Supposed risk of malignant transformation of salivary gland pleomorphic adenoma (SGPA) is an important reason for aggressive retreatment in recurrent pleomorphic adenoma (RPA). However, although the diagnostic category ‘carcinoma ex‐pleomorphic adenoma’ suggests that malignant transformation of a pleomorphic adenoma is a regular event, this has to date not been shown to occur in sequential lesions of one patient. Here, we show the molecular events in transformation to malignancy of a pleomorphic adenoma of the parotid gland. Detailed molecular analysis revealed an LIFR/PLAG1 translocation characteristic for pleomorphic adenoma and, next to this, a PIK3R1 frameshift mutation and several allelic imbalances. In subsequent malignant recurrences, the same LIFR/PLAG1 translocation, PIK3R1 frameshift mutation, and allelic imbalances were present in addition to TP53 mutations. Thus, this case not only shows malignant transformation of SGPA, but also demonstrates that molecular analysis can be of help in recognising malignancy in the rare instance of RPA.

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.

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.

The present study addresses the short-term effects of different harvest intensities under close-to-nature selective management on the upper soil layers in Slovenian and Bosnian Dinaric karst fir-beech forests. The different harvest intensities coincided with the single-tree and irregular shelterwood management, common in the region. The effect of harvesting intensity on the upper soil layers (Ol, Of, Ol and 0–10 cm mineral soil) was investigated by a repeated measurements experiment in Slovenia on 27 research plots in close-to nature managed forests. The properties of the upper layers (concentration of SOC and TN, C/N ratio, weights, BD and SOC stocks) were analyzed twice, before (2011) and after (2014) treatment of 50% and 100% harvest intensity in relation to the total standing growing stock of trees. As a control, we used no-treatment <20% harvesting intensity plots. To extend this experiment, we added three comparable plots from the Bosnian site: one in an old-growth forest with 0% harvest intensity and two in the managed forest with <20% harvest intensity. The results of the assessment of mean differences indicated a significant influence of harvesting intensity on the decrease in SOC, TN concentrations, weights and SOC stocks in the organic layers and the increase in BD and SOC stocks in the 0–10 cm mineral soil. The highest relative decreases in Ol, Of and Oh SOC stocks occurred in 50% (−10 and −38%) and 100% (−16 and −49%) harvest intensities. Negligible relative differences in both organic and 0–10 cm mineral layers were found for the <20% harvest intensity in the region. The change in forest light conditions resulting from differences in canopy openness as a function of applied harvest intensity explained the significant difference in the properties of the upper soil layers. The impact of the short-term losses in SOC stocks, in terms of overall soil productivity, may depend on the regeneration dynamics and melioration methods.

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.

In this article, we argue that within multilingual polities, whether national or transnational, multilingual parties are all-things-considered more desirable than monolingual parties operating via a lingua franca. First, we develop a taxonomy of what we believe are the main ideal-type models of “linguistic democracy,” that is, of the relationship between language and democracy in multilingual polities. Second, we argue that multilingual parties are in a better position than monolingual parties to formulate conceptions of the common good that take into account diverse linguistic and epistemic perspectives. Third, we claim that such parties can perform an educational role for their members and for citizens in general, by making them aware of the implications of linguistic diversity for democratic life. Fourth, we argue that multilingual parties can offer a linkage between citizens and government via forms of intraparty deliberation that are rendered more inclusive and democratic by the use of multiple languages.

The ability of molecules and systems to make copies of themselves and the ability of molecules to fold into stable, well-defined three-dimensional conformations are of considerable importance in the formation and persistence of life. The question of how, during the emergence of life, oligomerization reactions become selective and channel these reactions toward a small number of specific products remains largely unanswered. Herein, we demonstrate a fully synthetic chemical system where structurally complex foldamers and self-replicating assemblies emerge spontaneously and with high selectivity from pools of oligomers as a result of forming noncovalent interactions. Whether foldamers or replicators form depends on remarkably small differences in building block structures and composition and experimental conditions. We also observed the dynamic transformation of a foldamer into a replicator. These results show that the structural requirements/design criteria for building blocks that lead to foldamers are similar to those that lead to replicators. What determines whether folding or replication takes place is not necessarily the type of noncovalent interaction, but only whether they occur intra- or intermolecularly. This work brings together, for the first time, the fields of replicator and foldamer chemistry.

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.

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.

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.