OBJECTIVE The aim was to study the association of the use of an oral antihyperglycemic agent metformin with the presence of ocular complications in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). METHODS Medical records were reviewed for 234 patients with diagnosed T2D. 81.2% (n=190) patients were using metformin and 18.8% (n=44) using other oral antihyperglycemic agents. Plasma glucose concentration, glycated haemoglobin, and the presence of ocular complications in patients treated with metformin were compared to those in patients treated with other oral antihyperglycemic agents. RESULTS Ocular complications occurred in 65 patients (27.8%). Patients treated with metformin had fewer ocular complications compared to patients treated with other oral antihyperglycemic agents (χ2=19.985; p<0.0001). After adjustment for gender, age, duration of T2D, serum concentration of cholesterol, smoking, body mass index and presence of other diseases, treatment with metformin decreased the odds of both glaucoma (OR=0.14, 95% CI: 0.03-0.57, p=0.006) and diabetic retinopathy (OR=0.33, 95% CI: 0.14-0.82, p=0.017) compared with other oral antihyperglycemic agents. CONCLUSION Our results suggest that metformin may have a protective effect on ocular complications, especially glaucoma, in patients with T2D. The effects of metformin either regarding prevention of ocular complications or ocular complications already developed in patients with T2D, should be further investigated.

The water supply system is a set of facilities related to a functional unit with the primary aim of ensuring sufficient quantities of quality water by the most economical way. Design and implementation of such systems requires extensive previous research and analysis aimed at finding the optimal solution of water supply system. This paper presents an analysis of the pressure pipeline of the water supply system in which discussed several alternatives with different input parameters. It is shown the influence of the position and the number of tanks in the system on the basic parameters such as a pressure in the pipeline, power of pump units and so on. It's analyzed the impact of changes in diameter of the pipe to the hydraulic parameters, and also to the initial and operating costs of the system. The main aim of the complete analysis is to establish a uniform depending of the analyzed elements in the system and finding the optimal parameters and their relationship that provide the most appropriate solution from the technical and economic aspects.

We propose a new paradigm for telecommunications, and develop a framework drawing on concepts from information (i.e., different metrics of complexity) and computational (i.e., agent based modeling) theory, adapted from complex system science. We proceed in a systematic fashion by dividing network complexity understanding and analysis into different layers. Modelling layer forms the foundation of the proposed framework, supporting analysis and tuning layers. The modelling layer aims at capturing the significant attributes of networks and the interactions that shape them, through the application of tools such as agent-based modelling and graph theoretical abstractions, to derive new metrics that holistically describe a network. The analysis phase completes the core functionality of the framework by linking our new metrics to the overall network performance. The tuning layer augments this core with algorithms that aim at automatically guiding networks toward desired conditions. In order to maximize the impact of our ideas, the proposed approach is rooted in relevant, near-future architectures and use cases in 5G networks, i.e., Internet of Things (IoT) and self-organizing cellular networks.