Some limitations of the groves-ledyard optimal mechanism

Public Choice - The tax rule suggested by Groves and Ledyard is certainly an ingenious one, although there is no indication as to how one might fall upon that specific scheme. If offers Pareto...     

Security-oriented cloud computing platform for critical infrastructures

The rise of virtualisation and cloud computing is one of the most significant features of computing in the last 10 years. However, despite its popularity, there are still a number of technical barriers that prevent it from becoming the truly ubiquitous service it has the potential to be. Central to this are the issues of data security and the lack of trust that users have in relying on cloud services to provide the foundation of their IT infrastructure. This is a highly complex issue, which covers multiple inter-related factors such as platform integrity, robust service guarantees, data and network security, and many others that have yet to be overcome in a meaningful way. This paper presents a concept for an innovative integrated platform to reinforce the integrity and security of cloud services and we apply this in the context of Critical Infrastructures to identify the core requirements, components and features of this infrastructure.     

If Brain Scans Really Detected Deception,Who Would Volunteer to be Scanned?

Abstract: Recent neuroimaging studies investigating the neural correlates of deception among healthy people, have raised the possibility that such methods may eventually be applied during legal proceedings. Were this so, who would volunteer to be scanned? We report a “natural experiment” casting some light upon this question. Following broadcast of a television series describing our team’s investigative neuroimaging of deception in 2007, we received unsolicited (public) correspondence for 12 months. Using a customized template to examine this material, three independent assessors unanimously rated 30 of an initial 56 communications as unequivocally constituting requests for a “scan” (to demonstrate their author’s “innocence”). Compared with the rest, these index communications were more likely to originate from incarcerated males, who were also more likely to engage in further correspondence. Hence, in conclusion, if neuroimaging were to become an acceptable means of demonstrating innocence then incarcerated males may well constitute those volunteering for such investigation.     

Rent differentials,housing benefit and management of the public housing stock in the United Kingdom

Despite the prevailing emphasis on markets and choice in the public services there has been very little consideration of the way in which local authority rent setting policies can be used to influence the demand for various types of properties. The present government has promised that long delayed proposals for the reform of housing benefit will be brought forward soon. At the same time, social landlords have been increasingly concerned about high rates of turnover in their stock and in some areas low demand leading to abandonment and demolition. In this paper it is argued that greater rent differentials related to quality and location will be necessary to cope with such changes.