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34 - Embodiment and Algorithms for Human–Robot Interaction
- from Part VI - Applications and Future Directions of Law and Algorithms
- Edited by Woodrow Barfield, University of Washington
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- Book:
- The Cambridge Handbook of the Law of Algorithms
- Published online:
- 19 October 2020
- Print publication:
- 05 November 2020, pp 736-756
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Summary
To many people, there is a boundary which exists between artificial intelligence (AI), sometimes referred to as an intelligent software agent, and the system which is controlled through AI primarily by the use of algorithms. One example of this dichotomy is robots which have a physical form, but whose behavior is highly dependent on the “AI algorithms” which direct its actions. More specifically, we can think of a software agent as an entity which is directed by algorithms that perform many intellectual activities currently done by humans. The software agent can exist in a virtual world (for example, a bot) or can be embedded in the software controlling a machine (for example, a robot). For many current robots controlled by algorithms, they represent semi-intelligent hardware that repetitively perform tasks in physical environments. This observation is based on the fact that most robotic applications for industrial use since the middle of the last century have been driven by algorithms that support repetitive machine motions. In many cases, industrial robots which typically work in closed environments, say, for example, factory floors, do not need “advanced” techniques of AI to function because they perform daily routines with algorithms directing the repetitive motions of their end effectors. However, lately, there is an emerging technological trend which has resulted from the combination of AI and robots, which, by using sophisticated algorithms, allows robots to adapt complex work styles and to function socially in open environments. We may call these merged technological products “embodied AI,” or in a more general sense, “embodied algorithms.”
Taiwan
- from THE PROHIBITIVE APPROACH
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- By Chih-Hsing Ho, Academia Sinica, Taiwan
- Edited by Jens M. Scherpe, Claire Fenton-Glynn, Terry Kaan
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- Book:
- Eastern and Western Perspectives on Surrogacy
- Published by:
- Intersentia
- Published online:
- 26 June 2019
- Print publication:
- 01 May 2019, pp 377-396
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Summary
The legal approaches to surrogacy vary widely around the globe. In Asia, commercial surrogacy is prohibited in many countries, though in several jurisdictions surrogacy is merely unregulated. Taiwan falls into the latter group, despite legalising altruistic surrogacy being discussed for more than a decade. The legal vacuum on the issue forces infertile couples who wish to have their own biological child into the global commercial surrogacy market to seek a possible resolution. Challenges exist in seeking to reach a consensus in Taiwan over controversial aspects of regulating surrogacy and balancing the rights and interests of surrogates, would-be parents commissioning this service, and children born via surrogacy. This chapter discusses the legal and ethical concerns on legalising surrogacy. It first introduces the historical background, statistics and general legal framework on assisted reproduction in Taiwan. It then illustrates the prolonged legislative trajectory on surrogacy in Taiwan and analyses recent draft amendments relating to surrogacy, such as eligibility criteria for commissioning parents, and surrogates, surrogacy contracts, agencies, and the arrangement of legal parenthood. Finally, the chapter elucidates issues concerning international surrogacy arrangements and the socio-legal causes behind the debates over amendments on regulating surrogacy in Taiwan.
GENERAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Demand for assisted reproduction has been growing rapidly around the world as people seek to take advantage of the medical and technical advances in assisted reproductive technologies (‘ART’). Statistics published by the Taiwan Health Promotion Administration (‘HPA’) of the Ministry of Health and Welfare (‘MOHW’) demonstrate that in the past decades, the share of test-tube baby births as a percentage of overall births in Taiwan has risen from 1.38 per cent to 3.24 per cent, the equivalent of a rise from 2,500 to 5,800 infants. Since 1985, when Taiwan's first test-tube baby was successfully delivered at the Veterans General Hospital in Taipei, further debates and discussions in the Taiwanese society on legal and ethical issues of the application of ART, such as in vitro fertilisation (‘IVF’) and surrogate motherhood emerged. Even though the demand of assisted reproduction has been increasing, nonetheless, the process of legislative enactment in the jurisdiction to regulate surrogacy has never been smooth. In 1986, the Department of Health (‘DOH’, the former MOHW) issued ethical guidelines to regulate human assisted reproduction.
