Leveraging Intelligent Computation Offloading with Fog/Edge Computing for Tactile Internet: Advantages and Limitations

[EN] With the recent advancement in wireless communication and networks, we are at the doorstep of the Tactile Internet. The Tactile Internet aims to enable the skill delivery and thereafter democratize the specialized skills for many emerging applications (e.g., remote medical, industrial machinery, remote robotics, autonomous driving). In this article, we start with the motivation of applying intelligent edge computing for computation offloading in the Tactile Internet. Afterward, we outline the main research challenges to leverage edge intelligence at the master, network, and controlled domain of the Tactile Internet. The key research challenges in the Tactile Internet lie in its stringent requirements such as ultra-low latency, ultra-high reliability, and almost zero service outage. We also discuss major entities in intelligent edge computing and their role in the Tactile Internet. Finally, several potential research challenges in edge intelligence for the Tactile Internet are highlighted.This work was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 61901128, and Agile Edge Intelligence for Delay Sensitive IoT (AgilE-IoT) project (Grant No. 9131-00119B) of Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF).Mukherjee, M.; Guo, M.; Lloret, J.; Zhang, Q. (2020). Leveraging Intelligent Computation Offloading with Fog/Edge Computing for Tactile Internet: Advantages and Limitations. IEEE Network. 34(5):322-329. https://doi.org/10.1109/MNET.001.200000432232934

Deadline-Aware Fair Scheduling for Offloaded Tasks in Fog Computing With Inter-Fog Dependency

[EN] A fundamental problem in fog computing networks is how to schedule the deadline-aware offloaded tasks that directly arrive from the end-users and via other fog nodes. The computational resource allocation becomes more challenging when the tasks demand different delay-deadlines. In this letter, we aim to propose a scheduling strategy to maximize the number of the completed tasks within their respective deadlines while making the network strongly stable. We exploit Lyapunov drift-plus-penalty function on the queue length to schedule the tasks in the queues. Subsequently, the scheduling policy decides the amount of task to be offloaded to the underloaded fog nodes to fully utilize the computational resources offered by all fog nodes in the network. Our simulation results reveal that the proposed strategy outperforms the baseline schemes, especially when those tasks have distinct delay-deadlines.This work was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grants 61901128 and 61672174.Mukherjee, M.; Guo, M.; Lloret, J.; Iqbal, R.; Zhang, Q. (2020). Deadline-Aware Fair Scheduling for Offloaded Tasks in Fog Computing With Inter-Fog Dependency. IEEE Communications Letters. 24(2):307-311. https://doi.org/10.1109/LCOMM.2019.295774130731124

Intermolecular background decay in RIDME experiments.

Keller K, Qi M, Gmeiner C, et al. Intermolecular background decay in RIDME experiments. Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP. 2019;21(16):8228-8245.The relaxation-induced dipolar modulation enhancement (RIDME) technique allows the determination of distances and distance distributions in pairs containing two paramagnetic metal centers, a paramagnetic metal center and an organic radical, and, under some conditions, also in pairs of organic radicals. The strengths of the RIDME technique are its simple setup requirements, and the absence of bandwidth limitations for spin inversion which occurs through relaxation. A strong limitation of the RIDME technique is the background decay, which is often steeper than that in the double electron electron resonance experiment, and the absence of an appropriate description of the intermolecular background signal. Here we address the latter problem and present an analytical calculation of the RIDME background decay in the simple case of two types of randomly distributed spin centers each with total spin S = 1/2. The obtained equations allow the explaination of the key trends in RIDME experiments on frozen chelated metal ion solutions, and singly spin-labeled proteins. At low spin label concentrations, the RIDME background shape is determined by nuclear-driven spectral diffusion processes. This fact opens up a new path for structural characterization of soft matter and biomacromolecules through the determination of the local distribution of protons in the vicinity of the spin-labeled site

Structure maps for MAX phases formability revisited

The extraordinary chemical diversity of MAX phases raises the question of how many and which novel ones are yet to be discovered. The conventional schemes rely either on executions of well designed experiments or elaborately crafted calculations; both of which have been key tactics within the past several decades that have yielded many of important new materials we are studying and using today. However, these approaches are expensive despite the emergence of high throughput automations or evolution of high speed computers. In this work, we have revisited the in prior proposed light duty strategy, i.e. structure mapping, for describing the genomic conditions under which one MAX phase could form; that allow us to make successful formability and non formability separation of MAX phases with a fidelity of 95.5%. Our results suggest that the proposed coordinates, and further the developed structure maps, are able to offer a useful initial guiding principles for systematic screenings of potential MAX phases and provide untapped opportunities for their structure prediction and materials design

Dual hepatocyte-targeting fluorescent probe with high sensitivity to tumorous pH: Precise detection of hepatocellular carcinoma cells

