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Introduction: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), including Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), pose significant challenges to both clinicians and researchers. The complex interaction of genetic predisposition, environmental influences, and dysregulated immune responses underpins the heterogeneous nature of these diseases. This complexity often leads to diagnostic uncertainties and therapeutic dilemmas. Artificial intelligence (AI), particularly neural networks, offers promising solutions for these challenges. Our study aimed to develop a neural network that integrates multiple non-invasive parameters for monitoring inflammatory status in patients with IBD, assess the network's diagnostic accuracy, and use the training data to classify the clinical relevance of biomarkers. Materials and Methods: The study included patients diagnosed with CD or UC based on endoscopic and histopathological criteria following their consent for colonoscopy. Participants were recruited from the Regional Institute of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Cluj-Napoca, Romania. A subset was enrolled prospectively from 2020 to 2022, and the remainder was identified retrospectively from hospital records spanning 2017 to 2020. Data from 70% of the patients were utilized to train the neural networks, and 30% to validate it. The data used as inputs were clinical scores, C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and fecal calprotectin (FC). Results: The neural networks showed significant diagnostic capabilities, particularly for endoscopic activity in UC (AUC of 0.955) and CD (AUC of 0.813), though histologic activity prediction was less accurate. Regarding the importance of the markers used for the decision, we found that the Crohn's Disease Activity Index (CDAI) was the most significant predictor for CD endoscopic activity and FC for UC. The study highlights the potential of AI in supporting less experienced endoscopists, reducing observer variability, and minimizing the need for repeated colonoscopies. However, further refinement is needed to improve histologic assessment accuracy.

Internet of Things (IoT) is a domain that includes embedded devices connected to a network and used in multiple applications such as: transport, telecommunications, medicine, industrial field and many others. Medical Connected Devices are IoT devices and have their origins in wireless sensor networks and extend this concept by proposing applications in which embedded devices connected to the Internet help automate user tasks. Thus, IoT devices are imagined in multiple applications, from home scenarios (smart home) to clinical scenarios. Considering that IoT devices impact the medical practice and patient life, there is a pressing need for security mechanisms. Security is considered one of the most important IoT characteristics, but it is not considered a key factor influencing acceptance rate. Medical IoT devices are an attractive target for attackers, as they operate with private user data and can be used as an attack vector (for example, for DoS attacks). The peculiarity of the IoT context is that a security breach can endanger human lives or privacy, as well as causing economic damage. Another particular feature of the Medical IoT context is the difficulty of designing security solutions, due to the multiple limitations of the devices, including: hardware and software limitations, lack of input-output modules, installation scenarios and more. Given these particularities of IoT devices and adding the multitude of software and hardware platforms, along with the lack of standardization, there is a pressing need for new security solutions. Without complying with basic cyber security standards, many medical IoT manufacturers focus exclusively on the features of the devices they sell. In many cases, they do not check for vulnerabilities in the final version of the product, nor for the corresponding applications through which the product can be controlled. It could be negligence, but a more likely explanation is that this approach reduces production costs and speeds up product placement. In any case, this affects buyers who are likely to suffer financial consequences or lose sensitive information when hackers start exploiting the flaws.

Aim: In this study, the Moodle platform was used to provide undergraduate students with e-testing quizzes environment to improve their medical statistics learning outcomes. Materials and methods: This was a prospective study conducted with first year medical undergraduate students during 2018-2019 academic year, English section attending the Faculty of Medicine, Iuliu Haţieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy. Eleven Moodle quizzes each covering one topic were available for 6 days after the presentation of the topic in face-to-face teaching environment. A quiz was open to be filled once, with attempts submitted after time expires not counted. The use of Moodle quizzes on the knowledge gain was compared between those with valid participation (counted as at least one, four, or three quizzes with a mark ≥ 5) as compared to those without a valid participation. Results: One hundred seventy-five out of 187 students were eligible for the study. The participation varied from 17% (30/175) to 42% (74/175. The quizzes marks varied from 1 to 10; 73% to 98% of students who submitted the quiz achieving the threshold of 5. Sixty-nine students never participated or have no valid participation (mark≥5). The number of valid participations varied from 1 (23 students) to 11 (7 students). The number of point to the theoretical exam positively correlated with the number of Moodle passed quizzes (ρ=0.31, p

The scope of the present study was to contrast publication rates and particularities of original scientific articles related to medical PhD theses defended between 2009 and 2013 from one developing country (Romania) and two developed countries (France and the United Kingdom) within the European Union. A sample from each of the three countries was evaluated and then compared based on the journal type (national/international), time span between two consecutive articles from the same thesis, number of articles, journal impact factor and journal rank. The results of our quantitative analysis suggest that the majority of Romanian articles were published in Romanian journals, while French and the United Kingdom articles were published in greater proportions in journals outside the borders of their own country. The time span between two consecutive articles from the same thesis was similar for the three groups. Even though articles from Romanian theses were significantly more numerous than in those from France or the United Kingdom, they were published in less cited journals, according to their impact factor. Furthermore, most of the Romanian articles were published in the bottom half of the journals’ ranking, while the majority of articles from France or the United Kingdom were published in the top half of the ranking.

Introduction: The scope of the research was a more detailed understanding of the influence of social media and the importance of student’s usage of social media context in relation to medical information. The research aimed to increase the understanding of social media and the impact on medical information use, informing policy and practice while highlighting gaps in the literature and areas for further research. Methods: The search of PubMed database was performed in October 2015, using terms to identify peer-reviewed research in which social media technologies were an important feature for health occupations, premedical, pharmacy, nursing or medical students. A systematic approach was used to retrieve papers and extract relevant data. Results: There were initially identified 435 studies involving social media, healthcare information and medical students subject headings (MeSH) terminology. After filtering for free full text articles, and exclusion of not students or social media specific ones, 33 articles were reviewed. The majority of the studies were interventional studies that either assessed the outcomes of online discussion groups or teaching methods through social media. The majority of studies focused on the use of social media as a teaching tool, how students use it and the implications upon their education. The largest number of original papers was published in 2013. Facebook, Podcasts, Multiplayer virtual worlds, Blogs, and Twitter were identified as being used by medical students. Conclusion: Social media is used as a tool of information for students mainly as the means for engaging and communicating with students.

im: The aim of our research was to design and implement data collection instruments to be use in context of an observational prospective clinical study with follow-up conducted on new born with intrauterine growth restriction. Methods: The structure of the data collection forms (paper based and electronic based) was first identified and for each variable the best type to accomplish the research aim was established. The code for categorical variables has also been decided as well as the units of measurements for quantitative variables. In respect of good practice, a set of confounding factors (as gender, date of birth, etc.) have also been identified and integrated in data collection instruments. Data-entry validation rules were implemented for each variable to reduce data input errors when the electronic data collection instrument was created. Results: Two data collection instruments have been developed and successfully implemented: a paper-based form and an electronic data collection instrument. The developed forms included demographics, neonatal complications (as hypoglycemia, hypocalcemia, etc.), biochemical data at birth and follow-up, immunological data, as well as basal and follow-up echocardiographic data. Data-entry validation criteria have been implemented in electronic data collection instrument to assure validity and precision when paper-based data are translated in electronic form. Furthermore, to assure subject’s confidentiality a careful attention was given to HIPPA identifiers when electronic data collection instrument was developed. Conclusion: Data collection instruments were successfully developed and implemented as an a priori step in a clinical research for assisting data collection and management in a case of an observational prospective study with follow-up visits.

Introduction: Hyperhomocysteinemia plays an etiologic role in homocystinuria, neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases. Potential mechanisms involved in the degenerative diseases of aging include: oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction and inflammation. Aim: In the present study we evaluated the effect of acute administration of homocysteine (Hcy), at a level similar to that found in homocystinuria, on biochemical markers of inflammation (such as IL-6) and of oxidative stress (such as gluthathione peroxidase - GPx). Material and Method: The study was performed on 40 young and older Wistar rats. IL-6 serum level was quantified by a high-sensitivity enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA) method and the activity of whole blood GPx was measured using a commercially available Randox kit. Results: Our results showed that Hcy administration increased the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6 in young rats (p

Background: Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) represents the use of the best latest evidence obtained by systematic search together with personal clinical experience and patient values. Clinical evidences are quantified by a number of indicators. R is a free and powerful environment for statistical computing and graphics, used mainly in command line interface. The aim of this work was to create an extension for R Commander to offer a graphical user interface to calculate the most used EBM indicators. Materials and Methods: The extension was created in R and then tested in R 3.1.1 and R Commander 2.1-1. Results: The extension was successfully created and was named RcmdrPlugin.EBM, being available for download on Comprehensive R Archive Network servers. The extension creates a new menu called EBM, which offers an interface to calculate the following indicators with their confidence intervals: diagnosis (sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic accuracy, Youden’s index, positive/negative likelihood ratio, positive/negative predictive value, number needed to diagnose), therapeutic (absolute risk reduction, relative risk reduction, odds ratio, relative risk, number needed to treat/harm), prognostic (attributable risk, relative risk, odds ratio). Conclusion: It is now easy to compute EBM indicators in R, with the graphical user interface extension of R Commander.

OSAHS is a chronic, multifactorial disease, accompanied by significant and complex symptoms. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between OSAHS and dorsal AHI in order to improve early diagnosis of dorsal sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome. There were significant statistical differences between: the dorsal AHI Mean of the group without excessive daytime sleepiness as opposed to the dorsal AHI Mean of the group with excessive daytime sleepiness; the dorsal AHI Mean of the group without snoring as opposed to the dorsal AHI Mean of the group with snoring; the dorsal AHI Mean of the group without restless sleep as opposed to the dorsal AHI Mean of the group with restless sleep; the dorsal AHI Mean of the group without dyspnea as opposed to the dorsal AHI Mean of the group with dyspnea; the dorsal AHI Mean of the group without night sweats as opposed to the dorsal AHI Mean of the group with night sweats; the dorsal AHI Mean of the group without irritability as opposed to the dorsal AHI Mean of the group with irritability and the dorsal AHI Mean of the group without nightmares as opposed to the dorsal AHI Mean of the group with nightmares. Through this study we highlighted that excessive daytime sleepiness and snoring are prevalent symptoms in dorsal OSAHS. The presence of these symptoms in patients with sleep disorders may improve early diagnosis and the choice of an appropriate treatment for dorsal sleep apnea- hypopnea syndrome, thus participating in improving the patient’s life quality

The first objective of the study was to compute the time to completion and publication of original scientific publications for medical doctoral students in the UK. A second objective was to evaluate if PhD theses format (monograph or publication-based) can influence the time to completion and publication of original scientific publications. We assessed a small sample of free full text medical doctoral theses from universities in the United Kingdom (mostly from the University of Manchester), which have produced at least 2 original scientific publications by the end of the doctoral studies. The time elapsed between 2 consecutive publications from the same thesis was considered an approximation of the time to completion and publication of the second publication. In the case of prospective theses, the median time to completion and publication of original scientific publications from medical doctoral theses was 10.17 months. We found that there was a statistically significant difference between the time (to completion and publication) medians of the publications from traditional theses format and of the publications from publication-based theses format. Time to completion and publication of original scientific publications for medical doctoral students needs to be further evaluated on a larger scale, based on more theses from several medical faculties in the UK.

The concept of quality of life (QOL) become a used notion in the medical research and is considered a dynamic, multidimensional and subjective construct. There is no universal instrument for evaluating all the QOL facets by populations, pathologies and treatments, the choice of certain measurement instruments is done according to the objectives and outcomes of the research. The aim of this study was to to test the factorial structure, reliability and convergent validity of health related quality of life scale using EORTC QLQ-C30 instrument for the Romanian population of patients with pre-malignant and malignant cervical pathology. Data from a convenience sample consisted of 102 women of reproductive age, treated at “Prof. Dr. Ion Chiricuta” Institute of Oncology (IOCN), Cluj-Napoca, during 2007-2012, for premalignant and malignant pathology of the cervix, namely high grade dysplasia and microinvasive carcinoma with conservative surgery (cervical conization) were analyzed by confirmatory factor analysis. Two alternative measurement models were tested for statistical model fit to the sample data. The fit of models was analyzed by χ2 goodness-of-fit test and descriptive goodness-of-fit indices. Both models showed an acceptable fit to data and a good reliability and convergent validity. Confirmatory factor analysis brought two new measurement HRQOL models.

Sleep apnea syndrome is a common pathology with negative consequences on cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. The relationship between obesity and OSAS is complex, multifactorial and bidirectional; that leads to a negative mutual influence of the two pathologies. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the risk associated with obesity and the occurrence of the apnea phenomenon, as well as, to compare the various polysomnographic parameters and to compare them with obesity. 100 patients took part to this study. 60 % of the patients were diagnosed with OSAS. 71 % of the patients had varying degrees of obesity. Significant statistic differences were revealed between: the Mean variation of the BMI in patients with and without apnea (T Test p= 0,007 < 0,05); the dorsal AHI Mean of the non-obese group as against to the dorsal AHI Mean of the obese group (T Test p= 0,002), the AHI Mean in other positions of the non-obese group as against to the AHI Mean in other positions of the obese group (T Test p= 0,000) and the Mean of the arousal index of the non-obese group as against to the Mean of the arousal index of the obese group (T Test p= 0,009). The current study revealed that the arousals associated with breathing events and the position during sleep, especially in obese patients, worsen the consequences of OSAS.

Medical work in public hospitals in Romania has a double subordination: strictly speaking the Health Care Directives is coordinated by the Ministry of Health and in terms of economics the activity is funded by the National Health Insurance through its county subsidiaries. This separation of the two fields, medical and economical, has generated problems in many cases of hospital activity in our country.Economic and financial parameters of 39 hospitals were extracted from their economic balance sheets for 2009-2010 and were entered into a multi-criteria analysis to generate an overall score. Then this was checked for possible relationships with the hospitals’ competence (established by the Ministry of Health with the help of a national program).The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between hospital medical competency and economical parameters in the Romanian Health Care System. The lack of correlation of the economic and financial parameters with the health parameters observed by our study reflects the current problems in the Romanian health system, where the impossibility of generating practical management solutions is the consequence of multiple subordination of hospital units, separate assessment of competence and administrative skills.

Introduction: Many high quality systematic reviews available from medical journals, data bases and other electronic sources differ in quality and provide different answers to the same question. The literature recommended the use of a checklist type approach, which exceeds many of the problems associated with measurements. Aim: This study proposes to identify in a checklist type approach the most commonly used factors (from a methodological point of view) in assessing the quality of systematic reviews, and then mirror the actual stage of medical writing. We want to analyze the factors’ occurrence and / or their development in the text and in the abstract of systematic reviews published in 2011. Methods: The present study randomly selected only free full text systematic reviews published in 2011, systematic reviews found in Pubmed and in Cochrane Database. The most commonly used factors were identified in PRISMA statement and quality measurement tools. Results: The evaluated systematic reviews mentioned or developed several of the factors studied. Only 78% of the papers surveyed have used the correct IMRAD format and 59% of them have mentioned the sample size used. The correspondence between the content of the paper and its abstract is summarized in the proportion of 54.63% and 51.85% for the two sets of factors, and it can lead to scarce appreciation of the article provided that only abstracts are read. Conclusions: Researchers do not properly take into consideration scientific articles and assessment tools used for quality evaluation. They should place more value over methodological factors which help assess systematic review quality, while journals form the only party who can enforce quality standards in medical writing.

Aim: A survey was conducted in undergraduate medical students enrolled in 3 or 4-year degree programs in Nursing, Midwifery, Radiology and Medical Imaging (technician), Physiotherapy and Kinetotherapy (technician) and Clinical laboratory (technician) in order to identify their perception of the medical informatics and statistics curriculum. Material and Method: A qualitative study was carried out in 1st year undergraduate students at the “Iuliu Haţieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca, Romania during the 2008-2009 academic year. A questionnaire containing 10 categories of items for assessing lectures and 19 for assessing practical activities was developed as an online tool with a database connection using Google Docs. Results: Students’ attendance to lectures proved not to be statistically related with their final mark. The mean final mark obtained by students (6.02±1.57) proved to be statistically lower compared to the expected mean (6.58±1.23; t = -2.76, DF = 54, p = 0.0078). The teacher, the problems solved during lectures, the lecture summaries as well as the course web page proved to statistically influence the learning process. The results revealed that all students were satisfied with the materials used within lectures and practical activities as well as with the objectiveness of the final evaluation. Most students classified the difficulty of the practical activities as reasonable (p < 0.05) and their pace as just about right (p< 0.05). The overall quality of the practical activities was classified as easy by 13% of respondents, pretty easy by 30%, reasonable by 29%, and difficult by 25%. Conclusions: Overall, undergraduate students were satisfied with the materials used within lectures and practical activities as well as with the teacher’s attitude and support in the learning process.

Introduction: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), including Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), pose significant challenges to both clinicians and researchers. The complex interaction of genetic predisposition, environmental influences, and dysregulated immune responses underpins the heterogeneous nature of these diseases. This complexity often leads to diagnostic uncertainties and therapeutic dilemmas. Artificial intelligence (AI), particularly neural networks, offers promising solutions for these challenges. Our study aimed to develop a neural network that integrates multiple non-invasive parameters for monitoring inflammatory status in patients with IBD, assess the network's diagnostic accuracy, and use the training data to classify the clinical relevance of biomarkers. Materials and Methods: The study included patients diagnosed with CD or UC based on endoscopic and histopathological criteria following their consent for colonoscopy. Participants were recruited from the Regional Institute of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Cluj-Napoca, Romania. A subset was enrolled prospectively from 2020 to 2022, and the remainder was identified retrospectively from hospital records spanning 2017 to 2020. Data from 70% of the patients were utilized to train the neural networks, and 30% to validate it. The data used as inputs were clinical scores, C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and fecal calprotectin (FC). Results: The neural networks showed significant diagnostic capabilities, particularly for endoscopic activity in UC (AUC of 0.955) and CD (AUC of 0.813), though histologic activity prediction was less accurate. Regarding the importance of the markers used for the decision, we found that the Crohn's Disease Activity Index (CDAI) was the most significant predictor for CD endoscopic activity and FC for UC. The study highlights the potential of AI in supporting less experienced endoscopists, reducing observer variability, and minimizing the need for repeated colonoscopies. However, further refinement is needed to improve histologic assessment accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of quality of life (QOL) become a used notion in the medical research and is considered a dynamic, multidimensional and subjective construct. There is no universal instrument for evaluating all the QOL facets by populations, pathologies and treatments, the choice of certain measurement instruments is done according to the objectives and outcomes of the research. The aim of this study was to to test the factorial structure, reliability and convergent validity of health related quality of life scale using EORTC QLQ-C30 instrument for die Romanian population of patients with pre-malignant and malignant cervical padiology. Data from a convenience sample consisted of 102 women of reproductive age, treated at "Prof. Dr. Ion Chiricuta" Institute of Oncology (IOCN), Cluj-Napoca, during 2007-2012, for premalignant and malignant pathology of the cervix, namely high grade dysplasia and microinvasive carcinoma with conservative surgery (cervical conization) were analyzed by confirmatory factor analysis. Two alternative measurement models were tested for statistical model fit to the sample data. The fit of models was analyzed by X2 goodness-of-fit test and descriptive goodness-of-fit indices. Both models showed an acceptable fit to data and a good reliability and convergent validity. Confirmatory factor analysis brought two new measurement HRQOL models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OSAHS is a chronic, multifactorial disease, accompanied by significant and complex symptoms. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between OSAHS and dorsal AHI in order to improve early diagnosis of dorsal sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome. There were significant statistical differences between: the dorsal AHI Mean of the group without excessive daytime sleepiness as opposed to the dorsal AHI Mean of the group with excessive daytime sleepiness; the dorsal AHI Mean of the group without snoring as opposed to the dorsal AHI Mean of the group with snoring; the dorsal AHI Mean of the group without restless sleep as opposed to the dorsal AHI Mean of the group with restless sleep; the dorsal AHI Mean of the group without dyspnea as opposed to the dorsal AHI Mean of the group with dyspnea; the dorsal AHI Mean of the group without night sweats as opposed to the dorsal AHI Mean of the group with night sweats; the dorsal AHI Mean of the group without irritability as opposed to the dorsal AHI Mean of the group with irritability and the dorsal AHI Mean of the group without nightmares as opposed to the dorsal AHI Mean of the group with nightmares. Through this study we highlighted that excessive daytime sleepiness and snoring are prevalent symptoms in dorsal OSAHS. The presence of these symptoms in patients with sleep disorders may improve early diagnosis and the choice of an appropriate treatment for dorsal sleep apnea- hypopnea syndrome, thus participating in improving the patient's life quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sleep apnea syndrome is a common pathology with negative consequences on cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. The relationship between obesity and OSAS is complex, multifactorial and bidirectional; that leads to a negative mutual influence of the two pathologies. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the risk associated with obesity and the occurrence of the apnea phenomenon, as well as, to compare the various polysomnographic parameters and to compare them with obesity. 100 patients took part to this study. 60% of the patients were diagnosed with OSAS. 71% of the patients had varying degrees of obesity. Significant statistic differences were revealed between: the Mean variation of the BMI in patients with and without apnea (T Test p= 0.007 < 0.05); the dorsal AHI Mean of the non-obese group as against to the dorsal AHI Mean of the obese group (T Test p= 0.002), the AHI Mean in other positions of the non-obese group as against to the AHI Mean in other positions of the obese group (T Test p= 0.000) and the Mean of the arousal index of the non-obese group as against to the Mean of the arousal index of the obese group (T Test p= 0.009). The current study revealed that the arousals associated with breathing events and the position during sleep, especially in obese patients, worsen the consequences of OSAS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Many high quality systematic reviews available from medical journals, data bases and other electronic sources differ in quality and provide different answers to the same question. The literature recommended the use of a checklist type approach, which exceeds many of the problems associated with measurements. Aim: This study proposes to identify in a checklist type approach the most commonly used factors (from a methodological point of view) in assessing the quality of systematic reviews, and then mirror the actual stage of medical writing. We want to analyze the factors' occurrence and/or their development in the text and in the abstract of systematic reviews published in 2011. Methods: The present study randomly selected only free full text systematic reviews published in 2011, systematic reviews found in Pubmed and in Cochrane Database. The most commonly used factors were identified in PRISMA statement and quality measurement tools. Results: The evaluated systematic reviews mentioned or developed several of the factors studied. Only 78% of the papers surveyed have used the correct IMRAD format and 59% of them have mentioned the sample size used. The correspondence between the content of the paper and its abstract is summarized in the proportion of 54.63% and 51.85% for the two sets of factors, and it can lead to scarce appreciation of the article provided that only abstracts are read. Conclusions: Researchers do not properly take into consideration scientific articles and assessment tools used for quality evaluation. They should place more value over methodological factors which help assess systematic review quality, while journals form the only party who can enforce quality standards in medical writing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internet of Things (IoT) is a domain that includes embedded devices connected to a network and used in multiple applications such as: transport, telecommunications, medicine, industrial field and many others. Medical Connected Devices are IoT devices and have their origins in wireless sensor networks and extend this concept by proposing applications in which embedded devices connected to the Internet help automate user tasks. Thus, IoT devices are imagined in multiple applications, from home scenarios (smart home) to clinical scenarios. Considering that IoT devices impact the medical practice and patient life, there is a pressing need for security mechanisms. Security is considered one of the most important IoT characteristics, but it is not considered a key factor influencing acceptance rate. Medical IoT devices are an attractive target for attackers, as they operate with private user data and can be used as an attack vector (for example, for DoS attacks). The peculiarity of the IoT context is that a security breach can endanger human lives or privacy, as well as causing economic damage. Another particular feature of the Medical IoT context is the difficulty of designing security solutions, due to the multiple limitations of the devices, including: hardware and software limitations, lack of input-output modules, installation scenarios and more. Given these particularities of IoT devices and adding the multitude of software and hardware platforms, along with the lack of standardization, there is a pressing need for new security solutions. Without complying with basic cyber security standards, many medical IoT manufacturers focus exclusively on the features of the devices they sell. In many cases, they do not check for vulnerabilities in the final version of the product, nor for the corresponding applications through which the product can be controlled. It could be negligence, but a more likely explanation is that this approach reduces production costs and speeds up product placement. In any case, this affects buyers who are likely to suffer financial consequences or lose sensitive information when hackers start exploiting the flaws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The scope of the research was a more detailed understanding of the influence of social media and the importance of student's usage of social media context in relation to medical information. The research aimed to increase the understanding of social media and the impact on medical information use, informing policy and practice while highlighting gaps in the literature and areas for further research. Methods: The search of PubMed database was performed in October 2015, using terms to identify peer-reviewed research in which social media technologies were an important feature for health occupations, premedical, pharmacy, nursing or medical students. A systematic approach was used to retrieve papers and extract relevant data. Results: There were initially identified 435 studies involving social media, healthcare information and medical students subject headings (MeSH) terminology. After filtering for free full text articles, and exclusion of not students or social media specific ones, 33 articles were reviewed. The majority of the studies were interventional studies that either assessed the outcomes of online discussion groups or teaching methods through social media. The majority of studies focused on the use of social media as a teaching tool, how students use it and the implications upon their education. The largest number of original papers was published in 2013. Facebook, Podcasts, Multiplayer virtual worlds, Blogs, and Twitter were identified as being used by medical students. Conclusion: Social media is used as a tool of information for students mainly as the means for engaging and communicating with students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first objective of the study was to compute the time to completion and publication of original scientific publications for medical doctoral students in the UK. A second objective was to evaluate if PhD dieses format (monograph or publication-based) can influence the time to completion and publication of original scientific publications. We assessed a small sample of free full text medical doctoral theses from universities in the United Kingdome (mostly from the University of Manchester), which have produced at least 2 original scientific publications by the end of the doctoral studies. The time elapsed between 2 consecutive publications from the same diesis was considered an approximation of the time to completion and publication of the second publication. In the case of prospective theses, the median time to completion and publication of original scientific publications from medical doctoral theses was 10.17 months. We found that there was a statistically significant difference between the time (to completion and publication) medians of the publications from traditional theses format and of the publications from publication-based theses format. Time to completion and publication of original scientific publications for medical doctoral students needs to be further evaluated on a larger scale, based on more theses from several medical faculties in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) represents the use of the best latest evidence obtained by systematic search together with personal clinical experience and patient values. Clinical evidences are quantified by a number of indicators. R is a free and powerful environment for statistical computing and graphics, used mainly in command line interface. The aim of this work was to create an extension for R Commander to offer a graphical user interface to calculate the most used EBM indicators. Materials and Methods: The extension was created in R and then tested in R 3.1.1 and R Commander 2.1-1. Results: The extension was successfully created and was named RcmdrPlugin.EBM, being available for download on Comprehensive R Archive Network servers. The extension creates a new menu called EBM, which offers an interface to calculate the following indicators with their confidence intervals: diagnosis (sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic accuracy, Youden's index, positive/negative likelihood ratio, positive/negative predictive value, number needed to diagnose), therapeutic (absolute risk reduction, relative risk reduction, odds ratio, relative risk, number needed to treat/harm), prognostic (attributable risk, relative risk, odds ratio). Conclusion: It is now easy to compute EBM indicators in R, with the graphical user interface extension of R Commander. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Hyperhomocysteinemia plays an etiologic role in homocystinuria, neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases. Potential mechanisms involved in the degenerative diseases of aging include: oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction and inflammation. Aim: In the present study we evaluated the effect of acute administration of homocysteine (Hcy), at a level similar to that found in homocystinuria, on biochemical markers of inflammation (such as IL-6) and of oxidative stress (such as gluthathione peroxidase - GPx). Material and Method: The study was performed on 40 young and older Wistar rats. IL-6 serum level was quantified by a high-sensitivity enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA) method and the activity of whole blood GPx was measured using a commercially available Randox kit. Results: Our results showed that Hcy administration increased the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6 in young rats (p<0.3) and decreased IL-6 level in older rats (p<0.008), when compared to the control group. GPx activity was found to increase with age (587.07 U/gHb versus 847.5 U/gHb, p<0.001). Two hours after Hcy administration, GPx activity was found to decrease, but not in a statistically significant manner. The difference between GPx activities in Hcy treated groups remains statistically significant (p<0.01) in the younger group, compared to older group (556.62 U/gHb versus 748.38 U/gHb). Conclusion: Our results indicate the existence of a correlation between hyperhomocysteinemia, proinflammatory state and oxidative stress, illustrated by the direct dependence of whole blood GPx activities on the increasing age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: A survey was conducted in undergraduate medical students enrolled in 3 or 4-year degree programs in Nursing, Midwifery, Radiology and Medical Imaging (technician), Physiotherapy and Kinetotherapy (technician) and Clinical laboratory (technician) in order to identify their perception of the medical informatics and statistics curriculum. Material and Method: A qualitative study was carried out in 1st year undergraduate students at the "Iuliu Haţieganu" University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca, Romania during the 2008- 2009 academic year. A questionnaire containing 10 categories of items for assessing lectures and 19 for assessing practical activities was developed as an online tool with a database connection using Google Docs. Results: Students' attendance to lectures proved not to be statistically related with their final mark. The mean final mark obtained by students (6.02±1.57) proved to be statistically lower compared to the expected mean (6.58±1.23; t = -2.76, DF = 54, p = 0.0078). The teache, the problems solved during lectures, the lecture summaries as well as the course web page proved to statistically influence the learning process. The results revealed that all students were satisfied with the materials used within lectures and practical activities as well as with the objectiveness of the final evaluation. Most students classified the difficulty of the practical activities as reasonable (p < 0.05) and their pace as just about right (p< 0.05). The overall quality of the practical activities was classified as easy by 13% of respondents, pretty easy by 30%, reasonable by 29%, and difficult by 25%. Conclusions: Overall, undergraduate students were satisfied with the materials used within lectures and practical activities as well as with the teacher's attitude and support in the learning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: In this study, the Moodle platform was used to provide undergraduate students with etesting quizzes environment to improve their