After receiving bad publicity in 2012 and being removed from many ground beef products, finely textured beef (referred to as 'pink slime' by some) is making a comeback. Some of its proponents argue that consumers prefer ground beef containing finely textured beef, but no objective scientific party has tested this claim—that is the purpose of the present study. Over 200 untrained subjects participated in a sensory analysis in which they tasted one ground beef sample with no finely textured beef, another with 15% finely textured beef (by weight), and another with more than 15%. Beef with 15% finely textured beef has an improved juiciness (p < 0.01) and tenderness (p < 0.01) quality. However, subjects rate the flavor-liking and overall likeability the same regardless of the finely textured beef content. Moreover, when the three beef types are consumed as part of a slider (small hamburger), subjects are indifferent to the level of finely textured beef.


The recovery of Nocardia species from mixed cultures is facilitated by use of a selective medium. We show that buffered charcoal-yeast extract medium with polymyxin, anisomycin, and vancomycin can be used for the selective isolation of nocardiae from contaminated specimens.


Many factors could influence repertoire size and function. Here, we provide a review of the descriptions of vocal repertoires of New World jays and a unifying terminology for function of their vocalizations. We summarized 19 different functional types of vocal behaviour shared by at least two species, for review purposes. Comparing the 14 studied species, we also classified vocalizations into four major classes defined a priori: 'Social Integration', 'Conflict Resolution', 'Predator-related', and 'Breeding'. Cooperative breeding, as well as group size, are related not only to repertoire size, but to how species allocate their vocalizations into functional classes. We discuss the tendencies of Conflict Resolution and Social Integration and the possibility of the existence and implications of a trade-off between those functional classes. We identified gaps in the current knowledge on vocalizations of the studied species, and emphasize the importance of empiric evidence of vocalization function in the New World jays.


The institution and enforcement of property rights and contracts have been an important policy issue for the developing countries, the transition economies, and the developed countries in the 1990s. This has led to the development of a literature on technology transfer and how property rights might affect such transfers and host-country welfare. Much of this literature is non-strategic, with large numbers of northern' innovative firms and southern' imitators, and focusses on endogenous R&D and imitation levels. This paper takes a different and complementary approach, developing a strategic model in which local managers learn the multinational's technology and can defect to start a rival firm. If contract enforcement leads the MNE to shift from exporting to producing inside the host country, both the host country and the MNE are better off. If the MNE had established a subsidiary prior to the establishment of enforcement, the host country is indifferent or worse off by enforcement. In the latter case, rents are transferred from the local manager to the MNE.


We introduce associational memory networks(AMNs) that memorize and remember any data. This neural network has two memories. One consists of a queue-structured short-term memory to solve the class imbalance problem and long-term memory to store the distribution of objects, introducing the contents of storing and generating various datasets.


Cataract surgery is a known risk factor for retinal detachment. The risk for retinal redetachment after cataract surgery in eyes that have previously undergone retinal detachment repair is not well documented but has recently been investigated. Eyes that have undergone previous scleral buckling surgery have good potential for positive visual outcome after cataract surgery, with a low rate of intraoperative complications and a low risk for recurrent retinal detachment. Eyes with complicated retinal detachments that have undergone vitrectomy as part of surgical repair may have a higher rate of intraoperative complications, including difficulty with nuclear expression during planned extracapsular cataract extraction and capsular tears during irrigation and aspiration. The risk for recurrent retinal detachment in these eyes is not known.


The current article revolves upon the challenge of diagnosing free peritoneal air in an abdominal X-ray. We present an 80 year old lady who was admitted due to abdominal pain and vomiting. On an acute abdomen XR series, a small amount of free air was suspected, but this was inconclusive. This article focuses upon the complexity of diagnosing abdominal free air Acute abdomen radiography is an essential tool in the evaluation of an acute abdomen, and research has shown that an acute abdominal X-ray series appropriately conducted and interpreted by qualified experts can show as little as 1 cc of free air in the peritoneum. Other studies, on the other hand, have shown that 30-50% of patients with bowel perforation, especially in the elderly population, will not show signs of free air on X-rays. We believe that the proper evaluation and diagnosis of free air involves a methodical approach. First one should begin with an acute abdominal X-ray series. It is advised to have the patient stand or lie in the left decubitus position for 10-15 minutes before the X-rays are conducted. Use of high resolution monitors to enhance the visual acuity and consulting an expert radiologist can help when in doubt. If one is still not sure, it is recommended to perform a CT scan, which is the gold standard for detecting free peritoneal air.


The kinetics of fusion of influenza virus (A/PR/8/34) with human promyelocytic leukaemia (HL-60), human T lymphocytic leukaemia (CEM) and murine lymphoma (S49) cells were investigated. Fusion was demonstrated by electron microscopy, and monitored by fluorescence dequenching of octadecylrhodamine incorporated in the virus membrane. Rapid fusion was induced upon mild acidification of the medium. At pH 5, all virus particles were capable of fusing with the cells. The initial rate and the extent of fusion were maximal between pH 4.9 and 5.2 and declined sharply below and above this range. The rate constants of adhesion of influenza virus to cells or erythrocyte ghosts were large, indicating a diffusion-controlled process. The rate constants of fusion of the virus with cells were smaller than those found previously for fusion with various liposomes. Although preincubation of the virus at acidic pH in the absence of target membranes almost completely inactivated the virus in its ability to fuse with erythrocyte ghosts, it reduced the extent of fusion with cultured cells by only 20 to 40%. Kinetic analysis of fusion revealed a mode of inactivation of the virus bound to erythrocyte ghosts or suspension cells, below pH 5.4, different from that of the virus preincubated at low pH without target membranes.


The sustainability problems of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services increasingly challenges the legitimacy of corporations. Corporate legitimacy, however, is vital to the survival of corporations in competitive environments. The literature distinguishes three strategies that corporations commonly employ to address legitimacy problems: adapt to external expectations, try to manipulate the perception of their stakeholders or engage in a discourse with those who question their legitimacy. This paper develops a theoretical framework for the application of different legitimacy strategies and suggests that corporations facing sustainability problems have to be able to activate all three legitimacy strategies, despite their inherent incompatibilities.


Contextual reasoning through graphical models such as Markov Random Fields often show superior performance against local classifiers in many domains. Unfortunately, this performance increase is often at the cost of time consuming, memory intensive learning and slow inference at testing time. Structured prediction for 3-D point cloud classification is one example of such an application. In this paper we present two contributions. First we show how efficient learning of a random field with higher-order cliques can be achieved using subgradient optimization. Second, we present a context approximation using random fields with high-order cliques designed to make this model usable online, onboard a mobile vehicle for environment modeling. We obtained results with the mobile vehicle on a variety of terrains, at 1/3 Hz for a map 25 × 50 meters and a vehicle speed of 1–2 m/s.


OBJECTIVES
To compare quadriceps sensorimotor function, lower limb functional performance and disability in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and healthy subjects, and to investigate the efficacy and safety of a brief rehabilitation regime.

METHODS
Quadriceps strength, voluntary activation, proprioceptive acuity and the aggregate time [aggregate functional performance time (AFPT)] taken to perform four common activities [aggregate functional performance time (AFPT)] were compared between 103 RA patients who had lower limb involvement and 25 healthy subjects. In addition, disability (Health Assessment Questionnaire), clinical disease activity and the plasma concentration of proinflammatory cytokines were measured in the RA patients. In a follow-on randomized controlled trial of rehabilitation, these variables were used as baseline data for 93 of the RA patients, who were randomized to a rehabilitation or a control group. Changes in the variables were analysed within and between groups.

RESULTS
Compared with healthy subjects, RA patients had weaker quadriceps [mean difference 157 N; 95% confidence interval (CI) 125-189], poorer activation (8%, 95% CI 4.5-15) and proprioceptive acuity (0.8 degrees, 95% CI 0.4-1.3) and took longer to perform the AFPT (34 s, CI 23.5-44.8). Rehabilitation increased quadriceps strength (mean increase 61 N, 95% CI 28-95) and voluntary activation (8%, 95% CI 3-12.4) and decreased the AFPT (12.3 s, 95% CI -2 to 27.7) and subjective disability (0.21 HAQ points, 95% CI 0-0.35) without exacerbating disease activity. All the improvements were maintained at the 6-month follow-up. There was no change during the control period.

CONCLUSIONS
Patients with RA that affected their lower limb had quadriceps sensorimotor deficits that were associated with lower limb disability. A clinically applicable rehabilitation regime increased quadriceps sensorimotor function and decreased lower limb disability without exacerbating pain or disease activity. For patients with well-controlled RA that causes lower limb involvement, the regime is effective and safe.


Out of poverty and into something more comfortable John Stackhouse Mississauga: Random House Canada; 2000 366 pp. $34.95 (cloth) ISBN 0-679-31025-8

Not long after John Stackhouse became the Globe and Mail's first "overseas development writer" in the autumn of 1991, I was sitting in a window seat on an Indian Airlines plane readying for takeoff out of Bombay. Just off the runway, clusters of men, women and children were living in makeshift shelters. Later during that same vacation, I travelled in the air-conditioned comfort of our friends' Ambassador sedan in Kerala province. At the side of one highway I saw women and children slowly hammering rocks into gravel to build more roads. These days, when casual conversation turns to foreign travel and, occasionally, to issues like poverty, homelessness, noise pollution and soul-shattering work, I can share a few bleak observations of life in extremis in the "developing" world.

