Simona Dunca

Enhanced antibacterial effect of silver nanoparticles obtained by electrochemical synthesis in poly(amide-hydroxyurethane) media

In the present study, we report enhanced antimicrobial properties of 29 and 23 nm silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) obtained by electrochemical synthesis in poly(amide-hydroxyurethane) media. Antibacterial activity assessed by disk diffusion method indicates that silver nanoparticles produced inhibition zones for both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus depending on silver concentration. The bacterial growth curve performed in the presence of silver nanoparticles showed a stronger antibacterial effect at lower concentrations than those described in the earlier reports. The effect was both dose and size dependent and was more pronounced against Gram negative bacteria than Gram positive one. The smallest Ag NPs used had a bactericidal effect resulting in killing E. coli cells. Scanning electron microscopy analysis indicated major damage and morphology changes of the silver nanoparticles treated bacterial cells. The major mechanism responsible for the antibacterial effect probably consists in clusters formation and nanoparticles anchorage to the bacterial cell surface.

Morphological Properties and Antibacterial Activity of Nano-Silver-Containing Cellulose Acetate Phthalate Films

Modification of the rheological properties of cellulose acetate phthalate in 2-methoxyethanol/acetone/water, at different compositions of solvent mixtures, allowed the identification of optimal composition of solvent mixtures for obtaining fibers with controlled diameters. Changing the solvent content in the casting solutions favors modification of the morphological aspects of cellulose acetate phthalate (CAP) films, as observed from atomic force microscopy images. Silver nitrate was incorporated into CAP, as a dispersion medium, and the silver-containing polymer (Ag-CAP) films thus obtained were studied for obtaining information on antimicrobial activity, using Escherichia coli ATCC 10536 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCCC 6538 microorganisms. The results were compared with the antibacterial activity of nano-silver-containing cellulose acetate (Ag-CA) films. The different inhibiting effects of CA or Ag-CA and of CAP or Ag-CAP on the tested Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria are due to a different antimicrobial activity of the polymers and to the antiseptic character of nano-silver.

Origin of rheological behavior and surface/interfacial properties of some semi-alicyclic polyimides for biomedical applications

High-performance alicyclic-containing polyimides for advanced applications, derived from 5-(2,5-dioxotetrahydrofurfuryl)-3-methyl-3-cyclohexene-1,2-dicarboxylic acid anhydride or bicyclo[2.2.2]oct-7-ene-2,3,5,6-tetracarboxylic dianhydride and two flexible aromatic diamines, were synthesized by a classical two-step polycondensation reaction and analyzed by rheological method. The results were discussed according to the chemical structure of polyimides and their different properties, such as flexibility, hydrophobicity and surface morphology. It has been showed that the obtained parameters, controlled by the interactions occurring in the polyimide systems, can be correlated with the adhesion/cohesion of blood components and plasma proteins. Thus, the results of the work of spreading proteins on the hydrophobic polyimide surfaces indicated that albumin is not absorbed preferentially, while fibrinogen is characterized by a higher degree of adhesion on the surfaces, and also that selective adsorption of plasma proteins modifies blood compatibility. In addition, these results and the ascertained antimicrobial activity of the studied polyimides contribute to the development of new applications in the bio-technical field.

