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Cellulose-based foams present a high potential for noise insulation applications. These materials are bio-degradable, eco-friendly by both embedded components and manufacturing process, have low density and high porosity, and are able to provide good noise insulation characteristics compared with available petroleum-based foams currently used on a large scale. This paper presents the results of some investigations performed by the authors in order to improve the functional characteristics in terms of free surface wettability and structural integrity. Native xylan and xylan-based derivatives (in terms of acetylated and hydrophobized xylan) were taken into account for surface treatment of cellulose foams, suggesting that hemicelluloses represent by-products of pulp and paper industry, and xylan polysaccharides are the most abundant hemicelluloses type. The investigations were mainly conducted in order to evaluate the level to which surface treatments have affected the noise insulation properties of basic cellulose foams. The results indicate that surface treatments with xylan derivatives have slowly affected the soundproofing characteristics of foams, but these clearly have to be taken into account because of their high decrease in wettability level and improving structural integrity.

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This paper examines effective and environmentally friendly materials intended for noise insulation and soundproofing applications, starting with materials that have gained significant attention within last years. Foam-formed materials based on cellulose fibers have emerged as a promising solution. The aim of this study was to obtain a set of foam-formed, porous, lightweight materials based on cellulose fibers from a resinous slurry pulp source, and to investigate the impact of surfactant percentage of the foam mixtures on their noise insulation characterisitcs. The basic foam-forming technique was used for sample assembly, with three percentages of sodium dodecyl sulphate (as anionic surfactant) related to fiber weight, and a standardised sound transmission loss tube procedure was used to evaluate noise insulation performance. Results were obtained as observations of internal structural configurations and material characteristics, and as measurements of sound absorption/reflection, sound transmission loss, and surface acoustic impedance. Based on the findings within this study, the conclusions highlight the strong potential of these cellulosic foams to replace widely used synthetic materials, at least into the area of practical noise insulation applications.

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Based on the environmental concerns, the utilisation of hemicelluloses in food packaging has become a sustainable alternative to synthetic polymers and an important method for the efficient utilisation of biomass resources. After cellulose, hemicellulose is a second component of agricultural and forestry biomass that is being taken advantage of given its abundant source, biodegradability, nontoxicity and good biocompatibility. However, due to its special molecular structure and physical and chemical characteristics, the mechanical and barrier properties of hemicellulose films and coatings are not sufficient for food packaging applications and modification for performance enhancement is needed. Even though there are many studies on improving the hydrophobic properties of hemicelluloses, most do not meet environmental requirements and the chemical modification of these biopolymers is still a challenge. The present review examines emerging and green alternatives to acetylation for xylan hemicellulose in order to improve its performance, especially when it is used as biopolymer in paper coatings or films for food packaging. Ionic liquids (ILs) and enzymatic modification are environmentally friendly methods used to obtain xylan derivatives with improved thermal and mechanical properties as well as hydrophobic performances that are very important for food packaging materials. Once these novel and green methodologies of hemicellulose modifications become well understood and with validated results, their production on an industrial scale could be implemented. This paper will extend the area of hemicellulose applications and lead to the implementation of a sustainable alternative to petroleum-based products that will decrease the environmental impact of packaging materials.

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Wet foam can be used as a carrier in the manufacturing of lightweight materials based on natural and man-made fibers and specific additives. Using a foam forming method and cellulose fibers, it is possible to produce the porous materials with large area of end-using such as protective and cushioning packaging, filtering, hydroponic, thermal and sound absorption insulation, or other building materials. In comparison with the water-forming used for conventional paper products, foam-forming method provides many advantages. In particular, since fibers inside the foam are mostly trapped between the foam bubbles, the formed materials have an excellent homogeneity. This allows for using long fibers and a high consistency in head box without significant fiber flocking. As result, important savings in water and energy consumptions for dewatering and drying of the foam formed materials are obtained. In cushioning packaging, foam-formed cellulose materials have their specific advantages comparing to other biodegradable packaging (corrugated board, molded pulp) and can be a sustainable alternative to existing synthetic foams (i.e., expanded polystyrene or polyurethane foams). This review discusses the technical parameters to be controlled during foam forming of cellulose materials to ensure their performances as cushioning and protective packaging. The focus was on the identification of practical solutions to compensate the strength decreasing caused by reduced density and low resistance to water of foam formed cellulose materials.

