A star formation study of the ATLAS3D early-type galaxies with the AKARI all-sky survey

The star formation properties of early-type galaxies (ETGs) are currently the subject of considerable interest, particularly whether they differ from those of gas-rich spirals. We perform a systematic study of star formation in a large sample of local ETGs using polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and dust emission, focusing on the galaxies' star formation rates (SFRs) and star formation efficiencies (SFEs). Our sample is composed of the 260 ETGs from the ATLAS3D survey, from which we use the cold gas measurements (HI and CO). The SFRs are estimated from stellar, PAH and dust fits to spectral energy distributions created from new AKARI measurements and literature data from WISE and 2MASS. The mid-infrared luminosities of non-CO-detected galaxies are well correlated with their stellar luminosities, showing that they trace (circum)stellar dust emission. CO-detected galaxies show an excess above these correlations, uncorrelated with their stellar luminosities, indicating that they likely contain PAHs and dust of interstellar origin. PAH and dust luminosities of CO-detected galaxies show tight correlations with their molecular gas masses, and the derived current SFRs are typically 0.01-1 Msun/yr. These SFRs systematically decrease with stellar age at fixed stellar mass, while they correlate nearly linearly with stellar mass at fixed age. The majority of local ETGs follow the same star-formation law as local star-forming galaxies, and their current SFEs do not depend on either stellar mass or age. Our results clearly indicate that molecular gas is fueling current star formation in local ETGs, that appear to acquire this gas via mechanisms regulated primarily by stellar mass. The current SFEs of local ETGs are similar to those of local star-forming galaxies, indicating that their low SFRs are likely due to smaller cold gas fractions rather than a suppression of star formation.Comment: 30 pages, 12 figures, 4 tables, accepted for publication in A&

Facile synthesis of > 99% phase-pure brookite TiO 2 by hydrothermal conversion from Mg 2 TiO 4

The synthesis of pure brookite is generally much more difficult than that of pure anatase. The hydrothermal conversion, recently developed by Kozawa et al., is a facile method to synthesize brookite TiO2 from inverse spinel-type Mg2TiO4 under a mild hydrothermal condition e.g. in 1 M HCl solution at 100 °C. However, slight rutile TiO2 is usually co-existed under the reported conditions. The aim of this study is to prepare a high-purity brookite TiO2 powder by the hydrothermal conversion from Mg2TiO4. We investigated the conditions of Mg2TiO4 preparation and hydrothermal conversion, and it was found that the most important factor for the high-purity brookite synthesis, i.e. decreasing the co-existing rutile TiO2, was to prepare the Mg2TiO4 precursor without MgTiO3. Using an MgO-rich composition and adding a second calcination step for the Mg2TiO4 preparation yielded a high-purity (99.3 wt%) brookite powder with a surface area of 27.7 m2/g. Under the current experimental conditions, addition of a surfactant or an alcohol for the hydrothermal treatment was not apparently effective for the high-purity brookite synthesis

AKARI Detection of Far-Infrared Dust Emission in the Halo of NGC253

We present new far-infrared (FIR) images of the edge-on starburst galaxy NGC253 obtained with the Far-Infrared Surveyor (FIS) onboard AKARI at wavelengths of 90 um and 140 um. We have clearly detected FIR dust emission extended in the halo of the galaxy; there are two filamentary emission structures extending from the galactic disk up to 9 kpc in the northern and 6 kpc in the northwestern direction. From its spatial coincidence with the X-ray plasma outflow, the extended FIR emission is very likely to represent outflowing dust entrained by superwinds. The ratios of surface brightness at 90 um to that at 140 um suggest that the temperatures of the dust in the halo are getting higher in the regions far from the disk, implying that there exist extra dust heating sources in the halo of the galaxy.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in the ApJ

Association of HCV Core Antigen Seropositivity with Long-Term Mortality in Patients on Regular Hemodialysis

Anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody seropositivity is independently associated with poor prognosis in hemodialysis (HD) patients. However, anti-HCV antibody cannot distinguish between patients with active infection and those who have recovered from infection. We therefore aimed in this study to examine the association of HCV core antigen (HCVcAg) seropositivity with mortality in HD patients. We first measured serum HCVcAg using an immunoradiometric assay and anti-HCV antibody in 405 patients on regular HD, and followed them for 104 months. There were 82 patients (20.2%) who had been positive for anti-HCV antibodies; 57 (69.5%) of these were positive for HCVcAg. During the follow-up, 29 patients were excluded, so we tested the association of HCVcAg seropositivity with all-cause, cardiovascular (CV) and non-CV mortalities in 376 patients. A total of 209 patients (55.6%) had expired during the observational period, 92 out of them due to CV causes. After adjusting for comorbid parameters, HCVcAg was independently associated with overall mortality (HR 1.61, 95% CI 1.05–2.47, p < 0.05). HCV infection was significantly related to liver disease-related mortality. Past HCV infection also contributed to CV mortality (HR 2.63, 95% CI 1.27–5.45, p < 0.01). In contrast, anti-HCV antibody and HCVcAg seropositivities did not associate with infectious disease-related and cancer-related (expect for hepatocellular carcinoma) mortality. It follows from these findings that HCVcAg serology is associated with all-cause and CV mortality in HD patients

Comparison of Postoperative Complications after Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection: Differences of Insufflations and Anesthesias

Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) has enabled the collective resection and increased the accuracy of pathological diagnosis. However, ESD requires a long operation time, which results in increased doses of analgesics/sedatives, and causes worsening of respiratory and hemodynamic statuses. To reduce postoperative complications, we have applied ESD with CO2 insufflation and general anesthesia. This study included 50 patients who underwent ESD for early gastric cancer, 25 with air insufflation and intravenous anesthesia (Air/IV group), and the remaining 25 with CO2 insufflation and general anesthesia (CO2/GA group). Postoperative enlarged feeling of the abdomen was observed only in 1 of 25 patients in the CO2/GA group (P = 0.0416). Postoperative severe unrest was observed in none of the patients in the CO2/GA group and in 4 of 25 (16%) patients in the Air/IV group (P = 0.0371). CO2 insufflation and general anesthesia are useful in stabilizing intraoperative conditions and reducing postoperative complications

Identification of invasive subpopulations using spatial transcriptome analysis in thyroid follicular tumors

Background Follicular tumors include follicular thyroid adenomas and carcinomas; however, it is difficult to distinguish between the two when the cytology or biopsy material is obtained from a portion of the tumor. The presence or absence of invasion in the resected material is used to differentiate between adenomas and carcinomas, which often results in the unnecessary removal of the adenomas. If nodules that may be follicular thyroid carcinomas are identified preoperatively, active surveillance of other nodules as adenomas is possible, which reduces the risk of surgical complications and the expenses incurred during medical treatment. Therefore, we aimed to identify biomarkers in the invasive subpopulation of follicular tumor cells. Methods We performed a spatial transcriptome analysis of a case of follicular thyroid carcinoma and examined the dynamics of CD74 expression in 36 cases. Results We identified a subpopulation in a region close to the invasive area, and this subpopulation expressed high levels of CD74. Immunohistochemically, CD74 was highly expressed in the invasive and peripheral areas of the tumor. Conclusions Although high CD74 expression has been reported in papillary and anaplastic thyroid carcinomas, it has not been analyzed in follicular thyroid carcinomas. Furthermore, the heterogeneity of CD74 expression in thyroid tumors has not yet been reported. The CD74-positive subpopulation identified in this study may be useful in predicting invasion of follicular thyroid carcinomas