Culture and the school: The degree of educational integration of Roma and Gypsies in the Peloponnese region of Greece

This article examines the degree of integration of Roma and Gypsy children in formal education in the Peloponnese region of Greece. It is based on field research conducted by the University of Patras during the school year 2006/07 within the framework of the Greek Ministry of Education’s “Integration of Roma children in school” programme, funded by the European Union. Despite governmental incentives for poor families to enrol their school-aged children, school attendance of Roma and Gypsy children was found to decline from primary year one to primary year six, with hardly any of them entering secondary school at all. Besides looking at school attendance figures and Roma and Gypsy children’s proficiency in reading, writing and numeracy, this paper also considers gender, family composition, living conditions and economic situation, as well as culturally constructed perceptions of childhood and a person’s life cycle. The aim of this article is to highlight the contradictions and ambiguities involved in the process of incorporating Roma and Gypsy children in formal education, and to evaluate their school performance and assess their academic choices.     

THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION: A POINT OF VIEW FROM A DEVELOPING COUNTRY

This article takes a close analytical look at the internationalization of higher education, asking penetrating questions with regard to its basis, its forms, and its results. The author is particularly concerned with problems of asymmetry with regard to the educational links, particularly at higher education level, between the developed western democracies and the developing countries. Going beyond the question of brain drain, the article probes the problem of the alienation of third world academics trained in the higher education institutions of developed countries. While on the balance the author praises the results of the internationalization of higher education and, at any rate, recognizes that it is here to stay, he cautions all those involved in it be aware of who in fact gains and who loses as a result of it.     

Assessment of antinuclear antibodies (ANA): National recommendations on behalf of the Croatian society of medical biochemistry and laboratory medicine

Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) represent a family of autoantibodies targeting ubiquitous cellular constituents and are a hallmark of systemic inflammatory autoimmune rheumatic diseases named connective tissue diseases (CTD). The gold standard method for ANA determination is indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) on the human laryngeal epidermoid carcinoma cell line type 2 substrate (HEp-2), but with increasing demand for ANA testing, novel methods eased for automation emerged, which allows testing by staff less experienced in this specific field of laboratory diagnostic. In 2016 The working group (WG) for laboratory diagnostics of autoimmune diseases as part of the Committee for the Scientific Professional Development of the Croatian Society of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CSMBLM) published the data of a survey regarding general practice in laboratory diagnostics of autoimmune diseases in Croatia. Results indicated high diversity in the performance of autoantibody testing as well as reporting of the results and indicated the need of creating recommendations for the assessment of ANA that would help harmonize diagnostics of systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases in Croatia. This document encompasses twenty-seven recommendations for ANA testing created concerning indications for ANA testing, preanalytical, analytical, and postanalytical issues, including rational algorithm and quality control assurance. These recommendations are based on the relevant international recommendations and guidelines for the assessment of ANA testing and relevant literature search and should help to harmonize the approach in ANA testing and clarify differences in interpretation of the results obtained using different methods of determination.     

Early markers of gestational diabetes mellitus: what we know and which way forward?

Women’s metabolism during pregnancy undergoes numerous changes that can lead to gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). The cause and pathogenesis of GDM, a heterogeneous disease, are not completely clear, but GDM is increasing in prevalence and is associated with the modern lifestyle. Most diagnoses of GDM are made via the guidelines from the International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADSPG), which involve an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy. Diagnosis in this stage of pregnancy can lead to short- and long-term implications for the mother and child. Therefore, there is an urgent need for earlier GDM markers in order to enable prevention and earlier treatment. Routine GDM biomarkers (plasma glucose, insulin, C-peptide, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance, and sex hormone-binding globulin) can differentiate between healthy pregnant women and those with GDM but are not suitable for early GDM diagnosis. In this article, we present an overview of the potential early biomarkers for GDM that have been investigated recently. We also present our view of future developments in the laboratory diagnosis of GDM.     

A robust approach for mapping group marks to individual marks using peer assessment

Group work can form a substantial component of degree programme assessments. To satisfy institutional and student expectations, students must often be assigned individual marks for their contributions to the group project, typically by mapping a single holistic group mark to individual marks using peer assessment scores. Since the early 1990s, various mapping methods that use self- and peer ratings have been developed. They are based on (normalised) individual weighting factors, partial scaling of the group mark, inter-rater agreement corrections or parabolic functions. We show that no single existing method can be successfully applied to most practical peer assessment scenarios such as different marking scale interpretations, intra-group ranking errors, biased free-riders and marks exceeding 100%. We present a combined analytical mapping method that incorporates the benefits of existing mechanisms, but alleviates their weaknesses with minimum computational effort and tutor input. The robustness of the method is illustrated through problematic assessment examples and empirically evaluated in multiple group work environments involving a total of 243 students and five different disciplines.