Hasil untuk "Law of Europe"

G. Spivak

Benyu Zhang, Qiang Zhang, Jianpeng Cheng et al.

Large Language Models (LLMs) represent a promising frontier for recommender systems, yet their development has been impeded by the absence of predictable scaling laws, which are crucial for guiding research and optimizing resource allocation. We hypothesize that this may be attributed to the inherent noise, bias, and incompleteness of raw user interaction data in prior continual pre-training (CPT) efforts. This paper introduces a novel, layered framework for generating high-quality synthetic data that circumvents such issues by creating a curated, pedagogical curriculum for the LLM. We provide powerful, direct evidence for the utility of our curriculum by showing that standard sequential models trained on our principled synthetic data significantly outperform ($+130\%$ on recall@100 for SasRec) models trained on real data in downstream ranking tasks, demonstrating its superiority for learning generalizable user preference patterns. Building on this, we empirically demonstrate, for the first time, robust power-law scaling for an LLM that is continually pre-trained on our high-quality, recommendation-specific data. Our experiments reveal consistent and predictable perplexity reduction across multiple synthetic data modalities. These findings establish a foundational methodology for reliable scaling LLM capabilities in the recommendation domain, thereby shifting the research focus from mitigating data deficiencies to leveraging high-quality, structured information.

Frederik J. Zuiderveen Borgesius, Wilfred Steenbruggen

In the European Union, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides comprehensive rules for the processing of personal data. In addition, the EU lawmaker intends to adopt specific rules to protect confidentiality of communications, in a separate ePrivacy Regulation. Some have argued that there is no need for such additional rules for communications confidentiality. This Article discusses the protection of the right to confidentiality of communications in Europe. We look at the right's origins to assess the rationale for protecting it. We also analyze how the right is currently protected under the European Convention on Human Rights and under EU law. We show that at its core the right to communications confidentiality protects three individual and collective values: privacy, freedom of expression, and trust in communication services. The right aims to ensure that individuals and organizations can safely entrust communication to service providers. Initially, the right protected only postal letters, but it has gradually developed into a strong safeguard for the protection of confidentiality of communications, regardless of the technology used. Hence, the right does not merely serve individual privacy interests, but also other more collective interests that are crucial for the functioning of our information society. We conclude that separate EU rules to protect communications confidentiality, next to the GDPR, are justified and necessary.

Leonardo Iurada, Simone Bombari, Tatiana Tommasi et al.

Large-scale deep learning models are known to memorize parts of the training set. In machine learning theory, memorization is often framed as interpolation or label fitting, and classical results show that this can be achieved when the number of parameters $p$ in the model is larger than the number of training samples $n$. In this work, we consider memorization from the perspective of data reconstruction, demonstrating that this can be achieved when $p$ is larger than $dn$, where $d$ is the dimensionality of the data. More specifically, we show that, in the random features model, when $p \gg dn$, the subspace spanned by the training samples in feature space gives sufficient information to identify the individual samples in input space. Our analysis suggests an optimization method to reconstruct the dataset from the model parameters, and we demonstrate that this method performs well on various architectures (random features, two-layer fully-connected and deep residual networks). Our results reveal a law of data reconstruction, according to which the entire training dataset can be recovered as $p$ exceeds the threshold $dn$.

Kamran Behnia, Shiyan Li, Johnpierre Paglione et al.

Recently, Wang et al. [1] reported on an unusual violation of Wiedemann-Franz law in three semimetals. We compare their observations to our observations in a variety of systems, where the apparent WF law violations in the same temperature range arise as a consequence of electron-phonon decoupling. Given the empirical similarity of their data with these cases, the most plausible explanation for the reported violation is an experimental artefact.

Aniket Kesari, Travis Breaux, Tom Norton et al.

