@article{20143, abstract = {Bacteria and archaea deploy diverse antiviral defense systems, many of which remain mechanistically uncharacterized. Here, we characterize Kiwa, a widespread two-component system composed of the transmembrane sensor KwaA and the DNA-binding effector KwaB. Cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) analysis reveals that KwaA and KwaB assemble into a large, membrane-associated supercomplex. Upon phage binding, KwaA senses infection at the membrane, leading to KwaB binding of ejected phage DNA and inhibition of replication and late transcription, without inducing host cell death. Although KwaB can bind DNA independently, its antiviral activity requires association with KwaA, suggesting spatial or conformational regulation. We show that the phage-encoded DNA-mimic protein Gam directly binds and inhibits KwaB but that co-expression with the Gam-targeted RecBCD system restores protection by Kiwa. Our findings support a model in which Kiwa coordinates membrane-associated detection of phage infection with downstream DNA binding by its effector, forming a spatially coordinated antiviral mechanism.}, author = {Zhang, Zhiying and Todeschini, Thomas C. and Wu, Yi and Kogay, Roman and Naji, Ameena and Cardenas Rodriguez, Joaquin and Mondi, Rupavidhya and Kaganovich, Daniel and Taylor, David W. and Bravo, Jack Peter Kelly and Teplova, Marianna and Amen, Triana and Koonin, Eugene and Patel, Dinshaw J. and Nobrega, Franklin L.}, issn = {1097-4172}, journal = {Cell}, number = {21}, pages = {5862--5877.e23}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Kiwa is a membrane-embedded defense supercomplex activated at phage attachment sites}}, doi = {10.1016/j.cell.2025.07.002}, volume = {188}, year = {2025}, } @techreport{20146, abstract = {This criteria catalogue and the accompanying assessment questions were developed by a working group of KEMÖ (Kooperation E-Medien Österreich, the Austrian Academic Library Consortium). They are intended to support research institutions and organisations in the evaluation of Open Science Infrastructures. The 20 criteria outlined in the catalogue provide a structured basis for making informed decisions regarding the financial support of these infrastructures. The assessment questions are intended to be completed by Open Science Infrastructures and can be shared with them accordingly.}, author = {Gredler, Paul and Kaier, Christian and Danowski, Patrick and Zoyer, Michael and Rieck, Katharina and Ferus, Andreas and Rosenberger, Elisabeth and Löffler, Alexander and Hofer, Lisa and Still, Laura}, publisher = {Zenodo}, title = {{Catalogue of criteria for assessing the funding eligibility of Open Science infrastructures}}, doi = {10.5281/zenodo.15269364}, year = {2025}, } @article{20154, abstract = {In long-lived mammals, including humans, brain cell homeostasis is critical for maintaining brain function throughout life. Most neurons are generated during development and must maintain their cellular identity and plasticity to preserve brain function. Although extensive studies indicate the importance of recycling and regenerating cellular molecules to maintain cellular homeostasis, recent evidence has shown that some proteins and RNAs do not turn over for months and even years. We propose that these long-lived cellular molecules may be the basis for maintaining brain function in the long term, but also a potential convergent target of brain aging. We highlight key discoveries and challenges, and propose potential directions to unravel the mystery of brain cell longevity.}, author = {Hetzer, Martin W and Toda, Tomohisa}, issn = {1878-108X}, journal = {Trends in Neurosciences}, number = {9}, pages = {645--654}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Long-lived cellular molecules in the brain}}, doi = {10.1016/j.tins.2025.07.004}, volume = {48}, year = {2025}, } @article{20155, abstract = {We study time averages for the norm of solutions to kinetic Fokker–Planck equations associated with general Hamiltonians. We provide fully explicit and constructive decay estimates for systems subject to a confining potential, allowing fat-tail, subexponential and (super-)exponential local equilibria, which also include the classic Maxwellian case. The key step in our estimates is a modified Poincaré inequality, obtained via a Lions–Poincaré inequality and an averaging lemma.