Confederation with Canada in 1949 marked a drastic change in Newfoundland's identity as it moved from Dominion to province. The impact reverberated throughout all aspects of life in Newfoundland, including the legal system. Studying the case law pre- and post-Confederation in its historical context illustrates the development of the use of precedent by the Newfoundland judiciary and emerging patterns where Canadian law was more likely to be considered. Paying particular attention to cases heard by the Newfoundland Supreme Court, which stemmed from or were influenced by the legal difficulties arising from the Confederation, as well as the evolution of the bench itself, reveals when the shift occurred from the dominance of British law over the Court's decisions to the infiltration and ultimate acceptance of Canadian law. The author examines the case law from 1932-1958, dividing it into three distinct periods, which move from a strong adherence to British authority, to the recognition that non-British precedent was gaining influence, to finally surrendering to the newfound supremacy of Canadian law. In conclusion, although Newfoundland's own legal precedents that were made prior to Confederation appeared insignificant once the province was subsumed under Canadian jurisdiction, the Justices of the Newfoundland Supreme Court were committed to applying the law in a practical manner that remained faithful to the needs and values of the Newfoundland people.


Motivation: The efficiency indices (EI's) have been derived from the experimental binding affinities of drug candidates to macromolecules. These 'two-in-one' measures include information on both pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of the candidate molecules. The time-consuming experimental measurement of binding affinities of extensive molecule libraries may become a bottle-neck of large scale generation and application of EI's. Results: To overcome this limitation, structure-based calculation of new EI's is introduced using the modified free energy function of the popular program package AutoDock. The results are validated on experimental binding data of biochemical systems such as potent inhibitors bound to -secretase, a key enzyme of Alzheimer's disease and various drug–protein complexes. Application of new EI's is tested. Thermodynamics of EI's and their role in virtual high throughput screening of drugs and in the development of docking programs are discussed. Contact: firstname.lastname@example.com Supplementary information: Accompanies this manuscript on the publisher's web site.


Objective: Obesity is rising globally with a heavy health and economic burden. Early attachment experiences are relevant to the development of obesity. The purpose of this study was to investigate if parental care and attachment style experienced in childhood is associated with obesity, with or without binge eating disorder (BED), in adulthood. Method: Parental style, personality traits, and psychopathology were assessed in 810 clinically referred adults with obesity, of whom 357 with BED and 453 without BED (non-BED), and 463 healthy subjects (HS). Assessments included the Parental Bonding Instrument, Temperament and Character Inventory, Eating Disorder Inventory-2, Symptom Checklist-90, and Beck Depression Inventory-II. Results: Both BED and non-BED reported lower maternal and paternal care and higher overprotection than HS. BED reported worse levels of parental care than non-BED and HS. "Affectionless control" parenting style was more frequently reported by both BED and non-BED than HS. No significant differences in parenting style emerged between BED and non-BED. Conclusions: Perception of parental "affectionless control" was associated with obesity in adults, and lower quality of parental care was more frequently reported by participants with BED. Parental style may constitute an important target for early interventions to prevent obesity.


Improving pasture utilisation on Tasmanian dairy farms is a key focus of research, development and extension programs, through increasing farmer awareness, knowledge and use of best practice pasture management practices. Recommended practices include using pasture management tools to provide objective information about pasture quantity, increasing control, flexibility and accuracy around pasture management decisions. A survey of 162 Tasmanian dairy farmers found large variation in tool use, and investigated the relationship between current tool use and key grazing management decisions. Key decisions include assessing pasture quantity (pre-grazing cover), grazing intensity (post-grazing residual), determining rotation length, and determining the level of non-pasture, supplementary feed required. There was a significant relationship between currently measuring pasture and using that information to assess pre and post-grazing cover, and decisions on rotation length (P < 0.05). The relationship between currently measuring pasture and using that information to make decisions on supplement feeding was not significant. Using pasture measurement data can assist in increased accuracy in supplement allocation, with inaccurate allocation resulting in potential over-feeding, substitution of supplement for pasture, reduced pasture regrowth, quality and utilisation. Extension can increase farmer knowledge and understanding of how pasture measurement data can be used to make more informed grazing decisions, and subsequent increase pasture utilization, milk production and farm profitability.


Vulnerability is a crucial factor in addressing COVID-19 as it can aggravate the disease. Thus, it should be considered in COVID-19 control and health prevention and promotion. This ecological study aimed to analyze the spatial distribution of the incidence of COVID-19 cases in a Brazilian metropolis and its association with social vulnerability indicators. Spatial scan analysis was used to identify COVID-19 clusters. The variables for identifying the vulnerability were inserted in a Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) model to identify their spatial relationship with COVID-19 cases. The incidence of COVID-19 in Fortaleza was 74.52/10,000 inhabitants, with 3,554 reported cases and at least one case registered in each neighborhood. The spatial GWR showed a negative relationship between the incidence of COVID-19 and demographic density (β=-0,0002) and a positive relationship between the incidence of COVID-19 and the percentage of self-employed >18 years (β=1.40), and maximum per capita household income of the poorest fifth (β=0.04). The influence of vulnerability indicators on incidence showed areas that can be the target of public policies to impact the incidence of COVID-19.


Multiphoton absorption processes have a nonlinear dependence on the amplitude of the incident optical field, i.e., the number of photons. However, multiphoton absorption is generally weak and multiphoton events occur with extremely low probability. Consequently, it is extremely challenging to engineer quantum nonlinear devices that operate at the single photon level and the majority of quantum technologies have to rely on single photon interactions. Here we demonstrate experimentally and theoretically that exploiting coherent absorption of
N
=
2
 NOON states makes it possible to enhance the number of two-photon states that are absorbed by at most a factor of 2 with respect to a linear absorption process. An absorbing metasurface placed inside a Sagnac-style interferometer into which we inject an
N
=
2
 NOON state, exhibits two-photon absorption with
40.5
%
 efficiency, close to the theoretical maximum. This high probability of simultaneous absorption of two photons holds the promise for applications in fields that require multiphoton upconversion but are hindered by high peak intensities.


OBJECTIVE
Catheter-based cerebral angiography is commonly used for neurovascular diagnosis in children. In this work, the authors aimed to quantify the complication rate of cerebral angiography in children, characterize these complications, and identify risk factors for complications.

METHODS
Relevant clinical data were retrospectively obtained for 587 consecutive cerebral angiography procedures performed in 390 children from March 2002 to March 2020. Complications were categorized as neurological or nonneurological, and severity was graded using a standard schema. Incidences of complications were reported as point estimates. Associations between risk factors and complications were characterized in univariate analysis using the two-tailed Fisher exact test and in multivariate analysis using multiple logistic regression with bidirectional elimination based on the Akaike information criterion. In both univariate and multivariate analyses, statistical significance was corrected for multiple comparisons using the Benjamini-Hochberg method.

RESULTS
Complications occurred in 6.5% of procedures, including neurological complications in 1.9% and nonneurological complications in 4.8%. Permanent deficits occurred in only 0.2% of cases. Overall, 0.5% of procedures resulted in major complications, while 6.0% resulted in minor complications. Female sex and a history of hypertension or ischemic stroke were associated with an increased risk of complications, while femoral artery access was associated with a decreased risk of complications.

CONCLUSIONS
Pediatric cerebral angiography was shown to have a low rate of major or permanent complications. Children who were female and those with a history of hypertension or ischemic stroke were shown to be at higher risk of complications, while the use of femoral access carried a lower risk of complications.


: A 51-year-old man and a 39-year-old woman with the hypereosinophilic syndrome developed a restrictive cardiomyopathy in the course of cardiac involvement. Echocardiography demonstrated typical thrombotic obliteration at the apex of both ventricles. Doppler ultrasound showed changes of impaired filling in both ventricles. Glucocorticoid treatment (prednisone, 85 mg daily) had to be drastically reduced (to 10 mg daily) in case 1, because of the development of a Cushing syndrome. The man died 18 months later of advanced heart failure. In the woman the eosinophil count fell after prednisone administration (1 mg/kg daily) and there was no recurrence. But heart failure due to impaired diastolic filling has persisted so that orthotopic cardiac transplantation has been planned.


Introduction: Intramedullary spinal cord tumors are rare, representing 4 to 10% of all central nervous system tumors. They account for 20% of all intraspinal tumors in adults and 35% of all intraspinal tumors in children. Study design: Observational study. Purpose: Understanding the natural progression of an intramedullary spinal cord tumor. Materials and methods: To report a case of silent intradural intramedullary spinal cord tumor in a 38-year-old patient, on regular follow-up in the outpatient department since 6 years. Investigations: Magnetic resonance imaging thoracic spine revealing intramedullary tumor which is localized, central, uniformly enhancing on contrast and is associated with syrinx formation from D1 to D7. Management: Conservative. Conclusion: The rare incidence of intradural tumors commonly results in misdiagnosis and improper diagnostic workup, resulting in delayed diagnosis and treatment. Dilemma exists in the management of clinically silent intramedullary tumors as no specific guidelines have been formulated.


