Car-to-Cloud Communication Traffic Analysis Based on the Common Vehicle Information Model

Although connectivity services have been introduced already today in many of the most recent car models, the potential of vehicles serving as highly mobile sensor platform in the Internet of Things (IoT) has not been sufficiently exploited yet. The European AutoMat project has therefore defined an open Common Vehicle Information Model (CVIM) in combination with a cross-industry, cloud-based big data marketplace. Thereby, vehicle sensor data can be leveraged for the design of entirely new services even beyond traffic-related applications (such as localized weather forecasts). This paper focuses on the prediction of the achievable data rate making use of an analytical model based on empirical measurements. For an in-depth analysis, the CVIM has been integrated in a vehicle traffic simulator to produce CVIM-complaint data streams as a result of the individual behavior of each vehicle (speed, brake activity, steering activity, etc.). In a next step, a simulation of vehicle traffic in a realistically modeled, large-area street network has been used in combination with a cellular Long Term Evolution (LTE) network to determine the cumulated amount of data produced within each network cell. As a result, a new car-to-cloud communication traffic model has been derived, which quantifies the data rate of aggregated car-to-cloud data producible by vehicles depending on the current traffic situations (free flow and traffic jam). The results provide a reference for network planning and resource scheduling for car-to-cloud type services in the context of smart cities

A case study on cooperative car data for traffic state estimation in an urban network

The use of Floating Car Data (FCD) as a particular case of Probe Vehicle Data (PVD) has been the object of extensive research for estimating traffic conditions, travel times and Origin to Destination trip matrices. It is based on data collected from a GPS-equipped vehicle fleet or available cell phones. Cooperative Cars with vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication capabilities represent a step forward, as they also allow tracking vehicles surrounding the equipped car. This paper presents the results of a limited experiment with a small fleet of cooperative cars in Barcelona’s Central Business District (CBD) known as L’Eixample. Data collected from the experiment were used to build and calibrate the emulation of cooperative functions in a microscopic simulation model that captured the behavior of vehicle sensors in Barcelona’s CBD. Such a calibrated model allows emulating fleet data on a large scale that goes far beyond what a small fleet of cooperative vehicles could capture. To determine the traffic state, several approaches are developed for estimating traffic variables based on extensions of Edie’s definition of the fundamental traffic variables with the emulated data, whose accuracy depends on the penetration level of the technology.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

High-speed, scanned laser structuring of multi-layered eco/bioresorbable materials for advanced electronic systems

Physically transient forms of electronics enable unique classes of technologies, ranging from biomedical implants that disappear through processes of bioresorption after serving a clinical need to internet-of-things devices that harmlessly dissolve into the environment following a relevant period of use. Here, we develop a sustainable manufacturing pathway, based on ultrafast pulsed laser ablation, that can support high-volume, cost-effective manipulation of a diverse collection of organic and inorganic materials, each designed to degrade by hydrolysis or enzymatic activity, into patterned, multi-layered architectures with high resolution and accurate overlay registration. The technology can operate in patterning, thinning and/or cutting modes with (ultra)thin eco/bioresorbable materials of different types of semiconductors, dielectrics, and conductors on flexible substrates. Component-level demonstrations span passive and active devices, including diodes and field-effect transistors. Patterning these devices into interconnected layouts yields functional systems, as illustrated in examples that range from wireless implants as monitors of neural and cardiac activity, to thermal probes of microvascular flow, and multi-electrode arrays for biopotential sensing. These advances create important processing options for eco/bioresorbable materials and associated electronic systems, with immediate applicability across nearly all types of bioelectronic studies

Determining new functions of Adenovirus VA-RNAI and its use in cancer therapy

PhDVirus-Associated RNA I (VA-RNAI; VAI) of adenovirus is a nontranslated RNA molecule known to interact with several dsRNA-binding molecules in host cells. Adenovirus lacking VA-RNAI shows reduced replication and toxicity in normal tissues but replicates with high efficiency in some cancer cell lines. In this work, efficient replication of VA-RNAI-deleted adenovirus dl331 was confirmed to be independent of cancer cells’ k-ras mutation status, leaving the basis of its selectivity unknown. VA-RNAI expression was necessary to prevent dsRNA-dependent phosphorylation of eIF2α in Suit-2 and HCT116 cells, with a smaller effect in PANC-1 and none in MiaPaCa2. VA-RNAI was shown to suppress virus-induced autophagy in two cell lines, whether expressed from the virus or a plasmid. Unexpectedly, the viral protein E1A was observed to colocalise with autophagic vesicles. VARNAI was also shown to prevent starvation-induced autophagy in susceptible cell lines. RNA was collected from normal NHBE cells infected with VA-RNAIdeleted dl331 or VA-RNAI-intact control dl309 viruses. Microarray analysis of these samples showed a significant change in gene expression as VA-RNAI accumulated in the cells. Most notably, several genes involved in cell cycle progression were upregulated during infection with dl331 when compared to dl309. RT-qPCR showed a similar pattern of gene regulation in Suit-2 cells responding to infection. Cell cycle analysis of infected Suit-2 cells showed a transient accumulation of cells in S-phase in response to dl309 but not dl331 at the approximate time that VA-RNAI reached its highest level. This work has demonstrated that VA-RNAI's ability to block eIF2α phosphorylation inhibits the induction of autophagy after infection or starvation. Given the newly understood importance of autophagy in cancer pathogenesis and the responses of malignant cells to radiation and chemotherapeutic drugs, this new function is potentially important for the vi design of future oncolytic adenoviruses. However, this activity is not sufficient to explain support for replication of VA-RNAI-deleted viruses in cancer cell lines. Data from the microarray and cell cycle analyses suggest that VA-RNAI may play a further role in modulating the host cell’s replication cycle, although the mechanism for this is currently unclear