Announcement

Prof. Jae Youn Hwang's team, DGIST, develops deep learning technology to segment buildings from aerial images

Distinguished Professor Reiko Kishi of the Hokkaido University Center for Environmental and Health Sciences was honored with the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE)’s prestigious 2021 John Goldsmith Award, on August 26, 2021.

Dr. Hyunki Lee's team selected for developing a system that precisely measures human movements

Scientists design an innovative file system that overcomes current performance bottlenecks when using solid state drives

Korea’s DGIST collaborates for mass production of semiconductor-based optical switches.

The university has unveiled a few more details of its new Green Goals Initiative, which includes developing green technology and promoting resilience and social Innovation. It also hopes to achieve carbon neutrality on campus by 2040.

Kavli IPMU's Kai Martens and Masaki Yamashita are two of many researchers who have signed an MOU to work together to design, construct, and operate a new, single, multi-tonne scale xenon observatory to explore dark matter.

Using a CeO2 catalyst, researchers develop an effective catalytic process for the direct synthesis of polycarbonate diols without the need for dehydrating agents. The high yield, high selective process has CO2 blown at atmospheric pressure to evaporate excess water by-product allowing for a catalytic process that can be used with any substrate with a boiling point higher than water.

Lingnan University (LU) in Hong Kong and Shenzhen Open University (Shenzhen OU) on the Mainland signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to deepen inter-university cooperation between Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

Researchers from Osaka City University show the benefits of mixing alginic acid with calcium phosphate cement (CPC), a common bone replacement material, with in vitro and in vivo studies. The biopolymer is shown to improve the setting time and compressive strength of CPC, as well as help it acquire porosity – which allows cells to enter the defected area and grow new bone.

Researchers analyze bone marrow-derived and peripheral blood-derived fibrin clots showing that the former contains more growth factors. They then show that bone marrow-derived fibrin clots can be used for meniscus suturing, even in the inner-most avascular regions, and with a 2-year post-operative follow-up, they show bone marrow-derived fibrin clots support healing better than their peripheral blood counterparts.

Assistant Professor Mai Ishihara is the first female full-time researcher at Hokkaido University’s Center for Ainu and Indigenous Studies (CAIS) and is the first female faculty member who openly reveals her Ainu ancestry. As a quarter-Ainu, Ishihara talked about how she had been subdued by her own ignorance, and later by silence, of her Ainu ancestry. She transformed her struggle and her views on the pain faced by her Ainu (indigenous people of Hokkaido) ancestors into a book based on her long-term research.

Paris, June 11 – Spending on science worldwide increased (+19%) between 2014 and 2018, as did the number of scientists (+13.7%). This trend has been further boosted by the COVID crisis, according to UNESCO’s new Science Report, The Race against Time for Smarter Development.

Malaysia Technology Expo (MTE) 2021 – COVID-19 International Innovation Awards returns from 14-18 June 2021 with a virtual show, allowing immersive experience for visitors with live interactions.

• Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly aggressive type of brain cancer. Even with current standard of care, 50% of patients die within 15 months of diagnosis. • This complex cancer is difficult to treat due to its location, structure, ability to spread quickly, high recurrence rate and severely limited treatment options. • GBM tumours can look identical under the microscope but respond differently to the same treatment. • With a national grant of about S$10 million, researchers in Singapore are working with overseas collaborators to address these challenges and develop new diagnostic and treatment options so patients can receive effective targeted therapy.

Researchers from Osaka City University find that when the larva nematode C. elegans is fed a diet of Bacillus subtilis var. natto, a bacteria used to ferment soy beans into the traditional Japanese food natto, upon reaching adulthood these worms are able to survive infections from the gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis longer than when fed a standard diet of non-pathogenic E. coli.