John Stackhouse spent the years from 1992 to 1999 as a foreign correspondent based in New Delhi. Out of Poverty and into Something More Comfortable is a surprisingly optimistic book about his meetings with poor people in more than 40 countries. In contrast to my brief sojourn to visit friends in the south of India, his travels ranged as far east as Indonesia and as far west as the Cote d'Ivoire with many stops in between. He searched out, lived among, listened to and recorded the stories of subsistence farmers, nomadic cattle herders, shrimp fisherman, forest dwellers, shea-nut gatherers and entrepreneurial groups of woman. More than a third of the book is devoted to repeat visits to Biharipur, a hamlet of 700 people in the northeast of India on the Gangetic plain.

His book goes against the grain of many of our preconceptions about the desperate lives of the poor — certainly as presented in the various appeals for donations that fall into my mailbox. His first-person narrative blends energetic curiosity, respect for the people he meets and almost unflagging good humour under trying circumstances. He meets with some of the poorest of the poor: Amma, a Dalit ("untouchable") widow in Biharipur; Abdul Aziz, a farmer turned unsuccessful shrimp fisherman in Bangladesh; Gulabdai, mother of seven, who presents herself at a sterilization camp in Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh.

The book unfolds in a straightforward series of encounters rooted in geography. The writing is clear and unsentimental; recounted conversations speak with liveliness and authenticity. Photos of the people, taken by himself and his photographer spouse, Cindy Andrews, open each chapter. They provide a two-dimensional identity for some of the names: the sisters Hajera and Badana, Kartar Singh and his family, farmer Sindaiga Sabar. The final paragraphs of each chapter summarize one of the multiple struggles facing the poor: education for girls, equitable division of land, a more bountiful harvest, timely medical care and "something more comfortable" against the larger, unrelenting crush of limited resources, corrupt bureaucracies, caste prejudice and ill-conceived aid.

Travelling with Stackhouse we run repeatedly into the d-word. It first occurs in his introduction, where he summarizes the single most important insight of his eight years of work:

As I traveled from country to country, village to village, it became glaringly clear that human development is not about creating wealth, though income and material assets are important. It is not about outside interventions, whether they are massive government projects or simply the imposition of free-market ideologies. I came to see development as a process, even a struggle, that was internal to a place and deeply democratic in nature. This book is about those struggles, quiet as they are, carried out in hamlets and slums, on riverbanks and mountainsides, by people who until now have been largely excluded from public decision-making.

To some extent Stackhouse could be likened to a doctor recording the stories of many patients and then attempting to draw conclusions about the state of public health in the nation. Development is now recognized as more than aid, debt relief, structural adjustment and megaprojects; similarly, health is more than health services, drugs, CT scanners and massive immunization or sterilization projects. Of paramount importance in both areas are strong families and communities. The difficulty remains that micro efforts in health or economics are inextricably tied up with macro initiatives.

Out of Poverty is quite a different book from, say, Graham Hancock's Lords of Poverty, a hard hitting attack on the policies of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Stackhouse's reliance on oral histories reminds me of Studs Terkel, while the main setting in India calls to mind V.S. Naipaul's A Million Mutinies Now. Picking my way again through Naipaul's book, I came upon his description of a much earlier book by London Times special correspondent William Howard Russel, entitled My Diary in India in the Year 1858–59. Naipaul's comment pinpoints some of my uneasiness with Stackhouse's work:

The trouble I had with the book was a trouble with history, a trouble with the externals of things he described so well. There was such a difference between the writer and the people of the country he was writing about, such a difference between the writer's country and the country he had traveled to.

Stackhouse is aware of his position of privilege and power, and he lets us know he's thinking about it. He is reminded from time to time by some of the villagers he meets:

As Kartar spoke, a small boy from Biharipur appeared, announcing that we, the foreigners, had come to exploit them. We would take their photograph and offer nothing in return, the boy said ... . I often thought the villagers were right to expect something more than sweets but also feared that if I brought lavish gifts it would change the nature of my visits.

Just what is the nature of his visits? What is the quid pro quo here? Why has he written this book?

To get his stories, or rather to get their stories, Stackhouse laboured under difficult living conditions that temporarily resembled those of his subjects. The heart of his narrative is outside himself; it rests in the hearts and aspirations of the people he meets. At the end of the day there remains something unsettling about a well written book that grew out of the stories, pictures and transient relationships of an overseas development writer and his subjects. It is unsettling if only because part of the original impetus for this writing was to help fill a newspaper (with its particular world view) and sell it for more than the equivalent of a day's wage for many of his subjects. The sticker price of his book would render it unattainable to the people he writes about, were they part of his intended audience.

Out of Poverty invites the necessary comparison between our own lives, families and struggles and those of the individuals described. The men and women Stackhouse portrays demand a response from us. What do we think about them? What is the nature of community? We've heard more than enough about globalization and development; can there be such a thing as global solidarity that cuts across extreme economic inequities? I worry that the reasons for optimism that Stackhouse discovers among some of the world's poor may simply foster among his middle-class North American readers a more comfortable complacency.

In the end, what's to be done? For a start, consider reading this book but not buying it. Support your community lending library instead. And while you're there, have a look at a copy of the New Internationalist, a magazine that "exists to report on the issues of world poverty and inequality." Continue to educate yourself in world affairs. And send the $40 you've saved to a reputable NGO like CalmMeadow Foundation, Interpares or Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief — but not before you've had a look at their vision statement and annual report. You could change a life, maybe your own. Failing that, you'll still end up with a small tax credit.


Five years ago in this journal we described our research into 3D bioprinting of ear cartilage for the purpose of making personalized cartilage implants for facial reconstruction. 3D bioprinting makes it possible to place living cells in a biodegradable scaffold to give a 3D structure to the tissue. We are able to develop a hybrid auricular cartilage implant model. However, Long term in vivo experiments are needed to test preclinical applicability. Nevertheless, the work presented in our studies provides a potential strategy for the use of biofabricated tissue constructs in the clinic. In short, 3D bioprinting is still in its infancy and has no direct clinical application yet. Before the step to the clinic can be made, the technique still has to go through a preclinical phase in which it is investigated how the 3D printed tissue would appear in vivo.


This article deals with the resistance of France, Germany and the United Kingdom (EU3) to comply with the EU norms regarding the (future) borders of Israel and Palestine. To do so, it focuses on two cases studies: the issue of Israel's exports to the EU originating from the settlements, and EU companies operating in settlements in East Jerusalem. The EU3's reactions differ when it comes to ensure the implementation of the EU soft law regarding the two state solution, and more particularly the issue of future borders. Yet, they all reflect the Member States' resistance to directly enforce CFSP norms on this matter. In the case of a territorial dispute, the EU's soft and hard laws are de facto intertwined through EU external action. As matter of fact, the rule of origin defined in EU free trade agreements with both Israel and the Palestinian Authority strongly relies on CFSP positions regarding their future borders. This article argues that conflicting objectives related to this issue between Member States and the EU and among national actors account for the EU3's resistance attitudes. In other words, a certain form of cognitive distance – the fourth hypothesis of the introduction – between the content of EU norms and Member States' objectives affects the implementation of CFSP norms. In this case, Germany's reaction to the Brita case demonstrates its unwillingness to take direct responsibility for setting a precedent regarding the sensitive case of Israeli exports from the settlements, due to its special relationship with Israel. France's cautious reaction is more particularly related to the latent conflict within its population about this issue. The United Kingdom's preference for the labelling solution illustrates its liberal nature and its willingness to let British consumers assume the responsibility to decide, though this solution proves difficult to implement in fact. Yet, this article also shows that these resistance attitudes can also lead to the renegotiation of the means of implementation of CFSP norms on this matter, and potentially to their strengthening.


© 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to highlight, challenge and explain the inequitable treatment of tax and welfare fraudsters in the criminal justice systems of Australia and New Zealand. The authors offer prejudice by way of explanation and suggest that it is also prejudice that restricts the implementation of more equitable processes. A second objective of the study is to highlight the importance of critical tax research as an instrument to agitate for social change. Design/methodology/approach: A survey captures 3,000 respondents' perceptions of the likelihood that different "types" of people will commit welfare or tax fraud. Using social dominance theory, the authors investigate the extent to which prejudice impacts on attitudes towards those engaged in these fraudulent activities. Findings: The authors find the presence of traditional stereotypes, such as the perception that businessmen are more likely to commit tax fraud and people receiving welfare assistance are more likely to commit fraud. The authors also find strong preferences towards respondents' own in-group, whereby businessmen, Maori and people receiving welfare assistance believed that their own group was less likely to commit either crime. Social implications: Where in-group preference exists among those who construct and enforce the rules relating to investigations, prosecutions and sentencing of tax and welfare fraud, it is perhaps unsurprising that welfare recipients attract less societal support than other groups who have support from their own in-groups that have greater power, resources and influence. Originality/value: The study highlights the difficulty of social change in the presence of strong in-group preference and prejudice. Cognisance of in-group preference is relevant to the accounting profession where elements of self-regulation remain. In-group preferences may impact on services provided, as well as professional development and education.


The Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) protocol plays a vital role in Web Services Security. Though the HTTPs provide excellent security, they are not flexible enough to allow caches. HTTPi provides high integrity and low security whereas HTTPs provide low integrity and high security. The goal of WS activity is to build up set of technologies in order to direct WS to their complete prospective application. WS play an excellent role, without which the internet applications cannot be made. To provide both high security and high integrity in Web Services (WS), a new model is proposed. In this model, the combined HTTPs's security and HTTPi's flexibility are considered to provide the best WS. In addition, the user affords the self encrypted data for privacy preserving the requester agent. Finally, the requester agent encrypts the particular data so as to create two protections known as self protection and agent protection. Due to mounting threats in the WS, numerous developers and researchers attempt to enhance additional safekeeping in service level. When WS usages are constantly increasing, it is necessary to give proper security as well as flexibility in WS. The requester agent sends the data to the next level. In this message level, the header information can be self verified through appropriate security mechanism proposed in the model. The results of this proposal are compared with the existing methods and better performance is obtained by calculating the throughput and response time.


A cognitive robot should construct a plan to attain its goals. While it executes the actions in its plan, it may face several failures due to both internal and external issues. We present a taxonomy to classify these failures that may be encountered during the execution of cognitive tasks. The taxonomy presents a wide range of failure types. To recover from most of these failures presented in this taxonomy, we propose a Robust Planning Framework for cognitive robots. Our framework combines planning, reasoning and learning procedures into each other for robust execution of cognitive tasks. Failures can be detected and handled by reasoning and replanning, respectively. The framework also facilitates learning new hypotheses incrementally based on experience. It can successfully detect and recover from temporary failures on a selected set of actions executed by a Pioneer3DX robot. It has been shown that our preliminary results for hypothesis learning in failure scenarios are promising.


In the present study, one describes the morphology of the macroglia (astrocytes and oligodendrocytes) of the optic nerve of the albino rat, having been stained according to the modification of del Rio-Hortega of Golgi-Kopsch's method. This cytology has been studied in the intra-orbital optic nerve, in the intracranial portion of the same, in the optic chiasm and in a first segment of the optic tract. Astrocytes show small differences between those located in the marginal zone of the nerve and those located in the center, being all of them classified as belonging to the fibrous type of astrocytes. With their extensions, these cells establish contact with the external limiting membrane, blood vessels and myelinic nerve fibers. On the level of the limiting membrane, their terminal feet form a kind of cellular barrier similar to that of the cerebral cortex in contact with the pia mater. With the nervous fibers, they establish close relationships at Ranvier's nodes level, being arranged around them forming small rings. The oligodendrocytes show their main branches impregnated up to where they reach the myelin sheath, but the protoplasmic compartment of this one is not impregnated, giving a different image to the one seen after microinjections with markers. Morphometric studies using fractal dimension and related parameters are presented next in part II of this work.


The study of the landscape and the analysis of the whole context of an archaeological site is crucial in archaeology in order to have an overview of the relationship among monuments and landscape or cityscape. However manually modeling large three-dimensional environment is expensive and time intensive method for limited financial resources of the archaeological projects. Procedural modeling is an approach particularly suited for accurate reconstruction of architectural Heritage, in particular for the fragmentary remains and formal architectural "rules" as derived from similar buildings belonging to other sites. However the reconstruction of a monument or a building from architectural remains in archaeology is a central issue for the interpretation of the ancient architectural technique. Most of the Classical building follow strict architectural rules, which have been comprehensively defined in ancient literature. By using the literary sources and converting them onto shape grammar representation it can be checked the reliability of the reconstruction. Moreover it can be used as scientific data for visualizing several hypothesis of the same monument by testing the availability of the 3D reconstruction. Finally it enables analyzing the 3D model in relation to its context, in order to understand the spatial relationship among the different element of an ancient landscape. The main aim of this work is to understand how the archaeologists can use the procedural modeling not only for dissemination purposes, but as a tool for scientific discussion about hypothesis of reconstruction.


Seagrass beds are highly productive and valuable habitats, which fulfill a key role in coastal ecosystems. Spatial distribution, biomass, density, productivity and leaf dynamics of the dominant seagrass species Thalassia testudinum were studied at five locations in the Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge, Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, from November 2005 until March 2006. Seagrass beds within the study area cover approximately 16 ha. Spatial and temporal differences in ecological seagrass parameters were examined along gradients of riverine inputs and related to a range of environmental parameters (depth, grain size distribution, nutrient concentrations, salinity and temperature). Average canopy cover and above-ground biomass of T. testudinum inversely correlated with depth, but did not vary significantly between study sites when compared along depth ranges. Considerable spatio-temporal variations in shoot densities, areal productivity and leaf sizes seem to be related to riverine inputs and wave energy. It appeared that T. testudinum at exposed sites respond to increased environmental disturbance related to the offset of the rainy season with clonal recruitment, whereby shoot densities increase and average leaf sizes are reduced. Lower shoot densities and greater leaf sizes, in contrast, are characteristic for locations with rather consistent environmental conditions, where seagrasses are sheltered. T. testudinum in the refuge has higher shoot densities but shorter leaves and lower productivity compared to sites in 15 other Caribbean countries. The seagrass beds appear to be in a relatively healthy state, however, observations of temporal increased stocks of filamentous epiphytes and macroalgae indicate temporal environmental stress in the system.


A nanocomposite of titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) and polyaniline (PANi) was synthesized by in-situ chemical polymerization using aniline (ANi) monomer and TiCl(4) as precursors. SEM pictures show that the nanocomposite was created in the form of long PANi chains decorated with TiO(2) nanoparticles. FTIR, Raman and UV-Vis spectra reveal that the PANi component undergoes an electronic structure modification as a result of the TiO(2) and PANi interaction. The electrical resistor of the nanocomposite is highly sensitive to oxygen and NH(3) gas, accounting for the physical adsorption of these gases. A nanocomposite with around 55% TiO(2) shows an oxygen sensitivity of 600-700%, 20-25 times higher than that of neat PANi. The n-p contacts between TiO(2) nanoparticles and PANi matrix give rise to variety of shallow donors and acceptor levels in the PANi band gap which enhance the physical adsorption of gas molecules.


The six-carbon polyol inositol is a uniquely versatile compound in biology. Myo-inositol is the major naturally occurring isomer of nine possible inositol isomers and is critical for the phosphoinositide (PI) cycle as a substrate for PI synthase (Berridge and Irvine 1989). Benjamins and Agranoff (1969) reported that epi-inositol is not a substrate for PI synthase, but a number of experiments suggest that epi-inositol might affect the PI cycle. Like myo-inositol, epi-inositol was shown to reverse Li-pilocarpine seizures (Williams and Jope 1995), strongly suggesting that epi-inositol could enter the PI cycle. Furthermore, accumulation of [3H]-cytidine monophosphate phosphatidate (CMP-PA) in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells during Li treatment is reversible with myo-inositol, and Richards and Belmaker (1996) found that epi-inositol was about 30%–40% as active as myo-inositol in reversing such accumulation. Myo-inositol has been found to have antidepressant and antianxiety effects in animal models (Einat and Belmaker 2001) and in controlled studies in patients (Levine 1997). Recently, Einat et al (1998) studied epi-inositol in the elevated plus maze model of rat anxiety and surprisingly found it much more active than myo-inositol.

In this report, we explored the effects of epi-inositol in the Porsolt Forced Swim Test model of depression (FST) and have attempted to replicate our previous results in the Elevated Plus Maze.

For the FST, rats (n = 10/group) were tested with two exposures to a water tank spaced 24 hours apart. Epi-inositol treatment (5 g/kg diluted in deionized water to 20 mL/kg) consisted of two injections, the first immediately after the first exposure to the water tank and the second 5 hours prior to the second exposure (the test session). This dose and schedule of injections was chosen because it was demonstrated to be effective in this model with myo-inositol (Einat et al 1999, 2001). The Elevated Plus-Maze model for anxiety study was designed to replicate our previously reported experiment (Einat et al 1998) and included 3 groups (n = 10/group) receiving chronic (11 days) daily intra-peritoneal injections at a dose of 1.2 g/kg myo-inositol, epi-inositol, and control solutions. Five to six hours after the last injection, animals were tested in an elevated plus-maze. A student's t-test was used to analyze the FST results. Since data were not homogenous (Levene test: F(2,26) = 3.8, p < 0.04), the Plus-Maze measures were analyzed using a Kruskall-Wallis nonparametric analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by similar post-hoc comparisons of open/closed arms entries and time ratio.

Epi-inositol treatment did not affect immobility (t(18) = 0.4, NS), swimming (t(18) = 0.84, NS), or struggle time (t(18) = 0.24, NS) in the FST. As previously reported, myo-inositol had an anxiolytic-like effect in the plus-maze model as demonstrated by significant increase in open/closed arms entries ratio (Kruskall-Wallis ANOVA, χ2(2) = 7.2, p < 0.03, post hoc tests myo-inositol different than control) and a similar trend for increase in open/closed arms time ratio (χ22(2) = 5.6, p = 0.06). However, in contrast with our previous findings, epi-inositol had no anxiolytic effects in the elevated plus-maze model.

Epi-inositol was not active in the FST, and the previous finding that epi-inositol is more effective than myo-inositol in the elevated plus maze model of anxiety was not replicated. Effects of myo-inositol in the FST have been shown to be mediated by the serotonergic system, specifically via 5-HT2A/C receptors (Einat et al 2001). Epi-inositol is not a substrate for PI synthase, is not incorporated into phosphatidylinositol, and does not enter into the PI cycle second messenger system (Benjamins and Agranoff 1969). The present finding therefore supports the hypothesis that myo-inositol's antidepressant and anxiolytic effectiveness is based on its ability to affect the PI cycle activity.

