@article{21342, abstract = {JWST has revealed a stunning population of bright galaxies at surprisingly early epochs, z > 10, where few such sources were expected. Here we present the most distant example of this class yet – MoM-z14, a luminous (MUV = −20.2) source in the COSMOS legacy field at zspec = 14.44+0.02−0.02 that expands the observational frontier to a mere 280 million years after the Big Bang. The redshift is confirmed with NIRSpec/prism spectroscopy through a sharp Lyman-α break and ≈ 3σ detections of five rest-UV emission lines. The number density of bright zspec ≈ 14 − 15 sources implied by our “Mirage or Miracle” survey spanning ≈ 350 arcmin2 is > 100× larger (182+329 −105×) than pre-JWST consensus models. The high EWs of UV lines (≈15−35˚A) signal a rising star-formation history, with a ≈10× increase in the last 5 Myr (SFR5Myr/SFR50Myr = 9.9 +3.0 −5.8). The source is extremely compact (circularized re = 74+15 −12 pc), and yet elongated (b/a = 0.25+0.11−0.06), suggesting an AGN is not the dominant source of UV light. The steep UV slope (β = −2.5 +0.2 −0.2) implies negligible dust attenuation and a young stellar population. The absence of a strong damping wing provides tentative evidence that the immediate surroundings of MoM-z14 may be partially ionized at a redshift where virtually every reionization model predicts a ≈ 100% neutral fraction. The nitrogen emission and highly supersolar [N/C]> 1 hint at an abundance pattern similar to local globular clusters that may have once hosted luminous supermassive stars. Since this abundance pattern is also common among the most ancient stars born in the Milky Way, we may be directly witnessing the formation of such stars in dense clusters, connecting galaxy evolution across the entire sweep of cosmic time. }, author = {Naidu, Rohan P. and Oesch, Pascal A. and Brammer, Gabriel and Weibel, Andrea and Li, Yijia and Matthee, Jorryt J and Chisholm, John and Pollock, Clara L. and Heintz, Kasper E. and Johnson, Benjamin D. and Shen, Xuejian and Hviding, Raphael E. and Leja, Joel and Tacchella, Sandro and Ganguly, Arpita and Witten, Callum and Atek, Hakim and Belli, Sirio and Bose, Sownak and Bouwens, Rychard and Dayal, Pratika and Decarli, Roberto and De Graaff, Anna and Fudamoto, Yoshinobu and Giovinazzo, Emma and Greene, Jenny E. and Illingworth, Garth and Inoue, Akio K. and Kane, Sarah G. and Labbe, Ivo and Leonova, Ecaterina and Marques-Chaves, Rui and Meyer, Romain A. and Nelson, Erica J. and Roberts-Borsani, Guido and Schaerer, Daniel and Simcoe, Robert A. and Stefanon, Mauro and Sugahara, Yuma and Toft, Sune and Van Der Wel, Arjen and Van Dokkum, Pieter and Walter, Fabian and Watson, Darach and Weaver, John R. and Whitaker, Katherine E.}, issn = {2565-6120}, journal = {The Open Journal of Astrophysics}, publisher = {Maynooth Academic Publishing}, title = {{A cosmic miracle: A remarkably luminous galaxy at zspec = 14.44 confirmed with JWST}}, doi = {10.33232/001c.156033}, volume = {9}, year = {2026}, } @article{21344, abstract = {Tropospheric ozone has the potential to become an increasingly pressing public health issue in Bogotá, Colombia, due to rising concentrations across the city driven by complex interactions among emissions, meteorology, and urban structure. This study presents a comprehensive spatiotemporal analysis of ozone levels from 2013 to 2023 and assesses the associated health burden using mortality data from the same period. Results reveal a consistent upward trend in ozone concentrations, particularly in northern, western, and southern localities, with seasonal peaks linked to biomass burning and photochemical conditions. Mortality analysis, based on the Global Exposure Mortality Model, estimates that 18.3% of all deaths among individuals aged 25 and older are attributable to long-term ozone exposure. The highest burdens are found in densely populated and socioeconomically vulnerable areas such as Kennedy, Suba, and Ciudad Bolívar, with the elderly being the most affected. Building on these findings, we developed a machine learning prediction model for ozone using a convolutional merge with a long-short term memory network architecture trained on air quality and meteorological variables. The model demonstrated strong predictive performance (mean Rho=0.86, RMSE=3.5 μg/m3) across monitoring stations (17 with at least 35000 data points), supporting its potential application in real-time early warning systems across Bogotá. This integrated approach highlights the importance of localized air quality management, combining epidemiological assessment with predictive modeling. The findings underscore the urgency of implementing region-specific mitigation strategies and improving monitoring infrastructure to reduce health risks from ozone exposure in Bogotá’s rapidly growing urban environment.