Relationship between preterm birth and post-partum periodontal maternal status: a hospital-based Romanian study.

PURPOSE: This cross-sectional case-control study of post-partum women aimed to estimate whether maternal periodontitis was a predictive contributor to preterm birth and to identify other risk factors associated with preterm birth in our target population. METHODS: The case group included women who delivered preterm (74 cases) and the control group included women who had a normal term delivery (120 controls). Medical records, a 16-item questionnaire, and a full-mouth periodontal examination were used to collect information about socio-demographic characteristics, general health problems, birth-related information, behavioral factors and periodontal status. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the strength of the relationship between predictors and the categorical outcome variable, preterm birth. RESULTS: The bivariate analysis revealed the significant associations between preterm birth and socio-demographic factors (educational level, p = 0.003), antepartum smoking habit (p = 0.001) and birth weight lower than 2500 g (p < 0.001). The multivariate analysis highlighted that the presence of post-partum maternal periodontitis and its severity remained independent risk factors of preterm birth in the presence of antepartum smoking habit and route of delivery [adjusted OR 2.26, 95% CI (1.06; 4.82), respectively, OR 3.46, 95% CI (1.08; 11.15)]. CONCLUSION: Post-partum maternal periodontal disease and its severity might, in part, be considered as contributor to preterm deliveries before 37 weeks of gestation.

The effect of levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel infusion long-term therapy on motor complications in advanced Parkinson's disease: a multicenter Romanian experience.

Chronic treatment with oral levodopa is associated with an increased frequency of motor complications in the late stages of Parkinson's disease (PD). Continuous administration of levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG-Duodopa(®), Abbott Laboratories), which has been available in Romania since 2009, represents an option for treating patients with advanced PD. Our primary objective was to report changes in motor complications after initiation of LCIG therapy. The secondary objectives were as follows: to determine the impact of LCIG therapy on the daily levodopa dose variation before/and after LCIG, to collect patient self-assessments of quality of life (QoL), and to study the overall tolerability and safety of LCIG administration. A retrospective analysis (2009-2013) of LCIG therapy and the experience in nine neurology centers in Romania was performed. The impact of LCIG therapy was evaluated by analyzing changes in motor fluctuations, dyskinesia and the patients' QoL after initiating therapy. The safety of LCIG therapy was estimated by noting agent-related adverse events (AEs) and medical device-related AEs. In the 113 patients included, we observed a significant improvement in PD symptoms after initiation of LCIG therapy. The "on" period increased, with a mean value of 6.14 h, and the dyskinesia period was reduced, with a mean value of 29.4 %. The quantified non-motor symptoms subsided. The patients exhibited significant improvements in QoL scores. There were few AEs and few cases of LCIG therapy discontinuation. LCIG is an important and available therapeutic option for managing patients with advanced PD.

[Current trends in the treatment of ectopic pregnancy]. / Tendinte actuale în tratamentul sarcinii extrauterine.

Ectopic pregnancy represents even nowadays a problem with a major impact upon women reproductive health, with an incidence that is still growing. Modern diagnosis methods have allowed the disappearance of the mortality, but there are persisting significant tubal dysfunctions. The present clinical study has analyzed the evolutions of the diagnosis and treatment methods upon 238 cases of extrauterine pregnancy hospitalized in the Ist Clinic of Obstetrics and Gynecology Cluj-Napoca between years 2000 and 2006. The use of the new biochemical markers and the transvaginal ultrasound examination have allowed the diagnosis of extrauterine pregnancy in an early stage, with an increased percent of uncomplicated cases raising from 55.8% to 74%. Also the percent of laparoscopic approach has grown from 23.5 to 58.6%. The radical procedure, salpingectomy was predominantly used. The laparoscopic approach has been as successful as the laparotomy and no complications have been reported. The mean hospitalization period after laparoscopy has been significantly shorter than after laparotomy (p<0.05). These results confirm the medical and economical advantages of the laparoscopic approach and recommend laparoscopy as the election method in the management of ectopic pregnancy.

Demosaicing using optimal recovery.

Color images in single-chip digital cameras are obtained by interpolating mosaiced color samples. These samples are encoded in a single-chip charge-coupled device by sampling the light after it passes through a color filter array (CFA) that contains different color filters (i.e., red, green, and blue) placed in some pattern. The resulting sparsely sampled images of the three-color planes are interpolated to obtain the complete color image. Interpolation usually introduces color artifacts due to the phase-shifted, aliased signals introduced by the sparse sampling of the CFAs. This paper introduces a nonlinear interpolation scheme based on edge information that produces high-quality visual results. The new method is especially good at reconstructing the image around edges, a place where the visual human system is most sensitive.

Adaptively quadratic (AQua) image interpolation.

