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The paper aims just a brief introduction to the MATLAB software. In this article, we study three cases: right triangle, pendulum and simply supported beam. In the first case, we make a right triangle that has the following dimensions: 3m, 4m and 5m. Moreover, in the second case, we calculate the angle αt from a simple pendulum. In the last case, is determined shear force and bending moment only when the uniform distributed load act on the simply supported beam (SSB).

A tanulmány a Duna és a Fekete-tenger által határolt délkelet-romániai Dobrudzsában talált bronztárgyak egy csoportjára hívja fel a figyelmet. A darabok többsége övdísz, néhány tarsolyokat, tegezeket vagy lószerszámokat díszített, míg az utolsó bemutatott csoport ruhadíszeket foglal magába. Párhuzamok, forma, készítéstechnika és díszítés alapján a 32 darab többsége a Kr. u. 10. századra keltezhető.. A bemutatott tárgyakat általános jellemzőik elsősorban a Duna-vidékhez kötik, ám a Novosel, Zlatar és Nadarevo (Bulgária) melletti fémfeldolgozó központokban talált bronz- és ólommodellek több típus elterjedését az első bolgár állam területén és befolyási övezetében jelölik ki. Feltételezzük, hogy az egyik darab az Al-Dunánál hadi eseményekkel összefüggésben jelen lévő magyarokhoz kapcsolható.

Wine soils from the country's main vineyards contain 0.05-0.25 g total N per 100 g soil, 0.9-20 mg P_2 O_5/100 g soil and 6.5-36 mg K_2 O/100 g soil. The amount of fertiliser that the plant will use - the degree of use - depends on the age of the stumps, the type of rootstock and the planned production. Acting as a factor for the intensification of production, mineral fertilisers, used as a complement to organic fertilisation, contribute not only to maintaining and increasing soil fertility but also to the quantitative and qualitative growth of production. Since the natural reserves of nutrients are limited, the application of natural and mineral fertilisers, scientifically based and differentiated according to the concrete pedoclimatic conditions, is of particular importance from an ecological and economic point of view. The research undertaken highlighted that the use of chemical fertilisers, in different dosages and ratios, favourably influenced the accumulation of sugar in the must for both varieties, with values that were between 178 g/L sugars for the Aligote variety and 170.7 g/L for Feteasca alba. The P-K relationship positively influenced the accumulation of sugars for both varieties, 177.4 g/L sugars for the Aligote variety and 171.3 g/L for Feteasca alba.

From the old times the phytotherapy help in ameliorating and treating of some ailments, this had highlith some medicinal and aromatic plants species to beeing cultivated to more areas. In Romania, more than 300 medicinal and aromatic plant species are known, the purpose of research from the RDSPCS Dabuleni being to the promotion of some medicinal and aromatic plants species on sandy soils. So, the folllowin medicinal and aromatic species with therapeutic value was studied: Salvia officinalis, Lavandula angustifolia, Calendula officinalis, Hyssopus officinalis. Salvia officinalis due to its rich vitamin content, is considered a miraculous plant with healing properties. Lavandula angustifolia is used in natural medicine for various teas, oils and tinctures, but also in the cosmetic industry for perfumes, soaps and body lotions. Calendula officinalis is cultivated for its flowers due to its antiinflammatory, antiseptic, antimicrobial action. Hyssopus officinalis is a very precious plant for health due to the volatile oils and flavonoids in its composition. These species are studied to profitably capitalize on the ecopedological conditions specific to sandy soils in terms of production capacities and the active principles they contain compared to the forms existing in other areas of the country. Thus, during the study period, Salvia officinalis has registerred the highest yield of 14052 kg/ha fresh herb compared to the other studied species, with a dry yield of 4:1.

We empirically study the diffusion of value-based management (VBM) in small capital markets. Specifically, we analyse the factors that influence VBM adoption in Danish-listed firms. Based on a hand-collected data set covering 665 firm years from 2002 to 2010, we find that the same factors influence the diffusion of VBM in both large and small capital markets. Specifically, we find that large firms with a higher percentage of institutional ownership and with a CEO whose education is business-related are more likely to adopt VBM. Additionally, the control variables reveal a significant positive correlation between VBM adoption and leverage, capital intensity, liquidity, and the characteristics of top executives. Furthermore, we find that manufacturing and utility firms are more likely to adopt VBM than service or trade firms. Contrary to the mainstream opinion, we contribute to the literature that findings from large capital markets appear to be transferable to firms in small capital markets.

