Dolj County Research Articles

The profile of Romanian emigrants under the supervision of Dolj county probation service

The supervision of probation services includes criminally convicted persons, who for a period between 6 months and 4 years, or even longer (in the case of persons released conditionally from prison), must comply with a series of measures and obligations ordered by the court. However, in Romania, a very large number of people entering the supervision of probation services leave the country, most of them for employment purposes, bringing a series of challenges to probation counselors in the supervision process. Who are these people who leave the country, where do they go, why do they leave, we will answer all these questions in this material, as a result of a research carried out within the Dolj probation service by analyzing a representative number of probation files.

WHICH WOODY SPECIES ARE PREFERRED IN THE COMPOSITION OF AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMS IN SANDY SOILS OF DOLJ COUNTY?

Agroforestry systems have been gaining increasing global attention due to their numerous benefits both for environment and landowners. While Romania possesses significant potential for widespread adoption of these systems, only a few examples are currently in practice. The goal of this research was to highlight the most suitable woody species that could be introduced in the composition of the agroforestry systems across sandy soils of Dolj County. In order to determine the most preferred woody species a set of eight criteria was used and an Analytical Hierarchy Process was conducted by using Expert Choice Desktop (v. 11.5.1683) software. This research can serve as a model for similar studied aimed at selecting optimal agroforestry systems for specific sites. Future research should also incorporate criteria that consider the functional relationships of these green spaces with neighbouring areas.

RESEARCH ON THE MANAGEMENT OF THE MAIN CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF CHROMIC LUVISOLS FROM FARMS/HOUSEHOLDS AGRITOURISTIC IN DOLJ, IN THE PERIOD 1995-2021

The research addresses an original and complex topic concerning the evolution of the main chemical properties of the chromic luvisols in the southwestern part of Romania, in Dolj County, exploited under the specific cultivation conditions of agritourist farms. The novelty of this research consists in the multidisciplinary interpretation of the analyses on chemical properties and their influence on the quality and quantity of agricultural productions. In the second part, the main chemical properties of the chromic luvisols were analysed, both for the soil developed under woody vegetation, and both for the cultivated soils. Comparing the results of the analyses, we found that the natural fertility of the cultivated soil decreased considerably, which led to a significant deterioration of the main chemical properties, precisely due to cultivation. In the third part, a study was carried out on the presence and concentration of heavy metals in this type of soil, finding from the interpretation of the analyses that the values of all the studied elements fall below the alert threshold. he recommendation on the researched aspects is that in order to limit the degradation and even improve the main chemical properties of chromic luvisols, in the agritourism farms, an ecological agriculture must be practiced.

THE CHEMICAL QUALITY EVALUATION OF SOME SOILS (CHERNOZEMS and LUVISOLS) FROM DOLJ COUNTY

Agricultural lands represent 79% of the surface of Dolj county and about 84% are used as arable crops. Depending on the culture system chosen, the physical and chemical quality of the soil can be affected in different ways. The chemical quality of some soils from Dolj county (Chernozems, Luvisols) was evaluated using several indicators (soil reaction, organic matter content, total nitrogen, mobile phosphorus and mobile potassium). On the depth of 0-50 cm, in both soils, 75% of the mobile phosphorus values were very low-low, respectively extremely low-low. Most of the studied Luvisols were characterized by low values of the mobile potassium content (50% in the topsoil and 63% on the 0-50cm depth, respectively). High correlation between PAL and KAL content was found in case of Luvisols (R2=0.908) and low in case of Chernozems (R2=0.300). High correlation in case of Luvisols may be due to the applied fertilizers.The values of the content of organic matter, total nitrogen, mobile phosphorus and mobile potassium were lower in the case of Luvisols compared to Chernozems and in most cases the values of the studied chemical indicators decrease with an increasing depth. According to the analyzed data, these soils have high potential for mineral ang organic fertiliser application.

