The search for sustainable method to produce acetylene
Acetylene is widely used in across many industries, including the production of resins and plastics like PVC. Realizing an environmentally friendly technique to synthesize it would represent a massive step towards building sustainable societies.

A research team led by Yuta Suzuki, Assistant Professor at Harris Science Research Institute and Takuya Goto, Professor at the Department of Science of Environment and Mathematical Modeling, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, develop an environmentally friendly method to electrochemically synthesize an essential industrial gas.
Acetylene is an essential precursor in the production of resins and plastics such as PVC, as well as a useful gas in many industrial processes. However, its synthesis requires fossil fuels, making it environmentally taxing. Now, Suzuki, Goto and their research team have developed an innovative electrochemical technique to produce acetylene using carbon dioxide and water as raw materials. This method could greatly reduce the carbon footprint of acetylene synthesis and contribute to sustainable carbon capture technologies.

Reference
Suzuki Y., Tanaka S., Watanabe T., Isogai T., Yamauchi A., Kishikawa Y., Goto T. New Route of Acetylene Synthesis via Electrochemical Formation of Metal Carbides from CO2 in Chloride Melts (2024) ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 12 (5), pp. 2110 - 2119.
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c08139

For more details, please see the website of Organization for Research Initiatives and Development, Doshisha University.
[Research News] Advancing Towards Sustainability: Turning Carbon Dioxide and Water into Acetylene

This achievement has also been featured in the “EurekAlert!.”
NEWS RELEASE 27-MAR-2024, Advancing Towards Sustainability: Turning Carbon Dioxide and Water into Acetylene

Image Credit: Yuta Suzuki from Doshisha University, Japan
License type: CC BY

Developing hydrogel scaffolds with tunable elastic modulus for tissue engineering
Researchers have developed a hydrogel composed of poly(N-acryloylglycinamide) (PNAGAm) grafted with arginine (R)–glycine (G)–aspartic acid (D)–serine (S) peptide whose elastic modulus can be changed by simply compressing it to different thicknesses.

A research team led by Assistant Professor Shin-nosuke Nishimura and Professor Tomoyuki Koga at the Department of Molecular Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, demonstrate a hydrogel system possessing the ability to remember its shape, offering a unique platform for controlling cell adhesion behavior.

Artificial scaffolds play an important role in tissue healing and growth. The properties of a scaffold, especially its elasticity, impact cell growth. However, adjusting the elasticity without altering composition and other properties has been challenging. Now, researchers at Doshisha University have successfully created a hydrogel with a tunable elastic modulus with the same composition. This breakthrough allows, for the first time, the control of cell adhesion on a hydrogel by adjusting the elastic modulus. Artificial scaffolds play an important role in tissue healing and growth. The properties of a scaffold, especially its elasticity, impact cell growth. However, adjusting the elasticity without altering composition and other properties has been challenging. Now, Nishimura and his colleagues have successfully created a hydrogel with a tunable elastic modulus with the same composition. This breakthrough allows, for the first time, the control of cell adhesion on a hydrogel by adjusting the elastic modulus.

Investigating how Japanese horseshoe bats perceive moving objects.
Researchers from Doshisha University have found that horseshoe bats exhibit rapid changes in vocalizations and behavior primarily in response to Doppler shifts.

Soshi Yoshida, a PhD student, and Shizuko Hiryu, a Professor, both from the Neuroethology and Bioengineering Lab, the Graduate School of Life and Medical Science, and their research team reveal how Horseshoe Bats perceive moving objects such as their predator.
The unique echolocation ability of bats enables them to “see” using sound, allowing for quick detection and avoidance of approaching threats. They achieve this by discerning changes in the frequency of reflected soundwaves or the delay. However, the specific mechanism by which they recognize approaching objects has remained unclear. To find out, researchers simulated a moving object using soundwaves and discovered that bats utilize “Doppler shifts” or frequency changes to perceive approaching objects.

Carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRPs) as energy-efficient structural materials.
Thanks to their light weight yet remarkable strength, the use of CFRPs in the automobile, aerospace, and renewable energy industries is soaring. However, this means finding effective ways to recycle the waste generated by CFRPs is essential to ensure sustainability in the long term.

