RESEARCH ON THE THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF COMPOSITES MADE OF ECOLOGICAL FIBERS

The paper presents the results of the researchconducted to obtain new ecological composites thatcould be used for thermal insulation of buildings. Theobtained panels are made of ecological materials thatdo not affect the human health (wood chips andfibers, host of hemp, textile fibers, wool and reed).The testing was performed in eight points, for aninternal temperature of T=200C and an outdoortemperature situated in the range of -200C÷200C). Asthe tests conducted, the results showed that the bestinsulating capacity belonged to a composite whichhas wood fiber and wool in its structure, followed acomposite which has wood chips, hemp particles andwool in its structure

Finasteride adverse effects and post-finasteride syndrome; implications for dentists

Finasteride is a 5α-reductase inhibitor widely used in present in the therapeutic approach of androgenic alopecia. Adverse effects consist in variable sign and symptoms, the most common being represented by mental troubles (reduced feeling of life pleasure or emotions, depression), physical impairments (loss of muscle tone and/or mass) and sexual complains (loss of libido and sexual potency). An increasing number of studies identify and describe even a post-finasteride syndrome (persistent adverse affects three months or more after finasteride cessation) or new adverse effects including but not limited at the skin level or oral cavity (marginal periodontium). We intend to present in this study several oral adverse effects encountered during finasteride administration, represented by mild and moderate signs which generally responded to topical procedures without to require the stop of the drug administration. New studies on large samples will further document the existing relation between the described oral adverse effects and the implied pathophysiological mechanisms. For this moment, we are taking into account as possible mechanisms- a direct action of finasteride administration, possible indirect consequences due to hormonal interferences, or coexisting factors with finasteride administration that were not detected

The diagnostic algorithm in pre-invasive cervical lesions

The screening for pre-invasive cervical lesions has significantly decreased the incidence of cervical neoplasm. It is recommended to be performed starting with the age of 21 with a frequency of 3-5 years and it consists of pap smear testing and HPV genotyping, and, if required, it can be continued with colposcopy or biopsy followed by pathological assessment. The importance of the early diagnosis of pre-invasive cervical lesions has led to several studies on this topic. The paper analyzed the modern literature published on the PubMed and Scopus databases. Reference studies have found that most intraepithelial lesions are caused by the presence of HPV. Other commonly associated factors are immunosuppression, multiparity and other viral infections. HPV infection can be prevented by vaccination. It is recommended for people between 11 and 26 years old and also over 27 years old if they associate risk factors. A meta-analysis performed on patients diagnosed with CIN2 revealed a lower recurrence rate in vaccinated women than in unvaccinated women. Other studies have shown the transient nature of HPV infection and spontaneous regression of pre-invasive lesions. The early diagnosis of pre-invasive lesions is necessary for the initiation of therapeutic and follow-up behavior as soon as possible, with the aim of reducing the incidence of cervical cancer. This is possible and easy to access through national health programs

Caesarean section versus vaginal birth in the perception of woman who gave birth by both methods

The increase in the number of births by Caesarean section is a phenomenon whose global expansion is generated by numerous factors and especially by the contemporary perceptions of women regarding childbirth meeting the interests of the professionals in the field. However, the opinion of many women towards the benefits of Caesarean delivery is often not based on the experience or information from reliable sources. This study aimed at sharing the experience of women who gave birth both vaginally and by Caesarean section, focusing on their perception of these events. The study included 26 women and the conclusion of the vast majority (77%) was that natural birth is preferable and they would recommend it as the first option to future mothers. In addition, the analysis of the cases in which, on the contrary, they would recommend birth by Caesarean section (23%) revealed that they objectively had births that had not been optimally managed and hence, the recommendation for careful, professional evaluation of the conditions of birth for each case. Reaching an optimal rate of Caesarean sections is an objective that can be achieved through correct information, health education and the correct management of the cases

The postfinasteride syndrome; an overview

As a 5-α reductase inhibitor, Finasteride has proven effective in ameliorating two conditions documented to be androgen dependent, namely male androgenic alopecia and benign prostatic hyperplasia. Therapeutic results are maintained as long as the drug is administered, with treatment cessation generally leading to the return of symptomatology for each condition. In addition, during the therapeutic phase, several adverse effects have been reported, some of which persist long or indefinitely after treatment cessation, known as “post-finasteride syndrome.” Herein we present and discuss the most common finasteride side effects, along with a psycho-neuroendocrine rationale that could explain the persistence of many adverse effects after treatment cessation. Moreover, we argue that finasteride adverse effects occurring during finasteride administration should be delineated from postfinasteride side effects (encountered after treatment cessation), suggesting the need to be addressed separately within a therapeutic perspective. Until a tailored therapeutic approach of postfinasteride syndrome becomes available, we have noted that hand preference and sexual orientation seem to be useful as possible predicting factors for finasteride side effects and postfinasteride syndrome. Finally, even though finasteride administration is considered relatively safe, literature data urges prudence. Specifically, recent studies report that some subjects receiving finasteride develop severe depressive episodes including suicidal thoughts, in part due to persistent sexual side effects

Les réseaux de neurones pour la modélisation et la commande des procédés biotechnologiques

