@misc{5382, abstract = {We consider two-player stochastic games played on a finite state space for an infinite num- ber of rounds. The games are concurrent: in each round, the two players (player 1 and player 2) choose their moves independently and simultaneously; the current state and the two moves determine a probability distribution over the successor states. We also consider the important special case of turn-based stochastic games where players make moves in turns, rather than concurrently. We study concurrent games with ω-regular winning conditions specified as parity objectives. The value for player 1 for a parity objective is the maximal probability with which the player can guarantee the satisfaction of the objective against all strategies of the opponent. We study the problem of continuity and robustness of the value function in concurrent and turn-based stochastic parity games with respect to imprecision in the transition probabilities. We present quantitative bounds on the difference of the value function (in terms of the imprecision of the transition probabilities) and show the value continuity for structurally equivalent concurrent games (two games are structurally equivalent if the support of the transition func- tion is same and the probabilities differ). We also show robustness of optimal strategies for structurally equivalent turn-based stochastic parity games. Finally we show that the value continuity property breaks without the structurally equivalent assumption (even for Markov chains) and show that our quantitative bound is asymptotically optimal. Hence our results are tight (the assumption is both necessary and sufficient) and optimal (our quantitative bound is asymptotically optimal).}, author = {Chatterjee, Krishnendu}, issn = {2664-1690}, pages = {18}, publisher = {IST Austria}, title = {{Robustness of structurally equivalent concurrent parity games}}, doi = {10.15479/AT:IST-2011-0006}, year = {2011}, } @misc{5383, abstract = {We present a new decidable logic called TREX for expressing constraints about imperative tree data structures. In particular, TREX supports a transitive closure operator that can express reachability constraints, which often appear in data structure invariants. We show that our logic is closed under weakest precondition computation, which enables its use for automated software verification. We further show that satisfiability of formulas in TREX is decidable in NP. The low complexity makes it an attractive alternative to more expensive logics such as monadic second-order logic (MSOL) over trees, which have been traditionally used for reasoning about tree data structures.}, author = {Wies, Thomas and Muñiz, Marco and Kuncak, Viktor}, issn = {2664-1690}, pages = {25}, publisher = {IST Austria}, title = {{On an efficient decision procedure for imperative tree data structures}}, doi = {10.15479/AT:IST-2011-0005}, year = {2011}, } @misc{5384, abstract = {We consider probabilistic automata on infinite words with acceptance defined by parity conditions. We consider three qualitative decision problems: (i) the positive decision problem asks whether there is a word that is accepted with positive probability; (ii) the almost decision problem asks whether there is a word that is accepted with probability 1; and (iii) the limit decision problem asks whether for every ε > 0 there is a word that is accepted with probability at least 1 − ε. We unify and generalize several decidability results for probabilistic automata over infinite words, and identify a robust (closed under union and intersection) subclass of probabilistic automata for which all the qualitative decision problems are decidable for parity conditions. We also show that if the input words are restricted to lasso shape words, then the positive and almost problems are decidable for all probabilistic automata with parity conditions.}, author = {Chatterjee, Krishnendu and Tracol, Mathieu}, issn = {2664-1690}, pages = {30}, publisher = {IST Austria}, title = {{Decidable problems for probabilistic automata on infinite words}}, doi = {10.15479/AT:IST-2011-0004}, year = {2011}, } @misc{5386, abstract = {We introduce TopoCut: a new way to integrate knowledge about topological properties (TPs) into random field image segmentation model. Instead of including TPs as additional constraints during minimization of the energy function, we devise an efficient algorithm for modifying the unary potentials such that the resulting segmentation is guaranteed with the desired properties. Our method is more flexible in the sense that it handles more topology constraints than previous methods, which were only able to enforce pairwise or global connectivity. In particular, our method is very fast, making it for the first time possible to enforce global topological properties in practical image segmentation tasks.