Macro action selection with deep reinforcement learning in StarCraft

StarCraft (SC) is one of the most popular and successful Real Time Strategy (RTS) games. In recent years, SC is also widely accepted as a challenging testbed for AI research because of its enormous state space, partially observed information, multi-agent collaboration, and so on. With the help of annual AIIDE and CIG competitions, a growing number of SC bots are proposed and continuously improved. However, a large gap remains between the top-level bot and the professional human player. One vital reason is that current SC bots mainly rely on predefined rules to select macro actions during their games. These rules are not scalable and efficient enough to cope with the enormous yet partially observed state space in the game. In this paper, we propose a deep reinforcement learning (DRL) framework to improve the selection of macro actions. Our framework is based on the combination of the Ape-X DQN and the Long-Short-Term-Memory (LSTM). We use this framework to build our bot, named as LastOrder. Our evaluation, based on training against all bots from the AIIDE 2017 StarCraft AI competition set, shows that LastOrder achieves an 83% winning rate, outperforming 26 bots in total 28 entrants

ESG disclosure facilitator: How do the multiple large shareholders affect firms’ ESG disclosure? evidence from China

The Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure is an important aspect of firms’ strategies. Therefore, exploring how to facilitate the firms’ ESG disclosure is necessary. This paper examines the role of multiple large shareholders (MLS, hereafter) in facilitating a firm’s ESG disclosure. Using a sample of Chinese listed firms during 2011–2020, we compare the ESG disclosure of firms having MLS with that of firms having a single large shareholder (SLS, hereafter) and find that having MLS associated with significantly higher ESG disclosure. After addressing endogeneity and altering the measurement of MLS, the benchmark results still hold after. Additional analysis shows that MLS exerts a more prominent positive effect on ESG disclosure in SOEs. We also examine the role of the other large shareholders in facilitating firms’ ESG disclosure. Our findings reveal a bright side of MLS: it facilitates ESG disclosure by monitoring. Therefore, this paper’s conclusion sheds new light on the bright side of MLS from the perspective of firms’ ESG disclosure and provides insights into how to improve ESG disclosure

Macro action selection with deep reinforcement learning in StarCraft

StarCraft (SC) is one of the most popular and successful Real Time Strategy (RTS) games. In recent years, SC is also considered as a testbed for AI research, due to its enormous state space, hidden information, multi-agent collaboration and so on. Thanks to the annual AIIDE and CIG competitions, a growing number of bots are proposed and being continuously improved. However, a big gap still remains between the top bot and the professional human players. One vital reason is that current bots mainly rely on predefined rules to perform macro actions. These rules are not scalable and efficient enough to cope with the large but partially observed macro state space in SC. In this paper, we propose a DRL based framework to do macro action selection. Our framework combines the reinforcement learning approach Ape-X DQN with Long-Short-Term-Memory (LSTM) to improve the macro action selection in bot. We evaluate our bot, named as LastOrder, on the AIIDE 2017 StarCraft AI competition bots set. Our bot achieves overall 83% win-rate, outperforming 26 bots in total 28 entrants

Application of Permutation Entropy and Permutation Min-Entropy in Multiple Emotional States Analysis of RRI Time Series

This study’s aim was to apply permutation entropy (PE) and permutation min-entropy (PME) over an RR interval time series to quantify the changes in cardiac activity among multiple emotional states. Electrocardiogram (ECG) signals were recorded under six emotional states (neutral, happiness, sadness, anger, fear, and disgust) in 60 healthy subjects at a rate of 1000 Hz. For each emotional state, ECGs were recorded for 5 min and the RR interval time series was extracted from these ECGs. The obtained results confirm that PE and PME increase significantly during the emotional states of happiness, sadness, anger, and disgust. Both symbolic quantifiers also increase but not in a significant way for the emotional state of fear. Moreover, it is found that PME is more sensitive than PE for discriminating non-neutral from neutral emotional states.Facultad de Ingenierí

Characteristics of cadmium accumulation and tolerance in apple plants grown in different soils

