The state as a part of the socio-political system is expected to maintain the stability of the system and facilitate the delivery of public goods in the best interest of the populace. When the state fails in its responsibilities to effectively cater for the needs of the people or, when it fails in its socio-economic responsibility to the people, it is automatically calling for alternative to itself.  The abysmal failure of successive administrations in Nigeria to address the challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequitable distribution of wealth among ethnic nationalities, ultimately resulted to anger, agitation and violent crimes against the Nigerian state by some individuals and group. Boko Haram violence has exposed the fragility of the Nigerian state. The deadly Islamic group in Northern Nigeria which has embarked on suicide bombing, guerrilla warfare tactics, kidnapping, and all kinds of atrocities all in the bid to impose extreme Islamic ideas on Nigeria has led to the loss of several lives and properties, displaced many, destroyed hundreds of schools and government buildings and devastated an already ravaged economy in the North East, one of Nigeria's poorest regions. This paper emphasized the centrality of the state in the Boko Haram violence; it explains that the fragile character of the Nigerian state is responsible for the Boko Haram violence. It also explored the integrity as well as the efficacy of the state response to Boko Haram violence, as well as a critical look at the character and context of the Nigerian state. It adopts the qualitative methodology and deploys data from secondary sources. This paper however concludes that even if the state defeats Boko Haram terrorists, it might not be an end to the resistance against it. The reason is that the structures and Institutions of the Nigerian state are designed in a way that gives room for dissent and anti state struggles, and until that context of fragility is addressed, even if Boko Haram violence is quelled, another is likely to arise.


Purpose We quantitated herpes simplex virus (HSV) DNA in tear film obtained from 2 patients who developed herpetic epithelial keratitis (HEK) during treatment with latanoprost and a beta-blocker. Methods The patient in case 1 is a 77-year-old woman with bilateral open-angle glaucoma who had been treated with latanoprost and timolol for 11 months. She developed HEK in the right eye followed by HEK in the left eye 1 month later. Both eyes healed with administration of acyclovir. Ten months later, HEK recurred in the right eye. The patient in case 2 is a 45-year-old man with bilateral normal tension glaucoma who had been treated with latanoprost for 2 years. After concurrent treatment with nipradilol for 5 months, typical dendritic keratitis developed in the left eye. In both cases, a real-time PCR assay was used to quantify HSV-DNA in the tear film. Results In the patient in case 1, 71 copies of the HSV genome were detected in the tear film obtained from the right eye at the time of presentation with HEK. After 1 week of treatment with topical acyclovir ointment, the corneal epithelial defects healed and the number of HSV genome copies present in the tear film fell below the sensitivity limit of the assay. In the patient in case 2, 7.0 × 105 copies of the HSV genome were detected in the tear film from the left eye. After 3 days of topical acyclovir ointment, it healed and the HSV genome in the tear film became undetectable. Conclusions Herpetic keratitis may occur during treatment with latanoprost and beta-blockers. The amount of HSV DNA detected in the tear film paralleled with the activity of the corneal lesion.


Purpose: Perineural invasion (PNI) is associated with aggressive tumor behavior, recurrence, and metastasis, and can influence the administration of adjuvant treatment. However, standard histopathologic examination has limited sensitivity in detecting PNI and does not provide insights into its mechanistic underpinnings. Experimental Design: A multivariate Cox regression was performed to validate associations between PNI and survival in 2,029 patients across 12 cancer types. Differential expression and gene set enrichment analysis were used to learn PNI-associated programs. Machine learning models were applied to build a PNI gene expression classifier. A blinded re-review of hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) slides by a board-certified pathologist helped determine whether the classifier could improve occult histopathologic detection of PNI. Results: PNI associated with both poor overall survival [HR, 1.73; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.27–2.36; P < 0.001] and disease-free survival (HR, 1.79; 95% CI, 1.38–2.32; P < 0.001). Neural-like, prosurvival, and invasive programs were enriched in PNI-positive tumors (Padj < 0.001). Although PNI-associated features likely reflect in part the increased presence of nerves, many differentially expressed genes mapped specifically to malignant cells from single-cell atlases. A PNI gene expression classifier was derived using random forest and evaluated as a tool for occult histopathologic detection. On a blinded H&E re-review of sections initially described as PNI negative, more specimens were reannotated as PNI positive in the high classifier score cohort compared with the low-scoring cohort (P = 0.03, Fisher exact test). Conclusions: This study provides salient biological insights regarding PNI and demonstrates a role for gene expression classifiers to augment detection of histopathologic features.


Accuracy of patient positioning is an important aspect in radiation therapy. The present paper presents a new procedure for the determination of set-up errors in radiotherapy, which is based on a special form of the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), i.e., the Fast Hartley Transform (FHT). The use of this method allows to compare in short time verification and simulator films, and to calculate the translation vector or the in-plane rotation of the patient. Standard deviations < 1 mm for shifting measurements and < 1 degree for measurements of the rotation were detected, provided that the positioning remained within the common clinical range. The present results were in good agreement with data obtained using a landmark-based method.


Land use change plays a key role in terrestrial systems and drives the process of ecological pattern change. It is important to investigate the process of land use change, predict land use patterns, and reveal the characteristics of land use dynamics. In this study, we adopted the Markov model and future land use (FLUS) model to predict the future land use conditions in Xi'an city. Furthermore, we investigated the characteristics of land use change from a novel perspective, i.e., via establishment of a complex network model. This model captured the characteristics of the land use system during different periods. The results indicated that urban expansion and cropland loss played an important role in land use pattern change. The future gravity center of urban development moved along the opposite direction to that from 2000 to 2015 in Xi'an city. Although the rate of urban expansion declined in the future, urban expansion remained the primary driver of land use change. The primary urban development directions were east-southeast (ENE), north-northeast (NNE) and west-southwest (WSW) from 1990 to 2000, 2000 to 2015, and 2015 to 2030, respectively. In fact, cropland played a vital role in land use dynamics regarding all land use types, and the stability of the land use system decreased in the future. Our study provides future land use patterns and a novel perspective to better understand land use change.


Membrane proteins play fundamental roles in many physiological processes and also are target proteins for drug development. For better understanding of the functions of the membrane proteins, precise static three-dimensional structures, for example, derived from X-ray crystallography, are very useful without a doubt. We should also note that dynamics of the membrane proteins is important for some functions of the membrane proteins. NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy) basically provide the dynamic of the membrane proteins. However, it is frequently difficult to obtain structural information about the membrane protein dynamics related to the functions, by NMR. This is mainly due to the difficulties in sample preparation: expression and purification of the membrane proteins with the biological activities, and lack of appropriate NMR strategy. In this paper, we will show our recent results of dynamical aspects of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR) and ion channels, which are responsible for the biological functions.


In this paper the author considers a prime ring R with characteristic difierent from two and extends some well known results concerning derivations of prime rings to the generalized derivation f : R ! R associated with a derivation d of R and a nonzero left ideal U of R which is semiprime as a ring.


From a five-dimensional Minkowski view the five-dimensional angular momentum of a free spin-0 particle moving in de Sitter spacetime is conservative, by which its timelike geodesics can be labeled completely and uniquely. Based on that observation and working in Beltrami coordinate for de Sitter spacetime, solutions and their asymptotic behavior to the Beltrami-de Sitter–Klein–Gordon equation are given.


Decay curves of a number of n = 2 – n' = 3 transitions in the quartet term systems of C IV*, N V*, O VI*, and F VII* have been recorded. The extracted mean lives of n = 3 states are compared with other experimental data and with the results of several theoretical approximations. The results indicate that autoionization is not of major importance for the levels studied nor for the cascade-feeding states with high angular momentum.


In this study, lists of traits typically associated with several groups of students were created using empirically supported methods. Specifically, these traits were grouped into a taxonomy based on the extent to which they were classified as being stereotypical for Black student-athletes, White student-athletes, Black non-athlete students, White non-athlete students, Black individuals, White individuals, athletes, and non-athletes. The purpose behind this study was to create lists of stereotypes associated with the above categories to address the methodological limitations of measures used previous research in sport psychology stereotypes. Results obtained using intraclass correlation measures of interrater agreement, chi-square and contingency coefficient analyses of forced-choice card sort data, and reliability analyses of stereotype ratings indicated support for a stereotype taxonomy encompassing each of these distinct groups. Additionally, the psychometrically based methods used in this study could provide a template for categorizing trait-adjectives about specific groups in more reliable and valid ways in many areas of psychology. The information from this specific study may be useful for future studies when determining applicable stereotypes to use for stereotype threat, perceptions of student-athletes, and perceptions of personality.


This comparison of the Middle English Auchinleck manuscript's romance Of Arthour and of Merlin to its Old French source suggests that this poem is the earliest instance of Arthurian children's literature in English.


The risk of malignancy after transplantation is higher than that of general population. Laparoscopic surgery has become a standard treatment of gastric cancer. However, there are no case reports evaluating totally laparoscopic gastrectomy in patients with previous liver transplantation. Herein we report our experience with a liver transplant recipient who underwent totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy (TLDG) for gastric cancer. A 63 year-old man underwent orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) for cryptogenic liver cirrhosis. 8 years later, gastric cancer was diagnosed during the follow-up. Endoscopic submucosal dissection was performed and additional surgical resection was needed. TLDG and D1+ lymph node dissection was performed, and the patient was discharged on the 8th post-operative day without any complications. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of de novo gastric cancer treated with TLDG after OLT. This suggests that TLDG is a feasible for patients after OLT.


