Resistance and dissent under communism: the case of Romania

'Obwohl es auch in Rumänien Dissidenten gab, beförderten deren Aktivitäten weder die Revolution von 1989, noch stellten sie während des frühen Postkommunismus eine Alternative zum Neo-Kommunismus bereit. Der vorliegende Aufsatz betrachtet die bemerkenswertesten Resistenz-Handlungen von Persönlichkeiten aus dem intellektuellen Milieu wie solche der Arbeiterschaft, um die Besonderheiten der politischen Subkulturen des mit Polen oder der Tschechoslowakei nicht vergleichbaren Widerstandes in Rumänien herauszuarbeiten. Wichtig ist, dass es solche Resistenzbewegungen auch hier überhaupt gab, obwohl eine Tradition der Teilhabe an der politischen Kultur völlig fehlte. Aus dieser Perspektive dienten im Dezember 1989 kritische Intellektuelle der großen Mehrheit dann doch als Beispiel.' (Autorenreferat

Interpersonal behaviors questionnaire in sport: psychometric analysis with romanian professional athletes

Building upon self-determination theory, our objective in this research was to adapt and analyze psychometrically the Interpersonal Behaviors Questionnaire (IBQ) in sport. Our participants were 642 professional athletes (55.14% men, M age = 22.81) who completed an online survey measuring their perception of coaching behaviors, need satisfaction, need frustration, and motivation. The results showed a good fit for the 24-item IBQ with a six-factor correlated model (χ2/ df = 4.178; CFI = .925; TLI = .912; SRMR = .048; RMSEA = .070), and we obtained evidence supporting its convergent and discriminant validity. The analyses also underpinned measurement invariance across gender, age, and sport, and confirmed good reliability. Criterion validity was met by positive associations of autonomy-supportive, competence-supportive, and relatedness-supportive behaviors with need satisfaction and autonomous motivation; and of autonomy-thwarting, competence-thwarting and relatedness-thwarting behaviors with need frustration, controlled motivation and amotivation. The adapted IBQ can be applied to the assessment of professional Romanian athletes’ perceptions of need-supportive and need-thwarting coaching behaviors

Comparative Aspects Regarding the Civil Servants Professional Training in the Local Public Administration in Romania

This paper investigates the legal and institutional framework necessary for the implementation of the right and obligation of civil servants to continuously improve their skills and professional training as stated in the Romanian Administrative Code (Emergency Ordinance no. 57 /2019). In order to highlight this right of civil servants, we carried out a bibliographic analysis presenting legal aspects regarding the obligations of training, the priority areas of training and improvement topics at the local public administration level. As research methods, a short questionnaire was conducted among local public institution employees - from three different territorial administrative units of the local public administration – 1st District of the Bucharest City, the Onești Municipality, and the specialized body of Hunedoara County, in order to see how the civil servants use the right for professional training. The results of the study should outline the degree of participation in training courses, the subject courses attended and the perception regarding the utility of training topics, of the civil servants

How opportune is multigene testing in metastatic colorectal cancer? A review

Personalized treatment in oncology is the most innovative method of care. The best method to establish personalized treatment is by genetic characterization of the malignant cell. Theoretically, the more detailed the characterization, the more effective the choice of treatment becomes. Currently, there are fast and relatively low-cost options that allow such genetic characterization. However, test results sometimes do not detect targetable alterations and, even if they do detect, the use of the treatment-alteration combination does not always generate a satisfactory oncological response. The present paper aims to answer two questions. First, how targetable can the most common gene alterations in colorectal cancer be. Second, whether it makes sense to use broad molecular testing as a standard in all metastatic patients

High-level dietary cadmium exposure is associated with global DNA hypermethylation in the gastropod hepatopancreas