Privacy law and regulation have turned to "consent" as the legitimate basis for collecting and processing individuals' data. As governments have rushed to enshrine consent requirements in their privacy laws, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), significant challenges remain in understanding how these legal mandates are operationalized in software. The opaque nature of software development processes further complicates this translation. To address this, we explore the use of Large Language Models (LLMs) in requirements engineering to bridge the gap between legal requirements and technical implementation. This study employs a three-step pipeline that involves using an LLM to classify software use cases for compliance, generating LLM modifications for non-compliant cases, and manually validating these changes against legal standards. Our preliminary findings highlight the potential of LLMs in automating compliance tasks, while also revealing limitations in their reasoning capabilities. By benchmarking LLMs against real-world use cases, this research provides insights into leveraging AI-driven solutions to enhance legal compliance of software.

Frederik Zuiderveen Borgesius

Our society can benefit immensely from algorithmic decision-making and similar types of artificial intelligence. But algorithmic decision-making can also have discriminatory effects. This paper examines that problem, using online price differentiation as an example of algorithmic decision-making. With online price differentiation, a company charges different people different prices for identical products, based on information the company has about those people. The main question in this paper is: to what extent can non-discrimination law protect people against online price differentiation? The paper shows that online price differentiation and algorithmic decision-making could lead to indirect discrimination, for instance harming people with a certain ethnicity. Indirect discrimination occurs when a practice is neutral at first glance, but ends up discriminating against people with a protected characteristic, such as ethnicity. In principle, non-discrimination law prohibits indirect discrimination. The paper also shows, however, that non-discrimination law has flaws when applied to algorithmic decision-making. For instance, algorithmic discrimination can remain hidden: people may not realise that they are being discriminated against. And many types of unfair - some might say discriminatory - algorithmic decisions are outside the scope of current non-discrimination law.

Elisa Leonardelli, Sara Tonelli

The online diffusion of information related to Europe and migration has been little investigated from an external point of view. However, this is a very relevant topic, especially if users have had no direct contact with Europe and its perception depends solely on information retrieved online. In this work we analyse the information circulating online about Europe and migration after retrieving a large amount of data from social media (Twitter), to gain new insights into topics, magnitude, and dynamics of their diffusion. We combine retweets and hashtags network analysis with geolocation of users, linking thus data to geography and allowing analysis from an "outside Europe" perspective, with a special focus on Africa. We also introduce a novel approach based on cross-lingual quotes, i.e. when content in a language is commented and retweeted in another language, assuming these interactions are a proxy for connections between very distant communities. Results show how the majority of online discussions occurs at a national level, especially when discussing migration. Language (English) is pivotal for information to become transnational and reach far. Transnational information flow is strongly unbalanced, with content mainly produced in Europe and amplified outside. Conversely Europe-based accounts tend to be self-referential when they discuss migration-related topics. Football is the most exported topic from Europe worldwide. Moreover, important nodes in the communities discussing migration-related topics include accounts of official institutions and international agencies, together with journalists, news, commentators and activists.

R. Folk

The late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries have long been considered as a formative period for modern Irish political traditions such as nationalism, republicanism and unionism. For Europe it was the time of a turnover in science moving from observation to experiment and from speculation to fact. Richard Kirwan was a well known natural philosopher in Europe and a respected man of science in his time. Throughout all the wars, he was connected with his colleagues in a network reaching across Europe and even to America. Using a few examples, this article is intended to provide an insight how the network worked in a time that was marked by political conflicts and revolutionary events in both science and social life.

Xiaoxi Kang, Lizhen Qu, Lay-Ki Soon et al.

The effectiveness of Large Language Models (LLMs) in legal reasoning is often limited due to the unique legal terminologies and the necessity for highly specialized knowledge. These limitations highlight the need for high-quality data tailored for complex legal reasoning tasks. This paper introduces LegalSemi, a benchmark specifically curated for legal scenario analysis. LegalSemi comprises 54 legal scenarios, each rigorously annotated by legal experts, based on the comprehensive IRAC (Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion) framework from Malaysian Contract Law. In addition, LegalSemi is accompanied by a structured knowledge base (SKE). A series of experiments were conducted to assess the usefulness of LegalSemi for IRAC analysis. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of incorporating the SKE for issue identification, rule retrieval, application and conclusion generation using four different LLMs.