Epi-inositol, similar to myo-inositol, was active in the reversing of biochemical and behavioral effects of lithium action (Godfrey 1989; Patishi et al 1996), and in yeast, epi-inositol was shown to affect the expression of genes involved in the metabolism of myo-inositol (Shaldubina et al 2002). Therefore, the effect of epi-inositol, which is not incorporated into the PI cycle, in biochemical and behavioral models of lithium action could be explained by an epi-inositol effect on myo-inositol metabolism at the level of gene expression. However, as demonstrated by the present results, epi-inositol may not be enough to independently induce behavioral change in standard models of depression or anxiety at the same design where myo-inositol induces a clear and replicable behavioral change.


There is a real need to develop a sensory system that can monitor and track the behavioral status of a person in real time while protecting his/her privacy. In addition, it is important to have the ability to detect stationary and moving objects in real time to support dynamic navigation needs for mobile robots. This paper describes the development of intelligent fiber-grating (FG)-based 3-D vision sensory system that enables real-time object detection, monitoring, and tracking. This system uses the richness and the strength of the vision while reducing the data load and computational cost by encoding the working space using a limited number of spatially interrelated 2-D laser spots. The sensor system generates the laser spots by projecting a coherent laser beam on two perpendicularly overlaid layers of FGs. The presence of a target within the visible operational view of the sensor disturbs the part of the projected laser spots' pattern where the target appeared. By calculating the displacement of the disturbed spots within the CCD image plane, the sensor system can detect, in a short time, an object/human and provide relevant information in terms of range, approximate shape, and position. To facilitate faster detection and real-time tracking, the author has developed two strategies that decompose the working space into zones and virtual planes


Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) is a genetic imprinting disorder mainly caused by the absence of paternally expressed imprinted genes at 15q11.2-q13, maternal uniparental disomy (UPD) and imprinting defect. Typical features include hypotonia in early infancy, subsequent hyperphagia and morbid obesity, developmental delay and intellectual disability. The aims of this systematic review are to summarize the current knowledge of the treatments for PWS based on the clinical studies published from 2000 to 2017. We searched three main databases - PubMed, MEDLINE, and Scopus, and selected 34 out of 1139 articles initially identified for this review. We focused our discussions on the widely-accepted growth hormone (GH) treatment, and emerging investigational treatments oxytocin (OXT), anti-diabetes and anti-obesity drugs. In addition, early detection, early treatment, and combination therapies are proposed to assure a better outcome.  [N A J Med Sci. 2017;10(4):156-163.   DOI: 10.7156/najms.2017.1004156]


The present paper aims to analyse inter-regional freight transport movements in Europe in order to forecast spatio-temporal patterns of new transport economic scenarios. In view of the high dimension of our data-base on transport flows, two different approaches are compared, viz. the logit model and the neural network model. Logit models are well-known in the literature; however, applications of logit analysis to large samples are more rare. Neural networks are nowadays receiving a considerable attention as a new approach that is able to capture major patterns of flows, on the basis of fuzzy and incomplete information. In this context an assessment of this method on the basis of a large amount of data is an interesting research endeavour. The paper will essentially deal with a research experiment, oriented towards both calibration/learning procedures and forecasting, in order to compare the two above methodologies as well as to investigate the potential/limitations of the two above mentioned different, but related assessment methods. The first results in this framework highlight the fact that the two models adopted, although methodologically different, are both able to provide a reasonable spatial mapping of the inter-regional transport flows under consideration.


Decoration of the walls of carbon nanotubes (CNT) with functional groups and/or nanoparticles has been performed to add addnl. functionality to CNT, ranging from increased soly. in water to the possibility of aligning nanotubes in magnetic field. In this work we present a different approach based on embedding nanoparticles in the walls of CVD-carbon nanotubes during the synthesis process. Nanoparticles ranging in size from 5 to 30 nm and compn. from Fe3O4 to Au and nanodiamond were embedded in the walls of carbon nanotubes during the chem. vapors deposition (CVD) process. Multifunctionality can, therefore, be added to carbon nanotubes in a single step, avoiding complex and potentially damaging chem. processes to create anchor points for particles on nanotube walls, as done by decoration techniques. Gold and iron oxide nanoparticles can be used for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy and magnetic manipulation, resp. Upon annealing, silicon carbide nanoparticles and nanodiamonds transformed into hollow carbon onions embedded in the walls of the nanotubes as anchoring points between the graphene sheets of the tube. When the particles are only partially embedded in the walls of the nanotubes, addnl. carbon layers grow inside the hollow cavity of the tube covering these particles and producing hillocks inside the nanotubes. These features can be used for fluid mixing or sepn. at the nanoscale. Iron oxide particles are partially reduced to metallic iron during the CVD process and act as catalyst for small multi-wall carbon nanotube growth inside the CVD nanotubes. These structures can be used for mixing or sepn. of bio-polymers and nanoparticles from the fluid.


This article addresses the reticence of some farm women to share their experiences with historians and how that desire to keep secrets collides with the desire by scholars to tell the stories of these women. It argues that scholars must continue to struggle with the issue of which stories to tell publicly and which to keep private. The author discusses her own experience telling stories about rural women in the 1970s and the need to give voice to the heritage of rural women, especially of groups that have feared revealing their experiences. She offers examples of historians of rural women who have successfully worked with formerly silenced populations and urges historians to continue to tell stories about these lives, to reevaluate what has been already learned, to ask new questions, and to discuss which secrets need to be shared.


Sustainable development is renowned as promising culture and multifaceted methodology comprising environmental, ecological, scientific, economic, social and political issues of global significance. The key aspects of sustainable development from an energy and chemical perspective are to develop more renewable forms of energy and products to reduce pollution. Agricultural residues attract widespread attention for renewable energy generation and also for their large scale combustion. The combustion of these products results in the generation of ashes which is a source of silica for the synthesis of adsorbents like zeolites. The present study aims at synthesis of zeolite from waste of agricultural areas to propose a system of waste management. To achieve the objectives, waste wheat (straws) and chemically (Cetyl trimethylammonium bromide CTAB) modified wheat was mixed with spent aluminium foil solution, separately to obtain Si-Al zeolites. The synthesized product is characterized by Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The adsorption efficiency of synthesized zeolite was assessed by removal of pesticide (2, 4Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid). FTIR peaks of Si-O-(Si) and Si-O-(Al) at 1200-400 cm-1 confirmed the synthesis of aluminosilicate zeolite. Characterization of materials under XRD revealed crystalline morphology and nano-sized particles (0.24 nm) of synthesized zeolites. The two newly synthesized zeolites were applied as adsorbents for the removal of selected pesticides (2, 4-D (herbicide) and carbaryl (insecticide)) used on agricultural fields. The results indicated that modified zeolites are better adsorbents with percent removal of 5 and 15 orders higher for carbaryl and 2,4-D, respectively. This is attributed to the enhanced surface area and porosity due to surfactant (CTAB) addition. The sequence of removal on Zeolites suggests that basic insecticide (carbaryl) is less efficiently removed than acidic 2, 4-D. The study proposes novel agro-based adsorbents for management of pesticides in agricultural settings.2015 Trade Science Inc. INDIA Uzaira Rafique*, Nosheen Ayub Department of Environmental Sciences, Fatima Jinnah Women University, The Mall Rawalpindi, 46000, (PAKISTAN) E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Environmental Science An Indian Journal Volume 11 Issue 2


IEEE Electrical Insulation Magazine engineer might use this only for a basic understanding of the method and rather use a commercial FEA software that is widely available today. The book ends with a chapter on the design considerations in an avionics electronic package. Engineers who need to perform back-ofthe-envelope calculations for heat transfer or vibration problems will find this book to be an excellent resource. The material is written for quick learning and is geared for applying to practical problems encountered by engineers. Even if the problem does not involve electronics, the basic concepts and examples can be extended to many other types of heat transfer problems.


Abstract In this research, UV-curable acrylated epoxy-based oligomer adhesive formulations containing vinylphosphonic acid (VPA) were prepared to adhere cord fabrics onto the rubber surfaces. In order to enhance the peel strength between cord and rubber, an alkali treatment was applied onto the cord fabrics prior to the adhesive application process. Adhesive formulations and alkali-treated cords were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. By changing the VPA ratio in adhesive formulation, peel strength, flame retardancy, and thermal properties were evaluated. Results proved that the 10% VPA-included adhesive formulation provided highest char yield values supporting the flame retardancy property and the highest peel strength value of 50.8 N/cm between the cord fabric and rubber surfaces.


The study is an experimental investigations using PIV. The measurements were obtained by PIV for an unsteady laminar flow across a rectangular channel with a cross-section 300 × 30mm2, in the middle of which is located a cylindrical or a square obstacle. In the case of the cylindrical configuration and due to the confinement, PIV measurements in the range of 40 < Re < 200 clearly show that the von Karman vortex shedding appears at a critical Reynolds number which is about 66. A post-processing of these PIV measurements using the Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) technique is by keeping only the first most energetic six modes, can be used as a filtering process to remove noise from instantaneous velocity signals. In the case of the square obstacle, PIV measurements obtained in the range of 30 < Re < 350 show the absence of vortex detachments and the chaotic behavior of the wake behind the obstacle beyond a certain Reynolds number. By examining the POD post-possessing results, the existence of a dynamic detachments' regime (instantaneous breaking and coalescence of vortices), can be clearly observed. Given the chaotic behavior of the wake behind the obstacle, the application of the POD filtering process to only the first most energetic modes, cannot lead to good results.