The early potato is one of the most profitable crops. It must be cultivated only in those areas where the environmental factors are favorable for achieving large productions, and the southern area of Oltenia meets the necessary conditions required by the plant's biology. The researches followed the efficiency of the foliar fertilization as well as the behavior of the early potato plants regarding the realized production, depending on the administered dose. The use of foliar fertilizers on early potato has led to increased yields in all variants. By applying the ATON ZN product, the production of tubers achieved in 2021, of 36266 Kg/ha, was superior to the untreated control by 11100 Kg/ha, which means an increase of 44.1%. By applying the SEACTIV SILVER product, the production of tubers achieved in 2021, of 32166 Kg/ha, was superior to the untreated control by 7000 Kg/ha, which means an increase of 27.8%. The increase in production was achieved due to the increase in the average weight of the tubers from the variant treated with SEACTIV SILVER, which was statistically assured as distinctly significant positive.

The period following the end of World War II is marked by increased international cooperation aimed, among other things, at promoting economic integration. As part of these efforts, national governments adopted policies to remove/reduce barriers to the exchange of goods and services as well as the movement of capital and labor. Although the impact of international trade and investment treaties on trade has been extensively documented, little to no attention has been paid to the potential impact of bilateral labor agreements (BLAs) on commerce flows. This study uses a novel dataset of BLAs within a gravity framework and finds that, over 5 years following signature, BLAs have a positive and significant effect on aggregate exports and exports of differentiated goods (i.e., chemicals and miscellaneous manufactured goods).

Since 2000, the synthetic cannabinoids drug market is in a continuous expansion and development. Unfortunately, addictive trends include not only the adult population but also adolescents. The new synthetic cannabinoids compounds have similar effects as the Cannabis plant, but are more potent and present a higher risk for consumers. Globally, the fight against drug production, distribution and use involves several directions, including the development of new analytical tools able to identify these new illicit substances. The aim of this paper is to present a systematic review regarding the class of cannabinoids in terms of their physico-chemical properties and biological effects.

Given the advent of Industry 4.0 and the importance of labour-based automation in ensuring competitiveness at the firm, regional cluster, or country level, the paper aims to explore, for the first time, the features of several estimates of occupational/labour automation and to assess the potential risks associated with it. A comparative analysis of the most well-established estimates of labour automation, the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) degree of automation estimates and Frey and Osborne’s future probabilities of automation was carried out to see whether, and to what extent, these estimates are compatible. Results show significant distributional differences between them, which are quantified into automation-triggered disruption risks at the occupational level, as current levels of labour automation are, in some cases, well below their future estimates. Work context features were used to derive a typology of occupations, which can explain up to one-third of the current, and up to half of the future levels of labour automation. Finally, we identified which occupations and occupational groups are likely to be affected by the highest risk of automation-induced displacement and estimated the magnitude of different disruption classes. Conclusions are compatible with other economywide assessments of the impact of labour automation on the workforce, thus being valuable inputs for corporate strategy, decision-makers and human resource planners as they address a growing need for quantitative insights useful for adapting the labour force structure, workers’ skills, and the task content of occupations to the competitiveness requirements related to the process of digitization in the Industry 4.0 context.

The study aimed to evaluate the tensile strength of additively manufactured (AMed) IN 625 using sub-sized test pieces and compare them to standard specimens. Cylindrical round coupons of varying diameters were manufactured along the Z-axis using the laser powder bed fusion technique and subjected to heat treatment. The simulation of the alloy solidification predicted the formation of several intermetallics and carbides under equilibrium conditions (slow cooling), apart from the γ phase (FCC). Sub-sized tensile specimens with different gauge diameters were machined from the coupons and tensile tested at ambient temperature. The results showed that sub-sized specimens exhibited lower tensile and yield strengths compared to standard specimens, but still higher than the minimum requirements of the relevant ASTM standard for AMed IN 625. The lower strength was attributed to the “size effect” of the test specimens. Fracture surfaces of the sub-sized test specimens exhibit a mixed character, combining cleavage and microvoid coalescence, with improved ductility compared to standard test pieces. The study highlights the importance of adapting characterization methods to the particularities of manufactured parts, including reduced thicknesses that make sampling standard-size specimens impractical. It concludes that sub-sized specimens are valuable for quality control and verifying compliance with requirements of AMed IN 625 tensile properties.

