Parametric matroid of rough set

Rough set is mainly concerned with the approximations of objects through an equivalence relation on a universe. Matroid is a combinatorial generalization of linear independence in vector spaces. In this paper, we define a parametric set family, with any subset of a universe as its parameter, to connect rough sets and matroids. On the one hand, for a universe and an equivalence relation on the universe, a parametric set family is defined through the lower approximation operator. This parametric set family is proved to satisfy the independent set axiom of matroids, therefore it can generate a matroid, called a parametric matroid of the rough set. Three equivalent representations of the parametric set family are obtained. Moreover, the parametric matroid of the rough set is proved to be the direct sum of a partition-circuit matroid and a free matroid. On the other hand, since partition-circuit matroids were well studied through the lower approximation number, we use it to investigate the parametric matroid of the rough set. Several characteristics of the parametric matroid of the rough set, such as independent sets, bases, circuits, the rank function and the closure operator, are expressed by the lower approximation number.Comment: 15 page

The Admissibility of Electronic Business Records

The business record provisions of the Evidence Acts determine a record’s admissibility by evidence of its history, which must be the product of “the usual and ordinary course of business” (or comparable “business activity” wording). The electronic record provisions determine a record’s admissibility by the, “integrity of the electronic records system in which it is recorded or stored.” The difference is, records management (RM) based on “paper records concepts” versus “electronic records systems concepts.” The former is subjective — each business determines its own “usual and ordinary course of business”; the latter, objective — in accor- dance with authoritative standards of RM. Because of the many new laws that demand and depend upon records, electronic RM is now a matter of “legal compliance” and not merely good business practice. The business record provisions were enacted when: (1) electronic records came from stand-alone mainframe computers and not complex computer networks; (2) most of the present methods of, and reasons for making false records and damaging RM systems did not exist; for example, paper record systems cannot be damaged “remotely,” nor by software failures and error rates; and, (3) objective, authoritatively recognized national and international standards of electronic RM did not exist. The “usual and ordinary course of business” test allows every business to choose its own principles and practices of RM. Therefore it is now too subjective and vague to provide sufficient protection against the use of unreliable records as evidence. The objective, standards-based “system integrity” test must therefore become the sole test of admissibility and “weight.” Or, the business record provisions be reinterpreted so as to judge RM systems and not individual pieces of paper — an alteration perhaps more appropriately left to the legislature. The American case law is used as a comparison. And common electronic RM practices and defects are referred to because the admissibility and “weight” of electronic business records should be interdisciplinary de- terminations. That is what the “system integrity” of electronic RM requires. A list of points made appears immediately before the Appendices

Networks in nature: applying cultural ecology for stewardship

The purpose of this research is to describe the historical context and systemic structure of the Western agrarian estate model to locate opportunities for strategic solutions to environmental degradation in a way that balances cultivated and conserved natural resources. In part 1, landholders are identified as a point of leverage in the agrarian system. Part 2 goes over the historical development of the Western estate and state traditions, which support landholders by having instituted land administration and information systems to enfranchise their activity. The systemic theory that underlies the Western model is outlined in part 3, describing how social and ecological arrangements are within a biophysical context. Part 4 discusses how information about interactive social and biophysical contexts can be applied to support environmental management as a cultural activity. Such an understanding focuses attention to natural resources and community as a singular system. To illustrate, part 5 is a case study that profiles a unique company, Iroquois Valley Farmland Real Estate Investment Trust, whose activities and way of thinking are reflective of the need suggested by the research: their activities enfranchise land managers in a way that balances the needs of natural resource ecosystems, specifically soil, and the needs of the communities who rely on the productivity of those resources, specifically agricultural produce. As a whole, the thesis engages in a pragmatic inquiry to describe the fundamental and reciprocal interconnectedness of human society, culture, and the natural environment in an effort to show the foundational importance of considering these as a complete system, an understanding which can guide refinement and evolution of economic and livelihood managerial practices in an effective, respectful, and generative way

International Rules, Food Safety and the Poor Developing Country Livestock Producer

