Dimensionality and Construct Validity of the Romanian Self-Report Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is one of the most widely utilised measures of behavioural and emotional difficulties among children and young people. Previous research has raised concerns about the psychometric properties of the measure, particularly the internal consistency of the CP and PP subscales. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) has generally supported a five-factor solution that is consistent with Goodman’s (1997) original conceptualisation of the SDQ, but alternative factor structures have been validated including models with internalising and externalising factors, and a total difficulties factor. This was the first study to examine the dimensionality, construct validity and internal consistency of the Romanian self-report version of the SDQ. Based on data collected from 1,086 school children aged 9-17 years old, six alternative factor models were specified and tested using conventional CFA techniques and a confirmatory bifactor modelling approach. The five-factor model provided a better fit for the data than alternative factor structures, but was still unacceptable according to a range of overall model fit indices and individual item loadings. Model fit statistics for the five-factor solution were also notably poorer among boys than girls. Internal consistency was low for the CP, H and PP subscales among the total sample and girls only; and for the EP, CP, H and PP subscales among boys only. Results are discussed in terms of the appropriate interpretation of the Romanian SDQ

Implications of fiscal responsibility on economic growth

Governmental decisions play an important role in the critical periods of the economy and usually in base of the strategy adopted, can  make an effective contribution to the budget process while preserving fiscal discipline. This study tests the implications of fiscal responsibility on economic growth  with the scope to analyze and find out the major issue of responsible public finances. In base of logistic regression results, the study leads to the conclusion that may be wise to re-evaluate plans to cut net government revenue in future budgets and instead take a more strategic approach to nurturing growth in the EU  economy

Analysis of Competitiveness Impact on Sustainable Economic Growth

Competitiveness at micro level is dependent on macroeconomic competitiveness and vice versa. SMEs in a poorly developed country do not have the power to compete in international markets, and a country can not achieve sustainable growth without competitive SMEs. This link justifies the European Union's efforts to support growth and sustainable development by maximizing the importance of SMEs in the economy. Therefore, in this paper, we propose to conduct an analysis that addresses the issue of competitiveness from the perspective of macroeconomic stability and gross domestic product growth over a period of 17 years (January 1, 2000 - October 31, 2017), quarterly values. In other words, we want to see the impact of competitiveness, measured by the indicators: exchange rate, inflation, interest rate, unemployment rate, volume of imports and export volume, on the evolution of gross domestic product

Synthesis and thermal study of dual coordination compound of gadolinium (III) and chromium (III)

The paper presents experimental data of thermal studies of coordination compound based on gadolinium nitrate with the DSCmethod; the study was performed in the temperature range from 298 to 1273 C. The thermal analysis has several advantages over the other methods: experimental set up flexibility, fast data receive, automatic data processing, small substance amount. The process of thermal decomposition of the received compound was carried out in both inert and oxidizing environments. During the experiment the temperature was defined, above which heating causes decomposition of the investigated substance and weight loss of the sample

JUVENILE LARYNGEAL PAPILLOMATOSIS

Universitatea de Stat de Medicină şi Farmacie „Nicolae Testemiţanu”, Chişinău, Republica MoldovaIntroducere. Papilomatoza laringiana reprezintă o tumoră benignă, ce rezulta din proliferarea conjunctivo-epitelială a mucoasei laringiene. Este o patologie evolutiva, recurentă și extensivă de papilomavirus uman, în special tipul 6 și 11, fiind cele mai agresive. Primele acuze apar de obicei la vârsta cuprinsă între 2 și 6 ani. Simptomul inițial fiind disfonia progresivă, urmată de stridor și detresă respiratorie. Tratamentul este unul multimodal, de baza fiind microlaringoscopia suspendată cu excizia papiloamelor. Scopul lucrării. Studiul presupune efectuarea unei analize detaliate asupra statisticii pacienților cu papilomatoza laringiană pe parcursul anilor 2020-2022 și relevarea datelor obținute. Materiale și metode. În articolul respectiv au fost utilizate date din literatura de specialitate cu referire la papilomatoza laringiană și datele statistice acumulate pe parcursul anilor 2020-2022 în cadrul Spitalului Clinic “E. Coțaga”, secția ORL. Rezultate. S-au înregistrat 11 pacienți cu diagnosticul de papilomatoza laringiană. Prevalența genului F/M este de 8:5. Din numărul total de adresări vârsta pacienților a fost cuprinsă între 1-13 ani, dintre care la 5 pacienți, a fost vârsta 2 ani. Pacienții cu vârsta de debut 2 ani au prezentat un număr mai mare de recidive, de la 2 până la 5 spitali zări. În urma efectuării examenului histopatologic la fiecare caz, nu s-a depistat trecerea din forma benignă în malignă a patologiei. Concluzii. Papilomatoza laringiană juvenilă este o tumoră benignă. La copii, papiloamele sunt multiple și recidivează frecvent după ablație, comparativ cu adultul, la care este de obicei singular, însă poate degenera malign. În unele cazuri, la copii papiloamele pot retroceda spontan, după pubertate.Background. Laryngeal papillomatosis is a benign tumor, resulting from the conjunctival epithelial proliferation of the laryngeal mucosa. It is an evolutionary, recurrent, and extensive pathology of human papillomavirus, especially type 6 and 11, that are the most related and aggressive. The first signs appear between the ages of 2 and 6. The initial symptom is a gradual dysphonia, followed by stridor and respiratory distress. The treatment is a multimodal one, the basic being the suspended microlaringoscopy with excision of the papillomas. Objective of the study. The study involves a detailed analysis of data base about patients with laryngeal papillomatosis during 2020-2022 years and revealing the data obtained. Material and methods. In that article were used data from the literature with reference to laryngeal papillomatosis and statistics during 2020-2022 years in the E. Coțaga ENT Clinic. Results. During this time were registered 11 patients with the diagnosis of laryngeal papillomatosis. The prevalence of F/M sex is 8:5. Out of the total number of addresses, the age of the patients was between 1-13 years, of which in 5 patients, the age was 2 years. According to the data obtained, patients with the age of onset 2 years had a higher number of recurrences, from 2 to 5 hospitalizations. Following the histopathological examination in each case, the transition from benign to malignant form of the pathology was not detected. Conclusions. Juvenile laryngeal papillomatosis is a benign tumor. In children, papillomas are multiple and recur frequently after ablation, compared to the adult, in which it is usually singular, but can degenerate into malignancy. In some cases, in children, papillomas may recede spontaneously after puberty