Taiwan
- from Asia
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- By Chih-Hsing Ho, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
- Edited by Jens M. Scherpe
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- Book:
- The Legal Status of Transsexual and Transgender Persons
- Published by:
- Intersentia
- Published online:
- 28 November 2017
- Print publication:
- 22 December 2015, pp 425-440
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Summary
INTRODUCTION
On Christmas Day 2014, Taiwan's Ministry of Interior announced a breakthrough change on the criteria for transgender people to obtain the recognition of their preferred legal gender. This decision reverses a previous administrative order issued in 2008 that requires psychiatric evaluation and the surgical removal of reproductive organs before transgender citizens can amend their legal gender markers on their identification cards. The decision, like a belated Christmas gift, is not only a triumph for human rights development in Taiwan, but also represents a momentous step forward for transgender rights in Asia. The government has agreed to come up with alternative criteria in a month by setting up a committee to review the application for obtaining legal gender recognition but separating this procedure from medical treatment. In the near future, those who are aged 18 or above and would like to apply for the recognition of their preferred legal gender will only need to file applications to the committee and will be given a six- month consideration period before their preferred genders are legally recognised.
This chapter discusses the legal status of transsexual and transgender persons in the Taiwanese reality and illustrates how the current situation was reached after a long struggle and human rights law development. It first introduces the general legal framework, statistics, and health insurance issues related to transgender persons. It then analyses the legal procedure and requirements for obtaining legal gender recognition. Finally, the chapter discusses the consequences of gender recognition in Taiwan, including the impact on existing and future legal relationships such as marriage and adoption, rights, duties, and entitlements.
THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND STATISTICS
The term ‘transgender’ mainly describes people whose gender identities are incongruent with the biological sex assigned to them at birth. Gender, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), refers to the ‘socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women’. Compared to the social characteristics of gender, the notion of sex is largely associated with a person's biological characteristics. For the WHO, the term ‘sex’ refers to ‘the biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women’.
Supplementary heat-killed Lactobacillus reuteri GMNL-263 ameliorates hyperlipidaemic and cardiac apoptosis in high-fat diet-fed hamsters to maintain cardiovascular function
- Wei-Jen Ting, Wei-Wen Kuo, Chia-Hua Kuo, Yu-Lan Yeh, Chia-Yao Shen, Ya-Hui Chen, Tsung-Jung Ho, Vijaya Padma Viswanadha, Yi-Hsing Chen, Chih-Yang Huang
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- Journal:
- British Journal of Nutrition / Volume 114 / Issue 5 / 14 September 2015
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 03 August 2015, pp. 706-712
- Print publication:
- 14 September 2015
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- Article
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Obesity and hyperlipidaemia increase the risk of CVD. Some strains of probiotics have been suggested to have potential applications in cardiovascular health by lowering serum LDL-cholesterol. In this work, high-fat diet-induced hyperlipidaemia in hamsters was treated with different doses (5×108 and 2·5×109 cells/kg per d) of heat-killed Lactobacillus reuteri GMNL-263 (Lr263) by oral gavage for 8 weeks. The serum lipid profile analysis showed that LDL-cholesterol and plasma malondialdehyde (P-MDA) were reduced in the GMNL-263 5×108 cells/kg per d treatment group. Total cholesterol and P-MDA were reduced in the GMNL-263 2·5×109 cells/kg per d treatment group. In terms of heart function, the GMNL-263 2·5×109 cells/kg per d treatments improved the ejection fraction from 85·71 to 91·81 % and fractional shortening from 46·93 to 57·92 % in the high-fat diet-fed hamster hearts. Moreover, the GMNL-263-treated, high-fat diet-fed hamster hearts exhibited reduced Fas-induced myocardial apoptosis and a reactivated IGF1R/PI3K/Akt cell survival pathway. Interestingly, the GMNL-263 treatments also enhanced the heat-shock protein 27 expression in a dose-dependent manner, but the mechanism for this increase remains unclear. In conclusion, supplementary heat-killed L. reuteri GMNL-263 can slightly reduce serum cholesterol. The anti-hyperlipidaemia effects of GMNL-263 may reactivate the IGF1R/PI3K/Akt cell survival pathway and reduce Fas-induced myocardial apoptosis in high-fat diet-fed hamster hearts.