The Complexity of Datalog on Linear Orders

We study the program complexity of datalog on both finite and infinite linear orders. Our main result states that on all linear orders with at least two elements, the nonemptiness problem for datalog is EXPTIME-complete. While containment of the nonemptiness problem in EXPTIME is known for finite linear orders and actually for arbitrary finite structures, it is not obvious for infinite linear orders. It sharply contrasts the situation on other infinite structures; for example, the datalog nonemptiness problem on an infinite successor structure is undecidable. We extend our upper bound results to infinite linear orders with constants. As an application, we show that the datalog nonemptiness problem on Allen's interval algebra is EXPTIME-complete.Comment: 21 page

On the magnetic characteristics of magnetic holes in the solar wind between Mercury and Venus

The occurrence rate of linear and pseudo magnetic holes has been determined during MESSENGER's cruise phase starting from Venus (2007) and arriving at Mercury (2011). It is shown that the occurrence rate of linear magnetic holes, defined as a maximum of 10∘ rotation of the magnetic field over the hole, slowly decreases from Mercury to Venus. The pseudo magnetic holes, defined as a rotation between 10 and 45∘ over the hole, have mostly a constant occurrence rate

Comeback of epitaxial graphene for electronics: large-area growth of bilayer-free graphene on SiC

We present a new fabrication method for epitaxial graphene on SiC which enables the growth of ultra-smooth defect- and bilayer-free graphene sheets with an unprecedented reproducibility, a necessary prerequisite for wafer-scale fabrication of high quality graphene-based electronic devices. The inherent but unfavorable formation of high SiC surface terrace steps during high temperature sublimation growth is suppressed by rapid formation of the graphene buffer layer which stabilizes the SiC surface. The enhanced nucleation is enforced by decomposition of polymer adsorbates which act as a carbon source. With most of the steps well below 0.75 nm pure monolayer graphene without bilayer inclusions is formed with lateral dimensions only limited by the size of the substrate. This makes the polymer assisted sublimation growth technique the most promising method for commercial wafer scale epitaxial graphene fabrication. The extraordinary electronic quality is evidenced by quantum resistance metrology at 4.2 K with until now unreached precision and high electron mobilities on mm scale devices.Comment: 20 pages, 6 Figure

Time-resolved FRET reports FGFR1 dimerization and formation of a complex with its effector PLCγ1.

In vitro and in vivo imaging of protein tyrosine kinase activity requires minimally invasive, molecularly precise optical probes to provide spatiotemporal mechanistic information of dimerization and complex formation with downstream effectors. We present here a construct with genetically encoded, site-specifically incorporated, bioorthogonal reporter that can be selectively labelled with exogenous fluorogenic probes to monitor the structure and function of fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR). GyrB.FGFR1KD.TC contains a coumermycin-induced artificial dimerizer (GyrB), FGFR1 kinase domain (KD) and a tetracysteine (TC) motif that enables fluorescent labelling with biarsenical dyes FlAsH-EDT2 and ReAsH-EDT2. We generated bimolecular system for time-resolved FRET (TR-FRET) studies, which pairs FlAsH-tagged GyrB.FGFR1KD.TC and N-terminal Src homology 2 (nSH2) domain of phospholipase Cγ (PLCγ), a downstream effector of FGFR1, fused to mTurquoise fluorescent protein (mTFP). We demonstrated phosphorylation-dependent TR-FRET readout of complex formation between mTFP.nSH2 and GyrB.FGFR1KD.TC. By further application of TR-FRET, we also demonstrated formation of the GyrB.FGFR1KD.TC homodimer by coumermycin-induced dimerization. Herein, we present a spectroscopic FRET approach to facilitate and propagate studies that would provide structural and functional insights for FGFR and other tyrosine kinases