Time trajectories of key cardiometabolic parameters and of cardiovascular risk in subjects with diabetes in a real world setting.

Background And Aims: Diabetes is associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Glycated haemoglobin (HbA), lipid parameters and blood pressure are known risk factors for adverse outcome. The aim of the study was to explore the time trajectories of these key parameters and of the associated cardiovascular risk.

Making Use of Comparable Health Data to Improve Quality of Care and Outcomes in Diabetes: The EUBIROD Review of Diabetes Registries and Data Sources in Europe.

Background: Registries and data sources contain information that can be used on an ongoing basis to improve quality of care and outcomes of people with diabetes. As a specific task of the EU Bridge Health project, we carried out a survey of diabetes-related data sources in Europe.

Objectives: We aimed to report on the organization of different sources of diabetes information, including their governance, information infrastructure and dissemination strategies for quality control, service planning, public health, policy and research.

Learning from experience in a National Healthcare System: organizational dynamics that enable or inhibit change processes.

Objective: To study the organizational dynamics that either enable or inhibit the changes needed by the system for the ongoing organizational development of the major acute general public hospital in Malta.

Setting: The main public acute general hospital in Malta. Malta is the main island of a small archipelago in the Mediterranean with a total population reaching around 460 000.

Hierarchical auxetic mechanical metamaterials.

Auxetic mechanical metamaterials are engineered systems that exhibit the unusual macroscopic property of a negative Poisson's ratio due to sub-unit structure rather than chemical composition. Although their unique behaviour makes them superior to conventional materials in many practical applications, they are limited in availability. Here, we propose a new class of hierarchical auxetics based on the rotating rigid units mechanism.

Cross-border flow of health information: is 'privacy by design' enough? Privacy performance assessment in EUBIROD.

Background: The EUBIROD project aims to perform a cross-border flow of diabetes information across 19 European countries using the BIRO information system, which embeds privacy principles and data protection mechanisms in its architecture (privacy by design). A specific task of EUBIROD was to investigate the variability in the implementation of the EU Data Protection Directive (DPD) across participating centres.

Methods: Compliance with privacy requirements was assessed by means of a specific questionnaire administered to all participating diabetes registers.

Lack of evidence of cerebral oedema in adults treated for diabetic ketoacidosis with fluids of different tonicity.

Each of ten adult patients consecutively admitted in DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) was infused with either 0.15 or 0.12 mol/l saline as part of the treatment regimen.