Analysis of the organisational culture in two Croatian hospitals.

BACKGROUND: organisational culture is the character of the environment of individual bodies. It consists of a set of values, norms and customs that govern the relations between people within it. Its elements are a mission or goals, organisational climate and a working atmosphere, which affect motivation, effectiveness and, ultimately, management style. AIM: this research aimed to determine which organisational culture is prevalent in hospitals, and which staff consider is the most desirable. METHODS: the research was conducted in two hospitals in Zagreb-University Hospital Sveti Duh and University Hospital Dubrava. The Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument was administered to 87 nurses. RESULTS: in both hospitals, a clan culture was prevalent, followed by a hierarchical culture, then a competitive culture. The adhocracy culture was the least common. Participants said a clan culture was the most desirable, then a hierarchical culture, followed by the adhocracy culture; the least desirable was a competitive culture. In Sveti Duh, a clan culture was predominant, while in Dubrava it was a hierarchical culture. The most desirable culture for staff of both hospitals is the clan culture, but it was more prevalent in Sveti Duh. CONCLUSION: in two Croatian university hospitals, according to staff, a clan organisational culture is the most common type and is also the most desirable.

SUBJECTIVE ASSESSMENT OF CROATIAN DENTAL MEDICINE STUDENTS ON THEIR KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS IN PROSTHODONTICS.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to establish the subjective perception of dental medicine students' knowledge and skills in prosthodontics and to determine both how their perception changed during their study, by gaining clinical experience. Also, the aim was to investigate if there were any socio-demographic factors that influenced students' perception. METHODS: The research, based on an anonymous survey for dental medicine students was carried out at the School of Dental Medicine, University of Zagreb in 2015. YES/NO/DO NOT KNOW questions were used for assessment of students' knowledge, and a 50 mm visual analog scale was used for assessment of their abilities and skills. The Chi-square test, t-test for independent samples, analysis of variance and the Pearson's correlation coefficient were used for statistical data analysis. RESULTS: Students' response (4th, 5th and 6th year of study) to the study amounted to 71,3%. The results showed that clinical experience and the number of correct answers from knowledge assessment increased with the year of study. Students with completed dental laboratory technician school took statistically significantly larger number of impressions and fabricated a significantly larger number of fixed restorations. Additionally, the results showed a significantly higher level of agreement with the statements about their perception of knowledge and skills. CONCLUSION: Students' perceptions on learning positively correlated with the number of completed semesters in prosthodontics and the students' own clinical experience.

Myeloperoxidase G-463A polymorphism and Alzheimer's disease in the ApoEurope study.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly. Epidemiological and molecular genetic studies have shown the existence of several genes associated with increased risk of AD, the major genetic susceptibility locus coding for apolipoprotein E (apoE). A polymorphism in the myeloperoxidase gene (MPO) has previously been associated with AD susceptibility. However, results in the literature are controversial and seem to be dependent on several factors such as gender, apoE polymorphism or the genetic structure of the population. We investigated MPO G-463A and apoE polymorphism in 265 cases and 246 controls from the ApoEurope Study. In females, we found a significant association between MPO genotype and AD (P=0.034), GG genotype frequency being lower in cases (52.4%) as compared to controls (64.2%). In men, there was no significant effect of MPO polymorphism. No interaction was found between MPO polymorphism and apoE epsilon 4 allele. In conclusion, the G-463A polymorphism of MPO was statistically associated with AD in a gender-specific manner. However, given the low significance of P value we suggest no causal effect of the MPO gene in AD, as also evidenced in a recent meta-analysis. Our results support the hypothesis of a possible linkage disequilibrium between the MPO G-463A gene polymorphism and another functional variant involved in AD.