Order Rate Research Articles

Sodium thiosulfate modified graphitic carbon nitride for enhancing the photocatalytic production of aldehydes

The oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes is one of the most relevant reactions in organic chemistry. The currently implemented methods based on expensive noble metallic catalysts, toxic solvents, and high temperature and pressure conditions have released the seek for softer and cheaper alternatives such as photocatalysis. In this sense, graphitic carbon nitride has been modified with sodium thiosulfate as a source of S and Na+ incorporation in the structure, aimed at enhancing the photocatalytic performance on the oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes, i.e. cinnamaldehyde, benzaldehyde, and vanillin in aqueous solution. Three g-C3N4 samples synthesized from different precursors, i.e. melamine, thiourea, and urea, were treated with sodium thiosulfate. Urea led to the g-C3N4 with the highest mesoporosity (surface area, 69 m2 g−1) and photocatalytic activity. The modification with 5 % (wt.) of Na2S2O3 enhanced the pseudo-first order rate constant of cinnamyl alcohol oxidation from 0.265 h−1 (bare sample) to 0.792 h−1 (Na2S2O3-modified). The characterization of the material suggests a better charge separation of the photogenerated charges after S and Na+ incorporation in the structure, minimizing the recombination rate of photogenerated charges. The optimum photocatalyst, tested in aqueous solution, was most selective in the production of benzaldehyde (selectivity, >100 %) > cinnamaldehyde (>23 %) > vanillin (∼5 %). The selectivity was considerably boosted under acetonitrile as the solvent medium, raising in the case of cinnamaldehyde the 23 % recorded in water to 51 % in pure acetonitrile. The degradation mechanism suggests a strong influence of the photogenerated holes and the superoxide radical, the latter being more selective in the oxidation of the alcohol.

Quantifying the Effect of Basic Minerals on Acid- and Ligand-Promoted Dissolution Kinetics of Iron in Simulated Dark Atmospheric Aging of Dust and Coal Fly Ash Particles.

The content and multiphase chemistry of iron (Fe) in multicomponent atmospheric aerosols are important to global climate and oceanic models. To date, reported dissolution rates of Fe span orders of magnitude with no quantifiable dependency on the content of basic minerals that coexist with Fe. Here, we report dissolution rates of Fe in simulated dark atmospheric aging of fully characterized multielement particles under acidic conditions (bulk pH 1 or 3) with and without oxalic acid and pyrocatechol. Our main findings are (a) the total amount of Ca and Mg was higher in coal fly ash than in Arizona test dust, (b) Fe dissolution initial rates increased exponentially with %Ca/Al and %Mg/Al below 50%, (c) a reduction in the Fe dissolution initial rate was observed with %Ca/Al higher than 50%, (d) reactive Ca and Mg minerals increased the calculated initial pH at the liquid/solid interface to values higher by only 1.5-2 units than the measured bulk pH, yet interfacial water remained acidic for Fe dissolution to take place, and (e) reactive Ca and Mg minerals enhanced the deprotonation of organics at the interface, aiding in ligand-promoted dissolution of Fe. The impact of these results is discussed within the context of constraining Fe dissolution kinetic models.

Structural and functional analysis of a bile salt hydrolase from the bison microbiome

The bile salt hydrolases (BSHs) are significant constituents of animal microbiomes. An evolving appreciation of their roles in health and disease has established them as targets of pharmacological inhibition. These bacterial enzymes belong to the N-terminal nucleophile superfamily and are best known to catalyze the deconjugation of glycine or taurine from bile salts to release bile acid substrates for transformation and or metabolism in the gastrointestinal tract. Here, we identify and describe the BSH from a common member of the Plains bison microbiome, Arthrobacter citreus (BSHAc). Steady-state kinetic analyses demonstrated that BSHAc is a broad-spectrum hydrolase with a preference for glycine-conjugates and deoxycholic acid (DCA). Second-order rate constants (kcat/KM) for BSHAc-catalyzed reactions of relevant bile salts-glyco- and tauro-conjugates of cholic acid and DCA- varied by ∼30-fold and measured between 1.4× 105 and 4.3× 106M-1s-1. Interestingly, a pan-BSH inhibitor named AAA-10 acted as a slow irreversible inhibitor of BSHAc with a rate of inactivation (kinact)of ∼2h-1 and a second order rate constant (kinact/KI) of ∼24M-1s-1 for the process. Structural characterization of BSHAc reacted with AAA-10 showed covalent modification of the N-terminal cysteine nucleophile, providing molecular details for an enzyme-stabilized product formed from this mechanism-based inhibitor's α-fluoromethyl ketone warhead. Structural comparison of the BSHs and BSH:inhibitor complexes highlighted the plasticity of the steroid-binding site, including a flexible loop that is variable across well-studied BSHs.