STUDY OF THE CONTAMINATING MICROBIOTA OF OLD PAPER SUPPORTS

During the treatment of this paper it is aimed the accurate characterization of natural objects that constitute the natural heritage of this region, as well as the proposals for new monuments. In this article it is conducted a genuine scientific work for the analysis of these monuments and the values associated with them. The basic method that is used in the treatment of this paper has been the one of direct field observations, analyzing these aspects; their physical condition, size, prognosis and photography. The paper has scientific value to researchers in the field of geography and local authorities. The main part in the paper is occupied by the results of the performed work in the following areas: The assessment of the natural conditions of this district, in function ofthe natural monuments. The classification of natural monuments; geomonuments, bio and hidromonuments. The physical analysis of the declared monuments,explaining their current situation and future trend.Their association with different views. Proposals for new natural monuments, for those objects that meet the criteria of being such. All these proposed monuments, are analyzed by the natural aspect, and accompanied by photos. At the end of this paper are given the conclusions, noting that the natural heritage of this district is a national asset. There are given some recommendations such as; their defence is responsibility of the state and of all the public opinion. Their good management requires strong legal measures in order to preserve these values.This article focuses in the azorean third tea period (1878-1879), time to learn and the first move towards tea industry. This time is made up of two periods: First, time to collect and make tea (March to July 1878); Second, time to collect and make tea (April to July 1879). With the hiring of two Chinese tea technicians, Lau-a-Pan (the master) and Lau-a- Teng (the interpreter) by the local agricultural society, locals rapidly acquired two things: how to grow and make tea and the value of his tea. Tea industry brought together first and second generation SPAM members, who, to cope with wine and orange crises, among other products, invested in tea. Industry mainly developed in Saint Michaels‘s Island.Military in Pakistan and Bangladesh has been deeply involved in politics all over the history. Since after the birth of both countries, the strong democratic government has not yet been established, due to the continuous involvement of Military in politics. The current research attempts to evaluate the main causes of Military Intervention in two countries. The utilized information of causes has been taken from books, journals, articles, on line materials and other secondary sources. The findings result with regard to the sources of military interventions in politics are the causes of weak political institution, vested interest of the military, legacy of the British army, political corruption and superiority.The subject of insurance law has been a very trickish and clumsy one to anybody who desires to know about it or conduct any research with regard to same. The general notion of the public against insurance companies is very negative when it comes to the aspect of payment of indemnity by the insurers. Perhaps based on a simple or very trivial excuse, the insurer may repudiate liability either on the basis of non – disclosure or non – possession of insurable interest e.t.c. In most cases, insurers have denied or repudiated indemnities on ground of non – disclosure which in all of the policies are made to be a ―warranty‖ or ―conditions‖ which goes to the root of the contract itself. The common law rule on this is very strict and therefore operates against the claim of the assured whenever the defence is raised by the insurer. However, the Nigerian Insurance Act, appears to have remedied this common law position by making the concept of non – disclosure equitable to both parties to an insurance policy. It is hereby suggested that other jurisdiction should follow suit for the development of insurance law.The need to own assets, whether in the form of long-term tangible or intangible assets, conditions a successful operation of an accounting entity in some cases. The objective of the article is to compare the asset structure defined for public sector accounting entities to the asset structure binding for business entities in compliance with the legislation valid in SR. Further objective of the article is to compare the legislation valid in SR in terms of long-term assets to the legislation defined under IAS/IFRS International Accounting Standards (applicable for businesses) and IPSAS (applicable for public sector entities). Our effort is to point out the differences on the grounds of the given comparisons, and to propose measures aimed at enhancing the legislation on the grounds of the analysis.Mass housing estates of the second half of the 20th century represent a poorly described and appraised topic of recent history. Mainly professionals overlook their garden design related aspect. It seems unbuilt areas within them were neglected by their authors; still, they represent an essential change in the urban structure in the 20th century and the rising significance of elements representing nature in urbanized environments. The present text focuses on housing estates in the Czech Republic that were built between the 1960s and 1989, especially their garden design related and landscape related aspects. First, circumstances of post-war building of mass housing and the role of modernist theories are introduced. Second, the development of forms of