The present research focused on studying the mechanical properties of three commercially available thermoplastic-based materials used for the additive manufacturing (AM) fused filament deposition (FFD) method. The scientific motivation for the study was the limited information available in the literature regarding the materials’ properties, the inconsistencies that were recorded by other scientists between the materials’ properties and the technical datasheets and the anisotropic behavior of additively manufactured materials. Thereby, it was considered of great importance to perform an extensive study on several materials’ mechanical properties, such as tensile properties and flexural properties. Three materials were tested, Tough PLA, nGen CF10 and UltraFuse PAHT CF15. The tests consisted of monotonic tensile tests, open-hole tensile tests and three-point bending tests. The tests were assisted also with the use of microscopical investigations. Framed specimens’ configurations with two different raster orientations (90°/0° and −45°/+45°) were manufactured using an in-house-developed 3D printing equipment. The best mechanical performances were recorded for UltraFuse PAHT CF15. The 90°/0° raster orientations ensured the highest tensile, open-hole tensile and flexural strength, regardless of the material type, while the −45°/+45° raster orientations ensured the highest elongation values. The analysis showed the importance of the experimental validation of materials for AM.

Background Although digital mobility outcomes (DMOs) can be readily calculated from real-world data collected with wearable devices and ad-hoc algorithms, technical validation is still required. The aim of this paper is to comparatively assess and validate DMOs estimated using real-world gait data from six different cohorts, focusing on gait sequence detection, foot initial contact detection (ICD), cadence (CAD) and stride length (SL) estimates. Methods Twenty healthy older adults, 20 people with Parkinson’s disease, 20 with multiple sclerosis, 19 with proximal femoral fracture, 17 with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and 12 with congestive heart failure were monitored for 2.5h in the real-world, using a single wearable device worn on the lower back. A reference system combining inertial modules with distance sensors and pressure insoles was used for comparison of DMOs from the single wearable device. We assessed and validated three algorithms for gait sequence detection, four for ICD, three for CAD and four for SL by concurrently comparing their performances (e.g., accuracy, specificity, sensitivity, absolute and relative errors). Additionally, the effects of walking bout (WB) speed and duration on algorithm performance were investigated. Results We identified two cohort-specific top performing algorithms for gait sequence detection and CAD, and a single best for ICD and SL. Best gait sequence detection algorithms showed good performances (sensitivity > 0.73, positive predictive values > 0.75, specificity > 0.95, accuracy > 0.94). ICD and CAD algorithms presented excellent results, with sensitivity > 0.79, positive predictive values > 0.89 and relative errors  Algorithms’ performances were lower for short walking bouts; slower gait speeds ( Conclusions Overall, the identified algorithms enabled a robust estimation of key DMOs. Our findings showed that the choice of algorithm for estimation of gait sequence detection and CAD should be cohort-specific (e.g., slow walkers and with gait impairments). Short walking bout length and slow walking speed worsened algorithms’ performances.

Background: Although digital mobility outcomes (DMOs) can be readily calculated from real-world data collected with wearable devices (WD) and ad-hoc algorithms, technical validation is still required. The aim of this paper is to comparatively assess and validate DMOs estimated using real-world gait data from six different cohorts, focusing on gait sequence detection (GSD), foot initial contact detection (ICD), cadence (CAD) and stride length (SL) estimates. Methods: Twenty healthy older adults, 20 people with Parkinson’s disease, 20 with multiple sclerosis, 19 with proximal femoral fracture (PFF), 17 with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and 12 with congestive heart failure were monitored for 2.5 hours in the real-world, using a WD worn on the lower back. A reference system combining inertial modules with distance sensors and pressure insoles was used for comparison of DMOs from the WD. We assessed and validated three algorithms for GSD, four for ICD, three for CAD and four for SL by concurrently comparing their performances (e.g., accuracy, specificity, sensitivity, absolute and relative errors). Additionally, the effects of walking bout (WB) speed and duration on algorithm performance were investigated. Results: We identified two cohort-specific top performing algorithms for GSD and CAD, and a single best for ICD and SL. GSD best algorithms showed good performances (sensitivity > 0.73, positive predictive values > 0.75, specificity > 0.95, accuracy > 0.94). ICD and CAD algorithms presented excellent results, with sensitivity > 0.79, positive predictive values > 0.89 and relative errors < 11% for ICD and < 8.5% for CAD. The best identified SL algorithm showed lower performances than other DMOs (absolute error < 0.21 m). Lower performances across all DMOs were found for the cohort with most severe gait impairments (PFF). Algorithms’ performances were lower for short WBs; slower gait speeds (Conclusions: Overall, the identified algorithms enabled a robust estimation of key DMOs. Our findingsshowed that the choice of algorithm for estimation of GSD and CAD DMOs should be cohort-specific (e.g., slow walkers and with gait impairments). Short WB length and slow walking speed worsened algorithms’ performances. Trial registration: ISRCTN – 12246987.

