--- _id: '1124' alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Maurizio full_name: Morri, Maurizio id: 4863116E-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Morri citation: ama: Morri M. Optical functionalization of human class A orphan G-protein coupled receptors. 2016. apa: Morri, M. (2016). Optical functionalization of human class A orphan G-protein coupled receptors. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. chicago: Morri, Maurizio. “Optical Functionalization of Human Class A Orphan G-Protein Coupled Receptors.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. ieee: M. Morri, “Optical functionalization of human class A orphan G-protein coupled receptors,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. ista: Morri M. 2016. Optical functionalization of human class A orphan G-protein coupled receptors. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Morri, Maurizio. Optical Functionalization of Human Class A Orphan G-Protein Coupled Receptors. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. short: M. Morri, Optical Functionalization of Human Class A Orphan G-Protein Coupled Receptors, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. date_created: 2018-12-11T11:50:17Z date_published: 2016-03-01T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2023-09-07T11:43:03Z day: '01' ddc: - '570' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: HaJa file: - access_level: closed checksum: b439803ac0827cdddd56562a54e3b53b content_type: application/pdf creator: dernst date_created: 2019-08-13T10:50:00Z date_updated: 2019-08-13T10:50:00Z file_id: '6812' file_name: MORRI_PhD_thesis_FINALPLUSSIGNATURES (2).pdf file_size: 4785167 relation: main_file - access_level: open_access checksum: dd4136247fe472e7d47880ec68ac8de0 content_type: application/pdf creator: dernst date_created: 2021-02-22T11:42:06Z date_updated: 2021-02-22T11:42:06Z file_id: '9180' file_name: 2016_MORRI_Thesis.pdf file_size: 4495669 relation: main_file success: 1 file_date_updated: 2021-02-22T11:42:06Z has_accepted_license: '1' language: - iso: eng month: '03' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version page: '129' publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria publist_id: '6236' status: public supervisor: - first_name: Harald L full_name: Janovjak, Harald L id: 33BA6C30-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Janovjak orcid: 0000-0002-8023-9315 title: Optical functionalization of human class A orphan G-protein coupled receptors type: dissertation user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1 year: '2016' ... --- _id: '1125' abstract: - lang: eng text: "Natural environments are never constant but subject to spatial and temporal change on\r\nall scales, increasingly so due to human activity. Hence, it is crucial to understand the\r\nimpact of environmental variation on evolutionary processes. In this thesis, I present\r\nthree topics that share the common theme of environmental variation, yet illustrate its\r\neffect from different perspectives.\r\nFirst, I show how a temporally fluctuating environment gives rise to second-order\r\nselection on a modifier for stress-induced mutagenesis. Without fluctuations, when\r\npopulations are adapted to their environment, mutation rates are minimized. I argue\r\nthat a stress-induced mutator mechanism may only be maintained if the population is\r\nrepeatedly subjected to diverse environmental challenges, and I outline implications of\r\nthe presented results to antibiotic treatment strategies.\r\nSecond, I discuss my work on the evolution of dispersal. Besides reproducing\r\nknown results about the effect of heterogeneous habitats on dispersal, it identifies\r\nspatial changes in dispersal type frequencies as a source for selection for increased\r\npropensities to disperse. This concept contains effects of relatedness that are known\r\nto promote dispersal, and I explain how it identifies other forces selecting for dispersal\r\nand puts them on a common scale.\r\nThird, I analyse genetic variances of phenotypic traits under multivariate stabilizing\r\nselection. For the case of constant environments, I generalize known formulae of\r\nequilibrium variances to multiple traits and discuss how the genetic variance of a focal\r\ntrait is influenced by selection on background traits. I conclude by presenting ideas and\r\npreliminary work aiming at including environmental fluctuations in the form of moving\r\ntrait optima into the model." alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Sebastian full_name: Novak, Sebastian id: 461468AE-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Novak orcid: 0000-0002-2519-824X citation: ama: Novak S. Evolutionary proccesses in variable emvironments. 2016. apa: Novak, S. (2016). Evolutionary proccesses in variable emvironments. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. chicago: Novak, Sebastian. “Evolutionary Proccesses in Variable Emvironments.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. ieee: S. Novak, “Evolutionary proccesses in variable emvironments,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. ista: Novak S. 2016. Evolutionary proccesses in variable emvironments. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Novak, Sebastian. Evolutionary Proccesses in Variable Emvironments. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. short: S. Novak, Evolutionary Proccesses in Variable Emvironments, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. date_created: 2018-12-11T11:50:17Z date_published: 2016-07-01T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2025-05-28T11:57:05Z day: '01' ddc: - '576' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: NiBa file: - access_level: closed checksum: 81dcc838dfcf7aa0b1a27ecf4fe2da4e content_type: application/pdf creator: dernst date_created: 2019-08-13T09:01:00Z date_updated: 2019-08-13T09:01:00Z file_id: '6811' file_name: Novak_thesis.pdf file_size: 3564901 relation: main_file - access_level: open_access checksum: 30808d2f7ca920e09f63a95cdc49bffd content_type: application/pdf creator: dernst date_created: 2021-02-22T13:42:47Z date_updated: 2021-02-22T13:42:47Z file_id: '9186' file_name: 2016_Novak_Thesis.pdf file_size: 2814384 relation: main_file success: 1 file_date_updated: 2021-02-22T13:42:47Z has_accepted_license: '1' language: - iso: eng month: '07' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version page: '124' publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria publist_id: '6235' related_material: record: - id: '2023' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public status: public supervisor: - first_name: Nicholas H full_name: Barton, Nicholas H id: 4880FE40-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Barton orcid: 0000-0002-8548-5240 title: Evolutionary proccesses in variable emvironments type: dissertation user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1 year: '2016' ... --- _id: '1126' abstract: - lang: eng text: "Traditionally machine learning has been focusing on the problem of solving a single\r\ntask in isolation. While being quite well understood, this approach disregards an\r\nimportant aspect of human learning: when facing a new problem, humans are able to\r\nexploit knowledge acquired from previously learned tasks. Intuitively, access to several\r\nproblems simultaneously or sequentially could also be advantageous for a machine\r\nlearning system, especially if these tasks are closely related. Indeed, results of many\r\nempirical studies have provided justification for this intuition. However, theoretical\r\njustifications of this idea are rather limited.\r\nThe focus of this thesis is to expand the understanding of potential benefits of information\r\ntransfer between several related learning problems. We provide theoretical\r\nanalysis for three scenarios of multi-task learning - multiple kernel learning, sequential\r\nlearning and active task selection. We also provide a PAC-Bayesian perspective on\r\nlifelong learning and investigate how the task generation process influences the generalization\r\nguarantees in this scenario. In addition, we show how some of the obtained\r\ntheoretical results can be used to derive principled multi-task and lifelong learning\r\nalgorithms and illustrate their performance on various synthetic and real-world datasets." acknowledgement: "First and foremost I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Christoph\r\nLampert. Thank you for your patience in teaching me all aspects of doing research\r\n(including English grammar), for your trust in my capabilities and endless support. Thank\r\nyou for granting me freedom in my research and, at the same time, having time and\r\nhelping me cope with the consequences whenever I needed it. Thank you for creating\r\nan excellent atmosphere in the group, it was a great pleasure and honor to be a part of\r\nit. There could not have been a better and more inspiring adviser and mentor.\r\nI thank Shai Ben-David for welcoming me into his group at the University of Waterloo,\r\nfor inspiring discussions and support. It was a great pleasure to work together. I am\r\nalso thankful to Ruth Urner for hosting me at the Max-Planck Institute Tübingen, for the\r\nfruitful collaboration and for taking care of me during that not-so-sunny month of May.\r\nI thank Jan Maas for kindly joining my thesis committee despite the short notice and\r\nproviding me with insightful comments.\r\nI would like to thank my colleagues for their support, entertaining conversations and\r\nendless table soccer games we shared together: Georg, Jan, Amelie and Emilie, Michal\r\nand Alex, Alex K. and Alex Z., Thomas, Sameh, Vlad, Mayu, Nathaniel, Silvester, Neel,\r\nCsaba, Vladimir, Morten. Thank you, Mabel and Ram, for the wonderful time we spent\r\ntogether. I am thankful to Shrinu and Samira for taking care of me during my stay at the\r\nUniversity of Waterloo. Special thanks to Viktoriia for her never-ending optimism and for\r\nbeing so inspiring and supportive, especially at the beginning of my PhD journey.\r\nThanks to IST administration, in particular, Vlad and Elisabeth for shielding me from\r\nmost of the bureaucratic paperwork.\r\n\r\nThis dissertation would not have been possible without funding from the European\r\nResearch Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme\r\n(FP7/2007-2013)/ERC grant agreement no 308036." alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Anastasia full_name: Pentina, Anastasia id: 42E87FC6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Pentina citation: ama: Pentina A. Theoretical foundations of multi-task lifelong learning. 2016. doi:10.15479/AT:ISTA:TH_776 apa: Pentina, A. (2016). Theoretical foundations of multi-task lifelong learning. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT:ISTA:TH_776 chicago: Pentina, Anastasia. “Theoretical Foundations of Multi-Task Lifelong Learning.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT:ISTA:TH_776. ieee: A. Pentina, “Theoretical foundations of multi-task lifelong learning,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. ista: Pentina A. 2016. Theoretical foundations of multi-task lifelong learning. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Pentina, Anastasia. Theoretical Foundations of Multi-Task Lifelong Learning. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016, doi:10.15479/AT:ISTA:TH_776. short: A. Pentina, Theoretical Foundations of Multi-Task Lifelong Learning, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. date_created: 2018-12-11T11:50:17Z date_published: 2016-11-01T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2023-09-07T11:52:03Z day: '01' ddc: - '006' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: ChLa doi: 10.15479/AT:ISTA:TH_776 ec_funded: 1 file: - access_level: open_access content_type: application/pdf creator: system date_created: 2018-12-12T10:14:07Z date_updated: 2018-12-12T10:14:07Z file_id: '5056' file_name: IST-2017-776-v1+1_Pentina_Thesis_2016.pdf file_size: 2140062 relation: main_file file_date_updated: 2018-12-12T10:14:07Z has_accepted_license: '1' language: - iso: eng month: '11' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version page: '127' project: - _id: 2532554C-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425 call_identifier: FP7 grant_number: '308036' name: Lifelong Learning of Visual Scene Understanding publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria publist_id: '6234' pubrep_id: '776' status: public supervisor: - first_name: Christoph full_name: Lampert, Christoph id: 40C20FD2-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Lampert orcid: 0000-0001-8622-7887 title: Theoretical foundations of multi-task lifelong learning type: dissertation user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1 year: '2016' ... --- _id: '1128' abstract: - lang: eng text: "The process of gene expression is central to the modern understanding of how cellular systems\r\nfunction. In this process, a special kind of regulatory proteins, called transcription factors,\r\nare important to determine how much protein is produced from a given gene. As biological\r\ninformation is transmitted from transcription factor concentration to mRNA levels to amounts of\r\nprotein, various sources of noise arise and pose limits to the fidelity of intracellular signaling.