Evaluating the Impact of Two Different Methods of Diabetes Self-management Education on Knowledge, Attitude, and Behaviours of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

This study compared the effectiveness of diabetes self-management education (DSME) methods by examining changes in knowledge, attitude, and behaviour (KAB) after receiving education. Participants from a convenience sample were randomized into two groups, one receiving education through conversation maps and the other through traditional group education. Participants’ knowledge and attitude changes were measured by using a repeated measures pre-test/post-test design and changes in Hb A1c were observed. Focus groups were conducted after education was received to obtain perceptions and self-reported behaviour changes. Significant knowledge and attitude score changes were observed in the conversation map group after education. When comparing the difference in attitude score changes between groups, significant improvements in attitude scores were observed in the conversation map group directly and at three months after education. These changes may lead to improved diabetes self-management, reducing the development of costly health complications related to poorly controlled diabetes. Insight was gained on how DMSE influences changes in KAB

Secondary magnetization of some Palaeozoic rocks from Tasmania

A variety of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic Palaeozoic rocks from Tasmania have similar directions of NRM-steeply upward. Although the mean direction is not significantly difIerent at the 95% confidence level from the present field, its inclination is slightly steeper. Moreover, the palaeomagnetic pole calculated from these directions is closer to Tertiary poles from Australia than to the present pole. On this data it is statistically more probable that the NRMs are of Tertiary rather than recent age. Their characteristics are the same as viscous PTRMs, and they are likely to have been acquired during a period of slightly elevated rock temperatures. This warming-up may have been associated with Tertiary basaltic activity in Tasmania, or with slightly later regional heating over wide areas of eastern Australia, which has previously been suggested on petrological grounds

Global Worming: A Quantitative Study about Greenhouse Gas Flux in Surface Soils Facilitated by the Anecic Earthworm, \u3ci\u3eLumbricus terrestris\u3c/i\u3e, Under Rising Global Temperature

Climate change is the long-term alteration in the Earth’s average weather conditions believed to be driven by greenhouse gases (GHG): carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). These alterations are expected to cause more extreme weather events, gradually warmer global temperatures and greater amounts of precipitation. Roughly 20% of the Earth’s CO2, one-third of CH4 and two-thirds of N2O emissions, originate from soils, and earthworms are known to accelerate GHG. As climate change proceeds, there is expected to be an increase in global temperature of 2-6ºC. Temperature is a key factor in determining the rate of soil biological processes that produce and consume GHG. To test how temperature could impact the effects of earthworms on GHG production in soils, we placed earthworms in microcosms with agricultural or forest soil with plant detritus, and incubated the microcosms at 15ºC and 20ºC for six weeks. We found that CH4 soil consumption decreased at higher temperature and in the presence of earthworms, while CH4 consumption fluctuated negatively and positively in soils without earthworms at both lower and higher temperature. Production of CO2 decreased at higher temperature in the absence of earthworms, but production increased in the presence of earthworms at higher temperature. N2O production increased, lowering the soils ability to absorb N2O, with higher temperature and the presence of earthworms. CH4 production was increased in agriculture soil with some minor decrease in absorption in forest soil. CO2 production fluctuated greatly in agriculture soil. Forest soil CO2 production was mostly stable with little variability. Both soils experienced the same trend in N2O flux where there was a sudden production of gas followed by a slowed leveling out with minor fluctuation between production and consumption. Our results show strong evidence that changes in temperature, due to climate change, can impact the effect of earthworms on GHG production and consumption

Modular Composite Body Armor

Tasked with the development of a composite material profile for use in the application of body armor design, the team worked with with Desmark/Amerisewn to create a stab and slash resistant composite material. This report investigates the design, development, and analysis of such composite material, and details the accomplishments made by the team throughout the entire design process. The objective was to meet and adhere to the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) 0115.00 Standards, specifically the specifications described for a Protection Level III apparatus. Thinking beyond this scope, the initiative is to provide a more lightweight, flexible, reliable, and modular solution to threats encountered by law enforcement officials in regards to slash and stab attacks, with a primary concern being those implemented by a knife or spike-like object. Corresponding manufacturing and experimentation procedures are included for analyzing the implicit dynamic penetration resistance and associated mechanical behaviors of the configured composite material. Through this analysis, a numerical method pertaining to the design and prediction of a multi-laminate composite material’s mechanical behavior, given an impact due to a weapon/implement mentioned above, aided in a final solution that adheres to both the items described within the NIJ 0115.00 Standard as well as design specifications corresponding to the product. Proposed to adhere to these requirements, the team developed a composite material that applies a multi-laminate design to create the desired product characteristics. The carbon fiber epoxy resin solution has an overall profile thickness of 0.495 inches and an estimate total weight of approximately 2.38 lb. A manufacturing method for producing such composite material is also explained in this report. Further analysis and testing of the was conducted through means of numerical analysis. A composite program developed by the team using MATLAB was used to calculate the mechanical characteristics of the composite using data inputs collected by experimental methods. The program will then assess the respective stress and strain relations through the entire composite profile. This gave insight to where the material will fail and under what load, and is a useful tool in determining the failure conditions, as well as identifying materials that do not contribute to the overall integrity of the composite. Several methods of experimentation, both physically and numerically, were conducted in order to validate the performance and adherence to design specifications. Ultimately, the carbon fiber/epoxy composite material adheres to National Institute of Justice’s 0115.00 Protection Level III Standard the most effectively and efficiently, minimizing the depth of puncture to less than 1/4 and 3/4 past the backing material due to a force applied at the strike face of 43.0J and 65.0J respectively

Studies of androgen metabolism in skin

Abstract Not Provided

Transformer-based Atmospheric Density Forecasting

As the peak of the solar cycle approaches in 2025 and the ability of a single geomagnetic storm to significantly alter the orbit of Resident Space Objects (RSOs), techniques for atmospheric density forecasting are vital for space situational awareness. While linear data-driven methods, such as dynamic mode decomposition with control (DMDc), have been used previously for forecasting atmospheric density, deep learning-based forecasting has the ability to capture nonlinearities in data. By learning multiple layer weights from historical atmospheric density data, long-term dependencies in the dataset are captured in the mapping between the current atmospheric density state and control input to the atmospheric density state at the next timestep. This work improves upon previous linear propagation methods for atmospheric density forecasting, by developing a nonlinear transformer-based architecture for atmospheric density forecasting. Empirical NRLMSISE-00 and JB2008, as well as physics-based TIEGCM atmospheric density models are compared for forecasting with DMDc and with the transformer-based propagator.Comment: Conference: 24th Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies At: Maui, Hawaii, United State