@article{8928, abstract = {Domestication is a human‐induced selection process that imprints the genomes of domesticated populations over a short evolutionary time scale and that occurs in a given demographic context. Reconstructing historical gene flow, effective population size changes and their timing is therefore of fundamental interest to understand how plant demography and human selection jointly shape genomic divergence during domestication. Yet, the comparison under a single statistical framework of independent domestication histories across different crop species has been little evaluated so far. Thus, it is unclear whether domestication leads to convergent demographic changes that similarly affect crop genomes. To address this question, we used existing and new transcriptome data on three crop species of Solanaceae (eggplant, pepper and tomato), together with their close wild relatives. We fitted twelve demographic models of increasing complexity on the unfolded joint allele frequency spectrum for each wild/crop pair, and we found evidence for both shared and species‐specific demographic processes between species. A convergent history of domestication with gene flow was inferred for all three species, along with evidence of strong reduction in the effective population size during the cultivation stage of tomato and pepper. The absence of any reduction in size of the crop in eggplant stands out from the classical view of the domestication process; as does the existence of a “protracted period” of management before cultivation. Our results also suggest divergent management strategies of modern cultivars among species as their current demography substantially differs. Finally, the timing of domestication is species‐specific and supported by the few historical records available.}, author = {Arnoux, Stéphanie and Fraisse, Christelle and Sauvage, Christopher}, issn = {1420-9101}, journal = {Journal of Evolutionary Biology}, number = {2}, pages = {270--283}, publisher = {Wiley}, title = {{Genomic inference of complex domestication histories in three Solanaceae species}}, doi = {10.1111/jeb.13723}, volume = {34}, year = {2021}, } @article{8940, abstract = {We quantise Whitney’s construction to prove the existence of a triangulation for any C^2 manifold, so that we get an algorithm with explicit bounds. We also give a new elementary proof, which is completely geometric.}, author = {Boissonnat, Jean-Daniel and Kachanovich, Siargey and Wintraecken, Mathijs}, issn = {1432-0444}, journal = {Discrete & Computational Geometry}, keywords = {Theoretical Computer Science, Computational Theory and Mathematics, Geometry and Topology, Discrete Mathematics and Combinatorics}, number = {1}, pages = {386--434}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Triangulating submanifolds: An elementary and quantified version of Whitney’s method}}, doi = {10.1007/s00454-020-00250-8}, volume = {66}, year = {2021}, } @article{8988, abstract = {The differentiation of cells depends on a precise control of their internal organization, which is the result of a complex dynamic interplay between the cytoskeleton, molecular motors, signaling molecules, and membranes. For example, in the developing neuron, the protein ADAP1 (ADP-ribosylation factor GTPase-activating protein [ArfGAP] with dual pleckstrin homology [PH] domains 1) has been suggested to control dendrite branching by regulating the small GTPase ARF6. Together with the motor protein KIF13B, ADAP1 is also thought to mediate delivery of the second messenger phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-trisphosphate (PIP3) to the axon tip, thus contributing to PIP3 polarity. However, what defines the function of ADAP1 and how its different roles are coordinated are still not clear. Here, we studied ADAP1’s functions using in vitro reconstitutions. We found that KIF13B transports ADAP1 along microtubules, but that PIP3 as well as PI(3,4)P2 act as stop signals for this transport instead of being transported. We also demonstrate that these phosphoinositides activate ADAP1’s enzymatic activity to catalyze GTP hydrolysis by ARF6. Together, our results support a model for the cellular function of ADAP1, where KIF13B transports ADAP1 until it encounters high PIP3/PI(3,4)P2 concentrations in the plasma membrane. Here, ADAP1 disassociates from the motor to inactivate ARF6, promoting dendrite branching.