Mathematician Ion Ghica was Romania's
academic prime minister twice between 1866 and 1871, and a full member
of the Romanian Academy, lecturing in mathematics at what was to become
the University of Iaşi.
Nobel Prize? No problem! George Palade shared with two
colleagues the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for discoveries
concerning the structural and functional organization of the cell.
At the Rockefeller Institute in New York, Palade used electron
microscopy to study the internal organization of such cell structures as
mitochondria, chloroplasts, the Golgi apparatus, and others. His most
important discovery was related to ribosomes.
His name has become attached to the Weibel-Palade bodies (a storage
organelle unique to the endothelium, containing von Willebrand factor
and various proteins) which he described together with the Swiss
anatomist Ewald R. Weibel.
Heard of string theory? Talk to
Horaţiu Năstase,
graduate of the University of Bucharest! Horaţiu can tell you all
about the duality between strings on pp-wave spacetime and BMN operators
in super-symmetric Yang-Mills theory. According to the BBC,
Năstase may have been the very first Romanian to create a black
hole on earth (at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider particle
accelerator in New York).
From Pole to Cave
Emil Racoviţa (1868, Iaşi – 1947) was a famous
Romanian biologist, speleologist and explorer of Antarctica. A promoter
of natural sciences in Romania, just like the famous
Grigore Antipa, Emil Racoviţa was the
first Romanian to have gone on a scientific research expedition to the
Antarctic, more than 100 years ago. A professor, scholar and researcher
with a rich activity in the fields of speleology, zoology and bio-speleology,
Racoviţa has founded institutions aimed at
developing the natural sciences in the Romanian space.
Racoviţa researched over 1,400 caves in France, Spain,
Algeria, Italy and Slovenia, and he is considered to be, together with R
Jeannel, one of the founders of bio-speleology. In 1919, Racoviţă became
head of the Biology Department at the Upper Dacia University (now called
Babes-Bolyai University) in Cluj, Romania. Here he founded the first
Spaeleological Institute in the world.
A+ for C++
Andrei Alexandrescu is widely regarded as one of the foremost experts
on advanced C++ programming. He is particularly known for his pioneering
work on policy-based design implemented via template metaprogramming.
These ideas are articulated in his book "Modern C++ Design" and were
first implemented in his programming library, Loki. He also implemented
"move constructors" concept in his MOJO library.
A crater on the Moon was named after Spiru Haret, born 1851 in Iaşi. Haret was a Romanian mathematician,
astronomer and politician of Armenian descent. He made a fundamental
contribution to the n-body problem in celestial mechanics by proving
that using a third degree approximation for the disturbing forces
implies instability of the major axes of the orbits and introducing the
concept of secular perturbations in relation to this. As a politician,
during his three terms as Minister of Education Spiru Haret ran deep
reforms, building the modern Romanian education system. Spiru Haret also
founded the Astronomical observatory in Bucharest, appointing Nicolae
Coluleşcu as its first director.
Haret was the first Romanian to have a Ph.D. in mathematics from
Sorbonne, followed by mathematician David Emmanual, the Romanian
mathematician and member of the Romanian Academy, considered to be the
founder of the modern mathematics school in Romania.
The Model of a Hyper Stable Analyst
Vasile Mihai Popov is a leading systems theorist and control
engineering specialist. He is well known for having developed a method
to analyze stability of nonlinear dynamical systems, now known as Popov
criterion. Popov headed the Control group at the Institute of Energy of
the Romanian Academy, and conceived the notion of hyperstability in
relation to the operation of nuclear reactors. He was visiting professor
at the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford, and was
Professor in the department of electrical engineering at the University
of Maryland at College Park.
Romanian Flower Power
Wilhelm Knechtel was a Romanian gardener and botanist. He entered
into the service of Archduke Maximilian in 1860 at Miramare Castle in
Trieste, Italy. When the Archduke was crowned emperor of Mexico Wilhelm
accompanied him and designed various gardens in Mexico City, including
the roof garden in Chapultepec Castle.
After the incarceration of Emperor Maximilian of Mexico in June of
1867 he returned to Romania. There, he went into the service of King
Carol I of Romania as Royal Director of Gardens and Professor of Botany
at the Bucharest School of Agriculture. He was knighted
"Cavalier al Ordinului Coroanei României" (Knight
of the Order of the Romanian Crown) by Carol I of Romania on January 17,
1883.
