A Generic Framework for the Engineering of Self-Adaptive and Self-Organising Systems

This paper provides a unifying view for the engineering of self-adaptive (SA) and self-organising (SO) systems. We first identify requirements for designing and building trustworthy self-adaptive and self-organising systems. Second, we propose a generic framework combining design-time and run-time features, which permit the definition and analysis at design-time of mechanisms that both ensure and constrain the run-time behaviour of an SA or SO system, thereby providing some assurance of its self-* capabilities. We show how this framework applies to both an SA and an SO system, and discuss several current proof-of-concept studies on the enabling technologies

De bello robotico : an ethical assessment of military robotics

This article provides a detailed description of robotic weapons and unmanned systems currently used by the U.S. Military and its allies, and an ethical assessment of their actual or potential use on the battlefield. Firstly, trough a review of scientific literature, reports, and newspaper articles, a catalogue of ethical problems related to military robotics is compiled. Secondly, possible solutions for these problems are offered, by relying also on analytic tools provided by the new field of roboethics. Finally, the article explores possible future developments of military robotics and present six reasons why a war between humans and automata is unlikely to happen in the 21st century

Trans sexuality: A phenomenological-hermeneutic enquiry into the sexuality of trans and non-binary people - with implications for the practice of existential-phenomenological counselling psychology and psychotherapy

Trans people are those people who are not content to remain the gender they were assigned at birth. They may identify as men, or as women, or outside of the gender binary. As part of establishing oneself in a different gender from that assigned at birth, trans people may consider many aspects of their being-in-the-world including embodiment, attendant intersubjectivity and, as part of that, sexuality. Trans people have been poorly served in the past regarding sexuality, with literatures suggesting that trans people necessarily sexualise transition; that trans people must be heterosexual in their identified gender; and that sexuality is a motivation for transition. These notions have mostly been driven by theoretical positions which have not fully encompassed trans people’s own conceptualisations of their sexuality. Consequently this research has investigated trans people’s sexuality from a phenomenological perspective in which trans people’s own understandings are to the fore. A phenomenological investigation with a group of eleven self-identified trans people was undertaken. Using Lego, the participants modelled their sexuality in order to avoid established narratives of trans and sexuality. The participants then explained their models and a group discussion was then held concerning trans and sexuality. The information thus elicited was subject to two hermeneutics – one of description; and one of ‘suspicion’ in which the participants contributions were tentatively contextualised within an existential philosophical framework. The resulting themes were Barriers; Time; Reference to multiplicity or binary identities; and Gender Identity Clinics. These themes were considered with reference to the implications they may have for counselling psychological practice

Wrapping The Future

Enclosing a component within a software "wrapper" is a well-established way of adapting components for use in new environments. This paper presents an overview of an experimental evaluation of the use of a wrapper to protect against faults arising during the (simulated) operation of a practical and critical system; the specific context is a protective wrapper for an off-the-shelf software component at the heart of the control system of a steam raising boiler. Encouraged by the positive outcomes of this experimentation we seek to position protective wrappers as a basis for structuring the provision of fault tolerance in component-based open systems and networks. The paper addresses some key issues and developments relating wrappers to the provision of dependability in future computing systems