@inproceedings{21722,
  abstract     = {Partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs) are a central model for uncertainty in sequential decision making. The most basic objective is the reachability objective, where a target set must be eventually visited, and the more general parity objectives can model all omega-regular specifications. For such objectives, the computational analysis problems are the following: (a) qualitative analysis that asks whether the objective can be satisfied with probability 1 (almost-sure winning) or probability arbitrarily close to 1 (limit-sure winning); and (b) quantitative analysis that asks for the approximation of the optimal probability of satisfying the objective. For general POMDPs, almost-sure analysis for reachability objectives is EXPTIME-complete, but limit-sure and quantitative analyses for reachability objectives are undecidable; almost-sure, limit-sure, and quantitative analyses for parity objectives are all undecidable. A special class of POMDPs, called revealing POMDPs, has been studied recently in several works, and for this subclass the almost-sure analysis for parity objectives was shown to be EXPTIME-complete. In this work, we show that for revealing POMDPs the limit-sure analysis for parity objectives is EXPTIME-complete, and even the quantitative analysis for parity objectives can be achieved in EXPTIME.},
  author       = {Asadi, Ali and Chatterjee, Krishnendu and Lurie, David and Saona Urmeneta, Raimundo J},
  booktitle    = {Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence},
  issn         = {2374-3468},
  location     = {Singapore, Singapore},
  number       = {43},
  pages        = {36146--36154},
  publisher    = {Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence},
  title        = {{Revealing POMDPs: Qualitative and quantitative analysis for parity objectives}},
  doi          = {10.1609/aaai.v40i43.40932},
  volume       = {40},
  year         = {2026},
}

@article{21746,
  abstract     = {As vertebrates transitioned from water to land, locomotion shifted from undulatory swimming to limb-based movement. How spinal circuits and their cell types evolved to support this transition remains unclear. We leverage frog metamorphosis, which recapitulates this transition within a single organism, to define how spinal circuits generate aquatic versus terrestrial motor patterns. At swim stages, spinal architecture is uniform, with a transcriptionally and anatomically homogeneous motor and interneurons. As limbs develop and their movement complexifies, spinal circuits expand in neuron number and subtype diversity. This expansion is most pronounced for V1 inhibitory neurons, which increase ∼70-fold and diversify into transcriptionally distinct subtypes. Disrupting transcription factors defining emerging motor and V1 populations reveals molecular segregation between swim and limb circuits, highlighting the role of subtype diversity in motor coordination. A multifold increase in inhibitory neuron diversity thus underlies the tail-to-limb locomotor transition, providing a framework for spinal circuit adaptation during vertebrate evolution.},
  author       = {Vijatovic, David and Toma, Florina Alexandra  and Ignatyev, Y and Harrington, Zoe P and Sommer, Christoph M and Hauschild, Robert and Smits, Matthijs Geert and Dalla Vecchia, Marco and Trevisan, Alexandra J. and Chapman, Phillip and Julseth, Mara and Brenner-Morton, Susan and Gabitto, Mariano I. and Dasen, Jeremy S. and Bikoff, Jay B. and Sweeney, Lora Beatrice Jaeger},
  issn         = {2211-1247},
  journal      = {Cell Reports},
  number       = {4},
  publisher    = {Elsevier},
  title        = {{Multifold increase in spinal inhibitory cell types with emergence of limb movement}},
  doi          = {10.1016/j.celrep.2026.117227},
  volume       = {45},
  year         = {2026},
}

@inproceedings{22146,
  abstract     = {We study differentially private model training with stochastic gradient descent under learning rate scheduling and correlated noise. Although correlated noise, in particular via matrix factorizations, has been shown to improve accuracy, prior theoretical work focused primarily on the prefix-sum workload. That workload assumes a constant learning rate, whereas in practice learning rate schedules are widely used to accelerate training and improve convergence. We close this gap by deriving general upper and lower bounds for a broad class of learning rate schedules in both single- and multi-epoch settings. Building on these results, we propose a learning-rate-aware factorization that achieves improvements over prefix-sum factorizations under both MaxSE and MeanSE error metrics. Our theoretical analysis yields memory-efficient constructions suitable for practical deployment, and experiments on CIFAR-10 and IMDB datasets confirm that schedule-aware factorizations improve accuracy in private training.},
  author       = {Kalinin, Nikita and Andersson, Joel D},
  booktitle    = {7th Symposium on Foundations of Responsible Computing},
  isbn         = {9783959774192},
  issn         = {1868-8969},
  keywords     = {differential privacy, machine learning, matrix factorization},
  location     = {Cambridge, MA; United States},
  publisher    = {Schloss Dagstuhl - Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik},
  title        = {{Learning rate scheduling with matrix factorization for private training}},
  doi          = {10.4230/LIPIcs.FORC.2026.2},
  volume       = {368},
  year         = {2026},
}

