Clause Structure Research Articles

On the relation between negation and phases

Abstract This research article provides evidence from Jordanian Arabic (JA) that negation is syntactically bound to the projection of a phasal head, wherein NegP is structurally licensed to project exclusively within phase-bound configurations. Therefore, NegP can project separately in CP and v*P, offering support to the multi-locus view (Alqassas 2012. The morpho-syntax and pragmatics of Levantine Arabic negation: A synchronic and diachronic analysis. Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University) that NegP in Arabic is not restricted to one structural position in the clause structure. NegP can rather project separately above TP or below TP. However, as we argue for in this article the projection of NegP is correlated with the presence of a phasal head (Chomsky 2007. Approaching UG from below. In Uli Sauerland & Hans-Martin Gärtner (eds.), Interfaces+recursion=language? Chomsky’s minimalism and the view from syntax-semantics, 1–30. Berlin, Germany: Mouton de Gruyter). Our evidence comes from two interrelated phenomena in JA: (1) the possibility of negating the past tense copula ka:n independently from the negation of the main verb in transitive and passive sentences and (2) the impossibility of independently negating the verb and the past-tense copula ka:n in unaccusative clauses. Following Jarrah’s (2023. Passive vs. unaccusative predicates: A phase-based account. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 41. 1397–1424) assumption that unaccusative predicates, unlike passive or transitive verbs, do not project phases in JA grammar, we propose that the use of two NegPs in the same clause with unaccusative clauses is prohibited as these unaccusative predicates do not project phases. This assumption is significant as phases, local domains, are not only found to be independent in terms of their Φ-content (their head bears an independent set of unvalued Φ-features) but also in terms of negation.

REPRESENTATION OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS IN CONNECTION WITH FEATURES OF SELF-CONCERT IN ADOLESCENCE

Relevance. The formation of the self-concept of the modern generation unfolds in a world characterized by social variability and uncertainty. The self-concept of personality defi nes different aspects of a person’s life. Interpersonal relationships are especially important in adolescence in the aspect of future, mental health and well-being. As part of our work, we are considering the connection between the self-concept and the interpersonal relationships. Purpose of the study is exploring ideas about interpersonal relationships in connection with different types of self-concept. Research methods. . The questionnaire «Related self-concept» (E.A. Dorosheva, G.G. Knyazev, O.S. Kornienko, ) is aimed at identifying the features of the self-concept. . The questionnaire «Collective» and «Independent» self-concept (Dorosheva E.A., Knyazev G.G., Kornienko OS, ) is aimed at solving the problem of determining the type of self-concept. . Method Incomplete sentences () in the author’s modifi ed version: meets the task of diagnosing representations about romantic relationships. Sample.  respondents,  young men (.%),  girls (.%) aged  to  years. М = ., SD = .. Main Results. Using the cluster analysis method, three groups of boys and girls were obtained, differing in the characteristics of the self-concept according to the Markus & Kitayama model, (). The groups were called «harmonious », «involved» and «distant.» There are signifi cant differences between groups in relationship value, relationship engagement, and emotional assessment of relationships. «Harmonious» and «involved» young men and women tend to be more positive about interpersonal relationships than the «distant» ones. For adolescence from the «harmonious» group, relationships are of greater value than for adolescence from the «distant» group. «Involved» and «distant» participants differ signifi cantly in the severity of the characteristic of the relationship «involvement in the relationship.» Conclusion. Thus, the features of self-concept are associated with the notion of interpersonal relationships in adolescence.

