Explainable artificial intelligence has become a vitally important research field aiming, among other tasks, to justify predictions made by intelligent classifiers automatically learned from data. Importantly, efficiency of automated explanations may be undermined if the end user does not have sufficient domain knowledge or lacks information about the data used for training. To address the issue of effective explanation communication, we propose a novel information-seeking explanatory dialogue game following the most recent requirements to automatically generated explanations. Further, we generalise our (...) dialogue model in form of an explanatory dialogue grammar which makes it applicable to interpretable rule-based classifiers that are enhanced with the capability to provide textual explanations. Finally, we carry out an exploratory user study to validate the corresponding dialogue protocol and analyse the experimental results using insights from process mining and argument analytics. A high number of requests for alternative explanations testifies the need for ensuring diversity in the context of automated explanations. (shrink)

Deep Learning has been widely used for tackling challenging natural language processing tasks over the recent years. Similarly, the application of Deep Neural Networks in legal analytics has increased significantly. In this survey, we study the early adaptation of Deep Learning in legal analytics focusing on three main fields; text classification, information extraction, and information retrieval. We focus on the semantic feature representations, a key instrument for the successful application of deep learning in natural language processing. Additionally, we share pre-trained (...) legal word embeddings using the word2vec model over large corpora, comprised legislations from UK, EU, Canada, Australia, USA, and Japan among others. (shrink)

Deep Learning has been widely used for tackling challenging natural language processing tasks over the recent years. Similarly, the application of Deep Neural Networks in legal analytics has increased significantly. In this survey, we study the early adaptation of Deep Learning in legal analytics focusing on three main fields; text classification, information extraction, and information retrieval. We focus on the semantic feature representations, a key instrument for the successful application of deep learning in natural language processing. Additionally, we share pre-trained (...) legal word embeddings using the word2vec model over large corpora, comprised legislations from UK, EU, Canada, Australia, USA, and Japan among others. (shrink)

Background End-of-life decisions for neonates with adverse prognosis are controversial and raise ethical and legal issues. In Greece, data on physicians’ profiles, motivation, values and attitudes underlying such decisions and the correlation with their background are scarce. The aim was to investigate neonatologists' attitudes in Neonatal Intensive Care Units and correlate them with self-reported practices of end-of-life decisions and with their background data. Methods A structured questionnaire was distributed to all 28 Neonatal Intensive Care Units in Greece. One hundred and (...) sixty two out of 260 eligible physicians answered anonymously the questionnaire. Demographic and professional characteristics, self-reported practices and opinions were included in the questionnaire, along with a questionnaire of 12 items measuring physicians’ attitude and views ranging from value of life to quality of life approach. Results Continuation of treatment in neonates with adverse prognosis without adding further therapeutic interventions was the most commonly reported EoL practice, when compared to withdrawal of mechanical ventilation. Physicians with a high attitude score were more likely to limit, while those with a low score were more likely for continuation of intensive care. Physicians’ educational level, involvement in research, religion and position on the existing legal framework were factors that affected the attitude score. Conclusions Physicians presented with varying end-of-life practices. Limiting interventions in neonates with poor prognosis was strongly related to their attitudes. The most important predictors for physicians' attitudes were religiousness and belief for Greek legal system reform. (shrink)

The purpose of this article is to present an educative experience carried out in a university context, in order to discuss of the ways that peer tutoring could contribute to the development of the pedagogical skills of future and novice teachers of French as a Foreign Language. The aforementioned case study lasted throughout an academic semester and involved undergraduate and graduate students.

The relationship between being and goodness is one of the most engaging philosophical questions, particularly in light of the new science, which pointsto the interconnectedness of the physical world. The relationship between being and goodness is examined here in the thought of Bonaventure, who maintainsa primacy of the good. Bonaventure’s integration of philosophy and theology provides an understanding of being as goodness and hence an understandingof being as relational and generative. Because being is good, created reality is intrinsically good and (...) bears within it an inner dynamic toward the pleroma oflove. The implications of Bonaventure’s metaphysics of the good for ecology and epistemology are explored. (shrink)

Human-robot collaboration, whereby the human and the robot join their forces to achieve a task, opens new application opportunities in manufacturing. Robots can perform precise and repetitive operations while humans can execute tasks that require dexterity and problem-solving abilities. Moreover, collaborative robots can take over heavy-duty tasks. Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are a serious health concern and the primary cause of absenteeism at work. While the role of the human is still essential in flexible production environment, the robot can help decreasing (...) the workload of workers. This paper describes a novel framework for task allocation of human-robot assembly applications based on capabilities and ergonomics considerations. Capable agents are determined on the basis of agent characteristics and task requirements. Ergonomics is integrated by measuring the human body posture and the related workload. The developed framework was validated on a gearbox assembly use case using the collaborative robot Baxter. (shrink)

