Improving an Outpatient Diabetes Program Telephone Follow-up Process: Evaluating its Impact on Glycosylated Hemoglobin Levels

Telephone follow-up for diabetes self-management is used to facilitate ongoing support for individuals striving to maintain a healthy lifestyle. With the use of telephone follow-up after Diabetes Self-Management Education (DSME), key concepts can be emphasized and goal reinforcement can occur. When successfully managed, improved glycemic control occurs, as evidenced by reductions in glycosylated hemoglobin (A1C) levels. A review of the literature surrounding this topic and description of a capstone scholarly project utilizing findings from the literature to create an evidence-based telephone follow-up pilot study are included. Findings from this study did not reveal statistically significant reductions in A1C levels with increased telephone follow-up; however, previous research supports increased contact in facilitating ongoing motivation for diabetes self-management success

Neutral gas compression in the Alcator C-Mod divertor, experimental observations

One of the high heat flux solutions envisioned for ITER is the gas target divertor. This scheme requires high neutral pressure to be sustained in the divertor chamber with a minimal effect on the pressure in the main tokamak chamber (i.e. high gas compression). The neutral gas compression has been studied in the Alcator C-Mod closed divertor under various central and edge plasma conditions. The neutral pressure measured by a fast, in-situ, ionization gauge, installed behind the divertor target plate was compared with the midplane pressure, measured by a shielded Bayard-Alpert gauge. Divertor pressures up to 30 mTorr with compression factors p{sub div}/p{sub mid} {le} 70 have been observed. It has been found that the neutral pressure in the divertor does not depend strongly on the fueling location but rather on the core plasma density and the resulting divertor plasma regime. Divertor detachment leads to a considerable drop in the compression ratio, suggesting a partial {open_quotes}unplugging{close_quotes} of the divertor volume. An examination of the local particle flux balance in the divertor indicates that the single most important factor determining divertor pressure and compression is the private-flux plasma channel opacity to neutrals