The Chanka: Archaeological Research in Andahuaylas (Apurimac), Peru

In AD 1438 a battle took place outside the city of Cuzco that changed the course of South American history. The Chanka, a powerful ethnic group from the Andahuaylas region, had begun an aggressive program of expansion. Conquering a host of smaller polities, their army had advanced well inside the territory of their traditional rival, the Inca. In a series of unusual maneuvers, the Inca defeated the invading Chanka forces and became the most powerful people in the Andes. Many scholars believe that the defeat of the Chanka represents a defining moment in the history of South America as the Inca then continued to expand and establish the largest empire of the Americas. Despite its critical position in South American history, until recently the Chanka heartland remained unexplored and the cultural processes that led to their rapid development and subsequent defeat by the Inca had not been investigated. From 2001 to 2004, Brian Bauer conducted an archaeological survey of the Andahuaylas region. This project represents an unparalleled opportunity to examine theoretical issues concerning the history and cultural development of late-prehistoric societies in this area of the Andes. The resulting book includes an archaeological analysis on the development of the Chanka and examines their ultimate defeat by the Inca. Series: Monographs 6

Annulment proceedings and multilevel judicial conflict

This open access book provides an exhaustive picture of the role that annulment conflicts play in the EU multilevel system. Based on a rich dataset of annulment actions since the 1960s and a number of in-depth case studies, it explores the political dimension of annulment litigation, which has become an increasingly relevant judicial tool in the struggle over policy content and decision-making competences. The book covers the motivations of actors to turn policy conflicts into annulment actions, the emergence of multilevel actors’ litigant configurations, the impact of actors’ constellations on success in court, as well as the impact of annulment actions on the multilevel policy conflicts they originate from

A methodology based on quality gates for certifiable AI in medicine: towards a reliable application of metrics in machine learning

As of now, intelligent technologies experience a rapid growth. For a reliable adoption of those new and powerful systems into day-to-day life, especially with respect to high-risk settings such as medicine, technical means to realize legal requirements correctly, are indispensible. Our proposed methodology comprises an approach to translate such partly more abstract concepts into concrete instructions - it is based on Quality Gates along the intelligent system’s complete life cycle, which are composed of use-case adapted Criteria that need to be addressed with respect to certification. Also, the underlying philosophy regarding stakeholder inclusion, domain embedding and risk analysis is illustrated. In the present paper, the Quality Gate Metrics is outlined for the application of machine learning performance metrics focused on binary classification

Judicial control of the guardian – explaining patterns of governmental annulment litigation against the European Commission

This chapter investigates actions for annulment. Annulment actions constitute a central yet by-and-large neglected device of judicial review in the European Union. We focus on cases in which member states take the European Commission to the Court of Justice of the European Union in order to fend off interferences with domestic policy application. Specifically, we ask when and why member states initiate such actions for annulment. To assess the validity of different answers to this question, we use data on the frequency of annulment litigation and evaluate the impact of four potential explanatory factors: the creative agency of the supervising Commission, the inept application of EU law by a shirking agent government, the heterogeneity of preferences held by the collective principal (i.e., the Council), and the interruption of the relationship between the commission and member state governments.Gegenstand der Analyse in diesem Kapitel sind Nichtigkeitsklagen vor dem Europäischen Gerichtshof. Nichtigkeitsklagen sind eine zentrale, aber bisher weitgehend unerforschte Kategorie der Normenkontrolle im EU System. Wir untersuchen solche Klagefälle, in denen Mitgliedstaaten, um Eingriffe in nationale Politikgestaltung abzuwehren, die Europäische Kommission vor dem Europäischen Gerichtshof verklagen. Wann und warum entscheiden sich nationale Regierungen für eine solche Nichtigkeitsklage? Um diese Frage zu beantworten werden vier potentielle Erklärungsfaktoren mit Hilfe von quantitativen Daten zur Häufigkeit der Klageerhebung in der EU-15 getestet: kreatives Handeln der Kommission als Agentin, unangemessene Anwendung durch eine pflichtverletzende nationale Regierung, heterogene Präferenzen im Rat als kollektivem Prinzipal und die Unterbrechung der Beziehung zwischen Kommission und mitgliedstaatlicher Regierung, z.B. durch Wahlen oder die Benennung eines neuen Kommissar

Creation of a Decision Support Tool for Expectant Parents Facing Threatened Periviable Delivery: Application of a User-Centered Design Approach

Background Shared decision-making (SDM) is optimal in the context of periviable delivery, where the decision to pursue life-support measures or palliation is both preference sensitive and value laden. We sought to develop a decision support tool (DST) prototype to facilitate SDM by utilizing a user-centered design research approach. Methods We convened four patient and provider advisory boards with women and their partners who had experienced a surviving or non-surviving periviable delivery, pregnant women who had not experienced a prior preterm birth, and obstetric providers. Each 2-h session involved design research activities to generate ideas and facilitate sharing of values, goals, and attitudes. Participant feedback shaped the design of three prototypes (a tablet application, family story videos, and a virtual reality experience) to be tested in a final session. Results Ninety-five individuals (48 mothers/partners; 47 providers) from two hospitals participated. Most participants agreed that the prototypes should include factual, unbiased outcomes and probabilities. Mothers and support partners also desired comprehensive explanations of delivery and care options, while providers wanted a tool to ease communication, help elicit values, and share patient experiences. Participants ultimately favored the tablet application and suggested that it include family testimonial videos. Conclusion Our results suggest that a DST that combines unbiased information and understandable outcomes with family testimonials would be meaningful for periviable SDM. User-centered design was found to be a useful method for creating a DST prototype that may lead to improved effectiveness, usability, uptake, and dissemination in the future, by leveraging the expertise of a wide range of stakeholders

The Settlement History of the Lucre Basin (Cusco, Peru)

This article reports the results of archaeological survey from Oropesa to Andahuayllilas, Peru