diff --git a/aspiredb/.editorconfig b/aspiredb/.editorconfig
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d8403426
--- /dev/null
+++ b/aspiredb/.editorconfig
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+root = true
+
+[production-data-source.xml]
+indent_style=tab
diff --git a/aspiredb/README.txt b/aspiredb/README.txt
index 28d4f80d..9fcc39a0 100644
--- a/aspiredb/README.txt
+++ b/aspiredb/README.txt
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ whatever directory CATALINA_HOME is set to).
 
 the contents of aspiredb.properties should be as follows:
 
-jdbc.driverClassName=com.mysql.jdbc.Driver
+jdbc.driverClassName=com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver
 
 # change this value to whatever the path is to your database with the aspiredb schema
 jdbc.url=jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/aspiredb  
diff --git a/aspiredb/pom.xml b/aspiredb/pom.xml
index f46fd296..b765cc96 100644
--- a/aspiredb/pom.xml
+++ b/aspiredb/pom.xml
@@ -1,23 +1,24 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
+         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
     <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
 
-    <name>aspiredb project</name>
-    <groupId>ubc.pavlab</groupId>
+    <name>ASPIREdb Project</name>
     <artifactId>aspiredb</artifactId>
     <packaging>war</packaging>
     <version>1.5-SNAPSHOT</version>
 
-    <properties>
-        <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
-        <maven.compiler.source>1.7</maven.compiler.source>
-        <maven.compiler.target>1.7</maven.compiler.target>
-
-        <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
-        <spring.version>3.2.4.RELEASE</spring.version>
-        <spring.security.version>3.1.4.RELEASE</spring.security.version>
+    <parent>
+        <groupId>ubc.pavlab</groupId>
+        <artifactId>pavlab-starter-parent</artifactId>
+        <version>1.1.9</version>
+    </parent>
 
+    <properties>
+        <spring.version>3.2.18.RELEASE</spring.version>
+        <spring.security.version>3.2.10.RELEASE</spring.security.version>
+        <gsec.version>0.0.8</gsec.version>
+        <aspectj.version>1.9.9.1</aspectj.version>
     </properties>
 
     <repositories>
@@ -29,9 +30,13 @@
     </repositories>
 
     <scm>
+        <connection>scm:git:https://github.com/PavlidisLab/aspiredb.git</connection>
+        <developerConnection>scm:git:git@github.com:PavlidisLab/aspiredb.git</developerConnection>
     </scm>
 
     <issueManagement>
+        <system>GitHub</system>
+        <url>https://github.com/PavlidisLab/aspiredb/issues</url>
     </issueManagement>
 
     <dependencies>
@@ -39,45 +44,34 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>baseCode</groupId>
             <artifactId>baseCode</artifactId>
-            <version>1.1.2</version>
-            <type>jar</type>
         </dependency>
 
         <dependency>
             <groupId>pavlab</groupId>
             <artifactId>gemma-gsec</artifactId>
-            <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
-            <type>jar</type>
+            <version>${gsec.version}</version>
         </dependency>
 
-		<dependency>
-			<groupId>org.directwebremoting</groupId>
-			<artifactId>dwr</artifactId>
-			<version>3.0.2-RELEASE</version>
-            <type>jar</type>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.directwebremoting</groupId>
+            <artifactId>dwr</artifactId>
+            <version>3.0.2-RELEASE</version>
         </dependency>
 
 
         <dependency>
             <groupId>junit</groupId>
             <artifactId>junit</artifactId>
-            <version>4.7</version>
-            <scope>test</scope>
-            <type>jar</type>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.easymock</groupId>
             <artifactId>easymock</artifactId>
-            <version>3.2</version>
+            <version>5.0.1</version>
             <scope>test</scope>
-            <type>jar</type>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.mockito</groupId>
-            <artifactId>mockito-all</artifactId>
-            <version>1.10.19</version>
-            <scope>test</scope>
-            <type>jar</type>
+            <artifactId>mockito-core</artifactId>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
@@ -90,24 +84,24 @@
             <version>1.13</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
-            <groupId>commons-lang</groupId>
-            <artifactId>commons-lang</artifactId>
-            <version>2.6</version>
+            <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+            <artifactId>commons-lang3</artifactId>
+            <version>3.12.0</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>commons-beanutils</groupId>
             <artifactId>commons-beanutils</artifactId>
-            <version>1.8.3</version>
+            <version>1.9.4</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>commons-fileupload</groupId>
             <artifactId>commons-fileupload</artifactId>
-            <version>1.3.1</version>
+            <version>1.4</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
             <artifactId>commons-configuration2</artifactId>
-            <version>2.7</version>
+            <version>2.8.0</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>commons-io</groupId>
@@ -118,7 +112,6 @@
             <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
             <artifactId>spring-core</artifactId>
             <version>${spring.version}</version>
-            <type>jar</type>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
@@ -149,7 +142,6 @@
             <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
             <artifactId>spring-beans</artifactId>
             <version>${spring.version}</version>
-            <type>jar</type>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
@@ -188,99 +180,75 @@
             <version>${spring.version}</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
-            <groupId>commons-dbcp</groupId>
-            <artifactId>commons-dbcp</artifactId>
-            <version>1.4</version>
+            <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+            <artifactId>commons-dbcp2</artifactId>
         </dependency>
 
