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.     

Maboo wirriya,be healthy: Community-directed development of an evidence-based diabetes prevention program for young Aboriginal people in a remote Australian town

Supporting healthy lifestyle behaviours is a key aspect of preventing type 2 diabetes which disproportionately affects disadvantaged groups from a younger age. Formative participatory research was undertaken to design a program for young Aboriginal people in a remote town in North West Australia with a high level of health needs and relatively few prevention initiatives. Focus groups and advisory discussions with Aboriginal community members were used to determine the nature of the program. The need for a comprehensive program was consistently expressed and limited healthy lifestyle knowledge and difficulties with healthy eating influenced by food environments were noted to be important. With guidance from the Derby Aboriginal Health Service, findings were integrated with previous international research evidence to develop a program tailored to local Aboriginal people aged 15–25 years and refine it after piloting. This 8-session program, ‘Maboo wirriya, be healthy’ involved an education component consistent with the US Diabetes Prevention Program and practical activities including group exercise. Changes to program structure and documentation were made after piloting for future use. The community-directed approach used in this study is vital to ensure relevance of localised chronic disease prevention programs in a range of settings.     

Childhood exposure to the Second World War and financial risk taking in adult life

Adverse childhood experiences might have long-lasting effects on decisions under uncertainty in adult life. Merging the European Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement with data on conflict events during the Second World War, and relying on region-by-cohort variation in war exposure, we show that warfare exposure during childhood is associated with lower financial risk taking in later life. Individuals who experienced war episodes as children hold less – and are less likely to hold – stocks, but are more likely to hold life insurance, compared to non-exposed individuals. Effects are robust to the inclusion of potential mediating factors, and are tested for nonlinearity and heterogeneity. Moreover, we provide evidence of hedonic adaptation to war, as high and low intensity of war exposure have comparable long-term effects. We also document that war exposure in childhood increases sensitivity to financial uncertainty since exposed-to-war individuals are less likely to hold stocks after periods of high volatility. Finally, we shed light on the most likely mechanism in the relationship between war exposure and financial risk taking – i.e., enhanced sensitivity to uncertainty – and we show that preferences, and not beliefs, channel this relationship.     

R2的复活——股价同步性研究评述与展望

R2是最近十几年迅速发展的一个研究课题,其研究取向从纯粹的计量经济学符号演变为股价同步性特征变量,并与公司特质信息含量联系起来,赋予了全新的内涵.学者们通过跨学科的交叉与融合,从法与金融理论、委托代理理论、信息不对称理论、公司治理理论等视角对R2背后的生成机制、作用渠道和影响后果展开富有成效的研究.本文首先梳理从资产定价模型到R2,再从R2到股价同步性中间的学理关系和因果顺承,接着回顾了关于R2形成机理与经济后果的相关讨论,然后对R2的学术争论进行总结和评述,最后就R2的溯源问题、以及文化与政治潜在影响对未来R2研究提出展望.     

冲击型负荷下的生产存储模型研究

建立了考虑冲击需求、变化生产率的最优生产存储库存策略. 其特点是:把一个生产周 期分为多个生产阶段,各个生产阶段时间可以不同;在每个生产阶段中,允许生产率小于需求 率,允许提前生产;而且,最大生产率要小于最大需求率. 研究发现,为满足冲击需求,提前存储 较多而启动机器数量较少,或提前存储较少而启动机器数量较多,不一定能够取得最佳效益, 要根据存储费用和启动费用共同确定. 在有限生产率的条件下,得出一种寻求最优生产- 库存 策略,为此类库存系统的管理决策提供了理论依据.     

交易额、A 股比例、势效应和三因子模型

利用回归和构造动态投资组合方法,对中国股票市场1995 年7 月到2000 年12 月股票 月收益率、交易额、总市值及其财务数据进行分析,发现中国股票市场具有显著的交易额效应、 A 股比例效应、市值效应、账面市值比效应等. 这些效应有密切的相互关系,但不能用市场beta 值来解释. 市场beta 值、市值因子、账面市值比因子一起,也就是Fama2French 三因子模型,可以 很好地解释这些效应     

B2B下服务质量对关系质量的影响研究

在B2B背景下,以认证行业的顾客为调研对象,探究了服务质量对关系质量的影响.在已有的研究基础上,界定了服务质量的4维度结构和关系质量的3维度结构,构建了服务质量对关系质量的影响模型.对认证行业的721家顾客企业的实证研究表明,过程服务能力对关系质量有着正向的影响,结果质量对关系质量中的合作性、适应性有正向的影响,对关系氛围则没有显著影响,而过程交互质量与潜在服务能力对关系质量的影响不显著.     

从货币职能面分析我国M2/GDP的偏高现象

本文将主要从M2/GDP的两种增长方式和货币的五个基本职能出发,结合货币经济和实体经济的发展,总结我国M2/GDP偏高的原因,货币的僵化和低能是最重要的两个方面,并由此给出相应的政策建议.     

Engaging leader – Engaged employees? A cross-lagged study on employee engagement

The goal of this study is to provide a cross-lagged examination of the relationships between engaging leadership, job resources and employee work engagement. We propose a mediation model and we postulate that engaging leadership can increase perceptions of three specific job resources (i.e. autonomy, support from colleagues and opportunities for learning and development) which theoretically correspond to the three facets of engaging leadership (i.e., inspiring, connecting and strengthening, respectively). Subsequently, in keeping with the extant body of Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) research, we link job resources to employee work engagement. Our hypotheses were tested on data collected at two time-points – T1 (N = 759) and T2 (N = 273) –from employees working for a hotel chain in the Netherlands. In line with our expectations, engaging leadership showed a significant cross-lagged relationship with autonomy and support from colleagues, but did not predict learning opportunities and work engagement across time. While we formulated specific hypotheses, we also tested reversed causation relationships. We found no direct effect from engaging leadership on employee work engagement, however, the reversed effect was significant; employee perceptions of engaging leadership were shaped by their own engagement experiences. Importantly, engaged employees at T1 reported more job resources at T2. By providing a cross-lagged examination of our model, we showed that engaging leaders as well as employees’ positive affective state of being engaged, are essential to shaping a resourceful work context. A comprehensive view on the triggers and outcomes of work engagement and engaging leadership is needed, as the traditional unidirectional cause-effect rationale fails to explain how these concepts relate to one another and to employee experiences of job resources.     

中小企业应用B2B电子商务绩效分析

中小企业的规模小、资金少等特点,决定了使用第三方B2B平台开展电子商务是其最佳选择,但由于很多中小企业对电子商务认识不足,导致电子商务绩效并不理想。本文通过理论和案例分析,分析了中小企业使用B2B的现状和影响因素,试图找出中小企业电子商务绩效不理想的主要原因,并提出一系列对策。