How relatedness to nature is linked to well-being is determined by district-level socioeconomic status. The Kobe University analysis is based on survey results from two major Japanese metropolitan areas.

Scientists at Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI), Kanazawa University have captured real-time footage showing how a key hormone receptor activates genes, offering a clearer view into one of the most fundamental Kaprocesses in biology.

Proof scores are a promising technique in software engineering for verifying the properties of a software system. While proof scores offer the key advantage of following the same syntax as the specification language they are implemented in, they also have several disadvantages that have limited their wide acceptance. In a new study, researchers study the past, present, and future of proof scores to understand their weaknesses and future directions to overcome them.

Some red algae exhibit structural color that gives their growth tips a blue hue and the rest of their bodies including their fruiting structures a white hue. Moreover, since the color-producing structures are located together with anti-herbivory chemicals, the Kobe University discovery is the first to suggest that red algae use colors for inter-species communication.

Researchers at the University of Tokyo developed a framework to enable decentralized artificial intelligence-based building automation with a focus on privacy. The system enables AI-powered devices like cameras and interfaces to cooperate directly, using a new form of device-to-device communication. In doing so, it eliminates the need for central servers and thus the need for centralized data retention, often seen as a potential security weak point and risk to private data.

Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have discovered that impaired glucose metabolism in glial cells, a type of cell in our nervous system, plays a key role in the degeneration caused by Alzheimer’s disease. Using fruit fly retinas, they showed that promoting glucose metabolism in glial cells with tau protein build-up, like in Alzheimer’s patients, helps relieve inflammation and photoreceptor degeneration. Their findings present an exciting new therapeutic target for treating neurodegenerative conditions.

Many mitochondrial diseases have been difficult to study and treat due to the inherent challenges in accessing mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Now, researchers from Japan have optimized mitochondrial-targeted compounds that can selectively modify the ratio of normal versus mutant mtDNA in patient-derived stem cells. This technology enables the creation of research models with varying mutation loads and demonstrates potential as a therapeutic strategy for reducing mutant mtDNA in patients, offering hope for mitochondrial disease treatment.

Kyoto, Japan -- A watched pot never boils, goes the old saying, but many of us have at least kept an eye on the pot, waiting for the bubbling to start. It's satisfying to finally see the rolling boil, behind which complex physical mechanisms are at play.

When this happens, the bubbles that form continuously change in shape and size. These dynamic movements influence the surrounding fluid flow, thereby affecting the efficiency of heat transfer from the heat source to the water.

Manipulating small amounts of liquid at high speeds and frequencies is essential for processing large numbers of samples in medical and chemical fields, such as in cell sorting. Microbubble vibrations can create flows and sound waves, aiding in liquid manipulation. However, the collective behavior and interactions of multiple bubbles is poorly understood, so their applications have been limited.