Multiethnic meta-analysis identifies ancestry-specific and cross-ancestry loci for pulmonary function

Nearly 100 loci have been identified for pulmonary function, almost exclusively in studies of European ancestry populations. We extend previous research by meta-analyzing genome-wide association studies of 1000 Genomes imputed variants in relation to pulmonary function in a multiethnic population of 90,715 individuals of European (N = 60,552), African (N = 8429), Asian (N = 9959), and Hispanic/Latino (N = 11,775) ethnicities. We identify over 50 additional loci at genome-wide significance in ancestry-specific or multiethnic meta-analyses. Using recent fine-mapping methods incorporating functional annotation, gene expression, and differences in linkage disequilibrium between ethnicities, we further shed light on potential causal variants and genes at known and newly identified loci. Several of the novel genes encode proteins with predicted or established drug targets, including KCNK2 and CDK12. Our study highlights the utility of multiethnic and integrative genomics approaches to extend existing knowledge of the genetics of l

Measurement of the CP violating asymmetry amplitude sin 2beta

We present results on time-dependent CP-violating asymmetries in neutral B decays to several CP eigenstates. The measurements use a data sample of about 88 million Y(4S) --> B Bbar decays collected between 1999 and 2002 with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy B Factory at SLAC. We study events in which one neutral B meson is fully reconstructed in a final state containing a charmonium meson and the other B meson is determined to be either a B0 or B0bar from its decay products. The amplitude of the CP-violating asymmetry, which in the Standard Model is proportional to sin2beta, is derived from the decay-time distributions in such events. We measure sin2beta = 0.741 +/- 0.067 (stat) +/- 0.034 (syst) and |lambda| = 0.948 +/- 0.051 (stat) +/- 0.030 (syst). The magnitude of lambda is consistent with unity, in agreement with the Standard Model expectation of no direct CP violation in these modes.Comment: 7 pages, 2 postscript figures, submitted to PR

SuperB: A High-Luminosity Asymmetric e+ e- Super Flavor Factory. Conceptual Design Report.

The physics objectives of SuperB, an asymmetric electron-positron collider with a luminosity above 10^36/cm^2/s are described, together with the conceptual design of a novel low emittance design that achieves this performance with wallplug power comparable to that of the current B Factories, and an upgraded detector capable of doing the physics in the SuperB environment