TY - CONF AB - Interface theories provide a formal framework for component-based development of software and hardware which supports the incremental design of systems and the independent implementability of components. These capabilities are ensured through mathematical properties of the parallel composition operator and the refinement relation for components. More recently, a conjunction operation was added to interface theories in order to provide support for handling multiple viewpoints, requirements engineering, and component reuse. Unfortunately, the conjunction operator does not allow independent implementability in general. In this paper, we study conditions that need to be imposed on interface models in order to enforce independent implementability with respect to conjunction. We focus on multiple viewpoint specifications and propose a new compatibility criterion between two interfaces, which we call orthogonality. We show that orthogonal interfaces can be refined separately, while preserving both orthogonality and composability with other interfaces. We illustrate the independent implementability of different viewpoints with a FIFO buffer example. AU - Henzinger, Thomas A AU - Nickovic, Dejan ID - 2942 T2 - Conference proceedings Monterey Workshop 2012 TI - Independent implementability of viewpoints VL - 7539 ER - TY - JOUR AB - We examine whether the Escherichia coli chromosome is folded into a self-adherent nucleoprotein complex, or alternately is a confined but otherwise unconstrained self-avoiding polymer. We address this through in vivo visualization, using an inducible GFP fusion to the nucleoid-associated protein Fis to non-specifically decorate the entire chromosome. For a range of different growth conditions, the chromosome is a compact structure that does not fill the volume of the cell, and which moves from the new pole to the cell centre. During rapid growth, chromosome segregation occurs well before cell division, with daughter chromosomes coupled by a thin inter-daughter filament before complete segregation, whereas during slow growth chromosomes stay adjacent until cell division occurs. Image correlation analysis indicates that sub-nucleoid structure is stable on a 1min timescale, comparable to the timescale for redistribution time measured for GFP-Fis after photobleaching. Optical deconvolution and writhe calculation analysis indicate that the nucleoid has a large-scale coiled organization rather than being an amorphous mass. Our observations are consistent with the chromosome having a self-adherent filament organization. AU - Hadizadeh Yazdi, Nastaran AU - Guet, Calin C AU - Johnson, Reid AU - Marko, John ID - 2943 IS - 6 JF - Molecular Microbiology TI - Variation of the folding and dynamics of the Escherichia coli chromosome with growth conditions VL - 86 ER - TY - JOUR AU - Dolbilin, Nikolai AU - Edelsbrunner, Herbert AU - Musin, Oleg ID - 2941 IS - 4 JF - Russian Mathematical Surveys TI - On the optimality of functionals over triangulations of Delaunay sets VL - 67 ER - TY - JOUR AB - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that function in literally all cellular processes. miRNAs interact with Argonaute (Ago) proteins and guide them to specific target sites located in the 3′-untranslated region (3′-UTR) of target mRNAs leading to translational repression and deadenylation-induced mRNA degradation. Most miRNAs are processed from hairpin-structured precursors by the consecutive action of the RNase III enzymes Drosha and Dicer. However, processing of miR-451 is Dicer independent and cleavage is mediated by the endonuclease Ago2. Here we have characterized miR-451 sequence and structure requirements for processing as well as sorting of miRNAs into different Ago proteins. Pre-miR-451 appears to be optimized for Ago2 cleavage and changes result in reduced processing. In addition, we show that the mature miR-451 only associates with Ago2 suggesting that mature miRNAs are not exchanged between different members of the Ago protein family. Based on cloning and deep sequencing of endogenous miRNAs associated with Ago1-3, we do not find evidence for miRNA sorting in human cells. However, Ago identity appears to influence the length of some miRNAs, while others remain unaffected. AU - Dueck, Anne AU - Ziegler, Christian AU - Eichner, Alexander AU - Berezikov, Eugène AU - Meister, Gunter ID - 2946 IS - 19 JF - Nucleic Acids Research TI - MicroRNAs associated with the different human Argonaute proteins VL - 40 ER - TY - CONF AB - We introduce games with probabilistic uncertainty, a model for controller synthesis in which the controller observes the state through imprecise sensors that provide correct information about the current state with a fixed probability. That is, in each step, the sensors return an observed state, and given the