}, author = {Bustos, Daniela and Garcia, Diana and Rojas, Nestor Y. and Lopez-Barrera, Ellie A. and Peña-Rincon, Carlos and Casallas Garcia, Alejandro}, issn = {2509-9434}, journal = {Earth Systems and Environment}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Ozone trends and mortality risk: The growing need for machine learning predictions in Bogotá, Colombia}}, doi = {10.1007/s41748-026-01052-3}, year = {2026}, } @phdthesis{21360, author = {Riegler, Stefan}, issn = {2663-337X}, pages = {185}, publisher = {Institute of Science and Technology Austria}, title = {{Root system plasticity under nutrient limitation : Investigating hormonal and molecular drivers in Arabidopsis thaliana and Coffea species}}, doi = {10.15479/AT-ISTA-21360}, year = {2026}, } @misc{21363, abstract = {The data contains information on coffee differential gene expression as well as co-expression and trait correlations in two separate experiments. First, contrasting nitrogen supply, second, intra- and interspecific grafting.}, author = {Riegler, Stefan}, publisher = {Institute of Science and Technology Austria}, title = {{Thesis Data for Root System Plasticity under Nutrient Limitation: Investigating Hormonal and Molecular Drivers in Arabidopsis thaliana and Coffea species}}, doi = {10.15479/AT-ISTA-21363}, year = {2026}, } @article{21369, abstract = {Formation of new amyloid fibrils and oligomers from monomeric protein on the surfaces of existing fibrils is an important driver of many disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. The structural basis of this secondary nucleation process, however, is poorly understood. Here, we ask whether secondary nucleation sites are found predominantly at rare growth defects: irregularities in the fibril core structure incorporated during their original assembly. We first demonstrate using the specific inhibitor of secondary nucleation, Brichos, that secondary nucleation sites on Alzheimer’s disease-associated fibrils composed of Aβ40 and Aβ42 peptides are rare compared to the number of protein molecules they contain. We then grow Aβ40 fibrils under conditions designed to eliminate most growth defects while leaving the regular fibril morphology unchanged, and confirm the latter using cryo-electron microscopy. We measure both the ability of these annealed fibrils to promote secondary nucleation and the stoichiometry of their secondary nucleation sites, finding that both are greatly reduced as predicted. Re-analysis of published data for other proteins suggests that fibril growth defects may also drive secondary nucleation generally across most amyloids. These findings could unlock structure-based drug design of therapeutics that aim to halt amyloid disorders by inhibiting secondary nucleation sites.}, author = {Hu, Jing and Scheidt, Tom and Thacker, Dev and Axell, Emil and Stemme, Elin and Łapińska, Urszula and Wennmalm, Stefan and Meisl, Georg and Curk, Samo and Andreasen, Maria and Vendruscolo, Michele and Arosio, Paolo and Šarić, Anđela and Schmit, Jeremy D. and Knowles, Tuomas P.J. and Sparr, Emma and Linse, Sara and Michaels, Thomas C.T. and Dear, Alexander J.}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Structural defects in amyloid-β fibrils drive secondary nucleation}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-69377-1}, volume = {17}, year = {2026}, } @article{21370, abstract = {Through digital imaging, microscopy has evolved from primarily being a means for visual observation of life at the micro- and nano-scale, to a quantitative tool with ever-increasing resolution and throughput. Artificial intelligence, deep neural networks, and machine learning (ML) are all niche terms describing computational methods that have gained a pivotal role in microscopy-based research over the past decade. This Roadmap encompasses key aspects of how ML is applied to microscopy image data, with the aim of gaining scientific knowledge by improved image quality, automated detection, segmentation, classification and tracking of objects, and efficient merging of information from multiple imaging modalities. We aim to give the reader an overview of the key developments and an understanding of possibilities and limitations of ML for microscopy. It will be of interest to a wide cross-disciplinary audience in the physical sciences and life sciences.