Japan

Injury from falls lowers healthy life expectancy and quality of life, especially for older people. In Japan, patients discharged from acute care hospitals have higher incidences of falls. These falls occur more often indoors in places used frequently in daily life. A group of Osaka Metropolitan University researchers conducted a 6-month follow-up survey, after discharge from an acute care hospital, on falls and near-falls, of orthopedic disease patients with a fall history aged 65 or older. The results suggest that preventive intervention instructing patients using their home floor plans may help prevent falls during the early post-discharge period.

A novel branched lipid that has a high stability in storage and a high efficiency in the delivery of mRNA to cells has been developed.

Researchers from Osaka University have improved the electrical interconnects that are essential features of advanced printed circuit boards. By eliminating the accumulation of hydrogen nanobubbles at the copper–copper interface, the connection is more regular compared with that from the traditional interconnect fabrication method. This work will improve the reliability of high-density circuitry that's foundational to the long life of modern electronics.

A flipping action in a porous material facilitates the passage of normal water to separate it out from heavy water.

Researchers from Osaka University and Dusseldorf University have found a new theranostic compound that effectively shrinks prostate tumor in mice. Theranostics is a cancer treatment that involves finding cancer cells anywhere in the body and delivering targeted radiation to kill those cells, by drugs that contain radioactive isotopes. It means that this compound could be a promising option for treating hormone-resistant metastases in patients with recurrent cancers. This is stated to be tested in an upcoming clinical trial.

In a study recently published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, researchers from Kanazawa University use a method called “lasso-grafting” to design therapeutics with enhanced longevity and brain penetration.

Osaka Metropolitan University scientists have discovered that, in the crystalline solid Ba1-xSrxAl2O4, a highly disordered atomic arrangement is formed in the AlO4 network at chemical compositions near the structural quantum critical point, resulting in characteristics of both crystalline and amorphous materials. This hybrid state, which the research team was the first to discover, can be created simply by mixing raw materials uniformly and heating them. These findings are expected to help with the development of hybrid materials for use in harsh environments, such as outer space, by applying the technique to a variety of materials.

Comprehensive characterization of halogenated flame retardants and organophosphate esters in settled dust from informal e-waste and end-of-life vehicle processing sites

Researchers led by Osaka University show that a molecule called T-cadherin can be secreted in a soluble form. Soluble T-cadherin interacts with pancreatic insulin-producing β cells via the Notch signaling pathway to promote their proliferation and increase the production of insulin. Recombinant T-cadherin stimulated Notch signaling in isolated mouse pancreatic islets, which contain β cells, indicating that T-cadherin may have therapeutic potential for diabetes.

Scientists in Japan have combined two computational models to extract more data on steel alloys from a single test, with implications for the discovery of new materials.

Groundwater is considered both an environmental and industrial resource, but a new study indicates it is also an important resource in disaster prevention. Osaka Metropolitan University researchers conducted research surveys of 91 well owners and 328 welfare facilities affected by the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake. The surveys clarified groundwater use following the earthquake and policy issues that could make the use of emergency wells more effective in the wake of future disasters. The surveys’ findings provide useful data for city governments that have installed or are considering installing emergency wells.

Researchers from Osaka University have demonstrated a proof-of-concept for a novel use of artificial intelligence for enzyme engineering that does not require an enzyme’s crystal structure. By analyzing the amino acid sequences of malic enzymes from various living organisms, the researchers identified the amino acids that are pertinent to using different redox cofactors. The results of this work will facilitate retooling enzymes in research laboratories and the biotech industry.

Giants in History: Tsuneko (1933) and Reiji Okazaki ( 1930 – 1975)were a Japanese couple who discovered Okazaki fragments – short sequences of DNA that are synthesized during DNA replication and linked together to form a continuous strand.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) tumors gain immunosuppression and chemoresistance through interactions between interleukin 34 and myeloid-derived suppressor cells, researchers find.

6th NanoLSI Symposium: International symposium on Nanoprobe Technology for Understanding Molecular Systems in Kanazawa, Japan

A research group at Osaka Metropolitan University has developed a drug delivery system that activates a strong cellular immune response to attack cancer cells, using one-tenth of the amount of antigen needed in the group’s previous work. By incorporating positively charged cationic lipids into liposomes and adding negatively charged pH-responsive polysaccharides to the surface, the research group increased the uptake efficiency of liposomes encapsulating cancer antigens by dendritic cells by approximately five times, which increased cytokine production by about 100 times. This increased M1-type macrophages, which activate cancer immunity, and decreased M2-type macrophages, which promote cancer growth.

