From 1 January 2022 to 4 September 2022, a total of 53 996 mpox cases were confirmed globally. Cases are predominantly concentrated in Europe and the Americas, while other regions are also continuously observing imported cases. This study aimed to estimate the potential global risk of mpox importation and consider hypothetical scenarios of travel restrictions by varying passenger volumes (PVs) via airline travel network. PV data for the airline network, and the time of first confirmed mpox case for a total of 1680 airports in 176 countries (and territories) were extracted from publicly available data sources. A survival analysis technique in which the hazard function was a function of effective distance was utilised to estimate the importation risk. The arrival time ranged from 9 to 48 days since the first case was identified in the UK on 6 May 2022. The estimated risk of importation showed that regardless of the geographic region, most locations will have an intensified importation risk by 31 December 2022. Travel restrictions scenarios had a minor impact on the global airline importation risk against mpox, highlighting the importance to enhance local capacities for the identification of mpox and to be prepared to carry out contact tracing and isolation.

Sample geometry effects on mechanical strengths of gold micro-cantilevers are evaluated by a micro-bending test. Six micro-cantilevers with the same length of 50 μm are prepared, and the width and the thickness are varied to examine individual effects on the yield stress. The yield stress increases from 428 to 519 MPa when the thickness decreases from 11.1 to 6.0 μm. No obvious dependency is observed when varying the width. The results reveal that the thickness and the width each has a different influence on the yield stresses of micro-cantilevers evaluated by the bending test, which is the sample geometry effect.

Relative grain-boundary energies in ice were measured as a function of mismatch angles made by the c-axes or a-axes in grains, using ice specimens having triple grain boundaries. It was found that the Read–Shockley equation for grain-boundary energy was valid for grain boundaries tilted between 0° and 15°. Angles of the solid–vapour grain-boundary groove in ice were measured by the use of micro-interferometry at grain-boundary grooves covered with extremely thin metalic foil. The data were compared with those measured by a silvered replica of grain-boundary grooves.

Using continuous microwave systems at fixed frequencies in the X- and R-band, surface depression of a snowpack was obtained from interference between the emitted wave, at normal incidence to the snowpack surface, and the reflected wave from the snow surface. The microwave system worked as a simple interferometer in air with respect to the snow surface. The values of the depression could be obtained from the numbers of cycles of the fluctuation and the wavelength of the microwave used.

We present the first statistical analysis of the exoplanet frequency using planets found by a microlensing survey rather than follow-up observations. We present an analysis of 2007-2012 MOA (Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics) survey data to derive the planet frequency as a function of the planet/star mass ratio, q and separation, s, relative to the Einstein radius. Our sample includes 1472 microlensing events, including 22 planetary events and 1 ambiguous event with possible planetary and stellar binary solutions. The detection efficiency is calculated for each event and we employ a Bayesian analysis to deal with the ambiguous event. A broken power law model is used to fit the mass ratio function and we find a break and likely peak at q ~1.0−4.

We present recent results on Karl Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA) deep S-band (2-4 GHz) observation towards a protocluster 4C23.56 at redshift z ∼ 2.5. The protocluster 4C23.56 is known to have a significant over density (∼ 5 times) of star-burst galaxies selected to be Hα line-bright by a Subaru narrow band imaging. Now we have found 25 HAEs associated with the protocluster. These starburst HAEs are likely to become massive ellipticals at z = 0 in a cluster. Various other galaxy populations also reside in this field and the fact makes the field very unique as a tool to understand galaxy formation in a over dense region. Subsequent deep 1100-μm continuum surveys by the ASTE 10-m dish have discovered that several submillimeter bright galaxies (SMGs) coincide with HAEs, suggesting HAEs undergoing dusty starbursts. As star formation rates (SFRs) of HAEs might have been underestimated, we use radio being resistant to dust extinction. We investigate the correlation between SFR1.4 GHz and SFRHα for radio index α = 0.8 to see if the correlation holds for the sources and to check the number of dusty star forming galaxies. Our final results will allow us to evaluate quantitatively how the galaxy formation channel may be different under the condition of over-densities.

With AKARI, we have performed a systematic study of interstellar dust grains in various environments of galaxies. In many cases, the IR emission of dust is an important tool to trace star-forming activities in galaxies. However it is much more than just star-formation tracers. AKARI has revealed the detailed properties of dust grains in regions not relevant to star formation as well, some of which are found not to follow our old empirical knowledge. Because of its unique capabilities, such as near- and far-IR spectroscopy, and all-sky coverage, AKARI has provided new knowledge on the processing of carbonaceous grains including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. We present the latest results obtained from our AKARI observations of the ISM in our Galaxy and nearby galaxies.

We have developed new gene expression-regulating polymer that can activate transgene expression in response to target intracellular signals. Here, we tried applying sonoporation system to this gene regulation system to enhance the gene expression efficacy. Sonoporation is the method for effective gene transfection in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, the method might enhance the transfection efficiency in our polymer and realize an efficient and safe gene delivery system. Results suggested that the combination of our polymer and sonoporation could improve the gene expression compared to the system using only our polymer that transfers genes into cells via endocytosis. It also kept the ability of the gene regulation responding to cellular signals.