medical statistics learning outcomes. Materials and methods: This was a prospective study conducted with first year medical undergraduate students during 2018-2019 academic year, English section attending the Faculty of Medicine, Iuliu Haţieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy. Eleven Moodle quizzes each covering one topic were available for 6 days after the presentation of the topic in face-to-face teaching environment. A quiz was open to be filled once, with attempts submitted after time expires not counted. The use of Moodle quizzes on the knowledge gain was compared between those with valid participation (counted as at least one, four, or three quizzes with a mark ≥ 5) as compared to those without a valid participation. Results: One hundred seventy-five out of 187 students were eligible for the study. The participation varied from 17% (30/175) to 42% (74/175. The quizzes marks varied from 1 to 10; 73% to 98% of students who submitted the quiz achieving the threshold of 5. Sixty-nine students never participated or have no valid participation (mark≥5). The number of valid participations varied from 1 (23 students) to 11 (7 students). The number of point to the theoretical exam positively correlated with the number of Moodle passed quizzes (ρ=0.31, p<0.0001). The group of students with valid participation (24 points at least one, 25 points for the other two criteria) archived a median higher with 2 points as compared to those without participation (p-values < 0.002) and more than one valid participation increase the median with one only point. Conclusion: Extra work verification of medical statistics knowledge is reflected in the knowledge again. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scope of the present study was to contrast publication rates and particularities of original scientific articles related to medical PhD theses defended between 2009 and 2013 from one developing country (Romania) and two developed countries (France and the United Kingdom) within the European Union. A sample from each of the three countries was evaluated and then compared based on the journal type (national/international), time span between two consecutive articles from the same thesis, number of articles, journal impact factor and journal rank. The results of our quantitative analysis suggest that the majority of Romanian articles were published in Romanian journals, while French and the United Kingdom articles were published in greater proportions in journals outside the borders of their own country. The time span between two consecutive articles from the same thesis was similar for the three groups. Even though articles from Romanian theses were significantly more numerous than in those from France or the United Kingdom, they were published in less cited journals, according to their impact factor. Furthermore, most of the Romanian articles were published in the bottom half of the journals’ ranking, while the majority of articles from France or the United Kingdom were published in the top half of the ranking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of our research was to design and implement data collection instruments to be use in context of an observational prospective clinical study with follow-up conducted on new born with intrauterine growth restriction. Methods: The structure of the data collection forms (paper based and electronic based) was first identified and for each variable the best type to accomplish the research aim was established. The code for categorical variables has also been decided as well as the units of measurements for quantitative variables. In respect of good practice, a set of confounding factors (as gender, date of birth, etc.) have also been identified and integrated in data collection instruments. Data-entry validation rules were implemented for each variable to reduce data input errors when the electronic data collection instrument was created. Results: Two data collection instruments have been developed and successfully implemented: a paper-based form and an electronic data collection instrument. The developed forms included demographics, neonatal complications (as hypoglycemia, hypocalcemia, etc.), biochemical data at birth and follow-up, immunological data, as well as basal and follow-up echocardiographic data. Data-entry validation criteria have been implemented in electronic data collection instrument to assure validity and precision when paper-based data are translated in electronic form. Furthermore, to assure subject's confidentiality a careful attention was given to HIPPA identifiers when electronic data collection instrument was developed. Conclusion: Data collection instruments were successfully developed and implemented as an a priori step in a clinical research for assisting data collection and management in a case of an observational prospective study with follow-up visits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medical work in public hospitals in Romania has a double subordination: strictly speaking the Health Care Directives is coordinated by the Ministry of Health and in terms of economics the activity is funded by the National Health Insurance through its county subsidiaries. This separation of the two fields, medical and economical, has generated problems in many cases of hospital activity in our country Economic and financial parameters of 39 hospitals were extracted from their economic balance sheets for 2009-2010 and were entered into a multi-criteria analysis to generate an overall score. Then this was checked for possible relationships with the hospitals' competence (established by the Ministry of Health with the help of a national program). The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between hospital medical competency and economical parameters in the Romanian Health Care System. The lack of correlation of the economic and financial parameters with the health parameters observed by our study reflects the current problems in the Romanian health system, where the impossibility of generating practical management solutions is the consequence of multiple subordination of hospital units, separate assessment of competence and administrative skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]