Action Of Agents Research Articles

A Performative Feminist Hinge Epistemology: Making Room for Feminist Hinges

Abstract In this paper, we propose a performative account of hinge epistemology to make the case for a feminist hinge epistemology. We characterize it as follows: 1) there are hinges that enable and govern our ordinary epistemic practices, functioning as rules; 2) these hinges are enacted and actualized in the specific actions of agents that participate in such practices; 3) this makes room for the transformation and emergence of hinges; 4) against this background, we argue in favor of the possibility of feminist hinges. This novel account opens the way for hinge epistemology to be useful for feminist goals in epistemology, which we believe is the ultimate criterion for hinge epistemology to be legitimately feminist.

A classification of ethical harm

This paper discusses a classification of types of harm linked to actions concerning (in)justice. Although the starting point is Aristotelian practical philosophy, in this research this perspective is extended and criticised. Once a first approach to the object of the study (the harm that results for others from the agent's action or omission) has been defined, a classification of the types of harm will be established. In doing so, it will be shown where the Stagirite's proposition needs to be expanded, qualified, and even corrected. In particular, a commonly overlooked element will be highlighted: that the most perverse effect of an injustice is to make the one who commits it unjust.

Adaptive network approach to exploration-exploitation trade-off in reinforcement learning.

A foundational machine-learning architecture is reinforcement learning, where an outstanding problem is achieving an optimal balance between exploration and exploitation. Specifically, exploration enables the agents to discover optimal policies in unknown domains of the environment for gaining potentially large future rewards, while exploitation relies on the already acquired knowledge to maximize the immediate rewards. We articulate an approach to this problem, treating the dynamical process of reinforcement learning as a Markov decision process that can be modeled as a nondeterministic finite automaton and defining a subset of states in the automaton to represent the preference for exploring unknown domains of the environment. Exploration is prioritized by assigning higher transition probabilities to these states. We derive a mathematical framework to systematically balance exploration and exploitation by formulating it as a mixed integer programming (MIP) problem to optimize the agent's actions and maximize the discovery of novel preferential states. Solving the MIP problem provides a trade-off point between exploiting known states and exploring unexplored regions. We validate the framework computationally with a benchmark system and argue that the articulated automaton is effectively an adaptive network with a time-varying connection matrix, where the states in the automaton are nodes and the transitions among the states represent the edges. The network is adaptive because the transition probabilities evolve over time. The established connection between the adaptive automaton arising from reinforcement learning and the adaptive network opens the door to applying theories of complex dynamical networks to address frontier problems in machine learning and artificial intelligence.

EXPRESS: Observation inflation as source confusion: Symmetrical conflation of memories based on action performance and observation.

People often cannot remember the source of their memories despite recalling other elements of a remembered event correctly. Observation inflation is one such error of source monitoring. It refers to remembering actions of another agent as self-performed. While the existence of this memory error is well documented, it is not clear how it relates to other errors of source attribution: It is not evident whether the phenomenon reflects (1) a specific tendency to appropriate the actions of other agents, (2) a general confusion of sources with overlapping features or (3) whether it is a confound induced by the complex structure of the conventionally used experimental paradigm. We conducted two online experiments to assess these potential contributions to observation inflation. Crucially, administering a full source monitoring test revealed a symmetrical pattern: Recognizing other's actions as one's own occurred at the same rate as misattributing one's own actions to another agent. The findings resonate with source-monitoring frameworks by suggesting that source attribution errors arise due to the similarity of the sources, whereas the evidence speaks against a special status for appropriating observed actions.

Exploring potential natural plant-based antifungal agents in Sri Lanka: A comprehensive review

Recent advances in antifungal drug discovery have prompted a closer inspection of the biology of fungi and the ways in which they adapt to their growing environment. Understanding these findings presents a challenge: developing antifungal agents that can withstand resistance from fungi and effectively combat it. The use of plant-based antifungal agents is gaining momentum within the antifungal drug industry. This review aims to examine the potential to propel current findings on the antifungal activity of selected medicinal plant extracts found in Sri Lanka towards their potential candidacy as novel antifungals. The benefits and adverse effects of fungi are discussed, along with an overview of synthetic and natural antifungal agents. It delves into the modes of action of antifungal agents and the ways in which they encounter resistance from fungi. The review also highlights the classes of phytochemicals in these plant extracts and the mechanisms through which they exhibit antifungal abilities. Furthermore, it summarizes the capability of natural antifungal agents to enhance the antifungal activity of synthetic antifungal drugs through possible synergistic actions. Finally, the barriers to bringing these plant-based antifungal agents to the forefront of the antifungal drug development industry, along with a few suggestions to overcome them, are considered.