This paper presents an example modeling flow for generating a RF CMOS model. Initially, the objectives of this modeling approach are analyzed. Then issues in test structure design are discussed. In the section of model generation, we cover the procedures of DC, AC, 1/f noise and RF modeling. We examine the issues related to measurement, parameter extraction, and optimization. We then focus our discussion on the issues related to advanced CMOS technology: gate tunneling current, measuring gate capacitance with high tunneling current, and de-embedding in s-parameter measurement. We present a method to determine the ratio, between drain and source, of the gate to channel tunneling current. We also briefly introduce the 1/f noise measurement system, which can do on wafer 1/f noise characterization. Finally, we present the fitted model results.


Demographic trends are forcing the homebuilding industry to speed up the industrialization process through mass customization. Our survey of companies in the sector of factory-built timber frame homes shows that data processing for the prefabrication of houses and their structural components comprises many iterations which generate a bottleneck at the technical design function. Companies must generate considerable agility in their design function to deal with repeated change in orders and to coordinate multidisci-plinary information, while controlling costs, delays and quality. In order to develop mass customization of factory-built timber houses, our study proposes a design system framework, taking advantage of a product platform based solution. The framework aims at integrating functional requirements and constraints in house engineering and manufacturing. Such conceptual work is an initial step towards emulating a multi-agent based method capable to provide proper coordination through proper data exchange required for the processes of the homebuilding value creation network.


Today by the increasingly growth of internet users, many internet services such as electronic mails, search engines and social networks are presented. Due to developments in internet services, disabling the services through automatic programs such as internet robots and hackers has become a main problem. CAPTCHA is a mechanism that confirms whether the user is a human or a computer program. This task is performed through some tests. Performing these tests is easy for human but it is difficult for robots. CAPTCHA techniques are trying to increase the mentioned difficulties in automatic programs and it is performed through increasing the deviations and parasite. Then solving it will become difficult for human. In this research an image CHAPTCHA is presented and it is done through mathematical morphology the purpose of this solution to increase security and to defend against malicious attacks and hackers. In this method by the input image, a binary model is developed and worn. Then by making some changes, the image is presented to the user and he should recognize the early image. According to these estimations, 96% human have passed the face CAPTCHA and 90.5% human have passed the non-face CAPTCHA, and the average of required time to answer is 16.8 for non-face CAPTCHA and 7.6 second for face CAPTCHA.


We want to approximate the mxn image A from scanned astronomical photographic plates (from the Sofia Sky Archive Data Center) by using far fewer entries than in the original matrix. By using rank of a matrix, k we remove the redundant information or noise and use as Wiener filter, when rank k<m or k<n. With this approximation more than 98% compression ration of image of astronomical plate without that image details, is obtained. The SVD of images from scanned photographic plates (SPP) is considered and its possible image compression.


In A-431 cells, platelet-activating factor (PAF) induces the expression of c-fos and TIS-1 genes in both the absence and the presence of cycloheximide in a structurally specific and receptor-coupled manner. We have now investigated the molecular mechanisms of this response, particularly in relation to the role of protein kinases. Pretreatment of cells with genistein or methyl-2,5-dihydroxycinnamate (tyrosine kinase inhibitors) or staurosporine (a protein kinase C inhibitor) for 20 min abolished the c-fos expression induced by PAF. Interestingly, when genistein was added 90 s after addition of PAF, no inhibition was observed. Similarly, staurosporine did not inhibit c-fos expression when added 8 min after PAF addition to the cells. These inhibitions were dose-dependent (IC50 for staurosporine was 180 nM, and for genistein 50 microM). Simultaneous addition of PAF and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) did not give a synergistic effect on c-fos expression. Pretreatment of cells with PMA had no effect on [3H]PAF binding, but abolished the PAF-induced gene expression. PAF-stimulated gene expression was desensitized if cells were pretreated with PAF. Interestingly, epidermal growth factor was able to stimulate c-fos expression in PAF-desensitized cells, and thus indicated involvement of distinct mechanisms for the two stimuli. Forskolin, an activator of adenylate cyclase, did not induce c-fos expression and had no effect on the PAF response. Exposure of cells to PAF for as little as 1 min, followed by its removal, was sufficient to activate the gene expression and demonstrated the rapidity and the exquisite nature of the signalling involved in this process. It is concluded that activation of PAF receptor (a proposed G-protein-coupled receptor) causes rapid production of signals which induce the expression of c-fos gene and that this is mediated via tyrosine kinase and protein kinase C.


Abstract Some definitions of the term 'lichen' have often emphasized the role of the mycobiont as exhabitant in the symbiosis. Mastodia tessellata and Turgidosculum ulvae, both forming lichen-like associations with foliose algae, have traditionally defied that definition. In this study, we delve into the poorly known association of T. ulvae with Blidingia minima. Using four molecular markers (nrLSU, nrSSU, RPB1, mtSSU) we show that T. ulvae is a member of the family Verrucariaceae, closely related to the marine species Verrucaria ditmarsica. The presence of bitunicate asci and single-cell ascospores is confirmed. Our analysis of a fragment of the rbcL marker demonstrates that the photosynthetic partner belongs to B. minima, although relationships within this taxon remain unclear. Transmission electron microscopy allowed us to illustrate how T. ulvae interacts with Blidingia cells, and how haustoria in that species differ from those previously investigated in other marine lichen-forming fungi.


The RNA editing enzyme ADAR, is an attractive therapeutic target for multiple cancers. Through its deaminase activity, ADAR edits adenosine to inosine in dsRNAs. Loss of ADAR in some cancer cell lines causes activation of the type I interferon pathway and the PKR translational repressor, leading to inhibition of proliferation and stimulation of cell death. As such, inhibition of ADAR function is a viable therapeutic strategy for many cancers. However, there are no FDA approved inhibitors of ADAR. Two small molecules have been previously described as inhibitors of ADAR: 8-azaadenosine and 8-chloroadenosine. Here we show that neither molecule is a selective inhibitor of ADAR. Both 8-azaadenosine and 8-chloroadenosine show similar toxicity to ADAR-dependent and independent cancer cell lines. Furthermore, the toxicity of both small molecules is comparable between cell lines with knockdown of ADAR and cells with unperturbed ADAR expression. Treatment with neither molecule causes activation of PKR. Finally, treatment with either molecule has no effect on A-to-I editing of an ADAR substrate. Together these data show that 8-azaadenosine and 8-chloroadenosine are not suitable small molecules for therapies that require selective inhibition of ADAR, and neither should be used in preclinical studies as ADAR inhibitors.


: The treatment of insane persons in the last century is briefly described. A more liberal and unrestrained treatment was introduced at the turn of the century, and chiefly agriculturally oriented insane asylums were established at that time. The question of persons trained to care for subjects afflicted with insanity was increasingly gaining in importance, and the aim was to have available a pool of skilled nursing personnel. Treatment by inducing artificial fever is outlined in addition to a brief description of a more activ treatment of patients by the Simon-Gutersloh method. In 1925, a "neuro-psychiatric dispensary" was established in the Soviet Union. Later, there were introduced such methods as insulin shock treatment and electroconvulsive therapy and, more recently, treatment with psychopharmaceuticals, the latter being drugs used in the treatment of emotional disorders in modern psychiatric hospitals. Inpatient and outpatient treatment is further developed with the establishment of day/night hospitals, and the need is pointed out to develop a system of care for mental patients on the model of that which exists in the Soviet Union.


Subthreshold operation of digital circuits has emerged as a promising approach to achieve ultralow power dissipation. However, extensive application of subthreshold logic is limited due to low performance and high susceptibility to process variation (PV). This paper proposes a PV-tolerant ultradynamic voltage scaling (UDVS) system where performance requirements dictate whether the devices will work in the subthreshold or superthreshold region. Due to different mechanisms of current conduction, it is necessary to use different P/N ratios for different regions of operation to improve circuit robustness, performance, and power. With an analytical model of circuit robustness, we present an adaptive body-biasing technique to dynamically adjust the ß-ratio depending on the operating region. Measurements show that our methodology improves the dynamic range of operation the circuits-from 1.2 V all the way down to 85 mV consuming 40 nW (at 85 mV) of power for an 8 × 8 finite-impulse response filter fabricated in a 0.13-¿m technology, and can salvage circuits which otherwise would fail to operate due to device mismatches and skewed P/N ratios.


The Lake Victoria haplochromine cichlids comprise a unique 'species flock' of over 500 historic species, of which perhaps only half still exist because of the introduction of invasive species and eutrophication of the Lake. Dr Les Kaufman supervised the establishment of captive populations of those cichlids he was able to acquire from Africa and Europe by developing the first North American regional studbook. Long-term propagation of these fish was then undertaken by public aquariums in Europe and North America. One species, the Pitch-black fulu Haplochromis piceatus, stands out as it has thrived at public aquariums and within the organizational structure of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plans. These cooperative breeding programmes focus on the conservation of select species of threatened animals. Captive populations of H. piceatus at public aquariums in the United States show a relatively slow loss of genetic diversity. Additionally, fish in at least two breeding programmes show a higher than expected heterozygosity, indicating that these programmes are successfully keeping their fish from inbreeding. The husbandry and genetic management of this population of fish is outlined, hopefully providing useful information for nascent breeding programmes of other aquatic species at zoos and aquariums around the world.


