Psychotherapeutic Approach in Oncological Somatizations

Treating, with predilection, the problem of the oncological diseases, which take over boththe physical and the psychological side, in a marked way, meant to cause significant dislocations in thehuman existence, the proposed article thoroughly clarifies the sufferings of the mind, transposedthrough a wide process, in physiological form, the somatic pathology being in a continuous process ofintertwining with the psychological pathology, resulting in a broad clinical polymorphism, translatedinto oncological conditions. In this way, a psychotherapeutic approach, with a regulatory role, isnecessary, gradually pursuing the causes of a psychosomatic nature, which gradually establishes thedisease, the intervention of psycho-oncology having an indispensable character, adopting a series ofprocedures at different stages. of the condition, the importance of collaboration with the treatingphysician, the confrontation with the grim diagnosis, the role of the family in the psychologicalapproach and the compliance with the treatment completing the clinical picture

Temporal dynamics of gene expression in the lung in a baboon model of E. coli sepsis

BACKGROUND: Bacterial invasion during sepsis induces disregulated systemic responses that could lead to fatal lung failure. The purpose of this study was to relate the temporal dynamics of gene expression to the pathophysiological changes in the lung during the first and second stages of E. coli sepsis in baboons. RESULTS: Using human oligonucleotide microarrays, we have explored the temporal changes of gene expression in the lung of baboons challenged with sublethal doses of E. coli. Temporal expression pattern and biological significance of the differentially expressed genes were explored using clustering and pathway analysis software. Expression of selected genes was validated by real-time PCR. Cytokine levels in tissue and plasma were assayed by multiplex ELISA. Changes in lung ultrastructure were visualized by electron microscopy. We found that genes involved in primary inflammation, innate immune response, and apoptosis peaked at 2 hrs. Inflammatory and immune response genes that function in the stimulation of monocytes, natural killer and T-cells, and in the modulation of cell adhesion peaked at 8 hrs, while genes involved in wound healing and functional recovery were upregulated at 24 hrs. CONCLUSION: The analysis of gene expression modulation in response to sepsis provides the baseline information that is crucial for the understanding of the pathophysiology of systemic inflammation and may facilitate the development of future approaches for sepsis therapy

The determination of the antioxidant activity of hawthorn dry extract

Universitatea de Stat de Medicină şi Farmacie „Nicolae Testemiţanu” din Republica MoldovaIntroducere. Crataegus monogyna Jacq., fam. Rosaceae reprezintă o plantă valorificată până în prezent. Preparatele medicamentoase, obţinute din frunze, flori sau fructe se utilizează în tratamentul diferitor patologii cardiac şi cerebrale vasculare. Efectele farmacoterapeutice simt datorate prezenţei diverselor grupe de principii active, cei mai importanţi fiind compuşii fenolici.Scopul studiului a fost de a determina activitatea antioxidantă a extractului uscat din frunze şi flori de păducel (Crataegi monoginae folia etflores). Material şi metode. Acţiunea antioxidantă a fost evaluată utilizând trei metode: de captare a radicalului DPPH, de neutraliare a radicalului ABTS, de chelare a fierului (testul ferrozina). Rezultate. Activitatea faţă de radicalul DPPH a extractului uscat de păducel este variabilă în funcţie de concentraţie. Soluţia alcoolică a extractului a prezentat IC50 85.44 pg/ml. Activitatea de chelatare a ionului feros a fost de 77.18±0.18 %, fiind comparată cu activitatea martorului EDTA (92,21 ±1.16% activitate). Activitatea de scavenger faţă de radicalul ABTS+ a fost exprimată în echivalentul Troloxului, egală cu 1,45 pM ET/g masă uscată. Concluzii. Conform datelor obţinute în urma determinării capacităţii antioxidante a extractului uscat de păducel prin trei metode diferite, s-a stabilit că valorile corelează între ele. în plus, rezultatele relevă capacitate pronunţată de chelare a fierului. Astfel, putem concluziona că extractul de păducel poate servi ca sursă de antioxidanţi.Introduction. Hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna Jacq., fam. Rosaceae, is currently a valorified plant. Phytopreparations obtained from leaves, flowers and fruits of this plant are used to treat different cardiac pathologies and cerebral vascular diseases. Pharmacotherapeutic effects are due to the presence of various groups of active ingredients, while phenolic compounds are the most important one. The aim of the study was to determine the antioxidant effect of hawthorn dry extract obtained from leaves and flowers of the species C. monogyna Jacq. (Crataegi monoginae folia et flores). Material and methods. The antioxidant effect was determined using three methods: DPPH scavenging, ABTS assay and the ferrozine test. Results. The activity of the hawthorn dry extract towards DPPH radical depends upon the concentration. Alcoholic solution of the extract represents IC50 85.44 pg/ml. The chelation of the iron ions is 77.18±0.18 % and it is compared to the standard EDTA (92,21±1.16 % activity). The scavanger activity towards ABTS+ radical compared to Trolox is 1,45 pM ET/g dry weight. Conclusions. The obtained results from the determination of the antioxidant activity of hawthorn dry extract by three different methods correlates between them. The results also revealed that Crataegi monoginae folia et flores extract had high iron chelating capacity. It was demonstrated that hawthorn extract could be an important source of antioxidants

