Abstract.A rare case of primary choriocarcinoma of the lung in a male is described with immunohistochemistry for human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), epidermal growth factor (EGF) and EGF-receptor.The extragonadal trophoblastic origin of this pulmonary carcinoma was definitely confirmed by an autopsy examination, and hCG-production and hCG-positive staining of the tumor cells. Furthermore, the tumor cells clearly expressed EGF and its receptor which play an important role in the proliferation and differentiation of normal and neoplastic trophoblasts of the uterus. Our present case suggests that EGF may act in an autocrine manner in the tumor cells of primary pulmonary choriocarcinoma.

Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are key in understanding the coevolution of galaxies and supermassive black holes (SMBHs). AGN activity is thought to affect the properties of their host galaxies via a process called “AGN feedback,” which drives the coevolution. From a parent sample of 1151 z < 1 type-1 quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey quasar catalog, we detected the host galaxies of 862 of them in the high-quality grizy images of the Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam survey. The unprecedented combination of the survey area and depth allowed us to perform a statistical analysis of the quasar host galaxies, with small sample variance. We fitted the radial image profile of each quasar as a linear combination of the point spread function and the Sérsic function, decomposing the images into the quasar nucleus and the host galaxy components. We found that the host galaxies are massive, with stellar mass Mstar ≳ 1010 $M_\odot$, and are mainly located on the green valley. This trend is consistent with a scenario in which star formation in the host galaxies is suppressed by AGN feedback, that is, AGN activity may be responsible for the transition of these galaxies from the blue cloud to the red sequence. We also investigated the SMBH mass to stellar mass relation of the z < 1 quasars, and found a consistent slope with the local relation, while the SMBHs may be slightly undermassive. However, the above results are subject to our sample selection, which biases against host galaxies with low masses and/or large quasar-to-host flux ratios.

No abstract

A 75-year-old female with diabetes mellitus, who was born and lived in West north Kyusyu, was admitted to our hospital, because of unconsciousness and loss of appetite. The physical examination showed neck stiffness and a high fever. The laboratory data showed accentuation of inflammatory reaction and azotemia and positive HTLV-1 antibody. The spinal fluid showed increase of cell count and amount of protein. A stool and sputum smear revealed rhabditis form larvae of the nematode. Antibiotics and ivermectin were administered for the bacterial meningitis and hyperinfection of the strongyloides, respectively. Consequently, meningitis and strongyloidiasis improved. It was considered that the patient was infected with strongyloides from her husband who serve in the army during World-War II, and hyperinfection of strongyloides resulted from the immunosuppressive state of diabetes mellitus. Ivermectin, and anti-strongyloides agent, was effective, and no side effects were seen. However, the therapeutic resistance in this case was associated with the positive HTLV-1 antibody.

No abstract