Southeast Region Of Romania Research Articles

Energy Efficiency Financing, an Opportunity to Reduce Energy Poverty in the South-East Region of Romania

Energy Efficiency Financing, an Opportunity to Reduce Energy Poverty in the South-East Region of Romania

The Impact of the Growing Substrate on Morphological and Biochemical Features of Salicornia europaea L.

Nowadays, intensive agriculture correlated with the impact of climate change has led to nutrient soil depletion and the salinization of agricultural lands, making them unsuitable for conventional agricultural crops, with a direct impact on the food industry. Therefore, it is necessary to find sustainable alternative solutions that satisfy the needs of both consumers and food production. One such solution may be represented by salt-tolerant species that can fulfill food requirements. One of the most promising salt-tolerant plant species that can be used is Salicornia europaea L. The present work was conducted in greenhouse conditions, and the adaptability of the species on different cultivation substrates was investigated by means of monitoring the plant indicators such as cuticle, epidermis, parenchyma, polyphenols content, and minerals. Moreover, the correlation between the polyphenol and mineral contents was highlighted. Therefore, three cultivation substrates with different levels of salinity/electrical conductivity were used. The reference (I) for biochemical indicators was represented by the plant grown in natural salinity conditions in the Southeast region of Romania. The results indicate that Salicornia europaea L. can be grown on different cultivation substrates other than salted soils, the plant showing the capacity to accumulate bioactive compounds similar to natively grown ones.

Professional Training in The South-East Region of Romania: Analysis And Implications in The Agricultural Sector

The research focuses on vocational training in the South-East Region of Romania and its implications in the agricultural sector. The study proposes to evaluate the effectiveness and relevance of the professional training programs implemented in the SE Region of Romania in the period 2018-2022.

SOME ASPECTS REGARDING THE OPTIMIZATION OF THE WIND TURBINE’S VIBRATION SYSTEMS

The development of monitoring of vibration’s system of wind turbines is an important stage for operational details. In order to highlight the innovations made in these systems, their structural elements must be analysed (characteristics and classification of sensors, monitoring and analysis of structure, conditions for monitoring program). In order to measure vibrations in wind turbines, a correct and continuous monitoring of the functional state of each element in the structure is necessary. In this paper are presented investigations for wind turbines from wind farm Mireasa, South-East region of Romania, to determine the conditions of the drivetrain and highlight any potential developed problems.

HPV and HIV Coinfection in Women from a Southeast Region of Romania-PICOPIV Study.

Background and Objectives: Romania faces one of the highest cervical cancer burdens in Europe though it is a preventable cancer through population screening by cytology and human papillomavirus (HPV) detection. Also, it has one of the highest incidences of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. HPV and HIV coinfection are frequently encountered. The aim of study was to establish the prevalence of HPV infection among HIV-positive women in Southeast Region of Romania, to genotype high risk HPV types -and to correlate the results with clinical data and cytological cervical lesions. Materials and Methods: 40 HIV-positive women were screened for HPV types and for cytological cervical lesions. The findings were evaluated in correlation with CD4 cell counts, HIV viral load, age at first sexual intercourse, number of sexual partners, vaginal candidiasis, and Gardnerella using statistical methods. Results: 19/40 (47.5%) women were positive for HPV types, 63.15% infected with single HPV type and 36.85% with multiple HPV types. The most frequent types were type: 31 (42.1%), 56 (31.57%), 53 (15.78%). On cytology, 34 (85%) women were found with NILM of which 38.23% were HPV-positive. Fifteen percent of women had abnormal cytology (three ASC-US, three LSIL), and all of them were HPV-positive. Through analyzing the value of CD4 count, women with CD4 count ≤ 200 cells/μL were found to be significantly more likely to be infected with HPV; meanwhile there was no correlation between the detection of HPV types and HIV viral load. Candida or Gardnerella were more often associated with HIV-positive women with HPV, than in women without HPV. Conclusions: Infection with HPV types is common among HIV-positive women in the Southeast Region of Romania and it is associated with age at the beginning of sexual life, number of sexual partners, CD4 value, vaginal candidiasis, and Gardnerella infection.

