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Background: Europe’s largest ethnic minority, the Roma, are often confronted with substantial obstacles that result in health disparities. Research indicates that there are elevated rates of both communicable and non-communicable diseases, such as metabolic syndrome (MetS), among Roma communities, often linked to living conditions, limited education, or poverty. This study centers on remote rural Roma settlements in Romania, evaluating the prevalence of metabolic dysfunction, obesity, and liver steatosis while considering socio-economic and lifestyle factors. Methods: Over a period of 36 months, local visits to a total of 25 rural Roma communities were conducted, where a medical team gathered information through a standardized questionnaire and conducted a physical exam on every participant. Liver steatosis was also recorded with the help of a portable wireless ultrasound device. Results: Our study included 343 participants, with a predominance of female subjects, representing 72.5% (n = 249) of the patients. The prevalence of obesity, defined by a body mass index (BMI) above 30 kg/m2, was 32.2% (n = 111). Arterial hypertension was found to have a prevalence of 54.1% (n = 185), with de novo hypertension being observed in 19.2% patients (n = 66). Type 2 diabetes mellitus was found in 28.9% patients (n = 99), with 19.5% being de novo cases. The prevalence of hepatic steatosis was 57.2% (n = 111/194). A positive association between metabolic features and at-risk behaviors was found. Conclusions: This study underscores the transition from infectious to metabolic diseases in vulnerable communities and highlights the urgency of targeted public health strategies tailored to the unique needs of rural Roma populations, aiming to mitigate health disparities and promote equitable healthcare access.

Background and Aim: The COVID-19 pandemic changed how medical teaching and learning is done around the world. The medical schools were forced to adopt and implement different online instruments to cope with the specific of life sciences education. Virtual patients are one of those instruments. Materials and Methods: To study the usefulness and opportunity of using virtual patients as an additional tool in medical education, a virtual patient was implemented using a free online form-builder starting from a clinical scenario centered on thyroid pathology. Using a snowball constructed sample, we asked medical students from the Faculty of Medicine to solve the virtual patient and evaluate this educational method's utility. Results: The implementation of the virtual patient was a success; the virtual patient was available for use in less than two months since the start of the implementation. In one week, it was solved by 171 students from all the study years. The students' general opinion was that this is a useful educational method in medical education and the University should invest more in developing a database containing such virtual patients on different pathologies. Conclusions: Using this virtual patient, we demonstrated that this educational method could be implemented with minimal costs in internet infrastructure. The students receive the virtual patients well, and their perception is that the use of virtual patients helps them develop clinical skills that are essential in medical practice.

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

Background: Melanoma patients stop responding to targeted therapies mainly due to mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway re-activation, phosphoinositide 3 kinase/the mechanistic target of rapamycin (PI3K/mTOR) pathway activation or stromal cell influence. The future of melanoma treatment lies in combinational approaches. To address this, our in vitro study evaluated if lower concentrations of Celecoxib (IC50 in nM range) could still preserve the chemopreventive effect on melanoma cells treated with trametinib. Materials and Methods: All experiments were conducted on SK-MEL-28 human melanoma cells and BJ human fibroblasts, used as co-culture. Co-culture cells were subjected to a celecoxib and trametinib drug combination for 72 h. We focused on the evaluation of cell death mechanisms, melanogenesis, angiogenesis, inflammation and resistance pathways. Results: Low-dose celecoxib significantly enhanced the melanoma response to trametinib. The therapeutic combination reduced nuclear transcription factor (NF)–kB (p < 0.0001) and caspase-8/caspase-3 activation (p < 0.0001), inhibited microphthalmia transcription factor (MITF) and tyrosinase (p < 0.05) expression and strongly down-regulated the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/AKT) signaling pathway more significantly than the control or trametinib group (p < 0.0001). Conclusion: Low concentrations of celecoxib (IC50 in nM range) sufficed to exert antineoplastic capabilities and enhanced the therapeutic response of metastatic melanoma treated with trametinib.

