@article{18866, abstract = {Using JWST Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) images of the globular cluster 47,Tucanæ, (or NGC,104), taken at two epochs just 7 months apart, we derived proper-motion membership down to F322W2 ∼ 27. We identified an intriguing feature at the very low-mass end of the main sequence, around ∼ 0.08,M_⋅, at magnitudes F322W2 ∼ 24 and m_ F150W2 ∼ 25. This feature, dubbed 'kink', is characterized by a prominent discontinuity in the slope of the main sequence. A similar discontinuity is seen in theoretical isochrones with oxygen-poor chemistries, related to the rapid onset of absorption. We therefore hypothesize that the cluster hosts disproportionately more oxygen-poor stars near the bottom of the main sequence compared to the upper main sequence and the red giant branch. Our results show no strong or conclusive evidence of a rise in the brown dwarf luminosity function at faint magnitudes, in contrast to previous findings likely affected by faint red background galaxies. In our analysis, we accounted for this contamination by using proper motion membership.}, author = {Scalco, M. and Gerasimov, R. and Bedin, L. R. and Vesperini, E. and Correnti, M. and Nardiello, D. and Burgasser, A. and Richer, H. and Caiazzo, Ilaria and Heyl, J. and Libralato, M. and Anderson, J. and Griggio, M.}, issn = {1432-0746}, journal = {Astronomy & Astrophysics}, publisher = {EDP Sciences}, title = {{JWST photometry and astrometry of 47 Tucanae. Discontinuity in the stellar sequence at the star--brown dwarf transition}}, doi = {10.1051/0004-6361/202452907}, volume = {694}, year = {2025}, } @article{18878, abstract = {Thermoelectric (TE) materials, with the ability to convert heat into electrical energy, can generate micro-electrical fields at electronic interfaces with biological systems, making them applicable in electric-catalyzing as nanozymes, and modulate the infected microenvironment of skin wounds. Thereby, by harnessing temperature differences in vitro or in vivo, TE nanomaterials can provide antimicrobial reactive oxygen species (ROS) by catalyzing redox reactions, thereby accelerating wound healing by suppressing infection. However, despite their promising potential, there is still a lack of comprehensive understanding of the antimicrobial mechanisms, biocompatibility, and practical applications of TE nanomaterials in wound healing, as this is a newly-emerged sub-area of energy-related biomedical applications. This review aims to address this gap by highlighting the emerging progress of TE materials in wound healing, clarifying their mechanism and advances, emphasizing their potential challenges for commercialization and clinical use, and proposing novel design strategies of TE nanomaterials for effective antibacterial performance.}, author = {Jia, Shiyu and Qi, Cai and Xu, Shengduo and Yang, Lei and Sun, Qiang}, issn = {1005-0302}, journal = {Journal of Materials Science and Technology}, number = {08}, pages = {212--226}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Advancements of thermoelectric nanomaterials in ROS-mediated broad-spectrum antibacterial therapies for wound healing}}, doi = {10.1016/j.jmst.2024.11.039}, volume = {225}, year = {2025}, } @article{18879, abstract = {Our brain has remarkable computational power, generating sophisticated behaviors, storing memories over an individual’s lifetime, and producing higher cognitive functions. However, little of our neuroscience knowledge covers the human brain. Is this organ truly unique, or is it a scaled version of the extensively studied rodent brain? Combining multicellular patch-clamp recording with expansion-based superresolution microscopy and full-scale modeling, we determined the cellular and microcircuit properties of the human hippocampal CA3 region, a fundamental circuit for memory storage. In contrast to neocortical networks, human hippocampal CA3 displayed sparse connectivity, providing a circuit architecture that maximizes associational power. Human synapses showed unique reliability, high precision, and long integration times, exhibiting both species- and circuit-specific properties. Together with expanded neuronal numbers, these circuit characteristics greatly enhanced the memory storage capacity of CA3. Our results reveal distinct microcircuit properties of the human hippocampus and begin to unravel the inner workings of our most complex organ. }, author = {Watson, Jake and Vargas Barroso, Victor M and Morse, Rebecca and Navas Olivé, Andrea C and Tavakoli, Mojtaba and Danzl, Johann G and Tomschik, Matthias and Rössler, Karl and Jonas, Peter M}, issn = {1097-4172}, journal = {Cell}, number = {2}, pages = {501--514.e18}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Human hippocampal CA3 uses specific functional connectivity rules for efficient associative memory}}, doi = {10.1016/j.cell.2024.11.022}, volume = {188}, year = {2025}, } @article{18880, abstract = {In this paper, we provide a rate of convergence for a version of the Carathéodory convergence for the multiple SLE model with a Dyson Brownian motion driver towards its hydrodynamic limit, for β=1 and β=2. The results are obtained by combining techniques from the field of Schramm–Loewner Evolutions with modern techniques from random matrices. Our approach shows how one can apply modern tools used in the proof of universality in random matrix theory to the field of Schramm–Loewner Evolutions.