Self-efficacy, self-care and glycemic control in Saudi Arabian patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A cross-sectional survey.

AIMS: To determine the prevalence of diabetes self-care activities among type 2 diabetes patients and examine the association between socio-demographic and clinical parameters, diabetes self-care activities, and glycemic control among type 2 diabetes patients. METHODS: A cross sectional study was conducted among patients with diabetes (n = 123) at the Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Humanitarian City (SBAHC). A regression model was used to examine the variables that predicted glycemic control. Moreover, a regression analysis examining the effect of each self-efficacy subscale on its respective diabetes self -management (DSM) behavior was carried out. RESULTS: The most frequently reported DSM behaviors were foot care followed by medication taking self-management behavior. The least frequently reported DSM behaviors were exercise self-management behavior and blood sugar testing behavior. Self-efficacy was associated with higher levels of diet, exercise, blood sugar testing, and medication taking self-management behaviors. Diet self-management behaviors and oral hypoglycemic agents (OHA) use were significantly independent predictors of glycemic control HbA1c <7% (53 mmol/mol). CONCLUSIONS: The findings can serve to help clinicians have a better understanding on the extent to which different self-efficacy parameters have an influence on self-management behaviors, which will in turn lead to better glycemic control and thus improved HbA1c levels.

Transparent Er3+-Doped Y2O3 Ceramics with Long Optical Coherence Lifetime.

Er3+-doped Y2O3 nanoparticles (NPs) are used to synthesize transparent ceramics by hot isostatic pressing. Two sizes of NPs are studied, and 40 nm NPs show better performance than 200 nm NPs in transparent ceramics syntheses. The axial optical transmission through millimeter thickness of the prepared ceramics is about 80% in the wavelength range of 1000-2000 nm. For a sample with 11.5 ppm Er3+, the inhomogeneous broadening of the 4I15/2 to 4I13/2 transition for the C2 site is as low as 0.42 GHz (full width at half-maximum), and the homogeneous line width is 11.2 kHz at a temperature of 2.5 K and in a 0.65 T magnetic field. This indicates that a majority of Er3+ ions are sitting in sites with very low structural disorder.

Psychiatric Comorbidities in a New Zealand Sample of Adults With ADHD.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the rates of psychiatric comorbidities within a New Zealand sample of adults with ADHD compared with a community control group. METHOD: We merged six data sets to obtain a sample of 222 adults (158 ADHD, 64 controls). Comorbidities were assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed. text rev. [DSM-IV-TR]) Axis-I disorders. RESULTS: Both groups were equivalent in IQ, socioeconomic status, gender, education, income levels, and age. Lifetime rates of psychiatric disorders were significantly higher in the ADHD group (83%) versus the control group (52%) with higher rates of major depressive disorder (MDD; 65% vs. 36%), social phobia (31% vs. 11%), substance abuse (26% vs. 8%), and alcohol abuse (32% vs. 14%). Within the ADHD group, other than a group difference in specific phobias, there were no gender differences. CONCLUSION: The findings are consistent with international research; adults with ADHD in New Zealand have higher rates of psychiatric disorders than the general population.

Amidates as leaving groups: structure/reactivity correlation of the hydroxide-dependent E1cB-like breakdown of carbinolamides in aqueous solution.

The kinetic study of the aqueous reaction, between pH 10 and 14, of eight N-(hydroxymethyl)benzamide derivatives in water at 25 degrees C, I = 1.0 M (KCl), has been performed. In all cases, the reaction proceeds via a specific-base-catalyzed deprotonation of the hydroxyl group followed by rate-limiting breakdown of the alkoxide to form aldehyde and amidate (E1cB-like). Such a mechanism was supported by the lack of general buffer catalysis and the first-order dependence of the rate of reaction at low hydroxide concentrations and the transition to zero-order dependence on hydroxide at high concentration. A rho-value of 0.67 was found for the Hammett correlation between the maximum rate for the hydroxide independent breakdown of the deprotonated carbinolamide (k1) and the substituent on the aromatic ring of the title compounds. Conversely, the substituents on the aromatic ring of the amide portion of the carbinolamide had only a small effect on the Ka of the hydroxyl group indicating that the amide group does not strongly transmit the electronic information of the substituents. These observations led to the conclusion that the major effect of electronic changes on the amide of carbinolamides is reflected in the nucleofugality of the amidate once the alkoxide is formed and not in the pKa of the hydroxyl group of the carbinolamide.