observed state, there is a probability distribution (due to the estimation error) over the actual current state. The controller must base its decision on the observed state (rather than the actual current state, which it does not know). On the other hand, we assume that the environment can perfectly observe the current state. We show that controller synthesis for qualitative ω-regular objectives in our model can be reduced in polynomial time to standard partial-observation stochastic games, and vice-versa. As a consequence we establish the precise decidability frontier for the new class of games, and establish optimal complexity results for all the decidable problems. AU - Chatterjee, Krishnendu AU - Chmelik, Martin AU - Majumdar, Ritankar ID - 2947 TI - Equivalence of games with probabilistic uncertainty and partial observation games VL - 7561 ER - TY - JOUR AB - In search of foreign antigens, lymphocytes recirculate from the blood, through lymph nodes, into lymphatics and back to the blood. Dendritic cells also migrate to lymph nodes for optimal interaction with lymphocytes. This continuous trafficking of immune cells into and out of lymph nodes is essential for immune surveillance of foreign invaders. In this article, we review our current understanding of the functions of high endothelial venules (HEVs), stroma and lymphatics in the entry, positioning and exit of immune cells in lymph nodes during homeostasis, and we highlight the unexpected role of dendritic cells in the control of lymphocyte homing through HEVs. AU - Girard, Jean AU - Moussion, Christine AU - Förster, Reinhold ID - 2945 IS - 11 JF - Nature Reviews Immunology TI - HEVs, lymphatics and homeostatic immune cell trafficking in lymph nodes VL - 12 ER - TY - JOUR AU - Dupret, David AU - Csicsvari, Jozsef L ID - 2949 IS - 11 JF - Nature Neuroscience TI - The medial entorhinal cortex keeps Up VL - 15 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Spontaneous postsynaptic currents (PSCs) provide key information about the mechanisms of synaptic transmission and the activity modes of neuronal networks. However, detecting spontaneous PSCs in vitro and in vivo has been challenging, because of the small amplitude, the variable kinetics, and the undefined time of generation of these events. Here, we describe a, to our knowledge, new method for detecting spontaneous synaptic events by deconvolution, using a template that approximates the average time course of spontaneous PSCs. A recorded PSC trace is deconvolved from the template, resulting in a series of delta-like functions. The maxima of these delta-like events are reliably detected, revealing the precise onset times of the spontaneous PSCs. Among all detection methods, the deconvolution-based method has a unique temporal resolution, allowing the detection of individual events in high-frequency bursts. Furthermore, the deconvolution-based method has a high amplitude resolution, because deconvolution can substantially increase the signal/noise ratio. When tested against previously published methods using experimental data, the deconvolution-based method was superior for spontaneous PSCs recorded in vivo. Using the high-resolution deconvolution-based detection algorithm, we show that the frequency of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents in dentate gyrus granule cells is 4.5 times higher in vivo than in vitro. AU - Pernia-Andrade, Alejandro AU - Goswami, Sarit AU - Stickler, Yvonne AU - Fröbe, Ulrich AU - Schlögl, Alois AU - Jonas, Peter M ID - 2954 IS - 7 JF - Biophysical Journal TI - A deconvolution based method with high sensitivity and temporal resolution for detection of spontaneous synaptic currents in vitro and in vivo VL - 103 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Contractile actomyosin rings drive various fundamental morphogenetic processes ranging from cytokinesis to wound healing. Actomyosin rings are generally thought to function by circumferential contraction. Here, we show that the spreading of the enveloping cell layer (EVL) over the yolk cell during zebrafish gastrulation is driven by a contractile actomyosin ring. In contrast to previous suggestions, we find that this ring functions not only by circumferential contraction but also by a flow-friction mechanism. This generates a pulling force through resistance against retrograde actomyosin flow. EVL spreading proceeds normally in situations where circumferential contraction is unproductive, indicating that the flow-friction mechanism is sufficient. Thus, actomyosin rings can function in epithelial morphogenesis through a combination of cable-constriction and flow-friction mechanisms. AU - Behrndt, Martin AU - Salbreux, Guillaume AU - Campinho, Pedro AU - Hauschild, Robert AU - Oswald, Felix AU - Roensch, Julia AU - Grill, Stephan AU - Heisenberg, Carl-Philipp