}, author = {Campbell, Andrew J and Luh, Kyle and Margarint, Vlad}, issn = {2010-3271}, journal = {Random Matrices: Theory and Application}, number = {1}, publisher = {World Scientific Publishing}, title = {{Rate of convergence in multiple SLE using random matrix theory}}, doi = {10.1142/S201032632450028X}, volume = {14}, year = {2025}, } @article{18881, abstract = {The determination of the intrinsic properties of solid active material candidates is essential for their performance optimization. However, macroscopic electrodes and related analytical techniques show challenges concerning the number of additional influencing parameters. We explore recessed microelectrodes (rME) as a platform that allows for a binder-free investigation of Prussian Blue analogues (PBA), a family of promising battery materials. The enhanced diffusion using microelectrochemical tools is indispensable to assess the intrinsic material performance, overcoming the limitation of cation diffusion from the electrolyte to the solid interface during (dis)charging cycles and allowing the investigation of limiting steps in the coupled ion-electron transfer process. The intrinsic electrochemical performance of PBAs was studied in a three-electrode configuration by means of cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic (dis)charging in aqueous Na+-containing electrolyte. We extended the evaluation to the role of the electrolyte on the performance of cathodic and anodic processes of a Mn-based PBA. Ex-situ and operando chemical characterization were coupled to support the microelectrochemical results.}, author = {Jiyane, Nomnotho and Santana Santos, Carla and Echevarria Poza, Igor and Palacios Corella, Mario and Abdillah Mahbub, Muhammad Adib and Marin-Tajadura, Gimena and Quast, Thomas and Ibáñez, Maria and Ventosa, Edgar and Schuhmann, Wolfgang}, issn = {2566-6223}, journal = {Batteries & Supercaps}, number = {3}, publisher = {Wiley}, title = {{Recessed microelectrodes as a platform to investigate the intrinsic redox process of Prussian blue analogs for energy storage application}}, doi = {10.1002/batt.202400743}, volume = {8}, year = {2025}, } @article{18882, abstract = {Ternary liquid-like thermoelectric materials have garnered significant attention due to their ultra-low lattice thermal conductivity. Among these, Ag8SnSe6 stands out for its exceptionally low sound velocity and thermal conductivity. However, the inherent poor electrical conductivity and suboptimal thermoelectric properties of Ag8SnSe6 necessitate further improvement. Here, a novel approach is initiated to enhance the thermoelectric properties of Ag8SnSe6 by combining low-dimensionalization with intrinsic doping. For the first time, this work successfully synthesizes single-phase Ag8SnSe6 nanocrystals, ≈10 nm in size, with the correct phase and composition using a robust and reliable colloidal method. This approach represents a significant improvement over previous reports on this material. Reducing the crystal domains of Ag8SnSe6 to the nanoscale induces quantum confinement effects, increasing the density of states near the Fermi surface. It also introduces additional grain boundaries, which lower the lattice thermal conductivity and simplify structural design. Moreover, incorporating small amounts of Sn nanopowder into the Ag8SnSe6 nanocrystals before consolidation further enhances the thermoelectric performance. Sn acts as a donor dopant, increasing the electronic concentration while at the same time improving their mobility by reducing interface barriers, thus significantly improving the material transport properties. Additionally, the presence of Sn leads to the formation of point defects, dislocations, and secondary phases, which increase phonon scattering and further reduce the thermal conductivity. Through this synergistic optimization, the figure of merit shows a significant increase across a wide temperature range. Overall, a strategy is presented for the controlled preparation of Ag8SnSe6 nanocrystals, the decoupling of their electrical and thermal transport, and the practical application of this material to thermoelectric single-leg modules.