Many real-world applications require artificial agents to compete and coordinate with other agents in complex environments. As a stepping stone to this goal, the domain of StarCraft has emerged as an ...important challenge for artificial intelligence research, owing to its iconic and enduring status among the most difficult professional esports and its relevance to the real world in terms of its raw complexity and multi-agent challenges. Over the course of a decade and numerous competitions
, the strongest agents have simplified important aspects of the game, utilized superhuman capabilities, or employed hand-crafted sub-systems
. Despite these advantages, no previous agent has come close to matching the overall skill of top StarCraft players. We chose to address the challenge of StarCraft using general-purpose learning methods that are in principle applicable to other complex domains: a multi-agent reinforcement learning algorithm that uses data from both human and agent games within a diverse league of continually adapting strategies and counter-strategies, each represented by deep neural networks
. We evaluated our agent, AlphaStar, in the full game of StarCraft II, through a series of online games against human players. AlphaStar was rated at Grandmaster level for all three StarCraft races and above 99.8% of officially ranked human players.
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been successful in identifying common genetic variation involved in susceptibility to etiologically complex disease. We conducted a GWAS to identify common ...genetic variation involved in susceptibility to upper aero-digestive tract (UADT) cancers. Genome-wide genotyping was carried out using the Illumina HumanHap300 beadchips in 2,091 UADT cancer cases and 3,513 controls from two large European multi-centre UADT cancer studies, as well as 4,821 generic controls. The 19 top-ranked variants were investigated further in an additional 6,514 UADT cancer cases and 7,892 controls of European descent from an additional 13 UADT cancer studies participating in the INHANCE consortium. Five common variants presented evidence for significant association in the combined analysis (p ≤ 5 × 10⁻⁷). Two novel variants were identified, a 4q21 variant (rs1494961, p = 1×10⁻⁸) located near DNA repair related genes HEL308 and FAM175A (or Abraxas) and a 12q24 variant (rs4767364, p =2 × 10⁻⁸) located in an extended linkage disequilibrium region that contains multiple genes including the aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) gene. Three remaining variants are located in the ADH gene cluster and were identified previously in a candidate gene study involving some of these samples. The association between these three variants and UADT cancers was independently replicated in 5,092 UADT cancer cases and 6,794 controls non-overlapping samples presented here (rs1573496-ADH7, p = 5 × 10⁻⁸); rs1229984-ADH1B, p = 7 × 10⁻⁹; and rs698-ADH1C, p = 0.02). These results implicate two variants at 4q21 and 12q24 and further highlight three ADH variants in UADT cancer susceptibility.
Recurrence and second primary cancer (SPC) continue to represent major obstacles to long-term survival in head and neck cancer (HNC). Our aim was to evaluate whether established demographics, ...lifestyle-related risk factors for HNC and clinical data are associated with recurrence and SPC in HNC. We conducted a multicentre study by using data from five studies members of the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology consortium—Milan, Rome, Western Europe, Sao Paulo, and Japan, totalling 4005 HNC cases with a median age of 59 (interquartile range 52–67). Multivariate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated for recurrence and SPC. During follow-up, 1161 (29%) patients had recurrence and 343 (8.6%) developed SPC. Advanced tumour stage was associated with increased risk of recurrence in HNC overall (HR = 1.76, 95% CI 1.41–2.19). Women with laryngeal cancer had a reduced risk of recurrence compared to men (HR = 0.39, 95% CI: 0.24–0.74). Concerning predictors of SPC, advanced age (HR = 1.02; 95% CI: 1.00–1.04) and alcohol consumption (> 1 drink per day, HR = 2.11; 95% CI: 1.13–3.94) increased the risk of SPC among patients with laryngeal cancer. Additionally, women were at higher risk of SPC, in HNC overall group (HR = 1.68; 95% CI: 1.13–2.51) and oropharyngeal cancer group (HR = 1.74; 95% CI: 1.02–2.98). Tumour stage and male gender (larynx only) were positive predictors of cancer recurrence in HNC patients. Predictors of SPC were advanced age and alcohol use among laryngeal cancer cases, and female gender for oropharyngeal and HNC overall.
Objectives This study estimated the risk of occupational exposure for lung cancer in the metropolitan region of Sāo Paulo, the largest urbanized and industrialized area in Brazil. Methods In this ...hospital-based case-referent study of 398 cases and 860 referents, the cases were matched to referents according to age, gender, and hospital and personally interviewed for information on lifetime job history, smoking habits, passive smoking exposure, cancer in relatives, socioeconomic status, and migratory history. The analysis concerned industrial titles and occupational categories. With the use of a job-exposure matrix, exposure to asbestos, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, arsenic, dust, nickel and chromium was assessed. Results For the men in the 56 industrial and 122 occupational categories examined, an excess risk of lung cancer was found in the machinery industry odds ratio (OR) 1.62, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.02—2.55). In pottery manufacturing the risk (OR 2.21, 95% CI 1.00—4.87) was increased for workers exposed ≥10 years (OR 6.43, 95% CI 1.12—37.01). Textile workers employed for > 10 years with a latency of ≥40 years had an elevated risk (OR 21.93, 95% CI 1.96—245.0). In the analysis using the job-exposure matrix no risk was detected for the specific lung cancer carcinogens examined. For the women, no significantly elevated risk was observed. Conclusions The results of this study revealed risks of lung cancer for men in the machinery industry and for pottery and textile workers with long-term exposure.
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been successful in identifying common genetic variation involved in susceptibility to etiologically complex disease. We conducted a GWAS to identify common ...genetic variation involved in susceptibility to upper aero-digestive tract (UADT) cancers. Genome-wide genotyping was carried out using the Illumina HumanHap300 beadchips in 2,091 UADT cancer cases and 3,513 controls from two large European multi-centre UADT cancer studies, as well as 4,821 generic controls. The 19 top-ranked variants were investigated further in an additional 6,514 UADT cancer cases and 7,892 controls of European descent from an additional 13 UADT cancer studies participating in the INHANCE consortium. Five common variants presented evidence for significant association in the combined analysis (p≤5×10-7). Two novel variants were identified, a 4q21 variant (rs1494961, p = 1×10-8) located near DNA repair related genes HEL308 and FAM175A (or Abraxas) and a 12q24 variant (rs4767364, p = 2×10-8) located in an extended linkage disequilibrium region that contains multiple genes including the aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) gene. Three remaining variants are located in the ADH gene cluster and were identified previously in a candidate gene study involving some of these samples. The association between these three variants and UADT cancers was independently replicated in 5,092 UADT cancer cases and 6,794 controls non-overlapping samples presented here (rs1573496-ADH7, p = 5×10-8; rs1229984-ADH1B, p = 7×10-9; and rs698-ADH1C, p = 0.02). These results implicate two variants at 4q21 and 12q24 and further highlight three ADH variants in UADT cancer susceptibility.
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