Romanian National Research Articles

A.C. Cuza, German Antisemitism, and the Swastika

"This case study of transnational antisemitism in the 1910s and 1920s argues that the Romanian antisemite A.C. Cuza (1857-1947) copied the swastika from the German antisemite Heinrich Kraeger (1870-1945). It examines the evolution of Cuza’s political antisemitism from the 1890s until 1923 and discusses the possible origins of Cuza’s use of the swastika and his interpretations of the symbol. It highlights that Cuza used various foreign sources to produce vague and contradictory interpretations of the swastika, that he made no effort to give it a coherent racial meaning, and that he opportunistically but inconsistently tried to Christianise it. The study concludes that the swastika in his view became both a German and a Romanian ethnic symbol, performing the same antisemitic function in each context. Keywords: Political antisemitism; student antisemitism; Romanian nationalism; transnationalism; League for National Christian Defence; Iron Guard"

An Evaluation of the National Program of Systematic Land Registration in Romania Using the Fit for Purpose Spatial Framework Principles

The National Program of Systematic Land Registration aims to register all land property in Romania by 2023. The goal has proven difficult to achieve, as by June 2022 only 4% of the localities in the country were completed. The aim of this research is to find the similarities and differences between the fit for purpose principles of land administration for the spatial framework and the practices in The Romanian National Program of Systematic Land Registration. This is the first study that analyzes the Romanian land registration program through the lens of the fit for purpose concept. The research shows that there are similarities with the fit for purpose spatial framework principles for the use of aerial images and the participatory nature of the process. However, The National Program of Systematic Land Registration uses almost exclusively fixed boundaries and does not have different standards of accuracy and procedures for incremental improvement. Registering the parcels earlier in the process, flexibility for accuracy, and technical standards and regulations for incremental improvement of the system can speed up the registration in a fit for purpose manner.

Vaccine Coverage in Children Younger Than 1 Year of Age during Periods of High Epidemiological Risk: Are We Preparing for New Outbreaks?

Background: According to WHO, infectious disease control can be achieved if the vaccine coverage (VC) exceeds 90%. In recent years there has been a declining trend in VC which could lead to the recurrence of infectious diseases. Objectives: The study analyzed the determinants of VC and of parental decisions regarding immunization in children aged 0–1 year monitored during two high-risk epidemiological periods (the measles epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic period). Methods: A retrospective observational cohort study-data regarding vaccination of children younger than 1 year of age during the periods January 2019–June 2019 (measles epidemic) and January 2020–June 2020 (COVID-19 pandemic) were analyzed. 2.850 children from 2019 and 2.823 children from 2020 were enrolled. Family physicians interacted with 2840 parents or legal guardians in 2019 and with 2800 parents or legal guardians in 2020, during the infants’ consults providing medical information and answer to their questions and worries regarding their immunization. Data on immunization schedules on the determinants of parents’ decisions regarding vaccination were evaluated. Results: During 2019–2020, VC has followed a declining trend for each type of vaccine included in the Romanian National Immunization Program; the most affected were infants aged 9–12 months during both periods: in 9-month aged infants, the MMR vaccine VC was 67.49% in 2019 vs. 59.04% in 2020 (p < 0.004). In the 12 months aged infants, the MMR VC was 64.29% in 2019 vs. 55.88% in 2020 (p < 0.005). For the Hexavalent vaccine administered at the age of 11 months, the VC was 71.59% in 2019 vs. 62.08% in 2020 (p < 0.001). The determinants of parents’ decisions regarding vaccination included parental hesitance 2019—25% vs. 2020—35%, fear on side effects 2019—32% vs. 2020—45%, vaccination denial 2019—7% vs. 2020—10%. Conclusion: We found a declining trend in the VC in Romania during the epidemic and pandemic periods. The decrease in VC for MMR generated a major risk for new measles outbreaks Permanent awareness educational campaigns regarding infectious disease risk are needed, accompanied by the empowerment of primary care and the emergence of an immunization management program based on national regulatory legislation.

