First Data Release of the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program

The Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP) is a three-layered imaging survey aimed at addressing some of the most outstanding questions in astronomy today, including the nature of dark matter and dark energy. The survey has been awarded 300 nights of observing time at the Subaru Telescope and it started in March 2014. This paper presents the first public data release of HSC-SSP. This release includes data taken in the first 1.7 years of observations (61.5 nights) and each of the Wide, Deep, and UltraDeep layers covers about 108, 26, and 4 square degrees down to depths of i~26.4, ~26.5, and ~27.0 mag, respectively (5sigma for point sources). All the layers are observed in five broad bands (grizy), and the Deep and UltraDeep layers are observed in narrow bands as well. We achieve an impressive image quality of 0.6 arcsec in the i-band in the Wide layer. We show that we achieve 1-2 per cent PSF photometry (rms) both internally and externally (against Pan-STARRS1), and ~10 mas and 40 mas internal and external astrometric accuracy, respectively. Both the calibrated images and catalogs are made available to the community through dedicated user interfaces and database servers. In addition to the pipeline products, we also provide value-added products such as photometric redshifts and a collection of public spectroscopic redshifts. Detailed descriptions of all the data can be found online. The data release website is https://hsc-release.mtk.nao.ac.jp/.Comment: 34 pages, 20 figures, 7 tables, moderate revision, accepted for publication in PAS

The Hyper Suprime-Cam SSP survey: Overview and survey design

Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) is a wide-field imaging camera on the prime focus of the 8.2-m Subaru telescope on the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii. A team of scientists from Japan, Taiwan, and Princeton University is using HSC to carry out a 300-night multi-band imaging survey of the high-latitude sky. The survey includes three layers: the Wide layer will cover 1400 deg2 in five broad bands (grizy), with a 5 σ point-source depth of r ≈ 26. The Deep layer covers a total of 26 deg2 in four fields, going roughly a magnitude fainter, while the UltraDeep layer goes almost a magnitude fainter still in two pointings of HSC (a total of 3.5 deg2). Here we describe the instrument, the science goals of the survey, and the survey strategy and data processing. This paper serves as an introduction to a special issue of the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan, which includes a large number of technical and scientific papers describing results from the early phases of this survey

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Resistance Running Exercise Effectively Prevents Bone Loss in Ovariectomized Rats

Key words ： ovariectomized rat, resistance running exercise, endurance exercise, bone mineral density (BMD), bone metabolic marker In the present study, we examined effects of difference of endurance and resistance running on bone mineral density of ovariectomized SD rats. Thirty 12wk-old female SD rats were assigned to four groups: 1) sham operated (Sham); 2) ovariectomized (OVX); 3) OVX endurance exercised (OEN); 4) OVX resistance running exercised (ORE). All rats were fed a low Ca (0.1%) diet ad libitum. Endurance exercising rats were forced to run 40 minutes on a uphill (7%) treadmill at 21m/min. Resistance running exercising rats were forced to take 40 sets of 1 min run interspersed with 1min rest with a 100g weight on the back on a uphill (11%) treadmill at 21 m/min. The experimental duration consisted of the 2 weeks adaptation periods and 4 weeks treatment periods. The bone mineral density (BMD) of femur, tibia and fourth lumbar vertebrae (L4) in OVX, assessed by DEXA (Lunar) and tibial trabecular volumetric BMD assessed by pQCT (Stratec) were obviously reduced (p&lt;0.01) than Sham rats. Resistance running exercise significantly prevented the bone loss caused by ovariectomy in ORE rats. Urinary excretion of deoxypyridinoline-adjusted creatinine (DPD) in OVX significantly increased compared with Sham (p&lt;0.05). Although DPD of OEN significantly higher than Sham, that of ORE tended to lower than OVX,. These results suggested the possibility that suitable resistance running exercise have more beneficial effects than endurance exercise on alleviating bone loss of ovariectomized rats and this preventing effects of bone loss were caused by suppress of bone resorption

Pulsed Radiofrequency Neuromodulation Treatment on the Lateral Femoral Cutaneous Nerve for the Treatment of Meralgia Paresthetica

We describe a rare case of pulsed radiofrequency treatment for pain relief associated with meralgia paresthetica. A 58-year-old female presented with pain in the left anterior lateral thigh. An imaging study revealed no acute lesions compared with a previous imaging study, and diagnosis of meralgia paresthetica was made. She received temporary pain relief with lateral femoral cutaneous nerve blocks twice. We performed pulsed radiofrequency treatment, and the pain declined to 25% of the maximal pain intensity. At 4 months after the procedure, the pain intensity did not aggravate without medication. Pulsed radiofrequency neuromodulation treatment on the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve may offer an effective, low risk treatment in patients with meralgia paresthetica who are refractory to conservative medical treatment