Competence and Behavioral/Emotional Problems in Croatian Children – Parents\u27 and Teachers\u27 Reports: Pilot Study

Achenbach\u27s Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Teacher\u27s Report Form (TRF) were administered to school children aged between 7–11 comprising a non-referred sample (n = 349) drawn from the whole country. Those were the first data on the CBCL and TRF in Croatia. Both in the CBCL and TRF boys had higher scores compared to girls in the Externalizing and Total Problems scale (p<0.01 and p<0.05). Parents rated higher scores to the Internalizing and Externalizing scales and the Total Problems scale in both sexes (p<0.01 and p<0.05), with the exception of the Internalizing scale in boys. Parents are very important observers of mental health problems in children

Factors Predicting a Child’s Dental Fear

The aim of the present study was to determine and assess the variables most involved in the etiology of a child’s dental fear. The study was performed on a sample of 89 children aged from 5.5 to 12.5 years and their mothers. The sample comprised 37 children with experience of dental trauma (19 boys and 18 girls) and 52 children without experience of dental trauma (28 boys and 24 girls). Corah Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS) was applied to evaluate the level of the child’s (CDAS) and mother’s (MDAS) dental anxiety. Broome’s Child Medical Fear Questionnaire (CMFQ) was used to assess the child’s fear of medical treatment. Hollingshead Two Factor Index of Social Position (ISP) was calculated to assess socio–economic status of the family. Cluster analysis differentiated one group of dentally anxious children with the highest level of maternal anxiety (MDAS = 14.44) and the lowest socio–economic status (ISP = 41.94). Another group of extremely anxious children (CDAS = 14.31) showed the highest fear of medical treatment (CMFQ = 22.08) and rather low socio–economic status. One group represented children with the lowest CDAS (5.63), lowest MDAS (8.46), and lowest CMFQ (13.54). Linear regression analysis showed high correlation between previous traumatic medical experiences and a child’s dental anxiety using the linear model CDAS’ = b0 + b1 CMFQ. The analysis revealed that a child’s dental fear mostly depends on early negative medical experience, while maternal dental anxiety and socio-economic circumstances seem to be of less importance

Factors Predicting a Child’s Dental Fear

The aim of the present study was to determine and assess the variables most involved in the etiology of a child’s dental fear. The study was performed on a sample of 89 children aged from 5.5 to 12.5 years and their mothers. The sample comprised 37 children with experience of dental trauma (19 boys and 18 girls) and 52 children without experience of dental trauma (28 boys and 24 girls). Corah Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS) was applied to evaluate the level of the child’s (CDAS) and mother’s (MDAS) dental anxiety. Broome’s Child Medical Fear Questionnaire (CMFQ) was used to assess the child’s fear of medical treatment. Hollingshead Two Factor Index of Social Position (ISP) was calculated to assess socio–economic status of the family. Cluster analysis differentiated one group of dentally anxious children with the highest level of maternal anxiety (MDAS = 14.44) and the lowest socio–economic status (ISP = 41.94). Another group of extremely anxious children (CDAS = 14.31) showed the highest fear of medical treatment (CMFQ = 22.08) and rather low socio–economic status. One group represented children with the lowest CDAS (5.63), lowest MDAS (8.46), and lowest CMFQ (13.54). Linear regression analysis showed high correlation between previous traumatic medical experiences and a child’s dental anxiety using the linear model CDAS’ = b0 + b1 CMFQ. The analysis revealed that a child’s dental fear mostly depends on early negative medical experience, while maternal dental anxiety and socio-economic circumstances seem to be of less importance

A survey of tourist preference for forests and attitudes towards ecological and social forest services

