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This theme was chosen because tourism is an important branch of a country's economy. The HORECA industry generates 1.7% of GDP and between 3 and 4% of GDP together with related industries. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that broke out in Romania in February 2020, the Romanian Government was forced to apply certain restrictive measures that affected the economy, the worst hospital industry. This paper analyzed the revenues registered in the HORECA sector in Romania for the years 2019-2020-2021 (before the pandemic / during the emergency period / post-pandemic period). A comparative analysis was performed for the indicators: annual profit, turnover, number of tourists, number of overnight stays, types of services sought. The study was conducted on 8,357 touristic units and the results will be presented in the paper. The aim of the paper is to analyze the losses suffered by the tourism industry in 2020 and the recovery of tourism after the lifting of restrictions in Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Affected by high debt, online competition and geopolitical uncertainty, global tourism has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic crisis, halting traffic and staggering the lockdown of all countries. This paper analyzes the factors that caused tourism to collapse in 2020 and implicitly precarious economic effects. Romania will be the country studied for analysis, even if the direct contribution of tourism to GDP was 2.70% (2019) and total contribution (direct and indirect) of 5.2% (2019). The key questions posed are those related to the search for means to return to normalcy and to find ways to recover the hospitality industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper intends to address the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the development of rural areas in Galati County, after the application of the state of emergency in Romania. The article is based on the interpretation of the change of certain economic indicators in rural areas and their impact on the population, economic environment, industry, and agriculture. Supplementary research has been conducted by interpreting the changes triggered by the COVID-19 crisis on the decisions of local and regional authorities to develop certain strategies and projects before and after the end of the present crisis. At the same time, it is analyzed that rural areas were perceived as providing a defense wall against this pandemic, motivating the population in urban areas to seek shelter in rural areas, thus contributing to the development of the economic environment. However, in reality, rural areas have been the hardest hit, unable to provide the infrastructure needed for such a human wave. In the context of those presented, the paper is an analysis of economic and social factors but also of how the COVID-19 crisis has influenced the current situation in rural areas of Galati County. To reach the result of this analysis, research methods were used based on reports, studies, papers and specialized publications both online and offline. As a main result of this paper we can mention the identification at regional level of changes in social, demographic and economic factors with considerable impact on the rural economy in the coming years. Thus, agriculture will feel a decline due to this pandemic, after 2022. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the beginning of 2020, a virus originating from Wuhan, China, spread throughout the world, which in March of the same year was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. According to scientific studies and specialized publications, the pandemic had positive effects on the pharmaceutical industry and e-commerce, which accelerated the digitization process. The negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic consisted in the reduction of companies' revenues, the reduction of the number of customers, the reduction of investments and the temporary suspension of production. The research of this paper is descriptive, based on statistics and data from the official reports of the National Trade Register Office. The methods used are observation, analysis, data processing and synthesis. The aim is to identify the number of new investment sectors, newly established enterprises, companies that suspended their activity and those that entered insolvency in the period 2020 and 2021, compared to 2019. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on entrepreneurship in Romania was not devastating, the entrepreneurs keeping their confidence in the stability of the market. Thus, in 2020, the company establishment rate was affected, because new entrepreneurs no longer had the courage to invest their money, but the companies already present on the market were not strongly impacted. The year 2021 is the surprise year, being the most favorable for entrepreneurship in the period 2019-2021. The most companies were established, and the rate of suspension and insolvency was the lowest. The contribution in this paper consists in the fact that it is demonstrated that the pandemic did not destroy the entrepreneurial activity in Romania. On the contrary, there was a sector, Information and communications, which experienced rapid development, thus developing the concept of "knowledge economy" in this country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to analyze the impact that online schooling has had on teachers' performance during the Covid-19 pandemic. Regarding the research design, we used the quantitative research method, based on an online questionnaire administered to teachers in the Romanian pre-university education system in Romania. During the pandemic, teachers faced a major challenge in terms of teaching, namely online teaching, as they were hit by a lack of internet connections, lack of access to technical equipment, lack of experience in creating digital content. in terms of teaching, lack