Introduction: The potential oncogenic effect of some heavy metals in people occupationally and non-occupationally exposed to such heavy metals is already well demonstrated. This study seeks to clarify the potential role of these heavy metals in the living environment, in this case in non-occupational multifactorial aetiology of malignancies in the inhabitants of areas with increased prevalent environmental levels of heavy metals. Methods: Using a multidisciplinary approach throughout a complex epidemiological study, we investigated the potential oncogenic role of non-occupational environmental exposure to some heavy metals [chrome (Cr), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and arsenic (As)—in soil, drinking water, and food, as significant components of the environment] in populations living in areas with different environmental levels (high vs. low) of the above-mentioned heavy metals. The exposures were evaluated by identifying the exposed populations, the critical elements of the ecosystems, and as according to the means of identifying the types of exposure. The results were interpreted both epidemiologically (causal inference, statistical significance, mathematical modelling) and by using a GIS approach, which enabled indirect surveillance of oncogenic risks in each population. Results: The exposure to the investigated heavy metals provides significant risk factors of cancer in exposed populations, in both urban and rural areas [χ² test (p < 0.05)]. The GIS approach enables indirect surveillance of oncogenic risk in populations. Conclusions: The role of non-occupational environmental exposure to some heavy metals in daily life is among the more significant oncogenic risk factors in exposed populations. The statistically significant associations between environmental exposure to such heavy metals and frequency of neoplasia in exposed populations become obvious when demonstrated on maps using the GIS system. Environmental surveillance of heavy metals pollution using GIS should be identified as an important element of surveillance, early detection, and control of neoplastic risks in populations, at the level of a single locality, but even on a wider geographical scale.

During the last years, video files showing different surgical procedures have become extremely available and popular on the internet. They are available on both free and unrestricted sites, as well as on dedicated sites which control the medical quality of the information. Honest presentation and a minimal video-editing to include information about the procedure are mandatory to achieve a product with a true educational value. The integration of the web-based video educational resources in the continuing medical information system seems to be limited and the true educational impact very difficult to assess. A review of the available literature dedicated on this subject shows that the main challenge is related to the human factor and not to the available technology.

Choosing dental color for missing teeth or tooth reconstruction is an important step and it usually raises difficulties for dentists due to a significant amount of subjective factors that can influence the color selection. Dental reconstruction presumes the combination between dentistry and chromatics, thus implying important challenges. Purpose: The aim of this study was to develop and implement a software application for detecting dental color to come to the aid of dentists and largely to remove the inherent subjectiveness of the human vision. Basic Methods: The implemented application was named Color Detection and the application’s source code is written using the C++ language. During application development, for creating the GUI (graphical user interface) the wxWidgets 2.8 library it was used. Results: The application displays the average color of the selected area of interest, the reference color from the key collection existent in the program and also the degree of similarity between the original (the selected area of interest) and the nearest reference key. This degree of similarity is expressed as a percentage. Conclusions: The Color Detection Program, by eliminating the subjectivity inherent to human sight, can help the dentist to select an appropriate dental color with precision.

Multicenter/institutional studies have been the basis for the confirmation of Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy as a therapeutic option for selected patients with Peritoneal Surface Malignancies. Starting from this model, using our experience in the implementation of a Diagnostic Laparoscopy for Abdominal Cancer database in surgical departments in Cluj-Napoca, we aimed to create a extended database, serving for Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy. By coding the parameters of Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy, which is a complex treatment both in terms of the equipment and techniques used and through the integration of different ways of approach (surgery, cytostatics drugs, hyperthermia), a Microsoft Access database was developed and implemented. The adoption and use of this database, followed by the implementation of a registry, will create the conditions required for the “coagulation” of individual experiences in Romania.

The aim of this study is to present a software application that facilitates consistent data collection, questionnaire administration, noncommunicable disease risk scoring for the benefit of the participants to community health promotion campaigns. The application was developed using open source scripting language, database management system and server. The application calculates the risk scores based on demographic data (sex, age), anthropometric measurements (height, weight), blood pressure, blood tests (blood glucose, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides) and on a brief lifestyle questionnaire. A summary of data and risk scores grouped at individual level can be printed as a handout for personal use or lifestyle counseling. Also, the application can aggregate the data at group level after basic statistical analysis and display them as tables and charts. Finally, the database can be exported for advanced statistical analysis for research purposes.

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.

This paper focuses on the evaluation of a web-based application used in grant application evaluations, software developed in our university, and underlines the need for simple solutions, based on recent technology, specifically tailored to one’s needs. We asked the reviewers to answer a short questionnaire, in order to assess their satisfaction with such a web-based grant application evaluation solution. All 20 reviewers accepted to answer the questionnaire, which contained 8 closed items (YES/NO answers) related to reviewer’s previous experience in evaluating grant applications, previous use of such software solutions and his familiarity in using computer systems. The presented web-based application, evaluated by the users, shown a high level of acceptance and those respondents stated that they are willing to use such a solution in the future.