}, author = {Brigati, Giovanni and Stoltz, Gabriel}, issn = {1095-7154}, journal = {SIAM Journal on Mathematical Analysis}, number = {4}, pages = {3587--3622}, publisher = {Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics}, title = {{How to construct explicit decay rates for kinetic Fokker–Planck equations?}}, doi = {10.1137/24M1700351}, volume = {57}, year = {2025}, } @article{20182, abstract = {Sex chromosomes have evolved many times throughout the tree of life, and understanding what has shaped their unusual morphological, sequence, and regulatory features has been a long-standing goal. Most early insights into insect sex chromosome biology came from a few model species, such as the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, which limited broad-scale evolutionary inferences. More recently, extensive comparative genomics studies have uncovered several unexpected patterns, which we highlight in this review. First, we describe the conservation of the ancestral X chromosome over 450 million years but also its recurrent turnover (i.e. its reversal to an autosome when a new X chromosome arose) in at least one order. We then summarize classical and more recent findings on how insects modulate the expression of X-linked genes following the degradation of the Y chromosome and how the diverse mechanisms of dosage compensation identified may elucidate important principles of sex chromosome regulatory evolution.}, author = {Toups, Melissa A and Vicoso, Beatriz}, issn = {2214-5753}, journal = {Current Opinion in Insect Science}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Insect sex chromosome evolution: Conservation, turnover, and mechanisms of dosage compensation}}, doi = {10.1016/j.cois.2025.101411}, volume = {72}, year = {2025}, } @article{20183, abstract = {The unequal segregation of organelles has been proposed to be an intrinsic mechanism that contributes to cell fate divergence during asymmetric cell division; however, in vivo evidence is sparse. Using super-resolution microscopy, we analysed the segregation of organelles during the division of the neuroblast QL.p in C. elegans larvae. QL.p divides to generate a daughter that survives, QL.pa, and a daughter that dies, QL.pp. We found that mitochondria segregate unequally by density and morphology and that this is dependent on mitochondrial dynamics. Furthermore, we found that mitochondrial density in QL.pp correlates with the time it takes QL.pp to die. We propose that low mitochondrial density in QL.pp promotes the cell death fate and ensures that QL.pp dies in a highly reproducible and timely manner. Our results provide in vivo evidence that the unequal segregation of mitochondria can contribute to cell fate divergence during asymmetric cell division in a developing animal.}, author = {Segos, Ioannis and Van Eeckhoven, Jens and Berger, Simon and Mishra, Nikhil and Lambie, Eric J. and Conradt, Barbara}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Unequal segregation of mitochondria during asymmetric cell division contributes to cell fate divergence in sister cells in vivo}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-025-62484-5}, volume = {16}, year = {2025}, } @article{20184, abstract = {Specialized DNA polymerases facilitate various cellular processes. Despite extensive research, the mutagenic effects of these error-prone enzymes on genomes are not fully understood. Here we show that Pol IV promotes genomic instability in Pseudomonas aeruginosa by misincorporating oxidized guanine nucleotides. This activity led to a distinctive mutational signature, characterized by A-to-C transversions occurring preferentially at AT sites flanked by a 5’G and/or 3’C. Furthermore, Pol IV preferentially targeted pathogenicity genes located at specific chromosomal locations near the replication termination region and rRNA-encoding operons. Half of the mutation events catalyzed by Pol IV impaired gene function. This can be attributed to the bias of Pol IV for mutating codons with its preferred sequence contexts, leading to substitutions to unreactive alanine and glycine residues. Remarkably, mutation signatures identified for Pol IV were found in clinical isolate genomes of P. aeruginosa, providing compelling evidence for its role in genetic diversification during pathogen adaptation.}, author = {Castell, Sofía D. and Fernandez, Consuelo M. and Tumas, Ignacio N. and Margara, Lucía M. and Miserendino, Maria C and Ceschin, Danilo G. and Pezza, Roberto J. and Monti, Mariela R.