A Life in Flux
Dr. Henrik Kacser (1918-1995) was a physical chemist born in Romania
to Hungarian parents. Before the World War II, he went to Queen's
University, Belfast to study chemistry, and specialized in physical
chemistry as a postgraduate student. Henrik's achievement in
genetics saw his election to the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1990.
The control of flux (Kacser & Burns, 1973) was a landmark paper for
both Kacser and Jim Burns describing how the rates of metabolic pathways
were affected by changes in the amounts or activities of pathway
enzymes. Biochemical interest in the ideas expressed in this work
started to grow in the 1980s, particularly with its experimental
applications in Amsterdam to oxidative phosphorylation, urea synthesis
and gluconeogenesis. A common terminology and set of symbols was
soon agreed for the new field of Metabolic Control Analysis.
Henrik continued his research after his official retirement in 1988
right up until his death in 1995. At the time of his death, Henrik still
ran an active laboratory, had two large grants supporting his work and
continued to produce original scientific ideas.
Grigore Antipa was a Romanian biologist who studied the fauna of the
Danube Delta and the Black Sea. Between 1892 and 1944 he was the
director of the Bucharest Natural History Museum, which now bears his
name. He was elected a member of the Romanian Academy in
1910. The Museum of Natural History in Bucharest now bears his
name.
Grigore Antipa managed to make it onto the old 200
lei note
Aurel Babeş is a Romanian scientist and one
of the discoverers of the vaginal smear as screening test for cervical
cancer. Although Georgios Papanikolaou is generally credited
with the invention of the screening test, Dr. Aurel
Babeş pioneered the cytological diagnosis of cervical cancer.
Babeş's 1927 work, however, was published in the
Proceedings of the Bucharest Gynaecological Society.
Victor Babeş
A rather talented fellow, a
guiding light in the early field of microbiology
Uncle Victor Babeş is more widely known than
his nephew, as a Romanian biologist and one of the earliest
bacteriologists. Babeş is one of the founders of
modern science of microbiology. He has made early and very significant
contributions to the study of rabies, leprosy, diphtheria, tuberculosis
and other infectious diseases.
In 1885 he discovered a parasitic sporozoan of the ticks that was
named Babesia (of the genus Babesiidae) after him, and which causes a
rare and severe disease called babesiosis. In the same year,
he publishes the first treaty of bacteriology in the world, "Bacteria
and their role in the histopathology of infectious diseases", which he
co-authored with A.V.Cornil.
His scientific endeavours were wide-ranging. He was the first to
demonstrate the presence of tuberculous bacilli in the urine of infected
patients. He also discovers cellular inclusions in rabies-infected nerve
cells. These have diagnostic value, and will be named after him (Babeş-Negri
bodies).
He was one of the founders of serum therapy, and was the first to
introduce antirabic vaccination in Romania. His work also had a
strong influence upon veterinary medicine, especially concerning
prophylaxis and serum therapy.
He became a professor of Pathology and Bacteriology at the
University of Medicine in Bucharest. He also became a member of the
Romanian Academy (in 1893), of the Paris Académie de Médicine and an
officer of the French Légion d'honneur.
Iuliu Barasch (1815–1863) was a Ukrainian-born Jewish physician and
writer who made his career in Romania. Born at Brody, he moved to
Bucharest, and was an ardent Romanian patriot. A friend of C.A. Rosetti
and Ion Heliade Rădulescu, he became a professor at Bucharest's School
of Medicine and Pharmacy. He was a popularizer of medical science and of
natural science in general. In 1856–1859 he edited a journal Isus sau
Natura (Jesus or Nature).
He is memorialized in Bucharest's historically Jewish Văcăreşti
neighborhood: the Baraşeum Theater, now home to the State Jewish Theater;
the adjoining Baraşeum clinic; and the street that runs in front of the
theater, formerly Ionescu de la Brad, now str. Dr. Iuliu Barasch.
Charles Davila
The Charles Davila (Carol Davila) School of Medicine and
Pharmacy in Bucharest
One of the premier
institutions, pumping out the elite of Romania's Medical community,
Carol is commemorated by a statue at the entrance.
Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy
is a state-run health sciences university in Bucharest, Romania.
It is comprised of three major colleges: Faculty
of Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry and Faculty of Pharmacy. It is the
largest institution of its kind in Romania. The University uses the
facilities of over 20 Bucharest clinical hospitals.
Carol Davila (1828–1884) was a famous Romanian physician of French
ancestry, starting from humble beginnings, most probably as an abandoned
child, and the surname Davila was bestowed on him by his adoptive
family.
