Follow-up after treatment for head and neck cancer: United Kingdom National Multidisciplinary Guidelines

This is the official guideline endorsed by the specialty associations involved in the care of head and neck cancer patients in the UK. In the absence of high-level evidence base for follow-up practices, the duration and frequency are often at the discretion of local centres. By reviewing the existing literature and collating experience from varying practices across the UK, this paper provides recommendations on the work up and management of lateral skull base cancer based on the existing evidence base for this rare condition

Spatially Resolved Spectroscopy of the E+A Galaxies in the z=0.32 Cluster AC114

We present spatially resolved intermediate resolution spectroscopy of a sample of twelve E+A galaxies in the z=0.32 rich galaxy cluster AC 114, obtained with the FLAMES multi-integral field unit system on the European Southern Observatory's VLT. Previous integrated spectroscopy of all these galaxies by Couch & Sharples (1987) had shown them to have strong Balmer line absorption and an absence of [OII 3727] emission -- the defining characteristics of the``E+A'' spectral signature, indicative of an abrupt halt to a recent episode of quite vigorous star formation. We have used our spectral data to determine the radial variation in the strength of Hdelta absorption in these galaxies and hence map out the distribution of this recently formed stellar population. Such information provides important clues as to what physical event might have been responsible for this quite dramatic change in star formation activity in these galaxies' recent past. We find a diversity of behaviour amongst these galaxies in terms of the radial variation in Hdelta absorption: Four galaxies show little Hdelta absorption across their entire extent; it would appear they were misidentified as E+A galaxies in the earlier integrated spectroscopic studies. The remainder show strong Hdelta absorption, with a gradient that is either negative (Hdelta equivalent width decreasing with radius), flat, or positive. By comparing with numerical simulations we suggest that the first of these different types of radial behaviour provides evidence for a merger/interaction origin, whereas the latter two types of behaviour are more consistent with the truncation of star formation in normal disk galaxies. It would seem therefore that more than one physical mechanism is responsible for E+A formation in the same environment.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, accepted MNRA

HI emission and absorption in nearby, gas-rich galaxies II. -- sample completion and detection of intervening absorption in NGC 5156

We present the results of a survey for intervening 21cm HI absorption in a sample of 10 nearby, gas-rich galaxies selected from the HI Parkes All-Sky Survey (HIPASS). This follows the six HIPASS galaxies searched in previous work and completes our full sample. In this paper we searched for absorption along 17 sightlines with impact parameters between 6 and 46 kpc, making one new detection. We also obtained simultaneous HI emission-line data, allowing us to directly relate the absorption-line detection rate to the HI distribution. From this we find the majority of the non-detections in the current sample are because sightline does not intersect the HI disc of the galaxy at sufficiently high column density, but that source structure is also an important factor. The detected absorption-line arises in the galaxy NGC 5156 ($z = 0.01$) at an impact parameter of 19 kpc. The line is deep and narrow with an integrated optical depth of 0.82 km s$^{-1}$. High resolution Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) images at 5 and 8 GHz reveal that the background source is resolved into two components with a separation of 2.6 arcsec (500 pc at the redshift of the galaxy), with the absorption likely occurring against a single component. We estimate that the ratio of the spin temperature and covering factor, $T_{\mathrm{S}}/f$, is approximately 950 K in the outer disc of NGC 5156, but further observations using VLBI would allow us to accurately measure the covering factor and spin temperature of the gas.Comment: 31 pages, 11 figure

IFU observations of luminous type II AGN - I. Evidence for ubiquitous winds

We present observations of 17 luminous (log(L[O III]/L) > 8.7) local (z < 0.11) type II AGN. Our aim is to investigate the prevalence and nature of AGN-driven outflows in these galaxies by combining kinematic and ionization diagnostic information. We use non-parametric methods (e.g. W80, the width containing 80 per cent of the line flux) to assess the line widths in the central regions of our targets. The maximum values of W80 in each galaxy are in the range 400–1600 km s−1, with a mean of 790 ± 90 km s−1. Such high velocities are strongly suggestive that these AGN are driving ionized outflows. Multi-Gaussian fitting is used to decompose the velocity structure in our galaxies. 14/17 of our targets require three separate kinematic components in the ionized gas in their central regions. The broadest components of these fits have FWHM = 530–2520 km s−1, with a mean value of 920 ± 50 km s−1. By simultaneously fitting both the Hβ/[O III] and Hα/[N II] complexes, we construct ionization diagnostic diagrams for each component. 13/17 of our galaxies show a significant (>95 per cent) correlation between the [N II]/Hα ratio and the velocity dispersion of the gas. Such a correlation is the natural consequence of a contribution to the ionization from shock excitation and we argue that this demonstrates that the outflows from these AGN are directly impacting the surrounding ISM within the galaxies. Key words: galaxies: active – galaxies: evolution – galaxies: kinematics and dynamic

The cluster galaxy luminosity function at z=0.3z=0.3: a recent origin for the faint-end upturn ?

