Legal knowledge engineering: Computing, logic and law

The general problem approached in this thesis is that of building computer based legal advisory programs (otherwise known as expert systems or Intelligent Knowledge Based Systems). Such computer systems should be able to provide an individual with advice about either the general legal area being investigated, or advice about how the individual should proceed in a given case. In part the thesis describes a program (the ELl program) which attempts to confront some of the problems inherent in the building of these systems. The ELl system is seen as an experimental program (currently handling welfare rights legislation) and development vehicle. It is not presented as a final commercially implementable program. We present a detailed criticism of the type of legal knowledge contained within the system. The second, though in part intertwined, major subject of the thesis describes the jurisprudential aspects of the attempt to model the law by logic, a conjunction which is seen to be at the heart of the computer/law problem. We suggest that the conjunction offers very little to those who are interested in the real application of the real law, and that this is most forcefully seen when a working computer system models that conjunction. Our conclusion is that neither logic nor rule-based methods are sufficient for handling legal knowledge. The novelty and import of this thesis is not simply that it presents a negative conclusion; rather that it offers a sound theoretical and pragmatic framework for understanding why these methods are insufficient - the limits to the field are, in fact, defined

A socio-legal critique of privacy and data protection law

Paper presented by Leith for the Privacy Workshop, chaired by Edwards, held in September 200

Awareness, values and attitudes of user generated content website users and non-users towards privacy in the UK : a qualitative study

This document presents the UK results of a qualitative study undertaken as part of the CONSENT project (work package 8). The analyses and results are based on a set of ten semi-structured in-depth interviews regarding the awareness, values and attitudes of user generated content (UGC) website users towards privacy. The interview guideline consisted of 27 questions and sub-questions. The selection of interviewees was aiming at a 8:2 split between UGC users and non-users, an even gender distribution, and a further split by age group to ensure as wide a representation as possible. However, the data did not reveal any strong links between the respondents’ attitudes and their different gender or age, confirming the result from the previous quantitative study (CONSENT work package 7).CONSENT Consumer Sentiment regarding privacy on user generated content (UGC) services in the digital economy (G.A. 244643). The project was co-financed by the European Union within the Seventh Framework Programme (2007-2013).peer-reviewe

Awareness, values and attitudes of user generated content website users and non-users towards privacy in Ireland : a quantitative study

This document presents the Irish results of a study undertaken as part of the CONSENT project. Analyses and results are based on an online survey regarding the awareness, values and attitudes of user generated content (UGC) website users towards privacy. The questionnaire consisted of 75 questions and was available online in several European languages, including English, between July and December 2011. The Irish sample consists of 626 respondents (7.2% of the total sample), of which 34.5% male and 65.5% female, with an average age of 25 and 65.6% tertiary education. With 93% UGC users (total sample 90%), 9.85 mean years of internet usage (total sample 10.67) and 89.8% using the internet at home every day or almost every day (total sample 93%), it is a considered a sample of predominantly experienced internet users.CONSENT Consumer Sentiment regarding privacy on user generated content (UGC) services in the digital economy (G.A. 244643). The project was co-financed by the European Union within the Seventh Framework Programme (2007-2013).peer-reviewe

Awareness, values and attitudes of user generated content website users and non-users towards privacy in the UK : a quantitative study

This document presents the UK results of a study undertaken as part of the CONSENT project. Analyses and results are based on an online survey regarding the awareness, values and attitudes of user generated content (UGC) website users towards privacy. The questionnaire consisted of 75 questions and was available online in several European languages, including Dutch, between July and December 2011. The UK sample consists of 1339 respondents (15.5% of the total sample), of which 36.1% male and 63.9% female, with an average age of 28 and 67.3% tertiary education. With 93% UGC users (total sample 90%), 10.86 mean years of internet usage (total sample 10.67) and 91.5% using the internet at home every day or almost every day (total sample 93%), it is a considered a sample of predominantly experienced internet users. This level of experience is in line with the UK respondents’ awareness and behaviour regarding the handling of technical details: 64% are aware of “cookies” (total sample 65%), and more than two out of three respondents actually disabled them (UK 72%, total sample 68%). On the level of specific technical measures taken to maintain or increase personal internet security, all practices (pop-up window blockers, checking opt-in / opt-out boxes, checking for spyware, clearing the browser history, blocking emails) are well established, with the UK sample showing results that are noticeably above the overall sample average.This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 285582.peer-reviewe

Awareness, values and attitudes of user generated content website users and non-users towards privacy in Ireland : a quantitative study

This document presents the Irish results of a study undertaken as part of the CONSENT project. Analyses and results are based on an online survey regarding the awareness, values and attitudes of user generated content (UGC) website users towards privacy. The questionnaire consisted of 75 questions and was available online in several European languages, including English, between July and December 2011. The Irish sample consists of 626 respondents (7.2% of the total sample), of which 34.5% male and 65.5% female, with an average age of 25 and 65.6% tertiary education. With 93% UGC users (total sample 90%), 9.85 mean years of internet usage (total sample 10.67) and 89.8% using the internet at home every day or almost every day (total sample 93%), it is a considered a sample of predominantly experienced internet users.CONSENT Consumer Sentiment regarding privacy on user generated content (UGC) services in the digital economy (G.A. 244643). The project was co-financed by the European Union within the Seventh Framework Programme (2007-2013).peer-reviewe

