Introduction: Studies on the durability of an intensive, structured education protocol on best insulin injection practice are missing for people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The aim of this study was to assess the durability of an intensive, structured education-based rehabilitation protocol on best insulin injection practice in well-trained subjects from our previous intensive, multimedia intervention study registered as the ISTERP-1 study. A total of 158 subjects with T2DM from the well-trained group of the 6-month-long ISTERP-1 study, all of whom had successfully attained lower glucose levels compared to baseline levels with lower daily insulin doses and with less frequent and severe hypoglycemic episodes, participated in the present investigation involving an additional 6-month follow-up period, called the ISTERP-2 study. Methods: Participants were randomized into an intervention group and a control group, depending on whether they were provided or not provided with further education refresher courses for 6 months. At the end of the 6 months, the two groups were compared in terms of injection habits, daily insulin dose requirement, number of severe or symptomatic hypoglycemic events, and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels.

Abstract-In this paper, the feasibility of Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) couplers, fabricated using single-layer TACONIC RF-35 dielectric substrate is investigated. The couplers have been produced employing a standard PCB process. The choice of the TACONIC RF-35 substrate as alternative to other conventional materials is motivated by its lower cost and high dielectric constant, allowing the reduction of the device size. The coupler requirements are 90-degree phase shift between the output and the coupled ports and frequency bandwidth from about 10.5 GHz to 12.5 GHz. The design and optimization of the couplers have been performed by using the software CST Microwave Studio c . Eight different coupler configurations have been designed and compared. The better three couplers have been fabricated and characterized. The proposed SIW directional couplers could be integrated within more complex planar circuits or utilized as stand-alone devices, because of their compact size. They exhibit good performance and could be employed in communication applications as broadcast signal distribution and as key elements for the construction of other microwave devices and systems.

Abstract-In this paper, a dual-band Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) resonator with Sierpinski fractal geometry is proposed. The space-filling property of the employed fractal shape allows to reduce the resonator size. The bandwidth, the minimum insertion loss, the maximum return loss and the stop band rejection are considered for evaluating the effect of the fractal geometry on the resonator characteristics. An accurate electromagnetic investigation is made using a full wave finite element method solver (Ansoft HFSS). Simulated and measured results are in good agreement. The second iteration fractal resonator exhibits two simulated bands centered at the frequencies f 1 = 11.57 GHz and f 2 = 25.7 GHz, while the measured frequencies are f 1 = 11.33 GHz, f 2 = 23.67 GHz. The measured bandwidths are BW = 1.15 GHz and BW = 2 GHz and the minimum insertion losses are close to −1.36 dB and −1.97 dB, respectively. The prototypes of the square resonator without, with first and with second iteration fractal geometry are fabricated via standard printed circuit board process (PCB). A Rogers Duroid 5880 substrate with thickness t = 0.381 mm is employed.

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