An Anthropological View of Nutrition and Art in Wider Area of Selška Valley, Slovenia

The paper presents nutrition as a fundamental biological function in connection with art from wider Škofjeloško-Selška area on the examples of medieval wall paintings-frescoes, painted beehive panels and examples of folk art such as small breads, Dražgoše breads and some other folk arts related to nutrition. The study on nutrition and art was included in the multi-year project Research of the Population Structures of Slovenia, with which we determine the types of populations, the direction of their development, their ecological, genetic and other effects, as well as their interactions

The Prevalence of Dementia in Europe and in Slovenia: The Review and Estimate of Dementia for Slovenia for 2018 and Projection for 2030

Dementia is becoming an increasingly important public health priority that will continue to increase due to the population aging and longevity. Appropriate national assessment of dementia prevalence is essential for properly planing the actions needed to address dementia. The purpose of this work was to identify the known prevalence of dementia in Europe and in Slovenia in the last twenty years, as well as to produce an estimation for 2018 and a projection for 2030 based on population data in Slovenia. The PubMed database search engine was used. We searched for hits in various combinations and reviewed the literature on the prevalence of dementia in Europe and in Slovenia. Estimates of dementia revalence for Slovenia were not found in the reviewed literature; we calculated it based on Slovenian data for 2018 and projections for 2030. Dementia prevalence rates in Europe have not changed significantly in most age groups in recent decades. In Slovenia, in 2018, the age-standardized prevalence rate for those aged 65 and over was 6.9%, for women 8.8% and for men twice lower, and according to the projection for 2030 it was 7.2% for men, 9.0% for women, which was twice as much as in men. The gross prevalence rate for dementia in people aged 65 and older in Europe ranges from 5.9% to 9.4%. The results of all studies show that the prevalence is increasing with increasing age, that it is higher and it is increasing earlier and faster in women (80–84 years) compared to men (85–89 years). The prevalence of dementia in women was twice as high as that of men and was increasing more rapidly with age. In Slovenia we can expect an increase in the number of people with dementia in the next ten years, primarily due to the aging of the population and extending of the life expectancy

Vaccination Coverage in Hard to Reach Roma Children in Slovenia

The results of the retrospective analysis of data on vaccination coverage in the preschool-aged and school-aged Roma children (436 preschool and 551 schoolchildren) in three geographical regions of Slovenia were analyzed to establish the differences concerning coverage for specific vaccinations: poliomyelitis, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, measles, mumps and rubella between the two generation. The data were obtained from health records, immunization records (Vaccination booklet) and National Computerized Immunization System (CEPI 2000®). Vaccination coverage was calculated by comparing the number of children eligible for immunization with the number of vaccinated children. This article performs the log-rank statistical test, also known as the Mantel-Haenszel test. Log rang test is comparing survival curves for two generations. Preschool-aged Roma children showed higher vaccination coverage than the school-aged Roma generation. There was no significance difference in the generations of preschool aged and school aged Roma children fully vaccinated against poliomyelitis, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis. Rubella vaccination was significantly lower in the school aged Roma generation. Only 33% of school aged Roma population received two doses of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. Vaccination coverage of preschool Roma children in Slovenia against poliomyelitis, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) were significantly lower then the national vaccination coverage for preschool aged Slovenia children. Many joint efforts will have to be made to improve the vaccination coverage in Roma communities

Governance in/of Cancer Care and Stewardship in Cancer Control: Creation of Definitions

In the literature in the field of cancer care, especially in the literature concerning national cancer control programmes, the terms governance and stewardship in/of cancer care are used, but usually not explained or defined. Therefore, we planned a systematic literature review in order to find the definitions of the terms governance and stewardship in/of cancer care. It was planned to create new definitions of the mentioned terms in case of unsuccessful finds. A literature review using PubMed, Google and MeSH as well as an opportunistic search for extra articles and chapters from books and grey literature was performed. Most of the found and analysed articles did not give exact explanation of the terms governance/stewardship in/of cancer care or they cited older articles (published before the year 2000) where the terms are used mostly in the field of clinical governance or in the completely other fileds, mostly banking, economy, religion or spirituality. Therefore, it was decided in the working group of experts from different European countries collaborating within in the work package Governance of integrated and comprehensive cancer care in the frame of the Innovative Partnership for the Action Against Cancer Joint Action project on cancer to create new definitions which we are presenting for the first time. The new definitions will facilitate the understanding of the leadership tasks in the area of cancer care and cancer control and will be particularly useful in the field of cancer programmes

Distribution of Surnames and Linguistic-Cultural Identities in Western Slovenia

The following study compares the distribution of surnames in the populations of Western Slovenian municipalities, which were part of the Italian state until the end of the Second World War. The analyses have been carried out firstly by assessing the similarity of different populations to one another so as to verify possible aggregations; secondly, by figuring these relationships of similarity in a representation through unrooted tree (NJ); finally, by applying spatial autocorrelation to the distribution of surnames in the territory so as to highlight possible processes in the diffusion of people in the area under examination. On the whole, it seems likely that the population living in the area is geographically quite stable, although some differences may be noted depending both on the geography of the territory, particularly in the northern part, and on peculiar historical and socioeconomic conditions, which at the same time have characterized and modified the demographic structure of some of these municipalities

The Sel{ka Valley Study of Health and Aging: Unraveling Senescence, Stress and Frailty

In this project we use an age-stratified sample of 100 men and 100 women aged 55 years and older who were residents of the Sel{ka valley in order to explore two health indices, allostatic load (AL), and frailty. AL assesses lifelong stress responses using commonly assessed and clinically meaningful aspects of physiology; our frailty index assesses current somatic well-being using 5 aspects of functioning. Both correlate with clinical morbidity, self-reported health, life style, health history, and well-being. Our research site includes 9 villages located in the isolated Sel{ka valley. Given their relative isolation, residents of this region provide a natural experimental setting for assessing stress, frailty, morbidity, and senescence in a local isolate. This isolated alpine setting provides numerous advantages for continuing research on health, disease and senescence. Our fieldwork protocols include detailed health demographic and SES interviews, measurement of blood pressure, anthropometry, walking speed, strength/endurance, and collection of blood and saliva samples for determinations of hormones, plasma proteins, and lipids. In this paper, we present one segment of data for 41 participants on self-report health and use of prescription medications during our 2008–2010 survey. In general, most participants rate themselves as being in good to excellent health (34/41=85%). However, over 66% are taking medications for a chronic condition, with about 25% taking 4 or more medications