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Primary myelofibrosis (PMF) is a disease that affects the bone marrow. It presents with cytopenias, hepatospleomegaly accompanied with extramedullary hematopoiesis, and often with constitutional symptoms. Cytotoxic gamma-delta T-cells are considered a distinct hepatosplenic lymohoma. This is a case presentation of a 43-year-old male with an initial diagnosis of PMF who underwent allogeneic stem cell transplantation complicated by primary graft failure. He subsequently underwent a partial splenic embolization; however, he quickly developed a fulminant hepatosplenic gamma-delta T-cell lymphoma which led to his death that was diagnosed posthumously. PMF has been known to transform into an acute myeloid leukemia, but there has been no established link with gamma-delta T-cell lymphoma.

Over the past few years, assemblage theory or assemblage thinking has garnered increasing attention in educational research, but has been used only tangentially in explications of the nature of comparative and international education (CIE) as a field. This conceptual examination applies an assemblage theory lens to explore the contours of CIE as a scholarly field marked by its rich and interweaved architecture. It does so by first reviewing Deleuze and Guattari’s (1987) principles of rhizomatic structures to define the emergence of assemblages. Secondly, it transposes these principles in conceiving the field of CIE as a meta-assemblage of associated and subordinated sub-assemblages of actors driven by varied disciplinary, interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary interests. Finally, it interrogates the role of Big Data technologies in exerting (re)territorializing and deterritorializing tendencies on the (re)configuration of CIE. The chapter concludes with reiterating the variable character of CIE as a meta-assemblage and proposes ways to move this conversation forward.

In the United States, adult and workforce education (AE) seems to be located, simultaneously, both everywhere and nowhere in particular. Ongoing shifts in national economic demands and changes in requirements for training and education have brought learning in the adult years into the federal public policy arena. Sometimes referred to as lifelong learning, AE has proven to be a somewhat vague concept as a basis for federal policy formulation, but its existence signals an important federal locus of responsibility for learning in adulthood. This historical examination of the AE policy domain offers a review of the formulation, and more specifically how AE policy has been framed, where AE policy originated, and its progression over time. Primary U.S. legislative documents, federal agency reports, and federal white papers spanning the years 1862 to 2014 were reviewed to present a survey of the AE policy area.

Tailored mutants of phenylalanine ammonia‐lyase from Petroselinum crispum (PcPAL) were created and tested in ammonia elimination from various sterically demanding, non‐natural analogues of phenylalanine and in ammonia addition reactions into the corresponding (E)‐arylacrylates. The wild‐type PcPAL was inert or exhibited quite poor conversions in both reactions with all members of the substrate panel. Appropriate single mutations of residue F137 and the highly conserved residue I460 resulted in PcPAL variants that were active in ammonia elimination but still had a poor activity in ammonia addition onto bulky substrates. However, combined mutations that involve I460 besides the well‐studied F137 led to mutants that exhibited activity in ammonia addition as well. The synergistic multiple mutations resulted in substantial substrate scope extension of PcPAL and opened up new biocatalytic routes for the synthesis of both enantiomers of valuable phenylalanine analogues, such as (4‐methoxyphenyl)‐, (napthalen‐2‐yl)‐, ([1,1′‐biphenyl]‐4‐yl)‐, (4′‐fluoro‐[1,1′‐biphenyl]‐4‐yl)‐, and (5‐phenylthiophene‐2‐yl)alanines.