@article{22102,
  abstract     = {Differential privacy (DP) has established itself as one of the standards for ensuring privacy of individual data. However, reasoning about DP is a challenging and error-prone task, hence methods for formal verification and refutation of DP properties have received significant interest in recent years. In this work, we present a novel method for automated formal refutation of є-DP. Our method refutes є-DP by searching for a pair of inputs together with a non-negative function over outputs whose expected value on these two inputs differs by a significant amount. The two inputs and the non-negative function over outputs are computed simultaneously, by utilizing upper expectation supermartingales and lower expectation submartingales from probabilistic program analysis, which we leverage to introduce a sound and complete proof rule for є-DP refutation. To the best of our knowledge, our method is the first method for є-DP refutation to offer the following four desirable features: (1) it is fully automated, (2) it is applicable to stochastic mechanisms with sampling instructions from both discrete and continuous distributions, (3) it provides soundness guarantees, and (4) it provides semi-completeness guarantees. Our experiments show that our prototype tool SuperDP achieves superior performance compared to the state of the art and manages to refute є-DP for a number of challenging examples collected from the literature, including ones that were out of the reach of prior methods.},
  author       = {Chatterjee, Krishnendu and Kafshdar Goharshadi, Ehsan and Zikelic, Dorde},
  issn         = {2475-1421},
  journal      = {Proceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages},
  keywords     = {Static Program Analysis, Differential Privacy, Probabilistic Programming, Martingales},
  number       = {PLDI},
  publisher    = {ACM},
  title        = {{SuperDP: Differential privacy refutation via supermartingales}},
  doi          = {10.1145/3808296},
  volume       = {10},
  year         = {2026},
}

@article{22101,
  abstract     = {Evolutionary biology examines how the genetic and phenotypic composition
of populations changes over time. An important goal is to determine the
fixation probability of a single advantageous mutant that arises in a homogeneous
population of N residents. Many real populations experience environmental
gradients that cause mutations to be beneficial in some spatial
regions but harmful in others. Here, we study the fixation probability of a
mutant placed on a simple one-dimensional spatial structure that experiences
such a gradient. The mutant’s fitness varies linearly from1 − s to 1 + s, whereas
the resident fitness is constant and equal to 1. The existing literature suggests
that such heterogeneity in the mutant’s fitness should lead to a decrease in its
fixation probability. However, in this work, we find that small, non-negligible
gradients (s < 1=√N) substantially increase the fixation probability,while larger
gradients (s > (log N)/√N) substantially decrease it.Moreover, we quantify the
strength of this phenomenon analytically and we precisely delimit the range of
the gradients for which it occurs. Our computer simulations closely match
those findings. Altogether, our results indicate that subjecting a simple
population structure to natural environmental conditions can produce strong
counterintuitive effects.},
  author       = {Svoboda, Jakub and Nemati, Hossein and Tkadlec, Josef and Kaveh, Kamran and Chatterjee, Krishnendu},
  issn         = {2041-1723},
  journal      = {Nature Communications},
  publisher    = {Springer Nature},
  title        = {{The effect of the fitness gradient on fixation probability}},
  doi          = {10.1038/s41467-026-71777-2},
  volume       = {17},
  year         = {2026},
}

@article{21948,
  abstract     = {The cerebral cortex comprises diverse neuron and glial cell types generated by radial glial progenitors (RGPs) during development. Although RGPs broadly differentiate according to temporally and spatially regulated molecular logics, the lineage hierarchies linking individual progenitors to defined cell (sub)types are not well understood. Clone-resolved transcriptomics, combining molecular barcoding and single-cell RNA sequencing, allow high-resolution lineage tracing at the single-clone/cell level across different species and models. In this mini-review, we synthesize recent advances in this field, uncovering unexpected lineage relationships in the developing brain, with a particular focus on the cerebral cortex. We further highlight new insights into species-specific differences in the developmental programs generating cell-type diversity, linking changes in clonal architecture to lineage diversification during cortical evolution.},
  author       = {Varela Martínez, Irene and Pipicelli, Fabrizia and Hippenmeyer, Simon},
  issn         = {1879-0380},
  journal      = {Current Opinion in Genetics & Development},
  publisher    = {Elsevier},
  title        = {{Tracing cell lineages in the developing brain: Insights from mosaic analysis and clone-resolved transcriptomics}},
  doi          = {10.1016/j.gde.2026.102487},
  volume       = {99},
  year         = {2026},
}

@phdthesis{22667,
  author       = {Vijatovic, David},
  isbn         = {978-3-99078-082-4},
  issn         = {2663-337X},
  pages        = {172},
  publisher    = {Institute of Science and Technology Austria},
  title        = {{Dissecting the molecular and functional basis of motor control in the frog Xenopus laevis}},
  doi          = {10.15479/AT-ISTA-22667},
  year         = {2026},
}

@article{21996,
  abstract     = {In this issue of Cell Host & Microbe, Osterman et al. discover aRES,1 a new family of bacterial immune proteins that deplete cellular NAD+, generating cleavage products that cannot be utilized by canonical phage NAD+ regeneration pathways. They identify the invader-specific trigger for aRES and characterize two distinct evolutionary countermeasures employed by phages to resist aRES.},
  author       = {Williams-Jones, Daniel and Bravo, Jack Peter Kelly},
  issn         = {1934-6069},
  journal      = {Cell Host & Microbe},
  number       = {6},
  pages        = {978--980},
  publisher    = {Elsevier},
  title        = {{NAD to the bone: How bacteria put phages under aRES-t … and how phages fight back}},
  doi          = {10.1016/j.chom.2026.05.013},
  volume       = {34},
  year         = {2026},
}

@misc{22134,
  abstract     = {This artifact provides the source code, benchmarks, and scripts necessary to build and reproduce the experimental results for `SuperDP` (Accepted at PLDI 2026). It also includes instructions for running the tool on user-provided inputs.},
  author       = {Chatterjee, Krishnendu and Kafshdar Goharshadi, Ehsan and Zikelic, Dorde},
  publisher    = {Zenodo},
  title        = {{SuperDP: Differential Privacy Refutation via Supermartingales}},
  doi          = {10.5281/ZENODO.18930113},
  year         = {2026},
}

@article{22637,
  abstract     = {The distribution of entanglement across distant qubits is a central challenge for the operation of scalable quantum computers and large-scale quantum networks. Existing approaches rely on deterministic state transfer, or probabilistic protocols that require active control or measurements and postselection. Here, we demonstrate a fundamentally different, fully autonomous process, where two remote qubits are entangled through their coupling to a quantum-correlated photonic reservoir. In our experiment, a Josephson parametric converter produces a Gaussian, continuous-variable entangled state of propagating microwave fields that drives two spatially separated superconducting transmon qubits into a stationary, discrete-variable entangled state. We also show how qubit tomography unlocks a direct and sensitive verification of two-mode squeezing in the microwave domain. These results establish networks of qubits interfaced with distributed continuous-variable entangled states as a powerful platform for foundational studies and quantum-technology applications.},
  author       = {Andres Juanes, Alejandro and Agustí, J. and Sett, Riya and Redchenko, Elena and Kapoor, Lucky and Hawaldar, Samarth and Rabl, P. and Fink, Johannes M},
  issn         = {2160-3308},
  journal      = {Physical Review X},
  number       = {3},
  publisher    = {American Physical Society},
  title        = {{Distributing stationary qubit entanglement through a nonlocal squeezed reservoir}},
  doi          = {10.1103/r4jt-j39w},
  volume       = {16},
  year         = {2026},
}