Begoña Rodriguez Diaz

(Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2023 8(2), 525-535 | European Forum Insight of 3 August 2023 | (Table of Contents) I. Introducción - II. Hechos - III. La falta de accesibilidad como límite al derecho a la vida privada y familiar - IV. Accesibilidad y ajustes razonables: una oportunidad perdida - V. La carga desproporcionada e indebida - VI. Conclusión | (Abstract) Persons with disabilities keep struggling to enjoy their rights on equal conditions with other people de-spite being granted the right of non-discrimination under several international treaties. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) is increasingly turning to a systemic interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). However, the case to be studied shows some contradictions between the interpre-tation given by the ECtHR and the Committee of the CRPD and points to the need of a better under-standing of notions related with disability and a stricter control on the States’ discretion to adopt rea-sonable accommodation measures.

Fazeelat Duran, Jessica Woodhams

ABSTRACTBackground: There is extensive literature on front-line officers and investigators exposure to trauma and its negative impact on them. However, there are analytical practitioners in law enforcement who indirectly work with the traumatic experiences of other people daily, but are seldom the focus of academic research.Objective: Our goal was to conduct the first international study with these practitioners to identify the risk of depression symptoms and establish whether potentially modifiable risk factors (belief in a just world, mental imagery and thought suppression) and work-related characteristics (medium of exposure) are associated with depression.Method: 99 analysts and secondary investigators employed in police and law enforcement organizations from the UK, Europe and Canada participated in the study. The online survey was advertised to employees via their employers but hosted without employer access. Multiple regression was used to analyze the data.Results: After controlling for age, gender, ethnicity, previous exposure to trauma, and marital status, four potential risk factors were identified. Analytical practitioners with vivid mental imagery, those exposed to crime material via auditory and visual means, those who suppressed intrusive thoughts, and those who believed in a just world reported more depressive symptoms.Conclusions: The majority of our sample reported clinical levels of depressive symptoms. Four potential risk factors accounted for just under half of the variance in depression scores. We consider strategies that can be used to mitigate the potential negative influence of these factors and suggest that these are established as risk factors for depression symptoms via future longitudinal research.

Markus Kotzur

(Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2023 8(1), 89-92 | European Forum Highlight of 24 May 2023 | (Abstract) Law and jurisprudence are language-bound. If law is to be further developed, new legal figures and normative concepts have to established which leads to some kind of competition for the most adequate outcomes. Competitively, all the actors who establish and enforce law, struggle to establish their respective concepts in the political as well as legal discourse, and they do so by creating new terminology. This is exemplified by the European constitutional debate. The concept of a full constitution, familiar from state law, cannot be transferred by simple analogy to constitutional models beyond the state. In order to be adapted to the supra-national legal sphere, the regulative idea of the constitution requires function-specific adaptations or modifications. The corresponding variant-rich attempts at modification or adaptation are also reflected in the formation of terminology. The concept of multi-level constitutionalism is particularly effective. German European legal scholarship has further contributed the concepts of the "Staatenverbund," the "Verfassungsverbund," and the "Verfassungsgemeinschaft." The difficulties encountered in translating these concepts are indicative of both the necessity and the limitations of a common European legal discourse.

Vendulka Valentová

Women have generally been permitted to study law properly at university since the late 19th century. The first country to allow women to study at university level was the United States of America. In Europe, it has been possible for women to study law at the universities and practise it, particularly as attorneys-at-law, later than in the USA, but with equal success.

Muhammad Zubair Khan, Oleg E. Peil, Apoorva Sharma et al.

In the rapidly expanding field of two-dimensional materials, magnetic monolayers show great promise for the future applications in nanoelectronics, data storage, and sensing. The research in intrinsically magnetic two-dimensional materials mainly focuses on synthetic iodide and telluride based compounds, which inherently suffer from the lack of ambient stability. So far, naturally occurring layered magnetic materials have been vastly overlooked. These minerals offer a unique opportunity to explore air-stable complex layered systems with high concentration of local moment bearing ions. We demonstrate magnetic ordering in iron-rich two-dimensional phyllosilicates, focusing on mineral species of minnesotaite, annite, and biotite. These are naturally occurring van der Waals magnetic materials which integrate local moment baring ions of iron via magnesium/aluminium substitution in their octahedral sites. Due to self-inherent capping by silicate/aluminate tetrahedral groups, ultra-thin layers are air-stable. Chemical characterization, quantitative elemental analysis, and iron oxidation states were determined via Raman spectroscopy, wavelength disperse X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Superconducting quantum interference device magnetometry measurements were performed to examine the magnetic ordering. These layered materials exhibit paramagnetic or superparamagnetic characteristics at room temperature. At low temperature ferrimagnetic or antiferromagnetic ordering occurs, with the critical ordering temperature of 38.7 K for minnesotaite, 36.1 K for annite, and 4.9 K for biotite. In-field magnetic force microscopy on iron bearing phyllosilicates confirmed the paramagnetic response at room temperature, present down to monolayers.

