Vascular neurocognitive disorders and the vascular risk factors

Dementias are clinical neurodegenerative diseases characterized by permanent and progressive transformation of cognitive functions such as memory, learning capacity, attention, thinking, language, passing judgments, calculation or orientation. Dementias represent a relatively frequent pathology, encountered at about 10% of the population of 65-year olds and 20% of the population of 80-year olds. This review presents the main etiological forms of dementia, which include Alzheimer form of dementia, vascular dementia, dementia associated with alpha-synucleionopathies, and mixed forms. Regarding vascular dementia, the risk factors are similar to those for an ischemic or hemorrhagic cerebrovascular accident: arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, smoking, obesity, age, alcohol consumption, cerebral atherosclerosis/ arteriosclerosis. Several studies show that efficient management of the vascular risk factors can prevent the expression and/ or progression of dementia. Thus, lifestyle changes such as stress reduction, regular physical exercise, decreasing dietary fat, multivitamin supplementation, adequate control of blood pressure and serum cholesterol, and social integration and mental stimulation in the elderly population are important factors in preventing or limiting the symptoms of dementia, a disease with significant individual, social, and economic implications

The link Between Stock Exchange Sectors and Indices: Implications During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The paper investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, using the event study approach for the Bucharest Stock Exchange, by which Bucharest Stock Indices and listed firms grouped by sectors were analyzed. The paper uses three important event days, 20 January 2020, 11 March 2020, and 15 March 2020. The findings demonstrate that initially investors were not concerned about the pandemic, showing that they did not realize the extent of globalization and transmission of events on financial markets. Both after 11 March and after 15 March 2020, stock indices have declined, investors becoming worried about the prospects of their dividends and the stock liquidity. The most affected sectors were those related to metallurgical industry, IT&C. After the lockdown, there was a reversal for some sectors like pharmaceutical and biotechnology, electricity production, transportation and distribution, and IT&C. Understanding the intensity and direction of the link between some sectors and indices may influence investment strategies and help in hedging, especially in times of pandemics

A comparative study on renewable and traditional electricity: The influence of the European Union framework and the impact of COVID-19

By means of the event study approach, we analyse the effect of COVID-19 on listed European renewable and traditional electricity companies, inside and outside the European Union, for the pandemic announcement and lockdowns. We find that the pandemic negatively affected both subsectors of electricity production, but the negative effect was more intense for renewable electricity companies, since they represent a riskier investment. Moreover, this negative effect was larger for European electricity companies than for companies from countries that do not belong to the European Union. Our results show the riskier profile of the clean energy industry together with the importance of a stable and supportive regulatory framework to develop and consolidate renewable energy. Our findings have important implications for policymakers. In addition to the intrinsic risks associated with renewable energy, this type of investment poses policy and regulatory risks, which they should take into account when evaluating future energy policies. Policymakers must be aware of the importance of these specific risks, and seek to respond to investors' expectations about long-term, stable regulations

Vascular neurocognitive disorders and the vascular risk factors

Dementias are clinical neurodegenerative diseases characterized by permanent and progressive transformation of cognitive functions such as memory, learning capacity, attention, thinking, language, passing judgments, calculation or orientation. Dementias represent a relatively frequent pathology, encountered at about 10% of the population of 65-year olds and 20% of the population of 80-year olds. This review presents the main etiological forms of dementia, which include Alzheimer form of dementia, vascular dementia, dementia associated with alpha-synucleionopathies, and mixed forms. Regarding vascular dementia, the risk factors are similar to those for an ischemic or hemorrhagic cerebrovascular accident: arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, smoking, obesity, age, alcohol consumption, cerebral atherosclerosis/ arteriosclerosis. Several studies show that efficient management of the vascular risk factors can prevent the expression and/ or progression of dementia. Thus, lifestyle changes such as stress reduction, regular physical exercise, decreasing dietary fat, multivitamin supplementation, adequate control of blood pressure and serum cholesterol, and social integration and mental stimulation in the elderly population are important factors in preventing or limiting the symptoms of dementia, a disease with significant individual, social, and economic implications

Assessment of the total precipitable water from a sun photometer, microwave radiometer and radiosondes at a continental site in southeastern Europe

In this study, we discuss the differences in the total precipitable water (TPW), retrieved from a Cimel sun photometer operating at a continental site in southeast Europe, between version 3 (V3) and version 2 (V2) of the AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) algorithms. In addition, we evaluate the performance of the two algorithms comparing their product with the TPW obtained from a collocated microwave radiometer and nearby radiosondes during the period 2007–2017. The TPW from all three instruments was highly correlated, showing the same annual cycle, with lower values during winter and higher values during summer. The sun photometer and the microwave radiometer depict the same daily cycle, with some discrepancies during early morning and late afternoon due to the effect of solar zenith angle on the measurements of the photometer. The TPW from V3 of the AERONET algorithm has small differences compared with V2, mostly related to the use of the new laboratory-based temperature coefficients used in V3. The microwave radiometer measurements are in good agreement with those obtained by the radiosonde, especially during night-time when the differences between the two instruments are almost negligible. The comparison of the sun photometer data with high-quality independent measurements from radiosondes and the radiometer shows that the absolute differences between V3 and the other two datasets are slightly higher compared with V2. However, V3 has a lower dependence from the TPW and the internal sensor temperature, indicating a better performance of the retrieving algorithm. The calculated one-sigma uncertainty for V3 as estimated, from the comparison with the radiosondes, is about 10&thinsp;%, which is in accordance with previous studies for the estimation of uncertainty for V2. This uncertainty is further reduced to about 6&thinsp;% when AERONET V3 is compared with the collocated microwave radiometer. To our knowledge, this is the first in-depth analysis of the V3 TPW, and although the findings presented here are for a specific site, we believe that they are representative of other mid-latitude continental stations.</p