}, author = {Volpe, Giovanni and Wählby, Carolina and Tian, Lei and Hecht, Michael and Yakimovich, Artur and Monakhova, Kristina and Waller, Laura and Sbalzarini, Ivo F. and Metzler, Christopher A. and Xie, Mingyang and Zhang, Kevin and Lenton, Isaac C and Rubinsztein-Dunlop, Halina and Brunner, Daniel and Bai, Bijie and Ozcan, Aydogan and Midtvedt, Daniel and Wang, Hao and Li, Tongyu and Sladoje, Nataša and Lindblad, Joakim and Smith, Jason T. and Ochoa, Marien and Barroso, Margarida and Intes, Xavier and Qiu, Tong and Yu, Li Yu and You, Sixian and Liu, Yongtao and Ziatdinov, Maxim A. and Kalinin, Sergei V. and Sheridan, Arlo and Manor, Uri and Nehme, Elias and Goldenberg, Ofri and Shechtman, Yoav and Moberg, Henrik K. and Langhammer, Christoph and Špačková, Barbora and Helgadottir, Saga and Midtvedt, Benjamin and Argun, Aykut and Thalheim, Tobias and Cichos, Frank and Bo, Stefano and Hubatsch, Lars and Pineda, Jesus and Manzo, Carlo and Bachimanchi, Harshith and Selander, Erik and Homs-Corbera, Antoni and Fränzl, Martin and De Haan, Kevin and Rivenson, Yair and Korczak, Zofia and Adiels, Caroline Beck and Mijalkov, Mite and Veréb, Dániel and Chang, Yu Wei and Pereira, Joana B. and Matuszewski, Damian and Kylberg, Gustaf and Sintorn, Ida Maria and Caicedo, Juan C. and Cimini, Beth A. and Lediju Bell, Muyinatu A. and Saraiva, Bruno M. and Jacquemet, Guillaume and Henriques, Ricardo and Ouyang, Wei and Le, Trang and Gómez-De-Mariscal, Estibaliz and Sage, Daniel and Muñoz-Barrutia, Arrate and Lindqvist, Ebba Josefson and Bergman, Johanna}, issn = {2515-7647}, journal = {Journal of Physics: Photonics}, number = {1}, publisher = {IOP Publishing}, title = {{Roadmap on deep learning for microscopy}}, doi = {10.1088/2515-7647/ae0fd1}, volume = {8}, year = {2026}, } @article{21371, abstract = {There may be a newly identified early phase of supermassive black hole growth}, author = {Matthee, Jorryt J}, issn = {1095-9203}, journal = {Science}, number = {6787}, pages = {767--768}, publisher = {AAAS}, title = {{Black holes disguised as little red dots}}, doi = {10.1126/science.adz8603}, volume = {391}, year = {2026}, } @article{21373, abstract = {Cold atom experiments show that a mobile impurity particle immersed in a weakly interacting Bose-Einstein condensate forms a well-defined quasiparticle (Bose polaron) for weak to moderate impurity-boson interaction strengths, whereas a significant line broadening is consistently observed for strong interactions. Motivated by this, we introduce a phenomenological theory based on the assumption that the most relevant states are characterized by the impurity correlated with at most one boson, since they have the largest overlap with the uncorrelated states to which the most common experimental probes couple. These experimentally relevant states can, however, decay to lower energy states characterized by correlations involving multiple bosons, and we model this using a minimal variational wave function combined with a complex impurity-boson interaction strength. We first motivate this approach by comparing to a more elaborate theory that includes correlations with up to two bosons. Our phenomenological model is shown to recover the main results of two recent experiments probing both the spectral and the nonequilibrium properties of the Bose polaron. Our work offers an intuitive framework for analyzing experimental data and highlights the importance of understanding the complicated problem of the Bose polaron decay in a many-body setting.}, author = {Al Hyder, Ragheed and Bruun, G. M. and Pohl, T. and Lemeshko, Mikhail and Volosniev, Artem}, issn = {2643-1564}, journal = {Physical Review Research}, publisher = {American Physical Society}, title = {{Phenomenological model of decaying Bose polarons}}, doi = {10.1103/16dk-5dgx}, volume = {8}, year = {2026}, } @inproceedings{21374, abstract = {Let . S be a set of distinct points in general position in the Euclidean plane. A plane Hamiltonian path on . S is a crossing-free geometric path such that every point of .S is a vertex of the path. It is known that, if. S is sufficiently large, there exist three edge-disjoint plane Hamiltonian paths on . S. In this paper we study an edge-constrained version of the problem of finding Hamiltonian paths on a point set. We first consider the problem of finding a single plane Hamiltonian path . π with endpoints .s, t ∈ S and constraints given by a segment . ab, where .a, b ∈ S. We consider the following scenarios: (i) .ab ∈ π; (ii) .ab π. We characterize those quintuples . S, a, b, s, t for which . π exists. Secondly, we consider the problem of finding two plane Hamiltonian paths . π1, π2 on a set . S with constraints given by a segment . ab, where .a, b ∈ S. We consider the following scenarios: (i) .