He was the organizer of the military medical service and of the
public health system. Davila, together with Nicolae Kretzulescu,
inaugurated medical instruction in Romania in 1857 by founding the
National School of Medicine and Pharmacy. It was he who had determined
government authorities to issue the first official instructions
concerning the health care of factory workers and the organisation of
medical districts in the country.
He is also credited with the invention of the "Davila tincture" for
the treatment of cholera patients, an opioid-based oral solution useful
for symptomatic management of diarrhoea.
Others
Ioan Cantacuzino (1863-1934) was a renowned Romanian physician and
bacteriologist.
Iuliu Hatieganu (1885-1972) was an eminent Romanian clinician,
physician, and activist. He is especially famed for his research into
Tuberculosis.
Nicolae Cajal (October 1, 1919, Bucharest- April 8, 2004) was a
Romanian Jewish physician with a PhD in virology. He was President of
the Jewish Communities' Federation of Romania from 1994 to his death.
Nicolae Creţulescu was a Romanian politician and a physician. He
studied medicine at Paris having Gustave Flaubert as a colleague. As a
medic his notable work was the translation of the Cruveilhier Anatomy
Book. He served three terms as Prime Minister of Romania: from 1862 to
1863, again from 1865 to 1866, and finally in 1867.
Ştefan Odobleja (1902 - 1978) was a Romanian scientist, one of the
precursors of cybernetics. His major work, Psychologie consonantiste,
first published in 1938 and 1939, in Paris, had established many of the
major themes of cybernetics regarding cybernetics and systems thinking
ten years before the work of Norbert Wiener was published (1948).
Ioan Puşcaş is a world-famous gastroenterologist, born in Şimleu
Silvaniei, Romania. In the 1970s, he proposed the use of carbonic
anhydrase (CA) inhibitor acetazolamide to heal peptic ulcers.
If you are hospitalised in Romania, it is vital that you understand
the system of small payments required to secure the attentions of staff.
Romanian Hospitals
In 2006, the Romanian President, Traian Băsescu,
needed an operation for a herniated disc in his back.
So, he promptly flew to Vienna.
Please note: None of the hospitals
pictured above is necessarily any better or worse than others in
Romania, and their inclusion here is not in any way intended to
adjudge quality of care or imply deficiencies in operation or care
in any way.
According to the U.S. Embassy website, "Medical care in Romania is
not up to Western standards and basic medical supplies are limited,
especially outside of major cities. Doctors and hospitals often expect
immediate cash payment for health services."
In emergency rooms, it is best to have a brown envelope at the ready for
timely care. These fees are over and above whatever is being paid
by your insurance (if you have any) for the hospital facilities, room
and board.
Nurses and orderlies will require 10RON per day (5AUD, 4USD,
2.50EUR), and about five to ten times that daily for physician care on a
level typical in Western hospitals.
For those particularly ill or unable to negotiate, it is best to
have a friend or family member bargain for pricing for lab tests, food
and bed linen services and even operations. The charge nurse for
the floor will often times broker the larger fees such as those for
major operations and the fees of specialist doctors.
A typical broken leg operation will run from about 250E - 400E,
possibly with an extra 50E or so for the anaesthetist and post-op care
staff. An appendectomy runs about half the broken leg, and so on
in order of time taken and complexity of the procedure. Subtle
pressure may be applied after procedures, even after the birth of a
child, with the assembled staff presenting themselves for their "formal"
thank-yous.
The Forgotten Ones
Unfortunately, this ad hoc system of tips and financial
encouragements are largely unaffordable for the elderly and of course
the poor, but in Western terms, these daily "service charges" are
probably less than half the underlying base rates in the USA and other
countries without nationalised healthcare.
Older Romanians on pensions (some as low as 30E per month) must rely
solely on kindness to have their medical situation addressed.
Tragically, most are returned to their aged shelters without care to die
since no friends or relatives will pay for their medical care.
Increased surveillance and better management of the healthcare
system are needed to fix the system of bribes for services. Groups
of physicians and related health care providers often send the patient
from one to another in a "polyclinic" system, with not entirely
necessary tests in a bid to share the wealth in their cadre.
Whilst the family doctors, the general practitioners, and many
polyclinics are now operating more like in English speaking countries on
a quasi-private pay-per-visit basis, specialists and surgeons in
hospitals still take the money under the operating table, so to speak.
One of the more unfortunate side effects of this is a lack of
collaboration, because asking the opinion of another professional would
imply sharing the bribe.
Until the entire medical community are properly paid in an open and
transparent way by the insurers, government and patients, Romanians will
continue to be deathly afraid that a lack of bribing will mean a lack of
quality care.