Assessing the earthquake systemic vulnerability of the urban centres in the South-East region of Romania. The tale of Galați and Brăila Cities, Romania

Earthquakes are one of the most destructive natural phenomena in the world, their impact being of particular severity in urban areas. Failures relating to proper allocation of resources, to the identification of optimal routes between the affected urban areas and relief centres, and to the mitigation of potential earthquake-triggered destructive phenomena emerge as systemic vulnerability sources. This paper aims to assess the seismic systemic vulnerability of the 6 administrative centres in the South-East region of Romania, by proposing a weighted composite index (Earthquake Vulnerability Index, ESVI) that integrates indicators referring to the accessibility of emergency services centres, the capacity of the local medical infrastructure and secondary danger sources. The validation of ESVI relies on Sensitivity Analysis and Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) methods. Moreover, in order to illustrate the utility of an assessment of this type, a comparative case study of Galați and Brăila Cities is presented. This paper shows how the integration of GIS tools and techniques may improve vulnerability assessments, especially when they are used in conjunction with MCDM methods. ESVI and its integrated maps point out the most vulnerable urban centres and the hotspots of vulnerability within them, allowing for advanced regional and local scale planning of emergency interventions.

A dynamic image of the final authority act of local public administrations exercised by issuing building permits. Case study: the South-East Development Region of Romania

In Romania, territorial/spatial development is understood as the process of transforming the geography of inhabited territories, taking into consideration: territorial planning, urban planning and development, public works, habitat and housing, construction. It is governed by the regulatory framework in force, aligning its policies and strategies with the main reference documents at the European level. The construction sector is a key sector for investment and economic development, playing an important role in achieving the sustainable development objectives through the impact that the quality of construction has on the quality of life and by ensuring the necessary environment for most human activities. The building permit is the final authority act of the local public administration on the basis of which the execution of construction works is allowed in accordance with the measures provided by law regarding the placement, design, construction, operation and post-use of buildings. Starting from comparative structural analyses on the number of building permits issued by the local public administrations in the South-East Region, the objective of this research has been to obtain a dynamic image, through a quantitative assessment, of the number of building permits issued for residential buildings, highlighting the way in which they directly influence the sustainable development of urban and rural localities in the South-East Region of Romania.

Prenatal screening for Down syndrome: popularity, perceptions and factors associated with acceptance or refusal of testing

Background Prenatal screening tests for aneuploidies have become increasingly used in maternal and fetal medicine. Given that all pregnancies associate a potential risk of Down syndrome, adequate knowledge of the tests, and their characteristics as well as facilitating decision-making autonomy are fundamental rights that must be respected. Objectives Identification of the popularity of the tests, their perception and the factors associated with the acceptance or refusal to perform them. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out in the South-East region of Romania, between April and September 2016. The data were collected from 275 postpartum women. The instrument used was a self-administered questionnaire and the data obtained were processed using the IBM SPSS 20.0 statistical software (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). The normality of the distribution was analyzed with Chi-square, Kolmogorov–Smirnov and Shapiro–Wilk tests. Factorial Analysis was carried out for the Principal Components of the scales for the reasons for performing and not performing. Results The 2nd Trimester Morphology had the popularity as well as the highest rate of accomplishment (98.2% respectively 67.6%) among the investigated women. It is also the preferred recommendation of the specialists (81.1%). The least popular test was the TPNI, only 13.1% of the participants heard about it, as it was recommended in only 2% of the situations. Most of the participants perceived the screening tests as essential and useful, but 43.3% considered that they become mandatory if the doctor recommends them. The acceptance of the child with DS and the misperception of the risk were the main factors associated with the refusal of the test and the compliance with the recommendation of the specialist (system confidence), and social influence (non-acceptance of the Down syndrome by the society) were the main factors associated with the acceptance. Conclusions The number of women who made the decision to accept the test was greater than the ones who refused. The amendment is that acceptance was based on the custom of socio-economic-medical compliance and responsibility. For many women, the motivation of acceptance meant alignment with the normality directed by the society and the system. Even the popularity of the tests carries the imprint of the beliefs and values of the system and the specialists involved. For an adequate perception and an autonomous and informed choice of women, the screening program must include adequate information and communication services by involving specialists responsible for multidisciplinary competencies. The percentage of completion and the type of test performed almost perfectly align with the recommendations received.

