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How Covid led to an ‘acceleration’ in mind ageing (even in case you didn’t have the virus) – NanoApps Medical – Official web site


The Covid pandemic ‘considerably’ accelerated mind ageing – even amongst those that have been by no means contaminated, a research suggests.

Scientists say the pressure on individuals’s lives, from isolation for weeks on finish to the uncertainty surrounding the disaster, was ‘detrimental’ to the nation’s well being.

The findings emerged from a mind ageing mannequin created utilizing knowledge from 15,334 wholesome individuals.

This mannequin was then used to analyse mind scans from one other 996 wholesome individuals. Half had scans taken earlier than the pandemic and half had scans earlier than and after the pandemic.

The latter group’s brains have been discovered to have aged a median of 5.5 months quicker. Some had even aged an additional 20 months quicker.

This accelerated ageing throughout the pandemic was seen no matter whether or not the individuals had been contaminated.

Nevertheless, Covid an infection was linked to an elevated price of acceleration as participant age elevated.

Mind ageing was additionally extra pronounced in males and for these experiencing socioeconomic drawback similar to an absence of employment, low ranges of earnings, poor well being and decrease ranges of schooling.

The Covid pandemic ‘considerably’ accelerated mind ageing – even amongst those that have been by no means contaminated, a research suggests (Inventory Picture)

Scientists say the pressure on individuals’s lives, from isolation for weeks on finish to the uncertainty surrounding the disaster, was ‘detrimental’ to the nation’s well being (Inventory Picture)

The findings emerged from a mind ageing mannequin created utilizing knowledge from 15,334 wholesome individuals (Inventory Picture)

The researchers additionally used checks taken by individuals to evaluate cognitive efficiency.

For these contaminated with Covid, these confirmed a decline in efficiency – notably in psychological flexibility and processing pace.

The scientists, from Nottingham College, stated: ‘We discovered that the pandemic was detrimental to mind well being and induced accelerated mind ageing no matter an infection.’

Dr Ali-Reza Mohammadi-Nejad, who led the research, informed journal Nature Communications: ‘What stunned me most was that even individuals who hadn’t had Covid confirmed vital will increase in mind ageing charges.

‘It actually reveals how a lot the expertise of the pandemic, the whole lot from isolation to uncertainty, could have affected our mind well being.’

His colleague Professor Dorothee Auer added: ‘The pandemic put a pressure on individuals’s lives, particularly these already dealing with drawback.’

The Darkish Aspect of Romance: SarangTrap Extortion Marketing campaign


Government Abstract

In current weeks, our zLabs staff uncovered a extremely coordinated and emotionally manipulative malware marketing campaign concentrating on cellular customers on each Android and iOS platforms. This intensive marketing campaign concerned over 250 malicious Android purposes and greater than 80 malicious domains, all disguised as official courting and social media purposes. Menace actors used these domains to deceive customers into putting in malware designed to extract delicate private information, comparable to contact lists and personal pictures, all whereas sustaining a convincing look of normalcy. These malicious apps particularly focused a various viewers, together with courting app customers, cloud file service seekers, and automotive service platforms (see Determine 1).

What’s Agentic AI?


Think about that you haven’t only a program however a digital worker who understands what you need, finds options, and brings issues to life. That is agentic AI — a brand new sort of synthetic intelligence that doesn’t watch for step-by-step directions however acts autonomously: analyzing information, making choices, and performing human-level duties. It adapts, learns, and works for outcomes — even when circumstances change.

Such good brokers have gotten more and more common as a result of it’s now not sufficient for companies to easily automate processes. In the present day, it’s essential to behave shortly, flexibly, and with minimal human involvement.

Because of the event of generative AI and highly effective language fashions, agentic AI is already accessible and may dramatically enhance effectivity, from customer support to strategic duties.

What’s Agentic AI: Evolution from Conventional AI to Clever Brokers

Analysis firm Markets & Markets estimates that the agentic AI market will develop from $13.8 billion in 2025 to $140.8 billion by 2032. Because of this the demand for clever brokers will develop greater than 10 instances in a number of years.

What’s Agentic AI?

