Multi-Task Reinforcement Learning with Mixture of Orthogonal Experts

Multi-Task Reinforcement Learning (MTRL) tackles the long-standing problem of endowing agents with skills that generalize across a variety of problems. To this end, sharing representations plays a fundamental role in capturing both unique and common characteristics of the tasks. Tasks may exhibit similarities in terms of skills, objects, or physical properties while leveraging their representations eases the achievement of a universal policy. Nevertheless, the pursuit of learning a shared set of diverse representations is still an open challenge. In this paper, we introduce a novel approach for representation learning in MTRL that encapsulates common structures among the tasks using orthogonal representations to promote diversity. Our method, named Mixture Of Orthogonal Experts (MOORE), leverages a Gram-Schmidt process to shape a shared subspace of representations generated by a mixture of experts. When task-specific information is provided, MOORE generates relevant representations from this shared subspace. We assess the effectiveness of our approach on two MTRL benchmarks, namely MiniGrid and MetaWorld, showing that MOORE surpasses related baselines and establishes a new state-of-the-art result on MetaWorld.Comment: Under revie

Setting an Agenda for Urban AI Adaptivity in Urban Planning and Architecture E-learning

The rapid spread of technology and learning systems have altered the viewpoint about the lack of E-learning to the human element. The intersection of AI and education is highlighted by many technologists and researchers showing the diverse possibilities and challenges of using AI in education. However, little research addresses the potential of using AI to create an adaptive e-learning experience that brings a fully personalized experience to e-learners in architecture and urban educational fields. Building on that, we postulate that adaptive AI learning could be useful for urban online teaching and urban development Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), specifically as urban planners need to explore different scenarios of future city making. Therefore, the aim is to explore how educators from the architecture and urban field E-Learning stakeholders perceive AI in the creation of urban Moocs as well as other online teaching activities, as well as address the ways in which adaptive learning can be created in urban e-learning MOOCs using AI. In an attempt to answer the question, what is the current perception of educators about AI adaptivity in e-learning?To achieve this, first, we review the literature available on the topic to provide a comprehensive and inclusive look at adaptive AI learning, its potential, and its challenges. This overview informed and guided the formulation of the survey questions. Then we conducted a survey on educators in Architecture and urban fields from universities in Egypt. The unfamiliarity of the participants with AI provides us with deeper insights into perceptions of educators\u27 AI adaptivity in online learning and MOOCs. The study develops a framework for adaptive e-learning using AI in an attempt to create more interactive and personalized e-learning experiences that can be used in different fields and for different types of learners

Setting an Agenda for Urban AI Adaptivity in Urban Planning and Architecture E-learning

The rapid spread of technology and learning systems have altered the viewpoint about the lack of E-learning to the human element. The intersection of AI and education is highlighted by many technologists and researchers showing the diverse possibilities and challenges of using AI in education. However, little research addresses the potential of using AI to create an adaptive e-learning experience that brings a fully personalized experience to e-learners in architecture and urban educational fields. Building on that, we postulate that adaptive AI learning could be useful for urban online teaching and urban development Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), specifically as urban planners need to explore different scenarios of future city making. Therefore, the aim is to explore how educators from the architecture and urban field E-Learning stakeholders perceive AI in the creation of urban Moocs as well as other online teaching activities, as well as address the ways in which adaptive learning can be created in urban e-learning MOOCs using AI. In an attempt to answer the question, what is the current perception of educators about AI adaptivity in e-learning?To achieve this, first, we review the literature available on the topic to provide a comprehensive and inclusive look at adaptive AI learning, its potential, and its challenges. This overview informed and guided the formulation of the survey questions. Then we conducted a survey on educators in Architecture and urban fields from universities in Egypt. The unfamiliarity of the participants with AI provides us with deeper insights into perceptions of educators\u27 AI adaptivity in online learning and MOOCs. The study develops a framework for adaptive e-learning using AI in an attempt to create more interactive and personalized e-learning experiences that can be used in different fields and for different types of learners

Therapeutic potential of dexamethasone Nano chitosan synthesized from chitosan as a novel treatment of pulmonary fibrosis in C57BL/6 mice

Back ground: Pulmonary fibrosis is an irreversible disease with excessive scarring and fibrosis of lung tissue. Glucocorticoid therapy of dexamethasone attenuates lung inflammation with severe adverse effects. Subsequently, synthesizing Nano chitosan from chitosan macromolecule and loading dexamethasone onto Nano chitosan particles have shown improved pharmacokinetics of dexamethasone. Purpose: The aim of this study was to prepare and characterize dexamethasone Nano chitosan particles chemically and then to evaluate the effectiveness of loading dexamethasone onto Nano chitosan as a treatment of pulmonary injury induced by bleomycin-induced in C57BL/6 mice. Results: This study elucidated significant elevations of serum malondialdehyde and lactate dehydrogenase with an increased lung tissue inflammatory mediators, collagen profile, Caspase-3, and MUC5AC gene expressions. This was accompanied by a significant elevation in total and differential leukocyte counts in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Besides, there were recognized histological and histopathological alterations in lung tissue sections following both 14 and 28 days of bleomycin instillation. Consequently, treatment of lung injury by dexamethasone alone or dexamethasone loaded onto Nano chitosan particles revealed a significant reduction of MDA and LDH, a decline in lung tissue inflammatory mediators, collagen profile, Caspase-3, and MUC5AC gene expressions. This was accompanied by a significant reduction in total and differential leukocyte counts in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. However, loading dexamethasone onto Nano chitosan provided novel insights in pulmonary injury treatmen

Effect of Filler Metal on the Performance of 2205 Duplex Stainless Steel Weldments

The escalated concern in duplex stainless steels by industries is due to their best mechanical and corrosion resistance properties. In this work, the mechanical properties welding duplex stainless steel 2205 has studied. Joints were made using the GTAW process with different fillers: duplex ER 2209 and austenitic filler ER 312. There is a similarity in the microstructure which is obtained between with the duplex ER 2209 filler to the duplex 2205 base material, but the joints produced with the austenitic fillers cause a increase of the ferrite(δ) to austenite(γ) phase ratio. In order to evaluate the influence of the fillers on the weld, the mechanical properties by impact , tensile test and the hardness test. The phase imbalance produced for the different fillers causes variation of the mechanical properties. Without getting any detrimental changes in the mechanical properties, by using different filler metals, has addressed in this work .while, ER 312 had the advantage in hardness , tensile, impact test and ferrite percent

A review on experimental surgical models and anesthetic protocols of heart failure in rats

Heart failure (HF) is a serious health and economic burden worldwide, and its prevalence is continuously increasing. Current medications effectively moderate the progression of symptoms, and there is a need for novel preventative and reparative treatments. The development of novel HF treatments requires the testing of potential therapeutic procedures in appropriate animal models of HF. During the past decades, murine models have been extensively used in fundamental and translational research studies to better understand the pathophysiological mechanisms of HF and develop more effective methods to prevent and control congestive HF. Proper surgical approaches and anesthetic protocols are the first steps in creating these models, and each successful approach requires a proper anesthetic protocol that maintains good recovery and high survival rates after surgery. However, each protocol may have shortcomings that limit the study's outcomes. In addition, the ethical regulations of animal welfare in certain countries prohibit the use of specific anesthetic agents, which are widely used to establish animal models. This review summarizes the most common and recent surgical models of HF and the anesthetic protocols used in rat models. We will highlight the surgical approach of each model, the use of anesthesia, and the limitations of the model in the study of the pathophysiology and therapeutic basis of common cardiovascular diseases

Stereoselective synthesis and X-ray structure determination of novel 1,2-dihydroquinolinehydrazonopropanoate derivatives

A novel series of 1,2-dihydroquinolinhydrazonopropanoate have been synthesized via a convenient aza-Michael addition reaction between hydrazinylquinolinones and ethyl propiolate in ethanol under refluxing temperature. The structures for all obtained products were confirmed with FTIR, NMR spectrums, as well as mass spectrometry. In addition, the monoclinic structure for compounds 8a, 8c, and 8d was also confirmed via X-ray crystallography analyses. The E-configuration for the obtained products was confirmed form the X-ray analysis. On the other hand, the crystal packing shows that the intermolecular and hydrogen bonds between atoms are parallel to the bc plan

Azides in the Synthesis of Various Heterocycles

In this review, we focus on some interesting and recent examples of various applications of organic azides such as their intermolecular or intramolecular, under thermal, catalyzed, or noncatalyzed reaction conditions. The aforementioned reactions in the aim to prepare basic five-, six-, organometallic heterocyclic-membered systems and/or their fused analogs. This review article also provides a report on the developed methods describing the synthesis of various heterocycles from organic azides, especially those reported in recent papers (till 2020). At the outset, this review groups the synthetic methods of organic azides into different categories. Secondly, the review deals with the functionality of the azido group in chemical reactions. This is followed by a major section on the following: (1) the synthetic tools of various heterocycles from the corresponding organic azides by one-pot domino reaction; (2) the utility of the chosen catalysts in the chemoselectivity favoring C−H and C-N bonds; (3) one-pot procedures (i.e., Ugi four-component reaction); (4) nucleophilic addition, such as Aza-Michael addition; (5) cycloaddition reactions, such as [3+2] cycloaddition; (6) mixed addition/cyclization/oxygen; and (7) insertion reaction of C-H amination. The review also includes the synthetic procedures of fused heterocycles, such as quinazoline derivatives and organometal heterocycles (i.e., phosphorus-, boron- and aluminum-containing heterocycles). Due to many references that have dealt with the reactions of azides in heterocyclic synthesis (currently more than 32,000), we selected according to generality and timeliness. This is considered a recent review that focuses on selected interesting examples of various heterocycles from the mechanistic aspects of organic azides

Novel 1,5-diaryl pyrazole-3-carboxamides as selective COX-2/sEH inhibitors with analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and lower cardiotoxicity effects

Funding Information: The authors extend their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at Jouf University for funding this work through research grant number (DSR2020-04-421 )Peer reviewedPostprin

Efficacy of Naltrexone/Bupropion in Treatment of Binge Eating: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: As the most widespread eating disorder in the world now, binge eating disorder (BED) is a mental condition characterized by recurrent periods of excessive food consumption and an inability to regulate one’s portion sizes. The utilization of a bupropion–naltrexone (NB) combination has been suggested as a potential therapeutic approach for BED. Assessing the effectiveness of NB in the treatment of BED and its accompanying obesity is the purpose of this research. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted in order to obtain any pertinent articles. PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Clinical Trials were consulted against in the databases that were searched. In our final meta-analysis, we incorporated interventional or observational studies that documented the effects of NB therapy for binge eating in adults. We also examined the difference in the mean change between the NB and placebo groups, as well as the disparity in outcomes before and after treatment. Results: This study shows that the use of an NB combination is associated with a statistically significant reduction in the weight, BMI, and Binge Eating Scale (BES) of the patients compared to their weight before treatment with MD: −8.52 (95% CI: −10.01–−6.94, p < 0.00001), MD: −4.95 (95%CI: −9.72–−0.17, p = 0.04), and MD: −7.66 (95%CI: −14.36–0.96, p = 0.02), respectively. The absolute mean change was statistically significantly higher in the drug combination group compared to the placebo group. Conclusions: NB showed efficacy in the improvement of the weight and psychiatric symptoms associated with BED and this provides a promising treatment option