Realizing a highly efficient reaction with acid sites in proximity to Pd nanoparticles

A research group including YNU Faculty of Engineering professor Ken Motokura has developed a catalyst supported with palladium (Pd) nanoparticles on the outer surface of a zeolite to realize a direct binding reaction of alkanes and benzenes. Conventional alkylbenzene synthesis produces a large number of byproducts, but this newly developed method releases only hydrogen or water as a byproduct. Moving hydrogen atoms from the zeolite’s acid sites to Pd nanoparticles is the key to the binding reaction. The μ+SR measurements suggest that atomic hydrogen formed in a zeolite can maintain its form for the time necessary for the reaction.Professor Motokura also serves as a visiting professor at the Department of Chemical Science and Engineering, School of Materials and Chemical Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology. Other researchers include Satoshi Misaki, a graduate student (at the time of the research) at the Department of Chemical Science and Engineering, School of Materials and Chemical Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology; Hiroko Ariga-Miwa, a specially appointed associate professor at the Innovation Research Center for Fuel Cells, University of Electro-Communications; and Takashi U. Ito, a deputy chief researcher at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency.

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Hourglass mission: Experiments to create gravity conditions of various extraterrestrial bodies to simulate the fall of sand on the moon and planets

A research group including YNU Faculty of Engineering professor Shingo Ozaki, Keio University Faculty of Science and Technology associate professor Genya Ishigami, and JAXA Institute of Space and Astronautical Science associate professor Masatsugu Otsuki has successfully measured the flow characteristics of different types of powdery granular materials (sand and regolith simulants) by creating various low-gravity environments using cell culture laboratory equipment in the Kibo module of the International Space Station. The group performed the world’s first measurement and analysis of the flow dynamics of powdery granular materials under long-term, stable artificial gravity conditions (0.063G-2.0G). The experimental results also showed that the flow characteristics of some sands quantitatively follow well-known physical laws and are proportional to the square root of the magnitude of gravitational force (√G) at low gravity. In addition, regression analysis of the measurement results suggests that the “bulk density” of sand decreases with gravity. The outcomes obtained from these experiments can be applied to future space probe development and various mission plans.

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A research team including YNU Graduate School of Environment and Information Sciences professor Maiko Kagami and Chiba University Graduate School of Science professor Nozomu Takeuchi has discovered that chytrids found in alpine areas and glaciers are parasitic chytrids on snow algae. Chytrids are known as a fungus parasitic in a variety of organisms, including frogs and plankton. They have been detected in glaciers and alpine snowpacks, but their life cycle in these cold environments remained unknown.

In this study, researchers captured chytrids living in snow algae and successfully extracted their DNA from a single spore, the first attempt of its kind in the world, to identify their lineage. Their research also suggests that these chytrids can be found in alpine regions throughout the world, and that they may belong to a parasitic group particularly targeting snow algae.

In recent years, the proliferation of snow algae has caused surface coloration of glaciers and high mountains, with ice and snow melting at an accelerating rate. Chytrids living in these algae indicate that this host-parasite relationship may help control the melting of glaciers and snowpacks.

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The research group of YNU Graduate School of Environment and Information Sciences associate professor Akihiko Ito, Yuri Mitsuhashi (2nd year of the YNU Master’s Program at the time of the research), and Shogen Matsumoto (3rd year of the YNU Doctoral Program at the time of the research) has successfully developed chemical vapor deposition of ordered structures in the sapphire-garnet eutectic system. The group used the vapor deposition method, instead of the traditional melt-solidification process, to produce ceramic eutectic composites by accelerating the deposition reaction of raw material gases with laser irradiation. Phosphors with garnet phosphors self-organized in a sapphire transparent matrix are expected to be applied to next-generation solid-state illumination and high-resolution X-ray imaging technologies.

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A research group including YNU professor Junji Fukuda and Yusuke Okubo, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Health Sciences, announced it has successfully demonstrated high-accuracy detection of developmental toxicants that include thalidomide and its derivatives by creating human-induced pluripotent stem (iPS) reporter cells capable of continuously monitoring fibroblast growth factor signal disruptions as an indicator.

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Paving the way to error-resilient quantum computers

A research group including YNU Faculty of Engineering/Institute of Advanced Sciences professor Hideo Kosaka has successfully performed the world’s first quantum error correction with quantum memories consisting of nitrogen and multiple carbon isotopes in diamonds controlled under a zero magnetic field.

The group demonstrated the automatic correction of a quantum state corrupted by operational errors with nuclear spins of nitrogen atoms and surrounding carbon isotopes that comprise a diamond nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center used as a logical quantum memory to hold quantum information for a prolonged period. The quantum error correction using nuclear spins in the absence of a zero magnetic field is the first of its kind in the world.

This research will help incorporate error-resilient quantum memories into the quantum interfaces necessary to connect superconducting quantum computers operating under a zero magnetic field to quantum networks. The group’s achievement will pave the way for the development of error-tolerant distributed quantum computers, large-scale quantum computer networks, and quantum transponders essential to build a global quantum internet.

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