University of Ljubljana

Knowing the exact location of a short-circuit fault in a power distribution system (PDS) is essential for rapid restoration of service to customers and has a direct impact on the operational costs and reliability of the system. In this paper a phasor measurement unit (PMU) based method for fault localization and classification is presented. By introducing the concept of a virtual bus, the exact fault location on the line is determined rather than just a bus closest to the fault. Moreover, after determining the fault location, a generic fault model (GFM) is introduced to classify the type of fault by solving a minimization problem, which also provides fault impedances as a result. These can then be further used to determine if the fault occurred on the lateral instead of the main feeder without using additional PMU at the end of that lateral. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is verified by simulating various fault scenarios in two test systems based on real PDSs using a real-time digital simulator. In addition, a sensitivity analysis of the method is performed for different noise levels in the input parameters to verify its applicability to the real system.

Radiotherapy (RT) is a standard treatment modality for head and neck (HaN) cancer that requires accurate segmentation of target volumes and nearby healthy organs-at-risk (OARs) to optimize radiation dose distribution. However, computed tomography (CT) imaging has low image contrast for soft tissues, making accurate segmentation of soft tissue OARs challenging. Therefore, magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has been recommended to enhance the segmentation of soft tissue OARs in the HaN region. Based on our two empirical observations that deformable registration of CT and MR images of the same patient is inherently imperfect and that concatenating such images at the input layer of a deep learning network cannot optimally exploit the information provided by the MR modality, we propose a novel modality fusion module (MFM) that learns to spatially align MR-based feature maps before fusing them with CT-based feature maps. The proposed MFM can be easily implemented into any existing multimodal backbone network. Our implementation within the nnU-Net framework shows promising results on a dataset of CT and MR image pairs from the same patients. Furthermore, the evaluation on a clinically realistic scenario with the missing MR modality shows that MFM outperforms other state-of-the-art multimodal approaches.

This chapter focuses on the narratives about werewolves which I recorded during my fieldwork in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2016–2017 among all three main ethnic groups, that is, Croats, Bosniaks and Serbs, closely related to the cultures of Catholicism, Islam and Orthodoxy. While a werewolf as a shapeshifter is a rather well-known figure in European folklore, the narratives about living shapeshifters are rather rare in Bosnia and Herzegovina; instead, narratives about werewolves as restless dead (“vampires”) by far prevail. As has already been emphasised by a number of authors who have studied werewolves among South Slavs, the term ‘werewolf’ to a large extent overlaps with the term ‘vampire' and the same holds for Bosnian and Herzegovinian folklore; nevertheless, their corporeal and blood-sucking nature is only exceptionally hinted at in fabulates, whereas in memorates werewolves are as a rule conceived as ‘apparitions’ of the dead, either in human or animal (but never of a wolf!) shape. In this chapter, I argue that werewolf narratives cannot be explored separately from the overall social, religious and ethnic framework within which they thrive. I first show that personal experiences of encounters with the werewolves strongly overlap with various other ‘supernatural' experiences. I shall then proceed with the discussion on how the appearance of a werewolf—which in itself implies an idea of a transgression of the boundary between ontologically separate realms—at the same time reflects cultural concerns related to the transgression of the boundary of acceptable social and religious norms of behaviour. Similarly to the dead werewolves who, due to their or the community’s violation of social norms, transgress the boundary between the realms, a living individual’s behaviour too is understood in terms of animal-like (wolfish) behaviour, when they transgress the social norms of behaviour. Just one step further, because of their deviant or socially unacceptable behaviour, they are considered ‘werewolves’, i.e. they are attributed animalistic features—the signs of their communication with the other world by which the transgression is clearly demonstrated—and the ability to turn into a wolf. I further show how werewolf narratives could be intentionally used to reinforce the social norms of behaviour and appropriated by individuals so as to serve their purpose. Finally, I argue that narrators can use these narratives to express latent inter-ethnic and inter-religious tensions and prejudices and to put forward the superiority of their own ethnic and religious identity.

