Educational Materials and Brief Counseling Improve Diabetes Knowledge and Self-Efficacy

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to see if education and counseling of the Appalachian individual with diabetes and a family member/friend would improve knowledge of the disease and self-efficacy of the patient in regard to their diabetes care. Setting: The setting was one of eight primary care offices of Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital, Bon Secours, located in the Ashland, Kentucky. Design: A pilot study of descriptive, comparative design was used. Subjects: Data were collected from a convenience sample of patients with type 2 diabetes (n=15) that were established at the primary care office and their family members/friends (n=15). Measurements: The Diabetes Knowledge Tests (DKT), the Diabetes Empowerment Tests (DES-SF) and the Thai Family Function Tests were used to assess the subjective variables of interest. A chart review of the standard office visit was reviewed and objective metabolic outcomes, such as weight, blood pressure (systolic and diastolic), lipids (total cholesterol and triglycerides), pulse, and glycohemoglobin were extracted and recorded. All measurements were evaluated pre-education and post-education. Demographic and clinical characteristics were obtained from all participants. Results: Thirty participants, consisting of patients with type 2 diabetes (n=15) and family members/friends (n=15), completed the study with pre-education and three month post-education results. Increases in diabetes knowledge, improvement in self-efficacy and increased family function were noted; however, there was no indication that a higher family function score would relate to a higher level of diabetes knowledge, a greater improvement of self-efficacy or improvement in metabolic outcomes. Although the test regarding self-efficacy (p=0.188) was not statistically significant p-value \u3e0.05, it was clinically significant as evidenced by the results of the metabolic testing. The family function score (p=0.016) and diabetes knowledge (p=0.035) were statistically significant p-value Conclusions: Results of the pilot study indicated positive changes in diabetes knowledge, self-efficacy and family function, as well as the majority of metabolic outcomes. Families with higher family functioning scores did not appear to have higher scores measuring diabetes knowledge or self-efficacy at the initiation of the study. Those families with higher family functioning scores showed no greater improvement in diabetes knowledge or self-efficacy scores than those families with lower family functioning scores at the conclusion of the study. This pilot study did not support inclusion of family in the educational process or disease management, but will support the use of a structured diabetes educational plan in the family practice setting to promote patient collaboration and outcomes. This study offers patients and their family members/friends education on maintenance and preventive measures, encouraging them to lead a healthy lifestyle, maintain their current health and prevent expensive complications, therefore reducing healthcare costs

Bearing Witness to my Creativity: Exploring my Artist Identity Through a Practice of A/r/tography

This master’s project follows the personal journey of a creative studies master’s student as she engages in an a/r/tographical process paired with a weekly practice of mindfulness, meditation and Lectio-Divina to explore and restore her artistic practice. The author shares creativity routines, her sketchbook, mini artworks, ideas, culminating collaborative artwork and key insights that enabled her to consolidate her seemingly disparate roles of artist-researcher-teacher. Insights made over the course of the investigation have resulted in the realization that creative expression is a dynamic construct that expands, contracts and evolves in relationship and in response to its host’s experiences

Personality Variables of Adult Children of Alcoholics in a Treatment Sample as Measured by the Personality Research Form-E

There has been much personality research in the area of Adult Children of Alcoholics with varying results. This study examines personality variables in archival data of alcoholic clients in a residential treatment center with the use of the Personality Research Form-E (Jackson, 1984). A comparison was made between groups of non-ACOA clients and those with alcoholic parents in the areas of aggression, defendence, dominance and desirability. No significant differences were found between groups. Two other hypotheses were generated concerning male participants only. No significant differences were found for the trait of autonomy; however, male ACOA alcoholic participants were found to be more impulsive than non-ACOA alcoholic participants. Clinical implications and areas for future research are discussed

Simplified Single Source Xml Model: for Student-Centered Educational Content Management

This study investigates XML as a single source, recommending solutions and defining future needs for educators to manage student-centered educational content for diverse user preferences and multi-modal delivery. This research proposes a simplified XML single source model for educational course content management and XSL transformation of course material into multi-modal display/output that enables student-centered learning. The reviewed literature exposed four problem areas related to content management in which an XML single source might be a solution. Reviewed and synthesized literature related to XML into a cubed relationship with opposing the sides of the cube (content management/single source, corporate goals/educational goals and reuse/re-purpose) compared and contrasted. The result points to the need for a simplified XML model in order to realize the potential of educational goals for student-centered transformations (re-purposing content) and to future proof content management that is device independent and provides possible solutions to the problem areas in content management and technology management of course material