Abstract Objective. This study assessed the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of psychiatric emergency service (PES) patients treated in a hospital on an off-shore island of Taiwan. Method. Data were gathered on 472 identified psychiatric patients presenting to PES over a 4-year period. Results. The majority of patients were male and were in the 50–59 age group with no previous psychiatric treatment or family history of mental illness. Hospitalization rates were low for both genders, but males spent a longer time in the emergency department. Males were more often seen for violence and homicidal behaviours, while females showed more evidence of suicidal behaviour. Males were more likely to receive medication by injection with or without physical restraint as opposed to oral medication and emotional support. Conclusions. The clinical characteristics of male and female PES patients in this remote island showed differences in length of stay, psychiatric diagnoses, behaviour characteristics, and final disposition. These findings differ from those in studies of PES patients on the main island of Taiwan, the United States and Europe. Future studies of other remote areas may confirm these findings and highlight the need to provide more and particular mental health services to these underserved areas.


A recent line of work has shown a qualitative equivalence between differentially private PAC learning and online learning: A concept class is privately learnable if and only if it is online learnable with a finite mistake bound. However, both directions of this equivalence incur significant losses in both sample and computational efficiency. Studying a special case of this connection, Gonen, Hazan, and Moran (NeurIPS 2019) showed that uniform or highly sample-efficient pure-private learners can be time-efficiently compiled into online learners. We show that, assuming the existence of one-way functions, such an efficient conversion is impossible even for general pure-private learners with polynomial sample complexity. This resolves a question of Neel, Roth, and Wu (FOCS 2019).


CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE
Subglottic involvement in squamous cell carcinoma is a determining factor for contraindicating conservative partial surgery. The subglottis is easily identified by axial computed tomography sections. The present study aimed to evaluate the occurrence of false-negative and false-positive results, and the overall accuracy of staging by computed tomography, in order to detect the involvement of the subglottic laryngeal compartment, in cases of laryngeal and hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

DESIGN AND SETTING
Retrospective, non-randomized study of patients treated at Hospital Heliópolis, São Paulo, Brazil.

METHODS
Computed tomography scans were performed on third-generation equipment with 5-mm slice thickness. Afterwards, all patients underwent surgical and anatomopathological examinations as the gold standard procedures.

RESULTS
Among 60 patients, 14 were diagnosed with subglottic extension by surgical and histopathological examination. There were three false-negative and no false-positive results from computed tomography scans. The sensitivity and negative predictive value were 100.0%. Accuracy was 95.0%, specificity was 93.5% and positive predictive value was 82.4%.

CONCLUSIONS
Computed tomography could serve as a powerful auxiliary method for staging laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer. However, precautions should be taken in analyzing computed tomography scan data, because vegetating lesions may also be projected into the subglottic compartment, without real involvement of the subglottis, which may cause a false-positive result.


T cell receptor (TCR) signaling is required for T-cell activation, proliferation, differentiation, and effector function. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is associated with impaired T-cell function leading to persistent viremia, delayed and inconsistent antibody responses, and mild immune dysfunction. Although multiple factors appear to contribute to T-cell dysfunction, a role for HCV particles in this process has not been identified. Here, we show that incubation of primary human CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells with HCV RNA-containing serum, HCV-RNA containing extracellular vesicles (EVs), cell culture derived HCV particles (HCVcc) and HCV envelope pseudotyped retrovirus particles (HCVpp) inhibited TCR-mediated signaling. Since HCVpp's contain only E1 and E2, we examined the effect of HCV E2 on TCR signaling pathways. HCV E2 expression recapitulated HCV particle-induced TCR inhibition. A highly conserved, 51 nucleotide (nt) RNA sequence was sufficient to inhibit TCR signaling. Cells expressing the HCV E2 coding RNA contained a short, virus-derived RNA predicted to be a Dicer substrate, which targeted a phosphatase involved in Src-kinase signaling (PTPRE). T-cells and hepatocytes containing HCV E2 RNA had reduced PTPRE protein levels. Mutation of 6 nts abolished the predicted Dicer interactions and restored PTPRE expression and proximal TCR signaling. HCV RNA did not inhibit distal TCR signaling induced by PMA and Ionomycin; however, HCV E2 protein inhibited distal TCR signaling. This inhibition required lymphocyte-specific tyrosine kinase (Lck). Lck phosphorylated HCV E2 at a conserved tyrosine (Y613), and phospho-E2 inhibited nuclear translocation of NFAT. Mutation of Y613 restored distal TCR signaling, even in the context of HCVpps. Thus, HCV particles delivered viral RNA and E2 protein to T-cells, and these inhibited proximal and distal TCR signaling respectively. These effects of HCV particles likely aid in establishing infection and contribute to viral persistence.


We have generated several hundred lines of zebrafish (Danio rerio), each heterozygous for a recessive embryonic lethal mutation. Since many tumor suppressor genes are recessive lethals, we screened our colony for lines that display early mortality and/or gross evidence of tumors. We identified 12 lines with elevated cancer incidence. Fish from these lines develop malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors, and in some cases also other tumor types, with moderate to very high frequencies. Surprisingly, 11 of the 12 lines were each heterozygous for a mutation in a different ribosomal protein (RP) gene, while one line was heterozygous for a mutation in a zebrafish paralog of the human and mouse tumor suppressor gene, neurofibromatosis type 2. Our findings suggest that many RP genes may act as haploinsufficient tumor suppressors in fish. Many RP genes might also be cancer genes in humans, where their role in tumorigenesis could easily have escaped detection up to now.


There has been increasing interest in the research on flavonoids from plant sources because of their versatile health benefits reported in various epidemiological studies. Since flavonoids are directly associated with human dietary ingredients and health, there is need to evaluate structure and function relationship. The bioavailability, metabolism, and biological activity of flavonoids depend upon the configuration, total number of hydroxyl groups, and substitution of functional groups about their nuclear structure. Fruits and vegetables are the main dietary sources of flavonoids for humans, along with tea and wine. Most recent researches have focused on the health aspects of flavonoids for humans. Many flavonoids are shown to have antioxidative activity, free radical scavenging capacity, coronary heart disease prevention, hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activities, while some flavonoids exhibit potential antiviral activities. In plant systems, flavonoids help in combating oxidative stress and act as growth regulators. For pharmaceutical purposes cost-effective bulk production of different types of flavonoids has been made possible with the help of microbial biotechnology. This review highlights the structural features of flavonoids, their beneficial roles in human health, and significance in plants as well as their microbial production.


raph Convolutional Networks (GCNs) have attracted increasing interests for the task of skeleton-based action recognition. The key lies in the design of the graph structure, which encodes skeleton topology information. In this paper, we propose Dynamic GCN, in which a novel convolutional neural network named Context-encoding Network (CeN) is introduced to learn skeleton topology automatically. In particular, when learning the dependency between two joints, contextual features from the rest joints are incorporated in a global manner. CeN is extremely lightweight yet effective, and can be embedded into a graph convolutional layer. By stacking multiple CeN-enabled graph convolutional layers, we build Dynamic GCN. Notably, as a merit of CeN, dynamic graph topologies are constructed for different input samples as well as graph convolutional layers of various depths. Besides, three alternative context modeling architectures are well explored, which may serve as a guideline for future research on graph topology learning. CeN brings only ~7% extra FLOPs for the baseline model, and Dynamic GCN achieves better performance with 2x ~4x fewer FLOPs than existing methods. By further combining static physical body connections and motion modalities, we achieve state-of-the-art performance on three large-scale benchmarks, namely NTU-RGB+D, NTU-RGB+D 120 and Skeleton-Kinetics.


Knowing the composition of household waste is a prerequisite for effective implementation of municipal solid waste (MSW) management facilities. To meet increasing regulations, facilities in terms of collection, sorting and treatment are becoming more sophisticated and expensive: performance reliability partly depends on a valid, representative knowledge of waste composition. In France, the current method of characterisation of household waste is MODECOM™, a guide to organise and manage analysis campaigns with the primary objective of evaluating the recyclable or the packaging material content of waste, or to determine the variations and characteristics related to the nature of housing, for example. Implementation of this methodology leads to primary MSW samples, which are successively screened and sorted into a set of standard categories. Although it is possible to determine the composition of household waste in this fashion, at the end of these operations looms the question of its accuracy. Even if the mass of fully sorted MSW samples (usually around 500 kg) may seem high, this is actually extremely small compared to the total lot from which it was sampled (several hundreds of tons, sometimes much more). The Theory of Sampling of particulate materials (TOS), as initially developed by Pierre Gy in the context of the mineral industry, is quite applicable also to household waste. In particular, it allows an estimate of the Fundamental Sampling Error (FSE) to be calculated for each of the sorted categories. From real-world examples of French MSW characterisations, this contribution shows which data are needed and how the FSE formulas are implemented, illustrating how it is possible to ascribe individual total error estimates for each category. This general overview will help local implementation efforts.


Modular Mobile Education: Science Experiments (MOBILIM) is an innovative pilot project for the vocational training of science teachers in rural regions of central Turkey supported by the European Commission in the frames of the Leonardo da Vinci program. In this project, a mobile science laboratory (MSL) was established in order to cope with the great disparities in opportunities between science teaching in urban and rural areas. Teacher training both in what concerns practical competencies and subject knowledge is one of the main reasons for these disparities in the standards of science teaching. Teacher training via MOBILIM is based on hands-on and demonstration practical activities. At the end of the MSL based phase a two-day conference was organized to provide an opportunity for discussion with and among teachers and also to make it possible to exchange ideas and experiences with European partners of the project. Results indicate that in order to improve teachers' practice in the classroom, experimental vocational education via mobile laboratories is advisable and allow good results. The majority of the teachers were delighted with the participation in both the training phase and the subsequent project conference. All of the teachers involved want to become a better and more active teaching force. There is a high expectation to carry on with similar courses in the future.


