Towards In-Network Computing Infrastructures for Connected Vehicles

The demands of Highly Automated Driving (HAD) applications with respect to the underlying computing and networking infrastructure vary widely from the contemporary cloud applications. Named Function Networking (NFN) as a computing concept along with loose coupling provided by the Information Centric Networking (ICN) enables implementation of several usecases with respect to autonomous driving. In this paper, we present NFN for automotive applications with modified resolution strategies along with a proof-of-concept implementation

An SDN Architecture for Automotive Ethernets

Road vehicles are equipped with a rising number of driver assistance systems resulting in increasing bandwidth demand and need for reconfiguration that are difficult to satisfy with traditional in-vehicle networks. As a result, automotive Ethernet networks become more common. With rising complexity of in-vehicle networks, new requirements emerge and call for more flexible automotive network architectures. In this work, we give examples of how Ethernet-based automotive network architectures can profit from software-defined networking (SDN) and present an SDN-based architecture that allows to reconfigure the network dynamically

Improving and Sustaining AMP! NC, an Arts-Based, Multiple-Intervention, Peer-Education Sexual Health and HIV/STI Prevention Program for Teens in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro Community

Background: Adolescents between the ages of 13 and 24 account for over one-quarter of new HIV infections in the United States (U.S.), with approximately 24% of new HIV infections in North Carolina (NC) occurring among youth in this age group. There exists a need to provide effective sexual health education for high school and undergraduate youth in NC, as studies conducted across the globe have found sexual health education to improve safe sexual behaviors among youth under the age of 25. Methods: The Capstone team partnered with the UCLA Art and Global Health Center (UCLA AGHC) and the AMP! NC pilot site to refine and promote sustainability of the undergraduate near-peer educator component of AMP!, a theater-based sexual health education and HIV prevention program for adolescents. The Capstone team employed a variety of methods and skills to complete five deliverables, which included literature search; curriculum design and instruction; qualitative analysis; manuscript development and preparation; and cognitive interviewing. Results: The Capstone team produced five deliverables: 1) an HIV training facilitator's guide with accompanying materials to train AMP!'s undergraduate performers in HIV basics; 2) report from cognitive interviews, which provides suggestions for adaptation of a questionnaire designed to evaluate program impact on undergraduate student participants; 3) qualitative data analysis on written data from undergraduate student AMP! participants and a manuscript summarizing these findings; 4) a research brief highlighting the main evaluation findings from 2012-2013; and 5) a funder's package that includes potential funding opportunities, the aforementioned research brief, program summary pages, and photos and testimonials from AMP! participants. Discussion: The deliverables produced increased the sustainability of AMP! NC, and increased the feasibility of implementing AMP! as a standardized intervention in other sites across the U.S. These deliverables may help to increase youth activism around prevention of HIV and other STIs.Master of Public Healt

‘I learned to accept every part of myself’: the transformative impact of a theatre-based sexual health and HIV prevention programme

Theatre-based interventions have been used in health promotion activities among young people to address HIV and sexual health. In this study, we explored the experience of undergraduate student performers participating in a theatre-based HIV prevention and sexual health education intervention for high school students in the USA. Undergraduate students enrolled in a credit-bearing course to learn about HIV and sexual health, participatory theatre and health education techniques. We analysed students’ reflective essays written throughout the semester to identify any changes and the intervention processes that promoted these changes. Students experienced five interrelated forms of transformation: (1) increased knowledge about HIV and sexual health; (2) changes in attitude and communication about sex; (3) artistic growth; (4) emotional growth; and (5) clarification of career goals and future plans. Intervention processes that contributed to these transformations included improvisation, guided writing exercises, the creation of a close-knit cohesive group, and interactions with a group of HIV-positive speakers. Theatre-based, peer-led sexual health programmes can provide a transformative experience for undergraduate student performers. The transformative effects are linked to specific activities and processes of the intervention and require examination in future research

