It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Saturday, March 16, 2024
Dog-killing flatworm discovered in Southern California
Experts warn dog owners about Colorado River swimming
UC Riverside scientists confirm, for the first time, that a potentially fatal dog parasite is present in a portion of the Colorado River that runs through California.
The parasite, Heterobilharzia americana, is a flatworm commonly referred to as liver fluke. Previously found almost exclusively in Texas and other Gulf Coast states, it has never been reported this far west. The worm can cause canine schistosomiasis, an illness that impacts the liver and intestines of dogs.
“Dogs can die from this infection, so we are hoping to raise public awareness that it’s there,” said UCR nematology professor Adler Dillman. “If you’re swimming in the Colorado River with them, your pets are in peril.”
After learning about cases of the infection in local dogs, Dillman assembled a research team and headed to Blythe, a border town east of Joshua Tree National Park in Riverside County, where the sick dogs had all spent time swimming in the river.
The infection is driven by the presence of a snail that transmits the worm. The research team collected more than 2,000 snails from the banks of the river. A paper published this week in the journal Pathogens describes how the team used DNA to confirm the identity of both the snails and the flatworm.
“We actually found two species of snails that can support H. americana in the river in Blythe, and we found both snails actively shedding this worm,” Dillman said. “Not only was it a surprise to find H. americana, we also did not know that the snails were present here.”
After transforming itself inside one of the snails, the worm ventures out with the goal of finding a mammal to infect. In this stage it can only survive on its own for about 24 hours. If a dog or a raccoon is in the water, or drinking, then it gets infected.
“It gets into the veins of the intestinal lining, and that’s where it develops into an adult and mates,” Dillman said. “The presence of the adults in the veins isn’t the problem. It’s the eggs that get into the lungs, spleen, liver, and heart. The immune system tries to deal with it, and hard clusters of immune cells called granulomas form. Eventually the organ tissues stop functioning.”
Once infected, it can be several months before the worst symptoms of the illness appear. Since 2019 in California, 11 dogs in three counties have been confirmed with this disease, and one has died. Health officials hope that with awareness they can prevent further infections and deaths.
“Symptoms start gradually with a loss of appetite, and eventually include vomiting, diarrhea, profound weight loss, and signs of liver disease. If your dog has these symptoms after swimming in the Colorado River, it’s a good precaution to ask your veterinarian for a simple fecal test,” said Emily Beeler, a veterinarian with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
“Treatment typically involves use of multiple medications and close monitoring of the dog by a veterinarian,” Beeler said.
It is important to note that H. americana is not known to be capable of causing disease in humans. “It can cause swimmer’s itch, a red rash where it penetrates human skin. But it’s not able to cause infection,” Dillman said.
Additionally, Dillman hopes to allay concerns that the parasite could be contaminating urban drinking water. “Compared to other pathogens these worms are fairly large. They can easily be filtered out with common water purification strategies,” he said. Though there is no cause for concern about contamination of water sources, drinking the water directly is still inadvisable.
“You have viruses, bacteria, and other parasites such as Giardia in rivers,” Dillman said. “Nobody should be drinking straight out of the river, and that has nothing to do with this particular parasite.”
The tiny snail host that transmits H. americana.
CREDIT
Adler Dillman/UCR
UC Riverside researchers collecting samples from the Colorado River in Blythe.
Canine Schistosomiasis in the West Coast: Heterobilharzia americana in Two Natural Intermediate Hosts Found in the Colorado River, California
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
13-Mar-2024
Gut bacteria important for overcoming milk allergy
RIKEN
IMAGE:
THE STUDY FOUND THAT SUCCESSFUL ORAL IMMUNOTHERAPY IN CHILDREN AGAINST MILK ALLERGY WAS ASSOCIATED WITH HAVING BIFIDOBACTERIUM BACTERIA IN THE GUT, WHILE UNSUCCESSFUL TREATMENT WAS ASSOCIATED WITH HAVING ECZEMA OR ASTHMA, AND WITH HIGH INITIAL LEVELS OF MILK-PROTEIN ANTIBODIES.
Researchers led by Hiroshi Ohno at the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences in Japan have discovered a link between gut bacteria and the success of milk-allergy oral immunotherapy. Published in the scientific journal Allergology International, the study found that Bifidobacterium—a genus of beneficial bacteria in the gut—was associated with a higher chance of successful treatment. The finding may help in the development of more effective oral immunotherapies, perhaps by combining them with probiotic supplements.
Many children have allergic reactions to cow’s milk, specifically to certain milk proteins. Although most grow out of it, for some it becomes a life-long challenge to avoid all foods that include milk, especially when the allergic reactions are severe and include anaphylactic shock. Researchers have found that milk allergy is improved by oral immunotherapy, a treatment in which patients purposely drink small amounts of milk. Unfortunately, while allergic reactions are controlled during treatment, in most cases, tolerance disappears soon after the treatment ends.
Gut bacteria are thought to help reduce allergic reactions to some foods, but little is known about the link between these bacteria and oral immunotherapy for milk allergy. Therefore, the RIKEN IMS team examined 32 children with cow’s milk allergy who received oral immunotherapy, with the first month being conducted in a hospital. “Oral immunotherapy is not without risk,” explains Ohno. “We closely monitored the children in the hospital, and in fact 4 children had such severe reactions to the milk that we could not allow them to continue the treatment.”
The remaining 28 children then completed an additional 12 months of treatment at home. Next, they avoided milk for two weeks, and were then tested on a double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenge to see if they could still tolerate milk without any allergic reactions. During the food challenge, children were initially given a tiny amount of placebo or milk—only 0.01 ml—which was gradually increased every 20 minutes until they had an allergic reaction or until they could drink the final 30 ml without a reaction.
The researchers focused their analyses on immunological and bacterial changes during the treatment and the relationship between gut bacteria and successful treatment—which was defined as showing milk tolerance that lasted beyond the treatment period by passing the food challenge. They found that during treatment, immunological markers for cow’s milk allergy improved, and bacteria in the gut changed. Nevertheless, after two weeks of avoiding milk, only 7 of the 28 children passed the food challenge, even though they had been able to drink milk safely at the end of the treatment.
To understand why the treatment worked for these seven children but not the others, the team looked for the clinical factors and types of gut bacteria that were related to successful treatment. Of the clinical factors, unsuccessful treatment was more likely in children who were being treated for eczema or asthma and in children who initially had higher levels of milk-protein antibodies. Among the gut bacteria, the presence of Bifidobacterium, a genus of beneficial bacteria in the Bifidobacteriaceae family was related to a higher chance of successful treatment. In fact, only children who passed the final food challenge showed an increasing trend in these bacteria over the course of treatment. When considering ways to improve oral immunotherapy, this is good news because while the first two factors are difficult to change, the types of bacteria in one’s gut are not set in stone.
“With this study, we have identified gut environmental factors that help establish immune tolerance against cow’s milk allergy via oral immunotherapy,” says Ohno. “The next step is to examine the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon and to develop ways to improve the effectiveness of oral immunotherapy, such as the addition of probiotic supplements.”
With animal-free dairy products and convincing vegetarian meat substitutes already on the market, it’s easy to see how biotechnology can change the food industry. Advances in genetic engineering are allowing us to harness microorganisms to produce cruelty-free products that are healthy for consumers and healthier for the environment.
One of the most promising sources of innovative foods is fungi – a diverse kingdom of organisms that naturally produce a huge range of tasty and nutritious proteins, fats, antioxidants, and flavor molecules. Chef-turned-bioengineer Vayu Hill-Maini, an affiliate in the Biosciences Area at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), is exploring the many possibilities for new flavors and textures that can be made from modifying the genes already present in fungi.
“I think it's a fundamental aspect of synthetic biology that we’re benefiting from organisms that have evolved to be really good at certain things,” said Hill-Maini, who is a postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley in the lab of bioengineering expert Jay Keasling. “What we're trying to do is to look at what is the fungus making and try to kind of unlock and enhance it. And I think that's an important angle that we don’t need to introduce genes from wildly different species. We’re investigating how we can stitch things together and unlock what's already there.”
