Scaling Up Deliberative Democracy as Dispute Resolution in Healthcare Reform: A Work in Progress

Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM) denotes the problem of jointly localizing a moving platform and mapping the environment. This work studies the SLAM problem using a combination of inertial sensors, measuring the platform's accelerations and angular velocities, and a monocular camera observing the environment. We formulate the SLAM problem on a nonlinear least squares (NLS) batch form, whose solution provides a smoothed estimate of the motion and map. The NLS problem is highly nonconvex in practice, so a good initial estimate is required. We propose a multi-stage iterative procedure, that utilises the fact that the SLAM problem is linear if the platform's rotations are known. The map is initialised with camera feature detections only, by utilising feature tracking and clustering of  feature tracks. In this way, loop closures are automatically detected. The initialization method and subsequent NLS refinement is demonstrated on both simulated and real data

Wykorzystanie głębokich sieci neuronowych w ograniczaniu zmian klimatycznych związanych z konfliktem farmerów i pasterzy w ramach inicjatywy na rzecz zrównoważonej integracji społecznej

Peaceful coexistence of farmers and pastoralists is becoming increasingly elusive and has adverse impact on agricultural revolution and global food security. The targets of Sustainable Development Goal 16 (SDG 16) include promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, providing access to justice for all and building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. As a soft approach and long term solution to the perennial farmers-herdsmen clashes with attendant humanitarian crisis, this study proposes a social inclusion architecture using deep neural network (DNN). This is against the backdrop that formulating policies and implementing programmes based on unbiased information obtained from historical agricultural data using intelligent technology like deep neural network (DNN) can be handy in managing emotions. In this vision paper, a DNN-based Farmers-Herdsmen Expert System (FHES) is proposed based on data obtained from the Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics for tackling the incessant climate change-induced farmers-herdsmen clashes, with particular reference to Nigeria. So far, many lives have been lost. FHES is modelled as a deep neural network and trained using farmers-herdsmen historical data. Input variables used include land, water, vegetation, and implements while the output is farmers/herders disposition to peace. Regression analysis and pattern recognition performed by the DNN on the farmers-herdsmen data will enrich the inference engine of FHES with extracted rules (knowledge base). This knowledge base is then relied upon to classify future behaviours of herdsmen/farmers as well as predict their dispositions to violence. Critical stakeholders like governments, service providers and researchers can leverage on such advisory to initiate proactive and socially inclusive conflict prevention measures such as people-friendly policies, programmes and legislations. This way, conflicts can be averted, national security challenges tackled, and peaceful atmosphere guaranteed for sustainable development.   Pokojowe współistnienie rolników i pasterzy staje się coraz mnie realne, co ma negatywny wpływ na rewolucję rolniczą i globalne bezpieczeństwo żywnościowe. Cele zrównoważonego rozwoju (SDG 16) obejmują promowanie tworzenia pokojowych i zintegrowanych społeczeństw na rzecz zrównoważonego rozwoju, zapewnienie wszystkim dostępu do uczciwego wymiaru sprawiedliwości i tworzenie skutecznych, odpowiedzialnych i integrujących instytucji na wszystkich poziomach. W ramach łagodnego podejścia i długofalowego podejścia do problemu konfliktów rolników-pasterzy w kontekście kryzysu humanitarnego, w niniejszym artykule zaproponowano architekturę integracji społecznej wykorzystującą głęboką sieć neuronową (DNN). Formułowanie polityki i wdrażanie programów w oparciu o obiektywne informacje uzyskane z historycznych danych przy użyciu inteligentnej technologii, takiej jak głęboka sieć neuronowa (DNN), może być przydatne w zarządzaniu emocjami. W niniejszym artykule zaproponowano oparty na danych uzyskanych od Nigeryjskiego Narodowego Urzędu Statystycznego system ekspercki rolników-pasterzy (FHES) oparty na DNN w celu przeciwdziałaniu nieustannym starciom rolników-pasterzy wywołanych zmianami klimatu, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem Nigerii. Do tej pory wiele było ofiar. System FHES jest modelowany jako głęboka sieć neuronowa, przy użyciu danych historycznych hodowców-pasterzy. Zastosowane zmienne wejściowe obejmują ziemię, wodę, roślinność i narzędzia, podczas gdy zmienne wyjściowe to rolnicy-pasterze skłonni do pokoju. Analiza regresji i rozpoznawanie wzorców przeprowadzone przez DNN na danych rolników-pasterzy wzbogaci mechanizm wnioskowania systemu FHES o wyodrębnione reguły (baza wiedzy). Podstawą tej wiedzy jest klasyfikacja przyszłych zachowań pasterzy/rolników, a także przewidywanie ich skłonności do przemocy. Krytyczni interesariusze, tacy jak rządy, dostawcy usług i naukowcy, mogą wykorzystać takie doradztwo do zainicjowania proaktywnych i społecznie włączających środków zapobiegania konfliktom, takich jak przyjazne dla ludzi polityki, programy i prawodawstwo. W ten sposób można uniknąć konfliktów, stawić czoła wyzwaniom bezpieczeństwa narodowego i zagwarantować pokojową atmosferę dla zrównoważonego rozwoju

Forensic Fisheries Science: Literature Review and Research Suggestions

Recent years have seen a dramatic increase in litigation against the National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. Litigation may affect personnel throughout the agency, including scientists, whose work is often directly or indirectly influenced by complex legal requirements, but who may not be in a position to comment or engage in public dialogue. It may be helpful for scientists and other agency personnel to join the ongoing discussion in the legal community regarding the interface of science and law. This paper provides a starting point with a selected introduction to relevant legal literature in this area. It uses the phrase “forensic fisheries science” to describe the application of science to legal requirements in the fishery management context. It concludes with suggestions for future research that could assist NMFS scientists as they grapple with the challenge of using science to help the agency meet its complex legal requirements. Forensic: belonging to, used in, or suitable to courts of judicature or to public discussion and debate; argumentative, rhetorical; relating to or dealing with the application of scientific knowledge to legal problems (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