}, author = {Düllberg, Christian F and Auer, Albert and Canigova, Nikola and Loibl, Katrin and Loose, Martin}, issn = {1091-6490}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}, number = {1}, publisher = {National Academy of Sciences}, title = {{In vitro reconstitution reveals phosphoinositides as cargo-release factors and activators of the ARF6 GAP ADAP1}}, doi = {10.1073/pnas.2010054118}, volume = {118}, year = {2021}, } @article{8992, abstract = {The phytohormone auxin plays a central role in shaping plant growth and development. With decades of genetic and biochemical studies, numerous core molecular components and their networks, underlying auxin biosynthesis, transport, and signaling, have been identified. Notably, protein phosphorylation, catalyzed by kinases and oppositely hydrolyzed by phosphatases, has been emerging to be a crucial type of post-translational modification, regulating physiological and developmental auxin output at all levels. In this review, we comprehensively discuss earlier and recent advances in our understanding of genetics, biochemistry, and cell biology of the kinases and phosphatases participating in auxin action. We provide insights into the mechanisms by which reversible protein phosphorylation defines developmental auxin responses, discuss current challenges, and provide our perspectives on future directions involving the integration of the control of protein phosphorylation into the molecular auxin network.}, author = {Tan, Shutang and Luschnig, Christian and Friml, Jiří}, issn = {1752-9867}, journal = {Molecular Plant}, number = {1}, pages = {151--165}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Pho-view of auxin: Reversible protein phosphorylation in auxin biosynthesis, transport and signaling}}, doi = {10.1016/j.molp.2020.11.004}, volume = {14}, year = {2021}, } @article{8993, abstract = {N-1-naphthylphthalamic acid (NPA) is a key inhibitor of directional (polar) transport of the hormone auxin in plants. For decades, it has been a pivotal tool in elucidating the unique polar auxin transport-based processes underlying plant growth and development. Its exact mode of action has long been sought after and is still being debated, with prevailing mechanistic schemes describing only indirect connections between NPA and the main transporters responsible for directional transport, namely PIN auxin exporters. Here we present data supporting a model in which NPA associates with PINs in a more direct manner than hitherto postulated. We show that NPA inhibits PIN activity in a heterologous oocyte system and that expression of NPA-sensitive PINs in plant, yeast, and oocyte membranes leads to specific saturable NPA binding. We thus propose that PINs are a bona fide NPA target. This offers a straightforward molecular basis for NPA inhibition of PIN-dependent auxin transport and a logical parsimonious explanation for the known physiological effects of NPA on plant growth, as well as an alternative hypothesis to interpret past and future results. We also introduce PIN dimerization and describe an effect of NPA on this, suggesting that NPA binding could be exploited to gain insights into structural aspects of PINs related to their transport mechanism.}, author = {Abas, Lindy and Kolb, Martina and Stadlmann, Johannes and Janacek, Dorina P. and Lukic, Kristina and Schwechheimer, Claus and Sazanov, Leonid A and Mach, Lukas and Friml, Jiří and Hammes, Ulrich Z.}, issn = {1091-6490}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}, number = {1}, publisher = {National Academy of Sciences}, title = {{Naphthylphthalamic acid associates with and inhibits PIN auxin transporters}}, doi = {10.1073/pnas.2020857118}, volume = {118}, year = {2021}, } @article{8997, abstract = {Phenomenological relations such as Ohm’s or Fourier’s law have a venerable history in physics but are still scarce in biology. This situation restrains predictive theory. Here, we build on bacterial “growth laws,” which capture physiological feedback between translation and cell growth, to construct a minimal biophysical model for the combined action of ribosome-targeting antibiotics. Our model predicts drug interactions like antagonism or synergy solely from responses to individual drugs. We provide analytical results for limiting cases, which agree well with numerical results. We systematically refine the model by including direct physical interactions of different antibiotics on the ribosome. In a limiting case, our model provides a mechanistic underpinning for recent predictions of higher-order interactions that were derived using entropy maximization. We further refine the model to include the effects of antibiotics that mimic starvation and the presence of resistance genes. We describe the impact of a starvation-mimicking antibiotic on drug interactions analytically and verify it experimentally. Our extended model suggests a change in the type of drug interaction that depends on the strength of resistance, which challenges established rescaling paradigms. We experimentally show that the presence of unregulated resistance genes can lead to altered drug interaction, which agrees with the prediction of the model. While minimal, the model is readily adaptable and opens the door to predicting interactions of second and higher-order in a broad range of biological systems.