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.aspectj</groupId>
             <artifactId>aspectjrt</artifactId>
-            <version>1.6.6</version>
-            <type>jar</type>
+            <version>${aspectj.version}</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.aspectj</groupId>
             <artifactId>aspectjweaver</artifactId>
-            <version>1.6.6</version>
-            <type>jar</type>
+            <version>${aspectj.version}</version>
             <scope>runtime</scope>
         </dependency>
         <!-- GWT 2.3.0 depends on these -->
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.hibernate</groupId>
             <artifactId>hibernate-core</artifactId>
-            <version>3.6.3.Final</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.hibernate</groupId>
             <artifactId>hibernate-ehcache</artifactId>
-            <version>3.6.7.Final</version>
-            <exclusions>
-                <exclusion>
-                    <groupId>net.sf.ehcache</groupId>
-                    <artifactId>ehache-core</artifactId>
-                </exclusion>
-            </exclusions>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>net.sf.ehcache</groupId>
-            <artifactId>ehcache-core</artifactId>
-            <version>2.6.6</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <!-- required by hibernate, explicitly import so we get it at runtime. -->
-            <groupId>javassist</groupId>
+            <groupId>org.javassist</groupId>
             <artifactId>javassist</artifactId>
-            <version>3.4.GA</version>
-            <scope>runtime</scope>
-            <type>jar</type>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.hibernate</groupId>
             <artifactId>hibernate-validator</artifactId>
-            <version>4.2.0.Final</version>
+            <version>4.3.2.Final</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>javax.validation</groupId>
             <artifactId>validation-api</artifactId>
-            <version>1.0.0.GA</version>
+            <version>2.0.1.Final</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>mysql</groupId>
             <artifactId>mysql-connector-java</artifactId>
-            <version>5.1.9</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.logging.log4j</groupId>
             <artifactId>log4j-core</artifactId>
-            <version>2.17.0</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.logging.log4j</groupId>
             <artifactId>log4j-1.2-api</artifactId>
-            <version>2.17.0</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
             <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
-            <version>1.6.6</version>
-            <type>jar</type>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>commons-cli</groupId>
             <artifactId>commons-cli</artifactId>
-            <version>1.2</version>
+            <version>1.5.0</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>net.sourceforge.csvjdbc</groupId>
             <artifactId>csvjdbc</artifactId>
-            <version>1.0.38</version>
+            <version>1.0.40</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.sencha.gxt</groupId>
             <artifactId>gxt</artifactId>
-            <version>3.0.1</version>
+            <version>3.1.1</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
@@ -293,14 +261,13 @@
             <version>1.5.3</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
-            <groupId>com.google.gwt</groupId>
+            <groupId>org.gwtproject</groupId>
             <artifactId>gwt-servlet</artifactId>
-            <version>2.5.1</version>
+            <version>2.10.0</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
-            <artifactId>servlet-api</artifactId>
-            <version>2.4</version>
+            <artifactId>javax.servlet-api</artifactId>
         </dependency>
 
         <!-- Used during user registration -->
@@ -310,9 +277,9 @@
             <version>1.7</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
-            <groupId>javax.mail</groupId>
-            <artifactId>mail</artifactId>
-            <version>1.4.7</version>
+            <groupId>com.sun.mail</groupId>
+            <artifactId>javax.mail</artifactId>
+            <version>1.6.2</version>
         </dependency>
 
         <dependency>
@@ -328,39 +295,24 @@
         </dependency>
 
         <!-- Jersey <dependency> <groupId>com.sun.jersey</groupId> <artifactId>jersey-server</artifactId> <version>1.8</version>
-            </dependency> <dependency> <groupId>com.sun.jersey</groupId> <artifactId>jersey-json</artifactId> <version>1.8</version>
-            </dependency> Jersey + Spring <dependency> <groupId>com.sun.jersey.contribs</groupId> <artifactId>jersey-spring</artifactId>
-            <version>1.12</version> <exclusions> <exclusion> <groupId>org.springframework</groupId> <artifactId>spring-aop</artifactId>
-            </exclusion> <exclusion> <groupId>org.springframework</groupId> <artifactId>spring-core</artifactId> </exclusion> <exclusion>
-            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId> <artifactId>spring-web</artifactId> </exclusion> <exclusion> <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
-            <artifactId>spring-context</artifactId> </exclusion> <exclusion> <groupId>org.springframework</groupId> <artifactId>spring-beans</artifactId>
-            </exclusion> </exclusions> </dependency> -->
+                </dependency> <dependency> <groupId>com.sun.jersey</groupId> <artifactId>jersey-json</artifactId> <version>1.8</version>
+                </dependency> Jersey + Spring <dependency> <groupId>com.sun.jersey.contribs</groupId> <artifactId>jersey-spring</artifactId>
+                <version>1.12</version> <exclusions> <exclusion> <groupId>org.springframework</groupId> <artifactId>spring-aop</artifactId>
+                </exclusion> <exclusion> <groupId>org.springframework</groupId> <artifactId>spring-core</artifactId> </exclusion> <exclusion>
+                <groupId>org.springframework</groupId> <artifactId>spring-web</artifactId> </exclusion> <exclusion> <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
+                <artifactId>spring-context</artifactId> </exclusion> <exclusion> <groupId>org.springframework</groupId> <artifactId>spring-beans</artifactId>
+        </exclusion> </exclusions> </dependency> -->
     </dependencies>
     <build>
         <plugins>
             <plugin>
-                <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
-				<version>2.12</version>
-				<configuration>
-					<argLine>-enableassertions -Xmx512m -Djava.awt.headless=true -Dlog4j.compatibility=true</argLine>
-					<reportsDirectory>target/surefire-reports</reportsDirectory>
-					<redirectTestOutputToFile>true</redirectTestOutputToFile>
-					<includes>
-						<include>**/Test*.java</include>
-						<include>**/*Test.java</include>
-					</includes>
-					<excludes>
-						<exclude>**/AllTests.java</exclude>
-						<exclude>**/gui/Test*.java</exclude>
-						<exclude>**/AbstractTest*.java</exclude>
-						<exclude>**/*$*</exclude> <!-- should not need this -->
-					</excludes>
-				</configuration>
+                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+                <artifactId>maven-enforcer-plugin</artifactId>
             </plugin>
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-eclipse-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>2.8</version>
+                <version>2.10</version>
                 <configuration>
                     <downloadSources>true</downloadSources>
                     <downloadJavadocs>false</downloadJavadocs>
@@ -377,56 +329,17 @@
                 </configuration>
             </plugin>
 
-            <!-- mvn clean compile hibernate3:hbm2ddl -->
-            <plugin>
-                <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
-                <artifactId>hibernate3-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>2.2</version>
-                <executions>
-                    <execution>
-                        <id>default-cli</id>
-                        <configuration>
-                            <echo message="******* Building DDL file *******" />
-                            <components>
-                                <component>
-                                    <name>hbm2ddl</name>
-                                    <!-- if implementation is jpaconfiguration: use persistence.xml in src/main/resources/META-INF -->
-                                    <!-- if implementation is annotationconfiguration: use hibernate.cfg.xml in src/main/resources -->
-                                    <implementation>annotationconfiguration</implementation>
-                                </component>
-                            </components>
-                            <componentProperties>
-                                <configurationfile>src/main/resources/hibernate.cfg.xml</configurationfile>
-                                <drop>false</drop>
-                                <create>true</create>
-                                <format>true</format>
-                                <export>false</export>
-                                <outputfilename>schema.sql</outputfilename>
-                            </componentProperties>
-                        </configuration>
-                    </execution>
-                </executions>
-            </plugin>
-
             <!-- Bug 3633: aspiredbCLI.jar -->
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>2.4</version>
-                <executions>
-                    <execution>
-                        <phase>package</phase>
-                        <goals>
-                            <goal>jar</goal>
-                        </goals>
-                    </execution>
-                </executions>
+                <version>3.2.0</version>
             </plugin>
 
