A. Tony De Luca

We study the strictness of the modal μ-calculus hierarchy over some restricted classes of transition systems. First, we prove that over transitive systems the hierarchy collapses to the alternationfree fragment. In order to do this the finite model theorem for transitive transition systems is proved. Further, we verify that if symmetry is added to transitivity the hierarchy collapses to the purely modal fragment. Finally, we show that the hierarchy is strict over reflexive frames. By proving the finite model theorem for reflexive systems the same results holds for finite models.

We show that the modal µ-calculus over GL collapses to the modal fragment by showing that the fixpoint formula is reached after two iterations and answer to a question posed by van Benthem in [4]. Further, we introduce the modal µ~-calculus by allowing fixpoint constructors for any formula where the fixpoint variable appears guarded but not necessarily positive and show that this calculus over GL collapses to the modal fragment, too. The latter result allows us a new proof of the de Jongh, Sambin Theorem and provides a simple algorithm to construct the fixpoint formula.

The notions of common knowledge or common belief play an important role in several areas of computer science, in philosophy, game theory, artificial intelligence, psychology and many other fields which deal with the interaction within a group of “agents”, agreement or coordinated actions. In the following we will present several deductive systems for common knowledge above epistemic logics –such as K, T, S4 and S5 –with a fixed number of agents. We focus on structural and proof-theoretic properties of these calculi.

Diversity is recognized as a core value for sustainable organizations. This study examines the specific impacts of gender diversity in middle management. While the literature often emphasizes the need for women’s access to top management and board positions, there is limited analysis of the benefits of women’s presence in middle management and its implications. Drawing from the recent work conducted by Joo et al. (Human Resource Management 62:765–785, 2023), the study posits that optimal levels of gender equality and inclusion are most likely achieved in a work environment with gender diversity across both the workforce and middle management. The analysis uses indicators relevant to assessing gender equality and inclusiveness within an organization, such as the incidence of sick leave among pregnant employees, the part-time work and resignation rates post-maternity, career advancements and key performance indicators (KPIs). The case study focuses on the National Centre for Oncological Hadrontherapy (CNAO), a radiotherapy facility integrated into the Italian healthcare system, notable for its unique treatment methods using protons and carbon ions. This empirical study observes and qualitatively interprets data from CNAO’s workforce from its inception to the present. The encouraging outcomes regarding the level of inclusiveness and gender equality are often in contrast with national and European findings. Research often focuses on the gaps women face in their careers, rather than on strategies to advance women in leadership. Gender inequalities in the workplace often arise from models based on traditional male roles and lifestyles. This suggests that organizations can promote gender inclusion through internal practices and policies. This study highlights the importance of diversity in middle management for advancing inclusive practices and contributing to the debate on gender equality. It offers insights for organizations aiming to make diversity a core value and lays the groundwork for future research.

The progress of electronic health technologies and biobanks holds enormous promise for efficient research. Evidence shows that studies based on sharing and secondary use of data/samples have the potential to significantly advance medical knowledge. However, sharing of such resources for international collaboration is hampered by the lack of clarity about ethical and legal requirements for transfer of data and samples across international borders. Here, the International Clinical Trial Center Network reports the legal and ethical requirements governing data and sample exchange across four continents. The most recurring requirement is ethical approval, whereas only in specific conditions approval of national health authorities is required. Informed consent is not required in all sharing situations. However, waiver of informed consent is only allowed in certain countries/regions and under certain circumstances. The current legal and ethical landscape appears to be very complex and under constant evolution. Regulations differ between countries/regions and are often incomplete, leading to uncertainty. With this work, ICN illuminates the unmet need for a single international collaborative framework to facilitate DSE. Harmonising requirements for global DSE will reduce inefficiency and waste in research. There are many challenges to realising this ambitious vision, including inconsistent terminology and definitions, and heterogeneous and dynamic legal constraints. Here, we identify areas of agreement and significant difference as a necessary first step towards facilitating international collaboration. We propose the establishment of a working group to continue the comparison across jurisdictions, create a standardised glossary and define a set of basic principles and fundamental requirements for DSE.

This article deals with the question of the persistence of artefacts and offers an alternative solution to the conventionalist ones. Although it is recognized that the criteria for the persistence of artefacts are different from those used for entities of natural kind, it is argued that these criteria can be set avoiding the introduction of conventional elements. At the heart of this proposal there is the notion of prolonging substitution. The general framework is the theory of continuants developed by David Wiggins. However, Maurizio Ferraris’ reflections on documentality also play a central role. These reflections are used to define the concept of artefactual type, which permits to go beyond Wiggins’ conventionalism regarding artefacts. Finally, the effectiveness of this proposal is shown facing one of the classics of metaphysics artefacts: the riddle of Theseus’ ship.

