A Romanian therapeutic approach to peripheral nerve injury

The study of nerve regeneration and functional recovery of the injured peripheral nerves represents a worldwide subject of clinical and scientific research. Our team aimed to obtain the first guide for nerve regeneration, bioartificial and biodegradable, using exclusively Romanian resources and having the advantages of price and quality, over the imported nerve conduits already used in clinical practice. First steps of this project consisted in obtaining the prototype of nerve guide conduit and its' testing in vitro and in vivo. Tests of physicochemical characterization, FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared) spectrometry, thermal analysis (differential calorimetry, thermo-gravimetry), electron microscopy, water absorption and enzymatic degradation of the obtained prototype were followed by in vivo testing. The first results, obtained on a group of Brown Norway rats who suffered experimental lesions of 1 cm at the level of left sciatic nerve, which have then been repaired using the Romanian conduit prototype, are favorable in terms of biocompatibility, biodegradable capacity and support of nerve regeneration.     

Inflammatory reaction in chronic periodontopathies in patients with diabetes mellitus. Histological and immunohistochemical study

Chronic periodontopathies and diabetes mellitus are two clinical entities, which reciprocally condition one another. The periodontal disease is considered a major complication, which induces an unfavorable evolution of diabetes mellitus. Diabetes mellitus is an endocrine disease which favors the occurrence of periodontopathy through gum's microvascular disorders, the selection and development of an aggressive bacterial plaque and through an exaggerate inflammatory response to the microflora within the oral cavity. Both diabetes mellitus and periodontal disease have an increasing incidence in the whole world. Development of periodontopathy is related to the aggression of bacterial flora in dental plaque, flora that is influenced on its turn by the evolution of diabetes mellitus. In our study, we have evaluated the inflammatory reaction in periodontium in patients with slowly and progressive periodontitis in patients with diabetes mellitus who had diabetes longer than five years. It has been found that all patients presented a chronic inflammatory infiltrate, abundant, with round mononuclear cells of lymphocyte, plasma cells and macrophage type, with non-homogenous arrangement, more intensely where the covering epithelium presented erosions or necrotic areas. Out of the immunity system cells, the most numerous where of T-lymphocytes type.     

DUAL MINORITY STRESS AND ASIAN AMERICAN GAY MEN'S PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS

The present study investigated the direct and additive effects of racial minority stress and sexual minority stress on the psychological well‐being among a community sample of 139 Asian American gay men. Self‐esteem was tested to see whether it moderated or mediated the effects of perceived dual minority stress on psychological distress. Results revealed that sexual minority stress predicted self‐esteem and both were predictors of psychological distress. Racial minority stress did not predict psychological distress. Contrary to the minority stress model existing in the current literature, the added disadvantages of racial/ethnic minority status did not increase Asian American gay men's psychological distress. Self‐esteem did not mediate or moderate the relationships between minority stresses and psychological distress. These findings highlight the robust effects of stresses related to one'es homosexuality on psychological well‐being and suggest that self‐esteem may not always protect against multiple discriminations for Asian American gay men. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Goal consensus and collaboration

This article updates our previous article in this journal (Tryon & Winograd, 2001) by examining via meta-analyses results of recent studies, published from 2000 through 2009, that relate goal consensus and collaboration to treatment outcome. Specifically, 15 studies with a total sample size of 1,302 yielded a goal consensus-psychotherapy outcome effect size of .34 (SD = .19, p < .0001, 95% confidence interval = .23-.45), indicating that better outcomes can be expected when patient and therapist agree on therapeutic goals and the processes to achieve these goals. The collaboration-outcome meta-analysis based on 19 studies with a total sample of 2,260 patients yielded a mean correlation of .33 (SD = .17, p < .0001, 95% confidence interval = .25-.42), suggesting that psychotherapy outcome appears to be considerably enhanced when patient and therapist are actively involved in a cooperative relationship. We discuss therapeutic practices that follow from these findings.     

Associations of smoking with cardiometabolic profile and renal function in a Romanian population-based sample from the PREDATORR cross-sectional study

Background: The impact of smoking on morbidity is well known, but in Romania, limited data are available regarding the smoking prevalence and relationship with cardiometabolic profile and kidney function.

Objectives: To assess the association of smoking with cardiometabolic traits and kidney function, in a Romanian population-based sample from the PREDATORR study.

Methods: PREDATORR was an epidemiological cross-sectional study. Between 2012 and 2014, participants were randomly selected from the lists of general practitioners and enrolled if they were aged 20 to 79 years, born and living in the past 10 years in Romania. Sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics were collected through interviewer-administered questionnaires.

