The Increase in Childhood Obesity and Its Association with Hypertension during Pandemics.

There has been a major ongoing health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's lives, including lifestyle and overall health. Enforcement of prevention measures, such as school closures and social distancing, has significantly affected children's daily routines and activities. This perspective manuscript aims to explore the rise in childhood obesity and its association with hypertension during pandemics. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to significant disruptions in children's routines, including reduced physical activity, increased sedentary behavior, and changes in dietary patterns. These factors, coupled with the psychological impact of the pandemic, have contributed to an alarming increase in childhood obesity rates. This paper has highlighted the concerning increase in childhood obesity and hypertension during pandemics. The disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, including reduced physical activity, increased sedentary behaviors, and changes in dietary patterns, have contributed to the rise in these health conditions. It is crucial to recognize the long-term consequences of childhood obesity and hypertension and the urgent need for a comprehensive approach to address them.

Aspects of Dental Occlusion Assessed with the T-Scan System among a Group of Romanian Dental Students in a Cross-Sectional Study.

This study evaluated the occlusal relationships in students with bruxism, using the T-Scan III system, and their correlation with the activity of the masticatory muscles assessed through surface electromyography (sEMG). The study group was divided into two subgroups (based on self-reporting): 20 participants with possible bruxism and 20 participants without possible bruxism; all participants underwent the following evaluations: sEMG recordings using the dia-BRUXO device for masticatory muscles assessment, as well as static and dynamic occlusion using the T-SCAN III system. The analysis of the maximum intercuspidal (MI) position revealed a positive moderate association between the values of the occlusal forces in MI distributed along the two hemiarches, and the number of grinding events during daytime, which was statistically significant (p < 0.05). The analysis of protrusion movements reflected statistically significant differences between the non-working interferences and sEMG parameters specific to bruxism (p < 0.05). The analysis of laterotrusion movements indicated that participants with anterolateral guidance presented higher values of awake bruxism indexes and higher values of clenching events during nighttime. For all three mandibular movements, their duration was higher for the study group compared to the control group. Therefore, this study confirmed the utility of sEMG recordings in the bruxism diagnosis process, as well as the association between dental occlusion and bruxism.

Post-COVID-19 Syndrome Based on Disease Form and Associated Comorbidities.

(1) Background: SARS-CoV-2 has infected more than 97 million people worldwide and caused the death of more than 6 million. (2) Methods: Between 1 October and 31 December 2020, 764 patients diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection were selected based on RT-PCR test results. The following parameters were noted: age, gender, origin, days of hospitalization, COVID-19 experienced form, radiographic imaging features, associated comorbidities, and recommended treatment at discharge. (3) Results: The mean age at the time of COVID-19 infection was 55.2 years for men and 55.3 years for women. There was a similar age distribution among patients, regardless of gender. There was a substantial difference between the average lengths of hospitalization and those with residual symptoms-most patients who reported symptoms after discharge had been admitted with moderately severe forms of illness. Fatigue was the main remaining symptom (36%). (4) Conclusions: In conclusion, to clarify the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on patients in the long term, further studies are needed to investigate the elements assessed. Well-designed recovery programs will be needed to effectively manage these patients, with multidisciplinary collaboration and a team of professionals involved in all aspects of post-COVID patient health.

Modeling and Simulating an Orthodontic System Using Virtual Methods.

Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) is a modern imaging technique that uses X-rays to investigate the structures of the dento-maxillary apparatus and obtain detailed images of those structures. The aim of this study was to determine a functional mathematical model able to evaluate the elastic force intensity on each bracket and tube type element and the ways in which those components act on the orthodontic system being used. To analyze a real orthodontic system, we studied the case of a 13-year-old female patient. To transfer geometric information from tomographic images, we used the InVesalius software. This software can generate three-dimensional reconstructions based on sequences and files in the DICOM format and was purchased from CBCT equipment. We analyzed and processed the geometries of the converted tissues in InVesalius using the Geomagic software. After using the Geomagic software, we exported the resulting model to the SolidWorks software used in computer-aided design. In this software, the model is transformed into a virtual solid. After making the geometric model, we analyzed the model using the Ansys Workbench software, which incorporates finite element analysis techniques. Following the simulations, we obtained result maps, which showed the complete mechanical behavior of the analyzed structures.