The research article highlights the significance of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and its impact on depression and anxiety among patients’ post-primary percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI). The study aims to determine the frequency of depression and anxiety occurrence in patients with acute myocardial infarction after primary PCI. The objective of this study is to investigate the frequency of depression and anxiety in patients with acute myocardial infarction after primary PCI. The method used in the study involved the collection of data from 88 patients with acute myocardial infarction who underwent primary PCI treatment. The patients were tested before PCI and then at intervals of 1 month, 6 months, and 12 months post-PCI using the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAM-D17) and the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAM-A) to identify depression and anxiety symptoms, respectively. The study performed a comprehensive analysis of the collected data to determine the frequency of depression and anxiety occurrence in post-PCI patients. The study found evidence that primary PCI reduces depression and anxiety in patients who have experienced a myocardial infarction. However, mental health issues continue to be a significant psychological concern for patients post-PCI, impacting their lifestyle, self-care, and treatment adherence. The study suggests that healthcare providers should actively screen and manage psychiatric disorders in patients who have suffered from AMI as they are at an increased risk of mental disorders. In conclusion, the study indicates that depression and anxiety are common issues in acute myocardial infarction survivors, and interventions addressing these conditions should be a routine part of care. The study highlights the need for healthcare providers to be aware of the increased risk of mental disorders in individuals who have suffered from AMI. Understanding the impact of anxiety and depression on post-PCI patients is essential for the development of effective interventions that support patients’ recovery.

Wearable devices are used in movement analysis and physical activity research to extract clinically relevant information about an individual’s mobility. Still, heterogeneity in protocols, sensor characteristics, data formats, and gold standards represent a barrier for data sharing, reproducibility, and external validation. In this study, we aim at providing an example of how movement data (from the real-world and the laboratory) recorded from different wearables and gold standard technologies can be organized, integrated, and stored. We leveraged on our experience from a large multi-centric study (Mobilise-D) to provide guidelines that can prove useful to access, understand, and re-use the data that will be made available from the study. These guidelines highlight the encountered challenges and the adopted solutions with the final aim of supporting standardization and integration of data in other studies and, in turn, to increase and facilitate comparison of data recorded in the scientific community. We also provide samples of standardized data, so that both the structure of the data and the procedure can be easily understood and reproduced.

Official statistics and usual metrics place Romania at a relatively low level of unemployment. This paper shows why this can be misleading, considering various specificities of the Romanian economy. Looking at such factors as structural features, a high number of people employed in agriculture, involuntary part-time workers, etc. we show that there are alternative metrics for unemployment that can constitute better diagnostic tools for public policies and labor market reform. The alternative unemployment metrics presented here, show that the real unemployment figures in Romania are much closer to those in Mediterranean economies like Greece, Italy, and Spain that have been struggling with high unemployment. Furthermore, we emphasize possible directions and measures to be implemented in Romania to reduce unemployment (especially structural) and to support inter-regional social cohesion and sustainable economic growth. Given the current context of the economic downturn in the post-COVID-19 and the projected impact on vulnerable groups and the risk of poverty, it is more important than ever to develop sound evidence for the policy-making process.

Background: In view of the high recurrence rate of urinary tract infections and the increasing number of germs resistant to multiple antibiotics, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the antibacterial properties of clove, oregano, thyme, eucalyptus, tea tree essential oils (EOs) against 32 isolates of Escherichia coli and 28 isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae from patients with urinary tract infections (UTI). Methods: The agar disk diffusion method was used to assess the susceptibility of these isolates to essential oils and the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC), and the minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) were determined. Results: Our results suggest that volatile phenols (such as carvacrol in oregano EO, thymol in thyme EO, and eugenol in clove EO) are more efficacious as antibacterial than non-aromatic compounds (such as eucalyptol in eucalyptus EO and terpinene derivatives in tea tree EO). Conclusion : The oregano EO, followed by thyme appear to have the highest efficacy against Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates investigated.