}, issn = {2399-3642}, journal = {Communications Biology}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{The low-fidelity DNA Pol IV accelerates evolution of pathogenicity genes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa}}, doi = {10.1038/s42003-025-08589-5}, volume = {8}, year = {2025}, } @article{20185, abstract = {We show a local rigidity result for the integrability of symplectic billiards. We prove that any domain which is close to an ellipse, and for which the symplectic billiard map is rationally integrable must be an ellipse as well. This is in spirit of the result of [2] for Birkhoff billiards.}, author = {Tsodikovich, Daniel}, issn = {1050-6926}, journal = {Journal of Geometric Analysis}, number = {10}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Local rigidity for symplectic billiards}}, doi = {10.1007/s12220-025-02148-4}, volume = {35}, year = {2025}, } @article{20186, abstract = {Enforcement of information-flow policies has been extensively studied by language-based approaches over the past few decades. In this paper, we propose an alternative, novel, general, and effective approach using enforcement of hyperproperties– a powerful formalism for expressing and reasoning about a wide range of information-flow security policies. We study black- vs. gray- vs. white-box enforcement of hyperproperties expressed by nondeterministic finite-word hyperautomata (NFH), where the enforcer has null, some, or complete information about the implementation of the system under scrutiny. Given an NFH, in order to generate a runtime enforcer, we reduce the problem to controller synthesis for hyperproperties and subsequently to the satisfiability problem for quantified Boolean formulas (QBFs). The resulting enforcers are transferable with low-overhead. We conduct a rich set of case studies, including information-flow control for JavaScript code, as well as synthesizing obfuscators for control plants.}, author = {Hsu, Tzu Han and Oliveira Da Costa, Ana A and Wintenberg, Andrew and Bartocci, Ezio and Bonakdarpour, Borzoo}, issn = {1432-0525}, journal = {Acta Informatica}, number = {3}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Gray-box runtime enforcement of hyperproperties}}, doi = {10.1007/s00236-025-00502-1}, volume = {62}, year = {2025}, } @article{20188, abstract = {Collective cell migration is coordinated by the front-to-rear intercellular propagation of EGFR-Ras-ERK pathway activation. However, the molecular mechanisms integrating front-to-rear information into this intercellular signaling cascade, particularly the determinants of cellular front-side specification, remain elusive. We visualized the activity of EGFR, Ras, Rac1 and Rab5A (hereafter Rab5) by using FRET biosensors and chemogenetic tools. Whereas EGFR activation was uniformly observed within cells, Ras activation was biased to the front side within cells. The polarized Ras activation depended on Merlin and Rac1, which also showed front-biased activation. Furthermore, Rab5, a crucial regulator of cell migration, demonstrated similar front-biased activation and was found to function downstream of Ras while being necessary for Rac1 activation. Thus, the positive feedback loop consisting of Ras, Rab5 and Rac1 is activated primarily at the front of collectively migrating cells. These findings offer new spatio-temporal insight into processing front–rear information during collective cell migration.}, author = {Jikko, Yuya and Deguchi, Eriko and Matsuda, Kimiya and Hino, Naoya and Tsukiji, Shinya and Matsuda, Michiyuki and Terai, Kenta}, issn = {1477-9137}, journal = {Journal of Cell Science}, number = {15}, publisher = {The Company of Biologists}, title = {{Front-biased activation of the Ras-Rab5-Rac1 loop coordinates collective cell migration}}, doi = {10.1242/jcs.263779}, volume = {138}, year = {2025}, } @inproceedings{20189, abstract = {Certification was made mandatory for the first time in the latest hardware model checking competition. In this case study, we investigate the trade-offs of requiring certificates for both passing and failing properties in the competition. Our evaluation shows that participating model checkers were able to produce compact, correct certificates that could be verified with minimal overhead. Furthermore, the certifying winner of the competition outperforms the previous non-certifying state-of-the-art model checker, demonstrating that certification can be adopted without compromising model checking efficiency.