}, author = {Kavcic, Bor and Tkačik, Gašper and Bollenbach, Tobias}, issn = {1553-7358}, journal = {PLOS Computational Biology}, keywords = {Modelling and Simulation, Genetics, Molecular Biology, Antibiotics, Drug interactions}, publisher = {Public Library of Science}, title = {{Minimal biophysical model of combined antibiotic action}}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008529}, volume = {17}, year = {2021}, } @article{8999, abstract = {In many basic shear flows, such as pipe, Couette, and channel flow, turbulence does not arise from an instability of the laminar state, and both dynamical states co-exist. With decreasing flow speed (i.e., decreasing Reynolds number) the fraction of fluid in laminar motion increases while turbulence recedes and eventually the entire flow relaminarizes. The first step towards understanding the nature of this transition is to determine if the phase change is of either first or second order. In the former case, the turbulent fraction would drop discontinuously to zero as the Reynolds number decreases while in the latter the process would be continuous. For Couette flow, the flow between two parallel plates, earlier studies suggest a discontinuous scenario. In the present study we realize a Couette flow between two concentric cylinders which allows studies to be carried out in large aspect ratios and for extensive observation times. The presented measurements show that the transition in this circular Couette geometry is continuous suggesting that former studies were limited by finite size effects. A further characterization of this transition, in particular its relation to the directed percolation universality class, requires even larger system sizes than presently available. }, author = {Avila, Kerstin and Hof, Björn}, issn = {1099-4300}, journal = {Entropy}, number = {1}, publisher = {MDPI}, title = {{Second-order phase transition in counter-rotating taylor-couette flow experiment}}, doi = {10.3390/e23010058}, volume = {23}, year = {2021}, } @article{9002, abstract = { We prove that, for the binary erasure channel (BEC), the polar-coding paradigm gives rise to codes that not only approach the Shannon limit but do so under the best possible scaling of their block length as a function of the gap to capacity. This result exhibits the first known family of binary codes that attain both optimal scaling and quasi-linear complexity of encoding and decoding. Our proof is based on the construction and analysis of binary polar codes with large kernels. When communicating reliably at rates within ε>0 of capacity, the code length n often scales as O(1/εμ), where the constant μ is called the scaling exponent. It is known that the optimal scaling exponent is μ=2, and it is achieved by random linear codes. The scaling exponent of conventional polar codes (based on the 2×2 kernel) on the BEC is μ=3.63. This falls far short of the optimal scaling guaranteed by random codes. Our main contribution is a rigorous proof of the following result: for the BEC, there exist ℓ×ℓ binary kernels, such that polar codes constructed from these kernels achieve scaling exponent μ(ℓ) that tends to the optimal value of 2 as ℓ grows. We furthermore characterize precisely how large ℓ needs to be as a function of the gap between μ(ℓ) and 2. The resulting binary codes maintain the recursive structure of conventional polar codes, and thereby achieve construction complexity O(n) and encoding/decoding complexity O(nlogn).}, author = {Fazeli, Arman and Hassani, Hamed and Mondelli, Marco and Vardy, Alexander}, issn = {1557-9654}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Information Theory}, number = {9}, pages = {5693--5710}, publisher = {IEEE}, title = {{Binary linear codes with optimal scaling: Polar codes with large kernels}}, doi = {10.1109/TIT.2020.3038806}, volume = {67}, year = {2021}, } @article{9005, abstract = {Studies on the experimental realization of two-dimensional anyons in terms of quasiparticles have been restricted, so far, to only anyons on the plane. It is known, however, that the geometry and topology of space can have significant effects on quantum statistics for particles moving on it. Here, we have undertaken the first step toward realizing the emerging fractional statistics for particles restricted to move on the sphere instead of on the plane. We show that such a model arises naturally in the context of quantum impurity problems. In particular, we demonstrate a setup in which the lowest-energy spectrum of two linear bosonic or fermionic molecules immersed in a quantum many-particle environment can coincide with the anyonic spectrum on the sphere. This paves the way toward the experimental realization of anyons on the sphere using molecular impurities. Furthermore, since a change in the alignment of the molecules corresponds to the exchange of the particles on the sphere, such a realization reveals a novel type of exclusion principle for molecular impurities, which could also be of use as a powerful technique to measure the statistics parameter. Finally, our approach opens up a simple numerical route to investigate the spectra of many anyons on the sphere. Accordingly, we present the spectrum of two anyons on the sphere in the presence of a Dirac monopole field.}, author = {Brooks, Morris and Lemeshko, Mikhail and Lundholm, D. and Yakaboylu, Enderalp}, issn = {1079-7114}, journal = {Physical Review Letters}, number = {1}, publisher = {American Physical Society}, title = {{Molecular impurities as a realization of anyons on the two-sphere}}, doi = {10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.015301}, volume = {126}, year = {2021}, } @article{9009, abstract = {Recent advancements in live cell imaging technologies have identified the phenomenon of intracellular propagation of late apoptotic events, such as cytochrome c release and caspase activation. The mechanism, prevalence, and speed of apoptosis propagation remain unclear. Additionally, no studies have demonstrated propagation of the pro-apoptotic protein, BAX. To evaluate the role of BAX in intracellular apoptotic propagation, we used high speed live-cell imaging to visualize fluorescently tagged-BAX recruitment to mitochondria in four immortalized cell lines. We show that propagation of mitochondrial BAX recruitment occurs in parallel to cytochrome c and SMAC/Diablo release and is affected by cellular morphology, such that cells with processes are more likely to exhibit propagation. The initiation of propagation events is most prevalent in the distal tips of processes, while the rate of propagation is influenced by the 2-dimensional width of the process. Propagation was rarely observed in the cell soma, which exhibited near synchronous recruitment of BAX. Propagation velocity is not affected by mitochondrial volume in segments of processes, but is negatively affected by mitochondrial density. There was no evidence of a propagating wave of increased levels of intracellular calcium ions. Alternatively, we did observe a uniform increase in superoxide build-up in cellular mitochondria, which was released as a propagating wave simultaneously with the propagating recruitment of BAX to the mitochondrial outer membrane.}, author = {Grosser, Joshua A. and Maes, Margaret E and Nickells, Robert W.}, issn = {1573-675X}, journal = {Apoptosis}, number = {2}, pages = {132--145}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Characteristics of intracellular propagation of mitochondrial BAX recruitment during apoptosis}}, doi = {10.1007/s10495-020-01654-w}, volume = {26}, year = {2021}, } @article{9020, abstract = {We study dynamics and thermodynamics of ion transport in narrow, water-filled channels, considered as effective 1D Coulomb systems. The long range nature of the inter-ion interactions comes about due to the dielectric constants mismatch between the water and the surrounding medium, confining the electric filed to stay mostly within the water-filled channel. Statistical mechanics of such Coulomb systems is dominated by entropic effects which may be accurately accounted for by mapping onto an effective quantum mechanics. In presence of multivalent ions the corresponding quantum mechanics appears to be non-Hermitian. In this review we discuss a framework for semiclassical calculations for the effective non-Hermitian Hamiltonians. Non-Hermiticity elevates WKB action integrals from the real line to closed cycles on a complex Riemann surfaces where direct calculations are not attainable. We circumvent this issue by applying tools