70 research outputs found
Advanced methods of data anonymization in medical research
No full textFişierul ataşat conţine: Abstract, Rezumat, Contents, Introduction, Bibliography.The increasing importance of data-driven healthcare, particularly in rare disease research, ne-cessitates robust methods for data anonymization. This thesis explores advanced anonymization techniques to ensure patient privacy while maintaining the utility of medical data. Rare disease datasets pose unique challenges due to their small sample sizes and the high risk of reidentification. Traditional methods, such as k-anonymity and pseudonymization, are often insufficient in addressing these complexities. This research evaluates three primary anonymization techniques—k-anonymity, differential privacy, and pseudonymization—through a structured methodology applied to synthetic and real-world datasets. The study begins with an in-depth literature review, identifying gaps in current practices and regulatory challenges, particularly under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The methodology includes the preparation of datasets reflecting the complexity of rare disease registries, implementation of anonymization techniques, and evaluation based on metrics such as re-identification risk, data utility, and computational efficiency. Results demonstrate that k-anonymity effectively reduces reidentification risks but at the cost of significant data generalization. Differential privacy provides formal guarantees against re-identification but introduces variability that can impact statistical analyses. Pseudonymization, while useful for longitudinal studies, does not fully address reidentification risks without additional measures. This thesis highlights the trade-offs between privacy and utility inherent in anonymization techniques and emphasizes the need for a hybrid approach tailored to the specific requirements of rare disease research. Personal contributions include the development of a comprehensive framework for evaluating anonymization methods, integration of ethical considerations into the methodology, and practical recommendations for enhancing data sharing practices. The findings not only advance the understanding of anonymization in medical research but also align with global initiatives to promote ethical data use and privacy-preserving technologies.Importanța tot mai mare a îngrijirii medicale bazate pe date, în special în cercetarea privind bolile rare, impune utilizarea unor metode robuste de anonimizare a datelor. Această teză explorează tehnici avansate de anonimizare pentru a asigura confidențialitatea pacienților, menținând în același timp util-itatea datelor medicale. Seturile de date privind bolile rare prezintă provocări unice, datorită dimen-siunilor reduse ale eșantioanelor și riscului ridicat de re-identificare. Metodele tradiționale, cum ar fi k-anonimitatea și pseudonimizarea, sunt adesea insuficiente în abordarea acestor complexități. Această cercetare evaluează trei tehnici principale de anonimizare—k-anonimitatea, confidențialitatea diferențială și pseudonimizarea—printr-o metodologie structurată aplicată pe seturi de date sintetice și reale. Studiul începe cu o revizuire literară detaliată, identificând lacunele din practicile curente și provocările reglementare, în special în contextul Regulamentului General privind Protecția Datelor (GDPR) al Uniunii Europene. Metodologia include pregătirea unor seturi de date care reflectă complexitatea reg-istrelor pentru bolile rare, implementarea tehnicilor de anonimizare și evaluarea acestora pe baza unor metrici precum riscul de re-identificare, utilitatea datelor și eficiența computațională. Rezultatele arată că k-anonimitatea reduce în mod eficient riscurile de re-identificare, însă cu prețul unei generalizări sem-nificative a datelor. Confidențialitatea diferențială oferă garanții formale împotriva re-identificării, dar introduce variabilitate care poate afecta analizele statistice. Pseudonimizarea, deși utilă pentru studii longitudinale, nu abordează complet riscurile de re-identificare fără măsuri suplimentare. Această teză evidențiază compromisurile dintre confidențialitate și utilitate inerente tehnicilor de anonimizare și subliniază necesitatea unei abordări hibride, adaptate cerințelor specifice ale cercetării privind bolile rare. Contribuțiile personale includ dezvoltarea unui cadru cuprinzător pentru evaluarea metodelor de anonimizare, integrarea considerentelor etice în metodologie și recomandări practice pentru îmbunătățirea practicilor de partajare a datelor. Rezultatele obținute nu doar că avansează înțelegerea anonimizării în cercetarea medicală, dar se aliniază și inițiativelor globale de promovare a utilizării etice a datelor și a tehnologiilor care protejează confidențialitatea
Cost and affordability of the food basket in the Republic of Moldova
No full textIntroductionFood and nutrition security remain among humanity's most urgent challenges, with 23.5% of Moldova's population experiencing food insecurity. Despite the critical nature of this issue, national-level research on nutritional security remains scarce. This study aims to evaluate the cost and accessibility of minimum consumption and healthy food baskets in Moldova to better understand affordability constraints and inform policy interventions.MethodsThe study assesses the cost and affordability of food baskets by calculating their cost as a proportion of the country's minimal subsistence amount and evaluating affordability using the International Poverty Line (IPL) criterion. The analysis focuses on two key food baskets: the Minimum Consumption Food Basket (MCFB) and the Healthy Food Basket (HFB).ResultsFindings indicate that ~52% of the population lacks access to the MCFB, while 78.6% cannot afford the HFB without reallocating non-food expenses. Affordability gaps were most pronounced among lower-income households, highlighting significant vulnerabilities within specific socio-demographic groups.DiscussionThese results underscore the urgent need for policies addressing food affordability and accessibility in Moldova. Strengthening national strategies to align with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2 (Zero Hunger) and 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing) could help mitigate food insecurity risks. By addressing affordability gaps and ensuring equitable access to nutritious food, these strategies can support national development priorities and enhance food security resilience
