The Relationship Between Problem Solving Skills Levels and Locus of Control in Nursing Students

Giriş: Problem çözme becerisi ve iç kontrol odağı hemşirelik eğitimi boyunca öğrencilerde geliştirilmesi istenen özelliklerdir. Amaç:Hemşirelik öğrencilerinin problem çözme beceri düzeyi ile kontrol odağı arasında ilişkinin değerlendirilmesidir. Yöntem: Araştırmanıntasarımı tanımlayıcı ve korelasyonel niteliktedir. Araştırmanın örneklemini Hemşirelik Yüksekokulunda öğrenim gören 289 öğrencioluşturmuştur. Veri toplama aracı olarak; Türkçe geçerlik güvenirliğini Şahin, Şahin ve Heppner'in (1993) yaptığı Problem Çözme Envanterive Dağ (2002) tarafından geliştirilen Kontrol Odağı Ölçeği kullanılmıştır. Bulgular: Problem çözme becerileri ile kontrol odağı puanlarıarasında pozitif yönde, orta düzeyde, istatistiksel düzeyde anlamlı ilişki bulunmuştur. Öğrencilerin sınıf düzeyi yükseldikçe problem çözmebeceri puanlarının istatistiksel olarak anlamlı düzeyde artış gösterdiği belirlenmiştir. Birinci sınıfların, ikinci ve dördüncü sınıflara göre dahaçok dış kontrol odaklı oldukları belirlenmiştir. Üçüncü sınıfla birinci sınıf öğrencileri arasında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir farkbulunmamıştır. Sonuç: Son sınıf hemşirelik öğrencilerinin problem çözme becerilerin diğer sınıflara göre yüksek olması ve iç kontrol odaklıgrup olması hemşirelik eğitimi boyunca beklenen gelişime ulaşılmış olmasını göstermesi bakımından önemli bir sonuçtur. Background: Problem solving and internal locus of control are features aimed to be developed in students throughout the nursing education.Objectives: To identify the relationship between level of problem solving skills and locus of control scores in nursing students'. Methods:The study was planned in descriptive and correlational design. The sample comprised 289 students studying in school of nursing. that Thereliability and validity tested by Şahin, Şahin ve Heppner (1993) which that Problem Solving Inventory and improved by Dağ (2002) whichthat Locus of Control Scale were used in data collection. Results: As nursing students' grade level increased, the problem solving scoresincreased significantly, too. It was determined that the freshmen were more external locus oriented than second and fourth year students. Nosignificant statistical relationship was found between first-year and the third-year students. A medium-level significant relationship (in thepositive direction) was found between locus of control scores and problem solving skills. Conclusion: The finding that senior nursingstudents formed the group with highest-level problem solving skills and the greatest internal locus of control is an important result in termsof showing that the expected development progress is reache

The synergistic effects of saxagliptin and metformin on CD34+ endothelial progenitor cells in early type 2 diabetes patients: a randomized clinical trial.

AIMS: Type 2 diabetes is associated with endothelial dysfunction leading to cardiovascular disease. CD34+ endothelial Progenitor Cells (EPCs) are responsible for endothelial repair and neo-angiogenesis and can be used as a cardiovascular disease risk biomarker. This study investigated whether the addition of saxagliptin, a DPP-IV inhibitor, to metformin, may reduce cardiovascular disease risk in addition to improving glycemic control in Type 2 diabetes patients. METHODS: In 12 week, double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial, 42 subjects already taking metformin 1-2 grams/day were randomized to placebo or saxagliptin 5 mg. Subjects aged 40-70 years with diabetes for \u3c 10 years, with no known cardiovascular disease, BMI 25-39.9, HbA1C 6-9% were included. We evaluated EPCs number, function, surface markers and gene expression, in addition to arterial stiffness, blood biochemistries, resting energy expenditure, and body composition parameters. A mixed model regression to examine saxagliptin vs placebo, accounting for within-subject autocorrelation, was done with SAS (p \u3c 0.05). RESULTS: Although there was no significant increase in CD34+ cell number, CD31+ cells percentage increased. Saxagliptin increased migration (in response to SDF1α) with a trend of higher colony formation count. MNCs cytometry showed higher percentage of CXCR4 double positivity for both CD34 and CD31 positive cells, indicating a functional improvement. Gene expression analysis showed an upregulation in CD34+ cells for antioxidant SOD1 (p \u3c 0.05) and a downregulation in CD34- cells for IL-6 (p \u3c 0.01). For arterial stiffness, both augmentation index and systolic blood pressure measures went down in saxagliptin subjects (p \u3c 0.05). CONCLUSION: Saxagliptin, in combination with metformin, can help improve endothelial dysfunction in early diabetes before macrovascular complications appear. Trial registration Trial is registered under clinicaltrials.gov, NCT02024477

Genetic modification of human mesenchymal stem cells helps to reduce adiposity and improve glucose tolerance in an obese diabetic mouse model.

INTRODUCTION: Human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent cells that can differentiate into fat, muscle, bone and cartilage cells. Exposure of subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue derived AD-MSCs to high glucose (HG) leads to superoxide accumulation and up-regulation of inflammatory molecules. Our aim was to inquire how HG exposure affects MSCs differentiation and whether the mechanism is reversible. METHODS: We exposed human adipose tissue derived MSCs to HG (25 mM) and compared it to normal glucose (NG, 5.5 mM) exposed cells at 7, 10 and 14 days. We examined mitochondrial superoxide accumulation (Mitosox-Red), cellular oxygen consumption rate (OCR, Seahorse) and gene expression. RESULTS: HG increased reactive superoxide (ROS) accumulation noted by day 7 both in cytosol and mitochondria. The OCR between the NG and HG exposed groups however did not change until 10 days at which point OCR of HG exposed cells were reduced significantly. We noted that HG exposure upregulated mRNA expression of adipogenic (PPARG, FABP-4, CREBP alpha and beta), inflammatory (IL-6 and TNF alpha) and antioxidant (SOD2 and Catalase) genes. Next, we used AdSOD2 to upregulate SOD2 prior to HG exposure and thereby noted reduction in superoxide generation. SOD2 upregulation helped reduce mRNA over-expression of PPARG, FABP-4, IL-6 and TNFα. In a series of separate experiments, we delivered the eGFP and SOD2 upregulated MSCs (5 days post ex-vivo transduction) and saline intra-peritoneally (IP) to obese diabetic (db/db) mice. We confirmed homing-in of eGFP labeled MSCs, delivered IP, to different inflamed fat pockets, particularly omental fat. Mice receiving SOD2-MSCs showed progressive reduction in body weight and improved glucose tolerance (GTT) at 4 weeks, post MSCs transplantation compared to the GFP-MSC group (control). CONCLUSIONS: High glucose evokes superoxide generation, OCR reduction and adipogenic differentiation. Mitochondrial superoxide dismutase upregulation quenches excess superoxide and reduces adipocyte inflammation. Delivery of superoxide dismutase (SOD2) using MSCs as a gene delivery vehicle reduces inflammation and improves glucose tolerance in vivo. Suppression of superoxide production and adipocyte inflammation using mitochondrial superoxide dismutase may be a novel and safe therapeutic tool to combat hyperglycemia mediated effects