"Through discussions on anthropomorphism, animal research and posthuman sensibilities, this paper intends to analyse how identity is shaped within the human characters so as to account for practices of kinship and to promote a posthuman model that emancipates from the anthropocentric milieu. In the encounter with narratives that have at their core human-animal interactions, we are generally placed in the position to inquire about the development of identity. Paying closer attention to the emergence of new sensibilities within the human subject in relation to the otherness of the animal, we discover that these narratives can have a tendency to instantiate posthuman becomings and introduce characters that transgress the discriminating “line” that is discussed by Margo DeMello. The “line” itself, although operating through a process of othering, is essentially prejudicial as it aids the creation of species hierarchies. Such is the case with Anne Haverty’s protagonist Marty in One Day as a Tiger and Karen Joy Fowler’s character Rosemary in We Are All Completely Besides Ourselves. The human subjects in these narratives enter relations of kinship with their animals and in doing so, they manage to build patterns for kin-making as a key to eradicate speciesism. Therefore, looking at the differing reactions to animal alterity in the eyes of the human, I hope to capture the plurality of these encounters. Keywords: posthumanism, speciesism, kinship, identity, becoming, anthropomorphism "

Fire calamity is one of the worst adversarial events that can happen to the human race. Fire disaster can happen as a manmade disaster or even naturally, and it may cause environmental, social, and financial damages as well. In order to minimalize the unwanted fire calamity, early detection of fire eruptions coupled with immediate and effective response is extremely vital to disaster management systems. The classification of forest fire and non fire images using deep learning techniques has recently received popularity. Detection and prevention of forest fire have lot of significance from the perspective of the forest fire department, specially for the fire and arson investigators. There are shortcomings in the current mechanisms of forest fire detection in terms of accuracy. Hence, we propose a fire detection model using LeNet5 convolutional neural networks (CNN), which can spot fire in outdoor environments by classifying fire and non fire images. L2 regularization is critical technique that manipulates the complexity of the convolutional neural network model. In our work fire images have certain features that decide if the image is fire or non fire.A weight is assigned to every feature. Regularization used to help to reduce the over fitting that used to caused by plenty of weights. Our proposed provides the directiontowards developing a system that detects the early stages of forest fire.This model can further be utilized to prevent the damage caused by the fire. A CNN is a deep learning method, which has been adopted in order to detect the images of fire and non-fire. With the non sparse solution of L2 regularization we have obtained around 87% of train accuracy, 71% of validation accuracy and 70% of test accuracy after running 10 epochs.

As COVID-19 had been posing unprecedented challenges, the economic agents as well as the individuals had to adapt to a new lifestyle. The preventing measures against the spread of the virus determined an increase in e-commerce activity in general, and in mobile commerce in particular. In this regard, sellers redefined their strategies revolving around smartphone applications for online shopping, which will gradually become the global shopping standard. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to evaluate the current situation of e-commerce, focusing on the main transformations since the beginning of the pandemic. The methods used in the paper consist in both qualitative research of the literature regarding e-commerce and a quantitative analysis that captures two aspects: on one hand it highlights the change determined by the pandemic in online commerce, and on the other hand it shows an X-ray of the EU states positioning in terms of e-commerce evolution. The latter consists in a comparative Hierarchical Cluster Analysis that aims to provide an image on the situation of EU states, before and after the pandemic has been installed. The Cluster Analysis was carried out in SPSS software and it is based on a series of chosen indicators from Eurostat database. This comparison provides an image of how changes among the clusters take place in terms of e-commerce indicators. It is noted that in countries where the digitization was more developed, the value of the change in online commerce was less considerable, comparing to the Eastern and Balkan states, which had a more significant increase. However, there are significant limitations based on the small number of indicators taken into consideration in this paper. Future work needs to be done in order to explore new ways to address the challenges identified in the development of e-commerce and online shopping.

The paper analyzes the energy consumption of an energy-independent house in two different situations, namely when the exterior insulation is installed and, respectively, in its absence. The result of the analysis was used to assess the reduction of fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of the auxiliary heating system, namely a biomass boiler. The home’s heating system consists of a Stirling cogeneration system with biogas, which produces 3 kW of electricity and 9 kW of heat, and a 50 kW biomass boiler. The biomass boiler must provide the additional heat necessary to cover the consumption of the house when the Stirling engine is running and respectively ensure the coverage of the complete heat consumption of the building when the Stirling engine is in standby mode. The analysis showed that the installation of external insulation on the building walls will reduce energy consumption by 13%–16%, depending on the variation of the outside air temperature.

Heavy metal pollution of water from industrial discharge is a major problem worldwide. Thus, the quality of the environment and human health are severely affected. Various conventional technologies have been applied for water treatment, but these can be expensive, especially for industrial water treatment, and may have limited treatment efficiencies. Phytoremediation is a method that is successfully applied to remove metal ions from wastewater. In addition to the high efficiency of the depollution treatment, this method has the advantages of a low cost of the operation and the existence of many plants that can be used. This article presents the results of using algae (Sargassum fusiforme and Enteromorpha prolifera) to treat water containing manganese and lead ions. It was observed that maximum efficiencies for wastewater treatment were obtained when was used the algae Enteromorpha prolifera for a 600 min contact time period. The highest wastewater treatment efficiency obtained using Sargassum fusiforme was 99.46%.

