Physicians and medical residents are particularly affected by sleep deprivation are, especially in East European countries. The aim of our study is to analyze the effect of caffeine intake on cardiovascular functions in sleep deprived residents (clinicians in-training) after continuous 24h on-call duty. 26 medical residents aged between 22-33 years old, 12 men and 14 women, who began their activity at 2 pm were included. Each subject consumed coffee or caffeinated drinks such as Coca cola during this period, after 2 am, expressed in caffeine units. We have evaluated their cardiovascular function using impedance cardiography (ICG-M501) and blood pressure measurement using the manometric method, before (at 7 pm) and after caffeine consumption (at 7 am), during one night of on-call duty. Surprisingly, after caffeine consumption, all subjects have had a decrease of the heart rate after one night of sleep deprivation (from mean: 83 b/min before to 69.73 b/min after, p = 0.000), also the mean arterial blood pressure is lower after the overnight call (from mean: 95.3 mmHg before to 88.9 mmHg after). Moreover, cardiac output, stroke volume and cardiac index decreases along with an increase of peripheral vascular resistance. Caffeine intake exerts a paradoxical effect on sleep deprived subjects; acute sleep loss, due to continuously, intense on-call work, modifies several cardiovascular parameters, such as heart rate, blood pressures, stroke volume and cardiac output.

The continuously increasing global impact of fungal infections is requiring the rapid development of novel antifungal agents. Due to their multiple pharmacological activities, thiourea derivatives represent privileged candidates for shaping new drugs. We report here the preparation, physico-chemical characterization and bioevaluation of hybrid nanosystems based on new 2-((4-chlorophenoxy)methyl)-N-(substituted phenylcarbamo-thioyl)benzamides and Fe3O4@C18 core@shell nanoparticles. The new benzamides were prepared by an efficient method, then their structure was confirmed by spectral studies and elemental analysis and they were further loaded on Fe3O4@C18 nanostructures. Both the obtained benzamides and the resulting hybrid nanosystems were tested for their efficiency against planktonic and adherent fungal cells, as well as for their in vitro biocompatibility, using mesenchymal cells. The antibiofilm activity of the obtained benzamides was dependent on the position and nature of substituents, demonstrating that structure modulation could be a very useful approach to enhance their antimicrobial properties. The hybrid nanosystems have shown an increased efficiency in preventing the development of Candida albicans (C. albicans) biofilms and moreover, they exhibited a good biocompatibility, suggesting that Fe3O4@C18core@shell nanoparticles could represent promising nanocarriers for antifungal substances, paving the way to the development of novel effective strategies with prophylactic and therapeutic value for fighting biofilm associated C. albicans infections.

Stress investigation especially in young healthy adults is a main mental health issue due to its individual and social consequences on long term. In order to characterize physiological, pathological and biochemical mechanisms of stress response, several biomarkers were proposed. Among these, the evaluation of the salivary biomarkers represents a fast and simple procedure, both in healthy subjects and patients. Saliva contains a wide range of parameters reflecting physiologic endocrine and immune responses, such as biologically active form of certain hormones (e.g. cortisol), growth factors, immune molecules. The present article is focused on cortisol evaluation as possible biomarker of stress and its analyze in the context of literature data.

Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) represent a high impact public health problem due to a high rate of death , long term disability and occurrence especially in young adults. Despite several promising animal studies, several parameters were proposed as biological markers and were assessed for this aim. Our study proposes the study of the early biochemical changes in association to hematological parameters for severe TBI patients prognosis. 43 patients with acute TBI were included in study based on clinical, laboratory and imagistic findings. The severity of the TBI was established by Glasgow Coma Scale GCS 3-8. In all patients were evaluated hematologic parameters (Red blood cell count - RBC, Hematocrit, blood Hemoglobin, White blood cell - WBC, Platelet count and biochemical parameters (glucose, urea, creatinine, electrolytes). Outcome was expressed as Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS), between 1-5. Values were compared to control group -15 cases. Significant early differences in body temperature, heart rate, and systolic blood pressure were observed in TBI group versus control (p[0.05). After correlation, laboratory findings significantly associated to severe outcome - GOS = 1, 2 - (p[0.05) were plasma Na decrease and significant glucose increase. An early increase of temperature and decrease of Na may predict a severe outcome in patients with acute TBI; association with shifts in heart rate and blood pressure, imposes aggressive treatment measures.

Determining neural viability in cell cultures is an essential element in both fundamental and clinical research, including testing the efficacy of certain neuroprotective drug compounds. Therefore, for a more rigorous evaluation of neuronal death associated with either experimental conditions or experimental models of neurological diseases, it is important that the research method and especially the staining method does not produce additional neural injuries and does not change the number destroyed cells. In the present study we tested how several types of dyes: Trypan Blue (TB), Calcein AM, Hoechst 33342, Propidium Iodide and WST-1/Formazan, affect neuronal viability in cell cultures before and after hypoxia and also, which dyes are associated with a higher percentage of cytotoxicity.