\r\nThis thesis concerns itself with several aspects of stochastic gene expression: (i) the mathematical\r\ndescription of complex promoters responsible for the stochastic production of biomolecules,\r\n(ii) fundamental limits to information processing the cell faces due to the interference from multiple\r\nfluctuating signals, (iii) how the presence of gene expression noise influences the evolution\r\nof regulatory sequences, (iv) and tools for the experimental study of origins and consequences\r\nof cell-cell heterogeneity, including an application to bacterial stress response systems." alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Georg full_name: Rieckh, Georg id: 34DA8BD6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Rieckh citation: ama: Rieckh G. Studying the complexities of transcriptional regulation. 2016. apa: Rieckh, G. (2016). Studying the complexities of transcriptional regulation. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. chicago: Rieckh, Georg. “Studying the Complexities of Transcriptional Regulation.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. ieee: G. Rieckh, “Studying the complexities of transcriptional regulation,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. ista: Rieckh G. 2016. Studying the complexities of transcriptional regulation. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Rieckh, Georg. Studying the Complexities of Transcriptional Regulation. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. short: G. Rieckh, Studying the Complexities of Transcriptional Regulation, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. date_created: 2018-12-11T11:50:18Z date_published: 2016-08-01T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2023-09-07T11:44:34Z day: '01' ddc: - '570' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: GaTk file: - access_level: closed checksum: ec453918c3bf8e6f460fd1156ef7b493 content_type: application/pdf creator: dernst date_created: 2019-08-13T11:46:25Z date_updated: 2019-08-13T11:46:25Z file_id: '6815' file_name: Thesis_Georg_Rieckh_w_signature_page.pdf file_size: 2614660 relation: main_file - access_level: open_access checksum: 51ae398166370d18fd22478b6365c4da content_type: application/pdf creator: dernst date_created: 2020-09-21T11:30:40Z date_updated: 2020-09-21T11:30:40Z file_id: '8542' file_name: Thesis_Georg_Rieckh.pdf file_size: 6096178 relation: main_file success: 1 file_date_updated: 2020-09-21T11:30:40Z has_accepted_license: '1' language: - iso: eng month: '08' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version page: '114' publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria publist_id: '6232' status: public supervisor: - first_name: Gasper full_name: Tkacik, Gasper id: 3D494DCA-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Tkacik orcid: 0000-0002-6699-1455 title: Studying the complexities of transcriptional regulation type: dissertation user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1 year: '2016' ... --- _id: '1129' abstract: - lang: eng text: "Directed cell migration is a hallmark feature, present in almost all multi-cellular\r\norganisms. Despite its importance, basic questions regarding force transduction\r\nor directional sensing are still heavily investigated. Directed migration of cells\r\nguided by immobilized guidance cues - haptotaxis - occurs in key-processes,\r\nsuch as embryonic development and immunity (Middleton et al., 1997; Nguyen\r\net al., 2000; Thiery, 1984; Weber et al., 2013). Immobilized guidance cues\r\ncomprise adhesive ligands, such as collagen and fibronectin (Barczyk et al.,\r\n2009), or chemokines - the main guidance cues for migratory leukocytes\r\n(Middleton et al., 1997; Weber et al., 2013). While adhesive ligands serve as\r\nattachment sites guiding cell migration (Carter, 1965), chemokines instruct\r\nhaptotactic migration by inducing adhesion to adhesive ligands and directional\r\nguidance (Rot and Andrian, 2004; Schumann et al., 2010). Quantitative analysis\r\nof the cellular response to immobilized guidance cues requires in vitro assays\r\nthat foster cell migration, offer accurate control of the immobilized cues on a\r\nsubcellular scale and in the ideal case closely reproduce in vivo conditions. The\r\nexploration of haptotactic cell migration through design and employment of such\r\nassays represents the main focus of this work.\r\nDendritic cells (DCs) are leukocytes, which after encountering danger\r\nsignals such as pathogens in peripheral organs instruct naïve T-cells and\r\nconsequently the adaptive immune response in the lymph node (Mellman and\r\nSteinman, 2001). To reach the lymph node from the periphery, DCs follow\r\nhaptotactic gradients of the chemokine CCL21 towards lymphatic vessels\r\n(Weber et al., 2013). Questions about how DCs interpret haptotactic CCL21\r\ngradients have not yet been addressed. The main reason for this is the lack of\r\nan assay that offers diverse haptotactic environments, hence allowing the study\r\nof DC migration as a response to different signals of immobilized guidance cue.\r\nIn this work, we developed an in vitro assay that enables us to\r\nquantitatively assess DC haptotaxis, by combining precisely controllable\r\nchemokine photo-patterning with physically confining migration conditions. With this tool at hand, we studied the influence of CCL21 gradient properties and\r\nconcentration on DC haptotaxis. We found that haptotactic gradient sensing\r\ndepends on the absolute CCL21 concentration in combination with the local\r\nsteepness of the gradient. Our analysis suggests that the directionality of\r\nmigrating DCs is governed by the signal-to-noise ratio of CCL21 binding to its\r\nreceptor CCR7. Moreover, the haptotactic CCL21 gradient formed in vivo\r\nprovides an optimal shape for DCs to recognize haptotactic guidance cue.\r\nBy reconstitution of the CCL21 gradient in vitro we were also able to\r\nstudy the influence of CCR7 signal termination on DC haptotaxis. To this end,\r\nwe used DCs lacking the G-protein coupled receptor kinase GRK6, which is\r\nresponsible for CCL21 induced CCR7 receptor phosphorylation and\r\ndesensitization (Zidar et al., 2009). We found that CCR7 desensitization by\r\nGRK6 is crucial for maintenance of haptotactic CCL21 gradient sensing in vitro\r\nand confirm those observations in vivo.\r\nIn the context of the organism, immobilized haptotactic guidance cues\r\noften coincide and compete with soluble chemotactic guidance cues. During\r\nwound healing, fibroblasts are exposed and influenced by adhesive cues and\r\nsoluble factors at the same time (Wu et al., 2012; Wynn, 2008). Similarly,\r\nmigrating DCs are exposed to both, soluble chemokines (CCL19 and truncated\r\nCCL21) inducing chemotactic behavior as well as the immobilized CCL21. To\r\nquantitatively assess these complex coinciding immobilized and soluble\r\nguidance cues, we implemented our chemokine photo-patterning technique in a\r\nmicrofluidic system allowing for chemotactic gradient generation. To validate\r\nthe assay, we observed DC migration in competing CCL19/CCL21\r\nenvironments.\r\nAdhesiveness guided haptotaxis has been studied intensively over the\r\nlast century. However, quantitative studies leading to conceptual models are\r\nlargely missing, again due to the lack of a precisely controllable in vitro assay. A\r\nrequirement for such an in vitro assay is that it must prevent any uncontrolled\r\ncell adhesion. This can be accomplished by stable passivation of the surface. In\r\naddition, controlled adhesion must be sustainable, quantifiable and dose\r\ndependent in order to create homogenous gradients. Therefore, we developed a novel covalent photo-patterning technique satisfying all these needs. In\r\ncombination with a sustainable poly-vinyl alcohol (PVA) surface coating we\r\nwere able to generate gradients of adhesive cue to direct cell migration. This\r\napproach allowed us to characterize the haptotactic migratory behavior of\r\nzebrafish keratocytes in vitro. Furthermore, defined patterns of adhesive cue\r\nallowed us to control for cell shape and growth on a subcellular scale." acknowledged_ssus: - _id: Bio - _id: PreCl - _id: LifeSc acknowledgement: "First, I would like to thank Michael Sixt for being a great supervisor, mentor and\r\nscientist. I highly appreciate his guidance and continued support. Furthermore, I\r\nam very grateful that he gave me the exceptional opportunity to pursue many\r\nideas of which some managed to be included in this thesis.\r\nI owe sincere thanks to the members of my PhD thesis committee, Daria\r\nSiekhaus, Daniel Legler and Harald Janovjak. Especially I would like to thank\r\nDaria for her advice and encouragement during our regular progress meetings.\r\nI also want to thank the team and fellows of the Boehringer Ingelheim Fond\r\n(BIF) PhD Fellowship for amazing and inspiring meetings and the BIF for\r\nfinancial support.\r\nImportant factors for the success of this thesis were the warm, creative\r\nand helpful atmosphere as well as the team spirit of the whole Sixt Lab.\r\nTherefore I would like to thank my current and former colleagues Frank Assen,\r\nMarkus Brown, Ingrid de Vries, Michelle Duggan, Alexander Eichner, Miroslav\r\nHons, Eva Kiermaier, Aglaja Kopf, Alexander Leithner, Christine Moussion, Jan\r\nMüller, Maria Nemethova, Jörg Renkawitz, Anne Reversat, Kari Vaahtomeri,\r\nMichele Weber and Stefan Wieser. We had an amazing time with many\r\nlegendary evenings and events. Along these lines I want to thank the in vitro\r\ncrew of the lab, Jörg, Anne and Alex, for lots of ideas and productive\r\ndiscussions. I am sure, some day we will reveal the secret of the ‘splodge’.\r\nI want to thank the members of the Heisenberg Lab for a great time and\r\nthrilling kicker matches. In this regard I especially want to thank Maurizio\r\n‘Gnocci’ Monti, Gabriel Krens, Alex Eichner, Martin Behrndt, Vanessa Barone,Philipp Schmalhorst, Michael Smutny, Daniel Capek, Anne Reversat, Eva\r\nKiermaier, Frank Assen and Jan Müller for wonderful after-lunch matches.\r\nI would not have been able to analyze the thousands of cell trajectories\r\nand probably hundreds of thousands of mouse clicks without the productive\r\ncollaboration with Veronika Bierbaum and Tobias Bollenbach. Thanks Vroni for\r\ncountless meetings, discussions and graphs and of course for proofreading and\r\nadvice for this thesis. For proofreading I also want to thank Evi, Jörg, Jack and\r\nAnne.\r\nI would like to acknowledge Matthias Mehling for a very productive\r\ncollaboration and for introducing me into the wild world of microfluidics. Jack\r\nMerrin, for countless wafers, PDMS coated coverslips and help with anything\r\nmicro-fabrication related. And Maria Nemethova for establishing the ‘click’\r\npatterning approach with me. Without her it still would be just one of the ideas…\r\nMany thanks to Ekaterina Papusheva, Robert Hauschild, Doreen Milius\r\nand Nasser Darwish from the Bioimaging Facility as well as the Preclinical and\r\nthe Life Science facilities of IST Austria for excellent technical support. At this\r\npoint I especially want to thank Robert for countless image analyses and\r\ntechnical ideas. Always interested and creative he played an essential role in all\r\nof my projects.\r\nAdditionally I want to thank Ingrid and Gabby for welcoming me warmly\r\nwhen I first started at IST, for scientific and especially mental support in all\r\nthose years, countless coffee sessions and Heurigen evenings. #BioimagingFacility #LifeScienceFacility #PreClinicalFacility" alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Jan full_name: Schwarz, Jan id: 346C1EC6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Schwarz citation: ama: Schwarz J. Quantitative analysis of haptotactic cell migration. 2016. apa: Schwarz, J. (2016). Quantitative analysis of haptotactic cell migration. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. chicago: Schwarz, Jan. “Quantitative Analysis of Haptotactic Cell Migration.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. ieee: J. Schwarz, “Quantitative analysis of haptotactic cell migration,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. ista: Schwarz J. 2016. Quantitative analysis of haptotactic cell migration. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Schwarz, Jan. Quantitative Analysis of Haptotactic Cell Migration. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. short: J. Schwarz, Quantitative Analysis of Haptotactic Cell Migration, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. date_created: 2018-12-11T11:50:18Z date_published: 2016-07-01T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2023-09-07T11:54:33Z day: '01' ddc: - '570' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: MiSi file: - access_level: closed checksum: e3cd6b28f9c5cccb8891855565a2dade content_type: application/pdf creator: dernst date_created: 2019-08-13T10:55:35Z date_updated: 2019-08-13T10:55:35Z file_id: '6813' file_name: Thesis_JSchwarz_final.pdf file_size: 32044069 relation: main_file - access_level: open_access checksum: c3dbe219acf87eed2f46d21d5cca00de content_type: application/pdf creator: dernst date_created: 2021-02-22T11:43:14Z date_updated: 2021-02-22T11:43:14Z file_id: '9181' file_name: 2016_Thesis_JSchwarz.pdf file_size: 8396717 relation: main_file success: 1 file_date_updated: 2021-02-22T11:43:14Z has_accepted_license: '1' language: - iso: eng month: '07' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version page: '178' publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria publist_id: '6231' status: public supervisor: - first_name: Michael K full_name: Sixt, Michael K id: 41E9FBEA-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Sixt orcid: 0000-0002-6620-9179 title: Quantitative analysis of haptotactic cell migration type: dissertation user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1 year: '2016' ... --- _id: '1130' abstract: - lang: eng text: "In this thesis we present a computer-aided programming approach to concurrency. Our approach helps the programmer by automatically fixing concurrency-related bugs, i.e. bugs that occur when the program is executed using an aggressive preemptive scheduler, but not when using a non-preemptive (cooperative) scheduler. Bugs are program behaviours that are incorrect w.r.t. a specification. We consider both user-provided explicit specifications in the form of assertion\r\nstatements in the code as well as an implicit specification. The implicit specification is inferred from the non-preemptive behaviour. Let us consider sequences of calls that the program makes to an external interface. The implicit specification requires that any such sequence produced under a preemptive scheduler should be included in the set of sequences produced under a non-preemptive scheduler. We consider several semantics-preserving fixes that go beyond atomic sections typically explored in the synchronisation synthesis literature. Our synthesis is able to place locks, barriers and wait-signal statements and last, but not least reorder independent statements. The latter may be useful if a thread is released to early, e.g., before some initialisation is completed. We guarantee that our synthesis does not introduce deadlocks and that the synchronisation inserted is optimal w.r.t. a given objective function. We dub our solution trace-based synchronisation synthesis and it is loosely based on counterexample-guided inductive synthesis (CEGIS). The synthesis works by discovering a trace that is incorrect w.r.t. the specification and identifying ordering constraints crucial to trigger the specification violation. Synchronisation may be placed immediately (greedy approach) or delayed until all incorrect traces are found (non-greedy approach). For the non-greedy approach we construct a set of global constraints over synchronisation placements. Each model of the global constraints set corresponds to a correctness-ensuring synchronisation placement. The placement that is optimal w.r.t. the given objective function is chosen as the synchronisation solution. We evaluate our approach on a number of realistic (albeit simplified) Linux device-driver\r\nbenchmarks. The benchmarks are versions of the drivers with known concurrency-related bugs. For the experiments with an explicit specification we added assertions that would detect the bugs in the experiments. Device drivers lend themselves to implicit specification, where the device and the operating system are the external interfaces. Our experiments demonstrate that our synthesis method is precise and efficient. We implemented objective functions for coarse-grained and fine-grained locking and observed that different synchronisation placements are produced for our experiments, favouring e.g. a minimal number of synchronisation operations or maximum concurrency." alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Thorsten full_name: Tarrach, Thorsten id: 3D6E8F2C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Tarrach orcid: 0000-0003-4409-8487 citation: ama: Tarrach T. Automatic synthesis of synchronisation primitives for concurrent programs. 2016. doi:10.15479/at:ista:1130 apa: Tarrach, T. (2016). Automatic synthesis of synchronisation primitives for concurrent programs. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. https://doi.org/10.15479/at:ista:1130 chicago: Tarrach, Thorsten. “Automatic Synthesis of Synchronisation Primitives for Concurrent Programs.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. https://doi.org/10.15479/at:ista:1130. ieee: T. Tarrach, “Automatic synthesis of synchronisation primitives for concurrent programs,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. ista: Tarrach T. 2016. Automatic synthesis of synchronisation primitives for concurrent programs. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Tarrach, Thorsten. Automatic Synthesis of Synchronisation Primitives for Concurrent Programs. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016, doi:10.15479/at:ista:1130. short: T. Tarrach, Automatic Synthesis of Synchronisation Primitives for Concurrent Programs, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. date_created: 2018-12-11T11:50:19Z date_published: 2016-07-07T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2023-09-07T11:57:01Z day: '07' ddc: - '000' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: ToHe - _id: GradSch doi: 10.15479/at:ista:1130 ec_funded: 1 file: - access_level: open_access checksum: 319a506831650327e85376db41fc1094 content_type: application/pdf creator: dernst date_created: 2021-02-22T11:39:32Z date_updated: 2021-02-22T11:39:32Z file_id: '9179' file_name: 2016_Tarrach_Thesis.pdf file_size: 1523935 relation: main_file success: 1 - access_level: closed checksum: 39efcd789f0ad859ff15652cb7afc412 content_type: application/pdf creator: cchlebak date_created: 2021-11-16T14:14:38Z date_updated: 2021-11-17T13:46:55Z file_id: '10296' file_name: 2016_Tarrach_Thesispdfa.pdf file_size: 1306068 relation: main_file file_date_updated: 2021-11-17T13:46:55Z has_accepted_license: '1' language: - iso: eng main_file_link: - open_access: '1' url: http://thorstent.github.io/theses/phd_thorsten_tarrach.pdf month: '07' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version page: '151' project: - _id: 25EE3708-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425 call_identifier: FP7 grant_number: '267989' name: Quantitative Reactive Modeling - _id: 25832EC2-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425 call_identifier: FWF grant_number: S 11407_N23 name: Rigorous Systems Engineering - _id: 25F42A32-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425 call_identifier: FWF grant_number: Z211 name: The Wittgenstein Prize publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria publist_id: '6230' related_material: record: - id: '1729' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '2218' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '2445' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public status: public supervisor: - first_name: Thomas A full_name: Henzinger, Thomas A id: 40876CD8-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Henzinger orcid: 0000−0002−2985−7724 title: Automatic synthesis of synchronisation primitives for concurrent programs type: dissertation user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1 year: '2016' ... --- _id: '1131' abstract: - lang: eng text: "Evolution of gene regulation is important for phenotypic evolution and diversity. Sequence-specific binding of regulatory proteins is one of the key regulatory mechanisms determining gene expression. Although there has been intense interest in evolution of regulatory binding sites in the last decades, a theoretical understanding is far from being complete. In this thesis, I aim at a better understanding of the evolution of transcriptional regulatory binding sequences by using biophysical and population genetic models.\r\nIn the first part of the thesis, I discuss how to formulate the evolutionary dynamics of binding se- quences in a single isolated binding site and in promoter/enhancer regions. I develop a theoretical framework bridging between a thermodynamical model for transcription and a mutation-selection-drift model for monomorphic populations. I mainly address the typical evolutionary rates, and how they de- pend on biophysical parameters (e.g. binding length and specificity) and population genetic parameters (e.g. population size and selection strength).\r\nIn the second part of the thesis, I analyse empirical data for a better evolutionary and biophysical understanding of sequence-specific binding of bacterial RNA polymerase. First, I infer selection on regulatory and non-regulatory binding sites of RNA polymerase in the E. coli K12 genome. Second, I infer the chemical potential of RNA polymerase, an important but unknown physical parameter defining the threshold energy for strong binding. Furthermore, I try to understand the relation between the lac promoter sequence diversity and the LacZ activity variation among 20 bacterial isolates by constructing a simple but biophysically motivated gene expression model. Lastly, I lay out a statistical framework to predict adaptive point mutations in de novo promoter evolution in a selection experiment." acknowledgement: This PhD thesis may not have been completed without the help and care I received from some peo- ple during my PhD life. I am especially grateful to Tiago Paixao, Gasper Tkacik, Nick Barton, not only for their scientific advices but also for their patience and support. I thank Calin Guet and Jonathan Bollback for allowing me to “play around” in their labs and get some experience on experimental evolution. I thank Magdalena Steinrueck and Fabienne Jesse for collaborating and sharing their experimental data with me. I thank Johannes Jaeger for reviewing my thesis. I thank all members of Barton group (aka bartonians) for their feedback, and all workers of IST Austria for making the best working conditions. Lastly, I thank two special women, Nejla Sag ̆lam and Setenay Dog ̆an, for their continuous support and encouragement. I truly had a great chance of having right people around me. alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Murat full_name: Tugrul, Murat id: 37C323C6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Tugrul orcid: 0000-0002-8523-0758 citation: ama: Tugrul M. Evolution of transcriptional regulatory sequences. 2016. apa: Tugrul, M. (2016). Evolution of transcriptional regulatory sequences. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. chicago: Tugrul, Murat. “Evolution of Transcriptional Regulatory Sequences.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. ieee: M. Tugrul, “Evolution of transcriptional regulatory sequences,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. ista: Tugrul M. 2016. Evolution of transcriptional regulatory sequences. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Tugrul, Murat. Evolution of Transcriptional Regulatory Sequences. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. short: M. Tugrul, Evolution of Transcriptional Regulatory Sequences, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. date_created: 2018-12-11T11:50:19Z date_published: 2016-07-01T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2025-05-28T11:57:04Z day: '01' ddc: - '576' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: NiBa file: - access_level: closed checksum: 66cb61a59943e4fb7447c6a86be5ef51 content_type: application/pdf creator: dernst date_created: 2019-08-13T08:53:52Z date_updated: 2019-08-13T08:53:52Z file_id: '6810' file_name: Tugrul_thesis_w_signature_page.pdf file_size: 3695257 relation: main_file - access_level: open_access checksum: 293e388d70563760f6b24c3e66283dda content_type: application/pdf creator: dernst date_created: 2021-02-22T11:45:20Z date_updated: 2021-02-22T11:45:20Z file_id: '9182' file_name: 2016_Tugrul_Thesis.pdf file_size: 3880811 relation: main_file success: 1 file_date_updated: 2021-02-22T11:45:20Z has_accepted_license: '1' language: - iso: eng month: '07' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version page: '89' publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria publist_id: '6229' related_material: record: - id: '5554' relation: research_data status: public - id: '1666' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public status: public supervisor: - first_name: Nicholas H full_name: Barton, Nicholas H id: 4880FE40-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Barton orcid: 0000-0002-8548-5240 title: Evolution of transcriptional regulatory sequences type: dissertation user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1 year: '2016' ... --- _id: '1396' abstract: - lang: eng text: CA3 pyramidal neurons are thought to pay a key role in memory storage and pattern completion by activity-dependent synaptic plasticity between CA3-CA3 recurrent excitatory synapses. To examine the induction rules of synaptic plasticity at CA3-CA3 synapses, we performed whole-cell patch-clamp recordings in acute hippocampal slices from rats (postnatal 21-24 days) at room temperature. Compound excitatory postsynaptic potentials (ESPSs) were recorded by tract stimulation in stratum oriens in the presence of 10 µM gabazine. High-frequency stimulation (HFS) induced N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-dependent long-term potentiation (LTP). Although LTP by HFS did not requier postsynaptic spikes, it was blocked by Na+-channel blockers suggesting that local active processes (e.g.) dendritic spikes) may contribute to LTP induction without requirement of a somatic action potential (AP). We next examined the properties of spike timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) at CA3-CA3 synapses. Unexpectedly, low-frequency pairing of EPSPs and backpropagated action potentialy (bAPs) induced LTP, independent of temporal order. The STDP curve was symmetric and broad, with a half-width of ~150 ms. Consistent with these specific STDP induction properties, post-presynaptic sequences led to a supralinear summation of spine [Ca2+] transients. Furthermore, in autoassociative network models, storage and recall was substantially more robust with symmetric than with asymmetric STDP rules. In conclusion, we found associative forms of LTP at CA3-CA3 recurrent collateral synapses with distinct induction rules. LTP induced by HFS may be associated with dendritic spikes. In contrast, low frequency pairing of pre- and postsynaptic activity induced LTP only if EPSP-AP were temporally very close. Together, these induction mechanisms of synaptiic plasticity may contribute to memory storage in the CA3-CA3 microcircuit at different ranges of activity. alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Rajiv Kumar full_name: Mishra, Rajiv Kumar id: 46CB58F2-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Mishra citation: ama: Mishra RK. Synaptic plasticity rules at CA3-CA3 recurrent synapses in hippocampus. 2016. apa: Mishra, R. K. (2016). Synaptic plasticity rules at CA3-CA3 recurrent synapses in hippocampus. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. chicago: Mishra, Rajiv Kumar. “Synaptic Plasticity Rules at CA3-CA3 Recurrent Synapses in Hippocampus.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. ieee: R. K. Mishra, “Synaptic plasticity rules at CA3-CA3 recurrent synapses in hippocampus,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. ista: Mishra RK. 2016. Synaptic plasticity rules at CA3-CA3 recurrent synapses in hippocampus. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Mishra, Rajiv Kumar. Synaptic Plasticity Rules at CA3-CA3 Recurrent Synapses in Hippocampus. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. short: R.K. Mishra, Synaptic Plasticity Rules at CA3-CA3 Recurrent Synapses in Hippocampus, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. date_created: 2018-12-11T11:51:46Z date_published: 2016-03-01T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2023-09-07T11:55:26Z day: '01' ddc: - '570' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: PeJo file: - access_level: closed checksum: 5a010a838faf040f7064f3cfb802f743 content_type: application/pdf creator: dernst date_created: 2019-08-09T12:14:46Z date_updated: 2020-07-14T12:44:48Z file_id: '6782' file_name: Thesis_Mishra_Rajiv (Final).pdf file_size: 2407572 relation: main_file - access_level: open_access checksum: 81b26d9ede92c99f1d8cc6fa1d04cbbb content_type: application/pdf creator: dernst date_created: 2021-02-22T11:48:44Z date_updated: 2021-02-22T11:48:44Z file_id: '9183' file_name: 2016_RajivMishra_Thesis.pdf file_size: 2407572 relation: main_file success: 1 file_date_updated: 2021-02-22T11:48:44Z has_accepted_license: '1' language: - iso: eng month: '03' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version page: '83' publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria publist_id: '5811' related_material: record: - id: '1432' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public status: public supervisor: - first_name: Peter M full_name: Jonas, Peter M id: 353C1B58-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Jonas orcid: 0000-0001-5001-4804 title: Synaptic plasticity rules at CA3-CA3 recurrent synapses in hippocampus type: dissertation user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1 year: '2016' ... --- _id: '1397' abstract: - lang: eng text: 'We study partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs) with objectives used in verification and artificial intelligence. The qualitative analysis problem given a POMDP and an objective asks whether there is a strategy (policy) to ensure that the objective is satisfied almost surely (with probability 1), resp. with positive probability (with probability greater than 0). For POMDPs with limit-average payoff, where a reward value in the interval [0,1] is associated to every transition, and the payoff of an infinite path is the long-run average of the rewards, we consider two types of path constraints: (i) a quantitative limit-average constraint defines the set of paths where the payoff is at least a given threshold L1 = 1. Our main results for qualitative limit-average constraint under almost-sure winning are as follows: (i) the problem of deciding the existence of a finite-memory controller is EXPTIME-complete; and (ii) the problem of deciding the existence of an infinite-memory controller is undecidable. For quantitative limit-average constraints we show that the problem of deciding the existence of a finite-memory controller is undecidable. We present a prototype implementation of our EXPTIME algorithm. For POMDPs with w-regular conditions specified as parity objectives, while the qualitative analysis problems are known to be undecidable even for very special case of parity objectives, we establish decidability (with optimal complexity) of the qualitative analysis problems for POMDPs with parity objectives under finite-memory strategies. We establish optimal (exponential) memory bounds and EXPTIME-completeness of the qualitative analysis problems under finite-memory strategies for POMDPs with parity objectives. Based on our theoretical algorithms we also present a practical approach, where we design heuristics to deal with the exponential complexity, and have applied our implementation on a number of well-known POMDP examples for robotics applications. For POMDPs with a set of target states and an integer cost associated with every transition, we study the optimization objective that asks to minimize the expected total cost of reaching a state in the target set, while ensuring that the target set is reached almost surely. We show that for general integer costs approximating the optimal cost is undecidable. For positive costs, our results are as follows: (i) we establish matching lower and upper bounds for the optimal cost, both double and exponential in the POMDP state space size; (ii) we show that the problem of approximating the optimal cost is decidable and present approximation algorithms that extend existing algorithms for POMDPs with finite-horizon objectives. We show experimentally that it performs well in many examples of interest. We study more deeply the problem of almost-sure reachability, where given a set of target states, the question is to decide whether there is a strategy to ensure that the target set is reached almost surely. While in general the problem EXPTIME-complete, in many practical cases strategies with a small amount of memory suffice. Moreover, the existing solution to the problem is explicit, which first requires to construct explicitly an exponential reduction to a belief-support MDP. We first study the existence of observation-stationary strategies, which is NP-complete, and then small-memory strategies. We present a symbolic algorithm by an efficient encoding to SAT and using a SAT solver for the problem. We report experimental results demonstrating the scalability of our symbolic (SAT-based) approach. Decentralized POMDPs (DEC-POMDPs) extend POMDPs to a multi-agent setting, where several agents operate in an uncertain environment independently to achieve a joint objective. In this work we consider Goal DEC-POMDPs, where given a set of target states, the objective is to ensure that the target set is reached with minimal cost. We consider the indefinite-horizon (infinite-horizon with either discounted-sum, or undiscounted-sum, where absorbing goal states have zero-cost) problem. We present a new and novel method to solve the problem that extends methods for finite-horizon DEC-POMDPs and the real-time dynamic programming approach for POMDPs. We present experimental results on several examples, and show that our approach presents promising results. In the end we present a short summary of a few other results related to verification of MDPs and POMDPs.' alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Martin full_name: Chmelik, Martin id: 3624234E-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Chmelik citation: ama: Chmelik M. Algorithms for partially observable markov decision processes. 2016. apa: Chmelik, M. (2016). Algorithms for partially observable markov decision processes. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. chicago: Chmelik, Martin. “Algorithms for Partially Observable Markov Decision Processes.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. ieee: M. Chmelik, “Algorithms for partially observable markov decision processes,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. ista: Chmelik M. 2016. Algorithms for partially observable markov decision processes. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Chmelik, Martin. Algorithms for Partially Observable Markov Decision Processes. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. short: M. Chmelik, Algorithms for Partially Observable Markov Decision Processes, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. date_created: 2018-12-11T11:51:47Z date_published: 2016-02-01T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2023-09-07T11:54:58Z day: '01' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: KrCh language: - iso: eng month: '02' oa_version: None page: '232' publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria publist_id: '5810' status: public supervisor: - first_name: Krishnendu full_name: Chatterjee, Krishnendu id: 2E5DCA20-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Chatterjee orcid: 0000-0002-4561-241X title: Algorithms for partially observable markov decision processes type: dissertation user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1 year: '2016' ... --- _id: '1398' abstract: - lang: eng text: Hybrid zones represent evolutionary laboratories, where recombination brings together alleles in combinations which have not previously been tested by selection. This provides an excellent opportunity to test the effect of molecular variation on fitness, and how this variation is able to spread through populations in a natural context. The snapdragon Antirrhinum majus is polymorphic in the wild for two loci controlling the distribution of yellow and magenta floral pigments. Where the yellow A. m. striatum and the magenta A. m. pseudomajus meet along a valley in the Spanish Pyrenees they form a stable hybrid zone Alleles at these loci recombine to give striking transgressive variation for flower colour. The sharp transition in phenotype over ~1km implies strong selection maintaining the hybrid zone. An indirect assay of pollinator visitation in the field found that pollinators forage in a positive-frequency dependent manner on Antirrhinum, matching previous data on fruit set. Experimental arrays and paternity analysis of wild-pollinated seeds demonstrated assortative mating for pigmentation alleles, and that pollinator behaviour alone is sufficient to explain this pattern. Selection by pollinators should be sufficiently strong to maintain the hybrid zone, although other mechanisms may be at work. At a broader scale I examined evolutionary transitions between yellow and anthocyanin pigmentation in