J ID - 2950 IS - 6104 JF - Science TI - Forces driving epithelial spreading in zebrafish gastrulation VL - 338 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Differential cell adhesion and cortex tension are thought to drive cell sorting by controlling cell-cell contact formation. Here, we show that cell adhesion and cortex tension have different mechanical functions in controlling progenitor cell-cell contact formation and sorting during zebrafish gastrulation. Cortex tension controls cell-cell contact expansion by modulating interfacial tension at the contact. By contrast, adhesion has little direct function in contact expansion, but instead is needed to mechanically couple the cortices of adhering cells at their contacts, allowing cortex tension to control contact expansion. The coupling function of adhesion is mediated by E-cadherin and limited by the mechanical anchoring of E-cadherin to the cortex. Thus, cell adhesion provides the mechanical scaffold for cell cortex tension to drive cell sorting during gastrulation. AU - Maître, Jean-Léon AU - Berthoumieux, Hélène AU - Krens, Gabriel AU - Salbreux, Guillaume AU - Julicher, Frank AU - Paluch, Ewa AU - Heisenberg, Carl-Philipp J ID - 2951 IS - 6104 JF - Science TI - Adhesion functions in cell sorting by mechanically coupling the cortices of adhering cells VL - 338 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Body axis elongation represents a common and fundamental morphogenetic process in development. A key mechanism triggering body axis elongation without additional growth is convergent extension (CE), whereby a tissue undergoes simultaneous narrowing and extension. Both collective cell migration and cell intercalation are thought to drive CE and are used to different degrees in various species as they elongate their body axis. Here, we provide an overview of CE as a general strategy for body axis elongation and discuss conserved and divergent mechanisms underlying CE among different species. AU - Tada, Masazumi AU - Heisenberg, Carl-Philipp J ID - 2952 IS - 21 JF - Development TI - Convergent extension Using collective cell migration and cell intercalation to shape embryos VL - 139 ER - TY - JOUR AU - Heisenberg, Carl-Philipp J AU - Fässler, Reinhard ID - 2953 IS - 5 JF - Current Opinion in Cell Biology TI - Cell-cell adhesion and extracellular matrix diversity counts VL - 24 ER - TY - JOUR AB - The activity of hippocampal pyramidal cells reflects both the current position of the animal and information related to its current behavior. Here we investigated whether single hippocampal neurons can encode several independent features defining trials during a memory task. We also tested whether task-related information is represented by partial remapping of the place cell population or, instead, via firing rate modulation of spatially stable place cells. To address these two questions, the activity of hippocampal neurons was recorded in rats performing a conditional discrimination task on a modified T-maze in which the identity of a food reward guided behavior. When the rat was on the central arm of the maze, the firing rate of pyramidal cells changed depending on two independent factors: (1) the identity of the food reward given to the animal and (2) the previous location of the animal on the maze. Importantly, some pyramidal cells encoded information relative to both factors. This trial-type specific and retrospective coding did not interfere with the spatial representation of the maze: hippocampal cells had stable place fields and their theta-phase precession profiles were unaltered during the task, indicating that trial-related information was encoded via rate remapping. During error trials, encoding of both trial-related information and spatial location was impaired. Finally, we found that pyramidal cells also encode trial-related information via rate remapping during the continuous version of the rewarded alternation task without delays. These results suggest that hippocampal neurons can encode several task-related cognitive aspects via rate remapping. AU - Allen, Kevin AU - Rawlins, J Nick AU - Bannerman, David AU - Csicsvari, Jozsef L ID - 2958 IS - 42 JF - Journal of Neuroscience TI - Hippocampal place cells can encode multiple trial-dependent features through rate remapping VL - 32 ER - TY - JOUR AB - We study maximum likelihood estimation in Gaussian graphical models from a geometric point of view. An algebraic elimination criterion allows us to find exact lower bounds on the number of observations needed to ensure that the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) exists with probability one. This is applied to bipartite graphs, grids and colored graphs. We also study the ML degree, and we present the first instance of a graph for which the MLE exists with