Alexander S. Blum, Stefano Furlan

In 1972, at a symposium celebrating the 70th birthday of Paul Dirac, John Wheeler proclaimed that "the framework falls down for everything that one has ever called a law of physics". Responsible for this "breakage [...] among the laws of physics" was the general theory of relativity, more specifically its prediction of massive stars gravitationally collapsing to "black holes", a term Wheeler himself had made popular some years earlier. In our paper, we investigate how Wheeler reached the conclusion that gravitational collapse calls into question the lawfulness of physics and how, subsequently, he tried to develop a new worldview, rethinking in his own way the lessons of quantum mechanics as well as drawing inspiration from other disciplines, not least biology.

N. Lacey

The resurgence of populism in Europe and North America is widely thought to have placed the rule of law under pressure. But how many of the relevant developments are indeed associated with populism? And is any such association a contingent or analytic matter: Does populism inevitably threaten the rule of law, or do other conditions intervene to shape its impact? After setting out how I understand the rule of law and populism, I examine the ways in which contemporary populist discourse has challenged the rule of law through a variety of mechanisms—notably agenda setting, policy impact, influence on discretionary decisions, and convention trashing—considering the institutional and social conditions that conduce to strengthen or weaken these mechanisms in particular contexts. Finally, I consider the implications of the analysis for contemporary criminalization, assessing how many of the factors producing penal populism or overcriminalization are truly a product of populism.

K. Lenaerts

A. Introduction The purpose of this Article for this special issue of the German Law Journal is to argue that “integration through the rule of law” defines what the European Union stands for. That expression conveys the simple yet powerful message that European integration can only take place when both the EU institutions and the Member States respect the “rules of the game.” This means, in essence, that both EU and national authorities are committed to the idea that courts—acting as independent umpires—have the final say on the question of whether those rules have been breached. Therefore, it is for courts, whether at EU or national level, to uphold the rule of law within the EU by making sure that no one is above the law. Given that this special issue is devoted to examining the future of Europe, this Article supports the contention that the next phase of European integration must not be built on unstable foundations, but must rather be based on secure and solid values, in particular, respect for the rule of law. Since the principle of judicial independence is an essential component of the rule of law within the EU, it is only if we have strong and independent courts that European integration may continue to move on to new horizons. In Part B., it is argued that integration through the rule of law is nothing new but has underpinned the EU since its very beginning. It is indeed the premise on which the EU system of judicial protection has been built over the years. Part C. explores—in the light of recent developments in the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (“Court of Justice”)—what happens when that premise is called into question.

Arnaud Mazier, Alexandre Bilger, Antonio E. Forte et al.

In this paper, we develop a framework for solving inverse deformation problems using the FEniCS Project finite element software. We validate our approach with experimental imaging data acquired from a soft silicone beam under gravity. In contrast with inverse iterative algorithms that require multiple solutions of a standard elasticity problem, the proposed method can compute the undeformed configuration by solving only one modified elasticity problem. This modified problem has a complexity comparable to the standard one. The framework is implemented within an open-source pipeline enabling the direct and inverse deformation simulation directly from imaging data. We use the high-level Unified Form Language (UFL) of the FEniCS Project to express the finite element model in variational form and to automatically derive the consistent Jacobian. Consequently, the design of the pipeline is flexible: for example, it allows the modification of the constitutive models by changing a single line of code. We include a complete working example showing the inverse deformation of a beam deformed by gravity as supplementary material.