Epidemiological profile of systemic sclerosis in the southeast region of Romania.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a collagenosis, in which the microvasculature of the skin and internal organs becomes affected, followed by excessive deposition of connective tissue. It has been included in the group of rare diseases, and it seems to have had an increasing incidence over the last two decades. Statistics show, not only an increase in the incidence of SSc, but that of autoimmune diseases as a whole. The present study aimed to outline the epidemiological profile of SSc in the southeast region of Romania and to identify similarities and differences concerning the epidemiology of this disease in other countries. The current observational study was carried out on a group of 22 patients who were diagnosed with SSc and who were hospitalized at a university clinic in Bucharest. Our research revealed a higher prevalence of women suffering from SSc, with higher numbers suffering from the diffuse subset of this disease. In addition, we found that the majority of patients came from urban areas. SSc has an important impact on the quality of life of patients, thus opening the opportunity for studies to be carried out on larger populations of patients in order to identify epidemiological similarities and differences in various countries, as well as finding new experimental models useful for future research.

Etiological factors of systemic sclerosis in the southeast region of Romania.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a relatively rare autoimmune disease with skin and visceral involvement, having a yet unknown etiopathogenesis. Research has shown that professional exposure to various polluting chemicals such as dyes, aliphatic and aromatic organic solvents, inhalable silica dust or certain heavy metals, can be triggering factors for this disease when they overlap a predisposing genetic profile. Smoking is still a debated factor involved in the etiology of SSc, as authors have divergent opinions on this matter. The present study was designed to analyze the etiological factors identified in the group of 37 patients with diffuse and limited SSc from the southeast region of Romania and the results were compared to the literature data. In the group of patients included in this study, occupational exposure and smoking history were not present in all patients, and a hereditary factor was identified only in an isolated case. The majority of patients suffered from a major negative psychological event or from long-term stressful situations and these factors were associated with smoking history or occupational exposure; this suggests that SSc is initiated in a set of cumulative triggering factors.

A Review of National and International Online Medical Systems

Health and the access to medical services are key factors in the functioning of a sustainable society. In order to provide access to medical and health services, in the conditions of digitalization and implementation of ITC technologies, it is necessary to innovate and achieve synergies between digital and medical technologies. Digitization, innovation and research should be complementary fi elds that represent the engines of a modern digital economy. In this context, the main objective of this paper is to perform an analysis on the online medical systems, both nationally and internationally. This analysis aims to identify the technologies and tools for information and prevention, existing ICT products in the medical fi eld and online medical platforms from Romania and abroad. The main aspects identifi ed in the analysis will represent the premises for designing an innovative online platform, which will aim to increase the visibility of scientifi c information, facilitate access to medical materials and provide personalized digital medical services, created by members of the innovative cluster network „For Health Dunarea de Jos”, existing in the South-East region of Romania.

Aspects Regarding Maize Crops in the Southeast Region of Romania

Aspects Regarding Maize Crops in the Southeast Region of Romania

Stage of Research on Rural Development in Region 2SE in Correlation with Labour Force Development

Agriculture is often seen as the founder of the sustainable development of a territory. In the reality of our day, the impact of agriculture is increasingly visible. Agriculture persists in a crisis zone, but the existence of a realistic vision could lead to multi-fun development. In this paper I set out to study objectively the agricultural sector and rural development in the South-East region of Romania, looking at the elements on which the potential for agricultural development depends, but also on the ways of evolution and improvement by labor force. The main purpose of this work is to identify some measures to develop the attractiveness of rural areas, implicitly by reclaiming the circumstances of young employment in rural areas of the 2South-East Region. Less satisfactory living conditions predominate in rural areas and the low level of education is a significant problem in employment. Although a fairly rapid process is not present process compared to other developed countries, rural society is experiencing a dynamic reality that is constantly changing and competing with the urban environment. In our country, rural areas face many problems such as the average income much lower than in urban areas. The development of infrastructure, the improvement of the economy, as well as the innovation of processing and advertising structures, would lead to the creation of jobs and thus to the development of rural areas.

A Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) of the Agricultural Cooperatives from South East Region of Romania

The need for Romanian agriculture development by efficient usage of resources and a rural environment has led to the establishment of agricultural cooperatives. Romania needs strong cooperatives and, in order to achieve this, the involvement of not only the authorities and agricultural producers, but also of each inhabitant from the rural area, is required. In the context of food market saturation with import products, it is necessary to revive the Romanian market in order to supply natural and quality products. A total of 1425 agricultural cooperatives were registered in Romania at the end of 2018, out of which 57% did not submit the Balance Sheet. The research performed within the study proposes the usage of fsQCA analysis in order to assess some conditions considered by us essential for the sustainability of the agricultural cooperatives. These conditions are represented by the initial contribution of the members, by the existence of a central collection space, by the employment of a manager, by the knowledge of the members on the development possibilities, and by the involvement of the members within the cooperative’s activity. The study highlights the fact that the absence of the conditions presented leads to the absence of a sustainable cooperative. We consider the dissolution of the cooperatives pertinent, which has not developed an activity for more than three years from their establishment and the publication on the MADR website of the National Registry of Cooperatives, which will offer a true image on the prosperity and viability of these types of entities.

Limiting Factors that Influence the Formation of Producer Groups in the South-East Region of Romania: A Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA)

The fragmentation of the Agricultural Real Estate in Romania, which is due to the lack of vision regarding the retrocession of the land and to the ineffective measures for reparcelling farmland, manifests by the existence of a record number of about 3422 million farms in Romania, of which about 92% have a utilized agricultural area (UAA) below 5 ha. The Romanian agricultural sector possesses about 30% of the total European farms but contributes only 3% to the total EU agricultural production. The association of local agricultural producers may be an alternative to reparcelling farmland on a short-term basis in order to reduce the fragmentation degree and increase the competitiveness of the national agricultural sector. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, 25 active groups of agricultural producers are registered in the South-East Region in 2018, where these associative entities have been recorded to have a low degree of viability. The paper proposes an analysis on the farmers’ motivation regarding the access to/exit from a form of agricultural association and the identification of some alternatives for increasing the viability of the associative forms in the agricultural sector in the South-East of Romania. In this respect, a study was carried out on a sample of 16 entities that gave up their status of producer groups in the analyzed region in 2011–2018. The Fuzzy Set Quantitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) Qualitative analysis method was applied, which identified the main influence factors that have led to the disappearance of this associative form. We consider this study relevant for drawing attention to the main obstacles that Romanian farmers face in joining an associative form. The study has shown that mainly the factors directly influenced by government policies have led to the withdrawal of a relatively large number of producers from producer groups in the studied region.

Smart University: A Premise for Regional Development. Evidence from South-East Region of Romania

INTRODUCTION: A Smart University is a creative environment with a high level of adaptive capacity building to current societies’ challenges. From regional development planning perspective, a Smart University proves an anticipatory rather than reactionary adaptation to the context condi

Entrepreneurship Development in Northeast Region of Romania

The actual trend of a growing entrepreneurial phenomenon at international level, makes a priority also for Romania to improve its local entrepreneurship level, by developing and implementing strategic measures for sustaining the entrepreneurial activities in rural and urban areas all over the country. The first step for achieving this it is to make an analysis for obtaining an accurate current stage of development of Romanian entrepreneurship at local and regional level. Using statistical data analysis and questionnaire survey, this study represents a clear mapping of entrepreneurship development status and SMEs evolution in the Northeast region of Romania. The results can be used to propose further measures for supporting local and regional entrepreneurship and the research methodology was also applied in a similar study conducted by author in the Southeast region of Romania

