Two-dimensional (2D) materials have emerged as a significant class of materials promising for photocatalysis, and defect engineering offers an effective route for enhancing their photocatalytic performance. In this mini-review, a first-principles design perspective on defect engineering in 2D materials for photocatalysis is provided. Various types of defects in 2D materials, spanning point, line, and planar defects are explored, and their influence on the intrinsic properties and photocatalytic efficacy of these materials is highlighted. Additionally, the use of theoretical descriptors to characterize the stability, electronic, optical, and catalytic properties of 2D defective systems is summarized. Central to the discussion is the understanding of electronic structure, optical properties, and reaction mechanisms to inform the rational design of photocatalysts based on 2D materials for enhanced photocatalytic performance. This mini-review aims to provide insights into the computational design of 2D defect systems tailored for efficient photocatalytic applications.

The environmental, social, and governance (ESG) report is globally recognized as a keystone in sustainable enterprise development. However, current literature has not concluded the development of topics and trends in ESG contexts in the twenty-first century. Therefore, we selected 1114 ESG reports from global firms in the technology industry to analyze the evolutionary trends of ESG topics by text mining. We discovered the homogenization effect toward low environmental, medium governance, and high social features in the evolution. We also designed a strategic framework to look closer into the dynamic changes of firms’ within-industry representiveness and cross-sector distinctiveness, which demonstrates corporate social responsibility and sustainability. We found that companies are gradually converging toward the third quadrant, which indicates that firms contribute less to industrial outstanding and professional distinctiveness in ESG reporting. Firms choose to imitate ESG reports from each other to mitigate uncertainty and enhance behavioral legitimacy.

Professor Keisuke Fujii, a leading researcher in quantum science at The University of Osaka, has been named among the Quantum 100, a major global initiative celebrating the centennial of the development of quantum mechanics in 2025, proclaimed by the United Nations and led by UNESCO.

Researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University developed models that classify X-ray images into specific body regions and simultaneously determine the imaging method and image orientation. Using these models, they successfully classified almost all data for use in deep-learning models.

Gastric (stomach) cancer remains one of the most common and deadly cancers in East Asia, including Korea. Yet despite its high prevalence, it has received far less molecular attention than colorectal cancer, which is more common in Western countries. As a result, many of today’s models of gastric cancer biology are still based on assumptions borrowed from colorectal cancer research — often with limited success when applied to patients.

One of the biggest unanswered questions has concerned the very first steps of gastric cancer development: how do early cancer cells survive and grow when they should not?

Under normal conditions, cells lining the stomach cannot grow independently. They rely on constant signals from their surrounding tissue — known as the microenvironment — to tell them when to divide, when to rest, and when to die. Losing this dependence is one of the defining features of cancer. But in gastric cancer, researchers have long struggled to explain how this transition occurs.

This problem has been tackled by a joint international research team led by Dr. LEE Ji-Hyun, Dr. KOO Bon-Kyoung, and Dr. LEE Heetak at the Center for Genome Engineering within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), in partnership with the laboratories of Prof. CHEONG Jae-Ho and Prof. KIM Hyunki (Yonsei University College of Medicine) and Prof. Daniel E. STANGE (TU Dresden / University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus). The team has identified a previously unknown mechanism that allows early gastric cancer cells to become self-sufficient. The findings provide a new framework for understanding how stomach cancer begins — and point to potential new targets for treatment.

Biochar can help turn agricultural waste into clean hydrogen fuel while cutting carbon pollution, according to a new study in the journal Biochar. Researchers report that a simple two stage catalytic system using corn straw, biochar, and nickel based catalysts more than doubled the hydrogen content of the gas produced during biomass pyrolysis and sharply reduced the carbon deposits that normally deactivate catalysts.