Kiyotaka Obunai, an Associate Professor, and Kazuya Okubo, a Professor, both from the Department of Mechanical and Systems Engineering of the Faculty of Science and Engineering, have investigated how using superheated steam can help preserve the properties of fibers recovered from waste carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) via thermal decomposition.The demand for CFRPs for aerospace, automotive, and renewable energy applications has recently skyrocketed, creating the need for efficient ways to recycle these composites. Their findings could open doors to more sustainable manufacturing processes and a reduced environmental impact in industries reliant on CFRPs, contributing to a greener future.

Reference
Obunai K., Okubo K. Mechanical characteristics of reclaimed carbon fibre under superheated steam atmosphere and its feasibility for remanufacturing CFRP/CFRTP (2024) Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 176, art. no. 107843
DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesa.2023.107843


For more details, please see the website of Organization for Research Initiatives and Development, Doshisha University.
Research News: Reclaiming Carbon Fibers from Discarded Composite Materials

This achievement has also been featured in the “EurekAlert!.”
NEWS RELEASE 16-NOV-2023: Reclaiming Carbon Fibers from Discarded Composite Materials

Schematic representation of NRF1-triggered activation of aggrephagy mediated by impaired proteasome activity
The ubiquitin‒proteasome system (UPS) and autophagy are protein degradation pathways essential for maintaining protein balance and regulation, or proteostasis (left panel). When proteasome activity decreases because of several reasons including chemical inhibitors and aging, the transcription factor NRF1 gets activated, leading to the upregulation of proteasome gene expression (“the proteasome bounce-back response;” middle panel). Furthermore, complete proteasome dysfunction activates NRF1-mediated aggrephagy, inducing the expression of the aggrephagy-related genes p62 and GABARAPL1 (right). These cellular responses help combat proteasome dysfunction by maintaining proteostasis.

Atsushi Hatanaka, a graduate student, and Akira Kobayashi, a professor, both from the Laboratory for Genetic Code, Graduate School of Life and Medical Sciences, and their research team discovered the hidden mechanism of "aggrephagy," with major implications for degenerative protein diseases.
In cells, the ubiquitin‒proteasome system (UPS) plays a key role in the elimination of unwanted or misfolded proteins. When UPS fails, cells activate a backup process called "aggrephagy" for clearing ubiquitin-tagged proteins. However, the associated mechanism behind this process remains unknown. Recently, Hatanaka, Kobayashi, and their colleagues have demonstrated how another protein called NRF1 facilitates aggrephagy, thereby providing new therapeutic targets for diseases resulting from misfolded proteins.
These findings pave the way toward developing novel therapeutics for degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and dementia with Lewy bodies.

Molecular desorption from a microbubble under ultrasound irradiation.
The amount of molecular desorption can be estimated quantitatively by the proposed method.

A research team headed by Professor Daisuke Koyama and graduate student Ms. Reina Kobayashi, from the Faculty of Science and Engineering, reported, “novel measurement technique can help develop targeted therapeutic strategies that use microbubbles and ultrasound to deliver drugs to specific locations.”
Vascular drug therapies often lead to undesirable side effects on healthy tissues. Addressing this issue requires targeted drug delivery systems. They have recently developed an innovative approach for measuring the amount of molecules desorbed from the surface of individual microbubbles when irradiated with ultrasound. Using this technique, they analyzed the desorption process in detail, revealing insights that could enable the design of next-generation drug delivery systems based on drug-loaded microbubbles and ultrasound.

Reference
I Kobayashi R., Narita J., Nakaoka N., Krafft M.P., Koyama D. Quantitative estimation of phospholipid molecules desorbed from a microbubble surface under ultrasound irradiation (2023) Scientific Reports, 13 (1), art. no. 13693.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-40823-0

For more details, please see the website of Organization for Research Initiatives and Development, Doshisha University.
Research News: Unveiling the Science of Ultrasound-Driven Microbubble Desorption

This achievement has also been featured in the “EurekAlert!.”
NEWS RELEASE 21-SEP-2023 Unveiling the Science of Ultrasound-Driven Microbubble Desorption


Image Credit:Daisuke Koyama and Reina Kobayashi
License type: Original content

How is cognitive-behavioral therapy applied to young people in Japan?
An example of a comic strip used in culturally adapted cognitive-behavioral therapy for Japanese youth.

