Corporate social responsibility in times of crisis

This contribution evaluates the United States (U.S.) government’s policies on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmentally-sustainable behaviors. It looks at the establishment of particular corporate citizenship procedures and expectations. US entities, including bureaus, agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have often interpreted their own view on business ethics and stakeholder engagement, within their own regulatory context. This conceptual paper suggests that relevant policies, guidelines and communication on corporate citizenship and their disclosures can change the companies’ attitudes toward CSR, sustainability and corporate governance reporting. It has presented numerous opportunities for businesses to engage in CSR practices in order to create value for themselves and for others. In conclusion, as corporate citizenship and social responsibility policies are widely-understood, accepted and implemented by stakeholders, there will be greater convergence of laudable behaviors. This will ultimately bring positive implications for a sustainable and fair future for all.peer-reviewe

Diagnosis reliability of combined flexible sigmoidoscopy and fecal-immunochemical test in colorectal neoplasia screening

Dana Iovanescu,1 Mirela Frandes,2 Diana Lungeanu,2 Amelia Burlea,3 Bogdan P Miutescu,4 Eftimie Miutescu1 1Department of Gastroenterology, Faculty of Medicine, Pharmacy and Dental Medicine, “Vasile Goldis” West University of Arad, 2Department of Functional Sciences, “Victor Babes” University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Timisoara, 3Department of Pathology, County Hospital of Arad, 4Department of Gastroenterology, “Victor Babes” University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Timisoara, Romania Background: Employing colonoscopy, the gold standard in colorectal cancer (CRC) diagnosis testing, for CRC screening presents a significant risk of complications. Alternative methods with a lower invasive-level and fewer risks are proposed in combination, though each with lower diagnosis performance when applied separately. The main objective of this cross-sectional pilot study was to evaluate the feasibility of a CRC screening program using combined flexible sigmoidoscopy and fecal-immunochemical test (FIT).Methods: The patient population consisted of 2,201 consecutive-case symptomatic patients attending the gastroenterology outpatient clinic with mild complaints between 2012 and 2014. They were referred for FIT. A sample of 252 individuals underwent a subsequent colonoscopy, blind to FIT results, and theoretical sigmoidoscopy was simulated. On a subsample of 57 patients, real sigmoidoscopy was additionally performed. Prior probabilities in terms of patients’ compliance and CRC prevalence were estimated, together with predictive ability of FIT and sigmoidoscopy in screening population. We assessed the merit of a screening strategy employing two-stage serial multiple testing: a) first stage by combining two parallel tests, that is, flexible sigmoidoscopy and FIT and b) colonoscopy as the second diagnosis test. The scheme was validated using the actual predictive values derived from the study population.Results: Colonoscopy found 75 (29.76%) individuals with advanced neoplasia. FIT was positive in 30.3% of advanced neoplasia cases, while between 23.73% and 28.28% met the theoretical sigmoidoscopy simulation criteria, with good concordance between real and theoretical sigmoidoscopy. The colonoscopy referral compliance rate was 52% among FIT-positives. Sensitivity and specificity of the first-stage test combination were better than sigmoidoscopy alone (McNemar test: P<0.001). Negative predictive values for low prevalence levels were between 81.5% and 90.12%.Conclusion: Combining less resource challenging and less invasive testing procedures is worthwhile in colorectal neoplasia detection, improving sensitivity and specificity of either test alone, and leading to better posterior probabilities in usual screening scenarios. Keywords: colorectal cancer, test combination, predicted values, screenin

DIFICULTĂȚI DIAGNOSTICE ŞI TERAPEUTICE ÎNTR-UN CAZ DE DUPLICAȚIE DUODENALĂ

Autorii prezintă o observaţie de duplicaţie duodenală, malformaţie congenitală digestivă rară dar cu risc complicativ ridicat, întâlnită la un băieţel de un an internat pentru vărsături intermitente, dureri abdominale, febră ridicată. US obiectivează o formaţiune chistică hipoecogenă, bine delimitată de 5 cm diametru situată sub lobul stâng hepatic. Cu tot tratamentul antibiotic micul pacient dezvolta un abces subhepatic sugerat US şi CT care este drenat chirurgical. Persistenţa manifestărilor peritoneale şi explorările imagistice indicând multiple colecţii intraabdominale impun reintervenţia care descoperă o perforaţie duodenală care este suturată. Evoluţia în continuare nefavorabilă cu febră, semne de iritaţie peritoneală şi ileus paralitic consecutiv conduc la o nouă explorare chirurgicală care după evacuarea colecţiilor multiple şi visceroliză identifi că existenţa unui diverticul de circa 5 cm diametru, cu dehiscenţa suturii recente, situat pe versantul posterosuperior al zonei piloroduodenale Diverticulectomie totală şi drenaj multiplu urmată fi nalmente de vindecare