Ethics and the Settlement of Mass Torts: When the Rules Meet the Road

The settlement of mass torts through the class action device presents some difficult and troubling issues, including important questions of due process, fairness, justice, efficiency, equality, equity, and ethics. In this context, some of these foundational values conflict with each other and must be resolved by judges who must decide actual cases. In analyzing the applicable laws and rules (class action rules, constitutional provisions, and ethics rules) we find answers or suggestions that are often ambiguous or contradictory. All of these unresolved ambiguities raise the question of whether mass torts are any different from any number of difficult cases our legal system faces. I do think that mass torts present us with some novel issues that question the transsubstantivity of our laws and rules. While others in this symposium focus on the procedural and substantive issues raised by such cases, I will focus on the ethics of such settlements in two senses: First, at the level of professional ethics, I will examine what is ethically permissible behavior in the way in which such settlements are arranged. Second, at the higher, broader level of ethics, I will examine the nature of an ethically just or fair settlement. Although lawyer ethics are only part of the larger considerations of what makes a settlement ethical, the professional responsibility questions raised in recent mass torts cases reveal a bigger problem for legal ethics generally. This problem involves situations where rules are so ambiguous or self-contradictory that they cannot govern behavior clearly

A computational approach towards conflict resolution for serious games

Conflict is an unavoidable feature of life, but the development of conflict resolution management skills can facilitate the parties involved in resolving their conflicts in a positive manner. The goal of our research is to develop a serious game in which children may experiment with conflict resolution strategies and learn how to work towards positive conflict outcomes. While serious games related to conflict exist at present, our work represents the first attempt to teach conflict resolution skills through a game in a manner informed by sociological and psychological theories of conflict and current best practice for conflict resolution. In this paper, we present a computational approach to conflict generation and resolution. We describe the five phases involved in our conflict modeling process: conflict situation creation, conflict detection, player modeling and conflict strategy prediction, conflict management, and conflict resolution, and discuss the three major elements of our player model: assertiveness, cooperativeness, and relationship. Finally, we overview a simple resource management game we have developed in which we have begun experimenting with our conflict model concepts.peer-reviewe

Wicked Problems in Public Policy

This is an open access book. This book offers the first overview of the ‘wicked problems’ literature, often seen as complex, open-ended, and intractable, with both the nature of the ‘problem’ and the preferred ‘solution’ being strongly contested. It contextualises the debate using a wide range of relevant policy examples, explaining why these issues attract so much attention. There is an increasing interest in the conceptual and practical aspects of how ‘wicked problems’ are identified, understood and managed by policy practitioners. The standard public management responses to complexity and uncertainty (including traditional regulation and market-based solutions) are insufficient. Leaders often advocate and implement ideological ‘quick fixes’, but integrative and inclusive responses are increasingly being utilised to recognise the multiple interests and complex causes of these problems. This book uses examples from a wide range of social, economic and environmental fields in order to develop new insights about better solutions, and thus gain broad stakeholder acceptance for shared strategies for tackling ‘wicked problems’

Facilitative Ethics in Divorce Mediation: A Law and Process Approach

Mediation is becoming a vital part of family legal problem solving and is creating new challenges for the lawyer practicing in the family law setting. The American Bar Association, the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts and others recently have proposed standards of behavior for mediators where none have existed before. States also have attempted to define the appropriate realm of ethical practice for family mediation

Uncertainty and risk: politics and analysis

In environmental and sustainable development policy issues, and in infrastructural megaprojects and issues of innovative medical technologies as well, public authorities face emergent complexity, high value diversity, difficult-to-structure problems, high decision stakes, high uncertainty, and thus risk. In practice, it is believed, this often leads to crises, controversies, deadlocks, and policy fiascoes. Decision-makers are said to face a crisis in coping with uncertainty. Both the cognitive structure of uncertainty and the political structure of risk decisions have been studied. So far, these scientific literatures exist side by side, with few apparent efforts at theoretically conceptualizing and empirically testing the links between the two. Therefore, this exploratory and conceptual paper takes up the challenge: How should we conceptualize the cognitive structure of uncertainty? How should we conceptualize the political structure of risk? How can we conceptualize the link(s) between the two? Is there any empirical support for a conceptualization that bridges the analytical and political aspects of risk? What are the implications for guidelines for risk analysis and assessment

A computational approach towards conflict resolution for serious games

Conflict is an unavoidable feature of life, but the development of conflict resolution management skills can facilitate the parties involved in resolving their conflicts in a positive manner. The goal of our research is to develop a serious game in which children may experiment with conflict resolution strategies and learn how to work towards positive conflict outcomes. While serious games related to conflict exist at present, our work represents the first attempt to teach conflict resolution skills through a game in a manner informed by sociological and psychological theories of conflict and current best practice for conflict resolution. In this paper, we present a computational approach to conflict generation and resolution. We describe the five phases involved in our conflict modeling process: conflict situation creation, conflict detection, player modeling and conflict strategy prediction, conflict management, and conflict resolution, and discuss the three major elements of our player model: assertiveness, cooperativeness, and relationship. Finally, we overview a simple resource management game we have developed in which we have begun experimenting with our conflict model concepts.peer-reviewe