We present a new algorithm called policy iteration plus (PI+) for the optimal control of nonlinear deterministic discrete-time plants with general cost functions. PI+ builds upon classical policy iteration and has the distinctive feature to enforce recursive feasibility under mild conditions, in the sense that the minimization problems solved at each iteration are guaranteed to admit a solution. While recursive feasibility is a desired property, it appears that existing results on the policy iteration algorithm fail to ensure it in general, contrary to PI+. We also establish the recursive stability of PI+: the policies generated at each iteration ensure a stability property for the closed-loop system. We prove our results under more general conditions than those currently available for policy iteration, by notably covering set stability. Finally, we present characterizations of near-optimality bounds for PI+ and prove the uniform convergence of the value functions generated by PI+ to the optimal value function. We believe that these results would benefit the burgeoning literature on approximate dynamic programming and reinforcement learning, where recursive feasibility is typically assumed without a clear method for verifying it and where recursive stability is essential for safe operation of the system.

Data from past earthquakes is an important tool to reveal the impact of future earthquakes on engineering structures, especially in earthquake-prone regions. These data are important indicators for revealing the seismic loading effects that structures will be exposed to in future earthquakes. Five different earthquakes from six countries with high seismic risk were selected and were within the scope of this study. The measured peak ground acceleration (PGA) for each earthquake was compared with the suggested PGA for the respective region. Structural analyzes were performed for a reinforced-concrete (RC) building model with four different variables, including the number of storeys, local soil types, building importance class and concrete class. Target displacements specified in the Eurocode-8 were obtained for both the suggested and measured PGA values for each earthquake. The main goal of this study is to reveal whether the proposed and measured PGA values are adequately represented in different countries. We tried to reveal whether the seismic risk was taken into account at a sufficient level. In addition, target displacements have been obtained separately in order to demonstrate whether the measured and suggested PGA values for these countries are adequately represented in structural analysis and evaluations. It was concluded that both seismic risk and target displacements were adequately represented for some earthquakes, while not adequately represented for others. Comments were made about the existing building stock of the countries considering the obtained results.

ABSTRACT Uvod: Karcinom glave i vrata čini 3-5 % svih malignih oboljenja, koji je većinom zastupljen kod muškaraca. Napretkom radioterapije omogućen je optimalniji pristup u liječenju karcinoma glave i vrata, sa poboljšanim ishodom liječenja. Primjena savremenih imidžing tehnika u verifikaciji preciznosti tretmana znatno je promijenila tok radioterapije u liječenju malignih bolesti u smislu eskalacije doze na ciljni volumen uz veću poštedu zdravih struktura. Svrha rada je dokazati značaj i ulogu slikovne verifikacije CBCT imidžing metodom u preciznosti liječenja i kontroli tumora tokom tretmana. Materijal i metode: Istraživanje je provedeno prospektivno u trajanju od 6 mjeseci, na Klinici za onkologiju, Kliničkog centra Univerziteta u Sarajevu. U studiju je uključeno 30 pacijenata sa karcinomom glave i vrata, kod kojih je primjenom slikovne verifikacije CBCT-om uočen gubitak tjelesne težine ili promjena ciljnog volumena. Pacijenti su zračeni VMAT tehnikom na linearnom akceleratoru TrueBeam. Rezultati: Rezultati istraživanja su pokazali da je većina pacijenata bila muškog spola (19), starije životne dobi, sa karcinom larinksa koji je bio prisutan u čak 11 ispitanika. Jači nusefekti bili su prisutni samo kod 3,33% pacijenata, a najzastupljenije neželjene reakcije bile su blaga promuklost, suhoća usta, zamor, otežano gutanje. Od ukupnog broja pacijenata, kod 16 pacijenata uočeno je smanjenje volumena targeta koji je inicijalno prosječno iznosio 80,16 cm3, dok je nakon prosječno 18 frakcija zračenja iznosio 77,58 cm3, što je sigifikanto statistički dokazano (p= 0,007). Utvrđeno je smanjenje volumena lijeve parotidne žlijezde nakon reskeniranja u odnosu na inicijalnu vrijednost (17.37±7.55/16.93±7.06 cm3). Kod svih pacijenata na CBCT volumetrijskim slikama uočen je gubitak tjelesne težine. Zaključak: Radioterapija karcinoma glave i vrata jedan je od učinkovitih modaliteta liječenja, koji moće biti praćen određenim neželjenim reakcijama. Primjena IGRT-a na osnovu kompjuterizirane tomografije konusnog snopa (CBCT), uveliko doprinosi peciznoj isporuci propisane doze zračenja, uz smanjenu toksičnost tretmana. Volumetrijski prikaz anatomskih struktura CBCT metodom, omogućio je da se promijeni tok kursa radioterapije u smislu prilagođavanja PTV margina u toku tretmana, odnosno primjenu adaptivne radioterapije.  

Abstract Introduction: Pulmonary embolism is still a challenge in diagnosis due to its variable and nonspecific symptoms. Computed tomography and ventilation/perfusion scanning are the modalities most commonly used in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism, and both modalities have their advantages and disadvantages. One of the most important factors in the assessment and localization of pulmonary embolism is the diagnostic accuracy of these modalities, which serves to model different diagnostic strategies in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism. Material and methods: The research was conducted as a review of professional literature available in scientific research databases. A selection of 20 professional papers was made, based on which an analysis was conducted and a database was formed. Criteria for inclusion in the research were scientific research papers that report on the sensitivity and specificity of diagnostic modalities of CT and V/P scanning as well as the results of diagnostic tests based on which the comparison of data from two modalities determined a diagnostically more accurate modality. Results: Sensitivity of 91.89% and specificity of 98.86% and diagnostic accuracy of 94.83% were determined in the case of computed tomography. Sensitivity of 90.58% and specificity of 98.33% and diagnostic accuracy of 96.43% were determined for the ventilation perfusion scanning method. We can conclude that the application of ventilation/perfusion scanning in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism is a little more accurate compared to computed tomography. Conclusion: Ventilation/perfusion lung scanning will more accurately identify healthy individuals while on the other hand we can conclude that computed tomography is more accurate in diagnosing embolism in sick individuals. . Given that this difference between the two modalities is very small, the question is whether it is statistically significant at all. We can conclude that both diagnostic procedures have a high level of accuracy.

This note gives an overview of the tools for the precision matching of ultraviolet theories to the Standard Model effective field theory (SMEFT) at the tree level and one loop. Several semi- and fully automated codes are presented, as well as some supplementary codes for the basis conversion and the subsequent running and matching at low energies. A suggestion to collect information for cross-validations of current and future codes is made.

Background and Study Aim. Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) are incredibly common and are often related to work load. For any occupational or public health intervention, injury prevention is preferred to injury treatment. Occupational health and injury prevention research has the potential to help mitigate MSD in the workplace. The aim of this study was to determine how the work demands of ski instructors may affect the health of their musculoskeletal system. Material and Methods. A cross-sectional study involved the participation of 87 ski instructors (age = 34.61 ±10.67) in Bosnia and Herzegovina (ATUS in Bosnia and Herzegovina). Observed variables were the prevalence of MSD measured using a modified Nordic questionnaire about injuries during the previous ski season (neck, shoulders, elbows, wrist, upper back, lower back, one or both hips, one or both knees, and ankle). Means and standard deviations for each of the variables were calculated, and differences between genders were examined using an independent sample t-test. Results. Prevalence of MSDs in ski instructors was most common in neck (13.8%), shoulders (12.6%), elbows (4.6%), wrist (9.2%), upper back (10.3%), lower back (46.0%), one or both hips (9.2%), one or both knees (29.9%), and ankle (9.2%). The results showed statistically significant differences in MSD between genders in the neck (p=.034); shoulders (p=.017); upper back (p=.027); one or both knees (p=.003) and in the ankle joint (p=.011). Conclusions. MSD’s are common in ski instructors, especially in the low back and knees of female employees. Future research or injury prevention programs would benefit these populations.

ABSTRAKT Akutna bubrežna insuficijencija nakon kontrastnih procedura ili contrast indukovana nefropatija (CIN-Contrast-induced nephropaty) se definiše kao povečanje vrijednosti serum kreatinina najmanje 0,5 % mg/dl ili 25% do 50 % u odnosu na predproceduralne vrijednosti u toku 48 do 72 sata nakon apliciranja kontrasta, u odsustvu drugih objašnjenja za nastanak oštećenja bubrežne funkcije. Ona je odgovorna za pojavu akutne bubrežne insuficijencije u 11 do 14,5 % slućajeva. CILJ STUDIJE: Cilj ove studije je određivanje rizićnih grupa pacijenata i faktora kao I profilaktičkih mjera za kontrastnu nefropatiju nakon koronarografije. U studiju je ukljućeno 200 pacijenata (dijabetičari i nedijabetičari) koji su uradili koronarografiju zbog indikacije na koronarnu bolest. ZAKLJUČAK: Rizićni faktori za nastanak kontrastne nefropatije kod ovih pacijenata su, šećerna bolest, starija životna dob, aplicirana veća kolićina kontrasta, prethodne bolesti bubrega i srćana slabost.

