Originating in the artificial intelligence literature, optimistic planning (OP) is an algorithm that generates near-optimal control inputs for generic nonlinear discrete-time systems whose input set is finite. This technique is, therefore, relevant for the near-optimal control of nonlinear switched systems for which the switching signal is the control, and no continuous input is present. However, OP exhibits several limitations, which prevent its desired application in a standard control engineering context, as it requires, for instance, that the stage cost takes values in <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$[0, 1]$</tex-math></inline-formula>, an unnatural prerequisite, and that the cost function is discounted. In this article, we modify OP to overcome these limitations, and we call the new algorithm <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\rm OP}_{\text{min}}$</tex-math></inline-formula>. We then analyze <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\rm OP}_{\text{min}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> under general stabilizability and detectability assumptions on the system and the stage cost. New near-optimality and performance guarantees for <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\rm OP}_{\text{min}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> are derived, which have major advantages compared to those originally given for OP. We also prove that a system whose inputs are generated by <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\rm OP}_{\text{min}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> in a receding-horizon fashion exhibits stability properties. As a result, <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\rm OP}_{\text{min}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> provides a new tool for the near-optimal, stable control of nonlinear switched discrete-time systems for generic cost functions.

This Special Issue originates from the international conference EuCNC 2020 (European Conference on Networks and Communications), which was planned to be held in June 2020 in Dubrovnik (Croatia), but due to the COVID-19 pandemic was changed to an Online Conference. The Technical Programme Chairs of the conference have selected the best papers and invited authors to submit an extended version of their paper, by at least one third of their length. Only the top ranked papers were invited to this Special Issue, in order to fulfil its purpose. The main target was to collect and present quality research contributions in the most recent activities related to systems and networks beyond 5G, already presenting ideas for 6G. Through this Special Issue, the state-of-the-art is presented and the new challenges are highlighted, regarding the latest advances on systems and network perspectives that are already being positioned beyond 5G, bridging as well with the evolution of 5G, including applications and trials. Therefore, the motivation for this Special Issue is to present the latest and finest results on the evolution of research of mobile and wireless communications, coming, but not exclusively (since EuCNC is a conference open to the whole research community), from projects co-financed by the European Commission within its R&D programmes.

The status that it has today, the uniqueness and specificity of its intercultural profile, Bosnian literature owes to the centuries-old deposition of various cultural strata. How deep into the past this integral composite reaches is most visible in literary works, whose re/interpretations certify the ruthless interaction with other cultures. In the methodological key of interculturality as an area of exchange of different cultural practices, the paper (through theoretical models of German comparativists’ hermeneutics of foreign) explores the mediation of “foreign” in Bosnian literature. Certain intercultural aspects of Bosnian literature have not been sufficiently researched, and it is the ways of communicating with foreign and the connection of foreign with the experience of alienation and/or intimacy that make the life of Bosnian culture serious and portray the timeline of literary texts as a trace of longing for a universal agreement of the worlds.

This article aimed to make a theoretical review of the importance of ICT education of teachers in service of preparation for more efficient performances required by their profession in the context of general globalization changes they are exposed to. In that sense, a review of the advantages of ICT utilization and the requirements of lifelong learning which sets informatical skills as an imperative had been presented, emphasizing the role of teachers, since it requires working on self-improvement, as well as directing others towards competent, critically observed and purposeful usage of modern technological achievements. Some of the priorities for the development of higher education in B&H have been presented, where in the context of scientific research work for the 2016-2026 period, providing all of the public higher education institutions with ICT equipment is planned, which indicates that the teachers working in these institutions must possess the competencies for their utilization, especially because institutions of higher education should play the role of one of the main promoters of lifelong learning.

