AKARI Infrared Camera Survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud. I. Point Source Catalog

We present a near- to mid-infrared point source catalog of 5 photometric bands at 3.2, 7, 11, 15 and 24 um for a 10 deg2 area of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) obtained with the Infrared Camera (IRC) onboard the AKARI satellite. To cover the survey area the observations were carried out at 3 separate seasons from 2006 May to June, 2006 October to December, and 2007 March to July. The 10-sigma limiting magnitudes of the present survey are 17.9, 13.8, 12.4, 9.9, and 8.6 mag at 3.2, 7, 11, 15 and 24 um, respectively. The photometric accuracy is estimated to be about 0.1 mag at 3.2 um and 0.06--0.07 mag in the other bands. The position accuracy is 0.3" at 3.2, 7 and 11um and 1.0" at 15 and 24 um. The sensitivities at 3.2, 7, and 24 um are roughly comparable to those of the Spitzer SAGE LMC point source catalog, while the AKARI catalog provides the data at 11 and 15 um, covering the mid-infrared spectral range contiguously. Two types of catalog are provided: a Catalog and an Archive. The Archive contains all the detected sources, while the Catalog only includes the sources that have a counterpart in the Spitzer SAGE point source catalog. The Archive contains about 650,000, 140,000, 97,000, 43,000, and 52,000 sources at 3.2, 7, 11, 15, and 24 um, respectively. Based on the catalog, we discuss the luminosity functions at each band, the color-color diagram, and the color-magnitude diagram using the 3.2, 7, and 11 um band data. Stars without circumstellar envelopes, dusty C-rich and O-rich stars, young stellar objects, and background galaxies are located at distinct regions in the diagrams, suggesting that the present catalog is useful for the classification of objects towards the LMC.Comment: 59 pages, 12 figures, accepted for the Astronomical Journa

Customized chemotherapy based on epidermal growth factor receptormutation status for elderly patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer: a phase II trial

BACKGROUND: Elderly patients are more vulnerable to toxicity from chemotherapy. Activating epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are associated with enhanced response to EGFR tyrosine-kinase inhibitors. We studied patients with advanced NSCLC for whom treatment was customized based on EGFR mutation status. METHODS: We screened 57 chemotherapy-naïve patients with histologically or cytologically confirmed NSCLC, stage IIIB or IV, aged 70 years or older, and with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 0 or 1, for EGFR exon 19 codon 746–750 deletion and exon 21 L858R mutation. Twenty-two patients with EGFR mutations received gefitinib; 32 patients without mutations received vinorelbine or gemcitabine. The primary endpoint was the response rate. RESULTS: The response rate was 45.5% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 24.4%, 67.8%) in patients with EGFR mutations and 18.8% (95% CI: 7.2%, 36.4%) in patients without EGFR mutations. The median overall survival was 27.9 months (95%CI: 24.4 months, undeterminable months) in patients with EGFR mutations and 14.9 months (95%CI: 11.0 months, 22.4 months) in patients without EGFR mutations. In the gefitinib group, grade 3/4 hepatic dysfunction and dermatitis occurred in 23% and 5% of patients, respectively. In patients treated with vinorelbine or gemcitabine, the most common grade 3 or 4 adverse events were neutropenia (47%; four had febrile neutropenia), anemia (13%), and anorexia (9%). No treatment-related deaths occurred. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment customization based on EGFR mutation status deserves consideration, particularly for elderly patients who often cannot receive second-line chemotherapy due to poor organ function or comorbidities. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This trial is registered at University hospital Medical Information Network-clinical trial registration (http://www.umin.ac.jp/ctr/index/htm) with the registration identification number C000000436

Characterization and Improvement of the Image Quality of the Data Taken with the Infrared Camera (IRC) Mid-Infrared Channels onboard AKARI

Mid-infrared images frequently suffer artifacts and extended point spread functions (PSFs). We investigate the characteristics of the artifacts and the PSFs in images obtained with the Infrared Camera (IRC) onboard AKARI at four mid-infrared bands of the S7 (7{\mu}m), S11 (11{\mu}m), L15 (15{\mu}m), and L24 (24 {\mu}m). Removal of the artifacts significantly improves the reliability of the ref- erence data for flat-fielding at the L15 and L24 bands. A set of models of the IRC PSFs is also constructed from on-orbit data. These PSFs have extended components that come from diffraction and scattering within the detector arrays. We estimate the aperture correction factors for point sources and the surface brightness correction factors for diffuse sources. We conclude that the surface brightness correction factors range from 0.95 to 0.8, taking account of the extended component of the PSFs. To correct for the extended PSF effects for the study of faint structures, we also develop an image reconstruction method, which consists of the deconvolution with the PSF and the convolution with an appropriate Gaussian. The appropriate removal of the artifacts, improved flat-fielding, and image reconstruction with the extended PSFs enable us to investigate de- tailed structures of extended sources in IRC mid-infrared images.Comment: 35 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in PAS

