Loose and shallow Europeanization of the Western Balkans: Corruption in Montenegro and Serbia

Corruption, as one of key priorities in the EU accession process, has not so far been properly tackled and is still rampant (not only) in Montenegro and Serbia (but in the whole region also)

Razvojni resursi i perspektive razvoja prehrambene industrije na teritoriji Jablaničkog okruga

In planning its future development, the Republic of Serbia will have to consider the issue of revitalization of industry in its strategic approach to economic development. It is especially important when it comes to the devastated regions like the region of South-east Serbia is. For this statement, the current status of the economic development capacities of the Jablanica County are very good example. The former industrial leaders went in to a bankruptcy a while ago. On the flip side of the coin, the remaining big companies have been privatized with dramatically decrease in the scale of production and in the number of employees. The unemployment rate in this region is among the highest in Serbia. This fact significantly contributes to the “brain-drain” and other negative demographic flows from this region. The textile industry, recognized as a former driving force in the region, doesn’t exist anymore. The other industrial branches like chemical, metal, and food processing industry, that significantly reduced their business activities, are in the very similar situation. The abandoned factories and huge supply side in the workforce market are the leftovers of the ex-industrial hub in the southern Serbia. The likeliness of the revitalization of abandoned industrial capacities is rather low at the moment. Given the existing local resources it seems justifiable to focus the future industrial development around branches that utilize these local resources. Observing from the aspect of workforce, such strategic orientation should be considering the labor-intensive industrial branches and the reduction of aforementioned, high unemployment rate. The best development potential, considering the aspects of workforce, capital intensity and resilience is in the food processing industry. The investments in this sector are expected to have high ROI rate, to employ many people in the short turn and to create the environment for future development. This paper aims to explore and prove the direct linkages between the development of food processing sector and the reduction of unemployment rate, poverty reduction and stopping negative demographic flows from the Jablanica County

Headley, James: Russia and the Balkans: Foreign Policy from Yeltsin to Putin

Knižní recenze / Book review.Knižní recenze / Book review

Hesitant to Engage: US Intervention in the Balkans from Yugoslav Dissolution to the Kosovo Campaign

This article aims to assess the US interventionist approach in the Balkans in the 1990s. It examines the respective approach as it underwent changes towards a more pragmatic and coherent stance in three phases: the initial reluctance to intervene, the decisive engagement in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH), and the closing engagement in the Kosovo campaign. In this respect, the US Balkans policy was chiefly consistent in its values from the start, but suffered from disparities between principles and practice and thus lacked appropriate modes of implementation. This specific lack was gradually reduced and a more consistent and responsive approach adopted.This article aims to assess the US interventionist approach in the Balkans in the 1990s. It examines the respective approach as it underwent changes towards a more pragmatic and coherent stance in three phases: the initial reluctance to intervene, the decisive engagement in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH), and the closing engagement in the Kosovo campaign. In this respect, the US Balkans policy was chiefly consistent in its values from the start, but suffered from disparities between principles and practice and thus lacked appropriate modes of implementation. This specific lack was gradually reduced and a more consistent and responsive approach adopted

Investigation of the role of radiological findings in the modification of surgical treatment of pancreatic cystic neoplasms

Uvod: Uspešno lečenje cističnih neoplazmi pankreasa (CPN), a posebno intraduktalne papilarne mucinozne neoplazme (IPMN) koja ima najveći potencijal za malignu progresiju, obuhvata ispitivanje različitih kliničkih, radioloških i histopatoloških nalaze. Interancionalni Fukuoka vodič iz 2017 i Evropski vodič zasnovan na dokazima su dva najnovija vodiča koja su u širokoj upotrebi kada je u pitanju tretman IPMN slučajeva. Cilj: Cilj ove studije bio je upoređivanje preoperativnih i patoloških nalaza u IPMN-u te procena i poređenje dijagnostičke tačnosti pomenutih vodiča u identifikaciji malignih IPMN-a. Metode: U studiji je analizirano 106 uzastopnih resektovanih pacijenata kojima je dijagnostikovan različit tip CPN u Kliničkom centru Srbije, od kojih je 68 imalo IPMN dijagnozu. Retrospektivno su primenjene i analizirane rizični znaci povezani sa karcinomom, a opisani u smernicama (apsolutne/relativne indikacije i obeležja visokog rizika/zabrinjavajuće karakteristike). Takođe, izračunate su osetljivost, specifičnost, pozitivne (PPV) i negativne prediktivne vrednosti (NPV) u otkrivanju maligniteta. Rezultati: Na osnovu Evropskog vodiča, preoperativno predviđanje maligniteta bilo je visoko osetljivo za prisustvo najmanje jedne apsolutne ili relativne indikacije za resekciju. Evropski vodič pokazao je veću osetljivost, ali nižu PPV i specifičnost u odnosu na Fukuoka vodič. Potvrđena je dijagnostička vrednost CA 19-9 u otkrivanju maligne bolesti. Zaključak: Dijagnostički učinak analiziranih vodiča bio je uporediv, uz relativno nisku dijagnostičku tačnost za oba vodiča. Multidisciplinarni pristup je od suštinskog značaja za adekvatan odabir pacijenata za resekciju uzimajući u obzir rizike i od hirurške intervencije i od razvoja karcinoma.Introduction: Successful management of pancreatic cystic neoplasm (PCN) with intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) being the one with the highest potential of harbouring/developing advanced neoplasia in resected patients, encompasses clinical, radiological, and histopathological findings. 2017 International, Fukuoka and 2018 European evidence based guidelines are the most recent guidelines and are widely accepted for the IPMN management. Aim: This study aimed to compare a preoperative with pathological reports in IPMN and further, to evaluate and compare the diagnostic accuracy of these guidelines in identifying malignant IPMN. Methods: The study analyzed 106 consecutive resected patients diagnosed with different types of PCN at the Clinical Center of Serbia, out of whom 68 had IPMN diagnosis. Features of risk associated with carcinoma described in both guidelines (absolute/relative indications and high-risk stigmata/worrisome features) were retrospectively applied and analyzed. Furthermore, sensitivity, specificity, positive (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV) in detecting malignancy were calculated. Results: Based on European guidelines, the preoperative prediction of malignancy had high sensitivity for at least one absolute or relative indication for resection. European guidelines had higher sensitivity, but lower PPV and specificity. The diagnostic value of the CA 19-9 in detecting malignant disease was confirmed by both guidelines. Conclusion: The diagnostic performance of analyzed guidelines was comparable, however both guidelines are characterized with relatively low diagnostic accuracy. A multidisciplinary approach is essential to adequately select patients for the resection considering at the same time both the risks of surgery and malignancy