Essential role in replication and transcription of coronavirus makes the main protease of SARS-CoV-2 a great traget for drug design. The aim of this study was to predict structural interactions of compounds isolated from the Bosnian-Herzegovinian endemic plant Knautia sarajevensis (G. Beck) Szabó against the 3CLpro of SARS-CoV-2 virus. The three-dimensional crystal structure of SARS-CoV-2 main protease was retrieved from the RCSB Protein Data Bank and the three-dimensional structures of isolated compounds were obtained from the PubChem database. Active site was predicted using PrankWeb, while the preparation of protease and compounds was performed using AutoDock Tools and OpenBabel. Molecular docking was carried out using AutoDock Vina. Structural interactions are visualised and analyzed using PyMOL, LigPlus and UCSF Chimera. Apigenin, kaempferol, myricetin and quercetin showed the highest binding affinity for SARS-CoV-2 main protease and formed significant hydrogen bonds with the given protein. Results obtained in this study are in accordance with previous studies and showed that these compounds could potentially have antiviral effects against SARS-CoV-2. These findings indicate that K. sarajevensis could be potentially utilized as an adjuvant in the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019, but further pharmacological studies are required in order to prove the potential medicinal use of the plant.

Moždani udar ili cerebrovaskularni inzult (CVI) je u današnje vrijeme jedan od glavnih uzroka smrtnosti i invaliditeta u svijetu. Veoma značajnu ulogu u dijagnostici CVI-a zauzima magnetna rezonanca (MR), koja se ogleda u mogućnosti klasifikacije i otkrivanju patofiziologije kako bi se pravovremeno i brzo postupilo sa terapijskim tretmanom ukoliko je došlo do pojave CVI-a. Ciljevi: Uporediti kvalitet prikaza CVI-a  između T2 FLAIR i T2 sekvence, utvrditi utjecaj lokalizacije CVI-a na intenzitet signala, utvrditi utjecaj vremena  pojave CVI-a na intenzitet signala. Utvrditi smo kategorije pacijenata kod kojih najčešće nastaje CVI, kao i korelaciju između uputne i definitivne dijagnoze. Metode istraživanja: Istraživanje je dizajnirano kao retrospektivna deskriptivna studija. Rad je realiziran u Kliničkom centru Univerziteta u Sarajevu, na Klinici za radiologiju. U studiju je uključeno 50 pacijenata kod kojih MR nalaz ukazuje na prisustvo CVI-a. Ispitivanje je obavljeno na MRI jedinicama jačine 1.5 i 3.0 T. Rezultati: Od ukupnog broja pacijenata 50 (100%), 32 su muškog pola (64%), a 18 (36%) ženskog pola. CVI je najčešće bio prisutan kod pacijenata muškog pola u grupi od 61-70 godine, dok je kod pacijenata ženskog pola najčešće bio prisutan u grupi od 71-80 godine. 52% pacijenata je imalo jedan od faktora rizika za nastanka CVI-a, HTA je bila prisutna kod 28% pacijenata a DM kod 22% pacijenata. T2 FLAIR sekvenca je imala veće vrijednosti intenziteta signala na lateralnom rubu CVI-a, dok je T2 sekvenca imala veće vrijednosti u centru i prednjem rubu CVI-a.  T2 FLAIR sekvenca je imala veći intenzitet signala na lokacijama: thalamus, mesencephalon, okcipitalno kortikalno subkortikalno i  područje kapsule interne. T2 sekvenca je imala veći intenzitet signala lokacijama: medula oblongata, parieto okcipitalno kortikalno subkortikalno, frontoparietalno paraventrikularno, parietalno kortikalno subkortikalno, frontoparietalno kortikalno subkortikalno, cerebelum i pons. Najčešća uputna  dijagnoza je bila CVI. Zaključak: T2 FLAIR sekvenca je senzitivnija kod prikaza akutnog i subakutnog CVI-a. T2 sekvenca je senzitivnija kod prikaza hroničnog CVI-a, čime radna hipoteza u ovom slučaju nije u potpunosti dokazana.