COVID-19 and Artificial Intelligence: An Approach to Forecast the Severity of Diagnosis.

(1) Background: The new SARS-COV-2 pandemic overwhelmed intensive care units, clinicians, and radiologists, so the development of methods to forecast the diagnosis' severity became a necessity and a helpful tool. (2) Methods: In this paper, we proposed an artificial intelligence-based multimodal approach to forecast the future diagnosis' severity of patients with laboratory-confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection. At hospital admission, we collected 46 clinical and biological variables with chest X-ray scans from 475 COVID-19 positively tested patients. An ensemble of machine learning algorithms (AI-Score) was developed to predict the future severity score as mild, moderate, and severe for COVID-19-infected patients. Additionally, a deep learning module (CXR-Score) was developed to automatically classify the chest X-ray images and integrate them into AI-Score. (3) Results: The AI-Score predicted the COVID-19 diagnosis' severity on the testing/control dataset (95 patients) with an average accuracy of 98.59%, average specificity of 98.97%, and average sensitivity of 97.93%. The CXR-Score module graded the severity of chest X-ray images with an average accuracy of 99.08% on the testing/control dataset (95 chest X-ray images). (4) Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that the deep learning methods based on the integration of clinical and biological data with chest X-ray images accurately predicted the COVID-19 severity score of positive-tested patients.

The Profile of the Patients with Double Infection HIV and TB in South West of Romania.

BACKGROUND: Co-infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) / tuberculosis (TB) raises important diagnostic and treatment problems as the lung is one of the target organs for HIV. Studies have shown that an HIV patient is 5-15 times more likely to switch from Koch's bacillus-infected status to active tuberculosis. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Retrospective study on 207 patients with HIV/TB coinfection in the Oltenia area registered in the Regional Center for Monitoring and Evaluation of HIV/AIDS infection in Craiova to define the profile of patients with double TB-HIV infection in southern Romania for cases registered between 2005-2015. RESULTS: 53.14% of patients were females. Most cases were from rural areas (56.10%) Half of them are born between 1988 and 1990 but only 5% graduated university. 66.18% don't have a job and are supported by state with a monthly minimum income. 29.4% are smokers. More than 60% of cases had pulmonary TB and other 25% had concomitant pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB. TB and HIV have been diagnosed almost at the same time in 25% of cases. At the time of TB diagnosis 75% of patients had CD4+lymphocytes count <200cel/ml. We also noticed the absence of prophylaxis for TB in patients infected with HIV (PIH) and high incidence of hepatitis B (30.43%). CONCLUSIONS: Clinical expression, radiological and bacteriological aspects are often atypical in HIV/TB coinfected patients. The lack of TB prophylaxis and TB endemicity in the studied area may justify the large number of TB cases in HIV-infected patients.

Orientations to Wellbeing in the Context of Medicine and Nursing-A Preliminary Study on Students' Perspective in Their Early University Years.

Medicine in the 21st century needs to be patient-or, rather, person-centered. Accordingly, medical education needs to adopt an authentic student-centered stance and also include an emphasis on wellbeing and quality of life-starting in medical students` university years. Studies on eudaimonic and hedonic aspects of wellbeing in academic contexts might offer valuable insights for conceptualizing and implementing medical teaching. Our research aimed at exploring eudaimonic and hedonic orientations in students in their first years of medical and nursing studies, in relation to outcomes like satisfaction, subjective meaning experience and engagement with university studies. We also wanted to evaluate the feasibility of using a translated version of HEMA (Hedonic and Eudaimonc Motives for Action) Scale in our university students. 120 1st and 2nd year students of our university completed HEMA and questionnaires evaluating the above-mentioned outcomes, in one session. The instrument demonstrated good reliability (assessed by Cronbach`s alpha coefficients) and also captured valuable correlations with students satisfaction, subjective sense of meaning and engagement with their studies. Importantly, eudaimonic subscores were moderately but significantly correlated with Hedonic enjoyment ones, as previously reported. Exploratory Principal Component Analysis suggested two or three factors, but a larger group would be needed to confirm the factor structure of the Romanian version of the test. Conclusions: HEMA is applicable in this academic context, in Romanian, has good reliability and promises to offer valuable insights into students` orientations, helping us support their aspirations and shape our teaching so that they could benefit the most from it.

Suspicions of titanium allergic reaction influencing the prosthetic solution in a rare case of implant "flowering".

The aim of this paper is to eliminate suspicions of a titanium (Ti) allergy in a rare case of "flowered" implant in a 43-year-old female patient with metal allergies and no history of bruxism, using a histological and immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis to determine the phenotype of cells that participated in the immune response; also, to assess the prognosis of a future implant treatment and to highlight the psychological impact of osseointegrated implant failure caused by fracture, and the influence that the necessity to use extensive surgical procedures for reimplantation can have on the treatment solution chosen by the patient. The results of our IHC analysis did not indicate a clear response for a potential Ti allergy; still, due to psychological reasons, the patient rejected the replantation and considered the use of other restorative option, a three-unit bridge, as being the most appropriate for her. Considering her opinion and attitude, the fixed prosthetic denture assured the therapeutic success.

Morphological features of tongue squamous cell carcinoma diagnosed in Dolj County population between 2012-2014.

Tongue squamous carcinoma can be found in many forms, having a lot of risk factors, and whose morphological characteristics can be used as a prognostic. The purpose of this study was to histologically characterize a number of 54 patients diagnosed between 2012-2014, with tongue squamous carcinoma. Surgical resection specimens of tongue tumors were processed by paraffin inclusion technique. The diagnose samples were reevaluated according to the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria for head and neck tumors diagnosis, by screening the Hematoxylin-Eosin staining sections. The most common histopathological variety of tongue carcinoma observed in our cases was the non-keratinized form, the basaloid and sarcomatoid types of carcinoma being ranked on the last places. The study outlined the prevalence of non-keratinized forms of tongue squamous carcinoma and all types of tumoral invasion patterns have been observed in different percentages.

Profile of Respiratory and Extra-Respiratory Tuberculosis in Patients Living with HIV in Dolj County between 2005-2015.

INTRODUCTION: Tuberculosis (TB) is the commonest and the deadliest opportunistic infection in patients living with HIV/ AIDS. PURPOSE: The paper aims to assess patients with and without TB-HIV coinfection in Dolj county registered in Regional and National database in order to identify risk factors for progression to active TB for immunodepresive patients. MATERIAL AND METHOD: We performed a retrospective descriptive study using records of 336 patients infected with HIV (PIH)-data from medical charts between 2005-2015 and we compared with the data for 1120 patients without HIV between 2005-2012. RESULTS: 64,1% were females and 35,89% were males. Most cases were from rural areas (61,54%) most of them graduating primary (17,94%) and secondary school (48,71%). Most of them don't have a job (87%) and are supported by state with a monthly miminum income. Majority is born between 1980-1990 (64,1%), with predominance of Romanians (92.31%) compared to the Roma. Regarding all TB diagnoses (pulmonary and extrapulmonary) 117 had at least one episode of active TB. TB and HIV have been diagnosed almost at the same time in 25,64% cases. At the time of TB diagnosis 87% of patients had CD4+lymphocytes count <200cel/ml. We also noticed the absence of prophylaxis for TB in PIH, high incidence of hepatitis B among those with HIV/TB coinfection (34%). CONCLUSIONS: Active TB in patients with HIV infection is correlated with severe immunosuppression, poor education, and atypical clinical expression and radiological findings and more cases of extrapulmonary TB.