We built a 8 μm selected sample of galaxies in the NEP-AKARI eld by defining 4 redshift bins with the four AKARI bands at 11, 15, 18 and 24 microns (0:15 < z < 0:49, 0:75 < z < 1:34, 1:34 < z < 1:7 and 1:7 < z < 2:05) . Our sample contains 4079 sources, 599 are securely detected with Herschel/PACS. Also adding ultraviolet (UV) data from GALEX, we fit the spectral energy distributions using the physically motivated code CIGALE to extract the star formation rate, stellar mass, dust attenuation and the AGN contribution to the total infrared luminosity (LIR). We discuss the impact of the adopted attenuation curve and that of the wavelength coverage to estimate these physical parameters. We focus on galaxies with a luminosity close the characteristic L* IR in the different redshift bins to study the evolution with redshift of the dust attenuation in these galaxies.

We selected 47 DOGs at z ~ 1:5 using optical R (or r' ), AKARI 18 μm, and 24 μm color in the AKARI North Ecliptic Pole (NEP) Deep survey field. Using the colors among 3, 4, 7, and 9μm, we classified them into 3 groups; bump DOGs (23 sources), power-law DOGs (16 sources), and unknown DOGs (8 sources). We built spectral energy distributions (SEDs) with optical to far-infrared photometric data and investigated their properties using SED fitting method. We found that AGN activity such as a AGN contribution to the infrared luminosity and a Chandra detection rate for bump and power-law DOGs are signicantly different, while stellar component properties like a stellar mass and a star-formation rate are similar to each other. A specific star-formation rate range of power-law DOGs is slightly higher than that of bump DOGs with wide overlap. Herschel/PACS detection rates are almost the same between bump and power-law DOGs. On the other hand SPIRE detection rates show large differences between bump and power-law DOGs. These results might be explained by differences in dust temperatures. Both groups of DOGs host hot and/or warm dust ( 50 Kelvin), and many bump DOGs contain cooler dust ( < 30 Kelvin).

We demonstrate the luminosity dependence of the covering factor (CF) of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), based on AKARI mid-infrared all-sky survey catalog. Combining the AKARI with Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectroscopic data, we selected 243 galaxies at 9 m and 255 galaxies at 18 m. We then identied 64 AGNs at 9 μm and 105 AGNs at 18 μm by their optical emission lines. Following that, we estimated the CF as the fraction of type 2 AGN in all AGNs. We found that the CF decreased with increasing 18 μm luminosity, regardless of the choice of type 2 AGN classification criteria.

Early-type galaxies (ETGs) are generally dominated by old low-mass stars, which are not very productive of dust, and hot interstellar plasmas, which are very destructive of dust. Thus ETGs provide harsh environments for survival of dust. It has been found that some ETGs contain a large amount of dust, and yet its supply mechanism is not understood well. We present the result of a systematic study of dust in ETGs with the AKARI mid- and far-infrared all-sky surveys. From the AKARI result and the Ks band data obtained by ground-based telescopes, we nd that there is a global correlation between the dust mass and stellar luminosity. We also compare the AKARI all-sky survey result with the CO data to discuss origins of dust in ETGs.

We have performed systematic studies of the properties of dust in various environments of nearby galaxies with AKARI. The unique capabilities of AKARI, such as near-infrared (near-IR) spectroscopy combined with all-sky coverage in the mid- and far-IR, enable us to study processing of dust, particularly carbonaceous grains includings polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), for unbiased samples of nearby galaxies. In this paper, we first review our recent results on individual galaxies, highlighting the uniqueness of AKARI data for studies of nearby galaxies. Then we present results of our systematic studies on nearby starburst and early-type galaxies. From the former study based on the near-IR spectroscopy and mid-IR all-sky survey data, we find that the properties of PAHs change systematically from IR galaxies to ultra- luminous IR galaxies, depending on the IR luminosity of a galaxy or galaxy population. From the latter study based on the mid- and far-IR all-sky survey data, we find that there is a global correlation between the amounts of dust and old stars in early-type galaxies, giving an observational constraint on the origin of the dust.

We detected bright mid- to far-infrared emission from the helium nova V445 Puppis in the AKARI all-sky survey data taken in 2006. Assuming an optically thin condition, we decomposed the spectral energy distribution (SED) of V445 Puppis in October 2006 by model tting and found that the SED can be explained by a combination of cold amorphous carbon (125 K and the mass of 4:5+6:6 2:7 X 10-4 M⊙) and warm amorphous carbon (250 K and the mass of 1:8+1:0 -0:5 X 10-5 M⊙). Assuming that the former is pre-existing dust formed in the past nova outbursts and the latter is newly formed dust in December 2000's nova wind, this result suggests that the amount of dust formed around V445 Puppis in a single outburst is larger than 10-5 M⊙, which is larger than those in any other classical novae ever reported.