The Relationship of Cytokines IL-13 and IL-17 with Autoantibodies Profile in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis

Aims. In the present study, we aimed to assess the concentrations of IL-13 and IL-17 in serum of patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (eRA), the investigation of correlation between the concentrations of these cytokines and disease activity score, and the concentration of some autoantibodies and the evaluation of the utility of IL-13 and -17 concentration measurements as markers of disease activity. Materials and Methods. Serum samples were collected from 30 patients and from 28 controls and analysed parameters. Results. The serum concentrations of IL-13, IL-17, anti-CCP, and IgM-RF were statistically significantly higher in patients with eRA, compared to the controls. IL-13 concentrations in the severe and moderate groups with eRA were statistically higher than in the mild and control groups. Also, in the case of IL-17, serum concentrations increased proportionally with the disease activity of eRA. We observe that concentrations of IL-13 and -17 did not correlate with autoantibodies. IL-17 concentration significantly positively correlated with CRP, while IL-13 concentration significantly negatively correlated with CRP. Disease activity score, DAS28, was strongly positively correlated with levels of ESR and weakly positively correlated with concentrations of anti-RA33 autoantibodies. IL-13 has a higher diagnostic utility than IL-17, CRP, ESR, IgM-RF, and anti-CCP as markers of disease activity. Conclusions. The presence of higher IL-13 and IL-17 serum levels in patients, compared with those of controls, confirms that these markers, found with high specificity, might be involved in the pathogenesis of eRA. IL-13 and IL-17 might be of better usefulness in the prediction of eRA activity status than IgM-RF and anti-CCP

Upregulated IL-32 expression and reduced gut short chain fatty acid caproic acid in people living with HIV with subclinical atherosclerosis

Despite the success of antiretroviral therapy (ART), people living with HIV (PLWH) are still at higher risk for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) that are mediated by chronic inflammation. Identification of novel inflammatory mediators with the inherent potential to be used as CVD biomarkers and also as therapeutic targets is critically needed for better risk stratification and disease management in PLWH. Here, we investigated the expression and potential role of the multi-isoform proinflammatory cytokine IL-32 in subclinical atherosclerosis in PLWH (n=49 with subclinical atherosclerosis and n=30 without) and HIV- controls (n=25 with subclinical atherosclerosis and n=24 without). While expression of all tested IL-32 isoforms (α, β, γ, D, ϵ, and θ) was significantly higher in peripheral blood from PLWH compared to HIV- controls, IL-32D and IL-32θ isoforms were further upregulated in HIV+ individuals with coronary artery atherosclerosis compared to their counterparts without. Upregulation of these two isoforms was associated with increased plasma levels of IL-18 and IL-1β and downregulation of the atheroprotective protein TRAIL, which together composed a unique atherosclerotic inflammatory signature specific for PLWH compared to HIV- controls. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that modulation of these inflammatory variables was independent of age, smoking, and statin treatment. Furthermore, our in vitro functional data linked IL-32 to macrophage activation and production of IL-18 and downregulation of TRAIL, a mechanism previously shown to be associated with impaired cholesterol metabolism and atherosclerosis. Finally, increased expression of IL-32 isoforms in PLWH with subclinical atherosclerosis was associated with altered gut microbiome (increased pathogenic bacteria; Rothia and Eggerthella species) and lower abundance of the gut metabolite short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) caproic acid, measured in fecal samples from the study participants. Importantly, caproic acid diminished the production of IL-32, IL-18, and IL-1β in human PBMCs in response to bacterial LPS stimulation. In conclusion, our studies identified an HIV-specific atherosclerotic inflammatory signature including specific IL-32 isoforms, which is regulated by the SCFA caproic acid and that may lead to new potential therapies to prevent CVD in ART-treated PLWH

The Architecture of a CRM System in the Context of Internet Technologies

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is defined as the sum of business processes that anorganization needs to execute in order to identify, choose, buy, develop and retain its clients. The extremelyfast evolution and development of the Internet, as a new channel of communication also as an opportunity toeffective fast dissemination led to the fundamental modification of the relations with clients. The Internetshifted the ability to control the market from seller to buyers. The new client that comed from the Internet islooking mainly for 24x7 access to seller’s information and resources. The Internet client wants right contextand ease of navigation with effective search tools. Ultimately, he is looking for a personalised buyingexperience, defined by ease of opening a personal account, ability to review his shopping cart in real time.The current article is aiming to present the current architecture designed to fulfil all this requirements