Implications of security mechanisms and service level agreements (SLAs) of platform as a service (PaaS) clouds for geoprocessing services

Cloud computing is an emerging computing paradigm aimed at running services over the internet to provide scalability and flexibility. The advantages in using the cloud for start‐up and small businesses that lack infrastructure have been shown to far outweigh the disadvantages. Cloud platform services, also known as Platform as a Service (PaaS), provide a computing platform or solution stack on which software can be developed for later deployment in a cloud. However, there are a number of security challenges because users of the cloud have to rely on third party companies to provide confidentiality, integrity and availability. Geoprocessing is the manipulation of geographic information, ranging from simple feature overlays and geocoding to raster processing and advanced climate modelling. The Open Geospatial Consortium’s (OGC) Web Processing Service (WPS) defines a standardized interface that facilitates the publishing of geospatial processes. Parallelization and distribution of geoprocessing services have received much attention lately, including running them in a cloud. However, work on the security aspects of geoprocessing in a cloud is limited. In this paper, we anaylse security mechanisms and Service Level Agreements (SLA) of PaaS clouds and present results of experiments run in the PaaS clouds. The implications of these results for the development of geoprocessing services in a PaaS cloud are discussed. Finally, recommendations for future work are presented.The South African Department of Trade and Industryhttp://www.springerlink.com/content/1866-9298

Plant Carbonic Anhydrases: Structures, Locations, Evolution, and Physiological Roles

© 2017 The Authors Carbonic anhydrases (CAs) are zinc metalloenzymes that catalyze the interconversion of CO2 and HCO3− and are ubiquitous in nature. Higher plants contain three evolutionarily distinct CA families, αCAs, βCAs, and γCAs, where each family is represented by multiple isoforms in all species. Alternative splicing of CA transcripts appears common; consequently, the number of functional CA isoforms in a species may exceed the number of genes. CAs are expressed in numerous plant tissues and in different cellular locations. The most prevalent CAs are those in the chloroplast, cytosol, and mitochondria. This diversity in location is paralleled in the many physiological and biochemical roles that CAs play in plants. In this review, the number and types of CAs in C3, C4, and crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plants are considered, and the roles of the α and γCAs are briefly discussed. The remainder of the review focuses on plant βCAs and includes the identification of homologs between species using phylogenetic approaches, a consideration of the inter- and intracellular localization of the proteins, along with the evidence for alternative splice forms. Current understanding of βCA tissue-specific expression patterns and what controls them are reviewed, and the physiological roles for which βCAs have been implicated are presented

Darwin’s Other Dilemmas and the Theoretical Roots of Emotional Connection

Modern scientific theories of emotional behavior, almost without exception, trace their origin to Charles Darwin, and his publications On the Origin of Species (1859) and The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872). The most famous dilemma Darwin acknowledged as a challenge to his theory of evolution through natural selection was the incomplete Sub-Cambrian fossil record. However, Darwin struggled with two other rarely referenced theoretical and scientific dilemmas that confounded his theories about emotional behavior. These included (1) the origin of social instincts (e.g., altruism, empathy, reciprocity and cooperation) and the reasons for their conservation in evolution and (2) the peripheral control of heart rate vis-à-vis emotional behavior outside of consciousness. Darwin acknowledged that social instincts are critical to the survival of some species, but had difficulty aligning them with his theory of natural selection in humans. Darwin eventually proposed that heart rate and emotions are controlled via one’s intellect and cortical mechanisms, and that instinctive behavior is genetically programmed and inherited. Despite ongoing efforts, these two theoretical dilemmas are debated to this day. Simple testable hypotheses have yet to emerge for the biological mechanisms underlying instinctive behavior or the way heart rate is controlled in infants. In this paper, we review attempts to resolve these issues over the past 160 years. We posit that research and theories that supported Darwin’s individualistic brain-centric and genetic model have become an “orthodox” Western view of emotional behavior, one that produced the prevailing behavioral construct of attachment as developed by John Bowlby. We trace research and theories that challenged this orthodoxy at various times, and show how these challenges were repeatedly overlooked, rejected, or misinterpreted. We review two new testable theories, emotional connection theory and calming cycle theory, which we argue resolve the two dilemmas We show emerging scientific evidence from physiology and a wide variety of other fields, as well from clinical trials among prematurely born infants, that supports the two theories. Clinical implications of the new theories and possible new ways to assess risk and intervene in emotional, behavioral and developmental disorders are discussed

Using Multiple-Choice Questions to Assess Student Acquisition of Scientific Inquiry Skills and Enhance Laboratory Design and Outcomes

Science laboratory programs are used to develop student inquiry skills. We examined whether multiple-choice questions (MCQs) could provide information on the acquisition of these skills in a one semester, level 2 Biochemistry laboratory program. Each student answered 40 MCQs, comprised of 18 comprehension, 10 quantitative problem solving, and 12 analytical skills questions. We found no significant difference in the percentage mark for comprehension (78% ±12, mean ± standard deviation) and quantitative questions (78% ±17). However, the average mark for questions requiring analytical skills (61% ±13) was significantly (

Structure and mechanism of the iron‐sulfur flavoprotein phthalate dioxygenase reductase

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154520/1/fsb2009014006.pd

The Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle in C4 and Crassulacean acid metabolism species

The Calvin-Benson-Bassham (CBB) cycle is the ancestral CO assimilation pathway and is found in all photosynthetic organisms. Biochemical extensions to the CBB cycle have evolved that allow the resulting pathways to act as CO concentrating mechanisms, either spatially in the case of C photosynthesis or temporally in the case of Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM). While the biochemical steps in the C and CAM pathways are known, questions remain on their integration and regulation with CBB cycle activity. The application of omic and transgenic technologies is providing a more complete understanding of the biochemistry of C and CAM species and will also provide insight into the CBB cycle in these plants. As the global population increases, new solutions are required to increase crop yields and meet demands for food and other bioproducts. Previous work in C species has shown that increasing carbon assimilation through genetic manipulation of the CBB cycle can increase biomass and yield. There may also be options to improve photosynthesis in species using C photosynthesis and CAM through manipulation of the CBB cycle in these plants. This is an underexplored strategy and requires more basic knowledge of CBB cycle operation in these species to enable approaches for increased productivity. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.