Background Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (E. coli) is an important cause of diarrheal diseases in both developing countries and industrialized countries. An outbreak of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) in young children from southern Romania was reported in early 2016 and was attributed to Shiga toxin producing E. coli (STEC) O26 infection. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence, demographic and clinical characteristics of STEC infections in children hospitalized with diarrhea in Brașov in the central region of Romania. We also described the occurrence of HUS among hospitalized children, close in time to the 2016 HUS outbreak in southern Romania. Methods A prospective study was conducted between March and December 2016 among 722 children aged 1–30 months hospitalized with acute diarrhea. Stool samples obtained from patients with diarrhea were tested for the presence of Shiga toxin type 1 (STX1) and type 2 (STX2) by an immunochromatographic assay, and other enteropathogens. Demographic and clinical information on cases of HUS diagnosed in the same hospital was obtained from medical records. Results Overall 46/722 (6.4%) children (mean age 10.3 months, 32.6% females) hospitalized with diarrhea tested positive for STX1 or STX2; of these 79% were positive for both STX1 and STX2, 16% for STX2 only, and 5% for STX1 only. Bloody diarrhea, vomiting and fever were documented in 32.6%, 52.1% and 50.0%, respectively of patients with STEC infection. Eleven confirmed HUS cases (mean age 20 months, five females) were identified between 2014 and 2016 with prodromal diarrhea reported in 10 of them. Three of the 11 HUS patients required hemodialysis. Conclusions STEC prevalence among young children with diarrhea in Romania was high and the risk of HUS is emerging. The establishment of a systematic laboratory-based surveillance program including identification of the circulating STEC strains coupled with epidemiological investigation of HUS patients is warranted to determine the source and mode of transmission of STEC and prevent of STEC-associated diarrhea and HUS.

Sleep disturbances in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are not well understood. The restless legs syndrome (RLS) is one of the frequent occurring sleep disturbances in SLE. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of RLS and its characteristics in SLE. We evaluated, in a prospective case-control study, 26 patients with SLE and 26 patients without SLE in an age-and sex-matched control group. An RLS-positive diagnosis met International RLS Study Group (IRLSSG) criteria. We used standardized questionnaires, which included demographic data, medical history and sleep assessment. We used validated questionnaires and scales to assess sleep. There were 23/26 females (88.46%) in each group; the mean patient age in the SLE subgroup was 51.65 years, while in the control subgroup, 52.07 years (range 30-74). Nine (34.2%) patients had RLS-positive criteria in the SLE group and 2 (7.69%) of 26 in the control group. Eight out of 9 patients described RLS onset after SLE was diagnosed. In the SLE group, 8 cases were of moderate severity and 1 was considered mild. The control group had one mild and one moderate case of RLS. RLS prevalence in SLE is higher and the quality of sleep is poorer compared with the control group.

Lately, more and more experimental research regarding the use of solar furnaces was conducted in order to thermally process different materials. In this direction, Transilvania University made a soft to simulate the heating of metallic parts in such furnaces. The soft is based on a 3D mathematical model, presented here with finite differences. The data concerning the structure of the soft and the results that can be delivered are also shown. This soft is useful to preset, by computer simulation, the working parameters of solar furnaces with concentrated flux regarding the concrete processing of some metallic pieces (volume thermal treatments, surface thermal treatment, melting, welding, covering with surface layers, etc.).

The mathematical description of moving anatomical structures is of increasing importance when dealing with tumor irradiation by particle beams. A mathematical description of the orientation of anatomical structures by principal inertia axes and of the shape by spherical harmonics is given. Structures of convex and concave shape are decomposed and reconstructed with index numbers L max = 10. Conformity of decomposed and reconstructed shape is measured by a similarity index. For irradiation therapy the influence of a security margin is considered. No significant improvement of conformity was found by using different coordinate systems for decomposition and reconstruction.

Background: To examine the epidemiologic and microbiologic characteristics of first and recurrent UTI in young infants. Methods: A retrospective study of all infants <1 year hospitalized during 2014e2017 with their first UTI and followed during their first year of life. Results: 191 infants were enrolled; 69 (36.12%) patients were <2 months and 32 (16.8%) developed R-UTI during the follow-up. The five most common uropathogens were Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp., Enterococcus spp., Proteus mirabilis and Staphylococcus aureus. High resistance rates were recorded for ampicillin, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, TMP/SMX, cefuroxime, ceftriaxone, piperacillin/tazobactam and gentamicin among E. coli and Klebsiella spp.; 29.15% E. coli and 42.9% Klebsiella spp. were ESBL-positive. 53.2% of recurrent UTI (R-UTI) episodes were diagnosed within 2 months after the initial UTI episode. E. coli (40.6%) and Klebsiella spp. (37.55) were the most frequent R-UTI pathogens. Twenty-five (78.1%) R-UTIs were caused by recurrent uropathogens representing new infections. Antibiotic resistance rates at recurrence were similar to those at initial UTI, except for a significant increase in E. coli and Klebsiella spp. resistance to piperacillin/tazobactam.