Our understanding of dust emission, interaction, and evolution, is evolving. In recent years, electric dipole emission by spinning dust has been suggested to explain the anomalous microwave excess (AME), appearing between 10 and 90 Ghz. The observed frequencies suggest that spinning grains should be on the order of 10nm in size, hinting at polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules (PAHs). We present data from the AKARI/Infrared Camera (IRC) due to its high sensitivity to the PAH bands. By inspecting the IRC data for a few AME regions, we nd a preliminary indication that regions well-tted by a spinning- dust model have a higher 9 m than 18 m intensity vs. non-spinning-dust regions. Ongoing eorts to improve the analysis by using DustEM and including data from the AKARI Far Infrared Surveyor (FIS), IRAS, and Planck High Frequency Instrument (HFI) are described.

The zodiacal light emission is the thermal emission from the interplanetary dust and the dominant diuse radiation in the mid- to far-infrared wavelength region. Even in the far-infrared, the contribution of the zodiacal emission is not negligible at the region near the ecliptic plane. The AKARI far-infrared all-sky survey covered 97% of the whole sky in four photometric bands with band central wavelengths of 65, 90, 140, and 160 m. AKARI detected the small-scale structure of the zodiacal dust cloud, such as the asteroidal dust bands and the circumsolar ring, in far-infrared wavelength region. Although the most part of the zodiacal light structure in the AKARI far-infrared all-sky image can be well reproduced with the DIRBE zodiacal light model, there are discrepancies in the small-scale structures. In particular, the intensity and the ecliptic latitude of the peak position of the asteroidal dust bands cannot be repro- duced precisely with the DIRBE models. The AKARI observational data during more than one year has advantages over the 10-month DIRBE data in modeling the full-sky zodiacal dust cloud. The resulting small-scale zodiacal light structure template has been used to subtract the zodiacal light from the AKARI all-sky maps.

The analytical investigations of the filtering efficiency with multi-layered stainless screen filter, which is designed to generate swirling stream of micro metal dust from industrial manufacturing processes, were conducted. Compared to general filter dust collecting using bag filter, it can be expected that the metallic screen filters in this study enable the higher dust collecting efficiency of a system to be maintained even under harsh filtering conditions. The CFD analysis includes dust particles behavior, filtering efficiency, and pressure loss in the flow-field. The results show that the proposed 16 layered screen filter is able to collect 10 microns metal dust up to 97 % under 487.84 ㎩ differential pressure.

Exposure to house dust mites is closely connected with allergic diseases such as atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis, and asthma. House dust mites (Dermatophagoides farinae and D. pteronyssinus) act as allergens even after their death. Therefore, repelling the house dust mites is more effective method than killing them. Many chemical agents have been used in killing house dust mite. However, it is usually reported that these chemical agents (acaricides) exhibit adverse effects and toxicity toward animals and human. For these reasons, we carried out the experiments for measuring the repellent activity of Mate tea and Jasmine tea against house dust mites in this experiment. In order to determine the concentration having the most effective repellent effect of Mate and Jasmine tea, house dust mites (D. farinae and D. pteronyssinus) were exposed at different concentrations (0, 0.015625, 0.03125, 0.0625, 0.125, 0.25, 0.5 mg/40 μL) of Mate tea and Jasmine tea extracts, respectively, for different hours (0.5, 1, 2, 3 hours). The most effective repellent effect (%) against house dust mite in 0.25 mg/40 μL of Mate tea for 2 hours was 73.5%, Jasmine Petal tea in 0.0625 mg/40 μL for 1 hour was 84.1% and Pearl Jasmine tea in 0.125 mg/40 μL for 0.5 hour was 82.8%. These results suggest that Mate tea and Jasmine tea extracts have potential effect to repel the house dust mites (D. farinae and D. pteronyssinus)

We investigate optical properties of amorphous alumina (Al2O3) dust grains in the envelopes around O-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars using laboratory measured optical data. We derive the optical constants of amorphous alumina over a wide wavelength range that satisfy the Kramers- Kronig relation and reproduce the laboratory data. Using the amorphous alumina and silicate dust, we compare the radiative transfer model results with the observed spectral energy distributions. Comparing the theoretical models with observations on various IR two-color diagrams for a large sample of O-rich AGB stars, we find that the amorphous alumina dust (about 10-40%) mixed with amorphous silicate better models the observed points for the O-rich AGB stars with thin dust envelopes.

A single-stage electrostatic precipitator (ESP) was evaluated in terms of its performance in removing dust in subway tunnels. A wire-to-plate type ESP was tested in a small-scale wind tunnel. The effects of wire-to-wire spacing (2040 mm) and the material connecting wire-to-wire on the performance of ESP were investigated, with varying applied voltage and airflow velocity. A narrower wire-to-wire spacing showed higher collection efficiency at the same applied voltage. Lower electrical resistivity of material connecting wire to wire was more effective. Ozone generation in subway tunnel applications was insignificant.