Cremation in Interwar Romania: The Case of the Potter's Field.

This article aims to analyse the activities of Potter's Field practice in Romania as part of the Patriarch Miron Orthodox Association. From its very beginning it was orientated against the apparition of cremation in Romania, realized in the first cremation at the Cenușa Crematorium in Bucharest (1928). The target was to 'save' poor people from cremation, considering that the cremation aimed to remove from the local authorities the pressure of supporting the costs of burials for unidentified bodies and bodies that were unclaimed by families ('the social cremations').

Impact of Lavender Flower Powder as a Flavoring Ingredient on Volatile Composition and Quality Characteristics of Gouda-Type Cheese during Ripening.

This study aimed to formulate a Gouda-type cheese from cow's milk, flavored with lavender flower powder (0.5 g/L matured milk), ripened for 30 days at 14 °C and 85% relative humidity. Physicochemical, microbiological, and textural characteristics, as well as the volatile composition of the control (CC-cheese without lavender) and lavender cheese (LC), were assessed at 10-day intervals of ripening.

Assessment of Food By-Products' Potential for Simultaneous Binding of Aflatoxin B1 and Zearalenone.

In this study, eight food by-products were investigated as biosorbent approaches in removing mycotoxin load towards potential dietary inclusion in animal feed. Among these food-derived by-products, grape seed (GSM) and seabuckthorn (SBM) meals showed the most promising binding capacity for Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and Zearalenone (ZEA), measured as percent of adsorbed mycotoxin. Furthermore, we explored the mycotoxin sequestering potential by screening the effect of time, concentration, temperature and pH.

Formulation and Characterization of Antimicrobial Edible Films Based on Whey Protein Isolate and Tarragon Essential Oil.

The effects of heat treatment and the addition of tarragon essential oil on physical and mechanical properties of films prepared with 5% whey protein isolate (WPI) and 5% glycerol were investigated in this study. Heat treatment of the film-forming solution caused increases in thickness, moisture content, swelling degree, water vapor permeability (WVP), -value, Δ-value, transmittance values in the 200-300-nm region, transparency, and puncture resistance of the film, but decreases in water solubility, -value, -value, transmittance values in the 350-800-nm region, and puncture deformation. When incorporated with tarragon essential oil, heat-treated films have the potential to be used as antimicrobial food packaging.

Intestinal Absorption and Antioxidant Activity of Grape Pomace Polyphenols.

The absorption and antioxidant activity of polyphenols from grape pomace (GP) are important aspects of its valorization as a feed additive in the diet of weaned piglets. This study aimed to evaluate the presence of polyphenols from GP both in IPEC cells and in the duodenum and colon of piglets fed with diets containing or not 5% GP and also to compare and correlate the aspects of their and absorption. Total polyphenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant status (TAS, CAT, SOD and GPx enzyme activity, and lipid peroxidation-TBARS level) were assessed in duodenum and colon of piglets fed or not a diet with 5% GP.

The time that comes toward us: The Alba Iulia death conferences.

This article illuminates the history of the annual death conference in Alba Iulia, Romania (2007-2015), the only conference on death and dying organized in Eastern Europe. Written by the conference founder, the article tries to set out the main lines of its development over that period. Emphasis is laid on the difficulties of expanding death studies in Romania, the reaction of the wider public to the death conference, and the collaboration beyond borders between death scholars.

Stroke patients who regain urinary continence in the first week after acute first-ever stroke have better prognosis than patients with persistent lower urinary tract dysfunction.

Aims: Urinary incontinence (UI) is a predictor of greater mortality and poor functional recovery; however published studies failed to evaluate lower urinary tract (LUT) function immediately after stroke. The aim of our study was to evaluate the course of LUT function in the first week after stroke, and its impact on prognosis.

Methods: We included 100 consecutively admitted patients suffering first-ever stroke and evaluated them within 72 hours after stroke, after 7 days, 6 months, and 12 months.

Correlations between the ICIQ-UI short form and urodynamic diagnosis.

Aims: Urinary incontinence is a common symptom in many diseases as well as in general population. To measure the impact of urinary incontinence (UI) on individual's quality of life the English short form International Consultation on Incontinence questionnaire (ICIQ-UI Short Form) has been developed, which consists of three scored and one self-diagnostic question. Our aim was to translate the ICIQ-UI Short Form into Slovene, re-validate it, and test the diagnostic value of the questionnaire in determining the type of UI.

Cardiac consequences of the systemic lupus erythematosus therapy with corticosteroids morphological study.

It is presented the case of a fifty years old women, diagnosed 3 years ago with systemic lupus erythematosus, under therapy with prednisone and cyclophosphamid therapy. She was admitted in our hospital for right decompensated heart disease and the presence of an apical right ventricular mass occluding part of the right ventricular cavity. The endomyocardial biopsy was made to clearify the nature of this mass.

[Crystallographic study of cerebrospinal fluid in closed craniocerebral injuries in children].

The authors examined 65 children with closed head trauma of varying severity and 68 children with other acute neurological diseases. A new method of the diagnosis and assessment of the severity of closed craniocerebral injury, namely, crystallographic examination of the patients' cerebrospinal fluid, was used in the study. The method helped to establish the clinical forms of closed head trauma and to determine its severity and the presence of complications.