The Rank of Tree-Automatic Linear Orderings

We generalise Delhomm\'e's result that each tree-automatic ordinal is strictly below \omega^\omega^\omega{} by showing that any tree-automatic linear ordering has FC-rank strictly below \omega^\omega. We further investigate a restricted form of tree-automaticity and prove that every linear ordering which admits a tree-automatic presentation of branching complexity at most k has FC-rank strictly below \omega^k.Comment: 20 pages, 3 figure

Ehrenfeucht-Fraisse Games on Omega-Terms

Fragments of first-order logic over words can often be characterized in terms of finite monoids or finite semigroups. Usually these algebraic descriptions yield decidability of the question whether a given regular language is definable in a particular fragment. An effective algebraic characterization can be obtained from identities of so-called omega-terms. In order to show that a given fragment satisfies some identity of omega-terms, one can use Ehrenfeucht-Fraisse games on word instances of the omega-terms. The resulting proofs often require a significant amount of book-keeping with respect to the constants involved. In this paper we introduce Ehrenfeucht-Fraisse games on omega-terms. To this end we assign a labeled linear order to every omega-term. Our main theorem shows that a given fragment satisfies some identity of omega-terms if and only if Duplicator has a winning strategy for the game on the resulting linear orders. This allows to avoid the book-keeping. As an application of our main result, we show that one can decide in exponential time whether all aperiodic monoids satisfy some given identity of omega-terms, thereby improving a result of McCammond (Int. J. Algebra Comput., 2001)

Word Automaticity of Tree Automatic Scattered Linear Orderings Is Decidable

A tree automatic structure is a structure whose domain can be encoded by a regular tree language such that each relation is recognisable by a finite automaton processing tuples of trees synchronously. Words can be regarded as specific simple trees and a structure is word automatic if it is encodable using only these trees. The question naturally arises whether a given tree automatic structure is already word automatic. We prove that this problem is decidable for tree automatic scattered linear orderings. Moreover, we show that in case of a positive answer a word automatic presentation is computable from the tree automatic presentation.Comment: 19 pages, 2 figure

The model-theoretic complexity of automatic linear orders

Automatic structures are—possibly infinite—structures which are finitely presentable by means of finite automata on strings or trees. Largely motivated by the fact that their first-order theories are uniformly decidable, automatic structures gained a lot of attention in the "logic in computer science" community during the last fifteen years. This thesis studies the model-theoretic complexity of automatic linear orders in terms of two complexity measures: the finite-condensation rank and the Ramsey degree. The former is an ordinal which indicates how far a linear order is away from being dense. The corresponding main results establish optimal upper bounds on this rank with respect to several notions of automaticity. The Ramsey degree measures the model-theoretic complexity of well-orders by means of the partition relations studied in combinatorial set theory. This concept is investigated in a purely set-theoretic setting as well as in the context of automatic structures.Auch im Buchhandel erhältlich: The model-theoretic complexity of automatic linear orders / Martin Huschenbett Ilmenau : Univ.-Verl. Ilmenau, 2016. - xiii, 228 Seiten ISBN 978-3-86360-127-0 Preis (Druckausgabe): 16,50

Quantenautomaten und das Cut-Point-Theorem für beschränkte erkennbare Potenzreihen

Der Inhalt dieser Arbeit sind jedoch nicht Quantencomputer im Allgemeinen, sondern hauptsächlich Quantenautomaten. Dies führt zu den Begriffen der „endlichen Quantenautomaten“ und der „quantenregulären“ oder „quantenerkennbaren Sprachen“, die Hauptgegenstand der vorliegenden Arbeit sind

Sensitivity of the synaptic membrane Na+/Ca2+ exchanger and the expressed NCX1 isoform to reactive oxygen species