of knowledge for the efficient use of work platforms, but also lacked experience in teaching online, Which led to a series of changes in their professional life and at the same time a high level of stress. Teachers also had problems with communication and organizational issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has held the spotlight over the past years, the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) phenomenon continues to develop in an alarming manner. The lack of strict antibiotic regulation added to the overuse of antimicrobials fueled the AMR pandemic. This paper aims to analyze and identify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on antibiotic resistance patterns of Enterococcus spp. The study was designed as a retrospective observational study. Enterococcus spp. infections data were collected from one academic hospital in Cluj-Napoca, Romania over 18 months. A statistical analysis was performed to compare antibiotic resistance phenotypes identified. We recorded an increase in the isolation rates of Enterococcus spp. strains, from 26 isolates (26.53%) during Period A (November 2020–April 2021) to 42 strains (42.85%) during Period C (November 2021–April 2022). The number of strains with resistance to vancomycin increased from 8 during Period A to 17 during Period C. Of the total 36 strains with resistance to vancomycin, 25 were identified as E. faecium. SARS-CoV-2 patients (n = 29) proved to be at risk to develop an E. faecium co-infection (n = 18). We observed that strains with resistance to ampicillin (n = 20) and vancomycin (n = 15) are more often isolated from these patients. All changes identified in our study are to be considered in the light of COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the threatening AMR phenomenon in Romania. Further studies should be performed to quantify the worldwide effects of these pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Elective arthroplasty in Romania has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and its effects are not quantified so far. The aim of this paper is to determine the impact of COVID-19 on arthroplasty interventions and how they varied in Romania. Materials and Methods: We performed a national retrospective analysis of patients who underwent primary and revision elective hip and knee interventions at the 120 orthopedic-traumatology hospitals in Romania that are registered in the National Endoprosthesis Registry from 1 January 2019 to 1 September 2022. First, we examined the monthly trend in the number of surgeries for seven categories of arthroplasties. We calculated the percentage change in the average number of cases per month and compared them with other types of interventions. We then examined the percentage change in the average monthly number of arthroplasty cases, relative to the number of COVID-19 cases reported nationwide, the influence of the pandemic on length of hospital stay, and the percentage of patients discharged at home who no longer follow recovery protocols. Finally, we calculated the impact of the pandemic on hospital revenues. Results: There was an abrupt decrease in the volume of primary interventions in hip and knee patients by up to 69.14% with a low degree of patient care, while the average duration of scheduled hospitalizations increased. We found a 1–2-day decrease in length of hospital stays for explored arthroplasties. We saw an increasing trend of home discharge, which was higher for primary interventions compared to revision interventions. The total hospital revenues were 50.96% lower in 2020 compared to 2019, and are currently increasing, with the 2022 estimate being 81.46%. Conclusions: The conclusion of this study is that the COVID-19 pandemic severely affected the volume of arthroplasty of the 120 hospitals in Romania, which also had unfavorable financial implications. We proposed the development of new procedures and alternative clinical solutions, as well as personalized home recovery programs, to be activated if necessary, for possible future outbreaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the results of a survey administered to 1640 respondents from Romania and the Republic of Moldova in which a number of determinants have been taken into consideration like gender, age, education and COVID-19 exposure, verifying their association with attitudinal compliance. This notion has been conceptualized as agreement to prevention measures and willingness to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The results show a poor association with gender, but a more noticeable one with age and education. Direct exposure to the virus (personal contamination or loss of family member) did not seem to associate with higher levels of attitudinal compliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, many researchers are focusing on the educational environment to assess the impact of the pandemic on the educational success of pre-university or even university students. Most of the hypotheses are related to the influence of the alternative teaching methods used during the pandemic on the school results, on the socio-emotional situation and on the resources available to students and teachers to respond better to the new format of teaching and assessment in times of crisis. In this context, it is highly unlikely that the results of such studies will be interpreted in light of the challenges already existing in a pre-pandemic education system. The paper we propose brings into question exactly this general context, offering researchers a benchmark in their analysis regarding the impact of the pandemic on the Romanian educational environment. We base our approach on the results of a qualitative research undertaken in educational institutions in the North-East Region of Romania. The research included interviewing 60 teachers, using the in-depth interview to capture the difficulties that students and teachers face in successfully ensuring the school transition. The