Learning in practice: reinforcement learning-based traffic signal control augmented with actuated control

ABSTRACT Most Reinforcement Learning (RL) based Traffic Signal Control (TSC) models are trained in simulation platforms, which inevitably suffer from the performance degradation after deployment due to the mismatch between the traffic simulator and the real-world traffic system. Toward the real-world training of TSC agents, this study integrates the actuated control into the RL-based TSC framework as a defense mechanism, enabling the traffic system to remain resilient to suboptimal actions of agent during the real-world training process. The introduction of actuated control can significantly reduce the green time wastes due to unreasonable timing plans. The numerical results demonstrate that the proposed approach can reduce interferences to the traffic system operation during the real-world training of TSC agents, particularly at the early stage of agent learning, thereby promoting the practical deployment of RL-based TSC models. Meanwhile, agents can converge to better signal policies with the help of defense mechanism.

Pharmacotherapy of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Pediatric Patients: A Review of Efficacy and Adverse Effects

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) is a hematological malignancy highly prevalent in children. B-cell ALL is characterized by uncontrolled proliferation of B lymphoblasts, which impairs normal hematological function and causes clinical symptoms such as persistent fever, bone pain, swollen lymph nodes, petechiae, pallor, and bruising. The therapy for pediatric ALL encompasses four main approaches: surgical intervention, immunotherapy, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. Despite numerous medical advances over the years, only a few drugs have been approved for pediatric ALL. This review focuses on the mechanisms of action, efficacy, and adverse effects of pharmacotherapeutic agents that have been used to manage pediatric ALL over the years, such as vincristine, asparaginase, anthracyclines, 6-mercaptopurine, methotrexate, cyclophosphamide, cytarabine, and glucocorticoids. The review also highlights significant aspects of the prevalence of ALL in pediatric populations, the influence of genetics on ALL occurrence, and the fundamentals of treatment regimens. Survival rates in pediatric ALL are significantly higher compared to other malignancies; however, the treatment has a wide range of adverse effects that affect the patient’s quality of life during and post-treatment. Treatment options such as immunotherapy, stem cell transplantation, targeted therapy, gene modification, and novel drugs are constantly evolving and offer the potential for better management, especially in high-risk groups. Although the rate of remission and full recovery after treatment is quite high in pediatric ALL, the search for more effective and less toxic therapies remains a top priority, especially in cases of disease relapse.

Ocular Tissue Distribution of Omidenepag Isopropyl in Rabbits and Cynomolgus Monkeys.

To evaluate the ocular distribution of omidenepag isopropyl (OMDI) and its active form omidenepag (OMD), an EP2 receptor agonist, after topical administration of OMDI into rabbit and monkey eyes, and to determine whether OMDI and OMD interact with target receptors or enzymes of other antiglaucoma agents. Both eyes of six rabbits and of 14 monkeys were topically instilled with 0.03% [14C]-OMDI. Rabbits were sacrificed after one to four hours, and ocular tissues were collected. Monkeys were sacrificed after 0.25 to 24 hours, and blood and ocular tissues were collected. Radioactivity was measured in each sample. The interactions of OMDI and OMD with the receptors and enzymes associated with the mechanisms of action of other antiglaucoma agents were evaluated. Most radioactivity applied to rabbit eyes was recovered as OMD from the cornea, aqueous humor, and iris-ciliary body. Similarly, high concentrations of radioactivity were observed in monkey cornea, bulbar/palpebral conjunctiva, and trabecular meshwork. OMD bound to EP2 receptors, but neither OMD nor OMDI bound to α2A, β1, and β2 adrenergic receptors or inhibited enzymatic activities of CA1 and CA2. OMD and OMDI had little or no effect on ROCK1 and ROCK2. OMDI rapidly permeates rabbit and monkey corneas and is converted to OMD, which distributes into anterior ocular tissues. Neither OMD nor OMDI interacted with the target receptors or enzymes of other antiglaucoma agents, suggesting that OMD interacts highly selectively with EP2 receptors. OMDI is a specific antiglaucoma agent that interacts selectively with ocular EP2 receptors.