}, author = {Froleyks, Nils and Yu, Zhengqi and Preiner, Mathias and Biere, Armin and Heljanko, Keijo}, booktitle = {37th International Conference on Computer Aided Verification}, isbn = {9783031986673}, issn = {1611-3349}, location = {Zagreb, Croatia}, pages = {281--295}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Introducing certificates to the hardware model checking competition}}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-031-98668-0_14}, volume = {15931}, year = {2025}, } @article{20191, abstract = {High-entropy alloys (HEAs) show great potential for catalyzing complex multi-step reactions, but optimizing their parameters, i.e., composition, but also their crystallinity and morphology, remains a significant challenge. In this study, FeCoNiMoW HEAs are synthesized into either amorphous nanosheets (HEANS) or crystalline nanoparticles (HEANP), which are then used to catalyze the lithium–sulfur (Li–S) reaction of Li–S batteries (LSBs). Evaluations in symmetric cells, coin cells, and pouch cells reveal that HEANS significantly enhance LSB performance, achieving initial discharge capacities up to 1632 mAh g−1. The batteries also exhibit excellent cycling stability over 1000 cycles at 3Cand maintain high-rate performance up to 10C with a capacity of 614 mAh g−1. Comprehensive in situ analyses and density functional theory calculations demonstrate that amorphous HEANS provide more active sites, better ionic conductivity and stronger chemical interactions with lithium polysulfides (LiPS). These properties effectively suppress the shuttle effect, promote the complete S8 → Li2S conversion by reducing the impedance of the solid-electrolyte interphase, and accelerate the Li2S4 → Li2S2 step by lowering the nucleation energy barrier. Overall, this study highlights the superior catalytic properties of amorphous 2D HEAs in LSBs and offers new insights into the mechanisms of LiPS conversion.}, author = {He, Ren and Lee, Seungho and Ding, Yang and Huang, Chen and Lu, Xuan and Zheng, Lirong and Yu, Ao and Zhang, Chaoyue and Li, Canhuang and Bi, Xiaoyu and Li, Yaqiang and Liao, Yaqi and Li, Junshan and Ostovari Moghaddam, Ahmad and Yernar, Salimov and Xu, Ying and Ibáñez, Maria and Zhang, Chaoqi and Yang, Linlin and Zhou, Yingtang and Cabot, Andreu}, issn = {1616-3028}, journal = {Advanced Functional Materials}, publisher = {Wiley}, title = {{Amorphous high entropy alloy nanosheets enabling robust Li–S batteries}}, doi = {10.1002/adfm.202513859}, year = {2025}, } @article{20192, abstract = {We study the physical origin and spectroscopic impact of extreme nebular emission in high-redshift galaxies. The nebular continuum, which can appear during an extreme starburst, is of particular importance as it tends to redden UV slopes and has a significant contribution to the UV luminosities of galaxies. Furthermore, its shape can be used to infer the gas density and temperature of the interstellar medium. First, we provide a theoretical background, showing how different stellar populations (SPS models, initial mass functions (IMFs), and stellar temperatures) and nebular conditions impact observed galaxy spectra. We demonstrate that, for systems with strong nebular continuum emission, 1) UV fluxes can increase by up to 0.7~mag (or more in the case of hot/massive stars) above the stellar continuum, which may help reconcile the surprising abundance of bright high-redshift galaxies and the elevated UV luminosity density at z>10, 2) at high gas densities, UV slopes can redden from \beta<-2.5 to \beta\sim-1, 3) observational measurements of \xi_{\rm ion} are gross underestimates, and 4) UV downturns from two-photon emission can masquerade as damped Ly\alpha systems. Second, we present a dataset of 58 galaxies observed with NIRSpec on JWST at 2.510 galaxies, finding that UV slopes and UV downturns are in some cases redder or steeper than expected from SPS models, which may hint at more exotic (e.g. hotter/more massive stars or AGN) ionizing sources.}, author = {Katz, Harley and Cameron, Alex J. and Saxena, Aayush and Barrufet, Laia and Choustikov, Nicholas and Cleri, Nikko J. and De Graaff, Anna and Ellis, Richard S. and Fosbury, Robert A.E. and Heintz, Kasper E. and Maseda, Michael and Matthee, Jorryt J and Mcconachie, Ian and Oesch, Pascal A.