results of our study highlight aspects related to key actors that can support the successful implementation of the school transition, existing barriers and resources needed to facilitate the school transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Romania, alcohol is the most used substance of abuse and at the same time the most culturally acceptable, the abusive consumption of ethanol by individuals has a significant role in increasing the number of presentations in psychiatric services. The objective of this paper is to establish a comparison in the dynamics of presentations of chronic alcohol users at the 'Elisabeta Doamna' Psychiatriy Hospital in Galati, from January 1 to March 30, 2019-1 to January 30, March 2021. The retrospective study consists in comparing the group of patients presented between January 1, 2019 and March 30, 2019 with the group of patients presented between January 1, 2021 and March 30, 2021 in the 'Elisabeta Doamna' Psychiatriy Hospital in Galati. The inclusion criteria were: county, gender, age, date of presentation, time of presentation, environment of origin, disorders related to alcohol consumption (F10.0-F10.9). All patients with psychiatric diagnoses who did not have alcohol-related disorders were excluded. The data was processed statistically using Microsoft Office-Excel, SOFA - Statistics Open For All version 1.5.4. Between January and March 2019 there were 671 presentations due to alcohol-related disorders, of which 222 (33.1%) patients from rural areas and 449 (66.9%) from urban areas, compared to the period January-March 2021, when the total number of presentations due to alcohol-related disorders was 660, of which 204 (31%) patients were from rural areas, and 456 (69%) came from urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Romania's economy has honorably withstood the crisis caused by the covid-19 pandemic, given the limited budgetary space available to the authorities to intervene in support of companies and individuals affected by the virus and the restrictions imposed to limit its spread. The measures taken by the authorities to limit the effects of the pandemic have had mainly positive effects and the government's financing programs launched in this context have functioned largely due to the collaboration between the state and the banking system this time at the helm of the economy. Through this paper, we aim to highlight the support given by commercial banks to companies and individuals in order to recover the negative impact, through complex support policies that involved the mobilization and coordination of the authorities, especially the monetary and fiscal ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid-19 pandemic has shown that education staff have not been trained at all to digitize the education process. So they did not know what the challenges were. In addition, it has been shown that although students are digital natives, they do not know how to capitalize on the e-learning side of learning. The aim of this paper is to analyze the impact that online classes has had on student performance during the Covid-19 pandemic. In order to carry out this research, we started from the fact that during the Covid-19 pandemic, the transition to online classes led to inequities among students in terms of learning from the Romanian education system. The pandemic education system faced a number of challenges, especially reducing stress among students. In order to reduce the stress level of the students, the intervention of the school psychologist as well as of the teachers was necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we outline the effects of the online learning environment on preschool education, especially on the chances of the application of the curriculum based on the opinion of the kindergarten teachers and educational experts in preschooling. The research was based on questionnaire survey and interview method. Our research sample includes Hungarian kindergarten teachers and educational experts from Romania. We used an access sampling procedure and we interviewed 423 kindergarten teachers, and 14 experts on kindergarten education. Our results show the role of the curriculum in the implementation of online preschool educational practice. We also outline the experts’ approach and their proposals validated during the period of online education. The summary of the results shows the situation of preschool education during the pandemic from the perspective of the curriculum, indicating that its role is significant in the online learning environment as well, even if the impact of other factors was also intensified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Romania, the consumption of alcoholic beverages has been and still is a cultural mechanism for socializing and reducing anxiety, regardless of age and gender. This paper evaluates the trends related to people diagnosed with acute intoxication (F10.0) and harmful use (F10.1) at the 'Elisabeta Doamna' Psychiatriy Hospital in Galati, during the pandemic, in the period between the 15th of March 2020 and the 15th of March 2021. We analysed the data base of discharges from the 'Elisabeta Doamna' Psychiatry Hospital from the 15th of March 2020 to the 15th of March 2021. ICD-10 (Classification of mental and behavioural disorders) was used for diagnosis of psychiatric disorders. We selected outpatients with the codes for acute intoxication (F10.0) and harmful use (F10.1) and excluded all patients with other psychiatric diagnoses. The data were statistically processed using: Microsoft Office-Excel, The jamovi project (2021) jamovi (Version 1.6) [Computer Software]. During the analysed period, there were 7614 discharges from the 'Elisabeta Doamna' Psychiatriy Hospital of which 1465 (20.08%) disorders were related to alcohol consumption. Disorders related to intoxication and alcohol use represent 13.14% (957 cases) of the total discharges and 65.46% of the total number of disorders related to