On the importance of the cracking process description for dynamic crack initiation simulation

A dynamic implementation of the coupled criterion under quasi-static loading, based only on the mean velocity during crack initiation, is proposed. It relies on a simultaneous node release method. It consists of computing the dynamic incremental energy release rate by simultaneously opening a crack of a finite length during a given time increment rather than progressively opening smaller crack increments following a velocity profile as in the progressive node release method. Both methods result in significantly different kinetic energy variations as a function of the crack length, and thus different incremental energy release rates for large enough crack velocities, for which the kinetic energy magnitude is similar to the elastic strain energy magnitude. Both simultaneous node release method and progressive node release method can however be equivalently used for small enough crack velocities since similar incremental energy release rates are obtained with both methods. Inverse identification of fracture properties based on dynamic crack initiation at a hole in Brazilian disk specimens yields critical energy release rates in the same order of magnitude as the one obtained based on dynamic crack propagation modeling.

Trade-Off between Degradation Efficiency and Recyclability: Zeolite-Enhanced Ni3-xCoxS4 Catalyst for Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue.

We herein report successful syntheses of both nickel cobalt sulfide (NCS) and its composite with zeolite (NCS@Z) using a solvothermal method. Techniques such as EDX analysis, SEM, and molar ratio determination were used for product characterization. The incorporation of NCS significantly changed the surface roughness and active sites of the zeolite, improving the efficiency of methylene blue degradation and its reusability, especially under UV irradiation. In comparing the pseudo-first order rates, the highest degradation efficiency of methylene blue was achieved with NCS-2@Z, having a degradation extent of 91.07% under UV irradiation. This environmentally friendly approach offers a promising solution for the remediation of methylene blue contamination in various industries.

Developing Innovative Secured Protocol For M Health Application In Wireless Body Area Networks

In today's technologically advanced society, cell phones and related devices are essential for managing peoples' individual demands. This is a smart device that determines and regulates how we use our free time, communicate, shop, and engage with the outside world. It still requires a lot of fixes to be effective and strong. The development of tiny devices, or sensors, gave mHEALTH greater adaptability and a fresh perspective. The majority of currently available mobile applications are widely accessible by users, who can use them to take vital signs and evaluate their own physical state. In an effort to increase public acceptability, some mobile companies have developed health applications for smartphones. People use these programs to monitor changes in bodily parameters such as body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, and pulse rate in order to assess their physical conditions. Using the MSE-BAN architecture, this study has created a stable mHEALTH architecture. The scheduling plan for the study project was created by taking the importance of the essential signals into account. The public health care system that has been suggested can shorten hospital stays and enable clinical staff to continuously monitor patients.

A stochastic and analytical model of hierarchical fragmentation

Context. Molecular clouds are the most important incubators of young stars clustered in various stellar structures whose spatial extension can vary from a few AU to several thousand AU. Although the reality of these stellar systems has been established, the physical origin of their multiplicity remains an open question. Aims. Our aim was to characterise these stellar groups at the onset of their formation by quantifying both the number of stars they contain and their mass using a hierarchical fragmentation model of the natal molecular cloud. Methods. We developed a stochastic and predictive model that reconciles the continuous multi-scale structure of a fragmenting molecular cloud with the discrete nature of the stars that are the products of this fragmentation. In this model a gas structure is defined as a multi-scale object associated with a subregion of a cloud. Such a structure undergoes quasi-static subfragmentation until star formation. This model was implemented within a gravo-turbulent fragmentation framework to analytically follow the fragmentation properties along spatial scales using an isothermal and adiabatic equations of state (EOSs). Results. We highlighted three fragmentation modes depending on the amount of fragments produced by a collapsing gas structure, namely a hierarchical mode, a monolithic mode, and a mass dispersal mode. Using an adiabatic EOS we determined a characteristic spatial scale where further fragmentation is prevented, around a few tens of AU. We show that fragmentation is a self-regulated process as fragments tend to become marginally unstable following a M ∝ R Bonnor–Ebert-like mass-size profile. Supersonic turbulent fragmentation structures the cloud down to R ≈ 0.1 pc, and gradually turns into a less productive Jeans-type fragmentation under subsonic conditions so hierarchical fragmentation is a scale dependant process. Conclusions. Our work suggests that pre-stellar objects resulting from gas fragmentation, have to progressively increase their accretion rate in order to form stars. A hierarchical fragmentation scenario is compatible with both the multiplicity of stellar systems identified in Taurus and the multi-scale structure extracted within NGC 2264 molecular cloud. This work suggests that hierarchical fragmentation is one of the main mechanisms explaining the presence of primordial structures of stellar clusters in molecular clouds.

