Insulin Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 7 as a Novel Diagnostic Marker in Sera of Iraqi Patients with Acromegaly

The purpose of this study was to measure serum levels of insulin-like growth factor-binding protein (IGFBP7), Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1), Growth Hormone (GH), Interleukin 6 (IL-6) and insulin in acromegaly patients and healthy controls. The acromegaly group had 60 patients, while the population group had 30 people who had never had acromegaly before. The concentration of IGFBP7, IGF-1, GH, IL-6, and insulin were determined. The results of the present study indicate that IGFBP7 level in the acromegaly group was significantly lower (1.690.07 ng/mL vs. 2.740.12 ng/mL, respectively, p = 0.001). IGF-1, GH, IL-6, and insulin concentrations were also significantly higher in acromegaly patients. The diagnostic accuracy (2.194) was excellent in separating acromegaly from the healthy patient group, and the area under the curve (AUC = 0.871, p = 0.001). From the results of the present study, we can conclude that serum IGFBP7 can be used to distinguish acromegaly patients from healthy individuals

Effectiveness of Group Therapy Based on Acceptance and Commitment on Social and Health Adjustment of Nursing Students

Introduction: University students have a lot of problems in the field of adjustment especially social and health adjustment. Therefore, present research aimed to investigate the effectiveness of group therapy based on acceptance and commitment on social and emotional adjustment of nursing students. Methods: This research was carried out as a semi-experimental, with a pre-test and post-test design. The statistical population included all nursing students of Islamic Azad University of Pishva branch in 2015-16 academic year. 40 nurses were selected by voluntary sampling method and randomly assigned to two equal groups. The experimental group experienced 8 sessions of 90 minutes of education by group therapy based on acceptance and commitment. Groups completed the dimensions of social and health adjustment of Bell’s adjustment questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS19 and by multivariate analysis of covariance method. Results: The findings showed there was a significant difference between experimental and control groups in the social and health adjustment. In the other words, group therapy based on acceptance and commitment significantly led to improve the social and health adjustment of nursing students (P≤0/05). Conclusion: The results are due to the importance of group therapy based on acceptance and commitment on increasing social and health adjustment of nursing students. Therefore, it is suggested that counselors and therapists improve the dimension of adjustment especially social and health adjustment using group therapies based on acceptance and commitment