Counties Of Romania Research Articles

Being a NEET: Which way to go - case study on Romanian VET graduates

Romania is one of the EU countries characterized by highest rates of NEET (neither in employment nor in education and training) youth aged 15-24, reaching out the level of 18.1% in 2015, significantly above the UE-28 average of 12.0%. What is even more worrying is that, starting with 2008, the NEETs rate has continued to increase, even if the economy started to recover. NEET youth are in fact a very heterogeneous group, covering both vulnerable, as well as non-vulnerable youth, unemployed and inactive youth, looking for a job or not. The aim of the paper is to analyse youth transitions between the state of NEET, employment or education/training, as well as the reasons for which these transitions fail or happen with difficulties. We use two wave panel data for a tracking study on transition from school to work covering VET graduates. Tracking data are collected in 2011-2012 at 6 months and 12 months after graduation and cover the entire graduates’ cohorts of 2 counties in Romania. Findings of the study could substantiate better tailored programs targeting NEETs and their re-insertion in education or labour market. Keywords: Youth, school-to-work transition, NEET, education.

The Role of Diet and Lifestyle Habits in Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases in Moldavian and Transylvanian Population

The role of diet is crucial in the development and prevention of cardiovascular disease. The purpose of the current study was to describe dietary intake and assess health scores of children and adults by using a survey questionnaire on moldavian and transylvanian population, in order to evaluate whether it is necessary to introduce a prevention program for cardiovascular diseases in Romania. In 2015, a questionnaire was sent to 347 children and 583 adults in two counties in Romania where the climatic and topographic conditions are different. Participation rate in the children group was 56.48% moldavian / 43.51% transylvanian, respectively 39.62% moldavian / 60.37% transylvanian participants in the adult group. The questionnaire included a 44-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire and questions on lifestyle for children and a 21- item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire and a health score for adults. Results were evaluated against the WHO recommendations of healthy diet. In Mures county the number of former smokers is significantly higher compared to Bacau county, and considerably more subjects report active smoking and exposure to passive smoking. The incidence of overweight and obesity was similar in the two counties, 68.14% in Bacau and 70.67% in Mures. More subjects from Bacau (94.35%) have regular exercise compared to those from Mures (85.38%), the difference is not quite significant. The majority of the subjects from Bacau county have a significantly healthier diet compared to those from Mures, consuming regularly eggs, meat and dairy products. Based on our data, only 16% of Romanian children reach the WHO recommendation for healthy nutrition regarding fruit and vegetable intake.Dietary habits of children and adults in Romania warrant improvements. Public health actions should be taken to increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables, decrease the consumption of saturated fats and sweets and also to increase the frequency of physical activity. These actions may be helpful in reducing the risks for overweight and cardiovascular diseases.

Babesia, Theileria, and Hepatozoon species in ticks infesting animal hosts in Romania.

Babesia spp., Theileria spp., and Hepatozoon spp. are tick-transmitted apicomplexan parasites that cause several important diseases in animals. To increase current knowledge about the diversity of tick-transmitted pathogens in Romania, we investigated the occurrence of Babesia spp., Theileria spp., and Hepatozoon spp. in a wide range of tick species infesting animal hosts. We collected 852 ticks from 10 different animal species from 20 counties in Romania. The assessment was based on detection of parasite DNA by PCR. Five different apicomplexan parasite species were detected; among them three different species of Babesia: B. canis, B. microti, and B. ovis. Hepatozoon canis was the most frequently detected parasite, found predominately in Ixodes ricinus ticks collected from domestic dogs. It was also detected in I. ricinus collected from goat, fox, and cat. Furthermore, H. canis was found in Haemaphysalis punctata and Haemaphysalis concinna ticks. In addition, Theileria buffeli was detected in Rhipicephalus bursa ticks collected from cattle.

