SUMMARY This paper proposes a bilateral control structure with a realization of the force derivative in the control loop. Due to the inherent noisy nature of the force signal, most teleoperation schemes can make use of only a proportional (P) control structure in the force channel of the bilateral controllers. In the proposed scheme, an α–β–γ filter is designed to smoothly differentiate the force signal obtained from a reaction force observer integrated to both of the master and slave plants. The differentiated force signal is then used in a proportional-derivative (PD) force controller working together with a disturbance observer. In order to design the overall bilateral controller, an environment model based on pure spring structure is assumed. The controller is designed to enforce an exponentially decaying tracking error for both position and force signals. With the presented controller design approach, one can independently tune the controller gains of the force and the position control channels. The proposed approach is experimentally tested in a platform consisted of direct drive linear motors. As illustrated by the experiment results, the contribution of the PD control in the force channel improves the teleoperation performance especially under hard-contact motion scenarios by attenuating the oscillations, hence, improving the transparency when compared to the structures using only a P force control.

Background Tumor development and growth are driven in many cases by inflammatory cells, which can produce cytokines and other factors that can stimulate the development of the malignant process. The aim of this study was to evaluate interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), serum levels in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC), and their association with the stage of CRC. Methods IL-6, MMP-9, and CRP serum levels were measured in 75 patients with CRC just before surgical treatment, as well as in 20 healthy individuals as controls. Surgically obtained tissue material was subjected to pathological analysis. Results Significant increase in CRP and IL-6 serum concentration is associated with increasing stage of CRC (p <0.05), where MMP-9 serum level was significantly higher in stages III and IV compared to the stage II CRC. Significant correlation was found between IL-6 and MMP-9 serum levels (rho=0.478; p <0.001) as well as between IL-6 and CRP serum levels (rho=0.720; p <0.001) and between MMP-9 and CRP serum levels (rho=0.379; p <0.001). Serum levels of MMP-9 and CRP have been shown to be independent predictors of the CRC stage. Conclusion Combined quantification of IL-6, MMP-9, and CRP serum levels seems to be a reliable index of inflammation-related processes during colorectal carcinogenesis.

Spices, which are plant substances used to enhance flavor are at the same time, the most commonly used natural antimicrobial agents in food. Besides this they have shown to effect the biofilm forming capacity of bacteria at different concentrations. In our study we tested the antibacterial effect of different w/V solutions of commercially available spices: cinnamon, curcuma and ginger and investigated their effect on biofilm formation of Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 19433. The results of our study indicate that cinnamon had an antibacterial effect on gram positive bacteria, ginger only on E.coli and curcuma did not exhibit any antibacterial properties. Results of the effect of different w/V solutions of spices on biofilm formation of the tested bacteria indicate that the spices had different effects on the tested bacteria and that the applied spice w/V solution did modify biofilm formation of bacteria. Hereby it is evident that the finding of novel antimicrobial compounds should be accompanied by biofilm formation studies since biofilms represent the natural state of bacteria and as such must be taken into consideration. Keywords— Spices, Antimicrobial Effect, Antibiofilm Effect

Changes in drug absorption and first-pass metabolism have been reported throughout the pediatric age range. Our aim is to characterize both intestinal and hepatic CYP3A-mediated metabolism of midazolam in children in order to predict first-pass and systemic metabolism of CYP3A substrates. Pharmacokinetic (PK) data of midazolam and 1-OH-midazolam from 264 post-operative children 1–18 years of age after oral administration were analyzed using a physiological population PK modelling approach. In the model, consisting of physiological compartments representing the gastro-intestinal tract and liver,intrinsic intestinal and hepatic clearances were estimated to derive values for bioavailability and plasma clearance. The whole-organ intrinsic clearance in the gut wall and liver were found to increase with body weight, with a 105 (95% confidence interval (CI): 5–405) times lower intrinsic gut wall clearance than the intrinsic hepatic clearance (i.e. 5.08 L/h (relative standard error (RSE) 10%) versus 527 L/h (RSE 7%) for a 16 kg individual, respectively). When expressed per gram of organ, intrinsic clearance increases with increasing body weight in the gut wall, but decreases in the liver, indicating that CYP3A-mediated intrinsic clearance and local bioavailability in the gut wall and liver do not change with age in parallel. The resulting total bioavailability was found to be age-independent with a median of 20.8% in children (95%CI: 3.8–50.0%). In conclusion, the intrinsic CYP3A-mediated gut wall clearance is substantially lower than the intrinsic hepatic CYP3A-mediated clearance in children from 1 to 18 years of age, and contributes less to the overall first-pass metabolism compared to adults.

