Western Newspapers a and the War in Croatia

At the time of the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the beginning of the war in Croatia in 1991, the Balkans were not in the focus of Western politics, which was preoccupied with the collapse of the USSR and the Gulf War. The dominant position of Western policy was the preservation of Yugoslavia and the maintenance of geopolitical stability. In the second half of 1991, under the influence of the war in Croatia, Western policy slowly turned towards the possibility of the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the recognition of the independence of Slovenia and Croatia. The article analyzes the American and British newspaper narratives about the war in Croatia during the five-month peak of the conflict, from September 1991 to January 1992. The analysis was conducted on four daily newspapers, two American (The New York Times, Los Angeles Times) and two British (The Independent, The Guardian). A total of 920 texts were analyzed through coding based on the adoption of a pro-Croatian, pro-Serbian, or neutral position. The research shows that more texts about the war in Croatia were published in the analyzed British newspapers. Secondly, the narrative is significantly marked by a neutral stance, which coincides with the unclear and undefined policy of the West towards the Yugoslav crisis. Thirdly, there were significantly more pro-Croatian than pro-Serbian texts in the analyzed period

The Role of Endoscopic Ultrasound in Evaluation of Gastric Subepithelial Lesions

A subepithelial mass is a common finding during endoscopic procedures. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is an important diagnostic modality in the evaluation of subepithelial lesions of the gastrointestinal tract. EUS is the diagnostic test of choice to assess the size, margins, the layer of origin, echotexture, and to differentiate between an intramural and extramural lesion. However, the EUS imaging lacks the specificity. EUS-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) or core biopsy can help establish a tissue diagnosis and potentially characterize malignant risk. The aim of this article is to review the diagnosis and management of the most common subepithelial gastric lesions with an emphasis on the role of endoscopic ultrasound

Transformation and operation of public service broadcasters in the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Croatia