}, issn = {2565-6120}, journal = {The Open Journal of Astrophysics}, publisher = {Maynooth Academic Publishing}, title = {{21 Balmer Jump Street: The nebular continuum at high redshift and implications for the bright galaxy problem, UV continuum slopes, and early stellar populations}}, doi = {10.33232/001c.142570}, volume = {8}, year = {2025}, } @article{20193, abstract = {Understanding the rapid formation of supermassive black holes in the early Universe requires insights into stellar mass growth in host galaxies. Here we present NIRSpec rest-frame optical spectra and NIRCam imaging from JWST of two galaxies at z > 6, both hosting moderate-luminosity quasars. These galaxies exhibit Balmer absorption lines, like low-redshift post-starburst galaxies. Our analyses of the medium-resolution spectra and multiband photometry show that the bulk of the stellar mass (log(M*/M☉) ≥ 10.6) formed in starburst episodes at redshift 9 and 7. One of the galaxies shows a clear Balmer break and lacks spatially resolved Hα emission. It falls well below the star-formation main sequence at z = 6, indicating quiescence. The other is transitioning to quiescence; together, these massive galaxies are among the most distant post-starburst systems known. The blueshifted wings of the quasar [O iii] emission lines indicate quasar-driven outflow, which possibly influences star formation. Direct stellar velocity dispersion measurements reveal that one galaxy follows the local black hole mass versus σ* relation whereas the other is overmassive. The existence of massive post-starburst galaxies hosting billion-solar-mass black holes in short-lived quasar phases indicates that supermassive black holes and host galaxies played a principal role in each other’s rapid early formation.}, author = {Onoue, Masafusa and Ding, Xuheng and Silverman, John D. and Matsuoka, Yoshiki and Izumi, Takuma and Strauss, Michael A. and Ward, Charlotte and Phillips, Camryn L. and Ito, Kei and Andika, Irham T. and Aoki, Kentaro and Arita, Junya and Baba, Shunsuke and Bieri, Rebekka and Bosman, Sarah E.I. and Eilers, Anna Christina and Fujimoto, Seiji and Habouzit, Melanie and Haiman, Zoltán and Imanishi, Masatoshi and Inayoshi, Kohei and Iwasawa, Kazushi and Jahnke, Knud and Kashikawa, Nobunari and Kawaguchi, Toshihiro and Kohno, Kotaro and Lee, Chien Hsiu and Li, Junyao and Lupi, Alessandro and Lyu, Jianwei and Nagao, Tohru and Overzier, Roderik and Schindler, Jan Torge and Schramm, Malte and Scoggins, Matthew T. and Shimasaku, Kazuhiro and Toba, Yoshiki and Trakhtenbrot, Benny and Trebitsch, Maxime and Treu, Tommaso and Umehata, Hideki and Venemans, Bram and Vestergaard, Marianne and Volonteri, Marta and Walter, Fabian and Wang, Feige and Yang, Jinyi and Zhang, Haowen}, issn = {2397-3366}, journal = {Nature Astronomy}, pages = {1541--1552}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{A post-starburst pathway for the formation of massive galaxies and black holes at z > 6}}, doi = {10.1038/s41550-025-02628-1}, volume = {9}, year = {2025}, } @article{20217, abstract = {We present Virgil, a Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) extremely red object detected with the F1000W filter as part of the MIRI Deep Imaging Survey observations of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. Virgil is an Lyα emitter (LAE) at zspec = 6.6312 ± 0.0019 (from the Very Large Telescope/MUSE) with a rest-frame UV-to-optical spectral energy distribution (SED) typical of LAEs at similar redshifts. However, MIRI observations reveal an unexpected extremely red color at rest-frame near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths, F444W − F1000W = 2.33 ± 0.06. Such a steep rise in the NIR, completely missed without MIRI imaging, is poorly reproduced by models including only stellar populations and hints toward the presence of an active galactic nucleus, although alternative explanations such as extreme dust obscuration and strong nebular continuum and emission lines contribution due to young stellar ages cannot be completely ruled out. According to the shape of its overall SED, Virgil belongs to the recently discovered population of little red dots but displays an extended rest-frame UV-optical wavelength morphology following a 2DSérsic profile with an average index of n = 0.93+0.85_0.31 and re = 0.49+0.05_0.11 pkpc. Only at MIRI wavelengths, Virgil is unresolved due to the coarser point-spread function. This discovery demonstrates the crucial importance of deep MIRI surveys to reveal the true nature and properties of high-z galaxies that otherwise would be misinterpreted and raises the question of how common Virgil-like objects could be in the early Universe.