Evidence for subdominant multipole moments and precession in merging black-hole-binaries from GWTC-2.1

The LIGO--Virgo--KAGRA collaborations (LVK) recently produced a catalogue containing gravitational-wave (GW) observations from the first half of the third GW observing run (O3a). This catalogue, GWTC-2.1, includes for the first time a number of \emph{exceptional} GW candidates produced from merging black-hole-binaries with unequivocally unequal component masses. Since subdominant multipole moments and spin-induced orbital precession are more likely to leave measurable imprints on the emitted GW from unequal component mass binaries, these general relativistic phenomena may now be measurable. Indeed, both GW190412 and GW190814 have already shown conclusive evidence for subdominant multipole moments. This provides valuable insights into the dynamics of the binary. We calculate the evidence for subdominant multipole moments and spin-induced orbital precession for all merging black-hole-binaries in GWTC-2.1 that were observed during O3a and show that (a) no gravitational-wave candidate has measurable higher order multipole content beyond $\ell = 3$, (b) in addition to the already known GW190412 and GW190814, GW190519\_153544 shows significant evidence for the $(\ell, |m|) = (3, 3)$ subdominant multipole, (c) GW190521 may have measurable subdominant multipole content and (d) GW190412 may show evidence for spin-induced orbital precession.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figure

Improved sensitivity to ∆m²21 by classification of the ¹³C(α,n)16O background in the SNO+ antineutrino analysis

for abstract see PD

Short-changed: spending on prison mental health care

Last year, £20.8 million was spent on mental health care in prisons through inreach teams. This is 11% of total prison health care spending or just over £300 for each member of the prison population. Prison inreach teams aim to provide the specialist mental health services to people in prison that are provided by community-based mental health teams for the population at large. But inreach teams have been hindered by limited resourcing, constraints imposed by the prison environment, difficulties in ensuring continuity of care and wide variations in local practice. Government policy for prison health care is based on the principle of equivalence. This means that standards of care for people in prison should be the same as those available in the community at large, relative to need. The level of need for mental health care in prisons is particularly high, because of the much greater prevalence of mental illness, especially severe mental illness, among prisoners than among people of working age in the general population. While more is spent per head on mental health care in prisons than in the wider community, this is not nearly enough to accommodate this much higher level of need. The resources currently available for mental health care in prisons are only about a third of the amount required to deliver the policy objective of equivalence. Spending on prison mental health care also varies widely across the country. In London and in the North East, Yorkshire and Humber, the NHS spends more than twice as much per prisoner than it does in the East Midlands and the South West. This variation cannot be explained by different levels of need or costs: it amounts to a postcode lottery in prison mental health care. Major investment is needed in the overall level of provision for mental health care in prisons and in its geographical allocation if equivalence is ever to be achieve

Simple parameter estimation using observable features of gravitational-wave signals

Using simple, intuitive arguments, we discuss the expected accuracy with which astrophysical parameters can be extracted from an observed gravitational wave signal. The observation of a chirplike signal in the data allows for measurement of the component masses and aligned spins, while measurement in three or more detectors enables good localization. The ability to measure additional features in the observed signal - the existence or absence of power in (i) the second gravitational wave polarization, (ii) higher gravitational wave multipoles or (iii) spin-induced orbital precession - provide new information which can be used to significantly improve the accuracy of parameter measurement. We introduce the simple-pe algorithm which uses these methods to generate rapid parameter estimation results for binary mergers. We present results from a set of simulations, to illustrate the method, and compare results from simple-pe with measurements from full parameter estimation routines. The simple-pe routine is able to provide initial parameter estimates in a matter of CPU minutes, which could be used in real-time alerts and also as input to significantly accelerate detailed parameter estimation routines

Pro-neural transcription factors as cancer markers.

BACKGROUND: The aberrant transcription in cancer of genes normally associated with embryonic tissue differentiation at various organ sites may be a hallmark of tumour progression. For example, neuroendocrine differentiation is found more commonly in cancers destined to progress, including prostate and lung. We sought to identify proteins which are involved in neuroendocrine differentiation and differentially expressed in aggressive/metastatic tumours. RESULTS: Expression arrays were used to identify up-regulated transcripts in a neuroendocrine (NE) transgenic mouse model of prostate cancer. Amongst these were several genes normally expressed in neural tissues, including the pro-neural transcription factors Ascl1 and Hes6. Using quantitative RT-PCR and immuno-histochemistry we showed that these same genes were highly expressed in castrate resistant, metastatic LNCaP cell-lines. Finally we performed a meta-analysis on expression array datasets from human clinical material. The expression of these pro-neural transcripts effectively segregates metastatic from localised prostate cancer and benign tissue as well as sub-clustering a variety of other human cancers. CONCLUSION: By focussing on transcription factors known to drive normal tissue development and comparing expression signatures for normal and malignant mouse tissues we have identified two transcription factors, Ascl1 and Hes6, which appear effective markers for an aggressive phenotype in all prostate models and tissues examined. We suggest that the aberrant initiation of differentiation programs may confer a selective advantage on cells in all contexts and this approach to identify biomarkers therefore has the potential to uncover proteins equally applicable to pre-clinical and clinical cancer biology.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

