DANCING WITH THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY – MEDICAL PRACTICE BETWEEN ETHICS AND BUSINESS

The paper deals with the Romanian consumer’s profile, analyzed in terms of household expenditure structure, by main destinations for food,non-food, services and taxes components, and household’s consumption, in terms of size and structure of food consumption. Synthetic images of quantitative parameters were made using national and international statistical data, between 1991 and 2009. We took into account the total expenditure of households, total consumption expenditure, the structure of monetary consumption expenditure, the average consumption of main food products, in structure and dynamics. Diagnostic analyses were performed by multi-annual approach of these indicators, important warning signals in the evolution of the household consumption. The multi-country and multi-annual benchmarking contributes to the highlighting of the national consumer profile, compared to those of the other 30-40 countries. These issues underline the extent of the economic crisis seen by the national households like an influence in shaping the consumer’s mentality.health industries; relationship marketing for healthcare organizations

Dancing with pharmaceutical industry – medical practice between ethics and business

The relation between physicians and the pharmaceutical companies has been increasingly discretted issue over the last several years.Moreover, such relations have been proven to influence the prescribing patterns to stimulate drug supplying within hospitals, to encourage publications and research articles and even to contribute to critical article non-publication.There is a complex relation between physicians, medical organizations and academic departments, on the one hand and industry on the other. Therefore, industry makes its living from the physicians prescriptions and from the devices and services they purchase.Yet physicians, medical organizations, and academic departments commonly receive money and other benefits from the industry.This paper reviews specialist literature and addresses the real dimension of the physician-health related industry worldwide interaction. Unfortunately, Romania has not provided any data yet, because this issue has not been officially analyzed in our country

PREVALENCE OF DRUG RESISTANCE AND VIRULENCE FEATURES IN Salmonella spp. ISOLATED FROM FOODS ASSOCIATED OR NOT WITH SALMONELLOSIS IN BRAZIL

Salmonella is the most common etiological agent of cases and outbreaks of foodborne diarrheal illnesses. The emergence and spread of Salmonella spp., which has become multi-drug resistant and potentially more pathogenic, have increased the concern with this pathogen. In this study, 237 Salmonella spp., associated or not with foodborne salmonellosis in Brazil, belonging mainly to serotype Enteritidis, were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility and the presence of the virulence genes spvC, invA, sefA and pefA. Of the isolates, 46.8% were sensitive to all antimicrobials and 51.9% were resistant to at least one antimicrobial agent. Resistance to more than one antimicrobial agent was observed in 10.5% of the strains. The highest rates of resistance were observed for streptomycin (35.9%) and nalidixic acid (16.9%). No strain was resistant to cefoxitin, cephalothin, cefotaxime, amikacin, ciprofloxacin and imipenem. The invA gene was detected in all strains. Genes spvC and pefA were found in 48.1% and 44.3% of strains, respectively. The gene sefA was detected in 31.6% of the strains and only among S. Enteritidis. Resistance and virulence determinants were detected in Salmonella strains belonging to several serotypes. The high rates of antibiotic-resistance in strains isolated from poultry products demonstrate the potential risk associated with the consumption of these products and the need to ensure good food hygiene practices from farm to table to reduce the spread of pathogens relevant to public health

Rotor Speed Estimation Method Used in Dynamic Control of the Induction Motor

In this paper it is proposed an algorithm for rotor speed estimation calculated directly from the rotor flux. The flux required for speed computation is estimated using Gopinath reduced order robust adaptive observer. In order to determine the structure of the observer we started from the state equations of the induction motor using spatial vectors written in fixed coordinates towards stator and considering the rotor speed constant. Quality of speed and rotor fluxestimation was evaluated from the results obtained during different operation regimes. The proposed algorithm was then tested for its usability in the case of indirect field oriented control based on the rotor flux of the induction motor by the simulation inMATLAB/Simulink

Dynamic Performances in Sensorless System with Two-Phase Induction Motor

In this paper is treated one of the most effective and widely used methods to obtain good dynamic performances for AC motor namely rotor flux direct field oriented control. A key role in achieving such adjustment is played by the rotor flux estimator. This on the one hand provides the absolute value which is used in the flux feedback control loop and on the other hand it gives the position of the rotor flux relative to the stator system. In the block diagram of the driving system with direct field oriented adjusting control there are used estimators derived directly from the machine equations. Using Matlab/Simulink simulation environment applied for a two-phaseinduction motor model, simulations were made for different imposed speeds and the characteristics of each estimator block diagram were highlighted

Screening for phenotypic and genotypic resistance to antibiotics in Gram positive pathogens

Gram positive bacteria such as methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin resistant enterococci or multidrug resistant Streptococcus spp. are increasingly involved in severe infections with serious clinical consequences. The aim of this study is to investigate phenotypic and genotypic resistance traits in Gram positive pathogens isolated from clinical specimens in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. A total number of 31 Enterococcus spp., Staphylococcus spp. and Streptococcus spp. strains were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing by disc diffusion, while the carriage of 26 antibiotic resistance genes and of class 1 integron was assessed by PCR. Bacterial pathogens included in this study were mostly susceptible to folate pathway inhibitors (100%), oxazolidinones (97%), fosfomycins (93%) and glycopeptides (92%). Enterococci, staphylococci and streptococci displayed high levels of phenotypic resistance to penicillins, tetracyclines and macrolides, a percentage of 42% being multidrug resistant. The strains under this study proved to be able to produce β-lactamase enzymes encoded by the TEM-1 gene and aminoglycoside modifying enzymes due to the carriage of aac(6’)-Ie-aph(2”) gene, to possess ribosomal protection mechanisms for macrolide and tetracycline resistance associated with ermB, ermC and tet(M) genes and to bear efflux genes tet(A), tet(B), tet(C) ant tet(L). Class 1 integron integrase was detected in 16% of the isolates, but no significant correlations were found between the carriage of intI1 gene and the phenotypic or genotypic resistance among the Gram positive pathogens investigated. Farcas et al (PDF

Enumeration of Salmonellae in Table Eggs, Pasteurized Egg Products, and Egg-Containing Dishes by Using Quantitative Real-Time PCR

Salmonellae are a major cause of food-borne outbreaks in Europe, with eggs and egg products being identified as major sources. Due to the low levels of salmonellae in eggs and egg products, direct quantification is difficult. In the present study, enrichment quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) was employed for enumeration of salmonellae in different matrices: table eggs, pasteurized egg products, and egg-containing dishes. Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis and S. enterica serovar Tennessee were used to artificially contaminate these matrices. The results showed a linear regression between the numbers of salmonellae and the quantification cycle (C(q)) values for all matrices used, with the exception of pasteurized egg white. Standard curves were constructed by using both stationary-phase cells and heat-stressed cells, with similar results. Finally, this method was used to evaluate the fate of salmonellae in two egg-containing dishes, long egg and tiramisu, at abused refrigeration temperatures, and results indicated the growth of bacteria over a 1-week period. In conclusion, enrichment qPCR was shown to be reliable for enumeration of salmonellae in different egg products