2015 European guidelines for the management of partners of persons with sexually transmitted infections.

BACKGROUND: Partner management is the process of identifying the contacts of a person infected by a sexually transmitted infection (STI) and referral to a health care provider for appropriate management. It represents a public health activity. METHODS: This guideline is produced by the IUSTI European Guideline Editorial Board and EDF Guideline Committee. RESULTS: It provides recommendations concerning the infections that require partner management, the lookback periods for this STI and the main steps to follow for partner management (offering support to patients, notifying partners, identification of contacts). Partner management is voluntary and needs to be performed with respect to human rights, social, cultural and religious behaviours. CONCLUSIONS: In European countries, there are different approaches to the partner management; some common type of actions can enhance the fight against STI.

The use of complementary and alternative therapies and of psychotherapy by Romanian patients with irritable bowel syndrome.

UNLABELLED: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is an invalidating condition, lacking a perfect therapy. Therefore, many patients use also complementary and alternative therapies (CAT) or psychotherapy (PT). There are no data on the use of CAT and PT in IBS in our area. We looked for this until uncovered aspect of IBS management in Romania. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 250 consecutive patients with IBS (142 F/108M, aged 49 +/- 12 years) referred to a tertiary gastroenterological center were questioned about the use of CAT and PT using a structured specially developed questionnaire. All of the patients accepted to answer the questionnaire after careful instruction. RESULTS: 162 out of 250 pts (64%) admitted to have used one or more CAT, usually together with pharmacological prescriptions. Among CAT users, 32 patients (20%) used only CAT and not allopathic drugs. CAT used were: homeopathy 13%, herbal therapy 72%, acupuncture 3%, bioenergetic resonance 11%, others 13%. Probiotics were used by 30%. Users were mainly females of lower educational levels. Psychotherapy was used by 30 pts (12%). 25 (10%) used CBT, 15 (6%) used relaxation therapy. CONCLUSION: The majority of IBS pts. in our area use CAT usually in association with allopathic therapy. The most frequently used are herbal prescriptions followed by probiotics. PT less frequently used in our IBS patients.

Management of leg ulcers in patients with chronic venous insufficiency: the experience of a Dermatology Clinic in Bucharest, Romania.

Venous ulcers are the most severe skin manifestation of chronic venous insufficiency. Treatment is complex and it is performed according to the stage of the disease. It includes changes of lifestyle, compressive therapy, phlebotropic medication, topical therapy of the ulcer, antibiotic therapy (topical and systemic), sclerotherapy, and surgical treatment. Patients with venous leg ulcers that attend the Second Dermatology Clinic of Colentina Clinical Hospital, are treated both as inpatients and as outpatients. They benefit from topical treatment and bandaging performed by specialized medical personnel in separate treatment room with strictly monitored conditions of asepsis and antisepsis. A follow-up study of these patients was made from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2011. The average age of patients was 65.9 years (± 14.2), most of them being in the eight decade of life (31.9%). In almost half of the cases (44.2%), the patients spent more than 1 week in the hospital. Bacteriological investigations from the ulcers were performed in 55.1% of patients and the most frequent infectious agents were found to be Staphylococcus aureus (26.3%) and Enterobacter spp. (17.2%). Treatment of leg ulcer patients proves to be a long and complex one, a systematic and organized approach being needed in order to obtain healing of the wound.

Ba(Zn1/3Ta2/3)O ceramics for microwave and millimeter-wave applications.

The Ba(Zn(1/3)Ta(2/3))O(3) (BZT) ceramic samples were prepared by solid-state reaction and sintered in the range 1550-1650 degrees C for 2 h. Several methods--X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM)--were used for structural and morphological characterization. The unit cell distortion and the presence of the secondary phase content were studied by XRD. A long-range order with a 2:1 ratio of Ta and Zn cations on the octahedral positions of the perovskite structure was noticed with the increase of the sintering temperature. SEM investigations revealed polyhedral well-faceted grains and large grain size distribution. The dielectric properties in the microwave range were measured at room temperature and at 1 kHz on a large temperature interval (+/-150 degrees C). The dielectric parameters were correlated with morphological and structural properties. Ceramic samples were annealed at 1410 degrees C for 30 h to improve the microwave properties. The dielectric constant of BZT samples measured at 6 GHz and at 1 kHz was between 27 and 28 on the whole temperature range, that is, typical values for BZT material. The temperature coefficient of the resonance frequency at 6 GHz exhibits positive values less than 6 ppm/degrees C.