The prevalence of high dysplastic colonic adenomatous polyps in a 3 year endoscopic retrospective study from a single clinical center

Introduction: Many colon neoplastic tumors come from the malignancy of adenomatous polyps (70%-90%) that were not timely diagnosed in order to be resected. Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective study regarding the incidence of adenomatous polyps during 1.000 consecutive colonoscopies performed in our Upper and Lower Digestive Endoscopy Laboratory during a three-year period. Results: During these colonoscopies, some targeted polyps were biopsied or completely removed and the samples had been sent to a complete anatomopathological examination. Taking into consideration the results, the polyps were classified after the histological type and the form of dysplasia, in order to determine the polyp forms that present a high risk of malignancy. Conclusion: Given the rather high frequency of malignant polyps discovered during our study, we highly recommend colonoscopy as a method of choice for routine monitoring of selected cases

Anomalies Observed in VLF and LF Radio Signals on the Occasion of the Western Turkey Earthquake (Mw = 5.7) on May 19, 2011

VLF radio signals lie in the 10 - 60 kHz frequency band. These radio signals are used for worldwide navigation support, time signals and for military purposes. They are propagated in the earth-ionosphere wave-guide mode along great circle propagation paths. So, their propaga-tion is strongly affected by the ionosphere conditions. LF signals lie in 150 - 300 kHz frequency band. They are used for long way broadcasting by the few (this type of broadcasting is going into disuse) transmitters located in the world. These radio signals are characterized by the ground wave and the sky wave propagation modes [1]. The first generates a stable signal that propagates in the channel Earth-troposphere and is affected by the surface ground and troposphere condition. The second instead gives rise to a signal which varies greatly between day and night, and between summer and winter, and which propagates using the lower ionosphere as a reflector; its propagation is mainly affected by the ionosphere condi-tion, particularly in the zone located in the middle of the transmitter-receiver path. The propagation of the VLF/LF radio signals is affected by different factors such as the meteorological condition, the solar bursts and the geo-magnetic activity. At the same time, variations of some parameters in the ground, in the atmosphere and in the ionosphere occurring during the preparatory phase of earthquakes can produce disturbances in the above men-tioned signals. As already reported by many previous studies [2-18] the disturbances are classified as anoma-lies and different methods of analysis as the residual dA/ dP [15], the terminator time TT [9], the Wavelet spectra and the Principal Component Analysis have been used [6,7]. Here the analysis carried out on LF and VLF radio signals using three different methods on the occasion of a strong earthquake occurred recently in Turkey is pre-sented

Wavelet analysis of the LF radio signals collected by the European VLF/LF network from July 2009 to April 2011

In 2008, a radio receiver that works in very low frequency (VLF; 20-60 kHz) and LF (150-300 kHz) bands was developed by an Italian factory. The receiver can monitor 10 frequencies distributed in these bands, with the measurement for each of them of the electric field intensity. Since 2009, to date, six of these radio receivers have been installed throughout Europe to establish a ‘European VLF/LF Network’. At present, two of these are into operation in Italy, and the remaining four are located in Greece, Turkey, Portugal and Romania. For the present study, the LF radio data collected over about two years were analysed. At first, the day-time data and the night-time data were separated for each radio signal. Taking into account that the LF signals are characterized by ground-wave and sky-wave propagation modes, the day-time data are related to the ground wave and the night-time data to the sky wave. In this framework, the effects of solar activity and storm activity were defined in the different trends. Then, the earthquakes with M ≥5.0 that occurred over the same period were selected, as those located in a 300-km radius around each receiver/transmitter and within the 5th Fresnel zone related to each transmitter-receiver path. Where possible, the wavelet analysis was applied on the time series of the radio signal intensity, and some anomalies related to previous earthquakes were revealed. Except for some doubt in one case, success appears to have been obtained in all of the cases related to the 300 km circles in for the ground waves and the sky waves. For the Fresnel cases, success in two cases and one failure were seen in analysing the sky waves. The failure occurred in August/September, and might be related to the disturbed conditions of the ionosphere in summer

Present status and preliminary results of the VLF/LF radio recording European network installed in 2009.

In January 2009 a European network of receivers able to measure the electric field intensity from various VLF/LF broadcasting stations located throughout Europe, was installed. Five new receivers constructed by an Italian enterprise have been delivered to Greece, Romania, Turkey and to the Italian team. The motivation of this effort is to study the possible connections between the preparatory phase of earthquakes and perturbations in the transmitted radio signals. The receivers can be reached via ftp and gsm mobile connection, thus allowing a real time data collection. We present here the status of the network and the various testing steps performed in order to achieve a correct set up. We show how antennas variations, receivers locations and changes of selected frequencies affect the performances of the whole network. After this necessary testing period, several LF/VLF radio signals are now simultaneously and continuously being sampled by the five receivers. As a preliminary result we inspect also specific cases in which an anomaly in the radio signals is clearly related to the transmitter or to the receiver (e.g. meteorological conditions around the sampling site). At a basic level, the analysis adopted consists in a simple statistical evaluation of the signals by comparing the instantaneous values to the trend of the signal

The role of reactive astrocitose in the chronological evolution of traumatic brain injury

