This article reviews Industry 4.0, its emerging phase, implementation, challenges, benefits, etc. It combines various fields where it has any influence and leaves some changes and where it requires some adaptation. Papers from the last 4 years are taken and analyzed, what is written about this topic in various countries with different backgrounds and economic development. Industry 4.0 affects the production environment by introducing new technologies which require a better-educated workforce so it affects education and requires some changes in curricula and ways of teaching. It brings new challenges and asks for a new approach from management to be able to handle fast and big changes in the business environment and to implement such innovation in production effectively.

This paper concerns the problem of learning control policies for an unknown linear dynamical system to minimize a quadratic cost function. We present a method, based on convex optimization, that accomplishes this task robustly: i.e., we minimize the worst-case cost, accounting for system uncertainty given the observed data. The method balances exploitation and exploration, exciting the system in such a way so as to reduce uncertainty in the model parameters to which the worst-case cost is most sensitive. Numerical simulations and application to a hardware-in-the-loop servo-mechanism demonstrate the approach, with appreciable performance and robustness gains over alternative methods observed in both.

The Editors' Network of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) provides a dynamic forum for editorial discussions and endorses the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) to improve the scientific quality of biomedical journals. Authorship confers credit and important academic rewards. Recently, however, the ICMJE emphasized that authorship also requires responsibility and accountability. These issues are now covered by the new (fourth) criterion for authorship. Authors should agree to be accountable and ensure that questions regarding the accuracy and integrity of the entire work will be appropriately addressed. This review discusses the implications of this paradigm shift on authorship requirements with the aim of increasing awareness on good scientific and editorial practices.

This paper proposes a control method for multi-input linear systems that provides the closed-loop system dynamics of an arbitrary order having a specified feasible spectrum of poles. By appropriate selection of auxiliary outputs, the system is decoupled into a set of subsystems. The number of these subsystems is equal to the number of control inputs. The desired dynamic of the considered system is achieved using higher order sliding mode, where the sliding mode of appropriate order is realized in each subsystem. The proposed control approach is illustrated by a simulation example.

The aim of this paper is to analyze if the Western Balkan and Eastern Partnership countries converge towards the twenty-eight members of the European Union. The relationships between the selected macroeconomic variables and per capita GDP growth rate are econometrically tested to support this research. The analyzed period is 2004–2017, with two sub-periods: 2004–2008 and 2009–2013. The subdivision is made to test whether the recent financial crisis affected the absolute and conditional convergence process in the analyzed group of countries. The empirical findings support the economic convergence hypothesis. The results show that the recent financial crisis negatively affected the absolute and conditional convergence process, when economic variables are included in the analysis. The negative effects of the crisis on conditional convergence with economic and socio-political variables are not identified. The poorer countries in the analyzed group should do more to attract investment and open their economies, as gross fixed capital formation and economic openness have a positive impact on per capita growth, and keep low inflation or stabilize it, while general government debt and unemployment should be decreased in the examined sample of countries.

Wastewaters from the galvanization process contain high concentrations of heavy metals representing a great danger to human health as well as to the environment. Heavy metals in the galvanization process are used in the coating process, whereby the coatings of certain metals are formed. The treatment of wastewaters generated by the galvanization process can be conducted by a number of methods, however, today more research is being done on processes which are efficient, economical and cost-effective, but environmentally acceptable. One of those techniques is adsorption. The adsorption process of Cd2+, Ni2+ and Cr2+ions from galvanization water using brewer’s grain as the adsorbent, at different pH values and adsorbent granulation of 0.5 mm is analyzed in this paper. The percentage of moisture and ash was determined, and the FTIR analysis was performed confirming the presence of certain functional groups. Based on the obtained values, it has been shown that the brewer’s grain can be successfully used as a natural adsorbent to remove Cd2+, Ni2+ and Cr2+ ions from galvanization waters, and also that high level of efficiency is obtained at all analyzed pH values. The analysis has also shown that the affinity of adsorbents to Cd2+, Ni2+ and Cr2+ ions is in correlation with physical and chemical properties, but that the best removal efficiency is achieved at the pH 4 value

To compare the smear layer removal ability and mineral content of root canal dentine after initial irrigation with NaOCl and final irrigation with MTAD, QMix, and 17% EDTA. Forty extracted human maxillary incisors before root canal preparation and irrigation with NaOCl were randomly divided into four groups (n = 10) according to the type of final irrigants used: MTAD, QMix, 17% EDTA, and control (sterile distilled water). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to assess the presence of smear layer. SEM energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy was used to quantify dentin mineral composition in MTAD, QMix, 17% EDTA group, and in no‐treatment samples (no‐treatment group; n = 10). Among the various chelating agents, there were no significant differences in the smear layer removal in the middle and coronal thirds (p > .05). In the apical third, QMix removed significantly more smear layer than 17% EDTA (p < .05), but similarly to MTAD (p > .05). Final irrigation with MTAD resulted in a significant increase in the carbon (C) value compared to EDTA (p < .001). There was no significant difference in the mineral composition between the MTAD and the QMix group, although the values of the mineral elements were significantly altered in the MTAD group. QMix had smear layer removal capability similar to MTAD but better than EDTA in the apical third. MTAD yielded the most pronounced effect on mineral component of root dentin; however, differences were significant only for C level compared to 17% EDTA.

