Japan’s 2017 Stewardship Code amendment encourages institutional investors to voluntarily disclose their voting records to improve corporate governance. Researchers from Waseda and Keio Universities analyzed 7,887 voting proposals from Japan’s top 500 firms to see how this rule affected shareholder behavior. They found a significant increase in shareholder dissent in director elections among domestic institutional investors following the regulatory reform. The findings highlight that even voluntary regulations can drive meaningful changes in shareholder engagement.

Researchers from Science Tokyo have contributed to an international collaboration that recently published a perspective article in the prestigious journal Nature Physics. The team, led by Professor Ginestra Bianconi of Queen Mary University (UK), addressed the most recent developments and challenges in complex systems from the angle of higher-order networks, with applications ranging from climate science to machine learning.

Imagine a cancer treatment that precisely targets malignant cells, leaving healthy ones untouched. Consider, also, a cancer treatment that corrects abnormal protein synthesis to produce healthy proteins in patients. These are just two of the many applications of a new study by Hiroshi Abe and colleagues at Nagoya University. Their innovative approach, called the ICIT mechanism, introduces a novel way to 'switch on' protein synthesis in target cells only, creating healthy proteins to treat illnesses or toxic proteins to kill unwanted cells. Their discoveries could pave the way for personalized and precise healthcare.

Heat stroke poses a significant health risk, especially during extreme temperature conditions. While social media posts have demonstrated potential for detection of infectious diseases, its reliability remains a challenge. Now, researchers from Japan demonstrate the potential of combining social media posts and deep learning models for early detection of heat stroke risks. This approach opens up new possibilities for leveraging real-time data in event-based surveillance, enabling timely detection and response to heat stroke threats.