Stroke represents a serious illness and is extremely relevant from the public health point of view, implying important social and economic burdens. Introducing new procedures or therapies that reduce the costs both in the acute phase of the disease and in the long term becomes a priority for health systems worldwide. The present study quantifies and compares the direct costs for ischemic stroke in patients with thrombolysis treatment versus conservative treatment over a 24-month period from the initial diagnosis, in one of the 7 national pilot centres for the implementation of thrombolytic treatment. The significant reduction (p < 0.001) of the hospitalization period, especially of the days in the intensive care unit (ICU) for stroke, resulted in a significant reduction (p < 0.001) of the total average costs in the patients with thrombolysis, both at the first hospitalization and for the subsequent hospitalizations, during the period followed in the study. It was also found that the percentage of patients who were re-hospitalized within the first 24-months after stroke was significantly lower (p < 0.001) among thrombolyzed patients. The present study demonstrates that the quick intervention in cases of stroke is an efficient policy regarding costs, of Romanian Public Health System, Romania being the country with the highest rates of new strokes and deaths due to stroke in Europe.

According to the statistics, each year 400,000 Europeans develop infections with antibiotic-resistant bacterial strain, and 25,000 die due to the exhaustion of all therapeutic resources. These statistics are alarming, considering that medical services have become lately more and more accessible, but the "antibiotics era", namely the prescribing of these pharmacological agents on a large scale, generated the present situation. There is a category of patients who seek specialist medical services, yet many of them also make errors when it comes to the correct administration of the antibiotics prescribed. The emergence of antibiotic resistant strains occurred due to the of insufficient or excessive treatment schemes, insufficient doses or treatment duration. Physicians and pharmacists have an important role in limiting the occurrence and development of the antibiotics resistant strains. The objective of the present study was the comparative assessment of antibiotic's consumption in urban and rural areas, in a western region of Romania for both children and adults, the medicines being prescribed by physicians and monitored through community pharmacies. The study was conducted over 2 years and involved five types of active substances, namely amoxicillin, cefuroxime, clarithromycin, sulphametoxazole + trimethoprim and cefixime. RezumatConform unor statistici, 400.000 de europeni dezvoltă anual infecƫii cu bacterii rezistente la antibiotice, iar 25.000 decedează în urma epuizării tuturor resurselor terapeutice. Aceste statistici sunt îngrijorătoare cu atât mai mult cu cât în ultima perioadă serviciile medicale au devenit mai accesibile, dar utilizarea pe scară largă a acestor agenți farmacologici în "epoca antibioticelor" a generat această situație. Există o categorie de pacienți care apelează la serviciile medicale de specialitate, dar cu toate acestea apar deficiențe în ceea ce privește administrarea corectă a antibioticelor prescrise de către medic. Dezvoltarea tulpinilor rezistente la antibiotice s-a datorat aplicării unor scheme de tratament insuficiente sau excesive, doze sau durate de tratament nerespectate. Un rol important în limitarea apariției și dezvoltării acestor tulpini rezistente la antibiotice îl au medicii și farmaciștii, prin consiliere adecvată. Obiectivele prezentului studiu au fost compararea și evaluarea consumului de antibiotice în mediul rural și urban într-o regiune din vestul României, atât la copii cât și la populația adultă, antibioticele fiind prescrise de către medic și monitorizate prin farmacii comunitare. Studiul s-a desfășurat pe o perioadă de doi ani și a cuprins cinci substanțe active diferite: amoxicilină, cefuroximă, claritromicină, sulfametoxazol + trimetoptim și cefiximă.

The human health risk associated with PM10 exposure was assessed for the residents of Cluj-Napoca city, Romania, for a best case-scenario based on the monthly average PM10 and for a worst-case scenario based on the monthly 90th percentile of PM10 concentration. As no toxicity value for PM10 was available, for the calculation of the hazard quotient, the toxicity value was considered to be equal to the annual limit value (40 µm/m3) set in the European Union (EU), and to air quality guidelines (20 µm/m3) set by the World Health Organization (WHO). The daily PM10 concentrations for the period 2009–2019, at the four monitoring stations existing in Cluj-Napoca, were obtained from the National Air Quality Monitoring Network. The annual PM10 values ranged between 20.3 and 29.5 µg/m3, and were below the annual limit value (40 µg/m3) set by European and national legislation, but above the annual air quality guideline (20 µg/m3) set by WHO. Generally, the monthly PM10 concentrations were higher from October to March than in the rest of the year. The monthly air quality index (AQI) showed the good to moderate quality of the air during the whole decade; however, there were days when the air quality was unhealthy for sensitive population groups. The air quality was more or less constant during the warm months, and improved significantly for the cold months from 2009 to 2019. In the best-case scenario, calculated using the EU annual limit value for PM10, the potential non-carcinogenic chronic health risk was present only in 2009 and 2010, but in the worst-case scenario, in each year there were periods, especially in the cold months, in which health risk was present. When considering the WHO air quality guidelines in the calculation of the health risk, the potential non-carcinogenic chronic health risk was present between October and March in each year in the best-case scenario, and in most of the months in the worst-case scenario.

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The aim of this study was the preparation and characterization of different biomorphic implants based on calcined cattle bones coated with hydroxyapatite (Hap) based nanocomposites in different ratios. For comparison, molded nanocomposites were also produced as biomorphic implants. The obtained nanocomposite/implants were characterized using Xray diffraction, light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area and apparent porosity. The release of Ca and P in simulated body fluid was monitored by X-ray fluorescence. The adsorption capacity and extended-release dosage of implants were investigated with ibuprofen, an anti-inflammatory drug, by UV-VIS spectroscopy. The highest adsorption efficiency and stability were obtained for sintered (S) (Hap-) and 20% gelatin (G) nanocomposite (Hap-20G-S) and bone parts coated with Hap-S and Hap-20G-S nanocomposite, respectively. The best results (high adsorption efficiency and slow release-low desorption capacity) were obtained for molded Hap-20G-S composite, without bone. In summary, the cattle bones with hydroxyapatite coatings show great promise in production of inexpensive and patient-specific bone implants.

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