Using the ClinFIT COVID-19 Instrument to Assess the Functional Impairments Specific to Post-COVID-19 Patients in Romania.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to approximately 3.5 million cases in Romania, causing systemic inflammation and over 200 symptoms affecting various body systems. This complexity has challenged rehabilitation systems, necessitating personalized plans tailored to each patient's illness stage and impairment level.

The Genetic Origin of the Indo-Europeans.

The Yamnaya archaeological complex appeared around 3300BCE across the steppes north of the Black and Caspian Seas, and by 3000BCE reached its maximal extent from Hungary in the west to Kazakhstan in the east. To localize the ancestral and geographical origins of the Yamnaya among the diverse Eneolithic people that preceded them, we studied ancient DNA data from 428 individuals of which 299 are reported for the first time, demonstrating three previously unknown Eneolithic genetic clines. First, a "Caucasus-Lower Volga" (CLV) Cline suffused with Caucasus hunter-gatherer (CHG) ancestry extended between a Caucasus Neolithic southern end in Neolithic Armenia, and a steppe northern end in Berezhnovka in the Lower Volga.

Assessing the Effectiveness of Rehabilitation Interventions through the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 on Disability-A Systematic Review.

(1) Background: The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0) is a tool designed to measure disability in accordance with the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health.

PRISMA Systematic Literature Review, including with Meta-Analysis vs. Chatbot/GPT (AI) regarding Current Scientific Data on the Main Effects of the Calf Blood Deproteinized Hemoderivative Medicine (Actovegin) in Ischemic Stroke.

Background: Stroke is a significant public health problem and a leading cause of death and long-term disability worldwide. Several treatments for ischemic stroke have been developed, but these treatments have limited effectiveness. One potential treatment for this condition is Actovegin/AODEJIN, a calf blood deproteinized hemodialysate/ultrafiltrate that has been shown to have pleiotropic/multifactorial and possibly multimodal effects.

The genetic history of the Southern Arc: A bridge between West Asia and Europe.

By sequencing 727 ancient individuals from the Southern Arc (Anatolia and its neighbors in Southeastern Europe and West Asia) over 10,000 years, we contextualize its Chalcolithic period and Bronze Age (about 5000 to 1000 BCE), when extensive gene flow entangled it with the Eurasian steppe. Two streams of migration transmitted Caucasus and Anatolian/Levantine ancestry northward, and the Yamnaya pastoralists, formed on the steppe, then spread southward into the Balkans and across the Caucasus into Armenia, where they left numerous patrilineal descendants. Anatolia was transformed by intra-West Asian gene flow, with negligible impact of the later Yamnaya migrations.

Ancient DNA from Mesopotamia suggests distinct Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic migrations into Anatolia.

We present the first ancient DNA data from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Mesopotamia (Southeastern Turkey and Northern Iraq), Cyprus, and the Northwestern Zagros, along with the first data from Neolithic Armenia. We show that these and neighboring populations were formed through admixture of pre-Neolithic sources related to Anatolian, Caucasus, and Levantine hunter-gatherers, forming a Neolithic continuum of ancestry mirroring the geography of West Asia. By analyzing Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic populations of Anatolia, we show that the former were derived from admixture between Mesopotamian-related and local Epipaleolithic-related sources, but the latter experienced additional Levantine-related gene flow, thus documenting at least two pulses of migration from the Fertile Crescent heartland to the early farmers of Anatolia.

A genetic probe into the ancient and medieval history of Southern Europe and West Asia.

Literary and archaeological sources have preserved a rich history of Southern Europe and West Asia since the Bronze Age that can be complemented by genetics. Mycenaean period elites in Greece did not differ from the general population and included both people with some steppe ancestry and others, like the Griffin Warrior, without it. Similarly, people in the central area of the Urartian Kingdom around Lake Van lacked the steppe ancestry characteristic of the kingdom's northern provinces.

Difficulties in Diagnosis and Therapy of Infective Endocarditis in Children and Adolescents-Cohort Study.

Despite the progress in management and prophylaxis measures, infective endocarditis (IE) is still a condition associated with high mortality rates and severe complications. Fortunately, the incidence of IE is much lower in children and adolescents, with only 0.05-0.

A minimally destructive protocol for DNA extraction from ancient teeth.

Ancient DNA sampling methods-although optimized for efficient DNA extraction-are destructive, relying on drilling or cutting and powdering (parts of) bones and teeth. As the field of ancient DNA has grown, so have concerns about the impact of destructive sampling of the skeletal remains from which ancient DNA is obtained. Due to a particularly high concentration of endogenous DNA, the cementum of tooth roots is often targeted for ancient DNA sampling, but destructive sampling methods of the cementum often result in the loss of at least one entire root.

Relationships between coping, anxiety, depression and health-related quality of life in outpatients with substance use disorders: results of the SUBUSQOL study.

Previous research showed that coping strategies are associated with depressive symptoms and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with chronic somatic conditions. The aim of this study was to examine the coping strategies used in patients with substance use disorders and to assess the relationships between coping strategies, HRQoL, anxiety and depression. Coping was assessed in a prospective outpatient cohort by the Brief COPE.

The Use of Virtual and Immersive Technology in Creating Personalized Multisensory Spaces for People Living With Dementia (SENSE-GARDEN): Protocol for a Multisite Before-After Trial.

Background: The number of people living with dementia is rapidly increasing. With dementia's impact on memory, communication, and self-identity, it is important to identify ways of meeting individual needs of diagnosed individuals and their caregivers. This study will test a new intervention, SENSE-GARDEN, that integrates autobiographical music, films, pictures, and scents with innovative technology to create an immersive environment tailored specifically for the individual.

The Effects of Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt on Gait Performance.

