Spanish butterflies better at regulating their body temperature than their British cousins

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

 

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BUTTERFLY POPULATIONS IN CATALONIA IN NORTHERN SPAIN ARE BETTER THAN THEIR UK COUNTERPARTS AT REGULATING THEIR BODY TEMPERATURE BY BASKING IN THE SUNSHINE, BUT RISING GLOBAL TEMPERATURES DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE MAY PUT SPANISH BUTTERFLIES AT GREATER RISK OF EXTINCTION.

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CREDIT: ANDREW BLADON

Butterfly populations in Catalonia in northern Spain are better than their UK counterparts at regulating their body temperature by basking in the sunshine, but rising global temperatures due to climate change may put Spanish butterflies at greater risk of extinction.

An international study, led by the University of Cambridge and the Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (IBE) in Barcelona, found that butterflies use different methods to regulate their body temperature. In Catalonia, butterflies tend to angle their wings towards the sun to warm up at lower temperatures, while British butterflies rely more on finding warm microclimates.

However, as temperatures rise, both populations switch to heat-avoiding behaviour. As global temperatures rise, British butterflies may initially benefit, while Spanish butterflies may not be able to survive if they are not able to adapt quickly enough.

However, habitat loss, particularly in the UK, is an equally important threat to butterflies. Diverse habitats offer butterflies a greater variety of microclimates, and initiatives such as ‘no-mow May’, allowing wildflowers to grow along roadsides, and planting more trees can help counter habitat loss. The results are reported in the Journal of Animal Ecology.

Like all insects, butterflies are ‘cold-blooded’ and use their environment to regulate their internal temperature. Understanding how butterflies thermoregulate is important for predicting which species are most at risk from the effects of climate change.

In a study published in 2020, several of the same researchers showed that there are significant variations in the ability of different UK butterfly species to maintain a suitable body temperature. Species that rely mostly on shade to keep cool are at greatest risk of population decline, due to climate change and habitat loss.

“The first study in the UK showed that butterflies are pretty good at regulating their body temperature in this cooler climate, but we wanted to see whether butterflies in a warmer climate, such as Spain, are doing anything differently,” said lead author Eric Toro-Delgado from IBE, a joint centre of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) and Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), “And if there are differences, what mechanisms might be driving it?”

“In Spain, butterflies spend much more time at their optimum temperature since it’s warmer, but there’s also a greater risk of overheating,” said Dr Andrew Bladon from Cambridge’s Department of Zoology, the study’s senior author. “We wanted to see whether the results we got from our UK data would be repeatable in a different environment.”

For the current study, the researchers collected similar data as the 2020 UK paper, but from butterflies in Catalonia. They measured body temperature, air temperature, and perch temperature for almost 800 adult butterflies from 23 different species: for ten of these species, the researchers had comparable data from the UK.

“We hypothesised that Spanish butterflies might show adaptations to their warmer climate, which could give us an indication of how British butterflies might need to adapt to cope with climate change,” said Bladon.

The researchers found that on a community level, butterflies in Catalonia were better at regulating, or buffering, their body temperature than British butterflies. Butterflies in both countries switch from heat-seeking to heat-avoiding behaviour once air temperatures reach approximately 22°C. However, the communities differ in the use of buffering mechanisms, with British populations depending more on microclimates for thermoregulation compared to Catalan populations.

Many landscapes in the UK do not provide a sufficient diversity of thermal environments, with alternating areas of shade and sun. For UK butterflies that rely on microclimates to regulate body temperature, habitat and biodiversity loss is a major threat. In Catalonia, one of the reasons why butterflies are better at regulating their temperature could be because butterflies have many more thermal options available to them.

“In the UK, many of our nature reserves are like islands, with little variety in between,” said Bladon. “If we can provide them with field margins, biodiverse road verges, more wildflowers, and longer grass, butterflies can more easily move through the landscape, helping them find their preferred temperatures so they can thrive.”

Although Catalan butterfly populations seem to be able to thermoregulate successfully at present, rising global temperatures due to climate change put them at greater risk, since it is so warm in Spain already.

“In the UK study, the Cambridge team found that wing size was related to the ability of a species to regulate its body temperature, and that species with large wings were better at it,” said Toro-Delgado. “We expected to find a similar result in Spain, but we didn’t. This is likely because in a warm country like Spain, the ability to avoid heat is preferable, and wings may play a less relevant role in this than in warming up.”

“Because of rising global temperatures, the UK’s climate is becoming a little bit more like Spain, so climate change may benefit British butterflies in the short term,” said Bladon. “But what’s striking is butterflies in both countries showed signs of heat avoidance. And the Catalan butterflies are at greater risk since they are already near their thermal optimum.”

The researchers say that beyond rising temperatures, butterflies are also at risk from associated climate impacts, such as droughts or heatwaves. These extreme weather events can not only push butterflies past their thermal limits, but it can kill the plants which their caterpillars rely on.

“Climate change is a two-pronged attack that can take out both adult butterflies and their caterpillars,” said Toro-Delgado. “Climate change and biodiversity loss go hand-in-hand, and we urgently need to address both if we’re going to protect important species like butterflies.”

The research was supported in part by the Spanish National Research Council, the Isaac Newton Trust, Wellcome, Generalitat de Catalunya, the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, the UK Natural Environment Research Council, and the European Social Fund Plus.

Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio machaon)

Butterfly populations in Catalonia in northern Spain are better than their UK counterparts at regulating their body temperature by basking in the sunshine, but rising global temperatures due to climate change may put Spanish butterflies at greater risk of extinction.

Red Admiral butterfly

CREDIT

Andrew Bladon

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JOURNAL

Journal of Animal Ecology

DOI

10.1111/1365-2656.14039 

ARTICLE TITLE

Regional differences in thermoregulation between two European butterfly communities

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

9-Jan-2024

 

Understanding the neuroendocrine basis for social anxiety-like behavior in male mice

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF TSUKUBA

Tsukuba, Japan—Estradiol (E2), a sex steroid hormone, plays an essential role in social behavior, including regulating social anxiety, which is anxiety experienced when unknown individuals are encountered. In males, testosterone secreted by the testes is converted to E2 in the brain, and the E2 binds to two types of estrogen receptors (ERs), ERα and ERβ, to regulate social behavior. However, its neuroendocrine basis has not been understood. In this study, the role of ERα and ERβ expressed in the lateral septum (LS), which regulates social anxiety, was investigated using male mice.

The researchers first investigated the expression of ERα and ERβ in LS using genetically modified male mice. ERβ-expressing cells in the mice were labeled with red fluorescent protein, which revealed that the distributions of ERα and ERβ are different. Furthermore, the researchers investigated the knockdown effects of ERα or ERβ gene expression in the LS of male mice during situations of social and nonsocial anxiety. The results show that social anxiety increases with the inhibition of ERβ expression. Additionally, ERα- and ERβ-positive cells in the LS projected into different regions of the hypothalamus. Thus, the researchers concluded that ERα- and ERβ-expressing cells in LS are distinct cell populations with different localizations and neuronal projections, and the ERβ population plays a crucial role in neural circuitry that regulates anxiety-like behavior in social situations.

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This work was supported by grant-in-aid for Scientific Research 15H05724, 21K18547, and 22H02941 to SO.

 

Original Paper

Title of original paper:
Estrogen Receptor β in the Lateral Septum Mediates Estrogen Regulation of Social Anxiety-like Behavior in Male Mice

Journal:
Neuroscience

DOI:
10.1016/j.neuroscience.2023.11.019

Correspondence

Dr. OGAWA, Sonoko
Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, Institute of Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba

HASUNUMA, Kansuke
Doctoral Program in Neuroscience, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba

Related Link

Institute of Human Sciences

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JOURNAL

Neuroscience

DOI

10.1016/j.neuroscience.2023.11.019 

ARTICLE TITLE

Estrogen Receptor β in the Lateral Septum Mediates Estrogen Regulation of Social Anxiety-like Behavior in Male Mice

 

The first domino falls for redox reactions

Peer-Reviewed Publication

HOKKAIDO UNIVERSITY

 

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A DOMINO REACTION IS A SERIES OF CHEMICAL REACTIONS WHERE EACH REACTION TRIGGERS THE NEXT REACTION IN THE SERIES, LIKE FALLING DOMINOES (TOP). IN A DOMINO REDOX REACTION, EACH REACTION CAUSES A STRUCTURAL CHANGE THAT TRIGGERS THE NEXT REDOX REACTION IN THE SERIES (BOTTOM). (TAKASHI HARIMOTO, ET AL. ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE INTERNATIONAL EDITION. NOVEMBER 28, 2023)

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CREDIT: TAKASHI HARIMOTO, ET AL. ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE INTERNATIONAL EDITION. NOVEMBER 28, 2023

Transmitting an effect known as a domino reaction using redox chemistry has been achieved for the first time.

Domino reactions occur when the transformation of one chemical group stimulates the reaction of another attached group, or other molecule, leading to a rapid knock-on effect through the system like a row of falling dominoes. Researchers at Hokkaido University have now achieved the first example of a domino reaction in the branch of chemistry called redox chemistry.

The term redox comes from ‘reduction,’ referring to the gain of electrons, and ‘oxidation,’ referring to the loss of electrons. Redox reactions are therefore electron transfer processes.

“The problem with achieving domino reactions in redox processes is that the electron transfer, especially multi-electron transfer, produces electrically charged species whose electrostatic interactions can inhibit further change,” says chemist Yusuke Ishigaki of the Hokkaido team.

To overcome the obstacles the researchers designed a two-part molecule that undergoes a significant structural change when one part is converted between its electrically neutral (reduced) and positively charged (oxidized) states. This structural change transmits a chemical effect to the other part of the molecule that makes its own oxidation more likely.

The molecule they designed consists of two relatively large redox-active units connected by a non-planar flexible link formed by sulfur atoms. When one of the paired units loses electrons (is oxidized), it acquires two positive charges which acts as the trigger causing the other part of the molecule to twist around the core. A change in the state of the electrons in this twisted form from the initial folded form then facilitates the oxidation process to occur in the neighboring group, achieving the domino effect.

The initial triggering of the reaction can be initiated by a temperature rise, offering a means of control. Although this effect has only so far been demonstrated within a two-part molecule, the researchers suggest it might eventually be used to transmit wave-like redox transformations in much larger molecules with many of the ‘domino’ units linked together.

Applications of the discovery might be far in the future but there are clearly some general possibilities. Electrical and structural transformations traveling through molecular chains could become the nano-scale moving parts of chemical computation systems and sensors, for example.  There are also possible applications in the new battery systems needed to support the ongoing transition to renewable electrical energy technologies.

“The control offered by heating and cooling could be used in many fields to make novel materials with switchable electronic properties, especially those involving multi-electron transfer,” says Ishigaki.

“It was very challenging, but also very satisfying, to demonstrate what nobody had achieved before, and we now hope to move into larger and more complex systems involving increased electron transfer,” Ishigaki concludes.

The molecule SS-BQD undergoes a domino-redox reaction to give a tetracation form of the compound (top). This domino redox reaction is initially triggered by heat, whuch cuases a structural change that results in a domino redox reaction. (Takashi Harimoto, et al. Angewandte Chemie International Edition. November 28, 2023)

CREDIT

Takashi Harimoto, et al. Angewandte Chemie International Edition. November 28, 2023

JOURNAL

Angewandte Chemie International Edition

DOI

10.1002/anie.202316753 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Domino-Redox Reaction Induced by An Electrochemically Triggered Conformational Change

 

Researchers demonstrate that quantum entanglement and topology are inextricably linked

This experimental milestone allows for the preservation of quantum information even when entanglement is fragile.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND

 

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CONCEPTUAL ILLUSTRATION OF THE ENTANGLED SKYRMION TOPOLOGY. EACH PHOTON CONTRIBUTES TO THE EMERGING TOPOLOGY THAT ONLY EXISTS AS A COMBINED ENTITY OF THE TWO PHOTONS.

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CREDIT: WITS UNIVERSITY

For the first time, researchers from the Structured Light Laboratory (School of Physics) at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, led by Professor Andrew Forbes, in collaboration with string theorist Robert de Mello Koch from Huzhou University in China (previously from Wits University), have demonstrated the remarkable ability to perturb pairs of spatially separated yet interconnected quantum entangled particles without altering their shared properties.

"We achieved this experimental milestone by entangling two identical photons and customising their shared wave-function in such a way that their topology or structure becomes apparent only when the photons are treated as a unified entity," explains lead author, Pedro Ornelas, an MSc student in the structured light laboratory. 

This connection between the photons was established through quantum entanglement, often referred to as ‘spooky action at a distance’, enabling particles to influence each other’s measurement outcomes even when separated by significant distances. The research was published in Nature Photonics on 8 January 2024. 

The role of topology and its ability to preserve properties, in this work, can be likened to how a coffee mug can be reshaped into the form of a doughnut; despite the changes in appearance and shape during the transformation, a singular hole – a topological characteristic – remains constant and unaltered. In this way, the two objects are topologically equivalent. “The entanglement between our photons is malleable, like clay in a potter’s hands, but during the moulding process, some features are retained,” explains Forbes.

The nature of the topology investigated here, termed Skyrmion topology, was initially explored by Tony Skyrme in the 1980s as field configurations displaying particle-like characteristics. In this context, topology refers to a global property of the fields, akin to a piece of fabric (the wave-function) whose texture (the topology) remains unchanged regardless of the direction in which it is pushed.

These concepts have since been realised in modern magnetic materials, liquid crystals, and even as optical analogues using classical laser beams. In the realm of condensed matter physics, skyrmions are highly regarded for their stability and noise resistance, leading to groundbreaking advancements in high-density data storage devices. “We aspire to see a similar transformative impact with our quantum-entangled skyrmions,” says Forbes.

Previous research depicted these Skyrmions as localised at a single location. “Our work presents a paradigm shift: the topology that has traditionally been thought to exist in a single and local configuration is now nonlocal or shared between spatially separated entities,” says Ornelas.

Expanding on this concept, the researchers utilise topology as a framework to classify or distinguish entangled states. They envisage that “this fresh perspective can serve as a labelling system for entangled states, akin to an alphabet!” says Dr Isaac Nape, a co-investigator. 

“Similar to how spheres, doughnuts, and handcuffs are distinguished by the number of holes they contain, our quantum skyrmions can be differentiated by their topological aspects in the same fashion,” says Nape. The team hopes that this might become a powerful tool that paves the way for new quantum communication protocols that use topology as an alphabet for quantum information processing across entanglement based channels.

The findings reported in the article are crucial because researchers have grappled for decades with developing techniques to preserve entangled states. The fact that topology remains intact even as entanglement decays suggests a potentially new encoding mechanism that utilises entanglement, even in scenarios with minimal entanglement where traditional encoding protocols would fail. 

“We will focus our research efforts on defining these new protocols and expanding the landscape of topological nonlocal quantum states,” says Forbes.

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JOURNAL

Nature Photonics

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

8-Jan-2024

 

Researchers reveal significance of rare-earth circular economy in promoting global low-carbon transition

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES HEADQUARTERS

 

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THE ROLES OF DIFFERENT CIRCULAR ECONOMY STRATEGIES IN THE SHIFT OF IN-GROUND MINERALS TO IN-USE STOCKS FOR GLOBAL LOW-CARBON TRANSITION

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CREDIT: IMAGE BY WANG PENG

Rare-earth elements (REEs) such as neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium, play a crucial role in manufacturing various technological products that are essential for low-carbon energy and transportation systems. Given the limited supply from in-ground REE mines, circular economy strategies have gained attention as potential solutions for supply chain issues. However, the specific impacts of these strategies on the global REE supply and demand landscape have been largely disregarded. 

A recent study, published in Nature Geoscience, presented an integrated model for exploring the complex linkages between REEs and climate pledges, and quantified the potential of circular economy strategies to reshape global supply chains of critical REEs. It was conducted by researchers from the Institute of Urban Environment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University, Newcastle University, Leiden University, and other institutions.   

Based on their previous studies regarding REE sustainability, the researchers developed a novel model called the Dynamic Integrated Model of Rare Earth Circularity and Climate Target (DIRECCT) to analyze the effects of circular economy strategies on global REE supply and demand. The model considered both in-ground stocks and in-use stocks, as well as their dramatic actual and projected geographic shift across ten regions from 2001 to 2050 under three widely accepted climate scenarios.   

The researchers found a significant mismatch between in-ground stocks, supply, and demand at specific regional and element levels, highlighting that heavy REEs such as dysprosium and terbium would present an obstacle to achieving net-zero emission targets. In particular, the ongoing consumption of REE in low-carbon products can substantially reallocate REEs from producing regions to consuming regions. As in-ground stocks decline among mineral suppliers, the accumulation of in-use stocks in consuming regions can foster a more balanced global REE supply landscape.   

In addition, this study highlighted the crucial roles of various circular economy strategies, including reduction, substitution, reuse, and recycling, in reshaping global REE supply chains. The researchers found that the implementation of these strategies will lead to an increase in REE supply from urban mines within the next three decades, which will significantly reduce dependency on REE in-ground mines. Furthermore, some regions might also achieve a closed-loop REE supply with the implementation of these strategies.   

Through the integrated modelling of dynamic diffusion of in-use stocks from in-ground stocks, this study offers new insights into the geopolitical chessboard of critical raw materials and the potential impacts of circular economy strategies on REE regional disparities, geopolitical dynamics, and climate goals. Together, this information can serve as the scientific basis for international cooperation in promoting circular economy REE strategies for global low-carbon and just transitions.

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JOURNAL

Nature Geoscience

DOI

10.1038/s41561-023-01350-9 

ARTICLE TITLE

Regional rare-earth element supply and demand balanced with circular economy strategies

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

9-Jan-2024

 

Prostate cancer: Newly-developed inhibitor shows massive potential

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF FREIBURG

More than 65,000 men fall ill with prostate cancer each year in Germany. Twelve thousand of them develop a treatment-resistant form which eventually ends in death. Now, a team of researchers from the Medical Faculty at the University of Freiburg has developed an active substance that might in future represent a new treatment option. This substance, known as KMI169, targets an enzyme that plays an important role in the development of prostate cancer. The inhibitor displayed massive potential in among others cancer cells that were resistant to conventional treatments. Researchers from the Department of Urology at the Freiburg University Medical Center as well as the Institut für Pharmazeutische Wissenschaften at the University of Freiburg published their study in Nature Communications on 2 January 2024.

“We’ve had our eye on the enzyme KMT9 as a possible target in prostate cancer for a long time. The development of this specific inhibitor is now a decisive step in combating prostate cancer far more effectively,” explains study head Professor Roland Schüle, Academic Director of the Department of Urology at the Freiburg University Medical Center and Dr. Eric Metzger, group leader in Schüle’s department. The substance’s potential use against treatment-resistant forms of cancer makes it especially valuable. “This treatment-resistance means that the classic antihormonal treatment often fails within a few months and the disease then progresses rapidly. The inhibitor we’ve developed offers us a highly innovative therapeutic approach here,” says Schüle.

New approach also relevant to bladder cancer

Using cell cultures, the groups headed by Schüle and co-author Professor Manfred Jung, head of the Chemical Epigenetics group of the Institut für Pharmazeutische Wissenschaften, have shown that the enzyme KMT9, known as a methyltransferase, is a critical factor in the development and progress of certain types of cancer such as prostate or bladder cancer. “The inhibitor fits snugly like a key in its lock and blocks the functioning of KMT9 and therefore also the growth of both prostate and bladder cancer cells,” says Jung. The development of KMI169 was guided by crystal structure analysis of KMT9 and numerous other studies. “We modified the compound many times to increase its potency, selectivity and medicinal properties.”

Original title of study: Structure-guided design of a selective inhibitor of the methyltransferase KMT9 with cellular activity. Nat Commun 15, 43 (2024).
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-44243-6

Link to study: www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-44243-6

DOI

10.1038/s41467-023-44243-6 

 

Samsung leads again in U.S. patents while Qualcomm leaps into second place; overall grants dip 3.4%

New 2023 patent data rankings highlight escalating areas of R&D activity, according to an annual patent study by Digital Science company IFI CLAIMS

Reports and Proceedings

DIGITAL SCIENCE

 

VIDEO: 

NEW 2023 PATENT DATA RANKINGS HIGHLIGHT ESCALATING AREAS OF R&D ACTIVITY, ACCORDING TO AN ANNUAL PATENT STUDY BY DIGITAL SCIENCE COMPANY IFI CLAIMS.

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CREDIT: DIGITAL SCIENCE / IFI CLAIMS.

New Haven, Conn., Jan. 9, 2024—U.S. patent grants declined 3.4% from 2022, the lowest level since 2019, and Samsung held onto the top spot for the second year in a row according to IFI CLAIMS Patent Services, world leader in tracking patent application and grant data.

IFI CLAIMS Patent Services is a Digital Science company that compiles and tracks data from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and other patent-issuing agencies around the globe. IFI translates its world-leading data into an annual U.S. Top 50 and IFI Global 250 patent rankings, providing valuable insights into companies’ R&D activity.

Other findings in IFI’s latest rankings include patent powerhouse chipmakers rising higher in 2023 and a new all-time high in U.S. patent applications. Qualcomm ascended into second place, while TSMC rose to third—according to the 2023 U.S. Top 50 Ranking—ahead of IBM, which had previously held the top spot for 29 years running, until last year when it was unseated by Samsung. U.S. patent applications turned up in 2023 to 418,111, a slight rise over 2022, but a new record, nonetheless.

“The backlog for patent applications at the USPTO has been growing over the last couple of years,” said Ronald Kratz, CEO of IFI CLAIMS Patent Services. “They now have more than 750,000 unexamined applications, which could explain why grants are down. But applications are at an all-time high, an encouraging sign of innovation in the U.S.”

To see the yearly rankings, trends, and insights published today from the world’s most trusted patent data provider, visit the IFI website.

An overview of IFI’s analysis:

• 2023 Top 50, a list of the leading 50 recipients of U.S. grants
• 2023 Global 250, a ranking of the largest active patent holders around the world
• analysis of the Top 10 Fastest Growing Technologies, measured by patent application activity over the past five years

New 2023 patent data rankings highlight escalating areas of R&D activity, according to an annual patent study by Digital Science company IFI CLAIMS.

CREDIT

Digital Science / IFI CLAIMS

More patents to U.S. companies; fewer to companies in Japan, South Korea, China

The USPTO awarded slightly less than half of the total patent pie to U.S.-based companies, which was up 4.8% from the previous year. American corporations earned 149,522 patents, nearly four times as many as Japan (39,228), in second place. South Korea, China, and Germany finished out the top five, all of them showing decreases in awards over the previous year. Japan (-15.6%), China (-12.5%), and Germany (-15%) dropped dramatically. As a result of China’s decline, it fell back down to fourth place from its third-place perch the previous year. Of the top ten countries earning patent grants, only the U.S., Taiwan, and Canada saw increases in 2023 over 2022.

Rank and patent filings

While Samsung retained its number one ranking, U.S. patent awards for the company decreased by 1.3% to 6,165 from 6,248 last year. Qualcomm climbed five rungs into second place with 3,854 patents, an increase of 47% over the previous year. And TSMC comes in third with 3,687 patents, up 22%. IBM’s ranking ticked down as its patent numbers declined in 2023 to 3,658 from 4,398 the previous year—a result of the company’s continued implementation of a strategy toward “more selective” patenting.

The biggest gainers in rank were VMWare, (+63), Snap (+34), and Capital One (+21). The most dramatic decline was recorded by HP (-25) as patent grants were cut in half compared to 2022. A side note for stock watchers following The Magnificent Seven, the tech companies Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla that were responsible for the lion’s share of the S&P 500’s breathtaking surge: just four of them made IFI’s Top 50 cut.

“Intangible assets are becoming more and more valuable corporate holdings, but the balance sheet doesn’t exactly capture that,” said Kratz. “That’s why it’s important to dig into the details of the patent position for highly innovative companies.”

Fastest Growing Technologies: autonomous vehicles ride again

The fastest growing technology in 2023 is Autonomous Vehicles, which rose 38.3% over the past five years—the second year in a row that this technology has taken the pole position. IFI’s ranking is based on patent applications—a proxy for what is around the bend—and Toyota, Honda, and Waymo are the companies paving the way in the autonomous arena. Other technologies that are growing quickly: both electrical smoking devices (CAGR 35.8%) and conventional cigarettes (CAGR 23.2%), quantum computing (CAGR 23.5%), and laundry control systems (CAGR 21.6%).

“Unlike our other rankings, the Top 10 Fastest Growing Technologies is based on a five-year growth rate, not high patent count,” said Kratz. “It’s more of a window into which technologies are attracting R&D attention right now and which companies stand to benefit in the future from patent protection in those spaces.”

For active inventions, Panasonic and Japan remain on top

In 2023, Japanese electronics company Panasonic held first place on IFI’s Global 250 list with 94,337 patent families, followed by Samsung and Hitachi. A patent “family” is a term used to represent the group of patents held around the world to protect a single invention. As such, “family” is used to denote a single invention.

The number of Japanese companies holding spots on the list is 36.4%, more than a third. The U.S. and China each occupy roughly 20% of the placements with 52 and 51 companies, respectively. No U.S. company claimed a Top 10 spot in this ranking; the three highest appearances from American companies are IBM, coming in at 16, with 43,033 active patent families, followed by Microsoft (ranked 27), and GE (40).

Patent activity provides valuable insight into companies’ R&D activity for researchers, analysts, and investors. Often the true value of a company lies with its intellectual properties, so examining patent assets is a key tool in gauging the intangible assets of publicly traded companies. It speaks to productivity, technological efficiency and IP strategy, and frequently reveals technology trends and the competitive landscape within various industries.

To create your own analysis, visit the IFI CLAIMS Live 1000, a free tool which uses data from the top 1000 companies that received patents across multiple countries and patent jurisdictions. The tool shows live data and offers interactive features that allow users to create and sort their own lists using a variety of filters.

 

About IFI CLAIMS Patent Services

IFI CLAIMS Patent Services uses a proprietary data architecture to produce the industry’s most accurate patent database. The CLAIMS Direct platform allows for the easy integration of applications, other data sets, and analysis software. Headquartered in New Haven, Conn., with a satellite office in Barcelona, Spain, IFI CLAIMS is part of Digital Science, a digital research technology company based in London. For more information, visit www.ificlaims.com and follow IFI on LinkedIn.

About Digital Science

Digital Science is an AI-focused technology company providing innovative solutions to complex challenges faced by researchers, universities, funders, industry and publishers. We work in partnership to advance global research for the benefit of society. Through our brands – Altmetric, Dimensions, Figshare, ReadCube, Symplectic, IFI CLAIMS Patent Services, Overleaf, Writefull, OntoChem, Scismic and metaphacts – we believe when we solve problems together, we drive progress for all. Visit www.digital-science.com and follow @digitalsci on X or on LinkedIn.

 

“Not everyone has the same number of friends” – Overhaul epidemic modelling to include social networks, says new research

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM

Models used by scientists to predict how epidemics will spread have a major flaw since they do not take into account the structure of the networks underlying transmission. 

According to a new study from the University of Birmingham, modelling used to forecast the effects of diseases, such as Covid-19, can significantly overestimate the number of infections that will occur in an epidemic “wave”. 

The research, published today (9th January) in the Journal of Physics: Complexity¸ comes as the Covid inquiry continues to investigate what went wrong with the Government’s handling of the pandemic, and what should be done better in the future.  

Currently, epidemic modelling does not usually factor in that people are connected by a network of contacts where transmission might occur. Instead, many of these models, such as the ones that were used to inform decisions concerning Covid-19, make the assumption of "random mixing”. 

Dr Samuel Johnson, Associate Professor in Applied Mathematics at the University of Birmingham, who conducted the study said: “It has been known for a long time that the properties of social networks are important for epidemic spreading, we can see this in action when those who were exposed to Covid-19 through mixing with infected individuals were contacted to let them know of their exposure. But because we do not have a way of knowing the whole network of millions of people, modellers usually do the best they can and assume random mixing, i.e. that anyone could infect anyone else. The problem is that the properties of this network can completely change the outcomes predicted.” 

The research considers that if these networks are heterogeneous, meaning that some people have a lot more contacts than others, then epidemic "waves" may be much smaller than predicted by standard models. Dr Johnson continues: “This is partly because fewer people get infected for a given transmissibility. But also, if you look at data on infections through a random-mixing lens you will overestimate transmissibility, and these two errors compound each other.”  

In the paper, a simple version of these models shows two epidemic waves looking initially the same, but in the random-mixing case nearly 90% of people eventually become infected, whereas on a “scale free” (heterogeneous) network it is only 20%. 

Dr Johnson also explores how changes in networks over time can lead to multiple waves of an epidemic, even after "herd immunity" has apparently been reached with previous waves. These findings might explain some of the big mistakes that groups modelling the pandemic seem to have made. 

“Not everyone has the same numbers of friends, family, and colleagues, or goes out to places where large groups of people may be present,” explained Dr Johnson. “And the fact that superspreader events play such a significant role in the early stages of an epidemic supports the hypothesis that the real network of contacts is, like many other social networks, highly heterogeneous.”  

The study argues that the structure of social networks cannot be ignored if epidemic modelling is to make useful predictions.  

Dr Johnson concluded: “Taking social networks into account should be a fundamental part of epidemic modelling. Even if we do not know what the network is like in detail, it still might be better to factor in that it is probably heterogeneous. And it is certainly preferable to realise we have this uncertainty, rather than assuming that, because we have put lots of other ingredients into our models, they will make useful crystal balls. 

“As the political psychodrama of the Covid Inquiry continues to be played out in the news, it is important to note that the government, scientists, and wider society should be learning from what went wrong during the pandemic, and what went well. For example, rather than focusing on who said what in the UK, we could be comparing what happened in other countries when different measures were implemented. We need to make improvements so that we are ready for when the next one comes along, and working out how to account for social networks in epidemic modelling would be a big first step.” 

ENDS 

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JOURNAL

Journal of Physics Complexity

DOI

10.1088/2632-072X/ad19e0 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Computational simulation/modeling

ARTICLE TITLE

Epidemic modelling requires knowledge of the social network