Analysis on Online Purchase of Clothing in Romania

Abstract Clothing is the second important category of products sold in Romania through the Internet. The number of online buyers is increasing although not up to values registered in other European countries. This raises the question of the reasons for reluctance or poor use of online purchases and of the behaviour of those who still buy clothes online. The article focuses on presenting the results of a study conducted in one of Romania counties in 2016. Data is supplemented with information obtained from secondary sources, namely a national study conducted in 2014. We identified characteristics of Dambovita residents regarding the factors of influence, brakes on purchase and the actual online purchase behaviour.

Using Fractal Analysis in Modeling the Dynamics of Forest Areas and Economic Impact Assessment: Maramureș County, Romania, as a Case Study

This study uses fractal analysis to quantify the spatial changes of forest resources caused by an increase of deforested areas. The method introduced contributes to the evaluation of forest resources being under significant pressure from anthropogenic activities. The pressure on the forest resources has been analyzed for Maramureș County, one of the most deforested counties in Romania. In order to evaluate this, the deforested areas were calculated for the period of 2001–2014, by using the Global Forest Change 2000–2014 database. The Fractal Fragmentation Index (FFI) and Fixed Grid 2D Lacunarity (FG2DL) were used to quantify the degree of fragmentation and dispersion of the forested areas, and thereby the extent to which a forest area is affected by deforestation. The process of quantifying the pressure on forested areas included the creation of a database for the period of 2000–2014 containing economic activities (turnover) related to woody recourses, important indicators of forest exploitation. Taken together, the results obtained indicate a dramatic increase in deforested areas (over 19,122 ha in total for the period of analysis), in Maramureș County.

Residential, soil and water radon surveys in north-western part of Romania

The exposure to radon and radon decay products in homes and at workplaces represents the greatest risk from natural ionizing radiation. The present study brings forward the residential, soil and water radon surveys in 5 counties of Romania. Indoor radon measurements were performed by using CR-39 track detectors exposed for 3 months on ground-floor level of dwellings, according to the NRPB Measurements Protocol. Radon concentrations in soil and water were measured using the LUK3C device. The indoor radon concentrations ranged from 5 to 2592 Bq⋅m−3 with an updated preliminary arithmetic mean of 133 Bq⋅m−3, and a geometric mean of 90 Bq⋅m−3. In about 6% of the investigated grid cells the indoor radon concentrations exceed the threshold of 300 Bq⋅m−3. The soil gas radon concentration varies from 0.8 to 169 kBq⋅m−3, with a geometric mean of 28.4 kBq⋅m−3. For water samples, the results show radon concentrations within the range of 0.3–352 kBq⋅m−3 with a geometric mean of 7.7 Bq⋅L−1. The indoor radon map was plotted on a reference grid developed by JRC with the resolution 10 × 10 km2.

A rare cardiopulmonary parasite of the European badger, Meles meles: first description of the larvae, ultrastructure, pathological changes and molecular identification of Angiostrongylus daskalovi Janchev & Genov 1988.

BackgroundAngiostrongylus daskalovi is a rare cardiopulmonary nematode infecting badgers. The parasite was described in 1988 and, since then, found only once in mustelids in Europe. The present study aims to report new cases of patent A. daskalovi infection in badgers from northern Romania and to provide new information on its ultrastructure, molecular diagnosis, and pathology.MethodsEight road-killed or hunted badgers originating from Maramureș and Alba counties in Romania were collected and necropsied. Adults and larvae of cardio-pulmonary nematodes were collected and examined by light and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Genomic DNA was extracted from adults and first-stage larvae (L1). PCR amplification of the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2, ∼500 bp) of the rRNA gene was performed. Amplicons were purified, sequenced, and compared to those available in the GenBank database. Histopathological examination of the lungs was performed and lesions described.ResultsThe necropsy revealed the presence of nematodes in the pulmonary arteries of three animals. All parasites were mature adults and the coproscopic examination showed the presence of eggs and L1 larvae in all three positive animals. Light microscopy examination confirmed the morphological and morphometric similarity of parasites to Angiostrongylus daskalovi. SEM highlighted the typical angiostrongylid structure of the rays of the copulatory bursa and the anterior extremity, with the presence of six sensory papillae surrounding the mouth opening in which a triangular tooth was visible. The first-stage larva (L1) of A. daskalovi is described here for the first time. Histopathological examination of the lungs showed chronic interstitial verminous pneumonia due to the presence of adult parasites. Molecular analysis showed 100 % nucleotide similarity to an Angiostrongylus sp. isolate originating from a badger from Spain, tentatively identified as A. daskalovi.ConclusionsOur study unequivocally demonstrates the presence of A. daskalovi in European badgers from Romania, provides the first description of the larvae and reveals new data about the ultrastructure of adult parasites and their pathological impact, contributing to the understanding of the phylogenetic relationships with other congeneric species.

