Cryptography: Beyond Computer Crime

Abstract

Information systems security designers are always looking for ways to increase both risk mitigation and reliability in their system designs. Hence, the use of multiple firewalls in security and reliability enhancing topologies is a natural evolution and is rapidly gaining in popularity.     

Design of a novel flat-plate photobioreactor system for green algal hydrogen production

Some green microalgae have the ability to harness sunlight to photosynthetically produce molecular hydrogen from water. This renewable, carbon-neutral process has the additional benefit of sequestering carbon dioxide and accumulating biomass during the algal growth phase. We document the details of a novel one-litre vertical flat-plate photobioreactor that has been designed to facilitate green algal hydrogen production at the laboratory scale. Coherent, non-heating illumination is provided by a panel of cool-white light-emitting diodes. The reactor body consists of two compartments constructed from transparent polymethyl methacrylate sheets. The primary compartment holds the algal culture, which is agitated by means of a recirculating gas-lift. The secondary compartment is used to control the temperature of the system and the wavelength of radiation. The reactor is fitted with probe sensors that monitor the pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature and optical thickness of the algal culture. A membrane-inlet mass spectrometry system has been developed and incorporated into the reactor for dissolved hydrogen measurement and collection. The reactor is hydrogen-tight, modular and fully autoclaveable.     

The effect of the Corynebacterium glutamicum on the shortening of fermentation time,physicochemical and sensory properties of soy sauce

This study for the first time explores the possibility of using Corynebacterium glutamicum Ⅲ (C. glutamicum) to shorten the soy sauce fermentation period without compromising product quality. C. glutamicum was added to soy sauce that had been fermented with Aspergillus oryzae for 30 days (SS30) to initiate a further 3-day fermentation (yielding SS33). The 3-day fermentation exerted similar impacts on SS30 as the standard fermentation for further 60 days (yielding SS90): that is, increased the contents of total nitrogen, total free amino acids (FAAs), umami FAAs, acids, esters, ketones, furans and sulphur-containing compounds, whilst decreasing the contents of alcohols and phenols. This explained the similarities in taste, aroma and overall liking between SS33 and SS90. The SS90 was the darkest among the three soy sauces. Compared with SS90, SS33 was less salty and smoky, more umami and kokumi, softer and more mellow, higher overall liking, with more 0.5–1 kDa peptides and fewer peptides <0.5 kDa. Therefore, a 3-day fermentation with C. glutamicum after an initial 30 days of a normal soy sauce fermentation represents a simple and effective way to shorten the soy sauce production time from 90 to 33 days whilst increasing greatly the umami taste and mellow sensation. This approach enhances product competitiveness via lowering manufacturing cost.     

Actinide breeding and reactivity variation in a thermal spectrum ADSR – Part 2: Enhanced sustainability in the thermal spectrum

For more sustainable nuclear power to be realised improvements will be needed in the efficiency with which energy is derived from the remaining finite uranium reserves, while at the same time delivering reductions in the quantities of long-lived actinides contained within the spent fuel. The use of fast reactors to achieve this is the subject of renewed interest due to their beneficial capability to both burn and breed transuranic actinides. However, fast reactors have a mixed track record and have never been deployed in significant numbers despite considerable investment in the development of the technology over many years. In light of these difficulties, future advances in nuclear technology may be more readily realised through enhancements to the existing, well proven light water reactor (LWR) technology base.     

Firm orientation,community of practice,and Internet-enabled interfirm communication: Evidence from Chinese firms

What motivates firms to develop Internet-enabled interfirm communication? We draw upon the work of Alavi et al. (2005–2006) and propose that the use of the Internet in interfirm communication is influenced by a firm’s firm orientation and its internal communities of practice. Based on data collected from 307 international trade firms in the Beijing area, we find that Internet-enabled interfirm communication is directly driven by internal community of practices and customer orientation, and indirectly by competitor orientation and learning orientation. The internal community of practice is affected by learning orientation and competitor orientation, but not by customer orientation. The present study contributes to the literature by providing empirical investigation on firm’s strategic communications from the perspective of firm orientations, delineating how different firm orientations vary in impacting firm’s strategic communications, and exploring the bridging effect of communities of practices on the influences of firm orientations on knowledge management initiatives.