The belief in the existence of werewolves is extremely widespread and deeply-rooted in the oral culture of Southern Italy. What is more, this belief is strongly related to a wide variety of folk narratives, as demonstrated by many collections of writers, folklorists and scholars during the last two centuries (see in particular Pitrè, La Sorsa, Finamore, Lombardi Satriani). As a native-born inhabitant of this region, even disregarding my role as a scholar, I think that the ‘werewolf complex' can function as a really significant and effective means to explore and understand some of our distinctive features from a traditional cultural point of view. Since my childhood I have been used to listening to legends or, more frequently, ‘true' stories (with my parent-narrators as protagonists or witnesses) about encounters with supernatural beings. The werewolf (lupo mannaro) was one of the most recurring, although it was regarded as a man—usually a person known to the teller and to the (older) listeners, identified by his name and surname and/or a nickname—more than as a bestial and/or wicked being. Indeed, the werewolf is generally described as a sick and suffering man, whose ‘wolf’s' nature is displayed by his gestures and actions, such as screaming (more than howling) and walking by night along the streets followed by dogs, rather than by a physical metamorphosis (which is often seen merely as a legendary fiction. Accordingly, the existence of werewolves is lived as a more or less ‘common' issue, something real or credible which basically does not disturb or threaten the communal life, if properly managed. Building on one of the ‘true' stories about a werewolf, recently retold by my mother, as well as on other oral narratives collected on the field, and compared with those recorded by the abovementioned authors, I present an overview of the main beliefs, meanings and rituals concerning the werewolf in our tradition, such as the connections with the full moon and Christmas time, the role of water, iron and blood in the healing of lycanthropy or the Saint John’s link (comparatico) between the werewolf and his potential victim. All these motifs are analysed in the light of their forms and contents within a number of different narratives about werewolves, as well as of the cultural, social, religious, ethical and pedagogical meanings and values they take within the popular contexts of Southern Italy (particularly in Apulia). Finally, the goal is to explore and understand the historical evolution of a hybrid and typical figure, the werewolf, embodying a sort of ‘light' otherness coexisting with us, the ‘ordinary' people.

INTRODUCTION Inferring the timeline from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to severe dementia is pivotal for patients, clinicians, and researchers. Literature is sparse and often contains few patients. We aim to determine the time spent in MCI, mild‐, moderate‐, severe dementia, and institutionalization until death. METHODS Multistate modeling with Cox regression was used to obtain the sojourn time. Covariates were age at baseline, sex, amyloid status, and Alzheimer's disease (AD) or other dementia diagnosis. The sample included a register (SveDem) and memory clinics (Amsterdam Dementia Cohort and Memento). RESULTS Using 80,543 patients, the sojourn time from clinically identified MCI to death across all patient groups ranged from 6.20 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 5.57–6.98) to 10.08 (8.94–12.18) years. DISCUSSION Generally, sojourn time was inversely associated with older age at baseline, males, and AD diagnosis. The results provide key estimates for researchers and clinicians to estimate prognosis.

Packaging waste's ecological impact, stemming from resource depletion, plastic pollution, and climate concerns, is prompting environmental worries. Within the baby cosmetics domain, management task involves balancing safety, hygiene standards, consumer preferences, and regulations, all while adopting eco‐friendly packaging. This study presents a holistic global assessment of sustainable packaging options tailored for the baby cosmetics sector. By employing a systematic methodology encompassing planning using Python programming, data evaluation, analysis, and synthesis, the investigation scrutinized packaging claims from 2048 brands, including 76 specializing in baby cosmetics. Findings reveal that while 39% of brands omit packaging material details, 61% embrace recyclable, refillable, or bio‐based alternatives. This shift underscores a growing sustainability inclination, though undisclosed packaging materials indicate transparency gaps, urging enhanced regulations. Remarkably, only 14 baby cosmetic brands among those studied incorporate diverse certifications and standards. This study's novelty lies in its exhaustive analysis of sustainable packaging solutions tailored for the baby cosmetics sector. It highlights the pressing need for cosmetic companies to adopt sustainable packaging, ensure transparency, and collaborate industry‐wide to ensure a sustainable future for baby cosmetic packaging.

High-quality BIM model is the premise to ensure the effective application of BIM technology. Thus, many countries and organizations have developed standards to clarify the requirements of BIM model quality on data completeness, consistency, and correctness. However, due to the complexity of BIM model and the professionalism of standards, checking BIM model quality manually is challenging and time-consuming, so it is necessary to develop automatic check systems for BIM model quality. To develop the system, computerized representation of BIM model quality standards is the key and basic step. Towards the objective, this paper proposes an ontology-based computerized representation method for BIM model quality standards. In this method, OWL is applied to represent the concepts and relationships, and SWRL is used for representing BIM model quality rules in the standards. After representing the Chinese BIM model quality standard, a rule base composed of 41 SWRL rules is constructed and the effectiveness of the method is verified. This research contributes to the development of BIM model quality automatic checking system and the promotion of BIM technology.