alcohol. Disorders related to harmful use (F10.1) represent 30.31% (442 cases), and a percentage of 35.15% (515 cases) with disorders due to acute intoxication (F10.0) out of the total cases were related to alcohol consumption. From the view of the dispersion of the number of cases, there is a fluctuation in the tendency to follow the restrictions imposed by the authorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aimed to analyze the evolution of mountain tourism and rural mountain tourism in Romanian Carpathians during Covid19-Pandemic, to understand the level of damage that was done by this crisis in Romania in the tourism sector. For this we analyzed the comparison of the dynamic of tourists number between 2014-2019 and 2019-2020, and also the dynamic of the accommodation structures. All these researches were done by analyzing and generating reports provided by National Institute of Statistics (NIS). We discovered that even in pandemic times, investors still invested in accommodation structures, and that now more and more tourists choose rural mountain tourism because due to Covid-19 Pandemic they prefer to rent private villas, mountain huts, apartments or holiday homes, trying to maintain the social distance from others, and where they have the possibility to use their own facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Quality of Life (1018-0389) / Calitatea Vietii is the property of Romanian Academy Publishing House / Editura Academiei Romane and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper presents the results of a qualitative study conducted between April and July 2020, aiming to identify the new trends in the communication process between social workers and beneficiaries, social workers and colleagues in multidisciplinary team, as well as among social workers and other specialists from public and/or private institutions in Timiş County (Romania), specific to the COVID-19 pandemic. The research method used was the semi-structured interview addressed to 23 social workers in Timiş County. The main results of the study revealed certain communication barriers during the state of emergency between social workers and other social actors with which they interacted, as well as new adaptation strategies in the communication process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a qualitative study carried out between April and June 2020, aiming to identify the challenges faced by social workers in non-governmental residential centres providing social services in Western Romania during the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to achieve this goal, the present approach was aimed at examining the perceptions of social workers about the features of the social work process during the pandemic, exploring the difficulties faced by social workers during the period of isolation at work, and identifying strategies for adapting the responsibilities of social workers during the pandemic. The research method used was the semi-structured interview of 10 social workers who were isolated at work in one of the non-governmental residential centres in Western Romania during the COVID‑19 pandemic in 2020. The main results of the study highlight the rethinking of the functioning of the residential system adapted to the new and the development of working procedures adapted to the situational specificity, the emergence of new tasks for social workers, in particular related to ensuring safety and protection against the virus, and the lack of training courses during the pandemic to adapt social workers to new situations. The main strategy adopted by social workers during this period was to connect more with beneficiaries through activities to which, before the pandemic, they did not give that much time for; to diversify the types of activities carried out with the beneficiaries with the aim of increasing group cohesion, improving conflict or tense states between beneficiaries, the use of interview and mutual emotional support with social workers from other residential centres, the diversification of intercollegiate and interinstitutional means of communication, and stopping home visits and reducing field work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In spite of all the measures taken during the past decades, the Romanian prison system is still considered overcrowded by European standards (111% above rated capacity in June 2020). However, very much against the trend set by other European jurisdictions, Romania did not opt for an early release scheme to fight COVID-19. Instead, the government took steps to strengthen its internal mechanisms to ensure safe interactions between staff and inmates, between inmates themselves, and between inmates and the outside world. This paper explains why that was the only option on the table for the Romanian authorities and then provides a preliminary assessment of the consequences of this strategic decision. Overall, with no known case of infected prisoners, while serving their sentence inside the penitentiary system, it seems that the route taken by the Romanian prison authorities was an effective one, at least in terms of minimizing the outbreak of Covid-19 in the prison system. At least so far ... However, the legal, psychological, and experiential consequences of these strict medico-carceral measures for the prisoners and their families remain to be explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hit by the Covid-19 virus Romania imposed self-isolation to the elderly population, for longer periods of time, aiming to protect them as well as to prevent and reduce the spreading of this acute respiratory syndrome known as SARS-Cov-2. Trapped between a constant worry of the unknown and the necessity to acquire the household essentials the elder population was faced with a dilemma in identifying the boundaries between influence, coercion and limitation of civil rights. We have analysed the way old people have succeeded to tackle the crisis, the coping