Pig rearing, killing and consumption: the healing effects of multispecies engagement for the communities of Ilva Mică and Prundu Bârgăului

This thesis considers the relationships between rural humans, their pigs and other nonhuman animals in Prundu Bârgăului and Ilva Mică, villages in the county of Bistrița-Năsăud, northern Romania. I argue that all my informants’ animals had positive effects on their owners’ health and wellbeing, but that pigs have a special status. Pigs are relatively cheap to keep and fatten, their meat is notionally Romania’s national food, and they make a unique contribution to peasants’ empowerment as ‘natural’, ‘traditional’ agriculturalists, while also being twenty-first century Romanians. I argue that pig rearing has helped humans cope with socio-political trauma, namely their exclusion and misunderstanding by successive political establishments in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. I explore the private rearing, killing and consumption of pigs and the long-lasting human-pig relations of care, trust and attention. I do this by examining the political context of the region and the growing pressures from Romanian and European welfare and farming authorities on local peasants to develop their modes of labour. I also explore the influence of Orthodox religion and village norms on local patterns of pork consumption, and on the emotional aspects of human-pig interactions. Besides being a multispecies ethnography which considers the agencies of various animals on social life in northern Romania, this thesis is also a reflexive text. I show the development of my relationship with my informants through discussing culinary habits. I demonstrate the importance of commensality, hospitality and emotionality in negotiating my identity as a Romanian, vegetarian, ‘ex-local’ researcher, and the identities of my informants as traditional, curious and open-minded, peasants

Anticoagulant therapy in elderly patients

The pathology of recent years is dominated by lung thromboembolism, the more worrying factor as the algorithms for prophylaxis and treatment of diseases with high embolic risk are properly applied in medical practice and perform only of 75% antithrombotic protection. The aim is to present the benefits and risks of anticoagulant treatment in elderly patients with cardiovascular disease. Anticoagulant treatment is at least as important as for the other age groups because elderly patients have combinations of cardiovascular diseases and comorbidity which have anticoagulant treatment indications. We performed a retrospective study on 781 patients over 65 years, admitted between January 1, 2009 and March 31, 2010 in Medical Clinic IV, Department of Geriatrics. Statistical study followed their distribution by age, average residence, gender, cardiovascular diseases, anti-coagulant treatment indication and methods of implementation. From 781 patients, 758 cases (97%) were hospitalized for cardiovascular disease of these, 545 (72%) received anticoagulant therapy, 152 (20%) received also antiplatelet and 61 (8%) did not receive any of these forms. Adverse effects of anticoagulation therapy were recorded at 1.5% of patients. All these patients were under chronic anticoagulation therapy with antivitamin К and required permanent or temporary interruption. Anticoagulant therapy in the elderly is under-utilized due to fear of unwanted side effects taking into consideration the problems of monitoring chronic treatment with К antivitamin at home

Pharmacoepidemiologic investigation in acute renal cholic in children

Acute renal colic is one of the most intense pains in pathology and represents a urologic and nephrologic emergency. This exploratory study was performed on 86 patients with a ages between 10 and more than 18 which completed a questionnaire consisting of some questions about intensity of acute renal colic measured with the visual analogue scale (range=0-10), associated symptoms and the drugs used to reduce pain. In summary this study shows that in most of the patients the pain semnificativelly affects the normal daily activities. Drug therapy plays an important role in pain management. Renal colic pain management consists especially in using spasmolytic drugs and their association with analgesics or anti-inflammatory drugs

Actual treatment of atrial fibrillation in the elderly

Atrial fibrillation (AFb) is a common arrhythmia in the elderly (17% of the cases) which can be precipitated by cardiac and non-cardiac factors. It can have characteristic symptoms (palpitations with rapid frequency) or it can borrow elements of low cardiac output syndrome (anginous pain, dyspnoea, fatigue, dizziness, syncope).The physical examination and ECG-cut the diagnosis. The goal of the treatment is the conversion to sinusal rhythm but the therapeutic decision should be made carefully in the elderly. The analysis of the therapeutic methods in patients aged> 65 years diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (AFb) regardless of its ethiology. We conducted a retrospective study on 704 patients (age> 65 years) hospitalized in the Geriatric Department of 4th Clinic of Internal MedicineNephrology Iasi between January 1- December 31 2009. The incidence of atrial fibrillation was followed in the study group, also the associated risk factors; trigger factors, indication of conversion to sinusal rhythm and response to the administration of anti-arrhythmic therapy. Out of 704 patients, 668 had cardiovascular damage (94%) and of these 224 patients had AFb (33.5%).From the group of patients with AFb, 156 were from rural areas, the majority being women (149 cases). The main risk factors incriminated were: hypertension (45%), dyslipidemia (38%), obesity (38%), and smoking (44%). Among the trigger factors are included: excessive physical effort and unexpected, intercurrent respiratory infections and ethanol consumption. From the types of AFb we note the predominance of fast AFb, followed by the recently installed AFb, paroxistical AFb and AFb with slow spontaneous frequency. In 54 cases was decided the chemical conversion in sinusal rhythm, with amiodarone in 44 cases (83%) and in 10 cases with Propafenone (17%). Sinusal rhythm was achieved in 48 of the 54 patients (88%). The attempt of conversion to sinusal rhythm was charged to all our patients regardless of age, but qualifying the standard criteria: normal sized cardiac cavity, EjF> 40%, no intracavitary thrombus, the AFb onset under 1 year. The conversion was carried out under protective anticoagulant therapy. The results were very good and the prevention of relapses was achieved with amiodarone, very well tolerated by patients

Bioactive Materials Based on Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose and Silver Nanoparticles: Structural-Morphological Characterization and Antimicrobial Testing

The progress achieved in recent years in the biomedical field justifies the objective evaluation of new techniques and materials obtained by using silver in different forms as metallic silver, silver salts, and nanoparticles. Thus, the antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activity of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) confers to newly obtained materials characteristics that make them ideal candidates in a wide spectrum of applications. In the present study, the use of hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) in the new formulation, by embedding AgNPs with antibacterial activity, using poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) as a stabilizing agent was investigated. AgNPs were incorporated in HPMC solutions, by thermal reduction of silver ions to silver nanoparticles, using PVP as a stabilizer; a technique that ensures the efficiency and selectivity of the obtained materials. The rheological properties, morphology, in vitro antimicrobial activity, and stability/catching of Ag nanoparticles in resulting HPMC/PVP-AgNPs materials were evaluated. The obtained rheological parameters highlight the multifunctional roles of PVP, focusing on the stabilizing effect of new formulations but also the optimization of some properties of the studied materials. The silver amount was quantified using the spectroscopy techniques (energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (XRF), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX)), while formation of the AgNPs was confirmed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and dynamic light scattering (DLS). Also, the morphological examination (Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)) by means of the texture roughness parameters has evidenced favorable characteristics for targeted applications. Antibacterial activity was tested against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus and was found to be substantially improved was silver was added in the studied systems

Urologic Cancer Molecular Biology

An adequate understanding of the molecular mechanisms of the most common urological cancers is necessary for a correct approach to diagnosis, precise treatment, but also for the follow-up of these patients. It is necessary to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the carcinogenic processes, the molecular pathways involved in this process, and also to describe the biomarkers useful for diagnosis but also for predictability, treatment, and natural history. In addition, it would be useful to describe a list of useful molecules currently under investigation as possible biomarkers to improve the income of cancer patients

Materials Based on Quaternized Polysulfones with Potential Applications in Biomedical Field: Structure–Properties Relationship

Starting from the bactericidal properties of functionalized polysulfone (PSFQ) and due to its excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, and performance in various field, cellulose acetate phthalate (CAP) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), as well as their blends (PSFQ/CAP and PSFQ/PVA), have been tested to evaluate their applicative potential in the biomedical field. In this context, because the polymer processing starts from the solution phase, in the first step, the rheological properties were followed in order to assess and control the structural parameters. The surface chemistry analysis, surface properties, and antimicrobial activity of the obtained materials were investigated in order to understand the relationship between the polymers’ structure–surface properties and organization form of materials (fibers and/or films), as important indicators for their future applications. Using the appropriate organization form of the polymers, the surface morphology and performance, including wettability and water permeation, were improved and controlled—these being the desired and needed properties for applications in the biomedical field. Additionally, after antimicrobial activity testing against different bacteria strains, the control of the inhibition mechanism for the analyzed microorganisms was highlighted, making it possible to choose the most efficient polymers/blends and, consequently, the efficiency as biomaterials in targeted applications