This article was created on the wave of the ubiquitous and already-saturated topic of ethics in the field of artificial intelligence. We were motivated by the proliferation of rules within this field and by a posthumanism critique of this topic. We attempt to nurture a new research platform for a social science analysis of the “How of ethics” issue by providing an argument for the study of algorithms and ethical issues by expanding the usability of the concept of niche construction and environmental perspectives in ethnographic studies. From a design perspective, this means expanding the quest related to the ethical matter by intensifying the inquiry in a design that includes not just the design process but also a more comprehensive environment. Inspired by current trends in evolutionary anthropology, science studies, and the philosophy of science, we are in line with approaches that reaffirm ethical issues from standpoint theory in the current scientific debate about trust in science. The results of our historical perspective on the issue of value neutrality point out that the position where the tool is not neutral does not mean that it is biased but that it is deeply involved in the network of relationships that influence it to be biased, and that threatens its autonomy. By providing argumentation based on the issue of ethics, we have nurtured the so-called ecology of practice and connoisseurs as a new practice and perspective that ethnography can take on the issue of accountable, ethical, and trustable science.

Efficient transportation of droplets (∽10 ¹ ̶̶̶̶ 10 ² µl) and small solid objects (∽10 ¹ ̶ 10 ² mm ³ ) have important applications in many fields, such as microfluidics, lab‐on‐a‐chip devices, drug delivery, etc. A novel multifunctional surface consisting of a periodic array of micro‐lamellae from a soft magnetoactive elastomer (MAE) on a plastic substrate is reported for these purposes. The physical origin of the propulsion is the bending of soft magnetic lamellae in non‐uniform magnetic fields, which is also observed in uniform magnetic fields. The magnetoactive surface is fabricated using a facile and rapid method of laser ablation. The propulsion of items is realized using a four‐pole rotating magnet. This results in a cyclic lamellar fringe motion over the micro‐structured surface and brings an advantage of easy reciprocation of transport by rotation reversal. Two modes of object transportation are identified: “pushing” mode for precise control of droplet and solid positioning and “bouncing” mode for heavier solid objects transportation. A water droplet of 5 μl or a glass sphere with a 2.1 mm diameter can be moved at a maximum speed of 60 mm s ⁻¹ . The multifunctionality of the proposed mechatronic platform is demonstrated on the examples of selective solid‐liquid separation and droplet merging. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Optimizing analysis parameters and sample input is crucial in forensic genetics methods to generate reliable results, and even more so when working with muti-copy mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and low-quality samples. This study compared mitotypes based on next-generation sequencing (NGS) results derived from the same samples at two different sequencing library concentrations—30 pM and 0.3 pM. Thirty femur samples from the Second World War were used as a model for poorly preserved DNA. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) method targeting 113 bp long fragment was employed to assess the quantity of mitogenomes. HID Ion Chef™ Instrument with Precision ID mtDNA Control Region Panel was used for library preparation and templating. Sequencing was performed with Ion GeneStudio™ S5 System. Reference haplotypes were determined from sequencing samples at 30 pM library input. Haplotypes were compared between optimal (30 pM) and suboptimal (0.3 pM) library inputs. Often the difference in haplotypes was length heteroplasmy, which in line with other studies shows that this type of variant is not reliable for interpretation in forensics. Excluding length variants at positions 573, 309, and 16,193, 56.7% of the samples matched, and in two samples, no sequence was obtained at suboptimal library input. The rest of the samples differed between optimal and suboptimal library input. To conclude, genotyping and analyzing low-quantity libraries derived from low-quality aged skeletonized human remains therefore must be done with caution in forensic genetics casework.

Artykuł przedstawia empiryczną analizę czynników sukcesu warunkowanych przez kapitał niematerialny, w tym informacje oparte na systemach komputerowych, jako głównych motywatorów rozwoju cyfrowego opartego na wiedzy. Dane do analizy zostały zebrane za pomocą ankiety dotyczącej inwestycji w kapitał niematerialny i technologie cyfrowe. Do oszacowania modelu wykorzystano pakiet Stata SEM. Na podstawie uzyskanych wyników można stwierdzić, że inwestowanie w kapitał niematerialny ma pozytywny wpływ na sukces firmy w porównaniu z osiągnięciami konkurencji, a inwestowanie w aktywa niematerialne w połączeniu z elastycznością biznesową umożliwia szybkie reagowanie na presję konkurencyjną i poprawę wyników biznesowych. Firmy, które działają na wysoce konkurencyjnych rynkach, gdzie kapitał niematerialny jest kluczowym czynnikiem sukcesu, powinny skoncentrować się na inwestowaniu w wartości niematerialne i prawne podczas projektowania swoich strategii biznesowych.

