We study two ideals which are naturally associated to independent families. The first of them, denoted \, is characterized by a diagonalization property which allows along a cofinal sequence of stages along a finite support iteration to adjoin a maximal independent family. The second ideal, denoted \\), originates in Shelah’s proof of \ in Shelah, 433–443, 1992). We show that for every independent family \, \\subseteq \mathcal {J}_\mathcal {A}\) and define a class of maximal independent families, to which we refer (...) as densely maximal, for which the two ideals coincide. Building upon the techniques of Shelah we characterize Sacks indestructibility for such families in terms of properties of \\) and devise a countably closed poset which adjoins a Sacks indestructible densely maximal independent family. (shrink)

We study higher analogues of the classical independence number on $\omega $. For $\kappa $ regular uncountable, we denote by $i(\kappa )$ the minimal size of a maximal $\kappa $ -independent family. We establish ZFC relations between $i(\kappa )$ and the standard higher analogues of some of the classical cardinal characteristics, e.g., $\mathfrak {r}(\kappa )\leq \mathfrak {i}(\kappa )$ and $\mathfrak {d}(\kappa )\leq \mathfrak {i}(\kappa )$. For $\kappa $ measurable, assuming that $2^{\kappa }=\kappa ^{+}$ we construct a maximal $\kappa $ -independent (...) family which remains maximal after the $\kappa $ -support product of $\lambda $ many copies of $\kappa $ -Sacks forcing. Thus, we show the consistency of $\kappa ^{+}=\mathfrak {d}(\kappa )=\mathfrak {i}(\kappa )<2^{\kappa }$. We conclude the paper with interesting open questions and discuss difficulties regarding other natural approaches to higher independence. (shrink)

We study some properties of the quotient forcing notions \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$${Q_{tr(I)} = \wp(2^{< \omega})/tr(i)}$$\end{document} and PI = B(2ω)/I in two special cases: when I is the σ-ideal of meager sets or the σ-ideal of null sets on 2ω. We show that the remainder forcing RI = Qtr(I)/PI is σ-closed in these cases. We also study the cardinal invariant of the continuum \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$${\mathfrak{h}_{\mathbb{Q}}}$$\end{document}, the distributivity (...) number of the quotient \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$${Dense(\mathbb{Q})/nwd}$$\end{document}, in order to show that \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$${\wp(\mathbb{Q})/nwd}$$\end{document} collapses \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$${\mathfrak{c}}$$\end{document} to \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$${\mathfrak{h}_{\mathbb{Q}}}$$\end{document}, thus answering a question addressed in Balcar et al. (Fundamenta Mathematicae 183:59–80, 2004). (shrink)

El presente artículo pretende dar cuenta de cómo el pensamiento de Slavoj Žižek posibilita el diagnóstico, la comprensión y la interpretación de nuevas o diversas formas de confrontación de algunas de las crisis más importantes de este tiempo, para lo cual esta investigación partió del estudio del concepto de crisis en el pensamiento del filósofo esloveno y de la descripción breve de algunos hechos que podrían considerarse como críticos o verdaderas crisis de este tiempo. Posteriormente se realizó un análisis de (...) la teoría del acontecimiento desarrollada por Žižek en varias de sus obras, para finalizar con algunas recomendaciones y reflexiones en torno a la forma en que el pensamiento de dicho autor posibilita tanto una nueva comprensión de las crisis, como la construcción de alternativas y focos de atención que constituyan, en sí mismos, nuevas formas de confrontación de ellos. El método empleado para realizar el abordaje así propuesto fue el hermenéutico, el instrumento fue el estudio bibliográfico y la técnica de análisis de información fue el análisis del discurso. (shrink)

En la actualidad el número de estudiantes con diversidad funcional que ha ingresado al sistema educativo colombiano es amplio, así pues, el punto neurálgico de esta revolución educativa es transformar paradigmas desde una perspectiva práctica. Aunado a esto, el docente juega un papel fundamental en la inclusión. Esta investigación se orientó a identificar los retos y realidades del docente en contextos escolares colombianos. En este sentido, se planteó partir de una metodología de corte cuantitativo con un diseño no experimental de (...) alcance descriptivo. Destacando que, una escuela para todos no es una utopía, es un espacio de los educandos y para los educandos donde convergen libremente una gama de particularidades y habilidades propias de una escuela humana e igualitaria. (shrink)

Este artículo tiene el objetivo de reflexionar críticamente sobre la construcción del perfil profesional de los docentes de artes y humanidades en la Educación Superior de Ecuador, con el fin de mejorar su empleabilidad en escuelas, colegios e institutos. Por este motivo, la investigación utiliza una metodología cualitativa, de carácter exploratorio y descriptivo, que promueve una revisión filosófica y antropológica para reconceptualizar los procesos de enseñanza-aprendizaje que se dan en la asignatura ‘Educación Cultural y Artística’ (ECA) del currículo de Educación (...) General Básica (EGB). Como resultado, se muestran las estimaciones estadísticas publicadas por el Ministerio de Educación (2021) sobre la cantidad de instituciones educativas que forman estudiantes en asignaturas relacionadas con las artes tanto en Educación Básica y Bachillerato General Unificado, como en instituciones especializadas y que necesitan docentes-investigadores formados. Desde una visión educativa compleja, transdisciplinar, decolonial e intercultural, la investigación propone ocho principios filosóficos y antropológicos derivados de la cosmovisión indígena quechua del Sumak Kawsay, orientados a construir una filosofía educativa de formación docente que mejore sus competencias pedagógicas y artísticas. Para concluir, se debate sobre las políticas públicas y los planes de estudios de educación superior que orientan el perfil profesional de los estudiantes que ejercerán como docentes. (shrink)

Understanding the causes of maize landrace loss in farmers’ field is essential to design effective conservation strategies. These strategies are necessary to ensure that genetic resources are available in the future. Previous studies have shown that this loss is caused by multiple factors. In this longitudinal study, we used a collection of 93 maize landrace accessions from Morelos, Mexico, and stored at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) Maize Germplasm Bank, to trace back to the original 66 donor (...) families after 50 years and explore the causes for why they abandoned or conserved their seed lots. We used an actor-centered approach, based on interviews and focus group discussions. We adopt a Multi-Level Perspective framework to examine loss as a process, accommodating multiple causes and the interactions among them. We found that the importance of maize landrace cultivation had diminished over the last 50 years in the study area. By 2017, 13 families had conserved a total of 14 seed lots directly descended from the 1967 collection. Focus group participants identified 60 accessions that could still be found in the surrounding municipalities. Our findings showed that multiple interconnected changes in maize cultivation technologies, as well as in maize markets, other crop markets, agricultural and land policies, cultural preferences, urbanization and climate change, have created an unfavorable environment for the conservation of maize landraces. Many of these processes were location- and landrace-specific, and often led to landrace abandonment during the shift from one farmer generation to the next. (shrink)

Understanding the causes of maize landrace loss in farmers’ field is essential to design effective conservation strategies. These strategies are necessary to ensure that genetic resources are available in the future. Previous studies have shown that this loss is caused by multiple factors. In this longitudinal study, we used a collection of 93 maize landrace accessions from Morelos, Mexico, and stored at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center Maize Germplasm Bank, to trace back to the original 66 donor families (...) after 50 years and explore the causes for why they abandoned or conserved their seed lots. We used an actor-centered approach, based on interviews and focus group discussions. We adopt a Multi-Level Perspective framework to examine loss as a process, accommodating multiple causes and the interactions among them. We found that the importance of maize landrace cultivation had diminished over the last 50 years in the study area. By 2017, 13 families had conserved a total of 14 seed lots directly descended from the 1967 collection. Focus group participants identified 60 accessions that could still be found in the surrounding municipalities. Our findings showed that multiple interconnected changes in maize cultivation technologies, as well as in maize markets, other crop markets, agricultural and land policies, cultural preferences, urbanization and climate change, have created an unfavorable environment for the conservation of maize landraces. Many of these processes were location- and landrace-specific, and often led to landrace abandonment during the shift from one farmer generation to the next. (shrink)