The main causes of corruption in Romania

Corruption is a mass phenomenon which can be almost harmless in small doses, but is able to undermine a country’s national economy once it is out of control, generating chaos and, in extreme cases, even civil wars. The phenomenon exists in all countries and all kinds of management regimes (democracy, totalitarism, etc.). In Romania, corruption is caused by the low standard of living (compared with citizens of West-European countries), but also by the general mentality of people, which prove to be quite permissive and at large with the existence of the phenomenon. This research aimed at analysing the main causes underlying corruption. Since the phenomenon is quite complex, a set of heterogeneous variables was chosen (GDP per capita, the percentage of people who have at least a high school education of the total population of each county, the share of employees in the public sector in total employment, the average time of a trial and the average jail time) that can depict the phenomenon, and especially its evolution over time. Such an analysis was conducted in all counties of Romania, Bucharest also being added for comparability reasons and due to some specific features. Finally, the whole scientific approach was organized in the form of a table that categorizes each territorial unit in an area of higher or lower risk level in terms of corruption size.

Corruption in Romania

Corruption as a phenomenon is of great interest for the society we live in. As there is no unit of measurement to determine the scale of this phenomenon, comparative studies are chosen most often for the areas concerned. The present paper describes a study focused on all counties in Romania, Bucharest included. The purpose of this research is to establish the determinant factors that influence the size and spread of corruption, as it manifests strong negative effects on the society we live in. Thus, using a set of regressions over the main variables, some correlation coefficients have been set, which after processing rendered a ranking of all the 42 analysed territorial units, sorted by the estimated size of corruption. The whole scientific approach was completed with a map of corruption, which synthesizes and presents the corruption spread nationwide

Acromegaly treatment in Romania. How close are we to disease control?

In Romania, no nationwide data for acromegaly treatment and control rate are available. Our objective was to assess the acromegaly control rate in a tertiary referral centre, which covers an important part of Romanian territory and population of patients with acromegaly. We reviewed the records of all 164 patients (49 males and 115 females; median age 55 [47, 63.5] years) with newly or previously diagnosed acromegaly, who have been assessed at least once in our tertiary referral centre between January 1, 2012 and March 31, 2016. This sample represents 13.6% of the total expected 1200 Romanian patients with acromegaly and covers 82.9% of the counties in Romania. Control of acromegaly was defined as a random serum growth hormone (GH) < 1 ng/mL and an age-normalised serum insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) value. The GH and IGF-I values used for calculation of the control rate were those at the last evaluation. The same assays for GH and IGF-I measurement were used in all patients. There were 147 treated and 17 untreated patients. Of the 147 patients assessed after therapy, 137 (93.2%) had pituitary surgery, 116 (78.9%) were on medical treatment at the last evaluation, and 67 (45.5%) had radiotherapy. Seventy-one (48.3%) had a random GH < 1 ng/mL, 54 (36.7%) had a normalised, age-adjusted IGF-I, and 42 (28.6%) had both normal random serum GH and IGF-I. In Romania, acromegaly benefits from the whole spectrum of therapeutic interventions. However, the control rate remains disappointing.

