Using global data on aggregate stock markets, this paper finds that the capital asset pricing model fares much better than suggested previously. At shorter time horizons, our results also show that the positive risk-reward relation can collapse during times of high volatility. Compared to other countries, we retrieve evidence of lower systematic risks across frontier equity portfolios. We find that countries characterized by higher levels of openness, exchange rate volatility, and larger economic size are exposed to higher systematic covariances with the world stock market. Conversely, we obtain an inverse link between international reserves and systematic risks in national equity.

Resection margins are frequently studied in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma and are accepted as a constant prognostic factor. While most evidence is based on soft tissue margins, reported data for bone resection margins are scarce. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate and determine the utility of surgical margins in bone resections for oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC). The status of bone resection margins and their impact on survival was investigated in patients who had undergone segmental mandibulectomy for OCSCC. Medical records were retrieved for the years 2000-2012; 127 patients were identified and included in the study. Tumour-positive bone resection margins were found in 21% of the patients. The 5-year overall survival was significantly lower in this group (P<0.005). Therefore, there is a need for intraoperative feedback on the status of bone resection margins to enable immediate additional resection where necessary. Although the lack of intraoperative methods for the evaluation of bone tissue has been addressed by many authors, there is still no reliable method for widespread use. Future research should focus on an objective, accurate, and rapid method of intraoperative assessment for the entire bone resection margin to optimize patient outcomes.

During the Humanitarian-demining actions, teleoperation of sensors or multi-sensor heads can enhance-detection process by allowing more precise scanning, which is use-ful for the optimization of the signal processing algorithms. This chapter summarizes the technologies and experiences developed during 16 years through national and/or European-funded projects, illustrated by some contributions of our own laboratory, located at the Royal Military Academy of Brussels, focusing on the detection of unex-ploded devices and the implementation of mobile robotics systems on minefields.

The paper aims to evaluate the role of faecal coliforms in assessment of water quality. The study was conducted on the Neretva River in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The sampling was performed bimonthly, over 12 months at seven selected sites. APHA (1995) methods were used. The raw data of temperature, pH, conductivity, oxygen saturation, nitrogen, total phosphorus, and faecal coliforms were transformed into unitless subindices on a scale of 0 to 100 (Ridanovic et al., 2012). NWQI was calculated as a harmonic mean of subindices. Application of NWQI as indicator of water quality was demonstrated through spatial analysis of water quality. Results show a significant decrease (>50%) of water quality. Linear regression was used to assess which parameter has the greatest influence on NWQI value. Results suggest that all tested parametres are strongly connected to NWQI (nitrogen, R 2 =0.7455422), (total phosphorus, R 2 =0.887803), (oxygen saturation R 2 =0.696964), (pH, R 2 =0.595705). However, NWQI value was the most significantly affected by faecal coliforms (R 2 =0.9788). Subindex values for conductivity and temperature were 100, hence their connection to NWQI cannot be analysed by linear regression. Results show how much NWQI changes with a change in one or more subindices, as it assumes a causal relationship between them.

The Triple Aim framework is an increasingly popular tool for designing and assessing quality improvements in the health care sector. We systematically reviewed the empirical evidence on the application of the Triple Aim framework within primary healthcare settings since its inception almost a decade ago. Results show that primary healthcare providers varied in their interpretation of the Triple Aim framework and generally struggled with a lack of guidance and an absence of composite sets of measures for performance assessment. Greater clarity around application of the Triple Aim framework in primary healthcare is needed, especially around the selection and implementation of purposeful measures from locally available data. This review highlights areas for improvement and makes recommendations intended to guide future applications of the Triple Aim in the context of primary healthcare.

The Tomašica grave-site near Prijedor in the north of Bosnia is reported to be the largest primary mass grave discovered thus far relating to the 1992-95 war. A total of 275 complete bodies and 125 body parts were exhumed from it in 2013. Post mortem examinations of the victims showed that nearly all had died from gunshot injuries but an additional striking feature was the degree of preservation of many of the bodies, even 21 years on, with skin, soft tissues and internal organs still present in abundance and gross structures clearly identifiable. Histology was performed on 68 samples of soft tissue from a total 13 bodies, on both skin and internal organs, and the degree of preservation was assessed in terms of the ability to recognize microscopic structure. Further comparison was made with samples taken a month or so later (56 tissue samples from 9 bodies, all but one different from the first group), after the bodies had been covered in salt as a means of general preservation. Generally, at a microscopic level, skin and subcutaneous tissues were better preserved than internal organs, while tissues sampled at the time of autopsy were better preserved than those sampled weeks later.