Scholars of early modern European history have long analyzed the historical production of locality. While they have illuminated how locality was produced by both individual and collective actions, their microanalytical approaches have often situated locality in a political and religious context, emphasizing, for instance, the importance of saints in the creation of locality.1 In this historiographical context, geographical practices have tended to be overlooked despite their obvious epistemic relevance. This is possibly due to the long-standing confusion between historical geography – a field akin to forms of antiquarianism and nationalism – and the history of geographical knowledge, which often stands at a crossroads of cultural history and the history of science.


This paper deals with cruises along Corridor 7 and the tourist offer of Serbia. The purpose of the paper has been to establish how international tourists see our country during their travels across Serbia on cruises along Corridor 7. The research has been based on the interviews with international tourists who participated in land tours while cruising through Serbia. The interviews, together with the structured questionnaire, were conducted from March to November 2007 with the objectives to establish the following: the structure of the respondents according to the country of origin, gender and age structure, as well as the social and economic structure; what their motives are for cruising along Corridor 7; what is their perception of the value obtained through the tourist product and services during the Corridor 7 cruises and during their stay in Serbia (what they liked best in Serbia; if they were dissatisfied with anything in terms of the tourist offer of Serbia; to what extent their visit complemented or influenced their personal impressions of this country - what their impressions were before and after the visit). The importance of this paper, above all, is in broadening our knowledge about the adequacy of the tourist offer in Serbia in the tourism segment which is the subject of study of the paper.


Two corrections should be made in the item"Blood groups and disease" [Science 124, 674 (12Oct. 1956)] which reports a paper on associationsbetween blood groups and disease read to the British Association for the Advancement of Science. The three diseases for which the evidence isoverwhelming are (i) duodenal ulcer, (ii) gastriculcer, (iii) cancer of the stomach. As is stated, theulcers are commoner in persons of group O, andcancer of the stomach in persons of group A.There is fairly strong evidence in connection withdiabetes mellitus and pernicious anemia; but theincidence is raised in group A, not groups O and B. It should perhaps be added that practically allthe data so far come from Western Europe andNorth America, and the associations might be different or absent in other peoples.


The purpose of this study was to compare two different methods to teach educators about HIV/AIDS. Sixty educators were selected from eight schools in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa, to undergo HIV/AIDS training using an interactive CD-ROM intervention. Another sixty educators from other schools were selected to undergo a two-day Care & Support Training Programme provided by the Department of Education. The outcomes both before and after the interventions were measured by surveying the educators' knowledge and attitudes related to HIV/AIDS, as well as their self-efficacy with respect to dealing with HIV/AIDS in the classroom setting. Both interventions resulted in significant changes in knowledge and attitudes as well as in the self-efficacy with respect to ability to teach about HIV/AIDS and to deal with classroom situations involving HIV and blood. The Care & Support Training Programme proved superior in enhancing basic knowledge about HIV, and the CD-ROM was superior in teaching about HIV transmission risks.


The conventional view of economists is that the optimal supply of public goods must directly take into account the cost of financing them with distortionary taxes, notably the income tax. However, this article demonstrates, under standard simplifying assumptions, that it is possible to finance a public good in a manner that results in no additional distortion, by using an adjustment to the income tax that offsets the benefits of the public good. In this case, it is optimal to supply the public good whenever the simple costbenefit test is satisfied. The article also shows that if a different tax adjustment is made, the difference in outcome will be purely redistributive; thus, any change in distortionary costs will be accompanied by an opposing change in redistributive benefits. In this case, the cost-benefit test should be modified to reflect both of these changes. Finally, it is explained that the present analysis is fully applicable to determining the optimal level of environmental taxes.


The principle that no one shall be unjustly enriched at the expense of another has been invoked to rationalise the right to restitution in a number of cases which fall outside the provinces of contract and tort. This has eventually led to the recognition of an independent legal discipline known as the law of unjust enrichment. It is among the most debated private law subjects today despite its remarkably recent origin. In Malaysia, despite the increase in judicial reference to the language of unjust enrichment to justify an award of restitutionary relief, there is generally a lack of understanding about the subject and a failure to adopt a principled approach in its treatment. Therefore, it can hardly be said that Malaysia has a well-developed law of unjust enrichment, which is unfortunate given how frequently issues concerning unjust enrichment arise. This article seeks to address the problem by offering an introduction to the subject. The ensuing discussion proceeds in five parts. Part I (History) embarks on a journey through time, tracing the evolution of unjust enrichment from its beginning to its modern form. Part II (Taxonomy) examines the place of unjust enrichment within the general framework of private law and explains its differences with the more familiar disciplines such as contract and tort. Part III (Terminology), which flows from the discussions in Parts II and I, explains why it is important to speak of unjust enrichment instead of restitution. Part IV (Lessons) explains why the discussions in Parts I to III matter today. Lastly, Part V (Future) sets out certain themes that should inform future works on this subject. The last two parts will focus on the Malaysian context.


Proposals are to be submitted to redevelop St Silas' CE Primary School, Clematis Street, Blackburn, Lancashire (NGR SD 66847 28536, Figure 1). The existing school opened in
1885 and is extant and in use. Capita Symonds commissioned Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) to undertake a desk-based assessment to identify the known archaeological
resource in order to inform the planning process, and consider whether there is a requirement for any further archaeological work.
The desk-based assessment was carried out in July 2010 and comprised a search of both published and unpublished records held by the Lancashire County Historic Environment
Record (HER) in Preston, the Lancashire Record Office in Preston, the Community History Library in Blackburn and the archives and library held at OA North. In addition to this, the site was visited in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the study area, and assess the significance of the built heritage.
The assessment identified a total of eighteen sites of archaeological and historical interest within the study area, which were added to a gazetteer (Section 4) and the locations are plotted on Figure 2. This included four Grade II Listed buildings (Sites 02, 06, 07 and 09), and a further six sites recorded in the HER (Sites 01, 03-05, 08 and 10). In addition, eight sites were added to the gazetteer following consultation of historic maps (Sites 11-
18). The site visit confirmed that there is a single, extant Victorian school building, in the proposed development boundary (Site 08). The building incorporates some ornate
architectural detail within its design, and has seen relatively little alteration to the fabric. It is in good condition and is a significant architectural survival of the period. No further sites were added to the gazetteer as a result of the inspection.


Understanding why planning succeeds should be one of the main occupations of planning theoretical and empirical inquiry. Yet developing a clearer understanding of planning success seems an implausible task because (1) there is no definition of what planning success is; (2) there is no empirical knowledge of when—in what circumstances—planning has in fact succeeded; and (3) there is no method for measuring planning success, especially methods which are able to measure the implementation of plans specifically. In this paper I argue that planning scholars need to focus more attention on developing a body of theory about why planning succeeds, originating from a specific object-oriented view of planning. I argue that too much attention has been paid to theories of planning failure, whereas planning success, apart from anecdotal accounts, has not been systematically or rigorously explored. What is needed is a more explicit, measurable, meaning of planning success and to facilitate this I propose the use of a conformance view of evaluation. Toward this goal I present an approach to the investigation of success in planning in which all aspects of measuring planning success are tied into one analytical process. I then give a specific example of how implementation success can be evaluated in a conformance approach.


Abstract. The euthecosome (shelled) Antarctic pteropod, Limacina helicina antarctica, is a dominant member of the Southern Ocean macrozooplankton community, and due to its aragonitic shell, is thought to be particularly vulnerable to ocean acidification and under-saturation conditions that are predicted in the future. Notably, pteropods in surface waters and near the continental shelf in the Ross Sea are highly vulnerable as these regions are predicted to be seasonally under-saturated within 2–3 decades. Carbonate chemistry data are rare for this region and here we present the results of a 6-week field study and report patterns of dissolution of juvenile pteropods along with carbonate chemistry of seawater at the time of collection. Conducted in McMurdo Sound in the south Ross Sea in the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean, L. h. antarctica was successfully collected in plankton tows through the fast sea ice at a single station at 50 m. During the 6-week field study, ocean pH was relatively stable, ranging from 7.988 in October to 8.029 by early December. Calculated saturation states for aragonite (Ωarag) over the 6-week study period ranged from 1.16 to 1.24. Pteropods collected at each sampling time point were prepared for SEM and analysis revealed that roughly 63 % of the shells displayed some degree of shell irregularities suggesting that active dissolution of the aragonitic shell was ongoing under in situ conditions. These results add to the accumulating evidence that shelled pteropods of the Southern Ocean are experiencing aragonite under-saturation events in the present-day that lead to a majority of individuals displaying shell dissolution. Predicted changes to the carbonate system in the Southern Ocean from ocean acidification will likely expand the intensity and duration of these under-saturation events, increasing the need to better understand how pteropods will fare in response to ocean acidification.


Core concepts of the interdisciplinary social science field of conflict analysis and resolution (CAR) are discussed. Work in the field is based on numerous generally accepted ideas about the nature of conflict and constructive approaches to conflict. These ideas include ways of waging conflicts constructively, tracing the interconnectedness of conflicts, and assessing the multiplicity of actors. Other important core concepts relate to stages of conflicts: emergence, escalation, de-escalation and settlement, and sustaining peace. Finally, current and future issues regarding CAR conceptualizations and their applications are examined.


