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The medical care sector is viewed as having a high level of risk, and the provision of health services is considered particularly dangerous. Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate how patients perceive the elements that contribute to accessing quality medical services. Material and methods: To assess the attitude and knowledge of the population regarding infection control in dental clinics, we initiated a questionnaire-based study with 25 questions involving 75 patients who presented for dental treatments at two private clinics in Iași. The response rate was 96%. Results: 27% of patients discussed with the dentist about the risk of illness through blood-borne diseases during dental treatments. 65.5% of the subjects affirm that a dentist infected with HIV can provide dental treatments under the conditions of using protective equipment. All consider gloves, masks, and caps to be indispensable for the doctor when providing treatment. 87.6% of them consider that the nurse can be involved in the transmission of diseases.The main practices considered important by patients in preventing illness are the sterilization of instruments (100%) and the doctor washing their hands (86.2%), and to a lesser extent, waste handling (47.5%) and surface disinfection (100%). Conclusion: Patients have a relatively good perception regarding the factors that can influence the safety of the medical act in dental practice. The medical team has the responsibility to inform the patient in order to reduce the risk of unpleasant events occurring in the dental office.

Changing old habits and adopting new behaviors can be challenging and requires perseverance and motivation. For this reason, the study aimed to determine oral health behaviors among young adults. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study group consisted of 129 students from “Grigore T. Popa” University in Iași, during the period of February 2023 to March 2023. The questionnaire method was used, specifically the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II – HPLP II and the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale. RESULTS: The students showed a moderate tendency to change in almost all areas assessed by the HPLP II questionnaire. For the “interpersonal relationships” domain, the average score of 2.74 indicated a strong desire for change. The GSE score α is 28.47, indicating a moderate to high confidence in dealing with challenging situations. CONCLUSIONS: The message of promoting health-promoting behavior is perceived positively, thus reducing behavioral barriers and promoting the prompt adoption of correct behavior.

Fire incidents are a problem of major importance for cities, as they affect the lives of a large population and produce significant material damages. Assessing the temporal and spatial distribution of fires is an important stage in order to efficiently manage this issue. Using a comprehensive database for a five year period, the present study tries to identify certain patterns and specificities by analyzing the occurrence of urban fires, grouped by their main causes and damages, at different time scale and integrating the information from street level to urban district and, finally, at city level. The spatial distribution of the number of fires follows the center-periphery model, overlapping the neighborhoods with multiple functions (residential, administrative and cultural). The industrial area also concentrates a bigger number of fires, these brownfields being used by homeless population which make use of garbage as fire material. Applying the location quotient was an opportunity to highlight cross-scale the concentration of fires and revealed that the neighborhoods located at the periphery are more vulnerable to fires. The results can be used for further, more comprehensive studies of urban fire risk assessment and can also became the basis for (re)configuring the emergency services, in particular, and urban planning, in general.

Leather is one of the most globally spread biomaterial which is obtained by the processing of different animal skins. It encompasses a wide palette of applications, from footwear and clothing to upholsteries and different types of furniture [1], [2], [3]. The main constituent of animal skins is collagen, a supramolecular fibrillar protein in the form of a triple helix. This form endows leather with elasticity, good mechanical properties and softness. A major disadvantage resides in the inapplicability of raw animal hides, due to their microbiological instability and decay through rotting. Microbiological stability is obtained through the tanning process, characterized by protein crosslinking and drying afterwards. After tanning the leather exhibits the required properties for the desired specific applications in terms of aspect, availability and sustainability [4], [5]. The study aims to elucidate the thermal decomposition process of chrome-free tanned bovine hide (wet-white) using a new product based on titanium and aluminium salts compared with the same hide tanned by chromium salts (wet-blue). The thermal behavior was studied by dynamic thermogravimetry in nitrogen atmosphere, up to 700 oC. A comparative thermal decomposition study between the different tanned bovine leathers was undertaken.

Leather is a high tech material with different application fields, such as automotive, manufacturing of leatherwear articles or clothing and footwear. Leather is a biomaterial obtained by processing animal skins. Unfortunately, raw animal hides are practically inutilizable, due to their microbiological instability and are affected by rotting. Microbiological stability is achieved by tanning, when the protein is crosslinked, followed by drying. After crosslinking and drying, the new material shows the required properties of sustainability, availability and an esthetically pleasing aspect to the touch, making it available across its entire range of applications. From a structural point of view the animal skins are constituted of collagen, which is a fibrilar protein with a high degree of supramolecular organization in triple helix form that endows softness, elasticity and mechanical strength. High quality standards and lack of toxicity are required in all cases. Leather colour changes during exposure to light radiations are considered a consequence of the presence of some products with weak photochemical resistance during fabrication. The study aims to compare changes in properties of leathers obtained using mineral tanning agents such as Cr III salts and those obtained with the more environment-friendly technology using acid hydrolysis. Accelerated aging studies were conducted on tanned leathers by exposing the samples to UV radiation with different irradiation doses and two wavelengths (254 and 365 nm) under controlled humidity and temperature conditions. Structural changes caused by irradiation were studied by FTIR. Colour changes on the sample surfaces were assessed during irradiation with the CIEL a*b* system. The colour parameters variation (L*, a*, b*) and colour differences have been discussed in correlation with structural changes, tanning method and irradiation conditions.

Reactive dyes are synthetic organic compounds used on a wide scale in textile industry, for painting materials of different types and compositions (e.g. 100% cotton, wool, natural satin, viscose, synthetic fibres). Reactive dyes are solid compounds (powders) completely water soluble at normal temperature and pressure conditions. Their structures contain chromophore groups, which generate colour, and auxochrome groups, which determine the compounds water solubility and the capacity to fix to the textile fiber. Such organic compounds absorb UV-Vis radiations at specific wavelengths, corresponding to maximum absorbtion peaks, in both solution and dyed fiber. The human organism, through the dyed clothing, comes in direct contact with those dyes which can undergo modifications once exposed to UV radiations, having the posibility to reach the organism via cutanated transport. As it is known, the provoked negative effects are stronger during summer when UV radiations are more intense and in order to reduce their intensity dark coloured clothing is avoided. Dyes can be transformed in compounds which are easily absorbed into the skin. Some of these metabolites can be less toxic than the original corresponding dye, whilst others, such as free radicals, are potentially cancerous. Knowledge of the biological effects of the organic dyes, reactive dyes in particular, correlated with their structural and physical characteristics, permanently consists an issue of high scientific and practical interest and its solution may contribute in the diminishing of risk factors and improving of population health. UV radiation influence on the structural and colour modifications of textile materials were studied. Colour modifications are due to structural changes in aromatic and carbonil groups. In most cases photo-oxidative processes were identified in the dye structure. Dyeing was performed using non-irradiated and irradiated cotton painted with reactive blue dye 204.

In today's move to "sustainable production" the leather industry, as well as many other industries is recognized as a polluting one. Traditional chemical operations are polluting because of the levels of inorganic chemical waste. Process chemicals which are not consumed within the reactions necessary to convert collagen to leather are currently discharged to waste. These are usually applied during bulk production, such as inorganic agents from beam house and tanning processes, e.g. lime, sulphide, ammonium salts, sulphuric acid and sodium chloride, mineral tanning agents – mainly Cr(III) and the less common Al(III), Zr(III), Ti(III), Fe(III) salts -, whereas depending on the tanning process and the leather article produced organic chemical waste discharged comprises aldehydic and polyphenolic tanning products, bating enzymes, organic carboxylic acids and excess electrolyte stable synthetic fat liquors. It is rare for chemicals and water to be recovered for re-use from several of these process steps. Moreover, tanners worldwide are required to operate within strict legislative boundaries. Serious drawbacks continuously arise concerning the chrome–tanning process in leather industry and the environmental hazardous consequences of chromium containing effluents. In order to overcome this impediment, a great deal of research has been focused on developing chrome–free tanning methods in the past years, such as titanium tanning. In the present study, Ti–Al tanned bovine leather was characterized by means of SEM microscopy, EDAX elemental analysis, ATR–FTIR spectroscopy, thermogravimetry TGA, and differential scanning calorimetry DSC techniques.

Textile dyes have been reported of causing various stages of contact dermatitis. Reactive dyes are widely applied in dyeing cellulose fiber based textiles (100% cotton), skin fibers (hemp, flax), regenerated cellulose (cellulose acetate, viscose), protein fibers (natural silk, wool). The human body comes in contact daily with such compounds. This aspect is important for elucidating their biological effects on the human body, in correlation with physico-chemical properties. Dyes are chemical compounds containing chromophore and auxochrome groups. Authors herein report results concerning the influence of UV irradiation with λ > 300 nm on the structure and properties of different colored textiles. Subjects to study were textiles painted with four azo-triazine based dyes which were exposed to 100 h UV irradiation time and irradiation dose values up to 3500 J cm-2. The five azo dyes were: reactive orange 13, reactive red 183, reactive yellow 143, reactive blue 204 and reactive red 2. Structural modifications as a result of irradiation were undertaken by UV-Vis spectroscopy. It was observed that during UV exposure there occurred partial dyes detachment from the textiles, accompanied by glucosidic units and dye photodecomposition by C–N bond scission and degradation of aromatic entities and azo based chromophores. Color modifications were also investigated. Color differences significantly increased with the irradiation dose for all the studied samples.

The uneven spatial distribution of basic facilities within urban areas is a major problem for developing countries like Senegal due to the emphasis of accessibility disparities and the use of this services. The efforts to quantify the problem and its consequences on people are constrained by the lack of satisfactory data and methods. The study seeks to examine the spatial accessibility to basic services (access to water, health, education, economic infrastructure and transportation services) in a very heterogeneous urban system and to highlight inequalities in access for improving the geographical accessibility and to ensure equity. The article explore the use of spatial analysis method (Closest Facility) to measure the potential accessibility to services and facilities in the city of Mbour. The analyses uses all the inhabited houses of the city as the potential demand. Results emphasis unequal access to basic urban services in the city and a center-periphery model with a high concentration of services around the city. The study demonstrates the utility of this method for the identification of disadvantaged areas, decision making and planning of basic services. It also provides paths for improving accessibility in urban areas with a high density of population.