Dealing with diversity in computational cancer modeling.

This paper discusses the need for interconnecting computational cancer models from different sources and scales within clinically relevant scenarios to increase the accuracy of the models and speed up their clinical adaptation, validation, and eventual translation. We briefly review current interoperability efforts drawing upon our experiences with the development of in silico models for predictive oncology within a number of European Commission Virtual Physiological Human initiative projects on cancer. A clinically relevant scenario, addressing brain tumor modeling that illustrates the need for coupling models from different sources and levels of complexity, is described. General approaches to enabling interoperability using XML-based markup languages for biological modeling are reviewed, concluding with a discussion on efforts towards developing cancer-specific XML markup to couple multiple component models for predictive in silico oncology

SPIDER: A platform for managing SIP-based Spam over Internet Telephony (SPIT)

The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) has become the first widely adopted protocol for managing IP-based telephony, video, and multimedia sessions. SIP advertises a contact point of an individual to the Web. This contact point, similar to an e-mail address, can be exploited for spam purposes. Spam over Internet Telephony, also called SPIT, in general denotes any bulk unsolicited information sent to any potential calling-end of a VoIP infrastructure. Even though SPIT is a new concept, it is more reasonable to address this problem right now, rather than waiting until the problem prevails. To mitigate SPIT, adequate technical countermeasures are required. The solution space may expand to nontechnical ones, as well. In this paper, we propose the SPIDER (SPam over Internet telephony Detection sERvice) platform, a modular and efficient system for fighting SPIT. SPIDER orchestrates several discrete modules that parse, analyze, process, and classify incoming SIP call requests. We discuss technical design details of the individual modules, that this platform consists of; then, we present how these modules are combined to support accurate decisions for any incoming SIP call being legitimate or not. Furthermore, we include a comprehensive evaluation scenario, which refers to the tests performed on the individual modules and on the integrated platform. Evaluation results indicate that the overall architecture manages to identify SPIT calls with low false ratio by using reasonable processing resources and tolerable decision time

Preservation of Martian Organic and Environmental Records: Final Report of the Mars Biosignature Working Group

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) has an instrument package capable of making measurements of past and present environmental conditions. The data generated may tell us if Mars is, or ever was, able to support life. However, the knowledge of Mars' past history and the geological processes most likely to preserve a record of that history remain sparse and, in some instances, ambiguous. Physical, chemical, and geological processes relevant to biosignature preservation on Earth, especially under conditions early in its history when microbial life predominated, are also imperfectly known. Here, we present the report of a working group chartered by the Co-Chairs of NASA's MSL Project Science Group, John P. Grotzinger and Michael A. Meyer, to review and evaluate potential for biosignature formation and preservation on Mars. Orbital images confirm that layered rocks achieved kilometer-scale thicknesses in some regions of ancient Mars. Clearly, interplays of sedimentation and erosional processes govern present-day exposures, and our understanding of these processes is incomplete. MSL can document and evaluate patterns of stratigraphic development as well as the sources of layered materials and their subsequent diagenesis. It can also document other potential biosignature repositories such as hydrothermal environments. These capabilities offer an unprecedented opportunity to decipher key aspects of the environmental evolution of Mars' early surface and aspects of the diagenetic processes that have operated since that time. Considering the MSL instrument payload package, we identified the following classes of biosignatures as within the MSL detection window: organism morphologies (cells, body fossils, casts), biofabrics (including microbial mats), diagnostic organic molecules, isotopic signatures, evidence of biomineralization and bioalteration, spatial patterns in chemistry, and biogenic gases. Of these, biogenic organic molecules and biogenic atmospheric gases are considered the most definitive and most readily detectable by MSL. Key Words: Astrobiology—Atmospheric gases—Mars—Biosignatures—Life detection. Astrobiology 11, 157–181