Diabetes education program for people with type 2 diabetes: An international perspective

BackgroundIn the Palestinian community, lifestyle changes, rapid urbanization and socioeconomic development, stress, smoking, and changes in food habits has increased the risk of non-communicable diseases especially diabetes mellitus. Diabetes complications can be prevented if the glycemic status of patients with diabetes is maintained within a nearly normal range. Therefore, patient education is critical in controlling blood glucose levels within the normal range.ObjectiveThis study aimed at measuring the effect of diabetes educational intervention program for patients suffering from type 2 diabetes attending the Diabetes Clinic in Tulkarim Directorate of Health.MethodsA short duration observational study involving pre- and post-test educational intervention program was carried out on a relatively small number of type 2 diabetes patients at the Diabetes Clinic in Tulkarim Directorate of Health. In total, 215 patients attended a group-based 4 h educational intervention session about diabetes. The program included explaining diabetes mellitus-symptoms, risk factors, types, treatment and complications and main aspects of self-care of the disease (foot care, eye care, and blood glucose monitoring), main aspects of dietary management, weight reduction, blood pressure, smoking cessation, periodic investigations, home monitoring and importance of physical activity. Knowledge evaluation questionnaire were evaluated pre- and post-study. Anthropometric measurements such as body weight (WT), body mass index (BMI) and laboratory tests such as fasting blood glucose (FBG), hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c), cholesterol (Chol), and triglycerides (TG) were measured both at the beginning and at the end of the study. Significance of the results was assessed by paired t-test at 95% confidence interval.ResultsThe participant’s mean age was 51.07 that ranged between 31 and 70 years. For a total of 215 participants, 41.4% were males and 58.6% were females. The mean weight before educational intervention was 80.81 ± 14.95 kg (82.6 kg for males and 79.5 kg for females) that decreased to 78.9 ± 14.33 kg (81.1 kg for males and 77.3 kg for females) after educational intervention program. The BMI also decreased significantly after educational intervention. The mean fasting blood sugar was 188.65 ± 71.45 mg/dL before educational intervention that decreased to 177.7 ± 66.11 mg/dL after the educational intervention (p = 0.049). The mean glycosylated hemoglobin was 8.57 ± 1.21 before educational intervention that decreased to 7.95 ± 1.42 after educational intervention. The mean value of cholesterol before educational intervention was 183.27 ± 37.74 mg/dL that decreased to 169.57 ± 34.23 mg/dL after educational intervention. The mean triglycerides value decreased after educational intervention from 209.85 ± 171.04 mg/dL to 183.28 ± 152.4 mg/dL (p = 0.025). The mean score of knowledge questionnaire before educational intervention was 60.6 ± 20.65 that increased to 78.1 ± 13.4 after conducting educational intervention.ConclusionsDiabetes education was found to be effective on BMI, FBG, HbA1c, Chol, TG, and knowledge.RecommendationsDiabetes education is a cornerstone in the management and care of diabetes and should be an integral part of health planning involving patient’s family, diabetes care team, community, and decision makers in the education process.     

Formation of European identity: ethnic minority groups in Central and Eastern Europe in generational perspective

Research into European identity has mostly focused on majority populations in Western European countries, neglecting new member states in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) as well as ethnic minority groups. This paper contributes to filling this gap by exploring and investigating processes of European identity formation of five ethnic minority groups in four CEE countries. A generational perspective was applied by conducting qualitative in-depth interviews with three generations of ethnic minority group members. The results support the instrumental approach of identity construction. In all minority groups researched, the young generation, due to more positive personal experiences and perceived benefits from the European Union, have developed more positive images and perceptions of Europe and a greater sense of European identity than older generations. Furthermore, ethnic group-specific processes of identity formation were found.     

二战后中国及各受害国对日索赔失败的原因

二战结束后,根据盟国达成的协议和有关国际法规定,各受害国家向日本展开了索取战争赔偿工作。在整个索赔过程中,由于各个国家之间的争执,更为主要的是美国从自己的全球利益需要出发,改变了其对日索赔问题的态度,致使索赔工作失败。对日索赔工作的失败原因是复杂的,但毋庸置疑,美国态度的改变是最根本的,最主要的。     

中原城市群信息化水平研究

信息化正在逐渐成为推动区域经济和社会全面发展的关键因素。对中原城市群信息化建设的现状进行了分析,认为要使中原城市群成为实现中原崛起的龙头,发挥其对河南省经济发展的拉动和辐射作用,需要相关部门在政策、信息基础设施、人才教育和培养等方面加以扶持,将信息化作为制定地区经济发展战略的一个重要因素。     

亚运会对广州体育场馆建设及经营管理的影响

广州亚运会体育场馆的建设应主要利用和改造现有的体育场馆,新建体育场馆和搭建简易体育场馆辅之。在投资上,以政府投入为主,通过土地置换、城市建设规划配套项目的开发权和经营权的发放等形式,把体育场馆的建设作为绑捆式投标项目向全社会公开招标,鼓励社会多渠道的资金投入。在社会主义市场经济体制下,公共体育场馆经营管理模式的建立要以管理体制改革为切入点,以体育场馆经营为核心,以市场为导向进行资源配置,以集约化经济为经营内容,以大型专业管理集团为管理实体,实现体育场馆的区域化和集约化综合经营管理。     

民事简易程序的域外法比较

对两大法系代表性国家的民事简易程序制度从受案范围、启动方式、审理组织、审理方式、裁判形式、小额诉讼程序6个方面对民事简易程序进行了较为系统、全面的比较,以便了解国外完备的民事简易程序制度,同时为我国民事简易程序的完善提供可资借鉴的先进经验。     

河南省旅游产业竞争力的培育与提升

河南省是旅游资源大省,但尚不是旅游经济强省.依据M.E.Potter教授提出的产业国际竞争力钻石模型,从旅游业生产要素、旅游市场的需求结构、旅游产业关联、旅游企业再造、政府职能定位、发展机遇等方面对河南省旅游产业进行分析与设计,可以预见:通过采取遴选与包装旅游产业竞争力生产要素、开拓多元化需求市场、强化旅游相关产业的协调发展、不断提升旅游企业的市场竞争力、充分发挥政府的宏观调控作用等措施,将会极大地培育与提升河南省旅游产业的市场竞争力.     

To what extent is social security spending associated with enhanced firm-level performance? A case study of SMEs in Indonesia

Although the relationship between social protection and enterprise performance is much debated in the literature, evidence is particularly limited in the case of small and medium-sized enterprises in developing economies. Using census data from 2010 to 2014, this article examines how the provision of social security influenced business performance in Indonesia. The author finds that increased social security spending of 10 per cent is associated with a per-worker revenue gain of up to 2 per cent. Moreover, profits are not found to decrease with increased social protection coverage, suggesting that increasing worker benefits may be a worthwhile business investment.     

Family Characteristics and Mate Selection: Evidence From Computer‐Assisted Dating in Japan

Research on mate selection rarely considers singles' preferences for their future partners' family configurations and experiences. Using online dating records from a matchmaking agency in Japan, a society with a strong emphasis on family and kinship, we examine how singles' responses to date requests correspond to potential mates' family circumstances. Results showed that singles' preferences for potential partners' family characteristics stem from a concern about future obligations toward the partner's family and stereotypes associated with certain family traits. Singles are less likely to accept requests from those from large families, which are seen as traditional. Being from a large family, however, hampers individuals' dating chances more if they are firstborn and have no brothers, two conditions that make them the designated child to care for elderly parents. We also find that Japanese singles seek partners with more of the universally valued family traits rather than traits similar to their own.     

Inter‐country wage differences in the European Union

This article investigates the determinants of wage gaps between European Union countries along the wage distribution, applying the methodology proposed by Firpo, Fortin and Lemieux (2009) and Fortin, Lemieux and Firpo (2011). The authors conclude that both wage structure and composition effects contribute to explaining wage differentials, but that the wage structure effect is more important. This latter effect would appear to derive from differences between unknown factors, while the composition effect can largely be explained by differences in the following areas: education, proportion of workers with supervisory responsibilities, occupational structure, and, to a lesser extent, industrial structure.