EXPOSURE AND TRIGGERING FACTORS OF ROAD (UN-) SAFETY AND RISKS IN IASI MUNICIPALITY (ROMANIA)

Road accidents are among the leading factors of the general mortality and worldwide about 1.3 million of peoples die yearly in road car crash and between twenty and fifty million suffer different injuries. Romania tops the list in European statistics, with an increased mortality rate caused by road accidents. Overall, this great number of road accidents is caused mainly by the indiscipline of road users doubled by the poor quality of road infrastructure. Regionally, the distribution of road accidents on the Romanian territory is closely related to the presence of the large urban settlements, the road density and connectivity with points or sectors having high values of traffic. Locally, the concentration of accidents in some “black spots” (hotspots) may be influenced by the road geometry, by the complexity of traffic etc. Using GIS software (SAGA GIS, TNTmips etc.) to process a complex database of road accidents (2007-2011), the authors apply the kernel function with different bandwidth to create an expressive spatial pattern of road accidents in Iaşi municipality. The study focuses on the exposed road sectors and on the main triggering factors: not granting priority to pedestrians and to other vehicles, pedestrians’ illegal crossing, excessive speeding and drunk driving

Quantifier la sécheresse. Durée, intensité, fréquence

Drought quantification: duration, intensity, frequency. Using data from seven meteorological stations and 27 rainfall gauges from the eastern part of Romania (Tutova Hills), the present paper desires to evidence more clearly the real significance of drought phenomena by a methodological approach. This was done with the help of some distinct expressions, resulted from the processing of monthly and daily values of the climatic parameters: rainfall decimal logarithm index, equivalent drought and the synthetic index of drought intensity, rainfall anomaly index, Palfai aridity index, Walter-Lieth climogram. Using the rainfall monthly values, the author propose two index, one for drought assessment (Rainfall Decimal Logarithm Index), the other with a climatic significance (continentalism index). The most exact expression is based on the daily values of the rainfalls (equivalent drought and synthetic index of drought intensity). Equivalent drought shows the length of the interval lacking precipitations, characterized by similar consequences in different temperature conditions, and it was computed by reporting water consumption (evapotranspiration) according to a series of elements standard considered. The synthetic index of drought intensity (severity) has been proposed taking into consideration both the length of the drought interval as well as its mean temperature (practically expressing water consumption), to which is added and the sum of precipitations from a previous interval (to approximate the easily and directly accessible crop water reserves)

La dynamique du niveau phréatique dans le bassin de Tutova et les risques associés

Dynamics of groundwater in Tutova basin and the associated risks. Using a consistent database from meteorological stations, as well as hydrologic wells from the eastern part of Romania, this paper approaches the proposed subject by departing from a general analysis and focusing on Tutova basin, so as to allow a series of observations of a large validity span. After presenting the typology of the phreatic aquifers from the area, the paper presents concrete aspects regarding their dynamics and the associated risks, in an approach funded of rigorous statistical calculations: correlations between the climatic parameters and the level oscillations of the phreatic aquifers, differentiated analysis of the correlations, the gaps between the regime of the climatic elements and that of the phreatic level oscillations according to their depth, the dependence of the variation amplitude of the phreatic level on its depth, and also associated risks (hydrologic drought, humidity excess)

use of LOGARITHMIC FUNCTION FOR DROUGHT SEVERITY ASSESSMENT

Use of logarithmic function for drought severity assessment. Due to the multiplicative and cumulative effect of various risk events, the use of logarithmic function can provide satisfactory results in the analysis of risks. Based on the monthly values of climatic parameters from fourteen stations in the eastern part of Romania (1961-2006), the author uses the logarithmic function to evaluate and interpret the severity of droughts. With this function, deficient rainfall periods are diagnosed and classified according to three levels (moderate, high and extreme droughts). On these bases, the mathematical modeling allows to assess and evaluate the susceptibility to drought phenomena and the degree of continentalism in the eastern part of Romania

EXPOSURE AND VULNERABILITY TO FLOODS IN URBAN AREAS. CASE STUDY OF GALAȚI CITY (ROMANIA)

Exposure and vulnerability to floods in urban areas. Case study of Galai city (Romania). Urban flooding is among the most severe ones, since it acts on highly populated areas, with high density of socio-economic objectives. After presenting the general context of urban flooding and the specific meaning of exposure/vulnerability, the first part of this paper contextualizes the case study area: Galati city, the most important Romanian river port. The authors created a geographical information system for multilayer analysis based on simulations of potential flooding at different characteristic levels: defense, attention, flooding and danger. On this base, the main elements at risk were inventoried and interpreted according to their significance and in relation with the consequences of a real historical flooding (occurred in 2010)

New, Biocompatible, Chitosan-Gelled Microemulsions Based on Essential Oils and Sucrose Esters as Nanocarriers for Topical Delivery of Fluconazole

Biocompatible gel microemulsions containing natural origin excipients are promising nanocarrier systems for the safe and effective topical application of hydrophobic drugs, including antifungals. Recently, to improve fluconazole skin permeation, tolerability and therapeutic efficacy, we developed topical biocompatible microemulsions based on cinnamon, oregano or clove essential oil (CIN, ORG or CLV) as the oil phase and sucrose laurate (D1216) or sucrose palmitate (D1616) as surfactants, excipients also possessing intrinsic antifungal activity. To follow up this research, this study aimed to improve the adhesiveness of respective fluconazole microemulsions using chitosan (a biopolymer with intrinsic antifungal activity) as gellator and to evaluate the formulation variables’ effect (composition and concentration of essential oil, sucrose ester structure) on the gel microemulsions’ (MEGELs) properties. All MEGELs were evaluated for drug content, pH, rheological behavior, viscosity, spreadability, in vitro drug release and skin permeation and antifungal activity. The results showed that formulation variables determined distinctive changes in the MEGELs’ properties, which were nevertheless in accordance with official requirements for semisolid preparations. The highest flux and release rate values and large diameters of the fungal growth inhibition zone were produced by formulations MEGEL-FZ-D1616-CIN 10%, MEGEL-FZ-D1216-CIN 10% and MEGEL-FZ-D1616-ORG 10%. In conclusion, these MEGELs were demonstrated to be effective platforms for fluconazole topical delivery