Background: Spectrophotometer is a very common instrument in various scientific fields and gives accurate information about light absorbance and transmittance through materials using monochromatic light source. Though, devices used in spectrophotometry can be quite expensive, using components with high technical specifications and the procedure itself is time consuming. Regular digital image acquisition instruments like scanners and cameras on the other hand uses very cheap electronic components to record the information on 3 wide band channels (Red, Green, Blue). Purpose: This paper studies the possibility of correlating the measurements from the spectrophotometer with raw data from digital image acquisition instruments. Materials and Methods: Because the results will be used in protein electrophoresis, we prepared o set of plates with blood serum in different dilutions, stained with Coomassie Brilliant Blue. The absorbance of the resulting plates has been measured using a spectrophotometer and after that, the plates were scanned with a regular office scanner. The digital image was converted in different color spaces (gray scale, RGB, HSV, HSL, CIEXYZ and CIELAB) using custom developed software in C++. We statistically measured the correlation coefficient of different parameters from the color space with the absorption measured with the spectrophotometer. Results and Discussion: The findings of this work show that a consumer digital scanner can be used as a fast and inexpensive alternative to spectrophotometers. This offers the possibility of using scanned images of protein electrophoresis to make quantitative estimations regarding the proteinogram.

The aim of this paper is to present an application, implemented and used at “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj Napoca for medical education, The application, called Open Labyrinth is an open source, web based application, developed using ASP technology, very useful for medical education using virtual patients technology. All the virtual patients developed using this application are MedBiquitos compliant. This application was implemented at University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Iuliu Haţieganu” Cluj-Napoca, part of eVip Project. There were developed four virtual patients, three of them were included in eVip database. The user friendly interface, the compliance with the standards, the level of IT knowledge request for the case developers make this application a useful tool for medical education at the clinical level.

www.anchetainfarfurie.ro is a website that intends to help healthy people maintain, increase or decrease their weight. www.anchetainfarfurie.ro loggs food and activities during day. The program contains a database of 6396 foods with nutrition data for each food. The program also contains a database of 81 activities with energy expense for each activity. Both, foods and activities, are separated to logical groups for better access while logging. The user can add your own foods to the list of existing ones. After logging, the program shows a summary of energy income and expense for each day. “Ancheta in farfurie” can also log the body measurements.

Young medical graduates are bound to become researchers, as medical science implies constant studying. Documenting, collecting and processing medical data involve a certain degree of computer literacy. The development of computer-assisted tools and their implementation in all medical fields imposes an evaluation of the level of computer use in research. A number of 85 PhD students at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy from Tg. Mureş were presented with a questionnaire in order to evaluate their knowledge of computer use. The results were quantified by devising evaluation scores. Correspondence between answers was tested using Friedman’s correspondence test. After the initial questionnaire, the subjects attended a course in which computer-aided solutions were presented, followed by a new evaluation questionnaire. The conception and application of a questionnaire-based qualitative study to assess the level of knowledge regarding the use of information technologies applied in medical research has proved that there are researchers who do not use computers to aid them in their research. Testing the researchers by means of a questionnaire for evaluating the level of acceptance of information technologies in computer-assisted medical (epidemiological and clinical) research has shown that resistance to computer use in research is not significant.

Purpose. To evaluate the outcome and identify the prognostic factors of traumatic endophthalmitis over a 5-year period. Methods. We reviewed the medical records of all the traumatic endophthalmities that we treated in our department over the last 5 years (2009–2013). We extracted the following parameters: age, gender, wound anatomy, associated ocular lesions, treatment, and initial and final visual acuities. We used the program SPSS version 20.0.0. for the statistical analysis of our data. Results. During the last 5 years, we treated 14 traumatic endophthalmities, representing 46.66% of all types of endophthalmities. The infection rate in open globe injuries was 8.13% and 34.78%, if an intraocular foreign body (IOFB) was associated. All the patients were males with the median age of 37 years. Initial visual acuities varied between light perception and 0.4 and the timing of treatment from a few hours to 10 days. We administered antibiotic and anti-inflammatory drugs, systemically and intravitreally, in all cases. We performed pars plana vitrectomy in 64.28% of cases. In 57.14% of cases, the final visual acuity was 0.1 or more. Conclusions. IOFBs increased significantly the risk for endophthalmitis. The worse prognostic factors were retinal detachment at presentation and delayed treatment. This trial is registered with IRCT2014082918966N1.

One of the principal issues in any university community is the lack of communication between community categories – leadership, administration, teaching staff and students. Sometimes is important to know in a short time the opinion of one particular group, without investing a lot of resources and without being extremely formal. The aim of this study was to test if an open-source platform – Moodle – can be used for quick surveys inside the Faculty of Medicine, UMF “Iuliu Hatieganu” Cluj-Napoca community. For this, on existing Moodle platform was installed one specific survey instrument – a questionnaire module and a survey containing a real life issue to the students of Faculty of Medicine was launched. The researchers have focused on how the specific problems of a survey - preparing of the survey, the survey process and the analysis of the results can be handle in Moodle. The pilot survey was a success; the conclusion of the study was that Moodle can be used as on-line survey instrument for that community.