We have demonstrated a 5-inch flexible color liquid crystal display (LCD) and organic light emitting display (OLED) driven by low-voltage operation organic TFT. In order to achieve high-quality and high-resolution moving images, OTFTs with high performances such as a high mobility, high ON/OFF ratio, low sub-threshold slope (SS) and low operating voltage, are developed. We fabricated pentacene-based low-voltage operation OTFT with a Ta2O5 gate dielectric prepared at a low temperature process. The resulting OTFT array showed a high mobility of 0.3-0.4 cm2/Vs, ON/OFF ratio over 107, VTH=2.7V, and low SS=0.3 V/decade. OTFTs with solution-processable materials such as fluoropolymer gate dielectric and liquid-crystalline semiconducting polymers, PBTTT, were also investigated. Electrical characteristics and stabilities of these devices will be discussed. In the final section, we will demonstrate OTFT-driven flexible displays. Both of the flexible LC device and the OLED device were successfully integrated on the pentacene-based OTFT arrays. Printing and lamination techniques were introduced to assemble the flexible LC device. Phosphorescent polymer materials, which can be patterned by ink-jet printing, were used for emitting layer of OLED. Color moving images were successively shown on the resulting 5-inch displays using an active-matrix driving technique of the OTFT at a low driving voltage of 15V.

Degradation property of aluminum due to hydrogen is studied. Hydrogen is introduced by electrolysis charge in aqueous solution with addition of 0.1 mass % NH4SCN as a hydrogen recombination poison. The amount of hydrogen and its existing state in the material is analyzed by hydrogen desorption curves measured by the thermal desorption spectroscopy. The hydrogen desorption curves of charged aluminum showed two peaks, one at less than 100 °C and the other around 400 °C. The existing state of hydrogen relate to each peaks are identified as weakly trapped solute hydrogen to vacancy and free hydrogen molecule located in cavities that exists in the bulk of the material. Tensile properties are obtained to determine degradation property of the material due to hydrogen. The effect of hydrogen on degradation of charged aluminum is analyzed in terms of interaction between hydrogen and vacancy or dislocation. Solute hydrogen and cavities are found to affect ductility of aluminum, whereas hydrogen molecule in cavities has no effect.

We succeeded in growing carbon nanotubes in a photoelectron spectroscopy analysis system using thermal chemical vapor deposition and analyzed the chemical states of the Co catalysts by in-situ x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy before and after the growth. We found that almost all of the Co particles are metallic after the growth in both cases; Co particles are formed from a Co oxide thin film and a metallic Co thin film. This shows that the metallic state is stable for Co under low-pressure ethanol ambient in our growth condition for carbon nanotubes.

Adhesion between swollen hydrogels was studied using a simple tack-evaluation technique by a point contact in air at room temperature. The hydrogel used here was poly(sodium acrylate) (PSA) gel physically cross-linked by aluminum ions. The adhesion force and the separation energy showed a power-law increase with separation velocity, normal force, and waiting period　prior to separate. Effects of the degrees of protonation in PSA as well as of dehydration on the adhesive properties are also presented. The results are discussed in terms of the surface molecular interaction and the bulk elastic and viscous properties.

A new simple method for measuring a long-range electrostatic attractive force between metal and semiconductor substrate and charged polymer surfaces has been developed to make clear the effect of the electronic nature of substrate surfaces. Nickel, titanium, and silicon wafer substrates were subjected to various surface pretreatments. The surfaces of polystyrene and polytetrafluoroethylene sheets were positively and negatively charged by triboelectrification, respectively. A progressive increase in the attractive force was observed with a decrease in the distance between the substrate and polymer surfaces. The magnitude of the attractive force was greatly influenced by the substrate pretreatments and the polymers with the oppositely charged surface. The electronic nature of the substrate surfaces evaluated by temperature programmed photoelectron emission method was well correlated with the attractive force. The electrostatic induction generated at the substrate surface is considered to govern the attractive force.

We previously reported the de novo design of an amphiphilic peptide [YGG(IEKKIEA)4] that forms a native-like, parallel triple-stranded coiled coil. Starting from this peptide, we sought to regulate the assembly of the peptide by a metal ion. The replacement of the Ile18 and Ile22 residues with Ala and Cys residues, respectively, in the hydrophobic positions disrupted of the triple-stranded α-helix structure. The addition of Cd(II), however, resulted in the reconstitution of the triple-stranded α-helix bundle, as revealed by circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy and sedimentation equilibrium analysis. By titration with metal ions and monitoring the change in the intensity of the CD spectra at 222 nm, the dissociation constant Kd was determined to be 1.5 ± 0.8 μM for Cd(II). The triple-stranded complex formed by the 113Cd(II) ion showed a single 113Cd NMR resonance at 572 ppm whose chemical shift was not affected by the presence of Cl− ions. The 113Cd NMR resonance was connected with the βH protons of the cysteine residue by 1H–113Cd heteronuclear multiple quantum correlation spectroscopy. These NMR results indicate that the three cysteine residues are coordinated to the cadmium ion in a trigonal-planar complex. Hg(II) also induced the assembly of the peptide into a triple-stranded α-helical bundle below the Hg(II)/peptide ratio of 1/3. With excess Hg(II), however, the α-helicity of the peptide was decreased, with the change of the Hg(II) coordination state from three to two. Combining this construct with other functional domains should facilitate the production of artificial proteins with functions controlled by metal ions.