In this study, the gain-carrier characteristics of In/sub 0.02/Ga/sub 0.98/As and InAlGaAs quantum wells (QWs) of variant In and Al compositions with an emission wavelength of 838 nm are theoretically investigated. More compressive strain, caused by higher In and Al compositions in InAlGaAs QW, is found to provide higher material gain, lower transparency carrier concentration, and transparency radiative current density over the temperature range of 25-95/spl deg/C. To improve the output characteristics and high-temperature performance of 850-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL), In/sub 0.15/Al/sub 0.08/Ga/sub 0.77/As/Al/sub 0.3/Ga/sub 0.7/As is utilized as the active region, and a high-bandgap 10-nm-thick Al/sub 0.75/Ga/sub 0.25/As electronic blocking layer is employed for the first time. The threshold current and slope efficiency of the VCSEL with Al/sub 0.75/Ga/sub 0.25/As at 25/spl deg/C are 1.33 mA and 0.53 W/A, respectively. When this VCSEL is operated at an elevated temperature of 95/spl deg/C, the increase in threshold current is less than 21% and the decrease in slope efficiency is approximately 24.5%. A modulation bandwidth of 9.2 GHz biased at 4 mA is demonstrated.


© 2017 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. https://doi.org/10.1080/24761028.2017.1391979


We describe our use of the CoSMoS process to structure an incremental change of a biological simulation. The domain is auxin transport canalisation. An existing simulator is refactored to handle aspects of 2D and 3D space more efficiently, and enhanced to include more realistically-shaped plant cells. The CoSMoS process supports clear separation of concerns, allowing us to concentrate on the biological model and the implementation decisions separately. This gives a clear and welljustified simulator design that can be validated by biologists, yet still allows efficient implementation.


Background: Vaginitis is the most commongynecological problem and the second mostcommon infection. This condition occurs in approximately 90% of the affected females; secondary to bacterial vaginosis and vulvovaginal candidiasis.
Objectives: According to the high prevalence of vulvovaginal candidiasis in Iran and because of the importance of controlling causing species, the current study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of symptomatic vaginal candidiasis among females referred to the hospitals affiliated to Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, Iran in 2014.
Patients and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 580 females suspected of vulvovaginal candidiasis were selected by simple random sampling. In lithotomy position and after using sterile speculum without lubrication a fluid sample was obtained from the upper part of the lateral wall of the vagina and the samples were cultured on agar medium. All samples were examined by the same gynecologist.
Results: The prevalence of vaginal candidiasis was 15.5% and Candida albicans was observed in 92.3% of the subjects.
Conclusions: Candida albicans was the most common cause of vaginal candidiasis.
Keywords: Prevalence, Vaginal Candidiasis, Candida albicans


We develop a model of individual's organizational cognitions (mental models for attitudes and evaluations of self and others in the workplace) that combines structural and cognitive influences. In this model cognition mediates the influence of structure on individual outcomes (attitudes and evaluations). We examine this model using data from a small engineering firm (including social network, attitude, and evaluation information). The results support the model and are consistent with the argument that individuals' structural position and roles constrain their organizational cognitions and so affect their evaluations of themselves and others. Accordingly, supervisors and subordinates both utilize the same information in different ways and utilize different information. Consequently, the organizational cognitions of individuals who occupy different structural positions differ systematically from each other. In particular, supervisors are more likely than subordinates to use external, organizationally validated information in evaluating subordinates; whereas, subordinates' cognitions are more informed by patterns of friendship.


In this paper, we presents a programmable jitter generator. Different from the traditional jitter generator that uses the analog phase modulation (PM) technique to generate only non-Gaussian distributed jitter components, the proposed jitter generator uses digital techniques. It consists of a voltage controlled delay chain, jitter control block, and some basic digital components. It can generate not only the non-Gaussian distributed jitter component, but also the Gaussiandistributed jitter component. In addition, almost all jitter characteristics are controllable. This jitter generator can be used in jitter tolerance test and jitter transfer function measurement. A Xilinx XC4010 FPGA chip is used to validate this design.


The pendulum of arguments and popular operations swings back and forth, anchored to the problem of tendon healing and adhesions. The following passage, commenting on tendon repairs done by a famous 17th century surgeon, from the Course of Chirurgical Operations by Dionis in 1710, has relevance for history and the future of tendon operations. . . . When M. Bienaise, one of the most famous Chirurgeons of Paris, began the Performance of this Operation about fifty years past, it pass'd for his Invention; of which he reap'd all the Honor and it all the Charms of Novelty; but on Examination it appearing that it had been talk'd about two thousand years before he hit on it, it was consequently discover'd he only reviv'd an Ancient Practice of the Greeks, and that Guido and several others had practised it. 'Tis indeed true, twas grown obsolete, he brought it into use again, and we are oblig'd to him for having try'd it on his Dogs, after that employ'd on Men, and then encouraging us to the performance of an Operation which prevents the laming of a great many wounded patients.


A comfort open space has a function and a huge influence in housing because it becomes a means of activity throughout the housing dwellers. Debang Housing Taman Sari Medan is one of housing in Kecamatan Medan Selayang which has open space. The purpose of this research is to know the perception of occupant to the comfort of open space. There are several convenience factors that are used as indicators in research such as Circulation, Climate, Noise, Smell, Shape, Safety, Cleanliness, and Beauty. The research was done through qualitative descriptive analysis, where the data collection technique used questionnaire from the population and the specified sample. The process of collecting data, sampling technique until the criteria of research become an important process of research method. This study shows if the perception of occupants of the comfort of open space of housing Debang Taman Sari Medan is quite comfortable and needed supporting facilities for park users.


The performance of an array of antennas combined with a RAKE receiver at the base station of a wideband code division multiple access system with quaternary phase shift keying modulation is investigated for single-user reception. This receiver structure is also known as a multidimensional RAKE receiver. Expressions for the interference correlation matrix are derived, and subsequently, an analysis of the error probability is provided. With regard to antenna weights, the optimum combining linear receiver, which takes into account the spatial distribution of all the users in the system, is compared with the suboptimum combining receiver (SOC), which exploits knowledge of the desired user array vector only. It is shown how the two receivers, ideal in the sense that perfect channel estimation is assumed, achieve very similar performances under realistic conditions. Consequently, the investigated pilot assisted combining receiver, which estimates the channel based on limited overhead, calculates weights according to the SOC strategy by a very simple algorithm.


This paper assesses the impact of oil prices on stock markets of the four major OPEC countries, namely Emirate Arab United, Kuwait, Saudi, Arabia and Venezuela, over the period spanning from 03/09/2000 to 03/12/2010. We aim at complementing the results from existing analyses, mainly focused on oil-importing countries, by using a novel technique, namely the evolutionary co-spectral analysis as defined by Priestley and Tong (1973). We find that co-movements between oil and stock markets can be either positive or negative. This interdependence is a medium-lived phenomenon, revealed on a three years and one quarter horizon, being weak in the short-run (ten months). Oil price shocks in periods of world turmoil or during fluctuations of the global business cycle (downturn or expansion, as for instance the 2008 financial crisis) have a significant impact on the relationship between oil and stock market prices in oil-exporting countries.


This paper deals with the influence of concrete structures on atmospheric temperature and the convection winds generated in the Aburra Valley in Medellin, Colombia. This area is characterised by low wind velocities with a high industry density. A digital elevation model was used from the Radar Shuttle Topography Mission and post-processed in order to obtain a valid volumetric CFD domain. The construction process includes hole-filling due to imperfections in the original radar data, decimation of the original cloud-of-points to reduce the excess of detail in regions with low curvature, and the introduction of a volume of air over the terrain surface (CFD domain). Landsat satellite data was used to set the terrain temperatures for various material compositions. The converted infrared image was then registered into the CFD domain using an interpolation technique.

Navier�Stokes Equations were solved for buoyant, turbulent flow of compressible fluids accounting for convection and heat transfer effects. Simulation includes buoyancy and turbulence flow through the k�epsilon model using the high-performance computing facilities of Westgrid (Western Canada Research Grid). Preliminary results show wind distributions that compare to the one observed at low�altitude in the region.


Oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neuropathy (OXAIPN) is of great clinical interest as it ranks among the most common dose limiting toxicities of oxaliplatin (OXA) administration with an obvious impact on the outcome of cancer patients. In addition, OXAIPN has a detrimental effect on the quality of life of cancer patients because it can be long lasting or even permanent. It has a unique spectrum of clinical presentation, being manifested with two distinct syndromes: the acute neurotoxicity that appears soon after OXA administration and is usually transient, and the chronic cumulative syndrome that resembles the characteristics of all platinum compounds. Despite advances in research in relation to the elucidation of the true OXAIPN pathogenesis, characteristics and management, there are still several open issues to be addressed. One of the most important open issues is to determine reliable biomarkers to allow prompt identification of patients at high risk to develop OXAIPN and towards this view well designed genome wide analyses are warranted to adequately address this gap in knowledge. Recent updates are provided in this article in relation to the pathogenesis, clinical characteristics, pharmacogenetics and management of OXAIPN.


