Food allergies can be life-threatening due to the rapid and exaggerated immune response. While mucosal mast cells (MMCs) are excessively proliferated during food allergies, the precise mechanisms that cause the overproduction of MMCs remain undiscovered. Now, a new study by scientists from Juntendo University, Japan, reveals the role of major histocompatibility complex class II (MHCII)-expressing mucosal mast cells in IgE-mediated food allergy.

New research from the RIKEN Center for Brain Science (CBS) in Japan challenges conventional wisdom that larger group size reduces cooperation by showing that fluid connections and innate prosocial instincts enable humans to thrive in larger social circles.

This novel finding regarding the nonreciprocal diffraction of acoustic waves could open doors for next-generation communication devices.

In a study on public psychology with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers from Osaka University found no significant differences among regions of Japan regarding either risk perception or infection-prevention behaviors during the “state of emergency,” suggesting spillover effects between targeted and non-targeted regions. However, risk perception diminished after restrictions were lifted, and both risk perception and hygienic behaviors saw further reductions after the downgrading of the legal status of COVID-19 to that of a common seasonal flu.

A research team from the Department of Mechanical Systems Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology and the Department of Mechanical Science, Saitama University, has developed a unified model to scale the transitional pressure development in a one-dimensional flow.  This achievement provides a better understanding of how pressure fields build up in the confined fluid system for various acceleration situations, which might be applicable to the biomechanics-related impact problem, such as human brain injuries caused by physical contact.