The continuous monitoring of oxygen saturation (SpO) and respiratory rates (RRs) are major clinical issues in many cardio-respiratory diseases and have been of tremendous importance during the COVID-19 pandemic. The early detection of hypoxemia was crucial since it precedes significant complications, and SpO follow-up allowed early hospital discharge in patients needing oxygen therapy. Nevertheless, fingertip devices showed some practical limitations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRich in bioactive compounds, carbohydrates, fibers, minerals, and trace elements, apple pomace (AP) is a significant agro-industrial by-product, which pollutes and brings high management costs. The current study investigates the possibility of using an aqueous AP extract (APE) as the main ingredient in a jelly candy recipe, replacing artificial colors and flavors and improving its nutritional value. APE and formulated jelly candies were analyzed in terms of their phytochemical profile, antioxidant capacity, and color parameters.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe apple processing industry generates large quantities of organic waste, presenting a major source of organic contamination. Consequently, finding an effective solution for valorizing this waste has become a pressing issue. This study aims to address two key concerns: (i) solving an agricultural problem by efficiently using agri-food residue, and (ii) removing lead, an extremely toxic element, from contaminated waters to mitigate environmental pollution.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF: The risk of developing glycemic dysregulation up to overt diabetes mellitus (DM) after an episode of acute pancreatitis (AP) is increasingly being analyzed. We aimed to assess the changes in serum glucose levels associated with the first episode of AP, as well as the impact of dysglycemia on outcomes such as the severity of inflammation, the length of hospitalization, mortality, and the persistence of hyperglycemia at follow-up. : All patients experiencing their first episode of AP, who presented to the Emergency Room (ER) between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2023, were retrospectively included.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: The aim of our research is to introduce Kin Ball for the first time in Romania and assess its impact on the motor capacities of practitioners, particularly focusing on its potential contribution to developing motor skills in young students within the academic sphere, despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design: A retrospective, case-control study with a focus on four distinct research groups.
Setting: The research was conducted in a camp setting, situated in the mountainous region of Bughea de Sus, Romania.
Despite the end of the pandemic, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) remains a major public health concern. The first waves of the virus led to a better understanding of its pathogenesis, highlighting the fact that there is a specific pulmonary vascular disorder. Indeed, COVID-19 may predispose patients to thrombotic disease in both venous and arterial circulation, and many cases of severe acute pulmonary embolism have been reported.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The aim of the study was to describe and investigate the effect of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) therapies in a cohort of patients with severe precapillary pulmonary hypertension (PH) associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD; PH-COPD), and to assess factors predictive of treatment response and mortality.
Material And Methods: We retrospectively included patients with severe incident PH-COPD who received PAH therapy and underwent RHC at diagnosis and on treatment.
Results: From 2015 to 2022, 35 severe PH-COPD patients, with clinical features of pulmonary vascular phenotype, were included.
Background: The ultrasound scan represents the first tool that obstetricians use in fetal evaluation, but sometimes, it can be limited by mobility or fetal position, excessive thickness of the maternal abdominal wall, or the presence of post-surgical scars on the maternal abdominal wall. Artificial intelligence (AI) has already been effectively used to measure biometric parameters, automatically recognize standard planes of fetal ultrasound evaluation, and for disease diagnosis, which helps conventional imaging methods. The usage of information, ultrasound scan images, and a machine learning program create an algorithm capable of assisting healthcare providers by reducing the workload, reducing the duration of the examination, and increasing the correct diagnosis capability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOptic perineuritis is the inflammation of the optic nerve sheath. This affliction can lead to visual field impairment and other signs and symptoms related to the orbital space, such as pain, disc edema, ophthalmoplegia, proptosis. However, not all patients present with such suggestive symptoms, requiring a thorough assessment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA complex interplay of factors reflecting the general biological, cardiovascular, neurological, renal, and metabolic status of patients influences the outcome of thrombolysis in stroke patients. This is a retrospective cohort observational study aimed to determine the importance of kidney dysfunction among these factors. Data (demographic, lifestyle, physical examination, laboratory, imaging, including metabolic and cardiovascular risk factors and comorbidities, neurological scores, and outcomes) of all stroke patients who underwent thrombolysis have been registered since January 1, 2016, in an online database.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground&aims: Patients with end-stage renal failure on chronic hemodialysis present an important risk of malnutrition, which is associated with a significant risk of morbidity and mortality. Meals during the dialysis session are important for maintaining the nutritional status of dialysis patients but represent a risk for intradialytic hypotension. During the COVID-19 pandemic, several dialysis centers stopped providing meals during the dialysis session as a protective measure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare disease characterized by pulmonary vascular remodeling leading to right heart failure and death. To date, despite the three therapeutic approaches targeting the three major endothelial dysfunction pathways based on the prostacyclin, nitric oxide/cyclic guanosine monophosphate, and endothelin pathways, PAH remains a serious disease. As such, new targets and therapeutic agents are needed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The methods of estimating vascular access (VA) flow rates are usually based on the indicator dilution theory by measuring recirculation during dialysis sessions.