the tribe Antirrhinae, and found that selection has acted strate that pollinators are a major determinant of reproductive success and mating patterns in wild Antirrhinum. acknowledgement: "I am indebted to many people for their support during my PhD, but I particularly wish to thank Nick Barton for his guidance and intuition, and for encouraging me to take the time to look beyond the immediate topic of my PhD to understand the broader context. I am also especially grateful to David Field his bottomless patience, invaluable advice on experimental design, analysis and scientific writing, and for tireless work on the population surveys and genomic work without most of my thesis could not have happened. \r\n\r\nIt has been a pleasure to work with the combined strengths of the groups at The John Innes Centre, University of Toulouse and IST Austria. Thanks to Enrico Coen and his group for hosting me in Norwich in 2011 and especially for setting up the tag experiment. \r\n\r\nI thank David Field, Desmond Bradley and Maria Clara Melo-Hurtado for organising field collections, as well as Monique Burrus and Christophe Andalo and a large number of volunteers for their e ff orts helping with the field work. Furthermore I thank Coline Jaworski for providing seeds and for her input into the design of the experimental arrays, and Matthew Couchman for maintaining the database of. \r\n\r\nIn addition to those mentioned above, I am grateful to Melinda Pickup, Spencer Barrett, and four anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments on sections of this manuscript. I also thank Jana Porsche for her e ff orts in tracking down the more obscure references for chapter 5, and Jon Bollback for his advice about the analysis. \r\n\r\nI am indebted to Jon Ågren for his patience whilst I finished this thesis, and to Sylvia Cremer and Magnus Nordborg for taking the time to read and evaluate the thesis given a shorter deadline than was fair. \r\n\r\nA very positive aspect of my PhD has been the supportive atmosphere of IST. In particular, I have come to appreciate the enormous support from our group assistants Nicole Hotzy, Julia Asimakis, Christine Ostermann and Jerneja Beslagic. I also thank Christian Chaloupka and Stefan Hipfinger for their enthusiasm and readiness to help where possible in setting up our greenhouse and experiments. " alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Thomas full_name: Ellis, Thomas id: 3153D6D4-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Ellis orcid: 0000-0002-8511-0254 citation: ama: Ellis T. The role of pollinator-mediated selection in the maintenance of a flower color polymorphism in an Antirrhinum majus hybrid zone. 2016. doi:10.15479/AT:ISTA:TH_526 apa: Ellis, T. (2016). The role of pollinator-mediated selection in the maintenance of a flower color polymorphism in an Antirrhinum majus hybrid zone. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT:ISTA:TH_526 chicago: Ellis, Thomas. “The Role of Pollinator-Mediated Selection in the Maintenance of a Flower Color Polymorphism in an Antirrhinum Majus Hybrid Zone.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT:ISTA:TH_526 . ieee: T. Ellis, “The role of pollinator-mediated selection in the maintenance of a flower color polymorphism in an Antirrhinum majus hybrid zone,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. ista: Ellis T. 2016. The role of pollinator-mediated selection in the maintenance of a flower color polymorphism in an Antirrhinum majus hybrid zone. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Ellis, Thomas. The Role of Pollinator-Mediated Selection in the Maintenance of a Flower Color Polymorphism in an Antirrhinum Majus Hybrid Zone. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016, doi:10.15479/AT:ISTA:TH_526 . short: T. Ellis, The Role of Pollinator-Mediated Selection in the Maintenance of a Flower Color Polymorphism in an Antirrhinum Majus Hybrid Zone, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2016. date_created: 2018-12-11T11:51:47Z date_published: 2016-02-18T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2024-02-21T13:51:39Z day: '18' ddc: - '576' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: NiBa doi: '10.15479/AT:ISTA:TH_526 ' file: - access_level: open_access checksum: a89b17ff27cf92c9a15f6b3d46bd7e53 content_type: application/pdf creator: system date_created: 2018-12-12T10:14:51Z date_updated: 2020-07-14T12:44:48Z file_id: '5106' file_name: IST-2016-526-v1+1_Ellis_signed_thesis.pdf file_size: 11928241 relation: main_file file_date_updated: 2020-07-14T12:44:48Z has_accepted_license: '1' language: - iso: eng month: '02' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version page: '130' publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria publist_id: '5809' pubrep_id: '526' related_material: record: - id: '5553' relation: popular_science status: public - id: '5551' relation: popular_science status: public - id: '5552' relation: popular_science status: public status: public supervisor: - first_name: Nicholas H full_name: Barton, Nicholas H id: 4880FE40-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Barton orcid: 0000-0002-8548-5240 title: The role of pollinator-mediated selection in the maintenance of a flower color polymorphism in an Antirrhinum majus hybrid zone type: dissertation user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1 year: '2016' ... --- _id: '1399' abstract: - lang: eng text: This thesis is concerned with the computation and approximation of intrinsic volumes. Given a smooth body M and a certain digital approximation of it, we develop algorithms to approximate various intrinsic volumes of M using only measurements taken from its digital approximations. The crucial idea behind our novel algorithms is to link the recent theory of persistent homology to the theory of intrinsic volumes via the Crofton formula from integral geometry and, in particular, via Euler characteristic computations. Our main contributions are a multigrid convergent digital algorithm to compute the first intrinsic volume of a solid body in R^n as well as an appropriate integration pipeline to approximate integral-geometric integrals defined over the Grassmannian manifold. alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Florian full_name: Pausinger, Florian id: 2A77D7A2-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Pausinger orcid: 0000-0002-8379-3768 citation: ama: Pausinger F. On the approximation of intrinsic volumes. 2015. apa: Pausinger, F. (2015). On the approximation of intrinsic volumes. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. chicago: Pausinger, Florian. “On the Approximation of Intrinsic Volumes.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2015. ieee: F. Pausinger, “On the approximation of intrinsic volumes,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2015. ista: Pausinger F. 2015. On the approximation of intrinsic volumes. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Pausinger, Florian. On the Approximation of Intrinsic Volumes. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2015. short: F. Pausinger, On the Approximation of Intrinsic Volumes, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2015. date_created: 2018-12-11T11:51:48Z date_published: 2015-06-01T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2023-09-07T11:41:25Z day: '01' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: HeEd language: - iso: eng month: '06' oa_version: None page: '144' publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria publist_id: '5808' related_material: record: - id: '1662' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '1792' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '2255' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public status: public supervisor: - first_name: Herbert full_name: Edelsbrunner, Herbert id: 3FB178DA-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Edelsbrunner orcid: 0000-0002-9823-6833 title: On the approximation of intrinsic volumes type: dissertation user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1 year: '2015' ... --- _id: '1400' abstract: - lang: eng text: Cancer results from an uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells. Sequentially accumulated genetic and epigenetic alterations decrease cell death and increase cell replication. We used mathematical models to quantify the effect of driver gene mutations. The recently developed targeted therapies can lead to dramatic regressions. However, in solid cancers, clinical responses are often short-lived because resistant cancer cells evolve. We estimated that approximately 50 different mutations can confer resistance to a typical targeted therapeutic agent. We find that resistant cells are likely to be present in expanded subclones before the start of the treatment. The dominant strategy to prevent the evolution of resistance is combination therapy. Our analytical results suggest that in most patients, dual therapy, but not monotherapy, can result in long-term disease control. However, long-term control can only occur if there are no possible mutations in the genome that can cause cross-resistance to both drugs. Furthermore, we showed that simultaneous therapy with two drugs is much more likely to result in long-term disease control than sequential therapy with the same drugs. To improve our understanding of the underlying subclonal evolution we reconstruct the evolutionary history of a patient's cancer from next-generation sequencing data of spatially-distinct DNA samples. Using a quantitative measure of genetic relatedness, we found that pancreatic cancers and their metastases demonstrated a higher level of relatedness than that expected for any two cells randomly taken from a normal tissue. This minimal amount of genetic divergence among advanced lesions indicates that genetic heterogeneity, when quantitatively defined, is not a fundamental feature of the natural history of untreated pancreatic cancers. Our newly developed, phylogenomic tool Treeomics finds evidence for seeding patterns of metastases and can directly be used to discover rules governing the evolution of solid malignancies to transform cancer into a more predictable disease. alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Johannes full_name: Reiter, Johannes id: 4A918E98-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Reiter orcid: 0000-0002-0170-7353 citation: ama: Reiter J. The subclonal evolution of cancer. 2015. apa: Reiter, J. (2015). The subclonal evolution of cancer. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. chicago: Reiter, Johannes. “The Subclonal Evolution of Cancer.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2015. ieee: J. Reiter, “The subclonal evolution of cancer,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2015. ista: Reiter J. 2015. The subclonal evolution of cancer. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Reiter, Johannes. The Subclonal Evolution of Cancer. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2015. short: J. Reiter, The Subclonal Evolution of Cancer, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2015. date_created: 2018-12-11T11:51:48Z date_published: 2015-04-01T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2023-09-07T11:40:44Z day: '01' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: KrCh language: - iso: eng month: '04' oa_version: None page: '183' publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria publist_id: '5807' related_material: record: - id: '1709' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '2000' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '2247' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '2816' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '2858' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '3157' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '3260' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public status: public supervisor: - first_name: Krishnendu full_name: Chatterjee, Krishnendu id: 2E5DCA20-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Chatterjee orcid: 0000-0002-4561-241X title: The subclonal evolution of cancer type: dissertation user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1 year: '2015' ... --- _id: '1401' abstract: - lang: eng text: 'The human ability to recognize objects in complex scenes has driven research in the computer vision field over couple of decades. This thesis focuses on the object recognition task in images. That is, given the image, we want the computer system to be able to predict the class of the object that appears in the image. A recent successful attempt to bridge semantic understanding of the image perceived by humans and by computers uses attribute-based models. Attributes are semantic properties of the objects shared across different categories, which humans and computers can decide on. To explore the attribute-based models we take a statistical machine learning approach, and address two key learning challenges in view of object recognition task: learning augmented attributes as mid-level discriminative feature representation, and learning with attributes as privileged information. Our main contributions are parametric and non-parametric models and algorithms to solve these frameworks. In the parametric approach, we explore an autoencoder model combined with the large margin nearest neighbor principle for mid-level feature learning, and linear support vector machines for learning with privileged information. In the non-parametric approach, we propose a supervised Indian Buffet Process for automatic augmentation of semantic attributes, and explore the Gaussian Processes classification framework for learning with privileged information. A thorough experimental analysis shows the effectiveness of the proposed models in both parametric and non-parametric views.' acknowledgement: "I would like to thank my supervisor, Christoph Lampert, for guidance throughout my studies and for patience in transforming me into a scientist, and my thesis committee, Chris Wojtan and Horst Bischof, for their help and advice. \r\n\r\nI would like to thank Elisabeth Hacker who perfectly assisted all my administrative needs and was always nice and friendly to me, and the campus team for making the IST Austria campus my second home. \r\nI was honored to collaborate with brilliant researchers and to learn from their experience. Undoubtedly, I learned most of all from Novi Quadrianto: brainstorming our projects and getting exciting results was the most enjoyable part of my work – thank you! I am also grateful to David Knowles, Zoubin Ghahramani, Daniel Hernández-Lobato, Kristian Kersting and Anastasia Pentina for the fantastic projects we worked on together, and to Kristen Grauman and Adriana Kovashka for the exceptional experience working with user studies. I would like to thank my colleagues at IST Austria and my office mates who shared their happy moods, scientific breakthroughs and thought-provoking conversations with me: Chao, Filip, Rustem, Asya, Sameh, Alex, Vlad, Mayu, Neel, Csaba, Thomas, Vladimir, Cristina, Alex Z., Avro, Amelie and Emilie, Andreas H. and Andreas E., Chris, Lena, Michael, Ali and Ipek, Vera, Igor, Katia. Special thanks to Morten for the countless games of table soccer we played together and the tournaments we teamed up for: we will definitely win next time:) A very warm hug to Asya for always being so inspiring and supportive to me, and for helping me to increase the proportion of female computer scientists in our group. " alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Viktoriia full_name: Sharmanska, Viktoriia id: 2EA6D09E-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Sharmanska orcid: 0000-0003-0192-9308 citation: ama: 'Sharmanska V. Learning with attributes for object recognition: Parametric and non-parametrics views. 2015. doi:10.15479/at:ista:1401' apa: 'Sharmanska, V. (2015). Learning with attributes for object recognition: Parametric and non-parametrics views. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. https://doi.org/10.15479/at:ista:1401' chicago: 'Sharmanska, Viktoriia. “Learning with Attributes for Object Recognition: Parametric and Non-Parametrics Views.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2015. https://doi.org/10.15479/at:ista:1401.' ieee: 'V. Sharmanska, “Learning with attributes for object recognition: Parametric and non-parametrics views,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2015.' ista: 'Sharmanska V. 2015. Learning with attributes for object recognition: Parametric and non-parametrics views. Institute of Science and Technology Austria.' mla: 'Sharmanska, Viktoriia. Learning with Attributes for Object Recognition: Parametric and Non-Parametrics Views. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2015, doi:10.15479/at:ista:1401.' short: 'V. Sharmanska, Learning with Attributes for Object Recognition: Parametric and Non-Parametrics Views, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2015.' date_created: 2018-12-11T11:51:48Z date_published: 2015-04-01T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2023-09-07T11:40:11Z day: '01' ddc: - '000' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: ChLa - _id: GradSch doi: 10.15479/at:ista:1401 file: - access_level: open_access checksum: 3605b402bb6934e09ae4cf672c84baf7 content_type: application/pdf creator: dernst date_created: 2021-02-22T11:33:17Z date_updated: 2021-02-22T11:33:17Z file_id: '9177' file_name: 2015_Thesis_Sharmanska.pdf file_size: 7964342 relation: main_file success: 1 - access_level: closed checksum: e37593b3ee75bf3180629df2d6ca8f4e content_type: application/pdf creator: cchlebak date_created: 2021-11-16T14:40:45Z date_updated: 2021-11-17T13:47:24Z file_id: '10297' file_name: 2015_Thesis_Sharmanska_pdfa.pdf file_size: 7372241 relation: main_file file_date_updated: 2021-11-17T13:47:24Z has_accepted_license: '1' language: - iso: eng main_file_link: - url: http://users.sussex.ac.uk/~nq28/viktoriia/Thesis_Sharmanska.pdf month: '04' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version page: '144' publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria publist_id: '5806' status: public supervisor: - first_name: Christoph full_name: Lampert, Christoph id: 40C20FD2-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Lampert orcid: 0000-0001-8622-7887 title: 'Learning with attributes for object recognition: Parametric and non-parametrics views' type: dissertation user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1 year: '2015' ... --- _id: '1395' abstract: - lang: eng text: In this thesis I studied various individual and social immune defences employed by the invasive garden ant Lasius neglectus mostly against entomopathogenic fungi. The first two chapters of this thesis address the phenomenon of 'social immunisation'. Social immunisation, that is the immunological protection of group members due to social contact to a pathogen-exposed nestmate, has been described in various social insect species against different types of pathogens. However, in the case of entomopathogenic fungi it has, so far, only been demonstrated that social immunisation exists at all. Its underlying mechanisms r any other properties were, however, unknown. In the first chapter of this thesis I identified the mechanistic basis of social immunisation in L. neglectus against the entomopathogenous fungus Metarhizium. I could show that nestmates of a pathogen-exposed individual contract low-level infections due to social interactions. These low-level infections are, however, non-lethal and cause an active stimulation of the immune system, which protects the nestmates upon subsequent pathogen encounters. In the second chapter of this thesis I investigated the specificity and colony level effects of social immunisation. I demonstrated that the protection conferred by social immunisation is highly specific, protecting ants only against the same pathogen strain. In addition, depending on the respective context, social immunisation may even cause fitness costs. I further showed that social immunisation crucially affects sanitary behaviour and disease dynamics within ant groups. In the third chapter of this thesis I studied the effects of the ectosymbiotic fungus Laboulbenia formicarum on its host L. neglectus. Although Laboulbeniales are the largest order of insect-parasitic fungi, research concerning host fitness consequence is sparse. I showed that highly Laboulbenia-infected ants sustain fitness costs under resource limitation, however, gain fitness benefits when exposed to an entomopathogenus fungus. These effects are probably cause by a prophylactic upregulation of behavioural as well as physiological immune defences in highly infected ants. alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Matthias full_name: Konrad, Matthias id: 46528076-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Konrad citation: ama: 'Konrad M. Immune defences in ants: Effects of social immunisation and a fungal ectosymbiont in the ant Lasius neglectus. 2014.' apa: 'Konrad, M. (2014). Immune defences in ants: Effects of social immunisation and a fungal ectosymbiont in the ant Lasius neglectus. Institute of Science and Technology Austria.' chicago: 'Konrad, Matthias. “Immune Defences in Ants: Effects of Social Immunisation and a Fungal Ectosymbiont in the Ant Lasius Neglectus.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2014.' ieee: 'M. Konrad, “Immune defences in ants: Effects of social immunisation and a fungal ectosymbiont in the ant Lasius neglectus,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2014.' ista: 'Konrad M. 2014. Immune defences in ants: Effects of social immunisation and a fungal ectosymbiont in the ant Lasius neglectus. Institute of Science and Technology Austria.' mla: 'Konrad, Matthias. Immune Defences in Ants: Effects of Social Immunisation and a Fungal Ectosymbiont in the Ant Lasius Neglectus. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2014.' short: 'M. Konrad, Immune Defences in Ants: Effects of Social Immunisation and a Fungal Ectosymbiont in the Ant Lasius Neglectus, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2014.' date_created: 2018-12-11T11:51:46Z date_published: 2014-02-01T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2023-09-07T11:38:56Z day: '01' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: SyCr language: - iso: eng month: '02' oa_version: None page: '131' publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria publist_id: '5814' status: public supervisor: - first_name: Sylvia M full_name: Cremer, Sylvia M id: 2F64EC8C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Cremer orcid: 0000-0002-2193-3868 title: 'Immune defences in ants: Effects of social immunisation and a fungal ectosymbiont in the ant Lasius neglectus' type: dissertation user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1 year: '2014' ... --- _id: '1402' abstract: - lang: eng text: Phosphatidylinositol (Ptdlns) is a structural phospholipid that can be phosphorylated into various lipid signaling molecules, designated polyphosphoinositides (PPIs). The reversible phosphorylation of PPIs on the 3, 4, or 5 position of inositol is performed by a set of organelle-specific kinases and phosphatases, and the characteristic head groups make these molecules ideal for regulating biological processes in time and space. In yeast and mammals, Ptdlns3P and Ptdlns(3,5)P2 play crucial roles in trafficking toward the lytic compartments, whereas the role in plants is not yet fully understood. Here we identified the role of a land plant-specific subgroup of PPI phosphatases, the suppressor of actin 2 (SAC2) to SAC5, during vauolar trafficking and morphogenesis in Arabidopsis thaliana. SAC2-SAC5 localize to the tonoplast along with Ptdlns3P, the presumable product of their activity. in SAC gain- and loss-of-function mutants, the levels of Ptdlns monophosphates and bisphosphates were changed, with opposite effects on the morphology of storage and lytic vacuoles, and the trafficking toward the vacuoles was defective. Moreover, multiple sac knockout mutants had an increased number of smaller storage and lytic vacuoles, whereas extralarge vacuoles were observed in the overexpression lines, correlating with various growth and developmental defects. The fragmented vacuolar phenotype of sac mutants could be mimicked by treating wild-type seedlings with Ptdlns(3,5)P2, corroborating that this PPI is important for vacuole morphology. Taken together, these results provide evidence that PPIs, together with their metabolic enzymes SAC2-SAC5, are crucial for vacuolar trafficking and for vacuolar morphology and function in plants. alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Petra full_name: Marhavá, Petra id: 44E59624-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Marhavá citation: ama: Marhavá P. Molecular mechanisms of patterning and subcellular trafficking in Arabidopsis thaliana. 2014. apa: Marhavá, P. (2014). Molecular mechanisms of patterning and subcellular trafficking in Arabidopsis thaliana. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. chicago: Marhavá, Petra. “Molecular Mechanisms of Patterning and Subcellular Trafficking in Arabidopsis Thaliana.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2014. ieee: P. Marhavá, “Molecular mechanisms of patterning and subcellular trafficking in Arabidopsis thaliana,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2014. ista: Marhavá P. 2014. Molecular mechanisms of patterning and subcellular trafficking in Arabidopsis thaliana. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Marhavá, Petra. Molecular Mechanisms of Patterning and Subcellular Trafficking in Arabidopsis Thaliana. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2014. short: P. Marhavá, Molecular Mechanisms of Patterning and Subcellular Trafficking in Arabidopsis Thaliana, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2014. date_created: 2018-12-11T11:51:49Z date_published: 2014-12-01T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2023-09-07T11:39:38Z day: '01' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: JiFr language: - iso: eng month: '12' oa_version: None page: '90' publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria publist_id: '5805' status: public supervisor: - first_name: Jiří full_name: Friml, Jiří id: 4159519E-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Friml orcid: 0000-0002-8302-7596 title: Molecular mechanisms of patterning and subcellular trafficking in Arabidopsis thaliana type: dissertation user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1 year: '2014' ... --- _id: '1405' abstract: - lang: eng text: "Motivated by the analysis of highly dynamic message-passing systems, i.e. unbounded thread creation, mobility, etc. we present a framework for the analysis of depth-bounded systems. Depth-bounded systems are one of the most expressive known fragment of the π-calculus for which interesting verification problems are still decidable. Even though they are infinite state systems depth-bounded systems are well-structured, thus can be analyzed algorithmically. We give an interpretation of depth-bounded systems as graph-rewriting systems. This gives more flexibility and ease of use to apply depth-bounded systems to other type of systems like shared memory concurrency.\r\n\r\nFirst, we develop an adequate domain of limits for depth-bounded systems, a prerequisite for the effective representation of downward-closed sets. Downward-closed sets are needed by forward saturation-based algorithms to represent potentially infinite sets of states. Then, we present an abstract interpretation framework to compute the covering set of well-structured transition systems. Because, in general, the covering set is not computable, our abstraction over-approximates the actual covering set. Our abstraction captures the essence of acceleration based-algorithms while giving up enough precision to ensure convergence. We have implemented the analysis in the PICASSO tool and show that it is accurate in practice. Finally, we build some further analyses like termination using the covering set as starting point." acknowledgement: "This work was supported in part by the Austrian Science Fund NFN RiSE (Rigorous Systems Engineering) and by the ERC Advanced Grant QUAREM (Quantitative Reactve Modeling).\r\nChapter 2, 3, and 4 are joint work with Thomas A. Henzinger and Thomas Wies. Chapter 2 was published in FoSSaCS 2010 as “Forward Analysis of Depth-Bounded Processes” [112]. Chapter 3 was published in VMCAI 2012 as “Ideal Abstractions for Well-Structured Transition Systems” [114]. Chap- ter 5.1 is joint work with Kshitij Bansal, Eric Koskinen, and Thomas Wies. It was published in TACAS 2013 as “Structural Counter Abstraction” [13]. The author’s contribution in this part is mostly related to the implementation. The theory required to understand the method and its implementation is quickly recalled to make the thesis self-contained, but should not be considered as a contribution. For the details of the methods, we refer the reader to the orig- inal publication [13] and the corresponding technical report [14]. Chapter 5.2 is ongoing work with Shahram Esmaeilsabzali, Rupak Majumdar, and Thomas Wies. I also would like to thank the people who supported over the past 4 years. My advisor Thomas A. Henzinger who gave me a lot of freedom to work on projects I was interested in. My collaborators, especially Thomas Wies with whom I worked since the beginning. The members of my thesis committee, Viktor Kun- cak and Rupak Majumdar, who also agreed to advise me. Simon Aeschbacher, Pavol Cerny, Cezara Dragoi, Arjun Radhakrishna, my family, friends and col- leagues who created an enjoyable environment. " alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Damien full_name: Zufferey, Damien id: 4397AC76-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Zufferey orcid: 0000-0002-3197-8736 citation: ama: Zufferey D. Analysis of dynamic message passing programs. 2013. doi:10.15479/at:ista:1405 apa: Zufferey, D. (2013). Analysis of dynamic message passing programs. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. https://doi.org/10.15479/at:ista:1405 chicago: Zufferey, Damien. “Analysis of Dynamic Message Passing Programs.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2013. https://doi.org/10.15479/at:ista:1405. ieee: D. Zufferey, “Analysis of dynamic message passing programs,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2013. ista: Zufferey D. 2013. Analysis of dynamic message passing programs. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Zufferey, Damien. Analysis of Dynamic Message Passing Programs. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2013, doi:10.15479/at:ista:1405. short: D. Zufferey, Analysis of Dynamic Message Passing Programs, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2013. date_created: 2018-12-11T11:51:50Z date_published: 2013-09-05T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2023-09-07T11:36:37Z day: '05' ddc: - '000' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: ToHe - _id: GradSch doi: 10.15479/at:ista:1405 ec_funded: 1 file: - access_level: open_access checksum: ed2d7b52933d134e8dc69d569baa284e content_type: application/pdf creator: dernst date_created: 2021-02-22T11:28:36Z date_updated: 2021-02-22T11:28:36Z file_id: '9176' file_name: 2013_Zufferey_thesis_final.pdf file_size: 1514906 relation: main_file success: 1 - access_level: closed checksum: cecc4c4b14225bee973d32e3dba91a55 content_type: application/pdf creator: cchlebak date_created: 2021-11-16T14:42:52Z date_updated: 2021-11-17T13:47:58Z file_id: '10298' file_name: 2013_Zufferey_thesis_final_pdfa.pdf file_size: 1378313 relation: main_file file_date_updated: 2021-11-17T13:47:58Z has_accepted_license: '1' language: - iso: eng main_file_link: - url: http://dzufferey.github.io/files/2013_thesis.pdf month: '09' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version page: '134' project: - _id: 25832EC2-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425 call_identifier: FWF grant_number: S 11407_N23 name: Rigorous Systems Engineering - _id: 25EE3708-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425 call_identifier: FP7 grant_number: '267989' name: Quantitative Reactive Modeling publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria publist_id: '5802' related_material: record: - id: '2847' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '3251' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '4361' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public status: public supervisor: - first_name: Thomas A full_name: Henzinger, Thomas A id: 40876CD8-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Henzinger orcid: 0000−0002−2985−7724 title: Analysis of dynamic message passing programs type: dissertation user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1 year: '2013' ... --- _id: '1406' abstract: - lang: eng text: Epithelial spreading is a critical part of various developmental and wound repair processes. Here we use zebrafish epiboly as a model system to study the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the spreading of epithelial sheets. During zebrafish epiboly the enveloping cell layer (EVL), a simple squamous epithelium, spreads over the embryo to eventually cover the entire yolk cell by the end of gastrulation. The EVL leading edge is anchored through tight junctions to the yolk syncytial layer (YSL), where directly adjacent to the EVL margin a contractile actomyosin ring is formed that is thought to drive EVL epiboly. The prevalent view in the field was that the contractile ring exerts a pulling force on the EVL margin, which pulls the EVL towards the vegetal pole. However, how this force is generated and how it affects EVL morphology still remains elusive. Moreover, the cellular mechanisms mediating the increase in EVL surface area, while maintaining tissue integrity and function are still unclear. Here we show that the YSL actomyosin ring pulls on the EVL margin by two distinct force-generating mechanisms. One mechanism is based on contraction of the ring around its circumference, as previously proposed. The second mechanism is based on actomyosin retrogade flows, generating force through resistance against the substrate. The latter can function at any epiboly stage even in situations where the contraction-based mechanism is unproductive. Additionally, we demonstrate that during epiboly the EVL is subjected to anisotropic tension, which guides the orientation of EVL cell division along the main axis (animal-vegetal) of tension. The influence of tension in cell division orientation involves cell elongation and requires myosin-2 activity for proper spindle alignment. Strikingly, we reveal that tension-oriented cell divisions release anisotropic tension within the EVL and that in the absence of such divisions, EVL cells undergo ectopic fusions. We conclude that forces applied to the EVL by the action of the YSL actomyosin ring generate a tension anisotropy in the EVL that orients cell divisions, which in turn limit tissue tension increase thereby facilitating tissue spreading. acknowledged_ssus: - _id: Bio - _id: PreCl alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Pedro full_name: Campinho, Pedro id: 3AFBBC42-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Campinho orcid: 0000-0002-8526-5416 citation: ama: 'Campinho P. Mechanics of zebrafish epiboly: Tension-oriented cell divisions limit anisotropic tissue tension in epithelial spreading. 2013.' apa: 'Campinho, P. (2013). Mechanics of zebrafish epiboly: Tension-oriented cell divisions limit anisotropic tissue tension in epithelial spreading. Institute of Science and Technology Austria.' chicago: 'Campinho, Pedro. “Mechanics of Zebrafish Epiboly: Tension-Oriented Cell Divisions Limit Anisotropic Tissue Tension in Epithelial Spreading.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2013.' ieee: 'P. Campinho, “Mechanics of zebrafish epiboly: Tension-oriented cell divisions limit anisotropic tissue tension in epithelial spreading,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2013.' ista: 'Campinho P. 2013. Mechanics of zebrafish epiboly: Tension-oriented cell divisions limit anisotropic tissue tension in epithelial spreading. Institute of Science and Technology Austria.' mla: 'Campinho, Pedro. Mechanics of Zebrafish Epiboly: Tension-Oriented Cell Divisions Limit Anisotropic Tissue Tension in Epithelial Spreading. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2013.' short: 'P. Campinho, Mechanics of Zebrafish Epiboly: Tension-Oriented Cell Divisions Limit Anisotropic Tissue Tension in Epithelial Spreading, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2013.' date_created: 2018-12-11T11:51:50Z date_published: 2013-10-01T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2023-09-07T11:36:07Z day: '01' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: CaHe language: - iso: eng month: '10' oa_version: None page: '123' publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria publist_id: '5801' status: public supervisor: - first_name: Carl-Philipp J full_name: Heisenberg, Carl-Philipp J id: 39427864-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Heisenberg orcid: 0000-0002-0912-4566 title: 'Mechanics of zebrafish epiboly: Tension-oriented cell divisions limit anisotropic tissue tension in epithelial spreading' type: dissertation user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1 year: '2013' ... --- _id: '2964' abstract: - lang: eng text: 'CA3 pyramidal neurons are important for memory formation and pattern completion in the hippocampal network. These neurons receive multiple excitatory inputs from numerous sources. Therefore, the rules of spatiotemporal integration of multiple synaptic inputs and propagation of action potentials are important to understand how CA3 neurons contribute to higher brain functions at cellular level. By using confocally targeted patch-clamp recording techniques, we investigated the biophysical properties of rat CA3 pyramidal neuron dendrites. We found two distinct dendritic domains critical for action potential initiation and propagation: In the proximal domain, action potentials initiated in the axon backpropagate actively with large amplitude and fast time course. In the distal domain, Na+-channel mediated dendritic spikes are efficiently evoked by local dendritic depolarization or waveforms mimicking synaptic events. These findings can be explained by a high Na+-to-K+ conductance density ratio of CA3 pyramidal neuron dendrites. The results challenge the prevailing view that proximal mossy fiber inputs activate CA3 pyramidal neurons more efficiently than distal perforant inputs by showing that the distal synapses trigger a different form of activity represented by dendritic spikes. The high probability of dendritic spike initiation in the distal area may enhance the computational power of CA3 pyramidal neurons in the hippocampal network. ' alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Sooyun full_name: Kim, Sooyun id: 394AB1C8-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Kim citation: ama: Kim S. Active properties of hippocampal CA3 pyramidal neuron dendrites. 