Gheorghe Grigorovici (1871-1950)

"The following article is a chapter of a study elaborated in 2018, „The Romanian National Council in Chernivtsi and its Role in the Formation of the Romanian Administration of Bukovina. Contributions to a Monographic Study”. It is a plea for the need for a monographic study dedicated to the problem formulated in the title itself, from the perspective of a “great European problem”, which would also aim at solving the “Bukovina issue” “within the Romanian identity”. Our contribution in this regard is organically connected to the yet “unclosed national file” in the historiography of the Great Union, regarded as “a cardinal theme of the Romanian historical discourse”, by approaching the imperative of “conducting investigations” in other neighboring research areas, such as the social elites, the collective mentalities, the rural and suburban communities, as well as those built around provincial markets etc. Structurally the study focuses on some main problems brought to the debate of the civil society in Bukovina in 1918: 1) The organization of the Romanian administration of Bukovina – a “European problem”, conceived “within the invigorating Romanian identity”; 2) Gheorghe Grigorovici (1871–1950): “New days are about to come, open the door in time, so that it will not be broken[!]""; 3) Radu I. Sbiera (1876–1946): “Let’s put not only the mind, but also the heart to work!” Each of the three sections of the study is followed by an annex, comprising documents which are for the first time approached from a philological perspective. All these are richly illustrated, with reproductions of watercolors, various vintage illustrations and photographs, some of which are unpublished in our historiographical works. Some reproductions of artistic works – watercolors, lithographs, serial postcards, as well as some photographs taken in workshops and photographic studios from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, known or less known to a wider audience – outline through their intimate and profound message in relation to the documents (re)brought into debate a bright period in the European and national history: la Belle Époque (1871–1914). The purpose of our annexes is, at the same time, to stimulate knowledge and to facilitate the understanding of some problems that the newer generations, today, face in a period of confusion of values: how was the emergence of the generation from 1918 possible, what “expertise” had the personalities of this fortunate year of our contemporary history, what “recommended” them or what “qualified” their energetic options, what put them in the service of common national values, high feelings and ideals? "

Deputați bucovineni în Parlamentul României Întregite. Dorimedont Popovici (legislatura 1920 - 1922)

Dorimedont Popovici (1874–1950) was a Bukovinian politician who became involved in cultural-national activities, campaigning for the rights of Romanians in Bukovina. He attended primary school in Suceava, secondary school and university courses (Law School) in Chernivtsi, later obtaining a PhD in Law. From the autumn of 1918, he became involved in the national liberation movement of the Romanians in Bukovina. He was one of the organizers of the National Assembly on October 27, 1918, Vice-President of the Romanian National Council; was part of the Bukovina government; participated in the General Congress of Bukovina (November 28, 1918) and voted for the unconditional union of Bukovina with the Kingdom of Romania. After 1918, Dori Popovici continued his political activity, contributing to the integration of Bukovina into the structures of the Romanian state. He held various public functions and dignities. He was a member of the Democratic Union Party (1919), the People’s Party (1920) and the National Peasant Party (1927). He was an MP from the People’s Party in the legislative period between 1920 and 1922, Minister Secretary of State in the Averescu governments (1920–1921, 1926–1927). His parliamentary interventions focus on issues related to the unification and administration of the province. In 1944, before the occupation of the northern part of Bukovina, Dori Popovici fled to Romania. Arrested on the night between the 5th and the 6th of May 1950, then imprisoned at Sighet without trial, he died in extermination on June 12, 1950. In the Annex we present an interpellation about the problems of Bukovina integration (administrative and legislative unification), important for understanding how Dorimedont Popovici saw the organization of the province within the Kingdom of Romania.

