NWO Vidi, recent awardees

NuclearIDTracker resolves intestinal cell identity and lineage dynamics through nuclear phenotypic signatures

Maria J. Rodríguez Colman · Heidelberg University · DE

Abstract Organoid models have transformed our understanding of intestinal renewal. Fluorescent imaging has been extensively used to identify key cell types and their differentiation pathways, but immunofluorescence provides only static readouts, whereas live imaging requires fluorescent-reporter engineering and is constrained by limited multiplexing and spectral overlap. Here, we introduce NuclearIDTracker, an explainable machine-learning framework that infers cell identity directly from 3D nucl

Automated quantification of ecological interactions from video

Benjamin T. Martin · Delta Institute for Theoretical Physics · NL

Ecological interactions, such as predation, are fundamental events that underlie the flow and distribution of energy through food webs. Yet, directly measuring interaction rates in nature and how they vary across space and time remains a core challenge in ecology. To address this, we developed a machine learning pipeline that combines object detection, tracking, behavioral classification, and bias correction to quantify feeding rates of the planktivorous reef fish Chromis multilineata in situ .

Automated quantification of ecological interactions from video

Benjamin T. Martin · Delta Institute for Theoretical Physics · NL

Ecological interactions, such as predation, are fundamental events that underlie the flow and distribution of energy through food webs. Yet, directly measuring interaction rates in nature and how they vary across space and time remains a core challenge in ecology. To address this, we developed a machine learning pipeline that combines object detection, tracking, behavioral classification, and bias correction to quantify feeding rates of the planktivorous reef fish Chromis multilineata in situ .

Curated high-quality genomes of 39 diverse halophilic archaea

Thomas Hackl · University of Groningen · NL

Abstract Archaea are widespread and ecologically important microorganisms, yet our understanding of their physiology and evolution is constrained by the limited number of complete genome assemblies available. Haloarchaea have emerged as model organisms for archaeal cell biology, virus-host interactions, and biotechnology. Despite their prominence in hypersaline environments and their potential for industrial applications, high-quality reference genomes remain scarce. Here, we present chromosome-

ECHO: a nanopore sequencing-based workflow for (epi)genetic profiling of the human repeatome

Athina Vidaki · Maastricht University Medical Centre · NL

Abstract Summary The human genome is dominated by repetitive DNA, whose genetic and epigenetic variation plays a key role in gene regulation, genome stability, and disease. Recent advances in long-read sequencing now enable large-scale, haplotype-resolved, and DNA methylation-informative analysis of the human genome, including on previously inaccessible complex and repetitive regions. However, the comprehensive, simultaneous characterisation of the “human repeatome” remains challenging, largely

Mechanistic dissection of GRHL2 and PR transcriptional co-regulation in breast cells

Renée van Amerongen · Oncode Institute · NL

Gene expression is controlled by complex transcriptional networks in which transcription factors and their cognate enhancer elements integrate developmental and environmental cues. The progesterone receptor (PR), a hormone-activated transcription factor, is essential for breast development and physiology, yet how it engages with the chromatin and lineage-specific cofactors remains unclear. Using an unbiased approach, we identify the epithelial transcription factor grainyhead-like 2 (GRHL2) as a

Flowing with Confidence

Erik Bekkers · University of Amsterdam · NL

Generative models can produce nonsensical text, unrealistic images, and unstable materials faster than simulation or human review can absorb; without per-sample confidence, trust erodes. Existing fixes run $k$ ensembles or stochastic trajectories at $k\times$ compute, measuring variability between models, not model confidence. We propose Flow Matching with Confidence (FMwC). FMwC injects input-dependent multiplicative noise at selected layers, propagates its variance through the network in close

Remediations of Japanese Cinema and History in Ghost of Yōtei

Corine Gerritsen · Leiden University · NL

This paper offers an early exploration into how Ghost of Yōtei represents Japanese cinematic history and indigenous Ainu history. Building on the established scholarship of remediation, the paper deploys close reading and paratexts to understand how the game's mechanics, aesthetics, narrative, and advertising convey reflections of Japan's feudal past as recontextualized and remediated from film and history. The analysis examines the influence of twentieth century Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosaw

Why Citizens Intervene in Riots: Learning from the Case of Citizens Who de-Escalated Tensions During Covid-19 Curfew Protests in Amsterdam

Virginia Pallante · Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement · NL

Multi-level transcriptional control of specific macrophage responses

Marten A. Hoeksema · Amsterdam University Medical Centers · NL

Macrophages can adopt diverse functional states in response to environmental cues, a process that is fundamentally controlled at the level of transcriptional regulation. In this review, we outline a hierarchical framework of transcription factor activity that underpins macrophage identity and activation. Firstly, lineage-determining transcription factors establish the cell-type-specific chromatin landscape during development. Upon tissue seeding, local signals shape the activity of additional tr

<scp> <i>RRAGD</i> </scp> p.( <scp>Ser76Leu</scp> ) Variant Causes Dysregulated Expression of Muscle Development and Cytoskeleton Genes in Cardiomyocytes

Jeroen H. F. de Baaij · Radboud University Nijmegen · NL

ABSTRACT Autosomal dominant kidney hypomagnesemia with RRAGD variants (ADKH‐ RRAGD ) is a hereditary disorder characterized by kidney tubulopathy and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). RagD, encoded by the RRAGD gene, is a small GTPase involved in activating the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) by amino acids. Although several gain‐of‐function variants in the RRAGD gene have been identified, their contributions to DCM remain unclear. Here, we hypothesize that these RRAGD variants in

Bridging scales: from classical colloidal crystals to mesocrystals with modern x-ray synchrotron methods

Ivan Vartaniants · Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY · DE

This review explores different colloidal systems and their crystals as well as their special case namely-mesocrystals. First, we highlight recent advances in fabrication methods of colloidal crystals (mesocrystals) and then describe small-angle and ultra-small-angle x-ray scattering from colloidal assemblies organized from particles of different shape. Here, we already introduce different types of defects that are present in colloidal crystals. Next, we go to a modern description of angular x-ra

The state of metabolic engineering in the versatile bacterial cell factory Cupriavidus necator H16

Nico J. Claassens · Wageningen University & Research · NL

Cupriavidus necator strain H16 has emerged as a versatile microbial chassis for sustainable bioproduction due to its metabolic flexibility, enabling growth on a wide range of substrates, including H 2 /CO 2 , formate, and organic carbon (waste) sources such as volatile fatty acids. This review first provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in systems-level understanding and metabolic engineering of C. necator. We next discuss recent advances in omics analyses and genome-scale metabol

Unpacking the dynamics of generative AI use in our daily lives: towards an integrative trust calibration framework

Theo Araujo · University of Amsterdam · NL

Abstract The growing use of conversational generative AI agents by an increasingly diverse set of individuals gives rise to the following question: How do individuals calibrate their trust in a dynamic, seemingly general-purpose technology that learns from and adapts to their behavior and may take an increasingly central role in their online interactions? In this article, we propose the first steps towards an integrative framework for trust calibration in genAI agents focusing on individuals usi

What’s in a niche? Elucidating the role of the ECM in cell fate commitment

Anna Alemany · Leiden University Medical Center · NL

Emerging work is shedding light on how integrin engagement can be harnessed to modulate cell behaviour by deepening our understanding of the downstream signalling cascades activated upon extracellular matrix (ECM) binding. In many culture systems, integrin-mediated adhesion works in concert with exogenously supplied growth factors or small molecules to guide differentiation. Altogether, cell-ECM interactions via integrin-mediated adhesion are a driving force in regulating stem cell fate. In this

Ten simple rules for team synthesis in ecological research

Sarah C. Elmendorf · Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research · US

