!Background: The prevalence and socioeconomic burden of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and associated co-morbidities are rising worldwide. Aims: This guideline provides evidence-based recommendations for preventing T2DM. Methods: A European multidisciplinary consortium systematically reviewed the evidence on the effectiveness of screening and interventions for T2DM prevention using SIGN criteria. Results: Obesity and sedentary lifestyle are the main modifiable risk factors. Age and ethnicity are non-modifiable risk factors. Case-finding should follow a step-wise procedure using risk questionnaires and oral glucose tolerance testing. Persons with impaired glucose tolerance and/or fasting glucose are at high-risk and should be prioritized for intensive intervention. Interventions supporting lifestyle changes delay the onset of T2DM in high-risk adults (numberneeded-to-treat: 6.4 over 1.8-4.6 years). These should be supported by inter-sectoral strategies that create health promoting environments. Sustained body weight reduction by ≥ 5% lowers risk. Currently metformin, acarbose and orlistat can be considered as second-line prevention options. The population approach should use organized measures to raise awareness and change lifestyle with specific approaches for adolescents, minorities and disadvantaged people. Interventions promoting lifestyle changes are more effective if they target both diet and physical activity, mobilize social support, involve the planned use of established behaviour change techniques, and provide frequent contacts. Cost-effectiveness analysis should take a societal perspective. Conclusions: Prevention using lifestyle modifications in highrisk individuals is cost-effective and should be embedded in evaluated models of care. Effective prevention plans are predicated upon sustained government initiatives comprising advocacy, community support, fiscal and legislative changes, private sector engagement and continuous media communication.

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a b s t r a c tAn alternative expedite experimental set-up is proposed to evaluate the thermal insulation performance of corn cob particleboards. Testing in situ thermal insulation performance under real thermal and hygrometric conditions, using more realistic sample dimensions, testing simultaneously several samples and monitoring continuously for several days the thermal behavior of a product are some advantages of this proposed technique. Therefore, it has shown to be accurate and versatile. Through this experimental methodology, a parametric thermal insulation study of the corn cob particleboard in which the impact of its thickness on its thermal insulation performance was also possible to perform.

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This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues.Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. a b s t r a c tA lightweight concrete using granulated corn cob (without corn) as an aggregate is proposed in this research work. Taking into account that corn cob, after extracting the corn, is generally considered an agricultural waste, an interesting economic and sustainable benefit may result by using it as a building material. Therefore, it can be an alternative sustainable lightweight aggregate solution in comparison to the most currently applied ones such as expanded clay, particles of cork, particles of expanded polystyrene (EPS), among others. The density, the compressive strength and the thermal insulation properties of a corn cob concrete were experimentally quantified. An expanded clay concrete was also studied as reference. The main results obtained are presented and discussed showing that the proposed corn cob concrete may have the adequate material properties required for a lightweight concrete for non-structural application purposes.

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