Climate and climate-related hazards are growing threats to our cities, as a result of the twin challenges derived from the warming climate and urban expansion. Accountable development strategies must take into consideration the safety of the urban population, including its vulnerability and exposure to different hazards. The evaluation of risks related to heat hazards is a priority for urban municipalities, especially in big cities where the urban heat island intensity is significant. For example, the urban perimeter of Bucharest (Romania) is 2 - 3°C warmer than the 5 km buffer of the rural neighborhood, as an average of the land surface temperature (LST) over the summer months.This research explores the risk associated with the heat hazard occurring over Bucharest due to vulnerabilities derived from different urban elements, such as population, land cover-land use, local climate zones, and characteristics of the buildings. The analysis covers the period 2013-2022, and the outputs are delivered at 100-m spatial resolution. The heat hazards were derived from LST retrieved from high-resolution imagery (i.e. Landsat 8) data using emissivity estimation, and the urban risk was calculated based on several variables related to demographics and built environment, considering their influence on the vulnerability to heat hazard. The Heat Hazard-Risk was computed using a risk matrix approach, as a product between the heat hazard and vulnerability, and the results inform the level of Census Administrative Units (CAU).The results show that the heat hazard is more frequent during the warm season, and especially in June-July-August, when the average daily LST exceeds 40°C over the largest part of the city. The land cover characteristics and the LCZ have a significant influence on the LST values and generate adverse impacts on health, economic activities, and the environment.As regards the demographic profile, this study examines the consequent risk derived from (a) population size (i.e. number of inhabitants and density), (b) age (i.e. younger and older people), and (c) density of people in the same dwelling.This study has been partly funded by the project Synergies between Urban Heat Island and Heat Wave Risks in Romania: Climate Change Challenges and Adaptation Options (SynUHI) PN-III-P4-PCE-2021-1695.

Air pollution is a serious problem in Romania, with the country ranking 13th among the most polluted countries in Europe in the 2021 World Air Quality Report. Despite the recognized impact of pollutants on health, there has been a lack of large-scale studies conducted in Romania. This study investigated the impact of air pollutants on patients with chronic respiratory, cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, or metabolic diseases in Bucharest and its metropolitan area from 20 August 2018 to 1 June 2022. The daily limit values for particulate matter PM10 and PM2.5 were exceeded every month, especially during the cold season, with a decrease during the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. A significant statistical correlation was found between the monthly average values of PM2.5 and PM10 and hospitalizations for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. A 10 µg/m3 increase in monthly average values resulted in a 40–60% increase in admissions for each type of pathology, translating to more than 2000 admissions for each pathology for the study period. This study highlights the urgent need for national and local measures to ensure a cleaner environment and enhance public health in Romania according to international regulations.

Introduction:Accurately assessing people’s gait, especially in real-world conditions and in case of impaired mobility, is still a challenge due to intrinsic and extrinsic factors resulting in gait complexity. To improve the estimation of gait-related digital mobility outcomes (DMOs) in real-world scenarios, this study presents a wearable multi-sensor system (INDIP), integrating complementary sensing approaches (two plantar pressure insoles, three inertial units and two distance sensors). Methods:The INDIP technical validity was assessed against stereophotogrammetry during a laboratory experimental protocol comprising structured tests (including continuous curvilinear and rectilinear walking and steps) and a simulation of daily-life activities (including intermittent gait and short walking bouts). To evaluate its performance on various gait patterns, data were collected on 128 participants from seven cohorts: healthy young and older adults, patients with Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure, and proximal femur fracture. Moreover, INDIP usability was evaluated by recording 2.5-h of real-world unsupervised activity. Results and discussion:Excellent absolute agreement (ICC >0.95) and very limited mean absolute errors were observed for all cohorts and digital mobility outcomes (cadence ≤0.61 steps/min, stride length ≤0.02m, walking speed ≤0.02m/s) in the structured tests. Larger, but limited, errors were observed during the daily-life simulation (cadence 2.72–4.87 steps/min, stride length 0.04–0.06m, walking speed 0.03–0.05m/s). Neither major technical nor usability issues were declared during the 2.5-h acquisitions. Therefore, the INDIP system can be considered a valid and feasible solution to collect reference data for analyzing gait in real-world conditions.

