H2S and dense gas in luminous infrared galaxies and their outflows

Luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) are dusty galaxies that are going through\ua0an important and likely transient phase in their evolution. They experience\ua0rapid growth through bursts of star formation or an accreting supermassive\ua0black hole, an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN). Radiative feedback from the\ua0AGN or starburst is absorbed by the dust and re-emitted in the infrared. Mechanical feedback in the form of outflows can effectively expel gas and dust\ua0from the central regions of the LIRGs. Thus, studying the physical processes\ua0and conditions of outflows is one of the key elements for a complete understanding of galaxy evolution. Especially molecular outflows are significant\ua0because cold and dense gas, that normally participates in star formation, can\ua0be highly affected by the presence of the central energy source. In some cases,\ua0the gas may even be accelerated to velocities over 1000 km s−1. Many fundamental questions about the formation or physical processes of these feedback\ua0mechanisms still remain to be answered.\ua0In this thesis, I put my attention to one molecule, hydrogen sulphide (H2S),\ua0as a new diagnostic tool to probe the physical conditions in the dense molecular gas in dusty galaxies and their outflows. One aim is to investigate if H2S\ua0can be used to study the outflow driving mechanisms. The observations with\ua0the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope and the IRAM Northern Extended Millimeter Array (NOEMA) are described in Paper I. In this\ua0paper, we present new detections of ground state H2S line emission in a sample of LIRGs, and compare intensities to other lines, such as HCN and HCO+\ua02–1. At the observed resolution, we do not find any H2S abundance enhancements linked to the outflows. Instead, we find a possible relation between the\ua0dense gas reservoir and the properties and evolution of the molecular feedback. Another point we discuss is the similar infrared-correlation coefficient\ua0between H2S and H2O which may indicate a similar origin of their emission.\ua0For example from warm gas in shocks or in gas irradiated by star formation\ua0or an AGN.\ua0The next step is to look into the dense dusty galaxy nuclei with higher\ua0spatial resolution, and to proceed to radiative transfer modelling using multitransition lines of several molecular gas tracers, including H2S

Development of Macular Holes after Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment Repair in Japanese Patients

Purpose. To determine the factors associated with the development of a macular hole (MH) after successful rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) surgery. Methods. Of 1260 eyes that underwent surgery for RRD between April 2005 and March 2010 in our hospital, the medical records of 4 cases from our hospital and one case from another hospital that had undergone RRD surgery and later developed MH were reviewed. This is a retrospective study. Results. 837 eyes underwent pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) with or without scleral buckling (SB), and 423 eyes underwent SB. The four cases that developed MH had PPV alone and one case had PPV with SB. After including the results of three earlier reports, the mean interval for the MH to develop after SB alone was significantly shorter than after PPV alone or after PPV with SB. Conclusions. The SB procedures might accelerate the development of MH after RRD surgery

Social Environmental Factors Related to Resuming Driving after Brain Injury : A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study.

Many patients resume driving after brain injury regardless of their ability to drive safely. Predictors for resuming driving in terms of actual resumption status and environmental factors are unclear. We evaluated the reasons for resuming driving after brain injury and examined whether social environmental factors are useful predictors of resuming driving. This retrospective cohort study was based on a multicenter questionnaire survey at least 18 months after discharge of brain injury patients with rehabilitation. A total of 206 brain injury patients (cerebrovascular disease and traumatic brain injury) were included in the study, which was conducted according to the International Classification of Functioning (ICF) items using log-binominal regression analysis, evaluating social environmental factors as associated factors of resuming driving after brain injury. Social environmental factors, inadequate public transport (risk ratio (RR), 1.38), and no alternative driver (RR, 1.53) were included as significant independent associated factors. We found that models using ICF categories were effective for investigating factors associated with resuming driving in patients after brain injury and significant association between resuming driving and social environmental factors. Therefore, social environmental factors should be considered when predicting driving resumption in patients after brain injury, which may lead to better counseling and environmental adjustment

Properdin has an ascendancy over factor H regulation in complement-mediated renal tubular damage

