Inverse Classification for Comparison-based Interpretability in Machine Learning

In the context of post-hoc interpretability, this paper addresses the task of explaining the prediction of a classifier, considering the case where no information is available, neither on the classifier itself, nor on the processed data (neither the training nor the test data). It proposes an instance-based approach whose principle consists in determining the minimal changes needed to alter a prediction: given a data point whose classification must be explained, the proposed method consists in identifying a close neighbour classified differently, where the closeness definition integrates a sparsity constraint. This principle is implemented using observation generation in the Growing Spheres algorithm. Experimental results on two datasets illustrate the relevance of the proposed approach that can be used to gain knowledge about the classifier.Comment: preprin

‘Material girls’: lingering in the presence of the material sublime

By exploring selected, recent works produced by amongst others Zanele Muholi, Nandipha Mntambo, Tracey Rose and Leora Farber it is the aim of this essay to trace a possible resurgence of the real through the depiction of the corporeal in their work. The artists have been selected because their work provide a fecundity of ‘corporeal realness’ or corpo(real)ity. The exploration is further layered by inquiring how the resurgence of the real corresponds to the aesthetic category of the material sublime. The material sublime dates from the nineteenth century as has been regarded as a sub-theory within the broader classical sublime. It is argued that the material sublime together with contemporary feminist theorists e.g. Bonnie Mann, Karen Barad, Elizabeth Wilson and Vicky Kirby, provide a useful lens for re-thinking the engagement between matter and discourse. It is in particular through the resilient flesh represented in Muholi’s, Mntambo’s and Farber’s work, that they and their subjects are turned into what can be playfully termed ‘Material Girls’.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcrc20gv201

The rise and fall of HIV prevalence in Zimbabwe: The social, political and economic context

For more than 10 years Zimbabwe has experienced social, political and economic instability, including the near collapse in 2008 of its health system. Paradoxically, this period has also seen a fall in estimated HIV prevalence, from 25.6% in 1996 to 13.7% in 2009. This article examines this development in a socio-political and historical context. We focus on the complex interplay of migration, mortality, individual behaviour change, and economic patterns in shaping the presumed epidemiological waning of HIV prevalence in Zimbabwe and explore the evolution and management of the country's HIV/AIDS response. Our assessment of the role that the Zimbabwean state has played in this development leads to the conclusion that a decline in HIV prevalence has been as much an artefact of dire social, political and economic conditions as the outcome of deliberate interventions. Lastly, we propose the need to contextualise available epidemiological data through qualitative research into the social aspects of HIV and the everyday lives of individuals affected by it