MUNICIPAL INFRASTRUCTURE AT THE LEVEL OF PROTECTED NATURAL AREAS ROSCI0045 JIU CORRIDOR, BISTREȚ ROSPA0010 AND NATURAL RESERVES DRĂNC FOSSIL PLACE-2391 AND ZAVAL FOREST - IV.33 + A6

The paper aims to highlight the aspects related to the urban infrastructure for the protected areas ROSCI0045 Jiu Corridor, Bistreț ROSPA0010 and the Drănic Fossil Place-2391 and Zaval Forest Nature Reserves – IV.33+A6, given that they group a significant number of species of plant and animal origin. These protected areas play an essential role in biodiversity conservation at the level of the 56 ATUs (37 in Dolj County, 17 in Gorj County, one in Mehedinţi County, one in Olt County), on whose territory they are located. The paper refers to the drinking water distribution network, the sewerage network and the natural gas distribution network (including adjacent aspects related to them).The area has 740 km of city streets, of which 578 km modernized, 1971.2 km drinking water network, 936.0 km sewerage network, produces about 342 thousand cubic meters of water per day, achieving a daily consumption of 19,956 cubic meters. Within the area, there are 940.2 km of pipelines for natural gas distribution (two thirds located in the urban area), which facilitated a consumption of 133,040 thousand cubic meters of gas annually. The urban infrastructure improved during 2017-2021, but certain aspects related to it need to be properly analyzed in order not to have a high negative impact on the state of the environment.

UN SECOL DE PREZENŢĂ A CREŞTINILOR DUPĂ EVANGHELIE ÎN CRAIOVA

Brethren in Romania dates back to the end of the 19th century, when the first Brethren Assemblies opened in Bucharest, initially in French. Since then it has spread nationwide, first to Muntenia and then to other historical regions. But the Great Union brought them all together under one national roof. Shortly before the First World War, Brethren made their presence felt in Oltenia, thus becoming chronologically the third region with assemblies (churches) that were later called Bretren. The first community was formed in the commune of Goicea Mare in Dolj county. From there they arrived in Craiova, where in 1924 they formed a community of believers. Over the course of a century, the Brethren community in Craiova has gone through different periods, from the years of establishment and development, to the construction of the first building, to the closure in the time of Antonescu, to the time of communist persecution with various problems, to the threat of demolition to the systematization and until today, when there are two local churches in the city. Their historical background is the story of some of the outcasts of the Bănia Fortress.

ÎNFIINȚAREA DE SPITALE, INFIRMERII ȘI FARMACII ÎN ZONA RURALĂ A JUDEȚULUI DOLJ, DE LA INDEPENDENȚĂ LA PRIMUL RĂZBOI MONDIAL

In the rural area of Dolj county, composed of 7 counties and a population of over 200,000 inhabitants, until 1881, there was no hospital. With the adoption of the Law for the establishment of rural hospitals, on June 11, 1881, the first steps were taken to put its provisions into practice. The first two rural hospitals were established in 1882, in Filiași and Bechet, financed from the county budget. Later, the hospital in Băilești was to be built, being inaugurated in 1890, followed a few years later by the hospitals in Brabova, Negoiești and Poiana Mare. In the same direction of the spread of hospital assistance in the countryside, infirmaries were established under the direction of health agents in several communes. A not inconsiderable contribution along the same path of improving the health of the inhabitants of the rural area consisted in the establishment of pharmacies in each commune at the insistence of the Superior Sanitary Council, starting in 1886. The role played by the operation of these hospitals in their area is related to their contribution to the relief of the sufferings of the sick in the rural area, as well as the promotion of the professional medical act or the familiarization of the villagers with the new institutions, taking another step on the road to the modernization of Romanian society.

RESEARCH REGARDING THE PRESENCE OF BROWN MARMORATED STINK BUG Halyomorpha halys Stål IN DOLJ COUNTY

The brown marmorated stink bug Halyomorpha halys Stål (Hemiptera, Pentatomidae) is a new invasive species that appeared in RO in 2015 and was reported by us in two localities in Dolj county in 2023. H. halys, attacks over 100 plant species, in Dolj county we report its occurrence on horticultural plantse : apricot, grape vine, tomato and pepper.

CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING THE VASCULAR FLORA OF SOME FRUIT ORCHARDS IN DOLJ COUNTY, ROMANIA

Through the environmental requirement imposed by inter-rows, the eco-scheme contributes to the CAP objective of biodiversity conservation, as well as increasing the soil's carbon sequestration capacity and improving the quality of the soil structure, the main natural resource in agricultural activity. The present work aimed to analyze the vascular flora from some fruit orchards in Dolj County, Romania following a taxonomic study, starting from the need to establish a vegetal soil cover with spontaneous plants, both specific to the region and environmentally friendly. Following the observations made, it was found that the floristic composition of the grassy cover in the orchards in Dolj County is variable depending on the age of the orchard and the works that were carried out between and on the rows of trees. In orchards where human intervention is low, there is a good representation of taxa belonging to the Fabaceae family (eg Trifolium repens, T. pratense, Medicago arabica, M. sativa). On the other hand, isolated species are present in well-maintained orchards, especially from the category of weeds that can be difficult to fight (e.g. Sorghum halepense, Xanthium italicum, Conyza canadensis, etc.). Observations will be continued to consider the effect of wild plants on the environment and to establish an area-specific varietal soil cover for keeping the row spaces grass-covered.

ECOLOGICAL RECONSTRUCTION OF DEGRADED LANDS DUE TO WASTE ABANDOMENT IN A SOUTHERN AREA OF DOLJ COUNTY

The study aims to present the possibilities of ecological reconstruction of degraded lands in the area of the Ostroveni commune, Dolj county, due to the abandonment of waste by implementing technical works to restore and improve the areas intended for habitats of community interest. Technical works were carried out to uncover the polluted soil layer and to remove the grassy/woody vegetation composed of invasive species, followed by the stage of land preparation for the reconstruction of habitats, the selective removal of woody vegetation or grassland composed of non-useful species, covering with fertile soil, manual or mechanized soil mobilization/scarification, installation of warning signs to limit access to the area of reconstructed habitats for the purpose of developing native species and methods of reconstruction by seeding/planting with native species, monitoring and evaluating the habitats on which quality improvement actions have been applied since the preparation of the land, to highlight the effects of habitat reconstruction.

CONTRIBUTION TO THE DAMSELFLY FAUNA (ODONATA: ZYGOPTERA) OF DOLJ COUNTY (SW ROMANIA)

This paper presents the result of the damselfly faunal investigation during May 2022 – July 2023 in Dolj county (Oltenia Plain, SW part of Romania). The faunal list includes 12 collected species belonging to four families – Lestidae, Calopterygidae, Platycnemididae and Coenagrionidae. For the species Coenagrion scitulum (Rambur, 1842) the male abdominal appendages are discussed in comparison with bibliography.

STUDY REGARDING GROUNDWATER POLLUTION IN THE AREA OF ȘIMNICU DE SUS

The purpose of the present study is to determine the degree of pollution of groundwater that supply the existing public wells in the area of Șimnicu de Sus commune. In order to achieve this objective, in the period March-May of 2023, water samples were taken from 5 wells located on the public domain of Șimnicu de Sus, Dolj county, in order to determine the degree of groundwater pollution. The water samples were collected directly from the water of the wells and were transported to the laboratory where they were subjected to the following physico-chemical determinations: pH, conductivity, total hardness, fixed residue, ammoniacal nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, nitrates and nitrites.