The present study assessed landslide events over a time span of fifty years in the prefecture of Ioannina. Historical data analysis commonly provides valuable data for understanding distribution of landslides. The methodology included collection and analysis of articles about landslides events found in the local newspapers between 1960 and 2008, also in the national newspapers (1960-1967) and in the contemporary national newspapers (1995-2008). The time interval selected in this study is representative of the entire time period of systematic newspapers publication. During this time spam, eighty nine historical landslides were identified. Newspaper articles annotate the time and the location of the landslides as well as primarily the role of weather conditions in triggering the landslides. In addition, published articles provide information on the damages caused by the landslides. The study shows that these events occurred due to extremely high precipitation, snowstorms or prolonged rainfall. The monthly distribution of the recorded phenomena shows an increase of landslide events during January-March and November-December, as these are the months with the highest precipitation and snowing in the prefecture. Although time clustering of the landslides within the Ioannina Prefecture in the time interval 1960 to 2006 was found to be repeated every forty years, their spatial clustering appears to change.


Visualization of microvasculatures is an important step in understanding the mechanism of early vessel disorders in breast cancer and developing effective therapeutic strategies. However, quantitative evaluation of breast cancer angiogenesis using immunohistochemistry has been limited in generating detailed and reproducible data. To analyze the diversification of angiogenesis in the development of tumor growth and evaluate anti-vascular effects of Avastin, a new method of microvascular imaging was introduced in this paper. We used New X-ray microangiography and third-generation synchrotron radiation-based micro-computed tomography (SR micro-CT) to investigate the structures and density of microvessels at each stage of xenograft mouse models that were created by inoculation with MDA-MB-231HM cells (one breast cancer cell line with high metastasis potential). Barium Sulfate Nanoparticles, was used as a blood vessels contrast agent through left cardiac ventricle. Three dimensional structures of microvessels were displayed with a high spatial image resolution at around 20–30 μm. The density of microvessles was significantly reduced from the third week in mouse xenograft models. This observation with SR micro-CT was consistent with the results analyzed by immunohistochemical techniques. In addition, human breast cancer-bearing mice were treated site-specifically with humanized monoclonal antibody (Avastin) that targets all isoforms of VEGF-A. Tumor volume and the density of angiogenesis were significantly reduced in xenograft mouse models of breast cancer treated with avastin when compared with untreated mice as assessed by SR micro-CT. Specifically, the density of smaller vessels (di Citation Information: Cancer Res 2011;71(24 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-09-14.


Mesoporous solid solutions of anatase-based titanium-vanadium oxides were synthesized from aqueous solutions. The V/Ti ratio was determined by the composition of the deposition solution, while the morphology and nanoscale porosity were controlled using micelles of the surfactants cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), or hexadecylamine (HDA). The use of CTAB resulted in mesoporous powders, whereas HDA yielded clusters of nanotubes. As compared to materials of the same composition made without the use of a surfactant, the catalyst made with CTAB had 50% higher catalytic activity, and that made with HDA had 70% higher activity. As compared to titania-supported vanadia catalysts with equivalent vanadium loading and synthesized using wet impregnation, the co-deposited materials exhibited significantly higher (up to 3.8x) catalytic activity.


We present Span-DSR and DSR-PSM, two power-saving algorithms designed for ad-hoc wireless networks using source routing. Span-DSR reduces power consumption and has desirable fairness properties, while maintaining a connected backbone of nodes to route packets. Span-DSR's power saving protocol increases system lifetime by a factor of two better than standard Dynamic Source Routing (DSR), while maintaining slightly higher loss rates under congestion. DSR-PSM is a simpler and purely reactive approach that also shows considerable power savings in comparison with standard DSR. However, DSR-PSM does not perform as well as Span-DSR with respect to energy efficiency, loss rate or fairness.


The recently developed correlator approach to decoherence enables one to investigate the decoherence of quantum systems in a field theoretic setting. [1] In quantum field theory, all properties of a system are encoded in the infinite hierarchy of the npoint correlation functions (correlators). However, in a realistic experimental setting one can only probe a finite subset of these correlators. This inability in accessing all the information of the system constitutes the heart of the decoherence program. Neglecting observationally inaccessible correlators corresponds to an increase in the entropy of the system as perceived by the observer and hence to decoherence and classicalization. An interesting investigation given such a framework would be the decoherence of the photon field by the graviton field environment. Since quantum fields by definition reside on space-time, they can't be isolated from the effects of the graviton field in any experimental setting however carefully they are designed. Therefore the decoherence of the photon field due to its interaction with the graviton field is an intrinsic quantum correction one must take into account in any experimental setup. This analysis requires the application of field theory in an out-of-equilibrium setting. The Schwinger-Keldysh formalism provides the suitable framework for our purposes. We consider the 2-Particle Irreducible (2-PI) effective action to correctly take into account the perturbative loop corrections to the 2-point correlation function (the photon propagator) induced by the interaction between the photon and the graviton fields. We include the 1-loop graviton corrections to photon propagator and assume the case when higher order correlations are inaccessible. We work in general covariant gauge and expect the gauge dependency to drop off once the vacuum polarization is calculated. However, the dressed photon propagator turns out to be graviton gauge dependent and this forbids us from making any useful calculations of entropy. A follow-up of this project will be performing these calculations using Dirac quantization or a fully gauge invariant formalism to remove gauge dependency.


Mach–Zehnder interferometer formed by liquid-filled linear defect waveguides in a two-dimensional phononic crystal is numerically realized for sensing low concentrations of an analyte. The waveguides in the square phononic crystal of void cylinders in steel, as well as their T branches and sharp bends are utilized to construct interferometer arms. Sensing low concentrations of ethanol on the order of 0.1% in a binary mixture with water is achieved by replacing the contents of a number of waveguide core cells on one arm of the interferometer with the analyte. Computations are carried out through the finite-element method in an approach that takes the solid-liquid interaction at the waveguide core cells into account. Band analyses reveal linear variation of the central frequency of the transmission band within a band gap for ethanol concentrations up to 3.0%. Phase difference due to the imbalance of the sample and reference arms of the interferometer also varies linearly with ethanol concentration, leading in turn to a cosine variation of the Fourier component of the temporal interferometer response at the central input-pulse frequency. The induced phase difference in the investigated configuration becomes a −0.78π ?> and −0.65π ?> per percent increase of ethanol concentration as calculated from the band-structure and transient data, respectively. This is confirmed by transient finite-element simulations where totally destructive interference occurs for a concentration of approximately 1.5%. The proposed scheme, which can easily be adopted to other binary mixtures, offers a compact implementation requiring small amounts of analyte.


Recent network management activities in the TCP/IP community have focused on standardizing two network management protocols-Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) and Common Management Information Services and Protocol Over TCP/IP (CMOT)-that provide for the exchange of management information. The current SNMP and CMOT approaches to TCP/IP network management are compared from several different perspectives; comparisons are based on both theory and knowledge gained from actual implementation experiences. The current level of user and vendor acceptance for these two protocols is examined and explained, and ongoing standardization efforts are summarized. Relevant ongoing work is summarized, and trends over the next few years are discussed.<<ETX>>


This paper is concerned with knowledge as an object of sociolinguistic inquiry. Drawing on some key work in mediated discourse analysis, MDA (Jones, 2013; Scollon and Scollon, 2004), we hold that knowledge is, as it were, a crucial aspect of the processes whereby people take actions with discourses. We frame this pursuit by dwelling on the interwoven relationship between power and knowledge, looking into an online discussion forum thread used by some 200 people who are expecting a child in the same month.


In the 1970s and early 1980s, the United States Government released data on the history of its purchases of natural uranium, the amount of separative work done by U.S. uranium enrichment plants, and the fission energy released by U.S. production reactors. These data provided the basis of nongovernmental estimates in the 1980s of U.S. production of plutonium and highly enriched uranium. In 1996 and 2006, the United States published reports on its historical production of plutonium and highly enriched uranium respectively. This article presents a first rough analysis of the two sets of data and finds that they are reasonably consistent.


The development of cyber-assured systems is a challenging task, particularly due to the cost and complexities associated with the modern hybrid networks architectures, as well as the recent advancements in cloud computing. For this reason, the early detection of vulnerabilities and threat strategies are vital for minimising the risks for enterprise networks configured with a variety of node types, which are called hybrid networks. Existing vulnerability assessment techniques are unable to exhaustively analyse all vulnerabilities in modern dynamic IT networks, which utilise a wide range of IoT and industrial control devices (ICS). This could lead to having a less optimal risk evaluation. In this paper, we present a novel framework to analyse the mitigation strategies for a variety of nodes, including traditional IT systems and their dependability on IoT devices, as well as industrial control systems. The framework adopts avoid, reduce, and manage as its core principles in characterising mitigation strategies. Our results confirmed the effectiveness of our mitigation strategy framework, which took node types, their criticality, and the network topology into account. Our results showed that our proposed framework was highly effective at reducing the risks in dynamic and resource constraint environments, in contrast to the existing techniques in the literature.


Design, formulation and quality improvement of lip balm made from natural ingredients for tropical lip health use was studied. In this study, lip balm have been made by beeswax (2.5 g), almond oil (5 mL), virgin coconut oil (VCO) (5 mL), honey (2.5 mL), and distilled water (1 mL). The lip balm was produced by mixing method until homogeneous. The effect of temperature was also observed from 25 to 100 °C to obtain a lip balm with a homogeneous texture and safe. The parameters such as formulation, chemical stability, pH, melting point and irritation tests were carried out to obtain the best lip balm products and are suitable for use in the tropical regions. The lip balm formulation was tested by applying lip balm to a glass slide. The pH of lip balm of 5.6 and melting point of 65°C were obtained. Based on the results of irritation test, the lip balm showed no reaction to erythema, papules, or edema, indicating that it is safe to skin of the lips. Finally, the natural ingredients in this study can be used for the formulation and composition of lip balms for tropic to cool regions.