A new dual hepatocyte-targeting fluorescent probe HPL-1, which can precisely distinguish tumorous pH from physiological pH, was developed. The OFF-ON switch of HPL-1 can be triggered via pH-induced structural change of the lactam group of the rhodamine moiety from closed-ring to open-ring. Our results showed that the phosphate group of HPL-1 is beneficial to its accumulation in liver cells, and combination of the phosphate and galactose units could synergistically increase the hepatocyte-targeting capacity. HPL-1 could selectively distinguish hepatoma cells from other tissue cells, and precisely distinguish cancerous liver cells from normal liver cells. Compared with other reported probes, HPL-1 not only enable a simple and convenient detection method, but also has good hepatocyte-targeting capacity and precise recognition capacity of tumors under weak acid micro-environment, which opens new avenues for precise diagnosis and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma

High-sensitivity Gd3+-Gd3+ EPR distance measurements that eliminate artefacts seen at short distances

We would like to acknowledge EPSRC (EP/R)13705/1) for current funding on the HiPER project, and the Wellcome Trust for a multi-user equipment grant (099149/Z/12/Z) for upgrades on the Q-band system. We thank the Royal Society for an International Exchanges Grant and The Weizmann-UK Joint Research Program for allowing bilateral travel and research between the University of St Andrews and the Weizmann Institute of Science. JEL thanks the Royal Society for a University Research Fellowship. MJT thanks EPSRC for a CM-CDT studentship (EP/LO15110/1). MQ and AG thank the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) for funding within SPP 1601 (GO555/6-2).Gadolinium complexes are attracting increasing attention as spin labels for EPR dipolar distance measurements in biomolecules and particularly for in-cell measurements. It has been shown that flip-flop transitions within the central transition of the high spin Gd3+ ion can introduce artefacts in dipolar distance measurements, particularly when measuring distances less than 3–4 nm. Previous work has shown some reduction of these artefacts through increasing the frequency separation between the two frequencies required for the Double Electron-Electron Resonance (DEER) experiment. Here we use a high power (1 kW), wideband, non-resonant, system operating at 94 GHz to evaluate DEER measurement protocols using two rigid Gd(III)-rulers, consisting of two [GdIII(PyMTA)] complexes, with separations of 2.1 nm and 6.0 nm, respectively. We show that by avoiding the |−1/2⟩ → |1/2⟩ central transition completely, and placing both the pump and the observer pulses on either side of the central transition, we can now observe apparently artefact-free spectra and narrow distance distributions, even for a Gd-Gd distance of 2.1 nm. Importantly we still maintain excellent signal-to-noise ratio and relatively high modulation depths. These results have implications for in-cell EPR measurements at naturally occurring biomolecule concentrations.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

T Cell Chemo-Vaccination Effects after Repeated Mucosal SHIV Exposures and Oral Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) with anti-viral drugs is currently in clinical trials for the prevention of HIV infection. Induction of adaptive immune responses to virus exposures during anti-viral drug administration, i.e., a “chemo-vaccination” effect, could contribute to PrEP efficacy. To study possible chemo-vaccination, we monitored humoral and cellular immune responses in nine rhesus macaques undergoing up to 14 weekly, low-dose SHIVSF162P3 rectal exposures. Six macaques concurrently received PrEP with intermittent, oral Truvada; three were no-PrEP controls. PrEP protected 4 macaques from infection. Two of the four showed evidence of chemo-vaccination, because they developed anti-SHIV CD4+ and CD8+ T cells; SHIV-specific antibodies were not detected. Control macaques showed no anti-SHIV immune responses before infection. Chemo-vaccination-induced T cell responses were robust (up to 3,940 SFU/106 PBMCs), predominantly central memory cells, short-lived (≤22 weeks), and appeared intermittently and with changing specificities. The two chemo-vaccinated macaques were virus-challenged again after 28 weeks of rest, after T cell responses had waned. One macaque was not protected from infection. The other macaque concurrently received additional PrEP. It remained uninfected and T cell responses were boosted during the additional virus exposures. In summary, we document and characterize PrEP-induced T cell chemo-vaccination. Although not protective after subsiding in one macaque, chemo-vaccination-induced T cells warrant more comprehensive analysis during peak responses for their ability to prevent or to control infections after additional exposures. Our findings highlight the importance of monitoring these responses in clinical PrEP trials and suggest that a combination of vaccines and PrEP potentially might enhance efficacy

Promising plasmid DNA vector based on APTES-modified silica nanoparticles

Nanoparticles have an enormous potential for development in biomedical applications, such as gene or drug delivery. We developed and characterized aminopropyltriethoxysilane-functionalized silicon dioxide nanoparticles (APTES-SiNPs) for gene therapy. Lipofectamine® 2000, a commonly used agent, served as a contrast. We showed that APTES-SiNPs had a gene transfection efficiency almost equal to that of Lipofectamine 2000, but with lower cytotoxicity. Thus, these novel APTES-SiNPs can achieve highly efficient transfection of plasmid DNA, and to some extent reduce cytotoxicity, which might overcome the critical drawbacks in vivo of conventional carriers, such as viral vectors, organic polymers, and liposomes, and seem to be a promising nonviral gene therapy vector