The mTOR Signalling Pathway in Human Cancer

The conserved serine/threonine kinase mTOR (the mammalian target of rapamycin), a downstream effector of the PI3K/AKT pathway, forms two distinct multiprotein complexes: mTORC1 and mTORC2. mTORC1 is sensitive to rapamycin, activates S6K1 and 4EBP1, which are involved in mRNA translation. It is activated by diverse stimuli, such as growth factors, nutrients, energy and stress signals, and essential signalling pathways, such as PI3K, MAPK and AMPK, in order to control cell growth, proliferation and survival. mTORC2 is considered resistant to rapamycin and is generally insensitive to nutrients and energy signals. It activates PKC-α and AKT and regulates the actin cytoskeleton. Deregulation of multiple elements of the mTOR pathway (PI3K amplification/mutation, PTEN loss of function, AKT overexpression, and S6K1, 4EBP1 and eIF4E overexpression) has been reported in many types of cancers, particularly in melanoma, where alterations in major components of the mTOR pathway were reported to have significant effects on tumour progression. Therefore, mTOR is an appealing therapeutic target and mTOR inhibitors, including the rapamycin analogues deforolimus, everolimus and temsirolimus, are submitted to clinical trials for treating multiple cancers, alone or in combination with inhibitors of other pathways. Importantly, temsirolimus and everolimus were recently approved by the FDA for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma, PNET and giant cell astrocytoma. Small molecules that inhibit mTOR kinase activity and dual PI3K-mTOR inhibitors are also being developed. In this review, we aim to survey relevant research, the molecular mechanisms of signalling, including upstream activation and downstream effectors, and the role of mTOR in cancer, mainly in melanoma

Caring and Compassion in Teaching: How to Increase Flexibility in Courses While Maintaining Academic Rigor

It can be difficult for instructors to balance the need for academic rigor and student responsibility with the equally important need for real life challenges that require compassion and flexibility in the classroom. It is important to examine course policies and structure so that they both align with pedagogy and also support student success. This session will discuss changes that were made to a large enrollment, general education online course during the fall of 2020, which resulted in an increase in student success without adjustment to the rigor of the content. Successes and challenges along with accompanying data will be presented and discussed

FRAP/mTOR is required for proliferation and patterning during embryonic development in the mouse

The FKBP-12-rapamycin associated protein (FRAP, also known as mTOR and RAFT-1) is a member of the phosphoinositide kinase related kinase family. FRAP has serine/threonine kinase activity and mediates the cellular response to mitogens through signaling to p70s6 kinase (p70(s6k)) and 4E-BP1, resulting in an increase in translation of subsets of cellular mRNAs. Translational up-regulation is blocked by inactivation of FRAP signaling by rapamycin, resulting in G(1) cell cycle arrest. Rapamycin is used as an immunosuppressant for kidney transplants and is currently under investigation as an antiproliferative agent in tumors because of its ability to block FRAP activity. Although the role of FRAP has been extensively studied in vitro, characterization of mammalian FRAP function in vivo has been limited to the immune system and tumor models. Here we report the identification of a loss-of-function mutation in the mouse FRAP gene, which illustrates a requirement for FRAP activity in embryonic development. Our studies also determined that rapamycin treatment of the early embryo results in a phenotype indistinguishable from the FRAP mutant, demonstrating that rapamycin has teratogenic activity

The Psychological Value of Time

Much research in the field of public transport takes the approach that ravel time is lost time and values time as the ratio of the marginal utilities of time and money. As such, travel time is considered as a disutility or cost, but a view is emerging that some people actually enjoy travel time in the act of travel itself, and that travel time can be experienced intrinsically as meaningful and pleasurable. Although time can be spent on different activities (e.g., work, leisure, travel), people only have a limited amount of time to spent, (i.e., twenty-four hours per day), and they will allocate time and money budgets dependent on context and motivation. Following the pioneering work of Becker on the allocation of time, it can be postulated that an hour spent on a meaningful activity is more valuable than an hour spent on a less valuable activity. As such, the value of travel time is not only related to hours and money spent but also to the value of time as experienced by the passenger. In this article we present what the impact is when we look at the psychologically experienced time, using two case studies which show the impact on the service quality of a railway operator