Reliable access to clean water is a basic human right and a central objective of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Thus, securing technologies that can remove pollutants from water bodies is an essential step toward sustainability. Among several existing methods, harnessing solar energy represents an attractive option for water remediation without increasing carbon emissions.

AIMR researchers used micro-focused ARPES to identify domain-specific surface states in antiferromagnetic NdSb that disappear above 16 K. This suggests bulk spin order induces these states through symmetry-breaking, potentially enabling control of surface electrons for applications in spintronics and quantum technologies.

Researchers at Tohoku University examined the change in brain energy dynamics from induced seizures - which could potentially help us better understand individuals with epilepsy. 

While small-scale open-sourcing efforts had been attempted in the past, this project has realized one of the largest-scale open-sourcing initiatives globally. This software can customize set-up through operation to meet users’ needs. This is expected to pave the way for practical quantum computers in the future and contribute to solving social issues through their application.

A new book on traditional Iranian music explores the consequences of an oral tradition of music on the concepts of improvisation, originality and musical freedom. The book also touches on the physicality of making music, challenging our everyday notions of music and music education, which are grounded in the Western literal tradition.

A research group led by Associate Professor Takashi Kikuchi and Professor Wei Li from the Department of Pharmacognosy at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Toho University, along with Professor Atsushi Sugiyama from the Department of Pharmacology at the Faculty of Medicine and Industry-Academia Collaboration Advisor Katsuhiko Ito, has analyzed the chemical compounds of the roots of Codonopsis lanceolata (commonly known as “Tsuruninjin”) grown in Nagano Prefecture. Their findings have revealed the compounds of the plant and, in particular, demonstrated that its major compound, lancemaside A, exhibits vasodilatory effects, suggesting that Codonopsis lanceolata could be effectively utilized as a health-promoting material in the future.

This research was published in the academic journal Chemistry on January 6, 2025.

Chronic jet lag causes drastically different effects on male and female metabolism in mice, say researchers from Kyushu University. The study, published in the journal, Biology of Sex Differences, found that the body clocks of female mice are more easily disrupted than the clocks of male mice, and revealed opposing metabolic effects; jet-lagged male mice gained weight and developed glucose intolerance, while jet-lagged females lost weight compared to female mice without jet lag.

An international collaborative research group led by Prof. Masatoshi Kudo, MD (Chair, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kindai University Faculty of Medicine) conducted a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, phase 3 study and demonstrated that the combination of the molecular targeted agent lenvatinib and the immune checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab in addition to the conventional treatment of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) in patients with unresectable non-metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) significantly extended progression-free survival and showed a trend toward extending overall survival compared to TACE alone. Based on the results of this study, it is anticipated that lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab, in combination with TACE, will become the standard of care for patients with unresectable non-metastatic HCC and may lead to a complete cure.

A study from Hiroshima University found that when people were told to imagine their virtual bodies in pain, their brains resisted the illusion of ownership. Their findings could provide insights into why some people may struggle with feeling connected to their own bodies, particularly in contexts involving depersonalization or negative physical states.