3-D Kinematics of the HH 110 jet

We present new results on the kinematics of the jet HH 110. New proper motion measurements have been calculated from [SII] CCD images obtained with a time baseline of nearly fifteen years. HH 110 proper motions show a strong asymmetry with respect to the outflow axis, with a general trend of pointing towards the west of the axis direction. Spatial velocities have been obtained by combining the proper motions and radial velocities from Fabry-Perot data. Velocities decrease by a factor ~3 over a distance of ~10$^{18}$ cm, much shorter than the distances expected for the braking caused by the jet/environment interaction. Our results show evidence of an anomalously strong interaction between the outflow and the surrounding environment, and are compatible with the scenario in which HH 110 emerges from a deflection in a jet/cloud collision.Comment: (1)Universitat de Barcelona; (2)UNAM; (3)UPC; (4)University of Hawaii; (5)Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope. 9 pages; 7 Figures Accepted by A&

3-D Photoionization Structure and Distances of Planetary Nebulae II. Menzel 1

We present the results of a spatio-kinematic study of the planetary nebula Menzel 1 using spectro-photometric mapping and a 3-D photoionization code. We create several 2-D emission line images from our long-slit spectra, and use these to derive the line fluxes for 15 lines, the Halpha/Hbeta extinction map, and the [SII] line ratio density map of the nebula. We use our photoionization code constrained by these data to derive the three-dimensional nebular structure and ionizing star parameters of Menzel 1 by simultaneously fitting the integrated line intensities, the density map, and the observed morphologies in several lines, as well as the velocity structure. Using theoretical evolutionary tracks of intermediate and low mass stars, we derive a mass for the central star of 0.63+-0.05 Msolar. We also derive a distance of 1050+_150 pc to Menzel 1.Comment: To be published in ApJ of 10th February 2005. 12 figure

The type IC SN 1990B in NGC 4568

We present a study of the Type Ic supernova (SN) 1990B that includes most of the observations obtained from around the world. The combined data set comprises 84 BV(RI)c photometric points spanning approximately 360 days after maximum light and 14 spectra from 5 up to ~150 days after maximum light. In contrast to other Type Ic SNe, SN 1990B did not display a weak but distinct He I λ5876 line indicating that its He content was smaller or that the He layers were rather effectively shielded from the radioactive matter in the ejecta. The behavior of the Na I D line, however, suggests that He I λ5876 was blended with it. SN 1990B appeared on a sharply varying background that complicates the usual techniques of digital photometry. In order to do unbiased photometry, we modeled and subtracted the background of each image with the SN using images of NGC 4568 taken ~2500 days after the explosion, when SN 1990B had faded beyond detection. We compare the performance of standard point-spread function fitting photometry of the SN in the images with and without the background of the parent galaxy and find the results to differ systematically at late times. The photometry done on the images with the background light of NGC 4568 subtracted shows the light curves of SN 1990B to be of the slow Type Ic variety, with a slope steeper than that of the Type Ib SN 1983N or the Type II transition (Type IIb) SN 1993J but slower than that of the Type Ic SN 1994I. We estimate the reddening by foreground matter in the Galaxy and NGC 4568 and compute BV(RI)c light curves spanning ~110 days after maximum light

Survey of Period Variations of Superhumps in SU UMa-Type Dwarf Novae

We systematically surveyed period variations of superhumps in SU UMa-type dwarf novae based on newly obtained data and past publications. In many systems, the evolution of superhump period are found to be composed of three distinct stages: early evolutionary stage with a longer superhump period, middle stage with systematically varying periods, final stage with a shorter, stable superhump period. During the middle stage, many systems with superhump periods less than 0.08 d show positive period derivatives. Contrary to the earlier claim, we found no clear evidence for variation of period derivatives between superoutburst of the same object. We present an interpretation that the lengthening of the superhump period is a result of outward propagation of the eccentricity wave and is limited by the radius near the tidal truncation. We interpret that late stage superhumps are rejuvenized excitation of 3:1 resonance when the superhumps in the outer disk is effectively quenched. Many of WZ Sge-type dwarf novae showed long-enduring superhumps during the post-superoutburst stage having periods longer than those during the main superoutburst. The period derivatives in WZ Sge-type dwarf novae are found to be strongly correlated with the fractional superhump excess, or consequently, mass ratio. WZ Sge-type dwarf novae with a long-lasting rebrightening or with multiple rebrightenings tend to have smaller period derivatives and are excellent candidate for the systems around or after the period minimum of evolution of cataclysmic variables (abridged).Comment: 239 pages, 225 figures, PASJ accepte