Chronic Functional Constipation and Encopresis in Children in Relationship with the Psychosocial Environment

Functional constipation is an issue for both the patient and his/her family, affecting the patient’s psychoemotional balance, social relations, and their harmonious integration in the school environment. We aimed to highlight the connection between chronic constipation and encopresis and the patient’s psychosocial and family-related situation. Material and Method. 57 patients with ages spanning from 6 to 15 were assessed within the pediatric gastroenterology ward. Sociodemographic, medical, and psychological data was recorded. The collected data was processed using the SPSS 20 software. Results. The study group consisted of 57 children diagnosed with encopresis (43 boys (75.44%) and 14 girls (24.56%)), M=10.82 years. It was determined that most of the children came from urban families with a poor socioeducational status. We identified a level of studies of 11.23±5.56 years in mothers, while fathers had an average number of 9.35±4.53 years of study. We also found a complex relationship between encopretic episodes and school performances (F=7.968, p=0.001, 95% Cl). Children with encopresis were found to have more anxiety/depression symptoms, greater social problems, more disruptive behavior, and poorer school performance. Conclusions. The study highlights the importance of the family environment and socioeconomic factors in manifestations of chronic constipation and encopresis

Research lead student projects on multi-disciplinary optomechatronics with applications in biomedical imaging

The education side of an optomechatronics consortium of academic and industrial partners is presented. The consortium covers a variety of disciplines including mechanical design, theory of mechanisms, mechatronics, as well as optical engineering with applications in specific biomedical fields, such as dentistry and gastroenterology. The five teams involved in the project compound senior and young researchers, including graduate and undergraduate students). The contribution of each partner is presented, with examples of specific methodology in conducting student projects on subjects inspired by research. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014

ABORDAREA MULTIDISCIPLINARĂ A CONSTIPAŢIEI CRONICE ASOCIATĂ CU INCONTINENŢA FECALĂ LA COPIL

Constipaţia este un simptom comun în practica clinică. Defi niţia include frecvenţa anormală a tranzitului, difi cultate în timpul defecării şi consistenţă anormală a scaunului. Metodele de diagnostic limitate precum şi numeroasele afecţiuni care conduc la apariţia simptomatologiei, duc la creşterea numărului de cazuri cu rezistenţa la tratament. Tratamentul include abordări dietetice şi comportamentale, terapie farmacologică şi în cazuri atent selectate intervenţie chirurgicală. Tratamentul chirurgical este recomandat la pacienţii cu constipaţie severă rezistentă la tratamentul conservator. Confi rmarea indicaţiei pentru tratament chirurgical necesită studii privind tranzitul colonic, funcţia de defecare, precum şi efectuarea manometriei anorectale. De aceea, colaborarea strânsă între pediatru, gastroenterolog şi chirurgul pediatru este absolut necesară pentru o evaluare preoperatorie atentă şi corectă a funcţiei gastro-intestinale. Complicaţiile postoperatorii includ obstrucţie intestinală, dureri abdominale, meteorism şi diaree. Eficacitatea intervenţiei chirurgicale şi prevalenţa complicaţiilor postoperatorii sunt determinate de evaluarea atentă preoperatorie a funcţiei gastro-intestinale

Corporate Governance mechanisms as drivers that enhance the credibility and usefulness of CSR disclosure

The aim of this paper is to examine what kinds of CG mechanisms (institutional, firm or group level) are driving getting an Assurance or a GRI application level, like CSR disclosure decisions linked with credibility and usefulness of the information disclosed, in the particular context of energy companies. Previous evidence is scarce and does not jointly consider all levels of CG mechanisms. Our sample is composed by 176 energy companies worldwide which currently report about CSR through a sustainability report. On the basis of our findings, we could support the idea that the credibility of the CSR report of the utilities companies will be greater if the company listed in a Relation-Based country has an Assurance report. In addition, those companies that have a concentrated ownership and the fewer insiders sitting in the BoD present more probabilities of having an Assurance. Moreover, the usefulness of the CSR information provided by this kind of firms will be higher, the greater the efficiency of the BoD will be. The enhancement of the credibility and the usefulness of the information reported is essential for companies involved in this sector due to the frequent claim of window-dressing behaviours