Peer Reviewed

Conclusive evidence of chicken breeding in the Yayoi period of Japan has been discovered from the Karako-Kagi site.

In the quantum world particles can instantaneously know about each other’s state, even when separated by large distances. This is known as nonlocality. Now, A research group has produced some interesting findings on the Hardy nonlocality that have important ramifications for understanding quantum mechanics and its potential applications in communications.

Researchers from SANKEN (The Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research), at Osaka University designed a cellulose nanofiber paper (nanopaper) that can be used as a substrate for on-skin electronics. The porous structure of the nanopaper means that it can conform and adhere to the skin well enough for effective signal transfer and allows moisture to pass through for breathability and comfort. It is hoped that the nanopaper can soon be used to acquire electrophysiological data, such as ECGs in the clinic.

Transport relies heavily on steel. But steel is heavy, and scientists are turning to alternatives to lessen the transportation industry’s carbon emissions. Magnesium alloys are one such alternative. But developing bonding technology that bonds magnesium alloys with structural steels has been severely limited because magnesium and iron are immiscible. Yet, a research group from Tohoku University has established a dealloying bonding technology that obtains a strong mechanical bond between iron and magnesium.

We typically think of robots as metal objects, filled with motors and circuits. But the field of molecular robotics is starting to change that. Like the formation of complex living organisms, molecular robots derive their form and functionality from assembled molecules stored in a single unit, i.e., a body. Yet manufacturing this body at the microscopic level is an engineering nightmare. Now, a Tohoku University team has created a simple workaround.

A research group at Osaka Metropolitan University has succeeded in selectively recovering trace rare earth elements in synthetic seawater and environmental water, such as hot spring water, using baker’s yeast with a phosphate group added. The phosphorylated yeast is expected to be utilized as a material for recovering useful metals and removing toxic metals, thereby contributing to the realization of a metal resource-circulating society.

Osaka Metropolitan University scientists have developed a theory to experimentally determine differences in nuclear structure. Using this method to assess carbon and oxygen nuclei revealed that they contain more components in their cluster structure than in their shell structure. This enables visualization of nuclear structures without large-scale numerical calculations, which are expected to be applied to heavier nuclei in the future. This suggests that the method could be used to solve the ultimate question in nuclear physics: where did the elements we see around us come from?”

To survive, all organisms must regulate their appetite. Hormones and small proteins called neuropeptides perform this process, stimulating feelings of hunger and fullness. When researchers noted the similarities between GAWamide, a neuropeptide that regulates feeding in the Cladonema jellyfish, and myoinhibitory peptide, a neuropeptide that regulates feeding in fruit flies, they decided to test whether they could exchange the two. Their success in doing so highlights the deep evolutionary origins of feeding regulation.

With many countries enacting strict lockdowns in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, economists have begun looking at the wider implications of such policies. Typically, they employ a cost-benefit analysis, but this has certain limitations. To overcome these limitations, a Tohoku University professor has turned to a surprising source: physics

Nitrogen is such a crucial nutrient for plants that vast quantities of nitrogen-containing fertilizers are spread on farmlands worldwide. However, excess nitrogen in the soil and in drainage run-off into lakes and rivers causes serious ecological imbalances. A recent study has uncovered the regulatory mechanisms at work when plants utilize nitrogenous fertilizers in their roots, a positive step in the quest to generate crops that require less fertilizer while still producing the yields needed to feed the world.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made us more aware of the aerosols that hang around in the air and spread certain infectious diseases. Common dental procedures can be potentially hazardous in this regard. Therefore, it is crucial for researchers to be able to measure how aerosols spread so they can reduce them. A recent study harnessed a high-sensitivity camera and a high intensity LED light source, along with a mannequin and dental air turbine, to measure the spread of aerosols and the effectiveness of various means to reduce them.

A tiny platform empowers scientists to examine how gut and liver cells interact in health and disease.

Researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, find that a deep-learning model that simultaneously learns to classify satellite data as rain/no-rain while determining rain intensity outperforms other models.

Osaka Metropolitan University scientists analyzed each element of the neutrino mass matrix belonging to leptons and showed theoretically that the intergenerational mixing of lepton flavors is large. Furthermore, by using the mathematics of random matrix theory, the research team was able to prove, as much as is possible at this stage, why the calculation of the squared difference of the neutrino masses are in close agreement with the experimental results in the case of the seesaw model with the random Dirac and Majorana matrices. The results of this research are expected to contribute to the further development of particle theory research, which largely remains a mystery.

Ferroptosis is a recently discovered type of cell death associated with certain neurodegenerative, cardiovascular and kidney diseases. Whilst scientists have understood that accumulated iron and degenerated lipids trigger ferroptosis, the actual mechanisms at play have remained a mystery. A team of researchers from Tohoku University has identified where in the cells these accumulations take place, and what gets targeted as ferroptosis occurs.

Researchers from Osaka University found that the COMMD3/8 complex is implicated in the progression of the autoimmune response in a mouse model of rheumatoid arthritis. They identified celastrol, the active compound of a medicinal herb, as an inhibitor of the COMMD3/8 complex. Celastrol blocked the progression of rheumatoid arthritis. Thus, celastrol is a potential lead for developing treatments against rheumatoid arthritis.

Marine predators have expanded their ranges into the Arctic waters over the last twenty years, driven by climate change and associated increases in productivity.

Asexual, or vegetative, reproduction in plants is controlled by environmental conditions, but the molecular signaling pathways that control this process are poorly understood. Recent research suggests that the KAI2-ligand (KL) hormone is responsible for initiating and terminating the production of gemmae, or genetically identical plantlets, on liverwort plants based on the presence or absence of specific environmental factors.

- The effect of the cycle of G proteins in real time on the two-step structural change of cell membrane receptors has been investigated - This study is expected to be applied to pathologies related to G protein-coupled receptors and on research for their treatments

- Research teams led by Professor Hongsoo Choi and Professor Yongseok Oh from DGIST joined the research team led by Dr. Jongcheol Rah from Korea Brain Research Institute to develop the technology for delivering a microrobot to a target point of a hippocampus in an in-vitro environment, connecting neural networks, and measuring neural signals - The research findings are expected to contribute to neural network research and the verification and analysis of cell therapy products

- DGIST Professor Minseok Kim’s research team has developed an electronic medicine that can restore normal Schwann cell phenotypes in CMT disease models - It presents the potential of electric stimulation-based treatment for chronic peripheral nerve disorders

- The world’s first technology for synthesizing high-quality and low-cost copper-graphene nanowire using intense scintillation - Implementation of high-performance transparent-flexible electronic device based on copper-graphene nanowire and publication in the international journal Nano Energy, which is renowned in the field of energy

Researchers from Osaka Metropolitan University Graduate School of Medicine conducted an interoperative comparison of lateral disc meniscus injuries of young patients (aged 15 or less), that were treated with plastic sutures or subtotal resection, to see if there was a difference in postoperative cartilage degeneration. The research group observed that sub-total meniscectomies were more likely to show cartilage degeneration, being worst in lateral disc meniscus injuries. In addition, they found that even with higher levels of meniscus damage, preserving the meniscus with sutures was more effective in protecting the cartilage in young patients.

Osaka Metropolitan University scientists have developed a process using artificial photosynthesis to successfully convert more than 60% of waste acetone into 3-hydroxybutyrate, a material used to manufacture biodegradable plastic. The results were obtained using low-concentration CO2, equivalent to exhaust gas, and powered by light equivalent to sunlight for 24 hours. The researchers expect that this innovative way of producing biodegradable plastic could not only reduce CO2 emissions but also provide a way of reusing laboratory and industrial waste acetone.

Researchers at Kanazawa University report in JACS Au how they have developed operando scanning ion conductance microscopy to allow simultaneous measurements of changes in the anode surface topography of a lithium ion battery during use, as well as the varying ion concentration with depth. Combining both types of information should help researchers evaluate the correlation between the two to design better batteries.

A research group at Osaka Metropolitan University has succeeded in simply creating an artificial metalloenzyme with the common metal-binding motif 2-his-1-carboxylate, which is found in natural non-heme metalloenzymes. They created a library of 12 different proteins and screened the library and found that the H52A/H58E variant had the best stereoselectivity. It is expected that this research can be expanded to produce a variety of biocatalysts that work under mild conditions.

A group including Osaka Metropolitan University researchers discovered that the rhodopsin—a protein in the eye that detects light—of whale sharks has changed to efficiently detect blue light, which penetrates deep-sea water easily. The amino acid substitutions–one of which is counterintuitively associated with congenital stationary night blindness in humans—aid in detecting the low levels of light in the deep-sea. Although these changes make the whale shark rhodopsin less thermally stable the deep-sea temperature, allows their rhodopsin to keep working. This suggests that the unique adaptation evolved to function in the low-light low-temperature environment where whale sharks live.

Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are key factors in the tumor microenvironment, which have been implicated in cancer cell progression. It has also been reported that vesicles called exosomes produced by these CAFs play an important role in cancer progression. An Osaka Metropolitan University research group investigated the effect of CAF-derived exosomes on the growth of malignant melanoma cells. They found that CAF-derived exosomes express CD9 and CD63 transmembrane proteins, and that the CD9-positive exosomes may inhibit the growth of malignant melanoma cells.

· Duke-NUS sleep scientists’ analyses show associations between early classes, less sleep, poor attendance and reduced grade point average. · Studies in secondary and junior college students have shown that later start times can have positive impacts on grades.

An Osaka Metropolitan University joint research group has discovered that near-infrared absorbing dyes, which had previously been considered to have closed-shell electronic structures, have an intermediate electronic structure, between closed- and open-shell structures. They also found that as the wavelength of near-infrared light that can be absorbed becomes longer the contribution of open-shell forms increases within the dye. These newly discovered characteristics are expected to be utilized to develop new near-infrared absorbing dyes that can absorb longer wavelength near-infrared light.