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Introduction/purpose Reliability and availability are important especially for military, medical, and other professional equipment. Reliability and availability management and/or prognostic reliability calculations have always been data driven. This article focuses on the analysis of the data impact on reliability and availability. Methods: This research is based mostly on the articles published by the author of this work as well as on some other papers. Results: This paper results in a discussion on the definition of the data-driven concept, preceded by brief definitions of reliability and availability, and followed by the analysis of the main impacts of uncertain data on prognostic reliability calculations as well as by reliability and availability of data used in reliability calculations. Conclusions: Reliability and availability are still very important. Reliability and availability have always been data driven while valid and relevant data have always been the main problem. Without good data, prognostic reliability is useless in spite of a good reliability model.

Wireless networking increases the flexibility in the home, work place and community to connect to the Internet without being tied to a single location. Wireless networking has rapidly increased in popularity over recent years. There has also been a change in the use of the internet by users. Home users have embraced wireless technology and businesses see it as having a great impact on their operational efficiency. Both home users and industry are sending increasingly sensitive information through these wireless networks as online delivery of banking, commercial and governmental services becomes more widespread. However undeniable the benefits of wireless networking are, there are additional risks that do not exist in wired networks. It is imperative that adequate assessment and management of risk is undertaken by businesses and home users. This paper reviews wireless network protocols, investigates issues of reliability, availability and security when using wireless networks. The paper, by use of a case study, illustrates the issues and importance of implementing secured wireless networks, and shows the significance of the issue. The paper presents a discussion of the case study and a set of recommendations to mitigate the threat.

In this section a sample of interesting cases is provided to illustrate the problems involved when attempting to judge the reliability of Cuban statistics. The paper does not attempt to cover all the existing difficulties nor to offer final answers to some of the intriguing puzzles discussed. Yet the process of describing these statistical abnormalities occasionally clarifies the way in the search for truthful figures. The eight reconstructed tables included in this section do not have to be taken as absolutely reliable, but at least they offer a ten-year perspective (1957-66) of the most credible statistics available. The fact that this section has a negative approach should not lead the reader to the conclusion that all Cuban statistics are purposely misleading. Examples of accurate data are given when dealing with foreign trade, for instance. In some cases of erroneous data, the fault lies with the flaws in the system, including those detailed in the two previous sections. In other cases figures are deliberate misrepresentations. The author's ultimate objectives in this section are to alert the researcher to the frequent difficulties he will encounter when working with Cuban data, and to suggest criteria for selecting the more accurate figures from the Cuban statistical tangle.