Clathrin Is Spindle-Associated but Not Essential for Mitosis

Clathrin is a multimeric protein involved in vesicle coat assembly. Recently clathrin distribution was reported to change during the cell cycle and was found to associate with the mitotic spindle. Here we test whether the recruitment of clathrin to the spindle is indicative of a critical functional contribution to mitosis.Previously a chicken pre-B lymphoma cell line (DKO-R) was developed in which the endogenous clathrin heavy chain alleles were replaced with the human clathrin heavy chain under the control of a tetracycline-regulatable promoter. Receptor-mediated and fluid-phase endocytosis were significantly inhibited in this line following clathrin knockout, and we used this to explore the significance of clathrin heavy chain expression for cell cycle progression. We confirmed using confocal microscopy that clathrin colocalised with tubulin at mitotic spindles. Using a propidium iodide flow cytometric assay we found no statistical difference in the cell cycle distribution of the knockout cells versus the wild-type. Additionally, we showed that the ploidy and the recovery kinetics following cell cycle arrest with nocodazole were unchanged by repressing clathrin heavy chain expression.We conclude that the association of clathrin with the mitotic spindle and the contribution of clathrin to endocytosis are evolutionarily conserved. However we find that the contribution of clathrin to mitosis is less robust and dependent on cellular context. In other cell-lines silencing RNA has been used by others to knockdown clathrin expression resulting in an increase in the mitotic index of the cells. We show an effect on the G2/M phase population of clathrin knockdown in HEK293 cells but show that repressing clathrin expression in the DKO-R cell-line has no effect on the size of this population. Consequently this work highlights the need for a more detailed molecular understanding of the recruitment and function of clathrin at the spindle, since the localisation but not the impact of clathrin on mitosis appears to be robust in plants, mammalian and chicken B-cells

Developing Product Lines with Third-Party Components

AbstractThe trends toward product line development and toward adopting more third-party software are hard to combine. The reason is that product lines demand fine control over the software (e.g., for diversity management), while third-party software (almost by definition) provides only little or no control.A growing use of third-party software may therefore lead to less control over the product development process or, vice-versa, requiring large control over the software may limit the ability to use third-party components. Since both are means to reduce costs and to shorten time to market, the question is whether they can be combined effectively.In this paper, we describe our solution to this problem which combines the Koala component model developed within Philips with the concept of build-level components. We show that by lifting component granularity of Koala components from individual C files to build-level components, both trends can be united. The Koala architectural description language is used to orchestrate product composition and to manage diversity, while build-level components form the unit of third-party component composition

Workshop Report: Campus Bridging: Reducing Obstacles on the Path to Big Answers 2015

For the researcher whose experiments require large-scale cyberinfrastructure, there exists significant challenges to successful completion. These challenges are broad and go far beyond the simple issue that there are not enough large-scale resources available; these solvable issues range from a lack of documentation written for a non-technical audience to a need for greater consistency with regard to system configuration and consistent software configuration and availability on the large-scale resources at national tier supercomputing centers, with a number of other challenges existing alongside the ones mentioned here. Campus Bridging is a relatively young discipline that aims to mitigate these issues for the academic end-user, for whom the entire process can feel like a path comprised entirely of obstacles. The solutions to these problems must by necessity include multiple approaches, with focus not only on the end user but on the system administrators responsible for supporting these resources as well as the systems themselves. These system resources include not only those at the supercomputing centers but also those that exist at the campus or departmental level and even on the personal computing devices the researcher uses to complete his or her work. This workshop report compiles the results of a half-day workshop, held in conjunction with IEEE Cluster 2015 in Chicago, IL.NSF XSED

A Survey and Comparison of Industrial and Academic Research on the Evolution of Software Product Lines

Past research on software product lines has focused on the initial development of reusable assets and related challenges, such as cost estimation and implementation issues. Naturally, as software product lines are increasingly adopted throughout industry, their ongoing maintenance and evolution are getting more attention as well. However, it is not clear to what degree research is following this trend, and where the interests and demands of the industry lie. In this technical report, we provide a survey and comparison of selected publications on software product line maintenance and evolution at SPLC. In particular, we analyze and discuss similarities and differences of these papers with regard to their affiliation with industry and academia. From this, we infer directions for future research that pave the way for systematic and organized evolution of software product lines, from which industry may benefit as well.Comment: 8 page

Pattern languages in HCI: A critical review

This article presents a critical review of patterns and pattern languages in human-computer interaction (HCI). In recent years, patterns and pattern languages have received considerable attention in HCI for their potential as a means for developing and communicating information and knowledge to support good design. This review examines the background to patterns and pattern languages in HCI, and seeks to locate pattern languages in relation to other approaches to interaction design. The review explores four key issues: What is a pattern? What is a pattern language? How are patterns and pattern languages used? and How are values reflected in the pattern-based approach to design? Following on from the review, a future research agenda is proposed for patterns and pattern languages in HCI

There’s plenty of room at the bottom but is there room at the top? Nanotechnology in the Czech Republic: policy and barriers to innnovation

Due to the possibility of nanotechnology becoming the next general purpose technology, generating considerable socio-economic benefits, it has become popular with policy-makers and academics around the world, and led to massive investments in national R&D programmes. While in some cases nanotechnology is still in its early stages of research, in many others it has already resulted in innovations within many disparate sectors. This is important because in today’s knowledge-based economy, innovation is a dominant factor, quite radically influencing economic performance of firms, regions, and states alike emphasizing a growing need for a strong, coherent, and up-to-date policy support. From an innovation systems perspective this thesis looks at the rapidly growing field of nanotechnology in the Czech Republic, exploring the innovation policy of the Czech Republic, barriers to innovation, and the extent to which policy addresses these barriers. An innovation survey within Czech nano-companies has been carried out in order to zoom in on some of the strengths and weaknesses of the policy support

Simple identification tools in FishBase

Simple identification tools for fish species were included in the FishBase information system from its inception. Early tools made use of the relational model and characters like fin ray meristics. Soon pictures and drawings were added as a further help, similar to a field guide. Later came the computerization of existing dichotomous keys, again in combination with pictures and other information, and the ability to restrict possible species by country, area, or taxonomic group. Today, www.FishBase.org offers four different ways to identify species. This paper describes these tools with their advantages and disadvantages, and suggests various options for further development. It explores the possibility of a holistic and integrated computeraided strategy

On modeling building evacuation route plans by resorting to P-graph

This paper presents basic ideas on the application of the P-graph framework for modeling building evacuation routes and computing the optimal one. To do so, P-graph relies on both combinatorial and graph techniques for facilitating such a work

Software: our quest for excellence. Honoring 50 years of software history, progress, and process

The Software Quality Forum was established by the Software Quality Assurance (SQA) Subcommittee, which serves as a technical advisory group on software engineering and quality initiatives and issues for DOE`s quality managers. The forum serves as an opportunity for all those involved in implementing SQA programs to meet and share ideas and concerns. Participation from managers, quality engineers, and software professionals provides an ideal environment for identifying and discussing issues and concerns. The interaction provided by the forum contributes to the realization of a shared goal--high quality software product. Topics include: testing, software measurement, software surety, software reliability, SQA practices, assessments, software process improvement, certification and licensing of software professionals, CASE tools, software project management, inspections, and management`s role in ensuring SQA. The bulk of this document consists of vugraphs. Selected papers have been indexed separately for inclusion in the Energy Science and Technology Database