Antioxidant capacity and total phenolic contents of oregano (Origanum vulgare), lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) and lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) from Romania

The study reported here presents a comparative screening of three medicinal plants including oregano (Origanum vulgare L.), lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) and lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) having the same geographical origin, the Southeast region of Romania, and growing in the same natural conditions. The contents of total phenolics and total flavonoids for the extracts of these were determined. Furthermore, the total antioxidant capacity was also evaluated. It was found that Origanum vulgare and Melissa officinalis extracts present the most effective antioxidant capacity in scavenging DPPH radicals, while Lavandula angustifolia is less active. High performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis was used to identify the components of extracts. Major phenolic acids identified in the analysed species were ferulic, rosmarinic, p-coumaric and caffeic, while predominant flavonoids were quercetin, apigenin kaempherol, which were present as glucosides.

Comments on: Dynamic relations for sparsely sampled Gaussian processes

To evaluate the prevalence of HBV, HCV, HDV and HEV infections in populations with different categories of risk and the seroprevalence of HBV and HCV infections in subjects asking for a medical examination. We conducted a cross-sectional, epidemiological study in 2,851 subjects from the SubCarpathian and South-Eastern Romania (including 17 counties, 34% of the country area and 42% of the population). The subjects were divided into four groups: controls (n=2,540, i.e. consecutive subjects asking for a medical examination), subjects with very low risk (students; n=44), with low risk (doctors and nurses; n=93) and with high risk for viral hepatitis (hemodialysis patients; n=174). All subjects were screened for HBsAg, antiHCV and ALT level. In populations at risk, antiHBs, HBeAg, antiHBe, antiHBc (IgG), HBV-DNA, HCV-RNA, antiHDV(IgG) and antiHEV(IgG) were also assessed. In controls, HBV seroprevalence was 5.59% and HCV seroprevalence 4.56%. The risk factors for HBV infection were: age, male gender and South-East region of Romania. The risk factors for HCV infection were: age, female gender, elevated ALT level and the South-East region of Romania. In the very low risk population HBV, HCV, HDV and HEV seroprevalence was: 2.27%, 0%, 0% and 12.5%, respectively. In low risk population the seroprevalence was 2.15%, 1.07%, 0% and 13.98%. In hemodialysis patients, HBV and HCV seroprevalence were 7.91%, respectively 39.26%. HCV-RNA was detectable in 20.69% cases. In the South and South-Eastern Romania the seroprevalence of viral hepatitis infections is intermediate, similar to other Romanian regions or the Balkans.

Fluorimetric study of the selenium course in the dam-calf relationship.

This study was conducted in a southeast region of Romania, known to be selenium (Se) deficient. The fluorimetric method for the determination of Se in biological samples was used in a study on the serum Se content in time in a group of 10 cows with a high milk yield and in their calves. The same cows were sampled antepartum (late pregnancy) and postpartum (1, 7, 21, 30, and 60 d), and the calves were sampled on d 1 of life and 7, 21, 30, and 60 d postcalving. Colostrum and milk samples were also collected and analyzed at the same times. Throughout the study, the serum Se content in both the cows and the calves was below the reference values (0.040-0.100 microg/mL), except the control conducted 7 d postpartum, for which it was 0.044 +/- 0.017 and 0.023 +/- 0.007 mg/mL in cows and calves, respectively. The most significant drops were recorded 21 (p<0.01) and 60 d postpartum (p<0.05). The colostrum Se was higher (0.036 +/- 0.022 microg/mL), decreasing progressively throughout the study to the normal low limit (0.005 microg/mL). The milk Se concentration was lower by approx 78% than the colostrum one on d 1 postcalving. These data demonstrate the course of hyposelenosis both in the cows and their calves. The maternal body proved to "mobilize," even in case of deficiency, important Se amounts in the colostrum, during the first days in particular.