Assessment of skeletal maturity is typical strategy applied in clinical pediatrics today. The main goal of a Bone Age Assessment (BAA) is to determine endocrinology and growth disorders by comparing the bone and chronological age of the patient. Several methods are developed to determine skeletal maturity, but Greulich-Pyle and Tanner-Whitehouse represent the two most common methods that involve left hand and wrist radiographs. However, these methods are extremely time-dependent and rely on an experienced radiologist, who further evaluates bone age using hand atlas as a reference. In this paper, VGG-16 and ResNet50 are two Deep Convolutional Neural Network (DCNN) models applied with ImageNet pre-trained weights in order to estimate correct bone age and achieve high accuracy of gender prediction using public RSNA dataset that includes 12611 radiographs. The experimental results show month discrepancy of approximately eight months and 82% accuracy during the process of gender classification.

Introduction: There are many ethical and moral dilemmas regarding the termination of pregnancy(TOP) with severe fetal anomalies. Aim: Our aim is to present a case of severe fetal hydrocephalus (HCP), spina bifida aperta and, meningomyelocoella (MMC). Case report: A gynecologist examined a 23-year-old patient with vital pregnancy of 24/25 week of gestation (WG) with the anomaly of the fetus. At the Perinatological Medical Advisory Board, a decision was made that the pregnancy should be continued and monitored bearing in mind that pregnancy exceeded the legal framework for TOP. Medical Advisory Board’s ultrasound examination showed the following: severe hydrocephalus (HCP), spina bifida aperta, hyperehogen intestine, pes equinovarus. Via multidisciplinary consultation it was decided to make a delivery with the elective caesarian section (CS) causing as little trauma to the fetus as possible, with 37 WG completed due to the pelvic presentation and fetal anomalies. The patient gave birth via CS to a live female newborn–birth weight 3920 grams, birth length 56 cm, head circumference 48 cm, and Apgar score 8/8. The head was hydrocephalic with spaced suture. There was thoracolumbar defect of spina bifida aperta and meningomyelocele (MMC) 10x12 cm in size. An urgent surgical procedure - the external ventricular derivation of the liquor, and then the successful resection and plastic meningomyelocele was performed by a team of neuro and plastic surgeons. During the fourth postoperative day due to a suspicion of abscess collection and febrility of the mother a relaparotomy is performed and the abscess collection of Retzius space was found. Due to the fall in blood count, blood transfusion in a total dose of 580 ml was given. The patient was discharged on a home treatment as she had a regular general and local status. After the surgery, the condition of the newborn resulted in deterioration, the progression of HCP and dehiscence of head wounds and the thoracolumbar region, in spite of all the measures taken. At that time a decision was made to provide palliative care and this decision was conveyed to the mother. The child had a prolonged apnoeic episode and was not resuscitated. The child died in hospital after surviving for two months postpartum. Conclusion: Indication of TOP based on fetal anomalies could be a medical decision but also a personal moral choice of the mother related to legal rules, socio-cultural values and religious beliefs.

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.

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.

The beginning of modern history and the subsequent war in Bosnia and Herzegovina coincide with the institutional beginnings of the European Union common foreign and security policy. At that time, Europe did not have a single position, nor could it have achieved a political consensus on any issue. In addition, it lacked appropriate instruments, as well as readiness and willingness to actively engage to put an end to war in BiH. The war in BiH was stopped, however, thanks to the efforts of the United States. This was a crucial moment for Europe to modify its common foreign and security policy. The European Union has passed a thorny path of establishing common foreign and security policy. On this path, however, the EU has experienced some progress and achieved good results, although not sufficient, just as BiH has made some progress in reforms. In order for BiH to joint the family of modern democratic countries, it will need a stronger engagement of the European Union and its more decisive common foreign and security policy, because only together we can cope with global challenges. Peace and prosperity in Bosnia and Herzegovina will also help build free and stable Europe.

