Japan

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.

We sat down with Dr. Ji Ha Lee to get to know her and her work on developing recyclable and degradable gels that can replace plastics as well as nanogels that can help with targeted drug delivery.

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.

An international team including Kavli IPMU has measured a value for the “clumpiness” of the universe’s dark matter, which aligns with values that other gravitational lensing surveys have found in looking at the relatively recent universe — but it does not align with the value of 0.83 derived from the Cosmic Microwave Background.

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

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.

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.

Researchers from Osaka University have found that repeated high-dose treatment, known as pulse therapy, with the steroid methylprednisolone reduces in-hospital deaths in COVID-19 patients who receive invasive mechanical ventilation, but not in patients who don’t receive invasive mechanical ventilation. These findings were only possible using appropriate statistical methods to remove bias from the data, which originally seemed to show that the opposite was true. These results can improve patient treatment and reduce COVID-19-related deaths worldwide.

A research group from Osaka Metropolitan University investigated the relationship between tobacco use, including heated tobacco products, with the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe COVID-19. The researchers administered an online survey of living conditions in February 2022 to 30,130 participants aged 16-81 years, finding that heated tobacco product users had significantly higher rates of SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to non-tobacco users. Furthermore, the research group found that among all tobacco users, those who used both heated tobacco products and traditional cigarettes had the highest incidence of requiring hospitalization or oxygen due to COVID-19.

Machine learning and state-of-the-art supernova nucleosynthesis has helped researchers find that the majority of observed second-generation stars in the universe were enriched by multiple supernovae.

Fujitsu and Osaka University’s Center for Quantum Information and Quantum Biology (QIQB) today revealed the development of a new, highly efficient analog rotation quantum computing architecture, representing a significant milestone toward the realization of practical quantum computing. The new architecture reduces the number of physical qubits required for quantum error correction – a prerequisite for the realization of fault-tolerant quantum computing – by 90% from 1 million to 10,000 qubits. This breakthrough will allow research to embark on the construction of a quantum computer with 10,000 physical qubits and 64 logical qubits (4), which corresponds to computing performance of approximately 100,000 times that of the peak performance of conventional high performance computers.

Researchers at The University of Tokyo develop a gate driver for circuit bipolar transistor electronic switches with a timing function robust to changes in current and temperature, which can be used in many industrial control applications

Researchers from Osaka University identified a subset of fibroblastic reticular cells (FRCs) that simultaneously express two proteins, Aldh1a2 and Tie2, making them unique to areas of the omentum called milky spots. Genetic depletion of these cells caused structural disruption of milky spots. The FRCs were critical to the abdominal immune system as they regulated CXCL12 levels, a molecule necessary for lymphocyte recruitment from blood circulation. These insights can help develop novel treatments for intra-abdominal infections.

Researchers from SANKEN (The Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research), at Osaka University in collaboration with researchers from Imperial College London (UK) have improved the Faradaic efficiency of the nitrogen reduction reaction into ammonia by straightforward optimization of chemical process parameters. They found that trace water was the probable source of the high selectivity by facilitating incorporation of lithium oxide into the solid electrolyte interphase. These findings will also aid optimization of other analogous reactions, and thus help the chemicals industry optimize the sustainability of one of the most carbon-intensive reactions globally.

Samples from the asteroid Ryugu collected by the Hayabusa2 mission contain nitrogenous organic compounds, including the nucleobase uracil, which is a part of RNA.

Parasitic infections in salmonid fish can increase or decrease their vulnerability to angling, depending on their body condition.

By adapting technology used for gamma-ray astronomy, researchers has found X-ray transitions previously thought to have been unpolarized according to atomic physics, are in fact highly polarized.

Bioengineers formulated a mathematical model that clarified the importance of bat ear motions in direction detection, making way for lean, mean sonar navigation machines.

A team led by Kavli IPMU researchers have found the earliest evidence of parts of the universe that were heated to temperatures more characteristic to the intergalactic gas medium where most atoms reside in the universe today.

An Osaka University study investigated how the COVID-19 onset and media coverage affected hand hygiene compliance. Voluntary use of hand sanitizer in a hospital rose from 5% in December 2019 to 70%+ by August 2020. In the same period, TV coverage reached 7.7 hours/day on a national broadcaster. The study’s simulations found a significant relation between TV coverage and hand hygiene compliance, though no correlation between compliance and newly confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths.

Researchers have revealed the modulatory effect of the anti-inflammatory metabolite itaconate on T helper and T regulatory cells, which may lead to new therapeutic approaches to treating some autoimmune diseases.

In a study recently published in the journal ACS Nano, published by American Chemical Society, researchers from Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan, collaborating with University of Washington, Seattle, USA, used frequency modulated atomic force microscopy to reveal the molecular architecture of a genetically designed peptide and its self-organization that forms single-molecule thick crystals on atomically flat graphite surfaces, that offer a potential platform for hybrid technologies such as bioelectronics, biosensors, and protein arrays.

Researchers at Kanazawa University report in ACS Nano how high-speed atomic force microscopy can be used to study the biomolecular mechanisms underlying gene editing.

Osaka Metropolitan University scientists succeeded in directly observing how LECs—which are attracting attention as one of the post-organic LEDs—change their electronic state over time during field emission by measuring their optical absorption via lamp light irradiation for the first time. This research method can be applied to all light-emitting devices, including not only LECs but also organic LEDs. This method is expected to reveal detailed electroluminescence processes and lead to the early detection of factors that reduce the efficiency of electroluminescence.

Osaka Metropolitan University scientists successfully quantified the total reactive polysulfide content of 22 different types of vegetables, including onions and garlic. They also revealed that reactive polysulfides are not only found in the leek genus (Allium), such as onions and garlic but also in the cruciferous family of vegetables (Brassicaceae), such as broccoli and cabbage.