The impact of public education spending on economic growth in Central and Eastern Europe. An ARDL approach with structural break

The former communist states experienced a period of turbulence in the transition to the market economy and then the accession to the EU, turbulences that also influenced the education sector. This article aims to analyze the impact of public spending on education on economic growth in 11 former communist Eastern European states, current EU members. The methodology used is ARDL with structural break. The results are consistent with those previously obtained The public education expenditure-economic growth relationship is mixed on long term; for five countries, there is no such thing; for six countries, there is one on a long term. On a short term, also, mixed results manifest for four countries are positive, and for two negative

Scoping out urban areas of tourist interest though geolocated social media data: Bucharest as a case study

Social media data has frequently sourced research on topics such as traveller planning or the factors that influence travel decisions. The literature on the location of tourist activities, however, is scarce. The studies in this line that do exist focus mainly on identifying points of interest and rarely on the urban areas that attract tourists. Specifically, as acknowledged in the literature, tourist attractions produce major imbalances with respect to adjacent urban areas. The present study aims to fill this research gap by addressing a twofold objective. The first was to design a methodology allowing to identify the preferred tourist areas based on concentrations of places and activities. The tourist area was delimited using Instasights heatmaps information and the areas of interest were identified by linking data from the location-based social network Foursquare to TripAdvisor’s database. The second objective was to delimit areas of interest based on users’ existing urban dynamics. The method provides a thorough understanding of functional diversity and the location of a city’s different functions. In this way, it contributes to a better understanding of the spatial distribution imbalances of tourist activities. Tourist areas of interest were revealed via the identification of users’ preferences and experiences. A novel methodology was thus created that can be used in the design of future tourism strategies or, indeed, in urban planning. The city of Bucharest, Romania, was taken as a case study to develop this exploratory research.Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This research has been partially funded by the Valencian Conselleria de Innovación, Universidades, Ciencia y Sociedad Digital, Generalitat Valenciana and the European Social Fund (ACIF/2020/173); and by the University of Alicante—Vicerrectorado de Investigación (GRE 21-15)

The Effect of ECB's Quantitative Easing on Credit Default Swap Instruments in Central and Eastern Europe

AbstractThis paper focuses on the quantitative easing policies launched by the European Central Bank (ECB), analysing their effects on the dynamics of a series of five-year sovereign credit default swap instruments that belong to seven Central and Eastern European States. In an econometric event study setup that follows the methodology developed in Albu et al. (2014), we calibrate an ARMA-GARCH model and analyse the abnormal and squared abnormal returns for each CDS instrument. The results indicate that the quantitative easing events issued by the European Central Bank have a significant effect on the evolution of the analysed sovereign credit default swap instruments

Neutrophil extracellular trap inhibition increases inflammation, bacteraemia and mortality in murine necrotizing enterocolitis

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a devastating gastrointestinal disease affecting primarily premature infants. The disease is characterized by intestinal inflammation and leucocyte infiltration, often progressing to necrosis, perforation, systemic inflammatory response and death. Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), denoting nuclear DNA, histone and antimicrobial protein release, have been suggested to play a role in NEC. This study aimed to determine the role of NETs in NEC and explore the effect of chloramidine, a NET inhibitor, on a murine NEC-like intestinal injury model. Blood and intestinal tissues were collected from infants diagnosed with ≥ Stage II NEC, and levels of nucleosomes and NETs, respectively, were compared with those of case-matched controls. In mice, NEC was induced with dithizone/Klebsiella, and mice in the treatment group received 40 mg/kg chloramidine. Bacterial load, intestinal histology, plasma myeloperoxidase and cytokine levels, and immunofluorescent staining were compared with controls. Nucleosomes were significantly elevated in both human and mouse NEC plasma, whereas NET staining was only present in NEC tissue in both species. Chloramidine treatment increased systemic inflammation, bacterial load, organ injury and mortality in murine NEC. Taken together, our findings suggest that NETs are critical in the innate immune defence during NEC in preventing systemic bacteraemia