from algebraic topology, such as the Picard-Fuchs equation. We discuss how its solutions relate to the thermodynamics and correlation functions of multivalent solutions within narrow, water-filled channels. }, author = {Gulden, Tobias and Kamenev, Alex}, issn = {1099-4300}, journal = {Entropy}, number = {1}, publisher = {MDPI}, title = {{Dynamics of ion channels via non-hermitian quantum mechanics}}, doi = {10.3390/e23010125}, volume = {23}, year = {2021}, } @phdthesis{9022, abstract = {In the first part of the thesis we consider Hermitian random matrices. Firstly, we consider sample covariance matrices XX∗ with X having independent identically distributed (i.i.d.) centred entries. We prove a Central Limit Theorem for differences of linear statistics of XX∗ and its minor after removing the first column of X. Secondly, we consider Wigner-type matrices and prove that the eigenvalue statistics near cusp singularities of the limiting density of states are universal and that they form a Pearcey process. Since the limiting eigenvalue distribution admits only square root (edge) and cubic root (cusp) singularities, this concludes the third and last remaining case of the Wigner-Dyson-Mehta universality conjecture. The main technical ingredients are an optimal local law at the cusp, and the proof of the fast relaxation to equilibrium of the Dyson Brownian motion in the cusp regime. In the second part we consider non-Hermitian matrices X with centred i.i.d. entries. We normalise the entries of X to have variance N −1. It is well known that the empirical eigenvalue density converges to the uniform distribution on the unit disk (circular law). In the first project, we prove universality of the local eigenvalue statistics close to the edge of the spectrum. This is the non-Hermitian analogue of the TracyWidom universality at the Hermitian edge. Technically we analyse the evolution of the spectral distribution of X along the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck flow for very long time (up to t = +∞). In the second project, we consider linear statistics of eigenvalues for macroscopic test functions f in the Sobolev space H2+ϵ and prove their convergence to the projection of the Gaussian Free Field on the unit disk. We prove this result for non-Hermitian matrices with real or complex entries. The main technical ingredients are: (i) local law for products of two resolvents at different spectral parameters, (ii) analysis of correlated Dyson Brownian motions. In the third and final part we discuss the mathematically rigorous application of supersymmetric techniques (SUSY ) to give a lower tail estimate of the lowest singular value of X − z, with z ∈ C. More precisely, we use superbosonisation formula to give an integral representation of the resolvent of (X − z)(X − z)∗ which reduces to two and three contour integrals in the complex and real case, respectively. The rigorous analysis of these integrals is quite challenging since simple saddle point analysis cannot be applied (the main contribution comes from a non-trivial manifold). Our result improves classical smoothing inequalities in the regime |z| ≈ 1; this result is essential to prove edge universality for i.i.d. non-Hermitian matrices.}, author = {Cipolloni, Giorgio}, issn = {2663-337X}, pages = {380}, publisher = {Institute of Science and Technology Austria}, title = {{Fluctuations in the spectrum of random matrices}}, doi = {10.15479/AT:ISTA:9022}, year = {2021}, } @article{9036, abstract = {In this short note, we prove that the square root of the quantum Jensen-Shannon divergence is a true metric on the cone of positive matrices, and hence in particular on the quantum state space.}, author = {Virosztek, Daniel}, issn = {0001-8708}, journal = {Advances in Mathematics}, keywords = {General Mathematics}, number = {3}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{The metric property of the quantum Jensen-Shannon divergence}}, doi = {10.1016/j.aim.2021.107595}, volume = {380}, year = {2021}, } @article{9037, abstract = {We continue our study of ‘no‐dimension’ analogues of basic theorems in combinatorial and convex geometry in Banach spaces. We generalize some results of the paper (Adiprasito, Bárány and Mustafa, ‘Theorems of Carathéodory, Helly, and Tverberg without dimension’, Proceedings of the Thirtieth Annual ACM‐SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, San Diego, California, 2019) 2350–2360) and prove no‐dimension versions of the colored Tverberg theorem, the selection lemma and the weak 𝜀 ‐net theorem in Banach spaces of type 𝑝>1 . To prove these results, we use the original ideas of Adiprasito, Bárány and Mustafa for the Euclidean case, our no‐dimension version of the Radon theorem and slightly modified version of the celebrated Maurey lemma.