Introduction and objectives. This study aims to investigate whether the cerebral modifications of posttraumatic reactive astrocitose can be considered an objective criterion for determining the age of traumatic cranio-cerebral lesions. Materials and methods. The present study consists of a series of 23 medico-legal cases that underwent autopsy inTeleormanCounty(Romania) Department of Forensic Medicine during 2007–2016, with full immune-histochemical microscopic examination using GFAP staining. The study consists of two groups, a series of 13 cases with cranio-cerebral trauma with different posttraumatic survival periods and 9 cases as a control group. Results and discussions. We discovered GFAP+ reactive astrocytes even when death occurred immediately after the trauma event and up to 4 months after the traumatic incident. We also discovered an intense positive correlation between the density of the GFAP+ cell from the perilesional area and the posttraumatic survival period. The highest cerebral density of the GFAP+ astrocytes occurred with acute death prior (1 to 24 hours) and the lowest in the chronic period (over 2 weeks). Conclusions. The gradual and differentiated appearance of the reactive astrocytes in close relation with the cerebral posttraumatic interval, with specific lesional and perilesional distribution as well as in surrounding area, clearly demonstrates that the state of the reactive astrocitose may constitute an objective index for evaluation of the elapsed time after the posttraumatic event

Gifts or bribes? Attitudes on informal payments in Romanian Healthcare

__Abstract__ Informal payments are quite common in public services in many – especially developing- countries to facilitate access to and quality of services. Health care is one sector where informal payments are often used. Patients give doctors, nurses and hospital staff gifts or money, or offer services in exchange for health services. This article combines vignettes with in-depth interviews to explore how Romanians assess the practice of informal payments

Prospects for the use of the laparoscopic transabdominal pre-peritoneal approach (TAPP) in groin hernia repair

Curs Chirurgie al Facultăţii Stomatologie, USMF “Nicolae Testemiţanu”, Spitalul Clinic Militar Central, Chisinău, Republica Moldova, Al XII-lea Congres al Asociației Chirurgilor „Nicolae Anestiadi” din Republica Moldova cu participare internațională 23-25 septembrie 2015Introducere: Abordul laparoscopic în cura herniilor inghinale devine o metodă de elecţie pe plan mondial. Rămîne actuală problema standardizării tehnicii chirurgicale şi optimizării rezultatelor acestui procedeu. Material şi metode: În perioada anilor 2008-2014 în Clinică a fost efectuată cura laparoscopică a herniei inghinale la 271 pacienţi (16 – bilateral). Repartiţia herniilor conform clasificării Nyhus: tip II (n=188), tip IIIa (n=64), tip IIIb (n=18), tip IIIc (n=9), tip IV (n=12). A fost utilizată tehnica transabdominală preperitoneală (TAPP). Rezultate: Durata intervenţiei a constituit în medie 47,8±25,07 min, fiind mai lungă pentru herniile recidivante – 95±48,99 min (60-180) şi bilaterale – 92,78±23,47 min (65-140). Mediana spitalizării – 3 zile, reîntoarcerea în cîmpul muncii – sub 10 zile. Incidentele intraoperatorii au fost corectate laparoscopic. Conversia a fost efectuată la un pacient. Nu au fost constatate cazuri de infecţie a plăgii postoperatorii. Aprecierea rezultatelor tratamentului chirurgical la distanţă a fost realizată la 223 pacienţi. Pentru evaluarea durerii la pacienţii cu diagnosticul hernie inghinală a fost utilizată scala de evaluare numerică NRS – 11. În perioada postoperatorie au prevalat pacienţi cu sindrom algic redus (NRS: 1-3). Algoparestezia postoperatorie persistentă a fost diagnosticată la 4 pacienţi. Recidiva herniei a fost înregistrată la 2 pacienţi, în ambele cazuri recidiva a fost corectată laparoscopic. Concluzii: Experienţa noastră confirmă posibilitatea utilizării procedeului TAPP la diferite tipuri de hernie inghinală. Acumularea experienţei permite de a lărgi indicaţiile pentru abordul laparoscopic la pacienţii cu hernii bilaterale, glisante şi recurente. Avantajele hernioplastiei laparoscopice sunt: micşorarea sindromului algic postoperator, reintegrarea socioprofesională rapidă şi numărul redus de complicaţii parietale.Introduction: The transabdominal pre-peritoneal procedure (TAPP) represents one of the most popular techniques used for inguinal hernia repair. The analysis of the reported cases helps to standardize the relatively new laparoscopic technique and to improve the overall results. Material and methods: The group of 271 patients underwent laparoscopic hernia repair (16 bilateral) for the period 2008-2014. According to Nyhus classification, the groin hernias were classified as type II (n=188), type IIIa (n=64), type IIIb (n=18), type IIIc (n=9), type IV (n=12). The TAPP procedure was utilized. Results: The mean operating time was 47.8±25.07 minutes, being statistically longer for recurrent hernias 95±48.99 min (range, 60-180) and bilateral hernias – 92.78±23.47 min (range, 65-140). The average length of hospital stay was 3 days. Patients returned to work in an average of 10 days. The postoperative morbidity rate was 2.2%. The majority of intraoperative incidents (intraoperative hemorrhage, n=4) were solved laparoscopically without sequelae. One case was converted to Lichtenstein repair. Patients were evaluated at a median follow up of 24 month (range, 12-36 month). A total of 223 patients were assesssed for long-term outcomes. Pain was assessed with Numerical Rating Scale (NRS – 11). The vast majority of post-operative patients had minor pain manifestation of pain (NRS: 1-3). We observed 4 cases of persistent inguinal pain. The hernia recurrence was developed in 2 patients and has been corrected via laparoscopic approach. Conclusions: While laparoscopic hernia repair requires a lengthy learning curve, it represents safe and valid alternative to open hernia repairs and could be effectively used for bilateral, recurrent and sliding hernias. The advantages of laparoscopic repair include less postoperative pain, faster return to normal activities and low wound infection rate