This progress is a results of the truth that companies and customers are now not happy with “good” packages — they need options that not solely take instructions however perceive targets, are in a position to take unbiased motion, and adapt to altering circumstances.

In contrast to conventional AI, which responds to a particular request (for instance, “inform a joke” or “analyze a spreadsheet”), agent-based AI can analyze a fancy activity, suggest an answer, execute it, and adapt if one thing goes improper.

Attribute Conventional AI Agentic AI
Focus Fixing a single activity Multi-step objectives and methods
Initiative Reactive Proactively determines subsequent steps
Reminiscence and Context Restricted Lengthy-term reminiscence and studying from expertise
Interplay with Setting Passive Energetic (observes, acts, learns)
Planning None or restricted Multi-step, goal-driven planning
Instance Chatbot, picture classifier Agent that books a whole journey

Comparability of conventional AI and Agentic AI

The position of an AI agent in such a system isn’t just to carry out actions however to behave as an lively participant within the course of. It is aware of what the principle purpose is, breaks it down into smaller duties, research circumstances, talks to the required providers, and completes the duty.

This method is particularly essential in companies that worth not solely pace but in addition adaptability. An agent can substitute a complete chain of routine operations, scale back errors, and save time for workers.

Agentic AI and Generative AI: How These Approaches Work together

At first look, it could appear that agentic AI and generative AI are two completely different instructions within the subject of synthetic intelligence. Nevertheless, in apply, they’re carefully associated and complement one another.

Generative fashions, equivalent to GPT, Claude, or Gemini, act as a “motor” that drives agentic methods. And agentic AI, in flip, turns these fashions into full-fledged autonomous executors.

Variations and Factors of Intersection

Generative AI is a sort that may create new content material: textual content, photographs, music, code, and extra. It depends on massive information studying and is ready to generate significant, coherent, and contextualized outcomes on the consumer’s request.

Agentic AI makes use of such fashions as a part of a extra advanced system, the place textual content technology is just one of many parts. The principle activity of agentic AI is to realize a purpose: to plan actions, carry out the required steps, keep in mind suggestions, and, if obligatory, change conduct.

Listed here are the principle variations:

Attribute Generative AI Agentic AI
Objective Content material creation Activity execution and purpose achievement
Habits Reactive: responds to prompts Energetic: determines actions independently
Reminiscence and Context Restricted or single-use Lengthy-term, considers earlier actions
Planning Absent Constructed-in planning and course correction
Person Interplay By particular person prompts By interactive and ongoing dialogue

Variations between Generative AI and Agentic AI

Thus, generative AI may be seen as a instrument, and agentic AI may be seen because the architect that manages that instrument.

Advantages of Agentic AI: Extra Than Simply Automation

Agentic AI provides companies greater than only a handy instrument to hurry up processes — it adjustments the very method to work. Such methods change into full-fledged members in making choices, adapting to adjustments, and growing enterprise resilience to exterior challenges.

Improved Effectivity and Pace of Processes

As an alternative of performing solely particular person operations (e.g., sending an e-mail or producing a report), agent-based AI is ready to take over all the chain of actions: from understanding a activity to monitoring its achievement. This could scale back the time to finish duties on time and free staff from routine chores.

Corporations which have already carried out AI brokers see effectivity positive factors of as much as 55% and value reductions of as much as 35%.

Resilience to Uncertainty

Agentic AI is ready to work in circumstances the place there isn’t any clear instruction or unexpected conditions come up. It doesn’t “cling up” on non-standard inputs however replans actions, clarifies particulars, and turns to exterior sources to discover a answer.

Actual-time Choice Making

In contrast to conventional methods, agentic AI cannot solely carry out a activity but in addition assess the scenario because it progresses, making choices on the fly. For instance, if a buyer doesn’t reply to an e-mail, the agent can remind them, recommend one other option to contact them, or delegate the duty to a human.

Scalability and Adaptability

A single agent can deal with dozens of duties concurrently, and may be scaled and educated on the fly if obligatory. As your organization grows, you don’t want to rent a whole bunch of latest staff for routine duties — simply “rent” new brokers. Furthermore, such methods adapt to adjustments in information, consumer preferences, or the exterior surroundings, with out the necessity to rewrite code.