Abstract Leptin, a biomolecule secreted by adipose tissue, enchances productivity in cattle, especially affecting milk traits. The aim of this study was to detect leptin gene polymorphism on exon 3 (A59V locus) and intron 2 (SAU3AI locus) in the endangered population of autochtonous Busha cattle and associations with milk traits. The study included 46 cows: 36 Busha and 10 half-bred. Milk analyses comprised determination of somatic cell counts, fat, protein, lactose, total solids and solids-not-fat (SNF) concentrations and freezing point depression (FPD). Polymorphisms were determined by PCR-RFLP technique. A single A59V genotype (CC) was affirmed, and two SAU3AI genotypes, AA and AB, with frequencies of 78.26% and 21.74%, respectively. Comparing the obtained results for chemical characteristics of milk between cows with AA and AB, no significant differences were found, except for SNF content and FPD values. Cows with AA genotype had significantly lower (p=0.021) average SNF content (8.74%) in milk compared to the average SNF content (9.28%) in those with genotype AB, while cows with genotype AA (−0.54°C) had significantly higher (p=0.004) average FPD values than those with AB genotype (−0.58°C). The absence of BB genotype and significant differences in the investigated functional traits between two SAU3AI genotypes and the absence of A59V polymorphism (presence of only CC genotype) show that the Busha cattle breed, although being an autochtonous low-producing native breed used for meat and milk production, harbours polymorphism on gentic markers characteristic of high production dairy cows.

Introduction: Osteoporosis is a consequence of reduction in bone mass and disorders of bone structure, which makes the bones prone to fractures. Physiological variations of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) may be an early indicator of the predisposing basis of the emergence of osteoporosis. Aim: To evaluate the thyroid hormone status and bone density ratio in euthyroid postmenopausal women in early and late stage of bone loss. Methods: The research is an observational, intersected, controlled study involving postmenopausal women admitted to the Clinic for Nuclear medicine and endocrinology of the Clinical Center University of Sarajevo (CCUS). The study included a total of 120 postmenopausal subjects divided into two groups. First group included 60 postmenopausal patients with osteoporosis, 30 of them were at the early stage of postmenopause, and 30 were in the late postmenopausal phase. The second group consisted of 60 postmenopausal patients with preserved bone mass, 30 of which were in the early stage of postmenopause and 30 in the late postmenopausal phase. For all patients included in the study follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), TSH, free thyroxine (FT4), free triiodothyronine (FT3) were analyzed. Results: The mean duration of the postmenopausal period was statistically significantly higher in the group of women with osteoporosis (11.4 ± 1.1 years). The mean values of FSH were statistically significantly higher in the group of women with osteoporosis (54.0 ± 2.6 IU / L). The mean level of TSH and FT3 did not statistically significantly differ in the group of women with osteoporosis compared to the control group of women. The mean FT4 level in women with osteoporosis was statistically significantly lower (14.7 ± 0.29 pmol / L) compared to the control group of women (15.95 ± 0.3 pmol / L) (p = 0.004). Conclusion: In our examined group, the FT4 patient (mean) was significantly lower in the serum of women with osteoporosis compared to subjects with preserved bone mass. It would be most effective to recognize risk factors in order to influence them on time, and to alleviate and slow down the consequences of osteoporosis. One of these possible factors is the hormonal status of the thyroid gland, that is, TSH whose physiological variations may be an early indicator of the predisposing basis for the emergence of osteoporosis. The frequency and prevalence of these medical problems require additional research, and it is also a great challenge to understand the effects of thyroid hormone on bone tissue.