Adverbs and adverbials in contemporary Arabic syntax: A phase-based account

Abstract In generative syntax, two major types of proposals – syntax-oriented and semantics-oriented proposals – have been used to examine adverbs and adverbials. Despite these proposals explaining the remarkable properties of adverb positioning, this class of words is heterogeneous and problematic in terms of their displacement. This study adopts scopal theories and proposes a partial semantic analysis using phases to describe adverbial positioning in Modern Standard Arabic. We argue that the semantic scope and the modification domain are the main determinants of adverbial position, which can best be analysed in terms of phases. In this regard, adverbials are classified into lower and higher adverbials. Lower adverbials have a narrow semantic scope and modification domain. They include subject-oriented and verb-oriented modifiers and freely adjoin the vP layer. Higher adverbials have a wider scope and modification domain. They include discourse-oriented modifiers and tend to attach to the Complementiser Phrase layer. In terms of their hierarchical order, discourse-oriented adverbials are higher than subject-oriented and verb-oriented modifiers in the articulated clause structure. This conclusion suggests that scopal theories along with language-specific rules may provide a unified generalization and straightforward account of the cross-linguistic distribution of adverbs and adverbials.

Understanding the Different Functions of Transitive Verbs and Intransitive Verbs and Related Problems from the Teachers’ Point of View

The process of acquiring grammar requires distinguishing between parts of the sentence, including the verb and the subject, as well as the ability to form the verb and distinguish the best verb forms. This study aims to understand the different functions of transitive verbs and intransitive verbs and the problems related to them. The quantitative descriptive approach was used in this study by using a questionnaire (questionnaire) designed by the researcher to evaluate teachers’ perceptions towards the different functions of transitive verbs, intransitive verbs, and related problems. This study concluded that the main function of transitive and intransitive verbs is to develop the communication process level by guaranteeing delivering the exact correct meaning of sentences. The study also clarified that several difficulties could be faced when distinguishing transitive and intransitive verbs, such as creating incomplete and dysfunctional sentences, making grammatical errors, and generating mistakes in the employment and formulation of these verb types.

Economic identity as the main psychological mechanism of students' economic socialization

Introduction. The socio-economic crisis, political, cultural, and value transformations caused by the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation of Ukraine have a powerful impact on the inner world of people, especially the younger generation and their economic socialization. Therefore, arises a need for young people capable of productive self-realization through self-knowledge, self-determination, which poses the problem of personal identity formation. Formation of a personal identity is the main goal of individuals' socialization. Aim. To determine the features of the mechanism of economic identity of high school students and, on this basis, build a psychological profila of a high school student in terms of economic identity. Methods: I. Zubiashvili's Institutions of Economic Socialization and its Mechanisms questionnaire, Who am I? (M. Kuna, T. McPartland), O. Nikonenko's Measurement of Economic and Psychological Personality Characteristics" (modified by I. Zubiashvili), Incomplete sentences, and Study of Ideas about an Economically Successful Person (Yu. Pachkovskyi). Results. Economic identity in early youth was characterized by contradictions and the presence of internal conflict. The contradiction was due to the fact that although students highly valued money, they still did not know how to use them properly and had bad ideas about the role of money in their personal and social life. The economic identity of high school students was characterized by the prevalence of economic values of economic success (business, capital, real estate, etc.) over psychological values (communication, satisfaction from owning the goods). Social Self was leading identity among high school students, which suggests their readiness to perform social roles, including economic ones. High school students had positive attitudes towards the country's economy, but they lacked interest in it because of the hostilities and socio-economic crisis in Ukraine. The economic ideas of girls had greater meaning than those of boys. Conclusions. The economic identity in early youth is characterized by contradictions and internal conflict. High school students have poorly developed personal characteristics related to economic identity, which are necessary for students' good understanding of economic processes. High school students tend to exaggerate difficulties in meeting their needs for financial security and stability.

The Influence of Speed on Error Rates in Simultaneous Interpreting: An Observational Study (English to Arabic)

In simultaneous interpreting, the rate of source speech (SR) plays an important role in the quality of the interpreter. As the rate of speech increases, interpreters have to process and translate words faster, which can lead to more errors. This phenomenon is because faster speech harms the interpreter's attention and work, causing more omissions, additions, and other linguistic and paralinguistic errors. The impact of these errors can affect the accuracy and quality of interpretation, which highlights the need to understand how changes in speech rate affect performance and the production of good strategies to solve problems. This study examines how the rate of speech (SR) affects the quality of simultaneous interpreting (SI), particularly to assess the impact of the rate of speech on the interpreter. For this purpose, a method was adopted that was divided into seven categories based on Barik's (1971) classification. These categories include segment omission, word and phrase-level omission, deviation of meaning, addition, incomplete sentence, full pause, and long pause. In this study, the performance of six United Nations interpreters with many years of experience was evaluated using six audios ranging from 124 to 164 words per minute (wpm). Findings indicated that higher speaking frequency led to more errors, especially in word and segment omissions. This emphasizes the importance of addressing specific strategies to overcome the challenges that rapid speech can pose to the accuracy and effectiveness of simultaneous interpreting.