AI Systems and How They Work

Forms of Agentic AI Programs and How They Work

There are a number of varieties of agentic AI methods, every with its personal degree of complexity and autonomy. For instance, reactive brokers function on a easy “if A, then B” precept — like an auto-responder or a fundamental chatbot.

Extra superior goal-driven brokers can tackle advanced duties (equivalent to “schedule a gathering”), create a plan, and carry it via to completion.

One step additional are studying brokers, which analyze their very own errors and regulate their conduct over time.

In large-scale methods, a number of brokers can work collectively, every answerable for a particular a part of the method — this is called a multi-agent structure, generally utilized in logistics, mission administration, and information evaluation.

Agentic AI System: Structure and Parts

For an agent to behave as an “ mental actor,” it should embody a number of key parts. Collectively, they supply notion, considering, decision-making, and motion.

Clever Agent Structure

In a normal agentic AI system, the next ranges are sometimes current:

  1. Purpose module: Determines what must be completed. Receives the duty from the consumer or different methods and formulates the ultimate purpose.
  2. Planner: Breaks down the purpose into steps, prioritizes, and selects an applicable technique to realize the end result.
  3. Executor: Performs actions — it may possibly work together with the API, ship emails, replace paperwork, or execute instructions within the UI.
  4. Monitor/Observer: Screens outcomes, checks towards objectives, experiences errors, or the necessity to regulate the plan.
  5. Reasoning Engine: Analyzes choices, finds optimum options, particularly in conditions with uncertainty.
  6. Reminiscence: Shops information, context, previous experiences, and outcomes of actions — each brief and long run.

Agentic AI Use Instances: The place the New Strategy Already Works

Though the idea of agentic AI has been actively creating over the previous 1-2 years, actual examples of its implementation are already discovered at this time in a variety of spheres, from finance to drugs. Right here is the way it works in apply.

Evolution from Traditional AI

Finance: Automated Funding Choice Making

In funding firms, agent-based methods assist construct and handle portfolios based mostly on real-time market analytics. Such brokers don’t simply course of information but in addition monitor information, analyze dynamics, and recommend or make choices on technique adjustments — for instance, re-allocate property when volatility will increase or substitute them in response to company occasions.

Retail: Autonomous Purchaser Brokers

In e-commerce, firms can use AI purchaser brokers to behave on behalf of consumers. They’ll choose merchandise in response to preferences, discover favorable affords, evaluate parameters, and even place an order, pay, and observe supply themselves. And alternatively, sellers use brokers to handle stock, pricing, and proposals in actual time.

Schooling: Personalised Tutor-Brokers

EdTech can profit from AI tutors that don’t simply reply questions however plan a research route for a selected scholar, choose duties in response to information degree, monitor progress, and adapt the presentation of fabric.

Such brokers are particularly helpful when studying languages, programming, and arithmetic, the place gradualness and particular person method are essential. As an alternative of plunging right into a basic course, a scholar will get a private instructor working 24/7.

Manufacturing: Optimization of Processes and Logistics

In enterprises, agent methods handle tools schedules, logistics, and provide. For instance, an agent can establish provide chain disruptions, recommend different suppliers, or reconfigure manufacturing relying on uncooked supplies and demand.

Such brokers don’t require fixed monitoring and may cope properly with a risky surroundings, particularly in circumstances of provide disruptions or worth will increase.

Medication: Medical Choice Help

In clinics and hospitals, agentic AI is used to research medical information and make remedy suggestions. For instance, an agent can evaluate a affected person’s medical historical past, match it with the most recent medical protocols, evaluate it to related circumstances, and recommend optimum steps to the physician.

In consequence, the doctor receives not only a reference however a deep evaluation, saving time on a handbook check-up.

Growing Agentic AI: How an Clever Agent is Created

For an clever agent to actually act autonomously, make choices, and adapt to altering circumstances, it’s important to be constructed on a stable technological basis. Under are the important thing rules and instruments wanted:

  1. Fundamentals of Agent Growth: Creating an agent begins with designing an structure that features goal, planning, executing actions, and analyzing the end result — multi functional cycle.
  2. Utilizing LLM and generative AI: Most clever brokers are powered by massive language fashions (LLMs) that enable them to grasp duties, generate solutions, and motive.
  3. Integration with cloud platforms: Azure AI, AWS, and Google Cloud present the required instruments, APIs, and compute assets to deploy, scale, and safe agent-based options.
  4. The position of knowledge, reminiscence, and suggestions: The agent makes use of information pipelines, shops context in reminiscence, makes logical choices, and learns by analyzing its actions via suggestions loops.