AKARI infrared imaging of reflection nebulae IC4954 and IC4955

We present the observations of the reflection nebulae IC4954 and IC4955 region with the Infrared Camera (IRC) and the Far-Infrared Surveyor (FIS) on board the infrared astronomical satellite AKARI during its performance verification phase. We obtained 7 band images from 7 to 160um with higher spatial resolution and higher sensitivities than previous observations. The mid-infrared color of the S9W (9um) and L18W (18um) bands shows a systematic variation around the exciting sources. The spatial variation in the mid-infrared color suggests that the star-formation in IC4954/4955 is progressing from south-west to north-east. The FIS data also clearly resolve two nebulae for the first time in the far-infrared. The FIS 4-band data from 65um to 160um allow us to correctly estimate the total infrared luminosity from the region, which is about one sixth of the energy emitted from the existing stellar sources. Five candidates for young stellar objects have been detected as point sources for the first time in the 11um image. They are located in the red S9W to L18W color regions, suggesting that current star-formation has been triggered by previous star-formation activities. A wide area map of the size of about 1 x 1 (deg^2) around the IC4954/4955 region was created from the AKARI mid-infrared all-sky survey data. Together with the HI 21cm data, it suggests a large hollow structure of a degree scale, on whose edge the IC4954/4955 region has been created, indicating star formation over three generations in largely different spatial scales.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in PASJ AKARI special issu

A series of ENU-induced single-base substitutions in a long-range cis-element altering Sonic hedgehog expression in the developing mouse limb bud

AbstractMammal–fish-conserved-sequence 1 (MFCS1) is a highly conserved sequence that acts as a limb-specific cis-acting regulator of Sonic hedgehog (Shh) expression, residing 1 Mb away from the Shh coding sequence in mouse. Using gene-driven screening of an ENU-mutagenized mouse archive, we obtained mice with three new point mutations in MFCS1: M101116, M101117, and M101192. Phenotype analysis revealed that M101116 mice exhibit preaxial polydactyly and ectopic Shh expression at the anterior margin of the limb buds like a previously identified mutant, M100081. In contrast, M101117 and M101192 show no marked abnormalities in limb morphology. Furthermore, transgenic analysis revealed that the M101116 and M100081 sequences drive ectopic reporter gene expression at the anterior margin of the limb bud, in addition to the normal posterior expression. Such ectopic expression was not observed in the embryos carrying a reporter transgene driven by M101117. These results suggest that M101116 and M100081 affect the negative regulatory activity of MFCS1, which suppresses anterior Shh expression in developing limb buds. Thus, this study shows that gene-driven screening for ENU-induced mutations is an effective approach for exploring the function of conserved, noncoding sequences and potential cis-regulatory elements

Impact of neoadjuvant intensity-modulated radiation therapy on borderline resectable pancreatic cancer with arterial abutment; a prospective, open-label, phase II study in a single institution

BACKGROUND: Borderline resectable pancreatic cancer (BRPC) is a category of pancreatic cancer that is anatomically widely spread, and curative resection is uncommon with upfront surgery. Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is a form of radiation therapy that delivers precise radiation to a tumor while minimizing the dose to surrounding normal tissues. Here, we conducted a phase 2 study to estimate the curability and efficacy of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy using IMRT (NACIMRT) for patients with BRPC with arterial abutment (BRPC-A). METHODS: A total of 49 BRPC-A patients were enrolled in this study and were treated at our hospital according to the study protocol between June 2013 and March 2021. The primary endpoint was microscopically margin-negative resection (R0) rates and we subsequently analyzed safety, histological effect of the treatment as well as survivals among patients with NACIMRT. RESULTS: Twenty-nine patients (59.2%) received pancreatectomy after NACIMRT. The R0 rate in resection patients was 93.1% and that in the whole cohort was 55.1%. No mortality was encountered. Local therapeutic effects as assessed by Evans classification showed good therapeutic effect (Grade 1, 3.4%; Grade 2a, 31.0%; Grade 2b, 48.3%; Grade 3, 3.4%; Grade 4, 3.4%). Median disease-free survival was 15.5 months. Median overall survival in the whole cohort was 35.1 months. The only independent prognostic pre-NACIMRT factor identified was serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) > 400 U/ml before NACIMRT. CONCLUSIONS: NACIMRT showed preferable outcome without significant operative morbidity for BRPC-A patients. NACIMRT contributes to good local tumor control, but a high initial serum CA19-9 implies poor prognosis even after neoadjuvant treatment. TRIAL REGISTRATION: UMIN-CTR Clinical Trial: https://upload.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr_e/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000011776 Registration number: UMIN000010113. Date of first registration: 01/03/2013

AKARI IRC survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud: Outline of the survey and initial results

We observed an area of 10 deg^2 of the Large Magellanic Cloud using the Infrared Camera on board AKARI. The observations were carried out using five imaging filters (3, 7, 11, 15, and 24 micron) and a dispersion prism (2 -- 5 micron, $\lambda / \Delta\lambda$ $\sim$ 20) equipped in the IRC. This paper describes the outline of our survey project and presents some initial results using the imaging data that detected over 5.9x10^5 near-infrared and 6.4x10^4 mid-infrared point sources. The 10 $\sigma$ detection limits of our survey are about 16.5, 14.0, 12.3, 10.8, and 9.2 in Vega-magnitude at 3, 7, 11, 15, and 24 micron, respectively. The 11 and 15 micron data, which are unique to AKARI IRC, allow us to construct color-magnitude diagrams that are useful to identify stars with circumstellar dust. We found a new sequence in the color-magnitude diagram, which is attributed to red giants with luminosity fainter than that of the tip of the first red giant branch. We suggest that this sequence is likely to be related to the broad emission feature of aluminium oxide at 11.5 micron. The 11 and 15 micron data also indicate that the ([11] - [15]) micron color of both oxygen-rich and carbon-rich red giants once becomes blue and then turns red again in the course of their evolution, probably due to the change in the flux ratio of the silicate or silicon carbide emission feature at 10 or 11.3 micron to the 15 micron flux.Comment: Accepted for publication in PASJ AKARI special issue. High resolution version is available at: http://www-irc.mtk.nao.ac.jp/$^\sim$yita/lmc20080822.ps.gz (8.9MB