}, author = {Zhao, Xueke and Li, Mengyao and Jia, Mochen and Fiedler, Christine and Nan, Bingfei and Yang, Dongwen and Li, Lei and Yuan, Zicheng and Song, Hongzhang and Liu, Yu and Ibáñez, Maria and Wang, Ziyu and Shan, Chongxin and Cabot, Andreu}, issn = {1616-3028}, journal = {Advanced Functional Materials}, number = {24}, publisher = {Wiley}, title = {{Low-dimensional structure modulation in Ag8SnSe6 for enhanced thermoelectric performance}}, doi = {10.1002/adfm.202421449}, volume = {35}, year = {2025}, } @misc{18886, abstract = {Research Data for publication 'Strong charge-photon coupling in planar germanium enabled by granular aluminium superinductors'}, author = {Janik, Marian}, publisher = {Institute of Science and Technology Austria}, title = {{Research data for publication 'Strong charge-photon coupling in planar germanium enabled by granular aluminium superinductors'}}, doi = {10.15479/AT:ISTA:18886}, year = {2025}, } @article{18892, abstract = {Sick individuals often conceal their disease status to group members, thereby preventing social exclusion or aggression. Here we show by behavioural, chemical, immunological and infection load analyses that sick ant pupae instead actively emit a chemical signal that in itself is sufficient to trigger their own destruction by colony members. In our experiments, this altruistic disease-signalling was performed only by worker but not queen pupae. The lack of signalling by queen pupae did not constitute cheating behaviour, but reflected their superior immune capabilities. Worker pupae suffered from extensive pathogen replication whereas queen pupae were able to restrain their infection. Our data suggest the evolution of a finely-tuned signalling system in which it is not the induction of an individual’s immune response, but rather its failure to overcome the infection, that triggers pupal signalling for sacrifice. This demonstrates a balanced interplay between individual and social immunity that efficiently achieves whole-colony health.}, author = {Dawson, Erika and Hönigsberger, Michaela and Kampleitner, Niklas and Grasse, Anna V and Lindorfer, Lukas and Robb, Jennifer and Beikzadeh Abbasi, Farnaz and Strahodinsky, Florian and Leitner, Hanna and Rajendran, Harikrishnan and Schmitt, Thomas and Cremer, Sylvia}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Altruistic disease signalling in ant colonies}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-025-66175-z}, volume = {16}, year = {2025}, } @article{18936, abstract = {A major obstacle to predictive understanding of evolution stems from the complexity of biological systems, which prevents detailed characterization of key evolutionary properties. Here, we highlight some of the major sources of complexity that arise when relating molecular mechanisms to their evolutionary consequences and ask whether accounting for every mechanistic detail is important to accurately predict evolutionary outcomes. To do this, we developed a mechanistic model of a bacterial promoter regulated by 2 proteins, allowing us to connect any promoter genotype to 6 phenotypes that capture the dynamics of gene expression following an environmental switch. Accounting for the mechanisms that govern how this system works enabled us to provide an in-depth picture of how regulated bacterial promoters might evolve. More importantly, we used the model to explore which factors that contribute to the complexity of this system are essential for understanding its evolution, and which can be simplified without information loss. We found that several key evolutionary properties—the distribution of phenotypic and fitness effects of mutations, the evolutionary trajectories during selection for regulation—can be accurately captured without accounting for all, or even most, parameters of the system. Our findings point to the need for a mechanistic approach to studying evolution, as it enables tackling biological complexity and in doing so improves the ability to predict evolutionary outcomes.}, author = {Grah, Rok and Guet, Calin C and Tkačik, Gašper and Lagator, Mato}, issn = {1943-2631}, journal = {Genetics}, number = {2}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, title = {{Linking molecular mechanisms to their evolutionary consequences: a primer}}, doi = {10.1093/genetics/iyae191}, volume = {229}, year = {2025}, } @article{18960, abstract = {The importance of physical forces in the morphogenesis, homeostatic function, and pathological dysfunction of multicellular tissues is being increasingly characterized, both theoretically and experimentally. Analogies between biological systems and inert materials such as foams, gels, and liquid crystals have provided striking insights into the core design principles underlying multicellular organization. However, these connections can seem surprising given that a key feature of multicellular systems is their ability