En la ciudad de Medellín se hace uso de herramientas y dispositivos, en el marco de la llamada Gestión Social, para ejecutar importantes obras para el llamado desarrollo urbano, que bien pueden configurar una “Gestión social del despojo”, en el marco de una “Planeación institucional de la miseria y el desarraigo”, generando víctimas ya no del conflicto armado sino del desarrollo. Es necesario problematizar esta suerte de modelo de desarrollo urbano, su gestión e implementación.

There is a growing interest in improving the teaching–learning process at all levels of education, including higher education. In recent years, university institutions have been taking action to renew and modernize the way in which they teach and learn, making the process more dynamic and closer to the current social reality. Competencies such as the ability to work in a team have become essential for the successful implementation of innovative methodologies in which student participation is particularly relevant. Student acceptance is (...) key to the success of any teaching methodology; however, the influence of group work skills on satisfaction with innovative methodologies such as project-based learning has not yet been tested among university students. Thus, the objective of this study is to explore the association between group work competencies and satisfaction with PBL. A total sample of 359 students from two Spanish universities participated in the research. Our results reveal that there is a significant and positive relationship between competencies related to group work and satisfaction with PBL. In addition, a multiple regression analysis shows that the competencies “Conception of group work,” “Usefulness of group work,” “Planning of group work by teachers,” and “Group norms” increase satisfaction with the use of the PBL methodology. This work expands our knowledge about the role in increasing students’ satisfaction that is played by the ability of college students to work as a team. These findings could also guide teachers interested in new teaching methodologies. (shrink)

The interest of assigning homework is frequently discussed due to its alleged low impact on student achievement. One of the current lines of research is to emphasize the quality of student homework engagement rather than the amount of time spent on homework. The aim of this study was to determine (a) the extent to which students’ prior achievement affects their homework engagement (i.e., time spent, time management, and amount of teacher-assigned homework done), and (b) how students’ intrinsic motivation towards homework (...) may mediate or moderate the relationship between prior achievement and the homework engagement variables. A large sample of students from the first four years of Secondary Education (N = 1899) completed questionnaires. The results showed that intrinsic motivation partially mediates, but does not moderate, the effect of prior achievement on the three variables related to homework engagement (time spent, time management, and amount of teacher-assigned homework done). These results highlight the importance of considering both students’ current level of achievement and their motivation towards homework engagement when assigning homework. (shrink)

In many schools of architecture worldwide, design studios are frequently isolated from everyday life and tend to focus on theory without experience. In countries with complex social problems, such as Colombia, experiential learning can offer valuable opportunities for architectural education to become an agency for social reconstruction and peace building. This works proposes a teaching method which centres on the promotion of significant learning, through live projects as a complement to studio-based projects. Bloom’s revised taxonomy and Fink’s taxonomy for levels (...) of knowledge were used as references. In order to develop and test this method, 15 different live projects were designed, built and analysed over the course of four years. These involved the participation of 170 undergraduate learners, various national and international teachers, six sponsors from the construction industry and 12 children’s foundations. The findings reveal valuable insights into the development of intellectual, physical and em... (shrink)

The pandemic had serious implications for university education, specifically due to the transition from face-to-face teaching to online methodologies. This article analyzes the perception of students undergoing speech therapy from a Chilean University about the E-portfolio incorporation as an evaluative tool during the emergency virtual teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From quantitative research, a survey of 38 questions based on Likert scales was applied to 108 penultimate year undergraduate students. The survey demonstrated that there is an improvement in the (...) methodology and teaching support, as well as in the creativity and professionalism of the students. (shrink)