Shin-ichi Ishikawa, professor at the Faculty of Psychology, and his colleagues summarize how cognitive-behavioral therapies have been successfully adapted and implemented for youth in Japan.
Although cognitive-behavioral therapies (CBT) have grown in popularity globally, they face barriers to implementation outside Western countries. In a new article, Ishikawa and his colleagues discuss that CBT is being successfully used to treat anxiety disorder and depression among the country’s youth. They also identified the most successful CBT programs and specific strategies for implementing CBT programs in non-Western cultures to improve the quality of life of youth suffering from mental illnesses.

Reference
Ishikawa, Si., Kishida, K., Takahashi, T. et al. Cultural Adaptation and Implementation of Cognitive-Behavioral Psychosocial Interventions for Anxiety and Depression in Japanese Youth. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev 26, 727–750 (2023).
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-023-00446-3

For more details, please see the website of Organization for Research Initiatives and Development, Doshisha University.
Research News: Culture-friendly Therapies for Treating Anxiety and Depression in Japanese Youth

This achievement has also been featured in the “EurekAlert!.”
NEWS RELEASE 7-SEP-2023 Culture-friendly Therapies for Treating Anxiety and Depression in Japanese Youth

Image Credit:Shin-ichi Ishikawa and Yoko Kamio
Image Source Link to be added in the Image Credit Section of EA form: http://mentalhealthprogram.jp/
License type: Original content

Center for Japanese Language and Culture hosted “Doshisha Summer Session 2023” conducted online for two weeks, from July 17 to July 28, 2023. This online program was held sequentially last year and we had 9 participants this time from Korea and China.

The program was composed of Japanese language classes as well as Japanese culture classes “Traditional Culture and Life in Kyoto”.

The participants had some opportunities to interact with 22 volunteer students from Doshisha University. Japanese students joined some classes to help the participants’ studies as volunteers.

Paternal childcare and its positive impacts on the child’s socio-physical development
Adjusted risk ratios with 95% confidence intervals for the associations of paternal involvement in childcare.

Dr. Tsuguhiko Kato, Researcher, and Dr. Shoji Itakura, Fellow Professor and Director at the Center for Baby Science at Doshisha University, and their colleagues showed the importance of paternal involvement in infant care and its key developmental impacts among Japanese children.
The extent of paternal involvement in childcare has been historically restricted in Japan because of the ingrained gender-based division of labor. However, recent trends show a paradigm shift in paternal parenting attitudes across Japan. A recent study examines paternal care among 6-month-old Japanese infants and its impact on various developmental outcomes at the age of 3 years. The study also assessed the impact of reduction of maternal parenting stress on childcare outcomes.

Harvard Summer School (hereinafter referred to as HSS) in Kyoto successfully took place at Imadegawa Campus, Doshisha University. It was about 8 weeks program started from June 3rd to July 29. Due to Covid-19, the program was not held from 2020 to 2022, but this year we were able to implement the program for the first time in four years. HSS students usually stay with host families, but this year, due to uncertainty about the future of COVID-19, they stayed at the Keishiryo Dormitory.

This year, twelve Harvard students participated in this summer program, and attended two academic courses: “East Asian Religions: Traditions and Transformations” by Professor James Robson, and “Medicine and the Body In East Asia and In Europe” by Professor Shigehisa Kuriyama. In addition to classroom lectures, students went on various field trips related to the lecture content. In addition to field trips to Nara, Kinkakuji, Kiyomizu-dera, and Fushimi Inari, students deepened their understanding of Japanese history and culture by experiencing incense listening and ikebana flower arrangement.

In this program, six Doshisha students participated in lectures as study partners. The study partners contributed to the program not only by sharing their perspectives and insights as local students in class, but also helping them learn about Japanese culture and day to day life. The study partners were very stimulated by the HSS professors and students and learned a lot from them. Outside of classes and field trips, they actively deepened exchanges through activities such as picnics along the Kamo River and Gion Matsuri Festival. HSS students and Doshisha study partners built strong bonds and friendships by spending fulfilling 8 weeks together.

On the last day of the program, the farewell party was held in French restaurant “will” in the Kambaikan building. HSS professors, HSS students, Doshisha study partners, and host families who have welcomed HSS students in the past attended the party. One HSS student gave a speech in Japanese. Also, HSS students hold flowers to express their experience in flower arrangement and creatively shared their learning and appreciation for the past two months. All the participants shared their memories, laughed a lot untill the last moment, and the program was closed with lots of smiles in a cheerful atmosphere.