In this paper, we address the problem of redundancy-reduction of high-dimensional noisy signals that may contain anomaly (rare) vectors, which we wish to preserve. For example, when applying redundancy reduction techniques to hyperspectral images, it is essential to preserve anomaly pixels for target detection purposes. Since rare-vectors contribute weakly to the -norm of the signal as compared to the noise, -based criteria are unsatisfactory for obtaining a good representation of these vectors. The proposed approach combines and norms for both signal-subspace and rank determination and considers two aspects: One aspect deals with signal-subspace estimation aiming to minimize the maximum of data-residual -norms, denoted as , for a given rank conjecture. The other determines whether the rank conjecture is valid for the obtained signal-subspace by applying Extreme Value Theory results to model the distribution of the noise -norm. These two operations are performed alternately using a suboptimal greedy algorithm, which makes the proposed approach practically plausible. The algorithm was applied on both synthetically simulated data and on a real hyperspectral image producing better results than common -based methods.


Polypropylene fibrous concrete is a new kind of composite material. Polypropylene fiber leads to an increase in the resisting strength, cracking resistance performance, resistance to impact performance and permeability reducing performance of the concrete, thus reduces the shrinking and deformation of the concrete. This paper uses the method of numerical analysis, assisted by the software of finite element analysis, makes both static and dynamic analysis on the polypropylene fibrous concrete ditch with different volume mixing. It results in the stress and strain table of the head and base plates of the polypropylene fibrous concrete ditch in the case of 0.1%, 0.5%, and 1% volume mixing of polypropylene fibers. The paper provides technological basis for formation design of the polypropylene fibrous concrete materials, and laids technological foundation for the further developments of polypropylene fibrous concrete in hydraulic engineering.


Abstract Almost thirty years ago the criteria that are currently used to verify claims for the discovery of a new element were set down by the comprehensive work of a Transfermium Working Group, TWG, jointly established by IUPAC and IUPAP. The recent completion of the naming of the 118 elements in the first seven periods of the Periodic Table of the Elements was considered as an opportunity for a review of these criteria in the light of the experimental and theoretical advances in the field. In late 2016 the Unions decided to establish a new Joint Working Group, JWG, consisting of six members determined by the Unions. A first meeting of the JWG was in May 2017. One year later this report was finished. In a first part the works and conclusions of the TWG and the Joint Working Parties, JWP, deciding on the discovery of the now named elements are summarized. Possible experimental developments for production and identification of new elements beyond the presently known ones are estimated. Criteria and guidelines for establishing priority of discovery of these potential new elements are presented. Special emphasis is given to a description for the application of the criteria and the limits for their applicability.


It is now widely known that by adversarial attacks, clean images with invisible perturbations can fool deep neural networks. To defend adversarial attacks, we design a block containing multiple paths to learn robust features and the parameters of these paths are required to be orthogonal with each other. The so-called Orthogonal Multi-Path (OMP) block could be posed in any layer of a neural network. Via forward learning and backward correction, one OMP block makes the neural networks learn features that are appropriate for all the paths and hence are expected to be robust. With careful design and thorough experiments on e.g., the positions of imposing orthogonality constraint, and the trade-off between the variety and accuracy, the robustness of the neural networks is significantly improved. For example, under white-box PGD attack with $l_\infty$ bound ${8}/{255}$ (this is a fierce attack that can make the accuracy of many vanilla neural networks drop to nearly $10\%$ on CIFAR10), VGG16 with the proposed OMP block could keep over $50\%$ accuracy. For black-box attacks, neural networks equipped with an OMP block have accuracy over $80\%$. The performance under both white-box and black-box attacks is much better than the existing state-of-the-art adversarial defenders.


This thesis examines the role which marketing plays in the planning process of small indigenous companies in the electronics sector in the Republic of Ireland. In particular it attempts to identify the main influencing factors which shape the particular approach adopted by such firms.

The research involved a comprehensive review of the literature on small business policy in Ireland, entrepreneurship, growth and the small firm, and also strategy and planning. A pluralistic approach to the design of the research programme was adopted. This involved three phases; consisting of in - depth interviews, telephone interviews and final seven detailed case studies of electronics firms.

The quantitative phase showed that there was a strong relationship between the size of the customer base and the tendency to adopt an informal, intuitive approach to planning. Likewise there was evidence to suggest that the size of the company (defined as the number of employees) also influences the approach to planning. There was no evidence to suggest that the length of time a company was established, the propensity to export, or the category of product manufactured, had any significant impact on the approach to planning.

The case studies identified a number of critical variables and influencing factors on the approach to planning. The most salient issues were the approach to customer management, the way in which relationships are managed, the ability to manage critical events effectively, the dichotomy between strategic decision - making and operational decision - making and the ability to delegate the latter decisions to other personnel in the company. The cases revealed that there is a strong tendency to formalise the annual plan; usually in the form of a budgetary exercise.

The thesis concludes by noting that these issues need to be more fully understood before adopting a prescriptive approach to planning; as is the case in much of the extant literature.


The EFSA Panel on Food Additives, Flavourings, Processing Aids and Materials in Contact with Food (AFC Panel) and the subsequent Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids (CEF Panel) have undertaken evaluations of the safety of flavourings (both chemically defined substances and mixtures such as smoke flavourings) and food contact materials (FCM), as well as assessments on other substances used in food. The major progress in methodologies for the evaluation of the safety of these substances is highlighted in this article. By December 2011, scientific opinions had been adopted for 247 substances for food contact materials, mainly plastics. Adoption of a series of opinions on active and/or intelligent packaging substances and on recycling processes of plastics is planned between July 2012 and December 2013. Panel opinions, EFSA statements/reports and guidance documents were published on specific issues and on substances for which there was an urgent request for safety evaluation (for example isopropylthioxanthone (ITX), bisphenol A (BPA), phthalates, epoxidised soybean oil (ESBO), benzophenone and 4-methylbenzophenone). By 2009, the AFC and CEF Panels had completed the safety review of 2 067 flavourings substances used in the EU. Additional data, which were requested for 404 substances, are currently under evaluation or have been generated. Eleven smoke flavourings have been evaluated, and the CEF Panel has prepared a guidance document on the future data required for the evaluation of flavourings.


In the current clinical scenario, restenosis following the primary surgical procedure for lumbar canal stenosis is being frequently noticed. A number of studies have evaluated the reoperation rates following different surgical procedures for lumbar canal stenosis. However, a dilemma still exists about the surgical procedures, associated comorbidities and reoperation rates. In this study, we have reviewed the existing literature for lumbar canal stenosis surgery and their reoperation rates. A PubMed search for all papers stating "reoperation after spinal stenosis," "revision surgery after spinal stenosis," and "reoperations and lumbar canal stenosis" were explored. A total of 440 publications were found, of which 23 publications were shortlisted. The existing literature on reoperation rates after surgery for lumbar canal stenosis was reviewed and analyzed. From the literature search, 29680 patients who underwent surgeries for spinal stenosis have been included in the review. 11.65% ± 4.25% of them underwent reoperations following the primary procedure with a followup period of 6.80 ± 3.90 years. Fenestration surgeries showed an average reoperation rate of 7.58% ± 5.29% in 8.28 ± 6.26 years followup as compared to laminectomy alone (12.70% ± 7.49%, 6.50 ± 2.12 years followup). Laminectomy with or without fusion showed a reoperation rate of 11.22% ± 4.25% in 6.00 ± 2.60 years followup period. The comparative results of these studies were however not significant. The causes of reoperation were multifactorial ranging from the type of procedure performed, associated comorbidities or smoking. Statistical data do not indicate the superiority of any particular type of surgery, which reduces the rate of reoperation. The causes for reoperation are inadequate decompression or instability. The literature does not give statistics for these complications in the papers. Smoking is an independent risk factor for revision surgery. Diabetes reduces the time interval between the initial surgery and the revision surgery. This review highlights the causes of reoperations in various lumbar stenosis surgeries, associated comorbidities and expected outcome.


This article attempts to look into some of the links between modernity and tradition, the link to place and globalisation, using several "protected origin products" as the basis of the investigation. It is argued that the concept of protecting products, despite its ancient tradition, is a thoroughly modern occurrence with its emphasis on the local and the collective. Can consumption theory help provide part of the explanation for the (re)emergence of regional speciality foods in the UK ? The research naturally crosses boundaries between traditional disciplines and this work draws on a wide range of literature, especially that of post-modern theories of consumption. Consumption has become a major focus of research in the social sciences and humanities. It is increasingly perceived as central to understanding the historical development of modern industrial society and the social and cultural structure of postmodern societies. Focus on the supply chain brings to the debate a more holistic approach. Secondary information about the products under investigation, interviews with those in the supply chain and results from focus groups will be used to investigate the identified tensions. A final section will involve a discussion of PDO/PGI in its historical and current context in the UK, with a brief introduction to intellectual property Jaw which questions the importance of Regulation 2081/92 in the UK, in comparison to many southern European countries. The authors believe that, although abstract, a link can be conceived between theory and practice, and that UK consumers, along with many producers, intermediaries, retailers and institutions, may understand the protection at a deeper level than previously thought. The Regulation was met with much scepticism, and many remain ambivalent, but it is shown that those in the supply chain have positive hopes for the future.


Preaching after Easter examines the festal history and homiletics of Mid-Pentecost, Ascension, and Pentecost in the late-antique Mediterranean world. Methodologically rigorous studies of important sermons and preachers are complemented by attention to Jewish-Christian dialogue, art-historical reception, and contemporary liturgical theology.