methods used to surpass the hardships and the techniques employed to withstand the everyday routine in pandemic times. The qualitative study of the present paper focuses on the responses of the old people to these new circumstances. The strategies adopted by our state when dealing with the third age group should be specifically targeted in order to improve and alleviate the reactions to future disastrous occurrences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social isolation and the switch to remote forms of education represent strong challenges in terms of planning and implementing direct in-person volunteering and Service-Learning activities. However, in many countries, experts in Service-Learning have started to observe and document cases of community-oriented activities involving cooperation between teachers, students and community partners in times of pandemic. The paper presents a qualitative analysis of several cases of civic engagement of Higher Education students and teachers in Romania in March 2020, which were presented by local and national media channels. The collection process of civic engagement cases represents an initiative of the European Observatory of Service-Learning in Higher Education, aiming to share and discuss from the perspective of Service-Learning pedagogy and solidarity the transformational stories in Europe and around the world reflecting the "Civic engagement of students and teachers in times of Covid-19". These cases might serve either as current examples of building reflective exercises in online classes in the direction of empathy and civic responsibility development of students, or as solid points for the justification of the need of Service-Learning institutionalization in order to be prepared to face similar challenges in the future through civic participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aim: Since March 2020 when the number of COVID-19 positive patients reported a fulminant increase in Romania, reorganisation of the medical services took place in order to provide the possibility of treating increasing number of cases with this pathology and to diminish as much as possible the number of COVID-19 related deaths. The aim of the current paper is to analyse the outcomes of 273 patients with gynaecological cancers who could not be treated in the service were they were initially addressed. Material and Method: a total number of 343 patients with gynecologic oncology disorders were addressed to “Dr. Ion Cantacuzino” hospital in Bucharest Romania and could not be treated in this unit due to the fact that it became an auxiliary service for obstetrical COVID positive patients. Results: complete follow up was possible in 273 cases 87 patients were redistributed to other services of gynecologic oncology and received their surgical treatment as planned, 141 patients received their surgical treatment in other clinics after a mean delay of six months while 45 cases were further submitted to oncological treatment, four of them being dead at the end of the study. Conclusions: modification of hospital structure and diminishing the oncological patients’ access to oncologic surgery during COVID pandemic significantly impacted on gynecologic cancer care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has required a complete change in the management of patients with gastrointestinal disease who needed to undergo endoscopic procedures. In the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, due to restrictions for elective endoscopic procedures, a large number of cancer patients were prevented from early diagnosis of several digestive cancers, which has led to a serious burden in the health system that now needs to be dealt with. We designed a prospective study that included patients in whom access to elective endoscopic examinations during the COVID-19 pandemic had been delayed. Our aim was to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnosis rate of digestive tract malignancies in the context of health crisis management that generates an ethical dilemma regarding the balance of utilitarianism versus deontology. Our study shows that the decrease in the number of newly diagnosed gastrointestinal cancers by endoscopy and biopsy during the pandemic restrictions and the delay in diagnosis have had a clear impact on stage migration due to disease progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study verifies whether there is a strong correlation between the pro-vaccination, against COVID-19 attitude of the respondents and their belief that most of those around them want to be vaccinated against COVID-19. For this purpose, we analyzed data from a sociological survey conducted in April 2021 in Romania. The sample size was of 1001 respondents, the selection process was randomized and the population included in the sample is representative of the socio-demographic structure of Romania. The tool used to collect the data was CATI (telephonic interview). In order to test the existence of these correlations we performed the following tests: Chi-Square test, Kendall τ, Spearman ρ tests and Freeman's z-test. The pro-vaccination attitude strongly correlates with the perception of subjects that their primary group accepts vaccination and even correlates with the perception that the general public is rather pro-vaccination. The vaccination decision is closely linked to the social relations system and the rules of the community in which the subject lives. In this paper we discuss the correlation between attitude and belief, not the existence of a causal relation between the two of them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nursing has always been a stressful job affecting the physical and mental health of the nurses, but the new medical context of the COVID-19 pandemic has enhanced this issue. The objective of this paper is to study differences between non-employed and employed nursing students in the medical system of Romania before and during the epidemic