Order-free Learning Alleviating Exposure Bias in Multi-label Classification

Multi-label classification (MLC) assigns multiple labels to each sample. Prior studies show that MLC can be transformed to a sequence prediction problem with a recurrent neural network (RNN) decoder to model the label dependency. However, training a RNN decoder requires a predefined order of labels, which is not directly available in the MLC specification. Besides, RNN thus trained tends to overfit the label combinations in the training set and have difficulty generating unseen label sequences. In this paper, we propose a new framework for MLC which does not rely on a predefined label order and thus alleviates exposure bias. The experimental results on three multi-label classification benchmark datasets show that our method outperforms competitive baselines by a large margin. We also find the proposed approach has a higher probability of generating label combinations not seen during training than the baseline models. The result shows that the proposed approach has better generalization capability

Reduced Health-Related Quality of Life in Body Constitutions of Yin-Xu, and Yang-Xu, Stasis in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: Taichung Diabetic Body Constitution Study

Aim. To evaluate how health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) constitutions of Yin-Xu, Yang-Xu, and Stasis are related in type 2 diabetes patients. Method. Seven hundred and five subjects were recruited in 2010 for this study from a Diabetes Shared Care Network in Taiwan. Generic and disease-specific HRQOL were assessed by the short form 36 (SF-36) and the diabetes impact measurement scale (DIMS). Constitutions of Yin-Xu, Yang-Xu, and Stasis were then assessed by the body constitution questionnaire (BCQ), a questionnaire consisting of 44 items that evaluate the physiological state based on subjective symptoms and signs. Results. Estimated effects of the Ying-Xu and Stasis on all scales of the SF-36 were significantly negative, while estimated effects of the Yang-Xu on all scales (except for SF, RE, MH, and MCS) were significantly negative. For DIMS, the estimated effects of the Ying-Xu and Stasis on all scales were significantly negative except for Stasis on well-being, while Yang-Xu has a significantly negative effect only on symptoms. Conclusions. This study demonstrates that TCM constitutions of Yin-Xu, Yang-Xu, and Stasis are closely related to a reduction in HRQOL. These findings support the need for further research into the impact of intervention for TCM constitutions on HRQOL in patients with type 2 diabetes

A study of job insecurity and life satisfaction in COVID-19: the multilevel moderating effect of perceived control and work–life balance programs

Background: The effect of COVID-19 on the manufacturing industry in China has resulted in increased employee psychological pressure and job insecurity. This study uses a theoretical model to identify the links between job insecurity and life satisfaction, and further explores the multilevel moderating effect underlying these links. Methods: Based on the conservation of resources theory, a hierarchical linear model is utilized to test the relationships among cross-level variables. The data comprises 528 valid questionnaires from 43 manufacturing companies in China. Results: The research results show that both perceived control (individual level) and work–life balance programs (organizational level) positively moderate the relationship between job insecurity and life satisfaction. Conclusions: This study contributes toward identifying the effect of employees’ psychological status and job insecurity on life satisfaction, and further confirms two different level moderators that alleviate the negative relationship between job insecurity and life satisfaction. Whether different genders have an effect on perception of life satisfaction is also considered, and the results show that men perceive significantly greater life satisfaction than women. Finally, based on the research findings, practical and theoretical implications are proposed

Optimal QoE Scheduling in MPEG-DASH Video Streaming

DASH is a popular technology for video streaming over the Internet. However, the quality of experience (QoE), a measure of humans’ perceived satisfaction of the quality of these streamed videos, is their subjective opinion, which is difficult to evaluate. Previous studies only considered network-based indices and focused on them to provide smooth video playback instead of improving the true QoE experienced by humans. In this study, we designed a series of click density experiments to verify whether different resolutions could affect the QoE for different video scenes. We observed that, in a single video segment, different scenes with the same resolution could affect the viewer’s QoE differently. It is true that the user’s satisfaction as a result of watching high-resolution video segments is always greater than that when watching low-resolution video segments of the same scenes. However, the most important observation is that low-resolution video segments yield higher viewing QoE gain in slow motion scenes than in fast motion scenes. Thus, the inclusion of more high-resolution segments in the fast motion scenes and more low-resolution segments in the slow motion scenes would be expected to maximize the user’s viewing QoE. In this study, to evaluate the user’s true experience, we convert the viewing QoE into a satisfaction quality score, termed the Q-score, for scenes with different resolutions in each video segment. Additionally, we developed an optimal segment assignment (OSA) algorithm for Q-score optimization in environments characterized by a constrained network bandwidth. Our experimental results show that application of the OSA algorithm to the playback schedule significantly improved users’ viewing satisfaction

By protecting against cutaneous inflammation, epidermal pigmentation provided an additional advantage for ancestral humans.

Pigmentation evolved in ancestral humans to protect against toxic, ultraviolet B irradiation, but the question remains: "what is being protected?" Because humans with dark pigmentation display a suite of superior epidermal functions in comparison with their more lightly pigmented counterparts, we hypothesized and provided evidence that dark pigmentation evolved in Africa to support cutaneous function. Because our prior clinical studies also showed that a restoration of a competent barrier dampens cutaneous inflammation, we hypothesized that resistance to inflammation could have provided pigmented hominins with yet another, important evolutionary benefit. We addressed this issue here in two closely related strains of hairless mice, endowed with either moderate (Skh2/J) or absent (Skh1) pigmentation. In these models, we showed that (a) pigmented mice display a markedly reduced propensity to develop inflammation after challenges with either a topical irritant or allergen in comparison with their nonpigmented counterparts; (b) visible and histologic evidence of inflammation was paralleled by reduced levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (i.e., IL-1α and INFα); (c) because depigmentation of Skh2/J mouse skin enhanced both visible inflammation and pro-inflammatory cytokine levels after comparable pro-inflammatory challenges, the reduced propensity to develop inflammation was directly linked to the presence of pigmentation; and (d) furthermore, in accordance with our prior work showing that pigment production endows benefits by reducing the surface pH of skin, acidification of albino (Skh1) mouse skin also protected against inflammation, and equalized cytokine levels to those found in pigmented skin. In summary, pigmentation yields a reduced propensity to develop inflammation, consistent with our hypothesis that dark pigmentation evolved in ancestral humans to provide a suite of barrier-linked benefits that now include resistance to inflammation