Transcarpathian and Kaliningrad Oblasts: Contrasts and Cross-Border Cooperation in the Eastern Borderland of European Union

The problems of nation-building today cause the exploration of new frontiers, the evolution of their functions and roles in Eastern Europe and Russia and the comparison of the process of establishing new boundaries in the East of the European Union. Socioeconomic, ethno-cultural and historical features of the regions concerning the practice of cross-border activities, as well as institutional infrastructure defi ning the processes of cross-border integration in two different cross-border regions: Kaliningrad (Russian) and Transcarpathian (Ukraine) oblasts, are shown. In the first part of the paper the choice of regions is justified, their similar historical, institutional and ethno-cultural features that determine the development of cross-border cooperation are analyzed. The second part is devoted to the analysis of socioeconomic development of chosen regions in comparison with neighboring regions. The level of development of the Kaliningrad and Transcarpathian oblasts is compared with the level of development of similar administrative units of neighboring countries: counties and communes of Lithuania, provinces and powiats of Poland, counties of Romania and Hungary, territories and districts of Slovakia. Differences and contrasts along the border are considered in the context of actual and potential cross-border interactions and cooperation. In the third part authors examine the practice of cross-border activities along the border, including the impact of the border on the everyday life of local people. The main purpose of the paper is to determine the degree of infl uence of various factors on the development of cross-border integration, and to assess its prospects on the case of the Kaliningrad and Transcarpathian oblasts.

Romanian Students’ Perception Over the Optional Curriculum Healthcare Education

Healthcare education begins in the family, continues in the kindergarten, then trough school, university and training forms. The saying “mens sana in corpore sano” summarizes a true philosophy of healthcare education. Healthcare education is an integral part of education with its other sides. The result of all this information and training on educational plans will be: formation of a general culture (knowledge, opinions); taking behaviour (attitudes, interests, practices, habits) circumscribed social norms and values goals; modelling of the human personality on the meaning of its achievement; optimize and harmonize relations. Regarding the subject Romanian students’ perception over the optional curriculum Healthcare Education, it has been done a practical investigation in schools with classes’ I-VIII in urban and rural areas in several counties in Romania (north-western Romania). The sample includes 280 students.

Education–A Key Concept for E-Administration

The paper aims to investigate the link between the actual level of e-administration at the county level in Romania and the educational system at the same level (I refer here especially to the education in the field of IT&C) in order to verify if there is a connection between those data. I will start from a previous research in which I radiographed the Romanian e-administration (January 2014), based on the Mark Holzer study a1qbout Digital Governance in Municipalities Worldwide. I will correlate it with data collected from all the Romanian ECDL centers (European Computer Driving Licence) knowing the fact that ECDL is an engine for what is called “intelligent citizen” (Stoica 2009). For having an accurate image on this topic I will look onto every county in Romania (41 in number) analyzing the official Web sites of municipalities as well as those from ECDL centers. The results I count on are a strong connection between education (on the field of IT&C) and a good e-administration, suggesting by this some new investments in the field of education. It is understood that the existence of Web platforms very well maintained doesn’t imply that they’re also used by the citizens or the business society. The new methods of administration don’t need only innovative solutions but also “intelligent citizens”. The value of this paper is the comparison itself. There are a lot of studies in Romania about the education, about the local administration but rare those studies are connected. More and more researchers stated that “education should come first”, so I suggest that before investing in IT platforms and so on, to invest firstly in education. It is not only the personnel of public administration that need to benefit from IT&C education, but also those to whom these platforms address (the citizens).

