RELIGION IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE A THEOLOGICAL EXPLORATION ON RELIGION, FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY †

Abstract We live in a complex, pluralist and dynamic world and we are constantly challenged to re-examine and redefine the fundamental elements of our existence: identity, culture, religion, Christianity, nation, freedom, democracy, etc. In such a context, the question of religion in the public square in general and the issue of religious freedom in particular becomes increasingly important. Indeed, religious freedom is one of the most fundamental rights of every person in a pluralist society, and we should be continuously engaged in promoting and enhancing it

Choledocoscopy in the surgery of mechanical jaundice

Universitatea de medicina si farmacie “Gr. T. Popa”, Iasi, clinica a IV-a chirurgie, Al XI-lea Congres al Asociației Chirurgilor „Nicolae Anestiadi” din Republica Moldova și cea de-a XXXIII-a Reuniune a Chirurgilor din Moldova „Iacomi-Răzeșu” 27-30 septembrie 2011Scopul lucrării: Diversitatea etiopatogenică a icterului mecanic justifică explorarea coledocoscopică, necesară unui diagnostic de certitudine. Material şi metodă: Între anii 2002 - 2011 am utilizat coledocoscopul flexibil la 58 de pacienți internați cu icter mecanic. La 21 (36,2 %) dintre aceştia icterul s-au dovedit a fi de etiologie neoplazică: 5 (8,6 %) cazuri cu ampulom vaterian (care au beneficiat de duodenopancreatectomie cefalică), 14 (24,1 %) cazuri cu neoplasm al capului de pancreas şi două (3.4 %) cazuri cu colangiocarcinom). Ceilalți 37 (63,8 %) de pacienți au avut o etiologie litiazică, la care coledocolitotomia asistată coledocoscopic şi asociată colecistectomiei a permis vindecarea. Rezultate. Discuții: Dintre pacienții cu suspiciune de icter mecanic neoplazic, în două (3,4 %) cazuri a fost necesară coledocoscopia care a certificat diagnosticul de colangiocarcinom atât prin aspectul imagistic, dar mai ales datorită posibilității prelevării biopsiei şi examenului histopatologic. În explorarea icterului mecanic. cu etiologie litiazică examenul coledocoscopic permite vizualizarea calculilor în 16 (27,5 %) cazuri la care celelalte explorări imagistice erau neconcludente. În toate cazurile controlul coledocoscopic a certificat absența calculilor în calea biliarặ principalặ la finalul intervenției, oferind astfel siguranță privind acuratețea actului chirurgical. Concluzii: Coledocoscopia aduce siguranță în chirurgia căii biliare principale atât în ceea ce priveşte diagnosticul, permițând vizualizarea şi prelevarea biopsiei în leziunile tumorale ale căii biliare principale cât şi în tratamentul litiazei biliare, oferind posibilitatea controlului imediat (intraoperator) al căii biliare principale după coledocolitotomie.Abstract. Background. The diverse etiology of mechanical jaundice requires a choledocoscopy to allow a correct diagnosis. Methods: Between 2002 and 2011, we used flexible choledocoscope, in 58 patients with mechanical jaundice admitted in our clinic. 21 (36, 2 %) cases proved to be of neoplastic etiology: 5 (8, 6%) cases diagnosed with vaterian ampuloma (treated by cephalic duodenopancreatectomy), 14 (24, 1 %) cases with pancreatic head cancer and two (3, 4 %) cases with cholangiocarcinoma. The remaining 37 (63, 8 %) cases were caused by lithiasis, treated by choledocolhitotomy associated with choledocoscopy and cholecystectomy. Results. Discussion: Among patients with suspected neoplastic mechanical jaundice, in two (3.4 %) cases choledocoscopy was necessary, in order to sustained the diagnosis of colangiocarcinoma, by macroscopically appearance, and also by the biopsy sampling and histological examination. In mechanical jaundice of lithiasis etiology, the choledocoscopy permitted the visualization of stones in 16 (27, 5%) cases in which, other imagistic investigations were inconclusive. In all cases choledocoscopic control certified the absence of gallstones in the bile duct at the end of the surgical procedure, and thereby provides safety of the surgical act. Conclusions: Choledocoscopy adds certainty in the main bile duct surgery both in terms of correct diagnosis, allowing visualization and biopsy sampling of the main bile duct in tumor lesions and in treatment of gallstone disease, allowing immediate control of the main bile duct after choledocolithotomy