π1 and .π2 share no edges and .ab is an edge of . π1; (ii) .π1 and .π2 share no edges and none of them includes .ab as an edge; (iii) both .π1 and .π2 include .ab as an edge and share no other edges. In all cases, we characterize those triples . S, a, b for which .π1 and .π2 exist.}, author = {Antić, Todor and Džuklevski, Aleksa and Fiala, Jiří and Kratochvíl, Jan and Liotta, Giuseppe and Saghafian, Morteza and Saumell, Maria and Zink, Johannes}, booktitle = {51st International Conference on Current Trends in Theory and Practice of Computer Science}, isbn = {9783032178008}, issn = {1611-3349}, location = {Krakow, Poland}, pages = {532--546}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Edge-constrained Hamiltonian paths on a point set}}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-032-17801-5_39}, volume = {16448}, year = {2026}, } @article{21378, abstract = {From insects to mammals, essential brain functions, such as forming long-term memories (LTMs), increase metabolic activity in stimulated neurons to meet the energetic demand associated with brain activation. However, while impairing neuronal metabolism limits brain performance, whether expanding the metabolic capacity of neurons boosts brain function remains poorly understood. Here, we show that LTM formation of flies and mice can be enhanced by increasing mitochondrial metabolism in central memory circuits. By knocking down the mitochondrial Ca2+ exporter Letm1, we favour Ca2+ retention in the mitochondrial matrix of neurons due to reduction of mitochondrial H+/Ca2+ exchange. The resulting increase in mitochondrial Ca2+ over-activates mitochondrial metabolism in neurons of central memory circuits, leading to improved LTM storage in training paradigms in which wild-type counterparts of both species fail to remember. Our findings unveil an evolutionarily conserved mechanism that controls mitochondrial metabolism in neurons and indicate its involvement in shaping higher brain functions, such as LTM.}, author = {Amrapali Vishwanath, Anjali and Comyn, Typhaine and Mira, Rodrigo G. and Brossier, Claire and Pascual-Caro, Carlos and Faour, Maya and Boumendil, Kahina and Chintaluri, Chaitanya and Ramon-Duaso, Carla and Fan, Ruolin and Ghosh, Kishalay and Farrants, Helen and Berwick, Jean-Paul and Sivakumar, Riya and Lopez-Manzaneda, Mario and Schreiter, Eric R. and Preat, Thomas and Vogels, Tim P and Rangaraju, Vidhya and Busquets-Garcia, Arnau and Plaçais, Pierre-Yves and Pavlowsky, Alice and de Juan-Sanz, Jaime}, issn = {2522-5812}, journal = {Nature Metabolism}, number = {2}, pages = {467--488}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Mitochondrial Ca2+ efflux controls neuronal metabolism and long-term memory across species}}, doi = {10.1038/s42255-026-01451-w}, volume = {8}, year = {2026}, } @article{21379, abstract = {We study a (1 + 1)-dimensional semi-discrete random variational problem that can be interpreted as the geometrically linearized version of the critical 2-dimensional random field Ising model. The scaling of the correlation length of the latter was recently characterized in Probab. Duke Math. J. 172(9), 1781–1811 (2023) and arXiv:2011.08768v3, (2022); our analysis is reminiscent of the multi-scale approach of the latter work and of Combinatorica 9, 161–187 (1989) . We show that at every dyadic scale from the system size down to the lattice spacing the minimizer contains at most order-one Dirichlet energy per unit length. We also establish a quenched homogenization result in the sense that the leading order of the minimal energy becomes deterministic as the ratio system size / lattice spacing diverges. To this purpose we adapt arguments from arXiv:2401.06768, (2024) on the (d + 1)-dimensional version our the model, with a Brownian replacing the white noise potential, to obtain the initial large-scale bounds. Based on our estimate of the (p = 3)-Dirichlet energy, we give an informal justification of the geometric linearization. Our bounds, which are oblivious to the microscopic cut-off scale provided by the lattice spacing, yield tightness of the law of minimizers in the space of continuous functions as the lattice spacing is sent to zero.