The notion of a constitutive lack, which formed the ambivalent initial framework of Western metaphysics, marks the contemporary attempt to think anew the social and the subject. While metaphysics had difficulties to justify ontologically the event of sociality and was tempted to construct a closed subjectivity, post-metaphysical thought by contrast justifies often the sociality of a non-identity. The presuppositions of Orthodox-Christian theology allow us to think of subjectivity and sociality in terms of a different ontology, elaborating a new synthesis between (...) anthropology and eschatology, within which the subject can emerge as radical sociality and natal receptivity, as free and true in its very relationality. The most profound and acute intellectual demands of our present time could then meet central notions of the Orthodox-Christian heritage and point at the perspective of a new historical encounter, which enriches both traditions by mutually engaging to each others fundamental experiences. (shrink)

The notion of a constitutive lack, which formed the ambivalent initial framework of Western metaphysics, marks the contemporary attempt to think anew the social and the subject. While metaphysics had difficulties to justify ontologically the event of sociality and was tempted to construct a closed subjectivity, post-metaphysical thought by contrast justifies often the sociality of a non-identity. The presuppositions of Orthodox-Christian theology allow us to think of subjectivity and sociality in terms of a different ontology, elaborating a new synthesis between (...) anthropology and eschatology, within which the subject can emerge as radical sociality and natal receptivity, as free and true in its very relationality. The most profound and acute intellectual demands of our present time could then meet central notions of the Orthodox-Christian heritage and point at the perspective of a new historical encounter, which enriches both traditions by mutually engaging to each others fundamental experiences. (shrink)

This paper explores two opposed paradigmatic approaches to heroic power: Thomas Carlyle's versus Leo Tolstoy's. In On Heroes, Hero Worship and the Heroic in History (1840), Carlyle argues for its crucial importance, whereas in War and Peace (1869), Tolstoy denies its very possibility. Carlyle's heroic model attributes to the hero (the leader) a high degree of mastery and control over social and political circumstances, whereas Tolstoy's a-heroic model implies a small degree of personal mastery and much greater constraints on the (...) individual leader. Both models achieved prominence in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars, which brought the role of the individual (hero) in history to the forefront of intellectual and political debate throughout Europe. The two models are shown as parts of and important links in long-established traditions; they are internally coherent yet totally contradictory of each other. The comparison of these opposed perceptions of heroic figures in history suggests that they might originate in an ambivalent, polarized perception of power and mastery, and in the sense of individual insecurity in the face of historical upheavals. (shrink)

Exploration of brain pathways involved in religious experience has been the focus of research by Andrew Newberg and colleagues. Although the import of this work sheds new light on the human capacity to experience divine reality, the theological implications drawn from this research are vague and lack an appropriate methodology to provide critical distinctions. This paper offers a theological response to Newberg's work by highlighting several aspects of this research including the relationship between theological judgments and empirical observations, the uniqueness (...) of human transcendence, and the appropriateness of measuring mystical experience. (shrink)

Background: End-of-life decision-making for terminally ill neonates raises important legal and ethical issues. In Greece, no recent data on nurses’ attitudes and involvement in end-of-life decisions are available. Research question/aim: To investigate neonatal nurses’ attitudes and involvement in end-of-life decisions and the relation to their socio-demographic and work-related background data. Research design: A survey was carried out in 28 neonatal intensive care units between September 2018 and January 2019. A structured questionnaire was distributed by post. Participants and research context: The (...) questionnaire was answered anonymously by 312 nurses and returned to the investigators. Ethical considerations: The study was approved by the Bioethics and Research Committee of Aretaieio Hospital in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration. Findings: Nurses more often reported involvement in various end-of-life decisions, such as continuation of treatment without adding further therapeutic interventions for terminally ill neonates, while less reported were mechanical ventilation withdrawal and drug administration to end life. Nurses with a high attitude score, reflecting a more quality-of-life approach, were more likely to be involved in setting limits to intensive care. α low score was consistent with life preservation. Nurses’ religiousness, parenthood, involvement in daily practice, and position on the existing legal framework influenced their attitude score. Discussion: The likelihood of nurses to support interventions in neonates with poor prognosis in neonatal intensive care units was related to their attitudes. After adjusting for potential confounders, the most important predictors for nurses’ attitudes were parenthood, involvement in daily practice, and position supporting current legislation reform. Conclusion: Variability in involvement in end-of-life decisions among nurses exists on a national level. (shrink)