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>1.7</version>
+                <version>3.0.0</version>
                 <executions>
                     <execution>
                         <id>version-file</id>
@@ -437,18 +350,54 @@
                         <configuration>
                             <target>
                                 <echo append="false"
-                                    file="${project.build.directory}/${project.build.finalName}/WEB-INF/classes/version.properties">aspiredb.version=${project.version} built ${maven.build.timestamp}</echo>
+                                      file="${project.build.directory}/${project.build.finalName}/WEB-INF/classes/version.properties">aspiredb.version=${project.version} built ${maven.build.timestamp}
+                                </echo>
+                            </target>
+                        </configuration>
+                    </execution>
+                    <execution>
+                        <id>schema-export</id>
+                        <phase>pre-integration-test</phase>
+                        <goals>
+                            <goal>run</goal>
+                        </goals>
+                        <configuration>
+                            <target>
+                                <taskdef name="schemaexport" classname="org.hibernate.tool.hbm2ddl.SchemaExportTask"/>
+                                <mkdir dir="${project.build.directory}/hibernate3/sql"/>
+                                <schemaexport quiet="true" text="true" create="true" drop="false" delimiter=";"
+                                              output="${project.build.directory}/hibernate3/sql/schema.sql"
+                                              config="${project.basedir}/src/main/resources/hibernate.cfg.xml"/>
                             </target>
                         </configuration>
                     </execution>
                 </executions>
+                <dependencies>
+                    <dependency>
+                        <groupId>org.hibernate</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>hibernate-core</artifactId>
+                        <version>${hibernate.version}</version>
+                    </dependency>
+                    <dependency>
+                        <groupId>pavlab</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>gemma-gsec</artifactId>
+                        <version>${gsec.version}</version>
+                    </dependency>
+                    <dependency>
+                        <groupId>${project.groupId}</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>${project.artifactId}</artifactId>
+                        <version>${project.version}</version>
+                        <scope>system</scope>
+                        <systemPath>${project.build.directory}/${project.build.finalName}.jar</systemPath>
+                    </dependency>
+                </dependencies>
             </plugin>
 
             <!-- mvn cobertura:cobertura -->
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
                 <artifactId>cobertura-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>2.6</version>
+                <version>2.7</version>
                 <configuration>
                     <aggregate>true</aggregate>
                     <check>
@@ -457,12 +406,157 @@
                 </configuration>
             </plugin>
 
+            <plugin>
+                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+                <artifactId>maven-javadoc-plugin</artifactId>
+                <version>3.3.2</version>
+                <configuration>
+                    <quiet>true</quiet>
+                    <source>8</source>
+                    <doclint>none</doclint>
+                </configuration>
+            </plugin>
+
+            <!-- configuration for integration tests -->
+
+            <!-- extract gsec sql files -->
+            <plugin>
+                <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
+                <version>3.1.2</version>
+                <executions>
+                    <execution>
+                        <phase>pre-integration-test</phase>
+                        <goals>
+                            <goal>unpack</goal>
+                        </goals>
+                        <configuration>
+                            <artifactItems>
+                                <artifactItem>
+                                    <groupId>pavlab</groupId>
+                                    <artifactId>gemma-gsec</artifactId>
+                                    <version>${gsec.version}</version>
+                                    <overWrite>true</overWrite>
+                                    <outputDirectory>${project.build.directory}/schema</outputDirectory>
+                                    <includes>**/*.sql</includes>
+                                </artifactItem>
+                            </artifactItems>
+                        </configuration>
+                    </execution>
+                </executions>
+            </plugin>
+            <plugin>
+                <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
+                <artifactId>sql-maven-plugin</artifactId>
+                <version>1.5</version>
+                <dependencies><!-- specify the dependent JDBC driver here -->
+                    <dependency>
+                        <groupId>mysql</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>mysql-connector-java</artifactId>
+                        <!-- TODO: move this into pavlab-starter-parent -->
+                        <version>8.0.27</version>
+                    </dependency>
+                </dependencies>
+                <!-- common configuration shared by all executions -->
+                <configuration>
+                    <driver>com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver</driver>
+                    <username>${aspiredb.db.build.user}</username>
+                    <password>${aspiredb.db.build.password}</password>
+                    <onError>abort</onError>
+                    <autocommit>true</autocommit>
+                </configuration>
+                <executions>
+                    <execution>
+                        <id>drop-add-testdb</id>
+                        <phase>pre-integration-test</phase>
+                        <goals>
+                            <goal>execute</goal>
+                        </goals>
+                        <configuration>
+                            <url>${bootstrap.db.url}</url>
+                            <username>${aspiredb.db.build.user}</username>
+                            <password>${aspiredb.db.build.password}</password>
+                            <autocommit>false</autocommit>
+                            <sqlCommand>
+                                        <![CDATA[
+                                drop
+                                database if exists
+                                ${aspiredb.testdb.name};
+                                create
+                                database
+                                ${aspiredb.testdb.name}
+                                ]]>
+                                </sqlCommand>
+                        </configuration>
+                    </execution>
+                    <execution>
+                        <id>load-testdb-schema</id>
+                        <phase>pre-integration-test</phase>
+                        <goals>
+                            <goal>execute</goal>
+                        </goals>
+                        <configuration>
+                            <url>${aspiredb.testdb.build.url}</url>
+                            <srcFiles>
+                                <srcFile>${project.build.directory}/hibernate3/sql/schema.sql</srcFile>
+                                <srcFile>${project.build.directory}/schema/gsec-acl-ddl.sql</srcFile>
+                                <srcFile>src/main/resources/sql/init-acls.sql</srcFile>
+                                <srcFile>src/main/resources/sql/init-entities.sql</srcFile>
+                                <srcFile>src/main/resources/sql/init-indices.sql</srcFile>
+                                <srcFile>${project.build.directory}/schema/sql/init-acl-indices.sql</srcFile>
+                            </srcFiles>
+                            <onError>abort</onError>
+                        </configuration>
+                    </execution>
+                </executions>
+            </plugin>
+            <plugin>
+                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+                <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
+                <version>2.22.2</version>
+                <configuration>
+                    <excludes>
+                        <exclude>**/Test*.java</exclude>
+                        <exclude>**/*Test.java</exclude>
+                        <exclude>**/AllTests.java</exclude>
+                        <exclude>**/gui/Test*.java</exclude>
+                        <exclude>**/AbstractTest*.java</exclude>
+                        <exclude>**/*$*</exclude> <!-- should not need this -->
+                    </excludes>
+                </configuration>
+            </plugin>
+            <plugin>
+                <artifactId>maven-failsafe-plugin</artifactId>
+                <version>2.22.2</version>
+                <executions>
+                    <execution>
+                        <goals>
+                            <goal>integration-test</goal>
+                            <goal>verify</goal>
+                        </goals>
+                    </execution>
+                </executions>
+                <configuration>
+                    <argLine>-enableassertions -Xmx512m -Djava.awt.headless=true -Dlog4j1.compatibility=true</argLine>
+                    <reportsDirectory>${project.build.directory}/surefire-reports</reportsDirectory>
+                    <redirectTestOutputToFile>true</redirectTestOutputToFile>
+                    <includes>
+                        <include>**/Test*.java</include>
+                        <include>**/*Test.java</include>
+                    </includes>
+                    <excludes>
+                        <exclude>**/AllTests.java</exclude>
+                        <exclude>**/gui/Test*.java</exclude>
+                        <exclude>**/AbstractTest*.java</exclude>
+                    </excludes>
+                </configuration>
+            </plugin>
+
         </plugins>
         <outputDirectory>${project.build.directory}/${project.build.finalName}/WEB-INF/classes</outputDirectory>
         <pluginManagement>
             <plugins>
-                <!--This plugin's configuration is used to store Eclipse m2e settings only. It has no influence on the Maven 
-                    build itself. -->
+                <!--This plugin's configuration is used to store Eclipse m2e settings only. It has no influence on the Maven
+                build itself. -->
                 <plugin>
                     <groupId>org.eclipse.m2e</groupId>
                     <artifactId>lifecycle-mapping</artifactId>
@@ -480,7 +574,7 @@
                                         </goals>
                                     </pluginExecutionFilter>
                                     <action>
-                                        <ignore></ignore>
+                                        <ignore/>
                                     </action>
                                 </pluginExecution>
                             </pluginExecutions>
@@ -491,208 +585,7 @@
         </pluginManagement>
     </build>
 
