INSTITUTIONAL MANAGEMENT OF EUROPEAN STATISTICS AND OF THEIR QUALITY - CURRENT CONCERNS AT EUROPEAN LEVEL

The issues referring to official statistics quality and reliability became the main topics of debates as far as statistical governance in Europe is concerned. The Council welcomed the Commission Communication to the European Parliament and to the Council « Towards robust quality management for European Statistics » (COM 211), appreciating that the approach and the objective of the strategy would confer the European Statistical System (ESS) the quality management framework for the coordination of consolidated economic policies. The Council pointed out that the European Statistical System management was improved during recent years, that progress was noticed in relation with high quality statistics production and dissemination within the European Union, but has also noticed that, in the context of recent financial crisis, certain weaknesses were identified, particularly related to quality management general framework.„Greece Case” proved that progresses were not enough for guaranteeing the complete independence of national statistical institutes and entailed the need for further consolidating ESS governance. Several undertakings are now in the preparatory stage, in accordance with the Commission Communication; these actions are welcomed, but the question arise: are these sufficient for definitively solving the problem?The paper aims to go ahead in the attempt of identifying a different way, innovative (courageous!) on the long run, towards an advanced institutional structure of ESS, by setting up the European System of Statistical Institutes, similar to the European System of Central Banks, that would require a change in the Treaty

L’espace dans le roman de Bram Stoker

Le roman de Bram Stoker publié à Londres en 1897 est à l'origine d'un mythe créé autour de Dracula, mythe toujours actif puisqu'il continue d'alimenter un tourisme important et participe à l'image de la Transylvanie considérée comme pays des vampires. C'est à l'efficacité d'une fiction à produire une géographie imaginaire que s'attache cet article.The complex “Dracula” phenomenon, determined by Bram Stoker’s novel, published in 1987, in London, continues to stimulate the research of many contemporaries. Building the image of Transsylvania as vampire'space, is an important part of tourism in Romania. This paper aims to show how fiction can feed imaginary geography

The effect of storage conditions on some tomato varieties, during the postharvest period

In this study, an analysis was made of how the variety and storage conditions influence the keeping of tomatoes in the fresh conditions, in the post-harvest period. The fruits of three varieties of tomatoes were stored in different technological conditions: at ambient temperature (20-22 °C), with and without air ionization; at a temperature of 10-12 °C, with and without modified atmosphere; and at a temperature of 3-5 °C. The firmness of the pulp and some biochemical components were analysed, respectively the soluble dry matter, the total sugar, the acidity and vitamin C. For the studied varieties the mass losses were appreciated and losses due to rotten during the analysed period. The observations made during the storage of tomatoes in different conditions confirmed that, in general, tomatoes are relatively easily alterable products, the storage period being between 5 days and 15 days. The experimental research carried out showed the fact that the fresh storage time of tomatoes varies significantly depending on the storage conditions but also depending on the tomato variety investigated. The main problem was represented by the large volume of losses due to rotting recorded in one of the varieties regardless of the storage conditions and also the very large differences in losses due to rotting existing between the varieties within the same storage conditions

Official statistics and challenges in terms of “photographing” the economic and financial crisis

It refers to the translation in European statistics of long term priorities to answer the structural issues of faced by Europe at present. It is about the outline of those statistical fields which could provide the package of statistical data and information needed to have a correct and operative underlying of political initiatives. It is particularly analyzed the European Semester and commented the new approaches generated in official statistics by thisinstrument coordinating economic and fiscal policies of EU member states.In the context of community objectives, the National institute of Statistics in Romania proposes among other actions to reflect actual phenomena and processes faced by society as a whole, priorities adapted to monitoring imperatives under statistical aspect of economic and financial crisis