In their recent paper, publishing on March 14 in Nature Communications, Hill-Maini and colleagues at UC Berkeley, the Joint BioEnergy Institute, and the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability studied a multicellular fungus called Aspergillus oryzae, also known as koji mold, that has been used in East Asia to ferment starches into sake, soy sauce, and miso for centuries. First, the team used CRISPR-Cas9 to develop a gene editing system that can make consistent and reproducible changes to the koji mold genome. Once they had established a toolkit of edits, they applied their system to make modifications that elevate the mold as a food source. First, Hill-Maini focused on boosting the mold’s production of heme – an iron-based molecule which is found in many lifeforms butis most abundant in animal tissue, giving meat its color and distinctive flavor. (A synthetically produced plant-derived heme is also what gives the Impossible Burger its meat-duping properties.) Next, the team punched up production of ergothioneine, an antioxidant only found in fungi that is associated with cardiovascular health benefits.
After these changes, the once-white fungi grew red. With minimal preparation – removing excess water and grinding – the harvested fungi could be shaped into a patty, then fried into a tempting-looking burger.
Hill-Maini’s next objective is to make the fungi even more appealing by tuning the genes that control the mold’s texture. “We think that there's a lot of room to explore texture by varying the fiber-like morphology of the cells. So, we might be able to program the structure of the lot fibers to be longer which would give a more meat-like experience. And then we can think about boosting lipid composition for mouth feel and further nutrition,” said Hill-Maini, who was a Fellow of the Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science at UC Berkeley during the study. “I'm really excited about how can we further look at the fungus and, you know, tinker with its structure and metabolism for food.”
Though this work is just the beginning of the journey to tap into fungal genomes to create new foods, it showcases the huge potential of these organisms to serve as easy-to-grow protein sources that avoid the complex ingredients lists of current meat substitutes and the cost barriers and technical difficulties hindering the launch of cultured meat. Additionally, the team’s gene editing toolkit is huge leap forward for the field of synthetic biology as a whole. Currently, a great variety of biomanufactured goods are made by engineered bacteria and yeast, the single-celled cousins of mushrooms and mold. Yet despite humanity’s long history of domesticating fungi to eat directly or to make staples like miso, multicellular fungi have not yet been harnessed as engineered cellular factories to the same extent because their genomes are far more complex, and have adaptations that make gene editing a challenge. The CRISPR-Cas9 toolkit developed in this paper lays the foundation to easily edit koji mold and its many relatives.
“These organisms have been used for centuries to produce food, and they are incredibly efficient at converting carbon into a wide variety of complex molecules, including many that would be almost impossible to produce using a classic host like brewer’s yeast or E. coli,” said Jay Keasling, who is a senior scientist at Berkeley Lab and a professor at UC Berkeley. “By unlocking koji mold through the development of these tools, we are unlocking the potential of a huge new group of hosts that we can use to make foods, valuable chemicals, energy-dense biofuels, and medicines. It’s a thrilling new avenue for biomanufacturing.”
Given his culinary background, Hill-Maini is keen to ensure that the next generation of fungi-based products are not only palatable, but truly desirable to customers, including those with sophisticated tastes. In a separate study, he and Keasling collaborated with chefs at Alchemist, a two-Michelin-starred restaurant in Copenhagen, to play with the culinary potential of another multicellular fungus, Neurospora intermedia. This fungus is traditionally used in Indonesia to produce a staple food called oncom by fermenting the waste products left over from making other foods, such as tofu. Intrigued by its ability to convert leftovers into a protein-rich food, the scientists and chefs studied the fungus in the Alchemist test kitchen. They discovered N. intermedia produces and excretes many enzymes as it grows. When grown on starchy rice, the fungi produces an enzyme that liquifies the rice and makes it intensely sweet. “We developed a process with just three ingredients – rice, water, and fungus – to make a beautiful, striking orange-colored porridge,” said Hill-Maini. “That became a new dish on the tasting menu that utilizes fungal chemistry and color in a dessert. And I think that what it really shows is that there's opportunity to bridge the laboratory and the kitchen.”
Hill-Maini’s work on the gene editing research described in this article is supported by the Miller Institute at UC Berkeley. Keasling’s lab is supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. Both received additional support from the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science. The Joint BioEnergy Institute is a DOE Bioenergy Research Center managed by Berkeley Lab.
The small koji mold patty after frying.
CREDIT
Vayu Hill-Maini
First author Vayu Hill-Maini in the lab at the Joint BioEnergy Institute in Emeryville, California.
CREDIT
Marilyn Sargent/Berkeley Lab
The petri dish on the left contains the natural koji mold, whereas the one on the right has been engineered to contain higher levels of a nutrient called ergothioneine and more heme – an iron-based molecule found in many organisms, but is especially abundant in animal tissues, which gives meat a distinctive flavor.
CREDIT
Marilyn Sargent/Berkeley Lab
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is committed to delivering solutions for humankind through research in clean energy, a healthy planet, and discovery science. Founded in 1931 on the belief that the biggest problems are best addressed by teams, Berkeley Lab and its scientists have been recognized with 16 Nobel Prizes. Researchers from around the world rely on the Lab’s world-class scientific facilities for their own pioneering research. Berkeley Lab is a multiprogram national laboratory managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.
DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.
JOURNAL
Nature Communications
ARTICLE TITLE
Edible mycelium bioengineered for enhanced nutritional value and sensory appeal using a modular synthetic biology toolkit
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
14-Mar-2024
Improving education and human security for vulnerable refugee children
Child-friendly classroom practices, integrated learning approaches, and local partnerships improve learning outcomes for refugee children
CREATING A SAFE AND WELCOMING ENVIRONMENT, FOSTERING INTEGRATION WITH LOCAL COMMUNITIES, CHILD-FRIENDLY CLASSROOM PRACTICES AND COLLABORATION WITH LOCAL AUTHORITIES CAN HELP PROVIDE SUSTAINED AND APPROPRIATE EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT FOR REFUGEE CHILDREN
CREDIT: TARO KOMATSU FROM SOPHIA UNIVERSITY, JAPAN
‘Access to education’ is recognized as a fundamental human right and is listed as one of the United Nations’ sustainable development goals to achieve by 2030. Quality education unlocks opportunities and gives individuals the freedom to make livelihood choices and shape their own destinies. However, an increasing number of refugee children are deprived of this fundamental right. According to the UNHCR, between 2010 and 2022, the number of child refugees doubled from 20.6 million to about 43.3 million.
An overwhelming majority of these refugees are displaced to neighboring countries that are short on resources and lack adequate educational infrastructure to accommodate the sudden influx of refugee students. Additionally, children face distress and trauma, social isolation, and economic hardship, which hinder academic performance, and increase the chances of prematurely dropping out of school. Ensuring a quality education for refugee children requires strategies that go beyond traditional educational metrics. It involves creating a safe and inclusive learning environment that empowers students with confidence and the motivation to continue their education.
In this paper, made available online on November 21, 2023, and published in Volume 26, Issue 1 of the International Journal of Comparative Education and Development on February 21, 2024, Professor Taro Komatsu from the Department of Education, Faculty of Human Sciences, Sophia University along with Dr. Kaoru Ghalawinji-Yamamoto, Research Fellow, also from Sophia University, Ms. Yukari Iwama, Senior Program Coordinator, and Ms. Sayo Hattori, former Project Manager, World Vision, Japan, evaluated the effectiveness of one such program that provides remedial education to academically low-achieving Syrian refugee and Jordanian children in Jordan.
“There are a very few studies on refugee education in first-asylum countries. Moreover, there is very limited information available on academically low-achieving refugees that fully take into account the long-term nature of a crisis,” says Prof. Komatsu.
Since the Syrian civil war began in 2011, around 700,000 Syrian refugees, half of them under 18, have sought shelter in Jordan. However, the state of education for these refugees is poor, with over 75% of children leaving school before reaching secondary level. This issue is linked to the lack of a safe environment for refugee children in schools, along with a teaching system that separates Jordanian and Syrian children into different shifts. This approach strains school resources and hampers relationships between the two groups.
To improve education outcomes, World Vision, a Non-governmental Organization (NGO) initiated a seven-year remedial education program between 2014 and 2021. This program offered extra support to academically low-achieving Syrian refugee and Jordanian children outside regular school hours. To align with Jordan’s double-shift system policy, separate remedial classes for Syrian and Jordanian students were held after school. However, during school breaks, integrated remedial classes were organized to foster better relationships between the two groups.
The program, which enrolled a maximum of 12 children in each class, aimed to enhance academic learning through an interactive learning approach that included drama and competitions. Teachers were trained in child-friendly classroom management and positive disciplining as alternatives to corporal punishment. In addition to offering classes in Arabic, English, and math, the program included psychosocial activities like recreational trips to build connections between Syrian and Jordanian students.
To assess the program’s success, the researchers examined attendance rates, and test scores, and gathered insights from teachers and students through interviews and questionnaires. The findings revealed that children enrolled in the program felt safer, and more welcomed in school. Most students expressed a strong desire to continue their education, with 52.6% being much more willing and 42.7% somewhat more willing. The program also helped Jordanian and Syrian students connect positively. Among RE students, 66.2% were open to having friends from other nationalities, compared to 41.7% of students not in the program. The direct interaction between Jordanian teachers and Syrian students also led to teachers empathizing more with the Syrian refugee children. Additionally, RE students consistently improved their math scores every year, eventually reaching a comparable level to their peers in regular Jordanian schools.
“With an integrated class that enhanced their relationships with Jordanian children and an engaging and supportive learning environment, the RE program seems to be successful in raising children's academic achievement and motivation to pursue further education,” says Prof. Komatsu.
With the average duration of a protracted crisis being nine years, providing quality education for refugee children is a long-term need. Education outcomes can be improved through effective teaching methods, well-trained teachers, social integration programs, and collaboration with local governments.
Reference
【Title of original paper】Remedial education program for Syrian refugees: ensuring their learning during a protracted crisis
【Journal】International Journal of Comparative Education and Development
【Affiliations】1 Faculty of Human Sciences, Sophia University, 2 World Vision Japan
About Sophia University
Established as a private Jesuit affiliated university in 1913, Sophia University is one of the most prestigious universities located in the heart of Tokyo, Japan. Imparting education through 29 departments in 9 faculties and 25 majors in 10 graduate schools, Sophia hosts more than 13,000 students from around the world.
Conceived with the spirit of “For Others, With Others,” Sophia University truly values internationality and neighborliness, and believes in education and research that go beyond national, linguistic, and academic boundaries. Sophia emphasizes on the need for multidisciplinary and fusion research to find solutions for the most pressing global issues like climate change, poverty, conflict, and violence. Over the course of the last century, Sophia has made dedicated efforts to hone future-ready graduates who can contribute their talents and learnings for the benefit of others and pave the way for a sustainable future while “Bringing the World Together.”
About Professor Taro Komatsu from Sophia University
Taro Komatsu is Professor in the Department of Education in the Faculty of Human Sciences at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan. His research focuses on education policy and administration in developing nations and post-conflict societies and the role of education in affecting social cohesion and peace. He previously worked as an education specialist for the UNESCO Paris and Sarajevo offices, the UN Mission in Kosovo and JICA in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Komatsu holds an MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and a PhD in education policy and administration from the University of Minnesota. Taro Komatsu is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: t.komatsu@sophia.ac.jp
Funding information
This study received partial funding from the Sophia Institute for Human Security and JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP17J07440.
JOURNAL
International Journal of Comparative Education and Development
A NEW STUDY REVEALS THAT CORPORATE EXECUTIVES EXPOSED TO THE BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY OF “SANPO-YOSHI” TEND TO INTEGRATE THE VALUES OF THIS PHILOSOPHY INTO THEIR DECISION-MAKING PROCESS, RESULTING IN AN ENHANCED ESG PERFORMANCE OF THEIR FIRMS.
CREDIT: DR. PENGDA FAN FROM RITSUMEIKAN UNIVERSITY, JAPAN
There is a growing emphasis for corporations to consider their impact on the environment, society, and its stakeholders. Broadly falling under environmental, social and governance or ESG, this involves practices such as using sustainably sourced materials, reducing carbon emissions, improving labor practices, fostering positive community relations, and promoting ethical corporate behavior, including efforts against anti-competitive practices and corruption.
The first mention of ESG appears in a 2004 UN report titled “Who Cares Wins.” In contrast, the practice of conducting business ethically dates back centuries in Japan. In the 17th-19th centuries, Ohmi, merchants in Japan's Shiga Prefecture (formerly Ohmi Province) practiced a business philosophy known as “Sanpo-yoshi.” This concept, translated as “three-way good,” signifies a way of conducting business to benefit buyers, sellers, and the society at large. The legacy and business philosophies of the Ohmi merchants still live on in Shiga Prefecture, where museums, breweries, and warehouses serve as reminders of the principles of Sanpo-Yoshi. Despite the intertwined concepts of Sanpo-yoshi and ESG, however, there is a paucity of research examining the impact of Sanpo-yoshi on a company’s ESG performance.
To fill this knowledge gap, a research team led by Associate Professor Pengda Fan from Ritsumeikan University, Japan, investigated whether the principles of Sanpo-Yoshi influenced the ESG performance of Japanese companies. Their findings were made available online on February 20, 2024 and published in Volume 41 of the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance on March 01, 2024.
“Our research endeavors to not only illuminate the influence of ‘Sanpo-yoshi’ on ESG performance of Japanese firms, but also propagate the richness of Japanese culture on a global scale, akin to the international appreciation of Confucian culture” explains Dr. Fan.
A company’s policy is determined by the top management, consisting of CEOs and corporate executives. Often, these decisions are shaped by an individual’s personal experiences, cultural values, and attitudes. The researchers hypothesized that individuals in the top management exposed to the concept of Sanpo-yoshi could be more inclined to incorporate these principles into their firm’s decisions and actions, particularly those related to ESG.
In this vein, the researchers examined the ESG performance of 467 publicly listed Japanese firms between 2001 and 2018, for a total of 6693 firm-year observations. The ESG performance was evaluated using the ESG combined (ESGC) score, which considered the environmental, social, and governance pillar score along with the ESG controversies score. The ESG performance was merged with the data of the Board of Directors and CEOs to explore the correlation between the background of the top management and the firm’s ESG performance. They found that companies with a higher number of directors and CEOs associated with Shiga Prefecture exhibited better ESG performances. These findings were further validated using PSM and DID analyses, which corroborated the initial findings. The research group also evaluated the impact of the local political environment, top management’s prosocial attitude, key economic indicators, and female leadership on the correlation between Sanpo-yoshi and a firm’s ESG performance. They found that the above variables did not affect the primary findings and underscored the positive impact of the Sanpo-yoshi philosophy on ESG score.
Discussing the impact of their findings, Dr. Fan says, “We introduce a novel stakeholder-centric model that integrates the ethical principles of Sanpo-yoshi into the fabric of corporate governance. Our approach aims to elevate ESG metrics and foster inclusivity, transforming this age-old Japanese philosophy into a universal framework for sustainable and equitable business practices.”
Overall, the Sanpo-yoshi values can be promoted not only to improve the ESG performance of Japanese companies, but also to establish a global standard for responsible business practices.
***
Reference
Title of original paper: Sanpo-yoshi, top management personal values, and ESG performance
Journal: Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance
Ritsumeikan University is one of the most prestigious private universities in Japan. Its main campus is in Kyoto, where inspiring settings await researchers. With an unwavering objective to generate social symbiotic values and emergent talents, it aims to emerge as a next-generation research university. It will enhance researcher potential by providing support best suited to the needs of young and leading researchers, according to their career stage. Ritsumeikan University also endeavors to build a global research network as a “knowledge node” and disseminate achievements internationally, thereby contributing to the resolution of social/humanistic issues through interdisciplinary research and social implementation.
About Associate Professor Pengda Fan from Ritsumeikan University, Japan
Dr. Pengda Fan is an Associate Professor at the Department of Business Administration, Ritsumeikan University, Japan. He holds a Doctor of Economics degree in Finance from Kyushu University and has extensive experience in teaching and research at various universities. Dr. Fan began his teaching career with Akita International University, and then joined Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, where he taught for four years. He has also been a visiting fellow at the Australian National University, and has published multiple papers on topics such as IPOs, ESG, and corporate governance in reputed journals. Dr. Fan has received many awards for his research, including the Best Paper Awards from the Japan Finance Association-PBFJ in 2022.
Funding information
This work was supported by JSPS Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, Japan, Grant Number 20K13535.
Sanpo-yoshi, top management personal values, and ESG performance
Supercharging fuel cells with caffeine
Caffeine enhances the efficiency of fuel cells by increasing the activity of the oxygen reduction reaction
CHIBA UNIVERSITY
IMAGE:
ADSORBED STRUCTURE OF CAFFEINE ON WELL-DEFINED PT SINGLE CRYSTAL ELECTRODES AND THE ACTIVITY OF AIR ELECTRODE OF FUEL CELL BEFORE (BLUE BAR) AND AFTER (ORANGE BAR) CAFFEINE MODIFICATION.