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Recent studies have highlighted an innovative way to produce highly porous materials based on cellulose fibers. These studies have focused on the foam-forming process, where the cellulose fibers and other components are mixed with foam. In the authors' previous research, the foam-formed cellulose materials (FCM) were obtained by mixing a surfactant with cellulose fibers, taken from virgin pulp and recovered papers. In the present paper, the authors performed additional experimental and computational analyses in order to evaluate the sound insulation capabilities of these FCM beyond the initial impedance of tube investigations. The poroacoustics computational methodology parameters-i.e., airflow resistivity, porosity, tortuosity, viscous, and thermal characteristic lengths-were herein evaluated. This analysis was performed using both a theoretical/empirical approach from the specialized literature and an experimental investigation developed by the authors. The computational investigations were conducted in two stages: First, we evaluated the approximation of the experimentally gained normal incidence parameters, in terms of absorption and reflection, respectively, relative to the estimated ones. The second stage of analysis consists of a parametrical estimation of sound insulation characteristics concerning the incidence angle of sound hitting the porous layer. The results presented in this paper are in agreement with the computational experimental results, providing extended soundproof characteristics to the incidence angle of the acoustic field. Further, this study supplies additional information useful for future analyses regarding the influences of random geometry air inclusions into the FCM layer.

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The psychiatric law system was created with the sole purpose of protecting patients with mental illnesses, a vulnerable segment of the population. The laws regarding voluntary and non-voluntary admission of mental patients have been reformed in many European countries. After 1989, Romania starts to gradually benefit from a law system that meets the requirements of modern society. From this general context the Mental Health Law takes form, with the main purpose of ratifying the relationship between patient and psychiatrist. This system provides a new, more modern approach but also proves to have certain flaws. One of the most obvious is the aspect regarding the personal representative, which generates both ethical and professional conduit problems, difficult to manage from the standpoint of modern medicine. Minimizing the effects of such an error is possible by simply considering the small number of solutions suggested by the author in the end of this article.

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Encephalitis is a brain inflammation, which could involve also the meninges. The etiology of encephalitis could be: viral, bacterial, fungal or autoimmune. Anti-NMDAR encephalitis is an immune disorder, easy to diagnose and is a treatable condition. Most patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis develop a multistage illness that progresses from psychosis, memory deficits, seizures, to catatonic state and breathing instability. We present a case report of a 20-year old woman, who presented: amnesia, visual hallucination, illusions, seizures after that occurred following autoimmune encephalitis. The exact incidence of anti-NMDAR encephalitis is unknown, but it seems to be more frequent than any other known paraneoplastic encephalitis. The present case is important considering that autoimmune encephalitis is a rare frequency disorder in Romania, with patients presenting resounding psychiatric and neurological manifestations.

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UNLABELLED: Respecting fundamental ethics principles entails the process of obtaining an informed consent, which is a necessary requirement for offering good psychiatric medical care and conducting research studies on human subjects, who are regarded as the vulnerable population. Presently, in Romania, the informed consent regarding medical interventions is covered by the law of the patient's rights, Law 46/2003, chapter 3. The aim of this study is to evaluate the medical staff's perception of the need of the informed consent in the practice of psychiatric medical care. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This is a quantitative, inquiry based study, with prospective evaluation, based on the responses of 217 medical staff members involved in treating patients with psychiatric disorders. The study unfolded between July 2012 and July 2013, and the questionnaires were answered by medical staff members (psychiatrists, general practitioners, other clinical specialists, psychologists) from Iasi, Botosani, Vaslui, Suceava counties. RESULTS: The age group distribution of the medical staff involved in the medical care shows statistically significant differences between the groups questioned (χ2 = 227.14; df = 5; p = 0.001). Concerning the answers recorded at question no. 2, regarding informing the psychiatric patient, and comparing the studied groups of medical staff, a majority of affirmative answers was noted. CONCLUSIONS: The medical staff members involved in the patient's treatment recognizes the necessity of a full informed consent when discussing about psychiatric medical care. In psychiatry, the variation of competence raises multiple ethics discussions.

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