Adjustment of Status under Section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act

This Comment examines the legislative development of section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act and how the adjustment of status procedure has been slowly liberalized to allow virtually any alien present in the United States to quality to apply for adjustment. The author argues that this procedure has been abused and applied unfairly, in that aliens who apply for adjustment while in the United States are afforded due process and judicial review while those who apply while in their home countries are denied these protections. The author further argues that the recent passage of the Simpson-Mazzoli Bill will not prevent such manipulation of the immigration system and the adjustment of status procedure, but will instead penalize those aliens who require the aid of section 245

The Importance of the Study of the Hemodynamics of the Uterine Tumors by the Method of Dopplerometry in the Two- and Three-dimensional Echography Modes for Differential Diagnostics of Simple, Proliferating Leiomyomas and Uterine Sarcomas (Review of Litera

The article analyzes modern literature data on the importance of studying the hemodynamics of uterine tumors with dopplerometry in two - and three - dimensional regimens of echography for differential diagnosis of simple proliferating leiomyomas and sarcomas of the uterus. It is shown that the differential diagnosis of benign and Malignant tumors using the dopplerometry is based on various features of the blood supply of these tumors. On the basis of the analysis of literature data, it was concluded that in the dopplerometry evaluation of benign, borderline and Malignant tumors of myometrium in the two-dimensional regime, there were differences in the localization of the detected vessels in the CDM regimen, in the rates of vascular blood flow and vascular resistance in pulse dopplerometry. For a simple leiomyoma, the absence of a central intra-node localization of blood vessels in the CDM regimen, a low rate of arterial and venous blood flow, as well as an average resistance of arterial blood flow in the regime of impulsive dopplerometry are most typical; in a leiomyoma with eating disorders, the absence of a central intra-node localization of blood vessels, a low rate of arterial and venous blood flow in combination with high arterial resistance were more often observed. For the proliferating leiomyoma, the central intra-node localization of the vessels and the average blood flow velocities with low and medium resistance are characteristic. For sarcoma of the uterus, there is abundant vascularization both around the periphery and in the center, high blood flow rates and low resistance. The authors emphasize that there is information about the low specificity of this gradation, since the detection of a central type of vascularization and low resistance values can be in simple myomatous nodes with edema, eating disorders and destruction, and leads to diagnostic errors and suspicion of Malignancy. In the three-dimensional dopplerometry mode for simple leiomyomas, low indices of volume perfusion indices were characteristic, and for proliferating leiomyomas and sarcomas of the uterus – high indices of volume perfusion indices exceeding those in the uterus as a whole.Based on the review of the literature, the authors concluded that the presently available echographic and dopplerometric two- and three-dimensional markers are characterized by high sensitivity, but very low specificity. The low specificity of the known ultrasonic and dopplerometric criteria combined with the rarity of cases of sarcoma in the uterus against the background of a large number of similar echographically and dopplerometrically leiomyomas lead to low diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound diagnostics. This situation requires a further continuation of the scientific search for differential diagnostic ultrasound criteria by leiomyomas and sarcomas of the uterus using modern technologies, including three-dimensional echography

Solutions to the tethered galaxy problem in an expanding universe and the observation of receding blueshifted objects

We use the dynamics of a galaxy, set up initially at a constant proper distance from an observer, to derive and illustrate two counter-intuitive general relativistic results. Although the galaxy does gradually join the expansion of the universe (Hubble flow), it does not necessarily recede from us. In particular, in the currently favored cosmological model, which includes a cosmological constant, the galaxy recedes from the observer as it joins the Hubble flow, but in the previously favored cold dark matter model, the galaxy approaches, passes through the observer, and joins the Hubble flow on the opposite side of the sky. We show that this behavior is consistent with the general relativistic idea that space is expanding and is determined by the acceleration of the expansion of the universe -- not a force or drag associated with the expansion itself. We also show that objects at a constant proper distance will have a nonzero redshift; receding galaxies can be blueshifted and approaching galaxies can be redshifted.Comment: 8 pages including 6 figures, to appear in Am. J. Phys., 2003. Reference added in postscrip