Chest wall osteosynthesis after trauma using titanium plates: case report

Introduction. Flail chest can become life-threatening when accompanied by other complications of thoracic trauma. Current hospital flail chest management includes mechanical ventilation and pain control. Although mechanical ventilation management is constantly improving, prolonged intubation and intensive care lead to increased morbidity. Surgical fixation is gaining more ground against non-operative care and authors have reported better outcome and fewer complications in restricted retrospective studies, but a consensus still has to be reached regarding the guidelines for surgical fixation. In this article, we wish to present our perspective on the surgical fixation of flail chest. Materials and Method. A 39-year-old patient, known with chest trauma after a car accident for which he had undergone surgical treatment at another department, was admitted to our unit for chest instability and chronic pain. During the clinical examination of the left hemithorax, we noticed chest wall instability at the posterior arches of the 8th, 9th and 10th left ribs. CT scans of the thorax showed approximation of the ribs on the anterior fracture line and multiple displaced rib fractures, without callus formation, on the posterior fracture line. Results. The 5th to 10th left ribs were cleared of fibrotic tissue, re-approximated and repositioned using matrix RIB titanium plates and screws. After surgery, the patient was kept in the intensive care unit for two days and was discharged after another seven days. Postoperative pain was managed with opioid therapy. Conclusions. The debate regarding the operative management vs. the non-operative management of flail chest is ongoing given the relatively small number of patients included in the existing randomizedcontrolled trials. Osteosynthesis with plates and screws is easy to manage and we recommend the use of operative treatment of flail chest in patients who can withstand thoracic procedures

The effect of glucosamine, chondroitin and harpagophytum procumbens on femoral hyaline cartilage thickness in patients with knee osteoarthritis– An MRI versus ultrasonography study

Background: the evaluation of cartilage thickness has become possible with new techniques such as musculoskeletal ultrasonography (US) and magnetic resonance imagining (MRI), making the evaluation of the treatment response and the progression of the disease more accurate. Objective: to evaluate the efficacy of a Symptomatic Slow Acting Drug for Osteoarthritis using both US and MRI for measuring cartilage thickness at baseline and after 1 year. Methods: The study included the clinical evaluation of 20 patients at baseline, at 6 and 12 months as well as imaging exams (US and MRI) at baseline and after 1 year. Measurements were performed in both knees, in lateral and medial condyles, and in the intercondylar area. After the baseline visit, patients underwent a SYSADOA treatment which included Harpagophytum procumbens (HPc) administered on a daily basis, in a specific regimen. Results and discussions: The US examination permitted the detailed evaluation of the femoral hyaline cartilage thickness, with statistically significant differences before and after treatment at the level of the medial compartment, both in the dominant (1.59±0.49 vs. 1.68±0.49, p=0.0013) and non-dominant knee (1.73±0.53 vs. 1.79±0.52, p=0.0106). The US and the MRI correlated well (r=0.63) and showed no radiographic progression in knee osteoarthritis after one year of treatment with specific SYSADOA. Moreover, the US showed improvement in the cartilage thickness of the medial compartment. Conclusions: The combination with HPc could increase the delay in the radiographic progression of the knee osteoarthritis, with improvement of femoral hyaline cartilage thickness in the medial and lateral compartment. The US might be an important tool in OA evaluation and monitoring

Nitrite binding to globins: linkage isomerism, EPR silence and reductive chemistry

The nitrite adducts of globins can potentially bind via O- or N- linkage to the heme iron. We have used EPR (electron paramagnetic resonance) and DFT (density functional theory) to explore these binding modes to myoglobin and hemoglobin. We demonstrate that the nitrite adducts of both globins have detectable EPR signals; we provide an explanation for the difficulty in detecting these EPR features, based on uniaxial state considerations. The EPR and DFT data show that both nitrite linkage isomers can be present at the same time and that the two isomers are readily interconvertible in solution. The millisecond-scale process of nitrite reduction by Hb is investigated in search of the elusive Fe(II)-nitrite adduct

Electromagnetic Strip Mills' Driving Rollers Metallisation Advanced Technics

The continuous increase of the applications of thermal sprayed coatings together with the demand for layers having always more and more enhanced performances and properties stimulates the research activity toward the development of new coating materials and alloys. To meet this goal, new complex alloys, based on the Fe, Si, B, Mo, Cu, W system, are here considered, through the development of new and innovative powders to be used, as powders directly or as a wire form, for thermal sprayed coatings to improve wear and corrosion resistance, as well as thermal fatigue properties of the electromagnetic strip mills' driving rollers, highlighting the materials performances and attaining economical and environmental advantages