S U M M A R Y Inversion of surface wave data for crustal and upper-mantle structure is a staple of passive seismology, particularly since the advent of techniques enabling surface wave dispersion (SWD) and Rayleigh wave ellipticity measurements from ambient noise. Recent development and application of transdimensional Bayesian (TB) seismic inversion offers an approach to quantify model parameter uncertainties and trade-offs with fewer assumptions than traditional methods. Using synthetic tests, we investigate choices in the implementation of TB for the inversion of SWD and Rayleigh wave ellipticity to constrain the structure of Earth’s continental lithosphere. We focus on three aspects of the inversion: limitation of data sensitivity, assumed scaling among parameters (compressional wave speed, Vp, shear wave speed, Vs, density and radial anisotropy) and parametrization choices. We show that while surface wave data provide relatively strong constraints on the posterior distribution of Vs and, to a lesser extent, Vp, common parametrization choices can potentially bias structure estimates. This is particularly the case for radial anisotropy (ξ ), due to the inability to distinguish variations of Vp and density from those of ξ . Inferred results therefore depend substantially on the parametrization and scaling choices. We illustrate how layered parametrizations can, in the TB framework, recover smoothly varying profiles, and quantify the number of layers recoverable at different levels of measurement uncertainty. Finally, we propose two types of model parametrization for TB inversion involving multiple types of parameters. We demonstrate that by implementing an independent parametrization for different physical quantities, we can avoid imposing identical model geometry across multiple types of model parameters, and obtain better model estimates with reduced trade-offs. We advocate for such a parametrization in TB inversion of radial anisotropy using surface wave data, and when targeting disparate Vp and Vs structures such as those associated with α-β quartz transtion.

A review is presented of the rescattering plateau in laser-induced above-threshold ionization and its various features as they were discovered over time. Several theoretical explanations are discussed, from simple momentum conservation to the quantum-mechanical improved strong-field approximation and the inherent quantum orbits or, alternatively, entirely classical methods. Applications of the plateau to the extraction of atomic or molecular potentials and to the characterization of the driving laser pulse are also surveyed.

Upotreba sobnog bilja potječe još iz davne povijesti čovječanstva. Većina sobnog bilja koja se koristi u ukrašavanju interijera dolazi iz tropskih i suptropskih područja, dok ih manji broj dolazi iz umjerene klime. Prilikom odabira biljke za ukrašavanje interijera, važno je imati na umu da neke biljke nisu uvijek „moderne“ te također da ljudi imaju različita mišljenja vezano uz takav odabir. Cilj ovog rada je odrediti odgovarajuće sobno bilje za interijer jedne institucije visokog obrazovanja te utvrditi cjelokupni vizualni dojam (vizualni „geštalt“) putem ankete vezane uz određene odabrane lončanice u interijeru prostorija Veleučilišta „Marko Marulić“ u Kninu. Istraživanje je provedeno putem ankete tijekom studenog i prosinca 2014. godine na uzorku od 43 ispitanika (studenata i zaposlenika). Ustanovljeno je da su različite palme i lončanice dobile najbolje ocjene i najbolje su prihvaćene za upotrebu u interijeru Veleučilišta.

Transforming the latent value of big data into real value requires the great human intelligence and application of human-data scientists. Data scientists are expected to have a wide range of technical skills alongside being passionate self-directed people who are able to work easily with others and deliver high quality outputs under pressure. There are hundreds of university, commercial, and online courses in data science and related topics. Apart from people with breadth and depth of knowledge and experience in data science, we identify a new educational path to train "bridge persons" who combine knowledge of an organization's business with sufficient knowledge and understanding of data science to "bridge" between non-technical people in the business with highly skilled data scientists who add value to the business. The increasing proliferation of big data and the great advances made in data science do not herald in an era where all problems can be solved by deep learning and artificial intelligence. Although data science opens up many commercial and social opportunities, data science must complement other science in the search for new theory and methods to understand and manage our complex world.

Research is spent on 50 respondents divided in two groups, of wich first group was combined by 25 swimmers and second group was combined by 25 water polo players from water polo club „Dabar“ from Sarajevo, at age of 12-14 years. The main goal of research was to spot the differences between speed in swimming craul technique disciplines of 25m, 50m and 100m between swimmers and water polo players of water polo club „Dabar“ from Sarajevo. It is analyzed the time swimmers will swimm craul techinuque every discipline separately: 25m (BK 25M), 50m (BK 50M) and 100m (BK 100M). For establishment of differences in speed swimming craul technique on 25m, 50m and 100m between swimmers and water polo players we used T-test analise of results for independent samples. Based on T-test analise of results for independent samples we can conclude that there is statisticly big difference between swimmer and water polo players in speed during swimming all three criterion variables (BK 25M), (BK 50M),(BK 100M).

The research was conducted on a sample of 166 students of „Secondary Technical School Travnik”, first and second malegrade who regularly attended elementary education during the 2016/2017 school year. A total of 15 variables were used in the research to assess the level of motor skills (three variables for assessing the motor skills of basketball, volleyball, handball, volleyball and athletics).The main aim of the research was to determine the quantitative changes of the motor skills of secondary school students through the longitudinal study in one school year duration under the influence of the program contents of regular physical education. Quantitative changes in motor skills and analysis of differences between initial and final measurements were determined by analysis of changes under the difference model and SSDIF analysis (Bonacin, 2004). By projecting measurement data, a hypothetical measurement matrix is defined, and by explicating the set of linear displacements on the association matrix, a structural vector is described describing quantitative changes, taking into account the relations of initial variables.The results of the SSDIF analysis indicate that a one-year curriculum of physical education has caused statistically significant changes in motor skills at the global level (p = 0.000). According to the results of the quantitative global changes, they are not particularly significant and extend across a whole set of analyzed variables. The greater the number of variables that contribute to these quantitative changes, but the contributions of some variables to the discriminating function are relatively small, which means that the effects produced are mild, without dramatic changes, and virtually all variables contribute positively.