Geographical wine traceability is an important topic in the context of wine authentification. Therefore, many researchers have addressed this subject by developing different methodologies based on multivariate analysis of organic and inorganic parameters and also by isotopic signature. The goal of this research was to assess the potential of elemental composition and isotopic signature of lead (207Pb/206Pb, 208Pb/206Pb and 204Pb/206Pb) and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) of wines from three Romanian vineyards, in order to highlight reliable markers for wine geographical origin. The ICP-MS method was used for the concentration determination for 30 elements (Ag, Al, As, Ba, Be, Bi, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Fe, Ga, In, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, Rb, Se, Sr, Tl, V, U, Zn, Hg). In this study 10 wines (2 red and 8 white) obtained from ‘Merlot’, ‘Fetească neagră’, ‘Fetească albă’, ‘Fetească regală’, ‘Băbească gri’, ‘Șarba’, ‘Aligoté’, ‘Sauvignon blanc’, ‘Muscat Ottonel’, ‘Italian Riesling’ cultivars were investigated. The wine samples were obtained from micro-wine production under conditions of 2014, 2015, 2016 from Dealu Bujorului, Murfatlar and Ștefănești-Argeș vineyards. The high level of K (148.66±5.41-633.74±4.13 mg/L), Mg (88.23±0.84-131.66±3.42 mg/L), Ca (49.84±1.22-89.18±2.34) and Fe were observed in the wine samples analysed. Heavy metals like Hg, Pb, As and Cd (10.2-315 µg/L) were found below acceptable limits. Concentration of Na (1 mg/L), Cu (1 mg/L), As (0.2 mg/L), Cd (0.01 mg/L), Zn (5 mg/L) and Pb (0.15 mg/L) metals in analysed wine samples were under Maximum Permissible Limits (MPL), respectively as published by the Organization of Vine and Wine. The variation of the 207Pb/206Pb, 208Pb/206Pb, 204Pb/206Pb and 87Sr/86Sr ratio and K/Rb, Ca/Sr of the investigated wine clearly demonstrated that these variables are suitable traces for wine geographical origin determination. The proposed methodology allowed a 100% successful classification of wines according to the region of provenance.

This article examines the evolution of the policy narrative created by the European Commission around the establishment of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) in order to rethink and spearhead new processes of innovation in the European Union (EU) through a better coordination of output in academia, research and industry. A discourse analysis was conducted on several key European Commission documents, later formalized into EU regulations, which confer the EIT its legal basis for its operation. By employing a three-fold policy analysis framework, a series of rhetorical devices are extracted to examine the policy framing, dynamics and instruments that operate as motivators for the construction of a persuasive initiative to be set in action in the service of innovation for a more competitive Europe. Through this investigation, a larger agenda is exposed in the EIT’s policy framework, with wide implications and significant ramifications for the evolution of European higher education.

Objective. The aim of this study is to evaluate the constantly updated and integrated treatment strategies for the improvement and the cure of bronchiectasis, with a beneficial effect on the quality of life of patients diagnosed with this disease. Material and method. The retrospective study (december 17th 2014 – june 2nd 2015), was conducted on 89 patients hospitalised in the Pneumophtysiology Institute "Marius Nasta" in Bucharest, with the confirmed clinical diagnosis of non cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis. From the clinical observation charts of the patients included in the study, we evaluated the treatment strategies applied for each patient in correlation with the confirmed clinical diagnosis. The therapies applied included antimicrobial, mucolytic, bronchodilator, corticosteroid, immunotherapy treatment, pulmonary rehabilitation, treatment of associated disease (ORL and gastro-oesophageal reflux), hygiene diet and antidepressant treatment. Results. The microbial etiology identified in the sputum (17,97%) consisted of Haemophilus influenzae, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Haemophilus parainfluenzae, Streptococcus pyogenes and Candida albicans, 82,03% of the cases presented non-specific (normal) flora. The associated therapy of antibiotic treatment (cephalosporin + fluoroquinolone) + mucolytic agent (erdosteine) + corticosteroid & β adrenergic agonist + anticolinergic agent + nonsteroid anti-inflammatory + anti-influenza vaccination + immunotherapy was the most efficient and the most used first-intention therapeutic association (35/39,32%). All the patients were discharged with improved bronchiectatic status. Discussions. The present study, with multiple date regarding the treatment of the acute disease, revealed the importance and the benefit of the multitype therapy, continuously updated, for the treatment of bronchiectasis of various degrees of severity. In time, the treatment can have serious side effects for the patient and the community in regard to antibiotic resistance; the severity and the complications' risk offers an useful background for taking clinical decisions that patients require long term treatment courses, such as macrolides, airway adjuvants, inhalatory antibiotics and other measures. Conclusions. Future studies should refer to a greater number of patients with varying degrees of severity of this disease, with more specific etiological information and with a longer duration, to clarify the actual benefits of new promising therapies and to offer new perspectives on the medical approach of bronchiectasis.