Abstract Team‐based synthesis is a collaborative, data‐intensive, often interdisciplinary approach to conducting science that capitalizes on existing data to answer novel questions. In ecology, synthesis has advanced understanding about the functioning and structure of ecological and environmental systems. Interest in ecological synthesis has greatly expanded over the past decades due to the increasing volume of accessible data, new collaboration tools, targeting funding calls, and computational

Intuitive therapist robot patient physical interaction is worth a thousand words

Beatrice Luciani · Delft University of Technology · NL

Robotic systems can enhance the amount and repeatability of physical guided motor training. Yet their real-world adoption is limited, partly due to non-intuitive trainer/therapist-trainee/patient interactions. To address this gap, we present a haptic teleoperation system for trainers to remotely guide and monitor the movements of a trainee wearing an arm exoskeleton. The trainer can physically interact with the exoskeleton through a commercial handheld haptic device via virtual contact points at

Cradle of Life: From the Formation of Stars to Habitable Worlds with the SKAO

the Cradle of Life working group

This chapter provides an overview of the different science cases covered by the "Cradle of Life" working group, which aims to leverage the capabilities of the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) to trace the physical and chemical pathways toward stars and planets formation, how such stars impact their planets, and whether life could exist in such conditions. At its highest frequencies, the SKAO will probe the earliest stages of the raw material fuelling planet formation, while enabling dee

Model-error estimation and model adaptivity for hyperbolic moment equations in one dimension

Rik Verbiest · University of Groningen · NL

Abstract Microflows like Knudsen pumps often include rarefied gases featuring different degrees of rarefaction. This different modeling complexity requires space- and time-adaptive rarefied gas models that resolve the physical effects efficiently in each subdomain of the microflow. Different-order moment models are effective at describing rarefied gases in microflows with respective levels of complexity in each subdomain. In this work, analytical model-error estimators for the Hyperbolic Moment

Future trends of desalination and wastewater treatment accounting for risks of maladaptation

Marina Andrijevic · International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis · AT

The intensifying effects of climate change on global water scarcity require ensuring reliable, equitable, and sustainable water supply, with novel technologies becoming increasingly central to adaptation. In this study, we develop projections of wastewater treatment and desalination capacities and analyze their associated energy demand and CO 2 emissions. While technologically mature and rapidly expanding, their future development remains underexamined as a risk of maladaptation that stems from

The Cannabis Research Image Database (CRESIDA): A standardized and validated image set for studying cannabis cue reactivity

Janna Cousijn · IVO Addiction Research Institute · NL

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Cannabis cue reactivity paradigms are instrumental in studying the behavioral and neurocognitive mechanisms of cannabis use and cannabis use disorders; however, image sets used for cannabis cue reactivity paradigms vary between studies, and the lack of reliability and validity assessment hinders the quality of evidence they generate. The main aim of this study was to create a novel, open access, standardized and representative database of cannabis use-related images includin

Realification of stably trivial vector bundles

Niall Taggart

The set of stably trivial complex vector bundles over complex projective spaces and spheres has a natural group structure when the corank is small enough. With respect to this group structure, the operations of taking the underlying real vector bundle (realification) and of adding a trivial line bundle (stabilisation), are group homomorphisms. Building on Hu's recent enumerations of stably trivial complex bundles, we compute these homomorphisms in a range by using Weiss calculus to translate the

Congruent Kinesthetic and Tactile Haptic Rendering Accelerates the Learning of Highly Dynamic Virtual Sensorimotor Tasks

Laura Marchal-Crespo · Delft University of Technology · NL

Advances in haptic technologies enable rich, multi-channel haptic rendering of interactions with virtual objects during virtual reality training. However, it remains an open question whether multi-channel haptic rendering (kinesthetic and tactile) provides superior motor learning and transfer when training dynamic tasks compared to simpler, single-channel sensory information. We investigated how 40 participants learned to invert and balance a virtual pendulum after training under four haptic ren

Collective memory and amnesia: explaining continuities and discontinuities in the history of the Belgian sans-papiers movement

Thomas Swerts · Erasmus University Rotterdam · NL

A substantial body of work examines how social movements draw on past struggles, circulate repertoires transnationally and preserve traditions of protest. However, less attention has been paid to the processes through which memory can fail, be silenced or erased. Existing scholarship has rarely examined how movements led by precarious actors, such as undocumented migrants’ collectives, construct – and sometimes risk losing- collective memory under conditions of political hostility. In this paper

To rest or to roam: Functional habitat use of an insectivorous bat species during active and resting behavior

Yali Si · Leiden University · NL

As vital players in many terrestrial ecosystems, insectivorous bats in Europe are of high conservation priority and protected by international law. However, ongoing human expansion and land-use change have profoundly altered their habitats, and understanding their habitat use is essential for effective conservation planning. Nevertheless, behavioral states, particularly night resting, are rarely considered when quantifying habitat use. This study presents the first GPS-tracking-based quantitativ

Defect-Induced Single-Photon Emission in ZnPS ₃

Magdalena Grzeszczyk · National University of Singapore · SG

High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide Research on single photon sources in layered materials has been limited so far to transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) as hosting platforms. These quantum emitters exhibit advantages due to the distinct semiconducting and insulating characteristics of the two classes of materials, which enable their integration with van der Waals heterostructures and devices. Here, we report single photon emission in ZnPS 3,

Saddlepoint Approximations for Hawkes Jump-Diffusion Processes with an Application to Risk Management*

Roger J. A. Laeven · Quantitative BioSciences · US

We propose a statistical model based on Hawkes processes in which large financial losses can arise in close succession serially as well as cross-sectionally. We derive in closed form saddlepoint approximations to the tails of profit and loss distributions, both marginal and joint, and use them to construct explicit risk measure formulae that account for the fact that a given financial institution’s losses make it more likely that that institution will experience further losses, and that other fi

GRASPing experience-dependent protein expression signatures enriched for hippocampal engram cell synapses

Renee M. Pullen · Amsterdam Neuroscience · NL

Enhanced synaptic wiring onto sparsely distributed memory engram cells supports contextual memory storage and recall, with negative-valence memories exhibiting greater salience. Protein-level adaptations of input-specific synaptic connectivity onto hippocampal CA1 engram cells, however, remain largely unexplored. By combining spatiotemporally restricted synapse labeling, sorting, and mass spectrometry, we generated a discovery-oriented proteomic dataset from samples enriched for CA1 engram cell

A ‘Proper’ Celebration: The Old Hispanic <i>Commune Sanctorum</i> and its Affordance for Individualised Liturgies

Melanie Shaffer · University of Bristol · GB

The collective intoning of chant and prayer performed on a saint’s feast day tells us much about what the composers, compilers, and celebrants of that liturgy understood and valued about that saint in their community. Liturgies composed specifically in honour of a particular saint thus understandably dominate the scholarship. This article instead spotlights the Commune sanctorum, those materials able to be used for the liturgy of any saint in a given saintly category. I show how Commune sanctoru

Kant on Citizenship and Poverty

Nicholas Vrousalis · Erasmus University Rotterdam · NL

According to Kant, citizenship amounts to freedom (Freiheit), equality (Gleichheit), and civil self-sufficiency (Selbständigkeit). This Element provides a unifying interpretation of these three elements. Vrousalis argues that Kant affirms the idea of interdependent independence: in the just society, citizens have independent use of their interdependent rightful powers. Kant therefore thinks of the modern state as a system of cooperative production, in which reciprocal entitlements to one another

How does Graph Structure Modulate Membership-Inference Risk for Graph Neural Networks?

