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We present the first search for galaxy counterparts of intervening high-z (2 < z < 3.6) sub-damped Lyα absorbers (sub-DLAs) and DLAs towards gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Our final sample comprises five intervening sub-DLAs and DLAs in four GRB fields. To identify candidate galaxy counterparts of the absorbers we used deep optical- and near-infrared imaging, and low-, mid- and high-resolution spectroscopy acquired with 6-m to 10-m class telescopes, the Hubble and the Spitzer Space Telescopes. Furthermore, we used the spectroscopic information and spectral-energy-distribution fitting techniques to study them in detail. Our main result is the detection and spectroscopic confirmation of the galaxy counterpart of the intervening DLA at z = 3.096 in the field of GRB 070721B (zGRB = 3.6298) as proposed by other authors. We also identify good candidates for the galaxy counterparts of the two strong Mg ii absorbers at z = 0.6915 and 1.4288 towards GRB 050820A (zGRB = 2.615). The properties of the detected DLA galaxy are typical for Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) at similar redshifts; a young, highly star-forming galaxy that shows evidence for a galactic outflow. This supports thehypothesis that a DLA can be the gaseous halo of an LBG. In addition, we report a redshift coincidence of different objects associated with metal lines in the same field, separated by 130–161 kpc. The high detection rate of three correlated structures on a length scale as short as ~150 kpc in two pairs of lines of sight is intriguing. The absorbers in each of these are most likely not part of the same gravitationally bound structure. They more likely represent groups of galaxies.

We undertook a meta-analysis of six Crohn's disease genome-wide association studies (GWAS) comprising 6,333 affected individuals (cases) and 15,056 controls and followed up the top association signals in 15,694 cases, 14,026 controls and 414 parent-offspring trios. We identified 30 new susceptibility loci meeting genome-wide significance (P < 5 x 10). A series of in silico analyses highlighted particular genes within these loci and, together with manual curation, implicated functionally interesting candidate genes including SMAD3, ERAP2, IL10, IL2RA, TYK2, FUT2, DNMT3A, DENND1B, BACH2 and TAGAP. Combined with previously confirmed loci, these results identify 71 distinct loci with genome-wide significant evidence for association with Crohn's disease.

The Kepler Mission has acquired 33.5 d of continuous 1-min photometry of KPD 1946+4340, a short-period binary system that consists of a subdwarf B star (sdB) and a white dwarf. In the light curve, eclipses are clearly seen, with the deepest occurring when the compact white dwarf crosses the disc of the sdB (0.4 per cent) and the more shallow ones (0.1 per cent) when the sdB eclipses the white dwarf. As expected, the sdB is deformed by the gravitational field of the white dwarf, which produces an ellipsoidal modulation of the light curve. Spectacularly, a very strong Doppler beaming (also known as Doppler boosting) effect is also clearly evident at the 0.1 per cent level. This originates from the sdB's orbital velocity, which we measure to be 164.0 ± 1.9 km s-1 from supporting spectroscopy. We present light-curve models that account for all these effects, as well as gravitational lensing, which decreases the apparent radius of the white dwarf by about 6 per cent, when it eclipses the sdB. We derive system parameters and uncertainties from the light curve using Markov chain Monte Carlo simulations. Adopting a theoretical white dwarf mass-radius relation, the mass of the subdwarf is found to be 0.47 ± 0.03 Msun and the mass of the white dwarf 0.59 ± 0.02 Msun. The effective temperature of the white dwarf is 15 900 ± 300 K. With a spectroscopic effective temperature of Teff= 34 730 ± 250 K and a surface gravity of log g= 5.43 ± 0.04, the subdwarf has most likely exhausted its core helium, and is in a shell He burning stage. The detection of Doppler beaming in Kepler light curves potentially allows one to measure radial velocities without the need of spectroscopic data. For the first time, a photometrically observed Doppler beaming amplitude is compared to a spectroscopically established value. The sdB's radial velocity amplitude derived from the photometry (168 ± 4 km s-1) is in perfect agreement with the spectroscopic value. After subtracting our best model for the orbital effects, we searched the residuals for stellar oscillations but did not find any significant pulsation frequencies.

