Abstract

A key advantage of Autonomic Computing Systems will be their ability to manage according to business policies. A key challenge to realizing this ability is the problem of automatically translating high-level business policies into low-level system tuning policies, which is the result of the different semantics used at the two levels. Economic models, which are expressed using business level concepts, have been used successfully in computer resource allocation problems. In this paper, we utilize an economic model to map business policies to resource allocation decisions in a database management system (DBMS). We focus on business policies that describe the relative importance of competing workloads on a DBMS. We present experiments with a simulation of the model that investigate a number of meanings of importance and identify how this additional information can be used to effectively allocate main memory resources in a commercial DBMS. 1

Projecting the impact of climate change on the transmission of Ross River virus: methodological challenges and research needs

Ross River virus (RRV) is the most common vector-borne disease in Australia. It is vitally important to make appropriate projections on the future spread of RRV under various climate change scenarios because such information is essential for policy-makers to identify vulnerable communities and to better manage RRV epidemics. However, there are many methodological challenges in projecting the impact of climate change on the transmission of RRV disease. This study critically examined the methodological issues and proposed possible solutions. A literature search was conducted between January and October 2012, using the electronic databases Medline, Web of Science and PubMed. Nineteen relevant papers were identified. These studies demonstrate that key challenges for projecting future climate change on RRV disease include: (1) a complex ecology (e.g. many mosquito vectors, immunity, heterogeneous in both time and space); (2) unclear interactions between social and environmental factors; and (3) uncertainty in climate change modelling and socioeconomic development scenarios. Future risk assessments of climate change will ultimately need to better understand the ecology of RRV disease and to integrate climate change scenarios with local socioeconomic and environmental factors, in order to develop effective adaptation strategies to prevent or reduce RRV transmission

The risk of Ross River and Barmah Forest virus disease in Queensland: Implications for New Zealand

Objectives: To describe the incidence of Ross River (RR) and Barmah Forest (BF) virus disease in Queensland and determine the risk of importation of RR virus from Queensland into New Zealand (NZ) via viraemic travellers. Methods: Based on routine RR and BF virus notification data of seven major urban tropical and subtropical Queensland populations, incidence rates adjusted for age, sex, season and a baseline level of immunity were used to examine the annual and seasonal risk of disease in the specific populations and selected subgroups. The risk for NZ was determined by estimating the number of infections among major visitor groups travelling from Queensland to NZ, using seroconversion rates. Results: In Queensland, annual rates of RR and BF virus disease ranged between 31.5-288.3 and 3.4-37.4/100,000 person years respectively and increased to between 48.4-423.5 and 3.8-40.4/100,000 person years at risk when adjusted for immunity. Our estimates indicate that more than 100 viraemic travellers may enter NZ from Queensland each year. Estimates were greatest among New Zealanders returning home. Conclusions and implications: Usefulness of notification data could be maximised by presenting more detailed information to the local governments responsible for the control and public health awareness of these pathogens. Given the high number of viraemic persons entering NZ, the abudance of possums and the emergence of Oc. camptorhynchus, transmission of RR virus within NZ is probable. Health authorities should prepare for a virgin soil epidemic of RR virus by initiating serological and clinical surveillance in key areas, enhance public and professional awareness and elevate national resources necessary to invoke emergency vector control and case management