The Magical Power of Căluș Against Ieleʼs Possession in Dolj County

The Magical Power of Căluș Against Ieleʼs Possession in Dolj County

Graphic organizers method used in the systematisation and recapitulation of knowledge in Geography

This research analyses whether the use of an effective method/technique, as support in the educational process, can make pupils better understand the concepts learned in Geography classes and be more effective in practical tests. Thus, this research is based on the design and use of the method of graphic organizers in the teaching-learning-evaluation lessons, which allows the fixation and thorough consolidation of pupils' knowledge in the discipline of Geography, 7th grade. The research method used was the questionnaire, which was applied to an experimental sample (7th grade A) and a control sample (7th grade B), the pupils being from the countryside school in Dolj County, Romania. Statistical data were analyzed using SPSS Statistical Software (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) and provided valuable insights in understanding the relationships between the studied variables and the research hypotheses. We consider this technique, being new, attractive and innovative in the Romanian education system, for the development of the spirit of observation in pupils, the increase of attention, imagination and memory, the amplification of investigative capacity, organization in thinking but also in deeds (creativity and thinking free).

Skin Cancers of the Head and Neck Region: the Real World Epidemiological and Therapeutic Data from the Cancer Registry of Dolj County

The majority of skin cancers of the head and neck are represented by basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and cutaneous squamosal cell carcinoma (CSCC), both non-melanoma skin cancers. Identified in the early stages, the cure rate is considered high. Sun protection

Validity and Reliability of Rule Orientation Scale among Romanian Physicians-A Pilot Study.

Background and Objectives: Legal compliance is influenced by several factors, including individuals' attitudes about when breaking the law may be acceptable or justifiable. The rule orientation scale provides a measurement capable of predicting an individual's offensive behavior, regardless of the legal punishment. The current research is the first that aims to evaluate the construct validity of the translated Romanian version of the rule orientation scale. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted online among Romanian physicians in Dolj County. A 12-item questionnaire previously validated in the United States was used for this study. Results: A total of 69 physicians responded to the survey with a mean age of 38.53 ± 8.28 and an average experience of 10.49 ± 8.27 years. Physicians were prone to adhere to the law and found only a few instances when legal breaches were acceptable. Nonetheless, they deemed it permissible to violate the law when they did not know its content. These attitudes were not affected by respondents' ages, genders, numbers of years in practice, industries, or specialties. The internal consistency of the questionnaire was high (Cronbach's α = 0.925). Conclusions: The rule orientation scale validated in the Romanian language can be used to determine conditions under which individuals find it acceptable to break the law.

Engaging young Mindchangers in climate action: a case study of two European regions

To achieve the objectives in the Agenda 2030, the active participation of young people is crucial, as they will be the protagonists of the scenario that will emerge at the local and global levels. In order to support young people's active participation in these issues, it is necessary to understand what dimensions can influence their decision to start and continue participation and also to increase the level of participation. The research presented here is part of the EU project Mindchangers: Regions and Youth for Planet and People and is aimed to define guidelines to support the involvement of young people in these issues. To this aim, we analyzed some good practices implemented at regional level and interviewed some youth engaged people in Pied-mont (IT) and in Dolj County (ROM). Our article highlights the results obtained in this cross-regional analysis and puts forward a set of recommendations for all actors involved in youth engagement.

A Neutrosophic Decision-Making Model for Determining Young People’s Active Engagement

Young people’s skills and attitudes must be observed, studied and evaluated in order to create appropriate models that would serve an educational purpose. In this paper, we propose a decision-making model with the aim to detect certain attitudinal and behavioral patterns of actively engaged young people. The data used in this research resulted from a questionnaire drawn up by a group of researchers from six European countries with the aim to investigate the youth’s awareness about the Sustainable Development Goals and their engagement as active agents of development and change at regional level. For the purpose of this study, we selected the regional results obtained from administering this questionnaire in Dolj County (Romania) and La Rioja (Spain). We developed a neutrosophic model that determines the Mindchanger profile of the respondents based on a minimal set of questions, which is dependent on the inclusion or exclusion of the nationality-specific traits. The resulting decisions were then compared with the respondents’ self-evaluations, yielding high precisions (more than 0.83) for all the investigated evaluation scenarios. Our results were significantly better than the ones provided by several machine learning models applied on the same set of data. A direct impact of our model is that it can be applied to questionnaires which include linguistic responses that express, among others, unclear or vague thoughts. Additionally, it offers the possibility to identify the minimal set of questions that impact the respondent’s answer choice to a target question.