Hesitant to Engage: US Intervention in the Balkans from Yugoslav Dissolution to the Kosovo Campaign

This article aims to assess the US interventionist approach in the Balkans in the 1990s. It examines the respective approach as it underwent changes towards a more pragmatic and coherent stance in three phases: the initial reluctance to intervene, the decisive engagement in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH), and the closing engagement in the Kosovo campaign. In this respect, the US Balkans policy was chiefly consistent in its values from the start, but suffered from disparities between principles and practice and thus lacked appropriate modes of implementation. This specific lack was gradually reduced and a more consistent and responsive approach adopted.This article aims to assess the US interventionist approach in the Balkans in the 1990s. It examines the respective approach as it underwent changes towards a more pragmatic and coherent stance in three phases: the initial reluctance to intervene, the decisive engagement in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH), and the closing engagement in the Kosovo campaign. In this respect, the US Balkans policy was chiefly consistent in its values from the start, but suffered from disparities between principles and practice and thus lacked appropriate modes of implementation. This specific lack was gradually reduced and a more consistent and responsive approach adopted

Sintering of fly ash based composites with zeolite and bentonite addition for application in construction materials

Due to pozzolanic characteristics, fly ash is commonly used as a cement replacement in construction composites. Addition of natural clays with sorption ability (i.e. zeolite and bentonite) in to the fly ash based construction materials is of both scientific and industrial interest. Namely, due to the application of sorptive clay minerals, it is possible to immobilize toxic heavy metals from the composite structure. The thermal compatibility of fly ash and zeolite, as well as fly ash and bentonite, within the composite was observed during sintering procedure. The starting components were used in 1:1 ratio and they were applied without additional mechanical treatment. The used compaction pressure for the tablets was 2 t•cm-2. The sintering process was conducted at 1000ºC and 1200ºC for two hours in the air atmosphere. The mineralogical phase composition of the non-treated and sintered samples was analyzed using X-ray diffraction method. Scanning electron microscopy was applied in the analysis of the microstructure of starting and sintered samples. The thermal behavior was observed via DTA method. The influence of temperature on the properties of fly ash-zeolite and fly ash-bentonite composites was investigate

DESIGN OF ROBUST RECURSIVE IDENTIFICATION ALGORITHMS FOR LARGE-SCALE STOCHASTIC SYSTEMS

The robust recursive algorithms, for identification of decentralized stochastic systems, are developed. It is supposed that stochastic disturbance belongs to a specified class of distributions which include the gross error model suitable for the description of outliers presence. Such an assumption introduces into the recursive algorithms a nonlinear transformation of prediction error. The given algorithms are robust with respect to uncertainty in the disturbance distribution. The individual subsystems are described with SISO (single-input single output) ARMAX model. Two algorithms are considered: the stochastic approximation and the least squares. Their comparison is based on simulations

Stochastic Digital Measurement Method and Its Application in Signal Processing

Classical measurement approach is often described as a process of discretizing an analogue signal in order to easily process it in some type of digital signal processor. Although this approach has been considered to be universally applicable, practical experience has shown that some signals (e.g. fast and/or noisy signals) cannot be always precisely measured. To overcome this problem, in the late 1990s, a new measurement approach called stochastic digital measurement method (SDMM) was presented. At the beginning, this method was intended for high-precision measurements of the integral (the mean value) of a product of two signals. However, in the late 2000s, it was shown that SDMM can be used to compute the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT). Compared to the classical DFT/FFT processors, SDMM-based ones have two important advantages: first, they are much simpler and cheaper to implement, and second, they allow us to compute individual DFT components either in isolation or in parallel. This chapter is a review of the evolution of SDMM with a special emphasis on a two-bit SDMM. Topics covered include: theoretical foundations of SDMM, the architecture of SDMM-DFT processor and an example of prototype instrument used in power grid networks.This is the peer-reviewed version of the chapter: Radonjić, A., Sovilj, P., Đorđević Kozarov, J., Vujičić, V., 2019. Stochastic Digital Measurement Method and Its Application in Signal Processing, in: Advances in Engineering Research. Volume 27. Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge, pp. 169–190. ISBN 978-1-5361-4803-