Mobile Application Development for Optimal and Rapid Diagnosis of Vine Diseases

In a perennial culture such as the vine, late and inaccurate identification of the damage created by diseases and pests can cause significant crop loss or even the loss of the entire production. To support the growers in Romania, in 2010, we printed and also posted online on www.scvblaj.ro a guide on how to diagnose vine diseases and pests that describes in detail the most important pathogens together with pictures and various solutions in order to help the growers to bring the plants back to a healthy state whenever possible. Given the high number of growers in our country, especially small family growers, the guide is addressed to anyone, regardless of their past experience.Between 2010 and 2014, thousands of growers have accessed the online version of the guide and contacted us to request additional help. We gathered a lot of valuable information during that time but most notably the fact that many growers were contacting us too late, when a disease had already spread beyond any hope of recovery or worse after a wrong treatment was applied because of an inaccurate diagnosis.In recent years we noticed an increasing number of wrong diagnostics of vine diseases and a tendency for pathogens to be more aggressive. Thus finding a new solution, easily accessible to growers that would offer a faster, easier and up to date diagnosis, was necessary.Recent developments in the field of machine learning (Ghahramani, 2015), breakthroughs in computer vision (Krizhevsky et al., 2012) and the availability of cheap computational hardware has led us to look for a way to automatically detect and classify a disease just by having a computer or a mobile phone process a picture of an affected plant. Given the widespread availability of mobile devices, we believe we can help the vine growers further

Distribution of the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in Romania

peer reviewedThe European rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus, is a widespread colonizer and is considered a pest outside its natural range, where eradication of the rabbit is priority for conservation. Original distribution of the after last ice age included Iberian Peninsula (both Spain and Portugal) to western France and northern Africa, and the introduction throughout Western Europe is thought to have occurred as early as the Roman period. It is debatable if European rabbit is native or not to Romania; IUCN lists it as introduced, being native only to: Algeria, France, Gibraltar, Morocco, Portugal and Spain. The European rabbit was introduced or re-introduced in Romania for hunting purposes in counties such as: Alba, Bacău, Botoşani, Braşov, Buzău, Covasna, Dolj, Iaşi, Ilfov, Maramureş, Mureş, Prahova, Sibiu, Timiş and Vîlcea. Many introductions date long time ago, some of them before 1900s. At present, it can be found only in two counties: for sure in Timiş (Timiş Meadow) and possible in Sibiu. In most of other counties where it was introduced the rabbit populations are extinct in the wild. The reasons for these extinctions are the nature of the soil, cold winters, predators and pathogens. Even in low number, the European rabbit is a species of hunting purpose and according to Romanian legislation it can be hunt all year long for meat and fur. It is also a reservoir of wild genes, useful for the genetic improvement of the domestic rabbit. The invasive potential of Oryctolagus cuniculus in Romania is quite low. The present research maps the main populations of European rabbits in Romania

ABCB1 gene polymorphisms is not associated with drug-resistant epilepsy in Romanian children

Background: P-glycoprotein (P-gp), a drug efflux transporter, encoded by the gene MDR1 ABCB1 multidrug resistant, reduces the penetration through the brain by the AEDs. Overexpression of Pgp in blood-brain barrier in epileptic patients play an important rol in pharmacoresistance. The aim of this study was to evaluate a possible association between C1236T and G2677T ABCB1 gene polymorphisms and drug-resistant epilepsy in Romanian children

Ultrasound renal denervation for hypertension resistant to a triple medication pill (RADIANCE-HTN TRIO): a randomised, multicentre, single-blind, sham-controlled trial

International audienc