Modelling uncertainties (i.e. input errors, parameter uncertainties and model structural errors) inevitably exist in hydrological prediction. A lot of recent attention has focused on these, of which input error modelling, parameter optimization and multi-model ensemble strategies are the three most popular methods to demonstrate the impacts of modelling uncertainties. In this paper the Xinanjiang model, the Hybrid rainfall–runoff model and the HYMOD model were applied to the Mishui Basin, south China, for daily streamflow ensemble simulation and uncertainty analysis. The three models were first calibrated by two parameter optimization algorithms, namely, the Shuffled Complex Evolution method (SCE-UA) and the Shuffled Complex Evolution Metropolis method (SCEM-UA); next, the input uncertainty was accounted for by introducing a normally-distributed error multiplier; then, the simulation sets calculated from the three models were combined by Bayesian model averaging (BMA). The results show that both these parameter optimization algorithms generate good streamflow simulations; specifically the SCEM-UA can imply parameter uncertainty and give the posterior distribution of the parameters. Considering the precipitation input uncertainty, the streamflow simulation precision does not improve very much. While the BMA combination not only improves the streamflow prediction precision, it also gives quantitative uncertainty bounds for the simulation sets. The SCEM-UA calculated prediction interval is better than the SCE-UA calculated one. These results suggest that considering the model parameters' uncertainties and doing multi-model ensemble simulations are very practical for streamflow prediction and flood forecasting, from which more precision prediction and more reliable uncertainty bounds can be generated.


Proliferation, apoptosis and angiogenesis are critical biologic processes altered during carcinogenesis. Surrogate biomarkers of these processes represent potential intermediate endpoints for short-term intervention studies with preventive and therapeutic agents. We examined the interrelationships among these processes during prostate carcinogenesis induced by N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) in male Wistar-Unilever rats. Immunohistochemical and digital image analysis techniques were used to evaluate the proliferation index, the apoptotic index and microvessel density (MVD) in tissue representing stages of prostate carcinogenesis. The proliferation index in the normal glandular epithelium of the prostate is lower than that observed in hyperplastic foci and atypical hyperplasia (P < 0.01) and is further increased in carcinoma (P < 0.01). Apoptosis in the normal prostate epithelium or hyperplastic lesions is lower than in adenocarcinoma (P < 0.01). In parallel to proliferation index, MVD increases as prostate cancer progresses. As tumors enlarge, we observed a predictable change in biomarker expression within the tumor microenvironment. We examined prostate tumors vertical line 1 cm in diameter and biomarker expression was quantified within the peripheral (outer 1-2 mm), central (perinecrotic) and intermediate (remaining) areas of each tumor. The proliferation index is higher (P < 0.01) in the intermediate area than either in the peripheral area or central area. Similarly, the vascular density in the intermediate area is higher (P < 0.01) than either in the peripheral or central area. The apoptotic index is higher (P < 0.05) in the central perinecrotic core than that in either the intermediate or the peripheral area. In conclusion, we observe that angiogenesis, proliferation and apoptosis are linked biological processes predictably altered temporally and spatially during prostate carcinogenesis in the MNU model. These biomarker changes are similar to those reported in human prostate carcinogenesis and represent potential biomarkers for the assessment of dietary, chemopreventive and therapeutic agents.


Abstract Objective: Family meals promote healthful dietary intake and well-being among children. Despite these benefits, family meal participation typically declines as children age. This study utilises life course theory to explore parents' perceptions of family meals in order to understand how parents' past experiences with family meals (in childhood and earlier in adulthood) influence their current beliefs and practices regarding mealtimes with their own children. Design: Semi-structured qualitative interviews. Setting: In-person interviews were conducted in participants' homes. Participants: Twenty families (twenty-one mothers and fifteen fathers) with a child aged between 18 months and 5 years. Results: Thematic analysis revealed that families seemed to primarily approach mealtimes from one of three overarching orientations: meals for (1) Togetherness, (2) Nutrition Messaging or (3) Necessity. These orientations were informed by parents' own mealtime experiences and significant life transitions (e.g. parenthood). The current family meal context, including the messages parents shared with their children during mealtimes and the challenges experienced with mealtimes, characterised the orientations and families' approaches to mealtimes. Conclusions: Parents' own early life experiences and significant life transitions influence why families eat meals together and have important implications for the intergenerational transmission of mealtime practices. Results may help to inform the content and timing of intervention strategies to support the continuation of frequent family meals beyond the preschool years.


Assessment of prognosis from hepatitis requires liver histology. When the fibrosis stage is known, and if the fibrosis progression rate can be established, time to development of cirrhosis can be calculated. The fibrosis progression rate can be calculated from a single biopsy when duration of infection prior to biopsy is known. Sequential biopsies can also be examined. In this work, we studied histological activity and fibrosis stage in liver biopsies of 157 hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐infected patients, including 92 for whom the approximate duration of infection was known. The mean fibrosis progression rate was 0.09 units per year, and was not influenced by mode of infection or viral genotype. Forty‐six patients who had very mild histological changes in the initial biopsy underwent repeat biopsy 2 years later (with no intervening anti‐viral treatment). Comparison of paired biopsies confirmed a tendency to histological progression and increasing hepatic fibrosis (mean, 0.15 fibrosis units per year). A normal baseline alanine aminotransferase (ALT) value was associated with slow fibrosis progression before baseline biopsy and between biopsies. These data do not differ from published cross‐sectional and longitudinal studies, and suggest that histological progression will be observed during follow‐up of most patients, including those with mild histological changes at time of initial assessment.


Risk factors associated with diabetic microvascular complications, with special reference to ethnic origin, were looked for in 231 young Jewish insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) patients with duration of diabetes ≥10 yr. Median age at diagnosis of diabetes was 9.2 yr (range 0.04–26.2 yr), and median duration of the disease was 15.3 yr (range 10.0–37.2 yr). Sixty-three percent of the patients were Ashkenazi Jews, and 37% were non-Ashkenazi Jews. HbA1 was evaluated every 3 mo in the last 10 yr of follow-up, and albumin excretion rate was tested in three 24-h urine collections. Direct and indirect ophthalmoscopy was performed every year since diagnosis of diabetes, and if retinal pathology was suspected, color photographs were taken. Microalbuminuria was detected in 31% and macroalbuminuria in 7% of the patients. Nonproliferative and proliferative retinopathy was found in 44 and 12% of the patients, respectively. On logistic regression analysis, two variables were significantly and independently associated with diabetic nephropathy—non-Ashkenazi origin and mean HbA1 values over the first 5 of 10 yr of follow-up. Variables significantly and independently related to diabetic retinopathy were non-Ashkenazi origin, mean HbA1 values over the last 10 yr of follow-up, and duration of diabetes. Because non-Ashkenazi Jews in Israel are of lower socioeconomic status than Ashkenazi Jews, we stratified our patients according to their socioeconomic parameters, median HbA1 values, and duration of diabetes. Non-Ashkenazi patients were at a higher risk to develop complications in all strata. We further stratified patients into four quartiles according to mean HbA1 values; there was a steep increase in the risk to develop macroalbuminuria in the 4th quartile of HbA1 (odds ratio [OR] 4.3 vs. 1.2 in the 3rd quartile) and proliferative retinopathy (OR 13.0 in the 4th quartile of HbA, vs. 2.8 in the 3rd quartile). We conclude that non-Ashkenazi Jewish IDDM patients are at significant risk to develop microvascular complications, independent of their glycemic control, duration of diabetes, and socioeconomic status. Careful follow-up and special efforts toward improving glycemic control should be focused on high-risk subgroups of patients.


On the basis of my own and published data, a conclusion was made that meiotic terminalization of chiasmata, which was postulated by Darlington, does not occur. The chiasmata remain in the sites where they appear until the disjunction of homologous chromosomes in meiotic anaphase I. The disjunction of homologues is accounted for by repulsion of the sister chromatids. 87 refs., 6 figs., 2 tabs.


The implementation and application of manufacturing execution system (MES) is an important way to improve the management level and realize information management for automobile parts manufacturing enterprises. System selection is the basis and prerequisite for MES implementation. Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is applied in MES system selection in this paper based on the analysis of the MES system selection decision-making problem for automobile parts manufacturing enterprises. Firstly, the MES system selection decision indicators are established from the aspects of system technology performance, system suitability, quality of services and input-output of the MES system. On the basis, three solutions for MES system is analyzed and evaluated by AHP approach. The study of this paper provided a feasible solution for MES system selection decision-making.


Advertisement as one of mass form of communication, can net attention of many people to put attention pass its, don't know that picture, color, and also size measure and other elements, so that each people have view to advertisement. Perception of someone to an advertisement also flange [at] image which it is of course this matter relate to importantly [of] him a advertisement to continuity of a company. Operator advertisement phone XL cellular for example, in the middle of emulation of war of such tariff tighten in fighting over consumer, Pros of XL present advertisement which creative enough. Illustrated in that advertisement a unconvinced with various offer " cheap tariff" operator phone cellular, swearing will marry with goat if (it) is true there [is] really giving [of] cheap service tariff. And in the reality Pros of XL with guided their banner a beautiful woman present cheap assumed service price to every him to minute, till that man performance to marry with goat. In this research [of] researcher wish to look for soybean cake how perception of student of UMM about Pros advertisement of XL version ?Marry With Goat". This Research format [is] descriptive research by using method research of survey. this Research location [is] executed [by] [in] University of Muhammadiyah Malang. Population which [is] taken in this research [is] Majors Science Communications student of UMM becoming member of UKM Kine Klub # 7). From result of survey, got [by] the amount of population counted 34 student. So that technique determination of sample use totally [of] sampling, where if amount of population less than one hundred hence taken the overall of from amount of population. Operational definition in this research [is]: Perception of student about pros advertisement visualization of XL version "Marry [Is] samely [of] Goat", Assessment of student about peng-karakteran of figure (acting) of pros advertisement of XL version "Marry [Is] samely [of] Goat", and Assessment of student about pros advertisement setting of XL version " Marry [Is] samely [of] Goat". From result of data analysis, can be pulled [by] conclusion that Perception of student about pros advertisement visualization of XL version " Marry [Is] samely [of] Goat" enter in good enough category, Assessment of student about character of figure (acting) of pros advertisement of XL version " Marry [Is] samely [of] Goat" enter in good enough category, and Assessment of student about pros advertisement setting of XL version " Marry [Is] samely [of] Goat" enter bad category.. Keyword : Persepsi; Mahasiswa; Iklan Link terkait : http://skripsi.umm.ac.id/files/disk1/346/jiptummpp-gdl-s1-2009-adityanurr-17296-PENDAHUL-N.pdf


Engine tests were made on a transpiration-cooled blade that was fabricated from an internal load-carrying member with an external surface of wire cloth. After operation in the engine, some damage was noted at the tip region of the trailing edge of the blades. On other sections of the blade, the wire cloth did not appear greatly overheated, and it appeared that satisfactory chordwise temperature distribution was provided by orifices in the blade base.