The presence of family members during medical investigations has given rise to intense debates. These disputes had at their center ethical, psychological and political issues. The authors approach, from a theoretical perspective, aspects related to the presence of family during medical interventions in children with cardiac problems, especially during cardiac resuscitation procedures. This field has accumulated the pros and cons generated by health policies in various countries, the level of collaboration of the family, the special training of doctors and of the whole cardiac resuscitation team, the participation of the family in work protocols and the creation of conditions for conducting cardiac resuscitation in this manner.

Prezenţa membrilor familiei pe parcursul investigaţiilor medicale a determinat dezbateri intense. Aceste dispute au avut în centrul lor atât aspectele etice, psihologice, cât şi politice. Autorii abordează teoretic aspecte legate de prezenţa familiei pe parcursul intervenţiilor medicale în cazul copiilor cu probleme cardiace, în special al manevrelor de resuscitare. În acest domeniu s-au acumulat argumente şi contra-argumente generate de politicile de sănătate din diverse ţări, nivelul de colaborare al familiei, pregătirea specială a medicilor şi a întregii echipe implicată în resuscitare, includerea participării familiei în protocoalele de lucru şi crearea condiţiilor pentru desfăşurarea resuscitării în această modalitate.

Educational intelligence can be considered a prized asset in political actors’ careful calculations in setting policy agendas for radical educational transformations in the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution characterized by Big Data, Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning, and the Internet of Things (IoT). As an agent of globalization, the European Union (EU) is uniquely positioned to steer the direction of this new wave of digital technologies for two cardinal objectives in the EU’s rhetorical discourse: social cohesion and economic prosperity. Conversely, its complex governance architecture, which restricts its role in educational policy, tempers its ability to drive policy reforms in education for the strategic and coordinated deployment of Big Data in educational systems to support those twin objectives. This chapter examines this burgeoning policy arena in the European Union by interrogating the most recent policies on the “data economy” enacted at the EU-level and the positionality of education in this newest wave of policy formulation. A content and discourse analysis of policy documents on Big Data reveals that the EU is launching multiple initiatives to regulate these novel technologies across its socio-economic sectors. However, the amorphous nature and unpredictable impact of these technologies, along with the jurisdictional barriers in the education sector stemming from the delimitation of governance layers in the EU, pose difficulties in generating a coordinated approach to policy implementation to engender tangible results. Hence, the contours of an educational intelligent economy in the EU needs considerable policy attention and technical resources in its transition from the current ideational stage to its concrete manifestation.

Modification of the hydrophobic binding pocket of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase from Petroselinum crispum (PcPAL) enables increased activity and selectivity towards phenylalanines and cinnamic acids mono-substituted with both electron donating (-CH3, -OCH3) and electron withdrawing (-CF3, -Br) groups at all positions (o-, m-, p-) of their aromatic ring. The results reveal specific residues involved in accommodating substituents at o-, m-, p-positions of the substrate’s phenyl ring. The predicted interactions were validated by crystallographic analysis of the binding mode of para-methoxy cinnamic acid complexed at the active site of PcPAL. The biocatalytic utility of the tailored PcPAL mutants was demonstrated by the efficient preparative scale synthesis of (S)-m-bromo-phenylalanine (ee: > 99%, yield: 60%) and (R)-p-methyl-phenylalanine (ee: 97%, yield: 49%), using the corresponding ammonia addition and ammonia elimination reactions catalyzed by the L134A and I460V PcPAL variants, respectively. Overall, the results reveal the potential for structure based protein engineering of PALs to provide enzymes with enhanced catalytic properties and which are specifically tailored for differently substituted phenylalanine analogues of high synthetic value.

