No / Vitamin D deficiency is thought to impair insulin action and glucose metabolism; however, previous studies have not examined ethnic differences or the influence of calcium and parathyroid hormone. We investigated this in a cohort of predominantly white European and south Asian women during pregnancy. Methods: In this cross-sectional study from an urban population in northern England (53.8°N), 1467 women were recruited when undergoing glucose tolerance testing (75 g oral glucose tolerance test) at 26 weeks' gestation. Results: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) was diagnosed in 137 women (9.3%). Median 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration for the study population was 9.3 ng/mL (interquartile range 5.2, 16.9) and was higher in European [15.2 ng/mL (10.7, 23.5)] than in south Asian women [5.9 ng/mL (3.9, 9.4), P < .001]. After appropriate adjustment for confounders, 25-hydroxyvitamin D showed a weak inverse association with fasting plasma glucose (FPG; mean difference 1.0% per 1 SD; the ratio of geometric means (RGM) 0.99, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.98, 1.00), and PTH was weakly associated with FPG (RGM 1.01, 95% CI 1.00, 1.02), but neither was associated with fasting insulin, postchallenge glucose, or GDM. Serum calcium (albumin adjusted) was strongly associated with fasting insulin (RGM 1.06; 95% CI 1.03, 1.08), postchallenge glucose (RGM 1.03, 95% CI 1.01, 1.04), and GDM (odds ratio 1.33, 95% CI 1.06, 1.66) but not with FPG. Associations were similar in European and south Asian women. Conclusions: These findings do not indicate any important association between vitamin D status and glucose tolerance in pregnancy. Relationships between circulating calcium and glucose metabolism warrant further investigation.

La défense de la République espagnole pendant la guerre d’Espagne (1936-1939) a constitué un point de cristallisation de l’engagement des intellectuels européens et un catalyseur de la mobilisation des femmes en faveur d’un régime qui leur avait reconnu des droits dans la Constitution de 1931. A la croisée de ces deux communautés, seize femmes se sont impliquées dans cet épisode majeur de l’histoire européenne du XXème siècle en apportant leur soutien actif au gouvernement républicain. En mettant en regard ces huit Espagnoles (Rosa Chacel, Ernestina de Champourcin, Carmen Conde, María Teresa León, Concha Méndez Cuesta, Margarita Nelken, Isabel Oyarzábal de Palencia et María Zambrano) et ces huit étrangères (Valentine Ackland, Agnia Barto, Nancy Cunard, Clara Malraux, Anna Sehers, Sylvia Townsend Warner, Andrée Viollis, Simone Weil), cette thèse prétend mettre au jour des personnalités et des trajectoires individuelles méconnues – voire inconnues – et apporter sur le conflit un éclairage nouveau. A travers la prise en compte des prémices de leur engagement commun contre le fascisme entre 1936 et 1939, l’analyse de leur contribution directe à l’effort de guerre et l’étude de leur participation à la défense de la culture, il s’agit de montrer que la guerre d’Espagne fut pour toutes un espace d’affirmation et de revendication d’elles-mêmes comme femmes, comme antifascistes et comme femmes de lettres. / During the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), many European intellectuals took position supporting the Spanish Republic. So did women, who rallied to defend a regime whose 1931 Constitution had granted them voting rights. Thus sixteen women of letters got involved in one of the critical events of the 20th century, taking an active part in defending the Republican Government. Comparing these 8 Spanish women (Rosa Chacel, Ernestina de Champourcin, Carmen Conde, María Teresa León, Concha Méndez Cuesta, Margarita Nelken, Isabel Oyarzábal de Palencia et María Zambrano) and 8 foreigners (Valentine Ackland, Agnia Barto, Nancy Cunard, Clara Malraux, Anna Sehers, Sylvia Townsend Warner, Andrée Viollis, Simone Weil), the PhD dissertation aims to both cast light on these not very well-known women and their personal commitments and destinies, and provide new insight on the Civil War. Taking into account the early stages of their common commitment against fascism between 1936 and 1939, and analyzing their direct contribution to the war effort and their defense of culture, the dissertation aims to show that the Spanish Civil War gave these women the opportunity to assert themselves as women, as activists and as women of letters.