Over the last few decades, globalization and global trade have increased the risk of the vehiculation of invasive organisms, which has had multiple negative effects, both economic and ecological. Through this study, we aimed to produce a report on the first record of the invasive scale insect Pulvinaria hydrangeae (Stein. 1946) in Brașov County in central Romania. It was found on two native tree species: sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) and linden (Tilia cordata). In this paper, we (i) highlight the list of possible hosts, (ii) provide a general outlook on infestations and (iii) review the control options for this particular pest. Because early detection and quick reporting are the most important actions in the successful management of invasive species, in general, we also provide a synthetic morphological description of the adult female specimens and ovisacs. Due to natural occurrence, our findings highlight the potential risks posed by the infestation of this insect to native tree species belonging to the Acer and Tilia genera. Because of the temperate climate in Romania and the fact that females are wingless, the new infestations will probably be made through the vehiculation of infested plants, rather than through natural spreading. However, because of global warming, the chances of this species surviving during the winter are likely to increase, making northern expansion of the cottony hydrangea scale feasible.

We study the Chebyshev–Halley methods applied to the family of polynomials $$f_{n,c}(z)=z^n+c$$ f n , c ( z ) = z n + c , for $$n\ge 2$$ n ≥ 2 and $$c\in \mathbb {C}^{*}$$ c ∈ C ∗ . We prove the existence of parameters such that the immediate basins of attraction corresponding to the roots of unity are infinitely connected. We also prove that, for $$n \ge 2$$ n ≥ 2 , the corresponding dynamical plane contains a connected component of the Julia set, which is a quasiconformal deformation of the Julia set of the map obtained by applying Newton’s method to $$f_{n,-1}$$ f n , - 1 .

The aim of this study was to determine the ecological status of fish fauna of Razim Lake under the conditions of the water salinity changing from brackish, almost 70 years ago, into freshwater nowadays. The natural processes of siltation and organic deposits, characteristic of Danube Delta lake complexes, intensified in the last decades and included also Razim Lake. The presently reported study of Razim Lake and the adjacent area was undertaken in 2020 with intention to cover fish fauna collected with three different sampling methods (electrofishing, gillnetting, and seining). For each sampling method, Catch per Unit Effort (CPUE), relative abundance, and biomass were determined, as well as selected ecological parameters to determine ecological status of richness species in the area. Published data included 55 fish species, mainly marine and euryhaline, but in 2020 only 43 species were reported. Also, the species composition shifted from marine ones to freshwater or euryhaline ones. Of those 43 species captured in 2020 from Razim Lake and neighboring areas, 39 were native and four were non-native, including a newcomer, the Chinese sleeper, Perccottus glenii Dybowski, 1877. Few species were migratory, reophilous, or reophilous-stagnophilous which rarely enter Razim Lake, but the majority were limnophilous or stagnophilous-reophilous species. Four species were dominant in terms of the abundance; Blicca bjoerkna (Linnaeus, 1758); Rutilus rutilus (Linnaeus, 1758); Alburnus alburnus (Linnaeus, 1758); and Carassius gibelio (Bloch, 1782). In terms of the biomass the dominants were: Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, 1758; Carassius gibelio; Sander lucioperca (Linnaeus, 1758); Pelecus cultratus (Linnaeus, 1758); and Blicca bjoerkna. Some differences between sampling methods used were observed. Eudominant, euconstant, and main species were Blicca bjoerkna and the majority of fish species were accessories, with differences amongst sampling methods used. Fish diversity parameters indicate a stable ichthyocoenosis, more stable along the lake shoreline. Ecological indicators of fish fauna from Razim Lake in 2020 grade the water lake quality as a moderate ecological class according to the Water Framework Directive of the European Union.

The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.1 variant emerged in 20211 and has multiple mutations in its spike protein2. Here we show that the spike protein of Omicron has a higher affinity for ACE2 compared with Delta, and a marked change in its antigenicity increases Omicron’s evasion of therapeutic monoclonal and vaccine-elicited polyclonal neutralizing antibodies after two doses. mRNA vaccination as a third vaccine dose rescues and broadens neutralization. Importantly, the antiviral drugs remdesivir and molnupiravir retain efficacy against Omicron BA.1. Replication was similar for Omicron and Delta virus isolates in human nasal epithelial cultures. However, in lung cells and gut cells, Omicron demonstrated lower replication. Omicron spike protein was less efficiently cleaved compared with Delta. The differences in replication were mapped to the entry efficiency of the virus on the basis of spike-pseudotyped virus assays. The defect in entry of Omicron pseudotyped virus to specific cell types effectively correlated with higher cellular RNA expression of TMPRSS2, and deletion of TMPRSS2 affected Delta entry to a greater extent than Omicron. Furthermore, drug inhibitors targeting specific entry pathways3 demonstrated that the Omicron spike inefficiently uses the cellular protease TMPRSS2, which promotes cell entry through plasma membrane fusion, with greater dependency on cell entry through the endocytic pathway. Consistent with suboptimal S1/S2 cleavage and inability to use TMPRSS2, syncytium formation by the Omicron spike was substantially impaired compared with the Delta spike. The less efficient spike cleavage of Omicron at S1/S2 is associated with a shift in cellular tropism away from TMPRSS2-expressing cells, with implications for altered pathogenesis.