probability one, even when the number of observations equals the treewidth. AU - Uhler, Caroline ID - 2959 IS - 1 JF - Annals of Statistics TI - Geometry of maximum likelihood estimation in Gaussian graphical models VL - 40 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Background: The outcome of male-male competition can be predicted from the relative fighting qualities of the opponents, which often depend on their age. In insects, freshly emerged and still sexually inactive males are morphologically indistinct from older, sexually active males. These young inactive males may thus be easy targets for older males if they cannot conceal themselves from their attacks. The ant Cardiocondyla obscurior is characterised by lethal fighting between wingless (" ergatoid" ) males. Here, we analyse for how long young males are defenceless after eclosion, and how early adult males can detect the presence of rival males.Results: We found that old ergatoid males consistently won fights against ergatoid males younger than two days. Old males did not differentiate between different types of unpigmented pupae several days before emergence, but had more frequent contact to ready-to-eclose pupae of female sexuals and winged males than of workers and ergatoid males. In rare cases, old ergatoid males displayed alleviated biting of pigmented ergatoid male pupae shortly before adult eclosion, as well as copulation attempts to dark pupae of female sexuals and winged males. Ergatoid male behaviour may be promoted by a closer similarity of the chemical profile of ready-to-eclose pupae to the profile of adults than that of young pupae several days prior to emergence.Conclusion: Young ergatoid males of C. obscurior would benefit greatly by hiding their identity from older, resident males, as they are highly vulnerable during the first two days of their adult lives. In contrast to the winged males of the same species, which are able to prevent ergatoid male attacks by chemical female mimicry, young ergatoids do not seem to be able to produce a protective chemical profile. Conflicts in male-male competition between ergatoid males of different age thus seem to be resolved in favour of the older males. This might represent selection at the colony level rather than the individual level. © 2012 Cremer et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. AU - Cremer, Sylvia AU - Suefuji, Masaki AU - Schrempf, Alexandra AU - Heinze, Jürgen ID - 2966 JF - BMC Ecology TI - The dynamics of male-male competition in Cardiocondyla obscurior ants VL - 12 ER - TY - JOUR AB - The choice of summary statistics is a crucial step in approximate Bayesian computation (ABC). Since statistics are often not sufficient, this choice involves a trade-off between loss of information and reduction of dimensionality. The latter may increase the efficiency of ABC. Here, we propose an approach for choosing summary statistics based on boosting, a technique from the machine learning literature. We consider different types of boosting and compare them to partial least squares regression as an alternative. To mitigate the lack of sufficiency, we also propose an approach for choosing summary statistics locally, in the putative neighborhood of the true parameter value. We study a demographic model motivated by the re-introduction of Alpine ibex (Capra ibex) into the Swiss Alps. The parameters of interest are the mean and standard deviation across microsatellites of the scaled ancestral mutation rate (θanc = 4 Ne u), and the proportion of males obtaining access to matings per breeding season (ω). By simulation, we assess the properties of the posterior distribution obtained with the various methods. According to our criteria, ABC with summary statistics chosen locally via boosting with the L2-loss performs best. Applying that method to the ibex data, we estimate θanc ≈ 1.288, and find that most of the variation across loci of the ancestral mutation rate u is between 7.7×10−4 and 3.5×10−3 per locus per generation. The proportion of males with access to matings is estimated to ω ≈ 0.21, which is in good agreement with recent independent estimates. AU - Aeschbacher, Simon AU - Beaumont, Mark AU - Futschik, Andreas ID - 2962 IS - 3 JF - Genetics TI - A novel approach for choosing summary statistics in approximate Bayesian computation VL - 192 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Dieser Artikel soll die sechs verschiedenen Creative Commons Lizenzen erläutern und ihre Bedeutung im Rahmen des wissenschaftlichen Publizierens und des Open Access erklären (CC-BY, CC-BY-SA, CC-BY-NC, CC-BY-ND, CC-BYNC-SA, CC-BY-NC-ND). AU - Danowski, Patrick ID - 2965 IS - 2 JF - Mitteilungen der Vereinigung Österreichischer Bibliothekarinnen & Bibliothekare TI - Kontext Open Access: Creative Commons VL - 65 