Megha Khosla

Graph neural networks (GNNs) are widely used for tasks such as node classification and link prediction, but their use in sensitive settings raises concerns about training-data leakage. Prior work on privacy leakage in GNNs largely borrows assumptions from non-graph domains, overlooking the role of graph structure. We argue for a graph-specific analysis of privacy risk and study how graph structure affects node-level membership inference. We formalize membership inference (MI) over node-neighborh

Breaking down ALD:Investigating pathomechanisms using hiPSC-derived CNS models

R. Montoro Ferrer

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-align:justify;line-height: 115%">Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) is an X-linked peroxisomal neurometabolic disorder caused by pathogenic variants in the <i>ABCD1</i> gene, resulting in impaired peroxisomal ß-oxidation and accumulation of very long-chain fatty acids (VLCFA). ALD clinical presentation is heterogeneous and unpredictable, including progressive spinal cord axonal degeneration, adrenal insufficiency, and leukodystrophy. Although VLCFA ac

Uncertainty-aware machine learning for core-loss background subtraction in EELS

Sònia Conesa-Boj · Delft University of Technology · NL

Abstract Quantitative electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) critically depends on accurate background subtraction, yet standard approaches rely on deterministic parametric fits and provide no statistically rigorous uncertainty estimates. This limitation is particularly severe in the core-loss regime, where the background must be extrapolated into the ionisation-edge window, hindering reliable and automated analyses. Here, we introduce a physics-informed, uncertainty-aware machine learning fra

Phytoglobin 1 in plant hypoxia acclimation and development: integrating oxygen sensing, nitric oxide homeostasis, and redox balance

Elmar van der Wijk · Radboud University Nijmegen · NL

Hypoxia is integral to the plant life cycle, occurring during both development and environmental stresses like flooding. The class I phytoglobins (PGB1s) have emerged as important regulators of plant hypoxia responses in both these contexts due to their multifaceted roles in nitric oxide (NO) and ROS homeostasis, and alternative energy generation. Physiological PGB1 expression overlaps with developmental hypoxic niches, facilitating hypoxic energy generation through the PGB1-NO cycle. Sustained

Too honest and humble to run for office? Citizens’ personality traits, nascent ambition and recruitment’

Marc van de Wardt

Pupil size reflects the content of covertly attended afterimages

Ana Vilotijević · University of Groningen · NL

Does attention operate within afterimages? Here we show that it does, using a novel pupillometry-based paradigm. Participants fixated centrally while bright and dark peripheral stimuli were presented, and a central cue directed attention to one of them. Over time, the stimuli perceptually faded due to adaptation and were then removed, leaving strong, negative afterimages. We found that pupil size tracked the brightness of the attended stimulus both during perceptual fading, when stimuli were pre

Extracting production fractions of $b$ hadrons from exclusive semi-leptonic decays

Carolina Bolognani

Ratios of production fractions of $b$ hadrons are a dominant source of uncertainty in many LHC analyses, in particular in measurements with $B_s$ mesons. The currently used value for $f_s/f_d$ is based on a combination of hadronic and semi-inclusive semi-leptonic decays, and relies in part on assumptions about the underlying decays that are hard to quantify. We propose an independent alternative method to obtain this quantity by measuring ratios of the exclusive semi-leptonic decays $\bar B_{(s)

Bootstrapping GARCH models under dependent innovations

Barend Spanjers · Tinbergen Institute · NL

Abstract This study reflects on the inconsistency of the fixed-design residual bootstrap procedure for GARCH models under dependent innovations. We introduce a recursive- design residual block bootstrap procedure to accurately quantify the uncertainty around parameter estimates and the next period’s volatility. A simulation study provides evidence for the validity of the recursive-design residual block bootstrap under dependent innovations. The resulting confidence intervals are not only valid b

Summarizing classed region maps with a disk choreme

Steven van den Broek · Eindhoven University of Technology · NL

Chorematic diagrams are highly reduced schematic maps of geospatial data and processes. They can visually summarize complex situations using only a few simple shapes (choremes) placed upon a simplified base map. Due to the extreme reduction of data in chorematic diagrams, they tend to be produced manually; few automated solutions exist. In this paper we consider the algorithmic problem of summarizing classed region maps, such as choropleth or land use maps, using a chorematic diagram with a sing

A Novel APP p.V742L variant in a patient with ischemic small vessel disease enhances FE65 signalling

Ronald A.M. Buijsen · Leiden University Medical Center · NL

Pathogenic variants in the amyloid precursor protein gene (APP) have been linked to Alzheimer's disease and intracerebral haemorrhage resulting from cerebral amyloid angiopathy. In these disorders, variants are generally located within or surrounding the amyloid-beta domain of APP and mostly increase the production or aggregation properties of the toxic amyloid-beta peptide. Here, we report a novel APP p.V742L variant in the APP intracellular domain (AICD) in a patient with a clinical and neuror

Dynamic Iodide Regeneration Enabled by Piperazine‐Tailored PCBM Interfaces for Photothermally Stable and Efficient Inverted Perovskite Photovoltaics

Shuxia Tao · Eindhoven University of Technology · NL

release through robust N···I halogen-bonding (XB) interactions, while simultaneously promoting I─I bond cleavage and restoration of iodide ions, consistent with theoretical insights. This coupled "iodine adsorption-dissociation" behavior, unprecedented among previously reported XB acceptors, enables dynamic self-repair of iodine vacancy defects. Consequently, inverted PSCs incorporating PCBM-PA exhibit outstanding photothermal stability, retaining over 93% of their initial efficiency after 1000

Anaerobic sulfide removal involves an intricate interplay between biomass, biosulfur, and solutes

Annemiek ter Heijne · Wageningen University & Research · NL

In the biodesulfurisation process harmful sulfide is converted to sulfur by sulfide oxidising bacteria (SOB), using oxygen as terminal electron acceptor. Surprisingly, in this process sulfide is already removed before oxygen is consumed. Therefore, sulfide and/or charge is being shuttled between sulfide removal and terminal electron transfer. Previously, it was thought that the bacteria themselves were the exclusive "electron shuttlers". Patterns in sulfide concentration and oxygen reduction pot

Synchronized modulation Kelvin probe force microscopy for surface photovoltage studies in optoelectronic systems

Rebecca Saive · University of Twente · NL

We introduce synchronized modulation Kelvin probe force microscopy (SM-KPFM), an in-operando technique that synchronizes external stimulus modulation, such as illumination or bias, with the scanning direction of the atomic force microscope to minimize artifacts from drift, thermal effects, and probe degradation. In synchronized illumination KPFM, the sample is illuminated during retrace and dark during trace, enabling real-time comparison of surface potentials within a single raster frame. At th

Deep behavioral phenotyping of pathogen infected mosquitoes reveals species-specific behavior changes enhancing transmission

Felix JH Hol · Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · FR

Abstract Mosquito-borne pathogens are often proposed to alter mosquito behavior to enhance transmission, yet the prevalence, magnitude, and consequences of such effects remain unclear. Using custom high- throughput behavioral assays and deep-learning analysis, we quantified the blood-feeding behavior of more than 5,000 mosquitoes, and long-term activity patterns of more than 1,000 mosquitoes across six clinically relevant mosquito–pathogen combinations. Infection effects were highly species-spec

Suspension cultivation of mosquito cell lines for the production of the mosquito-borne flavivirus Usutu virus in a stirred-tank bioreactor

Dennis Kenbeek · Wageningen University & Research · NL

Mosquito-borne pathogens are a global health burden. The realization of a scalable serum-free mosquito cell suspension cultivation method would enable the production of novel biotechnological products, including vaccines, recombinant proteins, and (modified) viruses for biological control. This study reports the adaptation of two Aedes-derived cell lines, C6/36 and U4.4, to serum-free suspension conditions using the chemically defined EX-CELL medium. Both cell lines achieved high cell concentrat

Does heat tolerance vary with rates of oxygen production in photosymbiotic cnidarians?

