Kyoto, Japan -- Imagine you're cooking. You're trying to develop a unique flavor by mixing spices you've never combined before. Predicting how this will turn out could be tricky. You want to create something delicious, but it could end up tasting awful: a waste of time and ingredients.

But what if you had a machine that could tell you exactly how your concoctions will turn out? That's the kind of technology that researchers at Kyoto University have developed for the band gap of semiconductor materials.

New such materials are constantly sought after in the development of new devices and improved performance. The most important factor in determining the properties of semiconductors is the band gap, so accurate predictions are essential.

BALTIMORE, MD, February 6, 2025 – As local newsrooms continue to shrink and news deserts grow, citizen journalists are stepping in to sustain coverage, but a new study in the INFORMS journal Management Science reveals just how critical their role is – and the consequences of their absence.

Exposure therapy, in which patients gradually face the things and situations they fear, is among the most effective treatments for anxiety disorders, yet it remains underutilized (Pittig, Kotter, & Hoyer, 2019). Some patients may find it too intimidating while clinicians may struggle with the lack of control and the challenge of repeatedly creating experiences such as flying in a plane or talking in front of a large crowd. 

A new paper in Clinical Psychological Science highlights virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) as an effective option and explores how it may work. The research suggests that patients may be more willing to try virtual reality as they can be assured it is not actually real, and clinicians can manipulate the simulated experiences.