A protocol and architecture are presented in order to achieve consensual knowledge bases (i.e. bases in which knowledge is expressed in a formal language and which are considered as containing the state of the art in some research area). It assumes that the construction of the base must and can be achieved collectively. The architecture is based on individual workstations which provide support ...

1 Introduction Suppose that n individuals, labeled 1,..., n 9 wish to assign consensual probabilities to a sequence of events E u ..., E k which partition some set of possibilities. Let their subjective assignments be registered in an n x k matrix P = (Pij), where py denotes the subjective probability assigned by individual / to event Ej. The question of how to aggregate the probabilities in P ...

One way of increasing the supply of organs for transplantation is to adopt a policy giving the sick a right to cadaveric organs. Such a right would entail the coercive transfer of organs from the dead without their previous consent. Because this policy would violate individual autonomy and the special relation between humans and their bodies, it would be morally unjustifiable. Although a rights...

HIV self-testing (HIVST) is an empowering process in which an individual performs an HIV rapid diagnostic test and interprets the result in privacy. Policy makers have turned to it to facilitate greater uptake, earlier diagnosis, access to prevention, care and treatment services. The University of Limpopo now has an established HIV counselling and testing (HCT) service. Unfortunately, the uptak...

public opinion is one of the key elements that affects public policy. the importance of public opinion depends on the type of political system, and the process of public policy is also affected by the nature of political system. therefore the effect of public opinion on public policy is different, on the basis of the nature of the political system. the purpose of this article is to analyze this...