5-methylcytosine (5mC) is a key epigenetic mark which influences gene expression and phenotype. In vertebrates, this epigenetic mark is sensitive to Cd exposure, but there is no information linking such an event with changes in global 5mC levels in terrestrial gastropods despite their importance as excellent ecotoxicological bioindicators of metal contamination. Therefore, we first evaluated total 5mC content in DNA of the hepatopancreas of adult Cantareus aspersus with the aim to determine whether this epigenetic mark is responsive to Cd exposure. The experiment was conducted under laboratory conditions and involved a continuous exposure, multiple dose- and time-point (14, 28, and 56 days) study design. Hepatopancreas cadmium levels were measured using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry and the percentage of 5-mC in samples using an ELISA-based colorimetric assay. Snail death rates were also assessed. Our results, for the first time, reveal the presence of 5mC in C. aspersus and provide evidence for Cd-induced changes in global 5mC levels in DNA of gastropods and mollusks. Although less sensitive than tissue accumulation, DNA methylation levels responded in a dose- and time-dependent manner to dietary cadmium, with exposure dose having a much stronger effect than exposure duration. An obvious trend of increasing 5mC levels was observed starting at 28 days of exposure to the second highest dose and this trend persisted at the two highest treatments for close to one month, when the experiment was terminated after 56 days. Moreover, a strong association was identified between Cd concentrations in the hepatopancreas and DNA methylation levels in this organ. These data indicate an overall trend towards DNA hypermethylation with elevated Cd exposure. No consistent lethal effect was observed, irrespective of time point and Cd-dosage. Overall, our findings suggest that the total 5mC content in DNA of the hepatopancreas of land snails is responsive to sublethal Cd exposure and give new insights into invertebrate environmental epigenetics

Sustainable Financing in the Context of Global Crisis and Digital Transformations

In the current conditions, we are facing multiple crises both at the global level and at the level of countries, development regions and local level. At the same time, we are also facing economic and technological changes and digital transformations. At all levels of development, sustainability processes need to be supported financially, with investments, with technologies. In this sense, the financing and investment mechanisms are diverse and very complex. In this article, we have proposed to review the sustainability financing approach at the international level with a review of the sustainability approach at the level of the banking system and bank management. We approached the experience of banks' involvement in sustainable activity, the involvement of banks in sustainable development activity considering the priorities of sustainable development at the European level, the existing objectives, financing and investment needs. We proposed to approach the development of sustainable financing with methodological support in order to build the entropic model realized through the entropic logic of the managerial system

3-D Echocardiography Is Feasible and More Reproducible than 2-D Echocardiography for In-Training Echocardiographers in Follow-up of Patients with Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction

Left ventricular volumes (LVVs) and ejection fraction (LVEF) are key elements in the evaluation and follow-up of patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Therefore, a feasible and reproducible imaging method to be used by both experienced and in-training echocardiographers is mandatory. Our aim was to establish if, in a large echo lab, echocardiographers in-training provide feasible and more reproducible results for the evaluation of patients with HFrEF when using 3-dimensional echocardiography (3-DE) versus 2-dimensional echocardiography (2-DE). Sixty patients with HFrEF (46 males, age: 58 ± 17 y) underwent standard transthoracic 2-D acquisitions and 3-D multibeat full volumes of the left ventricle. One expert user in echocardiography (expert) and three echocardiographers with different levels of training in 2-DE (beginner, medium and advanced) measured the 2-D LVVs and LVEFs on the same consecutive images of patients with HFrEF. Afterward, the expert performed a 1-mo training in 3-DE analysis of the users, and both the expert and trainees measured the 3-D LVVs and LVEF of the same patients. Measurements provided by the expert and all trainees in echo were compared. Six patients were excluded from the study because of poor image quality. The mean end-diastolic LVV of the remaining 54 patients was 214 ± 75 mL with 2-DE and 233 ± 77 mL with 3-DE. Mean LVEF was 35 ± 10% with 2-DE and 33 ± 10% with 3-DE. Our analysis revealed that, compared with the expert user, the trainees had acceptable reproducibility for the 2-DE measurements, according to their level of expertise in 2-DE (intra-class coefficients [ICCs] ranging from 0.75 to 0.94). However, after the short training in 3-DE, they provided feasible and more reproducible measurements of the 3-D LVVs and LVEF (ICCs ranging from 0.89-0.97) than they had with 2-DE. 3-DE is a feasible, rapidly learned and more reproducible method for the assessment of LVVs and LVEF than 2-DE, regardless of the basic level of expertise in 2-DE of the trainees in echocardiography. In echo labs with a wide range of staff experience, 3-DE might be a more accurate method for the follow-up of patients with HFrEF