Open Access

Objective: Current studies have indicated that diabetes mellitus (DM) is highly prevalent in patients with cancer, but there is little research on consequences on the well‐being of patients during cancer treatment. This analysis evaluates the relationship between DM and patient‐reported outcomes (PRO) in patients with cancer, using a large and well‐characterized cohort. Methods: This study utilized the Total Cancer Care protocol at the University of Utah Huntsman Cancer Institute. For this analysis, we integrated data from electronic health records, the Huntsman Cancer Registry, and routinely collected PRO questionnaires. We assessed the association between DM in patients with cancer and PRO scores for anxiety, depression, fatigue, pain interference, and physical function using multiple linear regression and t‐tests. Results: The final cohort comprised 3512 patients with cancer, with a mean age of 57.8 years at cancer diagnosis. Of all patients, 49.1% (n = 1724) were female, with 82.0% (n = 2879) patients reporting PROs at least at one time point. Compared with patients who responded, nonresponders were more often female (p = 0.0035), less frequently non‐Hispanic White (p = 0.0058), and had a higher BMI (p = 0.0759). Patients with cancer and diabetes had worse PRO scores for anxiety (p = 0.0003), depression (p < 0.0001), fatigue (p < 0.0001), pain interference (p < 0.0001), and physical function (p < 0.0001) compared to patients with cancer without diabetes. Significant associations between diabetes and PRO scores were observed for anxiety (β ± SE: 1.27 ± 0.48; p = 0.0076), depression (β ± SE: 1.46 ± 0.45; p = 0.0011), fatigue (β ± SE: 2.11 ± 0.52; p < 0.0001), pain interference (β ± SE: 1.42 ± 0.50; p = 0.0046), and physical function (β ± SE: −2.74 ± 0.48; p < 0.0001). Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that patients with cancer and diabetes may be at greater risk for anxiety, depression, fatigue, higher pain interference, and reduced physical function. Strengthening diabetes management is imperative to address the negative impact of diabetes on PROs. In particular, this may be true for patients with skin, breast, prostate, and kidney cancer.

Several studies indicate that epoxy resin exhibits a very wide range of mechanical behavior, in particular its strength, as a function of stress state. Especially when epoxy resin is used as matrix material for fiber reinforced composites (FRC), this becomes relevant due to complex stress conditions in the matrix. However, the knowledge about the behavior of epoxy resin under uni, bi, and triaxial stress conditions is lacking. Therefore, the mechanical properties of a typical epoxy resin for the production of FRC were investigated given such load conditions. The determined strengths were compared with the predictions of the extended paraboloid criterion. Uniaxial tension and compression tests, torsion tests with overlaid tension and compression, and triaxial tension tests were performed. An elastoplastic material model and a nonlocal damage model were formulated to demonstrate the application of the extended paraboloid strength criterion. In particular, large plastic strains under shear stress conditions, as well as a perfectly brittle material behavior with significantly reduced strength under triaxial tension, could be shown.

Tender coconut water is a beverage distinguished from mature coconut water as it's harvested during the early stages of coconut development. It's a well-liked natural drink in tropical regions where coconut trees are abundant. This study aimed to characterize the physicochemical, nutritional and antioxidant properties of different varieties of tender coconut water such as tall, dwarf, intermediate and hybrid varieties with a maturity stage of 5–7 months old. Standard assays assessed nutritional and antioxidant properties. The results of this study showed that the King coconut (Intermediate variety), had significantly higher total protein (0.59 mg BSA/ ml), Total soluble solids (5.0° Brix) and Total sugar content (63.58 mg/ml). The coconut water of Ran thembili (Tall variety) showed significantly higher antiradical activity (DPPH) (82.75 %), total tannin content (22.32 µg TE/ml) and reducing sugar content (43.80 mg/ml). Nawasi (Tall variety) showed significantly higher total flavonoid content (1.23 µg QE/ ml). Total phenolic content and total antioxidant activity were significantly higher for Ran thembili and King coconut. In essence, our findings illuminated the diverse and appealing attributes of tender coconut water. Importantly, the distinct coconut varieties examined in this study exerted a noticeable impact on the composition and properties of tender coconut water.

Increasing human population and extreme consumption of fossil fuels create the potential to generate alternative energy sources. Bioethanol is an alternative and renewable energy resource for fossil fuels, which can be generated from low-cost raw materials. The objective of the study is to optimize pretreatment and culture conditions to enhance bioethanol production from Azolla filiculoides substrate using Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The A. filiculoides was collected from fresh-water ponds, cleaned, dried, milled to fine powder and then autoclaved for 15 min at 121 ℃. When A. filiculoides substrate was pre-treated with different acids and alkaline separately and alcohol production was monitored, significantly higher alcohol (0.1%) was produced with 1 M H2SO4, thus it was selected as the best pre-treatment agent.