NeXtNow: A Convolutional Deep Learning Model for the Prediction of Weather Radar Data for Nowcasting Purposes

With the recent increase in the occurrence of severe weather phenomena, the development of accurate weather nowcasting is of paramount importance. Among the computational methods that are used to predict the evolution of weather, deep learning techniques offer a particularly appealing solution due to their capability for learning patterns from large amounts of data and their fast inference times. In this paper, we propose a convolutional network for weather forecasting that is based on radar product prediction. Our model (NeXtNow) adapts the ResNeXt architecture that has been proposed in the computer vision literature to solve the spatiotemporal prediction problem. NeXtNow consists of an encoder–decoder convolutional architecture, which maps radar measurements from the past onto radar measurements that are recorded in the future. The ResNeXt architecture was chosen as the basis for our network due to its flexibility, which allows for the design of models that can be customized for specific tasks by stacking multiple blocks of the same type. We validated our approach using radar data that were collected from the Romanian National Meteorological Administration (NMA) and the Norwegian Meteorological Institute (MET) and we empirically showed that the inclusion of multiple past radar measurements led to more accurate predictions further in the future. We also showed that NeXtNow could outperform XNow, which is a convolutional architecture that has previously been proposed for short-term radar data prediction and has a performance that is comparable to those of other similar approaches in the nowcasting literature. Compared to XNow, NeXtNow provided improvements to the critical success index that ranged from 1% to 17% and improvements to the root mean square error that ranged from 5% to 6%.

The Protective Effect of Culture on Depression During Covid-19 Pandemic: A Romanian National Study

Previous studies indicated that collectivism represents a protective factor against depressive disorders, even among vulnerable populations. The protective effect of collectivism in relation to depressive disorders is often attributed to the social support networks available to individuals in collectivistic societies. The current study aims to investigate the protective effect of collectivism in the relationship between psychological vulnerabilities and depression. Moreover, we examined whether the protective effect of collectivism in relation to depression can be explained through the mechanism of social support. We measured individualism-collectivism for 42 Romanian counties ( n = 2,882) before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data for irrational cognitions, depression, and social support were collected online during the lockdown in Romania ( n = 5,310). All instruments showed acceptable measurement and scalar invariance across regions. In a multi-level regression model, county-level collectivism was associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms b = −.032, 95% CI [−0.045; −0.019], while irrational cognitions were positively associated with depression b = .474, 95% CI [0.438; 0.510]. The interaction between irrational beliefs and collectivism had a significant and negative effect on depression, b = −.004, 95% CI [−0.008; −0.000]. The indirect effect of collectivism on depression via social support was tested in a two-level SEM model. Explicit and implicit social support were not significant mediators. Collectivism was negatively associated with the perceived availability of explicit social support, b = −.043, 95% CI [−0.074; −0.012]. The results support a general protective effect of collectivism on mental health but cast doubt that the mechanism for this effect is related to social support.

Interwar East Central Europe, 1918–1941: The Failure of Democracy-Building, the Fate of Minorities

Interwar East Central Europe, 1918–1941: The Failure of Democracy-Building, the Fate of Minorities

R. Chris Davis. Hungarian Religion, Romanian Blood: A Minority’s Struggle for National Belonging, 1920–1945.

R. Chris Davis. <i>Hungarian Religion, Romanian Blood: A Minority’s Struggle for National Belonging, 1920–1945</i>.

THE LINK BETWEEN HEART RATE VARIABILITY AND ENDURANCE IN SWIMMING

Heart rate variability is a relatively new measurement in sport that can predict sport performance. Unfortunately, it is underused because usually it is not simple to measure it. In the last years, because of the increase of the investment in sport, many companies tried to make different devices to make this measurement easier. In this study, for 21 days, 10 elite swimmers aged between 12 and 14 years old were observed. All the swimmers are experienced ones, being ranked in the first 2 places at Romanian National Championships in at least one swimming event. In this period, they performed 3 endurance tests, at a 10-day interval. The endurance test consisted of a 30 minutes continuous swimming at maximum speed, these tests being named T-30. Heart rate variability was measured in every morning, right before practice, on the swimming deck. For this measurement was used a very easy to use device, iThlete, a photoplethysmography which was attached to a mobile phone. The time needed for measurement is only 55 seconds and the value is very easy to interpret. The link between swimming endurance and the heart rate variability measurement was interpreted. The results showed us that heart rate variability influenced the results in swimming endurance with a p-value&lt;0,001.