This article presents an overall exploratory comparison of two specific pre-service teacher preparation programmes at two research-intensive institutions of higher education in the USA and Romania. The main conclusions suggest that US and Romanian teacher candidates differ very little in their ratings of their respective programmes in terms of learning in the programme, preparation for general teaching and twenty-first century skills. The largest differences were recorded for the university supervisor and cooperating teacher constructs, which the US teacher candidates rated considerably higher than their Romanian peers, namely in the quality and extent of applied field and clinical experiences, which merit further exploration.

Objective. The purpose of this study is to provide new preliminary data about the epidemiology of bronchiectasis across Romania that are extremely important in the clinical management of this disease. Material and method. The study group included 102 patients hospitalized in the Marius Nasta Institute, Bucharest, from December 2014 17th until June 2016 2nd, with confirmed bronchiectasis. From the clinical records, we evaluated the anamnestic data, the biological markers and the imaging parameters, such as: personal data (gender, age, residence), bacterial etiology of the disease, radiographic and CT findings and hospitalization days per patients. Results. Among the 102 patients with confirmed bronchiectasis, 54 were males and 48 females. The median age was 54.56 years. The median length of hospital stay was 9,55 days. The disease affected mainly, 54 men and 71 patients from urban areas. Of all cases of bronchiectasis confirmed by CT, 96 were bilateral, and 18 had a single bacterial etiology with Staphylococcus aureus or Haemophilus spp. Multiple bacterial etiology, in 12 cases, was revealed in 2 patients that had association of Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans and also in 3 patients with Staphylococcus aureus, Haemophilus influenzae and another microbial pathogen. Discussions. Bronchiectasis is a pulmonary disease, an “orphan” type disease. An important issue remains establishing the real prevalence of this disease given the lack of specific symptoms, the absence of non invasive screening tests and the uncertain prognosis of this disease. Conclusions. In order to establish a rapid and accurate bacterial etiology of the disease and to identify the antibiotic resistance gene, the microbiology departments need to use routinely molecular biology tests. To prevent bronchiectasis, the active and the passive prophylaxis of acute respiratory tract infections remain a priority.

This article examines the implementation of a wiki-type platform for lesson planning for teacher candidates in an undergraduate general instructional methods course in the teacher education program of a Midwestern university in the United States. The study draws on the results of two separate sets of analysis involving 159 participants. Teacher candidates in this course were required to post the first five lesson plans of their unit plans to the course wiki. Each teacher candidate was required to analyze several classmates' lesson plans and provide constructive feedback that the authors of the lessons could incorporate in improving their unit plans. This exercise was meant to create a sense of constructive approach to lesson planning and encourage teacher candidates to think of their peers as resources to whom they could turn for advice in the process of designing lesson plans in an emerging community of practice, all while availing themselves of the flexibility of the wiki's collaborative features. Resul...

The depleting trend of conventional, nonrenewable, fossil-based fuel as well as the environmental consequences of increasing greenhouse gas emissions has triggered research and development on alternative renewable energy. One such solution is biodiesel, originating from different natural oils or fats (vegetal, animal, or algal). Biodiesel, a product of the alcoholysis of triglycerides, has many superior properties as compared to petro-diesel: it produces lower exhaust emissions and is biodegradable, nontoxic, renewable, and free of sulfur. Biodiesel is now required as part of the fuels market. The transition from chemocatalysis to enzyme catalysis in biodiesel large-scale production is about to occur so that this green fuel can be produced in the frame of green technologies. The actual state of enzymatic production of biodiesel, the problems, and the challenges will be presented in this chapter.

This article records and documents the historical development of e-learning policies at EU level by conducting a discourse and content analysis of four key e-learning policy documents drafted and implemented by the European Commission over the past 20 years: Learning in the Information Society: Action Plan for a European Education Initiative (1996), the eLearning Action Plan (2001), the eLearning Programme (2003) and the Lifelong Learning Programme (2006). The themes teased out from the analysis reveal a gradual consolidation of e-learning policy at EU level, indicating the emergence of an increasingly coherent and formal approach to supporting e-learning initiatives for the benefit of actors at Member State level. The forging of a ‘European dimension’ in e-learning projects represents the hallmark of these EU policies, but it remains to be seen whether the EU institutions will continue to devote similar attention to and place particular focus on e-learning as a distinct policy priority in the years to come.