Evaluation of Methods for the Analysis of Untreated and Processed Lignocellulosic Biomasses

The overall efficiency of the transformation of lignocellulosic materials to usable products as chemicals and fuels must be governed by adequate analysis of products before and after treatments. Using some promising technologies, lignocelluloses which are biomasses from marine plant and trees, grains, food and non-food crops, and woodbased can give products as fuel alcohol and other chemicals. Various methods of transformation from feedstock to valuable end products are discussed in the scientific literature. Therefore, yields must justify methods used for biomass transformations. As a result, adequate compositional analysis of these processing stages is needed. In this chapter, standard common methods such as gravimetric, chromatography, spectroscopic and their variations for analysis on both untreated and treated lignocelluloses are highlighted. The ease of the use and challenges with recommendations to their applicability to quantifying lignocelluloses fractionations for reproducibility and to be representative are discussed. With biomass technology, virtually all and even more products that can be produced from fossil energy can also be produced from biomass energy. Adequate analysis is therefore necessary

INTERNAL AUDIT IMPLICATIONS ON BANK PROFITABILITY. THE ROMANIAN CASE.

The aim of this paper is to determine the implications of the internal audit on bank profitability. We have conducted a Multiple Linear Regression Model using data from 15 Romanian commercial banks. The data used in our model is for a ten years period (2003-2012) as reported by the Bureau Van Dijk database and the annual reports of the banks from our sample. The result of fixed effects (within) regression suggests that fixed model is a better choice than ordinary least squares models for estimating influence on ROAA. The results showed that independent auditors and CEO duality (as dummy variables) influence (being statistically significant and having expected sign of coefficients) bank profitability regarding the commercial banks in Romania in the analyzed period of time

Vulnerabilities and Risks in Romanian Public Financial Accounting

Internal audit plays an important contributive role in the economic credibility of an economy. By improving, the quality of internal audit and control in public institutions we can increase the efficiency of public spending and the whole economy in general. The aim of our paper is to identify the main vulnerabilities and risks in Romanian public sector after based upon the analysis performed by the Romanian Court of Accounts. Based upon the annual reports of the Romanian Court of Accounts from 2009 to 2016, we identify several issues and risks in the Romanian public sector, and especially in the local government financial accounting. In order to prevent more deviations and errors and to improve the quality of internal auditing and internal control systems, in the Romanian public sector, this paper proposes a series of measures in this matter

Corporate Governance Influence on Banking Performance. An Analysis on Romania and Bulgaria

The aim of the paper is to find if the corporative governance characteristics have an impact on bank performance. We conducted an OLS regression on panel data (fixed, random effects and first-difference). We used data from Romanian and Bulgarian commercial banks as reported by Bureau van Dijk database and categorical variables manually collected by analyzing the annual reports of the banks from our sample. These latest dummy variables reflect the corporative governance component for our model. The data used in our paper is from 2003 to 2015 period. Our results showed that there are some statistically significant effects of our categorical variables on bank profitability in both countries, so, the good practice of corporate should be applied for obtaining higher bank’s performance

Environmental assessment of coloured fabrics and opportunities for value creation: spin-dyeing versus conventional dyeing of modal fabrics

Textile wet processing such as dyeing adds value to the apparel but has the potential to cause significant environmental and human health impacts. The objective of this study is to compare the environmental impacts of fabrics made of spun-dyed modal with conventionally dyed modal fabrics (for production in Austria, system "cradle-to-factory gate"). The chosen functional unit is one kilogram of black modal knitted fabric. We assessed energy use, GHG emissions, water use and the impact categories covered by CML 2001 method. We found that the cradle to gate production of spun-dyed modal fabric has 50% lower energy use, 60% lower carbon footprint, and requires only 50% of water and has significantly lower (40–60%) environmental impacts compared to conventionally dyed fabric. Sensitivity analysis with liquor ratios and number of washing cycles does not substantially change the above results. Conventional dyeing in China leads to four-fold higher GHG emissions per kg fabric compared to spin-dyeing in Austria. Finally, we described linkages of sustainable innovation with business value creation. We showed that spin-dyeing can significantly reduce costs for value chain actors, helps reducing the environmental footprint of end products, enhances reputation of brands and retailers, and can contribute to mitigating global problems while catering for the rising demand for clothing fuelled by ever growing world population