Responsibility and accountability for medical staff is still a
foreign concept in Romania, with groups of physicians often closing
ranks to protect an errant colleague, rather than go through the process
of peer review and protection of the quality of the profession.
Romanian woman Adriana Emilia Iliescu, born 31 May, 1938, was 66
years and 230 days old when she gave birth by caesarean section to her
daughter Eliza Maria Bogdana at the Clinical Hospital of Obstetrics and
Gynaecology, Bucharest, Romania, on January 16, 2005, after receiving
IVF treatment.
Most elective procedures in Romania are priced beyond the reach of
ordinary Romanians. However, when you compare to costs in other
NATO or EU countries, Romania is extremely attractive to those requiring
a tummy tuck, eyelid lift or major dental care.
Amusingly enough, some tour companies package a tour of Dracula's
castle with liposuction surgery. Blood sucker meets fat sucker, so
to speak. In any case, the whole tour, surgery,
transportation and guides included will generally cost less than the
procedure alone would have cost almost anywhere else. Elective
surgeries are, after all, rarely included fully in even the most
generous HMO plans or national health care programs.
Romania's World-Class Healthcare
Yes, in some areas, Romania really is on the "cutting edge" in a few
areas, thanks to the importation of both equipment and trained staff.
It would seem that Romania certainly does a good business in plastic
surgery, dental care, some ophthalmology and other aesthetic fields of
medicine.
Romania pioneered much of the field of gerontology, and treatments
for aging are at the least well-developed and popular.
Most drug use in Romania is not particularly more or less prevalent than in
any other Balkan nation, and the lack of purchasing power has
historically been a saving grace for Romania's youth.
The United States, for example, has far higher rates of illicit drug use
by young people than Romania. In 1999 41% of tenth grade
students in the United States had used marijuana or cannabis at least
once in their lifetimes. In Romania, the proportion was 1%, with
just 4% of young Romanians using any drugs.
Street Kids
Not unlike in any placeon earth, the youth and
the underclass turns to cheaper drug options
Even other European nations -- France for example, had a 35% rate for
kids smoking pot -- averaged 17 times as much as poor (and drug-poor)
Romania. Figures are similarly dramatically lower in Romania for most of the other illicit drugs
such as amphetamines, hallucinogens, cocaine, crack, and ecstasy, except
for heroin, which is more of a problem.
Source: Johnston, Lloyd D., PhD, Patrick M. O'Malley, PhD, and
Jerald G. Bachman, PhD, "Monitoring The Future: National Survey Results
on Drug Use, 1975-2000, Volume 1: Secondary School Students" (Bethesda,
MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse, August 2001), p. 363.
Methadone Methodology
Although a total 4% of young Romanians use drugs, only 8 to 10% of all
drug users actually ask for help. There are only two methadone
centres in Bucharest, serving about 650 people, although without any
therapy groups, most users simply bounce back to using. Still,
heroin use rates are considered to be about half those in many western
capitals.
Poor Choices
Paints, varnishes, polishes and other easy-to-purchase products in
Romania contain "toluene", a substance that when inhaled (or "huffed")
provides an unfortunate psychic addiction. Used mostly by
poorer kids, the phenomenon is believed to be on the increase, although
funding is not yet available for a definitive study.
Unfortunately, use of these drugs can often lead to other substances
which are pharmacologically addictive.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
The HIV epidemic in Romania can be termed as both
contained and small compared with rates of infection about even with
Australia, and far less than in some other English-speaking countries,
with less than 0.2% of the population living with HIV (versus about 3
times that in the USA).
In 2004, about half of Romania's HIV/AIDS patients
(7,854 out of 15,471) received medical treatment for their condition,
including 5,922 people who were on HAART (antiviral HIV
medications) at the end of the year.
Among the cumulative HIV cases with a known route of
transmission, approximately 0.1% were infected through injecting drug
use. In the year 2004 itself, officials reported 293 new HIV
cases, 238 AIDS cases and 179 AIDS deaths. Despite two extensive
reviews of the country’s case-reporting, irregularities in past
case-reporting prevent accurate assessments of the number of Romanians
living with AIDS.
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Celestial Mechanic
Dr. Henrik Kacser (1918-1995) was a physical chemist born in Romania
to Hungarian parents. Before the World War II, he went to Queen's
University, Belfast to study chemistry, and specialized in physical
chemistry as a postgraduate student. Henrik's achievement in
genetics saw his election to the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1990.
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