}, author = {Iani, Edoardo and Rinaldi, Pierluigi and Caputi, Karina I. and Annunziatella, Marianna and Langeroodi, Danial and Melinder, Jens and Pérez-González, Pablo G. and Álvarez-Márquez, Javier and Boogaard, Leindert A. and Bosman, Sarah E.I. and Costantin, Luca and Moutard, Thibaud and Colina, Luis and Östlin, Göran and Greve, Thomas R. and Wright, Gillian and Alonso-Herrero, Almudena and Bik, Arjan and Gillman, Steven and Crespo Gómez, Alejandro and Hjorth, Jens and Kendrew, Sarah and Labiano, Alvaro and Pye, John P. and Tikkanen, Tuomo V. and Walter, Fabian and Güdel, Manuel and Henning, Thomas and Van Der Werf, Paul P.}, issn = {1538-4357}, journal = {The Astrophysical Journal}, number = {2}, publisher = {IOP Publishing}, title = {{MIDIS: MIRI uncovers Virgil, the first Little Red Dot with clear detection of its host galaxy at z ≃ 6.6}}, doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/ade5a6}, volume = {989}, year = {2025}, } @article{20218, abstract = {Humanity has long sought inspiration from nature to innovate materials and devices. As science advances, nature-inspired materials are becoming part of our lives. Animate materials, characterized by their activity, adaptability, and autonomy, emulate properties of living systems. While only biological materials fully embody these principles, artificial versions are advancing rapidly, promising transformative impacts in the circular economy, health and climate resilience within a generation. This roadmap presents authoritative perspectives on animate materials across different disciplines and scales, highlighting their interdisciplinary nature and potential applications in diverse fields including nanotechnology, robotics and the built environment. It underscores the need for concerted efforts to address shared challenges such as complexity management, scalability, evolvability, interdisciplinary collaboration, and ethical and environmental considerations. The framework defined by classifying materials based on their level of animacy can guide this emerging field to encourage cooperation and responsible development. By unravelling the mysteries of living matter and leveraging its principles, we can design materials and systems that will transform our world in a more sustainable manner.}, author = {Volpe, Giorgio and Araújo, Nuno A.M. and Guix, Maria and Miodownik, Mark and Martin, Nicolas and Alvarez, Laura and Simmchen, Juliane and Leonardo, Roberto Di and Pellicciotta, Nicola and Martinet, Quentin and Palacci, Jérémie A and Ng, Wai Kit and Saxena, Dhruv and Sapienza, Riccardo and Nadine, Sara and Mano, João F. and Mahdavi, Reza and Beck Adiels, Caroline and Forth, Joe and Santangelo, Christian and Palagi, Stefano and Seok, Ji Min and Webster-Wood, Victoria A. and Wang, Shuhong and Yao, Lining and Aghakhani, Amirreza and Barois, Thomas and Kellay, Hamid and Coulais, Corentin and Van Hecke, Martin and Pierce, Christopher J. and Wang, Tianyu and Chong, Baxi and Goldman, Daniel I. and Reina, Andreagiovanni and Trianni, Vito and Volpe, Giovanni and Beckett, Richard and Nair, Sean P. and Armstrong, Rachel}, issn = {1361-648X}, journal = {Journal of Physics Condensed Matter}, number = {33}, publisher = {IOP Publishing}, title = {{Roadmap for animate matter}}, doi = {10.1088/1361-648X/adebd3}, volume = {37}, year = {2025}, } @article{20219, abstract = {Reproduction is a fundamental biological process, with organisms reproducing sexually, asexually, and, in some cases, utilizing both modes of reproduction within the same population. Does the ability to reproduce through a combination of asexual and sexual modes offer an evolutionary advantage over relying on either mode alone? Here, we introduce an empirically driven theoretical model to examine the dynamics and interplay between sexual and asexual reproduction in stick insect populations. We analyse it using a novel phase transition approach and corroborate it using published experimental data. We find that the presence of males can either increase or decrease the overall population size. However, maintaining an optimal ratio of parthenogenetic to sexual reproduction is crucial for male resilience, effectively delaying male extinction. Conversely, extreme levels of parthenogenetic reproduction—whether too high or too low—can lead to male extinction, emphasizing the need for a balanced number of virgin females to ensure the persistence of males. Our model also explains male absence in Carausius morosus and persistence in Extatosoma tiaratum. Our findings provide valuable insights into the interplay of reproductive strategies and contribute to broader discussions on the transitions between sexual and asexual reproduction.