El derecho de la sociedad en red

El objetivodel libro espresentar a lectores (juristas o no) interesados varias impresiones sobrelas características del Derecho y el Estado de la sociedad en red en estos momentos, iniciada la segunda década del siglo XXI, según la libre visión de los autoresexpresada desdesu respectivo contexto y experiencia: trabajan, conjuntamente, en Facultades de Derecho en Europa (España, Reino Unido y Finlandia) y Brasil

FR II radio galaxies at low frequencies I : morphology, magnetic field strength and energetics

This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. ©: 2016 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.Due to their steep spectra, low-frequency observations of FR II radio galaxies potentially provide key insights in to the morphology, energetics and spectrum of these powerful radio sources. However, limitations imposed by the previous generation of radio interferometers at metre wavelengths has meant that this region of parameter space remains largely unexplored. In this paper, the first in a series examining FR IIs at low frequencies, we use LOFAR observations between 50 and 160 MHz, along with complementary archival radio and X-ray data, to explore the properties of two FR II sources, 3C452 and 3C223. We find that the morphology of 3C452 is that of a standard FR II rather than of a double-double radio galaxy as had previously been suggested, with no remnant emission being observed beyond the active lobes. We find that the low-frequency integrated spectra of both sources are much steeper than expected based on traditional assumptions and, using synchrotron/inverse-Compton model fitting, show that the total energy content of the lobes is greater than previous estimates by a factor of around 5 for 3C452 and 2 for 3C223. We go on to discuss possible causes of these steeper than expected spectra and provide revised estimates of the internal pressures and magnetic field strengths for the intrinsically steep case. We find that the ratio between the equipartition magnetic field strengths and those derived through synchrotron/inverse-Compton model fitting remains consistent with previous findings and show that the observed departure from equipartition may in some cases provide a solution to the spectral versus dynamical age disparity.Peer reviewe

Tumor Heterogeneity: Mechanisms and Bases for a Reliable Application of Molecular Marker Design

Tumor heterogeneity is a confusing finding in the assessment of neoplasms, potentially resulting in inaccurate diagnostic, prognostic and predictive tests. This tumor heterogeneity is not always a random and unpredictable phenomenon, whose knowledge helps designing better tests. The biologic reasons for this intratumoral heterogeneity would then be important to understand both the natural history of neoplasms and the selection of test samples for reliable analysis. The main factors contributing to intratumoral heterogeneity inducing gene abnormalities or modifying its expression include: the gradient ischemic level within neoplasms, the action of tumor microenvironment (bidirectional interaction between tumor cells and stroma), mechanisms of intercellular transference of genetic information (exosomes), and differential mechanisms of sequence-independent modifications of genetic material and proteins. The intratumoral heterogeneity is at the origin of tumor progression and it is also the byproduct of the selection process during progression. Any analysis of heterogeneity mechanisms must be integrated within the process of segregation of genetic changes in tumor cells during the clonal expansion and progression of neoplasms. The evaluation of these mechanisms must also consider the redundancy and pleiotropism of molecular pathways, for which appropriate surrogate markers would support the presence or not of heterogeneous genetics and the main mechanisms responsible. This knowledge would constitute a solid scientific background for future therapeutic planning

Down-regulation of ATM protein sensitizes human prostate cancer cells to radiation-induced apoptosis

Treatment with the protein kinase C activator 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 12-acetate (TPA) enables radiation-resistant LNCaP human prostate cancer cells to undergo radiation-induced apoptosis, mediated via activation of the enzyme ceramide synthase ( CS) and de novo synthesis of the sphingolipid ceramide (Garzotto, M., Haimovitz-Friedman, A., Liao, W. C., White-Jones, M., Huryk, R., Heston, D. W. W., Cardon-Cardo, C., Kolesnick, R., and Fuks, Z. ( 1999) Cancer Res. 59, 5194-5201). Here, we show that TPA functions to decrease the cellular level of the ATM ( ataxia telangiectasia mutated) protein, known to repress CS activation ( Liao, W.-C., Haimovitz-Friedman, A., Persaud, R., McLoughlin, M., Ehleiter, D., Zhang, N., Gatei, M., Lavin, M., Kolesnick, R., and Fuks, Z. ( 1999) J. Biol. Chem. 274, 17908 - 17917). Gel shift analysis in LNCaP and CWR22-Rv1 cells demonstrated a significant reduction in DNA binding of the Sp1 transcription factor to the ATM promoter, and quantitative reverse transcription-PCR showed a 50% reduction of ATM mRNA between 8 and 16 h of TPA treatment, indicating that TPA inhibits ATM transcription. Furthermore, treatment of LNCaP, CWR22-Rv1, PC-3, and DU-145 human prostate cells with antisense-ATM oligonucleotides, which markedly reduced cellular ATM levels, significantly enhanced radiation-induced CS activation and apoptosis, leading to apoptosis at doses as a low as 1 gray. These data suggest that the CS pathway initiates a generic mode of radiation- induced apoptosis in human prostate cancer cells, regulated by a suppressive function of ATM, and that ATM might represent a potential target for pharmacologic inactivation with potential clinical applications in human prostate cancer