As part of its monetary policy strategy, the European Central Bank has formulated a reference value for M3 growth. A pre-requisite for the use of a reference value for M3 growth is the existence of a stable demand function for that aggregate. However, a large empirical literature has emerged showing that, beginning in 2001, essentially all euro area M3 demand functions have exhibited instability. This paper argues that a proper understanding of the determination of money requires a portfolio analysis where the demand for broad money is seen as just one element in the wealth portfolio. Under this framework, wealth is the variable that constitutes the total budget constraint on the holdings of assets, including money, and changes in equity prices are a key transmission channel of monetary policy. Understanding money behaviour thus requires good data on euro area wealth which at present do not exist. Our basic premise is that there is a stable demand-for-money function but that the models that have been used until now to estimate euro area money-demand are not well-specified because they do not include a measure of wealth. Using two empirical methodologies a co-integrated vector equilibrium correction (VEC) approach and a time-varying coefficient (TVC) approach we find that a demand-for-money function that includes wealth is stable. The upshot of our findings is that M3 behaviour continues to provide useful information about medium-term developments on inflation.


The rare earths are known to have intriguing changes of the valence, depending on the chemical surrounding or geometry. Here, we aim at predicting the transition of valence when passing from the atomic divalent limit to the bulk trivalent limit. This transition is analyzed by addressing clusters of various size for selected rare-earth elements, i.e., Sm, Tb, and Tm, via a theoretical treatment that combines density functional theory with atomic multiplet theory. Our results show that Tm clusters change from pure divalent to pure trivalent at a size of six atoms, while Tb clusters are already divalent for two atoms and stay so until eight atoms and the bulk limit. Instead, Sm clusters are respectively purely divalent up to eight atoms. For larger Sm clusters, a transition to a trivalent configuration is expected and likely accompanied by a regime of mixed valence. The valence of all rare-earth clusters, as a function of size, is predicted from the interpolation of our calculated results. These predictions are argued to be best investigated by spectroscopic measurements. To ease experimental analysis, we provide theoretical spectra, based on dynamical mean-field theory in the Hubbard I approximation.


Viewpoint estimation is a fundamental procedure in vision-based robot tasks. A good viewpoint of the camera relative to objects can help the visual system perform better both in observation and manipulation. Recently, CNN-based algorithms, which can effectively extract discriminative features from images in challenging conditions, are utilized to handle the viewpoint estimation problem. However, most existing algorithms focus on how to leverage the extracted deep features while neglecting the spatial relationship among images that captured from various viewpoints. In this paper, we present a deep metric learning method for solving the viewpoint estimation problem. A triplet loss with a novel viewpoint-based input selection strategy is introduced, which could learn more powerful features after incorporating the spatial relationship between viewpoints. Combined with the traditional classification loss, the presented loss can further enhance the discriminative power of features. To evaluate the performance of our method, a dataset containing a large number of images generated from five different texture-less workpieces is built and the experiment results show the effectiveness of the proposed method.


Radical politics have been defined in modern times-and distinguished from earlier traditions of protest-by the idea that economic, social and political structures are contradictory. Systems of exploitation create not only wealth and prosperity for the powerful, but at the same time bring into being the forces which ensure their own eventual downfall. But it is a large step from the general assertion that social forms contain their own contradictions to analysis of the specific contradictions which occur in a given historical context, their interaction and movement, and their possible historical outcomes. This collection of essays examines social contradictions in the age of globalization in which old antagonisms often appear to be overcome, and new cracks are emerging in the facade of capitalist progress. Where do they occur? Where can they be expected to appear in future? How can they be grasped in a spirit of sober radicalism, which neither accepts the limits of the present nor overcomes them through wishful thinking alone? What possibilities do they offer for mobilizing resistance? These issues define an agenda which is critical for socialism in our time. Contributors to this volume are especially concerned with capitalism as a global system today, dependent on the strength of the U.S. economy and currency and on global financial institutions such as the World Bank capable of carrying out the capitalist agenda. They provide a timely and critical analysis of what big corporations want and of the problems their agenda creates for their own continued dominance and prosperity. Contributors include: Jim O'Connor, Ellen Wood, Gerard Dumenil, Aijaz Ahmad, Naomi Klein, Mino Carchedi, Reg Whitaker, Peter Golding and Graham Murdock, Mike Kidron, David Harvey, Pablo Gonzalez-Casanova, Elmar Altvater, Paul Cammack.


This paper presents a radar system for extracting human respiratory features. The proposed radar chip comprises three major components: a digital-to-time converter (DTC), a transmitter, and a receiver. The all-digital standard cell-based DTC achieves a timing resolution of 10 ps on a 100-ns time scale, supporting a range-gated sensing process. The transmitter is composed of a digital pulse generator. The receiver comprises a direct-sampling passive frontend for achieving high linearity, an integrator for enhancing the signal-to-noise ratio, and a successive approximation register analog-to-digital converter for signal quantization. A fully integrated CMOS impulse radar chip was fabricated using 65-nm CMOS technology, and the total power consumption is 21 mW. In the backend, a real-time digital signal-processing platform captures human respiratory waveforms via the radar chip and processes the waveforms by applying a human respiratory feature extraction algorithm. Furthermore, a clinical trial was conducted for establishing a new diagnosis workflow for identifying respiratory diseases by the proposed wireless sensor system. The proposed system was validated by applying an adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system and support vector machine algorithm to the clinical trial results. These algorithms confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed system in diagnosing respiratory diseases.


In Reply —The cases of meningitis that we presented do not prove a cause-and-effect relationship between lumbar punctures (LPs) and meningitis. As was stated clearly in the article, the "most obvious possibility is that the patient was bacteremic and had seeded the meninges prior to the initial examination." Since an LP must be performed on every child whose clinical condition suggests sepsis or meningitis, a prospective, controlled study would be unethical and immoral. Carefully controlled studies in animals, however, have demonstrated that, in general, experimental bacteremia alone does not produce meningitis. 1-5 When the animals were subjected to lumbar puncture during bacteremia, meningitis was regularly observed. 4,6,7 It is clear that the vast majority of cases of meningitis are in no way associated with a previous LP. The combined clinical and experimental data would suggest that under certain circumstances an initial LP might enhance the development of meningitis. The most


Task interruption is a pervasive applied problem despite a dearth of experimental work and the absence of a developed theoretical framework. Using a novel experimental approach (interrupting problem solving in the Tower of Hanoi task), and theoretical guidance from ACT-R-based models of goal suspension and resumption (Altmann & Trafton, 2002 Anderson & Douglass, 2001), nine experiments were conducted to assess how goal-directed behaviour is affected by interruption. A cost of interruption was exhibited mainly by extended times to resume an interrupted goal compared to an uninterrupted goal. The first empirical series established performance impairments in the form of long resumption latencies for promptly suspended goals and decrements in move accuracy, especially when interruption fell before or during a complex goal-sequence, with performance impaired further by secondary tasks that were similar to primary tasks. The second empirical series revealed that participants opportunistically encode promptly suspended goals for retrieval, a process supported by the associative activation provided by a salient colour priming cue and impaired when such a cue had changed colour and/or location. With a brief time lag before secondary task initiation, participants were able to encode a suspended goal more efficiently, reflected in faster resumption latencies even when secondary tasks were similar and when interruption fell within a complex goal sequence. The findings suggest that suspended goals do not reside in a heightened level of activation such that retrieval is definite (e.g., Goschke & Kuhl, 1993) neither is retrieval always abandoned at longer retention intervals (as suggested by Anderson & Lebiere, 2001). Instead, goals decay as a power function of the time since they were last processed and suffer retroactive interference from other goals, but can be reactivated if appropriately rehearsed and associated with salient retrieval cues (in support of Altmann & Trafton, 2002). In contrast to Altmann and Trafton, participants exhibit retrieval-like behaviour even when interruption is un-signalled, with efficiency augmented by experience of problem solving in the task domain and experience of being interrupted. The current experiments provide a novel insight into interruption management behaviours, particularly that humans are able and willing to adapt strategies to support faster and more efficient transitions back into the primary task.