Reducing the greenhouse emissions from on-road freight vehicles to meet the climate change mitigation objectives, has become a prime focus of regulatory authorities all over the world. Besides India, the United States, the European Union, Canada, Japan, and China have already established or planned heavy-duty vehicle efficiency regulations addressing CO2 and NOX emissions. In addition, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and South Korea are all in various stages of developing policies to improve the efficiency of their commercial vehicle fleets. For CO2 emissions reduction standards, the U.S. mandates 27% reduction by 2027, EU is calling for 15% reduction by 2025, China for 27% by 2019 over 2012 levels, and India is mandating 10%-15% reduction by 2021 for phase 2 of the new standard. There has also been considerable focus on further reduction in NOX emissions from current levels (0.2 g/hp-hr), to the proposed ultra-low NOx standards (0.02 g/hp-hr) in the U.S. for heavy duty engines by 2024. Given these planned and proposed regulatory standards being implemented around the globe, there have been substantial studies and publications focusing on exploring and evaluating technologies that can help deliver the lower tailpipe NOx targets and understand the CO2 impact associated with it. Majority of the NOX emissions from engine, occur during the cold-start portion of the transient regulatory cycles, like HD FTP and WHTC. This is because, a typical heavy-duty diesel aftertreatment system does not achieve substantial NOX reduction until approximately 400-500 seconds into the cold-start cycle due to lack of heat from the engine. The result is untreated NOx escaping through to tailpipe. To achieve low NOx emission levels over the composite transient cycles, the engine must provide rapid exhaust heat energy, during the cold-start portion, to reduce the time required by the SCR catalyst to reach catalyst light-off temperature, while controlling the NOX emissions. Moreover, high NOX conversion efficiency must be maintained during the hot-start portion of cycle. For a conventional heavy-duty engine, providing rapid exhaust heat while controlling NOx emissions has been a challenge, because these are competing demands. Implementing secondary or auxiliary heat sources downstream in the exhaust after treatment system (ATS) comes at CO2 penalty and adds significant cost and complexity. This has been established in recent publications by organization like SwRI [1], CARB and Bosch [2]. Achates Power Opposed Piston (OP) engine technology provides ideal solution to this challenge. The opposed-piston engine has several inherent advantages over conventional four-stroke engines, like higher BTE (15-30% higher), higher power density, an air-system that results in reduced pumping work, the ability to control residual combustion gases, two fuel injectors per cylinder providing greater timing flexibility, and the ability to provide rapid engine out heat and temperature rise for the exhaust emission system while maintaining low engine out NOX. This paper demonstrates results from cold and hot start transient WHTC testing and WHSC testing, conducted at Achates Power, on a three-cylinder opposed-piston engine. Results show that the Achates Power OP Engine can deliver engine out heat and temperature rise that exceeded and sustained catalyst light-off temperature thresholds (250°C) within the first 60-100 seconds in the cold start cycle, while controlling engine out NOx to lower levels when compared to a conventional four-stroke heavy-duty diesel engine. As a result, the OP Engine not only meets current BS-VI and future regulatory emissions requirements but is also able to do so with a significant CO2 emissions advantage. Furthermore, the inherent advantages of the OP Engine offer unique aftertreatment optimization and downsizing opportunities thereby enabling cost reduction. Downloaded from SAE International by Samrat Patil, Friday, December 21, 2018


This manuscript pertains to the application of an inner-loop control strategy to electromechanical flight surface actuation systems. Modular electromechanical actuators (EMAs) are increasingly used in lieu of centralized hydraulics for the control of flight surfaces in the aerospace sector. The presence of what is termed as a dead zone in these actuators significantly affects the maneuverability, stability, and the flight profiles of aircrafts that use this actuation concept. The hypothesis of our research is that flight surface actuation systems may be desensitized to the effects of dead zone by using a control strategy with multiple inner loops. The proposed strategy involves (a) high-gain inner-loop velocity control of the driving motor and (b) inner-loop compensation for the differential velocity between the motor versus the aileron. The above hypothesis is confirmed by theoretical and simulated analyses using the model of an EMA flight surface actuator. Our results indicate that for small input signals, this strategy is very effective and that it can (a) considerably increase the bandwidth and the crossover frequency of the system and (b) considerably improve the time response of the system. Further to this analysis, this manuscript presents guidelines for the design of EMA systems.


Nerves has been previously interfaced with micromachined sieve electrodes for recording and stimulation purposes. In most cases, so-called guidance channels have to be assembled on the sieve to adjust and fix the nerve in the vicinity of the microstructure. In this paper, a new approach of a flexible, polyimide-based sieve electrode is presented. Monolithically integrated fixation flaps offer the opportunity to directly fix the sieve implant on a transected nerve without the need for a guidance channel. The sieve has been fabricated with a thickness of 10 /spl mu/m and chronically implanted between the transected ends of the sciatic nerve of rats. First electrophysiological experiments proved a functional reinnervation and a selective and graded stimulation over ring electrodes around single holes of 40 /spl mu/m diameter in the sieve area.


The progress in science and technology has pushed human tried to solving
these problems arising in the vicinity as well as lighten and reducing that work. One
of the developed technology is microcontroller. Mikcokontroller is a family of
microprocessors that is a chip that can perform the processing data according the
digitally to commands the assembly language that given. By using this
microcontroller can be created a tool as intelligent as computers but with the cost of
the relative cheaper than a computer. In line with the development of mikrokontroler,
and now mikrokontroler applied to many instruments that have to do with day . One
of these is used in the design of the automatic clothes-based tools basking Atmega16
microcontroller, which functioned as a place of drying clothes automatically. On the
design of the automatic drying clothes this tool apart from basking sharks use the
ATmega16 microcontroller also uses a rain sensor and LDR sensor. Sensor rain here
is used to drive the fan. If the sensor is exposed by rain water then the fan will spin
and the fan will stop according to the time allowed has been programmed to
mikrokontroller. Light Sensor (LDR) is used to detect the intensity of light in the
environtment. When the sensor light then the LDR receives very little basking will
shift into the room and back out the room basking shifted when the LDR gets the
enough light.


Introduction. Bladder TB (BTB) is one of the most serious complications of renal TB, and it is diagnosed in 45.6% among urogenital tuberculosis (UGTB). Inadequate treatment of BTB resulted in severe complications (shrinkage of the bladder). Materials and methods. 149 patients with BTB were enrolled in study. 76 patients (1st group) were treated with standard TB therapy. 73 patients (2nd group) received modified therapy, included trospium chloride. Results. Standard therapy was insufficient in more than half of the cases: 42.1% were cured, 57.9% developed complications: posttuberculous cystalgia (36.8%) and microcystis (21.1%). 2nd group of patients responded in a favourable manner to the combined treatment: urinary frequency reduced about 75%, bladder capacity increased an average of 4.7 fold. Recovery was reached in 84.3%. Posttuberculous cystalgia developed in 15.7% only. None of the patients developed microcystis after the combined treatment. In 2nd group also 8 patients had incontinence; among them five reported no urgency urinary incontinence episodes after 3 months therapy with trospium chloride. Tolerance to the treatment was good: only one patient had light side effect (mouth dryness). Conclusion.Bladder tuberculosis is always secondary to renal TB, however quite often renal TB may start with voiding symptoms such as dysuria, frequent and painful urination and incontinence. Urinalysis reveals – pyuria, erythrocyturia and growth of unspecific bacteria is possible. In regions with endemic tuberculosis all patients with acute cystitis should be evaluated as suspicious to TB. Antituberculous therapy in combination with trospium chloride is high effective for bladder TB patients.


In a previous report2 of two sisters with bone tumors, we suggested that one tumor (C.R.M.'s) was a typical Ewing tumor and that the other (M.J.E.'s) a most unusual Ewing tumor. We present here the concluding clinical course and the autopsy findings in the case of M.J.E. The metastatic lesion in the right side of the chest had responded to irradiation. At autopsy, there was a good deal of tumor in the left side of the chest and none elsewhere. Nothing was found to suggest lymphoma, neuroblastoma, or small-cell carcinoma. We are unable to suggest a reasonable alternative to the hypothesis that this was an atypical Ewing tumor.


Abstract. Large-scale integration of renewable energy sources with power-electronic converters is pushing the power system closer to its dynamic stability limit. This has increased the risk of wide-area blackouts. Thus, the changing generation profile in the power system necessitates the use of alternate sources of energy such as wind power plants, to provide black-start services in the future. However, this requires grid-forming and not the traditionally prevalent grid-following wind turbines. This paper introduces the general working principle of grid-forming control and examines four of such control schemes. To compare their performance, a simulation study has been carried out for the different stages of energization of onshore load by a high-voltage direct-current (HVDC)-connected wind power plant. Their transient behaviour during transformer inrush, converter pre-charging and de-blocking, and onshore block-load pickup has been compared and analysed qualitatively to highlight the advantages and disadvantages of each control strategy.