SPIRITUAL, MORAL AND PATRIOTIC DEVELOPMENT OF YOUNG PEOPLE AS A FACTOR OF COUNTERING EXTERNAL THREATS OF MODERNITY

He article analyses the patriotic, spiritual and moral development of young people of military age as one of the conditions for national security of Russia. The study was conducted on the territory of the Leningrad, Kaliningrad, Arkhangelsk and Murmansk regions. The total number of respondents was 1050 young men of military age (16-20 years old). The study used: the Russian version of the Moral Identity Questionnaire (O.A. Sychev, I.N. Protasova) and the modified technique “Incomplete Sentences”. It was found that low scores on the “Moral Self” and “Moral Integrity” scales are observed in 35.7% of young men of military age. They have predominantly negative ideas about the prospects for increasing patriotism among young people; they are not inclined to consider patriotism as love for the Motherland, and military service as a form of patriotism; there is a significant predominance of negative ideas about the future of the country and a lower incidence of feelings of pride for the Motherland.

The Function and Structure of Nominative Participial Constructions in Modern English

The following paper examines the syntactic construction and functional variety of nominative participial constructions in Contemporary English, focusing on the syntactic economy provided by nominative participial constructions and the contribution to discourse clarity. Based on examples from the British National Corpus and the Corpus of Contemporary American English, this chapter discusses how these sorts of structure embed delicate actions or states into sentences without elaborate clause structures. This chapter will explore how nominative participial constructions serve these discourse functions through the use of examples from academic, journalistic, and literary registers-foregrounding information, summarizing preceding actions, and emphatic purposes. The study also provides comparative insights into nominative participial constructions in relation to other forms of non-finite clauses, such as gerunds, which uniquely allow for condensation with a clearly identifiable subject even in highly reduced syntactic environments. In all, these findings contribute to a view that nominative participial constructions in English represent an instance of embodiment of the functional-syntactic interface: conciseness vs. richness of description, contributing to a more flexible and expressive syntax.

Neural mechanisms of dynamic syntactic and semantic processing in Chinese garden-path sentence comprehension: An ERP study

In this study, the neural mechanisms of dynamic syntactic and semantic processing in Chinese garden-path sentence comprehension were investigated using electrophysiological and behavioral measures. Two groups of garden-path sentences were designed, with the ambiguity of multiple word categories in Group 1 and classifier-noun agreements in Group 2. Besides the ambiguous condition, there were also control and semantic violation conditions. Participants made plausibility judgment of each sentence. The ERPs elicited by the last three critical word regions in each sentence were examined continuously to uncover the time course of the revision process clearly. Relative to the control sentence, the ambiguous sentences of both groups elicited the smallest N400 before and on the disambiguating region, but the largest P600 at the disambiguation position, indicating that the sentences were misparsed and/or misinterpreted initially, and revised efficiently when the input cannot be integrated into the syntactic structure constructed. No significant N400 difference was observed between the ambiguous and the control condition on the disambiguating regions, indicating that semantic processing proceeded even no appropriate syntactic structures were built for the incomplete sentences. Therefore, without morphosyntactic constraints in Chinese, semantic processing is generally prior to the syntactic one, which will be revised only when semantic integration fails.