Elise M. J. Laetz · University of Groningen · NL

Oxygen acquisition and delivery to tissues is believed to be a key factor in heat tolerance, but testing this link has been challenging owing to methodological limitations to separate processes related to oxygen acquisition and oxygen delivery. In this study, we altered tissue oxygenation by manipulating light intensity using cnidarians that host endosymbiotic algae as model species. We first verified that light intensity determines net photosynthetic rates, showing that all species produced oxy

Electrically tunable strong coupling in a hybrid-2D excitonic metasurface for optical modulation

T.H. Hoekstra · University of Amsterdam · NL

Atomically thin semiconductors exhibit tunable exciton resonances that can be harnessed for dynamic manipulation of visible light in ultra-compact metadevices. However, the rapid nonradiative decay and dephasing of excitons at room temperature limit current active excitonic metasurfaces to a few-percent efficiencies. Here, we leverage the combined merits of pristine 2D heterostructures and non-local dielectric metasurfaces to enhance the excitonic light-matter interaction, achieving strong and e

Charge reversal at the Lhcb2 N-terminus impairs phosphorylation and PSI–LHCII complex formation

Emilie Wientjes · Wageningen University & Research · NL

State transitions balance excitation-energy distribution between Photosystem I and Photosystem II in higher plants. Stn7-mediated phosphorylation of the N-terminus of the light-harvesting complex II protein Lhcb2 plays a central role in photosynthetic state transitions. However, it remains unclear how the intrinsic charge of this region, independent of its phosphorylation status, influences state transitions and thylakoid membrane organization. Here, we introduced specific charge-altering mutati

Entanglement Recycling in Two-Step Port-Based Teleportation

Piotr Kopszak · Institute of Theoretical Physics · CN

A protocol involving the repetitive (twofold, to be precise) application of PBT protocol to the same resource is studied. The quantities characterizing the resulting protocol, so-called \textit{two-step PBT}, namely \textit{enatnglement fidelity} and \textit{success probability} are provided for two scenarios, relying on application of pretty-good measurement, i.e. deterministic and probabilistic PBT with non-EPR resource. This results show that two-step PBT is an accurate protocol, provided the

Enhancing plasmonic superconductivity in layered materials via dynamical Coulomb engineering

Y. in ’t Veld · Universität Hamburg · DE

screening as a method for precisely tailoring bosonic modes to optimize many-body properties. We show that "bosonic engineering" of plasmon modes can be used to enhance plasmon-induced superconducting critical temperatures of layered superconductors in metallic environments by up to an order of magnitude, due to the formation of interlayer hybridized plasmon modes with enhanced superconducting pairing strength. We determine optimal properties of the screening environment to maximize critical tem

Refractive index of milk fat globules and extracellular vesicles in human milk

Nienke Bosschaart · University of Twente · NL

This work provides insight into the refractive index of particles in human milk, which is essential for understanding milk-light interactions. Importantly, applying bovine MFG refractive index values in laser diffraction analysis for human MFGs can lead to significant errors in the estimation of particle size distributions.

Trotter error and gate complexity of the SYK and sparse SYK models

Yiyuan Chen · University of Amsterdam · NL

The Sachdev–Ye–Kitaev (SYK) model is a prominent model of strongly interacting fermions that serves as a toy model of quantum gravity and black hole physics. In this work, we study the Trotter error and gate complexity of the quantum simulation of the SYK model using Lie–Trotter–Suzuki formulas. Building on recent results by Chen and Brandão \cite{Anthony} — in particular their uniform smoothing technique for random matrix polynomials — we derive bounds on the first- and higher-order Trotter err

Bayesian Inference of Local Paleosecular Variation From Sparse Paleomagnetic Data

M. A. Schanner · GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences · DE

Abstract We introduce a novel Bayesian method to construct local paleosecular variation (PSV) curves. By modeling the geomagnetic field as a Gaussian process, global models can be incorporated as informative prior distributions. Because we use Hamiltonian Monte‐Carlo methods, complex age distributions resulting for example from radiocarbon calibration can be incorporated in the model. This improves PSV reconstruction in poorly sampled intervals and allows age refinement of individual records. We

Iron and nitrogen stress controls summertime biogeochemistry in the high‐latitude North Atlantic

Willem H. van de Poll · University of Groningen · NL

Abstract High‐latitude North Atlantic currents (60°–70°N) exhibit contrasting nutrient stoichiometries, but the spatial extent of post‐spring bloom iron (Fe) and nitrogen (N) stress on phytoplankton around Iceland remains poorly constrained. Here we pair in situ biogeochemical characteristics with 72 h Fe and N addition experiments in the East Greenland Current (EGC), Irminger Current (IC), Atlantic Current (AC), and East Icelandic Current (EIC) regions. Dissolved iron (dFe) was elevated in the

The revised practitioner’s guide to MDP model checking algorithms

Arnd Hartmanns · University of Twente · NL

Abstract Model checking undiscounted reachability and expected-reward properties on Markov decision processes (MDPs) are key for the verification of systems that act under uncertainty. Popular algorithms are policy iteration and variants of value iteration; in tool competitions, most participants rely on the latter. These algorithms generally need worst-case exponential time. However, the problem can equally be formulated as a linear programme, solvable in polynomial time. In this paper, we give

Yang-Mills topology on four-dimensional triangulations

Giuseppe Clemente · University of Pisa · IT

We consider 4D <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <a:mi>S</a:mi> <a:mi>U</a:mi> <a:mo stretchy="false">(</a:mo> <a:mi>N</a:mi> <a:mo stretchy="false">)</a:mo> </a:math> gauge theories coupled to gravity in the causal dynamical triangulation (CDT) approach, focusing on the topological classification of the gauge path integral over fixed triangulations. We discretize the topological charge and, after checking the emergence of topology and the continuum scaling o

Optimizing information transmission in optogenetic Wnt signaling

Olivier Witteveen · Delft University of Technology · NL

Populations of cells regulate gene expression in response to external signals, but their ability to make reliable collective decisions is limited by both intrinsic noise in molecular signaling and variability between individual cells. In this work, we use optogenetic control of the canonical Wnt pathway as an example to study how reliably information about an external signal is transmitted to a population of cells, and determine an optimal encoding strategy to maximize information transmission f

Nitroreductase-triggered indazole formation

Henrik Terholsen · University of Groningen · NL

Biocatalysis contributes significantly to the development of more sustainable synthetic pathways by using mild reaction conditions and water as a solvent. However, many relevant classes of compounds, including privileged groups in drug design, are not yet accessible via enzymatic pathways. In this context, the development of an enzymatic route to indazoles remains an unmet challenge. Here, we present a nitroreductase-triggered indazole formation, in which 2-nitrobenzylamine derivatives are conve

Iron and nitrogen stress controls summertime biogeochemistry in the high‐latitude North Atlantic

Willem H. van de Poll · University of Groningen · NL

Abstract High‐latitude North Atlantic currents (60°–70°N) exhibit contrasting nutrient stoichiometries, but the spatial extent of post‐spring bloom iron (Fe) and nitrogen (N) stress on phytoplankton around Iceland remains poorly constrained. Here we pair in situ biogeochemical characteristics with 72 h Fe and N addition experiments in the East Greenland Current (EGC), Irminger Current (IC), Atlantic Current (AC), and East Icelandic Current (EIC) regions. Dissolved iron (dFe) was elevated in the