Acceleration of small intestine development and remodeling of the microbiome following hyaluronan 35 KDa treatment in neonatal mice

The beneficial effects of human milk suppressing the development of intestinal pathologies such as necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants are widely known. Human milk (HM) is rich in a multitude of bioactive factors that play major roles in promoting postnatal maturation, differentiation, and the development of the microbiome. Previous studies showed that HM is rich in hyaluronan (HA) especially in colostrum and early milk. This study aims to determine the role of HA 35 KDa, a HM HA mimic, on intestinal proliferation, differentiation, and the development of the intestinal microbiome. We show that oral HA 35 KDa supplementation for 7 days in mouse pups leads to increased villus length and crypt depth, and increased goblet and Paneth cells, compared to controls. We also show that HA 35 KDa leads to an increased predominance of Clostridiales Ruminococcaceae, Lactobacillales Lactobacillaceae, and Clostridiales Lachnospiraceae. In seeking the mechanisms involved in the changes, bulk RNA seq was performed on samples from the terminal ileum and identified upregulation in several genes essential for cellular growth, proliferation, and survival. Taken together, this study shows that HA 35 KDa supplemented to mouse pups promotes intestinal epithelial cell proliferation, as well as the development of Paneth cells and goblet cell subsets. HA 35 KDa also impacted the intestinal microbiota; the implications of these responses need to be determined

Evaluation of methods for determining the ototoxicity of drug substances

Department of Pharmaceutical and Toxicological Chemistry, Laboratory Preclinical and Clinical Evaluation of Medicines, Nicolae Testemitanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy of the Republic of MoldovaIntroduction. There are several options for monitoring ototoxic changes. Many ototoxicity monitoring protocols are based on the ototoxic profile of platinum in chemotherapy (eg cisplatin) and aminoglycoside antibiotics (Gentamycin, Tobramycin, Kanamycin, Streptomycin, etc.) because they are widely used and have a relatively high incidence in the ototoxic events. However, other ototoxins such as difluoromethylnitrine, loop diuretics and salicylates can cause a wide variety of other audiometric configurations. Therefore, for a drug with a poorly defined ototoxic or ototoxic profile, It is very important to monitor the ototoxicity of the drugs whether or not they cause hearing loss and cause changes that have met the criteria for adverse effects. Aim of the study. Systematization of data about the methods and techniques for determining the ototoxicity of the drug by advanced bibliographic study. Materials and methods. 167 abstracts and scientific articles from the Cochrane Electronic Library and the MEDLINE database. Results. The bibliographic study highlighted three basic primary approaches in the monitoring of drug ototoxicity (87% of sources): conventional audiometry, high frequency audiometry and ototacoustic emissions. Another technique (present in about 13% of the investigated materials), such as the auditory brain response, can be used for a particular patient, but it is not a standard monitoring technique, although it can also be a criteria for detecting changes in auditory system. Conclusions. A variety of methods exist for monitoring ototoxicity of drug substances in the local therapy of auricular pathologies. Some are designed either for the early detection of ototoxicity and some in a simple evaluation for obtaining additional information about ototoxic changes and and its site of lesion

A textual and visual analysis of the intrinsic value dimensions of Romania: towards a sustainable destination brand

This work examines the projected image of Romania as an emerging tourism destination. Computed content-analysis was applied to the photos, text and video materials promoted online in Romania’s last international tourism campaign. The conceptual framework used corresponds to intrinsic values (play, aesthetics, ethics and spirituality), from Holbrook’s typology of value. Being more difficult to apprehend and therefore studied less, intrinsic values allow a more sophisticated approach to value creation. The purpose here is to identify the main attributes that are promoted about Romania by destination marketing organizations. The content analysis of text (last international promotion campaign Explore the Carpathian Garden) and visual data (27 photos from the official Facebook webpage and 7 TV videos) allow to depict an experiential view of Romania’s image: natural resources (coded as aesthetics with 29% of references), epistemic value of discovery (play 25.8%), authentic and historical traditions (ethics 25.8%) and wellness and therapeutic activities (spirituality, 19.3%). Destination marketing organizations have the potential to develop some distinctive aspects such as authenticity (as an ethical value dimension) and play (as an active, self-oriented value). Findings also highlight that a complimentary approach using textual and visual data might be a suitable option to research destination brand image