Hiroshima University researchers use the previous 20 years of data to project what the currently implemented treatment and management strategy does for the HBV and HCV cases in 2050.

Cancers caused by mutations in the KRAS gene are challenging to treat, and current KRAS inhibitor therapies can leave behind reversible drug-tolerant persister (DTP) cells that survive therapy, contributing to tumor regrowth and relapse. Researchers from Chiba University found that these surviving cells adapt by reshaping their metabolism. By targeting these metabolic adaptations, the team succeeded in reducing the survival of DTP cells. The findings may help develop therapies to reduce relapse in KRAS-mutant cancers.

In group decision-making, discussing from an overarching perspective is often difficult. Imagining oneself from a third-person perspective during group discussions may significantly change how people communicate and make decisions together. In this context, researchers investigated the effect of third-person perspective and first-person perspective in a virtual environment on group decision-making. They found that participants using a third-person perspective in virtual reality showed better consensus, improved understanding of others’ opinions, and reduced conflict.

Newly developed method allows for dynamically switching chirality—a particular lack of mirror symmetry—to generate spin currents in semiconductors, report researchers from Science Tokyo. Their approach relies on reversible insertion and removal of small chiral molecules from the interlayer gaps of a layered, non-chiral semiconductor material using electrochemistry. The findings could pave the way for the development of novel chiral spintronic materials and technologies that do not rely on magnets or magnetic fields.

Cells can spontaneously change shape even without external signals, but the underlying mechanisms behind this form of self-organization have remained unclear. Now, researchers from Japan have discovered self-propelled treadmilling actin filaments (SpTAs), mobile protein assemblies that function as self-propelled particles. Their study shows that even though SpTAs move randomly, they push the cell membrane outward and accumulate to grow protrusions, thereby defining the overall shape of the cell.

Researchers at the University of Osaka found that direct survey questions may overstate negative attitudes toward the news media in Japan. In two web-based randomized experiments, 45.1% of respondents agreed that “the mass media are harmful to society” when asked directly, compared with an indirect estimate of 29.7% from a list experiment. The findings suggest that, where media criticism is easy to express, direct questions may inflate anti-media sentiment.