}, author = {Otto, Felix and Palmieri, Matteo and Wagner, Christian}, issn = {1432-2064}, journal = {Probability Theory and Related Fields}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{On minimizing curves in a Brownian potential}}, doi = {10.1007/s00440-026-01468-y}, year = {2026}, } @article{21380, abstract = {Context. Extreme emission line galaxies (EELGs) are believed to significantly contribute to the star formation activity and mass assembly in galaxies. EELGs likely also play a leading role in the cosmic re-ionization as their interstellar medium may allow a significant fraction of their ionizing photons to escape (> 5%). Finding low-redshift analogues of these high-z galaxies is therefore essential to characterizing the physical conditions in the interstellar medium of these galaxies and understanding the processes that re-ionized the Universe. Aims. We aimed to develop a robust and efficient method for the photometric identification of EELGs using the J-PAS survey. J-PAS will cover approximately 8500 deg2 of the sky with 54 narrow-band filters in the optical range plus i-SDSS, enabling detailed studies of the physical properties of these galaxies. In this work we focused on an initial subset of the survey: a 30 square degree area with complete observations in all bands. Methods. We combine equivalent width (EW) measurements from J-PAS narrow-band photometry with artificial intelligence techniques to identify galaxies with emission lines exceeding 300 Å. We validated our selection using spectroscopic data from DESI DR1 and characterized the selected sample through spectral energy distribution fitting with CIGALE. Results. We identify 917 EELGs up to z = 0.8 over 30 deg2, achieving a purity of 95% and a completeness of 96% for i-SDSS < 22.5 mag. Importantly, active galactic nucleus contamination was carefully considered and is estimated to be around 5%. Furthermore, a cross-match with DESI yielded 79 counterparts; their redshifts are in excellent agreement with our photometric estimates, thereby confirming the reliability of our redshift determination. In addition, the derived emission line fluxes are in good agreement with spectroscopic measurements. Moreover, the selected sample reveals strong correlations between the ionizing photon production efficiency (ξion) and EW(Hβ), which are consistent with previous observational studies at low and high redshifts and theoretical expectations. Finally, most of the sources surpass the ionizing efficiency threshold required for re-ionization, highlighting their relevance as local analogues of early-Universe galaxies.}, author = {Giménez-Alcázar, A. and Amorín, R. and Vílchez, J. M. and Hernán-Caballero, A. and González-Otero, M. and Arroyo-Polonio, A. and Iglesias-Páramo, J. and Lumbreras-Calle, A. and Fernández-Ontiveros, J. A. and López-Sanjuan, C. and Bonatto, L. and González Delgado, R. M. and Kehrig, C. and Torralba Torregrosa, Alberto and Rahna, P. T. and Jiménez-Teja, Y. and Márquez, I. and Breda, I. and Álvarez-Candal, A. and Abramo, R. and Alcaniz, J. and Benitez, N. and Bonoli, S. and Carneiro, S. and Cenarro, J. and Cristóbal-Hornillos, D. and Dupke, R. and Ederoclite, A. and Hernández-Monteagudo, C. and Marín-Franch, A. and Mendes de Oliveira, C. and Moles, M. and Sodré, L. and Taylor, K. and Varela, J. and Vázquez Ramió, H.}, issn = {1432-0746}, journal = {Astronomy & Astrophysics}, publisher = {EDP Sciences}, title = {{J-PAS: First identification, physical properties, and ionization efficiency of extreme emission line galaxies}}, doi = {10.1051/0004-6361/202557358}, volume = {706}, year = {2026}, } @article{21381, abstract = {The lack of long-range electrostatics is a key limitation of modern machine learning interatomic potentials (MLIPs), hindering reliable applications to interfaces, charge-transfer reactions, polar and ionic materials, and biomolecules. In this Perspective, we distill two design principles behind the Latent Ewald Summation framework, which can capture long-range interactions, charges, and electrical response just by learning from standard energy and force training data: (i) use a Coulomb functional form with environment-dependent