The well-known major drawbacks of the Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM), namely, the transmitter versus receiver Carrier Frequency Offset (CFO), and the Peak-to-Average Power Ratio (PAPR) of the transmitted OFDM signal, may degrade the error performance, by causing Intercarrier Interference (ICI), as well as in-band distortion and adjacent channel interference, respectively. Moreover, in spite of the utmost care given to CFO estimation and compensation in OFDM wireless systems, such as wireless local networks or the mobile radio systems of the fourth generation, e.g., the Long-Term Evolution (LTE), still some residual CFO remains. With this regard, though so far the CFO and the PAPR have been treated independently, in this paper, we develop an Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) based analytical model for the CFO-induced constellation symbol phase distortion, which essentially reveals that the maximal CFO-caused squared phase deviation is linear with the instantaneous (per-OFDM-symbol) PAPR. This implies that any PAPR reduction technique, such as simple clipping or coding, indirectly suppresses the CFO-induced phase deviation, too. The analytically achieved results and conclusions are tested and successfully verified by conducted Monte Carlo simulations.

Analysis of daily solar irradiation variability and predictability in space and time is important for energy resources planning, development, and management. The natural variability of solar irradiation is being complicated by atmospheric conditions (in particular cloudiness) and orography, which introduce additional complexity into the phenomenological records. To address this question for daily solar irradiation data recorded during the years 2013, 2014 and 2015 at 11 stations measuring solar irradiance on La Reunion French tropical Indian Ocean Island, we use a set of novel quantitative tools: Kolmogorov complexity (KC) with its derivative associated measures and Hamming distance (HAM) and their combination to assess complexity and corresponding predictability. We find that all half-day (from sunrise to sunset) solar irradiation series exhibit high complexity. However, all of them can be classified into three groups strongly influenced by trade winds that circulate in a “flow around” regime: the windward side (trade winds slow down), the leeward side (diurnal thermally-induced circulations dominate) and the coast parallel to trade winds (winds are accelerated due to Venturi effect). We introduce Kolmogorov time (KT) that quantifies the time span beyond which randomness significantly influences predictability.

Aim To investigate whether or not additional treatment of ischemic heart disease with trimetazidine could improve effort tolerance and overall quality of life of patients with ischemic heart disease. Methods The study included 200 patients with ischemic heart disease. The sample was divided into 2 randomly selected groups: experimental and control group. The diagnostic procedures included: trade-mill test according to Bruce protocol, heart ultrasound for assessment of ejection fraction, test for the assessment of quality of life and subjective problems (Short Form SF 36). Patients were tested for time of discharge from hospital, after 6 and 12 months, including re-evaluation of the overall condition of the previous period. Results Patients have been tested for the tolerance of effort with the measurement Metabolic Equivalent of TASK (METs), which is the equivalent of physical labor. Patients treated with trimetazidine since the time of hospital discharge achieved an average of 3.68, after 6 months 5.68, and after 12 months 7.79 METs. The control group achieved 3.68, 3.59 and 3.87 METs, respectively. Using Mann-Whitney test no difference at discharge time (p=0.880), but after six and twelve months there was some difference (p<0.001). Results of ejection fraction measured by echocardiography were similar. No difference between the two groups with regard to time of discharge (p=0.821, but p<0.001 after six and twelve months, respectively). Conclusion Patients treated with conventional therapy including trimetazidine have better tolerance to effort and better ejection fraction on heart ultrasound examination in comparison with those treated without trimetazidine, so trimetazidin improve the metabolic balance of heart muscle.

Aim To determine capabilities and potential of contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) enterography in order to establish the diagnosis and to evaluate severity and activity of intestinal inflammation. Methods Fifty-five patients with suspicion for presence of Crohn's disease were evaluated. All patients underwent contrast enhanced MRI enterography and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI), and subsequently endoscopic examination or surgical treatment. Four parameters were analysed: thickening of the bowel wall, and presence of abscess, fistula and lymphadenopathy. Results Comparing results of DWI and contrast enhanced MRI enterography a significant difference between results given through diffusion and histopathological test was found, e.g. a significant difference between results obtained through diffusion and MRI enterography was found. MRI enterography sensitiveness for bowel wall thickening was 97.7% and specificity 70%, whilst DWI sensitivity for bowel wall thickening was 84% and specificity 100%. The diagnostics of abscess and fistula showed no significant difference between DWI and MRI, while in lymphadenopathy significant difference between contrast enhanced MRI enterography and DWI was found. Conclusion Contrast enhanced MRI enterography in combination with DWI allows for excellent evaluation of disease activity, but also problems or complications following it. The examination can be repeated, controlled, and it can contribute to monitoring of patients with this disease.