Nutritional Quality of Bread and Bakery Products. Case Study: Republic of Moldova
No full textAcces full text - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-42775-6_54Within nutritional food models, the role of carbohydrates is essential in understanding the evolution of non-communicable, diet-related diseases and in proposing effective interventions, and bakery products, especially bread, play a central role in this scenario, as they remain the staple foods of human nutrition, providing 70% of people's food. This research aims to evaluate the nutritional quality of bread and bakery products packaged and sold in the Republic of Moldova through the lens of nutritional and health claims. The product categories selected for the research included bread and bakery products with and without gluten, packaged and sold in markets in Chisinau. A total of 155 products were validated. The quality of local bread, packaged and sold in the Republic of Moldova, evaluated according to the nutritional and health claims, for the most part, falls into the categories of low-fat content, low saturated fat content, low sugar content. Still, it has significant deficiencies in regarding the fibre content, whose contribution to human health and well-being is proven. At the same time, the results obtained show that the insistence of research and efforts in the development of gluten-free products to improve nutritional aspects have yielded results. The results of the study could be applied to guide the formulation of dietary standards, improve labelling systems, and help consumers make informed choices about healthy foods. At the same time, nutrition assessment studies are needed through valid and effective assessment systems considering multidimensional indicators
Healthy Food Basket: Sustainable and Culturally Adaptive Nutrition for Moldova
No full textIn a global context marked by food insecurity and the increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases, this study proposes a healthy food basket (HFB) model tailored to the demographic, cultural, and economic specificities of the Republic of Moldova which is aligned with international standards. The research employed a comprehensive methodology, including estimations of daily energy requirements using revised Harris–Benedict equations, food selection based on nutritional value, economic availability, and cultural relevance, and nutritional validation through the mean adequacy ratio (MAR), which was derived from nutrient adequacy ratios (NARs) and dietary reference values (DRVs) established by the EFSA. Nutrient intake calculations were based on food composition data and not population-level dietary surveys. Fat-soluble vitamins were excluded due to insufficient available data. The results indicate adequate intake levels of vitamins (B1, B2, B3, and C) and minerals (iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium) while highlighting deficiencies in calcium and sodium that require dietary adjustments. The inclusion of traditional foods, such as kefir and salted or raw pork fat, underscores the model’s cultural acceptability and economic relevance, strengthening the integration of global nutritional principles with regional dietary habits. This study’s limitations, including the use of secondary data and the lack of empirical validation, highlight the need for longitudinal studies. The HFB model offers a replicable solution for other regions facing similar challenges, contributing to global efforts to reduce malnutrition and promote sustainable diets
A RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS OF NUTRITIONAL SECURITY IN THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA
No full textNutritional security is crucial for public health in Moldova, a country facing a dual burden of malnutrition - undernutrition alongside rising obesity and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Despite progress in food availability, challenges in dietary quality and health outcomes remain. This study evaluates Moldova's nutritional profile using national and international data. The main goal is to assess the current state of nutritional security in Moldova, identify policy and data gaps, and propose recommendations to improve dietary quality and combat NCDs through effective policies and data-driven actions. A systematic review of reports from international organizations, such as the Global Nutrition Report (GNR) and The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI), as well as national policy documents, was conducted for the period 2015–2024. Key indicators such as food insecurity, obesity, anemia, and micronutrient deficiencies were analyzed. The effectiveness of national programs like the National Program in the Field of Food and Nutrition (2014–2020) was also assessed. Moldova shows high rates of food insecurity (24.7%), anemia in women (26.1%), and obesity (23.0% in 2022). Fragmented data and the lack of a centralized monitoring system hinder progress. Addressing Moldova's nutritional challenges requires a centralized monitoring system, improved data collection, and a comprehensive national nutrition strategy aligned with global standards
Using Quantitative Methods as Support for Audit of the Distributed Informatics Systems
No full textThis paper highlights some issues regarding how an indicators system must be developed and used in an audit process. Distributed systems are presented from de points of view of their main properties, architectures, applications, software quality characteristics and the scope of audit process in such systems. The audit process is defined in accordance to standard ISO 19011 and the main characteristics of this process are highlighted. Before using quantitative methods in audit processes, the framework in which the indicators are built must be defined. There are presented types of indicators used in audit process and classes of measurement scale. An audit process is carried out on different levels and support indicators must be in accordance to audit object. The paper presents some requirements of the indicators depending on the level of audit.Quantitative Methods, Audit Process, Distributed Informatics System