Dissecting a miniature universe: A multi-wavelength view of galaxy quenching in the Shapley supercluster

Multiple cluster systems, that is superclusters, contain large numbers of galaxies assembled in clusters interconnected by multi-scale filamentary networks. As such, superclusters are a smaller version of the cosmic web and can hence be considered as miniature universes. In addition to the galaxies, superclusters also contain gas, which is hot in the clusters and warmer in the filaments. Therefore, they are ideal laboratories to study the interplay between the galaxies and the gas. In this context, the Shapley supercluster (SSC) stands out since it hosts the highest number of galaxies in the local Universe with clusters interconnected by filaments. In addition, it is detected both in X-rays and via the thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich (tSZ) effect, making it ideal for a multi-wavelength study of the gas and galaxies. Applying for the first time a filament-finder based on graphs, T-REx, on a spectroscopic galaxy catalogue, we uncovered the 3D filamentary network in and around SSC. Simultaneously, we used a large sample of photometric galaxies with information on their star formation rates (SFRs) in order to investigate the quenching of star formation in the SSC environment which we define as a function of the gas distribution in the Planck tSZ map and the ROSAT X-ray map. With T-REx, we confirm filaments already observed in the distribution of galaxies of the SSC, and we detect new ones. We observe the quenching of star formation as a function of the gas contained in the SSC. We show a general trend of decreasing SFR where the tSZ and X-ray signals are the highest, within the high density environments of the SSC. Within these regions, we also observe a rapid decline in the number of star-forming galaxies, coinciding with an increasing number of transitioning and passive galaxies. Within the SSC filaments, the fraction of passive galaxies is larger than outside filaments, irrespective of the gas pressure. Our results suggest that the zone of influence of the SSC in which galaxies are pre-processed and quenched is well defined by the tSZ signal that combines the density and temperature of the environments.

Medications for Alcohol Use Disorder: Rates and Predictors of Prescription Order and Fill in Outpatient Settings.

Alcohol use disorders (AUD) are prevalent and responsible for substantial morbidity and mortality; yet efficacious treatments are underused. Previous studies have identified demographic and clinical predictors of medication fills, yet these studies typically do not include patients who were prescribed a medication but did not fill it. To examine rates of and factors associated with prescription order and prescription fill for medications for AUD (MAUD) among individuals diagnosed with AUD in outpatient settings. In a cross-sectional analysis, we used multivariate logistic regression to identify factors associated with prescription order and fill. We used data from the Optum Labs Data Warehouse that linked 2016-2021 de-identified claims and electronic health record (EHR) data, allowing us to observe prescription orders and whether they were filled. We identified 14,674 patients aged ≥ 18 who had an index outpatient encounter with an AUD diagnosis in the EHR. We computed the proportion for whom a MAUD prescription was ordered within 1year of index visit, and for whom one was filled within 30days of the order. 5.8% of the sample had a MAUD prescription order within 1year of their index visit. Among those with an order, 87% filled their MAUD prescription within 30days of receipt (i.e., 5.1% of full sample). After multivariable adjustment, receipt of a MAUD prescription order was more likely for patients who were female (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) [95%CI] = 1.44 [1.24-1.67]), orhad moderate or severe AUD (1.74 [1.50-2.01]). Patients receiving an order were more likely to fill it if they had a comorbid mental disorder (1.64 [1.09-2.49]). The low rate of prescription orders was notable. Low use of MAUD appears to result chiefly from prescription order decisions, rather than from prescription fill decisions made by patients.