We derive deep luminosity functions (to $M_z=-15$) for galaxies in Abell 1835 ($z=0.25$) and AC 114 ($z=0.31$) and compare these with the local $z'$ luminosity function for 69 clusters. The data show that the faint-end upturn, the excess of galaxies above a single Schechter function at $M_z < -17$, does not exist in the higher redshift clusters. This suggests that the faint-end upturn galaxies have been created recently, by infall into clusters of star-forming field populations or via tidal disruption of brighter objects.^MComment: 6 pages, MNRAS main journal, accepted for publicatio

A Search for Propylene Oxide and Glycine in Sagittarius B2 (LMH) and Orion

We have used the Mopra Telescope to search for glycine and the simple chiral molecule propylene oxide in the Sgr B2 (LMH) and Orion KL, in the 3-mm band. We have not detected either species, but have been able to put sensitive upper limits on the abundances of both molecules. The 3-sigma upper limits derived for glycine conformer I are 3.7 x 10^{14} cm^{-2} in both Orion-KL and Sgr B2 (LMH), comparable to the reported detections of conformer I by Kuan et al. However, as our values are 3-sigma upper limits rather than detections we conclude that this weighs against confirming the detection of Kuan et al. We find upper limits for the glycine II column density of 7.7 x 10^{12} cm^{-2} in both Orion-KL and Sgr B2 (LMH), in agreement with the results of Combes et al. The results presented here show that glycine conformer II is not present in the extended gas at the levels detected by Kuan et al. for conformer I. Our ATCA results (Jones et al.) have ruled out the detection of glycine (both conformers I and II) in the compact hot core of the LMH at the levels reported, so we conclude that it is unlikely that Kuan et al. have detected glycine in either Sgr B2 or Orion-KL. We find upper limits for propylene oxide abundance of 3.0 x 10^{14} cm^{-2} in Orion-KL and 6.7 x 10^{14} cm^{-2} in Sgr B2 (LMH). We have detected fourteen features in Sgr B2 and four features in Orion-KL which have not previously been reported in the ISM, but have not be able to plausibly assign these transitions to any carrier.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures. Accepted by MNRAS 12th January 200

The star pile in Abell 545

Context:Struble (1988) found what appeared to be a cD halo without cD galaxy in the center of the galaxy cluster Abell 545. This remarkable feature has been passed almost unnoticed for nearly twenty years. Aims:Our goal is to review Struble's claim by providing a first (preliminary) photometric and spectroscopic analysis of this ''star pile''. Methods:Based on archival VLT-images and long-slit spectra obtained with Gemini-GMOS, we describe the photometric structure and measure the redshift of the star pile and of the central galaxy. Results:The star pile is indeed associated with Abell 545. Its velocity is higher by about 1300 km/s than that of the central object. The spectra indicate an old, presumably metal-rich population. Its brightness profile is much shallower than that of typical cD-galaxies. Conclusions:The formation history and the dynamical status of the star pile remain elusive, until high S/N spectra and a dynamical analysis of the galaxy cluster itself become available. We suggest that the star pile might provide an interesting test of the Cold Dark Matter paradigm.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in A&

The V-band luminosity function of galaxies in A2151

We present a wide field $V$-band imaging survey of approximately 1 deg$^2$ ($\sim7.2 h^{-2}_{75}$ Mpc$^{2}$) in the direction of the nearby cluster of galaxies Abell 2151 (the Hercules Cluster). The data are used to construct the luminosity function (LF) down to $M_V \approx -14.85$, thus allowing us to study the dwarf galaxy population in A2151 for the first time. The obtained global LF is well described by a Schechter function with best-fit parameters $\alpha = -1.29^{+0.09}_{-0.08}$ and $M_V^* = -21.41^{+0.44}_{-0.41}$. The radial dependence of the LF was investigated, with the faint-end slope tending to be slightly steeper in the outermost regions and farther away than the virial radius. Given the presence of significant substructure within the cluster, we also analysed the LFs in three different regions. We find that the dwarf to giant ratio increases from the northern to the southern subcluster, and from low to high local density environments, although these variations are marginally significant (less than 2$\sigma$).Comment: Accepted for publication in A&