Peer Reviewed

- 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.

Osaka University researchers created a diminished reality system for providing a future view of a building to be demolished. By implementing generative adversarial networks on a remote server, the team was able to stream real-time video that predicted what a landscape would look like after a building was demolished. This technology can help with urban renewal planning and stakeholder discussions.

Researchers from Osaka University and collaborating partners used straightforward chemical synthesis to modulate the phase transition of a thermal conductivity-switching block copolymer. Reversible changes in the nanostructured anisotropy in the material corresponded to an approximately two-fold change in the thermal conductivity, over the 27°C to 147°C temperature range. These results will enhance the sustainability of upcoming advanced flexible organic electronics.

A research group led by Associate Professor Kazuki Uemura of the Graduate School of Rehabilitation Science, Osaka Metropolitan University conducted a cross-sectional study, using GPS and accelerometers, of 133 elderly people (aged 65 or older) in Toyama Prefecture to investigate their out-of-home behavior and amounts of physical activity during 14 days. The results demonstrated that the amounts of physical activity among the participants were more strongly influenced by the number of visited places (nodes) than by out-of-home time. This suggests that diversity, not just duration, of out-of-home behavior may be important when encouraging the elderly to go out to extend their life expectancy.

Evidence for Molecular Packing of Monovalent Iridium (III) Complexes within Interlayer Spaces of Sodium Montmorillonite

Exposure to persistent organic pollutants in pet cats lowers blood thyroid hormone levels and causes chronic oxidative stress.

Osaka University researchers designed a silicon-based agent that successfully generated hydrogen continuously in the mouse gastrointestinal tract in an ulcerative colitis (UC) model. The hydrogen served as an antioxidant that could eliminate the reactive oxygen species shown to induce the chronic inflammation responsible for the damage and symptoms caused by UC. Mice given the agent had reduced hemorrhage, inflammation, and hyperexcitability in the brain area associated with visceral pain and discomfort. These results may help with the development of a novel treatment for UC.

A key molecule for cancer metastasis has been identified as a molecule already known for its involvement in cardiovascular disease, suggesting a possible treatment approach for both diseases simultaneously.

Three of the nuclear power plants that supplied Tokyo, Japan with its electricity have been shut down since 2003. To understand the long-term implications of this change to Tokyo’s power grid, researchers studied how CO2 emissions in the city differed since the power plant closures.

A professor emeritus at Tohoku University has unearthed evidence pointing to a strong relationship between the magnitude of mass extinctions and global temperature changes in geologic times. This interesting correlation reveals a more optimistic outlook on future extinction events.

Research team develops functional annotation workflow for genome sequencing of insects

Nonthermal plasma (NTP) is used to activate CO2 molecules for hydrogenation into alternative fuels at low temperatures, also enabling the conversion of renewable electricity to chemical energy. Researchers from Tokyo Tech combined experimental and computational methods to investigate the hydrogenation pathway of NTP-promoted CO2 on the surface of Pd2Ga/SiO2 catalysts. The mechanistic insights from their study can help improve the efficiency of catalytic hydrogenation of CO2 and allows the engineers to design new concept catalysts.