Riboflavin derivatives as a novel electron transfer mediator for enhancing Cr(VI) removal by Shewanella oneidensis MR-1

Bioremediation has garnered considerable interest due to its advantages of economy and no secondary pollution. However, the direct electron transfer rate between microorganisms and Cr(VI) is low. The bioreduction of Cr(VI) by Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 (S. oneidensis) in the presence of formylmethylflavin (FMF) was conducted to understand how FMF mediated the extracellular electron transfer process to improve Cr(VI) removal. In this study, FMF was firstly synthesized by modifing RF to increase its solubility and redox activity. The findings indicate that S. oneidensis/FMF exhibited better Cr(VI) removal performance compared to that of S. oneidensis. Under optimum conditions, 40 mg/L Cr(VI) could be completely removed by S. oneidensis/FMF within 120 h, while only 48.6% of Cr(VI) was removed by S. oneidensis, and the first order rate constant (k) for the Cr(VI) elimination by S. oneidensis/FMF (0.033 h−1) was about 4.1-fold greater than that of S. oneidensis (0.008 h−1). Moreover, the removal of Cr(VI) by S. oneidensis/FMF were dominated by reduction, and supplemented by adsorption and complexation. FMF enhance the extracellular electron transfer rate (EETR) was confirmed by electrochemical cyclic voltammetry (CV) and linear scanning voltammetry (LSV) experiments. This study emphasizes the potential important role of FMF in environmental bioremediation.

Photolytic decomposition of PFOS by electrospun nanofiber composites of Fe(III)/PVDF Under UV-C light

Per- and polyfluoro alkyl substances (PFAS) are emerging pollutants that have contaminated various water streams of the world. Besides polluting the environment, it is related to several human diseases, including cancer. Various methods have been proposed to remove PFAS from water streams including, photocatalytic or photolytic decomposition of PFAS which decomposes PFAS in a quasi-perpetual fashion and does not generate secondary pollution. In this work, perfluoroctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) is used as a model PFAS to study its photolytic decomposition by nanofiber composites (NFC) of Fe (III) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) under ultraviolet (UV)-C light. The nanofiber composite was fabricated using an electrospinning technique with PVDF and iron precursor on the conductive surface of indium tin oxide (ITO) coated polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film. The composite was characterized with SEM-EDX, AFM, XRD, and TGA. It was found that a significant amount, 70 % of aqueous PFOS solution is decomposed by the composites in the presence of traces of hydrogen peroxide and UV-C light. The kinetics of PFOS degradation was fit with pseudo-first order rate constant of 0.056 hr−1. It is proposed that PFOS binds with Fe(III) to form an unstable complex that is decomposed under UV-C light and Fe(III) is reduced Fe(II). Hydrogen peroxide provides the simultaneous benefits of further decomposing the PFOS complex and regenerating Fe(III). The overall results suggest that this nanofiber composite can be used for the photolytic decomposition of PFOS. It is also revealed that two composite mats showed the optimal performance and the increase in concentration of hydrogen peroxide increased the degradation of PFOS monotonically.

Strain-rate and size dependence of gradient lamellar nickel investigated by in-situ micropillar compression

Strain rate plays a nonnegligible role in the plastic deformation behavior of metallic materials with heterogeneous nanostructure, while little research focuses on the topic. In-situ compression tests at various strain rates were conducted on the micropillars located at different depths from the gradient lamellar Ni. These tests intended to reveal the strain-rate dependence of micropillars with different lamellar thicknesses and illustrated the competitive relationship between strain rate and intrinsic grain size on the plastic deformation behavior of metallic materials. In addition, due to the strain rate sensitivity related to not only intrinsic size but also external size, single Ni micropillars with different diameters were also compressed at various strain rates in order to clarify the competitive relationship between intrinsic size and external size on the strain rate sensitivity. It is found that lamellar thickness rather than strain rate has more effect on plastic deformation, and external size exhibits a more obvious impact on the strain rate sensitivity. The plastic deformation behaviors of different micropillars are mainly explained by transitions in the effect of lamellar grain boundaries on the dislocation motion at various strain rates and over different lamellar thicknesses, resulting in the change of dislocation multiplication and annihilation rate.

