The phrase "acts rather as" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to indicate that something functions in a particular way, often suggesting a comparison or contrast to another function.
Example: "In this context, the software acts rather as a facilitator than a direct provider of solutions."
Alternatives: "functions more like" or "serves more as".
Studies from different fields suggest that it may act rather as a signalling receptor participating in recognition of the environment and regulation of cell motility, proliferation and phenotype.
The comparison of the results obtained with film electrodes prepared from gold nanoparticles with the same charge and with gold-carbon nanoparticulate electrodes, proved that positively charged nanoparticles are responsible for the high electrocatalytic activity, whereas negatively charged ones act rather as a linker of the film.
In fact, some authors have reported that excess EP2 agonists may act rather as inflammatory-inductive drugs.
Even though we cannot rule out that the optimal conditions for condensin's ATPase activation have not yet been found, the data available suggest that the ATP binding and hydrolysis reactions might act rather as a conformational switch than as a motor.
While mitochondrial signalling in TRAIL-induced apoptosis has been postulated in some reports (Thomas et al, 2000; Munshi et al, 2001), it may not be involved at all in some cases (Walczak et al, 2000; Keogh et al, 2000), or may act rather as an amplification loop (Suliman et al, 2001; Alleva et al, 2001).
For the r reaction, we envisage a template directed process (e.g. on the surface of a clay catalyst) in which a single strand acts rather passively as a template.
Moreover, he thought that philosophers had conceived locutionary acts, not as abstractions from illocutionary acts, but rather as things that might be done without any illocutionary purpose, just by virtue of the linguistic expressions employed or their meanings.
ADAM GOPNIK: I think that the old cliche about people in France thinking about food as a social act rather than as a private consolation is probably true.
A third possible focus is on pleasure understood as a property of something bad such as a sadistic thought or act, rather than as an effect of something bad.