The article presents a critical discussion between the conventional and ultranominalistic interpretations as opposed to the idea of truth discussed by Thomas Hobbes. The alternative offered to these points of view has to do with the defense of a moderate nominalism linked with materialistic commitments. It describes the criterion of truth from a double procedure having in mind the linguistic analysis of the statements as well as its empiric verification. It is hoped to make a contribution to the understanding of (...) the connections between the words and things according with the Hobbes’ perspective. (shrink)

Esta investigación describe el papel de la retórica y la historia en la construcción de conceptos en la ciencia civil, tomando como marco de referencia los escritos juveniles de Thomas Hobbes. Para ello, fue necesario identificar la relación entre retórica y ciencia civil en The Brief Art of Rhetoric, analizar la génesis de la ciencia civil en el Horae Subsecivae (Three Discourses) y comprender la influencia de la Historia de la Guerra del Peloponeso de Tucídides, en la formación del concepto (...) estado de naturaleza. Como perspectiva metodológica se asumió un análisis genético de categorías en virtud del cual fue posible plantear interrelaciones entre los textos de juventud y las obras de madurez del autor. La investigación fue financiada por la Universidad de La Salle y constituye un resultado adscrito al grupo Estudios Hobbesianos (Categoría C) de la Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. (shrink)

This article points out that the great theses formulated by the analytic philosophy of the XX century, were anticipated in the XVII century by Thomas Hobbes. In The Leviathan, the author states the existing relationship between science and language. He had in mind the need of discerning between the sensible propositions and the absurd ones. Language is what provides the conditions for the construction of scientific thought and discovery of the truth. It also can be a source of error, absurdity (...) and nonsense. To avoid this danger, the philosopher must employ a method of analytic character that allows him to distill clearly the meaning of the expressions he uses, always appealing to an attitude of rigor, precision and exactitude. (shrink)

Thomas Hobbes has normally been considered a political philosopher. The bibliographic exploration that is presented below makes up an unfailing testimony of two things: first of all, the outstanding place of language in the thought of Hobbes; second, the fundamental value that Hobbes’ thinking provides for the later development of the philosophy of language, and specially, of the analytic tendencies.

La obtención de alimentos sanos y seguros requiere de técnicas de conservación inocuas para el consumidor y para el me­dio ambiente, entre las que se destaca la bioconservación. A su ca­tálogo de compuestos naturales o microorganismos, utilizados de forma habitual, la bioconservación ha incorporado recientemente los bacteriófagos y las proteínas fágicas con actividad lítica. La utilización de fagos y endolisinas en el biocontrol ofrece importantes ventajas frente a otros sistemas de conserva­ción tradicionales. Entre dichas ventajas destacan su inocuidad, especificidad y (...) versatilidad. Por otra parte, la acuciante necesidad de reducir el uso de antibióticos en la cadena alimentaria ha impul­sado la investigación basada en estos antimicrobianos con el fin de aplicarlos en producción primaria. Sin embargo, y a pesar de la gran eficacia ya demostrada en múltiples sectores, la falta de legislación de la Unión Europea sobre el uso de bacteriófa­gos junto con la necesidad de ser aceptados por los consumidores, son factores que están afectando negativamente a su implantación como bioconservantes. En este contexto, este artículo recoge los últimos resultados relacionados con este tipo de antimicrobianos en la industria agro-alimentaria, y resume los puntos clave para entender las posibilidades reales de su aplicación ante los nuevos requisitos asociados con una producción sostenible tanto desde una perspectiva económica como ambiental. (shrink)

A humane and respectful treatment of patients by the staff has inspired the creation of the Department of Humanism and Bioethics at the University Hospital of Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá which not only has met, but even surpassed established goals. Since 2013, the Department has developed different activities that have made it possible to respond more ethically to the daily needs of patients and to strengthen other humanization processes. Currently, the Department of Humanism and Bioethics addresses five lines of (...) work: a continuing education program, an assistance advisory program, support, and strengthening of existing committees, support for the activities of our institutional humanization program and research activities. This article updates the experience of this Department, specifically focusing on notable changes in the last years. (shrink)