Obiskovalcu, ki pozna dosedanje postavitve razstav Romana Makšeta in s pogledom objame razstavljeno kompozicijo, se zdi vse znano. Pred njegovimi očmi so prostori, skulpture objekti, ki jih je že videl, vendar že prvi, drugače dodan element (les, kamen, terakota, steklo, mavčni povoji, gobi), pa tudi v objektih in ob njih v klasičnih razstavnih okvirjih poudarjene atraktivne barvne računalniške grafične podobe znanstvenika Hernana Makseta, vzbudijo željo po raziskovanju, po natančnejšem odkrivanju vsake posameznosti posebej. Zunanjost objektov skulptur je bleščeča, hladna, industrijska, neosebna, medtem ko je notranjost toplejša, ne vzbuja pa občutka domačnosti, temveč prej laboratorija. Zato tudi izbran naslov za razstavljena dela ne preseneča. Notranjost, ki je lahko ustvarjalna delavnica ali razstavni prostor za skulpture, ni opremljena z nikakršnim sediščem. Gledalca ne nagovarja k 'nadaljevanju' umetniškega dela oziroma k sodelovanju, temveč ga seznanja z znanstvenimi, laboratorijskimi dognanji.

We present the discovery by the WASP-South survey of WASP-121 b, a new remarkable short-period transiting hot Jupiter. The planet has a mass of 1.183_{-0.062}^{+0.064} MJup, a radius of 1.865 ± 0.044 RJup, and transits every 1.274 9255_{-0.000 0025}^{+0.000 0020} days an active F6-type main-sequence star (V = 10.4, 1.353_{-0.079}^{+0.080} M⊙, 1.458 ± 0.030 R⊙, Teff = 6460 ± 140 K). A notable property of WASP-121 b is that its orbital semimajor axis is only ˜1.15 times larger than its Roche limit, which suggests that the planet is close to tidal disruption. Furthermore, its large size and extreme irradiation (˜7.1 109 erg s-1 cm-2) make it an excellent target for atmospheric studies via secondary eclipse observations. Using the TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope, we indeed detect its emission in the z'-band at better than ˜4σ, the measured occultation depth being 603 ± 130 ppm. Finally, from a measurement of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect with the CORALIE spectrograph, we infer a sky-projected spin-orbit angle of 257.8°_{-5.5°}^{+5.3°}. This result may suggest a significant misalignment between the spin axis of the host star and the orbital plane of the planet. If confirmed, this high misalignment would favour a migration of the planet involving strong dynamical events with a third body.

Ultra-compact binaries are objects which have orbital periods shorter than one hour. Both stars must be compact and are typically degenerate and hydrogen deficient. The class includes interacting AM CVn stars, ultra-compact X-ray binaries, detached double white dwarfs, double neutron stars, white dwarf/neutron star binaries and as yet unobserved binaries such as black holes with neutron star or white dwarf companions.

Leave policies and the protection of working parents' rights have changed significantly in Europe during the last few decades. While policies introduced immediately after World War II were largely based on a male-breadwinner model, the post-1970s policies have recognised the increase in maternal employment, the growing diversity of work/family arrangements and working parents' needs for state support in caring for young children. Paid maternity leave and paid or unpaid parental leave are now available throughout Europe - Western, Central and Eastern - and policy developments have encouraged more gender-neutral leaves and longer periods of paid leave (Deven and Moss 2005).

The MOLAND model is a cellular automata (CA) land-use change model that has often been applied to simulate urban growth. A more recent alternative model makes the simulations more multifunctional by also computing different activities (population and employment) for every cell. However, the equation to update population density in time in this activity-based CA model could not deal with high population growth rates in some existing urban centres. Therefore, we experimented with two alternative equations. A semi-automated calibration routine was used to compare errors of the different model versions at a continuous range of resolutions in two study areas: the Greater Dublin Region, Ireland, and Flanders and Brussels, Belgium. The two new population density equations turn out to solve the particular problem of fast changes in high-density neighbourhoods and generally improve regional errors in the Belgian application, but can unfortunately introduce larger errors in low-density areas or in the land-use simulations.