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Paravalvular aortic regurgitation is an important independent mortality predictor in transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). Our study evaluated the association between paravalvular aortic regurgitation and mid-term mortality in relation with the learning curve, in patients with severe aortic stenosis who underwent transfemoral TAVI in the first 3 years since the establishment of the program.Patients with severe aortic stenosis who underwent transfemoral TAVI between 2017 and 2020 were included in the analysis. Paravalvular aortic regurgitation was assessed by transthoracic echocardiography at 48 hours after the procedure. All-cause mortality was evaluated after 30 days and at mid-term follow-up.Paravalvular aortic regurgitation ≥grade II was associated with mid-term all-cause mortality (OR 4.4; 95%CI 1.82-11.55; p 0.001), their prevalence declining after the first 60 cases. Baseline characteristics did not significantly differ in the first 60 patients from the rest of the cohort. Male sex (p = 0.006), advanced age (p = 0.04), coronary artery disease (p = 0.003), or elevated STS Score (p = 0.02) influenced mid-term survival. When adjusting for the presence of these factors, only age (OR 1.1; 95%CI 1.0-1.2), paravalvular aortic regurgitation ≥grade II (OR 3.9; 95%CI 1.3-12.9), and the number of days spent in the intensive care unit (OR 1.4; 95%CI 1.1-1.8) were independent predictors of mid-term all-cause mortality.In a group of patients with severe aortic stenosis who underwent transfemoral TAVI in the first 3 years since the establishment of the program, paravalvular aortic regurgitation ≥grade II was associated with mid-term mortality, both declining after the first 60 cases.

Sunflower tahini faces quality problems due to the tendency of oil to exudate, causing accelerated rancidity and low marketability. In this study, the colloidal and oxidative stability of different trimodal particle size distributions of sunflower tahini (cumulative volume percentages of small, middle and large class populations of 9.61–16.67, 43.03–55.03 and 47.36–28.3) was evaluated during storage at three different temperatures. Decreasing sample particle size decreased the sunflower tahini colloidal stability. The coarsest prototype, being the most stable tahini in terms of oil separation, was included in the oxidative stability storage test together with a commercial tahini. The peroxide values of the studied sunflower tahini samples increased significantly (p

The present research investigated tendencies related to the purchasing and consumption of honey and to how it is perceived by consumers. Although Romania is a traditional honey-producing area, paradoxically, there is not a culture of consumption for this product, honey consumption being lower than in other European countries. The research objectives were achieved by investigating a representative sample of subjects from the North-West region of Romania. The research instrument used was a questionnaire, which included questions about honey consumption, questions related to perceptions of honey, together with socio-demographic questions. Honey is perceived to be a delicious product, delightful to consume and is considered beneficial for health by most of the respondents. A number of factors (education, occupation and age) significantly influence the perception that the respondent had of the value of honey. The most popular types of honey were acacia honey, polyfloral honey and linden honey. Respondents preferred to buy honey from a local producer, and had more confidence in domestic honey than in imported honey. Although the frequency of consumption is quite high, the quantity consumed per capita is low (on average 3 kg/year). Local honey producers should be aware that the revival of the beekeeping sector in Romania could be promoted by stimulating domestic consumption. Educating consumers to adopt a healthy lifestyle could significantly contribute to an increase in honey consumption. The paper emphasizes the need to conduct research that provides useful information about the quantitative and quality indicators of honey consumption, in order to improve marketing strategies.

It is known that evolution may lead to a new species while adaptation may lead to a new variety. In this manuscript, we present an analysis of the number of evolutions (defined by improvement of the score associated with an objective function of a genetic algorithm) in an experiment supervised by a genetic algorithm, experiment conducted on octan-1-ol/H20 partition coefficient of polychlorinated biphenyls. The numbers of evolutions resulted from 9 implemented evolution strategies were investigated. Evolutions arisen from the first 20 000 generations coming from 46 independent runs were recorded. A distribution analysis has been conducted for each evolution strategy. Without exception, the Weibull distribution fits well with the number of evolutions at a significance level of 5% for any evolution strategy. Furthermore, the Weibull distribution could not be rejected when different merged samples were investigated.

Nine selection-survival strategies were implemented in a genetic algorithm experiment, and differences in terms of evolution were assessed. The moments of evolution (expressed as generation numbers) were recorded in a contingency of three strategies (i.e., proportional, tournament, and deterministic) for two moments (i.e., selection for crossover and mutation and survival for replacement). The experiment was conducted for the first 20,000 generations in 46 independent runs. The relative moments of evolution (where evolution was defined as a significant increase in the determination coefficient relative to the previous generation) when any selection-survival strategy was used fit a Log-Pearson type III distribution. Moreover, when distributions were compared to one another, functional relationships were identified between the population parameters, revealing a degeneration of the Log-Pearson type III distribution in a one-parametrical distribution that can be assigned to the chosen variable—evolution strategy. The obtained theoretical population distribution allowed comparison of the selection-survival strategies that were used. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Objective To investigate the perineural invasion in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx and hypopharynx. Study Design A prospective study of patients with laryngeal and hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma who underwent total or partial laryngectomy. Methods Patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx and pyriform sinus who underwent laryngectomy between 2002 and 2006 in the ENT Clinic of Cluj-Napoca were investigated for histopathological identification of perineural invasion. Results The present study included 256 patients. Perineural invasion was present in 86 cases out of the 256. Perineural invasion was detected in the major nerves of only one case out of 219 patients who had undergone total laryngectomy. The difference between the mean disease-free survival of patients with or without perineural invasion of the minor nerves was statistically significant (Mann-Whitney U test, P = 0.000102). The local recurrence rates in the cases with or without perineural invasion were significantly different (log-rank test, P = 0.00001). Conclusion Major nerves do not constitute a way of spreading in the squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx and hypopharynx, whereas minor nerves remain a potential one.