Ispitivanje sklonosti turista za boravak u šumi provedeno je tijekom dviju ljetnih sezona na otoku Korčuli. Ispitanici su bili domaći i strani turisti koji su izabrali hrvatsku obalu za odredište svoga godišnjeg odmora. Otok se nalazi u srednjodalmatinskom arhipelagu, južno od Splita, a sjeverno od Dubrovnika. Poznato je turističko odredište, koje ostvari i do milijun noćenja po sezoni. Uz to, Korčula je jedan od najšumovitijih otoka, s više od 60 % površine obrasle šumom. Cilj ispitivanja bio je dobiti uvid u stavove i sklonosti turista za boravak u šumi i ekološkim i socijalnim uslugama šuma. Anketa je ponuđena ispitanicima na samostalno ispunjavanje po slobodnom izboru i bez vremenskoga ograničenja. Anketa je bila opširna, s više grupa pitanja različitih mogućnosti odgovora. Grupe pitanja obrađivale su: socioekonomski status ispitanika, sklonosti za boravkom u šumi i različitim aktivnostima, odnos prema okolišu i razlozi dolaska na odmor u odabrano odredište. Radi raznolike turističke populacije, anketa je ponuđena na hrvatskom i sedam stranih jezika (engleski, njemački, talijanski, slovenski, poljski, češki i mađarski). Rezultati su ukazali na značajnu sklonost turista za boravkom u prirodi i šumi, visoku svijest ispitanika o okolišnim vrijednostima i prepoznavanje šume kao značajnog činitelja krajobraza i okoliša općenito, za čije su čuvanje i obnovu spremni dodatno izdvojiti od 1,5 do 3,5% na cijenu smještaja, čime bi se sakupila značajna svota novca namijenjena zaštiti i obnovi šuma.The preference of tourists for forests was surveyed during two summer seasons on the island of Kor~ula. The respondents were Croatian and foreign tourists who chose the Croatian coast as a holiday destination. The island is situated in the Central Dalmatian archipelago south of Split and north of Dubrovnik. It is a renowned tourist resort that achieves up to one million overnight stays per season. Over 60% of the area of Kor~ula is covered with forests, which ranks this island among one of the most forested in the Adriatic. The goal of the survey was to test the attitudes and preferences of tourists for forests and for ecological and social forest services. Tourists were asked to fill in the questionnaire at their choice and with no time limit. The extensive questionnaire consisted of several groups of questions and offered different possibilities of answers. The groups of questions included the following the socio-economic status of the respondents, the preference for forests and different activities in forests, attitudes towards the environment and the reasons for spending a holiday in a chosen destination. In order to include different tourist populations in the survey, the questionnaire was printed in Croatian and in 7 foreign languages (English, German, Italian, Slovenian, Polish, Check and Hungarian). The results showed significant preference of tourists for forests and the nature, a keen awareness of environmental values and the perception of a forest as an important landscape and environmental factor in general. Tourists were prepared to pay an additional 1.5 to 3.5% on the cost of accommodation in order to contribute to the means intended for the preservation and regeneration of forests

A survey of tourist preference for forests and attitudes towards ecological and social forest services

Ispitivanje sklonosti turista za boravak u šumi provedeno je tijekom dviju ljetnih sezona na otoku Korčuli. Ispitanici su bili domaći i strani turisti koji su izabrali hrvatsku obalu za odredište svoga godišnjeg odmora. Otok se nalazi u srednjodalmatinskom arhipelagu, južno od Splita, a sjeverno od Dubrovnika. Poznato je turističko odredište, koje ostvari i do milijun noćenja po sezoni. Uz to, Korčula je jedan od najšumovitijih otoka, s više od 60 % površine obrasle šumom. Cilj ispitivanja bio je dobiti uvid u stavove i sklonosti turista za boravak u šumi i ekološkim i socijalnim uslugama šuma. Anketa je ponuđena ispitanicima na samostalno ispunjavanje po slobodnom izboru i bez vremenskoga ograničenja. Anketa je bila opširna, s više grupa pitanja različitih mogućnosti odgovora. Grupe pitanja obrađivale su: socioekonomski status ispitanika, sklonosti za boravkom u šumi i različitim aktivnostima, odnos prema okolišu i razlozi dolaska na odmor u odabrano odredište. Radi raznolike turističke populacije, anketa je ponuđena na hrvatskom i sedam stranih jezika (engleski, njemački, talijanski, slovenski, poljski, češki i mađarski). Rezultati su ukazali na značajnu sklonost turista za boravkom u prirodi i šumi, visoku svijest ispitanika o okolišnim vrijednostima i prepoznavanje šume kao značajnog činitelja krajobraza i okoliša općenito, za čije su čuvanje i obnovu spremni dodatno izdvojiti od 1,5 do 3,5% na cijenu smještaja, čime bi se sakupila značajna svota novca namijenjena zaštiti i obnovi šuma.The preference of tourists for forests was surveyed during two summer seasons on the island of Kor~ula. The respondents were Croatian and foreign tourists who chose the Croatian coast as a holiday destination. The island is situated in the Central Dalmatian archipelago south of Split and north of Dubrovnik. It is a renowned tourist resort that achieves up to one million overnight stays per season. Over 60% of the area of Kor~ula is covered with forests, which ranks this island among one of the most forested in the Adriatic. The goal of the survey was to test the attitudes and preferences of tourists for forests and for ecological and social forest services. Tourists were asked to fill in the questionnaire at their choice and with no time limit. The extensive questionnaire consisted of several groups of questions and offered different possibilities of answers. The groups of questions included the following the socio-economic status of the respondents, the preference for forests and different activities in forests, attitudes towards the environment and the reasons for spending a holiday in a chosen destination. In order to include different tourist populations in the survey, the questionnaire was printed in Croatian and in 7 foreign languages (English, German, Italian, Slovenian, Polish, Check and Hungarian). The results showed significant preference of tourists for forests and the nature, a keen awareness of environmental values and the perception of a forest as an important landscape and environmental factor in general. Tourists were prepared to pay an additional 1.5 to 3.5% on the cost of accommodation in order to contribute to the means intended for the preservation and regeneration of forests