The purpose of the study is to analyze and systematize the types of contracts which contain the concept of a lifecycle business model based on international and Russian experience. The article examines the genesis of lifecycle contracts from the moment of their first approbation in the early 1990s to the present day. Particular attention is paid to the comparison of various types of contracts and the experience of their application in the Russian economy. The scientific novelty consists of the development (...) of a typology of lifecycle contracts, that can be used in further scientific work and in the practical activities of Russian enterprises. As a result of the research, it was revealed that in the world practice there are four most widespread types of lifecycle contracts, but in the Russian economy, lifecycle contracts are implemented so far only as experiments. (shrink)

This article examines the passing of the Palamedes episode, a matter from the subtexts of the Epic Cycle, into Byzantine rhetoric. This scene forms the center of a topic in the Progymnasmata of three Byzantine writers, Nikolaos Sophistes, Nikephoros Basilakes and George Pachymeres, while at the same time this matter is used (with a different function) also by Constantine Manasses, in his Synopsis Chronike. The way of use and the evaluation of the episode in these texts are examined in detail. (...) In particular, Basilakes' and Pachymeres' Progymnasmata (διηγήματα), in which the Palamedes episode is used in an autonomous way, are compared with each other, and the differences of style, syntax, grammar and vocabulary between the texts of these wo writers are determined. (shrink)

F. 1v-9v of the codex Vat. gr. 1020, which is dated to the first half of the 14th century, contains seven unknown and anonymous letters, the last one mutilated. In this study, at first, the ascription of the letters to Maximus Neamonites as proposed by the database of the PINAKES is rejected, and a number of assumptions are made concerning the name of their writer in the light of the little prosopographical information offered. The content is studied, as well as (...) the style of the letters and their place in the literary context of the Palaiologan Rennaisance of the 13th-14th centuries. A critical edition of the letters completes the article. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Semiotica Jahrgang: 2016 Heft: 213 Seiten: 91-122.

Journal Name: Semiotica - Journal of the International Association for Semiotic Studies / Revue de l'Association Internationale de Sémiotique Volume: 2013 Issue: 195 Pages: 1-44.

The UK’s Cancer Drugs Fund was introduced in 2010 following the Conservative Party’s promise to address the fact that numerous efficacious cancer drugs were not available because of their cost ineffectiveness, as deduced by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence. While, at face value, this policy appears only to promote the UK’s public welfare, a deeper analysis reveals the ethically unjustifiable inconsistencies that the CDF introduces; where is the analogous fund for other equally severe diseases? Have the patients (...) without cancer been neglected simply due to the fear-inducing advertising and particularly ferocious speech which surrounds cancer? The CDF is unjustifiable when challenged by such questions. However, it is troubling to think that the CDF might be repealed in order to abolish these ethical concerns. Intuitively, one feels uncomfortable stripping the cancer patient of their benefits just so that they might be on an equally pessimistic footing with others. In the present essay, I argue that, although there are no ethically justifiable grounds for the CDF’s introduction, its removal would be inappropriate. Following this realisation, I investigate whether the procedural steps of the CDF itself—theoretically removed from the context of resource distribution for all disease types—represent an ethically justifiable system. I believe that the answer is yes, given the CDF’s conformity to accountability for reasonableness, a robust framework of procedural justice, which continuously improves the ethical and epistemological standards of the policies to which it is applied. (shrink)

We review some known results about the Ramsey property for partitions of reals, and we present a certain two-person game such that if either player has a winning strategy then a homogeneous set for the partition can be constructed, and conversely. This gives alternative proofs of some of the known results. We then discuss possible uses of the game in obtaining effective versions of Ramsey's theorem and prove a theorem along these lines.

On linguistic studies of Malay language; collection of articles.