Climate Change Events Induced Risk Assessment and Mapping as a Basis for an Insurance Policy

The EU is developing and implementing a coherent climate change risk management policy stressing the need to set up insurance policies related to hazard risks. Based on recorded data series for temperature and precipitations for the last 50 years and damage data from the UNSDR and EU Solidarity Fund the risks of combined events (i.e. floods, drought, snow and freeze) are assessed for each of Romania's counties. The risks are mapped using a tool developed in Excel and the exposure of the population is calculated (risk per capita) for each county. The conclusions are detailing the possibility to use these results to set up a hazard risk insurance policy and a supporting mitigation and adaptation fund.

Current surveys on the prevalence and distribution of Dirofilaria spp. and Acanthocheilonema reconditum infections in dogs in Romania.

During the last decades, Dirofilaria spp. infection in European dogs has rapidly spread from historically endemic areas towards eastern and northeastern countries, but little or no information is available from these geographical regions. The present study provides a picture of filarial infections in dogs from Romania and compares two tests for the diagnosis of Dirofilaria immitis. From July 2010 to March 2011, blood samples were collected from 390 dogs from nine counties of Romania and serological SNAP tests were performed for the detection of D. immitis antigen. The remaining blood clots were subsequently used for DNA extraction followed by multiplex PCR for assessing filarioid species diversity (i.e. D. immitis, Dirofilaria repens and Acanthocheilonema reconditum). Based on molecular detection, an overall prevalence of 6.92 % (n = 27; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 4.70-10.03 %) for D. repens, 6.15 % (n = 24; 95 % CI 4.07-9.14 %) for D. immitis and 2.05 % (n = 8; 95 % CI 0.96-4.16 %) for A. reconditum was recorded, with significant variations according to sampling areas. Coinfections of D. immitis and D. repens were recorded in 23.91 % (n = 11) positive dogs. A slightly higher prevalence for D. immitis was detected at the SNAP test (n = 28, 7.17 %; 95 % CI 4.91-10.33 %), but this difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.66). However, only 53.57 % (n = 15) of antigen-positive dogs were confirmed by PCR, while other dogs (n = 9) PCR positive for D. immitis were negative at the serology. The present study shows that Dirofilaria species are endemic in the southern and southeastern areas of Romania, This article also provides, for the first time, an epidemiological picture of the distribution of A. reconditum in Romania.

Evaluation of anthropometric and virologic data in newborn from HIV positive mothers

Constanța used to be one of the most affected counties of Romania by HIV in children. Nowadays in Constanța there are an increasing number of HIV positive young women at fertile age who have babies. Even though there were implemented active measures for prevention of mother to child HIV transmission we still diagnose mothers with HIV after delivery. On the other hand HIV infection increases the risk of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) of newborn. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the proportion of children born from HIV positive women who presented IUGR; and to evaluate materno-fetal transmission rate of HIV in Constanța County. We performed a retrospective study on the relevant parameters in newborns and mothers: demographic data; CD4 count and HIV viral load in last trimester of pregnancy of mothers; HIV viral load in newborn. We analyzed anthropometric data of the newborn: weight, length, cranial circumference, and Apgar score. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 19. Over a period of 6 years and 2 months, 135 newborn from 117 HIV+ mothers have been monitored. From all 135 children born from HIV positive mothers 5 were HIV positive. The median age in mothers was 23 and mean 23.08 (range: 17 to 39, SD=3.58). The mean Apgar score in newborns was 8.47 (range: 2 to 10, SD=1.202), and median 9. The mean birth weight in newborns was 2692 g (range: 1000 to 3900, SD=516.389), and median 2700 g. The proportion of children with birth weight less than 10th percentile was 58.05%. The mean length was 47.66 cm (range: 39 to 52, SD = 2.75), with a proportion of children below the 10th percentile of 27.4%. Infants who presented below the 10th percentile for weight and length were 23%. About 21.48% of infants were below the 10th percentile for weight, length and cranial circumference. Mean CD4 count in mothers in third trimester of pregnancy was 415.14 (range 27-1156), and median 397. 53.3% of mothers were with HIV viral load undetectable in the last trimester of pregnancy. In the studied period the mortality rate was 6.7% in children and 5.9% in mothers. The materno-fetal rate of HIV transmission was 3.7%. More than half (58.05%) of the infants born to HIV positive mothers were small for gestational age. 23% of infants were with IUGR and 23% of them presented symmetrical IUGR.