Education and Training represent the principal means through which individuals acquire skills and competences. And it is through participation in continuous professional development and learning that adults will access, on an ongoing basis, the upskilling and reskilling necessary to adapt to the continuous changes. The paper analyses the gathered information (Delphi analysis using specific surveys) that is necessary for the harmonization of the knowledge involved in the transition to the digital and green manufacturing. The analysis was applied to information received from specialists in fabrication from 5 EU countries, with different levels of industrial development: Belgium, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Slovenia. According to the analysis, the majority of the responders (75%) did not receive training in digital and green activities in the past 6 months, 69% have participated in digital training. The companies which started the transformation to digital fabrication, use CAD-CAM followed by Enterprise resource planning (ERP), Production and Quality Management systems, communications tools and in a minor scale Robotic production technology, simulation tools and virtual programming digital monitoring. One of the problems identified with this survey was related to lack of digital skills experienced by the surveyed participant (44%) and lack of knowledge in digital training on the part of withe and blue co-workers (almost 80% in total). In terms of the use different digital technologies for the part of the companies it is equilibrated in terms of social media and Collaborative Technologies (30%); Data and Analytics (26%); Mobile Technologies (27%) and Cloud Computing Services (17%). The second part of the Delphi analysis was related on how to engage learners and help them to meet course and programme learning outcomes. Engagement entails includes mindfulness, intrinsic motivation, cognitive effort, and attention. To start with it was important to understand the way teaching/learning should be carried out, and the majority of the participants believed that Hybrid, online and face to face combined lectures are the best learning method, in terms of type of lesson, the short courses between 30-45 min were the most voted option (55%), followed by traditional 45 min lessons (30%).

The European Commission has set targets for a reduction in nutrient losses by at least 50% and a reduction in fertiliser use by at least 20% by 2030, while ensuring no deterioration in soil fertility. Within the mandate of the European Joint Programme EJP Soil “Towards climate‐smart sustainable management of agricultural soils”, the objective of this study was to assess current fertilisation practices across Europe and discuss the potential for harmonisation of fertilisation methodologies as a strategy to reduce nutrient loss and overall fertiliser use. A stocktake study of current methods of delivering fertilisation advice took place across 23 European countries. The stocktake was in the form of a questionnaire, comprising 46 questions. Information was gathered on a large range of factors, including soil analysis methods, along with soil, crop and climatic factors taken into consideration within fertilisation calculations. The questionnaire was completed by experts, who are involved in compiling fertilisation recommendations within their country. Substantial differences exist in the content, format and delivery of fertilisation guidelines across Europe. The barriers, constraints and potential benefits of a harmonised approach to fertilisation across Europe are discussed. The general consensus from all participating countries was that harmonisation of fertilisation guidelines should be increased, but it was unclear in what format this could be achieved. Shared learning in the delivery and format of fertilisation guidelines and mechanisms to adhere to environmental legislation were viewed as being beneficial. However, it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to harmonise all soil test data and fertilisation methodologies at EU‐level due to diverse soil types and agro‐ecosystem influences. Nevertheless, increased future collaboration especially between neighbouring countries within the same environmental zone was seen as potentially very beneficial. This study is unique in providing current detail on fertilisation practices across European countries in a side‐by‐side comparison. The gathered data can provide a baseline for the development of scientifically based EU policy targets for nutrient loss and soil fertility evaluation. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Objective Present study aimed to assess potential health risk in Slovenian adolescents due to inadequate diet and/or dietary supplement (DS) use. Methods Data on DS use, micronutrient intake (24-h recall), eating habits (FFQ), body height and mass were collected within ACDSi (Analysis of Children’s Development in Slovenia) cross-sectional study conducted in 2014. Adolescents enrolled in first year of 15 secondary schools (average (SD) age: 15.4 (0.7) years, N = 342) were included in the sample. Results Adolescents’ use of DS (especially multivitamins ingested as a popular drink (60%), magnesium (16%), and vitamin C (10%)) significantly contributed to their absolute intake of vitamins/minerals, resulting in higher percentage of DS users meeting reference values proposed by the nutrition societies of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (D-A-CH recommendation). Simultaneously, DS users did not exceed the upper tolerable level proposed by the European Food Safety Authority for daily intake. With diet alone, adolescents consumed less than recommended amounts of the following vitamins/minerals: the intake was lowest for fat-soluble vitamins A, D, and E; water-soluble vitamins folate, biotin, and pantothenic acid; and minerals fluoride, iodine, chromium, and molybdenum. Suboptimal intake was due to the fact that around ¾ of adolescents consumed less than 54% of the recommended amounts (according to Optimized Mixed Diet (OMD) recommendations) for fruits, vegetables, milk/dairy products, fish, and cereals/cereal products. In contrast, the diet contributed to the consumption of 200–300% of D-A-CH minimum value for sodium. Furthermore, almost ¾ of adolescents exceeded the recommended amount for meat/meat products (320% of OMD) and sweet/salty snacks (453% of OMD). Conclusions Although DS use improved micronutrient intake in adolescents (especially vitamin C and magnesium), activities on public-health interventions should be focus to improve their diets, especially to achieve increased intakes of fruits, vegetables, cereals/cereal products and milk/dairy products, and to reduce consumption of sweet/salty snacks and meat products.