Science and politics in the Ion Iancu Nistor creative legacy

Ion Iancu Nistor is one of the well-known Bukovynians for his scientific, political and state activities, in relation to whom there are two opposite opinions in the Romanian and Ukrainian historical science. A native of Bukovyna, born into a peasant family, he was able to become a famous scientist. Studied at Chernivtsi and Vienna universities, had internships at the universities of Munich, Bucharest, Berlin. In 1912 he headed the Department of History of Southeast Europe Chernivtsi university. The sphere of interest in this period was the medieval history of Moldova. During World War I, Ion Nistor and his family lived in Romania, where he had been engaged in research activities for some time, and he became involved in political activities since 1917. The latter one made it possible, together with a number of refugees from Bukovyna, to join the Romanian National Council and take part in the preparation and conduct of the General Congress of Bukovyna, which paved the path for the first position in the Council of Ministers – the Minister of Bukovyna. In 1920, I. Nistor became the first rector of the Romanized Chernivtsi University and held this post for the second time in 1933-1940. Starting his creative activity with publications in «Junimea literară», the historian left great legacy in various directions. If in the initial period of his scientific activity I. Nistor touched upon the issues of the history of Moldova in the Middle Ages, in particular the issue of the country’s territorial borders, its relations with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, trade relations of Moldova, then over time the range of scientific interests had expanded. In fact, the work «Romanians and Ruthenians of Bukovyna: a Historical and Statistical Study» (1915) was one of the first studies of the historian with political relevance. The issue of confrontation between Romanians and Ukrainians in terms of recognition of autochthony in Bukovyna was reflected in a number of other works. The work «Transnistrian Romanians» (1924) was a response to the intentions of the Soviet leadership to seek the return of Bessarabia under their rule, and the work «Czechoslovaks and Romanians» (1930) reflected the allied relations of the two states. The heritage of the historian also included works dedicated to the issue of the Great Unification, demonstrating the position on the issue of Bukovyna affiliation. The Ukrainian issue, one way or another, had always been present in a number of works during the interwar period, and it was important for the historian in the context of the attitude towards it from the USSR, Poland and Germany. In fact, the historian considered it his task to provide a historical background that was supposed to prove the right of the Romanians for entire Bukovyna. This was also manifested in his response to the statements of the Bukovynian OUN organization in June 1941, published in 1942. In addition to the issues mentioned, I. Nistor touched upon the issues of historical biography, the history of the Daco-Roman population, the history of Moldova in modern times, acting in line with traditional Romanian historiography.

Indonesian Folk Narratives: On the Interstices of National Identity, National Values, and Character Education

Abstract Folklore has been linked to national identity formation. In this article, informed by Johann Gottfried Herder’s romantic nationalism and following Alan Dundes’s (1965) method of folklore studies, it is argued that Indonesia has historically followed this trail, and its recent movement of collecting and disseminating Indonesian folk narratives from across the archipelago is a culminating point in this endeavour. Although the move was claimed to support the national literacy and character building movement, the rigorous endeavour of the government in garnering folktales from all 34 provinces can also be read as part of the national political agenda of strengthening the national integrity, promoting unity in diversity and disseminating so-called national values. Examining further the contexts and procedures of how the narratives were collected and selected for publication, the study reveals an effort to inculcate national values targeted at students in formal education, but more particularly young children as the future harbingers of national values.

IBD Monitor: Romanian National Mobile Application for Inflammatory Bowel Disease Personalized Treatment and Monitoring.

