Photocatalyst Discovered by Japanese Researchers
The current COVID-19 pandemic has thrown a spotlight on a discovery made by Japanese researchers half a century ago: photocatalyst technology.
Photocatalysts are materials that induce a chemical reaction under photoirradiation. Titanium dioxide, the most widely known, causes strong oxidation when exposed to light. Photocatalyst technology leverages this phenomenon to decompose harmful or odor-causing substances into materials like water or carbon dioxide.
Fujishima Akira, the former president of the Tokyo University of Science, was studying for his PhD at the University of Tokyo when he made this discovery. In 1972, after finding that titanium dioxide oxidizes in water when exposed to strong light, Fujishima published a paper on the photocatalytic reaction in the influential British scientific journal
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A cross-institutional research group has revealed for the first time in the world that infants with symptomatic congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection who were treated with a combination of immunoglobulin fetal therapy and neonatal therapy with antiviral drugs were less likely to experience the severe aftereffects associated with the infection than those who only received the neonatal therapy.
It is hoped that the number of children suffering severe aftereffects resulting from congenital CMV infection will decrease in the future.
The research group included the following members:
Doctor YAMADA Hideto (Director of the Center for Recurrent Pregnancy Loss and Genome Medical Center, Teine Keijinkai Hospital, visiting professor at Osaka University and former professor of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine)
( 4), pleural effusion and peritoneal effusion
( 5) are among the characteristic symptoms of congenital CMV infection. Approximately 90% of infants who experience these clinical manifestations are left with the aforementioned severe aftereffects.
In recent years, it has been discovered that treating newborns with these clinical manifestations of congenital CMV infection with the antiviral drug, Valganciclovir, can improve not only hearing issues but also reduce delays in mental and physical development. In Japan, a clinical trial is ongoing to approve the neonatal therapies as treatments covered by public health insurance.
On the other hand, there are some cases where clear clinical manifestations of CMV infection can be diagnosed in fetuses via ultrasound while they are still in the uterus. It is supposed that infants who exhibit these symptoms in the uterus are more likely to experience more severe aftereffects than infants who are diagnosed with congenital CMV infection after
Fetal and neonatal therapy combination may lessen the aftereffects of congenital CMV infection
A cross-institutional research group has revealed for the first time in the world that infants with symptomatic congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection who were treated with a combination of immunoglobulin fetal therapy and neonatal therapy with antiviral drugs were less likely to experience the severe aftereffects associated with the infection than those who only received the neonatal therapy.
It is hoped that the number of children suffering severe aftereffects resulting from congenital CMV infection will decrease in the future.
The research group included the following members:
Doctor YAMADA Hideto (Director of the Center for Recurrent Pregnancy Loss and Genome Medical Center, Teine Keijinkai Hospital, visiting professor at Osaka University and former professor of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine)