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Despite numerous positive aspects of the global development of language-as-right orientation, we argue that its application is rooted in methodological nationalism, i.e. the idea of society being equal to a nationstate (Chernilo 2006), and the monoglot ideology based on the idea of one proper version of a historically and politically privileged dialect carrying the status of a language. This dominant preconception of social phenomena thus leaves many varieties in a legislative vacuum. As a consequence, language rights, often in the form of more or less mandatory legal instruments, concern only a (politically established) few. When this institutional inadequacy is paired with the existing orders of indexicality, then these varieties face marginalisation processes that render language use even more unsustainable. To address the issue of language sustainability, we analyse the language-as-right, language-as-resource and language-as-problem orientations in Croatia on the case of the Arbanasi, a community of descendants of Catholic albanophones who settled in the periphery of Zadar in the 18th century and whose group identity is marked by significant language loss. We analyse how speakers and community members themselves perceive marginalisation processes, especially concerning linguistic (in)justice that stems from the policies that hinder sustainability of Arbanasi language use in the long run.

This paper describes the project ANTRONA aimed at constructing basic anthropological terminology that covers the entire range of anthropology as a science. It is a part of national language planning oriented terminology management for the Croatian language, and as such it is focused solely at the production of a terminographic database. The major difficulties encountered during the procedural stages of the project are outlined, such as the wide range of the interdisciplinary field of anthropology, including concepts and terms from natural and social sciences and humanities, as well as polysemy and fuzzy boundaries between the lexicon of the general language and specialized language. On the basis of several examples, we argue that terminography should be dealt with primarily by keeping in mind the range of its subsequent applications the aim of which is not only ontological, but also communicative in nature, and that functional pragmatic approach offers a more flexible framework for dealing with the demands of terminology in such an interdisciplinary field.

Since languages are such powerful means of group identification, they may be considered as constitutive of communities. Attitudes expressed toward certain linguistic varieties may thus be perceived as attitudes held toward respective community-members. However, as attitudes are not always easily accessible, and are rarely one-dimensional but rather multi-layered, an insight into overt (publicly proclaimed) and covert (privately held) ideologies can enhance understanding of language attitudes and their meaning. This paper brings the analysis of these two types of attitudes held by adolescents in three most populated places on the island of Korcula, Croatia. The analysis is based on the results obtained by means of a questionnaire eliciting, among other things, overt attitudes toward six local, regional and supra-regional varieties, and covert attitudes toward judges' local speech and the Standard variety of Croatian. Although the results confirm some expected tendencies in the evaluation of different varieties, subsequently conducted analysis of speech recognition rates offers some valuable insights and interesting implications for further interpretation of the results.

Surgical preparation is enhanced by the availability of computer-generated three-dimensional models that allow surgeons to explore the surgical field in various projections prior to an actual operation. In fact, with adequate computed tomography images, an entire operation can be simulated beforehand so that surgeons can plan the safest and most effective approach and be prepared to avoid or overcome obstacles during the actual procedure. Also, computer technology allows surgeons to conduct remote consultations and to even perform telesurgery--that is, to operate on a patient from a great distance. In this article, we describe our experience with computer-assisted local and remote endoscopic sinus surgery in Croatia.

As a consequence of political changes and war, during the last decade the migration processes have been intensified and in comers from other parts of Croatia and neighbouring countries have moved to the town of Zagreb and have changed it considerably. These demographic changes have also had an influence on the language used in the area and on language attitudes towards the Standard Croatian, local vernacular and other dialectal varieties. The aim of this study is to explore the awareness that speakers, Croatian adolescents resident in Zagreb, have of their own language variety and their attitudes toward different other dialect varieties. The data were collected using the speech guise method and a questionnaire in order to assess both conscious and unconscious components of these linguistic evaluations. The results obtained once again confirmed the expected prestige of the Standard variety in terms of its speaker's alleged highest competence, but also its low standing as far as social attractiveness is concerned. Non-standard local varieties showed the exactly opposite trend, although the evaluation of native and immigrant adolescents differed considerably.

One of the main objectives of our 3-dimensional (3D) computer-assisted functional endoscopic sinus surgery was to design a computer-assisted 3D approach to the presurgical planning, intraoperative guidance, and postoperative analysis of the anatomic regions of the nose and paranasal sinuses. Such an extremely powerful approach should allow better insight into the operating field, thereby significantly increasing the safety of the procedure. The last step to implementing the technology in the operating room was to connect the computer workstations and video equipment to remote locations by using a high-speed, wide-bandwidth computer network. During patient preparation, the surgeon in the operating room consulted remote experienced and skillful surgeons by viewing CT images and 3D models on computer workstations. The surgeon and consultants used software for CT image previews and 3D model manipulations on top of collaboration tools to define the pathosis, produce an optimal path to the pathosis, and decide how to perform the real surgical procedure. With tele-flythrough or tele-virtual endoscopy rendered through the use of 3D models, both surgeons can preview all the characteristics of the region (ie, anatomy, pathosis) and so predict and determine the next steps of the operation. This ensures greater safety thanks to the operation guidance and reduces the possibility of intraoperative error. The duration of the teleconsultation is thus shortened, which may prove the greatest benefit of tele-3D computer-assisted surgery. If this method were used, clinical institutions would spend less money for telesurgical consultation.

The present paper aims at describing the most relevant background data on geomorphological, economic, ethnohistoric, demographic and linguistic features of the island of Vis. As an introduction to future holistic anthropological research on the island, it seeks to identify both internal and external impulses of change and/or continuity of the island population structure within a wider socio-cultural and historical context. The ethnohistorical and demographic data indicate a higher degree of isolation throughout history as compared to other islands in the region and a continuous depopulation trend during the last century. The analysis of the existing linguistic data on two main settlements shows a certain amount of intradialectal micro-differentiation, which is mainly due to various social and non-linguistic reasons.

Foreign bodies in paranasal sinuses are found quite infrequently. They are usually detected after various types of head trauma and most commonly occur as a consequence of improper handling of firearms or explosives. In countries at war, eg, during the war in Croatia, adults and children were almost equally exposed to these injuries. The diagnosis should be based on results from precise computer tomography (CT) scanning in axial and coronal sections, and, using these data, tissues of different densities at these anatomical locations can be differentiated. The possibility of exact preoperative, noninvasive visualization of the spatial relationships of anatomic and pathologic structures with 3-dimensional (3D) computer-assisted diagnosis and intraoperative navigational techniques allows the surgeon to achieve a considerable advantage in the preoperative examination of the patient and to reduce the risk of intraoperative complications, all by the use of virtual surgery (VS) or virtual diagnosis. The expected contribution of the mentioned computer-assisted surgical technique manifests itself in defining the most appropriate mode of CT scanning of the head to design the 3D operating field model, and the possibility of active and dynamic 3D visualization of the desired anatomical regions is realized. 3D reconstruction of anatomic units becomes a routine preoperative procedure, providing a highly useful and informative visualization of the regions of interest, and, thus, advancing the definition of geometric information on anatomical contours of the 3D model by the transfer of so-called image pixel to contour pixel.

The main goal of our dynamic 3D computer-assisted reconstruction of a metallic retrobulbar foreign body following orbital injury with ethmoid bone involvement was to use 3D-information obtained from standard computed tomography (CT) data to explore and evaluate the nasal cavity, ethmoidal sinuses, retrobulbar region, and the foreign body itself by simulated dynamic computed visualization of the human head. A foreign body, 10 x 30 mm in size, partially protruded into the posterior ethmoidal cells and partially into the orbit, causing dislocation and compression of the medial rectus muscle and inferior rectus muscle. The other muscles and the optic nerve were intact. Various steps were taken to further the ultimate diagnosis and surgery. Thin CT sections of the nasal cavity, orbit and paranasal sinuses were made on a conventional CT device at a regional medical center, CT scans were transmitted via a computer network to different locations, and special views very similar to those seen on standard endoscopy were created. Special software for 3D modeling, specially designed and modified for 3D C-FESS purposes, was used, as well as a 3D-digitizer connected to the computer and multimedia navigation through the computer during 3D C-FESS. Our approach achieves the visualization of very delicate anatomical structures within the orbit in unconventional (non-standard) sections and angles of viewing, which cannot be obtained by standard endoscopy or 2D CT scanning. Finally, virtual endoscopy (VE) or a 'computed journey' through the anatomical spaces of the paranasal sinuses and orbit substantially improves the 3D C-FESS procedure by simulating the surgical procedure prior to real surgery.

The increasing prevalence of sepsis from gram-positive bacterial pathogens necessitates further evaluation of the basic assumptions about the molecular pathogenesis of septic shock. Since diverse physiological functions of gram-positive bacteria are controlled by the degree of esterification of teichoic acids with D-alanine, we examined the reactivity of monosaccharide esters in which anomerically free or protected D-glucose is linked through its C-6 hydroxy group to either phenylalanyl or tyrosyl residues as models for teichoic acid fragment. We show that the attached sugar moiety induces activation of the amino acid residue. Due to the enhanced reactivity of the NH2 group in the monosaccharide esters studied, the formation of products generated by intramolecular and intermolecular glycation reactions is accelerated resulting in heterogeneous mixture of compounds. These findings suggest that, if similar adducts are formed by glycation of D-alanine in teichoic acid of gram-positive bacteria, they should be examined as potential bioactive ligands or chemical message for infection.