charges to capture electrostatic interactions, and (ii) avoid explicit training on ambiguous density functional theory partial charges. When both principles are satisfied, substantial flexibility remains: essentially any short-range MLIP can be augmented; charge equilibration schemes can be added when desired; dipoles and Born effective charges can be inferred or fine-tuned; and charge/spin-state embeddings or tensorial targets can be further incorporated. We also discuss current limitations and open challenges. Together, these minimal, physics-guided design rules suggest that incorporating long-range electrostatics into MLIPs is simpler and perhaps more broadly applicable than is commonly assumed.}, author = {Kim, Dongjin and Cheng, Bingqing}, issn = {1089-7690}, journal = {The Journal of Chemical Physics}, number = {6}, publisher = {AIP Publishing}, title = {{Long-range electrostatics for machine learning interatomic potentials is easier than we thought}}, doi = {10.1063/5.0316886}, volume = {164}, year = {2026}, } @article{21382, abstract = {The exceptional energy-harvesting efficiency of lead-halide perovskites arises from unusually long photocarrier diffusion lengths and recombination lifetimes that persist even in defect-rich, solution-grown samples. Paradoxically, perovskites are also known for having very short exciton decay times. Here, we resolve this apparent contradiction by showing that key optoelectronic properties of perovskites can be explained by localized flexoelectric polarization confined to interfaces between domains of spontaneous strain. Using birefringence imaging, electrochemical staining, and zero-bias photocurrent measurements, we visualize the domain structure and directly probe the associated internal fields in nominally cubic single crystals of methylammonium lead bromide. We demonstrate that localized flexoelectric fields spatially separate electrons and holes to opposite sides of domain walls, exponentially suppressing recombination. Domain walls thus act as efficient mesoscopic transport channels for long-lived photocarriers, microscopically linking structural heterogeneity to charge transport and offering mechanistically informed design principles for perovskite solar-energy technologies.}, author = {Rak, Dmytro and Lorenc, Dusan and Balazs, Daniel and Zhumekenov, Ayan A. and Bakr, Osman M. and Alpichshev, Zhanybek}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Flexoelectric domain walls enable charge separation and transport in cubic perovskites}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-68660-5}, volume = {17}, year = {2026}, } @article{21383, abstract = {Planarian flatworms are known for their remarkable regenerative capacity; however, the precise intercellular communication mechanisms underlying this process remain unsolved. Here, we report the discovery and characterization of abundant extracellular vesicles (EVs) in planarians. Using imaging and molecular analysis, we show conservation of biogenesis, morphology, and protein composition of planarian EVs. Environmental stressors significantly elevate EV release, indicating that planarians dynamically regulate vesicle production. Functionally, planarian EVs mediate intercellular communication by transferring regulatory signals: We find that they shuttle small RNAs that effect systemic RNA interference (RNAi) throughout the organism. Notably, gene knockdown experiments reveal a crucial role for AGO-3, a member of the Argonaute family of proteins, in modulating the association of small interfering RNAs with EVs, linking the intracellular RNAi machinery to EV-based signaling. These findings highlight EVs as pivotal mediators of cell-cell communication in planarians, with broad implications for understanding the coordination of gene regulation and tissue regeneration in animals.