Science

Researchers create 'time machine' to study ancestor galaxies, Robotics engineers pay attention to matters of the heart, Custom suits for delivery worms, Tough, light structures with superior impact resistance and Virtual training can reduce stress and anxiety. Read all in the July's Editor's Choice plus op-ed: To boost South Korea’s basic science, look to values, not just budgets, this month's Image & Asia Research News 2022 magazine pick - Better memristors for brain-like computing.

Prof Yusuf Ikbal Oldac, Research Assistant Professor of the School of Graduate Studies of Lingnan University in Hong Kong (LU) has been awarded the Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) Newer Researchers Prize for his research proposal entitled “Scientific collaborations between the United Kingdom and Middle Eastern and North African countries in the post-Brexit and post-pandemic world”. He will receive funding to carry out the project, and join the Society’s Research and Development Committee for one year as a new researcher member starting from 1 January 2023.

An international team of scientists from India and Singapore has successfully developed a novel method to recycle waste cigarette filters for use in making the triboelectric nano generator, a clean energy generating device.

A team co-led by a City University of Hong Kong (CityU) neuroscientist has identified a key mechanism of a biological clock that ensures roundworms stay regular by defecating at steady intervals.

Innate immunity is activated when the pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) recognize pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). We show that a liver-derived secretory protein LECT2, a hepatokine, binds to the HGF receptor MET, a proto-oncogene product, to suppress the proliferation signal of MET. LECT2 activates retinoic acid-inducible gene-I, enhancing antiviral and innate immune responses through MET. Thus, LECT2 is an anti-proliferative and immunoregulatory factor that could be a therapeutic target for viral infections and cancer.

A novel practical way of modelling cracking and toughening of fibre composite materials has been developed. The novel approach also revealed new insights on the fracture behaviour of fibres reinforcing a composite laminate during intralaminar cracking. The new way can be used to complement inspection of laminated structures that are used as primary structures in many industries.

A research group of Professor Makoto Tsubota and Specially Appointed Assistant Professor Satoshi Yui, both from the Graduate School of Science and the Nambu Yoichiro Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics, Osaka Metropolitan University, in cooperation with their colleagues from Florida State University and Keio University, revealed that there are laws of vortex diffusion in superfluid helium-4 (He II) at extremely low temperatures, near absolute zero (−273°C). In this study, by conducting a systematic numerical study and comparing the results with experimental observations, the research group found that quantum vortices cause "superdiffusion" over short periods of time and "normal diffusion" over longer periods of time, similar to the movement of pollen in still water.

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) allows to visualize the dynamics of single biomolecules during their functional activity. All observations are, however, restricted to regions accessible by a fairly big probing tip during scanning. Hence, AFM images only the biomolecular surface with limited spatial resolution, missing important information required for a detailed understanding of the observed phenomena.

An international forum hosted by the Global Strategy Institute (GSI) at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) will examine two of the most difficult issues to fight in human history, inequality and injustice. World-renowned experts will provide new insights on how to understand the major forces behind increasing inequalities and social injustice and explore solutions to these intractable problems that are still affecting our world to this day. The 7th of its kind, KAIST GSI’s international forum will be held online on July 6th, 2022 from 9:00 until 10:30 am Korea Standard Time (KST) and livestreamed on KAIST’s YouTube Channel. The theme of the forum is “The Science of Inequality and Injustice.”

A research team led by Osaka University realized magnetic reconnection driven by electron dynamics in laser-produced plasmas and measured the pure electron outflows. Their findings will be applied not only to space and astrophysical plasmas, but also to magnetic propulsion and fusion plasmas.

The skin’s top layer contains a diverse set of hundreds of lipid molecules called ceramides with varying chain lengths that play a vital role in its barrier function.

Rie Makiura, Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka Metropolitan University has published a review article on the facile synthesis of nanosheet materials with precise regular nanoscale pores. In 2010, Professor Makiura’s research group succeeded in fabricating the world's first MOF (metal-organic framework) nanosheets on the surface of water using a simple low-energy process. The procedure, which involved adding drops of suitably chosen molecular components to the water surface took advantage of the same phenomenon that causes the formation of oil films and led to the creation of nanosheets of exceptional integrity and stability. In the present review article, Professor Makiura describes the MOF nanosheets developed by her group so far and provides a detailed description of their characteristics and comparison with other MOF nanosheets reported around the world. In addition, she describes the formation mechanism of the MOF nanosheets on the water surface.

Researchers at Kanazawa University report in Biophysics and Physicobiology how to optimize high-speed atomic force microscopy experiments on live cell membranes, so that moving objects like molecules can be properly followed from frame to frame.

Researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, find that organic vapors can induce dissolution of molecular salts (i.e., organic deliquescence), similar to water vapor-induced deliquescence

A collaborative research group has discovered electrical brain-wave patterns given off during social interactions in mice. They also observed that mice showing signs of stress, depression, or autism lacked these brain waves. The results reveal more about the mechanics underlying brain activity when socializing.

Understanding the structural origin of the anomalous properties of SiO2 liquid and glass is of great interest in a wide range of scientific fields. The fraction of the S state with tetrahedral symmetry structure is considered to be the controlling parameter of the anomalous properties of SiO2 liquid in theoretical studies. However, it has not been well identified in experiments. In this work, we find experimental evidence of tetrahedral symmetry breaking in SiO2 glass under pressure.

An international team led by Osaka University used experimental measurements and theoretical modeling to better understand the shape formed by the protons and neutrons in the atomic nucleus of calcium-40. They found that destructive interference affects the mixture of elongated and spherical states. This research may help shed light on the reasons for the relative stability of atomic nuclei and how they are formed.

New dinosaur species used claws to graze along the coast, More accurate rainfall predictions, Magnetism helps futuristic cell research, Do compression garments facilitate muscle recovery? Science journalism and why it matters for democracy and our Image of the month. Read all in the June's Editor's Choice and this month's Asia Research News 2022 magazine pick - Lessons from the dead.

Osaka Metropolitan University scientists detected, for the first time, collective resonance at remarkably high and broad frequency bands. In a magnetic superstructure called a chiral spin soliton lattice (CSL), they found that resonance could occur at such frequencies with small changes in magnetic field strength. The findings suggest CSL-hosting chiral helimagnets as promising materials for future communication technologies.

Resilient Education Information Infrastructure for the New Normal (REIINN) project broke ground for the second LokaLTE Base Station on 14 June 2022, commencing the tower's construction in Looc Integrated School, Castillejos, Zambales.

The molecule is unusual and has ‘great potential’ in catalysis, conduction and other applications.

A research group led by Professor Yoshio Teki of the Osaka Metropolitan University Graduate School of Engineering has succeeded in developing a new pentacene derivative that is more than 100 times more photostable than TIPS-pentacene, a photostable pentacene derivative. Additionally, the team has further clarified the ultrafast excited state dynamics in this system. In the pentacene moiety of this system, we were able to demonstrate that the transition from the excited singlet state to the excited triplet state occurs ultrafast in the time region of a 10-13 seconds. In purely organic materials without heavy atoms such as rare metals, such intersystem crossing usually occurs on time scales longer than 10-9 seconds. The empirical results of this study are expected to be applied as a method for stabilizing and developing light-unstable materials in the future.

Scientists have revealed the genetic structure and diversity, and inferred the population history, of the wild house mouse across Europe and Asia.

Giants in History: Hideki Yukawa (23 January 1907 – 8 September 1981) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1949 for predicting the existence of the pi meson subatomic particle

Researchers at Kanazawa University in collaboration with teams from Toyama Prefectural University and BioSeeds Corporation report in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces the identification of a molecule with enhanced antiproliferative activity in cancer cells. The underlying biomolecular mechanism is the inhibition of an enzyme that is overproduced in several types of cancer.

Potential of a novel therapeutic strategy for rheumatoid arthritis by UHRF1 stabilization We identified an epigenetic regulator UHRF1 that suppresses various pathogeneses in rheumatoid arthritis. The UHRF1 expression level in synovium showed a negative correlation with the severity of pathogenesis in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and mouse arthritis models. In addition, stabilization of the UHRF1 expression achieved improvement of the arthritis pathology. Our results indicate that the stabilization of the UHRF1 protein is a potential therapeutic strategy for rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Researchers at the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo studied the anomalous properties of amorphous solids, including glasses, using computer simulations, and found a common vibrational mechanism underlying them, which may help control the glass properties

An international team of researchers, co-led by Changfang Zhao, from Nanjing University of Science and Technology, and Kheng Lim Goh (Newcastle University in Singapore), has developed a novel lightweight, high toughness auxetic structure made from plastic composite laminates. The auxetic structure may be used for constructing primary structures in the transport industry, such as electric vehicles, to maximize fuel efficiency.

Scientists have revealed two enzymes that regulate protein degradation of proteins in the cell membrane of plants, and established the roles they play in plant growth and development.

Tetraphenylammonium, with all four hydrogens of ammonium (NH4+) replaced with benzene rings, has neither been discovered in nature nor chemically synthesized, calling into question whether it could exist. Here, we succeeded in synthesizing tetraphenylammonium for the first time, demonstrating its stable existence. The synthetic strategy used in this study, radical coupling, may be applicable to the synthesis of various related ammoniums with high structural novelty.