-
     <profiles>
-        <profile>
-            <id>testdb.build</id>
-            <activation>
-                <activeByDefault>false</activeByDefault>
-                <property>
-                    <name>testdb.build</name>
-                </property>
-            </activation>
-            <build>
-                <plugins>
-                    <!-- extract gsec sql files -->
-                    <plugin>
-                        <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
-                        <version>2.8</version>
-                        <executions>
-                            <execution>
-                                <phase>process-resources</phase>
-                                <goals>
-                                    <goal>unpack</goal>
-                                </goals>
-                                <configuration>
-                                    <artifactItems>
-                                        <artifactItem>
-                                            <groupId>pavlab</groupId>
-                                            <artifactId>gemma-gsec</artifactId>
-                                            <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
-                                            <type>jar</type>
-                                            <overWrite>true</overWrite>
-                                            <outputDirectory>${project.build.directory}/schema</outputDirectory>
-                                            <includes>**/*.sql</includes>
-                                        </artifactItem>
-                                    </artifactItems>
-                                </configuration>
-                            </execution>
-                        </executions>
-                    </plugin>
-                    <plugin>
-                        <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
-                        <artifactId>sql-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-                        <version>1.5</version>
-                        <dependencies><!-- specify the dependent JDBC driver here -->
-                            <dependency>
-                                <groupId>mysql</groupId>
-                                <artifactId>mysql-connector-java</artifactId>
-                                <version>5.1.10</version>
-                                <type>jar</type>
-                            </dependency>
-                        </dependencies>
-                        <!-- common configuration shared by all executions -->
-                        <configuration>
-                            <driver>com.mysql.jdbc.Driver</driver>
-                            <username>${aspiredb.db.build.user}</username>
-                            <password>${aspiredb.db.build.password}</password>
-                            <onError>abort</onError>
-                            <autocommit>true</autocommit>
-                        </configuration>
-                        <executions>
-                            <execution>
-                                <id>drop-add-testdb</id>
-                                <phase>initialize</phase>
-                                <goals>
-                                    <goal>execute</goal>
-                                </goals>
-                                <configuration>
-                                    <url>${bootstrap.db.url}</url>
-                                    <username>${aspiredb.db.build.user}</username>
-                                    <password>${aspiredb.db.build.password}</password>
-                                    <autocommit>false</autocommit>
-                                    <sqlCommand>
-									<![CDATA[
-                                        drop database if exists ${aspiredb.testdb.name};
-									create database ${aspiredb.testdb.name}
-                                        ]]>
-                                    </sqlCommand>
-                                </configuration>
-                            </execution>
-                            <execution>
-                                <id>load-testdb-schema</id>
-                                <phase>process-test-resources</phase>
-                                <goals>
-                                    <goal>execute</goal>
-                                </goals>
-                                <configuration>
-                                    <url>${aspiredb.testdb.build.url}</url>
-                                    <srcFiles>
-                                        <srcFile>target/hibernate3/sql/schema.sql</srcFile>
-                                        <srcFile>target/schema/gsec-acl-ddl.sql</srcFile>
-                                        <srcFile>src/main/resources/sql/init-acls.sql</srcFile>
-                                        <srcFile>src/main/resources/sql/init-entities.sql</srcFile>
-                                        <srcFile>src/main/resources/sql/init-indices.sql</srcFile>
-                                        <srcFile>target/schema/sql/init-acl-indices.sql</srcFile>
-                                    </srcFiles>
-                                    <onError>abort</onError>
-                                </configuration>
-                            </execution>
-                        </executions>
-                    </plugin>
-                </plugins>
-            </build>
-        </profile>
-        <profile>
-            <id>db.build</id>
-            <activation>
-                <activeByDefault>false</activeByDefault>
-                <property>
-                    <name>db.build</name>
-                </property>
-            </activation>
-            <build>
-                <plugins>
-                    <!-- extract gsec sql files -->
-                    <plugin>
-                        <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
-                        <version>2.8</version>
-                        <executions>
-                            <execution>
-                                <phase>process-resources</phase>
-                                <goals>
-                                    <goal>unpack</goal>
-                                </goals>
-                                <configuration>
-                                    <artifactItems>
-                                        <artifactItem>
-                                            <groupId>pavlab</groupId>
-                                            <artifactId>gemma-gsec</artifactId>
-                                            <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
-                                            <type>jar</type>
-                                            <overWrite>true</overWrite>
-                                            <outputDirectory>${project.build.directory}/schema</outputDirectory>
-                                            <includes>**/*.sql</includes>
-                                        </artifactItem>
-                                    </artifactItems>
-                                </configuration>
-                            </execution>
-                        </executions>
-                    </plugin>
-                    <plugin>
-                        <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
-                        <artifactId>sql-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-                        <version>1.5</version>
-                        <dependencies><!-- specify the dependent JDBC driver here -->
-                            <dependency>
-                                <groupId>mysql</groupId>
-                                <artifactId>mysql-connector-java</artifactId>
-                                <version>5.1.10</version>
-                                <type>jar</type>
-                            </dependency>
-                        </dependencies>
-                        <!-- common configuration shared by all executions -->
-                        <configuration>
-                            <driver>com.mysql.jdbc.Driver</driver>
-                            <username>${aspiredb.db.build.user}</username>
-                            <password>${aspiredb.db.build.password}</password>
-                            <onError>abort</onError>
-                            <autocommit>true</autocommit>
-                        </configuration>
-                        <executions>
-                            <execution>
-                                <id>drop-add-db</id>
-                                <phase>initialize</phase>
-                                <goals>
-                                    <goal>execute</goal>
-                                </goals>
-                                <configuration>
-                                    <url>${bootstrap.db.url}</url>
-                                    <autocommit>false</autocommit>
-                                    <sqlCommand>
-                                    <![CDATA[
-                                        drop database if exists ${aspiredb.db.name};
-                                    create database ${aspiredb.db.name}
-                                        ]]>
-                                    </sqlCommand>
-                                </configuration>
-                            </execution>
-                            <execution>
-                                <id>load-db-schema</id>
-                                <phase>process-resources</phase>
-                                <goals>
-                                    <goal>execute</goal>
-                                </goals>
-                                <configuration>
-                                    <url>${aspiredb.db.build.url}</url>
-                                    <username>${aspiredb.db.build.user}</username>
-                                    <password>${aspiredb.db.build.password}</password>
-                                    <srcFiles>
-                                        <srcFile>target/hibernate3/sql/schema.sql</srcFile>
-                                        <srcFile>target/schema/gsec-acl-ddl.sql</srcFile>
-                                        <srcFile>src/main/resources/sql/init-acls.sql</srcFile>
-                                        <srcFile>src/main/resources/sql/init-entities.sql</srcFile>
-                                        <srcFile>src/main/resources/sql/init-indices.sql</srcFile>
-                                        <srcFile>target/schema/sql/init-acl-indices.sql</srcFile>
-                                    </srcFiles>
-                                    <onError>abort</onError>
-                                </configuration>
-                            </execution>
-                        </executions>
-                    </plugin>
-                </plugins>
-            </build>
-        </profile>
         <profile>
             <!-- For deployment where host is local (and ssh isn't available for builder, e.g. CI) -->
             <id>local-deploy</id>
@@ -708,16 +601,6 @@
                     <name>localDeploy</name>
                     <url>file:///space/aspiredbData</url>
                 </site>
-                <repository>
-                    <id>repo</id>
-                    <name>Pavlab</name>
-                    <url>file:///space/maven2</url>
-                </repository>
-                <snapshotRepository>
-                    <id>repo</id>
-                    <name>Pavlab</name>
-                    <url>file:///space/maven2</url>
-                </snapshotRepository>
             </distributionManagement>
         </profile>
     </profiles>
@@ -727,11 +610,9 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
                 <artifactId>cobertura-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>2.6</version>
+                <version>2.7</version>
             </plugin>
         </plugins>
     </reporting>
 