Deciding whether to grant test accommodations for a student with disabilities is challenging and controversial. Current accommodations practice is seldom research based, and professionals charged with such decisions often reach different conclusions. The result can be either unnecessary accommodations that compromise test validity or the denial of accommodations to a student who needs them. In this book, Benjamin Lovett and Lawrence Lewandowski draw on research to offer clear, specific guidelines for deciding when accommodations are appropriate for a student with disabilities -- depending on the test being taken, the accommodations being considered, and the student's functional skills. The book also explains how laws and practices differ for K-12 accommodations versus postsecondary education and workplace accommodations, as well as how universal test design might lessen the need for test accommodations.


Determining camera calibration parameters is an essential step in most computer vision endeavors; it is a time-consuming task despite the availability of calibration algorithms and software. A set of point correspondences between points on the calibration target and the camera image(s) must be found, usually a manual or manually guided process. Two commonly used calibration tools are implementations of Zhang's (OpenCV) and Tsai's algorithms, however, these assume that the correspondences are already found. A system is presented which allows a camera to be calibrated merely by passing it in front of a panel of self-identifying patterns. This calibration scheme uses an array of ARTag fiducial markers which are detected with a high degree of confidence, each detected marker provides one or four correspondence points. The user prints out the ARTag array and moves the camera relative to the pattern, the set of correspondences is automatically determined for each camera frame, and input to the OpenCV calibration code. Experiments were performed calibrating several cameras in a short period of time with no manual intervention. This system was implemented in a program for co-planar calibration, results are shown from several calibration tests with different cameras. Experiments were performed comparing using either the four ARTag marker corners or a single marker center as correspondences, and the number of image frames necessary to calibrate a camera was explored. This ARTag based calibration system was compared to one using the OpenCV grid finder cvFindChessBoardCornerGuesses() function which also finds correspondences automatically. We show how our new ARTag based system more robustly finds the calibration pattern and how it provides more accurate intrinsic camera parameters.


This study explored first-, second-, and third-grade reading instruction and students' (n = 1,586) reading skill growth in Florida Reading First (RF) classrooms (n = 95). The goal of RF is to improve students' literacy outcomes through the use of research-based instruction, assessment, teacher training, and program evaluation. Whereas survey data have shown that schools are generally implementing the major components of RF, we found no studies that related observed classroom instruction and student reading outcomes, which was the purpose of this study. Students attended schools that were historically high poverty with generally weak student achievement. Standardized assessments of vocabulary and reading comprehension, as well as progress-monitoring oral reading fluency tests, were administered. Classrooms were observed in the spring of the school year for 1 hour during reading instruction. In general, first graders demonstrated expected reading comprehension skills by the end of the school year; however, second and third graders did not. Hierarchical linear models revealed that the effect of instruction on students' reading comprehension was highly complex, varying substantially across grades. Further, the effect of instruction depended on the grade observed as well as students' vocabulary and fall oral reading fluency skills.


The effects of secretagogues (glucose, tolbutamide and phorbol esters) on simultaneously measured intracellular free calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) and insulin release were studied in rat pancreatic islets of Langerhans. Stimulatory concentrations (11mM) of glucose caused a transient [Ca2+]i. In contrast with mouse islets, rat islets scarcely showed glucose-induced [Ca2+]i oscillations. Digital image analysis showed that [Ca2+]i changes occurred synchronously across the whole islets. As expected simultaneously measured insulin release was biphasic with a clear second phase. This clearly indicated that in rat islets there is a lack of correlation between [Ca2+]i and insulin release. This was further explored using agents which separately promoted the first (tolbutamide, 200 microns and second (phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate; PMA; 5nM) phases of insulin release. Tolbutamide induced a transient increase in [Ca2+]i. These results suggest that in rat islets the first phase of insulin release is calcium dependent, whereas the second phase is related to the activation of protein kinase C (PKC). However, the glucose-induced second phase of insulin release did not coincide with an increase in membrane-associated PKC activity. Other messengers may contribute to this late phase of insulin release.


A majority of t(14;18) translocations have been shown to cluster at one of two sites on chromosome 18, called the major breakpoint region (mbr) or the minor cluster region, (mcr), which map within or flanking the bcl-2 proto-oncogene, respectively. We have determined the nucleotide sequence for a portion of the mcr, and constructed oligonucleotides that were used to perform the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in conjunction with universal immunoglobulin primers to specifically amplify t(14;18) breakpoints in DNA obtained from follicular lymphomas. Eight of ten breakpoints that were detectable on Southern blots using DNA probes for the mcr could be detected due to specific amplification by the PCR technique using an mcr-specific primer. Direct nucleotide sequencing of the enzymatically amplified DNAs showed that the breakpoints clustered within a 500 nucleotide region, and five occurred within three nucleotides of each other. These data show a remarkable clustering of some t(14;18) breakpoints at a site on chromosome 18, at least a 30-kb distance from the bcl-2 gene. Our findings also indicate that mcr-specific primers may be used in conjunction with previously described mbr-specific primers in a highly sensitive DNA amplification technique to detect a large fraction of t(14;18) breakpoints.


Adaptation and Personalization systems can benefit with the incorporation of ontological knowledge, especially when it comes to modeling users. In this paper we present a cognitive approach to Web Personalization based on an ontology that contains users' cognitive factors. Accordingly, a human factors' ontology has been designed and developed using RDFa, and could be used in any Web-based application for returning an optimized adaptive result to the user. A commercial Website was filtered through an adaptive mechanism based on that ontology. This mechanism is described by a proposed set of RDFa objects for the imminent dynamic transformation and enhancement of the Web-based content. Consequently this describes the adaptation of user interfaces to the individualistic preferences and needs of users. The expected impact of the content reconstruction lies in the increase of users' satisfaction and efficiency of information processing, while users navigating in the personalized condition rather than the original one.


PURPOSE
Blood conservation programs have been successfully implemented in hospitals in which an overarching commitment to the reduction of the number of blood transfusions existed. This review will describe the rationale and some of the considerations involved in starting such a program.

SUMMARY
Management of a hospital's blood supply is a high pressure area dominated by a resource shortage, increasing costs, a medical community that has been trained to use transfusion, public awareness and concern, and to a lesser extent an increasing body of evidence suggesting that transfusions are often deleterious. The implementation of new techniques and protocols to conserve blood during surgery can be facilitated if a physician champion addresses the medical staff and the hospital administrators clear political and budgetary issues. With a team approach and an understanding of the clinical and economic evidence supporting less blood use, many of the hurdles can be overcome.

CONCLUSION
Blood conservation programs offer a solution to the multiple problems that surround blood use. When successfully implemented, such initiatives reduce safety concerns, hospital spending, and the dependency of hospitals on the national blood supply and improve clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction.


Classical Be stars are hot non-supergiant stars surrounded by a gaseous circumstellar disk that is responsible for the observed infrared (IR) excess and emission lines. The influence of binarity on these phenomena remains controversial. We followed the evolution of the environment surrounding the binary Be star $\delta$ Scorpii one year before and one year after the 2011 periastron to check for any evidence of a strong interaction between its companion and the primary circumstellar disk. We used the VLTI/AMBER spectro-interferometric instrument operating in the K band in high (12000) spectral resolution to obtain information on both the disk geometry and kinematics. Observations were carried out in two emission lines: Br$\gamma$ (2.172\,$\mu$m) and $\ion{He}{i}$ (2.056\,$\mu$m). We detected some important changes in $\delta$ Scorpii's circumstellar disk geometry between the first observation made in April 2010 and the new observation made in June 2012. During the last two years the disk has grown at a mean velocity of 0.2\,km\,s$^{-1}$. This is compatible with the expansion velocity previously found during the 2001-2007 period. The disk was also found to be asymmetric at both epochs, but with a different morphology in 2010 and 2012. Considering the available spectroscopic data showing that the main changes in the emission-line profiles occurred quickly during the periastron, it is probable that the differences between the 2010 and 2012 disk geometry seen in our interferometric data stem from a disk perturbation caused by the companion tidal effects. However, taking into account that no significant changes have occurred in the disk since the end of the 2011 observing season, it is difficult to understand how this induced inhomogeneity has been ''frozen'' in the disk for such a long period.


Cycling stage races are strenuous endurance events during which exercise-induced variations in hematological parameters are consistently observed. However, specific literature on such changes is scarce and published data have been derived from small samples of athletes. The aims of this study were: (1) to determine the hematological response to middle-term strenuous endurance; and (2) to determine whether a relationship exists between the athlete-specific hematological profile and final placement in a cycling stage race. The study population was male professional cyclists (n = 253) competing in the 2010 (n = 144) and 2012 (n = 109) GiroBio 10-day stage races. Blood draws taken before the start of the race, at mid-race, and at end-race were performed in strict compliance with academic and anti-doping pre-analytical warnings. Blood chemistry included white blood cell, red blood cell, hemoglobin concentration, hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean hemoglobin content (MCH), mean corpuscular hemoglobin content (MCHC), platelets, and reticulocyte relative and absolute counts. Compared to baseline values, erythrocyte, hemoglobin, hematocrit, MCHC, platelet and reticulocyte counts were all consistently lower at mid-race, but returned to normal by race-end, while leukocytes were increased in the final phase. MCV increased during both events. MCH increased in the first part to then return to baseline in the 2012 race. The calculated OFF-score consistently decreased in the first half of the race before increasing, but remained lower than the baseline value. The trends of variation in hematological parameters were substantially similar in both events. There was an inverse, albeit weak, relationship between placement and erythrocyte, platelet, hemoglobin, hematocrit and OFF-score values in the 2010, but not in the 2012 race. In conclusion, the data confirm that, in this large series of elite road cyclists, the strenuous effort a rider sustains during a stage race induces appreciable changes in the hematological profile.