}, author = {Chen, Chao and Freedman, Daniel and Lampert, Christoph}, issn = {2664-1690}, pages = {69}, publisher = {IST Austria}, title = {{Enforcing topological constraints in random field image segmentation}}, doi = {10.15479/AT:IST-2011-0002}, year = {2011}, } @misc{5387, abstract = {We consider Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) with mean-payoff parity and energy parity objectives. In system design, the parity objective is used to encode ω-regular specifications, and the mean-payoff and energy objectives can be used to model quantitative resource constraints. The energy condition re- quires that the resource level never drops below 0, and the mean-payoff condi- tion requires that the limit-average value of the resource consumption is within a threshold. While these two (energy and mean-payoff) classical conditions are equivalent for two-player games, we show that they differ for MDPs. We show that the problem of deciding whether a state is almost-sure winning (i.e., winning with probability 1) in energy parity MDPs is in NP ∩ coNP, while for mean- payoff parity MDPs, the problem is solvable in polynomial time, improving a recent PSPACE bound.}, author = {Chatterjee, Krishnendu and Doyen, Laurent}, issn = {2664-1690}, pages = {20}, publisher = {IST Austria}, title = {{Energy and mean-payoff parity Markov decision processes}}, doi = {10.15479/AT:IST-2011-0001}, year = {2011}, } @article{9483, abstract = {Imprinted genes are expressed primarily or exclusively from either the maternal or paternal allele, a phenomenon that occurs in flowering plants and mammals. Flowering plant imprinted gene expression has been described primarily in endosperm, a terminal nutritive tissue consumed by the embryo during seed development or after germination. Imprinted expression in Arabidopsis thaliana endosperm is orchestrated by differences in cytosine DNA methylation between the paternal and maternal genomes as well as by Polycomb group proteins. Currently, only 11 imprinted A. thaliana genes are known. Here, we use extensive sequencing of cDNA libraries to identify 9 paternally expressed and 34 maternally expressed imprinted genes in A. thaliana endosperm that are regulated by the DNA-demethylating glycosylase DEMETER, the DNA methyltransferase MET1, and/or the core Polycomb group protein FIE. These genes encode transcription factors, proteins involved in hormone signaling, components of the ubiquitin protein degradation pathway, regulators of histone and DNA methylation, and small RNA pathway proteins. We also identify maternally expressed genes that may be regulated by unknown mechanisms or deposited from maternal tissues. We did not detect any imprinted genes in the embryo. Our results show that imprinted gene expression is an extensive mechanistically complex phenomenon that likely affects multiple aspects of seed development.}, author = {Hsieh, Tzung-Fu and Shin, Juhyun and Uzawa, Rie and Silva, Pedro and Cohen, Stephanie and Bauer, Matthew J. and Hashimoto, Meryl and Kirkbride, Ryan C. and Harada, John J. and Zilberman, Daniel and Fischer, Robert L.}, issn = {1091-6490}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, number = {5}, pages = {1755--1762}, publisher = {National Academy of Sciences}, title = {{Regulation of imprinted gene expression in Arabidopsis endosperm}}, doi = {10.1073/pnas.1019273108}, volume = {108}, year = {2011}, } @misc{9522, abstract = {Little is known about chromatin remodeling events immediately after fertilization. A recent report by Autran et al. (2011) in Cell now shows that chromatin regulatory pathways that silence transposable elements are responsible for global delayed activation of gene expression in the early Arabidopsis embryo.}, author = {Zilberman, Daniel}, booktitle = {Developmental Cell}, issn = {1878-1551}, number = {6}, pages = {735--736}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Balancing parental contributions in plant embryonic gene activation}}, doi = {10.1016/j.devcel.2011.05.018}, volume = {20}, year = {2011}, } @inproceedings{9648, abstract = {In this paper, we establish a correspondence between the incremental algorithm for computing AT-models [8,9] and the one for computing persistent homology [6,14,15]. We also present a decremental algorithm for computing AT-models that allows to extend the persistence computation to a wider setting. Finally, we show how to combine incremental and decremental techniques for persistent homology computation.