Improving Mobile Video Streaming with Mobility Prediction and Prefetching in Integrated Cellular-WiFi Networks

We present and evaluate a procedure that utilizes mobility and throughput prediction to prefetch video streaming data in integrated cellular and WiFi networks. The effective integration of such heterogeneous wireless technologies will be significant for supporting high performance and energy efficient video streaming in ubiquitous networking environments. Our evaluation is based on trace-driven simulation considering empirical measurements and shows how various system parameters influence the performance, in terms of the number of paused video frames and the energy consumption; these parameters include the number of video streams, the mobile, WiFi, and ADSL backhaul throughput, and the number of WiFi hotspots. Also, we assess the procedure's robustness to time and throughput variability. Finally, we present our initial prototype that implements the proposed approach.Comment: 7 pages, 15 figure

Efficient Proactive Caching for Supporting Seamless Mobility

We present a distributed proactive caching approach that exploits user mobility information to decide where to proactively cache data to support seamless mobility, while efficiently utilizing cache storage using a congestion pricing scheme. The proposed approach is applicable to the case where objects have different sizes and to a two-level cache hierarchy, for both of which the proactive caching problem is hard. Additionally, our modeling framework considers the case where the delay is independent of the requested data object size and the case where the delay is a function of the object size. Our evaluation results show how various system parameters influence the delay gains of the proposed approach, which achieves robust and good performance relative to an oracle and an optimal scheme for a flat cache structure.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure

Identification of pneumococcal vaccine antigens using Reverse Vaccinology 2.0

The phenomenon of serotype replacement and the increase in antibiotic resistance among serotype replacement strains highlight the need for new pneumococcal vaccines with a broader coverage against Streptococcus pneumoniae strains. Because pneumococci express a large number of capsular polysaccharides, vaccine antigen discovery is now focused on the search for conserved protein antigens. To identify novel vaccine candidate antigens, this study utilized an approach that involves the expression and cloning of fully human monoclonal antibodies (hmAbs). This thesis describes the successful use of the Reverse Vaccinology 2.0 approach to identify novel functional pneumococcal antigens. Three different assays using S. pneumoniae were assessed. The first assay targeted the use of plasmablasts cells, from which one pneumococcal specific hmAb was mono-cloned - SMP13-D9K. The second assay, the immunoglobulin capture assay (ICA) had been previously developed using single viral vaccine antigens to enhance the efficiency of antigen-specific hmAb cloning but was optimised in this project for use with whole cell S. penumoniae. Eighteen out of 22 hmAbs (~82%), cloned from individual plasmablasts, were specific for disparate pneumococcal polysaccharide epitopes, however no anti-protein hmAbs were cloned using the ICA. Finally, the third assay targeted the used of enriched memory B cells from healthy volunteers, from which one pneumococcal specific hmAbs was mono-cloned -MBC-E12K. Furthermore, the protein antigens recognised by P13-D9K and MBC-E12K were assessed as a potential component in a pneumococcal vaccine. Results showed that P13-D9K and MBC-E12K were highly cross-reactive recognising 23 serotypes, and both showing functional, i.e., opsonophagocytic activity in vitro against strains of serotypes 4, 6B, 14 and 19A. Passive transfer of D9K and E12K antibody resulted in 50% and 30% of mice clearing infection, respectively, while a synergistic effect was seen when the mixed hmAbs were transferred with a 12.5% higher percentage of clearance (62.5%). Reactivity of the bactericidal hmAbs was found against a single ca. 63 kDa protein in western blots. Finally, the results presented in this thesis provide a proof-of-principle for the use of Reverse Vaccinology 2.0 as a powerful tool in the search for novel pneumococcal vaccine candidate antigens.Open Acces

Rape, Consent, and the U.S. Military

The military’s sexual assault prevention and response program is unable to effectively eliminate or even minimize occurrences of sexual assault in the service. This program focuses primarily on the elimination of sexual assault through yearly mandatory education on the current policies and procedures that occur when a victim comes forward. The Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) program is reactionary and unequipped to tackle a culture that continues to promote a climate in which sexual assault and harassment exist without fear of retaliation. This thesis explores these issues and provides suggestions for changes in future revisions of the SAPR program. First, the SAPR program relies heavily on the victim’s actions while simultaneously creating a complex and largely ineffective response to the accusations from one service member to another. Second, affected service members risk being ostracized in their primary communities if they come forward with claims of assault. These primary communities vary from their shop, command, squadron, and base and can overlap. Third, consent can only be truly utilized in spaces where a person is able to have complete bodily autonomy over themselves. Consent, as seen through this lens, functions as one of the ways in which service members are set up for failure when they report sexual assault or harassment. In a military environment the voluntary limits of personal freedoms are accepted and understood by service members as a reasonable cost for the benefits received. However, those benefits are insufficient when a service member finds themselves unable to report without also accepting the risk of losing everything gained under their contracted service