Many aspects of how humans form and combine concepts are notoriously difficult to capture formally. In this paper, we focus on the representation of three particular such aspects, namely overexten- sion, underextension, and dominance. Inspired in part by the work of Hampton, we consider concepts as given through a prototype view, and by considering the interdependencies between the attributes that define a concept. To approach this formally, we employ a recently introduced family of operators that enrich Description Logic languages. These (...) operators aim to characterise complex concepts by collecting those instances that apply, in a finely controlled way, to ‘enough’ of the concept’s defin- ing attributes. Here, the meaning of ‘enough’ is technically realised by accumulating weights of satisfied attributes and comparing with a given threshold that needs to be met. (shrink)

When people combine concepts these are often characterised as “hybrid”, “impossible”, or “humorous”. However, when simply considering them in terms of extensional logic, the novel concepts understood as a conjunctive concept will often lack meaning having an empty extension (consider “a tooth that is a chair”, “a pet flower”, etc.). Still, people use different strategies to produce new non-empty concepts: additive or integrative combination of features, alignment of features, instantiation, etc. All these strategies involve the ability to deal with conflicting (...) attributes and the creation of new (combinations of) properties. We here consider in particular the case where a Head concept has superior ‘asymmetric’ control over steering the resulting concept combination (or hybridisation) with a Modifier concept. Specifically, we propose a dialogical approach to concept combination and discuss an implementation based on axiom weakening, which models the cognitive and logical mechanics of this asymmetric form of hybridisation. (shrink)

We present an algorithm for concept combination inspired and informed by the research in cognitive and experimental psychology. Dealing with concept combination requires, from a symbolic AI perspective, to cope with competitive needs: the need for compositionality and the need to account for typicality effects. Building on our previous work on weighted logic, the proposed algorithm can be seen as a step towards the management of both these needs. More precisely, following a proposal of Hampton [1], it combines two weighted (...) Description Logic formulas, each defining a concept, using the following general strategy. First it selects all the features needed for the combination, based on the logical distinc- tion between necessary and impossible features. Second, it determines the threshold and assigns new weights to the features of the combined concept trying to preserve the relevance and the necessity of the features. We illustrate how the algorithm works exploiting some paradigmatic examples discussed in the cognitive literature. (shrink)

We discuss the role of perceptron (or threshold) connectives in the context of Description Logic, and in particular their possible use as a bridge between statistical learning of models from data and logical reasoning over knowledge bases. We prove that such connectives can be added to the language of most forms of Description Logic without increasing the complexity of the corresponding inference problem. We show, with a practical example over the Gene Ontology, how even simple instances of perceptron connectives are (...) expressive enough to represent learned, complex concepts derived from real use cases. This opens up the possibility to import concepts learnt from data into existing ontologies. (shrink)

We introduce and discuss a knowledge-driven distillation approach to explaining black-box models by means of two kinds of interpretable models. The first is perceptron (or threshold) connectives, which enrich knowledge representation languages such as Description Logics with linear operators that serve as a bridge between statistical learning and logical reasoning. The second is Trepan Reloaded, an ap- proach that builds post-hoc explanations of black-box classifiers in the form of decision trees enhanced by domain knowledge. Our aim is, firstly, to target (...) a model-agnostic distillation approach exemplified with these two frameworks, secondly, to study how these two frameworks interact on a theoretical level, and, thirdly, to investigate use-cases in ML and AI in a comparative manner. Specifically, we envision that user-studies will help determine human understandability of explanations generated using these two frameworks. (shrink)

We introduce a family of operators to combine Description Logic concepts. They aim to characterise complex concepts that apply to instances that satisfy \enough" of the concept descriptions given. For instance, an individual might not have any tusks, but still be considered an elephant. To formalise the meaning of "enough", the operators take a list of weighted concepts as arguments, and a certain threshold to be met. We commence a study of the formal properties of these operators, and study some (...) variations. The intended applications concern the representation of cognitive aspects of classi cation tasks: the interdependencies among the attributes that de ne a concept, the prototype of a concept, and the typicality of the instances. (shrink)

Axiom weakening is a technique that allows for a fine-grained repair of inconsistent ontologies. Its main advantage is that it repairs on- tologies by making axioms less restrictive rather than by deleting them, employing the use of refinement operators. In this paper, we build on pre- viously introduced axiom weakening for ALC, and make it much more irresistible by extending its definitions to deal with SROIQ, the expressive and decidable description logic underlying OWL 2 DL. We extend the definitions of (...) refinement operator to deal with SROIQ constructs, in particular with role hierarchies, cardinality constraints and nominals, and illustrate its application. Finally, we discuss the problem of termi- nation of an iterated weakening procedure. (shrink)

BackgroundEvidence suggests that organizational models that provide care interventions including patient support programs may increase patient adherence to multiple sclerosis therapies by providing tailored symptom management, informational support, psychological and/or social support, lifestyle changes, emotional adjustment, health education, and tailored coaching, thus improving patients' overall quality of life across the disease course.ObjectiveThe main objective of this study was to describe MS patients' self-reported experience of a nurse-led, telephone-based PSP and to explore its potential role in improving disease and therapy management (...) skills.MethodsSurvey data were analyzed from a subset of patients relapsing–remitting MS using interferon beta-1a already registered in the adveva® PSP from three Italian multiple sclerosis centers with a consolidated experience in RRMS disease, treatment management, and PSP programs.ResultsIn total, 244 patient data at baseline were analyzed, of which 115 had a follow-up of at least 6 months. Results from this study provide an early view into the role of this PSP in improving the patients reported overall experience regarding disease management and injectable therapy, thus potentially ameliorating treatment adherence and decreasing health care cost. Moreover, study findings confirm the role of providing a patient-focused support by addressing non-medication-related topics in the PSP consultations. Indeed, patients involved in the adveva® PSP program reported a better psychological status in the follow up as demonstrated by an increased optimism regarding their future, tolerance of disease uncertainty, and their perceived ability to benefit from external help and social support.ConclusionsAs such, it is reasonable to conclude that the involvement in the adveva® PSP and the PSP's assistance in guiding patients on proper treatment self-management techniques is of great value to patients as it might contribute to improving engagement in their health care journey in terms of perceived self-care skills, emotional coping toward the future and the unpredictability of the disease course and their general attitudes toward the injection itself, involving pain tolerance. (shrink)

Introdução: A pressão expiratória final positiva-pressão expiratória final zero (PEEP-ZEEP) é uma técnica fisioterapêutica para desobstrução brônquica. Objetivo: Avaliar os efeitos agudos da PEEP-ZEEP comparada à hiperinsuflação manual (HM) em pacientes críticos traqueostomizados em relação à segurança e eficiência para higiene brônquica. Métodos: Indivíduos submetidos à ventilação mecânica invasiva por cânula de traqueostomia foram aleatorizados em dois grupos, um que recebia a técnica PEEP-ZEEP primeiramente, e outro que recebia HM. A coleta das variáveis cardiorrespiratórias foi realizada antes, 1 minuto e (...) 30 minutos após cada técnica, bem como o peso da secreção pulmonar aspirada. Resultados: Para 18 pacientes com média de idade de 66,4 (17,3) anos, não foram encontradas diferenças entre grupos para nenhuma das variáveis hemodinâmicas e respiratórias. A quantidade de secreção pulmonar removida também foi semelhante entre as técnicas. Conclusão: PEEP-ZEEP e hiperinsuflação manual não diferem entre si em relação à depuração de secreções brônquicas e variáveis cardiorrespiratórias. (shrink)

El presente texto trata de analizar la crítica que Antonio Damasio realiza a René Descartes (el error de Descartes) desde el empleo de una racionalidad neurocientífica. Damasio cae en un neurorreduccionismo para combatir la filosofía cartesiana. La crítica de Damasio al dualismo cartesiano olvida el nivel ontológico y epistemológico para abordar exclusivamente la cuestión antropológica. Este texto propone una defensa de Descartes y un rechazo a un dualismo absoluto a partir de la lectura de Las pasiones del alma.The present text (...) tries to analyze the criticism that Antonio Damasio does to René Descartes (the error of Descartes) from the use of a neuroscientific rationality. Damasio falls into a neuroreductionism to combat Cartesian philosophy. Damasio’s critique of Cartesian dualism neglects the ontological and epistemological level to address exclusively the anthropological question. This text proposes a defense of Descartes and a rejection of an absolute dualism based on the reading of Passions of soul. (shrink)