We observe dark-state polariton collapses and revivals in a quantum memory based on electromagnetically induced transparency on a cloud of cold cesium atoms in a magnetic field. Using σ+-polarized signal and control beams in the direction of the magnetic field, we suppress the dark-state polariton collapses by polarizing the atoms towards one of the stretched Zeeman states and optimizing the frequency detuning of the control beam. In this way, we demonstrate a quantum memory with only partial dark-state polariton collapses, making the memory usable at any storage time, not only at discretized times of revivals. We obtain a storage time of more than 400 µs, which is ten times longer than what we can achieve by trying to annul the magnetic field.

Thermography is a noninvasive diagnostic imaging technique that detects regions of the body surface with increased (or decreased) temperature by measuring infrared radiation. It reveals physiological and pathophysiological changes primarily related to blood flow and metabolic rate in the examined body regions, as well as altered heat production. These include physical stress, various physical injuries, medical conditions, and environmental factors. In equine medicine, thermography can be used for early detection of tissue temperature changes, allowing intervention at an early stage of a medical deterioration. Thermographic examination can be used to detect tissue abnormalities in all regions of the body. It is particularly useful for the detection of musculoskeletal disorders. Inflammatory processes are present in many diseases and injuries, which can be successfully detected with thermography. Thermography makes it possible to monitor the success of treatment. Often, thermographically visible disease changes are detected before clinical signs or other imaging techniques become visible in the animal. In physical therapy, it helps locate regions of the body in need of treatment and plays an important role in detecting illegal procedures (such as local analgesics) to improve competitive performance in horses. Thermography serves as a complementary diagnostic tool. However, in practice, it has some limitations. The method is not specific and cannot determine the etiology of pathological changes. Therefore, it is usually used together with other diagnostic methods (such as X-ray, ultrasound, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging) and can not replace them.

Importance While the relationship between persistent elevations in intracranial pressure (ICP) and poorer outcomes is well established for patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI), there is no consensus on how ICP measurements should drive treatment choices, and the effectiveness of ICP monitoring remains unknown. Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of ICP monitoring on short- and mid-term outcomes of patients with TBI. Design, Setting, and Participants CREACTIVE was a prospective cohort study that started in March 2014 and lasted 5 years. More than 8000 patients with TBI were enrolled at 83 intensive care units (ICUs) from 7 countries who joined the CREACTIVE Consortium. Patients with TBI who met the Brain Trauma Foundation guidelines for ICP monitoring were selected for the current analyses, which were performed from January to November 2022. Exposure Patients who underwent ICP monitoring within 2 days of injury (exposure group) were propensity score–matched to patients who were not monitored or who underwent monitoring 2 days after the injury (control group). Main Outcome and Measure Functional disability at 6 months as indicated by Glasgow Outcome Scale–Extended (GOS-E) score. Results A total of 1448 patients from 43 ICUs in Italy and Hungary were eligible for analysis. Of the patients satisfying the ICP-monitoring guidelines, 503 (34.7%) underwent ICP monitoring (median [IQR] age: 45 years [29-61 years]; 392 males [77.9%], 111 females [22.1%]) and 945 were not monitored (median [IQR] age: 66 years [48-78 years]; 656 males [69.4%], 289 females [30.6%]). After matching to balance the variables, worse 6-month recovery was observed for monitored patients compared with nonmonitored patients (death/vegetative state: 39.2% vs 40.6%; severe disability: 33.2% vs 25.4%; moderate disability: 15.7% vs 14.9%; good recovery: 11.9% vs 19.1%, respectively; P = .005). Monitored patients received medical therapies significantly more frequently. Conclusions and Relevance In this cohort study, ICP monitoring was associated with poorer recovery and more frequent medical interventions with their relevant adverse effects. Optimizing the value of ICP monitoring for TBI requires further investigation on monitoring indications, clinical interventions, and management protocols.