@article{22711,
  abstract     = {When charge flows through a molecular circuit, it induces a magnetic field that allows the circuit to behave as a nanoscale electromagnet. However, in single-molecule circuits this magnetic field is usually weak. Here we show that radially π-conjugated carbon structures can support amplified circulating currents that generate local magnetic fields. Within tight-binding and density functional theory (DFT) frameworks, we first study cycloparaphenylene (CPP) junctions where both electrodes are attached to the same phenylene unit on the nanohoop. We observe an energy-dependent ring current component that traverses the whole macrocycle by mapping the local current density. Importantly, we find that destructive interference near degenerate resonances can reverse the ring current direction and amplify it strongly relative to the source–drain current. We show that this interference-driven design principle is general, and also carries over to C60 junctions. In fullerene, lower-lying degenerate resonances are more easily accessible through electrostatic gating, reaching a magnetic field of 14.2 mT under a 100 mV source–drain bias. This work thus provides new insights into ring currents in radially π-conjugated carbon structures and highlights their potential as design platforms for single-molecule electromagnets.},
  author       = {Shi, Wanzhuo and Korytár, Richard and Evers, Ferdinand and Tovar, John D. and Venkataraman, Latha},
  issn         = {2041-1723},
  journal      = {Nature Communications},
  publisher    = {Springer Nature},
  title        = {{Designing effective single-molecule electromagnets with radially π-conjugated carbon structures}},
  doi          = {10.1038/s41467-026-74365-6},
  volume       = {17},
  year         = {2026},
}

@phdthesis{22735,
  author       = {Lin, Peipeng},
  isbn         = {978-3-99078-088-6},
  issn         = {2663-337X},
  pages        = {88},
  publisher    = {Institute of Science and Technology Austria},
  title        = {{Calibrating the teacher synapse: Mechanisms and functional significance of presynaptic inhibition at hippocampal mossy fiber synapses}},
  doi          = {10.15479/AT-ISTA-22735},
  year         = {2026},
}

@inproceedings{22916,
  abstract     = {In the imprecise geometry model, the input is a family of regions F = (R₁, R₂, …,R_n), each containing a point p_i ∈ R_i. The task is then to compute some function of the points p₁,p₂,… p_n, in our case an implicit representation of their Pareto front. To this end, one may query a region R_i to retrieve its contained point p_i ∈ R_i. In this model, efficiency is interpreted in two ways: minimizing (i) the number of retrievals, and (ii) the computation time both for preprocessing, and the execution of the query stage, i.e. for computing which points to query and constructing the output. 
We present an algorithm to construct (an implicit representation of) the Pareto front for possibly overlapping rectangles, that is instance-optimal with respect to the number of retrievals. This means that for every fixed input (F, P), there is no algorithm that retrieves asymptotically fewer regions to compute the output. This is a strong algorithmic quality, as it means that our algorithm is competitive even to clairvoyant algorithms which only have to verify the correctness of a correct guess. In terms of algorithmic running time, instance-optimality is provably unobtainable. We instead present an algorithm which is within a log n-factor of instance optimality. This generalizes earlier results which assumed the regions to not overlap, at only a minor cost in running time. 
For unit squares, we present an algorithm that is not only instance optimal in the number of retrievals, but also universally optimal in terms of running time. This means that for any fixed set of regions F, no algorithm has a better worst-case running time for all possible point sets P. Thus, this work presents the first universally optimal algorithm for overlapping planar input. Compared to previous work, our result improves the degree to which the input regions may overlap, the preprocessing time, the number of retrievals, and the running time.},
  author       = {De Berg, Sarita and Bække, Nynne Maria Foldager and Eriksen, Frida Astrup and Van Der Hoog, Ivor and Rotenberg, Eva and Rutschmann, Daniel P},
  booktitle    = {34th Annual European Symposium on Algorithms},
  isbn         = {9783959774451},
  issn         = {1868-8969},
  keywords     = {Pareto front, imprecise geometry, instance optimality, universal optimality, preprocessing model, partial information},
  location     = {L’Aquila, Italy},
  publisher    = {Schloss Dagstuhl - Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik},
  title        = {{Instance optimal and universally optimal bounds for imprecise pareto fronts}},
  doi          = {10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2026.106},
  volume       = {388},
  year         = {2026},
}