Research on adaptive circuit structure optimization in electronic design based on Asynchronous Advantage Actor Critic (A3C) algorithm

The circuit structure optimizationed with the traditional method is often difficult to meet the complex and changeable design requirements. In this paper the A3C algorithm has been applied to integrate strategy learning and value learning for the circuit structure optimization. This integration can facilitate continuous interaction with the environment, enabling automatic adjustment of circuit structures to meet the complex design requirements. Gain, bandwidth, latency, and power consumption have been set as the optimization objectives, and the actions of the intelligent agent, which include adding, deleting, modifying connection lines, and adjusting component parameters have been introduced in detail. Once the Actor and Critic networks have been established, multiple agents can operate concurrently, translating optimization objectives into reward signals and providing direction and motivation for agent learning. Then with the proposed method, the circuit structure of one switch audio power amplifier has been designed in a simulation environment. The structure optimization results demonstrated that the gain can reach 78.4 dB at convergence of the A3C algorithm, while the bandwidth can reach 156.2 MHz at convergence, and both the circuit delay and power consumption have been reduced significantly. Obviously, the application of the A3C algorithm can effectively optimize the circuit structures through offering more flexible and efficient solutions.

Dual HER2 inhibition: mechanisms of synergy, patient selection, and resistance.

HER2-targeted therapies for patients with HER2+ breast cancer are rapidly evolving, offering a range of more complex and personalized treatment options. Currently, an array of anti-HER2 monoclonal antibodies, tyrosine kinase inhibitors and antibody-drug conjugates are administered, sometimes alongside chemotherapy or endocrine therapy, both in curative and palliative contexts. However, the heterogeneous nature of HER2+ breast cancer demands a deeper understanding of disease biology and its role in responsiveness to novel HER2-targeted agents, as well as non-HER2-targeted therapies, in order to optimize patient outcomes. In this Review, we revisit the mechanisms of action of HER2-targeted agents, examine the evidence supporting the use of dual HER2 blockade in patients with HER2-amplified tumours, and explore the role of biomarkers in guiding future treatment strategies. We also discuss potential implications for the future treatment of patients with HER2+ breast cancer.

Incorporation of Likely Future Actions of Agents Into Pseudo-Gradient Dynamics of Noncooperative Games

Incorporation of Likely Future Actions of Agents Into Pseudo-Gradient Dynamics of Noncooperative Games

A multiplex single-cell RNA-Seq pharmacotranscriptomics pipeline for drug discovery.

The gene-regulatory dynamics governing drug responses in cancer are yet to be fully understood. Here, we report a pipeline capable of producing high-throughput pharmacotranscriptomic profiling through live-cell barcoding using antibody-oligonucleotide conjugates. This pipeline combines drug screening with 96-plex single-cell RNA sequencing. We show the potential of this approach by exploring the heterogeneous transcriptional landscape of primary high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) cells after treatment with 45 drugs, with 13 distinct classes of mechanisms of action. A subset of phosphatidylinositol 3-OH kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (AKT) and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors induced the activation of receptor tyrosine kinases, such as the epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR), and this was mediated by the upregulation of caveolin 1 (CAV1). This drug resistance feedback loop could be mitigated by the synergistic action of agents targeting PI3K-AKT-mTOR and EGFR for HGSOC with CAV1 and EGFR expression. Using this workflow could enable the personalized testing of patient-derived tumor samples at single-cell resolution.

Em busca de uma ética administrativa pós-convencional no contexto das organizações públicas brasileiras

This theoretical paper presents a debate on the moral action of public agents, aiming to indicate propositions for post-conventional administrative ethics in Public Administration. The expression “post-conventional ethics” originates from the Theory of Moral Development, constructed from research into the development of moral reasoning. At the post-conventional level of development, individuals are capable of making judgments about their own society, from an outside perspective, based on universal foundations. Based on this theoretical basis and the ethical competence of public agents to act consciously and make judgments, the possibility of postconventional administrative ethics is discussed. As suggestions and recommendations, in the sense of propositions, the following are presented: the integration of descriptive and normative ethics in the decision-making process; the virtue of phronesis and the search for the right way in ethical decision-making; and education for moral action.

Antiplatelet Agents in Endovascular Neurointerventional Procedures

Minimally invasive, image-guided endovascular procedures are becoming increasingly prevalent as techniques and technologies have advanced, particularly within the realm of neurovascular interventions. Endovascular approaches ubiquitously result in endothelial injury with subsequent risk of thromboembolic complications. Periprocedural antiplatelet agent use is an integral component of the management of patients undergoing endovascular neurointerventional procedures. This patient population has a unique risk profile encompassing thromboembolic and hemorrhagic complications simultaneously, and the precise balance of these risks impacts patient outcomes almost as much as the interventional procedure itself. Clinical experience and study consensus demonstrate overall improved outcomes with the use of periprocedural antiplatelet agents, though current practices remain highly institution and practitioner-dependent. This focused review will discuss the major mechanisms of action of antiplatelet agents, and their clinical indications and management in the periprocedural neurointerventional setting. Despite the importance of antiplatelet agents in the management of neurointerventional patients, many questions remain. Further research and clinical expertise are needed to establish standardized, procedure-specific, antiplatelet regimens as well as standardized monitoring of antiplatelet agent regimen efficacy and safety.

Beyond the matrix: Experimental approaches to studying cognitive agents in social-ecological systems

Studying social-ecological systems, in which agents interact with each other and their environment are important both for sustainability applications and for understanding how human cognition functions in context. In such systems, the environment shapes the agents' experience and actions, and in turn collective action of agents changes social and physical aspects of the environment. Here we review current investigation approaches, which rely on a lean design, with discrete actions and outcomes and little scope for varying environmental parameters and cognitive demands. We then introduce a multiagent reinforcement learning (MARL) approach, which builds on modern artificial intelligence techniques, and provides new avenues to model complex social worlds, while preserving more of their characteristics, and allowing them to capture a variety of social phenomena. These techniques can be fed back to the laboratory where they make it easier to design experiments in complex social situations without compromising their tractability for computational modeling. We showcase the potential MARL by discussing several recent studies that have used it, detailing the way environmental settings and cognitive constraints can lead to the emergence of complex cooperation strategies. This novel approach can help researchers bring together insights from human cognition, sustainability, and AI, to tackle real world problems of social-ecological systems.

Anti/de-icing superhydrophobic coating with durability and self-healing by infiltrating photothermal self-stratifying organic layers into plasma-sprayed porous Al2O3–13%TiO2 underlayer

Superhydrophobic coatings simultaneously exhibiting high substrate binding, mechanical durability and self-healing properties are of great significance for anti/de-icing applications. In this study, we fabricated a high substrate binding and mechanical durability anti/de-icing superhydrophobic coatings (SL-AP/SPS-SiO2) with self-healing performance by spray-coating a photothermal self-healing organic layers (AP/SPS-SiO2) plasma-sprayed porous Al2O3–13%TiO2 underlayer (SL), the resulting soft-hard interlocking structure significantly increased the adhesion strength of the coating to 16.7 ± 0.36 MPa while reducing the ice adhesion strength to 46.5 ± 3.0 kPa. In the as-obtained organic layers, self-stratifying acrylic resin (AR)/20%polymethylsiloxane (PDMS) (AP), not only enhanced the bonding strength with the underlayer but also imparted photothermal self-healing capability to the coating through the action of the photothermal agent (SPS-SiO2). And sodium alginate (SA) guided the self-oxidative polymerization of dopamine (DA) and its deposition on hydrophilic SiO2 to form a π-π stacked fiber structure photothermal agent (SPS), after hydrophobic SiO2 modification increased the coating's roughness and photothermal performance. Remarkably, the coating achieved a contact angle of up to 158.4 ± 0.89° and a rolling angle of 3.5 ± 0.89°, maintaining its superhydrophobic properties even after exposure to acid-base immersion and mechanical abrasion. Furthermore, the coating exhibited self-healing capabilities in superhydrophobicity against O2 plasma etching, with a contact angle recovery rate of up to 98.9% after undergoing 10 cycles of O2 plasma etching and light exposure. Enhancing mechanical and chemical stability with self-healing capabilities is beneficial for extending the lifespan of superhydrophobic coatings used in anti-/de-icing applications.

Antimalarials in Lupus Nephritis: How Strong is the Evidence?

Systemic lupus erythematosus is a chronic multisystem autoimmune disease that affects the kidneys in approximately 50% of patients, with prevalence rising to as high as 70% in certain populations, such as African Americans and Asians. Antimalarials -and particularly hydroxychloroquine- are currently considered a mainstay of therapy, together with immunosuppressants. Over the last decades, several studies have extensively investigated the mechanisms of action of antimalarial agents, and their potential beneficial properties in patients with SLE in general. However, the evidence for the therapeutic benefit of hydroxychloroquine in patients with lupus nephritis (LN) derives mainly from observational studies, conducted in an era prior to the refinement of induction and maintenance protocols for immunosuppressive therapy. Despite the paucity of high-quality evidence on its efficacy in LN, the nephrology community widely supports the universal use of hydroxychloroquine in LN patients, and recommendations for its use are firmly entrenched in various clinical practice guidelines. Nonetheless, the use of antimalarials may also carry inherent risks, underscoring the importance of personalized approaches in these patients. Herein, we comprehensively review the available literature on antimalarials in LN aiming to update the current evidence, limitations, and future perspectives for the use of antimalarials in adults.

