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

Photosynthesis at an extreme end of the leaf trait spectrum: how does it relate to high leaf dry mass per area and associated structural parameters?

Leaf dry mass per area (LMA) is a composite parameter relating to a suite of structural traits that have the potential to influence photosynthesis. However, the extent to which each of these traits contributes to variation in LMA and photosynthetic rates is not well understood, especially at the high end of the LMA spectrum. In this study, the genus Banksia (Proteaceae) was chosen as a model group, and key structural traits such as LMA, leaf thickness, and density were measured in 49 species. Based on the leaf trait variation obtained, a subset of 18 species displaying a wide range in LMA of 134–507 g m−2 was selected for analyses of relationships between leaf structural and photosynthetic characteristics. High LMA was associated with more structural tissue, lower mass-based chlorophyll and nitrogen concentrations, and therefore lower mass-based photosynthesis. In contrast, area-based photosynthesis did not correlate with LMA, despite mesophyll volume per area increasing with increases in LMA. Photosynthetic rate per unit mesophyll volume declined with increasing LMA, which is possibly associated with structural limitations and, to a lesser extent, with lower nitrogen allocation. Mesophyll cell wall thickness significantly increased with LMA, which would contribute to lower mesophyll conductance at high LMA. Photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency and the nitrogen allocation to Rubisco and thylakoids tended to decrease at high LMA. The interplay between anatomy and physiology renders area-based photosynthesis independent of LMA in Banksia species

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

Damage Detection and Verification System (DDVS) for In-Situ Health Monitoring

Project presentation for Game Changing Program Smart Book Release. Detection and Verification System (DDVS) expands the Flat Surface Damage Detection System (FSDDS) sensory panels damage detection capabilities and includes an autonomous inspection capability utilizing cameras and dynamic computer vision algorithms to verify system health. Objectives of this formulation task are to establish the concept of operations, formulate the system requirements for a potential ISS flight experiment, and develop a preliminary design of an autonomous inspection capability system that will be demonstrated as a proof-of-concept ground based damage detection and inspection system

A novel adenovirus of Western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla)

Adenoviruses (AdV) broadly infect vertebrate hosts including a variety of primates. We identified a novel AdV in the feces of captive gorillas by isolation in cell culture, electron microscopy and PCR. From the supernatants of infected cultures we amplified DNA polymerase (DPOL), preterminal protein (pTP) and hexon gene sequences with generic pan primate AdV PCR assays. The sequences in-between were amplified by long-distance PCRs of 2 - 10 kb length, resulting in a final sequence of 15.6 kb. Phylogenetic analysis placed the novel gorilla AdV into a cluster of primate AdVs belonging to the species Human adenovirus B (HAdV-B). Depending on the analyzed gene, its position within the cluster was variable. To further elucidate its origin, feces samples of wild gorillas were analyzed. AdV hexon sequences were detected which are indicative for three distinct and novel gorilla HAdV-B viruses, among them a virus nearly identical to the novel AdV isolated from captive gorillas. This shows that the discovered virus is a member of a group of HAdV-B viruses that naturally infect gorillas. The mixed phylogenetic clusters of gorilla, chimpanzee, bonobo and human AdVs within the HAdV-B species indicate that host switches may have been a component of the evolution of human and non-human primate HAdV-B viruses