Design space exploration (DSE) is nowadays of utmost importance to implement HW designs with acceptable levels of performance, power consumption, area and dependability (PPAD). Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools support the transformation of HW description models into technology-dependent implementations. Although designers can influence this process by tuning the parameters offered by EDA toolkits, determining their proper configuration is a complex and very time-consuming DSE problem rarely addressed from a PPAD perspective. On one hand, the spatial and temporal complexity of considered targets and the level of abstraction of their descriptions pose problems for the rapid execution of fault injection campaigns. On the other hand, the multi-level nature of parameters offered by EDA toolkits lead to an explosion of possible configurations to exercise during experimentation. This paper shows how to combine the D-optimal design of experiments with FPGA-based and statistical fault injection to significantly reduce not only the number of such configurations but also the number of faults to inject and the time required to perform each injection. All of this without compromising the statistical significance of results. The proposal is exemplified through the Xilinx Vivado Design Suite, which integrates one of the FPGA-based EDA toolkits most widely-used today in the industry, and the MC8051 IP core, a synthesizable microcontroller from Oregano Systems.


Type 2 immune responses are essential in protection against intestinal helminth infections. In this study we show that IL-22, a cytokine important in defence against bacterial infections in the intestinal tract, is also a critical mediator of anti-helminth immunity. After infection with Nippostrongylus brasiliensis, a rodent hookworm, IL-22-deficient mice showed impaired worm expulsion despite normal levels of type 2 cytokine production. The impaired worm expulsion correlated with reduced goblet cell hyperplasia and reduced expression of goblet cell markers. We further confirmed our findings in a second nematode model, the murine whipworm Trichuris muris. T.muris infected IL-22-deficient mice had a similar phenotype to that seen in N.brasiliensis infection, with impaired worm expulsion and reduced goblet cell hyperplasia. Ex vivo and in vitro analysis demonstrated that IL-22 is able to directly induce the expression of several goblet cell markers, including mucins. Taken together, our findings reveal that IL-22 plays an important role in goblet cell activation, and thus, a key role in anti-helminth immunity.


Nitrogen oxide (NOx) is a prevalent air pollutant across the United States and a requisite precursor for tropospheric (ground-level) ozone formation. Both pollutants significantly impact human health and welfare, so National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) have been established for each. As of 2013, over 100 million people in the U.S. lived in areas with ozone concentrations above the NAAQS. NOx emissions from the power sector, roughly 12% of total NOx emissions, are and will be significant contributors to ozone concentrations in the U.S. As such, states have reduced peak ozone concentrations through technology-based standards and cap-and-trade programs on NOx emissions from the power sector. These policies have largely treated NOx emissions uniformly. But marginal damages from NOx emissions are greatest on hot sunny days when meteorological conditions favor high ozone formation rates and, consequently, peak ozone concentrations. This thesis informs what type of policy is the most efficient for reducing peak ozone concentrations on high ozone days by assessing the cost-effectiveness of three policies for reducing NOx emissions on high ozone days. Emissions and costs under a relatively-novel differentiated policy, time-differentiated pricing, are compared for the first time to two currentlyimplemented undifferentiated policies, cap-and-trade and technology-based standards. Two power systems are studied, Texas and the Mid-Atlantic. A unique two-phase model is developed to capture the short(redispatching) and long-term (control technology installation) effects of pricing schemes on power plants. The two-phase model dispatches generators with a unit commitment model, which, unlike past studies, captures real-world operational constraints of generators that may strongly influence emissions and costs under time-differentiated pricing. Technology-based standards are simulated via Monte Carlo analysis to capture the uncertain rulemaking process. For reducing NOx emissions on high ozone days in both power systems, timedifferentiated pricing is shown to be the most cost-effective policy with regards to producer and consumer costs. Most emissions reductions are due to substitution of gasfor coal-fired generators, as control technology installations are only observed at very high time-differentiated prices. For reducing summer-wide NOx emissions, undifferentiated pricing is the most costeffective. In a minority of allocations, technology-based standards also achieve more costeffective summer-wide reductions than time-differentiated pricing, but such allocations cannot be guaranteed ex ante. These results suggest that time-differentiated pricing is the most efficient policy for reducing peak ozone concentrations, depending on ozone formation rates. Thesis Supervisor: Mort D. Webster Title: Visiting Assistant Professor, Engineering Systems Division


This paper proposes a recommender system to alleviate the cold-start problem that can estimate user preferences based on only a small number of items. To identify a user's preference in the cold state, existing recommender systems, such as Netflix, initially provide items to a user; we call those items evidence candidates. Recommendations are then made based on the items selected by the user. Previous recommendation studies have two limitations: (1) the users who consumed a few items have poor recommendations and (2) inadequate evidence candidates are used to identify user preferences. We propose a meta-learning-based recommender system called MeLU to overcome these two limitations. From meta-learning, which can rapidly adopt new task with a few examples, MeLU can estimate new user's preferences with a few consumed items. In addition, we provide an evidence candidate selection strategy that determines distinguishing items for customized preference estimation. We validate MeLU with two benchmark datasets, and the proposed model reduces at least 5.92% mean absolute error than two comparative models on the datasets. We also conduct a user study experiment to verify the evidence selection strategy.


Clustering algorithm and cluster validity are two highly correlated parts in cluster analysis. In this paper, a novel idea for cluster validity and a clustering algorithm based on the validity index are introduced. A Centroid Ratio is firstly introduced to compare two clustering results. This centroid ratio is then used in prototype-based clustering by introducing a Pairwise Random Swap clustering algorithm to avoid the local optimum problem of k -means. The swap strategy in the algorithm alternates between simple perturbation to the solution and convergence toward the nearest optimum by k -means. The centroid ratio is shown to be highly correlated to the mean square error (MSE) and other external indices. Moreover, it is fast and simple to calculate. An empirical study of several different datasets indicates that the proposed algorithm works more efficiently than Random Swap, Deterministic Random Swap, Repeated k-means or k-means++. The algorithm is successfully applied to document clustering and color image quantization as well.


Software engineering is a fundamentally collaborative activity, yet most tools that support software engineers are designed only for single users. There are many foreseen benefits in using tools that support real time collaboration between software engineers, such as avoiding conflicting concurrent changes to source files and determining the impact of program changes immediately. Unfortunately, it is difficult to develop non-trivial tools that support real time Collaborative Software Engineering (CSE). Accordingly, the few CSE tools that do exist have restricted capabilities. Given the availability of powerful desktop workstations and recent advances in distributed computing technology, it is now possible to approach the challenges of CSE from a new perspective. The research goal in this thesis is to investigate mechanisms for supporting real time CSE, and to determine the potential gains for developers from the use of CSE tools. An infrastructure, Caise, is presented which supports the rapid development of real time CSE tools that were previously unobtainable, based on patterns of collaboration evident within software engineering. In this thesis, I discuss important design aspects of CSE tools, including the identification of candidate patterns of collaboration. I describe the Caise approach to supporting small teams of collaborating software engineers. This is by way of a shared semantic model of software, protocol for tool communication, and Computer Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW) facilities. I then introduce new types of synchronous semantic model-based tools that support various patterns of CSE. Finally, I present empirical and heuristic evaluations of typical development scenarios. Given the Caise infrastructure, it is envisaged that new aspects of collaborative work within software engineering can be explored, allowing the perceived benefits of CSE to be fully realised.


Femur fractures are caused by high energy trauma or by musculoskeletal impairments, such as osteoporosis. The presence of total hip replacement (THR) superior to a femoral mid-shaft fracture greatly complicates fixation and treatment. The most conventional fracture fixation method is internal fixation by metal plate and screws. However, metal being stiffer than bone, causes stress shielding and bone resorption. The goal of this study was to evaluate the performance of a less stiff carbon fibre epoxy plate as fracture fixation in an injured and healed femur. IR thermography validated by finite element analysis (FEA) was used to investigate the stress patterns of an injured and healed femur under an average cyclic loading of 800 N at an adduction angle of 7 degrees to simulate the single-legged stance phase of walking. The average stiffness of an injured femur with carbon/epoxy plate was 532.1 N/mm (static) and 625.3 N/mm (dynamic) respectively, that increased to 597.6 N/mm (static) and 697.9 N/mm (dynamic) for the metal plate. For the healed femur, the average stiffness increased from 1660.3 N/mm (static) and 2010.0 N/mm (dynamic) for the carbon/epoxy plate to 1704.4 N/mm (static) and 2070.4 N/mm (dynamic) for the metal plate. IR stress maps for carbon/epoxy and metal plate (injured femur) showed an overall difference of 29.2% for the anterior and posterior sides. This is the first study to assess experimentally and computationally the biomechanical behavior of injured and healed synthetic femur with two different plates construct.


The generalized hypergeometric function $_qF_p$ is a power series in which the ratio of successive terms is a rational function of the summation index. The Gaussian hypergeometric functions $_2F_1$ and $_3F_2$ are most common special cases of the generalized hypergeometric function $_qF_p$. The Appell hypergeometric functions $F_q$, $q=1,2,3,4$ are product of two hypergeometric functions $_2F_1$ that appear in many areas of mathematical physics. Here, we are interested in the Appell hypergeometric function $F_2$ which is known to have a double integral representation. As demonstrated by Opps, Saad, and Srivastava (J. Math. Anal. Appl. 302 (2005) 180-195), the double integral representation of $F_2$ can be reduced to a single integral that can be easily evaluated for certain values of the parameters in terms of $_2F_1$ and $_3F_2$. Using many of the reduction formulas of $_2F_1$ and $_3F_2$ and the representation of $F_2$ in terms of a single integral, we have begun to tabulate new reduction formulas for $F_2$.