to constantly consume energy, providing an active origin for the forces that they produce. Key emerging questions are, therefore, to understand whether and how this activity grants tissues novel properties that do not have counterparts in classical materials, as well as their consequences for biological function. Here, we review recent discoveries at the intersection of active matter and tissue biology, with an emphasis on how modeling and experiments can be combined to understand the dynamics of multicellular systems. These approaches suggest that a number of key biological tissue-scale phenomena, such as morphogenetic shape changes, collective migration, or fate decisions, share unifying design principles that can be described by physical models of tissue active matter.}, author = {Brückner, David and Hannezo, Edouard B}, issn = {1943-0264}, journal = {Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology}, number = {4}, publisher = {Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press}, title = {{Tissue active matter: Integrating mechanics and signaling into dynamical models}}, doi = {10.1101/cshperspect.a041653}, volume = {17}, year = {2025}, } @phdthesis{18979, abstract = {Topological Data Analysis (TDA) is a discipline utilizing the mathematical field of topology to study data, most prominently collections of point sets. This thesis summarizes three projects related to computations in TDA. The first one establishes a variant of TDA for chromatic point sets, where each point is given a color. For example, we are given positions of cells within a tumor microenvironment, and color the cancerous cells red, and the immune cells blue. The aim is then to give a quantitative description of how the two or more sets of points spatially interact. Building on image, kernel and cokernel variants of persistent homology, we suggest six-packs of persistent diagrams as such a descriptor. We describe a construction of a chromatic alpha complex, which enables efficient computation of several variants of the six-packs. We give topological descriptions of natural subcomplexes of the chromatic alpha complex, and show that the radii of the simplices form a discrete Morse function. Finally, we provide an implementation of the presented chromatic TDA pipeline. The second part aims to translate a powerful tool of sheaf theory to elementary terms using labeled matrices. The goal is to enable their use in computational settings. We show that derived categories of sheaves over finite posets have, up to isomorphism, unique objects---minimal injective resolutions---and give a concrete algorithm to compute them. We further describe simple algorithms to compute derived pushforwards and pullbacks for monotonic maps, and their proper variants for inclusions, and demonstrate their tractability by providing an implementation. Finally, we suggest a discrete definition of microsupport and show desirable properties inspired by discrete Morse theory. In the last part, we present a collection of observations about collapses. We give a characterization of collapsibility in terms of unitriangular submatrices of the boundary matrix, a cotree-tree decomposition, and the optimal solution to a variant of the Procrustes problem. We establish relation between dual collapses and relative Morse theory and pose several open questions. Finally, focusing on complexes embedded in the three-dimensional Euclidean space, we describe a relation between the collapsibility and the triviality of a polygonal knot.}, author = {Draganov, Ondrej}, issn = {2663-337X}, keywords = {topological data analysis, chromatic point set, alpha complex, persistent homology, six pack, sheaf, microlocal discrete Morse, injective resolution, collapse, knot, discrete Morse theory}, pages = {140}, publisher = {Institute of Science and Technology Austria}, title = {{Structures and computations in topological data analysis}}, doi = {10.15479/at:ista:18979}, year = {2025}, } @article{18984, abstract = {Although planets have been found orbiting binary systems, whether they can survive binary interactions is debated. While the tightest-orbit binaries should host the most dynamically stable and long-lived circumbinary planetary systems, they are also the systems that are expected to experience mass transfer, common envelope evolution, or stellar mergers. In this study, we explore the effect of stable non-conservative mass transfer on the dynamical evolution of circumbinary planets. We present a new script that seamlessly integrates binary evolution data from the 1D binary stellar evolution code MESA into the N-body simulation code REBOUND. This integration framework enables a comprehensive examination of the dynamical evolution of circumbinary planets orbiting mass-transferring binaries, while simultaneously accounting for the