Stratigraphic traps are, in general, directly related to their respective depositional environments. An understanding of the depositional environment is essential to successful prospecting for oil and natural gas in this type of hydrocarbon reservoir. The concept of differential compaction of a sedimentary sequence makes isopach studies of shales immediately above (and below) a lenticular sand body or a knobbed blanket sand, of considerable value in isolating areas of interest to the Petroleum Geologist. The variations in thickness of these shales are independent of present day structure and these studies of such genetic sequences serve as real indicators of sand bodies and their depositional trend. Structure contour maps drawn on a reliable time marker (e.g. a marine transgression) within the selected genetic sequence can provide the information required to select a drilling location. In all such studies all the tools and data available to the Petroleum Geologist should be consulted and considered. This thesis is a brief account of the work of the Petroleum Geologist in the active search of oil and natural gas, the tools he uses, the data he consults, the regional depositional environment he must understand and a description of a typical example, the Bellshill Lake Oilfield, of one of the projects he is likely to be called upon to undertake.


The main quality that we ascribe to the case-based reasoning is its capacity to resolve a problem even when the application area is badly formalized. The one in which we have interested doesn't even permit to represent cases per a set of important features. The objective of our system is finding out an evolution from a given date. Matching between evolutions is realized according to a viewpoint. We have hence defined a distributed architecture in which each module "reasons per case" according to different viewpoints on the evolution. The first originality of our work is the utilization of the case-based reasoning for this kind of problems. The second one, and the most important, is a case representation independent from the analysis of the important features of the case. This one has naturally consequences for the matching technic.That's specifically on this point that our approach is related to techniques being utilized by IRS (Information Retrieval System).


Research objective: Learning management systems (LMS) is an important tool in higher education, in distance learning as well as on campus. The purpose of this study was to analyse factors influencing acceptance learning management systems among academic staff and students in blended learning environments.Methodology: The study was performed as a comparative, explanatory case study at three universities providing master education of public health in Sweden, Norway and Lithuania. The three universities implemented similar learning management systems during the same time span. The study was performed from a combined theoretical perspective of technology acceptance theories, diffusion of innovation and organizational learning. Qualitative interviews were performed with academic staff, such as deans, project managers and teachers. A survey questionnaire was distributed to public health master students at the three universities.Outcomes: Although the implemented learning management systems were similar and implemented in teaching and learning of the same academic discipline, the implementation strategies and the degree of acceptance of the learning management systems varied significantly between the three universities. The degree of acceptance was high at the Lithuanian university, low at the Swedish university and in between at the Norwegian university. The findings of the case study showed that the contextual factor of organisational culture was powerful in influencing acceptance of learning management systems, positively as well as negatively. The organizational culture of the universities, expressed as shared values of what is good quality teaching and learning, were found to partly oppose values inherent in the learning management systems. At the Swedish university, a strong orientation towards face to face teaching on campus hampered the implementation of the learning management system. At the Norwegian university, the learning management system was perceived as something necessary to survive as an academic institution, but also as a threat to academic freedom. Finally, at the Lithuanian university, the learning management system was perceived as a means of creating new opportunities for the academic institution as, as such, as something inherently good. These findings imply that organizational culture should be considered as a significant factor in implementation of educational technology.


In this paper, a novel maglev moving-magnet-type synchronous permanent magnet planar motor (SPMPM) is proposed. A stator is composed of several printed circuit boards instead of copper windings. The proposed SPMPM shows the important characteristic that propulsion planar forces have structural independence of each other so it can be easy to control the motion of the SPMPM. The magnetic field distribution, propulsion force, and suspension force equations are solved analytically and verified using the experimental works


Background: COVID-19 is a multisystemic disorder caused by SARS-CoV-2 that has led to more than 1,000,000 deaths until the end of September 2020. Besides aging, obesity, and metabolic diseases, males, in particular those affected by androgenetic alopecia (AGA), are at higher risk to develop complications. While policies for diagnosis of COVID-19 still focus on the presence of fever or shortness of breath, these symptoms tend to appear only in later and more severe stages of the disease, when viral infectivity is already, hampering potential antiviral approaches. In addition, clinical characterization of early COVID-19 stages still lacks. The objective of the present observational study was to characterize prospectively clinical features and predictors in males during early COVID-19, and to evaluate whether the combination of more sensitive case-detection, early diagnosis and early pharmacological approaches would lead to improved clinical outcomes.Material and methods: Males confirmed for COVID-19 through positive real-time polymerase chain reaction (rtPCR) for SARS-CoV-2 with less than seven days of symptoms and three days of COVID-19 confirmation were divided into non-AGA, AGA not using dutasteride (AGA no-5ARi), and AGA using dutasteride (AGA-5ARi) groups. Patients were actively characterized for baseline and lifestyle characteristics, 22 different diseases, 42 drug classes and vaccines, 26 different symptoms, and 10 different parameters to measure COVID-19 related clinical outcomes. Azithromycin plus hydroxychloroquine, nitazoxanide 500mg or ivermectin, with or without dutasteride or spironolactone were used. Patients were then evaluated for COVID-19 clinical course, duration, and progression.Results: A total of 305 males were enrolled, including 192 non-AGA, 71 AGA non-ARi and 52 AGA-5ARi. The prevailing symptoms were anosmia (68.9%), ageusia (61.2%), headache (37.5%), hyporexia (37.5%), fatigue (35.2%), dry cough (35.2%), fever or "feverish" (33.9%), thoracic pain (32.4%), conjunctival hyperemia (29.5%), weakness (29.5%), nasal congestion or rhinorrhea (28.6% and myalgia (26.3%). ARi users remained asymptomatic throughout COVID-19 treatment in 82.7% (43 of 52 males), and the only symptoms present in more than two AGA-5ARi patients were anosmia and ageusia. Thoracic, upper back, lower back pain, arthralgia affected a higher percentage of AGA no-5ARi than non-AGA males (all p < 0.01), but had similar durations (p = n/s). Anosmia, ageusia, headache, fatigue, myalgia and conjunctival hyperemia were more commonly present and lasted for longer periods in AGA no 5ARi patients (all p < 0.01). Self-reported perception of "sinusitis" and "sore throat", dry cough and weakness were equally present (p = n/s) but had longer duration in AGA no-5ARi males (all p < 0.01).The different drug combinations were equally distributed (p > 0.05). AGA males were more severely affected than non-AGA in terms of duration of clinical manifestations (9.4 ± 6.0 vs 14.2 ± 7.3 days, p < 0.0001) and viral shedding (14.0 ± 5.2 vs 17.8 ± 6.2 days; p < 0.0001), which has been fully mitigated by the chronic use of dutasteride (p < 0.0001 and < 0.0001 vs non-AGA and AGA no-5ARi, respectively, for both clinical manifestations and viral shedding duration. Non-AGA, AGA no-5ARi and AGA-5ARi achieved 95% clinical recovery in seven, 14, and two days, respectively. In regards functional capacity, AGA no -5ARi males at Days 30, 14, 7, and 3 after treatment initiation were similar than non-AGA at Days 14, 7, 3, and 0, respectively (all p > 0.9). None of the patients required hospitalization and mechanical ventilation, or progressed to more severe states.Conclusion: The combination of more sensitive and earlier diagnosis of COVID-19 with a variety of drug combinations with preliminary demonstration of direct or indirect antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 demonstrated indisputable improved COVID-19 related clinical outcomes compared to the extensively described COVID-19 clinical course, and avoided the progression to more severe state in all patients included in the present analysis, independently of risk factors, demonstrating that any additional risk factor can be completely mitigated by the combination of more sensitive clinical suspect with early pharmacological approaches.The overwhelming differences indicate that full placebo control RCTs for early COVID-19 may be ethically questionable. Instead, double blind therapies with different options, or mixed open label placebo control for COVID-19 should be considered.


We show that the magnetic state of individual manganese phthalocyanine (MnPc) molecules on a Bi(110) surface is modified when the Mn2+ center coordinates to CO molecules adsorbed on top. Using scanning tunneling spectroscopy we identified this change in magnetic properties from the broadening of a Kondo-related zero-bias anomaly when the CO-MnPc complex is formed. The original magnetic state can be recovered by selective desorption of individual CO molecules. First principles calculations show that the CO molecule reduces the spin of the adsorbed MnPc from S=1 to S=1/2 and strongly modifies the respective screening channels, driving a transition from an underscreened Kondo state to a state of mixed valence.


Abstract We prove the existence of a periodic solution to a nonlinear impact oscillator, whose restoring force has an asymptotically linear behavior. To this aim, after regularizing the problem, we use phase-plane analysis, and apply the Poincaré-Bohl fixed point Theorem to the associated Poincaré map, so to find a periodic solution of the regularized problem. Passing to the limit, we eventually find the "bouncing solution" we are looking for.


We develop a model of informal financial networks and present corroborating evidence by studying the role of professional property brokers in the U.S. commercial real estate market. Our model demonstrates how service intermediaries, who do not supply finance themselves, can facilitate their clients' access to finance via repeated informal relationships with lenders. Empirically, we find that, controlling for endogenous broker selection, hiring a broker strikingly increases the probability of obtaining a bank loan from 40 to 58 percent. Our results demonstrate that even in the U.S., with its well-developed capital markets, informal networks play an important role in controlling access to finance.


