Exploring the quality of social information disclosed in non-financial reports of Croatian companies

By enacting the provisions of Directive 2014/95/EU and the Croatian Accounting Act on disclosing non-financial and diversity information, companies of public interest registering 500 and more employees are required to disclose non-financial information. The purpose of this research is to assess the quality of disclosed social information in non- financial/sustainability reports of Croatian companies. The assessment of the social information was grounded on the framework defined by globally accepted sustainability reporting standards by assessing the quality of social subcategories of human rights, labour practice, community/society and product, measured by attributes of relevance, clarity, verifiability, comparability and clarity. With the overall quality score of 13.16 (out of possible 36), the results prove that Croatian companies do disclose certain social information, but the reliability of this information for benchmarking and competitiveness assessment is questionable, as a consensus on the minimum of information to be disclosed as a fundamental requirement for benchmarking has not yet been reached

The politics of performance: transnationalism and its limits in former Yugoslav popular music, 1999–2004

This paper examines transnational relations between the Yugoslav successor states from the point of view of popular music, and demonstrates how transnational musical figures (such as Djordje Balaševi?, Mom?ilo Bajagi?-Bajaga and Ceca Ražnatovi?) are interpreted as symbolic reference points in national ethnopolitical discourse in the process of identity construction. Another symbolic function is served by Serbian turbofolk artists, who in Croatia serve as a cultural resource to distance oneself from a musical genre associated by many urban Croats with the ruralization (and Herzegovinization) of Croatian city space. In addition, value judgements associated with both Serbian and Croatian newly composed folk music provide an insight into the transnational negotiation of conflicting identities in the ex-Yugoslav context. Ultimately the paper shows how the ethnonational boundaries established by nationalizing ideologies created separate cultural spaces which themselves have been transnationalized after Yugoslavia's disintegration

Obesity dilemma in the global burden of cardiovascular diseases

Aim: Obesity is a well-known risk factor in the cardiovascular disease continuum. However, its clinical effects are multimodal, perplexed and non-unanimously understood. Our aim was to assess the prevalence and effects of obesity on the cardiometabolic risk factors and systolic function of left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF) in patients scheduled for cardiovascular rehabilitation. Methods: A cohort of 302 consecutive patients recently treated for ischaemic or valvular heart disease was matched according to the existence of obesity, defined with body mass index (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2;n = 90 vs. 212), and the advanced grade of obesity (BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2;n= 19 vs. 283). Nutritional risk screening was performed using the standardised NRS-2002 tool. Results: The mean age of patients was 62.4 11.2 (range 23–86) years; there were more men than women 244 (80.8%) : 58 (19.2%). Group of obese conveyed higher prevalence of ischaemic heart disease than non-obese (OR = 2.69; 95% CI: 1.01–7.20; p = 0.048); while the difference was insignificant for the advanced grade of obesity (n = 17; 89.5%) vs. controls (n = 233; 82.3%; p > 0.05). There was no significant difference in prevalence of other comorbidities (diabetes, glucose intolerance, hypercholesterolaemia, chronic renal and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) between studied groups (p > 0.05). Utilisation of lipid-lowering drugs was of similar range between the studied groups (p > 0.05), respectively. LVEF (%) was 50.5 8.2 vs. 50.7 7.7 (p > 0.05) and 50.6 7.8 vs. 49.6 10.9 (p > 0.05; Rho = 0.001; p > 0.05), respectively. Conclusion: In studied set of patients, BMI positively correlated with left ventricle dimension and thickness. No significant connection of obesity was found with the prevalence of chronic comorbidities, increased nutritional risk, laboratory diagnostics or systolic function of left ventricle. Existence of obesity paradox in clinical practice was in part reaffirmed with our stud

Definitions and Epidemiology of Endodontic Infections

Purpose of Review: This review describes the recent findings from epidemiological studies on endodontic infections. The recent literature was screened for studies on the prevalence of primary apical periodontitis and posttreatment apical periodontitis in various populations. Recent Findings: Twenty-nine articles reporting data on the prevalence of primary or posttreatment apical periodontitis from all over the world were included. The prevalence of apical periodontitis varied between 7 and 86%, while that of posttreatment apical periodontitis varied between 10 and 62%. The quality of the coronal restoration and the root filling appears to be the major predictors of apical periodontitis. Summary: The recent findings from epidemiological studies on the prevalence of primary and posttreatment apical periodontitis in various populations are not substantially different from those from earlier years. It appears that the health of periapical tissues has not majorly improved in the general population