This study investigates the level of wastewater pollution by analyzing its chemical characteristics at five wastewater collectors. Samples are collected before they discharge into the Danube during a monitoring campaign of two weeks. Organic and inorganic compounds, heavy metals, and biogenic compounds have been analyzed using potentiometric and spectrophotometric methods. Experimental results show that the quality of wastewater varies from site to site and it greatly depends on the origin of the wastewater. Correlation analysis was used in order to identify possible relationships between concentrations of various analyzed parameters, which could be used in selecting the appropriate method for wastewater treatment to be implemented at wastewater plants.

Background The magnetic resonance (MRI) diagnosis of chronic prostatitis (CP) is insufficiently evaluated. Purpose To evaluate the MRI appearance of CP in young patients by comparing it to individuals with non-prostatic related pathology. Material and Methods The study included 47 patients with prostatitis‐like symptoms evaluated by urologists and referred to pelvic MRI examination (mean age=40.23±7 years; age range=23–49 years) and 93 age-matched individuals with non-prostatic related pathology (mean age=37.5±7 years; age range=21–49 years). All MRI examinations were performed on a 1.5-T machine using a prostate-specific protocol for the prostatitis group and different protocols that included high-resolution small field of view T2-weighted (T2WI) and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), for the control group, depending on the clinical indication. Results Four different T2WI intensity patterns were observed: hyperintense homogenous; slightly to moderate homogenous hypointense; inhomogeneous; and marked hypointense. We found statistically significant differences between the two analyzed groups regarding mean ADC values ( P<0.001), distribution of T2WI intensity patterns ( P<0.0001), and the presence of dilated venous plexus ( P=0.0007). No differences were found regarding prostate volume ( P=0.15). In multivariate analysis, all four analyzed imaging parameters were independent predictors of chronic prostatitis (R2=0.67; P<0.0001). Considered together, an age >28 years, an inhomogeneous or marked hypointense T2WI intensity pattern (types 3 and 4), an ADC value ≤1250, and the presence of dilated venous plexus are able to predict CP with an AUC of 93% (sensitivity=85.1%, specificity=88.4%). Conclusion MR parameters like T2WI intensity patterns, ADC values, and venous plexus appearance are promising non-invasive tools in the challenging environment of CP diagnosis.

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This paper presents the research on the temporal variability of water quality parameters for the most important river system in Romania and Europe-Danube River. The data on the river water quality had been obtained during ten years. The investigation was systematic and complex. Using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, and traditional statistical methods based on correlation matrix-Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Factor Analysis (FA), and ANOVA all the samples data sets were classified in order to determine the seasonal variability of the water quality state parameters and to identify the key quality factors that cause variability. The methodology for the systematic analysis due to the identification of the fundamental and the dependent parameters will not be exposed here, being the subject of another paper. These statistical analyzes showed that more than 70% of the total variance can be explained by three main factors: a) the first factor (F1) is the tutorial involving inorganic human influence type and flow variations and provides a natural buffer system perspective of the ecosystem; b) the second factor (F2) is the trophic factor; c) the third factor (F3) is related to the impact of anthropogenic activities. The analysis revealed that the weight of the three main factors is not the same over the course of the year. This work highlights two major aspects: the first one is due to the fact that the site of research is the meeting point of the borders of three countries: Moldova, Ukraine and Romania. The second significant issue is caused by the fact that the study was conducted in the predeltaic area of the Danube Delta. This study highlights the auto-filtering capacity of the Danube River. Research of this type is extremely useful because there are no other previous studies of this complexity.

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