This study aimed to investigate the effects of the probiotic Betaplus^® and prebiotic Technomos^® as feed additives for Nile tilapia in terms of growth performance, health profiles, and resistance to infection with Aeromonas hydrophila and Pseudomonas fluorescens. A total of 960 healthy juvenile Nile tilapia (1.5 ± 0.01 g) were randomly divided into four experimental variants with three replicates for each variant. Fish were fed a commercial diet (control group, V₀), supplemented with BetaPlus^® probiotics–1% × BW (V₁), TechnoMos^® prebiotics–1% × BW (V₂), and with BetaPlus^® probiotics and TechnoMos^® prebiotics in a ratio of 1:1% × BW (V₃). Results on growth performance showed the best values in the probiotic variant, correlated with the health profile and the relative survival percentage after the challenge test with A. hydrophila and P. fluorescens. Similarly, the effects of dietary supplementation with probiotics and prebiotics on physiological conditions also recorded beneficial results in the synbiotic variant, where a high survival percentage was obtained after infection with the two pathogenic bacteria. In conclusion, the results of this study indicate that dietary supplementation with feed additives consisting of mentioned probiotics, prebiotic, and their combination as synbiotics has the potential to promote growth performance, improving tilapia immunity and increasing survival after the challenge test.

The Danube is the second-largest river in Europe and has been subject to pollution in the past. Additionally, in the last few years, the rapid pace of industrialization and urbanization has led to the inevitable pollution of this aquatic ecosystem by certain metals (essential and non-essential elements). This issue is considered the central problem of pollution in the Danube and is gaining increasing attention. Fish is a good source of proteins, polyunsaturated fatty acids (especially omega-3 fatty acids), essential vitamins, and minerals. Fish are often exposed to metals present in their aquatic environment through direct contact with contaminated water or by consuming organisms that have accumulated metals in their tissues; therefore, the elevated concentrations of metals in water and sediments are reflected in the fish flesh. In this context, the safety of fish and fishery products for human consumption is a public health concern. In the last two decades, more and more reports have shown that Danube River fish are contaminated with metals, causing great concern among consumers. The negative perception continues, although recent scientific studies show that metal levels in the edible parts of the fish are below acceptable limits. The objective of this study was to put together a multitude of scientific research studies that investigate the levels of some metals in various tissues of some fish species with high economic value in the Romanian market, as well as the levels of metals in the water and sediments. The collected data were then utilized to assess the potential health risks posed to humans.

One of the main global priorities nowadays is finding sustainable methods of increasing food production. However, profit maximization remains the primary purpose of every economic activity. The integration of aquaculture recirculating systems with different aquaponics techniques comes as a respond to both requirements that were mentioned above. The aim of present research is to make a comparative cost effectiveness analysis in two integrated aquaponics systems, where both deep water culture (DWC) and light expanded clay aggregate (LECA) substrate aquaponic techniques were applied. Four combinations of fish and plants species were used as follows: rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) – spinach (Spinacia oleracea), stellate sturgeon (Acipenser stellatus) – spinach (Spinacia oleracea), stellate sturgeon (Acipenser stellatus) – mint (Mentha piperita) and stellate sturgeon (Acipenser stellatus) – tarragon (Artemisa dracunculus L.). Three production scales were used for the first two mentioned fish to plants combinations, as follows: 59crops/m2; 48crops/m2 and 39crops/m2. For each experiment, the cost analysis includes capital costs and operational costs. As main conclusions, we can point out that LECA substrate aquaponics technique requires a higher investment cost, comparing with DWC technique, but also had generated higher incomes, which led in the end to better economic indicators. The combination of fish to plants stellate sturgeon (Acipenser stellatus) – spinach (Spinacia oleracea), produced by applying LECA substrate aquaponics technique, had proved to be the most economic feasible, from all tested variants. It is recommended that alternative variants for power to be implemented, in order to minimize the electricity operational costs and therefore, to improve the profitability of tested facilities

There is extensive agreement between energy resources and strategy analysts in Romania and the accelerating energy demand is the principal contributing factor to anthropic air pollution emissions. Energy is indispensable to entire economic sectors, despite that, the expanding consideration given to changes in the global climate and sustainable economic growth has reiterated the scientific interest in the connection between pollution and economic development, especially in the current period when energy independence is extremely important. This paper analyzes the long - term and the connection between air pollution emissions, primary energy resources, final energy consumption in industry and the economic value of the production of environmental goods and services over the period 2008 – 2023. The data sets used in this article are based on statistical research by the National Institute of Statistics, in compliance with the provisions imposed by Community legislation. From the total analysis of energy sources, a decrease can be observed from 48,166 thousand tons of oil equivalent in 2008 to 40,578 thousand tons of oil equivalent in 2023, which required a series of investments in alternative sources to compensate for this decrease. The production and supply of electricity and heat, gas, hot water and air conditioning generated approximately 42,772 thousand tons (Gg) CO 2 in 2008 compared to 17,865.65 thousand tons (Gg) CO 2 in 2023 and also during this period PM 10 varied from 15,241.94 Tons (Mg) to 22,091.25 Tons (Mg). At the national level, the degree of energy independence for energy products as a whole was around 72.2%.

The study examines the municipal waste generation per capita trends in Romania from 1995 to 2022 compared to other EU countries using Eurostat data. The analysis divides the period into two phases: pre-accession (1995-2008) and post-accession (2008-2022). In the first period, Romania maintained a low and stable waste generation rate, below 300 kg per capita per year, due to low consumption levels, incomplete waste collection, and limited waste management capacity. After joining the EU, there was a slight increase in waste generation, accompanied by improved data reporting and infrastructure, but Romania still had one of the lowest waste generation rates in the EU. Challenges remained in waste monitoring, rural collection, and public awareness. By contrasting Romania's data with high waste generating countries like Denmark and Germany, the study suggests that factors such as waste monitoring and public awareness contribute to lower waste per capita figures.