Height, selected genetic markers and prostate cancer risk:Results from the PRACTICAL consortium

Background: Evidence on height and prostate cancer risk is mixed, however, recent studies with large data sets support a possible role for its association with the risk of aggressive prostate cancer. Methods: We analysed data from the PRACTICAL consortium consisting of 6207 prostate cancer cases and 6016 controls and a subset of high grade cases (2480 cases). We explored height, polymorphisms in genes related to growth processes as main effects and their possible interactions. Results: The results suggest that height is associated with high-grade prostate cancer risk. Men with height 4180cm are at a 22% increased risk as compared to men with height o173cm (OR 1.22, 95% CI 1.01–1.48). Genetic variants in the growth pathway gene showed an association with prostate cancer risk. The aggregate scores of the selected variants identified a significantly increased risk of overall prostate cancer and high-grade prostate cancer by 13% and 15%, respectively, in the highest score group as compared to lowest score group. Conclusions: There was no evidence of gene-environment interaction between height and the selected candidate SNPs. Our findings suggest a role of height in high-grade prostate cancer. The effect of genetic variants in the genes related to growth is seen in all cases and high-grade prostate cancer. There is no interaction between these two exposures.</p

Multiple novel prostate cancer susceptibility signals identified by fine-mapping of known risk loci among Europeans

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified numerous common prostate cancer (PrCa) susceptibility loci. We have fine-mapped 64 GWAS regions known at the conclusion of the iCOGS study using large-scale genotyping and imputation in 25 723 PrCa cases and 26 274 controls of European ancestry. We detected evidence for multiple independent signals at 16 regions, 12 of which contained additional newly identified significant associations. A single signal comprising a spectrum of correlated variation was observed at 39 regions; 35 of which are now described by a novel more significantly associated lead SNP, while the originally reported variant remained as the lead SNP only in 4 regions. We also confirmed two association signals in Europeans that had been previously reported only in East-Asian GWAS. Based on statistical evidence and linkage disequilibrium (LD) structure, we have curated and narrowed down the list of the most likely candidate causal variants for each region. Functional annotation using data from ENCODE filtered for PrCa cell lines and eQTL analysis demonstrated significant enrichment for overlap with bio-features within this set. By incorporating the novel risk variants identified here alongside the refined data for existing association signals, we estimate that these loci now explain ∼38.9% of the familial relative risk of PrCa, an 8.9% improvement over the previously reported GWAS tag SNPs. This suggests that a significant fraction of the heritability of PrCa may have been hidden during the discovery phase of GWAS, in particular due to the presence of multiple independent signals within the same regio

Atlas of prostate cancer heritability in European and African-American men pinpoints tissue-specific regulation

Although genome-wide association studies have identified over 100 risk loci that explain ∼33% of familial risk for prostate cancer (PrCa), their functional effects on risk remain largely unknown. Here we use genotype data from 59,089 men of European and African American ancestries combined with cell-type-specific epigenetic data to build a genomic atlas of single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) heritability in PrCa. We find significant differences in heritability between variants in prostate-relevant epigenetic marks defined in normal versus tumour tissue as well as between tissue and cell lines. The majority of SNP heritability lies in regions marked by H3k27 acetylation in prostate adenoc7arcinoma cell line (LNCaP) or by DNaseI hypersensitive sites in cancer cell lines. We find a high degree of similarity between European and African American ancestries suggesting a similar genetic architecture from common variation underlying PrCa risk. Our findings showcase the power of integrating functional annotation with genetic data to understand the genetic basis of PrCa