@article{22816,
  abstract     = {The Galactic Be star binary MWC 656 was long considered the only known Be star+black hole (BH) system, making it a critical
benchmark for models of massive binary evolution and for the expected X-ray emission of Be+BH binaries. However, recent dynamical measurements cast doubt on the presence of a BH companion. We present new multi-epoch ultraviolet spectroscopy from the
Hubble Space Telescope, combined with high-resolution optical spectra, to reassess the nature of the companion. The far-ultraviolet
spectra reveal high-ionisation features – including prominent N v and He ii lines – which are absent in the spectra of normal Be stars
and are indicative of a hot, luminous companion. Spectral modelling shows that these features cannot originate from the Be star or
from an accretion disc around a compact object. Instead, we find that the data are best explained by a hot (Teff ≈ 85 kK), compact,
hydrogen-deficient star with strong wind signatures, consistent with an intermediate-mass stripped star. Our revised orbital solution
and composite spectroscopic modelling yield a companion mass of M2 = 1.48+0.55
−0.46 M, definitively ruling out a BH and disfavouring a
white dwarf. MWC 656 thus joins the growing class of Be + stripped star binaries. The system’s unusual properties – including a high
companion temperature and wind strength – extend the known parameter space of such binaries. The continued absence of confirmed
OBe+BH binaries in the Galaxy highlights a growing tension with population synthesis models.},
  author       = {Müller-Horn, Johanna and Ramachandran, Varsha and El-Badry, Kareem and Sander, Andreas A.C. and Bodensteiner, Julia K and Gies, Douglas R. and Götberg, Ylva Louise Linsdotter and Rivinius, Thomas and Shenar, Tomer and Schösser, Elisa C. and Wang, Luqian and Bieryla, Allyson and Buchhave, Lars A. and Latham, David W.},
  issn         = {1432-0746},
  journal      = {Astronomy & Astrophysics},
  publisher    = {EDP Sciences},
  title        = {{Ultraviolet spectroscopy reveals a hot and luminous companion to the Be star+black hole candidate MWC 656}},
  doi          = {10.1051/0004-6361/202557960},
  volume       = {708},
  year         = {2026},
}

@article{21450,
  abstract     = {Stellar wind mass loss of massive stars is often assumed to depend on their metallicity Z. Therefore, evolutionary models predict that massive stars in lower-Z environments are able to retain more of their hydrogen-rich layers and evolve into brighter cool supergiants (cool SGs; Teff < 7 kK). Surprisingly, in galaxies in the metallicity range 0.2 ≲ Z/Z⊙ ≲ 1.5, previous studies have not found a metallicity dependence on the upper luminosity limit Lmax of cool SGs. Here, we add four galaxies to the sample studied for this purpose with data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Observations of the extremely metal-poor dwarf galaxy I Zw 18 from JWST allow us to extend the studied metallicity range down to Z/Z⊙ ≈ 1/40. For cool SGs in all studied galaxies, including I Zw 18, we find a constant value of Lmax ≈ 105.6 L⊙, similar to literature results for 0.2 ≲ Z/Z⊙ ≲ 1.5. In I Zw 18 and the other studied galaxies, the presence of Wolf-Rayet stars has been previously inferred. Although we cannot rule out that some of them become intermediate-temperature objects, this paints a picture in which evolved stars with L > 105.6 L⊙ burn helium as hot, helium-rich stars down to extremely low metallicity. We argue that metallicity-independent late-phase mass loss would be the most likely mechanism responsible for this. Regardless of the exact stripping mechanism (winds or, for example, binary interaction), for the Early Universe our results imply a limitation on black hole masses and a contribution of stars born with M ≳ 30 M⊙ to its surprisingly strong nitrogen enrichment. We propose a scenario in which single stars at low metallicity emit sufficiently hard ionizing radiation to produce He II and C IV lines. In this scenario, late-phase metallicity-independent mass loss produces hot, helium-rich stars. Due to the well-understood metallicity dependence on the radiation-driven winds of hot stars, a window of opportunity would open below 0.2 Z⊙, where self-stripped helium-rich stars can exist without dense Wolf-Rayet winds that absorb hard ionizing radiation.},
  author       = {Schootemeijer, Abel and Götberg, Ylva Louise Linsdotter and Langer, Norbert and Bortolini, Giacomo and Hirschauer, Alec S. and Patrick, Lee},
  issn         = {1432-0746},
  journal      = {Astronomy & Astrophysics},
  publisher    = {EDP Sciences},
  title        = {{A constant upper luminosity limit of cool supergiant stars down to the extremely low metallicity of I Zw 18}},
  doi          = {10.1051/0004-6361/202557675},
  volume       = {707},
  year         = {2026},
}