Abdominal tuberculosis is an uncommon clinical entity, and it can involve the gastrointestinal tract but also the peritoneum, lymph nodes, and solid organs. Its prevalence is higher among individuals from endemic regions for tuberculosis. Epidemiological risk factors associated with typical symptoms and complementary exams should prompt early treatment. We describe the case of a 47-year-old man, originally from India, residing in Portugal for approximately a year. He presented to our emergency department with a three-week-long history of diarrhea, diffuse abdominal pain, more intense on the left quadrants of the abdomen, anorexia, asthenia, and loss of nearly 10% of his body weight. Abdominal and pelvic imaging showed diffuse circumferential thickening of the distal ileum and adjacent mesentery with associated lymphadenopathies. A colonoscopy confirmed the presence of an ulcerated deformative lesion of the cecum with the involvement of the terminal ileum. Initial suspicion of infectious colitis versus inflammatory bowel disease led the team to prescribe antibiotics and corticosteroid therapy, which was associated with bronchoalveolar lavage and sputum samples negative for Mycobacterium tuberculosis, delaying the diagnosis of intestinal tuberculosis. The lack of improvement after weeks of the initial medical therapy, and with histopathological examination of cervical lymphadenopathy showing the presence of granulomatous lymphadenitis with necrosis, led the medical team to start antituberculostatic therapy. The patient showed significant clinical and laboratory improvement, but after two months of adequate treatment a cavitated nodule appeared on the upper lobe of the left lung, and a Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex was identified in the bronchoalveolar lavage. Timely diagnosis and adequate treatment are essential to lower mortality rates of intestinal tuberculosis, and epidemiological risk factors have a great deal of importance on this matter and must always be taken into account.


Background: The most common major obstetric procedure is caesarean section (CS) and one of the greatest concerns for women after CS is to have optimal pain relief. Aim: This study aims to compare the efficacy of pentazocine + diclofenac and paracetamol + diclofenac on post-operative analgesia after CS. Methodology: This was a single-blind, randomised trial. Pregnant women that had CS were randomized into two groups. Group A received intramuscular pentazocine + rectal diclofenac postoperatively. Group B received intramuscular paracetamol + rectal diclofenac postoperatively. Post-operative pain was assessed by numeric rating scale at 1 h after the surgery, at 6 h, 12 h and 24 h. The result obtained was analysed using SPSS Version 22 and P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The median pain scores in both groups ranged from 2 to 3 across all periods of assessment. The pain relief was slightly better in the pentazocine + diclofenac group with no significant difference in the pain score between the two groups at all periods of assessment. The satisfaction level was good in 66.3% and 69.5% of the participants in the pentazocine + diclofenac and paracetamol + diclofenac group respectively but the difference was not statistically significant (χ2 = 4.14, P = 0. 12). Nausea, vomiting and drowsiness were significantly more in the pentazocine + diclofenac combination (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Both combination of analgesics provided adequate analgesia but pentazocine + diclofenac combination had better pain relief but was more associated with side effects.


Thirty six genetically diverse genotypes of chickpea were evaluated for genotypic and pheno typic variabilities, heritability and genetic advance in 16 quantitative attributes. Highest genotypic variability was expressed by 100 seed weight followed by seed yield Per plant, biological yield, secondary branches per plant and seeds per plant. 100 seed weight also exhibited high genetic advance with high amount of heritability.


In this paper, finger estimation for RAKE reception in ultrawideband (UWB) radio is considered. The effects of pulse shaping and pulse position modulation (PPM) for the performance of finger estimation, and for the BER performance of the RAKE receiver are evaluated. New algorithms for finger assignment are developed. The proposed algorithms use different selection criteria for assigning the RAKE fingers. The performance of the proposed algorithms and new selection criteria are evaluated through computer simulations. Significant gains are observed compared to the conventional finger assignment algorithms.


Testis transplantation is an important and effective way to treat abdominal impalpable cryptorchidism, male hypogonadism and male infertility. Since 1990s a lot of advances have been made in microsurgical autotransplantation, homotransplantation, testicular tissue transplantation and Leydig cell transplantation. The main achievements include the application of laparoscopy in autotransplantation, researches on the influential factors in spermatogenesis after homotransplantation, explorations of new treatment methods such as fetal testis transplantation, spermatogonial stem cell transplantation and so on. The advances in testis transplantation are summarized in this paper based on the related literature of recent years.


Antibodies are essential to life, and knowing their structures can facilitate the understanding of antibody-antigen recognition mechanisms. Precise antibody structure prediction has been a core challenge for a prolonged period, especially the accuracy of H3 loop prediction. Despite recent progress, existing methods cannot achieve atomic accuracy, especially when the homologous structures required for these methods are not available. Recently, RoseTTAFold, a deep learning-based algorithm, has shown remarkable breakthroughs in predicting the 3D structures of proteins. To assess the antibody modeling ability of RoseTTAFold, we first retrieved the sequences of 30 antibodies as the test set and used RoseTTAFold to model their 3D structures. We then compared the models constructed by RoseTTAFold with those of SWISS-MODEL in a different way, in which we stratified Global Model Quality Estimate (GMQE) into three different ranges. The results indicated that RoseTTAFold could achieve results similar to SWISS-MODEL in modeling most CDR loops, especially the templates with a GMQE score under 0.8. In addition, we also compared the structures modeled by RoseTTAFold, SWISS-MODEL and ABodyBuilder. In brief, RoseTTAFold could accurately predict 3D structures of antibodies, but its accuracy was not as good as the other two methods. However, RoseTTAFold exhibited better accuracy for modeling H3 loop than ABodyBuilder and was comparable to SWISS-MODEL. Finally, we discussed the limitations and potential improvements of the current RoseTTAFold, which may help to further the accuracy of RoseTTAFold's antibody modeling.


Salinity or high salt content in the soil became one of the environmental factors that can threaten the sustainability of mungbean in the ield because mungbean is considered as a salinity-sensitive plant. Therefore, it is necessary to develop cultivars that are saline stress tolerance. This study aims to determine the effect of salinity on mungbeans growth and classify the salinity tolerance levels of 16 mungbean accessions and associate the level of salinity tolerance to the formation of root nodules. Comparisons were made by growing mungbean under normal conditions and treated with salinity stress by watering 500 ml of 200 mM NaCl solution every seven days from the age of 21 days after planting. The observations have made on both the vegetative and generative phases of plants. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance, deining levels of salinity stress tolerance based on analysis of salinity sensitivity index values. The results showed that several mungbean accessions made adjustments to the stres environment by reducing growth and yield components. Based on the Scott-Knott test and the values of the salinity sensitivity index found that several mungbean accessions possess tolerance to salinity stress at soil EC reaching 2,73 dS/m. Accessions that are potential as a genetic source of salinity tolerance showed by accessions number 1, 4, 8, and 19. Accessions number 1, 8, and 19 that classiied as salinity tolerance have higher ability to form nodules rather than nontolerance accessions at saline conditions.


Two closely related lexitropsin analogues that differ only in the form of the headgroup functionality (CHO (for 1) vs. Ac (for 2)) have been studied in their DNA-binding capacity for the sequence d(GCATATATGC) using 1H-NMR spectroscopy. DNA-Complex formation for the CHO derivative was apparent from the observation of new NMR signals on titration of DNA with ligand. Detailed investigation and assignment of the data for a ligand/DNA-duplex ratio of 2 : 1 clearly delineated the structure as one associated with the minor groove class of DNA complexes. The structure of the complex was determined on the basis of the acquired NMR data. Features characteristic of typical 2 : 1 minor-groove complexes were apparent. In a similar experimental approach, the Ac analogue ligand-DNA binding response was investigated. Despite the close similarity in chemical structure to the CHO case, the Ac analogue was found to produce NMR data of a much poorer quality. This was attributed to more rapid on/off chemical exchange equilibrium between ligand and DNA. From close analysis and comparison of the NMR data for the Ac and CHO headgroup ligand-DNA complexes, it was possible to ascertain that the same type of complex formed in each case but with different relative binding constants. Consideration of the nature and form of these complexes has been made with reference to a previously determined structure from our laboratory for the related lexitropsin analogue thiazotropsin A.


IEEE 802.11 based WLANs have been widely deployed. Currently research is concentrating on how to find the best location for these access points plus tuning their antennas in order to seamlessly cover large areas. With more and more WLAN users, the air interface acts as bottleneck even in high-speed WLAN systems such as IEEE 802.11a. To improve the overall performance of IEEE 802.11 WLAN systems under congestion conditions, an agent-based radio resource management system is proposed that can dynamically change an AP's radio coverage pattern in cooperation with surrounding APs. A low-cost four sector semismart antenna array is used for access points. In this paper we present results from a simulation showing system performance. The use of intelligent agents and negotiations for indoor radio resource management is presented and discussed.


This study examined the relationships between organizational context, conflict handling styles and subordinates' satisfaction with supervision. Data from 139 respondents from major industries in Malaysia including service, manufacturing, mining and construction demonstrated that subordinates were more satisfied with their superiors' supervision through their exercise of integrating, compromising, and obliging styles. On the other hand, subordinates who perceived their superiors as primarily utilizing dominating and avoiding style viewed them as incompetent in supervision and thus lowering their level of satisfaction with supervision. Among the conflict handling styles, integrating was most correlated with organic structure. The organic structure was found to be positively correlated with the satisfaction with supervision. These results implied that organic structure can be a potent force in maintaining organizational stability, although not unambiguously, the present results also seemed to suggest that subordinates tend to be less satisfied with superiors with wider span of control.


A design for the fabrication of metallic nanoparticles is presented by thermal dewetting with a chemically heterogeneous nano-template. For the template, we fabricate a nanostructured polystyrene-b-polydimethylsiloxane (PS-b-PDMS) film on a Si|SiO2 substrate, followed by a thermal annealing and reactive ion etching (RIE) process. This gives a template composed of an ordered hexagonal array of SiOC hemispheres emerging in the polystyrene matrix. After the deposition of a FePt film on this template, we utilize the rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process, which provides in-plane stress, to achieve thermal dewetting and structural ordering of FePt simultaneously. Since the template is composed of different composition surfaces with periodically varied morphologies, it offers more tuning knobs to manipulate the nanostructures. We show that both the decrease in the area of the PS matrix and the increase in the strain energy relaxation transfer the dewetted pattern from the randomly distributed nanoparticles into a hexagonal periodic array of L10 FePt nanoparticles. Transmission electron microscopy with the in situ heating stage reveals the evolution of the dewetting process, and confirms that the positions of nanoparticles are aligned with those of the SiOC hemispheres. The nanoparticles formed by this template-dewetting show an average diameter and center-to-center distance of 19.30 ± 2.09 nm and 39.85 ± 4.80 nm, respectively. The hexagonal array of FePt nanoparticles reveals a large coercivity of 1.5 T, much larger than the nanoparticles fabricated by top-down approaches. This approach offers an efficient pathway toward self-assembled nanostructures in a wide range of material systems.


Sir, We welcome the letter of Evans, which begins the conversation on resistance gene nomenclature in reply to our recent call for rationalization. Evans agrees that change is needed, but questions the cut-off of ≥2% difference at the DNA (and protein) level for assigning a new number as it 'would lead to an unwarranted proliferation of gene names'. However, in the case of the genes for OXA b-lactamases, the example used by Evans to illustrate the point, the current cut-off is a single basepair difference (as long as it also produces an amino acid difference) and our cut-off would in fact dramatically reduce the number of gene designations. We agree that the context of a gene is important, particularly when seeking gene origins. The origin and contexts of the oxa23 gene have been reviewed recently and the term oxa23, in line with the original nomenclature for genes encoding class D oxacillinases, was used to refer to all variants. The oxa23 gene is one of the genes responsible for carbapenem resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii and other Acinetobacter species and is likely derived from an intrinsic chromosomal gene in Acinetobacter radioresistens that was recently designated oxaAr. However, the upstream context of oxa23 is quite different from that of the intrinsic gene, which does not confer resistance. The resistance gene, oxa23, is expressed via a strong promoter supplied by an upstream IS, usually ISAba1. We recently tabulated the differences between the 23 oxa23 variants listed in the database at http:/www.lahey.org (now discontinued) that had been assigned a unique number. We found no more than three differences (a single base difference or single triplet insertion) from the original oxa23 sequence in any of them. Four alleles of the oxaAr gene, each encoding a protein with a different OXA number, were listed in the database, but sequence was available for only one of them. It differed from oxa23 at 20 positions in a gene length of 822 bp (2.4%). However, the oxaAr gene does not meet two of the criteria we proposed for inclusion as a resistance gene, namely that intrinsic genes, i.e. those naturally found in a bacterial chromosome, should not be included among the resistance genes, and that to be classified as a resistance gene, resistance must be conferred. The oxaAr gene is an intrinsic chromosomal gene found in A. radioresistens that, in its natural context, does not confer antibiotic resistance. Evans raises the need for suitable databases, mentioning the database we used, which has since been transferred to NCBI (http:/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pathogens/submit_beta_lactamase/ studies/). We agree that repositories for named genes could be useful. However, we point out that in the case of the oxa genes encoding class D b-lactamases, this database is particularly problematic as it groups many quite different genes encoding proteins sharing as little as 30% identity together. It does not give users an indication of which specific gene a variant is related to or of the relationships between often hundreds of gene variants that differ by only a single basepair or a few basepairs. Allelic variants of several intrinsic chromosomal genes are also included. As each variant is given a number in order of submission as long as a single basepair difference leads to an amino acid difference from one of the main genes, this approach makes single genes appear to be many. Hence, this database currently lacks the necessary utility for the vast majority of researchers and for gene naming. Indeed, the genes encoding OXA enzymes are in the most urgent need of revision. The allelic variants of the intrinsic chromosomal genes, which are used in strain typing applications, might usefully be transferred to other databases such as the one holding the MLST schemes of Acinetobacter or other species.


We prospectively followed a cohort of 354 blue-collar men and women, some of whom lost their jobs. Results show marked effects during the anticipatory and early unemployment phase on mental well-being, serum cortisol, prolactin, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and phytohemagglutinin reactivity of lymphocytes. Most of these changes appear to be of short-term duration. However, changes in cardiovascular risk factors are observed at least 2 years following the loss of one's job. Coping style appears to be a major determinant whether or not and how people will react to unemployment.


In 57% of 151 BSE positive brains of Swiss cattle, degenerating neurons were found in BSE predilection sites, either single scattered (34%) or involving large parts of brain stem nuclei (23%). The lesion consisted of central chromatolysis, shrinkage, karyolysis or nuclear pyknosis. In 43% of the BSE positive brains no neuronal changes besides vacuolation were present. Neuronal degeneration other than vacuolation alone is not pathognomonic for BSE but, according to our findings, seems to be of some importance together with the typical vacuolation of neuropil and neurons. There is no correlation between extent of these degenerative changes and accumulation of PrPSc protein, determined by immunohistochemistry. The significance remains obscure, yet as it had not been seen in cattle brains before the outbreak of BSE in Switzerland in 1990 it certainly is linked to the disease. Possible pathogenetic mechanisms are discussed.


Departing from the conventional view on superconducting vortices as a parasitic source of dissipation for charge transport, we propose to use mobile vortices as topologically stable information carriers. To this end, we start by constructing a phenomenological theory for the interconversion between spin and vorticity, a topological charge carried by vortices, at the interface between a magnetic insulator and a superconductor, by invoking the interfacial spin Hall effect therein. We then show that a vortex liquid in superconductors can serve as a spin-transport channel between two magnetic insulators by encoding spin information in the vorticity. The vortex-mediated nonlocal signal between the two magnetic insulators is shown to decay algebraically as a function of their separation, contrasting with the exponential decay of the quasiparticle-mediated spin transport. We envision that hydrodynamics of topological excitations, such as vortices in superconductors and domain walls in magnets, may serve as a universal framework to discuss long-range transport properties of ordered materials.


A planar jet impinging on an edge under feedback control is studied by simultaneous flow visualization, control and particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurement to understand the feedback control mechanism of edge tone. The instantaneous velocity signal from the visualized dye images is used as a feedback signal for the flow control, while the whole flow field is measured simultaneously by analysing the tracer particle images by PIV. A comparative study of the flow field with and without feedback control is carried out using this technique and the attenuation of the flow oscillation of the jet flow is observed for certain combinations of the phase lag and feedback gain. Attenuation of the jet oscillation by feedback control is also observed in the velocity and vorticity distributions at various phases of jet oscillation in the flow field. It is found that the velocity fluctuations created by the jet oscillation are cancelled by those produced by the control flow near the jet nozzle, which satisfies the opposite phase condition of the flow.


The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is well studied for its regulation of blood pressure and fluid homeostasis, as well as for increased activity associated with a variety of diseases and conditions, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and kidney disease. The enzyme renin cleaves angiotensinogen to form angiotensin I (ANG I), which is further cleaved by angiotensin-converting enzyme to produce ANG II. Although ANG II is the main effector molecule of the RAS, renin is the rate-limiting enzyme, thus playing a pivotal role in regulating RAS activity in hypertension and organ injury processes. Our objective was to develop a near-infrared fluorescent (NIRF) renin-imaging agent for noninvasive in vivo detection of renin activity as a measure of tissue RAS and in vitro plasma renin activity. We synthesized a renin-activatable agent, ReninSense 680 FAST (ReninSense), using a NIRF-quenched substrate derived from angiotensinogen that is cleaved specifically by purified mouse and rat renin enzymes to generate a fluorescent signal. This agent was assessed in vitro, in vivo, and ex vivo to detect and quantify increases in plasma and kidney renin activity in sodium-sensitive inbred C57BL/6 mice maintained on a low dietary sodium and diuretic regimen. Noninvasive in vivo fluorescence molecular tomographic imaging of the ReninSense signal in the kidney detected increased renin activity in the kidneys of hyperreninemic C57BL/6 mice. The agent also effectively detected renin activity in ex vivo kidneys, kidney tissue sections, and plasma samples. This approach could provide a new tool for assessing disorders linked to altered tissue and plasma renin activity and to monitor the efficacy of therapeutic treatments.


Current hidden Markov acoustic modeling for large vocabulary continuous speech recognition (LVCSR) relies on the availability of abundant labeled transcriptions. Given that speech labeling is both expensive and time-consuming while there is a huge amount of unlabeled data easily available nowadays, semi-supervised learning (SSL) from both labeled and unlabeled data which aims to reduce the development cost for LVCSR becomes more important than ever. In this paper, we propose SSL for LVCSR by using the multiple views learned from different acoustic features and randomized decision trees. In addition, we develop the multi-objective learning of HMM-based acoustic models by optimizing a hybrid criterion which is established by the combination of the discriminative mutual information from labeled data and the entropy from unlabeled data. Experiments conducted on Broadcast News show the benefits of proposed methods.


