Decision-making processes, including the ones related to ill-structured problems, are of considerable significance in the area of construction projects. Computer-aided inference under such conditions requires the employment of specific methods and tools (non-algorithmic ones), the best recognized and successfully used in practice represented by expert systems. The knowledge indispensable for such systems to perform inference is most frequently acquired directly from experts (through a dialogue: a domain expert - a knowledge engineer) and from various source documents. Little is known, however, about the possibility of automating knowledge acquisition in this area and as a result, in practice it is scarcely ever used. lt has to be noted that in numerous areas of management more and more attention is paid to the issue of acquiring knowledge from available data. What is known and successfully employed in the practice of aiding the decision-making is the different methods and tools. The paper attempts to select methods for knowledge discovery in data and presents possible ways of representing the acquired knowledge as well as sample tools (including programming ones), allowing for the use of this knowledge in the area under consideration.

In a few short paragraphs of The Problems of Philosophy Bertrand Russell presents his theory of introspective knowledge based on the concept of knowledge by acquaintance. In this article, I critically analyze these comments by Russell and their proposed application by contemporary authors, including Brie Gertler (2001; 2011) and Laurence BonJour (2003). I show how these theories differ from the competing ‘inner‑sense theories’ and try to show that they are inconsistent with Gareth Evans’s ‘transparency’ observation. Then I compare acquaintance theories with Alex Byrne’s (2005; 2012) ‘transparency’ theory and show that Byrne’s theory offers a simpler account of mechanisms governing introspection and attribution of mental states to other agents than the observer.

The article analyzes Bertrand Russell’s distinction between knowledge by acquaintance and knowledge by description contained in his writings from 1910 to 1912. I point to some problems that arise from Russell’s concept of direct knowledge if they are observed in the light of modern psychological and neuroscientific research. In some cases knowledge by acquaintance may be mediated by certain unconscious operations and by mental representations of conceptual nature. I point out however that some of the examples given in The Problems of Philosophy can be characterized by a different degree of indirectness. Consequently, I propose to view Russell’s distinction as a typology. Because Russell narrows knowledge by description to specific descriptions, Russell’s division is not exhaustive and therefore is not a logical one. The article also shows that there are reasons for both narrowing his category of direct knowledge (e.g. by excluding universals) and for expanding it (e.g. by unconscious experiences).

The article addresses the problem of properties and epistemic functions of Russellian ‘knowledge by acquaintance’ interpreted here as a variant of intuition. The epistemic functions of intuition can be performed in two ways: first, as propositional knowledge of direct and immediate kind (a foundational function), and secondly, as a non-‑propositional form of consciousness that provides a justifying basis for intuitive truths. The distinction between these two functions of intuition presupposes a differentiation – not explicitly articulated by Bertrand Russell – between acquaintance and knowledge by acquaintance. Acquaintance as a form of non‑propositional consciousness is not epistemically autonomous, which is to say that it is not a judgment and cannot be qualified as either true or false, so a separate epistemic problem arises here, one of the shift from acquaintance to knowledge by acquaintance. The author points out that the shift from acquaintance to knowledge by acquaintance is difficult to accomplish, and she offers the opinion that the epistemic function of acquaintance or, more generally, of various similar kinds of consciousness, should not be interpreted in terms of justification. They should be understood not as a justifying element or a justifying reason for propositions that underlie other propositions, but as a factor that is an indispensable genetic and simultaneously structural element of propositional content in the sense assumed in transcendental philosophy.

The main aim of the article is an analysis of the privatization of pedagogical knowledge using an example of one of the alternative pedagogies (Montessori Method). We claim that nowadays, pedagogical knowledge is treated as economic capital, and therefore subject to modifications characteristic for neoliberal culture. In our analysis we implement qualitative focus interviews conducted with various members of the Montessori community (teachers, owners and administrators of schools) who have gained access to a rare commodity – that is, knowledge regarding the teaching methodology of this particular pedagogical approach.

The results of this empirical research point to mechanisms characteristic for making pedagogical knowledge classiffied and „gilded”, mechanisms that limit it to the closed space of a particular discourse society. We conclude that this ‘inbred’ form of knowledge transfer can lead to an inability to renew meanings and, as a consequence, to the replacement of critical and in depth pedagogical considerations with a form of dogma that may be culturally inadequate and reproduced as a technical procedure, which is far from what Montessori herself wrote about the method.

