Network security metrics and performance for healthcare systems management

While enhanced cybersecurity options, mainly based around cryptographic functions, are needed overall speed and performance of a healthcare network may take priority in many circumstances. As such the overall security and performance metrics of those cryptographic functions in their embedded context needs to be understood. Understanding those metrics has been the main aim of this research activity. This research reports on an implementation of one network security technology, Internet Protocol Security (IPSec), to assess security performance. This research simulates sensitive healthcare information being transferred over networks, and then measures data delivery times with selected security parameters for various communication scenarios on Linux-based and Windows-based systems. Based on our test results, this research has revealed a number of network security metrics that need to be considered when designing and managing network security for healthcare-specific or non-healthcare-specific systems from security, performance and manageability perspectives. This research proposes practical recommendations based on the test results for the effective selection of network security controls to achieve an appropriate balance between network security and performance

Fate and transport of nursery-box-applied tricyclazole and imidacloprid in paddy fields

The fate and transport of tricyclazole and imidacloprid in paddy plots after nursery-box application was monitored. Water and surface soil samples were collected over a period of 35 days. Rates of dissipation from paddy waters and soils were also measured. Dissipation of the two pesticides from paddy water can be described by first-order kinetics. In the soil, only the dissipation of imidacloprid fitted to the simple first-order kinetics, whereas tricyclazole concentrations fluctuated until the end of the monitoring period. Mean half-life (DT₅₀) values for tricyclazole were 11.8 and 305 days, respectively, in paddy water and surface soil. The corresponding values of imidacloprid were 2.0 and 12.5 days, respectively, in water and in surface soil. Less than 0.9% of tricyclazole and 0.1% of imidacloprid were lost through runoff during the monitoring period even under 6.3 cm of rainfall. The pesticide formulation seemed to affect the environmental fate of these pesticides when these results were compared to those of other studies.

An Evaluation of Inventory Management and Performance in Indian Machine Tool SMEs: An Exploratory Study

Inventory Management (IM) plays a decisive role in the enhancement of efficiency and competitiveness of manufacturing enterprises. Therefore, major manufacturing enterprises are following IM practices as a strategy to improve efficiency and achieve competitiveness. However, the spread of IM culture among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is limited due to lack of initiation, expertise and financial limitations in developed countries, leave alone developing countries. With this backdrop, this paper makes an attempt to ascertain the role and importance of IM practices and performance of SMEs in the machine tools industry of Bangalore, India. The relationship between inventory management practices and inventory cost are probed based on primary data gathered from 91 SMEs. The paper brings out that formal IM practices have a positive impact on the inventory performance of SMEs.

Latency, Power and Performance Trade-offs in Network-on-Chips by Link Microarchitecture Exploration

This paper presents a power, latency and throughput trade-off study on NoCs by varying microarchitectural (e.g. pipelining) and circuit level (e.g. frequency and voltage) parameters. We change pipelining depth, operating frequency and supply voltage for 3 example NoCs - 16 node 2D Torus, Tree network and Reduced 2D Torus. We use an in-house NoC exploration framework capable of topology generation and comparison using parameterized models of Routers and links developed in SystemC. The framework utilizes interconnect power and delay models from a low-level modelling tool called Intacte[1]1. We find that increased pipelining can actually reduce latency. We also find that there exists an optimal degree of pipelining which is the most energy efficient in terms of minimizing energy-delay product.

De Profundis (Theatre Soundtrack)