Public agenda constantly include the topics of sound local finances and promoting regional development, especially in the context of the government’s efforts to ensure a sustainable path of economic growth. From this point of view, our research is intended to empirically determine the role played by local finances on regional development, having Romania as a case study. We computed a Regional Development Index at county level, by comprising nine dimensions of progress: Our analysis encompasses data from TEMPO online database of National Institute of Statistic and from Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration. The empirical evidence suggests a positive and significant relationship between some indicators of local budgets and our computed Regional Development Index. Reported to these results, our recommendations are directed towards the local fiscal policy, aiming to optimize the design of local budgetary indicators.

Momordica charantia L. (Cucurbitaceae family), medicinal and nutraceutical plant known from Asia, South Africa, South America, the Caribbean region, has been acclimatized in Romania since 1990 until now. This plant, cultivated in the open greenhouses belonging to S.C. HOFIGAL Import Export S.A. has been studied in several projects, among which “Project 160/2014-2017 – MAIA – Multifunctional and innovative products for safe and bioenhanced functional food from newly cultivated plants in Romania”, coordinated by ICECHIM/ INCDCP Bucharest. Starting from this project, a documentary study was carried out on the Momordica charantia plants acclimatized in different countries, and a morpho-anatomical research was initiated on the specimens grown in Romania, in the greenhouses belonging to S.C. HOFIGAL (Voucher BUC 408946-408950). The anatomical observations concerned the organization of the stem, petiole, and leaf lamina, using sets of cross-sectional and paradermal sections, treated with identification substances (IIK) and differential and successive stains (Iodine Green and Carmine Alum). Structural characteristics have been investigated under optical microscopy and documented through original photographic images and a set of dimensional data, data which are only partially found in the specialised literature. The results of our research are generally within the existent anatomical patterns. However, certain particular aspects have been noticed, regarding the epidermal cells, mechanical tissues, conducting tissues and mesophyll, completing the knowledge regarding the anatomy of acclimatized Momordica charantia plants.

This article presents a preliminary study on the development of a new concept for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) design that incorporates the use of four wings and attached systems to improve overall performance, it being classified as a hybrid quadcopter (a quad tilt wing, tiltrotor UAV). By simulation, it was determined that the developed concept has significant advantages compared with a conventional quadcopter. By implementing this concept, an increase in the maximum speed by 59.21% can be obtained; it reduces time to complete a 10 km route by 36.4%, decreases the energy consumption by 37%, and increases the maximum travel distance by 56.9% at 30% remaining battery capacity. Additionally, the concept improves maneuverability by allowing turning movements to be performed by changing the angle of incidence of the rear wings, resulting in less energy consumption compared to traditional turning methods applied in the case of a conventional quadcopter.

The COVID-19 pandemic amplified the elderly’s aging-related dysfunctionalities and vulnerabilities. Research surveys, aimed at evaluating the socio–physical–emotional state of the elderly and obtaining data on their access to medical services and information media services during the pandemic, were carried out on Romanian respondents aged 65+. Identification and mitigation of the risk of emotional and mental long-term decline of the elderly after SARS-CoV-2 infection, based on the implementation of a specific procedure, can be performed through Remote Monitoring Digital Solutions (RMDSs). The aim of this paper is to propose a procedure for the identification and mitigation of the risk of emotional and mental long-term decline of the elderly after SARS-CoV-2 infection that comprises RMDS. The importance of using the knowledge obtained by COVID-19-related surveys corroborating the necessity of including personalized RMDS in the procedure is highlighted. The Non-invasive Monitoring System and Health Assessment of the Elderly in a Smart Environment (RO-SmartAgeing) is an RMDS designed to address the improved preventative and proactive support for diminishing this risk and to provide suitable assistance for the elderly through a safe and efficient smart environment. Its comprehensive functionalities targeted supporting primary healthcare assistance, specific medical conditions—as the mental and emotional disorders post-SARS-CoV-2 infection—and enlarged access to aging-related information, together with customizable features, illustrated the match with the requirements included in the proposed procedure.