Writing performance and discourse organization in L2 Chinese: A longitudinal case study

The present study explored the development of writing performance and discourse organization in Chinese as a second language (L2) writing, focusing on the effects of genre and learning context. Tracking an L2 Chinese learner’s written production in two genres (i.e., narrative and argumentative) across four learning contexts (i.e., pre-study abroad, study abroad, post-study abroad, and delayed post-study abroad) longitudinally over four years, this study revealed that holistic ratings and discourse organizational devices showed distinct patterns in different genres and across learning contexts. Narrative essays generally received lower ratings than argumentative essays. Ratings of narrative essays remained relatively stable across four learning contexts, whereas those of argumentative essays displayed an omega-shaped pattern over the four-year period. Among six discourse organizational devices, subordinate clauses, textual connectives, and grammatical metaphors were used more in argumentative essays, but coordinate clauses and topic-prominent constructions were used more in narrative essays. The six discourse organizational devices exhibited discrete developmental trends throughout the four years of learning. This study provides a deeper understanding of writing performance and discourse organization in L2 Chinese development.

Assessment and Management of Depressive Disorder: A Case Report of an Unmarried Adult

This case study examines the psychological and social aspects impacting the mental well-being of a 32-year-old unmarried woman. Based on comprehensive clinical assessment, Client D.A. was diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) using Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 (SCID-5), Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2), Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank College Form (RISB), Draw-a-Person (DAP), clinical interviews, and behavioral observations. A multifaceted treatment plan was developed, combining cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), interpersonal therapy (IPT), pharmacotherapy, mindfulness, and relaxation techniques. This study provides insights into her experiences of depression, social isolation, societal expectations, and self-esteem. Over the course of the treatment, Client D.A. demonstrated significant improvement in her depressive symptoms. Her negative thought patterns were effectively restructured through CBT and her interpersonal relationships improved with IPT. Additionally, pharmacotherapy stabilized her mood, while mindfulness techniques helped manage anxiety and stress. This case study highlights the complex interplay of factors influencing mental health and underscores the importance of culturally sensitive, personalized treatment approaches, as evidenced by Client D.A.’s increased social engagement, reduced loneliness, and improved well-being, with regular evaluations confirming sustained progress and the efficacy of the integrated treatment plan in promoting recovery.

Myths and Realities of Rural Schools. The Voice of Families and Teachers

Introduction. By invoking Shakespeare’s famous query, ‘to be or not to be, that is the question,’ this study examines rural schools by exploring the beliefs and myths surrounding them and contrasting these perceptions with the realities of daily life in 6 unitary rural schools located in the northwest of Spain. Aims. This study aims to listen to and shed light on the perspectives and feelings of families and teachers in rural schools with multi-grade classrooms. Method. Using a multiple case study design and triangulating qualitative instruments (photovoice, incomplete sentence prompts, and observation), we analyzed the evaluations and experiences of 76 families and 18 teachers concerning the context, the educational practice, and the internal sphere of rural schools. The data were processed through content analysis using ATLAS.ti 22 software, resulting in the identification of 8 categories and 3 dimensions: space and resources, coexistence, teaching and learning in rural schools. Results. The findings reveal several myths and idealizations held by teachers and families regarding the following aspects: the natural rural environment; facilities, infrastructures, resources, and services; coexistence; individualisation, multi-grade classrooms, and academic performance in rural schools. Conclusions. The study concluded that some of these myths do not align with the actual conditions of the studied environment. Rural schools can offer authentic, high-quality learning experiences on equal terms with other educational institutions, dependent on the mediation of the teaching teams that work in them. The study allows for reflection and provides information not only to visibility of rural schools and empower them but also to make decisions enable their educational improvement.

Spontaneous speech: a robust measurement before, during and after awake brain surgery in patients with glioma

