Redefinition of gestational diabetes mellitus: implications for laboratory practice in Croatia

An increasing prevalence of gestational diabetes has become a very challenging task in prenatal care worldwide. International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG) has recently issued recommendations on the diagnosis and classification of hyperglycaemia in pregnancy. These recommendations, the first to provide harmonised, evidence-based criteria for the diagnosis and classification of diabetes in pregnancy, are currently being discussed and accepted worldwide by the relevant authorities. As the acceptance of the proposed criteria has major implications for both clinical and laboratory settings, a concerted action towards necessary changes in practice has to be carefully planned and adjusted to national health-care specificities.IADPSG criteria have been strongly advocated by the Croatian Perinatology Society, resulting in a new strategy for the detection and diagnosis of hyperglycaemic disorders in pregnancy.To address the respective laboratory requirements, in April 2012, the Croatian Chamber of Medical Biochemists appointed a Working Group to provide a standardised procedure for the diagnosis of gestational diabetes, applicable to all laboratories involved in prenatal care, in both primary and specialised health-care facilities.In this paper we discuss key laboratory-related issues regarding succesful implementation of the IADPSG criteria in Croatia.     

The role of parents and peers in understanding female adolescent sexuality – testing perceived peer norms as mediators between some parental variables and sexuality

Previous research has confirmed peers and parents as significant agents of socialisation with respect to young people’s sexuality. The aim of this cross-sectional cohort study was to examine how parental and peer variables predict young women’s sexual behaviour and sexuality-related thoughts and emotions, and whether perceived peer influences mediate the relationship between parental variables and young person sexuality. A total of 560 female high school students of 1st (mean age 15.56 years) and 3rd grade (mean age 17.55 years), selected by means of two-stage stratified probability sampling participated in the research. Results confirmed that peer variables explained considerably more variance in participant sexuality than parental variables. Indirect parental communication about sexuality was a significant positive predictor of sexual behaviour and sexuality-related thoughts and emotions in both subsamples. The strength of direct and indirect influences of parents and peers on young people’s sexuality is determined by the age of the young person and specific aspects of adolescent sexuality. Perceived percentage of sexually active peers was the only mediator in older participants, while in the younger subsample, additional peer variables mediated the association between some parental and sexuality variables. In the discussion, special attention is given to implications of these results for planning future forms of comprehensive sexual education.     

Ultrasound and cadaveric prosections as methods for teaching cardiac anatomy: a comparative study

This study compared the efficacy of two cardiac anatomy teaching modalities, ultrasound imaging and cadaveric prosections, for learning cardiac gross anatomy. One hundred and eight first-year medical students participated. Two weeks prior to the teaching intervention, students completed a pretest to assess their prior knowledge and to ensure that groups were equally randomized. Students, divided into pre-existing teaching groups, were assigned to one of two conditions; "cadaver" or "ultrasound." Those in the cadaver group received teaching on the heart using prosections, whereas the ultrasound group received teaching using live ultrasound images of the heart. Immediately after teaching, students sat a post-test. Both teaching modalities increased students' test scores by similar amounts but no significant difference was found between the two conditions, suggesting that both prosections and ultrasound are equally effective methods for teaching gross anatomy of the heart. Our data support the inclusion of either cadaveric teaching or living anatomy using ultrasound within the undergraduate anatomy curriculum, and further work is needed to compare the additive effect of the two modalities.     

University access and after: explaining the social composition of degree programmes and the contrasting expectations of students

University expansion in higher education has been hierarchically differentiated. There is some concentration of certain social profiles in some degrees of study, so social composition between degrees can vary considerably. This article describes in terms of social composition 10 degrees of four public universities in the metropolitan area of Barcelona. We analyse 857 questionnaires filled in by mid-career students. From the perspective of agent’s decision on the choice of studies, we explore what were the factors that made them choose a concrete degree. We examine several variables that can indicate whether their expectations have been met or not. The results show that the factors predicted by the theory by which working-class (WC) students choose degrees—instrumental motivations and conditions that minimize the risk—are often met. In this regard, the recent structural reform related with the implementation of the European Higher Education Area that removes short-cycles degrees (3 years) could lead to a problem of access for WC students.     

Assessing Long-Term Effects of Inquiry-Based Learning: A Case Study from College Mathematics

As student-centered approaches to teaching and learning are more widely applied, researchers must assess the outcomes of these interventions across a range of courses and institutions. As an example of such assessment, this study examined the impact of inquiry-based learning (IBL) in college mathematics on undergraduates’ subsequent grades and course selection at two institutions. Insight is gained upon disaggregating results by course type (IBL vs. non-IBL), by gender, and by prior mathematics achievement level. In particular, the impact of IBL on previously low-achieving students’ grades is sizable and persistent. The authors offer some methodological advice to guide future such studies.     

Central and South America mass communication: Selected information sources

The current experiment employed a mixed design to assess word learning in 70 infants under the age of 2. Infants (4–24 months) were randomly assigned to watch 1 of 2 educational DVDs in their homes, 6 times over a 2-week period. The 2 DVDs were identical except that each contained 3 different low frequency words (e.g., lens). In addition, participants were randomly assigned to a mediation condition, where parents were told to watch with their child and call attention to the DVD and the words being taught; controls were instructed to allow their child to watch alone. The stimulus DVDs were designed to mimic a commercially available DVD such as Baby Einstein. Following the 2-week exposure period, participants were brought to the testing location and tested on all 6 words, both those that were included in the DVD they were exposed to and those that appeared in the other DVD. Results suggested that infants 17 months and older benefitted from repeat exposure to the DVD; whereas younger infants did not. In addition, mediation did not seem to aid in children's learning from the DVD; although not all parents in the mediation condition complied.     

Teaching Information Literacy Courses in The Context of Library and Information Science Education in Bulgaria: Challenges and Innovative Approaches

ABSTRACT

The article examines the application of innovative approaches in the information literacy training of library and information science students in Bulgaria. The change of the educational paradigm in the field is presented based on recent developments in one of the oldest Bulgarian institutions that prepares librarians and information specialists—the State University of Library Studies and Information Technologies. The active learning strategies suitable for information literacy skills development courses are studied by the use of three methods: “learning by doing,” “interaction in the learning group,” “learning by trial and error” within the practical training of students. The prospects for transforming information literacy instruction through the elaboration of digital educational games and a game-based learning model in the frame of the international project tiLIT are also outlined.     

The Three R's: Rapport,Relationship, and Reference

In the eyes of our patrons, the success of a library transaction depends on both the accuracy of the information conveyed and the quality of the patron/staff interaction. We each experience rapport naturally many times during the day. Skills borrowed from the field of neuro-linguistic programming allow us to learn to quickly create a state of rapport with anyone we encounter. By learning to create rapport intentionally with our patrons, we can improve the quality of their library experience.