Optional subject indexing in spontaneous speech in Modern Persian

Pegah Faghiri · Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · FR

Abstract This article presents a case of (non-canonical) optional subject marking observed exclusively in spontaneous speech. Persian is a pro-drop language with obligatory subject agreement marked by verbal suffixes and a set of clitic pronouns serving different functions, e.g., pronominal objects encliticized to the verb. In standard Persian, subject agreement for the 3rd person singular (3SG) is consistently realized by zero in past tenses; however, as shown in this study, in spoken language,

The molecular mechanism and activity of <i>Kuenenia stuttgartiensis</i> hydrazine synthase

Laura van Niftrik · Radboud University Nijmegen · NL

Abstract Anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing (anammox) bacteria convert ammonium and nitrite into dinitrogen gas via the intermediates nitric oxide and hydrazine. To produce hydrazine, anammox bacteria harbor a biochemically unique enzyme: hydrazine synthase. Based on the hydrazine synthase crystal structure it was hypothesized that hydrazine is produced in a two-step mechanism. In this hypothesis, nitric oxide is first reduced to hydroxylamine (first half-reaction), followed by condensation of hydroxy

Academic collaborations and movements towards successful careers in physics

Mingrong She

Collaboration networks evolve throughout academic careers, yet few studies systematically examine how these network dynamics relate to long-term career success and mobility. Analysing 35,708 physicists' careers spanning at least 15 years, we use time series clustering to identify ten distinct evolution patterns of network size and clustering coefficient across career years 5 to 15. We report three key results. First, authors who begin with loosely connected networks and progressively tighten the

Ocean acidification alters hypoxia sensitivity and oxyregulation in reef-building corals

Rene M. van der Zande · University of Amsterdam · NL

Coastal marine ecosystems are increasingly threatened by multiple stressors such as ocean acidification and deoxygenation, but how these co-occurring stressors interact is often poorly understood. This is especially true for tropical coral reefs where deoxygenation is an emerging yet understudied threat. Using hypoxia response curves combined with rigorous pH control, we show that acidification alters hypoxia sensitivity and oxyregulation of reef-building corals in a species-specific manner: thr

A differentiable software suite for accelerated simulation of turbulent flows

Syver Døving Agdestein

We present IncompressibleNavierStokes.jl, an open-source Julia package for solving the incompressible Navier--Stokes equations on staggered Cartesian grids. The package features matrix-free, hardware-agnostic kernels that are compiled from a single source for multi-threaded CPU or GPU execution, and hand-written adjoint kernels for all discrete operators, enabling efficient reverse-mode automatic differentiation through the entire solver. This differentiability allows neural network closure mode

Photoengineering the magnon spectrum in an insulating antiferromagnet

V. Radovskaia · Radboud University Nijmegen · NL

An Earth system deep learning classifier for tipping point detection

Madleen Grohganz · Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research · NL

Abstract. Tipping points are thresholds at which a system, often abruptly and irreversibly, transitions from a stable state to a contrasting one. Crossing such critical boundaries poses a risk to Earth system stability and may have catastrophic consequences. This is especially relevant, as current climate change is destabilizing Earth subsystems, potentially bringing them closer to tipping points. Thus, it is important to be able to detect approaching tipping points in the Earth’s system, which

We need to understand economic inequality from children’s perspectives

Eddie Brummelman · Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences · NL

Economic inequality is on the rise, and children will bear its burden. Yet children’s perspectives are rarely considered. We urgently need interdisciplinary research to better understand how inequality gets into children’s heads and under their skins, and to inform policies that center children’s lived experiences. Economic inequality is on the rise, and children will bear its burden. Yet children’s perspectives are rarely considered. We urgently need interdisciplinary research to better underst

Heat Tolerance and Its Plasticity in Freshwater and Marine Fishes Reflect Exposure to Extremes and Seasonal Variation in Habitat Temperatures

Wilco C. E. P. Verberk · Radboud University Nijmegen · NL

Large-scale investigations of patterns in heat tolerance often use latitude as a proxy for thermal conditions. We examined how heat tolerance of fishes and its plasticity relate to thermal extremes and seasonal fluctuations in habitat temperatures. Our dataset included over 3000 heat tolerance measurements from 500+ fish species inhabiting freshwater, marine and brackish environments. While heat tolerance varied with latitude, extremes and seasonal fluctuations in temperature better explained th

Detecting glycosyl-oxonium and glycosyl-nitrilium ions using exchange NMR to investigate solvent effects in glycosylation reactions

Frank F. J. de Kleijne · Radboud University Nijmegen · NL

The stereoselective synthesis of glycosidic bonds can be promoted by the addition of stereodirecting solvents. In particular, nitrile and ether based solvents are known to promote the selective production of β- or α-glycosides, respectively. Even though the application of co-solvents in glycosylation protocols is well-established, the understanding of their impact on the glycosylation mechanism as well as the reaction intermediates formed upon their addition, remains incomplete. As the exact mec

Isotropic 3D topological phases with broken time reversal symmetry

Hélène Spring · Delft University of Technology · NL

Axial vectors, such as current or magnetization, are commonly used order parameters in time-reversal symmetry breaking systems. These vectors also break isotropy in three dimensional systems, lowering the spatial symmetry. We demonstrate that it is possible to construct a three-dimensional medium with average isotropy and inversion symmetry where time-reversal symmetry is systematically broken. We devise a model of an amorphous material with scalar time-reversal symmetry breaking, implemented by

Closing editorial for the special issue of cortex: Neurocognitive perspectives on discourse and connected language

Jamie Reilly · Temple University · US

Shared and distinct oscillatory fingerprints underlying episodic memory and word retrieval

Britta U. Westner · Radboud University Nijmegen · NL

Abstract Both episodic memory and word retrieval have been linked to power decreases in the alpha and beta oscillatory bands, but these patterns have rarely been related to each other, partly due to a lack of methodological approaches available. In this explorative study, we investigate the similarities and dissimilarities in the oscillatory fingerprints of the retrieval of words and episodes by directly comparing the activity patterns across time, frequency, and space. We acquired electroenceph

<i>It’s Haram, but Who Am I to Judge?</i> Exploring and Unpacking Muslims’ Religious Perspectives Toward Homosexuality

Samira Azabar · Radboud University Nijmegen · NL

Across Europe, Muslims are generally portrayed as opposing homosexuality; however, recent studies have shown that the relationship between Muslims and homosexuality is more complex. In this study, we try to further understand how Islamic religiosity shapes Dutch Muslims' (multilayered) perspectives on sexual orientation (and, connectedly, sexuality and gender identity) in the Netherlands, while taking an intersectional perspective particularly regarding people's gender, generation, parenthood, a

An expanded reference catalog of translated open reading frames for biomedical research

Sonia Chothani · Agency for Science, Technology and Research · SG

Non-canonical (i.e. unannotated) open reading frames (ncORFs) have until recently been omitted from reference genome annotations, despite evidence of their translation, limiting their incorporation into biomedical research. To address this, in 2022, we initiated the TransCODE consortium and built the first community-driven consensus catalog of human ncORFs, which was openly distributed to the research community via Ensembl-GENCODE. While this catalog represented a starting point for reference nc

Hybrid-2D Excitonic Metasurfaces for Complex Amplitude Modulation

Tom Hoekstra

Dynamic control of visible light is crucial for technologies such as holographic displays and adaptive optics. Passive metasurfaces can shape wavefronts at the subwavelength scale and active metasurfaces promise to extend this functionality into the temporal domain. However, existing metasurfaces for dynamic phase manipulation typically cannot deliver phase modulation across a broad range without causing variations in the scattering amplitude. Here, we use an inverse-design pipeline to numerical

Ferromagnetic interlayer exchange coupling in a few layers of CrSBr on a gold thin film