@article{21997,
  abstract     = {The massive binary common envelope (CE) phase plays a pivotal role in the formation of close black hole (BH)/neutron star binaries, yet significant uncertainties remain in our understanding of this process. In this study, we aim to constrain the massive binary CE phase by systematically reconstructing three observed BH X-ray binaries (BHXBs): GRO J1655-40, SAX J1819.3-2525, and 4U 1543-47. Through comprehensive binary evolution simulations and parametric supernova modeling, we establish lower limits for the CE efficiency parameters under different energy considerations within the standard energy formalism. Specifically, we derive minimum values for three cases: α0.5U and αU, representing CE efficiencies with half and all of the internal energy contributing to the envelope ejection, respectively, and αH, accounting for the envelope’s enthalpy. Our analysis reveals that the self-consistent formation of these three BHXBs requires CE efficiency parameters satisfying α0.5U ≳ 6.7, αU ≳ 4.2, and αH ≳ 1.7. Notably, we find no viable solutions with CE efficiency values below unity, even when considering the most extreme scenarios, in which the envelope binding energy is significantly reduced through enthalpy inclusion. Our results strongly imply that either additional energy sources are required or the formalism itself must be revised. Furthermore, we quantitatively assess the impact of BH natal kicks on our results. A key finding is that 4U 1543-47’s formation requires substantial natal kicks (≳50 km s−1), as lower kick velocities are incompatible with isolated binary evolution.},
  author       = {Li, Zhenwei and Wei, Dandan and Jia, Shi and Chen, Hailiang and Ge, Hongwei and Chen, Zhuo and Zhang, Yangyang and Chen, Xuefei and Han, Zhanwen},
  issn         = {1538-4357},
  journal      = {The Astrophysical Journal},
  number       = {1},
  publisher    = {IOP Publishing},
  title        = {{A path to constraints on common envelope ejection in massive binaries: Full evolutionary reconstruction of three Black Hole X-ray binaries}},
  doi          = {10.3847/1538-4357/ae66fd},
  volume       = {1004},
  year         = {2026},
}

@article{22910,
  abstract     = {The small nuclear RNA U4atac is a core component of the minor spliceosome. In humans, homozygous or compound heterozygous point mutations in U4atac cause rare developmental disorders, such as Roifman syndrome, characterized by growth restriction, brain anomalies, and immune deficiency. To better define the pathophysiological role of U4atac mutations, we here establish a model of minor spliceosome dysfunction by generating a Drosophila melanogaster CRISPR/Cas9-induced U4atac mutant in the highly conserved stem II region. U4atac homozygous mutants exhibit growth and neurodevelopmental defects, immunodeficiency, and gastrointestinal symptoms. Using bulk RNA-sequencing and functional assays, we reveal that mutations in U4atac affect the splicing of a large set of transcripts involved in innate immunity, hematopoiesis, and intestinal cell functions, including the Drosophila Janus kinase (JAK) homolog hopscotch (hop). Importantly, U4atac deficiency reduces Hop expression and causes Hop-related hematopoietic defects at the embryonic and larval stages. Notably, we also observe reduced expression of Jak1 and attenuated activation of downstream signaling in patients with Roifman syndrome. Thus, our work identifies alterations of Jak signaling as part of the pathogenesis of RNU4atac-opathy.},
  author       = {Shikara, Dania and Bishop, Eden and Barton, Nathan and Makdissi, Stephanie and Kailasam, Senthilkumar and György, Attila and Siekhaus, Daria E and Borroto, Maria Carla and Campeau, Philippe M. and Vong, Linda and Roifman, Chaim M. and Parsons, Brendon D. and Di Cara, Francesca},
  issn         = {2041-1723},
  journal      = {Nature Communications},
  publisher    = {Springer Nature},
  title        = {{The minor spliceosome component U4atac regulates JAK/STAT signaling to modulate hematopoiesis and immune responses in Drosophila melanogaster}},
  doi          = {10.1038/s41467-026-75539-y},
  volume       = {17},
  year         = {2026},
}

@phdthesis{22775,
  author       = {Jamrichova, Silvia},
  isbn         = {978-3-99078-085-5},
  issn         = {2663-337X},
  pages        = {153},
  publisher    = {Institute of Science and Technology Austria},
  title        = {{Timing and strength of synaptic transmission at hippocampal mossy fiber synapses in mice and humans}},
  doi          = {10.15479/AT-ISTA-22775},
  year         = {2026},
}