The Asia-Pacific Institute of Ageing Studies (APIAS) of Lingnan University (LU) in Hong Kong recently organised a STEM-design competition for secondary school students to develop gerontechnology products tailor-made for rural elders to improve their quality of life. Pui Shing Catholic Secondary School students’ “smart shopping cart”, equipped with an infrared-based, automatic motion-tracking system that helps seniors transport a large amount of goods with less effort, won the Overall Championship Award and the Age-friendly Innovation Award.

Scientists develop degradation-mitigating additives that vastly extend the lifespan of Nafion-based fuel cells

In collaboration with Kanazawa University, researchers from Osaka City University used high-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM) to visualize at the nanometer level the movement of individual particles within the parasitic bacterium Mycoplasma mobile. After confirming the outline on the surface of the cell structure in an immobilized state with previous data gathered from electron microscopy, the team succeeded in visualizing the real-time movements of the internal structure by scanning the outside of the cell with HS-AFM.

The UK’s COP26 Universities Network and leading research centres in Singapore have announced a partnership to develop four reports that provide policy recommendations for climate action in the ASEAN region.

Lingnan University in Hong Kong (LU) has launched a brandnew Distinguished Freshmen Package and introduced additional scholarships to high academic achievers admitted in 2021-22. Students with a total score of 22 or above, without subject weightings, in their best five subjects in the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE), as well as those with a total score of 28 or above in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma and those with grade B or above in three A-level subjects in the General Certificate of Education Advanced Level (GCEAL) examinations will be offered the Distinguished Freshmen Package. School leavers with an HKDSE score of 25 or above in their best five subjects (including level 4 or above in English Language), or a total score of 32 or above in the IB Diploma, will be offered full tuition fee scholarships for up to four years.

First-of-its-kind in Singapore, the clinical trial will test a technology that enables specific cell therapy products to be manufactured for use in patients.

• Only 20% of primary liver cancer or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are diagnosed at an early stage, which makes early detection an urgent, unmet healthcare need. • Study aims to develop more accurate diagnostics for early HCC, an AI algorithm to predict an individual’s risk of developing HCC, and discover novel molecular targets to prevent the development of HCC. • Study aims to recruit 2,000 participants at high risk of developing HCC from six healthcare institutions and eight polyclinics across Singapore.

The National Supercomputing Centre (NSCC) Singapore has awarded the tender for the development of the next generation national supercomputer system plus upgrades to the national storage and research network infrastructure. The new system is expected to provide up to 10 Petaflops (10 PFLOPS) of computing capacity and is eight times more powerful than the current supercomputer. The new supercomputer is the first in a series of systems that will form the backbone of the nation’s future supercomputing resources which will support research in areas like climate change, biomedical science and smart nation activities.

Lingnan University in Hong Kong (LU) honoured 33 scholars, students and graduates in a Research and Knowledge Transfer Excellence Awards Presentation Ceremony held yesterday (19 April) for their important achievements in original research, knowledge transfer projects of real social relevance and impact, and success in obtaining competitive research grants.

Researchers discovered, while exploring the photomechanical properties of diarylethene, that under irradiation with UV light the crystal of the compound peels off into micrometer sized crystals at a world’s fastest speed of 260 microseconds. As the material returns to its former molecular structure when exposed to visible light, the exfoliation method positions itself as a candidate for photoactuator manufacturing.

On April 15, 2021, Hokkaido University and Shionogi & Co., Ltd. will start to monitor COVID-19 in Osaka Prefecture based on wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE), with the cooperation of the Prefectural Government.

New national body established to further research insights, improve patient outcomes and create new economic opportunities for the biomedical technology industry.

- Research Professor Kyung Ah Han of the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and postdoctoral researcher Heejin Lim of the Department of New Biology selected for the program

Researchers reveal through a systematic review of 158 articles detailing quality improvements in pediatric intensive care units mainly throughout North America and the U.K. that despite having a median score of 11.0 on the Quality Improvement Minimum Quality Criteria Set, only 17% of them were considered high quality by achieving a 14-16 score, and only 5% cited Standards for QUality Improvement Reporting Excellence (SQUIRE) guidelines for reporting quality improvement works.