Haemoglobin A1c-based screening for prediabetes and diabetes mellitus: a multi-center study in Croatian adult population

IntroductionBased on the hypothesis that there is a substantial rate of adults with prediabetes and undiagnosed diabetes mellitus (DM), our aim was to perform haemoglobin A1c (HbA_1c)-based screening in a cohort of Croatian adults and estimate the prevalence of prediabetes and undiagnosed DM according to American Diabetes Association criteria.Materials and methodsThis multi-center, cross-sectional study performed in six Croatian hospitals included 5527 patients aged 40 to 70 years admitted to the Emergency Department or undergoing a primary care check-up. Haemoglobin A1c was measured from leftover whole blood samples using the enzymatic method on either Alinity c or Architect c-series analyser (Abbott Laboratories, Chicago, USA). Haemoglobin A1c between 39-47 mmol/mol was classified as prediabetes, while ≥ 48 mmol/mol as undiagnosed DM.ResultsAfter exclusion of 435 patients with known DM, the final cohort included 5092 patients (median age 57; 56% males). A total of 882 (17.3%) patients had HbA_1c values between 39 and 47 mmol/mol. There were 214 (4.2%) patients with HbA_1c ≥ 48 mmol/mol. Prediabetes prevalence ranged from 14.2% to 20.5%, while undiagnosed DM from 3.3% to 7.3%, with statistically significant differences among settings (P < 0.001). Age-stratified analysis showed that prediabetes and undiagnosed DM prevalence increase with age (P < 0.001), being 25.4% and 5.8%, respectively, in patients aged 60 to 70 years.ConclusionUnderlying impairment of glucose metabolism was identified in about one in five adults, with significant number of patients with already overt DM. These results should serve as a starting point for further steps directed towards promotion of preventive measures for DM in Croatia.     

Productive Communication in an Afterschool Engineering Club with Girls Who are English Language Learners

This article the learning of girls who were in a co-ed after school engineering club related to the project: Designing Vital Engineering and Literacy Practices for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math for Elementary Teachers and Children (DeVELOP STEM ETC). While few girls grow up to become engineers in the US, recently more attention has focused on practices that engage girls in order to grow interest in engineering and engineering careers. In this article, we follow three eight and nine-year-old girls (3rd graders). We illustrate how key features of the Engineering Design Process intersect with a multimodal model of Productive Communication to help the girls enact identities as girls and as engineers as they design and build a bridge. We argue that to enact the Next Generation Science Standards, particularly those related to engineering, engineering and STEM educators must attend to the disciplinary literacies and communicative modes of girls and other under-represented minorities. This is also particularly important for learners who are still new to learning English and who may benefit from multimodal interactions and diverse opportunities to learn.     

Science, the public, and social elites: how the general public, scientists, top politicians and managers perceive science

This paper finds that the Croatian public's and the social elites' perceptions of science are a mixture of scientific and technological optimism, of the tendency to absolve science of social responsibility, of skepticism about the social effects of science, and of cognitive optimism and skepticism. However, perceptions differ significantly according to the different social roles and the wider value system of the observed groups. The survey data show some key similarities, as well as certain specificities in the configuration of the types of views of the four groups--the public, scientists, politicians and managers. The results suggest that the well-known typology of the four cultures reveals some of the ideologies of the key actors of scientific and technological policy. The greatest social, primarily educational and socio-spatial, differentiation of the perceptions of science was found in the general public.     

Why Do Some Young Adults not Graduate From Upper-Secondary School? On the Importance of Signals of Labour Market Failure

In high-income countries, not completing secondary school often entails a high risk of social exclusion. Using data on young adults born in 1985 who grew up in metropolitan Sweden, we study factors associated with not graduating from upper-secondary school at age 21. Our hypothesis is that if a young person sees examples of people who are not able to earn a living despite having a long education, such negative examples are influential. Results from estimated logistic models are consistent with the hypothesis.     