Entropy of Vostok ice core data together with our notion of Kalman Filter Harmonic Bank (KFHB) Climate Prediction Engine (CPE) are introduced in this paper. In particular we examine CO2 Cycle 1 data (the most recent data cycle), and analyze so called Spectral Entropy of CO2 harmonics obtained by standard Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis. We also introduce treatment of Vostok Data as a sample from a corresponding non stationary stochastic process for which, instead of FFT, we can use Karhunen-Loeve Expansion (KLE) for a set of discrete data values and the corresponding autocorrelation matrix, defining Representation Entropy as a broader concept compared to Spectral Entropy for FFT. Initial results for Spectral Entropy are presented as a measure of amplitude and energy analysis informational effectiveness which determines a set of signal harmonics implemented in a form of KFHB whereas each harmonic is generated by a two state Kalman Filter. The total signal is then represented as a sum of a set of amplitude or energy significant harmonics (hence the name Kalman Filter Harmonic Bank). Spectral Entropy calculations point to a suitable number of FFT generated harmonics to be used for signal synthesis by harmonic truncation. We also analyze using amplitude vs. energy (amplitude squared) as a base for entropic calculations. Similarly in the case of KLE, Representation Entropy would play the same role. Ultimately we are working to implement this approach into an effective Machine Learning short and long term CPE. It is critical to perform very detailed time and frequency data analysis as a solid base for the CPE methodology for modelling variations in climate.

Despite the remarkable success of Carnot’s heat engine cycle in founding the discipline of thermodynamics two centuries ago, false viewpoints of his use of the caloric theory in the cycle linger, limiting his legacy. An action revision of the Carnot cycle can correct this, showing that the heat flow powering external mechanical work is compensated internally with configurational changes in the thermodynamic or Gibbs potential of the working fluid, differing in each stage of the cycle quantified by Carnot as caloric. Action (@) is a property of state having the same physical dimensions as angular momentum (mrv = mr2ω). However, this property is scalar rather than vectorial, including a dimensionless phase angle (@ = mr2ωδφ). We have recently confirmed with atmospheric gases that their entropy is a logarithmic function of the relative vibrational, rotational, and translational action ratios with Planck’s quantum of action ħ. The Carnot principle shows that the maximum rate of work (puissance motrice) possible from the reversible cycle is controlled by the difference in temperature of the hot source and the cold sink: the colder the better. This temperature difference between the source and the sink also controls the isothermal variations of the Gibbs potential of the working fluid, which Carnot identified as reversible temperature-dependent but unequal caloric exchanges. Importantly, the engine’s inertia ensures that heat from work performed adiabatically in the expansion phase is all restored to the working fluid during the adiabatic recompression, less the net work performed. This allows both the energy and the thermodynamic potential to return to the same values at the beginning of each cycle, which is a point strongly emphasized by Carnot. Our action revision equates Carnot’s calorique, or the non-sensible heat later described by Clausius as ‘work-heat’, exclusively to negative Gibbs energy (−G) or quantum field energy. This action field complements the sensible energy or vis-viva heat as molecular kinetic motion, and its recognition should have significance for designing more efficient heat engines or better understanding of the heat engine powering the Earth’s climates.

Although of little aesthetic significance, the song ˝Ostante se tutuna˝ sejh Hasan Kaimija has been the subject of various controversies in the Bosnian scientific community for a whole century. This paper aims to show how the poem, from its first publication until modern times, has been used as an “ally” to deny or support certain narratives. As the central theme of all the texts in the dispute throughout the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century, the “thesis of Bogumilism” was imposed, apropos whether Kaimija could have known about Bogumils in the 17th century. The text is mostly used as an “ally” in historiography, identity theory, economics, religion, and only to some extent in literary history. Also, the aim was to show how the poem figured in these discourses, and especially the “controversial verses”, but also what kind of interpretation and valorization poem had in different historical contexts.

Human gene F5, encoding coagulation factor V, was previously reported to be highly polymorphic. Apart from FV Leiden, several other rare variants have been detected in clinical practice and associated with thrombotic events, especially in cases when patient’s phenotype and FV Leiden genotype were not in agreement. In this study, the prevalence of 17 rare F5 variants has been studied on a sample of 130 healthy adult individuals from the general Bosnian-Herzegovinian population. DNA was isolated from buccal swab samples, while genotyping was performed using MALDI-TOF MS method. The results have shown that Asp2194Gly and Met2120Thr are polymorphic in the study population with minor allele frequencies of 0.077 and 0.073, respectively. Additionally, these two variants were mutually exclusive with FV Leiden and none of them was positively associated with participants’ family history of cardiovascular or cerebrovascular diseases. While the obtained results are in agreement with previously reported data for the general Caucasian populations, it is worth noting that only two rare F5 variants were detected in the study population, albeit at considerable frequencies. Still, scientific information on rare F5 variants is rather scarce and further studies aiming to assess functional importance of these variants, as well as their role as prothrombotic factors are necessary.

Due to its comprehensiveness and extreme complexity, the phenomenon of creativity has always attracted the attention of researchers, but only with the rapid development of science, technique, and technology, more intensive studies of this phenomenon began in the early 1990s. The importance of creativity is pointed out by numerous theorists, emphasizing the importance of this phenomenon on an individual, social and global level. Creativity plays a major role in creating individual meaningful works that contribute to wider social progress. The rapid progress of science and technology requires new and unusual reactions, and consequently, modern society is looking for young inspiring, talented, inspired, creative and innovative people who will be able to respond to the challenges they face every day. Education plays a key role in preparing them for life in modern society, but critics of modern education question the role of the school in encouraging and developing creativity. On the one hand, the school is an institution that cultivates creativity and creative activities, but on the other hand, as many say, the school kills and suffocates everything that young people would have and could show. This paper discusses the concept of creativity, as well as the role of education, school, and teachers in encouraging and awakening creativity in young people. The analysis of relevant and recent pedagogical literature seeks to answer the question of whether and in what way the school is limiting the development of creativity, what are the obstacles and blockers of creativity in school, and how to eliminate them.

The paper analyzes the organization of local self-government in the Republic of Kosovo through the prism of the Constitution, the Law on Local Self-Government, and other laws that affect the work and functioning of municipalities. In the social context, local self-government is very important. Citizens exercise most of their rights through the competencies of local self-government. With the European Charter of Local Self-Government, the Council of Europe has set the standards of local self-government that are implemented by its members. Kosovo is not a member of the Council of Europe, but through UNMIK regulations and its normative acts, it applies the standards of the Charter. The Republic of Kosovo, with the help of the international community and non-governmental organizations, strives to become a modern, democratic state and a member of the European Union. Along the way, Kosovo is implementing the reforms needed to comply with EU acts. In addition to presenting the organization of local self-government in Kosovo, this paper intends to determine the extent to which the Law on Local Self-Government is harmonized with the European Charter of Local Self-Government.

Given that recordings of wars, terrorist attacks, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, and other tragic and catastrophic events have become commonplace and ubiquitous in the modern mediated world, this paper questions the importance and role of the media as a mediator in distributing these recordings to the public. The role of the media in providing credible information in situations of crisis is very important, but also difficult, especially when it comes to live reporting, when there is no possibility to control the situation and when no one can know whether we will see death or hear it live. The paper uses a case study of two regional news televisions (N1 and Al Jazeera Balkans) reporting on the earthquake in Petrinja (Croatia), to show the weight of dilemmas and challenges that a journalist faces when he experiences, sees, and records a tragic event, and must report about it immediately - ethically, professionally and objectively. The aim of the paper is therefore to point out the reality of the journalistic profession in which sometimes, not with the intention of relativizing journalistic objectivity, there may still be a gap between ideals and practice.

High-risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are present and can cooperate with Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) to initiate and/or enhance the progression of several types of human carcinomas including cervical as well as head and neck; in parallel, it has been recently pointed out that these oncoviruses can be detected in human breast cancers. Thus, we herein explored the presence/co-presence of high-risk HPVs and EBV in breast cancer in Lebanese women. A cohort of 102 breast cancer samples and 14 normal breast tissues were assessed for the presence of HPVs and EBV. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis in addition to tissue microarray (TMA) platform were used in this study. We found the presence of HPV in 66/102 (65%) of our samples, while EBV is present in 41/102 (40%) of the cohort. Additionally, our data showed that high-risk HPV types (52, 35, 58, 45, 16 and 51) are the most frequent in breast cancer in Lebanese women. Meanwhile, we report that high-risk HPVs and EBV are co-present in 30/102 (29%) of the samples; more significantly, our results indicate that their co-presence is associated with tumor grade (p = 0.03). Our data revealed that HPVs and EBV are present/co-present in human breast cancer where they may play an important role in its development and/or progression; thus, we believe that further investigations are essential to confirm and elucidate the presence/co-presence of these oncoviruses and the underlying mechanisms of their interaction in breast carcinogenesis.