Ethers as Building Blocks for the Synthesis and Modification of N‐Heterocycles

The use of C‐H compounds as reactive partners in a variety of transformations represents the state of the art in synthetic methodology. In this review, we have summarized the main achievements in using ethers as building blocks for the construction and modification of one of the basic platforms of organic chemistry, nitrogen‐containing heterocycles. Ethers, previously considered mainly as solvents, are excellent CH‐partners, capable of generating radical or cationic reactive species under the action of HAT agents and oxidants. The challenge in this field is the still limited number of heterocyclic systems and other starting reagents, with which the processes can be carried out selectively due to closer bond dissociation energies and oxidation potentials of heterocycles, reactive intermediates and ethers. However, the fine‐tuning of the reaction system using electro‐ and photochemical approaches and a deep understanding of the reaction pathways make the use of ethers as C‐H reagents a promising synthetic strategy.

Removing the arrests unlawfully seized by the state or private enforcement officer on the vehicle that belongs to one who is not a debtor under enforcement proceedings

To date, there is a legal problem in Ukraine, which is the result of a large number of illegal actions of state and private enforcement agents related to the seizure ofa vehicle that once belonged to the debtor in enforcement proceedings, but which at the time of the enforcement proceedings commencement or the imposition of the relevant arrest is the ownership of another person who is not a debtor under enforcement proceedings. Illegal actions of law-enforcement officers and the imperfection of the legislation of Ukraine violate the property rights of bona fide purchasers, do not allow them to take actions regarding the registration of the vehicle in the bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, and force them to go to court to protect their rights. However, it should be noted that in most cases, legal ignorance and imperfect justification of the legal position become the basis for refusing to grant such a claim. In this regard, this article presents the results of a scientific and legal study of the issue, identifies the gaps in the legislation of Ukraine that led to this problem, and also provides recommendations for lawmakers to perform changes to the legislation of Ukraine that could address the issue. Additionally, the article provides legal conclusions on determining the ownership of a vehicle (in particular, the moment of transfer of ownership from the seller to the buyer), taking into account the peculiarities of vehicle registration in the bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, as well as on determining the legal status of such a vehicle registration procedure means and determination of the legal status of the actions of state and private enforcement officers regarding the seizure of the transport property of a person who is not a debtor in enforcement proceedings. In addition, the paper provides legal conclusions regarding the existing options for applying to the courts with requests to remove the wrongful seizure from the vehicle.

Biofilm formation and increased mortality among cancer patients with candidemia in a Peruvian reference center

BackgroundCandidemia is an invasive mycosis with an increasing global incidence and high mortality rates in cancer patients. The production of biofilms by some strains of Candida constitutes a mechanism that limits the action of antifungal agents; however, there is limited and conflicting evidence about its role in the risk of death. This study aimed to determine whether biofilm formation is associated with mortality in cancer patients with candidemia.MethodsThis retrospective cohort study included patients treated at Peru’s oncologic reference center between June 2015 and October 2017. Data were collected by monitoring patients for 30 days from the diagnosis of candidemia until the date of death or hospital discharge. Statistical analyses evaluated the association between biofilm production determined by XTT reduction and mortality, adjusting for demographic, clinical, and microbiological factors assessed by the hospital routinary activities. Survival analysis and bivariate and multivariate Cox regression were used, estimating the hazard ratio (HR) as a measure of association with a significance level of p < 0.05.ResultsA total of 140 patients with candidemia were included in the study. The high mortality observed on the first day of post-diagnosis follow-up (81.0%) among 21 patients who were not treated with either antifungal or antimicrobial drugs led to stratification of the analyses according to whether they received treatment. In untreated patients, there was a mortality gradient in patients infected with non-biofilm-forming strains vs. low/medium and high-level biofilm-forming strains (25.0%, 66.7% and 82.3%, respectively, p = 0.049). In treated patients, a high level of biofilm formation was associated with increased mortality (HR, 3.92; 95% p = 0.022), and this association persisted after adjusting for age, comorbidities, and hospital emergency admission (HR, 6.59; CI: 1.87–23.24, p = 0.003).ConclusionsThe association between candidemia with in vitro biofilm formation and an increased risk of death consistently observed both in patients with and without treatment, provides another level of evidence for a possible causal association. The presence of comorbidities and the origin of the hospital emergency, which reflect the fragile clinical condition of the patients, and increasing age above 15 years were associated with a higher risk of death.