Objective:The treatment of slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) is evolving, with the development of new surgical techniques. |We wanted to study if modified Dunn procedure restores the normal alignment of the proximal femur and the risk of avascular necrosis is increased.Methods:This is a single centre, retrospective study, comparing the outcomes of in situ pinning and modified Dunn procedure. Between 2001 and 2014, 7 children (7 hips) underwent the modified Dunn procedure and 10 children (10 hips) pinning in situ for stable and unstable SCFE. Mean age of the patients was 12.7 years with a median follow-up of 18 months.Results:The radiological parameters improved in the modified Dunn procedure group, while the length of the femoral neck didn’t change significantly (p=0.09). Postoperative clinical outcomes were slightly better in the modified Dunn procedure group (6 hips out of 7 had good and excellent results) compared to the pinning in situ group (8 good and excellent results out of 10 hips) (p=0.04). No avascular necrosis was found and there were no cases of chondrolysis.Conclusion:Radiographic parameters of the proximal femur assessed in our study improved in all hips that underwent modified Dunn procedure, without the creation of secondary deformities.

Measuring patient satisfaction of healthcare service quality represents a significant element of a healthcare's system (HS) overall evaluation. It is the starting point for creating policies in national healthcare. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate Romanian patients' perception and satisfaction of the quality of the national HS as a whole and of its components. Exploratory and descriptive research was used. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with Romanian patients, based on a questionnaire. Out of the 2305 respondents, 83% used the Romanian HS in the past 12 months and 58% of the respondents did not trust the system. The accommodation, food, and other facilities of Romanian hospitals were perceived as being at a low level. One third of the respondents were unsatisfied and very unsatisfied with respect to the overall impression of the Romanian HS. In addition, our research found a statistically significant relationship between confidence in the HS, age, and gender, and also between the overall impression on the HS, age and income.

In this paper we intend to define a strategy for managing databases with mobile structures, taking into account their redistribution in the nodes of a computer network. The minimal cost of the redistribution is highlighted and some applications for medical and business databases are presented.

Background: The antioxidant properties of epigallocatechin-gallate (EGCG), a green tea compound, have been already studied in various diseases. Improving the bioavailability of EGCG by nanoformulation may contribute to a more effective treatment of diabetes mellitus (DM) metabolic consequences and vascular complications. The aim of this study was to test the comparative effect of liposomal EGCG with EGCG solution in experimental DM induced by streptozotocin (STZ) in rats. Method: 28 Wistar-Bratislava rats were randomly divided into four groups (7 animals/group): group 1—control group, with intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of 1 mL saline solution (C); group 2—STZ administration by i.p. route (60 mg/100 g body weight, bw) (STZ); group 3—STZ administration as before + i.p. administration of EGCG solution (EGCG), 2.5 mg/100 g b.w. as pretreatment; group 4—STZ administration as before + i.p. administration of liposomal EGCG, 2.5 mg/100 g b.w. (L-EGCG). The comparative effects of EGCG and L-EGCG were studied on: (i) oxidative stress parameters such as malondialdehyde (MDA), indirect nitric oxide (NOx) synthesis, and total oxidative status (TOS); (ii) antioxidant status assessed by total antioxidant capacity of plasma (TAC), thiols, and catalase; (iii) matrix-metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and -9 (MMP-9). Results: L-EGCG has a better efficiency regarding the improvement of oxidative stress parameters (highly statistically significant with p-values < 0.001 for MDA, NOx, and TOS) and for antioxidant capacity of plasma (highly significant p < 0.001 for thiols and significant for catalase and TAC with p < 0.05). MMP-2 and -9 were also significantly reduced in the L-EGCG-treated group compared with the EGCG group (p < 0.001). Conclusions: the liposomal nanoformulation of EGCG may serve as an adjuvant therapy in DM due to its unique modulatory effect on oxidative stress/antioxidant biomarkers and MMP-2 and -9.

The current study aims at presenting the results of the two methods of conservative treatment in clubfoot: the Romanian traditional method and the Ponseti method. The study population included 103 children (148 clubfeet) treated in our department between 1998 and 2005. Between 1998 and 2003, the conservative treatment protocol was based upon the Romanian method. The Ponseti method has been used since 2004. The main criterion for the assessment of the efficiency of the two conservative methods in clubfoot is the number of feet requiring surgical treatment - posteromedial release at 18 months. This criterion is clearly in favor of the Ponseti method: four feet (5%) needed posteromedial release in Ponseti group patients versus 13 feet (18%) in Romanian group patients (P=0.0193). The Ponseti method is safe, efficient in the conservative treatment of clubfoot and decreases the number of surgical interventions needed for the correction of the deformation compared with our traditional method.

The prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) rises constantly each year worldwide. Because of that, the funds allocated for the DM treatment have increased over time. Regarding the number of DM cases, Romania is among the top ten countries in Europe. Based on the National Diabetes Programme (NDP), antidiabetic drugs and other expenditures (Self-monitoring blood glucose (SMBG) test, HbA1c, insulin pumps/insulin pumps supplies) are free of charge. This programme has undergone many changes in drugs supply, in the last two decades: re-organizing the NDP, authorization of new molecules with high prices (e.g., SGLT-2 inhibitors, etc.) or new devices (e.g., insulin pumps, etc.) The main purpose of this study is to identify and analyse the impact of the DM costs on the Romanian health budget and to highlight the evolution of these costs. A retrospective longitudinal research on the official data regarding the DM costs from 2000 to 2017 was performed. The DM funds (DMF) were adjusted with the inflation rate. In this period, the average share of DMF in the total funds allocated for health programmes was 21.3 ± 3.4%, and DMF average growth rate was 25.4% (r = 0.488, p = 0.047). On the other hand, the DMF increased more than 14 times, in spite of the patients’ number having increased only about 2.5 times. Referring to the structure of DMF, the mean value of the antidiabetic drugs cost was of 96,045 ± 67,889 thousand EUR while for other expenditures it was of 11,530 ± 7922 thousand EUR (r = 0.945, p < 0.001). Between 2008 and 2017, the total DMF was 181,252 ± 74,278 thousand EUR/year. Moreover, the average patients’ number was 667,384 ± 94,938 (r = 0.73, p = 0.016), and the cost of treatment was 215 ± 36 EUR/patient/year. Even if the cost is rising, the correct and optimal treatment is a main condition for the diabetic patient’s health and for the prevention of its complications, which have multiple socio-economic repercussions.

Objective: The objectives of this study were: determination of serum hepcidin levels in patients with Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with/without anemia and controls, and its correlation with disease activity and anemia parameters. Patients and Methods: 69 people were involved in our study: 54 patients and 15 healthy subjects (controls). Laboratory evaluation of anemia, iron parameters, serum hepcidin levels and disease activity was carried out. RA patients were divided in two groups: anemic group and non-anemic group (NA), according to hemoglobin levels (Hb). Soluble transferrin receptor-ferritin index (sTfR-F index) was used to classify anemia types: anemia of chronic disease (ACD) and anemia of chronic disease + iron deficiency anemia (ACD+IDA). Disease activity was evaluated using the following parameters: erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CPR), and disease activity score (DAS28). Results: ACD and ACD+IDA groups had significantly higher serum hepcidin concentrations than controls (p<0.001, p<0.001), and NA group (p=0.006, p=0.002). No difference in hepcidin levels was observed between ACD and ADC+IDA groups (p=0.85) and between NA and controls (p=0.66). ESR was significantly higher in ACD and ACD+IDA groups compared with NA group (p<0.001, p=0.002) and controls. (p<0.001, p<0.001).DAS 28 score was higher in anemic groups than NA group (ACD vs. NA, p=0.01), (ACD+IDA vs. NA, p=0.01) and no difference was observed between ACD and ACD+IDA In RA patients serum hepcidin concentration was significantly negatively correlated with hemoglobin (Hb) (r=-0.459, p<0.000) and serum iron(r=-0.357, p<0.01) and positively with disease activity variables: ESR (r=0.352, p<0.01) , CRP (r=0.369, p<0.01), DAS28 score (r=0.289, p<0.05). Conclusion: Hepcidin increases in RA patients with anemia and its levels correlate with Hb, serum iron, and disease activity variables.

Abstract:Databases represent a highly developed form of data organisation. The efficient use of databases by their beneficiaries is a permanent and stringent concern. The first part of the article presents a short development of the way data are organised and of the ways distributed databases can be optimised in computer networks. Then, two means for the efficient operation of distributed databases are shown. The last part of the paper evaluations of the architectures of some data warehouses (DW) and of their building are made. Using the data warehouse, a beneficiary can prepare in advance the required support to get reports and then make the right decisions in specific situations.