Dans ce travail nous réalisons une étude sur l'utilisation de réseaux de neurones pour la modélisation, la classification et la prédiction appliquées aux procédés de fermentation. Les modèles de type boîte noire (et nous classifions ici les réseaux de neurones) sont utiles pour la modélisation des procédés ou des phénomènes pour lesquels des modèles analytiques ne peuvent pas être déduits à partir de considérations physiques. Parmi les avantages des modèles neuronaux par rapport aux autres modèles boîte noire, nous mentionnons le fait qu'ils sont des approximateurs universels, leurs fonctions de base sont adaptatives, leur structure répétitive permet une facile implémentation logicielle et matérielle et ils ont la propriété de la régularisation implicite. Ceux-ci, combinés avec les caractéristiques de procédés biologiques (procédés non-linéaires et non-stationnaires dont la dynamique et peu connue), fournissent la raison pour laquelle les réseaux de neurones sont un outil très apprécié pour la modélisation des procédés biologiques, ou des procédés de fermentation, dans notre cas. Nous avons donc utilisé des structures de modèles neuronaux déjà existants et proposé aussi de nouvelles structures pour les cas ciblés de fermentations alcoolique et lactique. Nous présentons deux approches pour la caractérisation de la dynamique d un procédé de fermentation: la modélisation du taux de croissance en biomasse, le paramètre dynamique principal du procédé et la caractérisation globale du type de la dynamique du procédé à l aide d un classifieur neuronal. Les deux approches sont testées en simulation et sur des données expérimentales pour une fermentation lactique et une fermentation alcoolique. La caractérisation globale de la dynamique d un procédé de fermentation représente un outil potentiel pour la supervision des procédés en détectant les changements dans la dynamique du système où une aide à la modélisation des procédés de fermentation en mode discontinu. Nous avons considéré aussi la prédiction de la biomasse pour une fermentation en mode continu et les modèles neuronaux de prédiction ont été testés dans une stratégie de commande prédictive. Les résultats sont comparés avec la même stratégie prédictive mais utilisant une approche adaptative et l'approche neuronale a un succès incontestable pour les cas ou la dynamique du procédé change dans le temps. Finalement nous nous sommes intéressés à la prédiction du quotient respiratoire, proposant un modèle neuronal de prédiction. Il est réalisé en vue d'une commande prédictive du procédé pour la maintenance d'un certain régime de fonctionnement (oxydatif ou fermentaire)In this work we realize a study on the use of the neural nets for the modeling, classification and the control of fermentation processes.The black-box models (we consider a neural net like a black box model) are of great help for processes or phenomena modeling when analytical models cannot be deduced from physical considerations. Some of the advantages of the neural nets when compared to other black-box models are: they are universal approximators using a small number of parameters, their basis functions are adaptive, their repetitive structure permits an easy implementation both software and hardware and they have the property of implicit regularization. These, combined with the characteristics of the biological processes (which are non-linear, non-stationary processes whose dynamics isn t entirely known), are the reason for which the neural nets are used for the modeling of such processes. We have thus used existing neural models and proposed new ones for the cases of lactic and alcoholic fermentations. We have presented two approaches for the characterization of the fermentation process dynamics: the modeling of the specific biomass growth rate, the most important dynamic parameter of a fermentation process and the global characterization of the process dynamics using a neural classifier. The two approaches have been tested in simulation and on real data for lactic or alcoholic fermentation processes. The use of a classifier of the process dynamics represents a potential tool for process supervision by means of detecting the changes in the process dynamics as well as an aid for the process modeling in the case of batch processes. The prediction of the biomass concentration has also been considered for a continuous fermentation process. The neural models have been tested in a predictive control strategy and compared with a similar strategy using adaptive modeling. The neural prediction has been an incontestable winner for the cases where the process dynamics changes in time. The last issue of our study has been the prediction of the respiratory quotient for a alcoholic fermentation for which we proposed a neural model. It has been proposed in view of a predictive control strategy for the maintenance of a certain regime (fermentative or oxidative)INIST-CNRS (INIST), under shelf-number: RP 17272 / SudocSudocFranceF

Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia “myelodysplastic type’’ in transformation to acute myeloid leukemia – diagnostic and therapeutic options: case report and literature review / Leucemie mielomonocitară cronică forma mielodisplazică în transformare spre leucemie acută mieloidă – diagnostic și opțiuni terapeutice: prezentare de caz și revizuirea literaturii

Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) is a clonal hematopoietic stem cell disorder that is characterized by the presence of an absolute monocytosis (1 × 10^ 9/l) in the peripheral blood, the overlap of myelodisplastic aspects and myeloproliferative aspects in the bone marrow and tendency to transform into acute myeloid leukemia. CMML is considered to be the most aggressive chronic myeloid leukemia. We present the case of a 48 years old woman who was hospitalized in March 2013 in the Center of Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation for anemia related symptoms. Initial investigations showed anemia, relative monocytosis (10% monocytes of the WBC differential) with an increasing absolute number of monocytes (> 1,000/μl) in the following months. Initial exploration of the bone marrow (aspirate and bone marrow biopsy and immunohistochemistry IHC tests) revealed elements of trilinear dysplasia and an increased percentage of myeloblasts (11-14%). In the next four months myeloblasts percentage remained below 20% (8-14%) and it has been observed a gradually increasing of monocytoid elements (> 20%). Immunophenotyping in the bone marrow aspirate identified a monocytic proliferation with high percentage (8%) of immature cells. The karyotype reported the presence of clones with t (1;3). Initially diagnosed as RAEB-2 (WHO) the case was recomitted in CMML-type 2 with a progression to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) has been performed after getting the best possible therapeutic response with AML chemotherapy type (complete remission). Allo-HSCT was performed using myeloablative conditioning, 12 months after diagnosis. The patient is now in complete remission, 24 months after allo-HSCT