}, author = {Ivanov, Grigory}, issn = {1469-2120}, journal = {Bulletin of the London Mathematical Society}, number = {2}, pages = {631--641}, publisher = {London Mathematical Society}, title = {{No-dimension Tverberg's theorem and its corollaries in Banach spaces of type p}}, doi = {10.1112/blms.12449}, volume = {53}, year = {2021}, } @article{9038, abstract = {Layered materials in which individual atomic layers are bonded by weak van der Waals forces (vdW materials) constitute one of the most prominent platforms for materials research. Particularly, polar vdW crystals, such as hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), alpha-molybdenum trioxide (α-MoO3) or alpha-vanadium pentoxide (α-V2O5), have received significant attention in nano-optics, since they support phonon polaritons (PhPs)―light coupled to lattice vibrations― with strong electromagnetic confinement and low optical losses. Recently, correlative far- and near-field studies of α-MoO3 have been demonstrated as an effective strategy to accurately extract the permittivity of this material. Here, we use this accurately characterized and low-loss polaritonic material to sense its local dielectric environment, namely silica (SiO2), one of the most widespread substrates in nanotechnology. By studying the propagation of PhPs on α-MoO3 flakes with different thicknesses laying on SiO2 substrates via near-field microscopy (s-SNOM), we extract locally the infrared permittivity of SiO2. Our work reveals PhPs nanoimaging as a versatile method for the quantitative characterization of the local optical properties of dielectric substrates, crucial for understanding and predicting the response of nanomaterials and for the future scalability of integrated nanophotonic devices. }, author = {Aguilar-Merino, Patricia and Álvarez-Pérez, Gonzalo and Taboada-Gutiérrez, Javier and Duan, Jiahua and Prieto Gonzalez, Ivan and Álvarez-Prado, Luis Manuel and Nikitin, Alexey Y. and Martín-Sánchez, Javier and Alonso-González, Pablo}, issn = {2079-4991}, journal = {Nanomaterials}, number = {1}, publisher = {MDPI}, title = {{Extracting the infrared permittivity of SiO2 substrates locally by near-field imaging of phonon polaritons in a van der Waals crystal}}, doi = {10.3390/nano11010120}, volume = {11}, year = {2021}, } @article{9046, author = {Römhild, Roderich and Andersson, Dan I.}, issn = {1553-7374}, journal = {PLoS Pathogens}, number = {1}, publisher = {Public Library of Science}, title = {{Mechanisms and therapeutic potential of collateral sensitivity to antibiotics}}, doi = {10.1371/journal.ppat.1009172}, volume = {17}, year = {2021}, } @article{9047, abstract = {This work analyzes the latency of the simplified successive cancellation (SSC) decoding scheme for polar codes proposed by Alamdar-Yazdi and Kschischang. It is shown that, unlike conventional successive cancellation decoding, where latency is linear in the block length, the latency of SSC decoding is sublinear. More specifically, the latency of SSC decoding is O(N1−1/μ) , where N is the block length and μ is the scaling exponent of the channel, which captures the speed of convergence of the rate to capacity. Numerical results demonstrate the tightness of the bound and show that most of the latency reduction arises from the parallel decoding of subcodes of rate 0 or 1.}, author = {Mondelli, Marco and Hashemi, Seyyed Ali and Cioffi, John M. and Goldsmith, Andrea}, issn = {1558-2248}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications}, number = {1}, pages = {18--27}, publisher = {IEEE}, title = {{Sublinear latency for simplified successive cancellation decoding of polar codes}}, doi = {10.1109/TWC.2020.3022922}, volume = {20}, year = {2021}, } @article{9048, abstract = {The analogy between an equilibrium partition function and the return probability in many-body unitary dynamics has led to the concept of dynamical quantum phase transition (DQPT). DQPTs are defined by nonanalyticities in the return amplitude and are present in many models. In some cases, DQPTs can be related to equilibrium concepts, such as order parameters, yet their universal description is an open question. In this Letter, we provide first steps toward a classification of DQPTs by using a matrix product state description of unitary dynamics in the thermodynamic limit. This allows us to distinguish the two limiting cases of “precession” and “entanglement” DQPTs, which are illustrated using an analytical description in the quantum Ising model. While precession DQPTs are characterized by a large entanglement gap and are semiclassical in their nature, entanglement DQPTs occur near avoided crossings in the entanglement spectrum and can be distinguished by a complex pattern of nonlocal correlations. We demonstrate the existence of precession and entanglement DQPTs beyond Ising models, discuss observables that can distinguish them, and relate their interplay to complex DQPT phenomenology.}, author = {De Nicola, Stefano and Michailidis, Alexios and Serbyn, Maksym}, issn = {1079-7114}, journal = {Physical Review Letters}, keywords = {General Physics and Astronomy}, number = {4}, publisher = {American Physical Society}, title = {{Entanglement view of dynamical quantum phase transitions}}, doi = {10.1103/physrevlett.126.040602}, volume = {126}, year = {2021}, } @phdthesis{9056, abstract = {In this thesis we study persistence of multi-covers of Euclidean balls and the geometric structures underlying their computation, in particular Delaunay mosaics and Voronoi tessellations. The k-fold cover for some discrete input point set consists of the space where at least k balls of radius r around the input points overlap. Persistence is a notion that captures, in some sense, the topology of the shape underlying the input. While persistence is usually computed for the union of balls, the k-fold cover is of interest as it captures local density, and thus might approximate the shape of the input better if the input data is noisy. To compute persistence of these k-fold covers, we need a discretization that is provided by higher-order Delaunay mosaics. We present and implement a simple and efficient algorithm for the computation of higher-order Delaunay mosaics, and use it to give experimental results for their combinatorial properties. The algorithm makes use of a new geometric structure, the rhomboid tiling. It contains the higher-order Delaunay mosaics as slices, and by introducing a filtration function on the tiling, we also obtain higher-order α-shapes as slices. These allow us to compute persistence of the multi-covers for varying radius r; the computation for varying k is less straight-foward and involves the rhomboid tiling directly. We apply our algorithms to experimental sphere packings to shed light on their structural properties. Finally, inspired by periodic structures in packings and materials, we propose and implement an algorithm for periodic Delaunay triangulations to be integrated into the Computational Geometry Algorithms Library (CGAL), and discuss the implications on persistence for periodic data sets.}, author = {Osang, Georg F}, issn = {2663-337X}, pages = {134}, publisher = {Institute of Science and Technology Austria}, title = {{Multi-cover persistence and Delaunay mosaics}}, doi = {10.15479/AT:ISTA:9056}, year = {2021}, } @article{9073, abstract = {The sensory and cognitive abilities of the mammalian neocortex are underpinned by intricate columnar and laminar circuits formed from an array of diverse neuronal populations. One approach to determining how interactions between these circuit components give rise to complex behavior is to investigate the rules by which cortical circuits are formed and acquire functionality during development. This review summarizes recent research on the development of the neocortex, from genetic determination in neural stem cells through to the dynamic role that specific neuronal populations play in the earliest circuits of neocortex, and how they contribute to emergent function and cognition. While many of these endeavors take advantage of model systems, consideration will also be given to advances in our understanding of activity in nascent human circuits. Such cross-species perspective is imperative when investigating the mechanisms underlying the dysfunction of early neocortical circuits in neurodevelopmental disorders, so that one can identify targets amenable to therapeutic intervention.}, author = {Hanganu-Opatz, Ileana L. and Butt, Simon J. B. and Hippenmeyer, Simon and De Marco García, Natalia V. and Cardin, Jessica A. and Voytek, Bradley and Muotri, Alysson R.}, issn = {1529-2401}, journal = {The Journal of Neuroscience}, keywords = {General Neuroscience}, number = {5}, pages = {813--822}, publisher = {Society for Neuroscience}, title = {{The logic of developing neocortical circuits in health and disease}}, doi = {10.1523/jneurosci.1655-20.2020}, volume = {41}, year = {2021}, }