SSEM： Secure, Scalable and Efficient Multi-Owner Data Sharing in Clouds

Data sharing is a main application of cloud computing. Some existing solutions are proposed to provide flexible access control for outsourced data in the cloud. However, few attentions have been paid to group-oriented data sharing when multiple data owners want to share their private data for cooperative purposes. In this paper, we put forward a new paradigm, referred to as secure, scalable and efficient multi-owner(SSEM) data sharing in clouds. The SSEM integrates identity-based encryption and asymmetric group key agreement to enable group-oriented access control for data owners in a many-to-many sharing pattern. Moreover, with SSEM, users can join in or leave from the group conveniently with the privacy of both group data and user data.We proposed the key-ciphertext homomorphism technique to construct an SSEM scheme with short ciphertexts. The security analysis shows that our SSEM scheme achieves data security against unauthorized accesses and collusion attacks. Both theoretical and experimental results confirm that our proposed scheme takes users little costs to share and access outsourced data in a group manner.

Time effects of rice straw and engineered bacteria on reduction of exogenous Cu mobility in three typical Chinese soils

Globally,copper(Cu)accumulation in soils is a major environmental concern.Agricultural organic waste and some bacterial species can readily absorb metals in an eco-friendly manner,and thus are commonly used in metal-contaminated soil remediation.This study investigates the change in Cu fractions during the aging process and the time effects of rice straw(RS)and engineered bacteria(EB)(Pseudomonas putida X4/pIME)on reduction of Cu mobility.Three typical Chinese soils(red,cinnamon,and black soils)were incubated with RS or RS+EB in the presence of exogenous Cu for 24 months.The soil physicochemical properties,reactive soil components,Cu fractions,and Cu mobility were determined over time.The Cu mobility factor(MF)values were the lowest in the black soil(6.4-9.2)because of its high organic carbon and clay contents.The additions of both RS and RS+EB accelerated Cu stabilization during the aging process in all three soils.The Cu MF values decreased with time during the initial 20 months;however,the MF values increased thereafter in all soils,which might be due to the reduction of humic substances and amorphous iron oxides and the increase in iron oxides complexed on the organic matter.The reduction rates of Cu MF were similar after 16,24,and more than 24 months in the red,cinnamon,and black soils,respectively,indicating that RS and RS+EB could limit Cu mobility at different times in various soils.The RS treatment showed the greatest efficiency in reducing Cu mobility in the red,cinnamon,and black soils after 12,12,and 8 months of incubation,respectively.The RS+EB treatment was more efficient than the RS treatment in the red soil during the initial 8 months of the incubation period.Our study provides theoretical support for Cu risk assessments and RS supplementation for Cu remediation in different soils.

Biosorption mechanisms involved in immobilization of soil Pb by Bacillus subtilis DBM in a multi-metal-contaminated soil

Mechanisms of soil Pb immobilization by Bacillus subtilis DBM, a bacterial strain isolated from a heavy-metal-contaminated soil, were investigated. Adsorption and desorption experiments with living bacterial cells as well as dead cells revealed that both extracellular adsorption and intracellular accumulation were involved in the Pb2＋removal from the liquid phase. Of the sequestered Pb（II）, 8.5% was held by physical entrapment within the cell wall, 43.3% was held by ion-exchange, 9.7% was complexed with cell surface functional groups or precipitated on the cell surface, and 38.5% was intracellularly accumulated.Complexation of Pb2＋with carboxyl, hydroxyl, carbonyl, amido, and phosphate groups was demonstrated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic analysis. Precipitates of Pb5（PO4）3OH, Pb5（PO4）3Cl and Pb10（PO4）6（OH）2that formed on the cell surface during the biosorption process were identified by X-ray diffraction analysis. Transmission electron microscopy–energy dispersive spectroscopic analysis confirmed the presence of the Pb（II）precipitates and that Pb（II） could be sequestered both extracellularly and intracellularly.Incubation with B. subtilis DBM significantly decreased the amount of the weak-acid-soluble Pb fraction in a heavy-metal-contaminated soil, resulting in a reduction in Pb bioavailability, but increased the amount of its organic-matter-bound fraction by 71%. The ability of B.subtilis DBM to reduce the bioavailability of soil Pb makes it potentially useful for bacteria-assisted phytostabilization of multi-heavy-metal-contaminated soil.