Agentic AI Growth Companies: The right way to Select a Developer

Selecting a vendor for agentic AI improvement isn’t just a matter of technical implementation. This resolution determines how versatile, safe, and scalable your clever agent shall be.

With increasingly more firms trying to combine AI brokers into their enterprise processes, it’s essential to grasp {that a} custom-made answer virtually at all times supplies extra worth than utilizing an out-of-the-box template agent.

Off-the-shelf options (for instance, bots in CRM, advertising assistants, or embedded brokers in Google Workspace) are handy however are severely restricted in logic, integration, and adaptation to distinctive processes.

A customized AI agent, alternatively, is created exactly for the shopper’s enterprise targets, taking into consideration infrastructure, business specifics, degree of knowledge entry, and even company communication model. That is particularly essential for monetary, healthcare, and manufacturing firms, the place errors may be pricey.

One of many key elements in selecting an AI developer is the flexibility to construct the best structure and guarantee safety. The trendy agent works with delicate information, connects to CRM, APIs, back-end storage, and cloud providers. Subsequently, the seller should make sure that:

  • Isolation of knowledge execution and storage
  • Entry rights management
  • Agent motion audit
  • Safety towards the technology of malicious or incorrect content material

An excellent agentic AI developer is not going to simply join LLM however can even create a fail-safe system with logging, fallback modes, and conduct state of affairs administration. That is particularly essential when implementing brokers that make real-time choices: processing orders, interacting with clients, managing logistics, or providing legally related suggestions.

AI developer

Which AI Growth and Agentic AI Companies Are in Demand

The next AI improvement and agentic AI providers are specifically demand available in the market at this time:

  • Growth of customized AI brokers for division or crew duties (assistants in gross sales, assist, finance)
  • Integration of LLM brokers with company databases and APIs
  • Coaching of brokers on inside firm information (fine-tuning or RAG)
  • Constructing multi-agent methods the place a number of brokers coordinate work: plan, verify, repair
  • Growth of agent administration interfaces — from chat rooms to visible dashboards.

Thus, you need to select a associate for an agentic AI mission not on the precept of “who can generate textual content quicker” however on the idea of who’s able to constructing a sustainable clever system custom-made for your corporation. It is necessary that it’s not only a improvement crew however a associate who understands AI ar

Customized AI & AI Agent Growth Companies from SCAND

SCAND affords full-cycle improvement of customized AI and agentic AI options — from ideation and prototyping to industrial implementation and scaling.

With greater than 25 years of software program improvement expertise and a deep deal with synthetic intelligence, SCAND creates clever algorithms that may not simply execute instructions however perceive objectives, make choices, and adapt to the surroundings in actual time.

The crew focuses on constructing resilient structure, integrating with enterprise processes, connecting to inside APIs, and defending information, which is particularly essential for enterprise initiatives in finance, logistics, drugs, and schooling.

SCAND affords custom-made LLM improvement providers utilizing state-of-the-art generative fashions (GPT, Claude, Gemini, and so on.) and develops customized AI brokers totally tailor-made to the shopper’s targets.

As a part of an built-in method, the corporate implements a full stack: from constructing information pipelines and reminiscence methods to reasoning modules and interplay interfaces.

This method permits SCAND not simply to implement know-how however to create full-fledged agent ecosystems that enhance effectivity, scale back the burden on staff, and speed up decision-making.

The Way forward for Agentic AI: What Lies Forward

Agentic AI isn’t just a short-term development however a basic change within the method to constructing digital methods.

Within the subsequent 3-5 years, we will anticipate AI brokers to change into an integral a part of company infrastructure, taking up as much as 30-50% of operational duties, particularly these requiring information processing, planning, and communication.

The subsequent stage would be the improvement of autonomous multitasking brokers able to making collective choices and constructing advanced workflows with out human intervention.

