This paper derives a model of high-voltage overhead power line under fault conditions at low radio frequencies. The derived model is essential for design of communication systems to reliably transfer information over high voltage power lines. In addition, the model can also benefit advanced systems for power-line fault detection and classification exploiting the phenomenon of changed conditions on faulted power line, resulting in change of low radio frequency signal propagation. The methodology used in the paper is based on the multiconductor system analysis and propagation of electromagnetic waves over the power lines. The model for the high voltage power line under normal operation is validated using actual measurements obtained on 400 kV power line. The proposed model of faulted power lines extends the validated power-line model under normal operation. Simulation results are provided for typical power line faults and typical fault locations. Results clearly indicate sensitivity of power-line frequency response on different fault types.

Background During the transition processes, the Western Balkan countries were affected by conflicts and transition-related changes. Life expectancy in these countries is lower, while the mortality from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is higher in comparison with western and northern parts of Europe. The primary aim of this study was to analyze the treatment possibilities for the most common NCDs in the Western Balkan countries. The secondary aim was to understand and compare the policies regarding prescribing-related competencies of family physicians. Methods In June and July 2017, a document analysis was performed of national positive medicines lists, strategic documents, and clinical guidelines for the treatment of the most frequent NCDs; arterial hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). All text phrases that referred to medicines prescribing were extracted and sorted into following domains: medicine availability, prescribing policy, and medication prescribing-related competencies. Results Possibilities for treatment of arterial hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, asthma, and COPD vary across the Western Balkan countries. This variance is reflected in the number of registered medicines, number of parallels, and number of different combinations, as well as restrictions placed on family physicians in prescribing insulin, inhaled corticosteroids, statins and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), without consultant’s recommendation. Conclusion Western Balkan countries are capable of providing essential medicines for the treatment of NCDs, with full or partial reimbursement. There are some exceptions, related to statins, newer generation of oral antidiabetic agents and some of the antihypertensive combinations. Prescribing-related competences of family physicians are limited. However, this practice is not compliant to the practices of family medicine, its principles and primary care structures, and may potentially result in increased health-care financial ramifications to both the system and patients due to frequent referrals to the specialists.

Tractography based on non-invasive diffusion imaging is central to the study of human brain connectivity. To date, the approach has not been systematically validated in ground truth studies. Based on a simulated human brain data set with ground truth tracts, we organized an open international tractography challenge, which resulted in 96 distinct submissions from 20 research groups. Here, we report the encouraging finding that most state-of-the-art algorithms produce tractograms containing 90% of the ground truth bundles (to at least some extent). However, the same tractograms contain many more invalid than valid bundles, and half of these invalid bundles occur systematically across research groups. Taken together, our results demonstrate and confirm fundamental ambiguities inherent in tract reconstruction based on orientation information alone, which need to be considered when interpreting tractography and connectivity results. Our approach provides a novel framework for estimating reliability of tractography and encourages innovation to address its current limitations. Though tractography is widely used, it has not been systematically validated. Here, authors report results from 20 groups showing that many tractography algorithms produce both valid and invalid bundles.

Biographical Lexicon of Public Health

The rationalization of logistics activities and processes is very important in the business and efficiency of every company. In this respect, transportation as a subsystem of logistics, whether internal or external, is potentially a huge area for achieving significant savings. In this paper, the emphasis is placed upon the internal transport logistics of a paper manufacturing company. It is necessary to rationalize the movement of vehicles in the company’s internal transport, that is, for the majority of the transport to be transferred to rail transport, because the company already has an industrial track installed in its premises. To do this, it is necessary to purchase at least two used wagons. The problem is formulated as a multi-criteria decision model with eight criteria and eight alternatives. The paper presents a new approach based on a combination of the Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) method and rough numbers, which is used for ranking the potential solutions and selecting the most suitable one. The rough Best–Worst Method (BWM) was used to determine the weight values of the criteria. The results obtained using a combination of these two methods in their rough form were verified by means of a sensitivity analysis consisting of a change in the weight criteria and comparison with the following methods in their conventional and rough forms: the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Technique for Ordering Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) and MultiAttributive Border Approximation area Comparison (MABAC). The results show very high stability of the model and ranks that are the same or similar in different scenarios.