Most studies on patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) regard pre-post Tap test and long-term follow-up after shunt surgery. Quantitative and qualitative assessment tools specific to rehabilitation medicine can provide an objective measurement of the benefit of the neurosurgical intervention at 1-month follow-up. The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the early benefit of the ventriculoperitoneal shunt with low or medium pressure valve on the gait capacity of persons with NPH, one month after surgery.

Technologically-advanced assessment of upper-limb spasticity: a pilot study.

Background: Spasticity is a muscle disorder associated with upper motor neuron syndrome occurring in neurological disorders, such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury and others. It influences the patient's rehabilitation, interfering with function, limiting independence, causing pain and producing secondary impairments, such as contractures or other complications. Due to the heterogeneity of clinical signs of spasticity, there is no agreement on the most appropriate assessment and measurement modality for the evaluation of treatment outcomes.

Root Canal Stripping: Malpractice or Common Procedural Accident-An Ethical Dilemma in Endodontics.

Root canal stripping is defined as an oblong, vertical perforation that appears especially in the middle section of curved root canals during endodontic treatments with nickel-titanium (Ni-Ti) instruments. Its occurrence may drastically affect the outcome of the treatment, transforming a common otherwise efficient endodontic procedure into a complication such as tooth extraction. In order to discuss the ethical and legal consequences, two cases of dental strip perforations are herewith presented.

Rice bran extract compensates mitochondrial dysfunction in a cellular model of early Alzheimer's disease.

Mitochondrial dysfunction plays an important role in brain aging and has emerged to be an early event in Alzheimer's disease (AD), contributing to neurodegeneration and the loss of physical abilities seen in patients suffering from this disease. We examined mitochondrial dysfunction in a cell culture model of AD (PC12APPsw cells) releasing very low amyloid-β (Aβ40) levels and thus mimicking early AD stages. Our data show that these cells have impaired energy metabolism, low ATP levels, and decreased endogenous mitochondrial respiration.

Rice bran extract protects from mitochondrial dysfunction in guinea pig brains.

Mitochondrial dysfunction plays a major role in the development of age-related neurodegenerative diseases and recent evidence suggests that food ingredients can improve mitochondrial function. In the current study we investigated the effects of feeding a stabilized rice bran extract (RBE) on mitochondrial function in the brain of guinea pigs. Key components of the rice bran are oryzanols, tocopherols and tocotrienols, which are supposed to have beneficial effects on mitochondrial function.

More actors, different play: sphenoethmoid cell intimately related to the maxillary nerve canal and cavernous sinus apex.

The sphenoid sinus is one of the most morphologically variable and surgically important structures of the skull base. Located below the sella turcica, neighbored by parasellar regions, such as the orbital apex, pterygopalatine fossa and lateral sellar region (cavernous sinus), it is clinically related to these and surgically relevant as corridor for various approaches. Moreover, at the sphenoethmoidal junction, important variations occur, most of these related to the presence of the Onodi cells and the intrasinusal protrusions of the optic nerve.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in terms of symbiosis-parasitism continuum.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are forming the most wide-spread mycorrhizal relationships on Earth. Mycorrhiza contributes to phosphorous acquisition, water absorption and resistance to diseases. The fungus promotes the absorption of nutrients and water from soil, meanwhile the host plant offers photosynthetic assimilates in exchange, like carbohydrates, as energy source.

Effect of oxygen levels on proteoglycan synthesis by intervertebral disc cells.

Study Design: the response of cells from the annulus fibrosus (AF) and nucleus pulposus (NP) to varying oxygen (O2) concentrations was examined when cultured in alginate.

Objective: to study the effect of O2 concentration on AF and NP cells.

Summary Of Background Data: AF and NP cells possess different metabolic profiles in situ.

The maxillary recess of the sphenoid sinus.

The most studied recess of the sphenoid sinus seems to be the lateral one, which is highly variable. Less attention seems to be paid to the maxillary recess, extending anterior, inferior and lateral towards the maxillary sinus. Twenty patients were referred for CT of the paranasal sinuses (axial CT), during a 3-month period.

Cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator missing the first four transmembrane segments increases wild type and DeltaF508 processing.

We previously generated an adenoassociated viral gene therapy vector, rAAV-Delta264 cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), missing the first four transmembrane domains of CFTR. When infected into monkey lungs, Delta264 CFTR increased the levels of endogenous wild type CFTR protein. To understand this process, we transfected Delta264 CFTR plasmid cDNA into COS7 cells, and we noted that protein expression from the truncation mutant is barely detectable when compared with wild type or DeltaF508 CFTR.

Former and present aspects in upper level of viscero-skull architecture.

The classical reference material describes two resistance arcs, the maxillary arc and the mandibulary arc, from which the masticatory forces direct themselves towards the functional resistance structures of the viscero-skull. From the maxillary arc, three pairs of vertical pillars ascend (that is fronto-nasal, zygomatic and pterygoid). Certain authors add to these a median arc--the bony part of the nasal septum.

Study of the diameter and number of the pulmonary veins orifices.

The present study was made in the anatomy laboratory on 100 heart specimens. It was studied the morphological parameters about diameter and number of the atrial orifices of the pulmonary veins. The number of the orifices and their diameter depends on the lungs weight.

Aspects referring to the morphological variability of the abdominal branches of pneumogastric nerve (nervus vagus).

Terminal part and the abdominal branches of pneumogastric nerve were and still is an up-to-date problem not only through the anatomic importance but also through its implications in surgical practice. The study was done on 50 corpses using the dissection method. We are looking after torsion variants of pneumogastric nerves around the esophagus, morphological variability of the periesophageal pnemogastric plexus among witch the pnemogastric nerves loose theirs individuality through the mixture and the anastomoses of the fibers and the morphological variability of abdominal branches of the nerve, grouped by us in anterior and posterior branches.