The Effects of Industry 4.0 Technologies on Supply Chain Management Performance: A Case Study of DHL Zambia

Technological advancements related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution are causing disruptive changes that are widely felt at national, industry, and company levels. Hence this mixed methods study aimed to assess the effects of Industry 4.0 technologies on the supply chain management performance at DHL Zambia. The 50 employees selected out of 56 employees at DHL Zambia through a simple random sampling technique resulted in 50 valid responses translating into a 100% response rate. Empirical data was derived from both the Likert scale questionnaire and the interview guide distributed through Google Forms. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, and inferential statistics such as regression analysis, and correlation analysis while qualitative data was analyzed using a thematic approach. The study revealed that the Internet of Things, Blockchain, Big Data Analytics, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality as Industry 4.0 technologies used at DHL Zambia. The study also found that on-time delivery, order cycle time, inventory turnover, perfect order rate, supply chain cost, lead time, and forecast accuracy, are the supply chain management metrics adopted at DHL Zambia. The multiple regression test results found a significant effect of Industry 4.0 technologies on supply chain management metrics (P>0.05). The study recommended that managers at DHL Zambia prioritize training skill development initiatives aimed at equipping the workforce with the technical competencies required for leveraging Industry 4.0 technologies effectively. This will ensure that the workforce is prepared to embrace digital transformation and adapt to the changing demands of the industry.

Stochastic comparison of parallel systems with heterogeneous dependent exponential components

Let X=(X1,…,Xn) and Y=(Y1,…,Yn) be two random vectors with common Archimedean copula with generator function ϕ, where, for i=1,…,n, Xi is an exponential random variable with hazard rate λi and Yi is an exponential random variable with hazard rate λ. In this paper we prove that under some sufficient conditions on the function ϕ, the largest order statistic corresponding to X is larger than that of Y according to the dispersive ordering and hazard rate ordering. The new results generalized the results in Dykstra et al. (1997) and Khaledi and Kochar (2000). We show that the new results can be applied to some well known Archimedean copulas.

Pore-Scale Study of Diffusion and Adsorption Mechanisms during Capture of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

The surge in the global average temperatures has necessitated a decrease in the level of the released carbon dioxide (CO2) from different anthropogenic sources. In addition to curtailing the various emissions, there is a growing demand to remove the CO2 already existing in the atmosphere. As such, there is an impetus for synergistic experimental and modeling studies as it can propel the endeavor toward the development of durable and less energy-intensive CO2 capture systems. In this work, a physics-based numerical model employing the Lattice-Boltzmann Method (LBM) is formulated to simulate the coupled mass transfer and adsorption phenomena occurring during CO2 capture. A modeling workflow integrated with experiments will be presented which aids in the determination of the pertinent reaction order and adsorption rate constant based on a mixed-order kinetic model. The influence of Damköhler number, porosity, and microporosity content of the carbon fiber domain on key metrics such as the adsorption efficiencies and time constants will be further delineated.

Approximating a continuously stratified hydrostatic system by the multi-layer shallow water system

In this article we consider the multi-layer shallow water system for the propagation of gravity waves in density-stratified flows, with additional terms introduced by the oceanographers Gent and McWilliams (Journal of Physical Oceanography 20 (1990) 150–155) in order to take into account large-scale isopycnal diffusivity induced by small-scale unresolved eddies. We establish a bridge between the multi-layer shallow water system and the corresponding system for continuously stratified flows, that is the incompressible Euler equations with eddy-induced diffusivity under the hydrostatic approximation. Specifically we prove that, under an assumption of stable stratification, sufficiently regular solutions to the incompressible Euler equations can be approximated by solutions to multi-layer shallow water systems as the number of layers, N, increases. Moreover, we provide a convergence rate of order 1 / N 2 . A key ingredient in the proof is a stability estimate for the multi-layer system which relies on suitable energy estimates mimicking the ones recently established by Bianchini and Duchêne (Bianchini and Duchêne (2024)) on the continuously stratified system. This requires to compile a dictionary that translates continuous operations (differentiation, integration, etc.) into corresponding discrete operations.

Overlooked role of protocatechuic acid in enhancing the selective elimination of sulfonamide antibiotics in Fe(III)/peroxymonosulfate process under actually neutral pH conditions