U novoj medijskoj ekologiji paradigma javnog komuniciranja se promenila. Promenili su se i odnosi, potrebe i navike u procesu komuniciranja. Tradicionalnu paradigmu linearnog komuniciranja, kontrolisanog iz malog broja centara moći, distribuisanog putem tradicionalnih (oflajn) kanala informisanja, zamenila je paradigma ‘umreženog komuniciranja’ u kojem komunicira svako sa svakim, a kontrolu nad protokom informacija ima mnogo više aktera, dok ulogu 'navigatora' preuzimaju algoritmi koji se generišu putem korisničkih navika i interesovanja. Stvaranju nove paradigme doprinele su strukturne promene u društvima, tehnološki razvoj i digitalizacija komuniciranja, slabljenje države kao dominantnog centra moći i razvoj tržišta uz ekspanziju korporativnih modela i konzumerske kulture. U tehnološkom smislu dolazi do eksplozije kanala putem kojih se pružaju raznoliki i specijalizovani sadržaji, a do sada poprilično uniformna medijska publika postaje fragmentisana, uz drugačije potrebe i navike u informisanju. Ove promene i novi komunikacijski trendovi posebno su pogodili javne radiodifuzne servise, koji su u tradicionalnim sistemima imali privilegovanu poziciju na medijskom tržištu, stabilne izvore finansiranja, i jedinstvenu publiku. Nužnost prilagođavanja novim trendovima uz nepromenjenu misiju informisanja, zabavljanja i obrazovanja u skladu sa javnim interesom, postao je imperativ za javne servise. Javni radiodifuzni servisi na prostoru Zapadnog Balkana prolaze kroz dvostruku transformaciju. Jedna se odnosi na transformaciju iz državnih emitera u javne servise, koja je potaknuta procesima demokratizacije i imperativom evropskih integracija koji započinju u drugoj polovini 1990-ih. Druga se transformacija odnosi na organizaciono i operativno prilagođavanje postojećih emitera novoj paradigmi javnog medijskog servisa. Raskidanje sa tradicionalnom paradigmom koja se oslanja na emitovanje kao primarnu funkciju, pronalaženje adekvatnog modela finansiranja i poslovanja koje opravdava (posebno u domenu programa) javno uložen novac, i izgradnju odnosa poverenja i interakcije sa svojom primarnom publikom, najvažnije su karakteristike ovog procesa. Taj odnos mora počivati na kvalitetnim programima, inovativnom pristupu u proizvodnji i distribuciji programa, transparentnosti, poverenju, nezavisnosti i odgovornosti. Ovaj rad istražuje proces transformacije javnih radiodifuznih servisa u Republici Srbiji i Republici Hrvatskoj. Taj proces oblikovalo je zatečeno stanje, kontekstualne specifičnosti ove dve zemlje, razvoj medijskih politika, programi medijske pomoći usmerene ka osnaživanju demokratskih medijskih institucija, kao i uslovi u kojima su se javni servisi razvijali i obavljali svoje funkcije. Uprkos značajnoj energiji i uloženim sredstvima ove javne televizije danas ne funkcionišu na način na koji se to na početku procesa njihove reforme očekivalo. Početne pretpostavke, koje su tokom procesa istraživanja i analize bile testirane, u obzir su uzimale sledeće: nužnost razumevanja društvenog, kulturnog, političkog i institucionalnog nasleđa iz prethodnog sistema za analizu procesa transformacije javnih emitera, te karaktera i intenziteta medijske pomoći koja je bila prisutna tokom procesa demokratizacije; potom razumevanje ograničenih, ponekad i teško merljivih rezultata koje je imala eksterna pomoć, posebno kada se u obzir uzme nepodsticajno okruženje za modele javnih radiodifuznih servisa na kojima je inicijalno insistirano. Treća pretpostavka afirmiše pretpostavku da je isključivo normativni pristup i iniciranje reformi nizom formalnih uslova koje je trebalo ispuniti, rezultirala institucijama koje danas ne funkcionišu na način na koji je to inicijalno planirano. Četvrta pretpostavka je da dodatni izazov, ali i otežavajuću oklonost, za reformu javnih servisa u Republici Srbiji i Republici Hrvatskoj (kao i u većini zemalja regiona), predstavlja suštinska promena paradigme javnog servisa na evropskom nivou uslovljenu trendovima na medijskim tržištima, digitalizacijom i komunikacijskim navikama publike. Konačno, peta pretpostavka ističe kako između javnih emitera u analiziranim zemljama i njihove publike, građana, nema dovoljno interakcije, čime je javnost uskraćena za mogućnost učestvovanja u radu javnih emitera...In the new media ecology, the paradigm of public communication has been changed. Changes also affected relations, needs and habits in the process of communication. Traditional paradigm of linear communication, controled from the small number of the centers of power and distributed mainly through traditional (offline) channels, has been replaced by emering 'networked communication’ paradigm in which control over the flow of information is excersided by many actors, it is dispersed, while flow of information is generated through algorithms based on users habits and interests. Structural changes in societies, technological developmend and digitalization, de-etatization and expansion of corporative models of communication led to emergence of the new 'networked' paradigm. In technological sense, we are withnessing the explosion of channels for distribution of various and specialized contents, while audience becomes fragmented, demonstrating different communication needs and behaviour. Public service media have been affected by all these changes. In traditional systems these broadcasting institutions had priviledged position on the market, stable financial incomes, and large national audences.. Necessity to adjust to new media trends poses a challenge, especially taking into account its unchanged mission – to inform, educate and entertain. Public service broadcasters in the Western Balkan countries are passing trough double transformation. One is related to transformation from state controlled into genuine public service broadcasters, in line with democratization and EU integration processes which has started in the late 1990s. Second transformation implies organizational and operational adjustment to the new paradigm of public service media (PSM). Breaking the link with traditional paradigm relied on broadcasting as a primary function, seeking for a functional funding model and bussines operations, and establishing interactive and trust-worthy relationship with its audience, are among the most important features of this process. This relation should be based upon high quality programing, innovative approach in production and program distribution, transparency, trust, independence and responsibility. This thesis examines the transformation of pulic service broadcasters in the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Croatia. This process was affected by the conditions inherited from the previous system, development of media policies, contextual specifities of both countries, media assistance programs aimed to assist establishment and development of democratic institutions, as well as environment in which public service broadcasters operate. In spite of huge efforts and energy invested in their development, these institutions do not meet initial expectations when it comes to their operation. The research was founded upon several initial assumptions. First, the understanding of local social, cultural, political and institutional legacy from socialism, and character and intensity of media assistence in each country has to be included. Second, external media assistance had limited, and hard to measure, results. Third, dominant normative approach to reforms sometimes resulted with institutions that perform differently, especially taking into account new environment in which they were transplanted. Forth assumption is related to the changed paradigm of the public service broadcasting at the European level, claiming that this change affected the transformation processes in both countries, Serbia and Croatia. Finally, it is assumed that public service broadcasters in Serbia and Croatia do not interact with their audiences sufficiently, which prevented them from participating actively in their work..

Implementation of Advanced Collaborative Platform for Project Based Learning in Naval Architecture Studies

In the education process it is of utmost importance to adequately prepare the student for the labor market in accordance with current achievements in the professional field. In doing so, the standard educational process is often not sufficiently aligned with the needs of the market, especially in terms of preparation for work in a collaborative project environment, which is expected in nowadays modern design company. Today, the industry uses advanced digital collaborative software solutions that integrate ideas, design, development and follow the product life cycle. Such software needs to be implemented in the contemporary education process. In this paper authors present the implementation of the 3DExperience Collaborative Platform in the education process of naval architecture, based on modeling of a sample ship in order to analyze its global strength. Students are being familiarized with team work, they are able to monitor their work and progress of their colleagues, influence on the execution of the tasks and adjust the course of the project, redistributing and reallocating the resources. All of this actions are comparatively realistic depiction of the real working environment. Finally, the application of VR technology for the visualization of the model of the ship is presented in order to better understand the project challenges, ship structure and control of the performed tasks. At the end of the paper, the authors give an overview of the achievements and also stress out guidelines for further application of the software in the education process. Next milestone in this ongoing process would be to produce a detailed model of the ship and its documentation and other production information