Lexical knowledge sources are indispensable for research, education and general information. The transition of the reference works to the digital world has been a gradual one. This paper discusses the basic principles and structure of knowledge presentation, as well as user access and knowledge acquisition with specific consideration of contributions in German. The ideal reference works of the future should be interactive, optimally adapted to the user, reliable, current and quotable.

In the era of Industry 4.0, the automation of processes in the life cycle of a product seems

to be a necessity. Although programming CNC machines with CAM systems make it possible,

it is necessary to effectively acquire knowledge about the programming process and

technological requirements for effective automation. The paper presents a method for decomposition

of knowledge about the CNC machine programming process based on acquiring

knowledge from various sources, both from technologists as well as on the basis of analysis

of archival CNC control programs. To decompose the programming process, it is proposed

to apply the knowledge model described by various attributes. Verification of the method

is shown in the process of knowledge decomposition for manufacturing special production

tooling.

Recently, the topic of ontologies has growing attention from the IT community. Various processes of ontology creation, integration, and deployment have been proposed. As a consequence there appeared an urgent need for evaluating the resulting ontologies in a quantitative way. A number of metrics has been defined along with different approaches to measuring the properties of ontologies. In the first part of this paper we review the state of the art in this domain. Special attention is devoted to discussing differences between syntactic measures (referring to various properties of graphs that represent ontologies) and semantic measures (reflecting the properties of the space of ontology models). In the second part we propose an alternative approach to quantification of semantics of an ontology. The original proposal presented here exploits specific methods of representing the space of semantic models used for optimization of reasoning. We argue that this approach enables us to capture different kinds of relations among ontology terms and offers possibilities of devising new useful measures.

Recently, the topic of ontologies has growing attention from the IT community. Various processes of ontology creation, integration, and deployment have been proposed. As a consequence there appeared an urgent need for evaluating the resulting ontologies in a quantitative way. A number of metrics has been defined along with different approaches to measuring the properties of ontologies. In the first part of this paper we review the state of the art in this domain. Special attention is devoted to discussing differences between syntactic measures (referring to various properties of graphs that represent ontologies) and semantic measures (reflecting the properties of the space of ontology models). In the second part we propose an alternative approach to quantification of semantics of an ontology. The original proposal presented here exploits specific methods of representing the space of semantic models used for optimization of reasoning. We argue that this approach enables us to capture different kinds of relations among ontology terms and offers possibilities of devising new useful measures.

The study presented here is related with one of the components of a hybrid decision support system called CAPCAST (Computer Aided Process - CAST), developed under a research project at the Faculty of Metals Engineering and Industrial Computer Science, AGH University of Science and Technology. This is a module for rule generation to serve the knowledge base operating in an expert system. The scope of the system operation involves the selection of technological parameters for the manufacture of machine parts from ductile iron. However, it can be extended to include other materials and technologies.

B a c k g r o u n d: Heart failure (HF) is a life-threatening condition which aff ects up to 2% of contemporary populations. Generally, it is a chronic and progressive disease, however in many cases it can be prevented or treated. Nevertheless, effective control of this disease requires awareness of symptoms in the society.

A i m s: The aim of the study was to assess the level of HF knowledge in the Polish population.

M e t h o d s: The questionnaire concerning knowledge about HF prepared by the Competence Network HF under the patronage of the European Heart Failure Association of the ESC, was used. The survey included 534 contributors who formed three groups: medical students — in vast majority at fi rst half of the study course (MS) — 198 (37.1%), HF Awareness Day participants (HFDP) — 134 (25.1%) and other (OP) — 202 (37.8%).

R e s u l t s: Study groups diff ered in terms of gender, age and level of education. As predicted, MS achieved the highest score (22.5 [20.0–24.0]), compared to HFDP (20.0 [17.0–22.0], P <0.001) and OP (19.0 [16.0– 21.0], P <0.001). Knowledge on typical HF symptoms was alarmingly low in the analyzed groups — dyspnea (MS — 96.0%, HFDP — 78.4%, OP — 74.6%), ankle edema (MS — 79.8%, HFDP — 50.6%, OP — 32.2%), body weight gain (MS — 14.1%, HFDP — 17.2%, OP — 4.5%). By multivariate model medical education (β 3.372, 95% CI 2.738–4.005) and own illness or having relatives or friends with HF (β 0.654, 95% CI 0.066–1.242) independently aff ected the score of awareness questionnaire.

C on c l u s i o n s: The basic knowledge on HF in Poland is not sufficient. It is moderately better among MS. Further campaigns improving HF awareness are necessary.

Background and objective: Urological diseases represent a signifi cant health issue worldwide. Presented study aimed at assessing current urological knowledge and confi dence in performing urological diagnostic and therapeutic procedures among medical students at Jagiellonian University Medical College in Poland and compare it on diff erent stages of the undergraduate medical education. Material and methods: We designed an anonymous survey distributed among Polish students from 1st to 6th year of medical studies, before and aft er clinical urology course. Questions concerned general urological knowledge, prostate diseases, erectile dysfunction, and self-reported practical urological skills. Results: Overall, 437 respondents participated in the survey. Mean total test score in our study groupwas 50.08%, mean general urological knowledge score was 53.44%, mean prostate diseases knowledge score was 55.43%, mean erectile dysfunction score was 36% and mean practical skills score was 45.83%. Mean total test score increased with consecutive years of studies (R = 0.58; p <0.001). Th e risk of an above average total test score was signifi cantly infl uenced by the urology course (OR = 7.95, 95%CI = 1.81–34.84, p = 0.006) and the year of medical studies (4th–6th vs. 1st–3rd) (OR = 5.16, 95%CI = 3.41–7.81, p <0.001). Practical skills score above average was signifi cantly more frequent in the group aft er the urology course (OR = 6.75, 95%CI = 1.54–29.58, p = 0.011). Conclusions: Results of this study reveal low mean scores obtained by students, even aft er completing the urology course, which implies that curriculum requires further development. Urological knowledge and self-assessed practical skills increased with years of medical education. The urology course improved the score obtained in our survey, both in terms of total test score and practical skills.

Will intellectual dignity and the ideal of knowledge ever lose their importance as values?

This article deals with the problem of the knowledge’s utility. This issue is considered from three perspectives. The dualistic perspective is based on the two-component structure: knowledge–reality; the subject–the object. In this regard, the knowledge’s utility is measured by the measure of the power that can be obtained over the world. From the monistic perspective knowledge is useful if it allows the internal improvement of the bearer of the knowledge. Knowledge in terms of the emergent system arises in the fluid cognitive relationship between components of changing system. Relations between the system (whole) and units (part of ) are variable and undetermined by the specificity of the individual components which are also reciprocal and mutually forming.

The subject matter of this article constitutes the semiotic mapping of human of knowledge which results from cognition. Departing from the presentation of human subjects as world-model-builders, it places epistemology among the sciences of science and the sciences of man. As such the understanding of epistemology is referred either to a static state of knowledge or to a dynamic acquisition of knowledge by cognizing subjects. The point of arrival, in the conclusive part of a this article, constitutes the substantiation of the two understandings of epistemology, specified, firstly, as a set of investigative perspectives, which the subject of science has at his/her disposal as a knower on the metascientific level, or, secondly, as a psychophysiological endowment of a cognizing subject who possesses the ability of learning and/or knowing a certain kind of information about cognized reality.

The aim of the article is to discuss the issue of academic revolution in India. Particularly since the globalization, this revolotion is marked by transformation unprecedented in scope and diversity and education particularly higher education is profoundly influenced by the new order. However, it remains unfinished task due adequate statutory support of the government. In Indian context the national aspirations, to establish knowledge society in the context of increasing globalization, is based on the assumption that higher and technical education essentially empower people with requisite competitive skills and knowledge. The emerging trends demonstrate consumer driven approach to enhance marginal capital gains in educational investment. The higher education being a powerful tool to build knowledge based society and also a critical input underlying sustainable development has received a significant attention nowadays.

