Deblurring galaxy images with Tikhonov regularization on magnitude domain

We propose a regularization-based deblurring method that works efficiently for galaxy images. The spatial resolution of a ground-based telescope is generally limited by seeing conditions and much worse than space-based telescopes. This circumstance has generated considerable research interest in restoration of spatial resolution. Since image deblurring is a typical inverse problem and often ill-posed, solutions tend to be unstable. To obtain a stable solution, much research has adopted regularization-based methods for image deblurring, but the regularization term is not necessarily appropriate for galaxy images. Although galaxies have an exponential or Sersic profile, the conventional regularization assumes the image profiles to behave linear in space. The significant deviation between the assumption and real situation leads to blurring the images and smoothing out the detailed structures. Clearly, regularization on logarithmic, i.e. magnitude domain, should provide a more appropriate assumption, which we explore in this study. We formulate a problem of deblurring galaxy images by an objective function with a Tikhonov regularization term on magnitude domain. We introduce an iterative algorithm minimizing the objective function with a primal-dual splitting method. We investigate the feasibility of the proposed method using simulation and observation images. In the simulation, we blur galaxy images with a realistic point spread function and add both Gaussian and Poisson noises. For the evaluation with the observed images, we use galaxy images taken by the Subaru HSC-SSP. Both of these evaluations show that our method successfully recovers the spatial resolution of the images and significantly outperforms the conventional methods. The code is publicly available from the Github ( https://github.com/kzmurata-astro/PSFdeconv_amag ).Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in PASJ. The code is available at https://github.com/kzmurata-astro/PSFdeconv_ama

Tissue factor expression in human pterygium

Purpose: A pterygium shows tumor-like characteristics, such as proliferation, invasion, and epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT). Previous reports suggest that tissue factor (TF) expression is closely related to the EMT of tumor cells, and subsequent tumor development. In this study, we analyzed the expression and immunolocalization of TF in pterygial and normal conjunctival tissues of humans. Methods: Eight pterygia and three normal bulbar conjunctivas, surgically removed, were used in this study. Formalinfixed, paraffin-embedded tissues were submitted for immunohistochemical analysis with anti-TF antibody. Double staining immunohistochemistry was performed to assess TF and alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) or epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression in the pterygia. Results: Immunoreactivity for TF was detected in all pterygial tissues examined. TF immunoreactivity was localized in the cytoplasm of basal, suprabasal, and superficial epithelial cells. The number of TF-immunopositive cells in pterygial epithelial cells was significantly higher than in normal conjunctival epithelial cells (p<0.001). TF immunoreactivity was detected in α-SMA-positive or -negative pterygial epithelial cells. EGFR immunoreactivity was detected in pterygial epithelium, which was colocalized with TF. Conclusions: These results suggest that TF plays a potential role in the pathogenesis and development of a pterygium, and that TF expression might be involved through EMT-dependent and -independent pathways

Morphology control of clay-mineral particles as supports for metallocene catalysts in propylene polymerization

Spray dry granulation of clay minerals was studied to obtain clay mineral base support material for metallocene supported olefin polymerization catalysts. The morphology of the granules was strongly influenced by the nature of the clay mineral itself. Because of swelling characteristics of montmorillonite, its water dispersion was highly viscous even in the low slurry concentration (< 4 wt %). Therefore, it was very difficult to control the granule characteristics such as size, shape, and inside structure by the spray dry with the clay mineral slurry. Then we examined some methods in order to change the clay mineral surface properties for getting less viscous dispersion. It was found that the milling of montmorillonite increased the amount of surface OH groups. This surface characteristic change should promote the interaction between the edges and basal planes of the primary particles of milled montmorillonite, resulting in the lowering the slurry viscosity. The milling is effective for overcoming difficulty in use of high concentration montmorillonite slurry in spray dry granulation which is indispensable for producing granules in the wide range of size (10–50 μm). The spray-dried montmorillonite granules are useful as a "Support-Activator" for an olefin polymerization catalyst combined with metallocenes