Integration of Nutritional and Sustainability Metrics in Food Security Assessment: A Scoping Review
No full textBackground: Food security and sustainability are interconnected, yet the integration of nutritional and environmental metrics into food security assessments remains insufficiently explored. Objectives: This scoping review maps the literature on the integration of nutritional and sustainability metrics in food security, investigating the methods used, existing findings, and research gaps. A special focus is placed on Eastern Europe, including the Republic of Moldova, due to shared challenges in food security and the potential for adapting validated methodologies from this region. Eligibility Criteria and Sources of Evidence: His study includes articles from Web of Science and Scopus (2015–2025), published in English and Romanian, that analyze food security alongside nutritional and sustainability factors, following the Population, Concept, Context (PCC) framework. Charting Methods: The extracted data were synthesized narratively and visualized thematically, analyzing temporal trends and the geographical distribution of studies. Results: Out of 247 identified publications, 115 were included. The use of sustainability indicators has increased since 2020; however, economic and social dimensions remain underexplored. Conclusions: Developing an integrated methodological framework is essential for correlating the nutritional, ecological, and economic impact of food consumption. Future research should prioritize the development of standardized methodologies and broaden the scope of analysis, particularly in underrepresented regions such as Eastern Europe
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Panel 7. Paper 7.1: Rural heritage on the World Heritage List: The case of villages with fortified churches from Romania
No full textSergiu MUSTEAŢĂ is an archaeologist working as project director at the Institute of Archaeology, Romanian Academy, Iași branch. He is the author of 7 monographs, more than 300 scientific publications, editor of over 20 books, and editor of two journals. His major academic interests are Archaeology and History of the Eastern Europe, and Cultural Heritage Preservation.Rural heritage represents the foundation of our past, which includes material and immaterial heritage. By studying rural heritage, we could better understand the past and integrate it into sustainable development of modern communities. My presentation will be focussed on the example of villages with fortified churches from Transylvania, which are the most representative rural heritage of Romania, and includes series of villages, but just seven of them were inscribed in the World Heritage List – Prejmier-Tartlau, Biertan, Valea Viilor, Calnic, Saschiz-Keisd, Darju, and Viscri. I will discuss the role and impact of public participation in various preservation and development projects. Other specific issues for these villages will be discussed too, like tourist impact on local communities. The presentation is part of our new project, which was launched in August 2017 and has the goal to identify and set up innovative models of good practices, adapted to the local cultural and social-economic specificities, for safeguarding and managing the Romanian World Heritage Sites. The project deals with multi-disciplinary and multi-perspective approach, developing partnership networks between various institutions from Romania and abroad interested in the project field and transfer of good practices on maintenance, preservation and cultural heritage management, community participation and cooperation with local public administration in order to develop National Strategy and management plans supported by realistic action plans. Only a common and integrated approach will make it possible to enrich UNESCO standards of preservation and maintain the WHS status. Keywords: Romania, World Heritage Site, Rural heritage, fortified churches, community participation
Stochastic dilemmas: foundations and applications
No full textOne of the significant challenges when solving optimization problems is addressing possible inaccurate or inconsistent function evaluations. Surprisingly and interestingly, this problem is far from trivial even in one of the most basic possible settings: evaluating which of two options is better when the values of the two options are random variables (a stochastic dilemma). Problems in this space have often been studied in the statistics, operations research and computer-science communities under the name of "multi-armed bandits". While most of the previous work has focused on dealing with noise in an online setting, in this dissertation, I will focus on offline optimization where the goal is to return a reasonable solution with high probability using a finite number of samples. I will discuss a set of problem settings of increasing complexity that allow one to derive formal algorithmic bounds. I will point to and discuss interesting connections between stochastic optimization and noisy data annotation, a problem where the goal is to identify the label of an object from a series of noisy evaluations. As a first contribution, I will introduce and formally analyze a set of novel algorithms that improve the state of the art and provide new insights for solving the stochastic optimization and noisy data-annotation problems. I will then formally prove a novel result: That a widely used derivative-free optimization algorithm (the cross-entropy method) is optimizing for quantiles instead of expectation in stochastic optimization settings. I will back up the theoretical claims on the optimization side with experimental results in a set of non-trivial planning and reinforcement-learning domains. Finally, I will discuss the application of the above algorithms for solving noisy data-annotation problems in a setting involving real crowdsourcing experiments.Ph. D.Includes bibliographical referencesby Sergiu Goschi
The monograph “The operated ear disease”, the author Sergiu Vetricean
No full textDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology,
Nicolae Testemitsanu State University of Medicine and
Pharmacy Chisinau, the Republic of Moldov
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