Publications by authors named "Popa S"

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a prevalent gastrointestinal disorder, affecting 3-5% of the global population and significantly impacting patients' quality of life and healthcare resources. Alongside physical symptoms such as abdominal pain and altered bowel habits, many individuals experience psychological comorbidities, including anxiety and depression. Recent research has highlighted the critical role of the gut microbiota in IBS, with dysbiosis, characterized by an imbalance in microbial diversity, frequently observed in patients.

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Game meat is derived from non-domesticated, free-ranging wild animals and plays an important role in human nutrition, but it is recognized as a source of food-borne and drug-resistant pathogens impacting food safety. The present review aimed to provide a comprehensive analysis of the frequency of isolation and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) profiles of major foodborne pathogens from the , including , , and genera, in wild ungulates, across Europe in the 21st century. A systematic search was conducted via the Google Scholar database using the PRISMA guidelines.

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High-energy nuclear collisions create a quark-gluon plasma, whose initial condition and subsequent expansion vary from event to event, impacting the distribution of the eventwise average transverse momentum [P([p_{T}])]. Disentangling the contributions from fluctuations in the nuclear overlap size (geometrical component) and other sources at a fixed size (intrinsic component) remains a challenge. This problem is addressed by measuring the mean, variance, and skewness of P([p_{T}]) in ^{208}Pb+^{208}Pb and ^{129}Xe+^{129}Xe collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.

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Background: Fractures occurring in the lower extremities as a result of road traffic accidents (RTAs) can lead to considerable morbidity and constitute a large proportion of nonfatal injuries that necessitate hospitalization. The present study aimed to examine the epidemiology of lower extremity fractures linked with RTAs in pediatric patients.

Methods: This is a descriptive retrospective research study carried out between 2015 and 2022 at St.

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This study investigated the bacteriological quality of raw ovine milk produced by farms located in the Banat region of Romania. Additionally, the pathogenic potential and antimicrobial resistance of the isolated strains were evaluated. A total of 95.

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The present study investigates the prevalence and etiology of subclinical mastitis in Țurcana sheep flocks located in south-western Romania. Milchtest and California Mastitis Test (CMT), were used for the detection of subclinical mastitis. A number of 360 milk samples across three lactation phases were analyzed.

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The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare has spurred extensive debate regarding its potential to replace human expertise across various medical specialties. This narrative review critically examines the integration of AI within diverse medical specialties to discern its role as a substitute or supporter. The analysis encompasses AI's impact on diagnostic precision, treatment planning, and patient care.

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Article Synopsis
  • Adiponectin is a promising non-invasive biomarker for liver cirrhosis, reflecting inflammation and metabolic changes, but its role remains unclear due to conflicting findings.
  • A systematic review was conducted using 16 studies with 2617 participants, finding that adiponectin levels were significantly higher in liver cirrhosis patients, particularly in those classified as Child-Pugh B.
  • The study concludes that while adiponectin is elevated in advanced liver cirrhosis, there are no significant differences when compared to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients, highlighting its potential as a diagnostic and prognostic tool.
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A search for the exclusive hadronic decays W^{±}→π^{±}γ, W^{±}→K^{±}γ, and W^{±}→ρ^{±}γ is performed using up to 140  fb^{-1} of proton-proton collisions recorded with the ATLAS detector at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt[s]=13  TeV. If observed, these rare processes would provide a unique test bench for the quantum chromodynamics factorization formalism used to calculate cross sections at colliders. Additionally, at future colliders, these decays could offer a new way to measure the W boson mass through fully reconstructed decay products.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The ATLAS experiment at the LHC conducted a search for long-lived particles (LLPs) using a large dataset (140 fb^{-1}) from proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV, focusing on LLPs with masses from 5 to 55 GeV that decay within the inner detector.
  • - The study considered scenarios where LLPs are produced from exotic Higgs boson decays and models involving axionlike particles (ALPs).
  • - No significant findings above expected background levels were detected, leading to the establishment of upper limits on various production rates involving the Higgs boson and the top quark related to LLPs and ALPs.
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  • - Pulmonary fibrosis, particularly idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and secondary pulmonary fibrosis (SPF), is a progressive lung disease that requires accurate differentiation for effective treatment, which this study aims to achieve through various blood-derived ratios and hepatic scores.
  • - Conducted at the "Leon Daniello" Clinical Hospital in Romania, the study included 66 patients (38 with IPF and 28 with SPF) to analyze their clinical data and assess the effectiveness of different biomarkers in distinguishing between the two types of pulmonary fibrosis using statistical methods.
  • - The results showed that IPF patients had higher FIB-4 scores and RDW/PLT ratios, indicating a greater risk of liver fibrosis, while SPF patients had higher PL
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Hereditary thoracic aorta diseases (HTADs) are a heterogeneous group of rare disorders whose major manifestation is represented by aneurysm and/or dissection frequently located at the level of the ascending thoracic aorta. The diseases have an insidious evolution and can be encountered as an isolated manifestation or can also be associated with systemic, extra-aortic manifestations (syndromic HTADs). Along with the development of molecular testing technologies, important progress has been made in deciphering the heterogeneous etiology of HTADs.