Protocatechuic acid (PCA) has been extensively employed as reducing agent to improve the Fenton-like processes under acidic pH conditions by accelerating the Fe(II)/Fe(III) redox cycle. Nevertheless, the potential of PCA as chelating agent to enable Fenton-like processes for contaminant elimination under neutral pH conditions has been overlooked. In this study, experiments and DFT calculations demonstrate that PCA can improve the elimination of sulfonamide antibiotics in Fe(III)/peroxymonosulfate (PMS) process under truly neutral pH conditions by improving the catalytic reactivity of Fe(III) with PMS, resulting in a 23.74-fold increase in the pseudo-first order rate constant (kobs) of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) removal at pH 7.0. Meanwhile, the kobs of SMX removal in PCA/Fe(III)/PMS process was 10–60 times higher than that in various previously reported strategies-enhanced Fe(III)/PMS processes at pH 7.0. The Fe(III)-peroxo intermediate (PCA-Fe(III)-OOSO3-), rather than •OH, SO4•-, Fe(IV)/Fe(V) and 1O2, was identified as the primary reactive species responsible for SMX removal in PCA/Fe(III)/PMS process under neutral pH conditions. DFT results indicate that PCA increased the oxidation potential of Fe(III)-OOSO3-. Meanwhile, PCA/Fe(III)/PMS process exhibited promising applicability in natural waters with strong anti-interference capability even with 5 μM Fe(III). Additionally, five potential elimination pathways of SMX were proposed, and the toxicity of treated SMX solution decreased. This study investigated the overlooked but crucial role of PCA in Fe(III)/PMS process under neutral pH conditions, which may provide novel insights into the underlying mechanism of PCA-enhanced Fenton-like processes and provide viable options for the application of Fe-catalyzed PMS processes in neutral waters.

Effects of Political Instability on Financial Development in the West African Economic and Monetary Union Region

This paper analyses the effects of political instability on financial development in the West African Economic and Monetary Union region (WAEMU) countries. The results are obtained using the autoregressive staggered lag model (ARDL) over an analysis period from 2002 to 2021. The main reason for this analysis period is the availability of data. The results show that political instability reduces financial development by lowering financial efficiency. Moreover, inflation tends to increase the negative effects of political instability on financial development. On the other hand, the interest rate manages to mitigate the negative effects of political instability on financial development. The results therefore suggest that measures should be taken to mitigate the risks of political instability. Consequently, the results suggest the development of policies against rising inflation and for the revision of interest rates in order to influence the level of political instability and financial development. 

Efficient generation of polarization-entangled photons in metal-organic framework waveguides.

Parametric nonlinear optical processes are instrumental in optical quantum technology for generating entangled light. However, the range of materials conventionally used for producing entangled photons is limited. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as a novel class of optical materials with customizable nonlinear properties and proven chemical and optical stability. The large number of combinations of metal atoms and organic ligand from which bulk MOF crystals are known to form, facilitates the search of promising candidates for nonlinear optics. To accelerate the discovery of next-generation quantum light sources, we employ a multi-scale modeling approach to study phase-matching conditions for collinear degenerate type-II spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) with MOF-based one dimensional waveguides. Using periodic-density-functional theory calculations to compute the nonlinear optical properties of selected zinc-based MOF crystals, we predict polarization-entangled pair generation rates of order 104 - 107 s-1mW-1 at 1064 nm for 10 mm crystals, improving the brightness of industry materials such as PPKTP and BBO in some cases. This work underscores the great potential of MOF single crystals as entangled light sources for applications in quantum communication and sensing.

Bacterial Resistances and Sensibilities in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Romania-A Retrospective Analysis.

The increase in bacterial resistance is currently a global burden for the health care system. In order to evaluate the resistance rates of several bacteria from the most encountered cultures in clinical practice, we performed a retrospective analysis of all of the positive cultures from the year 2021 in a tertiary care hospital in Romania. Our analysis captured 3299 positive cultures. The median age of the patients was 62 years (IQR: 41-71 years old) with a slight predominance among females (53.1%). Overall, the most common cultures were urocultures, wound secretion cultures and blood cultures, and the most common identified bacteria were Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella spp. Positive cultures with the highest resistance rates were found in the bronchial aspirate cultures, catheter tip cultures, urocultures and blood cultures. Escherichia coli (n = 996) had the highest resistance to ampicillin (19.8%) and trimetoprim-sulfametoxazole (16.4%), while Staphylococcus aureus (n = 698) presented the highest resistance rates to clindamycin (27.4%) and oxaciline (19.7%). Klebsiella (n = 481) presented the highest resistance rates to piperaciline-tazobactam (25.2%) and ampicillin (20.4%), whereas Acinetobacter baumanii (n = 123) presented a resistance rate of more than 50% to carbapenems, gentamicin, ciprofloxacin and ceftazidime. The aim of our study was to identify bacterial resistance rates in order to provide updated clinical data to guide physicians in choosing the best empirical antibiotic treatment, especially in the west part of Romania.