In this paper I argue that the search for explainable models and interpretable decisions in AI must be reformulated in terms of the broader project of offering a pragmatic and naturalistic account of understanding in AI. Intuitively, the purpose of providing an explanation of a model or a decision is to make it understandable to its stakeholders. But without a previous grasp of what it means to say that an agent understands a model or a decision, the explanatory strategies will lack a well-defined goal. Aside from providing a clearer objective for XAI, focusing on understanding also allows us to relax the factivity condition on explanation, which is impossible to fulfill in many machine learning models, and to focus instead on the pragmatic conditions that determine the best fit between a model and the methods and devices deployed to understand it. After an examination of the different types of understanding discussed in the philosophical and psychological literature, I conclude that interpretative or approximation models not only provide the best way to achieve the objectual understanding of a machine learning model, but are also a necessary condition to achieve post-hoc interpretability. This conclusion is partly based on the shortcomings of the purely functionalist approach to post-hoc interpretability that seems to be predominant in most recent literature.

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BackgroundMyriad infectious and noninfectious causes of encephalomyelitis (EM) have similar clinical manifestations, presenting serious challenges to diagnosis and treatment. Metabolomics of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was explored as a method of differentiating among neurological diseases causing EM using a single CSF sample.Methodology/Principal findings1H NMR metabolomics was applied to CSF samples from 27 patients with a laboratory-confirmed disease, including Lyme disease or West Nile Virus meningoencephalitis, multiple sclerosis, rabies, or Histoplasma meningitis, and 25 controls. Cluster analyses distinguished samples by infection status and moderately by pathogen, with shared and differentiating metabolite patterns observed among diseases. CART analysis predicted infection status with 100% sensitivity and 93% specificity.Conclusions/SignificanceThese preliminary results suggest the potential utility of CSF metabolomics as a rapid screening test to enhance diagnostic accuracies and improve patient outcomes.

During the period 2000-2003, wild grey foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) in northern Colombia became infected with rabies. In order to derive phylogenetic relationships between rabies viruses isolated in foxes, dogs and humans in this region, 902 nt cDNA fragments containing the G-L intergenic region and encoding the cytoplasmic domain of protein G and a fragment of protein L were obtained by RT-PCR, sequenced and compared. Phylogenetic analysis showed that rabies viruses isolated in foxes, dogs and humans belonged to a single genetic variant. Speculative analysis together with epidemiological data indicated that rabies in foxes may have been due to contact with rabid dogs. Rabies transmission between dogs, wild foxes and humans may happen in natural conditions in northern Colombia. This finding is the first to suggest dog-to-fox rabies transmission in South America, and provides another example of dog rabies variants being able to successfully colonize wildlife hosts.

Introducción. En el distrito de Santa Marta ocurrió un brote de rabia urbana entre abril de 2006 y enero de 2008, con cuatro casos fatales en humanos y 28 en perros. Objetivos. Describir el brote, las técnicas de diagnóstico de laboratorio y las acciones de control de foco empleadas. Medir el impacto de la vacunación antirrábica canina en términos de seroconversión de anticuerpos neutralizantes. Discutir el significado epidemiológico y las implicaciones en salud pública. Materiales y métodos. Los casos se diagnosticaron por inmunofluorescencia directa, prueba biológica en ratón e inmunohistoquímica. La tipificación viral se hizo por inmunofluorescencia indirecta. Las acciones de control consistieron en un censo canino, vacunación y tratamientos antirrábicos a la población expuesta, vacunación canina y felina, y educación comunitaria. La seroconversión fue investigada por medio de la prueba ELISA de captura. Resultados. La variante antigénica 1 se caracterizó en todos los casos. Se observó seropositividad en 77% de los perros vacunados y protección serológica contra la rabia, en 47%. No se observaron diferencias de la respuesta humoral entre sexos de los perros, pero sí existieron diferencias de los porcentajes de perros protegidos entre las comunas del distrito. Conclusiones. Este brote de rabia ha sido el de mayor magnitud en una ciudad colombiana, según los datos oficiales. Fue causado por perros, lo cual reitera la amenaza que aún representa la rabia urbana para la salud pública, a pesar de la existencia de vacunas eficientes. El control del brote se logró 20 meses después del primer caso en perros y 14 meses después de haberse iniciado la primera vacunación masiva en animales. Es necesario implementar y mantener acciones para el control de la rabia urbana y evitar su impacto en los humanos.Palabras clave: rabia, virus de la rabia, Lyssavirus, zoonosis, vigilancia epidemiológica, Colombia.Outbreak of urban rabies transmitted by dogs in Santa Marta, northern Colombia.

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