}, author = {Sasidharan, Vidyanand and Ancellotti, Laura and Doddihal, Viraj and Brewster, Carolyn and Mann, Frederick and McKinney, Mary Cathleen and Varberg, Joseph and Ross, Eric and Deng, Fengyan and Yi, Kexi and Sánchez Alvarado, Alejandro}, issn = {2375-2548}, journal = {Science Advances}, number = {6}, publisher = {American Association for the Advancement of Science}, title = {{Extracellular vesicles mediate stem cell signaling and systemic RNAi in planarians}}, doi = {10.1126/sciadv.ady1461}, volume = {12}, year = {2026}, } @article{21384, abstract = {Cell migration in vivo is often guided by chemical signaling, i.e., chemotaxis. For immune cells performing chemotaxis in the organism, this process is influenced by the complex geometry of the tissue environment. In this study, we use a theoretical model of branched cell migration on a network to explore the cellular response to chemical gradients. The model predicts the response of a branched cell to a chemical gradient: how the cell reorients its internal polarity and how it navigates through a complex environment up a chemical gradient. We then compare the model’s predictions with experimental observations of neutrophils migrating to the site of a laser-inflicted wound in a zebrafish larva fin, and neutrophils migrating in vitro inside a regular lattice of pillars. We find that the model captures the details of the subcellular response to the chemokine gradient, as well as qualitative characteristics of the large-scale migration, suggesting that the neutrophils behave as fast cells, which explains the functionality of these immune cells.}, author = {Liu, Jiayi and Ron, Jonathan E. and Rinaldi, Giulia and Williantarra, Ivanna and Georgantzoglou, Antonios and de Vries, Ingrid and Sixt, Michael K and Sarris, Milka and Gov, Nir S.}, issn = {1553-7358}, journal = {PLOS Computational Biology}, number = {2}, publisher = {Public Library of Science}, title = {{Modelling chemotaxis of branched cells in complex environments provides insights into immune cell navigation}}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pcbi.1013934}, volume = {22}, year = {2026}, } @article{21385, abstract = {We prove that the average size of a mixed character sum (math. formular) (for a suitable smooth function w) is on the order of √x for all irrational real θ satisfying a weak Diophantine condition, where χ is drawn from the family of Dirichlet characters modulo a large prime r and where x 6 r. In contrast, it was proved by Harper that the average size is o(√x) for rational θ. Certain quadratic Diophantine equations play a key role in the present paper. }, author = {Wang, Victor and Xu, Max}, issn = {1473-7124}, journal = {Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Section A Mathematics}, pages = {1--15}, publisher = {Cambridge University Press}, title = {{Average sizes of mixed character sums}}, doi = {10.1017/prm.2026.10123}, year = {2026}, } @phdthesis{21393, abstract = {This thesis documents a voyage towards truth and beauty via formal verification of theorems. To this end, we develop libraries in Lean 4 that present definitions and results from diverse areas of MathematiCS (i.e., Mathematics and Computer Science). The aim is to create code that is understandable, believable, useful, and elegant. The code should stand for itself as much as possible without a need for documentation; however, this text redundantly documents our code artifacts and provides additional context that isn’t present in the code. This thesis is written for readers who know Lean 4 but are not familiar with any of the topics presented. We manifest truth and beauty in three formalized areas of MathematiCS. We formalize general grammars in Lean 4 and use grammars to show closure of the class of type-0 languages under four operations; union, reversal, concatenation, and the Kleene star. Our second stop is the theory of optimization. Farkas established that a system of linear inequalities has a solution if and only if we cannot obtain a contradiction by taking a linear combination of the inequalities. We state and formally prove several Farkas-like theorems over linearly ordered fields in Lean 4. Furthermore, we extend duality theory to the case when some coefficients are allowed to take “infinite values”. Additionally, we develop the basics of the theory of optimization in terms of the framework called General-Valued Constraint Satisfaction Problems, and we prove that, if a Rational-Valued Constraint Satisfaction Problem template has symmetric fractional polymorphisms of all arities, then its basic LP relaxation is tight. Our third stop is matroid theory. Seymour’s decomposition theorem is a hallmark result in matroid theory, presenting a structural characterization of the class of regular matroids. We aim to formally verify Seymour’s theorem in Lean 4. First, we build a library for working with totally unimodular matrices. We define binary matroids and their standard representations, and we prove that they form a matroid in the sense how Mathlib defines matroids. We define regular matroids