BACKGROUND: Urinary (U)-complement components have been detected in patients with proteinuric renal diseases, and complement activation via the alternative pathway (AP) is believed to play a role in renal tubular damage. The present study aimed to examine the regulation of complement AP activation in patients with renal tubular damage by focusing on the balance between properdin (P) and factor H (fH). METHODS: In the in vivo studies, U concentrations of P, fH and membrane attack complex (MAC) were measured in patients with renal diseases using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and their relationships with the clinical data were evaluated. In the in vitro studies, human proximal tubular epithelial cells (PTECs) were incubated with normal human serum (NHS), P-depleted serum (PDS), purified P and/or fH. Changes in cell morphology and phenotype were assessed by microscopy, real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), immunostaining and a cell viability assay. RESULTS: The U-P, fH and MAC concentrations were significantly higher in patients with renal disease than in normal controls and correlated with the U-protein and tubular damage markers. Furthermore, multivariate analysis revealed a relationship between P levels and tubular damage markers. There were no significant changes in morphology and mRNA expression in the AP components (P, fH, fB, C3, C5 and C9) after the addition of up to 25% NHS. Dose-dependent depositions of P or fH were observed after the addition of P or fH on PTECs. Depositions of P were not inhibited by fH in a mixture of a fixed concentration of P and a variable concentration of fH, and vice versa. Preincubation with the fixed concentration of P before the addition of NHS or PDS increased the depositions of P, C3 and MAC compared with incubation with intact NHS or intact PDS only; the depositions of C3 and MAC showed a serum-dependent trend. Preincubation with P before NHS addition significantly suppressed cell viability without causing morphological changes. CONCLUSIONS: In the pathogenesis of renal tubular damage, P can directly bind to PTECs and may accelerate AP activation by surpassing fH regulation

The opaque heart of the galaxy IC 860: Analogous protostellar, kinematics, morphology, and chemistry

Compact Obscured Nuclei (CONs) account for a significant fraction of the population of luminous and ultraluminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs and ULIRGs). These galaxy nuclei are compact, with radii of 10-100 pc, with large optical depths at submm and far-infrared wavelengths, and characterized by vibrationally excited HCN emission. It is not known what powers the large luminosities of the CON host galaxies because of the extreme optical depths towards their nuclei. CONs represent an extreme phase of nuclear growth, hiding either a rapidly accreting supermassive black hole or an abnormal mode of star formation. Regardless of their power source, the CONs allow us to investigate the processes of nuclear growth in galaxies. Here we apply principal component analysis (PCA) tomography to high-resolution (000:06) ALMA observations at frequencies 245 to 265 GHz of the nearby CON (59 Mpc) IC 860. PCA is a technique to unveil correlation in the data parameter space, and we apply it to explore the morphological and chemical properties of species in our dataset. The leading principal components reveal morphological features in molecular emission that suggest a rotating, infalling disk or envelope, and an outflow analogous to those seen in Galactic protostars. One particular molecule of astrochemical interest is methanimine (CH2NH), a precursor to glycine, three transitions of which have been detected towards IC 860.We estimate the average CH2NH column density towards the nucleus of IC 860 to be _1017cm2, with an abundance exceeding 108 relative to molecular hydrogen, using the rotation diagram method and non-LTE radiative transfer models. This CH2NH abundance is consistent with those found in hot cores of molecular clouds in the Milky Way. Our analysis suggests that CONs are an important stage of chemical evolution in galaxies, that are chemically and morphologically similar to Milky Way hot cores

A new membrane protein Sbg1 links the contractile ring apparatus and septum synthesis machinery in fission yeast

Cytokinesis in many organisms requires a plasma membrane anchored actomyosin ring, whose contraction facilitates cell division. In yeast and fungi, actomyosin ring constriction is also coordinated with division septum assembly. How the actomyosin ring interacts with the plasma membrane and the plasma membrane-localized septum synthesizing machinery remains poorly understood. In Schizosaccharomyces pombe, an attractive model organism to study cytokinesis, the β-1,3-glucan synthase Cps1p / Bgs1p, an integral membrane protein, localizes to the plasma membrane overlying the actomyosin ring and is required for primary septum synthesis. Through a high-dosage suppressor screen we identified an essential gene, sbg1+ (suppressor of beta glucan synthase 1), which suppressed the colony formation defect of Bgs1-defective cps1-191 mutant at higher temperatures. Sbg1p, an integral membrane protein, localizes to the cell ends and to the division site. Sbg1p and Bgs1p physically interact and are dependent on each other to localize to the division site. Loss of Sbg1p results in an unstable actomyosin ring that unravels and slides, leading to an inability to deposit a single contiguous division septum and an important reduction of the β-1,3-glucan proportion in the cell wall, coincident with that observed in the cps1-191 mutant. Sbg1p shows genetic and / or physical interaction with Rga7p, Imp2p, Cdc15p, and Pxl1p, proteins known to be required for actomyosin ring integrity and efficient septum synthesis. This study establishes Sbg1p as a key member of a group of proteins that link the plasma membrane, the actomyosin ring, and the division septum assembly machinery in fission yeast

Christopher Simpson The Division-Viol, or The Art of PLAYING Ex tempore upon a GROUND. EDITIO SECVNDA Part III "The Method of ordering Division to a Ground" (2)

本訳稿はChristopher Simpson (1605頃－1669) 著 The Division-Viol, or, The Art of PLAYING Ex tempore upon a GROUND. DIVIDED INTO THREE PARTS. EDITIO SECVNDA, London, 1665 のPart III "The Method of ordering Division to a Ground" より§7～§12(pp.42-56)の全訳である