La universidad adecuó la formación profesional hacia la virtualidad, adaptando con ello la teoría y la practica de las distintas materias, en ese nuevo contexto el objetivo de este estudio fue desarrollar un juego de simulación de selección de talento humano y describir la experiencia de juego en pandemia. Con un enfoque metodológico cuantitativo, diseño descriptivo no experimental transeccional, aplicado a estudiantes del VIII ciclo del curso de Gestión de Recursos Humanos. Se concluye que el juego simulado es una herramienta (...) que facilita el aprendizaje de forma virtual, asimismo contribuye con el aprendizaje del tema propuesto, de una forma organizada, dinámica y divertida. (shrink)

Presentation of issue No 66 about epistemic injustices.

En este artículo examinaremos un caso de aplicación de la hipótesis de la relatividad lingüística : la influencia del género gramatical de las lenguas sobre la cognición o el pensamiento de los hablantes. Dado que las lenguas difieren tanto en sus repertorios léxicos como sobre todo en sus gramáticas de género para referir a las personas, a otras entidades animadas e incluso a entidades inanimadas, nuestro propósito será, en primer lugar, revisar la evidencia experimental reciente que avalaría la HRL en (...) este dominio, al comprobar una variedad de impactos cognitivos y psicológicos, variables según las lenguas de los hablantes. En particular, identificaremos cuáles son los “efectos relativistas” en el caso de los rasgos morfosintácticos de las lenguas con carga de género, y en relación con la universalización del género masculino. Sobre la base de la evaluación realizada e incorporando los aportes de los estudios de “género y lenguaje” de los enfoques feministas, concluiremos señalando de qué diversas maneras es viable e importante promover usos inclusivos del lenguaje e incluso cambios más profundos hacia un lenguaje inclusivo, con especial referencia al español. (shrink)

Quillagua es un pequeño oasis junto al río Loa. La etnohistoria registra la convivencia de poblaciones indígenas de distinta tradición cultural. Picas tenían derechos territoriales hacia abajo de un poste de madera pintado y cepillado, mientras Atacamas hacia arriba. Estas categorías no eran geográficas sino indicaciones de una organización social dual. Aquí, indagamos en las expresiones materiales y visuales de esta tensa ocupación intercultural. Ponemos atención al registro arqueológico posterior al 900 d. C., época en que los actores desarrollaron numerosos (...) ejercicios político-sociales, mediante la construcción de un paisaje visual. (shrink)

BackgroundThis study analyzed the difference in psychological distress of the healthcare workers in three different periods of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Argentina. Specifically, from the third week of the mandatory quarantine through the two following weeks.MethodsAnalysis of the responses of 1,458 members of the health personnel was done on a questionnaire on healthcare workers concerns regarding the care of patients with coronavirus, indicators of depression, anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty, and coping.ResultsThe psychological indicators that were considered presented differences (...) between the evaluated periods. Perceived concerns about the possibility of infecting loved ones and infecting themselves were greatest in the periods after the onset of the pandemic. In addition, the perception of how the work environment worsened and how lack of sleep interfered with their work was also higher in periods 2 and 3. The same results were found in the indicators of depression, anxiety, and intolerance of uncertainty. Finally, the indicators of high tension and concurrent lack of emotional control, which was greater in the last periods evaluated, were also expressed in the coping strategies (showing emotional lability, only contained by hypercontrol).ConclusionThe differences found in the psychological indicators between the evaluated periods support the need for early psychological care of health personnel which should be a priority of public health and a fundamental fact to increase its immediate effectiveness in the care of infected patients. (shrink)

Este artículo explora desde una perspectiva filosófica la forma como la rostricidad está asociada al deseo y producción de subjetividad. De ahí que el campo de interés se centre en cómo dichas categorías tensionan la constitución subjetiva de los sujetos, a tal punto que inciden en la proyección de su propio trayecto biográfico. Esto a partir de algunos planteamientos teóricos acuñados por filósofos como Foucault, Deleuze y Guattari, con respecto al papel del rostro como productor de significado cultural en la (...) gestión de la economía del deseo. Con miras a ambientar el texto, se tomará como recurso a Catarino, personaje de la novela Cien años de soledad, de Gabriel García Márquez. (shrink)