Cadmium (Cd) is a nonessential element and highly toxic to apple tree. However, Cd accumulation, translocation and tolerance in apple trees planted in different soils remain unknown. To investigate soil Cd bioavailability, plant Cd accumulation, physiological changes as well as gene expression patterns in apple trees grown in five different soils, ‘Hanfu’ apple seedlings were planted in orchard soils collected from Maliangou village (ML), Desheng village (DS), Xishan village (XS), Kaoshantun village (KS) and Qianertaizi village (QT), and subjected to 500 μM CdCl2 for 70 d. Results showed that soils of ML and XS had higher content of organic matter (OM), clay and silt, and cation exchange capacity (CEC) but lower sand content than the other soils, thereby reduced Cd bioavailability, which could be reflected by lower concentrations and proportions of acid-soluble Cd but higher concentrations and proportions of reducible and oxidizable Cd. The plants grown in soils of ML and XS had relatively lower Cd accumulation levels and bio-concentration factors than those grown in the other soils. Excess Cd reduced plant biomass, root architecture, and chlorophyll content in all plants but to relatively lesser degree in those grown in soils of ML and XS. The plants grown in soils of ML, XS and QT had comparatively lower reactive oxygen species (ROS) content, less membrane lipid peroxidation, and higher antioxidant content and enzyme activity than those grown in soils of DS and KS. Transcript levels of genes regulating Cd uptake, transport and detoxification such as HA11, VHA4, ZIP6, IRT1, NAS1, MT2, MHX, MTP1, ABCC1, HMA4 and PCR2 displayed significant differences in roots of plants grown in different soils. These results indicate that soil types affect Cd accumulation and tolerance in apple plants, and plants grown in soils with higher OM content, CEC, clay and silt content and lower sand content suffer less Cd toxicity

Propofol Ameliorates H9c2 Cells Apoptosis Induced by Oxygen Glucose Deprivation and Reperfusion Injury via Inhibiting High Levels of Mitochondrial Fusion and Fission

Background: The cardioprotective effect of propofol on ischemia-reperfusion injury (I/R injury) is partly due to suppressing apoptosis. Mitochondrial dynamics are also involved in apoptosis. Mitochondrial fusion and fission lead to mitochondrial morphological changes. However, whether suppressing apoptosis effect of propofol against ischemia-reperfusion injury in the heart is via regulating mitochondrial morphology remains unclear.Methods: H9c2 cells underwent oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD) followed by reperfusion to simulate cardiomyocytes ischemia/reperfusion injury. Cell viability, apoptosis ratio and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) were assessed, respectively. Mitochondrial membrane dynamin family proteins, extracellular signal regulated kinase 1 and 2 (ERK1/2), phosphorylated extracellular signal regulated kinase 1 and 2 (p-ERK1/2) and proteins related to intrinsic apoptosis pathways were detected by western blotting. The mitochondrial morphology and the distribution of dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) were observed by using laser confocal microscopy.Results: Propofol enhanced the survival of H9c2 cells, decreased ROS levels and inhibited apoptosis during oxygen glucose deprivation/reperfusion (OGD/R) injury. Mitochondrial fission in H9c2 cells was inhibited by propofol during OGD injury. Propofol alleviated high levels of mitochondrial fusion and fission during OGD/R in H9c2 cells, by regulating mitochondrial membrane remodeling dynamin family proteins. Propofol inhibited Drp1 colocalization with mitochondria in H9c2 cells during OGD/R injury. Moreover, Drp1 phosphorylation was inhibited by propofol through decreasing ERK activation during OGD/R injury. We found that propofol ameliorated H9c2 cells apoptosis during OGD/R via inhibiting mitochondrial cytochrome c release and caspase-9, caspase-6, caspase-7 and caspase-3 activation.Conclusion: Propofol suppresses H9c2 cells apoptosis during OGD/R injury via inhibiting intrinsic apoptosis pathway, which may be partly due to reducing high levels of mitochondrial fusion and fission induced by OGD/R injury

Propofol Alleviates DNA Damage Induced by Oxygen Glucose Deprivation and Reperfusion via FoxO1 Nuclear Translocation in H9c2 Cells

Ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury induces irreversible oxidative stress damage to the cardiac myocytes. Many studies have revealed that propofol alleviates the important organelle-mediated injury from oxidative stress in vitro. However, it remains unclear whether propofol prevents I/R-induced DNA damage in cardiomyocytes. In our study, we established an oxygen glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) model in H9c2 cells and found that propofol decreased reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and suppressed cell apoptosis induced by OGD/R in H9c2 cells. In addition, propofol significantly reduced the molecular marker of DNA damage and inhibited double-strand breaks of DNA damage induced by OGD/R in H9c2 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, we investigated the molecular mechanisms and demonstrated that propofol inhibited forkhead box O 1 (FoxO1) phosphorylation and increased FoxO1 nuclear translocation through inhibition of protein kinase B (Akt) and adenosine 5’-monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) pathways. The protective effects of propofol against oxidative stress-induced DNA damage were reversed by silencing FoxO1. Taken together, our results suggest that oxidative stress aggravates DNA damage and apoptosis in H9C2 cells, which can be reversed by propofol via FoxO1 nuclear translocation

Low-frequency sound-absorbing metamaterial based on a series-parallel arrangement structure

Low-frequency noise has a long wavelength, decays very slowly, and is extremely penetrating. Traditional marine acoustic insulation materials have difficulty achieving effective control of this low-frequency noise. In this paper, a series-parallel arrangement structure of a low-frequency metamaterial is designed, which mainly comprises convoluted channels and Helmholtz cavities in series and a sandwich arrangement of multiple cells (as opposed to the traditional parallel arrangement). We use a numerical method to establish an acoustic-solid coupling model for the metamaterial, consider the influence of thermal and viscous losses on its sound absorption performance, and investigate the sound absorption characteristics and mechanisms of the single-cell and multicell structures. The metamaterial designed in this paper shows an average absorption coefficient of 0.97 in the range of 130–145 Hz. An experimental model was prepared by 3D printing, and the intended sound absorption effect was experimentally verified

Microstructure Analysis and Segmented Constitutive Model for Ni-Cr-Co-Based Superalloy during Hot Deformation

In a thermal simulator of Gleeble-3500, isothermal hot compression tests were performed on a Ni-Cr-Co-based superalloy at deformation temperatures ranging from 1323 K to 1423 K and with strain rates of 0.01, 0.1, 1, and 5 s−1. We obtained the true stress–strain curves, and the microstructures of deformed samples were analyzed by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) technique. The segmented constitutive models were developed to predict the flow stress, and the dynamic recrystallization grain size model was established to evaluate the microstructure evolution for a Ni-Cr-Co-based superalloy. It is found that discontinuous dynamic recrystallization (DDRX) and continuous dynamic recrystallization (CDRX) appear simultaneously in the Ni-Cr-Co-based superalloy during hot deformation, with the latter not being active. Comparison between the experimental and predicted results indicates that the proposed models can describe and interpret the work-hardening and dynamic softening behaviors as well as the evolution characteristic of dynamic recrystallization grain size of the Ni-Cr-Co-based superalloy. In the error analysis of the segmented constitutive models, correlation coefficient (R) is 0.988 and average absolute relative error (AARE) is 6.94%, and for the AGS of DRX, R is 0.974 and AARE is 5.83%, which both have good accuracy

Shade-Induced Leaf Senescence in Plants

Leaf senescence is a vital developmental process that involves the orderly breakdown of macromolecules to transfer nutrients from mature leaves to emerging and reproductive organs. This process is essential for a plant’s overall fitness. Multiple internal and external factors, such as leaf age, plant hormones, stresses, and light environment, regulate the onset and progression of leaf senescence. When plants grow close to each other or are shaded, it results in significant alterations in light quantity and quality, such as a decrease in photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), a drop in red/far-red light ratios, and a reduction in blue light fluence rate, which triggers premature leaf senescence. Recently, studies have identified various components involved in light, phytohormone, and other signaling pathways that regulate the leaf senescence process in response to shade. This review summarizes the current knowledge on the molecular mechanisms that control leaf senescence induced by shade