public areas in specific conditions of socialist central planning is observed. Our exploration concentrates on significant projects presented in the press of the time as well as housing estates that did not stand out from the average. The results, which we are presenting, are an overview of particular types of public spaces within mass housing estates with their basic characteristics and a definition of the roles of vegetation and other garden design means related to housing. In conclusion, we formulate a general development direction which the relation between landscape and housing took, as we can observe it in the example of housing estates of the second half of the 20th century.Our research is dedicated to the problem of the development of the future doctors’ subject competencies in Medical deontology by means of Cooperative learning structures. In this article we are going to review the findings on the initial level of the future doctors’ subject competencies in Medical deontology in terms of the motivational component within the framework of the experimental part of the investigation. Our main task is to reveal the gaps in the motivational component of the future doctors’ subject competencies in Medical deontology and to suggest Cooperative learning as a technique to improve the deontological education. The initial level of the development of the future doctors’ subject competencies in Medical deontology has been evaluated by us in terms of three components – motivational, cognitive and behavioral the essence of which is represented in criteria and the latter are reflected in indicators. In this article we will review the findings on the motivational component. The initial level of the development of the motivational component of the competencies in Medical deontology has been determined in terms of the professional needs and interests of the medical students, the indicators of which include awareness of a career choice, type of motivation to study at the higher medical educational establishment (“professional” motives, motives of “personal prestige”, “pragmatic” and “educational” motives, external factors), prevailing personality orientation (humanistic, professional, social, business, and antisocial), motivation for communication, self-improvement and selfdevelopment motivation, recognition of the practical significance of the academic course “Deontology in medicine”, an interest in ethical and deontological education.Nowadays, the number of stimuli reaching the consumers is underdrastic growth. At the same time, consumers are not able to or willing toprocess this amount of information. In spite of the educational level,informative campaigns and publications, the consumers‘ level of knowledgeremains low concerning the composition of food products. On the basis of aresearch carried out in 2013, in Hungary and involving 1,150 individuals, wecan state that consumers are not aware of the extent of carbohydrates andenergy contained in their food products. It is the responsibility of consumerprotection to work out a signalling for food products that is easy to beprocessed and can be immediately understood by the consumers. Such aninitiative could be the comprehensive and mandatory introduction of the―traffic light system‖.Agence France-Presse (AFP) is an international French news agency located in Paris. It is the oldest and largest news agency in the world. It is one of four most outstanding agencies together with “Associate Press”, “Reuters” and “Itar-Tass”. Information agencies originated from 1835 when a young French writer and translator Charles-Louis Havas established Agency Havas on the basis of which was established one of the greatest agencies France-Presse. A lot of issues were changed in the strategy of the Agency from the day of its foundation, but in XXI century, the epoch of modern technologies, it faced new challenges and accomplished changes in the sphere of its activities. Top management of Agence France- Presse managed to implement new technologies and become one of the most prestigious agencies in the world.The spectrum of the problems analyzed in the following article is based on the works by Merab Mamardashvili (1930-1990) dedicated to the theme of Europe, talks given in Paris and Barcelona, articles and interviews published in various French newspapers or journals. Mamardashvili clearly realized that the establishment of democratic regime in the society emerging on the ruins of a totalitarian state could create the most complicated problem to the state and culture; that the indigenous peoples of the former Soviet Union (including Georgians) who before October Revolution could not follow the time, modernity, would find themselves in a difficult situation in the process of formation of civil society and its members as citizens. The aspiration toward modernizing the individuals poses many difficulties to the politicians and citizens because we are simultaneously being transformed into free and independent nation, and the members of civil society. The situation is complicated by the fact that this process passes through the fog of post-totalitarian society. Merab Mamardashili’s critical analysis is due to a desire for better future of Georgia, the desire that in the era of globalization Georgian thinking could adequately respond to the challenges of time. In the process of desovietization of thinking and formation of civil society, the views developed by the philosopher Merab Mamardashili about the relationships between the individual and society are still valuable and relevant.The total world population is 7.093 billion of them 1.29 billion do live with absolute poverty [PPP below