2012. apa: Kim, S. (2012). Active properties of hippocampal CA3 pyramidal neuron dendrites. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. chicago: Kim, Sooyun. “Active Properties of Hippocampal CA3 Pyramidal Neuron Dendrites.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2012. ieee: S. Kim, “Active properties of hippocampal CA3 pyramidal neuron dendrites,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2012. ista: Kim S. 2012. Active properties of hippocampal CA3 pyramidal neuron dendrites. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Kim, Sooyun. Active Properties of Hippocampal CA3 Pyramidal Neuron Dendrites. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2012. short: S. Kim, Active Properties of Hippocampal CA3 Pyramidal Neuron Dendrites, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2012. date_created: 2018-12-11T12:00:35Z date_published: 2012-06-01T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2023-09-07T11:43:51Z day: '01' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: PeJo - _id: GradSch language: - iso: eng month: '06' oa_version: None page: '65' publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria publist_id: '3755' related_material: record: - id: '3258' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public status: public supervisor: - first_name: Peter M full_name: Jonas, Peter M id: 353C1B58-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Jonas orcid: 0000-0001-5001-4804 title: Active properties of hippocampal CA3 pyramidal neuron dendrites type: dissertation user_id: 8b945eb4-e2f2-11eb-945a-df72226e66a9 year: '2012' ... --- _id: '3273' alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Jean-Léon full_name: Maître, Jean-Léon id: 48F1E0D8-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Maître orcid: 0000-0002-3688-1474 citation: ama: Maître J-L. Mechanics of adhesion and de‐adhesion in zebrafish germ layer progenitors. 2011. apa: Maître, J.-L. (2011). Mechanics of adhesion and de‐adhesion in zebrafish germ layer progenitors. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. chicago: Maître, Jean-Léon. “Mechanics of Adhesion and De‐adhesion in Zebrafish Germ Layer Progenitors.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2011. ieee: J.-L. Maître, “Mechanics of adhesion and de‐adhesion in zebrafish germ layer progenitors,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2011. ista: Maître J-L. 2011. Mechanics of adhesion and de‐adhesion in zebrafish germ layer progenitors. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Maître, Jean-Léon. Mechanics of Adhesion and De‐adhesion in Zebrafish Germ Layer Progenitors. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2011. short: J.-L. Maître, Mechanics of Adhesion and De‐adhesion in Zebrafish Germ Layer Progenitors, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2011. date_created: 2018-12-11T12:02:23Z date_published: 2011-12-12T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2023-09-07T11:30:16Z day: '12' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: CaHe language: - iso: eng month: '12' oa_version: None publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria publist_id: '3373' status: public supervisor: - first_name: Carl-Philipp J full_name: Heisenberg, Carl-Philipp J id: 39427864-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Heisenberg orcid: 0000-0002-0912-4566 title: Mechanics of adhesion and de‐adhesion in zebrafish germ layer progenitors type: dissertation user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1 year: '2011' ... --- _id: '3275' abstract: - lang: eng text: 'Chemokines organize immune cell trafficking by inducing either directed (tactic) or random (kinetic) migration and by activating integrins in order to support surface adhesion (haptic). Beyond that the same chemokines can establish clearly defined functional areas in secondary lymphoid organs. Until now it is unclear how chemokines can fulfill such diverse functions. One decisive prerequisite to explain these capacities is to know how chemokines are presented in tissue. In theory chemokines could occur either soluble or immobilized, and could be distributed either homogenously or as a concentration gradient. To dissect if and how the presenting mode of chemokines influences immune cells, I tested the response of dendritic cells (DCs) to differentially displayed chemokines. DCs are antigen presenting cells that reside in the periphery and migrate into draining lymph nodes (LNs) once exposed to inflammatory stimuli to activate naïve T cells. DCs are guided to and within the LN by the chemokine receptor CCR7, which has two ligands, the chemokines CCL19 and CCL21. Both CCR7 ligands are expressed by fibroblastic reticular cells in the LN, but differ in their ability to bind to heparan sulfate residues. CCL21 has a highly charged C-terminal extension, which mediates binding to anionic surfaces, whereas CCL19 is lacking such residues and likely distributes as a soluble molecule. This study shows that surface-bound CCL21 causes random, haptokinetic DC motility, which is confined to the chemokine coated area by insideout activation of β2 integrins that mediate cell binding to the surface. CCL19 on the other hand forms concentration gradients which trigger directional, chemotactic movement, but no surface adhesion. In addition DCs can actively manipulate this system by recruiting and activating serine proteases on their surfaces, which create - by proteolytically removing the adhesive C-terminus - a solubilized variant of CCL21 that functionally resembles CCL19. By generating a CCL21 concentration gradient DCs establish a positive feedback loop to recruit further DCs from the periphery to the CCL21 coated region. In addition DCs can sense chemotactic gradients as well as immobilized haptokinetic fields at the same time and integrate these signals. The result is chemotactically biased haptokinesis - directional migration confined to a chemokine coated track or area - which could explain the dynamic but spatially tightly controlled swarming leukocyte locomotion patterns that have been observed in lymphatic organs by intravital microscopists. The finding that DCs can approach soluble cues in a non-adhesive manner while they attach to surfaces coated with immobilized cues raises the question how these cells transmit intracellular forces to the environment, especially in the non-adherent migration mode. In order to migrate, cells have to generate and transmit force to the extracellular substrate. Force transmission is the prerequisite to procure an expansion of the leading edge and a forward motion of the whole cell body. In the current conceptions actin polymerization at the leading edge is coupled to extracellular ligands via the integrin family of transmembrane receptors, which allows the transmission of intracellular force. Against the paradigm of force transmission during migration, leukocytes, like DCs, are able to migrate in threedimensional environments without using integrin transmembrane receptors (Lämmermann et al., 2008). This reflects the biological function of leukocytes, as they can invade almost all tissues, whereby their migration has to be independent from the extracellular environment. How the cells can achieve this is unclear. For this study I examined DC migration in a defined threedimensional environment and highlighted actin-dynamics with the probe Lifeact-GFP. The result was that chemotactic DCs can switch between integrin-dependent and integrin- independent locomotion and can thereby adapt to the adhesive properties of their environment. If the cells are able to couple their actin cytoskeleton to the substrate, actin polymerization is entirely converted into protrusion. Without coupling the actin cortex undergoes slippage and retrograde actin flow can be observed. But retrograde actin flow can be completely compensated by higher actin polymerization rate keeping the migration velocity and the shape of the cells unaltered. Mesenchymal cells like fibroblast cannot balance the loss of adhesive interaction, cannot protrude into open space and, therefore, strictly depend on integrinmediated force coupling. This leukocyte specific phenomenon of “adaptive force transmission” endows these cells with the unique ability to transit and invade almost every type of tissue. ' acknowledgement: "I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the following people who made with their continuous support and encouragement this thesis possible: First, I want to thank Prof. Dr. Michael Sixt for his excellent supervision and mentoring, especially for the nice, relaxed working atmosphere, a lot of brilliant ideas and the freedom to work in my own way.\r\n\r\nProf. Dr. Reinhard Fässler for his constant support of the Sixt lab and for providing excellent working conditions. \r\n\r\nProf. Dr. Sanjiv Luther and Prof. Dr. Tobias Bollenbach for agreeing to be member of my thesis committee and to evaluate my work.\r\n\r\nDr. Walther Göhring, Carmen Schmitz, the Recombinant Protein Production core facility and the animal care takers for providing the “infrastructure” for this thesis. \r\n\r\nProf. Dr. Daniel Legler, Markus Bruckner and Dr. Julien Polleux for very fruitful collaborations and discussions.\r\n\r\nMy labmates for their help, a lot of discussions and to make the Sixt lab to a convenient place to work : Karin Hirsch, Tim Lämmeramnn, Holger Pflicke, Jörg Renkawitz, Michele Weber and Alexander Eichner All members of the Department of Molecular Medicine for their help. Especially I want to thank Sarah Schmidt, Karin Hirsch and Raphael Ruppert for their friendship, nice chats and their uncensored point of view. " alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Kathrin full_name: Schumann, Kathrin id: F44D762E-4F9D-11E9-B64C-9EB26CEFFB5F last_name: Schumann citation: ama: Schumann K. The role of chemotactic gradients in dendritic cell migration. 2011. apa: Schumann, K. (2011). The role of chemotactic gradients in dendritic cell migration. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. chicago: Schumann, Kathrin. “The Role of Chemotactic Gradients in Dendritic Cell Migration.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2011. ieee: K. Schumann, “The role of chemotactic gradients in dendritic cell migration,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2011. ista: Schumann K. 2011. The role of chemotactic gradients in dendritic cell migration. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Schumann, Kathrin. The Role of Chemotactic Gradients in Dendritic Cell Migration. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2011. short: K. Schumann, The Role of Chemotactic Gradients in Dendritic Cell Migration, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2011. date_created: 2018-12-11T12:02:24Z date_published: 2011-03-01T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2023-09-07T11:31:48Z day: '01' ddc: - '570' - '579' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: MiSi file: - access_level: closed checksum: e69eee6252660f0b694a2ea8923ddc72 content_type: application/pdf creator: dernst date_created: 2019-03-26T08:12:21Z date_updated: 2020-07-14T12:46:06Z file_id: '6177' file_name: 2011_Thesis_Kathrin_Schumann.pdf file_size: 4487708 relation: main_file - access_level: open_access checksum: 71727d63f424b5b446f68f4b87ecadc0 content_type: application/pdf creator: dernst date_created: 2021-02-22T11:24:30Z date_updated: 2021-02-22T11:24:30Z file_id: '9175' file_name: 2011_Thesis_Schumann_noS.pdf file_size: 4313127 relation: main_file success: 1 file_date_updated: 2021-02-22T11:24:30Z has_accepted_license: '1' language: - iso: eng month: '03' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version page: '141' publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria publist_id: '3371' pubrep_id: '11' status: public supervisor: - first_name: Michael K full_name: Sixt, Michael K id: 41E9FBEA-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Sixt orcid: 0000-0002-6620-9179 title: The role of chemotactic gradients in dendritic cell migration type: dissertation user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1 year: '2011' ...