In this paper I discuss Rodriguez-Pereyra�s claim according to which analytical philosophy should be published exclusively in English. I focus my reply on three issues: (1) the implicit conception of philosophy and of the philosophical practice that underlies his argument, (2) the myth of the �native speaker� and (3) some values that should guide philosophy and which I propose to highlight.

Between 1221 and 1236, Jordan of Saxony, the general master of the Order of Friars Preachers, and Diana Andaló, nun of the monastery of St. Agnes in Bologna, were frequent correspondents. From the exchange of epistles that characterized their friendship, only a few dozen letters written by the friar reached us. In them we can see the growth of the Order in those early years of its institution, its gradual organization as well as the policy of the master in (...) relation to women's religious life, among allusions to the details of everyday life of a religious in the thirteenth century. It is in this documentary corpus that we support ourselves to comprehend the power relations which guided the process of institutionalization of the newly created Order of Friars Preachers, specially the affiliation of women's houses to the Order, a subject on which the friars oscillated between resistance and acceptance, because of the material and administrative implications that such an association meant. We will focus, in the discursive analysis, in three cards - two sent to Diana, and one sent to the provincial of Lombardy, Stephen of Spain - to understand the issues involved in the formation of a women's branch of the Order. We can conclude that this specific discussion comprehended a much bigger cenary of internal disputes for the control of the Order. (shrink)

How do researchers and/or practitioners know when change efforts are bringing about significant transformation? Here we draw on a theory of change put forward by the feminist economic geographers, Julie Graham and Katherine Gibson. Proposing “a postcapitalist politics” that builds on possibility rather than probability, they direct theoretical attention and community engaged action research to recognizing and supporting non-capitalist economic practices and sensibilities that already exist despite the dominance of capitalism that keeps them hidden and ignored and to understanding the (...) “reluctant subject” of change efforts. We enter into a conversation with their theory of change by inferring criteria for assessing significance and using those criteria in dialogue with two social movements we have researched: the feminist movement in Bogotá in the 1970s and 1980s and the contemporary local food movement in North Carolina. Lessons from these movements, in turn, help refine the criteria. Gibson-Graham are unusual – and consequently resonant with cultural-historical activity theory and related social practice theories of identity – in that they bring into dialogue theorists of the political and those interested in embodiment and the micro-politics of everyday life enabling both to better understand and support conditions for positive social and economic transformation. (shrink)

El presente artículo aborda, desde el análisis feminista, dos ideas clave del estudio y posterior representación de la violencia asesina contra las mujeres: la violación y la culpabilidad de las víctimas. La mirada feminista descubre todo un ámbito de comprensión al colocarse desde la perspectiva de las víctimas y cuestionar algunas de las ideas más aceptadas y generalizadas alrededor de los asesinos de mujeres. En artículo se enmarca en los primeros hallazgos de la investigación criminológica y los análisis feministas de (...) Jane Caputi, Susan Brownmiller, Diana Russell y Celia Amoros, así como en las investigaciones periodísticas de algunas feministas dedicadas al reportaje y estudio de los casos. Palabras clave: violación, culpabilidad de las mujeres, mirada feminista, asesinos de mujeres. (shrink)