The Value of a Library Catalog for Selecting Children's Picture Books

The aim of this study was to determine how parents select picture books for their children and which bibliographic data are important as they choose between different versions of the same title. Thirty-six parents of preschool children aged one to six years were interviewed and observed as they chose one version of the picture book Cinderella from among six bibliographic records and then selected from among six physical versions. Parents described the criteria and the reasons for their selections. The results indicate that the parents experienced difficulties using the library catalog and that the current bibliographic elements are inadequate.     

Learning strategies and study approaches of postsecondary students with dyslexia

The present study describes the self-reported learning strategies and study approaches of college and university students with and without dyslexia and examines the relationship of those characteristics with reading ability. Students with (n = 36) and without (n = 66) dyslexia completed tests measuring reading rate, reading comprehension, reading history, learning strategies, and learning approaches. The results indicated that students without dyslexia obtained significantly higher scores than students with dyslexia in their reported use of selecting main ideas and test taking strategies. Students with dyslexia reported significantly greater use of study aids and time management strategies in comparison to students without dyslexia. Moreover, university students with dyslexia were significantly more likely to report a deep approach to learning in comparison to university students without dyslexia. Reading ability correlated positively with selecting main ideas and test taking strategies and negatively with use of study aids. The authors interpret the learning strategy results as consequences of and compensations for the difficulties that students with dyslexia have in word reading.     

Teaching Physical Activity—a Matter of Health and Equality?

The aim of this study is to understand the mechanisms supporting equality and social health in physical activity (PA) practices by analysing didactic choices. Social health is understood as equal distribution of power. Thereby, a healthy PA practice needs to be inclusive. 3 PA activities are analysed as cases. Issues of inclusion and exclusion are scrutinized. The analysis shows how the power in PA classes may be reallocated by didactic choices and tools such as the teaching content, the rules, the organization, and the leader attitude. Additionally, to increase the possibilities of conducting healthy PA teaching in physical education and health (PEH), humane values need to take precedence before the competitive sport logic governed by a scientific paradigm.     

Morality at the margins: a silent dimension of teaching and learning

Teaching is a moral endeavour. It transmits moral messages based on values and expectations. This paper explores the relationship between school practice and the democratic values endorsed in the Swedish national curriculum. A lunch‐time episode illustrates the discrepancy between the national curriculum’s ethical values and their realization in practice. This discrepancy problematizes the decentralization process in Swedish schooling. Furthermore, it suggests that episodes at the margins of school practice may be just as important to the moral curriculum of school as the knowledge‐related elements conventionally deemed to be the core of the curriculum.     

Prevalence of a characteristic gene profile in high-level rhythmic gymnasts

Abstract

High-level physical performance in rhythmic gymnastics is influenced by numerous skills and anthropometric factors. In order to understand if genetic predisposition could play a role to define the elite rhythmic gymnast phenotype, we analysed the frequency of common polymorphisms linked to genes correlated with body mass (ADRB2 and FTO), explosive strength (ACTN3 and ACE), and joint mobility (COL5A1), in 42 gymnasts involved in National and International events, and in 42 control girls. Our results demonstrated that high-level rhythmic gymnasts constituted a genetically selected population showing higher frequency of: (a) ADRB2 and FTO alleles linked to low body mass index and low fat mass; (b) COL5A1 CT genotype linked to high joint mobility and to the occurrence of genu recurvatum, but also to a higher incidence of injuries. ACTN3 and ACE polymorphisms did not appear to be connected with the phenotype of high-level rhythmic gymnast. Based on these data, it can be assumed that these polymorphisms could positively affect the phenotype and performance of gymnasts.     

Definition of the procedure to determine the suitability and durability of an anti-graffiti product for application on cultural heritage porous materials

Anti-graffiti protection is becoming a common practice in many urban buildings, especially in areas of social decay. When Cultural Heritage objects are affected by graffiti, the application of anti-graffiti products can result not only in an unsatisfactory result but also in an irreversible damage of an invaluable cost. The materials commonly found in these constructions are very frequently porous and present different types of decay forms. For this reason, the protection of these materials should be carefully considered. This paper proposes a criterion to decide on the suitability and durability of an anti-graffiti product prior to its application in a porous surface of a protected building. Performance classifications are defined for a series of properties including colour and gloss, and hydric and durability properties, and minimum acceptable values or reductions in these properties are recommended.