This study is the first report on the mtDNA profile of human settlements of the Konjuh and Majevica mountains of northeastern Bosnia. The aims of this study were: a) determination of mitochondrial genetic structure of populations of the Konjuh and Majevica mountains of northeastern Bosnia; b) detection of trace of ancient of mtDNA variations; and c) assessment of genetic relations with other Bosnian and Herzegovina populations and neighboring populations from the Balkan region. The genetic structure of populations of Konjuh and Majevica is shaped by western Eurasian maternal signals, which may trace their ancestry to the Paleolithic, pre-Neolithic and Neolithic. Especially interesting is the feature of the Neolithic expansion in this area. This applies especially to the presence of the pre-Neolithic lineages HV*and N1a in northeastern Bosnia, which can indicate an early settlement of this region of Bosnia by pre-Neolithic populations from the Middle East. This region abounds with resources of salt sites, which might suggest in favor of the thesis that the early-Neolithic colonists needed a safe source of salts so as to settle in the Balkan area. The populations of mountains of northeastern Bosnia indicate elements of the local population history, but they do not show strict genetic closure in relation to the neighboring populations of the Balkans. This may be a consequence of the population size, degree of geographic isolation and events of migration.

Beauvoir’s existentialist ethics relates to and informs eminently contemporary accounts of feminist ethics in the Western continental feminist canon. To date only a few scholars have emphasized this connection. In this work, I show the centrality of Beauvoirian philosophy to contemporary philosophical discussions by elucidating the influence of Beauvoir’s existentialist ethics on Judith Butler’s feminist philosophy. While I acknowledge other possible influences, especially by French philosophers, on Butler’s work, I find it important to emphasize Beauvoir’s contributions as they have not received the attention they deserve. My paper shows how Beauvoir’s account of agency as an ambiguous becoming reverberates in Butler’s theory of gender performativity developed in her early writings. I consider Butler’s theory of gender performativity to have existentialist roots based on the existentialist perception of the subject as a becoming that never coincides with itself. I also discuss how Butler takes on some basic ethical questions which Beauvoir already accentuates in her writings. I focus on three main points of intersection between the two philosophers, which are vulnerability and interconnectedness, violence and inevitability of ethical failure, and finally the ambiguity and opaqueness that come with situated ethics.

The use of anticoagulant therapy is a part of the daily work of clinicians and a reason for fear, primarily due to the risk of bleeding. The use of anticoagulant drugs in rheumatology remains a challenge. first, a large number of clinicians consider rheumatic conditions as a hypercoagulable state, which often leads to wrong decisions. second, the use of drugs in the treatment of rheumatic diseases may be associated with an increased risk of venous thromboembolism (vte), and they can have effect on dose of anticoagulant agent. The aim of this paper is to present the properties of anticoagulant therapy through the prism of rheumatological pathology.

With the explosive growth of advanced wireless technologies and computing device platforms, mobile sensing has gained huge attention. Indoor localization is actually considered as one of most valuable techniques in the field of contactless sensing. In this paper, we propose a novel graph convolutional network (GCN) empowered indoor localization method, which aggregates channel state information (CSI) features extracted from multiple multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) links. CSI features from multiple antennas are basically converted into graph nodes in order to adopt GCN classification model. At the same time, graph attention mechanism is introduced to study and transfer spatial and frequency of CSI features. Eventually, output of graph is mapped with multiple measurement points through prediction network to provide final estimate position. 5GHz commercial Wi-Fi equipment is respectively utilized for data collection and experimental evaluation in two representative indoor scenarios. Experimental result shows that the proposed method has better performance in robust localization compared to other state-of-the-art deep learning methods.

Radio frequency fingerprint (RFF) identification is an emerging physical layer security technique, which provokes many promising applications in the internet of things (IoT). However, traditional machine learning-based RFF identification methods rely on complex manual feature extraction, while it is difficult for methods based on deep learning to deal with RFF identification under different channel environments. To solve these problems, we propose three different transfer learning-based RFF identification methods based on ConvMixer network, which is a mixture of different convolutional layers, using pre-trained model in the previous channel environment to assist in training under the new channel environment. Experimental results show that, compared with the previous retraining method, our proposed method reduces the number of training parameters and improves the identification performance at low SNR. Moreover, the proposed method can still have a certain performance guarantee with less training data.