Complex Risks from Old Urban Waste Landfills: Sustainability Perspective from Iasi, Romania

1.25]. Around 4 million of people die cause of starving and malnutrition and 25 million without treatment/year. 100 million is homeless and further 100 million is hidden homeless. Around 200 million is unemployed, of them 75 million that is 13% of the total figure is between the ages of 15 & 24 [IMF-2012]. If dramatic changes are not happened in the world job markets and young jobless is remain stable, its impact would be very devastative for the forthcoming world.This paper analyzes the category of mediation from the point of view of humanisticoriented pedagogy. Mediation is discussed first in its presumably most popular context, that is, in the context of legal procedures, where Polish law is taken as an illustrative material. Against this background, the main functions and principles of legal concept of mediation are presented. Further investigations are devoted to the characterization of humanistic-oriented pedagogy, with emphasis on the main categories of this type of pedagogical inquiry. The very notion of category is also focused on. Finally, the research question concerning the understanding of mediation as a category of humanistic-oriented pedagogy is discussed. It is argued that certain important values underlying the legal concept of mediation are present in the research in pedagogy, but in the latter context, the category of mediation adopts a much broader meaning, for its elements are present in every stage of human development.Screening of oncologic pathology of gastro-intestinal tract by means of multicenter endoscopic examination has shown that phylactic esophagogastroduodenoscopy, сolonofiberscopy can be recommended as an obligatory component during planned examination. Despite all the achievements of modern medicine , the entry of new methods of diagnosis and healing, the disease incidence and death rate due to oncologic diseases has been constantly increasing in the world. It is well-known , that cancer is the second leading reason of death after cardiovascular system diseases death. If to summarize the cancer frequency of all organs of gastro-intestinal tract, it will take the first place (more than 50%), powering past larynx cancer, breast cancer, and prostate cancer1. Therewith disease and death rate are the cancer of approximately all digestive systems 2. Numerous research proves, that disease prognosis mainly depends on oncology diagnose promptness, which gives much meaning to the earlier diagnosis. Unfortunately, 60– 80% patients with for the first time oncology diagnose already have III–IV stages of disease2. Potential causes of such late diagnose are late application of patients, erased clinical performance, and also deficient oncological suspicion of doctors with primary stage of healthcare.

Polyimide surface modification by RF plasma for biocide attachment

Landfills continue to represent the most frequent managerial practice for municipal solid wastes and an increasing and complex problem globally. In certain countries, a transition to an open society and free market is superimposed on the transition to sustainability, resulting in even higher complexity of management. This paper proposes an approach for problem-structuring of landfills in complex transitions: sustainability or unsustainability of a management approach is determined by a set of sustainability filters that are defined by sets of indicators and prioritized according the systemic concept of sustainability, which says that economy is embedded in society, which is embedded in nature. The writers exercise this approach with an old landfill in Iasi, Romania, and conclude for unsustainability, because the ecological sustainability filter is not successfully passed. Social and economic sustainability filters are also discussed in relation with the ecological sustainability indicators. The described approach allows a coherent, transdisciplinary synthesis of knowledge scattered across various disciplines, a pervasive problem in landfill management. The case study helps distinguish between generally true and context- dependent aspects. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)HZ.2153-5515.0000090.

Electrospun fibers containing cationic quaternary ammonium derivatives with antibacterial activity: Electrospun quaternized polysulfone fibers with antimicrobial activity

ABSTRACT This article has been retracted.

Surface properties and antibacterial activity of quaternized polysulfones

Solutions processable of cationic ionomers have received widespread attention for their promising roles as exchange membranes, antibacterial coatings, and dialysis membranes. Therefore, the solutions of the polysulfone ionomers, with a tunable density of quaternary ammonium functional groups, were processed by electrospinning to create new fibrous materials that can modulate membrane properties. The relationship between processable solution properties and morphological aspects was assessed. Thus, results have shown that the morphology of fibers formed, with different forms and dimensions, could be attributed to the combined effects of the polymer solutions concentration, thermodynamic quality of the used solvents, and implicitly, the cumulative effects of electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonding or association phenomena. The antibacterial activity of PSFQ fibers against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria has indicated potential for biomedical use.