Results: Overall, 2704 participants were included in the analysis, 18% of them being current smokers and 30.8% former smokers. Current smokers compared to non-smokers had higher total cholesterol (220.6?±?50.4 versus 213.9?±?86.8?mg/dl, P?=?0.017), LDL-cholesterol (137.8?±?45.2 versus 130.7?±?83.7?mg/dl, P?=?0.004) and glomerular filtration rate (96.9?±?16.8 versus 90.7?±?19.1?ml/min/1.73?m², P?<0.001) in women and higher triglycerides (170.7?±?129.8 versus 144.3?±?94.2?mg/dl, P?=?0.007), glomerular filtration rate (97.6?±?17 versus 90.3?±?18?ml/min/1.73?m², P?P?=?0.002) in men. Active smoking was associated with hypercholesterolaemia [OR: 1.40 (95% CI: 1.01–1.96), P?=?0.04] and low HDL-cholesterolaemia [OR: 1.39 (95% CI: 1.01–1.91), P?=?0.04] and negatively associated with overweight/obesity [OR: 0.67 (95% CI: 0.48–0.94), P?=?0.02]. Male former smokers had higher prevalence of abdominal obesity (82.4% versus 76.4%, P?=?0.02), hypertriglyceridaemia (43.6% versus 35.6%, P?=?0.01), hypertension (64% versus 56.4%, P?=?0.01) and ischaemic vascular disease (40.5% versus 30.9%, P?=?0.003) than male non-smokers.

Conclusion: The PREDATORR study showed a high prevalence of smoking in the adult Romanian population providing data on the association of smoking with cardiometabolic traits.     

Network‐based decoupling of local gyrification in obsessive‐compulsive disorder

Gyrification is associated with cortical maturation and closely linked to neurodevelopmental processes. Obsessive‐compulsive disorder has previously been associated with neurodevelopmental risk factors. Using graph theoretical modeling we examined structural covariance patterns to assess potential disruptions in processes associated with neurodevelopment in OCD. In total 97 patients and 92 healthy controls underwent magnetic resonance imaging. Structural covariance networks based on local gyrification indices were constructed using an atlas‐based parcellation scheme. Network properties were assessed using the network‐based statistic as well as global and local graph theoretical measures. Correlations between gyrification and symptom severity as well as age of disease onset were examined. Network‐based statistic analysis revealed one cluster with significantly decreased structural covariance in patients comprising mainly ventral brain regions (p = .041). Normalized characteristic path length was found to be impaired in patients (p = .051). On a nodal level, left middle frontal sulcus displayed a significantly decreased local clustering coefficient (p < .001). Finally, gyrification in several inferior frontal nodes significantly correlated with age of onset but not symptom severity. The decrease in a gyrification‐based covariance network in OCD appears to be mostly confined to ventral areas in which gyrification starts the latest during development. This pattern may indicate that alterations taking place during development are potentially time locked to specific periods. Correlations between gyrification in inferio‐frontal nodes and age of onset potentially indicate a structural trait rather than state marker for OCD. Finally, a trend in impaired global integration capabilities may point towards potentially widespread global alterations during neurodevelopment in patients.     

Brn3a and Brn3b knockout mice display unvaried retinal fine structure despite major morphological and numerical alterations of ganglion cells

Ganglion cells (GCs), the retinal output neurons, receive synaptic inputs from bipolar and amacrine cells in the inner plexiform layer (IPL) and send information to the brain nuclei via the optic nerve. Although GCs constitute less than 1% of the total retinal cells, they occur in numerous types and are the first neurons formed during retinal development. Using Brn3a and Brn3b mutant mice in which the alkaline phosphatase gene was knocked-in (Badea et al. [Neuron] 2009;61:852–864; Badea and Nathans [Vision Res] 2011;51:269–279), we studied the general effects after gene removal on the retinal neuropil together with the consequences of lack of development of large numbers of GCs onto the remaining retinal neurons of the same class. We analyzed the morphology, number, and general architecture of various neuronal types presynaptic to GCs, searching for changes secondary to the decrement in the number of their postsynaptic partners, as well as the morphology and distribution of retinal astrocytes, for their strong topographical relation to GCs. We found that, despite GC losses, retinal organization in Brn3 null mice is remarkably similar to that of wild-type controls. J. Comp. Neurol. 527:187–211, 2019. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Foot and mouth disease revisited: re-analysis using Bayesian spatial susceptible-infectious-removed models

The foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in the United Kingdom in 2001 was modeled via the use of Bayesian spatial susceptible-infected-removed (SIR) models. In these models the underlying mean of the incident cases was modeled spatially and in time. Dependence structures at the parish level between previous and current cases were modeled either with individual dependence or with neighborhood dependencies. Additional confounding was modeled via random effects that can have either uncorrelated or spatially correlated prior distributions. The best models found relied on lagged population and infection count within the same parish but neighborhood lagged dependencies overall did not provide a good fit. Models with only a space-time interaction effect were preferred over more complex models. The estimation of 'decline' markers for different areas was considered via difference operators as posterior functionals. These proved to be useful in giving an early indication of the waning phase of the epidemic locally.     

Preliminary development and evaluation of online tobacco and alcohol modules for dental students

Tobacco use and heavy alcohol consumption are major risk factors for the development of oral and pharyngeal cancer (OPC). Detection and modification of these risks by dentists are keys in preventing OPC. While dentists are encouraged to screen patients for tobacco and alcohol use and educate them about the oral health risks they pose, dental students receive little formalized training in this area. This pilot project was designed to develop and evaluate two online training modules for dental students: one on tobacco and oral health risk factors, and one on methods of alcohol screening. Results indicated that online tobacco/alcohol education for dental students is feasible. The modules resulted in meaningful improvement in dental students' knowledge of tobacco and alcohol use as well as alcohol screening methods. The alcohol module resulted in statistically significant increases in intention to screen patients for alcohol use and in comfort level in performing alcohol screening.