}, author = {Gonzalez-Diaz, Rocio and Ion, Adrian and Jimenez, Maria Jose and Poyatos, Regina}, booktitle = {Computer Analysis of Images and Patterns}, isbn = {9783642236716}, issn = {1611-3349}, location = {Seville, Spain}, pages = {286--293}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Incremental-decremental algorithm for computing AT-models and persistent homology}}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-642-23672-3_35}, volume = {6854}, year = {2011}, } @misc{9762, abstract = {Defining population structure and genetic diversity levels is of the utmost importance for developing efficient conservation strategies. Overfishing has caused mean annual catches of the European spiny lobster (Palinurus elephas) to decrease alarmingly along its distribution area. In this context, there is a need for comprehensive studies to evaluate the genetic health of the exploited populations. The present work is based on a set of 10 nuclear markers amplified in 331 individuals from 10 different localities covering most of P. elephas distribution area. Samples from Atlantic and Mediterranean basins showed small but significant differences, indicating that P. elephas populations do not behave as a single panmictic unit but form two partially-overlapping groups. Despite intense overfishing, our dataset did not recover a recent bottleneck signal, and showed a large and stable historical effective size instead. This result could be accounted for by specific life history traits (reproduction and longevity) and the limitations of molecular markers in covering very recent timescales for non temporal samples. Our study emphasizes the necessity of integrating information on effective population sizes and life history parameters when evaluating population connectivity levels from genetic data.}, author = {Palero, Ferran and Abello, Pere and Macpherson, Enrique and Beaumont, Mark and Pascual, Marta}, publisher = {IST Austria}, title = {{Data from: Effect of oceanographic barriers and overfishing on the population genetic structure of the European spiny lobster (Palinurus elephas)}}, doi = {10.5061/dryad.299h8}, year = {2011}, } @article{6496, abstract = {We report the switching behavior of the full bacterial flagellum system that includes the filament and the motor in wild-type Escherichia coli cells. In sorting the motor behavior by the clockwise bias, we find that the distributions of the clockwise (CW) and counterclockwise (CCW) intervals are either exponential or nonexponential with long tails. At low bias, CW intervals are exponentially distributed and CCW intervals exhibit long tails. At intermediate CW bias (0.5) both CW and CCW intervals are mainly exponentially distributed. A simple model suggests that these two distinct switching behaviors are governed by the presence of signaling noise within the chemotaxis network. Low noise yields exponentially distributed intervals, whereas large noise yields nonexponential behavior with long tails. These drastically different motor statistics may play a role in optimizing bacterial behavior for a wide range of environmental conditions.}, author = {Park, Heungwon and Oikonomou, Panos and Guet, Calin C and Cluzel, Philippe}, issn = {0006-3495}, journal = {Biophysical Journal}, number = {10}, pages = {2336--2340}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Noise underlies switching behavior of the bacterial flagellum}}, doi = {10.1016/j.bpj.2011.09.040}, volume = {101}, year = {2011}, } @inproceedings{9943, abstract = {Segmentation is the process of partitioning digital images into meaningful regions. The analysis of biological high content images often requires segmentation as a first step. We propose ilastik as an easy-to-use tool which allows the user without expertise in image processing to perform segmentation and classification in a unified way. ilastik learns from labels provided by the user through a convenient mouse interface. Based on these labels, ilastik infers a problem specific segmentation. A random forest classifier is used in the learning step, in which each pixel's neighborhood is characterized by a set of generic (nonlinear) features. ilastik supports up to three spatial plus one spectral dimension and makes use of all dimensions in the feature calculation. ilastik provides realtime feedback that enables the user to interactively refine the segmentation result and hence further fine-tune the classifier. An uncertainty measure guides the user to ambiguous regions in the images. Real time performance is achieved by multi-threading which fully exploits the capabilities of modern multi-core machines. Once a classifier has been trained on a set of representative images, it can be exported and used to automatically process a very large number of images (e.g. using the CellProfiler pipeline). ilastik is an open source project and released under the BSD license at www.ilastik.org.}, author = {Sommer, Christoph M and Straehle, Christoph and Köthe, Ullrich and Hamprecht, Fred A.}, booktitle = {2011 IEEE International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging: from Nano to Micro}, isbn = {978-1-4244-4127-3}, issn = {1945-8452}, keywords = {image segmentation, biomedical imaging, three dimensional displays, neurons, retina, observers, image color analysis}, location = {Chicago, Illinois, USA}, publisher = {Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers}, title = {{Ilastik: Interactive learning and segmentation toolkit}}, doi = {10.1109/isbi.2011.5872394}, year = {2011}, } @inproceedings{3163, abstract = {We study multi-label prediction for structured output sets, a problem that occurs, for example, in object detection in images, secondary structure prediction in computational biology, and graph matching with symmetries. Conventional multilabel classification techniques are typically not applicable in this situation, because they require explicit enumeration of the label set, which is infeasible in case of structured outputs. Relying on techniques originally designed for single-label structured prediction, in particular structured support vector machines, results in reduced prediction accuracy, or leads to infeasible optimization problems. In this work we derive a maximum-margin training formulation for multi-label structured prediction that remains computationally tractable while achieving high prediction accuracy. It also shares most beneficial properties with single-label maximum-margin approaches, in particular formulation as a convex optimization problem, efficient working set training, and PAC-Bayesian generalization bounds.}, author = {Lampert, Christoph}, location = {Granada, Spain}, publisher = {Neural Information Processing Systems Foundation}, title = {{Maximum margin multi-label structured prediction}}, year = {2011}, } @inproceedings{3264, abstract = {Verification of programs with procedures, multi-threaded programs, and higher-order functional programs can be effectively au- tomated using abstraction and refinement schemes that rely on spurious counterexamples for abstraction discovery. The analysis of counterexam- ples can be automated by a series of interpolation queries, or, alterna- tively, as a constraint solving query expressed by a set of recursion free Horn clauses. (A set of interpolation queries can be formulated as a single constraint over Horn clauses with linear dependency structure between the unknown relations.) In this paper we present an algorithm for solving recursion free Horn clauses over a combined theory of linear real/rational arithmetic and uninterpreted functions. Our algorithm performs resolu- tion to deal with the clausal structure and relies on partial solutions to deal with (non-local) instances of functionality axioms.}, author = {Gupta, Ashutosh and Popeea, Corneliu and Rybalchenko, Andrey}, editor = {Yang, Hongseok}, location = {Kenting, Taiwan}, pages = {188 -- 203}, publisher = {Springer}, title = {{Solving recursion-free Horn clauses over LI+UIF}}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-642-25318-8_16}, volume = {7078}, year = {2011}, } @inproceedings{3266, abstract = {We present a joint image segmentation and labeling model (JSL) which, given a bag of figure-ground segment hypotheses extracted at multiple image locations and scales, constructs a joint probability distribution over both the compatible image interpretations (tilings or image segmentations) composed from those segments, and over their labeling into categories. The process of drawing samples from the joint distribution can be interpreted as first sampling tilings, modeled as maximal cliques, from a graph connecting spatially non-overlapping segments in the bag [1], followed by sampling labels for those segments, conditioned on the choice of a particular tiling. We learn the segmentation and labeling parameters jointly, based on Maximum Likelihood with a novel Incremental Saddle Point estimation procedure. The partition function over tilings and labelings is increasingly more accurately approximated by including incorrect configurations that a not-yet-competent model rates probable during learning. We show that the proposed methodologymatches the current state of the art in the Stanford dataset [2], as well as in VOC2010, where 41.7% accuracy on the test set is achieved.}, author = {Ion, Adrian and Carreira, Joao and Sminchisescu, Cristian}, booktitle = {NIPS Proceedings}, location = {Granada, Spain}, pages = {1827 -- 1835}, publisher = {Neural Information Processing Systems Foundation}, title = {{Probabilistic joint image segmentation and labeling}}, volume = {24}, year = {2011}, } @article{3267, abstract = {We address the problem of localizing homology classes, namely, finding the cycle representing a given class with the most concise geometric measure. We study the problem with different measures: volume, diameter and radius. For volume, that is, the 1-norm of a cycle, two main results are presented. First, we prove that the problem is NP-hard to approximate within any constant factor. Second, we prove that for homology of dimension two or higher, the problem is NP-hard to approximate even when the Betti number is O(1). The latter result leads to the inapproximability of the problem of computing the nonbounding cycle with the smallest volume and computing cycles representing a homology basis with the minimal total volume. As for the other two measures defined by pairwise geodesic distance, diameter and radius, we show that the localization problem is NP-hard for diameter but is polynomial for radius. Our work is restricted to homology over the ℤ2 field.}, author = {Chen, Chao and Freedman, Daniel}, journal = {Discrete & Computational Geometry}, number = {3}, pages = {425 -- 448}, publisher = {Springer}, title = {{Hardness results for homology localization}}, doi = {10.1007/s00454-010-9322-8}, volume = {45}, year = {2011}, } @article{3269, abstract = {The unintentional scattering of light between neighboring surfaces in complex projection environments increases the brightness and decreases the contrast, disrupting the appearance of the desired imagery. To achieve satisfactory projection results, the inverse problem of global illumination must be solved to cancel this secondary scattering. In this paper, we propose a global illumination cancellation method that minimizes the perceptual difference between the desired imagery and the actual total illumination in the resulting physical environment. Using Gauss-Newton and active set methods, we design a fast solver for the bound constrained nonlinear least squares problem raised by the perceptual error metrics. Our solver is further accelerated with a CUDA implementation and multi-resolution method to achieve 1–2 fps for problems with approximately 3000 variables. We demonstrate the global illumination cancellation algorithm with our multi-projector system. Results show that our method preserves the color fidelity of the desired imagery significantly better than previous methods.}, author = {Sheng, Yu and Cutler, Barbara and Chen, Chao and Nasman, Joshua}, journal = {Computer Graphics Forum}, number = {4}, pages = {1261 -- 1268}, publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell}, title = {{Perceptual global illumination cancellation in complex projection environments}}, doi = {10.1111/j.1467-8659.2011.01985.x}, volume = {30}, year = {2011}, } @inproceedings{3270, abstract = {The persistence diagram of a filtered simplicial com- plex is usually computed by reducing the boundary matrix of the complex. We introduce a simple op- timization technique: by processing the simplices of the complex in decreasing dimension, we can “kill” columns (i.e., set them to zero) without reducing them. This technique completely avoids reduction on roughly half of the columns. We demonstrate that this idea significantly improves the running time of the reduction algorithm in practice. We also give an output-sensitive complexity analysis for the new al- gorithm which yields to sub-cubic asymptotic bounds under certain assumptions.}, author = {Chen, Chao and Kerber, Michael}, location = {Morschach, Switzerland}, pages = {197 -- 200}, publisher = {TU Dortmund}, title = {{Persistent homology computation with a twist}}, year = {2011}, } @inbook{3271, abstract = {In this paper we present an efficient framework for computation of persis- tent homology of cubical data in arbitrary dimensions. An existing algorithm using simplicial complexes is adapted to the setting of cubical complexes. The proposed approach enables efficient application of persistent homology in domains where the data is naturally given in a cubical form. By avoiding triangulation of the data, we significantly reduce the size of the complex. We also present a data-structure de- signed to compactly store and quickly manipulate cubical complexes. By means of numerical experiments, we show high speed and memory efficiency of our ap- proach. We compare our framework to other available implementations, showing its superiority. Finally, we report performance on selected 3D and 4D data-sets.}, author = {Wagner, Hubert and Chen, Chao and Vuçini, Erald}, booktitle = {Topological Methods in Data Analysis and Visualization II}, editor = {Peikert, Ronald and Hauser, Helwig and Carr, Hamish and Fuchs, Raphael}, pages = {91 -- 106}, publisher = {Springer}, title = {{Efficient computation of persistent homology for cubical data}}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-642-23175-9_7}, year = {2011}, } @phdthesis{3273, author = {Maître, Jean-Léon}, issn = {2663-337X}, publisher = {Institute of Science and Technology Austria}, title = {{Mechanics of adhesion and de‐adhesion in zebrafish germ layer progenitors}}, year = {2011}, } @phdthesis{3275, abstract = {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. }, author = {Schumann, Kathrin}, issn = {2663-337X}, pages = {141}, publisher = {Institute of Science and Technology Austria}, title = {{The role of chemotactic gradients in dendritic cell migration}}, year = {2011}, }