-
-
 </project>
diff --git a/aspiredb/src/main/java/ubc/pavlab/aspiredb/cli/SpringContextUtil.java b/aspiredb/src/main/java/ubc/pavlab/aspiredb/cli/SpringContextUtil.java
index c479b8c5..49e154f0 100644
--- a/aspiredb/src/main/java/ubc/pavlab/aspiredb/cli/SpringContextUtil.java
+++ b/aspiredb/src/main/java/ubc/pavlab/aspiredb/cli/SpringContextUtil.java
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ public static String[] getConfigLocations( boolean testing ) {
      * @param paths
      */
     private static void addCommonConfig( List<String> paths ) {
-        paths.add( "classpath*:gemma/gsec/acl/security-bean-baseconfig.xml" );
+        paths.add( "classpath*:gemma/gsec/applicationContext-*.xml" );
         paths.add( "classpath*:application-context.xml" );
         paths.add( "classpath*:applicationContext-security.xml" );
         paths.add( "classpath*:applicationContext-serviceBeans.xml" );
diff --git a/aspiredb/src/main/java/ubc/pavlab/aspiredb/server/ontology/OntologyService.java b/aspiredb/src/main/java/ubc/pavlab/aspiredb/server/ontology/OntologyService.java
index 6b070b0d..5424bf59 100644
--- a/aspiredb/src/main/java/ubc/pavlab/aspiredb/server/ontology/OntologyService.java
+++ b/aspiredb/src/main/java/ubc/pavlab/aspiredb/server/ontology/OntologyService.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 import ubic.basecode.ontology.model.OntologyTerm;
 import ubic.basecode.ontology.providers.DiseaseOntologyService;
 import ubic.basecode.ontology.providers.HumanPhenotypeOntologyService;
+import ubic.basecode.ontology.search.OntologySearchException;
 
 /**
  * @author paul
@@ -35,7 +36,7 @@ public interface OntologyService extends InitializingBean {
      * @param givenSearch
      * @return
      */
-    public Collection<OntologyIndividual> findIndividuals( String givenSearch );
+    public Collection<OntologyIndividual> findIndividuals( String givenSearch ) throws OntologySearchException;
 
     /**
      * Given a search string will look through the loaded ontologies for terms that match the search term. this a lucene
@@ -44,7 +45,7 @@ public interface OntologyService extends InitializingBean {
      * @param search
      * @return returns a collection of ontologyTerm's
      */
-    public Collection<OntologyTerm> findTerms( String search );
+    public Collection<OntologyTerm> findTerms( String search ) throws OntologySearchException;
 
     /**
      * @return the diseaseOntologyService
diff --git a/aspiredb/src/main/java/ubc/pavlab/aspiredb/server/ontology/OntologyServiceImpl.java b/aspiredb/src/main/java/ubc/pavlab/aspiredb/server/ontology/OntologyServiceImpl.java
index 6073e806..f09fe508 100644
--- a/aspiredb/src/main/java/ubc/pavlab/aspiredb/server/ontology/OntologyServiceImpl.java
+++ b/aspiredb/src/main/java/ubc/pavlab/aspiredb/server/ontology/OntologyServiceImpl.java
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 import ubic.basecode.ontology.providers.DiseaseOntologyService;
 import ubic.basecode.ontology.providers.HumanPhenotypeOntologyService;
 import ubic.basecode.ontology.search.OntologySearch;
+import ubic.basecode.ontology.search.OntologySearchException;
 
 /**
  * Has a static method for finding out which ontologies are loaded into the system and a general purpose find method
@@ -64,7 +65,7 @@ public void afterPropertiesSet() {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public Collection<OntologyIndividual> findIndividuals( String givenSearch ) {
+    public Collection<OntologyIndividual> findIndividuals( String givenSearch ) throws OntologySearchException {
 
