Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) represents 85–95% of kidney cancers and is the most frequent type of renal cancer in adult patients. It accounts for 3% of all cancer cases and is in 7th place among the most frequent histological types of cancer. Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), accounts for 75% of RCCs and has the most kidney cancer-related deaths. One-third of the patients with ccRCC develop metastases. Renal cancer presents cellular alterations in sugars, lipids, amino acids, and nucleic acid metabolism. RCC is characterized by several metabolic dysregulations including oxygen sensing (VHL/HIF pathway), glucose transporters (GLUT 1 and GLUT 4) energy sensing, and energy nutrient sensing cascade. Metabolic reprogramming represents an important characteristic of the cancer cells to survive in nutrient and oxygen-deprived environments, to proliferate and metastasize in different body sites. The phosphoinositide 3-kinase-AKT-mammalian target of the rapamycin (PI3K/AKT/mTOR) signaling pathway is usually dysregulated in various cancer types including renal cancer. This molecular pathway is frequently correlated with tumor growth and survival. The main aim of this review is to present renal cancer types, dysregulation of PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway members, crosstalk with VHL/HIF axis, and carbohydrates, lipids, and amino acid alterations.

A provisionalization sequence is essential for obtaining a predictable final prosthetic outcome. An assessment of the mechanical behavior of interim prosthetic materials could orient clinicians towards selecting an appropriate material for each clinical case. The aim of this study was to comparatively evaluate the mechanical behavior—with compressive and three-point flexural tests—of certain 3D-printed and conventional resins used to obtain interim fixed dental prostheses. Four interim resin materials were investigated: two 3D-printed resins and two conventional resins (an auto-polymerized resin and a pressure/heat-cured acrylic resin). Cylindrically shaped samples (25 × 25 mm/diameter × height) were obtained for the compression tests and bar-shaped samples (80 × 20 × 5 mm/length × width × thickness) were produced for the flexural tests, observing the producers’ recommendations. The resulting 40 resin samples were subjected to mechanical tests using a universal testing machine. Additionally, a fractographic analysis of failed samples in bending was performed. The results showed that the additive manufactured samples exhibited higher elastic moduli (2.4 ± 0.02 GPa and 2.6 ± 0.18 GPa) than the conventional samples (1.3 ± 0.19 GPa and 1.3 ± 0.38 GPa), as well as a higher average bending strength (141 ± 17 MPa and 143 ± 15 MPa) when compared to the conventional samples (88 ± 10 MPa and 76 ± 7 MPa); the results also suggested that the materials were more homogenous when produced via additive manufacturing.

Dental pulp vitality is a desideratum for preserving the health and functionality of the tooth. In certain clinical situations that lead to pulp exposure, bioactive agents are used in direct pulp-capping procedures to stimulate the dentin-pulp complex and activate reparative dentinogenesis. Hydraulic calcium-silicate cements, derived from Portland cement, can induce the formation of a new dentin bridge at the interface between the biomaterial and the dental pulp. Odontoblasts are molecularly activated, and, if necessary, undifferentiated stem cells in the dental pulp can differentiate into odontoblasts. An extensive review of literature was conducted on MedLine/PubMed database to evaluate the histological outcomes of direct pulp capping with hydraulic calcium-silicate cements performed on animal models. Overall, irrespective of their physico-chemical properties and the molecular mechanisms involved in pulp healing, the effects of cements on tertiary dentin formation and pulp vitality preservation were positive. Histological examinations showed different degrees of dental pulp inflammatory response and complete/incomplete dentin bridge formation during the pulp healing process at different follow-up periods. Calcium silicate materials have the ability to induce reparative dentinogenesis when applied over exposed pulps, with different behaviors, as related to the animal model used, pulpal inflammatory responses, and quality of dentin bridges.

All social and economic systems worldwide, including the educational one have been disrupted by escalating the global COVID-19 pandemic. One of the most impacted areas were the medical and dental education fields, due to the forced break from clinical practice during the lockdown, which affected both the educational part, as well as the patients. Thus, the main goal of our research was to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dental students’ education as related to their perceptions and evaluations, in Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 878 dental students who reported their perception of the psychological and educational impact of this period by completing a Google Forms questionnaire. Collected data were statistically analyzed using Stata/IC 16. There was a severe psychological impact among the respondents, the levels of stress being perceived as high and very high (33.83%, n = 297; 28.59%, n = 251), similar to high and very high anxiety feelings (26.54%, n = 233; 24.26%, n = 213). Very high educational impact from the point of view of the acquisition of practical skills (48.52%, n = 426) and future professional perspectives (38.95%, n = 342) were recorded. While online theoretical learning ability was principally low (37.93%, n = 333) despite consistently modified time allocated to the individual study (44.35%, n = 389), most of the students evaluated the efficiency of lecturers in online courses as neutral (41.12%, n = 361). New dentistry teaching programs will have to be adopted taking into account the dynamics of the pandemic and its strong impact on our students, in order to improve both their wellbeing and the sustainability of dental education.

The aim of the study was to assess the oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL) of elderly in care homes, one of Romania’s most vulnerable social categories, to correlate it to sociodemographic, oral health parameters, and prosthodontic status. Therefore, a cross-sectional study was performed on 58 geriatrics divided into 3 age groups, who were clinically examined and answered the oral health impact profile (OHIP-14) questionnaire. Very high rates of complete edentulism in the oldest-old subgroup (bimaxillary in 64.3%; mandibular in 64.3%; maxillary in 85.7%), and alarming frequencies in the other subgroups (middle-old and youngest-old), statistically significant differences between age groups being determined. The OHIP-14 mean score was 14.5. Although not statistically significant, females had higher OHIP-14 scores, also middle-old with single maxillary arch, single mandibular arch, and bimaxillary complete edentulism, whether they wore dentures or not, but especially those without dental prosthetic treatment in the maxilla. A worse OHRQoL was also observed in wearers of bimaxillary complete dentures, in correlation with periodontal disease-related edentulism, in those with tertiary education degree, and those who came from rural areas. There were no statistically significant correlations of OHRQoL with age, total number of edentulous spaces or edentulous spaces with no prosthetic treatment. In conclusion, despite poor oral health and prosthetic status of the institutionalized elderly around Bucharest, the impact on their wellbeing is comparatively moderate.

Due to the nature of their activity, anesthesia and critical care have generally well-developed patient safety cultures, which are linked to a greater level of incident awareness and reporting during clinical activity. In order to determine the status quo and identify and adopt, where appropriate, techniques and instruments for further improving patient safety, it is necessary to evaluate the culture and barriers in these departments. The main objective of our study was to assess patient safety culture in Romanian anesthesia and intensive care departments (AICDs), to pinpoint the areas that may need improvement, and to examine the correlation between the prevalence of adverse event reporting, as well as the level of self-reported patient safety culture. To determine how anesthesia and intensive care department staff perceived patient safety, the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC) was used in a translated Romanian version. In total, 1200 employees from 36 anesthesiology and intensive care departments across 32 hospitals in Romania received the questionnaire, representing 42.66% of all anesthesia and intensive care departments in the country. In 7 of the 12 examined dimensions, significant differences between tertiary and secondary hospitals were observed. Among all dimensions, the highest positive score was for “organizational learning and continuous development”. In general, our study revealed a positive view on patient safety in anesthesia and intensive care departments. Further studies are required to determine a threshold of the level of culture development.