Security, control and deviance: Mapping the security domain and why it matters

Security is one of the foundations on which a stable and cohesive society is built. It is this security that allows citizens to go about their daily lives with freedom and certainty,affording them the ability to make their own choices as to what they do. Yet it may be argued that security is a concept that is misunderstood and perceived in a myriad of ways by the various stratum of society. Since the tragic events of 9 September 2001, security has become a much used and abused term. Law and legislation have been changed and enacted to protectand control the community. Personal rights and freedoms have been given up, wars have been waged and it may be argued by some, police states have emerged out of democracy in the name and pursuit of security. In this period,the global community has witnessed massive growth of global security organisation and the rise and legitimization of its cousin the global private military company. Yet there is remarkably little consensus as to what security is, what constitutes the security domain and just how much freedom should be traded in a free and democratic culture in pursuit of this nebulous concept that is security. The purpose of this paper is to establish a roadmap for domain exploration which focuses attention on the complex and often contradictory nature of security. Notwithstanding scholarly difference and interpretation of the context of security, and the lack of a singularly acceptable definition of security and ignoring the argument that security is so broad as to lack meaning, the authors will assert that security is a legitimate and necessary construct, with specific concerns.This position is framed within the argument that the alternative of non-security(Manunta, 1998) is not acceptable in the context of a civilised world.This paper is presented in four parts, beginning with a discussion of the domain in general. In the second part the concept of security deviance will be discussed before finally proposing a way forward for domain research and discourse.Then, the structural relations, indicating the depth and embedded nature of security in a modern society, will be presented to articulate the opportunities for security deviance in a modern society

Using organization knowledge to improve routing performance in wireless multi-agent networks

ABSTRACT Multi-agent systems benefit greatly from an organization design that guides agents in determining when to communicate, how often, with whom, with what priority, and so on. However, this same organization knowledge is not utilized by general-purpose wireless network routing algorithms normally used to support agent communication. We show that incorporating organization knowledge (otherwise available only to the application layer) in the network-layer routing algorithm increases bandwidth available at the application layer by as much as 35 percent. This increased bandwidth is especially important in communication-intensive application settings, such as agent-based sensor networks, where node failures and link dynamics make providing sufficient inter-agent communication especially challenging

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococci in Companion Animals

We determined the molecular characteristics of methicillin-resistant staphylococci from animals and staff at a small animal and equine hospital. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) identical to human EMRSA-15 was found in dogs and hospital staff. In contrast, 5 distinct MRSA strains were isolated from horses but not from hospital staff

A Subsumption Agent for Collaborative Free Improvisation

This paper discusses the design and evaluation of an artificial agent for collaborative musical free improvisation. The agent provides a means to investigate the underpinnings of improvisational interaction. In connection with this general goal, the system is also used here to explore the implementation of a collaborative musical agent using a specific robotics architecture, Subsumption. The architecture of the system is explained, and its evaluation in an empirical study with expert improvisors is discussed. A follow-up study using a second iteration of the system is also presented. The system design and connected studies bring together Subsumption robotics, ecological psychology, and musical improvisation, and contribute to an empirical grounding of an ecological theory of improvisation

A Scheme to Numerically Evolve Data for the Conformal Einstein Equation

This is the second paper in a series describing a numerical implementation of the conformal Einstein equation. This paper deals with the technical details of the numerical code used to perform numerical time evolutions from a "minimal" set of data. We outline the numerical construction of a complete set of data for our equations from a minimal set of data. The second and the fourth order discretisations, which are used for the construction of the complete data set and for the numerical integration of the time evolution equations, are described and their efficiencies are compared. By using the fourth order scheme we reduce our computer resource requirements --- with respect to memory as well as computation time --- by at least two orders of magnitude as compared to the second order scheme.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figure

Cross-Organisational Workflow Enactment Via Progressive Linking by Run-Time Agents

workflow enactment via progressive linking by run-time agents This item was submitted to Loughborough University's Institutional Repository by the/an author

Challenges for adaptation in agent societies

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