Background: Infections are a major concern for patients affected by juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) treated with immunosuppressive therapy. Evidence is inconsistent as to whether the start of synthetic or biological disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) is associated with an increased risk of serious and at least moderate infection. Objectives: To determine whether the addition of a TNF inhibitor (TNFi) to methotrexate (MTX) may increase the risk of serious and at least moderate infections in JIA patients included in the Pharmachild registry.(1) Methods: Serious and at least moderate infections were analysed in JIA patients, enrolled in the Pharmachild registry at September 30th, 2018, who started as first drug with MTX. We divided patients in 3 treatment groups: “MTX alone”, in which patients had received MTX as the only drug all over their history; “MTX Start”, in which patients had received MTX as first drug; “MTX+TNFi” for those patients who received a TNFi in addition to MTX after a period of “MTX Start”. All the 3 groups were pure, since they received only these drugs. We considered initial infections as related to the treatment if the infection occurred in the drug period or within 90 days after treatment stop.(2) For the group “MTX Start”, infection was related to treatment if occurring in the drug period stopped as soon as the second drug was introduced. For the group “MTX+TNFi”, we considered all the possible correlations between start and end dates of the two drugs, including the time lag of 90 days after any treatment stop. If the interval between two drugs was shorter than 90 days, treatment was considered continuous. Crude rates (number of infections divided by drug exposure, excluding off-drug periods) and true incidence rates (number of first infections divided by the time lag between first drug administration and the date of the infection if the patient experienced the infection, the last Pharmachild visit if the patient didn’t experience the event) were calculated. Results: We enrolled in Pharmachild a total of 8061 patients who experienced 1686 infections. We excluded 41 patients who had infections before any treatment start. Of the final number of 8020 patients, we considered: 1226 patients in the group “MTX alone”, 3128 in the group “MTX start” and 1026 in the group “MTX+TNFi”. 7.7% of the patients in the “MTX alone” group, 2.7% of the patients in the “MTX Start” group and 7.0% of the patients in the “MTX+TNFi” group experienced at least one infection. Crude rates of infections per 1000 person-years resulted: 48.0 for the group “MTX alone”, 22.0 for “MTX Start”, 74.0 for “MTX+TNFi”. Incidence rates per 1000 person-years were: 32.0 for the group “MTX alone”, 17.0 for “MTX Start”, 59.5 for “MTX+TNFi”. The percentage of drug exposure on the patient follow-up was variable among the 3 treatment groups (from 15.6% for the “MTX+TNFi” group to 51.5% for the “MTX alone” group). Conclusion: Pharmachild showed, through the analysis of pure treatment groups, that the addition of the anti-TNF biologic to MTX even triples the incidence rate of infections. References: [1] Swart, et al. Arthritis Res Ther. 2018;20:285; (2) Dixon WG, et al. Arthritis&Rheumatism 56:2896–2904. Disclosure of Interests: Gabriella Giancane: None declared, Joost F. Swart: None declared, Nikolay Tzaribachev: None declared, Nadina Rubio: None declared, Ruben Cuttica Grant/research support from: Roche, Pfizer, Lilly, Bristol Myers Squibb, Novartis, Sanofi Aventis, UCB, Janssen., Consultant for: Roche, Pfizer, Lilly, Bristol Myers Squibb, Novartis, Sanofi Aventis, UCB, Janssen., Speakers bureau: Roche, Pfizer, Lilly, Bristol Myers Squibb, Novartis, Sanofi Aventis, UCB, Janssen., Ingrida Rumba-Rozenfelde: None declared, Wafaa Mohammed Saad Suwairi: None declared, Calin Lazar: None declared, Yosef Uziel: None declared, Albena Telcharova: None declared, Tadej Avcin: None declared, Angela Minaici: None declared, Claudio Len: None declared, Stella Maris Garay: None declared, Alina Boteanu: None declared, Angela Pistorio: None declared, Nico Wulffraat: None declared, Nicolino Ruperto Grant/research support from: The Gaslini Hospital, where NR works as full-time public employee, has received contributions (> 10.000 USD each) from the following industries in the last 3 years: BMS, Eli-Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, F Hoffmann-La Roche, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer, Sobi. This funding has been reinvested for the research activities of the hospital in a fully independent manner, without any commitment with third parties., Consultant for: Received honoraria for consultancies or speaker bureaus (< 10.000 USD each) from the following pharmaceutical companies in the past 3 years: Ablynx, AbbVie, Astrazeneca-Medimmune, Biogen, Boehringer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli-Lilly, EMD Serono, GlaxoSmithKline, Hoffmann-La Roche, Janssen, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, R-Pharma, SanofiServier, Sinergie, Sobi and Takeda., Speakers bureau: Received honoraria for consultancies or speaker bureaus (< 10.000 USD each) from the following pharmaceutical companies in the past 3 years: Ablynx, AbbVie, Astrazeneca-Medimmune, Biogen, Boehringer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli-Lilly, EMD Serono, GlaxoSmithKline, Hoffmann-La Roche, Janssen, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, R-Pharma, SanofiServier, Sinergie, Sobi and Takeda.