The diagnostic yield of different electrophysiological criteria was examined to establish whether a peroneal palsy was due to compression of the nerve in the region of the capitulum fibulae. Slowing of sensory conduction along the segment of the nerve across the capitulum fibulae localized the lesion in 64% of 47 consecutive patients with a history indicating or suggesting compression of the nerve in the vicinity of the capitulum fibulae and there were no false positive findings in 18 patients whose peroneal palsy was not due to compression at the capitulum fibulae. In 20% of the patients with slowing along the segment across the capitulum, conduction velocity was normal when measured from the superior retinaculum to the popliteal fossa. Slowing along motor fibres (m. extensor digitorum brevis) localized the site of the lesion in one-third of the patients. Differences in amplitude and in split-up of the sensory responses recorded in the popliteal fossa as compared with those recorded distal to the capitulum fibulae were of limited diagnostic value because of many false positive findings among patients whose peroneal palsy was not due to compression of the nerve at the capitulum fibulae.


Language is used to communicate with others. Furthermore, there are implicit meanings behind utterances because sometimes when we say something we do not exactly just say it. This condition encourages the writer to increase her awareness of the study of the speech acts theory focused on the locution, illocution, and perlocution. Austin considers that to say something may be to do something and concludes that in uttering, one can perform three acts simultaneously: locutionary act, illocutionary act, and perlocutionary act. The three questions that the writer tries to answer are: 1) what are the locutionary meanings and the locution types of the locutions in Friends. 2) what are the illocutionary forces and the illocution types of these locutions and 3) what are the perlocutions of the utterances produced by the characters in Friends. The writer chooses Friends as her source of data because Friends is known as the one of the American top serials which is also successful in Indonesia. Friends is also admitted by experts because of its quality. And the problems in Friends are everyday life's problems which might happen in our life, too. In this study, the writer limits her study to seven scenes from fifteen scenes presented. She takes seven scenes only because only these scenes are relevant to Joey's and Chandler's problem about their separation, while the other scenes are not. In this study she focuses on one possibility of illocutionary forces. To answer the problems, she uses the speech acts theory focusing on the locution, illocution, and perlocution. She uses Langacker's and Searle's description in analysing her data. And she uses descriptive and qualitative research to describe the locution, illocution, and perlocution in television series Friends. Having analysed the data, the writer finds that a declarative type does not exist in the illocutionary act. And she also finds that a declarative form is conventionally used for asserting, showing proudness, disbelieving, criticizing, admiring, understanding, showing confusion, apologizing, disagreeing, agreeing, complimenting, showing happiness, showing sadness, expressing anger, greeting, requesting, suggesting, promising, and refusing. The next finding is that an interrogative form is conventionally used for showing proudness, disbelieving, criticizing, admiring, greeting, joking, showing anger, requesting, suggesting, and asserting. And the last finding is that an imperative form is conventionally used for commanding, disbelieving, and showing happiness. The perlocutions are not always verbal but non- verbal ones also occur. And most of the speakers are able to interpret the speaker's intention well, so the interaction goes smoothly.


All determinations were done according to Gorsky and Dietz3 in the Institut Pasteur, Lyons, using a Perkin-Elmer atomic absorption spectrometer model 3030 with an HGA 600 graphite furnace and a Zeeman background correction system. The intra-assay and interassay coefficients of variation were less than 5%. Aluminium concentration in Merieux albumin was the lowest (1-03 (SD 0-13) pmol/l). In the other products aluminium content showed a wide disparity ranging from 4-1 to 1301 1tmol/I depending on batch and manufacturer. The source of aluminium contamination in albumin solutions is not yet known. It might originate from the extraction of filters and filter aids used to clarify fractions obtained during the manufacturing process, or from containers, glass, or bottle caps.4 Albumin is usually separated from other plasma components by Cohn's or Cohn's modified method. Our product is the only one to be fractionated from placental blood, however, not from plasma. This led us to improve the purification procedure by including one more step in the fractionation process: an ion exchange on diethylaminoethanol dextran and adsorption chromatography on diethylaminoethanol derivatives of silica beads.5 Before chromatography aluminium was found at a low concentration ranging between 0-41 and 1-68 1umol/l. It was no longer detectable after chromatography, although the protein concentration was nearly 10 times the initial value. The reappearance of a low but detectable aluminium concentration in the final albumin sample was explained by the fourfold increase in protein concentration caused by the last ultrafiltration step. To prevent aluminium overloading, especially in patients with impaired renal function, the albumin solutions should contain very low amounts of aluminium. Chromatography is a useful additional step to the classical fractionation process to remove aluminium contamination.


The effects of imaging with coherent light are investigated and related to the parameters of an imaging system. Theoretical results are presented to describe the imaging parameters and the coherent field effects. The experimental results show the coherent field effects of edge ringing and shifting, speckling and field-of-view limitation. Incoherent results are presented in some cases for comparison.


This study was conducted with the aim to evaluate the characteristics of Chokanan mango at harvest. The Chokanan fruits were harvested from selected trees in commercial mango plot at Sintok MARDI Research Station, Kedah, Malaysia. Data on the fruit characteristics such as weight, length (L), width (W), thickness (T) and total soluble solid (TSS, °Brix) were measured and recorded for 13 weeks. The results revealed high significant differences (p <0.001) in terms of recorded weight, W, L, T, size (W x L x T) and TSS of the Chokanan fruits among the selected trees. The mean value of the fruits weight at harvest ranged from 120 to 380 g and TSS ranged from 14.5 oBrix to 22.8 oBrix. In the present study, the distribution of fruits weight was skewed to the left indicating larger percentage of smaller fruits, but normal distribution was recorded for the TSS. Apart from that, high significant correlation (R2 >0.80) was found in the weight and size, L, W and T of the fruits. However, the weight and size of Chokanan were inversely correlated with TSS. The coefficient of variation (cv) differed among the harvested trees with the highest were recorded on weight and size of fruits (cv = 9.5 and 11.4, respectively). Finally, the possible causes of variability of Chokanan fruits were reported and discussed.


This study aims to describe: 1) the concept of leadership implementation in learning management practices at LKP Solafide Semarang, 2) Supporting and inhibiting factors for the implementation of leadership concepts in practical learning at LKP Solafide Semarang, 3) the effectiveness of Semarang. This type of research is descriptive qualitative. Location at LKP Solafide Semarang. The data source was obtained at the location. The research subject is an instructor. The technique of interviewing data, observation and, documentation. Data analysis was carried out by using qualitative descriptive analysis, and data validity was performed by triangulation. The results show: 1) The teachers of LKP Solafide Semarang in learning management practices have implemented the concept of leadership in learning management practices at LKP Solafide Semarang, 2) Supporting factors for sinvolved human resources; Facilities and infrastructure in LKP, the inhibiting factor is incompetent teachers, and diverse students in various departments, 3) Effective implementation of leadership concepts in learning practices at LKP Solafide Semarang.


: To study the postoperative recurrences of varicocele and the relationship between recurrences and sperm variables, we reexamined postoperatively 48 patients aged 14-56 years (mean: 25 years); the patients returned within a time range of 4 to 36 months. All the patients underwent physical examination, B-mode, color and power Doppler sonography (US); the images were acquired with the patient both supine and upright, both at rest and during Valsalva maneuver. We studied the incidence of recurrences and their bilaterality, the presence of reflux with or without functional maneuvers, associated conditions, surgical complications and the improvement of sperm variables; color and power Doppler findings were compared. The incidence of recurrences (28) and that of major complications (2) were related to the type of surgery: thus, no complications but 26 recurrences were found in the patients with spermatic vein ligation, versus only 2 recurrences but also 2 major complications (1 testicular ischemia and 1 hydrocele) in the patients with ligation of the spermatic cord venous channels. A right varicocele was found in 12 patients, which confirmed the frequent bilaterality of this condition; 8 patients with recurrences had improved sperm variables and 6 presented associated conditions. Our trial confirms that B-mode US, combined with color and power Doppler, can show recurrences, bilaterality, surgical complications and associated conditions and emphasize the role of these exams in the postoperative follow-up of varicocele. However, no method alone, without the evaluation of sperm variables, permits to select the patients to be reoperated on.


ABSTRACT Where theatre was not dependent on a projector and screen for the manifestation of its fictitious worlds, cinema had to rely on such equipment for its representation of moving photographic images. In so doing, cinema could achieve what theatre could only allude to with the help of costumes, set design and the general consensus of the audience: a representation of the world itself. Nevertheless, this ability of cinematicity could only be achieved at the price of a temporal and existential disjunction between actor and spectator — a matter that did not occur in theatre as a result of its liveness. What happens, though, when the two media are brought together; when theatre's stage becomes the backstage for cinema, and cinema's construction is a live performance? This article analyses Katie Mitchell's intermedial performance…some trace of her (2008) through an examination of the distinction between cinematic and theatrical art forms. The authors look at the amalgamation of the theatrical space with the cinematic space, examining what intermedial approaches to artistic creation have on the performing and visual arts and their spectatorial experiences. For this, they reflect on Mitchell's controversially received work through the prism of existential phenomenology, examining the ontological implications of the performance's intermediality.