The Prevalence of Minor Physical Anomalies in Mentally Retarded Children

The prevalence of minor physical anomalies was examined in a sample of 109 children with idiopathic mental retardation (65 boys and 44 girls). Control group consisted of 246 healthy schoolchildren (123 boys and 123 girls) aged 8 to 12 years. A comparison was made between number of found minor anomalies per child (W1) and their Waldrop weight scores (W2) in healthy and mentally retarded (MR) children. The MR children were found to have a higher number of minor anomalies per child. In their group predominated those with four or more anomalies (56.9%), whereas among healthy children only 7.7% had four anomalies or more. In contrast to the high weighted score value (W2) of five or greater in 36.7% of MR children, it was absent in all control group subjects. There were highly significant differences between the MR and healthy children in the average value of the number of minor anomalies per child (W1) and in the average weighted score (W2). The average number of minor anomalies per child (W1) in MR and well children was 3.65 and 1.7, respectively. In MR children the average weighted score (W2) was 3.82, being 1.46 in healthy children. Our results suggest that common etiological factors, which had led to a physical and mental disorder, were active early in the development of MR children. The finding of high incidence of multiple minor anomalies in MR children indicates that genetic factors may play an important role in the etiology of the underlying disorder in the child group studied

A Large Cross-Sectional Study of Health Attitudes, Knowledge, Behaviour and Risks in the Post-War Croatian Population (The First Croatian Health Project*)

As the liberation of occupied Croatian territories ended the war in the country in 1995, the Ministry of Health and Croatian Health Insurance Institute have agreed to create the new framework for developing a long-term strategy of public health planning, prevention and intervention. They provided financial resources to develop the First Cro-atian Health Project, the rest of the support coming from the World Bank loan and the National Institute of Public Health. A large cross-sectional study was designed aiming to assess health attitudes, knowledge, behaviour and risks in the post-war Croatian population. The large field study was carried out by the Institute for Anthropological Research with technical support from the National Institute of Public Health. The field study was completed between 1995–1997. It included about 10,000 adult volunteers from all 21 Croatian counties. The geographic distribution of the sample covered both coastal and continental areas of Croatia and included rural and urban environments. The specific measurements included antropometry (body mass index and blood pressure). From each examinee a blood sample was collected from which the levels of total plasma cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), HDL-cholesterol (High Density Lipoprotein), LDL-cholesterol (Low Density Lipoprotein), lipoprotein Lp(a), and haemostatic risk factor fibrinogen (F) were determined. The detailed data were collected on the general knowledge and attitudes on health issues, followed by specific investigation of smoking history, alcohol consumption, nutrition habits, physical activity, family history of chronic non-communicable diseases and occupational exposures. From the initial database a targeted sample of 5,840 persons of both sexes, aged 18–65, was created corresponding by age, sex and geographic distribution to the general Croatian population. This paper summarises and discusses the main findings of the project within this representative sample of Croatian population

Enabling planetary science across light-years. Ariel Definition Study Report

Ariel, the Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey, was adopted as the fourth medium-class mission in ESA's Cosmic Vision programme to be launched in 2029. During its 4-year mission, Ariel will study what exoplanets are made of, how they formed and how they evolve, by surveying a diverse sample of about 1000 extrasolar planets, simultaneously in visible and infrared wavelengths. It is the first mission dedicated to measuring the chemical composition and thermal structures of hundreds of transiting exoplanets, enabling planetary science far beyond the boundaries of the Solar System. The payload consists of an off-axis Cassegrain telescope (primary mirror 1100 mm x 730 mm ellipse) and two separate instruments (FGS and AIRS) covering simultaneously 0.5-7.8 micron spectral range. The satellite is best placed into an L2 orbit to maximise the thermal stability and the field of regard. The payload module is passively cooled via a series of V-Groove radiators; the detectors for the AIRS are the only items that require active cooling via an active Ne JT cooler. The Ariel payload is developed by a consortium of more than 50 institutes from 16 ESA countries, which include the UK, France, Italy, Belgium, Poland, Spain, Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Portugal, Czech Republic, Hungary, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, and a NASA contribution