Boris Mitavskiy, Jonathan Rowe and Chris Cannings
The purpose of this paper is to establish a version of a theorem that originated from population genetics and has been later adopted in evolutionary computation theory that will…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to establish a version of a theorem that originated from population genetics and has been later adopted in evolutionary computation theory that will lead to novel Monte‐Carlo sampling algorithms that provably increase the AI potential.
Design/methodology/approach
In the current paper the authors set up a mathematical framework, state and prove a version of a Geiringer‐like theorem that is very well‐suited for the development of Mote‐Carlo sampling algorithms to cope with randomness and incomplete information to make decisions.
Findings
This work establishes an important theoretical link between classical population genetics, evolutionary computation theory and model free reinforcement learning methodology. Not only may the theory explain the success of the currently existing Monte‐Carlo tree sampling methodology, but it also leads to the development of novel Monte‐Carlo sampling techniques guided by rigorous mathematical foundation.
Practical implications
The theoretical foundations established in the current work provide guidance for the design of powerful Monte‐Carlo sampling algorithms in model free reinforcement learning, to tackle numerous problems in computational intelligence.
Originality/value
Establishing a Geiringer‐like theorem with non‐homologous recombination was a long‐standing open problem in evolutionary computation theory. Apart from overcoming this challenge, in a mathematically elegant fashion and establishing a rather general and powerful version of the theorem, this work leads directly to the development of novel provably powerful algorithms for decision making in the environment involving randomness, hidden or incomplete information.
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Boris Mitavskiy, Jonathan Rowe and Chris Cannings
A variety of phenomena such as world wide web, social or business networks, interactions are modelled by various kinds of networks (such as the scale free or preferential…
Abstract
Purpose
A variety of phenomena such as world wide web, social or business networks, interactions are modelled by various kinds of networks (such as the scale free or preferential attachment networks). However, due to the model‐specific requirements one may want to rewire the network to optimize the communication among the various nodes while not overloading the number of channels (i.e. preserving the number of edges). The purpose of this paper is to present a formal framework for this problem and to examine a family of local search strategies to cope with it.
Design/methodology/approach
This is mostly theoretical work. The authors use rigorous mathematical framework to set‐up the model and then we prove some interesting theorems about it which pertain to various local search algorithms that work by rerouting the network.
Findings
This paper proves that in cases when every pair of nodes is sampled with non‐zero probability then the algorithm is ergodic in the sense that it samples every possible network on the specified set of nodes and having a specified number of edges with nonzero probability. Incidentally, the ergodicity result led to the construction of a class of algorithms for sampling graphs with a specified number of edges over a specified set of nodes uniformly at random and opened some other challenging and important questions for future considerations.
Originality/value
The measure‐theoretic framework presented in the current paper is original and rather general. It allows one to obtain new points of view on the problem.
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Abstract
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W. Canning Materials Ltd have announced the appointment of Mr W. E. I. Galloway as Managing Director with effect from 1st January, 1985. The Company is a leading manufacturer and…
Abstract
W. Canning Materials Ltd have announced the appointment of Mr W. E. I. Galloway as Managing Director with effect from 1st January, 1985. The Company is a leading manufacturer and supplier of industrial and speciality chemicals for the surface finishing industry.
The invitation in this chapter is to see or remember1 what can be gained and achieved by turning our attention from a style of thinking and speaking that focuses on the “truth…
Abstract
The invitation in this chapter is to see or remember1 what can be gained and achieved by turning our attention from a style of thinking and speaking that focuses on the “truth about things” and shifting it to a recognition of the contribution of our own cultural practices in how things come-to-be what they seem. We are invited to look at human social processes and the relationships of how things in the world get caught up in these, historical or current but always active, processes and in so doing create meaning.The point here is to arrest or interrupt the spontaneous, unself-conscious flow of our ongoing activity, and to give “prominence to distinctions which our ordinary forms of language easily make us overlook.” ( Wittgenstein, 2001, p. 43 )We are invited to indulge a little less in the apparent “nature of things” and instead give a little more attention to the practices that make things happen and the relations between their inter-actors. Rather than having the relationship between “a directly perceiving mind and reality” as our primary focus we are looking afresh at those social processes that attribute characteristics to its actors and “cause us to hold beliefs.” We might call this “relational practicing.”2 I assume that the proper study of interaction is not the individual and his [sic] psychology, but rather the syntactical relations among the acts of different persons mutually present to one another….. …Not, then, men [sic] and their moments. Rather moments and their men. ( Goffman, 1982, p. 2 )Goffman richly points out the variety of ordinary, everyday ways in which people participate in social encounters and how they conduct the minutia of constitutive relational practices. Goffman spent a lifetime illuminating the relevance of the almost hidden inter-participant grammar in cooperative performance of coordinated meaning and structure and also had much to say about the practical relationships between the actors and those prevailing enacted structures.