@inproceedings{22915,
  abstract     = {The element distinctness problem takes as input a list I of n values from a totally ordered universe, where pairwise comparisons between values are allowed, and the goal is to decide whether I contains any duplicates. It is a well-studied problem with a classical worst-case Ω(n log n) comparison-based lower bound by Fredman [TCS'76]. At first glance, this lower bound appears to rule out any algorithm more efficient than the naive approach of sorting I and comparing adjacent elements. However, upon closer inspection, the Ω(n log n) bound is overly pessimistic. For instance, if I contains n/2 identical elements, a median-finding algorithm will, regardless of the input order, find a duplicate in linear time. This raises a natural question: Are there comparison-based lower bounds for element distinctness that are sensitive to the amount of duplicates in the input instance?
To address this question, we derive instance-specific lower bounds. For any input instance I, we represent the combinatorial structure of the duplicates in I by an undirected graph G(I) that connects identical elements. Each such graph G is a union of cliques, and we study algorithms by their worst-case running time over all inputs I' with G(I') ≅ G. We establish an adversarial lower bound showing that, for any deterministic algorithm 𝒜, there exists a graph G and an algorithm 𝒜' that, for all inputs I with G(I) ≅ G, is a factor O(log log n) faster than 𝒜. Consequently, no deterministic algorithm can be o(log log n)-competitive for all graphs G. We complement this with an O(log log n)-competitive deterministic algorithm, thereby obtaining tight bounds for element distinctness that go beyond classical worst-case analysis. Subsequently, we study the related problem of set intersection. We show that no deterministic set intersection algorithm can be o(log n)-competitive, and provide an O(log n)-competitive deterministic algorithm. We find it interesting and surprising to discover tight O(log log n)-competitive bounds for element distinctness. Moreover, we find the separation between element distinctness and the set intersection problem unexpected.},
  author       = {Van Der Hoog, Ivor and Rotenberg, Eva and Rutschmann, Daniel P},
  booktitle    = {34th Annual European Symposium on Algorithms},
  isbn         = {9783959774451},
  issn         = {1868-8969},
  keywords     = {Comparison-based analysis, set intersection, universal optimality},
  location     = {L’Aquila, Italy},
  publisher    = {Schloss Dagstuhl - Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik},
  title        = {{Tight Better-Than-Worst-Case bounds for element distinctness and set intersection}},
  doi          = {10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2026.101},
  volume       = {388},
  year         = {2026},
}

@article{22913,
  abstract     = {The medial habenula (MHb) is implicated in regulating emotional responses to aversive events. Studies in zebrafish have identified a remarkable morphological left–right asymmetry in the dorsal habenula (zebrafish equivalent of mammalian MHb)-interpeduncular nucleus (IPN) pathway and its asymmetrical roles in behavior. However, there is little evidence for structural or functional lateralization in the mammalian MHb-IPN pathway. Here, we investigated the synaptic properties of left- and right-MHb afferents to the IPN and their roles in the expression of conditioned fear in mice. We found that each IPN neuron receives inputs from both left and right MHb, but the left MHb-originating synapses exhibit lower release probability and higher γ-aminobutyric acid type B receptor (GABABR)-mediated potentiation compared to the right MHb-originating synapses. Interestingly, these asymmetrical properties persist in the inversus visceral mutant mice with normal internal organ laterality (situs solitus), but nearly disappear in those with reversed internal organ laterality (situs inversus). Behaviorally, chemogenetic inhibition of cholinergic neurons and conditional deletion of GABABR in the left, but not the right, MHb significantly attenuated cue-dependent fear recall. Our results demonstrate functional asymmetry of the MHb under partial influence of the nodal flow in mice, revealing a predominant role of GABABR-mediated signaling in the left MHb-IPN pathway in modulating fear memories. These findings suggest that lateralized MHb pathways could represent a fundamental principle in the neural regulation of emotion across species but that they develop differently in zebrafish and mice.},
  author       = {Önal, Hüseyin C and Koppensteiner, Peter and Muhia, Mary W and Le Monnier, Elodie and Shigemoto, Ryuichi},
  issn         = {1091-6490},
  journal      = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
  keywords     = {medial habenula, GABAB receptor, asymmetry, fear conditioning, mouse},
  number       = {36},
  publisher    = {National Academy of Sciences},
  title        = {{Asymmetrical modulation of fear expression via GABAB receptors in the mouse medial habenula}},
  doi          = {10.1073/pnas.2536560123},
  volume       = {123},
  year         = {2026},
}