Such methods will handle initiatives, analyze dangers, adapt to adjustments in actual time, and function below circumstances of incomplete data. In response, firms will rethink organizational processes, and governments — approaches to digital governance and citizen providers.

On this transformational surroundings, SCAND affords not simply know-how deployment however deep integration of agent methods into the shopper’s enterprise surroundings.

With experience in customized AI improvement and LLM integration, SCAND helps organizations transfer from automating particular person duties to constructing versatile, adaptive agent ecosystems that may scale, evolve, and meet the calls for of the longer term.

Unlock Cisco XDR With Key Integrations


With over 100 integrations and capabilities spanning 5 main classes of safety outcomes, Cisco XDR affords an extremely highly effective ecosystem for customers, companions, and potential prospects. However with so many instruments, workflows, and knowledge sources out there, discovering the appropriate integration or automation can really feel overwhelming. That’s why we’re excited to introduce Cisco XDR Join—a brand new device designed to make navigating this wealthy ecosystem simpler than ever. With a clear, intuitive interface and no Cisco XDR login required, XDR Join lets customers search, browse, and discover integrations and automation capabilities multi functional place.

Greater than only a catalog, Cisco XDR Join is a window into the breadth and depth of Cisco XDR’s interoperability. An XDR is just as efficient because the occasion knowledge and controls it will possibly entry, and Cisco has prioritized open architectures and knowledge requirements to make sure most flexibility. This openness empowers integration companions, software program distributors, and even prospects to construct and share their very own integrations, driving a vibrant and rising ecosystem round Cisco XDR.

The result’s an expansive community of collaborating applied sciences and shared data, enabling all the things from log ingestion and menace searching to automated response actions and enriched menace intelligence. With so many prospects—and a sturdy library of SOAR-like workflows—the necessity for a easy, centralized device to find and consider these choices grew to become clear.

XDR Connect developer's toolboxXDR Connect developer's toolbox

Cisco XDR Join fills that want, offering a streamlined option to discover what’s doable with Cisco XDR. Whether or not you’re seeking to improve visibility, enhance investigation workflows, or automate menace response, XDR Join helps you discover the appropriate instruments to do it—shortly and confidently.

In Cisco XDR Join, customers can search, browse, and consider the small print of all out there XDR integrations and automation content material. The knowledge proven about every integration contains its capabilities and the steps and particulars that might be required to put in and configure the mixing. For automation content material, the knowledge contains particulars about what automation achieved and the mixing it’s suitable with. Customers with a Cisco XDR login can even simply pivot into XDR to put in the content material they’re viewing.

For instance, when looking for Cisco Safe Endpoint, you’ll see one complete web page exhibiting details about the Safe Endpoint integration and 12 installable workflows, 4 built-in workflows, and 14 built-in actions which can be associated. There’s additionally a worldwide search that lets you search for content material whatever the content material sort, making it even simpler to seek out what you’re searching for and uncover what Cisco XDR can supply.

XDR Connect developers toolbox, secure endpointXDR Connect developers toolbox, secure endpoint

What we’ve delivered in the present day with Cisco XDR Join is just the start.

Plans for XDR Join sooner or later embody extra instruments to help within the creation of Group integrations and automations, and an much more tightly knit expertise inside Cisco XDR itself.

Keep tuned to XDR Join and these blogs for extra bulletins as this device continues to evolve and develop, in response to our customers, integration companions, and Cisco XDR developer group.


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Utilizing Generative AI for Technical Writing at Cisco ThousandEyes


 

As a technical content material author for Cisco ThousandEyes, I’ve to confess, my best worry is to get replaced by a generative AI algorithm. Within the spirit of “holding my pals shut and my enemies nearer,” I made a decision to befriend my potential adversary. On this article, I’ll share how utilizing CIRCUIT, Cisco’s inner AI assistant, has augmented my means as a technical author to maintain up with the speedy tempo of change in our trade.

Fast context switching

I work on a number of merchandise for ThousandEyes and, because of my earlier lives as a NOC Engineer (Community Operations Middle) and Backend Software program Developer, my technical experience means I’m typically referred to as upon when the workforce wants further protection. Whereas I’ve a broad and deep understanding of many applied sciences, the focus required to successfully write about them is on par with the focus I as soon as wanted as a developer to construct them.

In engineering, “rubber ducking” means to speak out an issue both at somebody or one thing with the intention to set up one’s ideas (not essentially for a response). I exploit CIRCUIT as a rubber duck in context switching conditions. With generative AI chat, I’m in a position to preserve a dialog the place I can current concepts and ask it to summarize the important thing factors I must refresh on. The conversational fashion strikes me rapidly into the headspace crucial for making troublesome context switches. Relatively than needing half a day to get again within the stream, I can pivot to a brand new job inside half-hour.

Shorter SME interviews

One thing I get pleasure from about being a technical author is attending to find out about new stuff. As a lot as I really like studying, nonetheless, given our present velocity (and quantity) of innovation, I typically really feel like I’m ingesting from a firehose. CIRCUIT gives me with a quiet house the place I can safely ask dumb questions on unfamiliar applied sciences. This maximizes the worth I can convey to SME (Topic Matter Professional) interviews.

When an SME has to stroll me by way of the fundamentals, interviews can take as a lot as an hour and should even span a number of classes. Even after I put together alone, I spend quite a lot of time gathering the data I want and discerning what’s truly helpful. With the assistance of CIRCUIT, the data is introduced to me in a summarized kind that’s simple to digest. I can rapidly assess it for accuracy and I can ask questions for clarification, in addition to reply with corrections to enhance my outcomes. It even exhibits me what sources it used, so I can go deeper alone. This considerably reduces the time I must ramp up on a brand new know-how. On account of utilizing CIRCUIT to ramp up on unfamiliar applied sciences, my SME interviews are extremely concentrated and environment friendly, usually lasting a mere 15-20 minutes.

Diminished repetitive duties

The Documentation Staff at ThousandEyes makes use of a “docs-as-code” strategy. For us, this implies our documentation lives in Github and we format it utilizing markdown. Markdown tables are very tedious and error-prone. When I’ve to create a brand new markdown desk, I exploit CIRCUIT to create it with the values I present. Then, all I’ve to do is copy and paste. It’s additionally helpful after I must summarize content material, comparable to offering a one-sentence description or writing a brief introductory paragraph to a technical article. CIRCUIT can present me with the summaries I want immediately, sourced from our personal documentation.

Immediate contextual data

The toughest factor to doc isn’t the technical stuff. It’s the stuff that connects the technical stuff to what the person actually wants and desires. That is the a part of the writing course of that depends upon the author’s expertise and instinct. Technical writing isn’t simply making a bunch of screenshots and describing them. It’s determining what the person needs to do after which determining one of the best ways to current the data to attenuate the person’s cognitive load.

Suggestions gathered by one in all our product managers, clients appreciated ThousandEyes’ documentation higher than our rivals’. Caring about our customers is an enormous precedence for my workforce. For instance, I perceive how difficult making sense of documentation may be within the midst of a high-severity outage, particularly while you’ve been woken up in the course of the evening. Once I’m figuring out easy methods to doc one thing, I do quite a lot of background analysis, together with perusing instructional supplies on the ThousandEyes weblog and user-contributed content material on websites like Reddit and StackOverflow. Asking CIRCUIT why somebody may use one thing makes a part of the writing course of a lot sooner (though it does take finesse to phrase my prompts successfully).

The listing of use instances and descriptions I get from the AI not solely permits me to extra deeply empathize with our customers, but in addition helps me to craft my content material to make sure relevancy and ease of use.

Embracing GenAI

Generative AI has reworked my strategy to technical writing at Cisco ThousandEyes, turning what may have been a frightening adversary into a robust ally. By streamlining context switching, accelerating studying for SME interviews, automating repetitive duties, and offering prompt contextual insights, CIRCUIT has not solely boosted my effectivity however continues to raise the standard of our user-focused documentation. Relatively than changing the human contact, CIRCUIT amplifies my means to empathize with customers and ship clear, related content material that meets their wants, even in high-pressure situations. Because the tempo of innovation continues to speed up, integrating AI into technical writing is not only a sensible alternative—it’s a strategic one which empowers writers to remain forward in a quickly evolving trade.

 


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