Automated Contextual Anomaly Detection for Network Interface Bandwidth Utilisation: A Case Study in Network Capacity Management

We present a contextual anomaly detection methodology utilised for the capacity management process of a managed service provider that administers networks for large enterprises. We employ an ensemble of forecasts to identify anomalous network traffic. Stream of observations, upon their arrival, are compared against these baseline forecasts and alerts generated only if the anomalies are sustained. The results confirm that our approach significantly reduces false alerts, triggering rather more accurate and meaningful alerts to a level that could be proactively consumed by a small team. We believe our methodology makes a useful contribution to the applications enabling proactive capacity management.

Anatomy of a Data Science Software Toolkit That Uses Machine Learning to Aid ‘Bench-to-Bedside’ Medical Research—With Essential Concepts of Data Mining and Analysis Explained

Data science and machine learning are buzzwords of the early 21st century. Now pervasive through human civilization, how do these concepts translate to use by researchers and clinicians in the life-science and medical field? Here, we describe a software toolkit, just large enough in scale, so that it can be maintained and extended by a small team, optimised for problems that arise in small/medium laboratories. In particular, this system may be managed from data ingestion statistics preparation predictions by a single person. At the system’s core is a graph type database, so that it is flexible in terms of irregular, constantly changing data types, as such data types are common during explorative research. At the system’s outermost shell, the concept of ’user stories’ is introduced to help the end-user researchers perform various tasks separated by their expertise: these range from simple data input, data curation, statistics, and finally to predictions via machine learning algorithms. We compiled a sizable list of already existing, modular Python platform libraries usable for data analysis that may be used as a reference in the field and may be incorporated into this software. We also provide an insight into basic concepts, such as labelled-unlabelled data, supervised vs. unsupervised learning, regression vs. classification, evaluation by different error metrics, and an advanced concept of cross-validation. Finally, we show some examples from our laboratory using our blood sample and blood clot data from thrombosis patients (sufferers from stroke, heart and peripheral thrombosis disease) and how such tools can help to set up realistic expectations and show caveats.

Cystic fibrosis and caseload midwifery

Midwives must provide woman-centred, holistic care for the diverse UK childbearing population. As the NHS moves to adopt the recommendations made in the ‘Better Births’ report, is there an argument to invest in protected caseload midwifery contacts for women with cystic fibrosis? Caseload midwifery refers to a continuity model where a small team of midwives provide care throughout the antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal continuum. Cystic fibrosis affects multiple organ systems and requires specialist medical management during pregnancy. Living with cystic fibrosis has many psychosocial implications and pregnancy presents additional challenges. Health and wellbeing outcomes are improved when individuals are treated holistically in the non-pregnant population; therefore, during pregnancy, birth and postnatally, caseload midwifery may provide a legitimate intervention to improve health outcomes in pregnant women with cystic fibrosis.

Contracting for social and welfare services : the changing relationship between government and the voluntary sector in New Zealand

<p>Ten years ago, the provision of government funding for the social and welfare services delivered by voluntary sector service providers was a simple process. In evidence presented to the Waitangi Tribunal in support of a claim by a Charitable Trust against the actions of the New Zealand Community Funding Agency heard last year, a witness who was employed by the Department of Social Welfare from early in 1988 describes the process at that time thus: The Department of Social Welfare has operated funding programmes for many years...these programmes were grant funding. That is there was no contracting nor reporting as presently known. Also they were operated on a Head Ofiice Wellington decision on the recommendation of a small team (3 or 4 people based in a Regional OfiBce Auckland).(Crown Law Office, 1994 c, 6) This simple process has, in the last decade, been replaced by a funding relationship between government and the voluntary sector which owes its origins primarily to theory emanating from the study ofthe operation of private markets and the internal organisation of firms within the marketplace. Agency theory and Transaction costs analysis, along with other theoretical perspectives from the world ofthe private business sector, have had a substantial influence upon the restructuring ofthe public sector in New Zealand during the last decade and in particular have provided the theoretical basis for the transformation of the relationship between government and the voluntary sector into one of principal and agents, bound by contractual terms and a regulatory framework for the monitoring of quantity and quality of social and welfare service outputs.</p>

Contracting for social and welfare services : the changing relationship between government and the voluntary sector in New Zealand

