Peer Reviewed

Osaka Metropolitan University researchers have successfully synthesized fumarate (fumaric acid), a raw material for unsaturated polyester resin, by combining carbon dioxide (CO2) with pyruvate (derived from biomass), using two biocatalysts: malate dehydrogenase and fumarase. Fumarate is currently used to make biodegradable plastic like polybutylene succinate from petroleum. However, this research has enabled the synthesis of fumarate without petroleum, consuming only CO2 and biomass-derived pyruvate.

Researchers led by Osaka University shed light on a metabolic network integrated by an oral microbe Fusobacterium nucleatum (F. nucleatum). Analysis of co-cultures of F. nucleatum with other commensal oral bacteria revealed that metabolic cross-feeding enables F. nucleatum to increase the production of the polyamines putrescine and cadaverine, thereby promoting the development of periodontitis. The nutritional interactions of F. nucleatum may serve as potential targets for the development of new methods to prevent periodontal disease.

Adults self-report their pain on a one to 10 numerical score, while children can point to an equivalent face scale — from a green smiling face to a red crying face — to indicate their pain. Newborns, however, cannot say a number or point to a face, leaving it up to their caregivers to identify and evaluate any pain they may be in. Until the turn of this century, a significant number of clinicians did not recognize that neonates could even experience pain, resulting in infrequent, nonstandard training for medical workers. Now, researchers are reporting that a flexible e-learning program improves neonate pain management knowledge and skills for nurses.

A research group led by Professor Akitoshi Hayashi at the Osaka Metropolitan University Graduate School of Engineering has successfully developed a high-capacity capacitor, an energy storage device—using a solid electrolyte with high deformability—that can operate at high temperatures. With this discovery, high-capacity capacitors can now be made which do not require cooling, this increases their efficiency and allows for new suitable applications.

The flash of lightning and the dance of auroras contain a fourth state of matter known as plasma, which researchers have harnessed to produce a gas that may activate plant immunity against wide-spread diseases. The team, based at Tohoku University in Japan, published their findings on June 24 in PLOS One.

Two novel hypotheses have been proposed that address the “two-fold cost of sex”: one of the biggest enigmas in the evolution of sexual reproduction.

Osaka University researchers used a large dataset of trauma patients in Japan to determine the characteristics and biomarkers most strongly associated with mortality risk by employing machine learning methods. This work may help improve the practice of emergency medicine.

Osaka University researcher devises a scale for quantifying of the ability of android to produce artificial facial expressions. By measuring the range of motion compared with humans, this work may lead to more expressive robot helpers.

Rare earth metals, when linked, can act as a conduit for energy flow, and show promise for the development of novel materials.

Human brains learn patterns over time and we don’t even realize it. New insight into how this works could improve learning and other cognitive processes.

- DGIST Professor Seo Dae-ha's team developed a super-resolution microscopy that can observe 3D rotational motion of endosomes using gold nanoparticles - By understanding cell transport more accurately through the observation of minute 3D rotation in intracellular transport, it is expected to develop into a disease diagnosis technology.

- DGIST Professor Park Sang-Hyun's research team developed a deep learning technology that accurately detects cancer sites with little information through joint research with a research team led by Professor Nam Su-jeong and Professor Ko Hyeon-Jeong of Seoul Asan Medical Center - Expected to make significant contribution to enhancing the efficiency of deep learning models, which needed an accurately drawn dataset to detect cancer sites.

- Joint research team comprising the DGIST Thin Film Solar Cell Research Center and the Department of New Material Engineering of Kyungnam University discovers the cause of pore formation in thin film solar cells of general-purpose materials and developed technology to resolve the problem - Suggested strategies for developing eco-friendly general-purpose thin film solar cells by suppressing pore formation

- DGIST Professor Seo Dae-ha's team developed an experimental strategy to control and observe the chemical reaction of a single nanocatalyst using an optical microscope - Expected to contribute to catalyst design based on accurate understanding of the photocatalytic reaction through an analysis method that helps understanding the electron excitation phenomenon and transition path.