         String query = OntologySearch.stripInvalidCharacters( givenSearch );
         Collection<OntologyIndividual> results = new HashSet<OntologyIndividual>();
@@ -80,7 +81,7 @@ public Collection<OntologyIndividual> findIndividuals( String givenSearch ) {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public Collection<OntologyTerm> findTerms( String search ) {
+    public Collection<OntologyTerm> findTerms( String search ) throws OntologySearchException {
 
         String query = OntologySearch.stripInvalidCharacters( search );
 
diff --git a/aspiredb/src/main/java/ubc/pavlab/aspiredb/server/service/QueryService.java b/aspiredb/src/main/java/ubc/pavlab/aspiredb/server/service/QueryService.java
index 9b661d0e..73360eb0 100644
--- a/aspiredb/src/main/java/ubc/pavlab/aspiredb/server/service/QueryService.java
+++ b/aspiredb/src/main/java/ubc/pavlab/aspiredb/server/service/QueryService.java
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 import ubc.pavlab.aspiredb.shared.suggestions.PhenotypeSuggestion;
 
 import com.sencha.gxt.data.shared.loader.PagingLoadResult;
+import ubic.basecode.ontology.search.OntologySearchException;
 
 /**
  * Methods for various query operations such as querying a list of subjects and variants given a list of filters,
@@ -53,7 +54,7 @@ public BoundedList<SubjectValueObject> querySubjects( Set<AspireDbFilterConfig>
     public BoundedList<VariantValueObject> queryVariants( Set<AspireDbFilterConfig> filters )
             throws NotLoggedInException, ExternalDependencyException;
 
-    public PagingLoadResult<OntologyTermValueObject> getOntologyTermSuggestions( String query );
+    public PagingLoadResult<OntologyTermValueObject> getOntologyTermSuggestions( String query ) throws OntologySearchException;
 
     public List<String> getValuesForOntologyTerm( String ontologyTermUri );
 
diff --git a/aspiredb/src/main/java/ubc/pavlab/aspiredb/server/service/QueryServiceImpl.java b/aspiredb/src/main/java/ubc/pavlab/aspiredb/server/service/QueryServiceImpl.java
index 28a41987..105bafd6 100644
--- a/aspiredb/src/main/java/ubc/pavlab/aspiredb/server/service/QueryServiceImpl.java
+++ b/aspiredb/src/main/java/ubc/pavlab/aspiredb/server/service/QueryServiceImpl.java
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@
 import ubc.pavlab.aspiredb.shared.suggestions.PhenotypeSuggestion;
 import ubic.basecode.ontology.model.OntologyTerm;
 import ubic.basecode.ontology.providers.HumanPhenotypeOntologyService;
+import ubic.basecode.ontology.search.OntologySearchException;
 
 /**
  * Methods for various query operations such as querying a list of subjects and variants given a list of filters,
@@ -151,7 +152,7 @@ public PagingLoadResult<NeurocartaPhenotypeValueObject> getNeurocartaPhenotypeSu
     }
 
     @Override
-    public PagingLoadResult<OntologyTermValueObject> getOntologyTermSuggestions( String query ) {
+    public PagingLoadResult<OntologyTermValueObject> getOntologyTermSuggestions( String query ) throws OntologySearchException {
         HumanPhenotypeOntologyService HPOService = ontologyService.getHumanPhenotypeOntologyService();
         // if ( !HPOService.isOntologyLoaded() ) {
         // HPOService.startInitializationThread( true );
diff --git a/aspiredb/src/main/resources/application-context.xml b/aspiredb/src/main/resources/application-context.xml
index a43d9567..b15e265f 100644
--- a/aspiredb/src/main/resources/application-context.xml
+++ b/aspiredb/src/main/resources/application-context.xml
@@ -1,14 +1,13 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
- xmlns:context="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context" xmlns:aop="http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop"
- xmlns:tx="http://www.springframework.org/schema/tx" xmlns:cache="http://www.springframework.org/schema/cache" xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+       xmlns:context="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context"
+       xmlns:tx="http://www.springframework.org/schema/tx" xmlns:cache="http://www.springframework.org/schema/cache"
+       xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
 
- xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans 
+       xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans
            http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.2.xsd
-           http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop 
-           http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop/spring-aop-3.2.xsd
-           http://www.springframework.org/schema/tx 
-           http://www.springframework.org/schema/tx/spring-tx-3.2.xsd           
+           http://www.springframework.org/schema/tx
+           http://www.springframework.org/schema/tx/spring-tx-3.2.xsd
            http://www.springframework.org/schema/context
            http://www.springframework.org/schema/context/spring-context-3.2.xsd
            http://www.springframework.org/schema/cache
diff --git a/aspiredb/src/main/resources/applicationContext-security.xml b/aspiredb/src/main/resources/applicationContext-security.xml
index 321352ee..969156e8 100644
--- a/aspiredb/src/main/resources/applicationContext-security.xml
+++ b/aspiredb/src/main/resources/applicationContext-security.xml
@@ -1,15 +1,13 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xmlns:context="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context" xmlns:aop="http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop"
-    xmlns:s="http://www.springframework.org/schema/security" xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans 
-           http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.2.xsd           
-           http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop 
+       xmlns:aop="http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop"
+       xmlns:s="http://www.springframework.org/schema/security" xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+       xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans
+           http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.2.xsd
+           http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop
            http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop/spring-aop-3.2.xsd
-           http://www.springframework.org/schema/context
-           http://www.springframework.org/schema/context/spring-context-3.2.xsd
            http://www.springframework.org/schema/security
-           http://www.springframework.org/schema/security/spring-security-3.1.xsd
+           http://www.springframework.org/schema/security/spring-security-3.2.xsd
            http://www.springframework.org/schema/util
            http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.2.xsd">
 
diff --git a/aspiredb/src/main/resources/database.properties b/aspiredb/src/main/resources/database.properties
index bd41b915..1f96e93b 100644
--- a/aspiredb/src/main/resources/database.properties
+++ b/aspiredb/src/main/resources/database.properties
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
-jdbc.driverClassName=com.mysql.jdbc.Driver
+jdbc.driverClassName=com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver
 jdbc.url=jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/aspiredb?rewriteBatchedStatements=true
 jdbc.username=aspiredb_web
 jdbc.password=aspiredb
-#hibernate.dialect=org.hibernate.dialect.MySQLDialect
 hibernate.dialect=org.hibernate.dialect.MySQL5InnoDBDialect
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/aspiredb/src/main/resources/hibernate.cfg.xml b/aspiredb/src/main/resources/hibernate.cfg.xml
index 0b7e3a4d..97127e93 100644
--- a/aspiredb/src/main/resources/hibernate.cfg.xml
+++ b/aspiredb/src/main/resources/hibernate.cfg.xml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 <hibernate-configuration>
 	<session-factory>
 
