A Multimetric Predictive ANN-Based Routing Protocol for Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks

Vehicular networks support intelligent transportation system (ITS) to improve drivers’ safety and traffic efficiency on the road by exchanging traffic-related information between vehicles and also between vehicles and infrastructure. Routing protocols that are designed for vehicular networks should be flexible and able to adapt to the inherent dynamic network characteristics of these kind of networks. Therefore, there is a need to have effective vehicular communications, not only to make mobility more efficient but also to reduce collateral issues such as pollution and health problems. Nowadays, the use of machine learning (ML) algorithms in wireless networks are on the rise, including vehicle networks that can benefit from possible data-driven predictions. This work aims to contribute to the design of a smart ML-based routing protocol for vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) used to report traffic-related messages in urban environments. We propose a new ML-based forwarding algorithm to be used by the current vehicle holding a given packet to predict which vehicle within its transmission range is the best next-hop to forward that packet towards its destination. Our algorithm is based on a neural network designed from a dataset that contains data records that are captured during simulated urban scenarios. Simulation results show how our ML-based proposal improves the performance of our multimetric routing protocol for VANETs in urban scenarios in terms of packet delivery probability. The performance evaluation of MPANN shows packet losses lower than 20% (and average packet delays below 0.04 ms) for different vehicles’ densities, in completely new scenarios but of similar complexity than the Barcelona scenario used to train the model. Even for much more complex scenarios (with narrow curvy streets), our proposal is able to reduce the packet losses in 20% with respect to the multimetric routing protocol as well as the average packet delays in 0.04 ms

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field