A fuzzy outranking approach in risk analysis of web service security

Risk analysis is considered as an important process to identify the known and potential vulnerabilities and threats in the web services security. It is quite difficult for users to collect adequate events to estimate the full vulnerabilities and probability of threats in the Web, due to the rapid change of the malicious attacks and the new computer’s vulnerabilities. In this paper, a fuzzy risk assessment model is developed in order to evaluate the risk of web services in a situation where complete information is not available. The proposed model extends Pseudo-Order Preference Model (POPM) to estimate the imprecise risk based on richness of information and to determine their ranking using a weighted additive rule. A case study of a number of web services is presented in order to test the proposed approach.

Will Agroforests Vanish? The Case of Damar Agroforests in Indonesia

Resin producing agroforestry in the Krui area of Sumatra in Indonesia is presented as an environmentally friendly, income generating land-use system which contributes to both development and conservation objectives. We studied the change in household income portfolios in three communities in the Krui area. The studies revealed that in the period 1995–2004 agroforestry remained the main source of income. We predict, however, that due to declining resin productivity per hectare, and rising price and demand for timber, an increasing number of farmers will cut their mature agroforests in the near future. At the same time our data suggests that farmers will continue tree planting activities. In result old agroforests may vanish while new ones will be established.

Leitlinien zur molekulargenetischen Diagnostik: Fragiles-X und Fragiles-X assoziiertes Tremor/Ataxie Syndrom

Ohne Zusammenfassung

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Individual variability of behavioural responses by Wandering Albatrosses (Diomedea exulans) to human disturbance

Sub-Antarctic Marion Island has had a permanent research station for 50 years and the islands Wandering Albatrosses have been intensively studied for 20 years. The reactions of breeding birds to approaches by a human on foot were recorded. Three response variables were calculated: intensity of vocal reaction (IVR), intensity of non-vocal reaction (INR) and overall response index (ORI). At 5 m from the nest, twice as many birds stood and/or vocalised as at 15 m. Nearest neighbour distance, age and gender did not explain individual variability of responses. Study colony birds had higher IVR scores than non-study colony birds; birds at colonies closest to the station had the highest ORI scores. A better breeding record was associated with lower IVR and ORI scores, but a causative relationship remains to be demonstrated. A minimum viewing distance of 25 m is recommended for breeding Wandering Albatrosses.

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Metabolic activity interferometer: description and calibration of an interferometric method to measure growth of mycobacteria

An interferometer that measures the refractive index changes due to bacterial metabolism is described. The apparatus permits simultaneous and real time measurement of bacterial growth in several samples of slowly growing mycobacteria. The error sources are discussed and the sensitivity of the apparatus is tested. For the species Mycobacterium bovis BCG and M. smegmatis, a relation between refractive index change and bacterial concentration is determined experimentally and the time constant of bacterial growth is measured.

Individual optimization efforts and population dynamics: a mathematical model for the evolution of resource allocation strategies, with applications to reproductive and mating systems

We develop a formal framework for the optimal allocation of limited resources that includes and clarifies the interplay between individual optimization and the resulting effects at the population level. As an example, in regard to the evolution of sexual recombination, the paradox of the twofold cost of sex is avoided by distinguishing between the evolution of recombination and the subsequent emergence and stability of different mating types as a result of individual optimization within a population that benefits from recombination.

Hennigian Phylogenetic Systematics and the ‘Groundplan’ vs. ‘Post-Groundplan’ Approaches: A Reply to Kukalová-Peck

The recent contribution by Jarmila Kukalová-Peck on Hennigian phylogenetics and hexapod limb evolution is critically evaluated.

1000 islands: an integrated approach to resource management for virtualized data centers

Recent advances in hardware and software virtualization offer unprecedented management capabilities for the mapping of virtual resources to physical resources. It is highly desirable to further create a “service hosting abstraction” that allows application owners to focus on service level objectives (SLOs) for their applications. This calls for a resource management solution that achieves the SLOs for many applications in response to changing data center conditions and hides the complexity from both application owners and data center operators. In this paper, we describe an automated capacity and workload management system that integrates multiple resource controllers at three different scopes and time scales. Simulation and experimental results confirm that such an integrated solution ensures efficient and effective use of data center resources while reducing service level violations for high priority applications.

Is it a revolution?

Jablonka and Lamb's claim that evolutionary biology is undergoing a ‘revolution’ is queried. But the very concept of revolutionary change has uncertain application to a field organized in the manner of contemporary biology. The explanatory primacy of sequence properties is also discussed.

Gridcast—a next generation broadcast infrastructure?

Gridcast is an R&D project investigating grid ideas and technologies in the broadcasting technical infrastructure. In this paper I discuss the business and technical issues in building infrastructures to support broadcasters and outline the structure of the Gridcast grid-based service oriented architecture for broadcasting playout support.