- Joint research team of DGIST and Korea Institute of Industrial Technology developed the first technology that removes microplastics in water through triboelectric nanogenerator - Expected to solve the problem of various microtoxic particles in water including microplastics, which have emerged as a huge environmental concern

- Developed technology to accurately inspect the quality of red blood cells stored for a certain period of time with AI-based holography technology - Possible to inject clean, healthy red blood cells into the patient. Expected to help minimize side effects of blood transfusion after surgery.

- Clarified the relationship between the form of piezoelectric fiber components and their piezoelectric performance - Accelerated commercialization of energy harvesting textile materials that can recycle energy wasted or consumed in everyday life

Highest-level international certification on safety and health granted to organizations that excel in preventing risk factors related to safety accidents

Researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo have used thermal treatments to improve modern recycling of concrete. This work will add value to construction waste and contribute to sustainable development

Strigolactones (SLs) trigger parasitism and symbiosis in the rhizosphere and function as a hormone in plants. Yoneyama et al. demonstrate that rice plants sense SLs in the rhizosphere and regulate their SL biosynthesis and exudation, suggesting that SLs act as a cue for a plant-plant communication in rice plants.

Reaction design framework proposed by computations leads to the discovery of a wealth of reactions, opening new paths for drug development.

Scientists from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, demonstrate that accounting for liquid preordering is essential to predicting crystal growth

Osaka Metropolitan University scientists revealed quadriceps tendon-patellar bone (QTB) grafts as a more suitable option than bone-patellar tendon-bone (BPTB) grafts for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. Examinations in human cadavers and ACL reconstruction patients showed that the QTB graft is more similar to the ACL at the femoral insertion site than the BPTB graft. The difference between graft bending angle (GBA) and an angle corresponding to GBA showed that the QTB graft bends less than the BPTB graft, suggesting a lower risk of excessive stress on the insertion site and thereby a lower probability of ACL reconstruction failures. These findings contribute to potential improvement in ACL reconstruction for knee injury patients.

Scientists at Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, have found that elevated blood levels of an amino acid called homocysteine correlate strongly with the severity of an advanced form of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. They also found vitamin B12 and folic acid could potentially prevent and/or delay disease progression.

New research using genome editing technology has allowed scientists to create a model and assess a gene mutation associated with neuropsychiatric disorders in humans. The study has revealed how the mutation functions in the brain and affects anxiety and sociality.

New, easily fabricated, high performance carbon microlattice electrodes could soon be used to make cheaper batteries powered by readily available sodium ions. The approach was published by Tohoku University researchers and colleagues in the journal Small.

Osaka Metropolitan University researchers have clarified the first suitable computational conditions for Adiabatic State Preparation (ASP) executable on a quantum computer, a method that can improve the accuracy of calculating atomic and molecular wave functions. ASP is thought to be one of the leading methods for efficiently preparing correlated wave functions of molecules with complex electronic structures, but the specific conditions required for the calculations have not been thoroughly investigated so far. This new research has clarified the computational conditions needed to use ASP, a major development for making quantum chemical calculations on a quantum computer practical for chemical or materials research.

When the evolution of towns and of roads are modeled together, the natural landscape alone is enough to predict the actual arrangement of real towns.

Researchers have discovered that vitamin K acts as a powerful antioxidant. It can inhibit ferroptosis, a type of cell death associated with Alzheimer’s disease and organ damage, by trapping lipid radicals. Furthermore, the team identified the long-sought-after vitamin K-reducing enzyme, the identity of which remained unknown for more than half a century.

Researchers from Osaka University and collaborating partners measured intracellular temperature gradients in human-derived cells at unprecedented spatial, temporal, and readout resolution. Intracellular temperature is a fundamental indicator of health, and corresponding gradients are the subject of medical hypotheses as well as potential drug development directions. The results of this work will advance such research by providing a versatile tool that's compatible with standard technology and procedures.