Introduction: The increasing antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella isolates is of major public health concern, but information regarding these aspects is still lacking in Romania. This study focused on a detailed and accurate investigation concerning prevalence, serotypes, and antimicrobial resistance patterns of Salmonella strains, isolated from pork and chicken meat, collected from all regions of Romania in 2011. Methodology: The research was conducted on 650 samples of chicken and pork meat collected from production units and retail markets located in various regions of Romania. A total of 149 Salmonella isolates were recovered (22.92%), serotyped, confirmed by PCR, and further tested for antimicrobial susceptibility. Results: Thirteen Salmonella serovars were identified; predominant serovars included Infantis, Typhimurium, Derby and Colindale. Multiple resistance was found in 83.22% (n = 124) of the isolates. The isolates were frequently resistant to tetracycline (80.53%), streptomycin (81.21%), sulfamethoxazole (87.25%), nalidixic acid (65.10%), and ciprofloxacin (42.95%). Additionally, a markedly lower resistance rate was observed for ampicillin (20.81%), chloramphenicol (16.78%), and ceftazidime (11.41%). Among 137 resistant Salmonella isolates, 35 different resistance patterns were found. Conclusion: A high prevalence of Salmonella spp. and a relatively high resistance rate to multiple antimicrobials was found. This data indicates that chicken and pork meat could constitute a source of human exposure to multidrug-resistant Salmonella and therefore could be considered a potential vehicle of resistant Salmonella foodborne diseases. Further actions are needed to succesfully implement a national surveillance program for better monitoring of these resistant pathogens.

The comparison of the antioxidant activity of the studied seeds of fiber crop (hemp and flax) emphasized a hierarchy of antioxidant capacity. The purpose of the study was to investigate the antioxidant capacity and nutritional value of flax seeds (Linum usitatissimum L.) and hemp seeds (Cannabis sativa L.) in powder form. In this study, the FT-IR technique was utilized in order to detect molecular components in analyzed samples. Antioxidant capacity was evaluated with photochemical assay as well as humidity, protein, fiber, lipid and carbohydrate content. The FT-IR results reveal the presence of different bio-active compounds in hemp such as flavonoids, tannins, sugars, acids, proanthocyanidins, carotenoids and citric metabolites. The highest antioxidant capacity was observed in flax seeds, 18.32 ± 0.98, in comparison with hemp seeds, 4 ± 0.71 (μg/mg dry weight equivalent ascorbic acid). Regarding nutritional parameters, flax seeds showed the most increased content of protein, displaying average values of 534.08 ± 3.08, as well as 42.20 ± 0.89 of lipids and 27.30 ± 0.89 of fiber (g/100 g/sample). Hemp seeds showed the highest protein content of 33 ± 1.24 (g/100 g/sample).

The comparison of the antioxidant activity of the studied forest fruits emphasized a hierarchy of the antioxidant capacity in rosehip, blackthorn, lingonberry and cornelian cherry. The purpose of the study was to investigate the antioxidant capacity and nutritional value of rosehip, blackthorn, lingonberry and cornelian cherry. In the current study, the FT-IR spectroscopy technique was applied to detect molecular components in forest fruits samples. Antioxidant capacity was evaluated with photochemical assay as well as humidity, protein, fibre, lipid and carbohydrate content. The FT-IR results revealed the presence of different bio-active compounds in berries such as flavonoids, tannins, sugars, acids, proanthocyanidins, carotenoids, citric metabolites and others. The highest antioxidant capacity was observed in rosehip 105.67±1.38 and blackthorn 49.89±1.92 (μg/mg equivalent ascorbic acid). Regarding nutritional parameters, rosehip showed the most increased content of protein displaying average values of 1.60, carbohydrates 38.20 and fibre 24.10 (g/100 g/sample). These results can provide useful information providing a research interest for the identification of new molecular compounds from Romanian flora samples.   ********* In press - Online First. Article has been peer reviewed, accepted for publication and published online without pagination. It will receive pagination when the issue will be ready for publishing as a complete number (Volume 47, Issue 4, 2019). The article is searchable and citable by Digital Object Identifier (DOI). DOI link will become active after the article will be included in the complete issue. *********  

Taking into account the advantages of Maximum Likelihood Method (most precise estimation), the statistical properties of MLEs (unbiasedness, consistency, efficiency, invariance, asymptotic normality) this paper aim is to present MLE in the context of estimate the recombination fraction r in linkage analysis. Maximum Likelihood Method follows some steps: specifies the likelihood function; takes derivatives of likelihood with respect to the parameters; sets the derivatives equal to zero and finally generates a likelihood equation, that maximized provides the most precise estimation of the recombination fraction. Generally, it is solved by iterative procedures, if no, closed form solution exists for likelihood equation. In this work we discuss comparatively two iterative optimization methods useful in computing MLE of the recombination fraction: Newton-Raphson method and Fisher's Method of Scoring. We implemented these two methods in Maple application and we illustrated them by an example: the estimation of the recombination fraction in the case of the Morgan (1909) experiment on fruit flies. The Maple code for these two methods connected with the Morgan example is given in the appendix. We can not guarantee which of the two presented methods give us an optimal maximum.