Hierarchical analysis of piecewise affine models of gene regulatory networks

A key point in the analysis of dynamical models of biological systems is to handle systems of relatively high dimensions. In the present paper we propose a method to hierarchically organize a certain type of piecewise affine (PWA) differential systems. This specific class of systems has been extensively studied for the past few years, as it provides a good framework to model gene regulatory networks. The method, shown on several examples, allows a qualitative analysis of the asymptotic behavior of a PWA system, decomposing it into several smaller subsystems. This technique, based on the well-known strongly connected components decomposition, is not new. However, its adaptation to the non-smooth PWA differential equations turns out to be quite relevant because of the strong discrete structure underlying these equations. Its biological relevance is shown on a 7-dimensional PWA system modeling the gene network responsible for the carbon starvation response in Escherichia coli.

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Causal Explanation of Indonesian Forest Fires: Concepts, Applications, and Research Priorities

Problems with studies, claims, and assumptions that have been made about the causes of fires in Indonesia's tropical moist forests are identified, and the kinds of concepts, methods, prioritizing, and data needed to resolve the problems are discussed. Separate sections are devoted to studying ignitions, studying fire susceptibility and fire behavior, and using the goal of causal explanation to guide interdisciplinary research.

Sources of organic matter and methylmercury in littoral macroinvertebrates: a stable isotope approach

The main objective of this study was to assess organic matter (OM) and methylmercury (MeHg) sources for freshwater littoral macroinvertebrate primary consumers. The carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios (δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N) of sources (epiphytes, macrophytes, suspended particulate matter _SPM) and of macroinvertebrate consumers were measured in a fluvial lake with extensive macrophyte beds (emergent and submerged). To determine the relative contribution of each OM source to macroinvertebrate diets we used the IsoSource model that examines all possible combinations of solutions for each source. Total and MeHg concentrations of consumers were also measured. Results show that epiphytes and macrophytes are dominant in the diet of macroinvertebrates, especially in early summer (July). In mid-summer (August), SPM constitutes a non-negligible OM source to the primary consumers. Hg concentrations were higher in epiphytes than in the other OM sources. The proportion of epiphytes in macroinvertebrate diet was positively correlated with the percentage of MeHg in their tissues. There was no relationship between SPM assimilation and Hg concentration in macroinvertebrate consumers. These results suggest that epiphytes and macrophytes constitute the main pathway of Hg bioaccumulation in littoral food webs.

Risk-aware limited lookahead control for dynamic resource provisioning in enterprise computing systems

Utility or on-demand computing, a provisioning model where a service provider makes computing infrastructure available to customers as needed, is becoming increasingly common in enterprise computing systems. Realizing this model requires making dynamic, and sometimes risky, resource provisioning and allocation decisions in an uncertain operating environment to maximize revenue while reducing operating cost. This paper develops an optimization framework wherein the resource provisioning problem is posed as one of sequential decision making under uncertainty and solved using a limited lookahead control scheme. The proposed approach accounts for the switching costs incurred during resource provisioning and explicitly encodes risk in the optimization problem. Simulations using workload traces from the Soccer World Cup 1998 web site show that a computing system managed by our controller generates up to 20% more profit than a system without dynamic control while incurring low control overhead.

Language processing with dynamic fields

We construct a mapping from complex recursive linguistic data structures to spherical wave functions using Smolensky’s filler/role bindings and tensor product representations. Syntactic language processing is then described by the transient evolution of these spherical patterns whose amplitudes are governed by nonlinear order parameter equations. Implications of the model in terms of brain wave dynamics are indicated. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi: ) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The design of a novel context-aware policy model to support machine-based learning and reasoning

The purpose of autonomic networking is to manage the business and technical complexity of networked components and systems. However, the lack of a common lingua franca makes it impossible to use vendor-specific network management data to ascertain the state of the network at any given time. Furthermore, the tools used to analyze management data are all different, and hence require different data in different formats. This complicates the construction of context from diverse information sources. This paper describes a new version of the DEN-ng context-aware policy model, which is part of the FOCALE autonomic network architecture. This model has been built using three guiding principles: (1) both the context model and the policy model are rooted in information models, so that they can govern managed entities, (2) each model is expressly constructed to facilitate the generation of ontologies, so that reasoning about policies constructed from the model may be done, and (3) the model is expressly constructed so that a policy language that supports machine-based reasoning and learning can be developed from it.

Anthropogenic impacts to coral reefs in Palau,western Micronesia during the Late Holocene

The Palauan archipelago contains one of the most ecologically diverse coral reef systems in the Indo-Pacific that was as attractive for humans prehistorically as it is today. New evidence is emerging that during the past few thousand years there has been increasing exploitation of coral reef resources, particularly finfish and mollusks, leading to a decline in taxa numbers, richness, and diversity in various locales. This paper examines the historical interactions between human populations and coral reef ecologies in Palau by combining known archaeological data and results from modern biological data of different reef fauna. The integration of these data sources provides a framework for attempting to explain variations in taxa composition between islands in the archipelago and how this may relate to human exploitation or other phenomena through time. By using this perspective to link past events with present-day conditions, we can gain a better sense of the extent to which anthropogenic changes may have affected island environments in western Micronesia during the Late Holocene. The study also illustrates the many difficulties researchers face in attempting to synthesize and explain past and present human predation behavior when using disparate sources of data.