CREDIT: PROFESSOR NAGAHIRO HOSHI FROM CHIBA UNIVERSITY
With global goals set on transitioning away from fossil fuels, fuel cells stand out as a promising carbon-free energy source. Comprising an anode and a cathode separated by an electrolyte, fuel cells convert the chemical energy of fuel directly into electricity. The anode receives the fuel, while an oxidant, typically oxygen from the air, is introduced at the cathode. In a hydrogen fuel cell, hydrogen undergoes oxidation at the anode, producing hydrogen ions and electrons. The ions move through the electrolyte to the cathode, and electrons flow through an external circuit, generating electricity. At the cathode, oxygen combines with the hydrogen ions and electrons, resulting in water as the sole byproduct.
However, the presence of water affects the performance of the fuel cell. It reacts with the platinum (Pt) catalyst, forming a layer of platinum hydroxide (PtOH) on the electrode, which obstructs the efficient catalysis of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), leading to energy losses. To maintain efficient operation, fuel cells require a high Pt loading, which significantly increases the costs of fuel cells.
Now, in a study published in the journal Communications Chemistry on February 3, 2024, Professor Nagahiro Hoshi, along with Masashi Nakamura, Ryuta Kubo, and Rui Suzuki, all from the Graduate School of Engineering at Chiba University, Japan, have found that adding caffeine to certain platinum electrodes can increase the activity of the ORR. This discovery has the potential to reduce platinum requirements, making fuel cells more affordable and efficient.
"Caffeine, one of the chemicals contained in coffee, enhances the activity of a fuel cell reaction 11-fold on a well-defined Pt electrode of which atomic arrangement has a hexagonal structure," says Prof. Hoshi.
To assess caffeine's impact on the ORR, researchers measured current flow through platinum electrodes immersed in an electrolyte containing caffeine. These platinum electrodes had surface atoms arranged in specific directions, namely (111), (110), and (100). There was a notable improvement in the electrode's ORR activity with an increase in caffeine concentration in the electrolyte. Caffeine, when present, adsorbs onto the electrode's surface, effectively preventing hydrogen adsorption and the formation of Pt oxide on the electrode. However, the effect of the caffeine depended on the orientation of the platinum atoms on the electrode's surface.
At a caffeine molar concentration of 1 × 10−6, the ORR activity on Pt(111) and Pt(110) increased by 11 and 2.5 times, respectively, with no noticeable effect on Pt(100). To understand this difference, the researchers investigated the molecular orientation of caffeine on the electrode surface using Infrared Reflection Absorption Spectroscopy. They found that caffeine gets absorbed on Pt(111) and Pt(110) surfaces with its molecular plane perpendicular to the surface. However, on Pt(100), steric hindrances cause it to be attached with its molecular plane tilted relative to the surface of the electrode.
"The increased ORR activity of Pt(111) and Pt(110) was attributed to the decreased PtOH coverage and lower steric hindrance of the adsorbed caffeine. Conversely, for Pt(100), the effect of decreasing PtOH was counteracted by the steric hindrance of the adsorbed caffeine, and thus caffeine did not affect the ORR activity," explains Prof. Hoshi.
Unlike batteries with limited lifespans, fuel cells can generate power as long as fuel is supplied, making them suitable for various applications, including vehicles, buildings, and space missions. The proposed method has the potential to improve the designs of fuel cells and lead to their widespread use.
About Professor Nagahiro Hoshi Nagahiro Hoshi is a Professor at the Department of Applied Chemistry and Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Chiba University, where he heads the Surface Electrochemistry Laboratory. He has published multiple papers on topics related to surface electrochemistry, surface chemistry, fuel cells, and nanoparticles. He holds a Ph.D. from Kyoto University and is a member of the Chemical Society of Japan, Electrochemical Society of Japan, International Electrochemical Society, The Japan Society of Vacuum and Surface Science, and Japan Society for Molecular Science. At Chiba University, he teaches courses in electrochemistry, quantum chemistry, chemistry basic experiments, graduate school analytical chemistry, surface physical chemistry, as well as a special course on surface electrochemistry.