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: The present study aims to highlight the possible significant changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the resistance of pathogens involved in cases of pediatric infections. : This study included children hospitalized in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Surgery and Pediatrics from a tertiary teaching hospital, during and after the COVID-19 period (2020-2023). : The research included 845 samples collected during 2020-2023, from 685 pediatric patients.

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Background: Functional defecation disorders (FDD) are a common etiology of refractory chronic constipation (CC). FDD diagnosis (dyssynergic defecation [DD] and inadequate defecatory propulsion [IDP]), requires diagnostic tests including anorectal manometry (ARM) and balloon expulsion test (BET). Biofeedback (BF) is the treatment of choice for DD.

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Background: Several studies have examined the potential of adrenomedullin (ADM), pro-adrenomedullin (Pro-ADM), and mid-regional-pro-ADM (MR-Pro-ADM) as biomarkers for diagnosing and assessing the severity of heart failure (HF), with conflicting results. We aimed to investigate their diagnostic utility and their correlation with HF severity based on the New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification.

Methods: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, and Scopus using a predefined search string.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the associated production of Higgs and W bosons, focusing on how the relative signs of the Higgs couplings to W and Z bosons impact the process.
  • Two specific searches were conducted using large amounts of collision data from the LHC to analyze different coupling scenarios: one for opposite-sign couplings and another for same-sign (standard model-like) couplings.
  • The results significantly exclude the opposite-sign coupling hypothesis and set a strict upper limit on the production rate of this process compared to standard model predictions.
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Arterial hypertension (HTN) is one of the major global contributors to cardiovascular diseases and premature mortality, particularly due to its impact on vital organs and the coexistence of various comorbidities such as chronic renal disease, diabetes, cerebrovascular diseases, and obesity. Regardless of the accessibility of several well-established pharmacological treatments, the percentage of patients achieving adequate blood pressure (BP) control is still significantly lower than recommended levels. Therefore, the pharmacological and non-pharmacological management of HTN is currently the major focus of healthcare systems.

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Background/aims: In recent years, the presence of alexithymia in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has gained more attention, and several studies have evaluated this relationship. However, no clear conclusion has been reported yet. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to better understand the association between IBS and alexithymia.

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Background: Esophageal varices, dilated submucosal veins in the lower esophagus, are commonly associated with portal hypertension, particularly due to liver cirrhosis. The high morbidity and mortality linked to variceal hemorrhage underscore the need for accurate diagnosis and effective management. The traditional method of assessing esophageal varices is esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD), which, despite its diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities, presents limitations such as interobserver variability and invasiveness.

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To develop a deep learning model for esophageal motility disorder diagnosis using high-resolution manometry images with the aid of Gemini. Gemini assisted in developing this model by aiding in code writing, preprocessing, model optimization, and troubleshooting. The model demonstrated an overall precision of 0.

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: The threshold for ineffective esophageal motility (IEM) diagnosis was changed in Chicago v4.0. Our aim was to determine IEM prevalence using the new criteria and the differences between patients with definite IEM versus "inconclusive diagnosis".

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This Letter presents results from a combination of searches for Higgs boson pair production using 126-140  fb^{-1} of proton-proton collision data at sqrt[s]=13  TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector. At 95% confidence level (CL), the upper limit on the production rate is 2.9 times the standard model (SM) prediction, with an expected limit of 2.

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This Letter presents the first study of the energy dependence of diboson polarization fractions in WZ→ℓνℓ^{'}ℓ^{'}(ℓ,ℓ^{'}=e,μ) production. The dataset used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 140  fb^{-1} of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector. Two fiducial regions with an enhanced presence of events featuring two longitudinally polarized bosons are defined.

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(1) : Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are commonly prescribed for gastric disorders. In patients with liver cirrhosis, PPI use is associated with an increased risk of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis and increased mortality rates; therefore, they should be used with caution. This study aims to evaluate the appropriateness of PPI prescriptions in hospitalized cirrhotic patients against current clinical guidelines to identify patterns of misuse and guide better prescribing practices.

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