This creative work is an original soundtrack for the multimedia performance adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s De Profundis, led by David Fenton and Brian Lucas and produced by Metro Arts. Intermediality offers unique challenges to the composer creating towards live performance. Given the text-based nature of the piece, and the prevalence of screen content, music had a distinct role to play in supporting the intermedial performance environment. Drawing from Oscar Wilde’s own writings in the initial stages [“...richer cadences…more curious effects” “…the cry of Marysas” and the “deferred resolution of Chopin”] , the deliberately risky compositional process experimented with improvised location recordings and found sounds, random and fragmented assemblages of vintage recordings, rough methods and obsolete recording technology, and the sonic kinship of the hissing sibilances of the sea, theatrical applause and the crackle of antique recording devices (which had just been invented in Wilde’s time) worked into wefts of sound. As the soundtrack emerged, is was clearly resistant to ‘concepts’ imposed from the outside, and as the field of possibilities expanded and engaged in dialogue with the other elements of the performance (live and projected) certain pieces were selected by the director and curated into the emerging work. Thus leitmotifs emerged, rather than being imposed from the outset, with a particular through line holding: if it was too obviously like ‘music’, (which is usually used in theatre as emotional lubrication and narrative signpost) it didn’t work, and if it sounded like avant-garde sound-art, it was too grating and detracted from the primacy of the text. As a composer I worked this sweet spot inbetween these two poles as well as serving David Fenton’s curation: he determined which compositions to incorporate, reiterate and omit as part of the process of writing text, action and image and the compositional process responded with organic elaborations and variations on these selections. Musical resolution was mostly deferred until the closing stages of the performance. The soundtrack was present for the duration of the show, and Artshub reviewed the musical component thus: “...the score by David Megarrity is a refined, understated ambient scaffolding.” It premiered at the Visy Theatre, Brisbane Powerhouse, on 22 April 2015.

Construction, installation, and performance of two repacked weighing lysimeters

Weighing lysimeters are the standard method for directly measuring evapotranspiration (ET). This paper discusses the construction, installation, and performance of two (1.52 m × 1.52 m × 2.13-m deep) repacked weighing lysimeters for measuring ET of corn and soybean in West Central Nebraska. The cost of constructing and installing each lysimeter was approximately US $12,500, which could vary depending on the availability and cost of equipment and labor. The resolution of the lysimeters was 0.0001 mV V-1, which was limited by the data processing and storage resolution of the datalogger. This resolution was equivalent to 0.064 and 0.078 mm of ET for the north and south lysimeters, respectively. Since the percent measurement error decreases with the magnitude of the ET measured, this resolution is adequate for measuring ET for daily and longer periods, but not for shorter time steps. This resolution would result in measurement errors of less than 5% for measuring ET values of ≥3 mm, but the percent error rapidly increases for lower ET values. The resolution of the lysimeters could potentially be improved by choosing a datalogger that could process and store data with a higher resolution than the one used in this study.

Corporate fraud culture: Re-examining the corporate governance and performance relation

We analyse the corporate governance and performance relation, when conditioning on corporate fraud, for fraud firms during 2000 – 2007. Fraud firms are identified as either self- reported fraud events, or subject to regulatory investigation. We use the inverse Mills ratio procedure to account for firms' (unobservable) fraud culture in the dynamic system GMM model of the performance- governance relation. We find that corporate governance is an endogenously determined characteristic that has no causal impact on firm performance when conditioning on fraud. Fraud is a significant regulatory event but its overall economic impact at the firm level is highly variable.

Preference and performance of Aconophora compressa Walker (Hemiptera: Membracidae) on different lantana phenotypes in Australia

The plant phenotypic preference and performance of Aconophora compressa, a biocontrol agent for Lantana camara in Australia, were assessed. Overall, there were no significant trends of A. compressa favouring any one particular phenotype. However, there was a gradual decrease in performance through subsequent generations, with populations of A. compressa dying out on two phenotypes. Females did not show preference for any particular lantana phenotype, ovipositing similarly on all five phenotypes presented in choice trials and all 16 phenotypes in no-choice trials. Nymphs developed on all 16 phenotypes tested. Percent development and time to complete development were not significant in the first generation but were significant in the second generation. There was a general decrease in performance with generation. However, this was probably due to rising temperatures with season rather than an effect of phenotype. These results suggest that A. compressa should establish on all phenotypes within its geographic range.

Design and Performance Evaluation of EXMAN: An EXtended MANchester Data Flow Computer

Data flow computers are high-speed machines in which an instruction is executed as soon as all its operands are available. This paper describes the EXtended MANchester (EXMAN) data flow computer which incorporates three major extensions to the basic Manchester machine. As extensions we provide a multiple matching units scheme, an efficient, implementation of array data structure, and a facility to concurrently execute reentrant routines. A simulator for the EXMAN computer has been coded in the discrete event simulation language, SIMULA 67, on the DEC 1090 system. Performance analysis studies have been conducted on the simulated EXMAN computer to study the effectiveness of the proposed extensions. The performance experiments have been carried out using three sample problems: matrix multiplication, Bresenham's line drawing algorithm, and the polygon scan-conversion algorithm.

Cotton root systems and recovery of applied P and K fertilisers

With potential to accumulate substantial amounts of above-ground biomass, at maturity an irrigated cotton crop can have taken up more than 20 kg/ha phosphorus and often more than 200 kg/ha of potassium. Despite the size of plant accumulation of P and K, recovery of applied P and K fertilisers by the crop in our field experiment program has poor. Processing large amounts of mature cotton plant material to provide a representative sample for chemical analysis has not been without its challenges, but the questions regarding mechanism of where, how and when the plant is acquiring immobile nutrients remain. Dry matter measured early in the growing season (squaring, first white flower) have demonstrated a 50% increase in crop biomass to applied P (in particular), but it represents only 20% of the total P accumulation by the plant. By first open boll (and onwards), no response in dry matter or P concentration could be detected to P application. A glasshouse study indicated P recovery was greater (to FOB) where it was completely mixed through a profile as opposed to a banded application method suggesting cotton prefers a more diffuse distribution. The relative effects of root morphology, mycorrhizal fungi infection, seasonal growth patterns and how irrigation is applied are areas for future investigation on how, when and where cotton acquires immobile nutrients.

A role to play: Investigating concepts of masculinity in Australia through theatre

Health professionals, academics, social commentators and the media are increasingly sending the same message – Australian men are in crisis. This message has been supported by documented rises in alcoholism, violence, depression, suicide and crime amongst men in Australia. A major cause of this crisis, it can be argued, is an over-reliance on the out-dated and limited model of hegemonic masculinity that all men are encouraged to imitate in their own behaviour. This paper, as part of a larger study, explores representations of masculinity in selected works of contemporary Australian theatre in order to investigate the concept of hegemonic masculinity and any influence it may have on the perceived ‘crisis of masculinity’. Theatre is but one of the artistic modes that can be used to investigate masculinity and issues associated with identity. The Australia Council for the Arts recognises theatre, along with literature, dance, film, television, inter-arts, music and visual arts, as critical to the understanding and expression of Australian culture and identity. Theatre has been chosen in this instance because of the opportunities available to this study for direct access to specific theatre performances and creators and, also, because of the researcher’s experience, as a theatre director, with the dramatic arts. Through interviews with writers, directors and actors, combined with the analysis of scripts, academic writings, reviews, articles, programmes, play rehearsals and workshops, this research utilises theatre as a medium to explore masculinity in Australia.

Shari'ah supervision, corporate governance and performance: Conventional vs. Islamic banks

The performance and accountability of boards of directors and effectiveness of governance mechanisms continue to be a matter of concern. Focusing on differences between conventional banks and Islamic banks, we examine the effect of (i) Shari-ah supervision boards, (ii) board structure and (iii) CEO-power on performance during the period 2005-2011. We find Shari'ah supervision boards positively impact on Islamic banks' performance when they perform a supervisory role, but the impact is negligible when they have only an advisory role. The effect of board structure (Board size and board independence) and CEO power (CEO-chair duality and internally recruited CEO) on the performance of Islamic banks is overall negative. Our findings provide support for the positive contribution of Shari'ah supervision boards overall negative. Our findings provide support for the positive contribution of Shari'ah supervision boards overall negative. Our findings provide support for the positive contribution of Shari'ah supervision boards but also emphasize the need for enforcement and regulatory mechanism for them to be more effective.