Javed Siddiqui, Sofia Yasmin and Christopher Humphrey
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the shifting nature of governance reforms, both at global and national levels, in the increasingly commercialised game of cricket. The…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the shifting nature of governance reforms, both at global and national levels, in the increasingly commercialised game of cricket. The authors explore the inter-relationship and linkages between governance and commercialism, and in the process, question the contemporary reliance placed on governance as a generic counter-commercialist force and accountability aid.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis is based on a comprehensive analysis of cricketing archives, newspapers and online media. The authors specifically utilise a range of review reports, governance and accounting information from annual reports and websites of the International Cricket Council (ICC) as well as different national cricket governing bodies (NCBs).
Findings
The paper vividly demonstrates the importance of recognising the specific significance of different cultural traditions and modes of organising – and not presuming a particular form of impact. The findings highlight that the adoption of a dominant market logic by cricket administrators has resulted in a shift in the balance of power in favour of non-western nations. India has emerged as the clear leader and driving force shaping the way cricket is globally governed. The consequences have been profound but not in terms of delivering, enhanced standards of transparency and accountability. Drawing on institutional theory, the paper argues that the scale of the Board of Cricket Control of India’s financial and operational control over the ICC has not only led to an increasingly commercialised game but engendered divergent and highly questionable standards of governance at the level of NCBs.
Originality/value
Unlike other global games, cricket has an imperialistic root, and has gone through the process of globalisation in relatively recent times. Also, the commercialisation of cricket has resulted in the global economic and power base shifting from the West to the East, giving us the opportunity to study the dynamics between commercialisation and governance in a quite different globalisation context that allows an assessment to be made of the culturally contingent nature of governance as a substantive organising force.
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The purpose of this paper is to extend research on contemporary forms of oversight surrounding professional work in an era characterized by increased skepticism regarding…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to extend research on contemporary forms of oversight surrounding professional work in an era characterized by increased skepticism regarding professional claims and the rise of independent regulatory authorities. The authors investigate the interplay between key actors as well as the shifting role boundaries in a distinct regulatory space, following the introduction of a new public oversight framework.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis draws on the notions of regulatory space and boundary work to better understand the development of independent audit oversight in France. The authors adopted an interpretive approach to conduct a longitudinal case study based on 33 interviews and documentary data produced from 2003 to 2012.
Findings
The study provides a narrative of the boundary work carried out by the French audit profession as it tried to reinvent its role in the new regulatory order. In the case, boundary work engendered a hybrid regulatory pattern, named “co-regulation,” reflecting both the logic of independent regulation and the logic of self-regulation. The main consequence of this is that zones of mutual involvement were constructed – thereby suggesting that to become a reality, independent oversight of professional work needs to accept some operational dependence from professionals.
Originality/value
The study illustrates the elusiveness of boundaries surrounding actors’ role within contemporary forms of professional regulation. More generally, hybrid development suggests that professions are proactive and, to some extent, successful when it comes to developing alliances and manipulating changes within their regulatory space.
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Cultural criminologists have long been interested in the politics of crime and deviance, whether that be in relation to youth subculture resistance or the social reaction to…
Abstract
Cultural criminologists have long been interested in the politics of crime and deviance, whether that be in relation to youth subculture resistance or the social reaction to transgression evident in the media construction of folk devils and moral panics. While contemporary ‘new’ cultural criminology continues to be focused on the situated experience of deviant ‘edgeworkers’, this chapter argues cultural criminology’s concern with the crime-media nexus provides particularly fertile ground for exploring insights provided by activists, academics, professional journalists and citizen journalists around informal interventions on formal criminal justice processes using social media and digital technologies. Drawing on examples from a burgeoning body of crime-media research, the chapter makes a case for ‘cultural criminology activism’, which, like activist criminology, is consciously disengaged from mainstream criminology’s alignment with the neoliberal-carceral state and its reformist agenda.
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Heads up BCI's Metal Finishing Division. Brian Garner (47) has been appointed chairman of the Metal Finishing Division of Brent Chemicals International PLC. He is currently…
Abstract
Heads up BCI's Metal Finishing Division. Brian Garner (47) has been appointed chairman of the Metal Finishing Division of Brent Chemicals International PLC. He is currently managing director of Pyrene Chemical Services, Britain's leading supplier of pretreatment chemicals and a major company within the Brent Chemicals International group. He joined Pyrene in 1976 as marketing director, becoming managing director in 1980.