Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2021-11-05"
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- Investigating cognitive network similarity in breast cancer detectionPublication . Berger, Julian; Carvalho, Rui Filipe Gaspar deIdentifying predictors of collective performance in medical decision-making, requiring diagnosticians to independently formulate judgements, is of key importance for effective care. The German Mammography Screening Program poses a prime example of such a situation in which diagnostic decisions are currently being made by at least two individuals. Given this importance, the present study combined insights from research in mental models and cognitive network science to study the cognition and diagnostic performance of experienced radiologists in their ability to correctly identify cancer presence in mammogram images. The study relies on a mixed-methods design, incorporating knowledge gained from interviewing experienced radiologists into a subsequent cross-sectional investigation on cognitive networks of cancer cues relevant in mammogram diagnoses. Cognitive networks were elicited from trained radiologists employed in the national screening program and compared based on their structure, path lengths, degree and clustering. Divergences between radiologists’ networks were revealed through both visual and numerical analyses. However, results of generalized linear mixed modeling indicated divergences and similarities to be almost unequivocally as not being associated with both diagnostic performance and diagnostic similarity in dyadic decision making. The key finding of the present study suggests, however, that more precisely defined clusters within networks, represented via low clustering coefficient, were associated with correct classification of images to diagnostic categories, which warrants future research opportunities. The study concludes with the identification of three limitations present both in this inquiry as well as in prior research and calls for a renewed critical assessment of fundamental assumptions underlying current cognitive network studies.
- Public procurement and sustainable developmentPublication . Carvalho, RaquelPublic procurement has been evolving from an economic instrument into a mixed one with the inclusion of horizontal policies (both environmental and social ones). The latest Directives regarding public procurement have turned some of the previous “suggested” instruments into binding law, namely the sustainability principle, mandatory procedure dematerialization, ecolabels, life-cycle costing as a factor within the most economically advantageous tender criterion, social protection of persons with disabilities, specific procedure rules concerning certain social contracts, and innovation as an instrument to achieve sustainability. This legal instrument has been recognised as a strong legal mechanism to achieve the 12th SGD goal for promoting sustainable public procurement practices, in line with national policies and priorities (target 12.7). This is why public procurement actors must consider EU determinations such as The New Green Deal, which intends to make EU economy sustainable: “public authorities, including the EU institutions, should lead by example and ensure that their procurement is green”(European Commission, 2019a, §2.1.3). Since public procurement appears to be an interesting instrument for transitioning from a linear economy to a circular (sustainable) one, the EU has also published the Circular Economy Action Plan, the latest dating from March 2020 (European Commission, 2020a) and including a “sustainable products policy” to help public procurers design procurement and economic operators adapt their business models thereto. Both documents focus on “reducing and reusing materials before recycling”, particularly in resource-intensive sectors such as textiles, construction, electronics, and plastics. While many Member States have been implementing green public procurement (hereinafter: GPP) in several economic fields, studies have shown that procedures still lack common methodologies, among other difficulties regarding the Life Cycle Costing (hereinafter: LCC) factor implementation. In this paper, we will therefore go through several of these national legal solutions and practices to understand how far GPP has been implemented and which methodologies are being applied (GPP Good Practice), dwelling particularly on the latest Portuguese guides concerning GPP, and analyse how far the present implementation meets the requirements of circular economy (Portuguese National Strategy of Green Public Buy 2020: hereinafter: ENCPE 2020a). This is the first step towards building guidelines for both public procurers and economic operators: as regards the first, in order to help them design adequate sustainable public procurement procedures; as for the latter, to help them adapt their business models accordingly. Sustainable development within public procurement can only be achieved that way.
- Vattenfall v. Federal Republic of Germany : a report of a long story and an outlook on the future of investment arbitration under the ECTPublication . Minnemann, Veronika Lucia; Pires, Tiago José Duarte
- Data transfers between the EU and US : the impact of schrems I and schrems II for cross-border data flows, privacy, and national securityPublication . Duli, Bora; Terrinha, Luís André Rodrigues HelenoThis dissertation seeks to outline the implications of the CJEU judgment in Case C-311/18 Data Protection Commissioner v. Facebook Ireland Ltd and Maximillian Schrems (Schrems II) on international data transfers, particularly for data transfers between the European Union and the United States. The Schrems II judgment has invalidated the Privacy Shield, making it the second data transfer mechanism between the EU and the US that the CJEU strikes down. It also leaves Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) as one of the only options for data transfers, creating significant burdens for companies/organizations to assess the laws and practices of third countries to be able to transfer data. The Schrems II decision, without a doubt, will change the relationship between global data flows and national security, and we have already started to see the legal uncertainties brought forward by the case. This dissertation aims to give an overview of the history of data protection laws in both the EU and the US, including differences in their approaches to data protection. It then examines the two Schrems cases and the invalidated transfer mechanisms, as well as the legal landscape for transfers after CJEU's last decision. Lastly, it discusses the impact of the decision on cross-border data flows, data privacy, surveillance, and national security, while trying to chart a path forward by examining possible solutions for the continuance of data transfers.