Rixt Bosma

The two-dimensional character of van der Waals magnets allows for efficient control of their properties via proximity effects and electrical stimuli, making them promising candidates for application in spin-electronics. We use spin-polarized low energy electron microscopy to directly image the magnetic texture of thin CrSBr on top of a Au film, uncovering a ferromagnetic ground state for CrSBr thicknesses smaller than 11 nm. We argue that the stabilization of the ferromagnetic ordering - as comp

Uneven distribution of multi-pollutant hotspots worldwide: river exports to seas and their global change drivers in the future

Ilaria Micella · Wageningen University & Research · NL

Uneven distribution of multi-pollutant hotspots worldwide: river exports to seas and their global change drivers in the future, Micella, Ilaria, Bak, Mirjam P, Dürr, Hans H, Jones, Edward R, Kumar, Rohini, Nkwasa, Albert, Suresh, Keerthana, Tang, Ting, van Vliet, Michelle T H, Wang, Mengru, Strokal, Maryna

Mini-bacterioferritins: structural insight into a ferritin-like protein from the anaerobic methane-oxidising archaeon Candidatus Methanoperedens carboxydivorans

Martijn Wissink · Radboud University Nijmegen · NL

Ferritins are ubiquitous among life forms, as they are essential for iron homeostasis. Here, we unveiled a novel member of the ferritin family, baptised mini-bacterioferritin. The characterised mini-bacterioferritin was isolated from a microbial enrichment dominated by the methanotrophic archaeon 'Candidatus Methanoperedens carboxydivorans'. Its atomic resolution crystal structure reveals a 12-mer assembly with a diiron ferroxidase centre located within a four-helix bundle. Redox-cycling experim

Globalized Adversarial Regret Optimization: Robust Decisions with Uncalibrated Predictions

Jannis Kurtz

Optimization problems routinely depend on uncertain parameters that must be predicted before a decision is made. Classical robust and regret formulations are designed to handle erroneous predictions and can provide statistical error bounds in simple settings. However, when predictions lack rigorous error bounds (as is typical of modern machine learning methods) classical robust models often yield vacuous guarantees, while regret formulations can paradoxically produce decisions that are more opti

Clusterpath Gaussian Graphical Modeling

Daniel J.W. Touw · Erasmus University Rotterdam · NL

Graphical models serve as effective tools for visualizing conditional dependencies between variables. However, as the number of variables grows, interpretation becomes increasingly difficult, and estimation uncertainty increases due to the large number of parameters relative to the number of observations. To address these challenges, we introduce the <i>Clusterpath estimator of the Gaussian Graphical Model</i> (CGGM) that encourages variable clustering in the graphical model in a data-driven way

Affinity voting in Europe: the impact of religion, migration background and gender on preferences for in-group politicians

Sanne van Oosten · University of Oxford · GB

Abstract To what extent does sharing the same religion, migration background and gender versus policy positions impact voting? Most evidence comes from the US and majority populations, but European minorities may respond differently. In this study, respondents from France, Germany and the Netherlands choose between profiles of hypothetical politicians with randomised politician religion, migration background, gender and policy positions. Oversampling voters with a migration background ( N = 1,88

Bilayer acoustic force spectroscopy (BAFS) for quantifying receptor-antigen binding strength in immune synapses

Kristina A. Ganzinger · Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics · NL

Abstract Immune cell receptor – ligand interactions are key to cancer immunotherapy. However, receptor-ligand affinities often fail to predict T-cell mediated cancer killing, while immune-target cell binding strength measurements are limited by low precision and high non-specific binding. Here we present bilayer acoustic force spectroscopy (BAFS), a method to quantify the binding strength of receptors in immune synapses that virtually eliminates non-specific binding and increases the resolving p

X‐ray Fluorescence Microscopy Computed Tomography Reveals Internal Distribution of Selenium in Hyperaccumulator Plant Seeds

Antony van der Ent · Wageningen University & Research · NL

ABSTRACT Selenium hyperaccumulators are plants able to accumulate over 1000 μg selenium g −1 in their shoots while growing in their natural environments. The most studied selenium hyperaccumulators are Astragalus bisulcatus , Neptunia amplexicaulis (Fabaceae), and Stanleya pinnata (Brassicaceae). To date, several studies have investigated selenium distribution in these species, most of which have focused on the leaves and roots. Other plant organs, such as seeds, remain poorly investigated. In t

Clusterpath Gaussian Graphical Modeling

Daniel J.W. Touw · Erasmus University Rotterdam · NL

Graphical models serve as effective tools for visualizing conditional dependencies between variables. However, as the number of variables grows, interpretation becomes increasingly difficult, and estimation uncertainty increases due to the large number of parameters relative to the number of observations. To address these challenges, we introduce the <i>Clusterpath estimator of the Gaussian Graphical Model</i> (CGGM) that encourages variable clustering in the graphical model in a data-driven way

The SPHINX public data release

Valentin Mauerhofer · University of Groningen · NL

Context. Low-ionisation state (LIS) metal absorption lines, such as Si II λ 1526, are widely used to trace the properties and dynamics of the interstellar medium (ISM) in galaxies. These lines provide crucial insights into galaxy evolution, including feedback mechanisms, metal enrichment, and the escape fraction of ionising photons ( f esc ) during the epoch of reionisation. Aims. We expand our understanding of LIS absorption lines as diagnostic tools for ISM properties and f esc . Using the hig

The SPHINX public data release

Valentin Mauerhofer · University of Groningen · NL

Context. Low-ionisation state (LIS) metal absorption lines, such as Si II λ 1526, are widely used to trace the properties and dynamics of the interstellar medium (ISM) in galaxies. These lines provide crucial insights into galaxy evolution, including feedback mechanisms, metal enrichment, and the escape fraction of ionising photons ( f esc ) during the epoch of reionisation. Aims. We expand our understanding of LIS absorption lines as diagnostic tools for ISM properties and f esc . Using the hig

Topological Effects in Neural Network Field Theory

Christian Ferko

Neural network field theory formulates field theory as a statistical ensemble of fields defined by a network architecture and a density on its parameters. We extend the construction to topological settings via the inclusion of discrete parameters that label the topological quantum number. We recover the Berezinskii--Kosterlitz--Thouless transition, including the spin-wave critical line and the proliferation of vortices at high temperatures. We also verify the T-duality of the bosonic string, sho

Analysis of Presurgical Language in Children with Posterior Fossa Tumours Relative to Postoperative Speech Outcomes: Findings from the European CMS Study

Vânia de Aguiar · University Medical Center Groningen · NL

Posterior Fossa Syndrome is a common complication in children following posterior fossa tumour surgery, typically marked by transient postoperative speech impairment (POSI; i.e., mutism or reduced speech). Previous studies suggest that children who develop POSI show different language profiles postoperatively compared to those who do not. It remains unclear to what extent these language difficulties exist preoperatively and whether preoperative language difficulties are related to postoperative

The SPHINX public data release

Valentin Mauerhofer · University of Groningen · NL

Context. Low-ionisation state (LIS) metal absorption lines, such as Si II λ 1526, are widely used to trace the properties and dynamics of the interstellar medium (ISM) in galaxies. These lines provide crucial insights into galaxy evolution, including feedback mechanisms, metal enrichment, and the escape fraction of ionising photons ( f esc ) during the epoch of reionisation. Aims. We expand our understanding of LIS absorption lines as diagnostic tools for ISM properties and f esc . Using the hig

Kodaira dimension of moduli spaces of hyperkähler varieties

Laure Flapan

We study the Kodaira dimension of moduli spaces of polarized hyperkähler varieties deformation equivalent to the Hilbert scheme of points on a K3 surface or to O'Grady's ten-dimensional variety.This question was studied by Gritsenko-Hulek-Sankaran in the cases of K3 [2] -and OG10-type when the divisibility of the polarization is 1.We generalize their results to higher dimension and divisibility.As a main result, for almost all dimensions 2n, we provide a lower bound on the degree such that for a

