Are we at the end of ethnicity?

The article aims to present some of the most important approaches of a relatively recent term, i.e. "ethnicity" and its correlative phenomena: ethnic identities, ethnic groups, nations, nationality and nationalism. The theoretical considerations regarding the widely-used, but less-explained concepts are added value by presenting examples from various communities, societies and states, in an attempt to transform in rather clearer ools for analysis. Moreover, at the end of the day, students of tehnicity agree upon the fact that ethnic loyalties are extremely stable

Metamorfozele cenzurii româneşti sau Tertium Non Datur

The article is an attempt to draw a brief historical comparison between censorship in interwar and in communist Romania respectively. Paradoxically, there are not too many genuine scientific studies on censorship, in a country well-known for its repressive approach against culture during its recent and not so recent history. The analysis uses the works of the novelist and historian of religions, Mircea Eliade, as an illustrative case study among other prior to 1989 examples, especially in order to prove the much harsher nature of the communist regime

IoT Platform for Personal Data Protection

Since the establishment of IoT (Internet of Things), a variety of end devices become interconnected with one another, and thus, new types of security challenges appeared which have to be taken care of. Personal data, at the moment, have a higher risk of being hacked by various types of cyberattacks, as a result of the abundance of connectivity in the cloud realm. To face this type of challenges, the European Union decided to implement in 2018 the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) that implies that personal data of any kind can be shared with a third party only with their accord and can be, as well, deleted by them, whenever they desire. Henceforth, this paper introduces the PARFAIT project that will take into account this regulation and will integrate a platform with the purpose of protecting the personal data in IoT based applications, especially for smart home, smart office and smart hotel use cases.</p

Calitatea apei de fântână – studiu comparativ pe zone a fântânilor publice din Timişoara

În studiul efectuat ne-am propus investigarea comparativă a calităţii apei de fântână în 7 zone diferite ale municipiului Timişoara, în anul 2010. Metoda de lucru a constat într-o anchetă epidemiologică retrospectivă (studiu observaţional) cu utilizarea evidenţelor primare în ceea ce priveşte calitatea apei de fântână ale Direcţiei de Sănătate Publică Timiş. Rezultatele obţinute au evidenţiat valori crescute ale concentraţiilor de fier în zonele 3 (fără influenţă sezonieră) şi 6 (cu infl uenţă sezonieră – crescute primăvara), creşterea pH-ului şi a turbidităţii în trimestrul 2, în zona 6 şi o poluare fecală a apei la unele fântâni din zonele 2, 4, şi 5. În concluzie, există o diferenţă semnificativă a calităţii apei de fântână pe zone şi trimestre în municipiul Timişoara, în ceea ce priveşte pH-ul, turbiditatea, concentraţia de fier şi încărcătura microbiană a apei

Alterations in Calcium Signaling Pathways in Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in women and the fifth cause contributing to death due to the cancer condition. It is essential to deeply understand the complex cellular mechanisms leading to this disease. There are multiple connections between calcium homeostasis alterations and breast cancer in the literature, but no consensus links the mechanism to the disease prognosis. Among the cells contributing to the breast cancer are the breast telocytes, which connect through gap junctions to other cells, including cancer cells and myoepithelial cells. Multiple proteins (i.e., voltage-gated calcium channels, transient receptor potential channels, STIM and Orai proteins, ether à go-go potassium channels, calcium-activated potassium channels, calcium-activated chloride channels, muscarinic acetylcholine receptors, etc.) coupled with calcium signaling pathways undergo functional and/or expression changes associated with breast cancer development and progression, and might represent promising pharmacological targets. Unraveling the mechanisms of altered calcium homeostasis in various breast cells due to the cancer condition might contribute to personalized therapeutic approaches

Statistical Approach on Floods Features Based on Long Term Data Series Analysis.

Nowadays, IoT platforms have key-roles in almost all domains such as smart agriculture, health, cyber security, etc. The focus of this article is on water quality monitoring which can be improved by the use of wireless sensing networks and the implementation of the IoT technology. The aim of the article is to develop an efficient solution for farmers who irrigate crops with large amounts of water. The solution provided is based on multiple sensors (water quality, air quality, consumption, and climate) so that several parameters of the environment can be monitored simultaneously. The monitored parameters are conductivity, turbidity, salinity, precipitation levels, pH, dissolved oxygen and water temperature. The collected data will be filtered and translated into legible and meaningful data using intelligent algorithms for farmers. This paper is based on the experiments developed in the SWAM project, and the location where they were performed was chosen in Moara Domneasca. The location of the Moara Domnească Experimental Base, where the case study is implemented, is located 25 km from Bucharest, in the Commune of Afumați, Ilfov County in the Subunit of the Romanian Plain. Thus, the quality of the water used for irrigation purposes can be determined following the analysis and periodic monitoring of the parameter

New Insights Regarding the Potential Health Benefits of Isoflavones

Isoflavones are a class of plant secondary metabolites, with an estrogen‐like structure presenting a plethora of biological activities. The chapter discusses important facts about this class of phytoestrogens, from biosynthesis to the latest research about their health benefits. The following major points discussed are: biosynthesis, regulation, isolation, metabolism and bioavailability, isoflavones in diet and intake, and new insights regarding the therapeutic effect including cancer chemoprevention. The chapter ends with a mini review of own research of the anti‐inflammatory and chemopreventive activity of isoflavonoid genistein alone and incorporated in modern pharmaceutical formulations. The chapter updates the interested researchers in the field with the latest progress regarding potential health benefits of isoflavones

Diagnosis of a rare case of neonatal intestinal duplication cyst isolated from the gastrointestinal tract - Case report

Duplication cysts are congenital anomalies that typically have some connection to the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, but in rare cases the cysts can be completed isolated from the GI tract. We present the case of an appropriate for gestational age male infant born at 40 weeks gestational age with neonatal intestinal duplication cyst isolated from the GI tract. Postnatal diagnostic methods included ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) based on abnormal antenatal findings. The positive diagnosis was based on the imaging results. Duplication cysts may remain asymptomatic and that is the reason why antenatal and postnatal US screening plays an important key role in the diagnosis. Series of imaging may confirm the diagnosis, prevent future complication and help the clinician to determine the optimal operative moment