Background: In the last 30 years, we have seen an increase in the incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Most cases are diagnosed in the 2nd and 3rd decades of life, a population group that is most familiar with the latest innovations in technology. Patients want to obtain more information about their disease and have complete control over the pathology, while reducing physical meetings with their doctor. Starting from these ideas, the present study aimed to develop a mobile application (app) to support IBD patients on symptoms/events reporting and on treatment administration monitoring. Methods: A multidisciplinary team was created to document and develop the app requirements and design its functionality. The app was beta-tested by several IBD patients. Their feedback was used to further refine the app. Results: We developed connected apps for both smartphones and smartwatches, with dedicated sections for event reporting and medication administration reminders/reporting. Conclusions: The development of apps dedicated to IBD patients is still in early progress. By creating this app, we aim to improve the evolution and compliance of IBD patients and to obtain new information that will have a beneficial impact on the management of these patients and open the door for personalized medicine.

The Transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/1151 into Romanian National Law

"Directive (EU) 2019/1151 of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive (EU) 2017/1132 as regards the use of digital tools and processes in company law, which was adopted by the European Parliament on 20 June 2019 and entered into force on 31 July 2019 (hereinafter as: Directive), is the first of two directives in the company law package. Promoting the use of digital tools and processes is the main purpose of the Directive, which involves three main things, i.e. enabling: online filing and accessing of company information, the online formation of certain types of companies, and the online registration of branches. In Romania, the transposition deadline of the Directive has been extended to 1 August 2022, with the authorization of the European Commission. The recent legislative evolution in the field of company law within the Romanian national law gives cause for hope. However, a normative act aiming at the implementation of the Directive into Romanian legislation is still far from completion, so the transposition procedure remains to be an ongoing process. The legislative evolution of the Romanian company law is quite dynamic despite the significant delay in the transposition of the Directive."

„Bucegiștii”. Vacanțele în munți ale familiei Urechia: construcția unei filiații literare

Focusing on a family of writers that of V.A. Urechiă and his sons, Nestor and Alceu, the article aims at a comparative analysis of the family's sociability that they develop in the summers spent at their villas in Câmpina and Sinaia, with expeditions in the Bucegi Mountains, and the literature that feeds on these expeditions. Beyond the opportunity offered by the writings of the Urechiă family, we wish to observe the production and efficiency of genealogical forms (Georges Didi-Huberman); the stake of such an approach comes from its historical situation. The moment of founding the Urechia family coincides with the founding of the Romanian culture and nation, making the investigation of their mountain expeditions, genealogical issues, and literary forms gain a political weight with an accent on the nation rather than on the family itself.

Kitano Takeshi’s ‘melancholic nationalism’ and the role of Koreans in the Outrage trilogy1

This article will examine the way in which Koreans are mobilized in Kitano Takeshi’s Outrage series and how their representations may be related to Kitano’s vision of Japan. In order to do so, the article first places the Outrage trilogy in the context of Kitano’s other films as well as previous representations of Koreans in Japanese yakuza (gangster) films in general. The article then continues to explore the role of Korean characters in Outrage Beyond and Coda and discusses the way in which the seemingly progressive transnational bonding and Korean representation may confirm Kitano’s romantic nationalism or what I would call ‘melancholic nationalism’.

سه دیدار با هویت ایرانی

In encountering the question of Iranian identity form my early childhood years to the present, I have been drawn to, struggled with, and ultimately abandoned both the “romantic Achaemenid nationalist” and the “critical modernist” approaches to fundamental aspects of Iranian culture. Instead, I have proposed a “historicizing” perspective that makes a clear distinction between Iranian identity (iraniyat) as a historical entity, on the one hand, and, on the other, “Iranian national identity” as a modern construct that cannot not be applied retrospectively to the historical past. This approach acknowledges the rise of “civic nations” as a product of modernity, but rejects the disjuncture between a people’s history and their contemporary cultural identity. In the case of Iran, I have argued that, while modern conceptions of “Iranian national identity” were subjectively and retrospectively constructed from ancient myths, symbols, and collective memories, they are in fact re-constructions of historical identities that are based on verifiable ethnolinguistic and territorial ties.

