The Analysis of the Diabetes and the DIAMONDS Device - Assignment Example

Review of “Diabetes and the DIAMONDS Device” Significance The project addresses an important problem because diabetes mellitus, especially Type 2 diabetes, requires close glucose monitoring, in order to provide timely insulin injections. The main aim of the project is to provide a hassle-free, efficient, and effective way of managing diabetes, especially for children who may face the most struggles with having injection shots, at least 4 times a day. If DIAMONDS attains its objective, it can improve the technical ability of diabetic patients in managing their illness. The project can also advance scientific knowledge because it can offer information on the various conditions that may impact the body’s production and use of insulin. The information will be specifically important to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. A successful completion of the research aims can change the methods for diabetes management by making them more technology-based, wherein technology can offer real-time data regarding health conditions and improve drug-delivery systems by making them computerized, automatic, and accessible online. Innovation This application uses new instrumentation because it is not similar to an insulin pen that has comparable injection-like means of delivering insulin to the body, and it is different from an insulin pump that can result to skin infection at the catheter site and wherein the patient still needs to check his/her blood glucose manually at least four times a day (Moser, Morris, & Garg, 2012). DIAMONDS is a whole new level of diabetes management technology because it is a system of insulin monitoring and insulin delivery in one. At the same time, it has the ability to send information about the need to drink another DIAMONDS pill to the users’ cellular phones. In addition, it expands and merges several technologies, particularly Gastric Stimulator by MetaCure (that allows DIAMONDS to be placed adjacent to the stomach and release electric impulses for stomach attachment and detachment purposes), Wired Enzyme™ (for glucose monitoring), Health Buddy (a web-based patient interface that enables patients to monitor their glucose levels online, and iCare Desktop (that sends important information about diabetes). Approach The overall strategy is well-reasoned because it considers the need to both monitor insulin needs and to provide timely insulin at proper levels. The potential problems are that mice studies are not the same as human studies, different foods can have different glucose effects which will test the efficacy of DIAMONDS, and possible allergic reactions when DIAMONDS attach to the stomach. Alternative strategies are testing DIABETES for different foods first on human subjects across age levels, genders, and cultures, and allowing some customization of the system for different diets and lifestyles of patients. This project also provides sufficient plans to protect human subjects from risks and to include members of both sexes. Vertebrate Animals The project provides adequate information about the use of the animals- their species, strains, ages, sex, and numbers to be used. It also explains the justification for their use and the need to include both sexes, as well as the sufficiency of care as per standards of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). It has procedures for limiting discomfort by doing the surgery under the proper guidelines on anesthetic administration of AVMA. References Moser, E.G., Morris, A., & Garg, S.K. (2012). Emerging diabetes therapies and technologies. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, 97(1), 16-26. Diabetes and the DIAMONDS Device. Review of “The Unattainable Thin Ideal- The Negative Effects of Music Videos on Adolescents” Significance The study addresses an important problem because body dissatisfaction can lead to social, psychological, and other health problems, such as eating disorders. It will advance scientific knowledge because studies on music videos’ effects on body dissatisfaction are scarce. In addition, the project will be useful in shaping preventative interventions for different eating disorders that are of interest to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. For instance, the study can lead to the production of music videos that show different body shapes and sizes to children, so that they can develop a healthy body ideal early and to have a psychological buffer against mass media that promote an unattainable thin ideal. Furthermore, the results of the study will useful to the National Institute of Mental Health. Findings will enhance knowledge about modern cultural objects that impact mental health conditions, specifically eating disorders, and depression or low self-esteem because of body image concerns. Innovation The study challenges current literature by focusing on an under-researched mass media product- music videos. It also explains how it extends other research by not using self-esteem as a moderator. Its main innovation is the treatment of self-esteem, not as a moderating variable to body dissatisfaction, but as an outcome of watching music videos with thin models. The study also refines Bell et al.’s study (2007) by adding a measure of body estimation. The study, nevertheless, does not change Bell et al.’s (2007) experimental methodologies because it has a control group and uses three conditions. Approach The overall strategy is well-reasoned because it is based on the findings and methodology of an empirical study from Bell et al.’s research (2007). The analyses are also valid because of the connections found in the past between mass media consumption and poor body image. The study also considered the potential problem of bias regarding the thinness ideal, so it included a “memory task” to reduce this confounding variable. The study did not determine alternative strategies, although some of them could be creating scenarios or descriptions that also test self-esteem and body satisfaction and providing other ways of observing self-esteem in the real world after consuming music videos. In addition, the study focuses on human female adolescents only, since they are the most affected when it comes to body images. Protections for Human Subjects The study considered that there will be low psychological risk due to the exposure of existing teenagers to music videos. It also strives to reduce mental and physical risks and harms. Moreover, it explains the benefits of critical thinking and self-awareness. It further underscores the importance of gaining knowledge about music videos to understanding the sociocultural factors that may put young women at risk for lower self-esteem and eating disorders. Inclusion of Women, Minorities, and Children The study explains why female adolescents are the sole subjects. They are the specific group and sex who go through great pressure to attain the thin ideal. The study, moreover, explains that it seeks to include all ethnicities. Reference “The Unattainable Thin Ideal- The Negative Effects of Music Videos on Adolescents” Read More