<p>Ten years ago, the provision of government funding for the social and welfare services delivered by voluntary sector service providers was a simple process. In evidence presented to the Waitangi Tribunal in support of a claim by a Charitable Trust against the actions of the New Zealand Community Funding Agency heard last year, a witness who was employed by the Department of Social Welfare from early in 1988 describes the process at that time thus: The Department of Social Welfare has operated funding programmes for many years...these programmes were grant funding. That is there was no contracting nor reporting as presently known. Also they were operated on a Head Ofiice Wellington decision on the recommendation of a small team (3 or 4 people based in a Regional OfiBce Auckland).(Crown Law Office, 1994 c, 6) This simple process has, in the last decade, been replaced by a funding relationship between government and the voluntary sector which owes its origins primarily to theory emanating from the study ofthe operation of private markets and the internal organisation of firms within the marketplace. Agency theory and Transaction costs analysis, along with other theoretical perspectives from the world ofthe private business sector, have had a substantial influence upon the restructuring ofthe public sector in New Zealand during the last decade and in particular have provided the theoretical basis for the transformation of the relationship between government and the voluntary sector into one of principal and agents, bound by contractual terms and a regulatory framework for the monitoring of quantity and quality of social and welfare service outputs.</p>

Contracting for social and welfare services : the changing relationship between government and the voluntary sector in New Zealand

<p>Ten years ago, the provision of government funding for the social and welfare services delivered by voluntary sector service providers was a simple process. In evidence presented to the Waitangi Tribunal in support of a claim by a Charitable Trust against the actions of the New Zealand Community Funding Agency heard last year, a witness who was employed by the Department of Social Welfare from early in 1988 describes the process at that time thus: The Department of Social Welfare has operated funding programmes for many years...these programmes were grant funding. That is there was no contracting nor reporting as presently known. Also they were operated on a Head Ofiice Wellington decision on the recommendation of a small team (3 or 4 people based in a Regional OfiBce Auckland).(Crown Law Office, 1994 c, 6) This simple process has, in the last decade, been replaced by a funding relationship between government and the voluntary sector which owes its origins primarily to theory emanating from the study ofthe operation of private markets and the internal organisation of firms within the marketplace. Agency theory and Transaction costs analysis, along with other theoretical perspectives from the world ofthe private business sector, have had a substantial influence upon the restructuring ofthe public sector in New Zealand during the last decade and in particular have provided the theoretical basis for the transformation of the relationship between government and the voluntary sector into one of principal and agents, bound by contractual terms and a regulatory framework for the monitoring of quantity and quality of social and welfare service outputs.</p>

Contracting for social and welfare services : the changing relationship between government and the voluntary sector in New Zealand

<p>Ten years ago, the provision of government funding for the social and welfare services delivered by voluntary sector service providers was a simple process. In evidence presented to the Waitangi Tribunal in support of a claim by a Charitable Trust against the actions of the New Zealand Community Funding Agency heard last year, a witness who was employed by the Department of Social Welfare from early in 1988 describes the process at that time thus: The Department of Social Welfare has operated funding programmes for many years...these programmes were grant funding. That is there was no contracting nor reporting as presently known. Also they were operated on a Head Ofiice Wellington decision on the recommendation of a small team (3 or 4 people based in a Regional OfiBce Auckland).(Crown Law Office, 1994 c, 6) This simple process has, in the last decade, been replaced by a funding relationship between government and the voluntary sector which owes its origins primarily to theory emanating from the study ofthe operation of private markets and the internal organisation of firms within the marketplace. Agency theory and Transaction costs analysis, along with other theoretical perspectives from the world ofthe private business sector, have had a substantial influence upon the restructuring ofthe public sector in New Zealand during the last decade and in particular have provided the theoretical basis for the transformation of the relationship between government and the voluntary sector into one of principal and agents, bound by contractual terms and a regulatory framework for the monitoring of quantity and quality of social and welfare service outputs.</p>

Inside the First Light House: Interior Design for New Zealand’s Entry into the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon 2011

<p>This thesis documents a two year journey to design and build a most unconventional kiwi bach. It reports on the applied research undertaken in order to meet the specific requirements of a particular construction project: the development of a transportable, modular, demountable, entirely solar-powered house built in New Zealand to compete in the US Department of Energy’s 2011 Solar Decathlon, held in Washington DC. This challenge was initially taken on by a small team of undergraduate students with very little previous experience in the construction process. The team faced a set of technical and logistical hurdles that would have been daunting for even the most experienced practitioner to negotiate, let alone a group for whom an architectural career was just beginning. Such challenges included: - Creating a house design that would comply with two sets of building codes, endure 18,000 kilometres of transport over two months, expedite assembly by a team of unskilled labourers, and enable comfortable inhabitation after seven days; - Optimising the thermal performance and liveability of one building for two climates in two hemispheres; - Using architecture, landscape and interior design to explain New Zealand and its lifestyle to an American audience of 200,000; - Realising an entire and complex project that required 100% external funding and in-kind support from as-yet unknown parties. By predisposition, then, the project was not going to be simple: very little of the process and very few of the construction details were going to be standard in any way. This thesis focuses on the critical design developments of the house interior, from a hypothetical design to the full-scale assembly of a ‘kiwi bach’ in the heart of Washington DC. The research and outcomes presented here are not necessarily all precedents for future building projects, but rather ‘best-fit’ solutions for the highly particular and constrained design situation brought about by the interaction of the range of logistical, legislative and economic controls, the dynamics of the wider team, and the demands of the Solar Decathlon competition. The project as a whole can, and should, act as a valid precedent for future architectural projects with regard to research into modular construction, prefabrication, and the collaborative building process. The students that were involved will embark on their professional careers with the Solar Decathlon experience as a foundation for their future contribution to the construction industry.</p>