This is the first study on ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) of bioactive compounds from different types of tobacco industry wastes (scrap, dust, and midrib). The obtained results were compared with starting raw material (tobacco leaves) to see the changes in bioactive compounds during tobacco processing. Results suggested that tobacco waste extracts possess antioxidant activity and considerable amounts of targeted bioactive compounds (phenolics and solanesol). The content of chlorogenic acid varied between 3.64 and 804.2 μg/mL, caffeic acid between 2.34 and 10.8 μg/mL, rutin between 11.56 and 93.7 μg/mL, and solanesol between 294.9 and 598.9 μg/mL for waste and leaf extracts, respectively. There were noticeable differences between bioactive compounds content and antioxidant activity in extracts related to applied UAE conditions and the used type of tobacco waste. Results show that optimal UAE parameters obtained by response surface methodology (RSM) were different for each type of material, so process optimization proved to be necessary. Considering that tobacco waste is mostly discarded or not effectively utilized, the results clearly show that tobacco waste could be used as a potential source of some bioactive compounds.

Introduction: Renal vasculature is extremely sensitive to vasoconstrictor effects of endothelin (ET), while nitric oxide (NO) has special role in several pathological renal conditions. Aim: The aim of this study to examine the presence, character, and degree of changes in NO and ET levels in the serum of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL)-treated patients with nephrolithiasis. Patients and Methods: This study included a total of 60 patients that were divided in two groups: Group I (n = 24), in which a total of 2000SWs were administered; 0–2 units; (0.5 units per each 500SWs), and Group II (n = 36), in which a total of 4000SWs were administered; 0–4 units; (0.5 units per each 500SWs). Results: In the Group I median NO serum concentration increased in relation to pretreatment levels (39.04 ± 8.29 μmol/L) specifically 30 min, 60 min, and 24 h following the treatment (39.11 ± 12.60), (41.80 ± 6.89), and (46.33 ± 9.03), where concentration growth after 24 h was statistically significant P < 0.01. The NO serum concentration in the Group II increased in relation to pretreatment levels (38.90 ± 10.33 μmol/L) after 30 min (48.71 ± 30.09), 60 min (54.57 ± 39.76), and 24 h (97.95 ± 72.07). The NO concentration increase after 60 min and 24 h is statistically significant, respectively, P < 0.03 and P < 0.0001. Conclusion : NO and ET serum levels are changing under the influence of ESWL, and that the NO and ET changes are directly correlated with the number of administered shock waves and administered energy.

The aim of the paper was to determine the perception of parental support and understanding by deaf and hard-of-hearing students. The sample consisted of 47 deaf and hard-of-hearing students, both genders, with an average age of 16 ± 1.27 years. Children's Perceptions of Parents Scale, (Grolnick, Ryan & Deci, 1991), which consists of three subscales, and which measure parental involvement, support of autonomy and parental warmth, especially for the mother, especially for the father was used in this research. The data were processed by descriptive analysis, and the t-test was used to test the mother's support perception difference in relation to father’s support perception. The results showed that deaf and hard-of-hearing students mostly positively perceived the parent involvement, support of autonomy and warmth of both parents, but a statistically significant difference in the individual perception of parents was found in favor of the mothers.

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is a popular multi-carrier technique used in many digital communication systems such as wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), long term evolution (LTE) and power line communication systems. It can be designed using fast Fourier transform (FFT) or wavelet transform (WT). The major drawback in using WT is that it is computationally inefficient. In this study, we introduce a simple and computationally efficient WT, harmonic wavelet transform, for OFDM signal processing. The new WT uses the orthogonal basis functions of conventional FFT-OFDM except that it involves translation and dilation of the input signal; the new wavelets is referred to as harmonic wavelets (HW). When compared with pilot-assisted OFDM system in terms of reduction in the peak-to-average power ratio, the results show that HW-OFDM outperforms FFT-OFDM by 3 dB at 10−4 CCDF (complementary cumulative distribution function). Over Rayleigh fading channel with additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN), the bit error ratio of both FFT-OFDM and HW-OFDM perfectly matched, showing that the proposed HW-OFDM is better in terms of peak-to-average power ratio reduction.