Daniela-Corina Jucan

Oral health is a very important issue today. This approach presents an original idea: to model the dental implant as a double-articulated buckling bar on an elastic environment. The mandibular bone is considered as the elastic environment. The buckling bar is analyzed using the Transfer-Matrix Method. The risk of buckling is higher for straight bars subjected to axial compression. Therefore, knowing the critical buckling force is very important, especially in the case of dental implants. This study, based on the Transfer-Matrix Method, was carried out in two steps. In the first step, a double-articulated buckling bar on a rigid environment is considered. The second step involves studying the same doubly articulated bar, but with the joint at the lower end resting on an elastic environment. The bone in which the implant is placed is considered as this elastic environment. The Transfer-Matrix Method is easy to implement and provides quick results for problems involving the shape optimization of structural components. This article presents a completely new idea and an original approach to buckling analysis, with applications to dental implants. This work will serve as a foundation for future research involving experimental investigations of dental implants.

This study presents the clinical trial readiness and optimization of a parallel robotic system developed for early-stage lower limb rehabilitation of bedridden patients using feedback from healthy users and clinicians. The system combines a parallel hip–knee mechanism with a Bowden cable-driven ankle module, both actuated by servomotors and controlled through a PLC platform. Experimental tests were performed in laboratory conditions with twenty healthy participants (aged 25–45) and ten clinicians, focusing on safety, ergonomics, clinical usability, and comfort through structured questionnaires. The responses were quantified and analyzed using a Mamdani-type fuzzy logic model, allowing subjective feedback to be converted into objective redesign priorities. Safety, torque capacity, and adaptability emerged as the key areas that need improvement. Subsequent mechanical and structural refinements resulted in substantial gains in user comfort, perceived safety, and clinician-reported applicability. The optimized robotic system demonstrates enhanced functionality and improved readiness for clinical evaluation, highlighting the benefit of incorporating fuzzy logic-based feedback into the development of rehabilitation robots.

Neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases often involve overlapping motor and cognitive impairments that motivate integrated rehabilitation approaches. This study presents the technical validation of a dual-modality rehabilitation platform that combines haptic-based motor interaction with cognitive engagement through an adaptive Sudoku task in healthy adults under simulated tremor conditions. The system integrates a real-time tremor-filtering pipeline based on discrete wavelet denoising, Kalman smoothing, and wavelet packet decomposition, designed to attenuate high-frequency oscillations while preserving voluntary motion. The preclinical evaluation was carried out in two stages: (i) technical validation with healthy adults performing a standardized cognitive–haptic task under three conditions (no tremor, simulated tremor without filtering, simulated tremor with filtering) and (ii) extended usability testing with older participants without diagnosed neurological disorders. Quantitative evaluation focused on latency, performance degradation under simulated tremor, and partial restoration with filtering, while usability was assessed using the System Usability Scale (SUS). The platform achieved low end-to-end latency (41.4 ± 1.4 ms) and high usability (overall mean SUS = 81.4 ± 6.2), indicating stable performance and positive user feedback. Filtering significantly improved performance compared with unfiltered tremor but did not fully restore baseline performance, highlighting the current algorithm as a first-step compensation strategy rather than a complete solution. This work therefore demonstrates technical feasibility and interaction performance in healthy participants under simulated tremor; it does not assess clinical effectiveness and is intended to inform subsequent patient studies in populations with neurodegenerative diseases.

The concept of business networking is present in the entrepreneurial environment in Romania for at least 15 years, but in the last years it becomes very popular. The main goal of business networking is to help company representatives obtain new strategic clients through referrals. This paper presents key aspects collected from SME representatives that use business networking techniques to promote their businesses. We consider that structured networking can bring more value to the scope than just occasional networking. We decided to work with representatives that understand the difference between structured, professional networking and occasional networking. This paper presents the collected perspective on the benefits of business networking in Romanian entrepreneurial environment.

Wood is used as a raw material in various industries, including the production of furniture, which puts pressure on the exploitation of the forests and the continuous reduction of their surfaces, with undesirable effects on the environment. The paper provides a way of sustainably manufacturing furniture by replacing wood with composite materials based on natural fibers obtained from fast-growing renewable crops (hemp, willow, flax, etc.) and at the same time a method of assessing the forest areas which can be saved from cutting. The method’s algorithm is based on the estimation of forest area that ensures the annual consumption of wood for the production of furniture, both in the conventional production of furniture and in the unconventional one, where part of the products is made of composites. The agricultural areas required to be cultivated with technical plants to provide the natural fibers necessary for the wood replacement composite were also determined. The case study, based on the data of an upholstered furniture company, shows that replacing only part of the wood for the production of furniture can save about 3000 hectares of beech forests per year and the necessary plant fibers can be obtained from a surface area about 10 to 100 times smaller.