to be matroids for which there exists a full representation rational matrix that is totally unimodular, and we prove that all regular matroids are binary. We define 1-sum, 2-sum, and 3 sum of binary matroids as specific ways to compose their standard representation matrices. We prove that the 1-sum, the 2-sum, and the 3-sum of regular matroids are a regular matroid, which concludes the composition direction of the Seymour’s theorem. The (more difficult) decomposition direction remains unproved. In the pursuit of truth, we focus on identifying the trusted code in each project and presenting it faithfully. We emphasize the readability and believability of definitions rather than choosing definitions that are easier to work with. In search for beauty, we focus on the philosophical framework of Roger Scruton, who emphasizes that beauty is not a mere decoration but, most importantly, beauty is the means for shaping our place in the world and a source of redemption, where it can be viewed as a substitute for religion.}, author = {Dvorak, Martin}, isbn = {978-3-99078-074-9}, issn = {2663-337X}, pages = {160}, publisher = {Institute of Science and Technology Austria}, title = {{Pursuit of truth and beauty in Lean 4 : Formally verified theory of grammars, optimization, matroids}}, doi = {10.15479/AT-ISTA-21393}, year = {2026}, } @unpublished{21400, abstract = {This document is a blueprint for the formalization in Lean of the structural theory of regular matroids underlying Seymour's decomposition theorem. We present a modular account of regularity via totally unimodular representations, show that regularity is preserved under 1-, 2-, and 3-sums, and establish regularity for several special classes of matroids, including graphic, cographic, and the matroid R10. The blueprint records the logical structure of the proof, the precise dependencies between results, and their correspondence with Lean declarations. It is intended both as a guide for the ongoing formalization effort and as a human-readable reference for the organization of the proof.}, author = {Sergeev, Ivan and Dvorak, Martin and Rampell, Cameron and Sandey, Mark and Monticone, Pietro}, booktitle = {arXiv}, pages = {18}, title = {{A blueprint for the formalization of Seymour's matroid decomposition theorem}}, doi = {10.48550/arXiv.2601.01255}, year = {2026}, } @phdthesis{21401, abstract = {Runtime verification offers scalable solutions to improve the safety and reliability of systems. However, systems that require verification or monitoring by a third party to ensure compliance with a specification might contain sensitive information, causing privacy concerns when usual runtime verification approaches are used. Privacy is compromised if protected information about the system, or sensitive data that is processed by the system, is revealed. In addition, revealing the specification being monitored may undermine the essence of third-party verification. In this thesis, we propose a protocol for privacy-preserving runtime verification of systems against formal sequential specifications. We develop the protocol in two steps. In the first step, the monitor verifies whether the system satisfies the specification without learning anything else, though both parties are aware of the specification. In the second step, we extend the protocol to ensure that the system remains oblivious to the monitored specification, while the monitor learns only whether the system satisfies the specification and nothing more. Our protocol adapts and improves existing techniques used in cryptography, and more specifically, multi-party computation. The sequential specification defines the observation step of the monitor, whose granularity depends on the situation (e.g., banks may be monitored on a daily basis). Our protocol exchanges a single message per observation step, after an initialization phase. This design minimizes communication overhead, enabling relatively lightweight privacy-preserving monitoring. We implement our approach for monitoring specifications described by register automata and evaluate it experimentally. }, author = {Karimi, Mahyar}, issn = {2791-4585}, keywords = {Privacy-preserving verification, Runtime verification, Monitoring, Reactive functionalities, Cryptographic protocols}, pages = {60}, publisher = {Institute of Science and Technology Austria}, title = {{Privacy-preserving runtime verification}}, doi = {10.15479/AT-ISTA-21401}, year = {2026}, }