Image interpolation is a key aspect of digital image processing. This paper presents a novel interpolation method based on optimal recovery and adaptively determining the quadratic signal class from the local image behavior. The advantages of the new interpolation method are the ability to interpolate directly by any factor and to model properties of the data acquisition system into the algorithm itself. Through comparisons with other algorithms it is shown that the new interpolation is not only mathematically optimal with respect to the underlying image model, but visually it is very efficient at reducing jagged edges, a place where most other interpolation algorithms fail.

Signal transduction in T lymphocytes of SLE patients: lectin-activated phosphorylation on tyrosine.

A comparative study of signal transduction through tyrosine phosphorylation process in peripheral blood lymphocytes from SLE patients and healthy subjects reveal some modifications in the phosphorylation pattern of SLE T lymphocytes. Thus, the level of constitutive tyrosine phosphorylation in resting SLE T lymphocytes is higher than in lymphocytes from healthy subjects. In SLE T lymphocytes, a cellular proteic substrate with an apparent molecular weight of about 37 kDa is constitutively phosphorylated. Some differences in the pattern of phosphorylation are obvious in lectin (Con A, PHA)-activated T lymphocytes. Thus, Con A activation enhances the phosphorylation of cellular substrates with molecular weight in the range of 55-80 kDa from SLE T lymphocytes. Moreover, the 21 kDa substrate is also hyperphosphorylated after PHA activation of SLE lymphocytes.

Diagnosis methods for pneumococcal etiology determination in lower respiratory tract infections.

A comparative study of etiological diagnosis in lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI), by conventional bacteriological methods and by pneumococcal antigen direct detection in sputum was performed. This work followed the establishing of rapid methods place, respectively of coagglutination (CoA), counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIE), within the methodology of bacteriological diagnosis in lower respiratory tract infections presenting pneumococcal etiology. The results of investigations performed on 84 sputa from LRTI patients proved the utility of CoA method in determining a rapid etiological diagnosis, important for applying an emergence targetted antibiotherapy. CoA method, with the reagents in use, covering only 10 out of 83 serological types of S. pneumoniae in not capable of replacing conventional methods of bacteriological diagnosis; they complete each other, increasing the efficiency of etiological diagnosis in LRTI. CIE method is less sensitive and more difficult to perform, being less useful in rapid etiological diagnosis of LRTI.

Investigations of magnesium, histamine and immunoglobulins dynamics in acute urticaria.

In 42 urticaria patients, magnesium, histamine and IgE were dosed. Magnesium, IgE and histamine variations were followed in urticaria evolution, during acute phase and clinical remission. We noticed magnesium, histamine, IgE values variations depending on disease evolution and applied therapeutic scheme. Therefore: At disease starting point, histamine presented 3.5 times higher values than the normal ones. The value decreases following a curve which tends to reach normal values during clinical remission. At disease starting point, magnesium presented values under the inferior limit of the normal, 0.5 m mol/L respectively, as a mean. The value increases towards the normal limit during clinical remission. Immunoglobulins E follow a similar curve to histamine one, presenting 1,250 U/L values at the starting point, that, under medication, influence decrease between normal limits (800 U/L), during clinical remission. Analyzing the variations of biochemical parameters, the authors emphasize magnesium substitution treatment in urticaria.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection detected by immunofluorescence in patients with certain skin diseases.

The presence of Mycoplasma pneumoniae and/or herpes antigens was investigated by indirect immunofluorescence (IF) reactions in exfoliated cells or biopsy specimens from 43 patients with different skin diseases (treatment-resistant cutaneous herpes, genital herpes, acne, urticaria, dermatitis, erythema multiforme, ecthyma contagiosum). Either M. pneumoniae or herpes antigen could be detected in 21 (55.26%) and 12 (31.57%) of the 38 IF-positive cases, respectively, while the associated occurrence of mycoplasma and herpes antigens was observed in 5 (13.15%) of the patients.

Postcortisone medullary changes in the irradiated and unirradiated male Wistar rat.

Cortisone administration in male Wistar rat induces a depletion of the granulocytic-normoblastic cell population in the bone marrow in parallel with a numerical increase by accumulation of lymphoid and undifferentiated cells. These changes are more intense under irradiation conditions. The reversibility of medullary modifications is shown by the integrity of the reticulinic skeleton of the bone marrow.

Spleen and lymph node changes in rats irradiated with X-rays and treated with testosterone.

The authors have studied the effect of testosterone administration in male adult Wistar rats irradiated with a single total dose of 800 r X-rays. The results obtained show that testosterone exerts a double radioprotective action. This hormone prevents both the occurrence of the senile type spleen and lymph node changes and the depression of the colloidopexic capacity of the hepatosplenic macrophages. At the same time, these results suggest that testosterone induces hyperplasia of the lymphocytic elements, particularly of T lymphocytes.