detailed stellar structure evolution. In addition, we introduce a recalibration method to mitigate numerical errors from updates of binary properties during the system's dynamical evolution. We construct a reference binary model in which a 2.21M⊙ star loses its hydrogen-rich envelope through non-conservative mass transfer to the 1.76M⊙ companion star, creating a 0.38M⊙ subdwarf. We find the tightest stable orbital separation for circumbinary planets to be ≃2.5 times the binary separation after mass transfer. Accounting for tides by using the interior stellar structure, we find that tidal effects become apparent after the rapid mass transfer phase and start to fade away during the latter stage of the slow mass transfer phase. Our research provides a new framework for exploring circumbinary planet dynamics in interacting binary systems.}, author = {Xing, Zepei and Torres Rodriguez, Santiago and Götberg, Ylva Louise Linsdotter and Trani, Alessandro A. and Korol, Valeriya and Cuadra, Jorge}, issn = {1365-2966}, journal = {Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society}, number = {1}, pages = {285--292}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, title = {{Combining REBOUND and MESA: Dynamical evolution of planets orbiting interacting binaries}}, doi = {10.1093/mnras/stae2820}, volume = {537}, year = {2025}, } @article{18985, abstract = {Persistent multiyear drought (MYD) events pose a growing threat to nature and humans in a changing climate. We identified and inventoried global MYDs by detecting spatiotemporally contiguous climatic anomalies, showing that MYDs have become drier, hotter, and led to increasingly diminished vegetation greenness. The global terrestrial land affected by MYDs has increased at a rate of 49,279 ± 14,771 square kilometers per year from 1980 to 2018. Temperate grasslands have exhibited the greatest declines in vegetation greenness during MYDs, whereas boreal and tropical forests have had comparably minor responses. With MYDs becoming more common, this global quantitative inventory of the occurrence, severity, trend, and impact of MYDs provides an important benchmark for facilitating more effective and collaborative preparedness toward mitigation of and adaptation to such extreme events.}, author = {Chen, Liangzhi and Brun, Philipp and Buri, Pascal and Fatichi, Simone and Gessler, Arthur and Mccarthy, Michael and Pellicciotti, Francesca and Stocker, Benjamin and Karger, Dirk Nikolaus}, issn = {1095-9203}, journal = {Science}, number = {6731}, pages = {278--284}, publisher = {AAAS}, title = {{Global increase in the occurrence and impact of multiyear droughts}}, doi = {10.1126/science.ado4245}, volume = {387}, year = {2025}, } @article{18986, abstract = {We consider a prototypical problem of Bayesian inference for a structured spiked model: a low-rank signal is corrupted by additive noise. While both information-theoretic and algorithmic limits are well understood when the noise is a Gaussian Wigner matrix, the more realistic case of structured noise still remains challenging. To capture the structure while maintaining mathematical tractability, a line of work has focused on rotationally invariant noise. However, existing studies either provide suboptimal algorithms or are limited to a special class of noise ensembles. In this paper, using tools from statistical physics (replica method) and random matrix theory (generalized spherical integrals) we establish the characterization of the information-theoretic limits for a noise matrix drawn from a general trace ensemble. Remarkably, our analysis unveils the asymptotic equivalence between the rotationally invariant model and a surrogate Gaussian one. Finally, we show how to saturate the predicted statistical limits using an efficient algorithm inspired by the theory of adaptive Thouless-Anderson-Palmer (TAP) equations.}, author = {Barbier, Jean and Camilli, Francesco and Xu, Yizhou and Mondelli, Marco}, issn = {2643-1564}, journal = {Physical Review Research}, publisher = {American Physical Society}, title = {{Information limits and Thouless-Anderson-Palmer equations for spiked matrix models with structured noise}}, doi = {10.1103/PhysRevResearch.7.013081}, volume = {7}, year = {2025}, } @article{18987, abstract = {Biallelic variants in NADH (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) + hydrogen (H))-ubiquinone oxidoreductase 1 alpha subcomplex 13 have been linked to mitochondrial complex I deficiency, nuclear type 28, based on three affected individuals from two families. With only two families reported, the clinical and molecular spectrum of NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase 1 alpha subcomplex 13–related diseases remains unclear. We report 10 additional affected individuals from nine independent families, identifying four missense variants (including recurrent c.170G > A) and three ultra-rare or novel predicted loss-of-function biallelic variants. Updated clinical–radiological data from previously reported families and a literature review compiling clinical features of all reported patients with isolated complex I deficiency caused by 43 genes encoding complex I subunits and assembly factors are also provided. Our cohort (mean age 7.8 ± 5.4 years; range 2.5–18) predominantly presented a moderate-to-severe neurodevelopmental syndrome with oculomotor abnormalities (84%), spasticity/hypertonia (83%), hypotonia (69%), cerebellar ataxia (66%), movement disorders (58%) and epilepsy (46%). Neuroimaging revealed bilateral symmetric T2 hyperintense substantia nigra lesions (91.6%) and optic nerve atrophy (66.6%). Protein modeling suggests missense variants destabilize a critical junction between the hydrophilic and membrane arms of complex I. Fibroblasts from two patients showed reduced complex I activity and compensatory complex IV activity increase. This study characterizes NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase 1 alpha subcomplex 13–related disease in 13 individuals, highlighting genotype–phenotype correlations.}, author = {Kaiyrzhanov, Rauan and Thompson, Kyle and Efthymiou, Stephanie and Mukushev, Askhat and Zharylkassyn, Akbota and Prasad, Chitra and Karimiani, Ehsan Ghayoor and Alvi, Javeria Raza and Niyazov, Dmitriy and Alahmad, Ahmad and Babaei, Meisam and Tajsharghi, Homa and Albash, Buthaina and Alaqeel, Ahmad and Charif, Majida and Hashemi, Narges and Heidari, Morteza and Kalantar, Seyed Mehdi and Lenaers, Guy and Mehrjardi, Mohammad Yahya Vahidi and Srinivasan, Varunvenkat M. and Gowda, Vykuntaraju K. and Mirabutalebi, Seyed Hamidreza and Carere, Deanna Alexis and Movahedinia, Mojtaba and Murphy, David and Mcfarland, Robert and Abdel-Hamid, Mohamed S. and Elhossini, Rasha M. and Alavi, Shahryar and Napier, Melanie and Belanger-Quintana, Amaya and Prasad, Asuri N. and Jakobczyk, Jessica and Roubertie, Agathe and Rupar, Tony and Sultan, Tipu and Toosi, Mehran Beiraghi and Sazanov, Leonid A and Severino, Mariasavina and Houlden, Henry and Taylor, Robert W. and Maroofian, Reza}, issn = {2632-1297}, journal = {Brain Communications}, number = {1}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, title = {{Biallelic NDUFA13 variants lead to a neurodevelopmental phenotype with gradual neurological impairment}}, doi = {10.1093/braincomms/fcae453}, volume = {7}, year = {2025}, } @misc{18991, abstract = {Research data for the article "Learning reshapes the hippocampal representation hierarchy" from Chiossi et al. (PNAS, 2025). The data includes hippocampal CA1 unit activity and behaviour tracking of 5 Long Evans rats during the learning of an associative memory task. Detailed information can be found in the 'readme.txt' file.}, author = {Chiossi, Heloisa}, keywords = {hippocampus, electrophysiology, behavior}, publisher = {Institute of Science and Technology Austria}, title = {{Research data for the publication "Learning reshapes the hippocampal representation hierarchy"}}, doi = {10.15479/AT:ISTA:18991}, year = {2025}, } @article{19001, abstract = {We consider two Hamiltonians that are close to each other, H1≈H2, and analyze the time-decay of the corresponding Loschmidt echo M(t):=|⟨ψ0,eitH2e−itH1ψ0⟩|2 that expresses the effect of an imperfect time reversal on the initial state ψ0. Our model Hamiltonians are deformed Wigner matrices that do not share a common eigenbasis. The main tools for our results are two-resolvent laws for such H1 and H2.}, author = {Erdös, László and Henheik, Sven Joscha and Kolupaiev, Oleksii}, issn = {1573-0530}, journal = {Letters in Mathematical Physics}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Loschmidt echo for deformed Wigner matrices}}, doi = {10.1007/s11005-025-01904-5}, volume = {115}, year = {2025}, } @article{19002, abstract = {A k-subcolouring of a graph G is a function f : V (G) → {0,...,k − 1} such that the set of vertices coloured i induce a disjoint union of cliques. The subchromatic number, χsub(G), is the minimum k such that G admits a k-subcolouring. Nešetril, ˇ Ossona de Mendez, Pilipczuk, and Zhu (2020), recently raised the problem of finding tight upper bounds for χsub(G2) when G is planar. We show that χsub(G2) ≤ 43 when G is planar, improving their bound of 135. We give even better bounds when the planar graph G has larger girth. Moreover, we show that χsub(G3) ≤ 95, improving the previous bound of 364. For these we adapt some recent techniques of Almulhim and Kierstead (2022), while also extending the decompositions of triangulated planar graphs of Van den Heuvel, Ossona de Mendez, Quiroz, Rabinovich and Siebertz (2017), to planar graphs of arbitrary girth. Note that these decompositions are the precursors of the graph