Generic Security of the Ascon Mode: On the Power of Key Blinding

Bart Mennink · Radboud University Nijmegen · NL

Lactate controls cancer stemness and plasticity through epigenetic regulation

Maria J. Rodríguez Colman · Heidelberg University · DE

Tumors arise from uncontrolled cell proliferation driven by mutations in genes that regulate stem cell renewal and differentiation. Intestinal tumors, however, retain some hierarchical organization, maintaining both cancer stem cells (CSCs) and cancer differentiated cells (CDCs). This heterogeneity, coupled with cellular plasticity enabling CDCs to revert to CSCs, contributes to therapy resistance and relapse. Using genetically encoded fluorescent reporters in human tumor organoids, combined wit

How populist citizens see the people and their place in representative democracy

Rosa Kindt · Radboud University Nijmegen · NL

As democracy is often described as government of the people, by the people, and for the people, determining who constitutes ‘the people’ is essential for the working of democracy. Somewhat surprisingly, only populists have embraced this term as a regular part of their rhetoric. This begs the question: Who are/should be the people who hold power and are represented? No research has yet empirically established how citizens conceptualise the people or how this relates to their representation prefer

The persistent Laplacian of non-branching complexes

Rui Dong · Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam · NL

Non-branching matrices are real matrices with entries in $ \{-1, 0, 1\} $, where each row contains at most two non-zero entries. Such matrices naturally arise in the study of Laplacians of pseudomanifolds and cubical complexes. We show that a basis for the kernel of a non-branching matrix can be computed in near-linear time. Specifically, the basis has the special property that the supports of all the column vectors in it are disjoint with each other. Building on this result, we show that the up

To Oppose or Not to Oppose? Strategies of Opposition Parties’ Parliamentary Support for Government Legislation

Rick L. van Well · Leiden University · NL

Abstract While opposition parties are expected to challenge the government and present alternatives, they often support government legislation. Synthesizing key theoretical explanations, this study examines how opposition parties weigh their goals of winning the next elections, joining or replacing the government and influencing policy. It is hypothesized that opposition parties are more likely to oppose bills when they see chances for boosting their electoral prospects or an early government al

Language Learning as a Non-Pharmacological Intervention in Older Adults with (Past) Depression

J.G. Brouwer · University Medical Center Groningen · NL

Background: Language learning has been proposed as a non-pharmacological intervention to promote healthy aging. This intervention has not been studied in older adults with a history of depression, who experience high prevalence of cognitive dysfunction. This small-scale study was the first to investigate the potential efficacy of language learning in older adults with (past) depression. Methods: Data on psychosocial well-being, cognitive functioning, and language outcomes were collected in ninet

Startling acoustic stimuli hasten reflexive choice reaching tasks by enhancing, but not changing the timing of, express visuomotor responses

Brian D. Corneil · Western University · CA

Responding to an external stimulus takes ∼200 ms, but this can be shortened to as little as ∼120 ms with the additional presentation of a startling acoustic stimulus. This phenomenon is hypothesized to arise from the involuntary release of a prepared movement (a StartReact effect). However, a startling acoustic stimulus also expedites rapid mid-flight, reactive adjustments to unpredictably displaced targets which could not have been prepared in advance. We surmise that for such rapid visuomotor

Wound-induced eyespots on butterfly wings at the intersection of immune response and pigmentation development

Patrícia Beldade · Sustainability Institute · ZA

BACKGROUND: Butterfly eyespots are striking examples of evolutionary novelty arising through the repurposing of ancestral genetic pathways, including pathways involved in wound healing. Given the activation of the immune system during wound healing and the known links between immunity and pigmentation, we hypothesized that the immune response triggered by wounding contributes to the formation of wound-induced ectopic eyespots on butterfly wings. RESULTS: We tested this hypothesis by wounding the

The role of financial scarcity in the relationship between income and health behaviors: a causal mediation analysis

Frank J. van Lenthe · Erasmus MC · NL

BACKGROUND: Financial scarcity is an increasing problem and health behaviors may be impaired by subjective experience of stress due to financial scarcity. Financial scarcity is a stress-response to having insufficient financial means and may affect cognitive functioning. This study aimed to assess whether financial scarcity mediates the association between income and health behaviors. METHODS: We used self-reported cross-sectional data of 2379 adults from the 2021 wave of the Dutch population-ba

Cryo-EM resolves the structure of the archaeal dsDNA virus HFTV1 from head to tail

Bertram Daum · University of Exeter · GB

While archaeal viruses show a stunning diversity of morphologies, many bear a notable resemblance to tailed bacterial phages. This raises fundamental questions: Do all tailed viruses share a common origin and do they infect their hosts in similar ways? Answering these questions requires high-resolution structural insights, yet no complete atomic models of archaeal viruses have been available. Here, we present the near-atomic resolution structure of Haloferax tailed virus 1 (HFTV1), an archaeal v

Mechanistic dissection of GRHL2 and PR transcriptional co-regulation in breast cells

Renée van Amerongen · University of Amsterdam · NL

Abstract Gene expression is controlled by complex transcriptional networks in which transcription factors and their cognate enhancer elements integrate developmental and environmental cues. The progesterone receptor (PR), a hormone-activated transcription factor, is essential for breast development and physiology, yet how it engages with the chromatin and lineage-specific cofactors remains unclear. Using an unbiased approach, we identify the epithelial transcription factor grainyhead-like 2 (GRH

Fungal-mediated soil aggregation as a mechanism for carbon stabilization

Elly Morriën · Institute for Biodiversity · DE

Soils can potentially be turned into net carbon sinks for atmospheric carbon to offset anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Occlusion of soil organic carbon in soil aggregates is a key mechanism, which temporarily protects it from decomposition by soil organisms. Filamentous fungi are recognized for their positive role in the formation and stabilization of aggregates. In this review, we assess the current knowledge of the contribution of fungi to soil aggregation and set a new research agenda

Near optimal bounds for weak and strong spatial mixing for the anti-ferromagnetic Potts model on trees

Guus Regts · Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam · NL

We show that the anti-ferromagnetic Potts model on trees exhibits strong spatial mixing for a near-optimal range of parameters. Our work complements recent results of Chen, Liu, Mani, and Moitra [CLMM23] who showed this to be true in the infinite temperature setting, corresponding to uniform proper colorings. We furthermore prove weak spatial mixing results complementing results in [CLMM23].