Even today, film restoration (both photographic and cinematographic) is a challenge, because it involves multidisciplinary competences: from analogue film inspection and conservation to digitisation and image enhancement. In this context, thanks to the high manageability of digital files, the film restoration workflow often follows a digitisation step, which presents many approximations and issues that are often ignored. In this work, we propose an alternative approach to the issues commonly encountered in film restoration (mainly concerning colour and contrast restoration) aiming at restoring the original colour appearance, through models of human colour perception.

The business of a sentence is not only to describe some state of affairs but also to perform other kinds of speech acts like ordering, suggesting, asking, etc. Understanding the kind of action performed by a speaker who utters a sentence is a multimodal process which involves the computing of verbal and non-verbal information. This work aims at investigating if the understanding of a speech act is affected by the gender of the actor that produces the utterance in combination with a certain facial expression. Experimental data collected show that, as compared to men, women are less likely to be perceived as performers of orders and are more likely to be perceived as performers of questions. This result reveals a gender bias which reflects a process of women’s subordination according to which women are hardly considered as holding the hierarchical social position required for the correct execution of an order.

Beginning from a preliminary question on the meanings of the word "logic" in the expression "hermeneutic logic" used by Ricoeur in a well-known essay of his, the first aim of our research (Part I) was to investigate the origin, the structure and the speculative meaning of Ricoeur's "methodical hermeneutics" following the progressive elaboration of Ricoeur's method through the texts in which Ricoeur himself has explained it, through a dialogue with those authors (Husserl, Heidegger, Gadamer) who have been more influential on its development. (Part I, Chapters 1, 2, 3). This first part aimed at drawing attention to the contribution given by these authors to the definition of Ricoeur's method as well as to the failings which, according to Ricoeur, still affect their views. In developing this analysis, we have also tried to highlight the line of transition between logic as a methodical-epistemic construction and the explication of the underlying and more general logic-speculative trend that supports it, through the highlighting of the dialectic, non-reductive feature of this method. In Part II, following the guiding thread of a "dialectics of self", we tried to focus our attention on the basic structure and on the final intelligibility criterion of Ricoeur's undertaking. We have tried to show the congruency between the constitutive structures and the functioning of this dialectics and the general structure of hermeneutic logic as emerged from the previous section. Therefore, this second part has a threefold task: questioning Ricoeur's self once more, (Part II, Chapters 1-2), reinterpreting its intrinsic dialectics, (Part II, Chapters 3-4) and relocating it in the horizon of its filiations and influences. In their turn, these two intimately interconnected itineraries ("hermeneutic logic" and "dialectics of self") are involved in a twofold demand. The first one consists in an attempt at a thematic reconstruction and theoretical investigation on the characteristic structures of the first and second side of our research. The theoretical-speculative interest of this kind of analysis lays in the possibility of contributing to the exploration of what we may call the logical space of a hermeneutic philosophy. The second demand consists in an attempt at a historiographic survey of the formative and evolutive process of such a "logic" and "dialectics", as well as of its filiation lines. Looking for these filiation lines and for the original matrix of the overall trend of Ricoeur's thought, as well as in an attempt at explaining its relationship with the tradition of the reflexive philosophy, we have tried to verify the hypothesis of a personologic anchorage of Ricoeur's thought through a thematic comparison with Mounier's speculation. In this sense, we have tried to highlight the specificity of Ricoeur's idea of person; to show the congruity between the structure and the meaning of that idea and the structural features of hermeneutic logic and dialectics of self; to show how Ricoeur's idea of person can give a criterion to bring back to a problematic-planning unity Ricoeur's philosophical itinerary and, finally, to highlight the ways in which Mounier's thought anticipates this horizon of thought and the basic congruity between Mounier's and Ricoeur's views in a more general questioning on the actual (or "inactual") meaning of "saying person". The specific hermeneutic aim of this final part of our research consists in the attempt, through a comparative analysis, at reciprocally highlighting the thought of the two authors who have been analysed. It is in the effectiveness of this mutual explanation that our working hypothesis should find its justification.

This paper investigates, in a simple risk-sharing framework, the extent to which the incompleteness of contracts could be attributed to the complexity costs associated with the writing and the implementation of contracts. We show that, given any measure of complexity in a very general class, it is possible to find simple contracting problems such that, when complexity costs are explicitly taken into account, the contracting parties optimally choose an incomplete contract which coincides with the ‘default’ division of surplus. Optimal contracts with complexity costs are constrained efficient in our model. We therefore interpret our results as saying that, in the absence of a strategic role for complexity costs, their effect is entirely determined by their size relative to the size of payoffs.