product structure theorem of planar graphs. We give improved bounds for χsub(Gp) for all p ≥ 2, whenever G has bounded treewidth, bounded simple treewidth, bounded genus, or excludes a clique or biclique as a minor. For this we introduce a family of parameters which form a gradation between the strong and the weak colouring numbers. We give upper bounds for these parameters for graphs coming from such classes. Finally, we give a 2-approximation algorithm for the subchromatic number of graphs having a layering in which each layer has bounded cliquewidth and this layering is computable in polynomial time (like the class of all dth powers of planar graphs, for fixed d). This algorithm works even if the power p and the graph G is unknown.}, author = {Cortés, Pedro P. and Kumar, Pankaj and Moore, Benjamin and Ossona de Mendez, Patrice and Quiroz, Daniel A.}, issn = {0012-365X}, journal = {Discrete Mathematics}, number = {4}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Subchromatic numbers of powers of graphs with excluded minors}}, doi = {10.1016/j.disc.2024.114377}, volume = {348}, year = {2025}, } @article{19003, abstract = {Super-resolution methods provide far better spatial resolution than the optical diffraction limit of about half the wavelength of light (∼200-300 nm). Nevertheless, they have yet to attain widespread use in plants, largely due to plants’ challenging optical properties. Expansion microscopy improves effective resolution by isotropically increasing the physical distances between sample structures while preserving relative spatial arrangements and clearing the sample. However, its application to plants has been hindered by the rigid, mechanically cohesive structure of plant tissues. Here, we report on whole-mount expansion microscopy of thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) root tissues (PlantEx), achieving a four-fold resolution increase over conventional microscopy. Our results highlight the microtubule cytoskeleton organization and interaction between molecularly defined cellular constituents. Combining PlantEx with stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy, we increase nanoscale resolution and visualize the complex organization of subcellular organelles from intact tissues by example of the densely packed COPI-coated vesicles associated with the Golgi apparatus and put these into a cellular structural context. Our results show that expansion microscopy can be applied to increase effective imaging resolution in Arabidopsis root specimens. }, author = {Gallei, Michelle C and Truckenbrodt, Sven M and Kreuzinger, Caroline and Inumella, Syamala and Vistunou, Vitali and Sommer, Christoph M and Tavakoli, Mojtaba and Agudelo Duenas, Nathalie and Vorlaufer, Jakob and Jahr, Wiebke and Randuch, Marek and Johnson, Alexander J and Benková, Eva and Friml, Jiří and Danzl, Johann G}, issn = {1532-298X}, journal = {The Plant Cell}, number = {4}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, title = {{Super-resolution expansion microscopy in plant roots}}, doi = {10.1093/plcell/koaf006}, volume = {37}, year = {2025}, } @inproceedings{19010, abstract = {Causal representation learning aims at recovering latent causal variables from high-dimensional observations to solve causal downstream tasks, such as predicting the effect of new interventions or more robust classification. A plethora of methods have been developed, each tackling carefully crafted problem settings that lead to different types of identifiability. The folklore is that these different settings are important, as they are often linked to different rungs of Pearl's causal hierarchy, although not all neatly fit. Our main contribution is to show that many existing causal representation learning approaches methodologically align the representation to known data symmetries. Identification of the variables is guided by equivalence classes across different "data pockets" that are not necessarily causal. This result suggests important implications, allowing us to unify many existing approaches in a single method that can mix and match different assumptions, including non-causal ones, based on the invariances relevant to our application. It also significantly benefits applicability, which we demonstrate by improving treatment effect estimation on real-world high-dimensional ecological data. Overall, this paper clarifies the role of causality assumptions in the discovery of causal variables and shifts the focus to preserving data symmetries.}, author = {Yao, Dingling and Rancati, Dario and Cadei, Riccardo and Fumero, Marco and Locatello, Francesco}, booktitle = {13th International Conference on Learning Representations}, location = {Singapore}, publisher = {ICLR}, title = {{Unifying causal representation learning with the invariance principle}}, year = {2025}, }