Russophilia and Madness in Nineteenth-Century Romania: The Case of Michel Anagnosti

This article examines the political writings of Michel Anagnosti, a French-educated Wallachian intellectual and publicist who came of age during the period of Russian hegemony in the Romanian principalities in the 1830s. Although Anagnosti was at first critical of Russian policies, the subsequent evolution of his political views placed him increasingly at odds with the “Fortyeighters”—the participants of the 1848 revolution in Wallachia that was suppressed by the Ottomans on Russia’s insistence. Whereas modern Romanian nationalism crystallized during the 1840s and the 1850s under distinctly anti-Russian slogans, Anagnosti evolved in the opposite direction and became an exponent of pro-Russian attitudes in the Romanian press of the 1860s and 1870s. Anagnosti’s unorthodox perspectives contrasted with the ideology of the “Fortyeighters” to the point of earning him the reputation of a madman and explaining his posthumous oblivion. An examination of Anagnosti’s oeuvre not only sheds light on a neglected figure of the Romanian intellectual life of the nineteenth century, but also provides an insight into the process of constructing the political mainstream in an emergent nation-state by associating critical and unorthodox perspectives with unreason.

4. Project “Easter Triptych”

Abstract The “Easter Triptych” project was conducted in six annual editions (except for 2020 and 2021 – the years of the Coronavirus Pandemic). It was conceived and achieved in the name and in the spirit of the three important moments in the history of our humanity: Birth, Passion and Joy of the Resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. This great religious cultural project was attended by important personalities of Iaşi and not only, such as lyrical artists from the Romanian National Opera Iaşi, church persons from the Metropolitan Church of Moldavia and Bukovina, university professors, ethnographers, craftsmen and students. We were joined by Radio Romania Cultural Bucharest, Radio Iasi, TV Iasi, Radio “Trinitas” and “Moldova” National Museum Complex Iasi. With this important project, I also went to Austria, Vienna, to the Romanian Cultural Center and to the Republic of Moldova, to “Alecu Russo” State University Balti. Each edition presented under its generous scope, equally traditions, customs and beliefs firmly established in our soul and conscience as Romanians. The events included moments of musical art: classical musical works (lyrical, instrumental, choral), Christmas carols, Easter songs, religious poems, book launches, exhibitions of decorated eggs from the Bukovina area, exhibitions of icons, crosses, carpets woven in monasteries, ceramic objects from Horezu, wooden sculpture objects and traditional folk costumes. In addition to these, there was a CD: “Easter Triptych”.

Memory of Romanian Law. The Beginnings of Sibiu Law and Administrative Education

In 2021 the Law Faculty of the public University in Sibiu is celebrating 50 years of continuous activity starting with 1971. Actually, this institution is one of the oldest juridical teaching institutions in Romania, but not having in mind 1971, but the first institution which was inaugurated in 1844 and closed in 1887. This is why the 2021 moment of the Legal School in Sibiu is a moment of reflection and in the same time of revealing the whole history of this school which marked the legal history of Transylvania and the Romanian national history in the same time. In this study there are some of the starting information about how the Imperial legal faculty in Sibiu / Hermannstadt was opened and how it functioned under legal and administrative aspects. The information is taken from the archives in Sibiu and Vienna and from the few articles which were written in foreign languages about this institution. &#x0D; The 2021 moment in the history of Sibiu law school brings with it the obligation of a reflection to situate this event, beyond a simple anniversary stop (counted now beginning with 1971, from the moment of its re-establishment) on the time scale and on the broader coordinates of the place and historical moments in the destiny of the Romanian nation, as well as Transylvanian public law and administration, whose specific dimensions and evolutions have shaped and reflected at the same time.