Current status and length–weight relation of the European mudminnow, Umbra krameri (Actinopterygii: Esociformes: Umbridae), from Jieț River, Dolj County, southwestern Romania

The habitat of the European mudminnow, Umbra krameri Walbaum, 1792, is continuously decreasing due to human intervention. The species has a “vulnerable” status according to the IUCN Red List. Thus, new information about the species is needed for conservation efforts. Minnow traps were used for capturing Umbra krameri and other small fishes in the Jieț River, Dolj County, southwestern Romania. Captured specimens of U. krameri were measured and weighed. Length–weight relations and relative condition factor were determined for the captured U. krameri specimens. A total of 94 fishes were captured using the minnow traps. They represented 7 species: European bitterling, Rhodeus amarus (Bloch, 1782), roach, Rutilus rutilus (Linnaeus, 1758), rudd, Scardinius erythrophthalmus (Linnaeus, 1758), Danubian spined loach, Cobitis elongatoides Băcescu et Mayer, 1969, weatherfish, Misgurnus fossilis (Linnaeus, 1758), tubenose goby, Proterorhinus marmoratus (Pallas, 1814), and U. krameri. The specimens of Umbra krameri represented 44% (41 specimens) of the total catch. The wet body weight (BW) of U. krameri ranged from 0.8 to 5.1 g, having a mean value of 2.102 g. The mean total length (TL) was 5.782 cm, ranging from 4.59 to 7.87 cm. According to the length–weight relation (LWR), the growth type of U. krameri was positive allometric based on the determined equation: BW = 0.0068TL3.277. The mean value determined for the relative condition factor (Kn) was 1.0056486. The growth condition of 46% of the specimens was poor (Kn < 1; n = 19), while the other 54% were in good condition (Kn ≥ 1; n = 22). The presently reported study provides information about the presence of U. krameri in the Jieț River (Dolj County, Romania), a location where the species has not been previously reported. The LWRs show an allometric positive growth. The relative condition factor shows that 46% of the specimens had poor growth, while the rest were in good condition. Minnow traps were an efficient tool for small fish capture.

Association between Direct-Acting Agents Adherence and Health-Related Quality of Life of Patients with Hepatitis C.

This observational study included all patients undergoing HCV treatment with direct-acting antiviral (DAA)-based therapy between May 2020 and September 2023 at the Dolj County Hospital, Romania. The aim was to investigate adherence to DAAs among HCV patients and the effect of this treatment on their health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Chronic HCV-infected patients were prospectively evaluated at baseline (T0), before the beginning of treatment, and 12 weeks after completing DAAs treatment (T1). The HCV-AD10 questionnaire was used to measure DAAs adherence, and HRQoL was assessed with the 15D instrument. The 15D questionnaire was administered at two time points: T0 and T1, during which the Sustained Virologic Response (SVR) was also measured. The primary outcome was DAAs adherence, with secondary outcomes including quality of life (QoL), and sustained virologic response (SVR). DAAs based therapy was initiated for 368 patients, all of whom were health insured. HRQoL and psychological state of HCV patients clinically improved. The DAAs adherence was very good (mean±SD, 91.51±8.34), being influenced by age (younger patients were much adherent, rho=-0.112, p-value=0.031) and the severity of the disease (patients with more severe hepatitis were less adherent, rho=-0.167, p-value=0.001). DAAs had a significant effect on improving HRQoL of HCV patients, but did not influence medication adherence.