-		<property name="hibernate.dialect">org.hibernate.dialect.MySQLDialect</property>
+		<property name="hibernate.dialect">org.hibernate.dialect.MySQL5InnoDBDialect</property>
 
 
 		<!-- We shouldn't use other options (validate is ok). We should be manually updating database schema on production. It's 
diff --git a/aspiredb/src/main/resources/production-data-source.xml b/aspiredb/src/main/resources/production-data-source.xml
index e27743de..65b032d8 100644
--- a/aspiredb/src/main/resources/production-data-source.xml
+++ b/aspiredb/src/main/resources/production-data-source.xml
@@ -1,99 +1,77 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
-       xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-       xmlns:context="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context"
-       xmlns:aop="http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop"
-       xmlns:tx="http://www.springframework.org/schema/tx"
- 	xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans 
-           http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
-           http://www.springframework.org/schema/tx 
-           http://www.springframework.org/schema/tx/spring-tx-3.0.xsd
-           http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop 
-     	   http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop/spring-aop-3.0.xsd
-           http://www.springframework.org/schema/context
-           http://www.springframework.org/schema/context/spring-context-3.0.xsd">
-               
+	   xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+	   xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans
+           http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd">
+
 	<bean
-		class="org.springframework.beans.factory.config.PropertyPlaceholderConfigurer">
+			class="org.springframework.beans.factory.config.PropertyPlaceholderConfigurer">
 		<property name="locations">
 			<list>
-                <value>classpath:default.properties</value>
+				<value>classpath:default.properties</value>
 				<value>classpath:database.properties</value>
 				<value>file:${user.home}/aspiredb.properties</value>
-			</list>		
+			</list>
 		</property>
 	</bean>
 
-	<bean id="dataSource" class="org.apache.commons.dbcp.BasicDataSource">
-		<property name="driverClassName" value="${jdbc.driverClassName}" />
-		<property name="url" value="${jdbc.url}" />
-		<property name="username" value="${jdbc.username}" />
-		<property name="password" value="${jdbc.password}" />
-        <property name="testOnBorrow" value="true" />
-        <property name="validationQuery" value="SELECT 1" />
-        <property name="validationQueryTimeout" value="2" />
-        <property name="maxActive" value="20" />
-        <property name="maxIdle" value="10" />
-        <property name="maxWait" value="5000" />
-    </bean>
-    
-    <!-- Hibernate session factory -->
+	<bean id="dataSource" class="org.apache.commons.dbcp2.BasicDataSource">
+		<property name="driverClassName" value="${jdbc.driverClassName}"/>
+		<property name="url" value="${jdbc.url}"/>
+		<property name="username" value="${jdbc.username}"/>
+		<property name="password" value="${jdbc.password}"/>
+		<property name="testOnBorrow" value="true"/>
+		<property name="validationQuery" value="SELECT 1"/>
+		<property name="validationQueryTimeout" value="2"/>
+		<property name="maxTotal" value="20"/>
+		<property name="maxIdle" value="10"/>
+		<property name="maxWaitMillis" value="5000"/>
+	</bean>
+
+	<!-- Hibernate session factory -->
 	<bean id="sessionFactory"
-		class="org.springframework.orm.hibernate3.annotation.AnnotationSessionFactoryBean">
+		  class="org.springframework.orm.hibernate3.annotation.AnnotationSessionFactoryBean">
 
-		<property name="dataSource">
-			<ref bean="dataSource" />
-		</property>
+		<property name="dataSource" ref="dataSource"/>
 
-		<property name="configLocation">    
-        	<value>classpath:hibernate.cfg.xml</value>
-    	</property>
+		<property name="configLocation" value="classpath:hibernate.cfg.xml"/>
+
+		<property name="mappingLocations">
+			<list>
+				<value>classpath:gemma/gsec/model/AclEntry.hbm.xml</value>
+				<value>classpath:gemma/gsec/model/AclObjectIdentity.hbm.xml</value>
+				<value>classpath:gemma/gsec/model/AclSid.hbm.xml</value>
+			</list>
+		</property>
 
-        <property name="mappingLocations">
-         <list>
-          <value>classpath:gemma/gsec/model/AclEntry.hbm.xml</value>
-          <value>classpath:gemma/gsec/model/AclObjectIdentity.hbm.xml</value>
-          <value>classpath:gemma/gsec/model/AclSid.hbm.xml</value>
-         </list>
-        </property>
-        
 		<property name="hibernateProperties">
 			<props>
 				<prop key="hibernate.dialect">${hibernate.dialect}</prop>
 				<prop key="hibernate.show_sql">false</prop>
-                <prop key="hibernate.cache.use_second_level_cache">true</prop>
-                <prop key="hibernate.cache.use_query_cache">false</prop>
-                <prop key="hibernate.generate_statistics">false</prop>
-                <prop key="hibernate.cache.use_structured_entries">false</prop>
-                <prop key="hibernate.cache.query_cache_factory">org.hibernate.cache.StandardQueryCacheFactory</prop>
-			    <prop key="hibernate.cache.provider_class">org.hibernate.cache.EhCacheProvider</prop>
-       
-                <prop key="hibernate.max_fetch_depth">3</prop>
-                <prop key="hibernate.jdbc.fetch_size">512</prop>
-                <prop key="hibernate.default_batch_fetch_size">512</prop>
-                <prop key="hibernate.jdbc.batch_size">256</prop>
-                <prop key="hibernate.order_inserts">true</prop>
-                 <prop key="hibernate.order_updates">true</prop>
-                
-                
-                 
-           </props>
-          </property>
-         <property name="cacheRegionFactory">
-            <ref bean="externalCacheRegionFactory" />
-         </property>
+				<prop key="hibernate.cache.use_second_level_cache">true</prop>
+				<prop key="hibernate.cache.use_query_cache">false</prop>
+				<prop key="hibernate.generate_statistics">false</prop>
+				<prop key="hibernate.cache.use_structured_entries">false</prop>
+				<prop key="hibernate.cache.query_cache_factory">org.hibernate.cache.StandardQueryCacheFactory</prop>
+				<prop key="hibernate.cache.provider_class">org.hibernate.cache.EhCacheProvider</prop>
+
+				<prop key="hibernate.max_fetch_depth">3</prop>
+				<prop key="hibernate.jdbc.fetch_size">512</prop>
+				<prop key="hibernate.default_batch_fetch_size">512</prop>
+				<prop key="hibernate.jdbc.batch_size">256</prop>
+				<prop key="hibernate.order_inserts">true</prop>
+				<prop key="hibernate.order_updates">true</prop>
+
+
+			</props>
+		</property>
+		<property name="cacheRegionFactory" ref="externalCacheRegionFactory"/>
 	</bean>
-    
-    <bean id="mailSender" class="org.springframework.mail.javamail.JavaMailSenderImpl">
-        <property name="host">
-            <value>${mail.host}</value>
-        </property>
-        <property name="username">
-            <value>${mail.username}</value>
-        </property>
-        <property name="password">
-            <value>${mail.password}</value>
-        </property>
-    </bean>
-    
+
+	<bean id="mailSender" class="org.springframework.mail.javamail.JavaMailSenderImpl">
+		<property name="host" value="${mail.host}"/>
+		<property name="username" value="${mail.username}"/>
+		<property name="password" value="${mail.password}"/>
+	</bean>
+
 </beans>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/aspiredb/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/web.xml b/aspiredb/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/web.xml
index d54cdb3d..c1b00e03 100644
--- a/aspiredb/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/web.xml
+++ b/aspiredb/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/web.xml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
     <context-param>
         <param-name>contextConfigLocation</param-name>
         <param-value>
-            classpath*:gemma/gsec/acl/security-bean-baseconfig.xml,
+            classpath*:gemma/gsec/applicationContext-*.xml,
             classpath*:application-context.xml,
             classpath*:applicationContext-security.xml,
             classpath*:production-data-source.xml,
diff --git a/aspiredb/src/test/java/ubc/pavlab/aspiredb/server/BaseSpringContextTest.java b/aspiredb/src/test/java/ubc/pavlab/aspiredb/server/BaseSpringContextTest.java
index 073d078b..3f7df549 100644
--- a/aspiredb/src/test/java/ubc/pavlab/aspiredb/server/BaseSpringContextTest.java
+++ b/aspiredb/src/test/java/ubc/pavlab/aspiredb/server/BaseSpringContextTest.java
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@
  * @version $Id: BaseSpringContextTest.java,v 1.4 2013/06/12 20:18:48 cmcdonald Exp $
  */
 @ContextConfiguration(locations = { "classpath:/test-data-source.xml",
-        "classpath:gemma/gsec/acl/security-bean-baseconfig.xml", "classpath:/application-context.xml",
+        "classpath*:/gemma/gsec/applicationContext-*.xml", "classpath:/application-context.xml",
         "classpath:/applicationContext-security.xml", "classpath*:applicationContext-serviceBeans.xml" })
 public abstract class BaseSpringContextTest extends AbstractJUnit4SpringContextTests implements InitializingBean {
 
