ROMANIAN SMALL TOWNS SEARCHING FOR THEIR IDENTITY

Romanian small towns – urban settlements of less than 20 000 inhabitants, having a polarization function of the socio-economic activities in the narrow rural areas - are considered an interface between rural and urban communities. Determining the identity of small towns is rather difficult, because complex and varied political, social and economic changes occurred in the previous century. Thus, three distinct phases have been established: before 1950 the towns had a rather strong rural character; in 1950-1989 their identity was completely changed under the communist regime; after that they somehow regained their initial identity (that before 1950), or promoted it at higher levels. There is a main discrepancy between the present stage and that before 1989: the then identity wasconventional and constrained whereas today it develops in a natural process conditioned only by the town itself and by the choice of its inhabitants

Rethinking the territorial pact in the context of European territorial cohesion

The authors argue through this paper, the importance of rethinking the recently abandoned tools that can be reactivated in times of crisis. EU 2020 Strategy and other EU documents create a favorable frame in order to achieve the priorities set by reconsidering the territorial pact concept. Recent documents define the partnership agreement concept, which seems to be more rigid and less flexible than the territorial pact. Having as a starter point Romania’s specifics, there are individualized 10 thematic territorial pacts and 8 global pacts. They must generate territorial synergies capable of ensuring the coherence between regions, states and the European Union as a whole

In search of a relevant index measuring territorial disparities in a transition country. Romania as a case study

Countries in transition to a market economy exhibit increased regional disparities, leading to differences in the standard of life and in the chances of the population to benefit from the radical socio-economic and political changes. Our aim in this article is to find an index other than the gross domestic product, and maybe a synthetic one, capable of measuring territorial imbalances. In search of such an index, we considered 17 indicators to be relevant and applied these to the 41 Romanian counties. The results indicate that territorial disparities in a transition country with a large rural population can be measured by an aggregate index essentially formed by the gross domestic product, the number of inhabitants per room, and the rate of school dropouts

Reconstruction of postexcisional defects for periocular giant carcinoma

Clinic of Plastic and Reconstructive Microsurgery, St. Spiridon Emergency Hospital, Iasi, Romania, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iasi, RomaniaIntroduction. The giant basal cell carcinoma is a rare skin malignity, representing only 1% of the basal cell carcinomas. The giant type is defined as the lesion which exceeds 5 cm in diameter. The disease is reported generally in persons in their seventh decade of life, patients with various other pathologies. The excisions within oncological limit lead to large soft tissue defects which, if localized at the periocular region, become a real challenge for the surgeon that has to choose a surgical technique for the reconstruction. Aim of the study. To show some technical solutions to cover soft tissue defects from the periocular level left after excision for giant carcinomas and their results. Materials and methods. The study includes 9 patients, 8 male and one woman, age between 60 to 85 years, with a history of carcinomatous lesions in evolution from 7 to 12 years. All the lesions have dimensions between 5 and 7.5 cm, located in four cases in the external angle of the right eye,two at the upper eyelid and the external angle of the left eye, and, in one case, in theglabellar region with extension at both eyes. In all of the 8 cases the intervention consisted in complete excision (with oncological limit restriction) and covering with regional flaps (in 3 cases Mustarde flap, in 3 cases association of frontal flaps and in 3 cases genian advancement flap, from witch, one anchored in the zygomatic bone). All the reconstructive surgical interventions were performed in one operatory time, only in two cases it was necessary the reintervention after three months for the sectioning of the conjunctival flap (for the eyeprotection). In all 8 cases the nodular form of the basal cell carcinoma was observed. Results. The immediate postoperative evolution was good, without flap vascularisation problems. Long term evolution was good, with full reintegration of the flaps and a pleasant esthetic result. No recurrences were registered 18 months after the intervention. Conclusions. The giant basal cell carcinoma, a rare form of disease, is most often diagnosed at advanced ages. On the face, excision determines the presence of large soft tissue defect. Sometimes the reconstruction represented a real challenge for the surgeon

Anodization Treatment of Ti6Al4V in Electrolytes Containing HF

The Ti6Al4V alloy is already well-known likely material for implant applications. As well as pure titanium, Ti6Al4V alloy possess the ability to form spontaneously a thin passive oxide layer on the surface. This oxide layer provides an enhanced biocompatibility and may be optimum for the osseointegration if it is applied a tailoring of the surface topology and chemistry. The present paper addresses a study of Ti6Al4V surface modification by anodization as function of HF concentration in electrolyte and time, with the purpose to achieve an ordered porous titanium oxide layer. Prior to the anodization treatment the as-prepared surfaces were microstructurally characterized by SEM, EDX and XRD. The oxidized surfaces were subjected to SEM measurement in order to observe the achieved morphology

Multidrug resistance in Helicobacter pylori infection

Helicobacter pylori (Hp), a well-known human pathogen, causes one of the most common chronic bacterial infections and plays an important role in the emergence of chronic progressive gastric inflammation and a variety of gastrointestinal diseases. The prevalence of Hp infection varies worldwide and is indirectly proportional to socio-economic status, especially during childhood. The response to the eradication therapy significantly depends on the antibiotic resistance specific to each geographical region; thus, currently, given the increasing prevalence of antimicrobial resistance (especially to clarithromycin, metronidazole, and levofloxacin), successful treatment for Hp eradication has become a real challenge and a critical issue. The most incriminated factors associated with multidrug resistance (MDR) in Hp proved to be the overuse or the improper use of antibiotics, poor medication adherence, and bacterial-related factors including efflux pumps, mutations, and biofilms. Up to 30% of first-line therapy fails due to poor patient compliance, high gastric acidity, or high bacteremia levels. Hence, it is of great importance to consider new eradication regimens such as vonoprazan-containing triple therapies, quintuple therapies, high-dose dual therapies, and standard triple therapies with probiotics, requiring further studies and thorough assessment. Strain susceptibility testing is also necessary for an optimal approach

Sensitivities of Key Parameters in the Preparation of Silver/Silver Chloride Electrodes Used in Harned Cell Measurements of pH

A questionnaire was completed by fourteen world leading national metrology institutes to study the influence of several variables in the preparation of Ag/AgCl electrodes on the accuracy of Harned cell measurements of pH. The performance of each institute in the last decade has been assessed based on their results in eight key comparisons, organized by the Bureau International des Poids et Measures Consultative Committee for Amount of Substance, involving the measurement of pH of phosphate, phthalate, carbonate, borate and tetroxalate buffer solutions. The performance of each laboratory has been correlated to the results of the questionnaire to determine the critical parameters in the preparation of Ag/AgCl electrodes and their sensitivities with respect to the accuracy of pH measurement. This study reveals that the parameters most closely correlated to performance in comparisons are area of electrode wire exposed to the electrolyte, diameter and porosity of the Ag sphere prior to anodisation, amount of Ag converted to AgCl during anodisation, stability times employed for electrodes to reach equilibrium in solution prior to measurement, electrode rejection criteria employed and purity of reagents