Peer Reviewed

A tick saliva study reveals immune responses that could lead to better protection for cattle.

Researchers from The University of Tokyo have designed a new type of system using listening devices to detect and track deer positions in the wild

The Shikoku pilgrimage (in Japanese, Shikoku Henro) is a large, circular route approximately 1,400 kilometers in length around the island of Shikoku that has eighty-eight sacred sites related to the Buddhist priest, Kūkai (Kōbō Daishi). The original form of the pilgrimage originated in the severe ascetic practices of Kūkai more than 1,200 years ago, and it has evolved over its long history to become a living culture of Shikoku that still attracts many people to the island welcoming them with a unique hospitality. Academic research on the Shikoku henro has been conducted in a variety of fields, including history, folklore, religion, sociology, and literature, and dramatic progress has been made in the past twenty years. The Research Center for the Shikoku Henro and Pilgrimages Around the World at Ehime University, which plays a central role in this research, has published Shikoku Henro no Sekai (The World of the Shikoku Pilgrimage), an introductory book based on the latest research. through the publisher Chikuma Shinsho

COVID-19 has led to psychological distress among one in three adults, large-scale meta-analysis by researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, reveals.

Solid-state lithium batteries (SSLB), unlike their liquid lithium-ion counterparts, are dry and do not need extra cooling, rendering them safer and capable of providing more energy. A research team has recently discovered that a clean electrolyte/electrode interface can double the capacity of SSLBs, paving the way for a more sustainable future.

Materials inspired by the colour changes in a peacock’s feather could lead to anti-counterfeit and sensing applications.

Researchers at Kanazawa University report in Clinical Cancer Research that in the most common type of lung cancer, certain secondary mutations occurring with another gene alteration known as ALK make the efficacy of alectinib, an otherwise commonly used drug for treating lung cancer, become unfavorable. Combining alectinib with another kind of drug can overcome this adverse effect, however.

Scientists at Hokkaido University and Chiba University have developed simultaneous triploid and hexaploid varieties of Haemanthus albiflos by the application of endosperm culture, thus extending the use of this technique.

Patients with motor dysfunctions are on the rise across Japan as its population continues to age. A Tohoku University researcher has developed a new method of rehabilitation using virtual reality to increase the sense of agency over our body and aid motor skills.

Hokkaido University scientists have found a way to prevent gold nanoparticles from clumping, which could help towards their use as an anti-cancer therapy.

Autism has a higher prevalence in males than females. Bisphenol A (BPA) is a common chemical found in plastics, our food, and even the human placenta. Higher prenatal exposure to BPA is thought to increase the risk of autism. Researchers have, for the first time, identified autism candidate genes that may be responsible for the sex-specific effects of BPA.

A team of scientists in Japan has developed a novel method to induce stem cell generation from the blood samples of dogs. Through this technique, the scientists hope to advance regenerative therapies in veterinary medicine. This would mean that, in the near future, veterinarians might be able to reverse conditions in dogs that were previously thought incurable.

New ‘armoured’ T cells attack cancer without being suppressed by drugs given to transplant patients to avoid organ rejection.

A research group compared how crickets adapt to limb removal, revealing more about adoptive locomotion and the mechanisms underpinning it.

Accurate measurements of crystalline deformation should help engineer stronger components for more energy-efficient turbines.

Preventing Wnt from hitching a ride may offer new avenue for novel treatments for cancer and fibrosis.

An atomic switch is bringing us closer to highly effective solid-state batteries for electric vehicles.

Researchers at Kanazawa University report in Communications Chemistry that a molecule known as pillar[6]arene can form a host–guest compound with a cancer-associated metabolite. The phenomenon can be used to efficiently detect the metabolite in crude biological samples, which is important for preventing and treating metabolic syndrome and associated pathologies.

Factor-pooling by ribosomes caught on video using state-of-art high-speed atomic force microscopy technology.

Using synchrotron radiation at SPring-8 - a large-scale synchrotron radiation facility - Tohoku University, Toshiba Corporation, and the Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI) have successfully imaged the magnetization dynamics of a hard disk drive (HDD) write head for the first time, with a precision of one ten-billionth of a second. The method makes possible precise analysis of write head operations, accelerating the development of the next-generation write heads and further increasing HDD capacity.

For the first time, researchers have used a novel catalyst process to recycle a type of plastic found in everything from grocery bags and food packaging to toys and electronics into liquid fuels and wax.

Reproduction of native and invasive bitterling fishes and their hybridisation was studied in Japan. We collected mussels in which these bitterlings lay their eggs, kept them in aquaria, collected eggs/larvae ejected from mussels, and genotyped them. We found that hybrids occurred when local mussel density was low. The rapid decline of the host mussels and artificial introduction of an invasive congener interacted to cause the rapid decline of a native fish.

A brain-inspired computing architecture speeds up complex data processing by running its algorithms inside its memory, significantly saving time and energy.

Kanazawa University’s pioneering high-speed atomic force microscope technology has now shed light on the structure and dynamics of some of life’s most ubiquitous and inscrutable molecules – intrinsically disordered proteins. The study is reported in Nature Nanotechnology.

Investigations of a cellular protein have uncovered a possible link with schizophrenia.

iCeMS scientists have revealed how a transporter protein twists and squeezes compounds out of cells, including chemotherapy drugs from some cancer cells.

Tohoku University scientists have, for the first time, provided experimental evidence that cell stickiness helps them stay sorted within correct compartments during development. How tightly cells clump together, known as cell adhesion, appears to be enabled by a protein better known for its role in the immune system. The findings were detailed in the journal Nature Communications.

Researchers at Tohoku University have developed the first all-in-one miniature pH probe for real-time investigations of intrinsic extracellular pH dynamics in the deep brain structures.

Scientists at Hokkaido University have developed a layered cobalt oxide with a record-setting thermoelectric figure of merit, which can be used to enhance thermoelectric power generation.

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) allows to obtain images and movies showing proteins at work, however with limited resolution. The developed BioAFMviewer software opens the opportunity to use the enormous amount of available high-resolution protein data to better understand experiments. Within an interactive interface with rich functionality, the BioAFMviewer computationally emulates tip-scanning of any biomolecular structure to generate simulated AFM graphics and movies. They greatly help in the interpretation of e.g., high-speed AFM observations.