Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning with Human Strategies

Deep learning has enabled traditional reinforcement learning methods to deal with high-dimensional problems. However, one of the disadvantages of deep reinforcement learning methods is the limited exploration capacity of learning agents. In this paper, we introduce an approach that integrates human strategies to increase the exploration capacity of multiple deep reinforcement learning agents. We also report the development of our own multi-agent environment called Multiple Tank Defence to simulate the proposed approach. The results show the significant performance improvement of multiple agents that have learned cooperatively with human strategies. This implies that there is a critical need for human intellect teamed with machines to solve complex problems. In addition, the success of this simulation indicates that our multi-agent environment can be used as a testbed platform to develop and validate other multi-agent control algorithms.Comment: 2019 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Technology (ICIT), Melbourne, Australi

Optimization in multi-relay wireless networks

The concept of cooperation in communications has drawn a lot of research attention in recent years due to its potential to improve the efficiency of wireless networks. This new form of communications allows some users to act as relays and assist the transmission of other users' information signals. The aim of this thesis is to apply optimization techniques in the design of multi-relay wireless networks employing cooperative communications. In general, the thesis is organized into two parts: ``Distributed space-time coding' (DSTC) and ``Distributed beamforming', which cover two main approaches in cooperative communications over multi-relay networks. In Part I of the thesis, various aspects of distributed implementation of space-time coding in a wireless relay network are treated. First, the thesis proposes a new fully-diverse distributed code which allows noncoherent reception at the destination. Second, the problem of coordinating the power allocation (PA) between source and relays to achieve the optimal performance of DSTC is studied and a novel PA scheme is developed. It is shown that the proposed PA scheme can obtain the maximum diversity order of DSTC and significantly outperform other suboptimal PA schemes. Third, the thesis presents the optimal PA scheme to minimize the mean-square error (MSE) in channel estimation during training phase of DSTC. The effect of imperfect channel estimation to the performance of DSTC is also thoroughly studied. In Part II of the thesis, optimal distributed beamforming designs are developed for a wireless multiuser multi-relay network. Two design criteria for the optimal distributed beamforming at the relays are considered: (i) minimizing the total relay power subject to a guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS) measured in terms of signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) at the destinations, and (ii) jointly maximizing the SNR margin at the destinations subject to power constraints at the relays. Based on convex optimization techniques, it is shown that these problems can be formulated and solved via second-order conic programming (SOCP). In addition, this part also proposes simple and fast iterative algorithms to directly solve these optimization problems

A Comprehensive Study on Home Care Needs Among Elderly in an Urban Area of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Homecare service for elderly has been available in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam since 2009, but it is unknown whether homecare needs of elderly are met. Therefore, the objective of the study is to investigate homecare needs among elderly with the aim of providing baseline information to inform policy development to improve homecare services in the city.A cross-sectional study was conducted from 12 July to 12 November, 2015. Three hundred and nine older adults (≥ 60 years old) living in the District 12 of Ho Chi Minh City were randomly chosen and completed interviews using a structured questionnaire. Chi Square tests or ANOVA tests were used to examine the significant associations between elderly characteristics and homecare needs.The mean scores of activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) were 5.72 out of 6 and 5.16 out of 8, respectively. The mean score of Affect Balance was 6.23 out of 10. Only 54 of 309 participants (17.48%) had home health care needs, whereas 274 (88.67%) participants had health information needs. Factors having statistically significant associations with homecare needs included older age, male gender, low allowance, living alone and higher number of comorbidities.Elderly in District 12 had low ADLs needs, low psychological needs, low health care needs, but high health information needs and IADLs needs. Services including private care service, chatting service, home health care and health information services may be developed to meet those needs. Keywords: homecare needs, elderly, ADLs, IADL

Understanding Organizational Citizenship Behaviour through Organizational Justice and its Consequences among Vietnamese’s Universities Employees

This paper aims to investigate the impact of organizational justice components on job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship behaviours (OCB) of employees in the higher education sector of Vietnam. Although many research studies have been conducted in organizations on the topics of organizational justice, as well as organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship behaviour, there is a shortage of these topics in higher education institutions as well as in Asian context. Therefore, this article attempts to fill this literature gap. A total of 317 employees from various universities in Vietnam participated in this study, and a self-administered survey was conducted, which was modified based on suggestions from the universities' management team following interviews. The collected data were analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique. The results showed that procedural justice and interactional justice had a significant impact on both job satisfaction and organizational commitment, while distributive justice only affected job satisfaction. Furthermore, the study found that job satisfaction and organizational commitment significantly affected OCB. However, this study had a limitation in terms of the narrow sample size, which only included participants from universities. Future studies should broaden the sample size to include participants from vocational colleges. On paper, the study shows the effects of organizational justice on OCB through the mediating roles of individual work outputs, which received inadequate attention in previous studies. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-SIED2-08 Full Text: PD

Competition between deep impurity and dopant behavior of Mg in GaN Schottky diodes

peer reviewedThe effect of the deep acceptor Mg on the electrical characteristics of p-doped GaN Schottky diodes is analyzed. The theoretical study is based on the numerical resolution of the basic semiconductor equations, including the continuity equation for the Mg-related acceptor level. It gives the steady-state and small-signal analysis of p-doped GaN:Mg Schottky diodes, yielding as final result the frequency dependent capacitance and conductance of the structure. It is shown that the low-frequency characteristics are determined by the carrier exchange between the Mg related impurity level and the valence band, whereas above the impurity transition frequency, the hole modulation of the depletion layer edge governs the electrical response. Detailed results are shown on the effect of temperature, applied steady-state voltage and series resistance. The study of two back-to-back connected GaN Schottky diodes reveals the appearance of typical features in the electrical characteristics, depending on the respective Schottky barrier height of the two junctions

Black-box modeling of nonlinear system using evolutionary neural NARX model

Nonlinear systems with uncertainty and disturbance are very difficult to model using mathematic approach. Therefore, a black-box modeling approach without any prior knowledge is necessary. There are some modeling approaches have been used to develop a black box model such as fuzzy logic, neural network, and evolution algorithms. In this paper, an evolutionary neural network by combining a neural network and a modified differential evolution algorithm is applied to model a nonlinear system. The feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed modeling are tested on a piezoelectric actuator SISO system and an experimental quadruple tank MIMO system