It is a matter of fact that Europe is facing more and more crucial challenges regarding health and social care due to the demographic change and the current economic context. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has stressed this situation even further, thus highlighting the need for taking action. Active and Assisted Living technologies come as a viable approach to help facing these challenges, thanks to the high potential they have in enabling remote care and support. Broadly speaking, AAL can be referred (...) to as the use of innovative and advanced Information and Communication Technologies to create supportive, inclusive and empowering applications and environments that enable older, impaired or frail people to live independently and stay active longer in society. AAL capitalizes on the growing pervasiveness and effectiveness of sensing and computing facilities to supply the persons in need with smart assistance, by responding to their necessities of autonomy, independence, comfort, security and safety. The application scenarios addressed by AAL are complex, due to the inherent heterogeneity of the end-user population, their living arrangements, and their physical conditions or impairment. Despite aiming at diverse goals, AAL systems should share some common characteristics. They are designed to provide support in daily life in an invisible, unobtrusive and user-friendly manner. Moreover, they are conceived to be intelligent, to be able to learn and adapt to the requirements and requests of the assisted people, and to synchronise with their specific needs. Nevertheless, to ensure the uptake of AAL in society, potential users must be willing to use AAL applications and to integrate them in their daily environments and lives. In this respect, video- and audio-based AAL applications have several advantages, in terms of unobtrusiveness and information richness. Indeed, cameras and microphones are far less obtrusive with respect to the hindrance other wearable sensors may cause to one’s activities. In addition, a single camera placed in a room can record most of the activities performed in the room, thus replacing many other non-visual sensors. Currently, video-based applications are effective in recognising and monitoring the activities, the movements, and the overall conditions of the assisted individuals as well as to assess their vital parameters. Similarly, audio sensors have the potential to become one of the most important modalities for interaction with AAL systems, as they can have a large range of sensing, do not require physical presence at a particular location and are physically intangible. Moreover, relevant information about individuals’ activities and health status can derive from processing audio signals. Nevertheless, as the other side of the coin, cameras and microphones are often perceived as the most intrusive technologies from the viewpoint of the privacy of the monitored individuals. This is due to the richness of the information these technologies convey and the intimate setting where they may be deployed. Solutions able to ensure privacy preservation by context and by design, as well as to ensure high legal and ethical standards are in high demand. After the review of the current state of play and the discussion in GoodBrother, we may claim that the first solutions in this direction are starting to appear in the literature. A multidisciplinary debate among experts and stakeholders is paving the way towards AAL ensuring ergonomics, usability, acceptance and privacy preservation. The DIANA, PAAL, and VisuAAL projects are examples of this fresh approach. This report provides the reader with a review of the most recent advances in audio- and video-based monitoring technologies for AAL. It has been drafted as a collective effort of WG3 to supply an introduction to AAL, its evolution over time and its main functional and technological underpinnings. In this respect, the report contributes to the field with the outline of a new generation of ethical-aware AAL technologies and a proposal for a novel comprehensive taxonomy of AAL systems and applications. Moreover, the report allows non-technical readers to gather an overview of the main components of an AAL system and how these function and interact with the end-users. The report illustrates the state of the art of the most successful AAL applications and functions based on audio and video data, namely lifelogging and self-monitoring, remote monitoring of vital signs, emotional state recognition, food intake monitoring, activity and behaviour recognition, activity and personal assistance, gesture recognition, fall detection and prevention, mobility assessment and frailty recognition, and cognitive and motor rehabilitation. For these application scenarios, the report illustrates the state of play in terms of scientific advances, available products and research project. The open challenges are also highlighted. The report ends with an overview of the challenges, the hindrances and the opportunities posed by the uptake in real world settings of AAL technologies. In this respect, the report illustrates the current procedural and technological approaches to cope with acceptability, usability and trust in the AAL technology, by surveying strategies and approaches to co-design, to privacy preservation in video and audio data, to transparency and explainability in data processing, and to data transmission and communication. User acceptance and ethical considerations are also debated. Finally, the potentials coming from the silver economy are overviewed. (shrink)

In the final chapter of her Causation and Free Will, Carolina Sartorio offers a novel reply to an original-design argument for the thesis that determinism is incompatible with free will and moral responsibility, an argument that resembles Alfred Mele’s zygote argument in Free Will and Luck. This article assesses the merits of her reply. It is concluded that Sartorio has more work to do if she is to lay this style of argument to rest.