Simple parameter estimation using observable features of gravitational-wave signals

Using simple, intuitive arguments, we discuss the expected accuracy with which astrophysical parameters can be extracted from an observed gravitational wave signal. The observation of a chirplike signal in the data allows for measurement of the component masses and aligned spins, while measurement in three or more detectors enables good localization. The ability to measure additional features in the observed signal—the existence or absence of power in (i) the second gravitational wave polarization, (ii) higher gravitational wave multipoles or (iii) spin-induced orbital precession—provide new information which can be used to significantly improve the accuracy of parameter measurement. We introduce the simple-pe algorithm which uses these methods to generate rapid parameter estimation results for binary mergers. We present results from a set of simulations, to illustrate the method, and compare results from simple-pe with measurements from full parameter estimation routines. The simple-pe routine is able to provide initial parameter estimates in a matter of CPU minutes, which could be used in real-time alerts and also as input to significantly accelerate detailed parameter estimation routines

The Grizzly, October 3, 1995

Akin to Become Director of Athletics, Davidson to Focus Solely on Chair of ESS • Cracking the Case of the Bomberger Window • Law School Forum a Success • 1995 Pledging Rules and Guidelines • Trash Revisited • A Rainbow is Better • Closed-Mindedness is the Real Problem • The Government is Trying to Starve You! • Berman Museum Receives Grant • Economics Department Rated High in Study • Chemistry Department Receives Research Grant • Where Have All the Glasses Gone? • Silken Rhythm: Ursinus Students Harmonize • Family Day 1995 • Soccer Wins a Pair • Win Streak Stopped At Four • Struggle Continues • Swarthmore Edges Ursinushttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1364/thumbnail.jp

Phenome-wide Mendelian randomisation analysis of 378,142 cases reveals risk factors for eight common cancers

For many cancers there are only a few well-established risk factors. Here, we use summary data from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in a Mendelian randomisation (MR) phenome-wide association study (PheWAS) to identify potentially causal relationships for over 3,000 traits. Our outcome datasets comprise 378,142 cases across breast, prostate, colorectal, lung, endometrial, oesophageal, renal, and ovarian cancers, as well as 485,715 controls. We complement this analysis by systematically mining the literature space for supporting evidence. In addition to providing supporting evidence for well-established risk factors (smoking, alcohol, obesity, lack of physical activity), we also find sex steroid hormones, plasma lipids, and telomere length as determinants of cancer risk. A number of the molecular factors we identify may prove to be potential biomarkers. Our analysis, which highlights aetiological similarities and differences in common cancers, should aid public health prevention strategies to reduce cancer burden. We provide a R/Shiny app to visualise findings

The Grizzly, September 26, 1995

Ursinus Improves in National Rankings • Racism in Everywhere • The Dawn of a New S.T.A.R. • Royersford Teachers Strike • Restaurant Night is Back! • Stories from Abroad • Help, I\u27m an E-mail Addict! • Political Parties, Presidents, and Colin Powell • Writing Off Old Men\u27s? • Way to go, Collegeville! • Letters to the Editor • Spirit of Life Ensemble to Perform • Tobin Display at Berman • Are Wismer\u27s Grades Slipping? • Hillel Trip a Success • Celebrating Hispanic Heritage • What\u27s Going on at Ursinus College? • U.S.G.A. Minutes • C.A.B. Minutes • Conserve, Conserve, Conserve! What You Can do to Save Energy and the Earth • Soccer Team Splits • Field Hockey Team Wins Fourth Straight • Runners Compete • Football Team Not Offensive in Loss • Volleyball Team Nets Third Winhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1363/thumbnail.jp

Whole genome sequencing refines stratification and therapy of patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most common form of kidney cancer, but a comprehensive description of its genomic landscape is lacking. We report the whole genome sequencing of 778 ccRCC patients enrolled in the 100,000 Genomes Project, providing for a detailed description of the somatic mutational landscape of ccRCC. We identify candidate driver genes, which as well as emphasising the major role of epigenetic regulation in ccRCC highlight additional biological pathways extending opportunities for therapeutic interventions. Genomic characterisation identified patients with divergent clinical outcome; higher number of structural copy number alterations associated with poorer prognosis, whereas VHL mutations were independently associated with a better prognosis. The observations that higher T-cell infiltration is associated with better overall survival and that genetically predicted immune evasion is not common supports the rationale for immunotherapy. These findings should inform personalised surveillance and treatment strategies for ccRCC patients