diff --git a/aspiredb/src/test/java/ubc/pavlab/aspiredb/server/controller/SignupControllerTest.java b/aspiredb/src/test/java/ubc/pavlab/aspiredb/server/controller/SignupControllerTest.java
index 9007a287..f45e496f 100644
--- a/aspiredb/src/test/java/ubc/pavlab/aspiredb/server/controller/SignupControllerTest.java
+++ b/aspiredb/src/test/java/ubc/pavlab/aspiredb/server/controller/SignupControllerTest.java
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 package ubc.pavlab.aspiredb.server.controller;
 
 import static org.junit.Assert.fail;
-import static org.mockito.Matchers.any;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.any;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
 
 import java.util.ArrayList;
diff --git a/aspiredb/src/test/resources/database.properties b/aspiredb/src/test/resources/database.properties
index 2f967a78..23c9a0ae 100644
--- a/aspiredb/src/test/resources/database.properties
+++ b/aspiredb/src/test/resources/database.properties
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
-test.jdbc.driverClassName=com.mysql.jdbc.Driver
+test.jdbc.driverClassName=com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver
 test.jdbc.url=jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/aspiredbtest
 test.jdbc.username=default_testdb_user
 test.jdbc.password=default_testdb_password
-#test.hibernate.dialect=org.hibernate.dialect.MySQLDialect
 test.hibernate.dialect=org.hibernate.dialect.MySQL5InnoDBDialect
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/aspiredb/src/test/resources/test-data-source.xml b/aspiredb/src/test/resources/test-data-source.xml
index 5337c4c2..f23985ef 100644
--- a/aspiredb/src/test/resources/test-data-source.xml
+++ b/aspiredb/src/test/resources/test-data-source.xml
@@ -1,15 +1,7 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xmlns:context="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context" xmlns:aop="http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop"
-    xmlns:tx="http://www.springframework.org/schema/tx"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans 
-           http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.2.xsd
-           http://www.springframework.org/schema/tx 
-           http://www.springframework.org/schema/tx/spring-tx-3.2.xsd
-           http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop 
-     	   http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop/spring-aop-3.2.xsd
-           http://www.springframework.org/schema/context
-           http://www.springframework.org/schema/context/spring-context-3.2.xsd">
+       xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans
+           http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.2.xsd">
 
     <bean class="org.springframework.beans.factory.config.PropertyPlaceholderConfigurer">
         <property name="locations">
@@ -22,34 +14,20 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
 
-    <bean id="dataSource" class="org.apache.commons.dbcp.BasicDataSource" destroy-method="close">
-          <property name="driverClassName">
-             <value>com.mysql.jdbc.Driver</value>
-          </property>
-          <property name="username">
-             <value>${test.jdbc.username}</value>
-          </property>
-          <property name="password">
-             <value>${test.jdbc.password}</value>
-          </property>
-          <property name="url">
-             <value>${test.jdbc.url}</value>
-          </property>
-          <property name="maxActive">
-             <value>20</value>
-          </property>       
-       </bean>
-       
+    <bean id="dataSource" class="org.apache.commons.dbcp2.BasicDataSource" destroy-method="close">
+        <property name="driverClassName" value="${test.jdbc.driverClassName}"/>
+        <property name="username" value="${test.jdbc.username}"/>
+        <property name="password" value="${test.jdbc.password}"/>
+        <property name="url" value="${test.jdbc.url}"/>
+        <property name="maxTotal" value="20"/>
+    </bean>
+
     <!-- Hibernate session factory -->
     <bean id="sessionFactory" class="org.springframework.orm.hibernate3.annotation.AnnotationSessionFactoryBean">
 
-        <property name="dataSource">
-            <ref bean="dataSource" />
-        </property>
+        <property name="dataSource" ref="dataSource"/>
 
-        <property name="configLocation">
-            <value>classpath:hibernate.cfg.xml</value>
-        </property>
+        <property name="configLocation" value="classpath:hibernate.cfg.xml"/>
 
         <property name="mappingLocations">
             <list>
@@ -72,9 +50,7 @@
             </props>
         </property>
 
-        <property name="cacheRegionFactory">
-            <ref bean="externalCacheRegionFactory" />
-        </property>
+        <property name="cacheRegionFactory" ref="externalCacheRegionFactory"/>
     </bean>
 
     <bean id="mailSender" class="ubc.pavlab.aspiredb.server.DummyMailSender"/>