Hay que entender que los cambios súbitos de todo tipo que nos están afectando globalmente, demuestran claramente que los modelos puramente racionales resultan ser insuficientes para dar respuesta a las complejidades de este mundo. Pero también, hay que entender que los modelos no puramente racionales han sido de difícil lectura y de poca aceptación. Pienso que este es el caso de la Crítica del Juicio. La falta de sensibilidad respecto de la apreciación de esta obra puede deberse a que la (...) misma ha sido calificada en nuestros días como el trabajo arquetípico del postmodernismo, revelando las contradicciones inherentes a toda idea de conocimiento, racionalidad, cultura y arte... “Ya no es el paradigma del clasicismo, ni del formalismo, la última del trio de las tres grandes Críticas se ha convertido de pronto, en el símbolo del deconstruccionismo”. También consideraremos a esta obra, como centro del sistema kantiano, un modelo para los sistemas complejos. Así que luego de señalar I- las discrepancias de Bauman con la Crítica del Juicio, veremos II- las correspondencias de esta obra con los axiomas del postmodernismo, y III- con los sistemas complejos. Luego IV- presentaremos un proyecto de rehabilitación de esta obra, y en V- ‘proyecciones sobre el presente’, expondremos el pensamiento de Bauman y Jonas señalando que no es el futuro, sino el presente de las condiciones globales de la vida humana y la existencia misma de la especie lo que está en peligro inminente. La metafísica de la moral de Jonas, aplicada a una ‘Moralidad sin Concepto,’ cierra el circulo de la nueva moralidad propuesta. Incluímos al final un apéndice sobre el supremo bien. (shrink)

La interioridad de lo viviente ha sido ignorada en una descripción científica del comportamiento humano. Hoy en día, sin embargo, la autopoiesis como paradigma de auto-organización, ha continuado incorpo- rando esos primeros atisbos de la interioridad de lo viviente que Kant desarrolló en la tercera Crítica. No hay organismo sin teleología y no hay teleología sin interioridad, nos dice, y sin un segmento teleológico el proyecto total de la moral se vuelve ininteligible. Hay un cambio de una ética basada en (...) el imperativo categórico a una moralidad sin concepto basada en otro aspecto del imperativo categórico presente en la estética kantiana. Con F.Varela surge la convicción de la inminencia de un cambio de paradigma que se trasluce como la primacía de lo concreto y la oposición a todo análisis deliberado e intencional. Estas características ya se habían manifestado en Kant y en Husserl como el cambio de lo exterior a lo interior, donde prima el abandono de toda regla o principio y la contundencia de la evidencia intuitiva. Se han de reconocer la importancia de los impulsos pre-conscientes y los instintos, por lo cual he incluido un Apéndice. Este camino dio lugar a las experiencias límite de lo sublime y de la epojé ética universal, la cual, según N. Depraz, filósofa francesa especializada en Husserl, no tienenada de misterioso o esotérico aunque está lejos de ser autoevidente. (shrink)

The brain and body need to adapt constantly to changing social and physical environments. A key mechanism for this adaptation is the ‘stress response’, which is necessary and not negative in and of itself. The term ‘stress’, however, is ambiguous and has acquired negative connotations. We argue that the concept of allostasis can be used instead to describe the mechanisms employed to achieve stability of homeostatic systems through active intervention (adaptive plasticity). In the context of allostasis, resilience denotes the ability (...) of an organism to respond to stressors in the environment by means of the appropriate engagement and efficient termination of allostatic responses. In this review, we discuss the neurobiological and organismal factors that modulate resilience, such as growth factors, chaperone molecules and circadian rhythms, and highlight its consequences for cognition and behavior. (shrink)

There is a dilemma in modern medicine, and, as a general family practitioner, this dilemma has great impact on me as a professional with a responsibility to my patients, and on the treatments I prescribe. Every day we receive a lot of updated information about relevant issues in treatment of various conditions we encounter in our daily practice. There is a great deal of interesting, serious research; however, frequently results and conclusions are very different and at times, contradictory. It is (...) extremely difficult to evaluate updated research information, and to understand trends in current medicine. Our responsibility to our patients is to find a solution for this problem. (shrink)

Designing a mechanism that provides a direct incentive for an individual to report her utility function over several alternatives is a difficult task. A framework for such mechanism design is the following: an individual (a decision maker) is faced with an optimization problem (e.g., maximization of expected utility), and a mechanism designer observes the decision maker’s action. The mechanism does reveal the individual’s utility truthfully if the mechanism designer, having observed the decision maker’s action, infers the decision maker’s utilities over (...) several alternatives. This paper studies an example of such a mechanism and discusses its application to the problem of optimal social choice. Under certain simplifying assumptions about individuals’ utility functions and about how voters choose their voting strategies, this mechanism selects the alternative that maximizes Harsanyi’s social utility function and is Pareto-efficient. (shrink)