Inside the First Light House: Interior Design for New Zealand’s Entry into the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon 2011

<p>This thesis documents a two year journey to design and build a most unconventional kiwi bach. It reports on the applied research undertaken in order to meet the specific requirements of a particular construction project: the development of a transportable, modular, demountable, entirely solar-powered house built in New Zealand to compete in the US Department of Energy’s 2011 Solar Decathlon, held in Washington DC. This challenge was initially taken on by a small team of undergraduate students with very little previous experience in the construction process. The team faced a set of technical and logistical hurdles that would have been daunting for even the most experienced practitioner to negotiate, let alone a group for whom an architectural career was just beginning. Such challenges included: - Creating a house design that would comply with two sets of building codes, endure 18,000 kilometres of transport over two months, expedite assembly by a team of unskilled labourers, and enable comfortable inhabitation after seven days; - Optimising the thermal performance and liveability of one building for two climates in two hemispheres; - Using architecture, landscape and interior design to explain New Zealand and its lifestyle to an American audience of 200,000; - Realising an entire and complex project that required 100% external funding and in-kind support from as-yet unknown parties. By predisposition, then, the project was not going to be simple: very little of the process and very few of the construction details were going to be standard in any way. This thesis focuses on the critical design developments of the house interior, from a hypothetical design to the full-scale assembly of a ‘kiwi bach’ in the heart of Washington DC. The research and outcomes presented here are not necessarily all precedents for future building projects, but rather ‘best-fit’ solutions for the highly particular and constrained design situation brought about by the interaction of the range of logistical, legislative and economic controls, the dynamics of the wider team, and the demands of the Solar Decathlon competition. The project as a whole can, and should, act as a valid precedent for future architectural projects with regard to research into modular construction, prefabrication, and the collaborative building process. The students that were involved will embark on their professional careers with the Solar Decathlon experience as a foundation for their future contribution to the construction industry.</p>

1203. A Descriptive Analysis of an Opioid Use Disorder Care Continuum in an Infectious Diseases Clinic

Background On December 17, 2020, U.S. CDC released an advisory reporting the highest drug overdose rate on record. Kentucky ranks in the top 5 states for opioid overdose deaths. Retention in opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment is associated with decreased overdose deaths. University of Kentucky HealthCare’s infectious disease division (UKID) implemented a multi-disciplinary approach to expand access to medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) for patients with injection drug use-associated infections (IDU-AI). This program is modelled after the Ryan White Cares Act to engage and retain patients. Methods . This ongoing project began enrollment in June 2019. Any patient ≥18 years old with IDU-AI and OUD is eligible for enrollment unless pregnant or incarcerated. Patients are eligible for transportation assistance, mental health services, and medical case management. They may start MOUD with UKID or be referred elsewhere. In this analysis, we describe our opioid use disorder care continuum and identify reasons for patient attrition and areas to improve Results Our continuum components are referral, eligible, enrolled, start MOUD, and retention at month 1, 3, and 6. To date, 533 patients have been referred. Of these, 383 (71.9%) were eligible and 150 (39%) enrolled. Reasons patients did not enroll: discharged stable (41.5%), left AMA (16.9%), declined (10.8%), deceased (6.7%), discharged to other hospital (3.6%), missed clinic visit (9.7%), hospice (1%), other (10.8%). Reasons patients declined: no reason (28.6%), refused to discuss (19.1%), no interest (14.3%), travel (4.8%), declined ID follow-up (4.8%), time limits (9.5%). Ninety-three patients have been enrolled ≥6 months; 83 are on MOUD. Sixty-seven, 29, and 20 patients were retained at month 1, 3, and 6, respectively. Conclusion UKID engages patients in OUD treatment, but retention rates are comparable to those described in non-ID settings. Most attrition occurs between eligibility and month 3, suggesting patients are most vulnerable when they consider change and start MOUD. These time points should be priority for patient engagement by clinic staff. Also our staff size struggles to meet the demand. The number of referrals is prohibitive for our small team to approach everyone in a timely manner. More programs like this one are needed. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures