From Common to Special: When Multi-Attribute Learning Meets Personalized Opinions

Visual attributes, which refer to human-labeled semantic annotations, have gained increasing popularity in a wide range of real world applications. Generally, the existing attribute learning methods fall into two categories: one focuses on learning user-specific labels separately for different attributes, while the other one focuses on learning crowd-sourced global labels jointly for multiple attributes. However, both categories ignore the joint effect of the two mentioned factors: the personal diversity with respect to the global consensus; and the intrinsic correlation among multiple attributes. To overcome this challenge, we propose a novel model to learn user-specific predictors across multiple attributes. In our proposed model, the diversity of personalized opinions and the intrinsic relationship among multiple attributes are unified in a common-to-special manner. To this end, we adopt a three-component decomposition. Specifically, our model integrates a common cognition factor, an attribute-specific bias factor and a user-specific bias factor. Meanwhile Lasso and group Lasso penalties are adopted to leverage efficient feature selection. Furthermore, theoretical analysis is conducted to show that our proposed method could reach reasonable performance. Eventually, the empirical study carried out in this paper demonstrates the effectiveness of our proposed method

Correlation Between Blood System Impairment and Immune Index in Patients with Primary Sjögren's Syndrome

Objective: To analyze the relationship between blood system impairment and immune indexes, including autoantibody, immunoglobulin and lip gland biopsy in patients with primary Sjogren's syndrome (pSS). Methods: The serological data of patients with Sjogren's syndrome in hospital were collected and divided into hematological system impairment group and normal group. The incidence of hematological system damage in patients with pSS and its correlation with immune indexes were analyzed. Results: 123 patients with pSS were included in this study. There were 57 patients in the blood system involvement group (46%), in which the proportions of leucopenia, anemia and thrombocytopenia were in turn; 17. 89%; 33. 3%; 4. 88%. The antibodies in the blood system affected group were abundant, and the positive rates of anti SSA and Ro-52 antibodies were significantly higher than those in the normal group. The increase of serum IgG in pSS patients accounted for nearly 50%; The levels of serum IgG and complement C3 were significantly different from those in the control group. The positive rate of lip gland biopsy in pSS patients was more than 90%, and there was no significant difference between the two groups. Conclusion: Hematological system involvement was common in PSS patients. The positive rates of anti SSA and Ro-52 antibodies increased significantly, the level of IgG increased and the level of complement C3 decreased; However, there was no significant difference in blood system involvement between high IgG and low IgG groups; The positive rate of lip gland biopsy in PSS patients was more than 90%

Improvement on Gauss circle Problem and Dirichlet divisor Problem

We establish an improvement for both Gauss circle problem and Dirichlet divisor problem, combining a new estimate of the first spacing problem and Huxley's results on the second spacing problem

Laser-Based Meso/Micro Rapid Manufacturing System

The meso/micro layered manufacturing technologies have significant implications for the design and fabrication of complex miniature structures. A laser-based additive/subtractive Rapid Manufacturing system is thus developed to build meso/micro structures. By incorporating laser microdeposition and micromachining with a pulsed Nd:YAG laser that has four harmonic wavelengths, this manufacturing system takes computer-aided design (CAD) output to reproduce meso/micro components in a wide selection of materials. To precisely deposit micro/nano powders and to control composition in-situ, an ultrasonic-based micro powder-feeding mechanism is developed. This additive/subtractive micro/meso manufacturing technology provides a platform for a solid integration from CAD to the realization of complex 3D miniature parts.The authors are grateful to the support from Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and National Science Foundation.Mechanical Engineerin

Rapid Fabrication of Smart Tooling with Embedded Sensors by Casting in Molds Made by Three Dimensional Printing

This paper is to investigate the feasibility of constructing “smart tooling” by embedding thin film sensors, specifically, thin film thermocouples (TFTC) in castings made by molds formed by 3 Dimensional Printing (3DP). This study investigates whether thin film sensors can effectively be cast into larger metal structures and if the sensors survive the casting process. The investigation includes making 3DP molds to produce cast lap joint test bars of aluminum A356 and electroplated nickel to characterize by mechanical testing to find the best process conditions to maximize bond strength between the embedded thin film sensors and the cast material. Lastly molds were made and embedded sensors were placed inside the mold for casting. Some of the embedded sensors survived the casting process. In-situ monitoring of casting process with the embedded sensors was accomplished.Mechanical Engineerin

Cultural influences on Chinese parents’ selection of sports activities for their children

In spite of amble of research on parental influence on children’s sports participation, our understanding in this area is limited due to the fact that most of the research to date has been conducted in Western cultures. Thus how parents from other cultures are involved in their children’s sports participation remains unknown. The purpose of the current study was to develop an understanding of the cultural influences that affect Chinese parents’ selection of sports activities for their children. Constructivist grounded theory methodology was adopted. Semi-structured phone interviews were conducted with 15 participants in Mainland China. Open and focused coding, and memo writing were used during the data analysis. The participants’ responses revealed that a dramatic change has taken place in China’s sports culture, and Chinese parents progress through a three-phase process when selecting a suitable sport for their children. The three phases include, the cultural influence (e.g., influence from the social environment), the development of understandings of perceived benefits (e.g., benefits in psychological domain), and the consideration of sport factors (e.g., popularity of a sport). The current study also discovered that cultural consonance and social capital played important roles in this process, not only by shaping Chinese parents’ understanding and attitudes of sports activities but also by facilitating the identification of the ideal sports that meet their needs. This study advanced current youth sport research by identifying a dynamic Chinese sport culture and the resultant transformation in people’s perception of sport that coincided with it. Recommendations for future research and practical implications are suggested

The festival of fast-breaking Eid al-Fitr in the Great Mosque of Lhasa. Some observations

Cet article décrit la fête de la rupture de jeûne célébrée à la fin du Ramadan par les musulmans de Lhasa au Tibet. Il s’appuie sur une enquête de terrain qui s’est déroulée du 6 août au 6 septembre 2011.This article describes the fast-breaking festival at the end of Ramadan as celebrated by the Lhasa Muslims in Tibet. It is based on field research conducted in the Great Mosque of Lhasa from August 6th to September 6th, 2011