The present study is a part of the PPLPI effort to identify significant political and institutional factors and processes that currently hinder or prevent the poor in developing countries from taking greater advantage of opportunities to benefit from their livestock resources. The rapid development of international sanitary and phytosanitary standards have been identified as an important factor and further research is needed in this area. This study focuses on what can be done to make international rule-making friendlier to poor livestock producer interests. To identify strategic entry points for those wishing to make international rule-making friendlier to poor livestock producers this study: (a) describes and analyzes the international environment that states and other actors face when seeking to influence international food safety rules; (b) discusses the roles played by states and other actors in creating and enforcing those rules; and (c) analyzes a series of cases involving international rule-making for livestock food products. Recommendations for making international rule-making friendlier to poor producers consider two perspectives: that of the producer and that of the national delegates participating in the international rule-making process. From the perspective of poor producers and their advocates the primary route to influencing international rule-making is by influencing their own country's position in international organizations. However, developing country governments are not yet taking full advantage of the options for representing their own interests in international rule-making. Important activities they should engage in include: greater coordination at the national level among ministries and individuals responsible for developing policy positions in all international food safety organizations; improving the quality and quantity of delegations to international organizations; forming alliances with other similarly-situated countries on issues of particular concern; and lobbying for technical assistance to comply with international standards and with a goal of complying with private international standards as well. In general, the study concludes that developing countries can do much more to address the interests of their poor producers.Livestock Production/Industries,

The Multilateral Standard of Review: Export Restrictions, GATT Exceptions and Exemptions

This dissertation argues for the adoption of a new interpretative standard that urges the WTO adjudicator to explicitly take account of the economic heterogeneity of the WTO Membership when construing exemption provisions in the GATT 1994. In particular, the judicial decision maker should construe and interpret exemption provisions using the embedded standard of review, such that the Member States’ economic conditions enlighten the contextual interpretation of the language of the provision. This multilateral standard of review compels the adjudicator to accord conditional deference to developmental policies, as applied by a Member State in expression of its preferred economic strategy to expand the trade and production of goods and services. This dissertation examines the history of the standard of review in the GATT 1947 and GATT 1994 in order to critically examine its application to the construction and interpretation of the exemption provision of Article XI:2(a) GATT 1994. The proposed multilateral standard of review overcomes the post-modern critique of judicial practice by emphasizing the collaborative intent of the Membership, as revealed through the adjudicator’s understanding of the object and purpose of the agreement

Predictive Modelling of Retail Banking Transactions for Credit Scoring, Cross-Selling and Payment Pattern Discovery

Evaluating transactional payment behaviour offers a competitive advantage in the modern payment ecosystem, not only for confirming the presence of good credit applicants or unlocking the cross-selling potential between the respective product and service portfolios of financial institutions, but also to rule out bad credit applicants precisely in transactional payments streams. In a diagnostic test for analysing the payment behaviour, I have used a hybrid approach comprising a combination of supervised and unsupervised learning algorithms to discover behavioural patterns. Supervised learning algorithms can compute a range of credit scores and cross-sell candidates, although the applied methods only discover limited behavioural patterns across the payment streams. Moreover, the performance of the applied supervised learning algorithms varies across the different data models and their optimisation is inversely related to the pre-processed dataset. Subsequently, the research experiments conducted suggest that the Two-Class Decision Forest is an effective algorithm to determine both the cross-sell candidates and creditworthiness of their customers. In addition, a deep-learning model using neural network has been considered with a meaningful interpretation of future payment behaviour through categorised payment transactions, in particular by providing additional deep insights through graph-based visualisations. However, the research shows that unsupervised learning algorithms play a central role in evaluating the transactional payment behaviour of customers to discover associations using market basket analysis based on previous payment transactions, finding the frequent transactions categories, and developing interesting rules when each transaction category is performed on the same payment stream. Current research also reveals that the transactional payment behaviour analysis is multifaceted in the financial industry for assessing the diagnostic ability of promotion candidates and classifying bad credit applicants from among the entire customer base. The developed predictive models can also be commonly used to estimate the credit risk of any credit applicant based on his/her transactional payment behaviour profile, combined with deep insights from the categorised payment transactions analysis. The research study provides a full review of the performance characteristic results from different developed data models. Thus, the demonstrated data science approach is a possible proof of how machine learning models can be turned into cost-sensitive data models

8th Biennial Employment Law Institute

Materials from the 8th Biennial Employment Law Institute held by UK/CLE in June 2002