Although Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have found a niche in numerous applications, they are constrained by numerous factors. One of these important factors is security in WSNs. There are various types of security attacks that WSNs are susceptible to. The focus of this study is centred on Sybil attacks, a denial of service attack. In this type of attack, rogue nodes impersonate valid nodes by falsely claiming to possess authentic identities, thereby rendering numerous core WSN operations ineffective. The diverse nature of existing solutions poses a difficult problem for system engineers wanting to employ a best fit countermeasure. This problem is the largely unanswered question posed to all system engineers and developers alike whose goal is to design/develop a secure WSN. Resolving this dilemma proves to be quite a fascinating task, since there are numerous factors to consider and more especially one cannot assume that every application is affected by all identified factors. A framework methodology presented in this study addresses the abovementioned challenges by evaluating countermeasure effectiveness based on theoretical and practical security factors. Furthermore, a process is outlined to determine the application’s engineering requirements and the framework also suggests what security components the system engineer ought to incorporate into the application, depending on the application’s risk profile. The framework then numerically aligns these considerations, ensuring an accurate and fairly unbiased best fit countermeasure selection. Although the framework concentrates on Sybil countermeasures, the methodology can be applied to other classes of countermeasures since it answers the question of how to objectively study and compare security mechanisms that are both diverse and intended for different application environments. The report documents the design and development of a comparative framework that can be used to evaluate countermeasures against Sybil attacks in wireless sensor networks based on various criteria that will be discussed in detail. This report looks briefly at the aims and description of the research. Following this, a literature survey on the body of knowledge concerning WSN security and a discussion on the proposed methodology of a specific design approach are given. Assumptions and a short list of factors that were considered are then described. Metrics, the taxonomy for WSN countermeasures, the framework and a formal model are developed. Risk analysis and the best fit methodology are also discussed. Finally, the results and recommendations are shown for the research, after which the document is concluded. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering / unrestricted

There are a myriad of risk factors for surgical mortality, intraoperative and postoperative complications, and prolonged length of stay. Effectively identifying possible risk factors in the preoperative patient profiles that may impact the outcome of elective open intestinal resection has significant implications on the quality of care, the safe delivery of surgical care, and the speedy recovery of patients undergoing elective open intestinal resection. Few studies specifically focused on the construction of individual preoperative patient risk profile used only preoperative patient profiles in elective open intestinal resection. A retrospective cohort predictive study was conducted to assess the impact of preoperative patient profiles on surgical outcomes in patients undergoing elective open intestinal resection using 2009-2011 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) databases. This study aimed to identify independent predictors in the preoperative patient profiles for the development of preoperative patient risk profiling tool for the construction of an individual preoperative patient risk profile for risk stratification, surgical planning, and care coordination for patients undergoing elective open intestinal resection. The results of this study showed that independent predictors in the preoperative patient profiles could predict the risks of increased adverse surgical outcomes in terms of in-hospital mortality, in-hospital complications, and prolonged length of stay in patients undergoing elective open intestinal resection. Independent predictors of increased adverse surgical outcomes were identified in the personal domain, the social history domain, and the comorbidity domain of preoperative patient profiles. In the personal domain profile, advanced age was an independent predictor of increased in-hospital mortality, prolonged length of stay (LOS), and six of the eight categories of in-hospital complications studied, except mechanical wound complications and infection complications. The 18 to 39 age group was more likely to develop the latter two complications. Male gender was an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality, prolonged LOS, and six of the eight in-hospital complications except intraoperative complication and systemic complications. Asian/Pacific Islanders were more likely to have intraoperative bleeding complication while black patients were more likely to have gastrointestinal complications and prolonged LOS compared to white patients. In the social history domain profile, patients with alcohol abuse were more likely to suffer pulmonary complications and have prolonged LOS. Patients with illicit drug abuse were more likely to have prolonged LOS as well. Four comorbidities, fluid and electrolyte disorders, weight loss, coagulopathy, and congestive heart failure, were identified as the strongest independent predictors of increased adverse surgical outcomes overall, except in the cardiovascular complications. Pulmonary circulation disorders were the strongest independent predictors of cardiovascular complications. Other comorbidities that were statistically significant and unique predictors of adverse outcomes were also identified. Patients without comorbidity were less likely to have increased in-hospital mortality, prolonged LOS, and in-hospital complications. These findings have significant implications in developing preoperative patient risk profiling tools for the construction of an individual preoperative patient risk profile for risk stratification, surgical planning, and care coordination in patients undergoing elective open intestinal resection.

With robo-advisors and regulation eventually changing the market conditions of thefinancial advisory industry, traditional advisors will have to adapt to a new world of asset management. Thus, it will be of interest to traditional advisors to further explore the topic of how to automatically evaluate soft aspects such as client preferences and behavior, and transform it into portfolio allocations while retaining stringency and high quality in the process. In this thesis, we show how client preferences and behavioral aspects can be translated into quantitative parameters, suitable for an asset allocation model based on prospect theory. A risk profiler, a type of questionnaire, is found to be an appropriate tool to use in this process. Further, we show that the impact of the parameters on the resulting portfolio allocations is consistent with prospect theory and the preferences of the investor. Finally, we conclude that the optimized portfolio allocation generated by the model suit the investor's preferences. / Allteftersom robotrådgivning och regleringar förändrar marknadsvillkoren för finansiellrådgivning kommer traditionella aktörer behöva anpassa sig till helt nya förutsättningar. Därmed är det av intresse för traditionella rådgivare att ytterligare undersöka hur man automatiskt kan utvärdera mjuka faktorer, såsom kunders preferenser och beteende, och omvandla dem till portföljallokeringar samtidigt som man bibehåller stringens och hög kvalitet i processen. I denna avhandling visar vi hur kundpreferenser och beteendemässiga aspekter kan översättas till kvantitativa parametrar för en allokeringsmodell baserad på prospektteori. En riskprofilerare, en typ av frågeformulär, visar sig vara ett bra verktyg att använda i processen. Vidare visas att parametrarnas effekt på de resulterande portföljerna är förenliga med prospektteori och investerarens preferenser. Slutligen drar vi slutsatsen att den optimerade allokeringen passar investerarens preferenser.

<p>This thesis explores and explains the existence of a best practice model to optimise the transfer of funds (&ldquo / the transfer funding process&rdquo / ) between funders and service providers in the public sector. Using ideas about best practice in a specific context, the Health environment, it investigates the perceptions of managers about the transfer of funds between the Provincial Government of the Western Cape and the Local Authority of the City of Cape Town, the existence of a formula that will indicate appropriate amounts to transfer to service providers, and how information systems might assist with the process and the formula.</p>

<p>This thesis explores and explains the existence of a best practice model to optimise the transfer of funds (&ldquo / the transfer funding process&rdquo / ) between funders and service providers in the public sector. Using ideas about best practice in a specific context, the Health environment, it investigates the perceptions of managers about the transfer of funds between the Provincial Government of the Western Cape and the Local Authority of the City of Cape Town, the existence of a formula that will indicate appropriate amounts to transfer to service providers, and how information systems might assist with the process and the formula.</p>

Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / This thesis explores and explains the existence of a best practice model to optimise the transfer of funds (the transfer funding process) between funders and service providers in the public sector. Using ideas about best practice in a specific context, the Health environment, it investigates the perceptions of managers about the transfer of funds between the Provincial Government of the Western Cape and the Local Authority of the City of Cape Town, the existence of a formula that will indicate appropriate amounts to transfer to service providers, and how information systems might assist with the process and the formula. / South Africa