AbstractTwo plasma membrane proteins, the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger (NCX) and the Ca2+-ATPase, are major regulators of free intraneuronal Ca2+ levels as they are responsible for extrusion of Ca2+ from the intracellular to the extracellular medium. Because disruption of cellular Ca2+ regulation plays a role in damage occurring under conditions of oxidative stress, studies were conducted to assess the sensitivity of the NCX to reactive oxygen species (ROS). Exchanger activity in brain synaptic plasma membranes and in transfected CHO-K1 cells was inhibited following brief exposure to the peroxyl radical generating azo initiator 2,2′-azobis(2-amidinopropane)dihydrochloride (AAPH) and to peroxynitrite. Incubation with hydrogen peroxide did not alter NCX activity, even at 800 μM concentration. In CHO-K1 cells transiently transfected with the NCX1 isoform of the exchanger, AAPH treatment decreased the maximal transport capacity (Vmax), whereas the Kact remained unchanged. Peroxynitrite led to an increase in Kact with no change in Vmax. Loss of activity following exposure to either AAPH or peroxynitrite was associated with the formation of high molecular weight aggregates of NCX, and AAPH also caused fragmentation of the exchanger protein. These findings suggest that the NCX is sensitive to biologically relevant ROS and could be involved in the loss of Ca2+ homeostasis observed under oxidative stress

Zugänglichkeit einzelner Domänen des Lichtsammelkomplexes LHCII

Das Membranprotein LHCII ist ein Lichtsammelkomplex der höheren Pflanzen, der in vitro, ausgehend von bakteriell überexprimiertem Apoprotein, als Monomer und als Trimer rekonstituiert werden kann. Um Strukturunterschiede zwischen Monomeren und Trimeren zu bestimmen, wurden ortsspezifische Derivatisierungen des Proteins durchgeführt. Dazu wurden verschiedene Mutationen am LHCII vorgenommen. Das einzige Cystein des nativen, maturen LHCII wurde zunächst in ein Serin umgewandelt. Ausgehend von dieser Mutante wurden an fünf Positionen singuläre Cysteine eingefügt. Zugänglichkeitsuntersuchungen mit dem thiolreaktiven Farbstoff Rhodamine Red-Maleimid zeigten zum Teil Unterschiede zwischen Monomeren und Trimeren auf. Außerdem deutete eine zweiphasige Markierungskinetik eines der rekombinanten LHCII auf mindestens zwei konformelle Populationen in Detergenslösung. Die Beobachtungen dieser Arbeit wurden zudem genutzt, um im Strukturmodell des LHCII unklare Positionen näher zu beschreiben. Schließlich wurden einige der LHCII mit angekoppeltem Fluoreszenzfarbstoff spektroskopisch charakterisiert.The membrane protein LHCII is a light-harvesting complex of higher plants that can be reconstituted in vitro in its monomeric and trimeric form, starting from its bacterially expressed apoprotein. For the determination of structural differences between monomeric an trimeric form, site-specific labelling was used. For this purpose, first several mutations were introduced in the LHCII. The only cysteine of native mature LHCII was changed into a serine. Starting from this LHCII-mutant, singular cysteines were introduced at five positions. Accessibility measurements with the thiolreactive dye Rhodamine Red maleimide showed a partially different behaviour of monomers and trimers. Moreover, biphasic labelling kinetics indicated the presence of (at least) two conformational populations of recombinant LHCII in detergent solution. Additionally, the observations of this thesis helped to elucidate the positioning of protein domains that are not well resolved in the structural model of LHCII. Finally, a number of fluorescence-labelled LHCII derivatives were characterized

Tree-Automatic Well-Founded Trees

We investigate tree-automatic well-founded trees. Using Delhomme's decomposition technique for tree-automatic structures, we show that the (ordinal) rank of a tree-automatic well-founded tree is strictly below omega^omega. Moreover, we make a step towards proving that the ranks of tree-automatic well-founded partial orders are bounded by omega^omega^omega: we prove this bound for what we call upwards linear partial orders. As an application of our result, we show that the isomorphism problem for tree-automatic well-founded trees is complete for level Delta^0_{omega^omega} of the hyperarithmetical hierarchy with respect to Turing-reductions.Comment: Will appear in Logical Methods of Computer Scienc

McCammond's normal forms for free aperiodic semigroups revisited

This paper revisits the solution of the word problem for omega-terms interpreted over finite aperiodic semigroups, obtained by J. McCammond. The original proof of correctness of McCammond's algorithm, based on normal forms for such terms, uses McCammond's solution of the word problem for certain Burnside semigroups. In this paper, we establish a new, simpler, correctness proof of McCammond's algorithm, based on properties of certain regular languages associated with the normal forms. This method leads to new applications.Pessoa French-Portuguese project Egide-Grices 11113YMEuropean Regional Development Fund, through the programme COMPETEEuropean Community Fund FEDERANR 2010 BLAN 0202 01 FRE