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This review aims to explore the role of professional diagnostic rapid testing of acute respiratory infections (ARIs), especially COVID-19 and influenza, ensuring proper disease management and treatment in Europe, and particularly in Czech Republic, Poland, and Romania. The paper was constructed based on a review of scientific evidence and national and international policies and recommendations, as well as a process of validation by four experts. The development of new testing technologies, treatment options, and increased awareness of the negative multidimensional impact of ARI profiles transformed differential diagnosis into a tangible and desirable reality. This review covers the following topics: (1) the multidimensional impact of ARIs, (2) ARI rapid diagnostic testing platforms and their value, (3) the policy landscape, (4) challenges and barriers to implementation, and (5) a set of recommendations illustrating a path forward. The findings indicate that rapid diagnostic testing, including at the point of care (POC), can have a positive impact on case management, antimicrobial and antibiotic stewardship, epidemiological surveillance, and decision making. Integrating this strategy will require the commitment of governments and the international and academic communities, especially as we identified room for improvement in the access and expansion of POC rapid testing in the focus countries and the inclusion of rapid testing in relevant policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper analyses a series of indicators which characterize eight European capital markets and their respective countries during 2012-2022, as well as the relationship between capital markets’ size and economy. Capital markets play a vital role in facilitating capital flows, supporting investment projects, and contributing to economic growth. Vice versa, macroeconomic influence on the capital markets is also thoroughly researched and the respective paper sets grounds for further analysis of the link between the two: macroeconomy and capital markets. When discussing capital markets, variables we look at usually measure its size, in terms of market capitalization, or its relative size to the economy, as market capitalization to GDP, used more often as comparable between markets. One can note that the recovery after the global financial crisis was different by country or region, with various speeds of growth. On the contrary, COVID-19 pandemic hit all the markets disregard of the size or stage of development. All countries recorded increase in the GDP during the analysed period, largest being for Poland and Hungary. The size of capital markets in nominal values increased in 5 out of 8 markets, leaving on the negative territory market capitalization of Spain, United Kingdom, and Poland. Largest size growth of the capital markets was in Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Respiratory allergies mostly allergic rhinitis and asthma represent an important and increasing public health problem and one of the priorities for the European health systems. There is an increasing public concern regarding the persistence and severity of allergic diseases and many difficulties of health systems in providing prompt specialized medical assistance. Our study aims to highlight the main results of the Alliance 4Life project focused on the evaluation of the burden and management of respiratory allergies in primary care from Romania and comparative health-related data from four Central and Eastern European countries., Method: We developed a questionnaire focused on patients with allergic rhinitis and asthma directly addressed to general practitioner (GP) specialists from Romania who attended the annual national conference in Bucharest., Results: The main results showed that patients with respiratory allergies are frequently encountered in primary care practice, only a few patients are evaluated by allergists and there is a clear need for education in this field., Conclusions: This preliminary study confirms that respiratory allergies represent a considerable burden in primary care and the questionnaire may be a useful tool in further studies considering the experience of other healthcare systems. More advanced studies integrating epidemiology with data on air pollution and environmental conditions should be envisaged., (© 2024 Polliana Mihaela Leru et al., published by Sciendo.)

In the age of the sixth extinction, human interventions to save endangered species have become bigger, bolder and costlier than ever. Yet, policies of species conservation have also favoured non-intervention, furthering the idea that humans have tampered too much with wildness and wilderness. This article examines a reintroduction of European Bison (Bison bonasus, also known as wisent) into the South-Western Carpathians of Romania in the 2010s. It compares it with longer-term recovery efforts in the Białowieża forest in Poland and reveals how interventions and non-interventions have been practised in the conservation history of this species. I trace the complexities of lived reintroduction processes, both contemporary and historical. I show that practices of recovering European bison have (slowly) shifted away from a controlling approach to reintroductions inspired by livestock breeding, and towards a hands-off rewilding approach. Yet, entangled human-wildlife histories, in which management has been paramount, challenge contemporary non-intervention rewilding paradigms that advocate for the autonomy and agency of wildlife. Reintroduction managers walk a fine line between intervention and relinquishment, care and containment, permanently recalibrating human-animal relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]