The purpose of this study was threefold: to expand on existing reviews of 20 years of educational technology policy in the United States, to perform an empirical content analysis of the four National Education Technology Plan (NETP) documents issued by the Department of Education since 1996, and to provide a dialectic analysis of the evolution of U.S. e-learning policy. The content analysis revealed that, as the United States aims to reestablish its leadership role internationally, with a focus on global competitiveness, a sense of urgency is communicated in the development of e-learning policy and general education reform over time throughout each of the NETP documents, justifying the need for increased funding and support for federal level initiative in terms of educational technology policy. Through a dialectical analysis, endemic tensions within the NETP discourse become apparent in the competing visions of education as a means of both conferring economic fluency and mobility to individuals within the society.

This study developed a framework that compares the content and purposes of “federal” level European Union (EU) and United States (US) e-learning policy to ascertain trends, patterns, and points of convergence and divergence across the years 1994–2010. It reveals that the EU and US are applying similar rhetoric for policy framing, justification, provisions, mechanisms, and incentives for e-learning. However, the actual policies vary due to the structural differences between the governing regimes. This research also suggests that more rigorous analyses of educational policy can contribute to our understanding of the intersectionality of policy development and educational regulation at local, regional, and transnational levels.

This article conducts an exploration of Romania's European integration process through higher education. It contends that integration occurs at formal and informal levels through institutional norms and human agency, respectively. Through theoretical and empirical analysis, the authors discuss the modalities through which normative European integration is undergirded by human transactions stemming from individual experiences with European practices. Romanian higher education serves as an aggregating and filtering system for the formation of an intellectual realm conducive to the country's deeper European integration.

This manual is intended for advanced university students in America who are learning Romanian as a third language. Part One is based upon an oral approach, each lesson containing a preparatory section in which the student is simultaneously introduced to pronunciation, intonation, and new semantic and syntactic structures. The second portion of the book shifts the emphasis from conversation to vocabulary acquisition by means of extensive reading selections. The 32 lessons are followed by an appendix containing a guide to pronunciation and inflection. A glossary is included. (RL)

This article discusses the emergence of a European E-Learning Area (EELA) as a consequence of three factors that can be observed in the e-learning developments over the past decade. The first factor consists of the carving of a policy sector in e-learning via formal instruments such as the eLearning Programme, the Lifelong Learning Programme and an array of other e-learning policy stipulations embedded in larger policy instruments at European level (e.g. Framework Programme). The second factor is represented by the mainstreaming of e-learning activities, both through formal and informal measures across multiple domains. Finally, the proliferation and consolidation of interlinked networks of practice as incubators of e-learning innovation and sharing of expertise act as the third factor in the shaping of EELA. The conceptualisation of EELA is substantiated through an analysis of the European e-learning policy documentation and the findings of a questionnaire distributed to the coordinators of projects under the eLearning Programme. In light of the findings, theoretical and practical implications for EELA as a nascent policy domain are explored and offered as a basis for further debate on this theme.

This article reports on the experiences and perspectives of Romanian students participating in the ERASMUS Programme, regarding the benefits and value of academic mobility. It situates their accounts in the framework of internationalization and Europeanization processes occurring in Romanian higher education. The study draws on primary data collected from a sample of Romanian students via an online questionnaire. A total of 522 valid responses were received from students at 37 higher education institutions in Romania. Student respondents indicated their academic experiences in other EU member states represented an investment in their professional and personal development. However, they were less convinced these experiences could assist them in improving the overall economic and social conditions in Romania or that it would serve them in the programs of studies at their home institutions. Further issues addressed were credit transfer, financial support and differences in academic programs between ...