The subject of many controversies has been both the understanding of the limits of scientific knowledge and the indication of the “boundary” conditions of orders placed for it. In some cases, we are in favor of widening these boundaries in such a way that they can also include religious and quasi-religious beliefs, while in others we are in favor of narrowing them so that knowledge and faith can be clearly distinguished. In these considerations, I cite examples of positions on both issues that have in the past met with both relatively wide acceptance and serious reservations. It is worth taking a closer look at them, because it turns out that in science nothing is decided once and for all, and what seemed to belong to the past sometimes comes back with even greater force. I show this on two examples of contemporary positions on the issue of understanding the limits of scientific knowledge.

The paper focuses on the social education of younger students, which I see as an important area of activity that enables a better understanding of oneself, others and the world. However, this can only be achieved if social topics include issues arising from the needs of individuals and social expectations and if expository methods of teaching are replaced by a reflective problem approach. & en “the different one” will cease to be perceived as inferior, dangerous, marked by stereotypes, and will seem interesting, worth knowing, and the world will become a space for the child to explore and discover in order to know it better and act in it more skillfully. The paper is a study report. The starting point for discussion are two conceptual categories of “the inactive bystander effect” and “the active bystander effect” taken from the Heroic Imagination Project by Philip Zimbardo, which I illustrate with the results of ethnomethodological studies conducted among 7–9-year old children during their classes about social issues. The research objective is to reconstruct the features of social knowledge and the process of its acquiring in the classroom. The paper includes a theoretical part that explains the idea and nature of social education with the emphasis on so-called new thematic areas resulting from the needs of individuals and social expectations. Then the paper describes the concept of the studies. The next section presents the research outcomes and highlights several areas of analysis, including lesson topics on social education, methods of their implementation, and the social importance that is revealed during communication practices. The final part contains research conclusions and summarizing reflections.

Crossing borders: between literature and science – Italian culture of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries has offered significant examples of renewal through crossing boundaries between different disciplines. Several writers (Levi, Calvino, Gadda, Sinisgalli, Del Giudice, Giordano, Arpaia, Odifreddi) have overcome the dichotomy between the two cultures that was denounced by Charles Snow in 1959. Sixty years after the famous essay by Snow, the paper will show several examples of connections between literature and science, by using the concept of the “four frontier customs”: “the transit”, “the trespass”, “the alliance”, and “the conflict”.

The article confronts key notions framing our understanding of modernity, such as rationality, knowledge, freedom and democracy, opening the space of a critical interpretation undermining the superficial take on modernity as an embodiment of integrity, putting together the noble principles of knowledge and liberty. Drawing on the thought of Max Weber, exploring the symbolism of his metaphor of “iron cage of rationality”, the article emphasizes a paradoxical sense of the experience of modernity. In concluding statements it defies and calls into question a standard reading of democracy, viewed as an embodiment of freedom and rational self-definition.

The Energy Law of April 10, 1997 initiated changes in the energy market in Poland. Actions taken on the basis of this law were aimed at the modernization and development of the power sector. Organizational and legal changes causing the development of distributed generation, thus increasing the level of market competition have been introduced. The care for high quality of customer service, including the protection of vulnerable customers, environmental protection, growing share of renewable energy and emission reduction requirements have become a reality. It seems, therefore, that it is necessary for the Polish energy sector to undergo permanent modernization, to develop the production and industrial infrastructure and to develop modern conventional technologies by way of implementing innovations in the field of energy companies. The author of the paper argues that it is indispensable to make a broadly understood transfer of knowledge and technology to the energy sector on the basis of a knowledge-based economy. This also applies to energy clusters, which currently constitute a platform for cooperation: entrepreneurs, scientific-research units, and public authorities. The functioning of these entities is an important catalyst for the transfer of knowledge and technologies. Their regional nature boosts competitiveness of the involved enterprises, and is a natural way of transferring knowledge to the energy market.

The Complexity of Economic Space. Two notions should be distinguished: complication and complexity. The first, is conceived as the quantitative escalation of what is theoretically reducible, e.g. one directional hierarchical structure and circular action. The second, are systems formed by great number of elements combined in a nonlinear way in interactions with many other elements. Then, such systems cannot by reduced to simple elements, like atoms in chemical matter. Examples are: human individuals, brains, ecosystems, economy, cities and regions. Complex systems are characterized a.o. by the following features: intensive interactions, feedbacks, nonlinearities, fluctuation, self-reinforcing, accumulation, emergence, alternate hierarchical systems, path dependence, coevolution. Some of them are presented in this paper.