Toxoplasmic Infection in Pregnant Women from Cluj County and Neighbouring Area

Toxoplasmosis is an antropozoonosis very frequent in population as a benign usually asymptomatic disease. The problems are raised by the congenital form of this disease that may occur if the women acquire the parasite during pregnancy leading to congenital toxoplasmosis. In order to prevent congenital toxoplasmosis many countries have screening programs design to diagnose the acute infection during fertile age of female population. Our prospective serologic study over a selected group of 510 pregnant women in Cluj county area showed a 39 % prevalence of toxoplasmic infection among women of fertile age, with a predominance of acute toxoplasmic infection during first trimester of pregnancy (66.66%), representing the predominant cause of abortion in our study group. Annual infection risk for female population aged 20-33 years old is K = 0.67% in our geographic area. A 4 % of cases had IgM persistence for more than 1-year period, and another 7% demonstrate positive IgM along with positive IgG raising the possibility of persistency to 11% of cases. We find out that half of women address laboratory by their own initiative and we calculate that medium age of pregnant women with toxoplasmic immunity (positive IgG) was 28 years old

Oral lichen planus: a retrospective study of 633 patients from Bucharest, Romania

Objective: In this retrospective study, patients' medical records were reviewed to investigate the profiles of 633 OLP cases in a group of Romania. Material and Methods: In this retrospective study, the following clinical data were obtained from the medical charts of patients: gender, age, clinical presentation of OLP, site affected, presence of symptoms, extraoral manifestations of lichen planus, presence of systemic diseases, and history of medications. Results: Most (78.67%) OLP patients were female and the mean age at presentation was 52 years. The white type of the disease (reticular/papular/plaque lesions) was the main form encountered in this sample (48.97%). Among patients with available hepatitis C virus test results, 9.6% were serum-positive. OLP was associated with gallbladder disease (i.e. cholecystitis, cholelithiasis) in 19% of patients. Six patients (0.95%) developed squamous cell carcinoma at a site with confirmed OLP lesions. Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, no similar study has been conducted in a Romanian population. The present investigation revealed the predominance of OLP among middle-aged white women and the prevalence of bilateral involvement of the buccal mucosa with reticular white lesions. Anti-HCV circulating antibodies were more common in patients with OLP than in the general population and, notably, OLP was associated with gallbladder disease (cholecystitis, cholelithiasis) in 19% of patients

Biomedical Properties and Preparation of Iron Oxide-Dextran Nanostructures by MAPLE Technique

Background: In this work the chemical structure of dextran-iron oxide thin films was reported. The films were obtained by MAPLE technique from composite targets containing 10 wt. % dextran with 1 and 5 wt.% iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs). The IONPs were synthesized by co-precipitation method. A KrF* excimer laser source (λ = 248 nm, τFWHM≅25 ns, ν = 10 Hz) was used for the growth of the hybrid, iron oxide NPs-dextran thin films. Results: Dextran coated iron oxide nanoparticles thin films were indexed into the spinel cubic lattice with a lattice parameter of 8.36 Å. The particle sized calculated was estimated at around 7.7 nm. The XPS shows that the binding energy of the Fe 2p3/2 of two thin films of dextran coated iron oxide is consistent with Fe3+ oxides. The atomic percentage of the C, O and Fe are 66.71, 32.76 and 0.53 for the films deposited from composite targets containing 1 wt.% maghemite and 64.36, 33.92 and 1.72 respectively for the films deposited from composite targets containing 5 wt.% maghemite. In the case of cells cultivated on dextran coated 5% maghemite γ-Fe2O3, the number of cells and the level of F-actin were lower compared to the other two types of thin films and control. Conclusions: The dextran-iron oxide continuous thin films obtained by MAPLE technique from composite targets containing 10 wt.% dextran as well as 1 and 5 wt.% iron oxide nanoparticles synthesized by co-precipitation method presented granular surface morphology. Our data proved a good viability of Hep G2 cells grown on dextran coated maghemite thin films. Also, no changes in cells morphology were noticed under phase contrast microscopy. The data strongly suggest the potential use of iron oxide-dextran nanocomposites as a potential marker for biomedical applications

Biomedical properties and preparation of iron oxide-dextran nanostructures by MAPLE technique

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In this work the chemical structure of dextran-iron oxide thin films was reported. The films were obtained by MAPLE technique from composite targets containing 10 wt. % dextran with 1 and 5 wt.% iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs). The IONPs were synthesized by co-precipitation method. A KrF* excimer laser source (λ = 248 nm, τ_FWHM≅25 ns, ν = 10 Hz) was used for the growth of the hybrid, iron oxide NPs-dextran thin films.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Dextran coated iron oxide nanoparticles thin films were indexed into the spinel cubic lattice with a lattice parameter of 8.36 Å. The particle sized calculated was estimated at around 7.7 nm. The XPS shows that the binding energy of the Fe 2p_3/2of two thin films of dextran coated iron oxide is consistent with Fe³⁺oxides. The atomic percentage of the C, O and Fe are 66.71, 32.76 and 0.53 for the films deposited from composite targets containing 1 wt.% maghemite and 64.36, 33.92 and 1.72 respectively for the films deposited from composite targets containing 5 wt.% maghemite. In the case of cells cultivated on dextran coated 5% maghemite γ-Fe₂O₃, the number of cells and the level of F-actin were lower compared to the other two types of thin films and control.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The dextran-iron oxide continuous thin films obtained by MAPLE technique from composite targets containing 10 wt.% dextran as well as 1 and 5 wt.% iron oxide nanoparticles synthesized by co-precipitation method presented granular surface morphology. Our data proved a good viability of Hep G2 cells grown on dextran coated maghemite thin films. Also, no changes in cells morphology were noticed under phase contrast microscopy. The data strongly suggest the potential use of iron oxide-dextran nanocomposites as a potential marker for biomedical applications.</p

Pilot Aquaponic Growing System of Carp (Cyprinus Carpio) and Basil (Ocimum Basilicum)

AbstractThe aquaponic recirculating systems are integrated systems that combine fish and plant culture. These systems consist of two components: aquaculture and hydroponics components. In these systems the nutrients necessary for plant growth are resulted from the metabolism of food by the fish. This was obtained by recirculation of water, with a pump, from the fish tank to the hydroponic component and back to the fish tank. The experiment was conducted in the laboratory of Fisheries and Aquaculture of the Faculty of Animal Husbandry of University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest for 6 months. The system developed here, is a 1 m2 area of plant growth and 0.45 m3 of water in aquaculture component. In the hydroponic component river gravel was selected to support the plants and offer support for the growth and developing of nitrifying bacteria. The species cultivated were cultured carp (Cyprinus carpio) and basil (Ocimum basilicum). On average, there was obtained a quantity of about 1kg basil leaves in a period of 60 days of growth. It has been found that the species of plants grown in this system, namely basil (Ocimum basilicum) grown with carp (Cyprinus carpio), has a faster and better development compared to conventional growth. Use of basil as a purifying plant, resulted in the removal of nitrates, being not necessary to add additional water, as in classical recirculating systems, where is necessary to replace daily approx. 10% of the volume of the culture water being necessary to add into the system only water lost through evaporation. According to the results the basil is suitable for aquaponic system with carp culture. The basil was grown much better than the conventional cultivation