Methods: This is an observational study comparing the VA flow rates measured by NIKKISO DBB-EXA™ and Transonic®. Sixty-five patients (38 M/27 F, mean age 72 ± 10 years) participated in the study.
(1) Background: Early disability accrual in RRMS patients is frequent and is associated with worse long-term prognosis. Correctly identifying the patients that present a high risk of early disability progression is of utmost importance, and may be aided by the use of predictive biomarkers. (2) Methods: We performed a prospective cohort study that included newly diagnosed RRMS patients, with a minimum follow-up period of one year.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEsophageal stroke, also known as acute esophageal necrosis or Gurvits syndrome, is an entity that has gained more and more recognition in the last two decades. It is also named "black esophagus" because of striking black discoloration of the esophageal mucosa, with an abrupt transition to normal mucosa at the gastroesophageal junction. Its most common clinical presentation is represented by upper gastrointestinal bleeding and esophagogastroduodenoscopy is the main diagnostic tool.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF(1) Background: Cognitive impairment (CI) begins early in the evolution of multiple sclerosis (MS) but may only become obvious in the later stages of the disease. Little data is available regarding predictive biomarkers for early, active cognitive decline in relapse remitting MS (RRMS) patients. (2) Methods: 50 RRMS patients in the first 6 months following diagnosis were included.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDriven by the modern lifestyle, the consumers are interested in healthier and balanced diets, including both probiotics and natural antioxidants. The beneficial health effects of probiotics are mainly due to their capacity of modulating the human intestinal microbiota, although achieving at least a 6 log of viable cells at the targeted site is still challenging. Therefore, in this study, an attempt to improve the bioaccessibility of () 431 through a co-microencapsulation by complex coacervation and freeze-drying, using an extract from Cornelian cherry and two biopolymeric matrices, whey protein isolates and casein (WPI-CN) and inulin (WPI-I), was studied.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground and objectives: The time interval between stroke onset and hospital arrival is a major barrier for reperfusion therapies in acute ischemic stroke and usually accounts for most of the onset-to-treatment delay. The present study aimed to analyze the pre-hospital delays for patients with acute ischemic stroke admitted to a tertiary stroke center in Romania and to identify the factors associated with a late hospital arrival. Material and methods: The study population consisted of 770 patients hospitalized with the diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke in the University Emergency Hospital Bucharest during a 6-month period, between 1 January and 30 June 2018.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCeliac disease (CD) is well recognized as a systemic, chronic autoimmune disease mainly characterized by gluten-sensitive enteropathy in genetically predisposed individuals but with various extraintestinal features. One of the affected organs in CD is the pancreas, consisting of both endocrine and exocrine alterations. Over the last decades there has been increasing interest in the pancreatic changes in CD, and this has been reflected by a great number of publications looking at this extraintestinal involvement during the course of CD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this critical review, we explore the potential use of MRI measurements as prognostic biomarkers in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, for both conventional measurements and more novel techniques such as magnetization transfer, diffusion tensor, and proton spectroscopy MRI. All authors individually and comprehensively reviewed each of the aspects listed below in PubMed, Medline, and Google Scholar. There are numerous MRI metrics that have been proven by clinical studies to hold important prognostic value for MS patients, most of which can be readily obtained from standard 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The novel COVID-19 vaccines have side effects that require efficient and close monitoring.
Aims Of The Study: To examine whether the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is associated with multiple cranial neuropathy.
Methods: We report the case of a 29-year-old male patient with no notable history who presented with left oculomotor, abducens, trigeminal and facial palsies 6 days after receiving the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
Spontaneous intracranial hypotension is a rare clinical entity caused in most cases by a cerebrospinal fluid leak occurring at the level of the spinal cord. Cranial dural leaks have been previously reported as a cause of orthostatic headaches but, as opposed to spinal dural leaks, were not associated with other findings characteristic of spontaneous intracranial hypotension. We present the case of a male admitted for severe orthostatic headache.
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