Fabrication and Characterization of Bimetallic Silica-Based and 3D-Printed Active Colloidal Cubes

Daniela J. Kraft · Huygens Institute for History and Culture of the Netherlands · NL

Simulations on self-propelling active cubes reveal interesting behaviors at both the individual and the collective level, emphasizing the importance of developing experimental analogues that allow testing these theoretical predictions. The majority of experimental realizations of active colloidal cubes rely on light actuation and/or magnetic fields to have a persistent active mechanism and lack material versatility. Here, we propose a system of active bimetallic cubes whose propulsion mechanism

Classifying merger stages with adaptive deep learning and cosmological hydrodynamical simulations

Mike Walmsley

Aims. Hierarchical merging of galaxies plays an important role in galaxy formation and evolution. Mergers could trigger key evolutionary phases such as starburst activities and active accretion periods onto supermassive black holes at the centres of galaxies. We aim to detect mergers and merger stages (pre- and post-mergers) across cosmic history. Our main goal is to test whether it is more beneficial to detect mergers and their merger stages simultaneously or hierarchically. In addition, we wis

Robots en nuestra niebla: Una etnógrafa en el nuevo mundo laboral

Anastasia V. Sergeeva

¿Qué significan los robots en el futuro del trabajo? Si bien las imágenes de unos robots cada vez más capacitados nos fascinan una y otra vez, los relatos situados de robots en funcionamiento ilustran un panorama radicalmente diferente. Basándome en las teorías de la inseparabilidad entre las agencias humanas y las máquinas y en las etnografías de los robots en la cirugía, la hostelería y el cuidado de personas mayores, analizo cómo, en lugar de automatización, los robots dan como resultado reco

Confronting Europe’s toxics trade from below: the contested global legacy of the 1976 Seveso disaster

Koen van Zon · Radboud University Nijmegen · NL

The 1976 Seveso disaster and its scandal-ridden aftermath had a lasting legacy that extended to the European Community (EC) and even beyond. When hazardous waste from the Seveso disaster site went missing, it generated a pan-European media scandal and a powerful symbol of the risks that modern industrialized capitalism produced. The scandal also revealed the perverse mechanisms that facilitated and even encouraged the dumping of chemical waste in and outside Europe. A variety of societal groups,

Refined Chabauty–Kim computations for the thrice-punctured line over $$\mathbb {Z}[1/6]$$

Martin Lüdtke · University of Groningen · NL

Abstract The Chabauty–Kim method and its refined variant by Betts and Dogra aim to cut out the S -integral points $$X(\mathbb {Z}_S)$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>X</mml:mi> <mml:mo>(</mml:mo> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>Z</mml:mi> <mml:mi>S</mml:mi> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>)</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> on a curve inside the p -adic points $$X(\mathbb {Z}_p)$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>X</mml:mi> <mml:mo>

Organoids in pediatric cancer research

Jarno Drost · Princess Máxima Center · NL

Over the past decade, organoid technology has emerged as a transformative tool in biomedical research, enabling the development of physiologically relevant models of both healthy and malignant tissues. While this technology has substantially advanced our understanding of adult cancers, its application in pediatric oncology remains limited. Pediatric tumors are not only biologically distinct from adult malignancies but also present a lower incidence, posing additional challenges for model develop

Adding colour to the Zernike wavefront sensor: Advantages of including multi-wavelength measurements for wavefront reconstruction

Matthew A. Kenworthy

Context . To directly image Earth-like planets, contrast levels of 10 −8 −10 −10 are required. The next generation of instruments will need wavefront control below the nanometer level to achieve these goals. The Zernike wavefront sensor (ZWFS) is a promising candidate thanks to its sensitivity, which reaches the fundamental quantum information limits. However, its highly non-linear response restricts its practical use case. Aims . We aim to demonstrate the improvement in robustness of the ZWFS b

Reproducibility, Replicability, and Insights into Visual Document Retrieval with Late Interaction

Andrew Yates · Johns Hopkins University · US

Visual Document Retrieval (VDR) is an emerging research area that focuses on encoding and retrieving document images directly, bypassing the dependence on Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for document search. A recent advance in VDR was introduced by ColPali, which significantly improved retrieval effectiveness through a late interaction mechanism. ColPali's approach demonstrated substantial performance gains over existing baselines that do not use late interaction on an established benchmark

Taking democracy's temperature: The (in)stability and covariates of populist attitudes

Marie‐Isabel Theuwis · Université Libre de Bruxelles · BE

Abstract Populism among citizens is often perceived as a problem for democracies due to its rejection of representative practices. In response, scholars have put forward new democratic designs that enhance the democratic system's inclusiveness and popular control, thereby aiming to decrease populism among citizens, or so‐called populist attitudes. However, it is not known whether populist attitudes are even changeable, and whether they respond to such democratic improvements or merely reflect th

Occurrence of nucleoside-bacteriohopanepolyol in high latitude soils: evidence of environmental controls on bacterial lipid membrane distributions

Darci Rush · Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research · NL

Recently, the analysis of non-derivatised bacteriohopanepolyols (BHPs) by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS 2 ) revealed a broad structural diversity in this lipid class. Multiple unique BHPs with nucleoside-type polar head groups (Nu-BHPs) were identified in soils. Nu-BHPs had previously been identified in high abundances in soil organic matter, but only by analysing acetylated BHPs, which hindered their structural elucidation. In this st

6 × 2 pt: Forecasting gains from joint weak lensing and galaxy clustering analyses with spectroscopic-photometric galaxy cross-correlations

Harry Johnston · Utrecht University · NL

Accurate knowledge of galaxy redshift distributions is crucial in the inference of cosmological parameters from large-scale structure data. We explore the potential for enhanced self-calibration of photometric galaxy redshift distributions, n ( z ), through the joint analysis of up to six two-point functions. Our 3 × 2 pt configuration comprises photometric shear, spectroscopic galaxy clustering, and spectroscopic-photometric galaxy-galaxy lensing (GGL). We expand this to include spectroscopic-p

The chemical interaction between plants and the rhizosphere microbiome

Harro J. Bouwmeester · Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences · NL

Research into the interaction between plants and the soil microbiota has expanded rapidly and is unravelling a plethora of interactions between plants and their root microbiota. The rhizosphere exhibits remarkable chemical diversity, driven by an evolutionary arms race. Through these chemicals, plants shape the rhizosphere microbiome using different mechanisms: organic carbon provision, antimicrobial compound production, and exudation of microbiota recruitment signals. Modern high-input agricult

Cognitive Load and Challenges in Self-regulation: An Introduction and Reflection on the Topical Collection

Anique B. H. de Bruin · Department of Education · ES

includes seven empirical papers, two review papers, one meta-analysis, and a discussion paper. These contributions build on the EMR model by testing its assumptions, linking it to motivation, and refining our understanding of the basis of effort ratings in learning. Among other findings, the findings in the topical collection (1) show that feedback valence can affect participants' perceived task effort and their willingness to invest effort via feelings of challenge and threat, (2) provide the f

Navigating the politics of transformational adaptation in international climate negotiations

Robbert Biesbroek · Wageningen University & Research · NL

Transformational adaptation to climate risks is an emerging topic in international climate negotiations. However, political views diverge on the desirability and feasibility of introducing transformational adaptation as a new concept. While scientific efforts to clarify its meaning are necessary, only by critically reflecting on the political nature of the concept can the negotiations move forward.

Caring policy-relevant knowledge? The case of the Brazilian Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

Adriana Ressiore C. · Wageningen University & Research · NL

Science-policy interfaces like the Brazilian Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (BPBES) aim to provide policy-relevant knowledge that guides decision-makers in addressing the current biodiversity crisis. At the same time, dominant approaches to policy-relevant knowledge have been widely challenged for relying on a misguided linear model that treats science and policy as separate domains, presenting the former through depoliticized ideals of neutrality and objectivity while prioriti

The role of the body in altered facial emotion perception in autism and social anxiety

Julia Folz · Leiden University · NL

Alterations in the perception of facial emotional expression and their physiological resonance, as well as in accurately sensing bodily states (i.e., interoception) have been reported in both autism and social anxiety. In the current study, we aimed to examine the association between physiological responses, their sensation, and facial emotion perception in individuals on the autism spectrum (N = 40), individuals with social anxiety (N = 27) and neurotypical controls (N = 40). Participants first

Eigenvalue bounds for distance-edge colorings

Aida Abiad

For a fixed positive integer $t$, we consider the graph colouring problem in which edges at distance at most $t$ are given distinct colours. We obtain sharp lower bounds for the distance-$t$ chromatic index, the least number of colours necessary for such a colouring. Our bounds are of algebraic nature; they depend on the eigenvalues of the line graph and on a polynomial which can be found using integer linear programming methods. We show several graph classes that attain equality for our bounds,