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Quantitative analysis of the risk of carbon emissions
Companies are under pressure to reduce their carbon footprint. This often limits their profits, and therefore affects the market's perception of their default risk. For Japanese companies, in recent years, the risk that default will occur is now found to be lower if the company has lower carbon emissions.
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Development of stimuli-responsive polymers for controlling interaction with cells
Research outcomes of the Program for the Promotion of Next Generation Research Projects
Water-soluble polymers such as polyethylene glycol (PEG) are expected to have applications in the biomedical field as biocompatible materials, and in fact, they are already being clinically used as solubilizers and stabilizers for pharmaceutical products. For example, mRNA vaccines are used for COVID-19, but since they are unstable, they are encapsulated in artificial lipid nanoparticles (liposomes) that are surface-modified with PEG. PEG acts to hinder nonspecific attachment of blood proteins and cells by the strong hydration layer and a large hydrodynamic radius owing to its high mobility. However, because of these characteristics, several drawbacks have also been reported, such as the selectivity for target cells, and reduced cellular uptake.
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