Researchers from Osaka University used a combination of genetic manipulation and protein structural analysis to determine how the position of “bulky” amino acids influences the ability of efflux pump inhibitors to bind bacterial pump proteins and so reduce their resistance to antibiotics. This work has implications for our understanding of bacterial antibiotic resistance, and may be useful in the rational design of drugs that target bacteria that have evolved antibiotic resistance.

New research identifies a unique way that people find connection in the modern world and provides novel insight into the fields of anthropomorphism, virtual interactions, and relationship science.

Osaka Metropolitan University scientists conducted a 7-year study on seedling recruitment and mortality in a national park in Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand. During the study period, an extremely strong El Niño event occurred, leading to a stronger and longer drought than normal. Seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTFs), which experience an annual dry season, are considered drought-tolerant. Nevertheless, the study found that seedling mortality increased in SDTFs when severe and prolonged drought occurred. The mortality rate was greater in evergreen forests at higher elevations that usually experience less severe drought than in deciduous forests at lower elevations where severe drought is more common. The study results advance the understanding of the effects of El Niño on seedling dynamics in SDTFs.

When two neutron stars merge, the resultant explosion forms heavy elements—many of which make up our Universe. A new study has, for the first time, identified the specific rare-earth elements produced in a neutron star merger.

Giants in History: Shinichiro Tomonaga (31 March 1906 – 8 July 1979), together with Richard Feynman and Julian Schwinger, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965, for their contributions to advance the field of quantum electrodynamics.

Researchers from Osaka University have demonstrated a proof-of-concept for a novel molecular hydrogen production method that bypasses the need for expensive purification steps. They developed a system where hydrogen is separated and stored in liquid organic hydrogen carriers by catalysis of triaryl boranes in one seamless process. The results of this work will help facilitate the transition to a hydrogen-based economy that is necessary for a more sustainable future.

Plastic sheets coated with an Eu3+ film that converts UV light to red light were able to accelerate growth of vegetal plants and trees.

Asbestos is a toxic substance that is found in older buildings, as well as in cosmetics and products for children. As testing for its presence can be problematic, Hiroshima University Professor Akio Kuroda has been working on a novel solution.

Researchers from Osaka University have shown that deficiency of the protein Favine can lead to accelerated development of atherosclerosis. Loss of Favine in a mouse atherosclerosis model also led to calcification and thrombus development in the blood vessels of the mice. Prior to this, no mouse models for calcification or thrombus formation existed, hindering atherosclerosis research. This work also identifies Favine and its downstream signaling pathway, known as MEF2C-KLF2, as potential therapeutic targets for atherosclerosis.

Researchers from The Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research (SANKEN) at Osaka University and collaborating partners prepared hierarchical hydrogels and moldings that consisted of anisotropic, ecofriendly cellulose nanofibers. By simply tailoring the applied voltage during fabrication, complex architectures—such as microneedles and multilayer hydrogels—were easy to prepare. The results of this work will reduce the need for petroleum-based plastics, and in so doing minimize a long-standing source of environmentally persistent waste.

Making complex polymers with precisely controlled structures becomes much simpler thanks to a new ‘one-pot-and-one-step’ synthesis procedure.

Investigations in Japan have uncovered some molecular mechanisms behind mitochondrial dysfunction in chronic heart failure.

An Osaka Metropolitan University researcher has provided a review article regarding INSL3, a circulating hormone secreted from the gonads, in domestic animals, in comparison to rodents and humans. In this review article, the author describes his research group’s work that (1) developed immunoassays, for the first time, that can measure circulating INSL3 in multiple domestic mammals, including cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, horses, and dogs, (2) provided evidence in studies with bulls and bucks that INSL3 offers more reliable and stable values by a single blood collection than testosterone, a conventional and well-known testicular hormone, and (3) suggested that blood INSL3 concentrations would be a good biomarker for testicular and reproductive functions in normal and abnormal male domestic animals. These findings suggest that the INSL3 assay might simplify the evaluation of reproductive functions in various male domestic animals. In particular, the assay method may facilitate earlier selection of valuable male animals such as beef sire bulls (Image) with higher reproductive performance, contributing to reductions in the labor and costs required for sire production.

Osaka University researchers showed that the predictions of Einstein’s theory of special relativity in electromagnetism could be detected in the contraction of the electric field created by ultrafast electrons. By achieving femtosecond resolution, they were able to visualize the contracted electric field for the first time. This work can be applicable to particle accelerators and high-energy physics.