Teacher endorsement (well-known as teacher certification in Indonesian basic and secondary education) is essentially aimed to improve the quality of Indonesian education. In this context, the government of Indonesia has paid special attention to three required qualities of teachers: competences, work motivation, and their well-beings (The Law No. 14, 2005). Since the role of teachers is central to the improvement of learning achievement of students, this study discusses the concept of teacher endorsement, the views of teachers regarding professional endorsement in relation to different tasks of teachers, and its influences on the improvement of students' learning achievement. The study uses qualitative approach where three types of data collections techniques are employed: document reviews, semi-structured interviews, and observations. The findings of the study show that professional teacher endorsement program had not yet fully supported the improvement of teachers' professionalism as required by the Law No 14, 2005. Besides, the understanding of teachers about requirements for being professional was still underprivileged leading to poor learning achievement of their students. Therefore, the study informs the needs for educational stakeholders to provide continuous counselling, motivation, and guidance for teachers in order for them to take this matter into serious accounts which in the end would help the government of Indonesia achieve its educational goal.


In this paper, we use the unequal radius modified Gouy-Chapman theory to evaluate the effect of the ionic size of the electrolyte on the swelling pressures (II) in different clay systems immersed in electrolytic solutions. First the model is applied to a 1:1 electrolyte to show that the coion size is only important at surface charge densities much lower than those found in typical clay systems. The swelling pressure is calculated and the results are compared with experimental data. Literature ionic radii values are used to show the dependence of the swelling pressure on the specific counterions present. Next the model is applied to a 1:1 and 2:1 electrolyte mixture with unequal-sized counterions to show the swelling pressure is highly dependent on both counterion sizes. The unequal and same-sized cases are compared.


Fifteen patients with 13 closed and 13 open fractures in the upper extremity were treated with either the Hoffmann apparatus alone or a combination of internal and external fixation. Two patients required amputation for unreconstructable defects. Two asymptomatic nonunions of the distal ulna and one malunion of the distal radius occurred. There were no cases of osteomyelitis at the fracture sites or pin sites. Successful fracture healing in severe injuries was achieved by closely following the principles of fixation for primary or secondary bone healing, with early bone grafting for any osseous deficit and open wound treatment of contaminated fractures.


The analytical study of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Evita contains inter alia the description of the libretto, and the analysis of architectural-formal, rhythmical, and melodic features and stylization devices. In architectural terms, Evita shows the infl uences of operetta, heroic opera, and musical drama (e.g. in large integrated blocks of scenes, and characteristic fi nal scenes). In the internal formal relations in the piece, the links with the nineteenth-century heroic opera are observable. Regarding the use of form, the composers utilizes those that appeared in Romantic Italian and French operas, while the stylization devices present in the piece have their reference to the nineteenth-century operatic forms in France and operetta compositions. An important structural element of Evita is reminiscence motifs referring inter alia to grand opera. The conscious use of these motifs on such a large scale that have no equivalents in operetta or in the genres preceding the emergence of musical, and in other musicals, causes Evita to be closer to opera in its motivic concept. Owing to the exceptional musical language combining tradition and the present, Webber's work is an example that the musical as a form of sublime entertainment can also satisfy the requirements of high art.


In people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), several complaints related to the gastrointestinal system, mainly diarrhea can be determined. In our study, we aimed to detect the existence of intestinal parasites with conventional methods based on microscopy and with molecular methods based on multiplex-PCR among 90 anti-retroviral treatment (ART) naive or ART adherent HIV/AIDS cases. The existence of Giardia spp., Blastocystis spp., Entamoeba histolytica, Dientamoeba spp. and Cryptosporidium spp. were searched in stool samples and the relation with the existence of these parasites and demographic/clinical data of the cases were determined. The demographic and clinical data of the participants included in the study were as follows; the average age was 34.02 ± 9.7 years, average time of diagnosis was 2.4 ± 1.7 years. Gender distribution was as follows; 85.6% male and 14.4% female. HIV transmission was related with heterosexual intercourse in 60%, homosexual intercourse in 33.3%, blood/blood products contact in 1.1% and with unknown routes in 5.6% of the cases. Fifty percent of the patients were in pre-ART and 50% was in on-ART state. The average CD4+ T lymphocyte count was detected as 400 cells/mm3 and the median of viral load was 114.527 copies/ml. An overall prevalence of at least one intestinal parasitic infection was recorded as 36.7% and the prevalence of this infection due to Blastocystis spp. was 22.2%, followed by Dientamoeba spp. (13.3%), E.histolytica (4.4%), Cryptosporidium spp. (3.3%), Giardia spp. (2.2%) and multiple parasitic infections (7.7%). The type of sexual behaviours related with the detection of intestinal parasites were statistically significant especially in homosexual intercourse (p< 0.001). The increase in CD4+ T lymphocyte counts were reversely associated (p= 0.062) and the increase in the levels of viral load were positively associated (p< 0.001) with detection rate of intestinal parasite. The detection of parasites by molecular methods was statistically significant in pre-ART participants (p= 0.002) and participants with diarrhea (p= 0.019). In the present study, the increase in the frequency of intestinal parasitic infections has shown that essential interventions are required. In all HIV/AIDS cases, routine parasitic screening should be performed by more sensitive methods to manage early and specific treatment.


Background
The short- and long-term results from several reports suggest that laparoscopic surgery (LAP) for elderly patients is expected to reduce the risk of complications due to its minimal invasiveness, However, little is known about the effect of LAP on long-term prognosis aside from cancer.

Patients and Methods
Eighty-five cases over 80 years old with colorectal cancer whose primary lesions were resected consecutively were enrolled. Risk factors for complications were searched using categorized clinicopathological factors. The factors for death unrelated to cancer were analyzed in patients by excluding cancer-related death.

Results
Incidence of all complications, those of Clavien-Dindo grade 2 or more, and surgical site infection were significantly lower in LAP-treated patients (p=0.0343, p=0.0015 and p=0.0015, respectively). By multivariate analysis, LAP (odds ratio=0.19, 95% confidence intervaI=0.05-0.75, p=0.0177) and no pulmonary dysfunction (odds ratio=0.24, 95% confidence intervaI=0.06-0.96, p=0.0441) were significantly associated with reduced risk of complications of Clavien-Dindo grade 2 or more. LAP, no pulmonary dysfunction and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0 or 1 were also significantly associated with reduced risk for death from non cancer-related causes. Additionally, LAP was significantly associated with improved survival excluding cancer-related death in patients with pulmonary dysfunction (p=0.0020) or with poor performance status (p=0.0412).

Conclusion
These results suggest that fewer complications and non cancer-related deaths were achieved in very elderly patients with colorectal cancer when treated by LAP.


Abstract We report a case of 30-year-old female who presented initially with hair loss, photosensitive malar rash, morning stiffness and synovitis. She was diagnosed with Rhupus syndrome based on clinical and laboratory findings. Few months after starting hydroxychloroquine, esomeprazole and azathioprine, and failing methotrexate (because of erosive pill-induced esophagitis), she presented with generalized maculopapular dusky reddish rash in her body, back and extremities. Her anti-double stranded-DNA, anti-nuclear antibody, anti-Ro/SSA and anti-La/SSB were positive. Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody was moderately positive. She had low complements: C3 and C4. Herpes simplex IgM and mycoplasma tested negative. Skin biopsy from right arm showed evidence of erythema multiform. She met the criteria for the diagnosis of Rowell syndrome. We managed her with hydroxychloroquine, prednisolone, mycophenolate mofetil and topical agents and discontinued esomeprazole. We also review the management of Rowell syndrome in the literature.


: A decrease in acid secretion by gastric mucosa was registered 10-14 days after irradiation of the lumbal area in six patients with lymphogranulomatosis who were examined before irradiation, 10-14 days and 3-3.5 months after irradiation. Acid production indices came back to normal 3-3.5 months after irradiation. No changes were revealed in gastric mucosa by morphological examination either before or after irradiation. It is suggested that the decrease in acid secretion is due to functional changes in the stomach in response to irradiation.


A series of polymer chemosensors containing naphthalimide signal moiety and imide recognition moiety for the selective detection of fluoride ions (F(-) ) were synthesized by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. The polymer chemosensors display obvious absorption and fluorescence variations upon the addition of F(-) , which can be observed by both naked eyes and optical responses. The polymers showed higher fluorescence enhancement than its monomer, and the polymers with higher molecular weight have higher sensitivity than those with lower molecular weight. Other halide anions are found to hardly induce any variation of either the absorption or fluorescence spectra.


Theory: The spatial model of elections can better be represented by using conditional logit models which consider the position of the parties in issue spaces than by multinomial logit models which only consider the position of voters in the issue space. The spatial model, and random utility models in general, suffer from a failure to adequately consider the substitutability of parties sharing similar or identical issue positions. Hypotheses: Multinomial logit is not necessarily better than successive applications of binomial logit. Conditional logit allows for considering more interesting political questions than does multinomial logit. The spatial model may not correspond to voter decision-making in multiple party settings. Multinomial probit allows for a relaxation of the IIA condition and this should improve estimates of the effect of adding or removing parties. Methods: Comparisons of binomial logit, multinomial logit, conditional logit, and multinomial probit on simulated data and survey data from multiparty elections. Results: Multinomial logit offers almost no benefits over binomial logit. Conditional logit is capable of examining movements by parties, whereas multinomial logit is not. Multinomial probit performs better than conditional logit when considering the effects of altering the set of choices available to voters. Estimation of multinomial probit with more than three choices is feasible


This paper presents an MDD that has additional null-value and all-value edges. The MDD is based on a multi-valued algebra that augments multi-valued variables to allow a null- output value. A null-output value is a value that cannot be computed but represents the lack of any valid value for a given input combination (akin to an output don't care, but its value cannot be changed). A side effect of the null-value edge is that the MDD is capable of representing 1-valued variables. Plus, the null-value is used in representing mutexes (a concept that defines an input don't care condition). While there have been publications that have created BDDs with a third (all-value) edge, to the authors' knowledge, this is the first time an all-value edge has been added to an MDD. This MDD data structure is the foundation for Intrinsity's multi-valued logic synthesis algorithms.