Education and National Identity. The Local Cultural Heritage and its Effects Upon Present Local educAtional Policies in Arad County from Romania

Abstract The study is focused upon the concept of local cultural heritage from Arad county in Romania. It opens a debate upon an issue which was little investigated in Romania: the impact of local cultural legacy upon the concept of national identity. This cultural heritage was created for the future generations by some leading scholars from Arad county in Romania, scholars which in the past played a key role in building Romania as a unitary and national state. This legacy had a direct impact upon the concept of national identity on the level of educational policies and also upon the issue of multiculturalism. We used a combined empirical and historical method whit the purpose of disclosing palpable effects at some local educational policies from the present Arad county in Romania. These effects, as we discovered, have solid roots in Vasile Goldis thought. We argue that for the actual European debate upon the integration process is crucial to understand the fact that the goal of maintaining national identity at cultural and educational levels could be achieved significantly easy by accepting the visions of those who contributed in the past in the building of some present national states from Europe. These visions, we argue, are compatible with the concept of Euro region. However, the results shows that in the near future will be necessary, on the one hand, to consolidate the actual achievements and, on the other, also will be necessary a strong process of decentralization the political decision about educational policies at the Euro regional level.

Aspects Related to the Educational and Vocational Guidance of Intellectually Impaired Students

Our society promotes the right of every citizen to education, employment, aiming at the professional and social integration of each individual. This value implies that persons with disabilities who wish to undertake productive activities should be granted the chance of getting a job without this forcing them to give up other rights or benefits that may affect their dignity and decent living conditions. This paper aims to highlight the influence of parents and of the type of school upon the students’ vocational interests attempting, at the same time, to identify the role played by the future prospect and how it may influence the projected interests of students with mild mental impairment. The group included a number of 640 subjects, 336 girls and 304 boys, students in the 7th and 8th grade, from special and integrating schools with programs for integrating students with special needs, from the some counties of Romania. Conclusionsin the process of the educational and vocational guidance of students with special needs it is recommended that teachers, as well as parents, should inform themselves better about the learning abilities, the level of knowledge, skills and interests of each individual student; in this way they will be able to assist them in choosing a profession.

Drug related deaths between 2008 and 2011. A retrospective study in 32 Romanian counties

Abstract The purpose of this study is to determine the pattern of drug related deaths in Romania between 2008 and 2011 by analyzing the medical-legal cases, from a significant proportion of Romanian Counties (out of 41 plus the capital), in which the direct causal link between drug overdose and death was drug related. Material and methods. 446 forensic toxicology cases were analyzed in a four year period, obtained from more than two thirds of the counties in Romania. Results. 54.26% yielded a positive toxicological analysis, most often with benzodiazepines, opiates, barbiturates and cannabinoids. Males around 31 years old represented the most affected group. Illegal drug related deaths were more frequent in males and non-illegal drug related deaths were proportionally more frequent in females. Discussions and conclusions. The pattern of consumption is similar to the one obtained by similar studies in neighboring countries. The city capital has a very distinct pattern of consumption compared to other cities/counties.

Marketing Research Regarding the Usage of Online Social Networking Sites by High School Students

This paper aims to present the concept of online social networks (OSN) and its evolution in the world of business as well as several important advantages and disadvantages of using online social networking sites. We are presenting a quantitative research on the main reasons for using online networking sites by high schools students from the several counties of Romania. The authors will present the results of the research which underline: the main activities undertaken by students with this new communication tool, the average number of friends the students have and the selection criteria for them as well as the influence level of OSN sites on the life and activity (school and private) of the students.