Asynchronous Integration of Real-Time Simulators for HIL-based Validation of Smart Grids

As the landscape of devices that interact with the electrical grid expands, also the complexity of the scenarios that arise from these interactions increases. Validation methods and tools are typically domain specific and are designed to approach mainly component level testing. For this kind of applications, software and hardware-in-the-loop based simulations as well as lab experiments are all tools that allow testing with different degrees of accuracy at various stages in the development life-cycle. However, things are vastly different when analysing the tools and the methodology available for performing system-level validation. Until now there are no available well-defined approaches for testing complex use cases involving components from different domains. Smart grid applications would typically include a relatively large number of physical devices, software components, as well as communication technology, all working hand in hand. This paper explores the possibilities that are opened in terms of testing by the integration of a real-time simulator into co-simulation environments. Three practical implementations of such systems together with performance metrics are discussed. Two control-related examples are selected in order to show the capabilities of the proposed approach.Comment: IECON 2019 - 45th Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Societ

Cyber-physical framework for emulating distributed control systems in smart grids

This paper proposes a cyber-physical framework for investigating distributed control systems operating in the context of smart-grid applications. At the moment, the literature focuses almost exclusively on the theoretical aspects of distributed intelligence in the smart-grid, meanwhile, approaches for testing and validating such systems are either missing or are very limited in their scope. Three aspects need to be taken into account while considering these applications: (1) the physical system, (2) the distributed computation platform, and (3) the communication system. In most of the previous works either the communication system is neglected or oversimplified, either the distributed computation aspect is disregarded, either both elements are missing. In order to cover all these aspects, we propose a framework which is built around a fleet of low-cost single board computers coupled with a real-time simulator. Additionally, using traffic control and network emulation, the flow of data between different controllers is shaped so that it replicates various quality of service (QoS) conditions. The versatility of the proposed framework is shown on a study case in which 27 controllers self-coordinate in order to solve the distributed optimal power flow (OPF) algorithm in a dc network

Assessment of risk factors in post-stroke cognitive impairment

Background: Cognitive impairment is a frequent symptom in post-stroke patients, with a prevalence range of 20% to 80%. Our study’s aim was to analyze the previously reported risk factors in order to highlight predictors of a poor prognosis in post-stroke cognitive impairment. Articles containing the key words: “cognitive impairment”, “stroke”, “risk factors” were selected from PubMed databases. The following filters were applied: article type – meta-analysis, review, systematic review; period of time – 5 years; language – English; species – humans; age – 45 – 65+ years. 46 results were identified, but only 20 articles were selected as relevant. Analyzing identified data, we found out that the following risk factors had a strong association with cognitive impairment after stroke – in 60 – 80% of cases: increased age, low educational status, vascular comorbidities, prior transient ischemic attack or recurrent stroke, depressive illness, cerebral atrophy, white matter lesions, alcohol use. Also, we identified other risk factors with a low association – in 20 – 30% of cases with cognitive impairment after stroke: family history, genetic variants, carotid plaques, smoking, paresis, elevated homocysteine, low-density lipoprotein, uric acid, low triiodothyronine syndrome, anemia, decreasing serum retinoic acid level, elevated serum rheumatoid factor and matrix metalloproteinases-9 levels. Conclusions: This literature review confirms the existence of studies with a high level of evidence on risk factors which trigger cognitive impairment in post-stroke patients. Acknowledgement of these risk factors could improve stroke management and rise these patients’ quality of life

Beyond low-inertia systems: Massive integration of grid-forming power converters in transmission grids

As renewable sources increasingly replace existing conventional generation, the dynamics of the grid drastically changes, posing new challenges for transmission system operations, but also arising new opportunities as converter-based generation is highly controllable in faster timescales. This paper investigates grid stability under the massive integration of grid-forming converters. We utilize detailed converter and synchronous machine models and describe frequency behavior under different penetration levels. First, we show that the transition from 0% to 100% can be achieved from a frequency stability point of view. This is achieved by re-tuning power system stabilizers at high penetration values. Second, we explore the evolution of the nadir and RoCoF for each generator as a function of the amount of inverter-based generation in the grid. This work sheds some light on two major challenges in low and no-inertia systems: defining novel performance metrics that better characterize grid behaviour, and adapting present paradigms in PSS design.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figure