practice, for the estimation in the single individual of some glucagon-related parameters.openMorettini, Micaela; Burattini, Laura; Göbl, Christian; Pacini, Giovanni; Ahrén, Bo; Tura, AndreaMorettini, Micaela; Burattini, Laura; Göbl, Christian; Pacini, Giovanni; Ahrén, Bo; Tura, Andre

A nonlinear complementary filter for underwater navigation using inertial measurements

This paper describes a nonlinear complementary filter capable of estimating the course motion variables namely the position, velocity, heading and accelerometers bias of an agile, over-actuated AUV during underwater operations, using the inertial sensors (IMU), the DVL, the depth sensor and the compass. The proposed work is within the framework of the V-Fides project, co-funded by Tuscany Region (Italy) and developed by a team lead by WASS S.p.A. (Whitehead Sistemi Subacquei, Livorno). The aim of the project was to develop and evaluate an high-depth, over-actuated, long endurance Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). The paper proposes the mathematical development of the observer, together with some experimental results, able to demonstrate the capabilities of the estimation scheme, compared with the estimations obtained via a standard Kalman Filter

Mathematical model of insulin kinetics accounting for the amino acids effect during a mixed meal tolerance test

Amino acids (AAs) are well known to be involved in the regulation of glucose metabolism and, in particular, of insulin secretion. However, the effects of different AAs on insulin release and kinetics have not been completely elucidated. The aim of this study was to propose a mathematical model that includes the effect of AAs on insulin kinetics during a mixed meal tolerance test. To this aim, five different models were proposed and compared. Validation was performed using average data, derived from the scientific literature, regarding subjects with normal glucose tolerance (CNT) and with type 2 diabetes (T2D). From the average data of the CNT and T2D people, data for two virtual populations (100 for each group) were generated for further model validation. Among the five proposed models, a simple model including one first-order differential equation showed the best results in terms of model performance (best compromise between model structure parsimony, estimated parameters plausibility, and data fit accuracy). With regard to the contribution of AAs to insulin appearance/disappearance (kAA model parameter), model analysis of the average data from the literature yielded 0.0247 (confidence interval, CI: 0.0168 - 0.0325) and -0.0048 (CI: -0.0281 - 0.0185) μU·ml-1/(μmol·l-1·min), for CNT and T2D, respectively. This suggests a positive effect of AAs on insulin secretion in CNT, and negligible effect in T2D. In conclusion, a simple model, including single first-order differential equation, may help to describe the possible AAs effects on insulin kinetics during a physiological metabolic test, and provide parameters that can be assessed in the single individuals