Sonification of Network Traffic Flow for Monitoring and Situational Awareness

Maintaining situational awareness of what is happening within a network is challenging, not least because the behaviour happens within computers and communications networks, but also because data traffic speeds and volumes are beyond human ability to process. Visualisation is widely used to present information about the dynamics of network traffic dynamics. Although it provides operators with an overall view and specific information about particular traffic or attacks on the network, it often fails to represent the events in an understandable way. Visualisations require visual attention and so are not well suited to continuous monitoring scenarios in which network administrators must carry out other tasks. Situational awareness is critical and essential for decision-making in the domain of computer network monitoring where it is vital to be able to identify and recognize network environment behaviours.Here we present SoNSTAR (Sonification of Networks for SiTuational AwaReness), a real-time sonification system to be used in the monitoring of computer networks to support the situational awareness of network administrators. SoNSTAR provides an auditory representation of all the TCP/IP protocol traffic within a network based on the different traffic flows between between network hosts. SoNSTAR raises situational awareness levels for computer network defence by allowing operators to achieve better understanding and performance while imposing less workload compared to visual techniques. SoNSTAR identifies the features of network traffic flows by inspecting the status flags of TCP/IP packet headers and mapping traffic events to recorded sounds to generate a soundscape representing the real-time status of the network traffic environment. Listening to the soundscape allows the administrator to recognise anomalous behaviour quickly and without having to continuously watch a computer screen.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures plus supplemental material in Github repositor

Building Quality Improvement Systems: Lessons from Three Emerging Efforts in the Youth-Serving Sector

Quality is fast becoming a policy priority in states and localities around the country. As a result, formal and informal networks of youth organizations are seeking and developing strategies to help them assess and improve performance. This report takes a close look at efforts underway in three networks and provides a preliminary framework for thinking about key questions when planning any kind of program quality improvement work in the youth-serving sector

Development and construction of China

Libraries in China's higher education institutions have been developing in keeping pace with the flourishing development of China's higher education. This article aims to make an introduction to the construction of China's higher education libraries, especially the recent three decades' achievements since China's reform and opening-up in 1978. In this article, the authors draw a general picture of the development of libraries in China's higher education institutions, covering such eight aspects as management, types and positioning, organizational structure and personnel, expenditure and buildings, reader service, building and sharing of resources as well as automation system.</p

Further improvement of the implementation of the Aarhus convention in Malta : a review

Chapter 2Th e Twinning project MT/06/IB/EN/01 “Further Institution Building in the Environment Sector” aimed at supporting the Maltese Government in improving the implementation of the Aarhus Convention on public access to environmental information, public participation in environmental decision making and access to justice in environmental matters. Th e project was carried out by MEPA as Benefi ciary Institution and the Austrian Environment Agency as Lead Member State Partner. Th e project duration was 15 months as from 16th April 2008. Th e project was co-funded by the European Union and the Maltese Government under the 2006 Transition Facility Programme for Malta. Th e project consisted of four components: • Component 1: Assessment of the current situation and development of recommendations, • Component 2: Implementation of recommendations, • Component 3: Development of guidance documents, • Component 4: Training and awareness-raising. In Component 1, the legal instruments and institutional arrangements in place for the implementation of the Aarhus Convention in Malta were assessed, and recommendations were drawn up on how to improve the existing situation with regard to public access to environmental information, public participation in environmental decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters. In Component 2, the recommendations were discussed with a wide range of stakeholders, and consequently applied in the practice, establishing an effi cient and eff ective administrative system to implement the Aarhus Convention. Amongst other measures, its implementation formulated a series of agreements between the benefi ciary and key holders of environmental information in Malta, with the aim of securing the availability, timeliness and quality of environmental data, supported by effi cient information management systems. In Component 3, guidelines were produced addressing the public authorities, the industry and the general public in Malta. Component 4 provided training for public offi cers and awareness-raising for key stakeholders and the general public. The most relevant project results are summarised in this chapter, as achieved under each Component.peer-reviewe

Discriminatory fees, coordination and investment in shared ATM networks

This paper empirically examines the effects of discriminatory fees on ATM investment and welfare, and considers the role of coordination in ATM investment between banks. Our main findings are that foreign fees tend to reduce ATM availability and (consumer) welfare, whereas surcharges positively affect ATM availability and the different welfare components when the consumers' price elasticity is not too large. Second, an organization of the ATM market that contains some degree of coordination between the banks may be desirable from a welfare perspective. Finally, ATM availability is always higher when a social planner decides on discriminatory fees and ATM investment to maximize total welfare. This implies that there is underinvestment in ATMs, even in the presence of discriminatory feesinvestment, coordination, ATMs, network industries, empirical entry models, spatial discrete choice demand models

Handbook for Implementing a Comprehensive Work-Based Learning Program According to the Fair Labor Standards Act

This Handbook for Implementing a Comprehensive Work-Based Learning Program According to the Fair Labor Standards Act provides guidance to schools operating WBL programs and encourages the adoption of WBL programs by schools not presently using this approach. By following the information and examples in this handbook, schools can proceed with confidence to operate effective WBL programs consistent with the FLSA

Evolution of Worker-Employer Networks and Behaviors Under Alternative Non-Employment Benefits: An Agent-Based Computational Study

Dynamic Job Search and Match Model; Agent-Based Computational Experiments

Comparing air quality among Italy, Germany and Poland using BC indexes

In this paper we discuss air quality assessment in three Italian, German and Polish regions using the index methodology proposed in Bruno and Cocchi (2002, 2007). This analysis focuses first of all on the quality of the air in each of the countries being taken into consideration, and then adopts a more general approach in order to compare pollution severity and toxicity. This is interesting in a global European perspective where all countries are commonly involved in assessing air quality and taking proper measures for improving it. In this context, air quality indexes are a powerful data-driven tool which are easily calculated and summarize a complex phenomenon, such as air pollution, in indicators which are immediately understandable. In particular, the main objective of this work is to evaluate the index performances in distinguishing different air pollution patterns. This kind of analysis can be particularly useful, for example, in the perspective of constructing an indicator of air pollution. --