Background Patients with glioma often report language complaints with devastating effect on daily life. Analysing spontaneous speech can help to understand underlying language problems. Spontaneous speech monitoring is also of importance during awake brain surgery: it can guide tumour resection and contributes to maintaining language function. We aimed to investigate the spontaneous speech of patients with glioma in the perioperative period and the additional value of spontaneous speech analyses compared to standardised language testing. Methods We elicited and transcribed spontaneous speech of eight patients with glioma elected for awake brain surgery preoperatively, intraoperatively and 2.0–3.5 months postoperatively. Linguistic errors were coded. Type Token Ratio, Mean Length of Utterance of words, minimal utterances, and errors were extracted from the transcriptions. Patients were categorised based on total error patterns: stable, decrease or increase during surgery. Reliable Change Index scores were calculated for all spontaneous speech variables to objectify changes between time points. Language performance on language tests was compared to spontaneous speech variables. Results Most errors occurred in lexico-syntax, followed by phonology/articulation, syntax, and semantics. The predominant errors were Repetitions, Self-corrections, and Incomplete sentences. Most patients remained stable over time in almost all spontaneous speech variables, except in Incomplete sentences, which deteriorated in most patients postoperatively compared to intraoperatively. Some spontaneous speech variables (total errors, MLUw, TTR) gave more information on language change than a standard language test. Conclusions While the course of spontaneous speech over time remained relatively stable in most patients, Incomplete sentences seems to be a robust marker of language difficulties patients with glioma. These errors can be prioritised in spontaneous speech analysis to save time, especially to determine intra- to postoperative deterioration. Importantly, spontaneous speech analyses can give more information on language change than standardised language testing and should therefore be used in addition to standardised language tests.

Problems of Translating English Compound-Complex Sentences into Arabic

The study focuses on problems encountered by translation students when translating English compound-complex sentences into Arabic. It explores their structure, their components, and the appropriate way of translating them with the preservation of the same structure and meaning into the TL. The study hypothesizes: 1) compound-complex sentences can be found in English and Arabic. 2) Such structures are problematic for students when translating them into Arabic. 3) Vinay& Darbelnet’s translational model is applicable in translating compound - complex sentences. The study presents a comprehensive theoretical explanation on compound-complex sentences in both English and Arabic. Then, (3) English compound-complex sentences have been selected from different English grammar books and handed over to (20) undergraduate 4th stage students at the Department of Translation_ College of Arts_ University of Mosul, to handle the task of translating these sentences into Arabic. Their translations were analyzed syntactically and semantically by adopting Vinay& Darbelnet’s translational model(1958/1995) as well as Catford’s classification of translation-shifts (1965); in order to detect the difficulties and problems encountered in translating the sentences; thus, it’s a qualitative study. The study concludes that:1) compound-complex sentences are found in English and Arabic, 2) such sentences are problematic for students when translating them into Arabic either by the difficulty of identifying their parts, making unnecessary shifts, or adopting inappropriate strategy during the translational process that affect their translation accuracy, syntactically and semantically. 3) Vinay& Darbelent’s translational model is applicable to translating compound-complex sentences by adopting literal translation procedure within direct translation strategy. Based on that, the study is classified as a descriptive one.

ABOUT THE PECULIARITIES OF PUNCTUATION RULES OF THE KAZAKH LANGUAGE IN THE LEGISLATION IN THE STATE LANGUAGE

Punctuation allows you to correctly understand the content of the written text, making it easier to read. Punctuation marks are used to separate sentence boundaries. Punctuation is a sign that ensures the correct presentation of a letter, such as spelling. Punctuation literacy indicates the literacy of a person as a whole. It is believed that a competent presentation of the text of a normative legal act is an indicator of the development of the legal language in the Kazakh language, because incorrect placement of commas or any other punctuation marks can lead to a certain misunderstanding. The placement of a hyphen or dash in the text of the law in Russian is "copied" into the text in the Kazakh language means that when translating this text, the peculiarities of punctuation rules in the Kazakh language are not taken into account. This became the object of study in our article. The article contains rules on the use of hyphens and dashes and examples of those shortcomings of the normative legal act that were made when setting these punctuation marks. The rules for the use of commas are also given. It should be noted that the dash is placed based on the grammatical structure and intonation of the sentence, and the comma is the most commonly used punctuation mark in the Kazakh script, and grammatical rules must be taken into account when setting it. An interesting fact is that the nature of the above punctuation error is the same, even if the analyzed laws were adopted in different years. That is, the rule of the Russian language that a dash is placed in an incomplete sentence that forms part of a complex sentence, when the missing term (usually a predicate) is restored from the previous part of the phrase and a pause is made at the place of the omission, it is also preserved in the Kazakh text. When translating the text of a legal act into Kazakh, you should abandon the rules of the Russian language, because it is important to remember that in certain languages there are similarities between the rules and another language, but with all this there are their own distinctive features.

TRANSITIVITY ANALYSIS OF SENATOR HAWLEY AND PROFESSOR BRIDGE’S GENDER IDENTITY DEBATE

Using Halliday’s transitivity concept, this paper analyzes the debate between Senator Hawley and Professor Bridges conducted on July 12, 2022. The debate focuses on the topic of people with a capacity for pregnancy, which led to views of gender identity. The way individuals identify their gender has become a social phenomenon, as the idea of gender has broadened to the point that it is seen as a spectrum. The creation of new words outside the two polarizations (i.e., man and woman) could create acknowledgment for the minority group of people with lesser-known gender identities. Using Halliday’s (1994) Transitivity Concept in Systemic Functional Linguistics, this study analyzes the clause structures of both Senator Hawley and Professor Bridges to examine the distribution of the six transitivity processes and their relation to the clauses chosen to represent each participant's ideology regarding their views on gender. The different approaches in their arguments regarding gender identity also show the different ideological beliefs of their parties, which are the Republicans and the Democrats. Senator Hawley dominantly uses mental processes consisting of the desideration process, cognition process, and emotion process. In comparison, Professor Bridges shows a high use of relational processes consisting of the attribution process and identification process. Professor Bridges' relational processes point out Senator Hawley's rigid idea of gender by identifying and valuing the variety of genders. The many clauses stated by Professor Bridges also affirm her liberal belief that views gender as more than just two polarizations while also supporting equality in the idea of abortion rights as something that is needed for women and other groups of genders. Senator Hawley counters Professor Bridges' allegations using mental processes by seeking clarification to align their awareness of gender, which reveals his gender polarization. The use of clauses mentioned by Senator Hawley is done to showcase his implied Republican ideology, which does not find significance in the topic of people with the capacity for pregnancy leading to transphobia.

Slovnične vsebine pri jezikovnem pouku slovenščine pred prenovo učnih načrtov

This article discusses how the metalinguistic part of Slovenian language teaching should be organized so that it can contribute to the development of critical communicative competence, and so that it is mean­ingful and at the same time sufficiently time-effective to faciliatate as much active work as possible, and critical text formation and reception in (the remainder of) language instruction. The fundamental change introduced by the new Slovenian primary- and secondary-school grammars (2017) is a shift from a syntax-based division of parts of speech to one based on morphology and semantics. Using practical examples, this article describes the advantages of such a shift, while also presenting certain other innovative solutions included in the grammar or more recent textbooks. Within this context, it draws attention to the significantly simplified coverage of pronouns and adverbs, numerals as modifiers or heads, and the definition of modifiers and heads in general, as well as the treatment of conjunctions and declensions. It highlights areas in which, to date, grammatical coverage has been made needlessly complex (e.g., for defining the subject, for coordinate clauses and semantic relations, and for terminology). Every new solution is accompanied by examples of solutions (or problems) from current textbooks, as well as historical insights where needed.

AI-Driven Patient Education in Chronic Kidney Disease: Evaluating Chatbot Responses against Clinical Guidelines.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients can benefit from personalized education on lifestyle and nutrition management strategies to enhance healthcare outcomes. The potential use of chatbots, introduced in 2022, as a tool for educating CKD patients has been explored. A set of 15 questions on lifestyle modification and nutrition, derived from a thorough review of three specific KDIGO guidelines, were developed and posed in various formats, including original, paraphrased with different adverbs, incomplete sentences, and misspellings. Four versions of AI were used to answer these questions: ChatGPT 3.5 (March and September 2023 versions), ChatGPT 4, and Bard AI. Additionally, 20 questions on lifestyle modification and nutrition were derived from the NKF KDOQI guidelines for nutrition in CKD (2020 Update) and answered by four versions of chatbots. Nephrologists reviewed all answers for accuracy. ChatGPT 3.5 produced largely accurate responses across the different question complexities, with occasional misleading statements from the March version. The September 2023 version frequently cited its last update as September 2021 and did not provide specific references, while the November 2023 version did not provide any misleading information. ChatGPT 4 presented answers similar to 3.5 but with improved reference citations, though not always directly relevant. Bard AI, while largely accurate with pictorial representation at times, occasionally produced misleading statements and had inconsistent reference quality, although an improvement was noted over time. Bing AI from November 2023 had short answers without detailed elaboration and sometimes just answered "YES". Chatbots demonstrate potential as personalized educational tools for CKD that utilize layman's terms, deliver timely and rapid responses in multiple languages, and offer a conversational pattern advantageous for patient engagement. Despite improvements observed from March to November 2023, some answers remained potentially misleading. ChatGPT 4 offers some advantages over 3.5, although the differences are limited. Collaboration between healthcare professionals and AI developers is essential to improve healthcare delivery and ensure the safe incorporation of chatbots into patient care.

Workshop on hastened death as “space for an appreciative discussion”: A qualitative study

AimTo evaluate the suitability of a drama-based workshop as a method for ethical deliberation. BackgroundNurses worldwide are inadequately prepared to care for people who desire hastened death, which can lead to ethical and moral dilemmas. To address this problem, we developed a drama-based ethical deliberation workshop to assist nurses in these situations. Senghor and Racine’s three moments of ethical deliberation and their quality criteria served as basis for evaluation. DesignQualitative descriptive study design. MethodsNon-participant observations and a survey with incomplete sentences to be completed by nursing students were used. Data analysis followed Mayring’s deductive content analysis approach. ResultsAll three moments of ethical deliberation according to Senghor and Racine were identified. Participants recognised hastened death as morally problematic, shared their experiences and gained a deeper understanding of the problem. They reported feeling better prepared for encounters with persons seeking assisted suicide. In terms of its quality, the drama-based workshop achieved good and partial ethical deliberation. ConclusionsThe workshop has demonstrated its suitability as a method for ethical deliberation. The workshop should be complemented by specific modules, such as communication skills and be tailored to other professional groups. A validated instrument is needed to ensure a more comprehensive assessment of the quality.

Harnessing Neuron Stability to Improve DNN Verification

Deep Neural Networks (DNN) have emerged as an effective approach to tackling real-world problems. However, like human-written software, DNNs are susceptible to bugs and attacks. This has generated significant interest in developing effective and scalable DNN verification techniques and tools. Recent developments in DNN verification have highlighted the potential of constraint-solving approaches that combine abstraction techniques with SAT solving. Abstraction approaches are effective at precisely encoding neuron behavior when it is linear, but they lead to overapproximation and combinatorial scaling when behavior is non-linear. SAT approaches in DNN verification have incorporated standard DPLL techniques, but have overlooked important optimizations found in modern SAT solvers that help them scale on industrial benchmarks. In this paper, we present VeriStable, a novel extension of the recently proposed DPLL-based constraint DNN verification approach. VeriStable leverages the insight that while neuron behavior may be non-linear across the entire DNN input space, at intermediate states computed during verification many neurons may be constrained to have linear behavior – these neurons are stable. Efficiently detecting stable neurons reduces combinatorial complexity without compromising the precision of abstractions. Moreover, the structure of clauses arising in DNN verification problems shares important characteristics with industrial SAT benchmarks. We adapt and incorporate multi-threading and restart optimizations targeting those characteristics to further optimize DPLL-based DNN verification. We evaluate the effectiveness of VeriStable across a range of challenging benchmarks including fully- connected feedforward networks (FNNs), convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and residual networks (ResNets) applied to the standard MNIST and CIFAR datasets. Preliminary results show that VeriStable is competitive and outperforms state-of-the-art DNN verification tools, including α-β-CROWN and MN-BaB, the first and second performers of the VNN-COMP, respectively.