}, author = {Ayalon, Oran and Rajendran, Harikrishnan}, issn = {1742-5662}, journal = {Journal of the Royal Society Interface}, number = {229}, publisher = {The Royal Society}, title = {{Interplay of asexual and sexual reproduction in bifunctional insects}}, doi = {10.1098/rsif.2025.0202}, volume = {22}, year = {2025}, } @article{20220, abstract = {Stress granules (SG) are biomolecular condensates that represent an adaptive response of cells to various stresses, including heat. However, the cell type–specific function and relevance of SG formation, especially during reproductive development, are largely not understood. Here, we show that the meiotic A-type cyclin TARDY ASYNCHRONOUS MEIOSIS (TAM) is recruited to SGs in male meiocytes of Arabidopsis after exposure to heat. We find that the amino terminus of TAM is necessary and sufficient for the localization of proteins to meiotic SGs. Swapping the amino terminus of TAM with the one of its sister protein CYCA1;1 resulted in a separation-of-function allele of TAM, which prevents the partitioning of TAM to SGs while restoring a wild-type phenotype in a tam mutant background under nonheat stress conditions. Notably, plants expressing this TAM version prematurely terminate meiosis under heat resulting in unreduced gametes. Thus, the formation of TAM-containing SGs is necessary for genome stability under heat stress.}, author = {De Jaeger-Braet, Joke G and Hartmann, Merle and Böttger, Lev and Yang, Chao and Hamada, Takahiro and Hoth, Stefan and Feng, Xiaoqi and Weingartner, Magdalena and Schnittger, Arp}, issn = {2375-2548}, journal = {Science Advances}, number = {32}, pages = {eadr5694}, publisher = {AAAS}, title = {{The recruitment of the A-type cyclin TAM to stress granules is crucial for meiotic fidelity under heat}}, doi = {10.1126/sciadv.adr5694}, volume = {11}, year = {2025}, } @article{20221, abstract = {We describe the design, synthesis, and single-molecule junction conductance of π-electron molecules bearing both radial and linear π-conjugation pathways, whereby cycloparaphenylene (CPP) radial cores are π-extended linearly with aryl alkyne substituents as models for previously reported CPP-arylene ethynylene conjugated polymers. Although radially and linearly conjugated molecules have been studied previously in isolation as junction-bridging molecular electronic units, this is the first study to examine molecules where both topologies are operative. Our results reveal that the presence of radial CPP components within the junction-spanning pathway leads to a reduction in the conductance of the backbone compared to model linear phenyl substituents. Through tight-binding and DFT-based calculations, we attribute this conductance change to intramolecular van der Waals (vdW) interactions between the CPP ring and the junction-spanning arylene-ethynylene molecular backbone. These interactions induce changes in the dihedral angles of the backbone, leading to a reduced overlap of π orbitals within the molecular junction.}, author = {Shi, Wanzhuo and Wang, Mengjiao and Venkataraman, Latha and Tovar, John D.}, issn = {1530-6992}, journal = {Nano Letters}, number = {31}, pages = {12101--12106}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, title = {{Single-molecule conductance through hybrid radially and linearly π-conjugated macromolecules reveals an unusual intramolecular π-interaction}}, doi = {10.1021/acs.nanolett.5c03693}, volume = {25}, year = {2025}, } @article{20222, abstract = {Let X be a smooth projective hypersurface defined over Q. We provide new bounds for rational points of bounded height on X. In particular, we show that if X is a smooth projective hypersurface in Pn with n 4 and degree d 50, then the set of rational points on X of height bounded by B have cardinality On,d,ε (Bn−2+ε ). If X is smooth and has degree d 6, we improve the dimension growth conjecture bound. We achieve an analogue result for affine hypersurfaces whose projective closure is smooth.}, author = {Verzobio, Matteo}, issn = {1687-0247}, journal = {International Mathematics Research Notices}, number = {16}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, title = {{Counting rational points on smooth hypersurfaces with high degree}}, doi = {10.1093/imrn/rnaf249}, volume = {2025}, year = {2025}, }