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Zebra finches are an ubiquitous model system for the study of vocal learning in animal communication. Their song has been well described, but its possible function(s) in social communication are only partly understood. The so-called ‘directed song’ is a high-intensity, high-performance song given during courtship in close proximity to the female, which is known to mediate mate choice and mating. However, this singing mode constitutes only a fraction of zebra finch males’ prolific song output. Potential communicative functions of their second, ‘undirected’ singing mode remain unresolved in the face of contradicting reports of both facilitating and inhibiting effects of social company on singing. We addressed this issue by experimentally manipulating social contexts in a within-subject design, comparing a solo versus male or female only company condition, each lasting for 24 hours. Males’ total song output was significantly higher when a conspecific was in audible and visible distance than when they were alone. Male and female company had an equally facilitating effect on song output. Our findings thus indicate that singing motivation is facilitated rather than inhibited by social company, suggesting that singing in zebra finches might function both in inter- and intrasexual communication. AU - Jesse, Fabienne AU - Riebel, Katharina ID - 2963 IS - 3 JF - Behavioural Processes TI - Social facilitation of male song by male and female conspecifics in the zebra finch, Taeniopygia guttata VL - 91 ER - TY - CONF AB - We construct a perfectly binding string commitment scheme whose security is based on the learning parity with noise (LPN) assumption, or equivalently, the hardness of decoding random linear codes. Our scheme not only allows for a simple and efficient zero-knowledge proof of knowledge for committed values (essentially a Σ-protocol), but also for such proofs showing any kind of relation amongst committed values, i.e. proving that messages m_0,...,m_u, are such that m_0=C(m_1,...,m_u) for any circuit C. To get soundness which is exponentially small in a security parameter t, and when the zero-knowledge property relies on the LPN problem with secrets of length l, our 3 round protocol has communication complexity O(t|C|l log(l)) and computational complexity of O(t|C|l) bit operations. The hidden constants are small, and the computation consists mostly of computing inner products of bit-vectors. AU - Jain, Abhishek AU - Krenn, Stephan AU - Pietrzak, Krzysztof Z AU - Tentes, Aris ED - Wang, Xiaoyun ED - Sako, Kazue ID - 2974 TI - Commitments and efficient zero knowledge proofs from learning parity with noise VL - 7658 ER - TY - JOUR AB - The coupling between presynaptic Ca^(2+) channels and Ca^(2+) sensors of exocytosis is a key determinant of synaptic transmission. Evoked release from parvalbumin (PV)-expressing interneurons is triggered by nanodomain coupling of P/Q-type Ca^(2+) channels, whereas release from cholecystokinin (CCK)-containing interneurons is generated by microdomain coupling of N-type channels. Nanodomain coupling has several functional advantages, including speed and efficacy of transmission. One potential disadvantage is that stochastic opening of presynaptic Ca^(2+) channels may trigger spontaneous transmitter release. We addressed this possibility in rat hippocampal granule cells, which receive converging inputs from different inhibitory sources. Both reduction of extracellular Ca^(2+) concentration and the unselective Ca^(2+) channel blocker Cd^(2+) reduced the frequency of miniature IPSCs (mIPSCs) in granule cells by ~50%, suggesting that the opening of presynaptic Ca^(2+) channels contributes to spontaneous release. Application of the selective P/Q-type Ca^(2+) channel blocker ω-agatoxin IVa had no detectable effects, whereas both the N-type blocker ω-conotoxin GVIa and the L-type blocker nimodipine reduced mIPSC frequency. Furthermore, both the fast Ca^(2+) chelator BAPTA-AM and the slow chelator EGTA-AM reduced the mIPSC frequency, suggesting that Ca^(2+)-dependent spontaneous release is triggered by microdomain rather than nanodomain coupling. The CB_(1) receptor agonist WIN 55212-2 also decreased spontaneous release; this effect was occluded by prior application of ω-conotoxin GVIa, suggesting that a major fraction of Ca^(2+)-dependent spontaneous release was generated at the terminals of CCK-expressing interneurons. Tonic inhibition generated by spontaneous opening of presynaptic N- and L-type Ca^(2+) channels may be important for hippocampal information processing. AU - Goswami, Sarit AU - Bucurenciu, Iancu AU - Jonas, Peter M ID - 2969 IS - 41 JF - Journal of Neuroscience TI - Miniature IPSCs in hippocampal granule cells are triggered by voltage-gated Ca^(2+) channels via microdomain coupling VL - 32 ER -