ABSTRACT This study investigated the effectiveness of clinical simulations (CS) as an instructional strategy to prepare student teachers to conduct parent-teacher conferences. A pre-test/post-test study was set up in order to study the impact of online (n = 181) and face-to-face CS (n = 95) on student teachers' parent-teacher communication competence (PTCC). Assessment of PTCC development was based on a video-based instrument and a self-efficacy scale. Results suggested that both types of CS are effective instructional strategies to improve student teachers' PTCC. Both student teachers' self-efficacy beliefs and situation-specific skills regarding parent-teacher communication improved. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.


This study examines three previously unexplored aspects of the biasing impact of pretrial publicity. First, this study tests the differential effects of several different types of pretrial publicity on juror decision making. Second, this study explores the impact the presentation of trial evidence has on biases created by pretrial publicity. Finally, the study explores the psychological processes by which pretrial publicity effects may operate. Results indicate that pretrial publicity, particularly negative information about the defendant's character, can influence subjects' initial judgments about a defendant's guilt. This bias is weakened, but not eliminated by the presentation of trial evidence. Character pretrial publicity, and both weak and strong inadmissible statements appear to operate by changing subjects' initial judgments of the defendant's guilt. This initial judgment then affects the way subjects assess the evidence presented in the trial and the attributions they make about the defendant. Prior record pretrial publicity appears to have its effects by influencing subjects' inferences about the criminality of the defendant and this is related to posttrial judgments.


For medical diagnosis, blood is an indispensable indicator for a wide variety of diseases, i.e. hemic, parasitic and sexually transmitted diseases. A robust detection and exact segmentation of white blood cells (leukocytes) in stained blood smears of the peripheral blood provides the base for a fully automated, image based preparation of the so called differential blood cell count in the context of medical laboratory diagnostics. Especially for the localization of the blood cells and in particular for the segmentation of the cells it is necessary to detect the working area of the blood smear. In this contribution we present an approach for locating the so called counting area on stained blood smears that is the region where cells are predominantly separated and do not interfere with each other. For this multiple images of a blood smear are taken and analyzed in order to select the image corresponding to this area. The analysis involves the computation of an unimodal function from image content that serves as indicator for the corresponding image. This requires a prior segmentation of the cells that is carried out by a binarization in the HSV color space. Finally, the indicator function is derived from the number of cells and the cells' surface area. Its unimodality guarantees to find a maximum value that corresponds to the counting areas image index. By this, a fast lookup of the counting area is performed enabling a fully automated analysis of blood smears for medical diagnosis. For an evaluation the algorithm's performance on a number of blood smears was compared with the ground truth information that has been defined by an adept hematologist.


In this work, composite microspheres were prepared from bioactive ceramics such as coralline hydroxyapatite [Ca(10)(PO(4))(6)(OH)(2)] granules, a biodegradable polymer, sodium alginate, and an antibiotic, gentamicin. Previously, we have shown a gentamicin release from coralline hydroxyapatite granules-chitosan composite microspheres. In the present investigation, we attempted to prepare composite microspheres containing coralline hydroxyapatite granules and sodium alginate by the dispersion polymerization technique with gentamicin incorporated by absorption method. The crystal structure of the composite microspheres was analyzed using X-ray powder diffractometer. Fourier transform infrared spectra clearly indicated the presence of per-acid of sodium alginate, phosphate, and hydroxyl groups in the composite microspheres. Scanning electron micrographs and optical micrographs showed that the composite microspheres were spherical in shape and porous in nature. The particle size of composite microspheres was analyzed, and the average size was found to be 15 microns. The thermal behavior of composite microspheres was studied using thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetric analysis. The cumulative in vitro release profile of gentamicin from composite microspheres showed near zero order patterns.


A new control scheme employing the Iterated Extended Kalman Filtering (IEKF) algorithm for synchronization of a PV system with a three-phase grid is proposed. IEKF accurately estimates the fundamental sinusoidal component of the distorted voltage signals at the Point of Common Coupling (PCC) and the current signal of the load. The Kalman gain is updated through the minimization of the estimation error covariance yielding accurate estimation of the fundamental component of the aforementioned voltage and current signals. IEKF uses an iterative loop to reduce the mean square error and also increases the convergence speed. The proposed IEKF-PI control scheme is implemented using MATLAB/Simulink first and then it is realised on a prototype of a single stage grid connected PV system developed in the laboratory. From the results obtained from both the simulation and experimental studies, it is concluded that after compensation, the grid current reaches the steady state faster using IEKF-PI than using EKF-PI and STF-PI. The Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) of the grid current is compensated to a lowest value of 3.5% using the proposed IEKF-PI control scheme than that obtained using both EKF-PI and STF-PI, despite distortion of PCC voltage and PCC voltage sag and swell condition.


Abstract Dialectical critical realism makes it possible for us to better understand the irrationalities and potentialities of modernity. This is illustrated by showing the difference that concepts drawn from Bhaskar's Dialectic make to our understanding of a particular, but central, modern irrationality: eurocentrism. Contrary to the critical discourse on eurocentrism, established accounts of modernity and modernism are vital for understanding eurocentrism. Running through the modern tradition are opposing tendencies of irrealism and realism, the main forms of which are eurocentrism and anti-eurocentrism. Anti-eurocentrism is particularly strong within the Marxian tradition. This only becomes clear, however, when interpreted through the perspective afforded by Dialectic; and when located in the context of the 'europic problematic', the theory of which Dialectic makes possible.


The aim of this research is to study the effect of adding free curcumin and curcumin loaded with betacyclodextrin to laboratory-made yogurt by conducting a set of tests on the final product. Yogurt was prepared using three treatments. The first treatment was a standard yogurt without any additions, while the second treatment involved adding free curcumin (CU) at concentrations similar to the third treatment, which contained curcumin loaded with betacyclodextrin (B-CU) at concentrations of 100 and 200 μg/ml. which involved measuring the protein percentage, moisture percentage, fat percentage, and ash percentage of the samples studied from day one of production until day 28 of refrigerated storage, which were (4.61, 86.62, 5.64, 0.86) respectively. Various physical and rheological tests were conducted, including total acidity, pH, spontaneous whey separation, viscosity value, and water-holding capacity, which were (0.97, 4.61, 3.1, 2680, 72.36) respectively, up to day 28 of refrigerated storage. Microbiological tests were also conducted on the manufactured yogurt under the same conditions, which showed the efficiency of the active compound, whether in its free form or loaded with β-cyclodextrin, as a microbial inhibitor and preventing contamination of the manufactured product. The tests demonstrated the superiority of the B-CU treatment containing 200 mg/ ml of curcumin-loaded β-cyclodextrin over the other treatments. The sensory evaluation was well-received, ranging from (95-77)% from day one of production until day 28 of refrigerated storage.


ABSTRACT: The beta‐human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) radioimmunoassay was used to determine the presence of HCG immunoreactivity in serum of patients (n = 71) with diagnosis of cancer. Of patients with active neoplasia, 60.5% showed HCG immunoactivity above controls (>> 5 mlU/ml). An apparent degree of correlation was observed with tumor activity in that a case with widespread metastases due to a colonic carcinoma exhibited the highest HCG levels while, in one patient, the level of HCG decreased progressively according to therapeutic response. A high frequency of immunoactive HCG was found in patients with carcinomas of the cervix, breast, gonad digestive system and in patients with melanoma. Trophoblastic cells were not evident in the tumors biopsied. Immunologic similarity of HCG secreted by tumors and that contained in serum of pregnant women, of patients with hydatidiform mole of males injected with exogenous HCG was shown by parallel inhibition curves in the radioimmunoassay. The positivity of HCG was predominant in cases of cervix carcinoma.


With the increased focus on reducing carbon emissions in the automotive industry, more advanced materials are introduced to reduce the vehicle weight, and more complex component geometries are designed to both satisfy customer demands and to optimize the vehicle aerodynamically. With the increase in component complexity, the strain paths produced during the forming operation of car body components often display a highly non-linear behavior which makes the task of failure prediction during the manufacturing feasibility studies more difficult. Therefore, CAE engineers need better capabilities to predict failure induced by strain path nonlinearity. This study proposes a new tool designed for creating bi-linear strain paths, by performing a pre-strain of a sheet large enough to cut out Nakajima specimens to perform the post-straining in any direction. From five pre-straining tests the tool present a stable pre-straining operation with a uniform strain field in a radius of 100 [mm] from the centre, corresponding to the region of interest of a Nakajima specimen. From the five pre-strained samples, different Nakajima specimens are cut transverse and longitudinal to the rolling direction and a failure prediction approach in an alternative, path independent evaluation space was used to predict the onset of necking with promising results.