Santiago Maldonado desapareció el 1° de agosto de 2017 durante la represión que Gendarmería Nacional realizó en la localidad de Cushamen, en la provincia de Chubut, contra la protesta de la comunidad mapuche en la que Maldonado participaba. El sur argentino tiene una larga experiencia de reclamos del pueblo mapuche centrados en recuperar las tierras que consideran ancestrales, lograr la autonomía jurisdiccional y alcanzar el reconocimiento de libertad económico - productiva y de su identidad cultural. El 1° de agosto de (...) 2017, la Gendarmería ingresó al Pu Lof en Resistencia de Cushamen dado que el Movimiento Autónomo de Puel Mapu había cortado durante 24 horas la ruta 40, que recorre Argentina paralela a la cordillera de los Andes, para reclamar la liberación de su líder Facundo Jones Huala, detenido un mes antes en la provincia de Rio Negro. La Gendarmería Nacional había recibido orden de la justicia federal para despejar la ruta 40 pero, una vez que la cumplió, ingresó también a la comunidad de manera ilegal. La desaparición de Santiago Maldonado fue denunciada de forma inmediata por la comunidad, para luego, convertirse en el reclamo central de los organismos de Derechos Humanos y de diversas organizaciones políticas. Maldonado estuvo 78 días desaparecido hasta el hallazgo de su cadáver, sumergido en el Río Chubut, durante un rastrillaje que los buzos de la Prefectura realizaron, rio arriba respecto del lugar de la represión. La movilización social, política, jurídica y mediática que se produjo durante el tiempo que Maldonado estuvo desaparecido reflejó cómo la Historia Reciente argentina continúa abierta, se hizo evidente la presencia del pasado en el presente y las disputas sociales y políticas que de ello se desprenden. Más precisamente, quedaron expuestas las memorias en conflicto en torno a lo ocurrido durante la última Dictadura militar en Argentina y a la violación a los derechos humanos mediante la desaparición forzada y el Terrorismo de Estado. En este contexto, y entendiendo que los medios de comunicación son una herramienta clave donde se producen esas luchas por la memoria como proyección de discusiones y conflictos más profundos, el objetivo del presente trabajo radica en analizar cómo se presentó la desaparición y muerte de Santiago Maldonado en la prensa escrita argentina, ¿A qué imaginarios responde y qué significados tiene esa conceptualización?, ¿Qué luchas sobre el pasado reciente argentino visibilizó?, y ¿Qué posiciones se intentaron legitimar con su utilización pública?. Para dar respuesta a estos interrogantes se analizarán los diarios La Nación y Página 12 (versiones digitales) observando la existencia de una lucha por los sentidos del pasado que pugnó por el significado de la desaparición y de la muerte de Santiago Maldonado. Si bien se entiende que dichos periódicos no agotan las líneas de análisis del caso, se seleccionaron como punto de inicio de la investigación en tanto constituyen publicaciones masivas dirigidas a perfiles de lectores disimiles donde pueden rastrearse las disputas por la memoria antes mencionadas. El foco de análisis estará puesto en los meses de la desaparición y muerte de Santiago Maldonado para reflejar la existencia de una lucha por los sentidos del pasado que pugnó por atribuirle diferentes significados al destino del joven. (shrink)

El artículo propone demostrar que la sintaxis espacial de la escena entre Etéocles y el coro (vv. 78-368), atravesada por el género de lamento, constituye un mecanismo potente, dinámico y programático para involucrar y orientar a la audiencia en relación con la acción que se desarrolla, en un proceso que depende de la potencia del teatro en tanto espectáculo. Se sostiene que, en _Siete contra Tebas_, aquel personaje –individual o colectivo– que dispone sobre el espacio es quien tiene poder. En (...) la escena estudiada, la toma del espacio y la licencia para desplazarse en él se instalan como asunto fundamental. (shrink)

el artículo que presenta Antonio Gómez Villar se basa en un trabajo previo, más amplio y con una estructura y contenido diferentes, preparado para la asignatura de “Ética civil”. Su publicación es, por tanto, independiente del cometido y de la programación de la asignatura. Este nuevo trabajo plantea de un modo razonable algunas de las cuestiones centrales para analizar el papel público de la religión en una democracia.

According to Robert Hertz, death means a change in social relations. The purpose of this paper is to inquire about the kind of mediation that different world populations establish with their deaths. We compared examples from different eras and regions, and three main strategies are identified which, even if they admit certain number of variations, can be characterized by the persistence of a common logic. These are: distance, in which identities and relations are modified; recycling, when identities are maintained but (...) relations are transformed; and retention, which accepts the transmutation of identities, but not of relations. Once described the qualities of each one, we show that, far from being able to identify any economic-social conditioning, these strategies can coexist as possibilities in the mind of every society. (shrink)

What determines the constitution and limits of the church? Vatican II speaks in favor of a concentric understanding of ecclesial communion, using terms such as «fully incorporated», by «explicit intention», not «in unity of communion», «incomplete», «defective», and «in various ways». The three bonds which unite people to the Church are the profession of faith, the sacraments which express that faith, and the ecclesiastical government and communion that are at its service , keeping in mind that all human beings are (...) related implicitly to the Church . And so we can speak of «various ways» of belonging to the Church: full, partial, close, implicit and peripheral, but always understood in reference to the full communion in the Church. (shrink)

“Where Is Kant’s Objective Deduction?”. The preface to the first edition of Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason is marked by a distinction between objective and subjective sides of the transcendental deduction. The objective side alone is said to be essential to Kant’s main purpose and is also said to retain its full strength even if the subjective side is not found to be convincing. The thesis of this paper is twofold. First, that the most prominent accounts of this distinction in (...) the literature are all subject to insuperable objections. Second, that the meat of the objective side is not to be found in the chapter explicitly devoted to the transcendental deduction but rather in the second chapter of the Analytic of Principles. What this implies is that a portion of the text frequently held to be the very heart of the Critique is said in the preface to the first edition to be inessential. We must therefore ask whether it is and be prepared to justify any divergence from the position espoused by Kant himself in 1781. (shrink)

Este trabajo quiere responder a la demanda de quienes buscan una introducción breve pero significativa a las reflexiones de Joseph Ratzinger sobre la identidad histórica de Europa. Se trata de un estudio que, desde la perspectiva del teólogo alemán, realiza un somero itinerario por la historia político-espiritual de Europa, subrayando la cesura que constituyó el siglo XX, y que finaliza con algunas propuestas para construir una Europa con futuro. Entre éstas no conviene olvidar la luz que proviene de los extraños (...) destellos de revelación, sugiriendo un futuro ensayo de teología de la historia. (shrink)