Abstract We describe a new volcanic hotspot detection system, named Middle InfraRed Observation of Volcanic Activity (MIROVA), based on the analysis of infrared data acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer sensor (MODIS). MIROVA uses the middle infrared radiation (MIR), measured by MODIS, in order to detect and measure the heat radiation deriving from volcanic activity. The algorithm combines spectral and spatial principles, allowing the detection of heat sources from 1 megawatt (MW) to more than 10 gigawatt (GW). This provides a unique opportunity to: (i) recognize small-scale variations in thermal output that may precede the onset of effusive activity; (ii) track the advance of large lava flows; (iii) estimate lava discharge rates; (iv) identify distinct effusive trends; and, lastly, (v) follow the cooling process of voluminous lava bodies for several months. Here we show the results obtained from data sets spanning 14 years recorded at the Stromboli and Mt Etna volcanoes, Italy, and we investigate the above aspects at these two persistently active volcanoes. Finally, we describe how the algorithm has been implemented within an operational near-real-time processing chain that enables the MIROVA system to provide data and infrared maps within 1–4 h of the satellite overpass.


The asynchronous induction motor has obtained more applications in electric vehicle (EV) or hybrid EV drive systems. But, the parameter's variations of the motor and the harmonics of the voltage source inverter are the two problems influence control performance of EV Drive Systems. Above all, this Paper discusses several main factors which influence harmonics elimination, and then, describes an effective online method for identifying both stator and rotor resistance. The novel method uses Suboptimal Multiple Fading Extended Kalman Filter (SMFEKF) which is a kind of strong tracking filters can accomplish Parameter Identification. An important advantage of this method is that it offers a parallel search way can overcome local optima so as to find the globally optimal solution. Together with harmonic elimination Algorithm which improved the power factor of the drive and weaken the injected low-order harmonics to the induction motor, robust speed control of induction motor can obtained easily. The simulative results confirm that the proposed method has efficiency to EV Drive Systems.


The recitation of Selawat Nâriyah, as a religious ritual, performed by the Muslim community in Larangan Tokol Village, Pamekasan, East Java, has its own uniqueness within the process of its implementation and has an exceptional function from socio-religious-psychological point of view for its reciters. This article focuses its discussion mainly on the perception and motivation of the people in Larangan Tokol in recitation of Selawat Nâriyah. The article also observes the implication of recitation of Selawat Nâriyah for their socio-religious and psychological life. To Larangan Tokol people, Selawat Nâriyah has become a new religious tradition which should be maintained. It has been found that there is no such an obligation to adhere to certain Sufi order (tarekat) in order to perform the recitation of the selawat. However, there is a sort of psychological bond of guru (murshid) and murid found in the membership (koloman) of recitation activity through what so-called tawassul. The tawassul is recited prior to the recitation of Selawat Nâriyah. The recitation of Selawat Nâriyah performed by Larangan Tokol people can be considered "a new genre of tarekat". The writer tends to call it "Popular Tarekat" (an anonymous tarekat), i.e. an open Sufi order with no certain process of bay'ah but it has unabridged narration (sanad mutâwatir) to the Prophet Muhammad.


Background Propofol acts as an intravenous anesthetic cure which is widely used as a therapy for the craniocerebral injury that comprised surgical anesthesia as well as the sedation done in the intensive care units. Propofol is one of the most commonly used and efficient anesthetics where the painful effects are followed by an injection of propofol. In many cases, patients experience pain followed by anxiety, boredom, fear, and even myocardial ischemia. Objective This study was performed to investigate the underlying mechanism of propofol and its effect on regulating spinal glun2b-p38mapkepac1 pathways in chronic contractile injury. Material and Methods. Contractile injury was performed by ligation around the nerve of the thigh region postanesthesia. Rats were divided into three groups to analyze the changes like mechanical allodynia by the paw withdrawal threshold and histopathological analysis for assessing cellular degradation. L4-L6 from the spinal dorsal horns were isolated and harvested for studying protein expression, by the method of western blotting and immunofluorescence analysis. Results The pain caused due to mechanical allodynia in the paw region was highest at 1 hour postinduction and lasted for three days postinjury. Pain was significantly less in the group receiving propofol when compared with the isoflurane group for the first two hours of injury. In the propofol group, EPAC1, GluN2B, and p38 MAP K were significantly lower. Conclusion In the rat model of induced chronic contractile injury, postsurgery there was a suppression of the GluN2B-p38MAPK/EPAC1 signaling pathway in the propofol group. As the p38MAPK/EPAC pathway has a significant role in the postoperative hyperalgesia, thus our experiment suggests that propofol has analgesic effects.


Rainfall is a major dynamic source of soil erosion and nutrient loss on slopes. Soil and water conservation practices and agricultural activities can change the soil surface morphology and thus affect erosion and nutrient losses. This study focused on the effects of several typical soil and water conservation practices and agricultural land, for the purpose of: (1) determining how these practices prevent erosion and nutrient loss and identifying the hydrodynamic mechanisms; and (2) determining the application conditions for different practices. Runoff, sediment, total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) in fish-scale pits, agricultural land, narrow terraces, shrub cover and bare land, under rainfall events in rainy seasons (from May to November) during the 2010–2015 period, were monitored. Slope hydrodynamic mechanisms and application conditions of these practices were also investigated. The results showed that compared with bare land, fish-scale pits performed the best in preventing runoff, sediment, TN and TP, followed by 30% shrub coverage, narrow terraces and agricultural land, successively. Total runoff, sediment, TN and TP losses in fish-scale pits site were 19.70%, 2.03%, 10.10% and 35.97% of those in bare land of the same area, respectively. Soil and water conservation practices could change the hydraulic characteristics of slopes, decrease Re (Reynolds) and Fr (Froude) numbers, thereby decreasing runoff, sediment, TN and TP losses. Fish-scale pits were suitable for the areas with small single rainfall and good water permeability. When rainfall was greater than 60 mm, narrow terraces had highest efficiency in reducing sediment loss; therefore, they were suitable for the areas with relatively high rainfall intensity and soils similar to the sandy loams of the study area. As to the practice of covering land with plants, the effect was sustainable due to the plants' long-term growth. Agricultural land was not recommended since the losses on it were relatively higher due to the impact of human activities. In reality, these practices may be applied in combination so as to effectively control water, soil and nutrient losses.


COVID-19, an ephialtes of mankind in the year 2020, is causing painful demise of many lives due to insufficient
 treatment and hence, creating a devastating history in making. This pandemic brought the world together and led
 many researches from different biomedical fields to find treatments and potent drugs; ought to help in managing the
 pandemic and future loss. However, till date no standard treatment has been discovered for COVID-19. Probably,
 preventing the severe respiratory infection cause by SARS-CoV-2 will give time for finding the most potent treatment
 for this disease. Easy and manageable methods are there for isolation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) which
 attracted the attention for number of therapeutic applications. Considering the present situation, treatment using
 Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) has been suggested as a satisfactory therapeutic approach. A noteworthy population
 of cells accumulates in the lungs after intravenous transplantation of MSCs which results in increasing the
 immunomodulatory effect that leads the protection of alveolar epithelial cells, refurbishment of the pulmonary
 microenvironment, and, prevent lung dysfunction and pulmonary fibrosis. There are several ongoing clinical trials
 based on MSCs for exploring out its efficiency in the treatment of COVID-19 patients. However, till date MSCs
 based treatment for COVID-19 is still not approved. This review involves the aspects of MSCs in the proposed
 treatment of COVID-19 and contains brief discussion on related ongoing clinical trials.


BACKGROUND
Few studies have used insurance claims data to retrospectively assess the natural history--a natural process or flow of events without any special interventions--and treatment outcomes of teeth with dental sealants.

METHODS
The authors constructed treatment outcome trees (TOTs) from the Iowa Medicaid claims and eligibility data (1996-2000) of continuously enrolled 6-year-old children who routinely used Medicaid dental services. The authors used the TOTs to compare the restorative treatments of sealed permanent first molars with those of nonsealed permanent first molars.

RESULTS
Forty percent of routine utilizers received a sealant during the four-year period. Overall, 25 percent of molars received at least one restoration. Sealed molars were less likely to receive further restorative treatment than were nonsealed molars (13 versus 29 percent). Sealed molars had fewer extensive restorative treatments (crowns, endodontic therapy and extractions) than did nonsealed molars. The median time to restorative treatment of the sealed molars also was greater than that of the nonsealed molars. All four first molars had comparatively similar patterns of subsequent care.

CONCLUSIONS
Permanent first molars with sealants received less subsequent restorative treatment than did those without sealants. TOTs are useful tools for identifying necessary outcome information needed for program evaluations.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS
Greater use of sealants could reduce the need for subsequent treatment and prolong the time until treatment may be necessary for permanent first molars.


Deep Q-learning has achieved significant success in single-agent decision making tasks. However, it is challenging to extend Q-learning to large-scale multi-agent scenarios, due to the explosion of action space resulting from the complex dynamics between the environment and the agents. In this paper, we propose to make the computation of multi-agent Q-learning tractable by treating the Q-function (w.r.t. state and joint-action) as a high-order high-dimensional tensor and then approximate it with factorized pairwise interactions. Furthermore, we utilize a composite deep neural network architecture for computing the factorized Q-function, share the model parameters among all the agents within the same group, and estimate the agents' optimal joint actions through a coordinate descent type algorithm. All these simplifications greatly reduce the model complexity and accelerate the learning process. Extensive experiments on two different multi-agent problems demonstrate the performance gain of our proposed approach in comparison with strong baselines, particularly when there are a large number of agents.