using matching methods and a sample of 526 nursing students. Stressors and strategies for coping with stress were also identified during the pandemic. The results indicated that employed students were more vulnerable to stress compared to non-employed ones before and during the pandemic. Females registered significantly higher stress scores compared to males in the period of the epidemic. The analysis of the overall sample suggested that gender and environment were significant stress factors during the pandemic, but living conditions were not relevant. The most effective coping strategies against stress for nurses during the COVID-19 crisis were based on self-control and the spiritual dimension, unlike the previous period when other colleagues' support helped most nurses to overcome difficult working conditions. The implications of this study might help medical management in ensuring a less stressful environment for nurses during the epidemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study analyses the evolution of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic during the States of Emergency and Alert in Romania between March 16, 2020, and March 8, 2022, and the impact of the measures taken by the authorities on the population, as well as on the socio-economic, education and healthcare systems. The main demographic impact is related to the mortality rate, which was high among the population over 60 years of age, increasing the pressure on the healthcare system. The socio-economic impact triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic had medium and long-term effects: the loss of jobs, the economic crisis, a high unemployment rate, a limited access of the population to medical services, which has led to an economic decline in the field of transport, as well as school closures and switching to online courses for longer periods of time, while companies switched to remote working and made investments in the digitization of services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the importance of perceived susceptibility to a disease in adopting preventive behaviors, and the negative impact of optimism bias on prevention, this paper aimed to explore to what extent comparative optimism bias (understood as the tendency to assess a lower probability for oneself to experience negative health events compared to others) is present in the specific context of the Covid-19 pandemic, in two countries with different profiles in terms of the spread of the disease: Italy and Romania. After identifying optimism bias in both countries, we tested whether it depends on respondents' characteristics like gender, age, education, health status and whether or not they have the opportunity to work from home. We surveyed 1126 Romanians and 742 Italians, and found that optimism bias depends on self-reported health status, and that optimism bias increases with age. Inconclusive evidences were found regarding gender and education level, as well as the option to work from home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to shed light on the Romanian diaspora's experience of the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK, a global pandemic experienced by all, yet not under the same restrictions or with the same challenges. It looks at how the Romanians rate their experience of the pandemic in the UK, while also considering the wider context of Brexit, by focusing on aspects such as level of satisfaction with governmental measures, the impact on their professional activity and the intention to return to their home country. Quantitative and qualitative questionnaires reveal that despite having gone through it far from their family and friends back in Romania, Romanians in the UK did not find the experience of the pandemic overwhelmingly negative, nor did it determine a trend of return migration, despite the broader, overlapping context of Brexit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic affected healthcare systems worldwide. The patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), diabetes, and cardiovascular disease were most affected and had an unfavorable outcome. Methods: We examined the activity of the Nephrology Department from Târgu-Mureș County Emergency Hospital retrospectively, comparing two periods: June 2020–November 2021 (COVID-19 period) and June 2018–November 2019 (non-COVID-19 period). Results: In the COVID-19 period, there were fewer one-day hospitalizations registered, 77.27% more dialysis catheters were installed, and 43.75% more arteriovenous fistulas were performed. An overall increase in the number of patients requiring dialysis during the pandemic was recorded, as of the number of dialysis sessions performed. Moreover, we observed a statistically significant increase in the number of dialysis sessions per patient and a statistically significant increase in the number of hospitalization days in the pandemic interval. Acute kidney injury (AKI) and urosepsis were the diagnoses that increased the most among in-patients during the pandemic, while all other nephrology diagnoses decreased. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated kidney pathology and worsened the outcomes of nephrology patients in our center. The number of chronic and patient's access to one-day hospitalization decreased in order to minimalize the exposure and the risk of infection. In contrast, the need for emergency dialysis increased significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Functional abdominal pain disorders (FAPD) are a group of functional gastrointestinal disorders with multifactorial etiology and are subclassified using Rome IV criteria into a series of clinically distinct entities represented by irritable bowel syndrome, functional dyspepsia, abdominal migraine and functional abdominal pain that is not otherwise specified. Digestive functional disorders associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) may be mediated by the involvement of complex pathogenic mechanisms, which have been under investigation in children since the beginning of the coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19). Methods: In this retrospective, observational descriptive and analytical study, we investigated the presence of chronical functional abdominal pain in preschool children (4–6 years old) from the south-west of Romania in the pre-pandemic (18 cases) and COVID-19 pandemic period (34 cases), as well as the association with the COVID-19 positive and COVID-19 negative statuses, gender, environment origin, and viral infection-associated symptoms. Age-specific Rome IV criteria were used to diagnose functional abdominal pain. We performed an integrated statistical analysis of the results utilizing an electronic database in which we compared the data in order to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the clinical-epidemiological parameters analyzed. Results: In the pre-pandemic group, irritable bowel syndrome predominated (77.8%), followed by functional dyspepsia (22.2%), the other types of functional abdominal pain being absent, while for the pandemic group, irritable bowel syndrome was the most common (79.4%), followed by abdominal migraine (11.8%), abdominal dyspepsia (5.9%) and functional abdominal pain not otherwise specified (2.9%). We found a female/male ratio difference of 0.84 and an urban/rural ratio of 1.83 in favor of the pandemic group. These discrepancies were mainly caused by the differences between the COVID-19 positive and negative pandemic groups, where we observed statistical association of the positive pandemic group with IBS and urban environment, and a tendency of FAPDs diagnostic mainly with males. The predominant symptoms associated with COVID-19 positive cases were digestive (60.9%) or respiratory (39.1%). Conclusions: Our study demonstrates viral-mediated sensitivity of the gastrointestinal tract in preschool children, considering different clinical-epidemiological profiles related to the prevalence of FAPD and according to gender and environment origin, while the contribution of the pandemic context remains to be demonstrated in larger studies [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The negative effects of the war led to the degradation of the Romanian economy given the fact that it made it difficult to obtain raw materials, but also resources whose main suppliers were the two involved parties, respectively Russia and Ukraine. The automotive and construction sectors are the main areas affected by this conflict. Both the constructions and the automotive industry were and are affected by the increase in the prices of construction materials, raw materials and the increase in the price of energy, a situation that started since the beginning of the pandemic and continues to leave traces under the pressure of the war. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Paliatia: Journal of Palliative Care is the property of HOSPICE Casa Sperantei Foundation and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Valuation Journal / Revista de Evaluare is the property of National Association of Romanian Valuers / Asociatiei Nationale a Evaluatorilor din Romania (ANEVAR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The COVID-19 outbreak triggered a global crisis with long-term effects on people's daily lives. It has altered surgical practice and education and imposed major changes in healthcare systems and resources. In order to analyze the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on Romanian Plastic Surgery residents, we carried out an anonymous questionnaire through Google forms. Survey items addressed aspects such as how the pandemic has affected their surgical practice, their exposure to the virus, and the protective measures that have been implemented to minimize risk. Among other results, our study found that nearly 1 in 5 respondents had contact with a coronavirus patient, that most of the patients were tested at admission, mostly using RT-PCR, and that various combinations of personal protective equipment had been used. Most participants also felt that their surgical training has been negatively affected, despite attendance at online courses and webinars. Although the pandemic has brought significant changes to the daily lives of residents and to the residency training, the Plastic Surgery community has been brought closer than ever and reminded that, through unified efforts, such obstacles can be overcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facing the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals are experiencing severe mental distress. Thus, during the last year, drastic changes occurred in everyday life of every human being. Following social distancing and economic insecurity, significant increases in mental health concerns (loneliness, anxiety, depression, or insomnia) have developed. The objective of this study was to explore the anxiety, perceived stress, and resilience in a population presenting at the general practitioner, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected between February and April 2021 and 440 individuals who presented to the general practitioner were evaluated. Concerning anxiety level, almost half of the respondents (49,3%, N = 217) scored above the threshold value on the anxiety scale (mild intensity 38.6%, moderate intensity 9.9%, severe intensity 0.8%). Having a low level of resilience, as well as experiencing a high level of stress, are both predictive of the occurrence of high anxiety (p < 0.001, r = −0.551 and p < 0.001, r = 0.622, respectively). Furthermore, resilience is negatively related to perceived stress (p < 0.001, r = −0.676). It is critical in the current crisis to recognize those at risk of developing mental illnesses, taking into consideration the various socioeconomic classes, as well as to maintain and improve the general public's mental health using appropriate psychological interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]