WASP-22 b: A Transiting "Hot Jupiter" Planet in a Hierarchical Triple System

We report the discovery of a transiting planet orbiting the star TYC 6446-326-1. The star, WASP-22, is a moderately bright (V = 12.0) solar-type star (Teff = 6000 ± 100 K, [Fe/H] = -0.05 ± 0.08). The light curve of the star obtained with the WASP-South instrument shows periodic transit-like features with a depth of about 1% and a duration of 0.14 days. The presence of a transit-like feature in the light curve is confirmed using z-band photometry obtained with Faulkes Telescope South. High-resolution spectroscopy obtained with the CORALIE and HARPS spectrographs confirms the presence of a planetary mass companion with an orbital period of 3.533 days in a near-circular orbit. From a combined analysis of the spectroscopic and photometric data assuming that the star is a typical main-sequence star we estimate that the planet has a mass M p = 0.56 ± 0.02M Jup and a radius R p = 1.12 ± 0.04R Jup. In addition, there is a linear trend of 40 m s-1 yr-1 in the radial velocities measured over 16 months, from which we infer the presence of a third body with a long-period orbit in this system. The companion may be a low mass M-dwarf, a white dwarf, or a second planet.

WASP-34b: a near-grazing transiting sub-Jupiter-mass exoplanet in a hierarchical triple system

We report the discovery of WASP-34b, a sub-Jupiter-mass exoplanet transiting its 10.4-magnitude solar-type host star (1SWASP J110135.89-235138.4; TYC 6636-540-1) every 4.3177 days in a slightly eccentric orbit (e = 0.038±0.012). We find a planetary mass of 0.59±0.01 MJup and radius of 1.22-0.08+0.11 RJup. There is a linear trend in the radial velocities of 55±4 m s-1 y-1 indicating the presence of a long-period third body in the system with a mass ?0.45 MJup at a distance of ?1.2 AU from the host star. This third-body is either a low-mass star, a white dwarf, or another planet. The transit depth ((RP/Rstar)2 = 0.0126) and high impact parameter (b = 0.90) suggest that this could be the first known transiting exoplanet expected to undergo grazing transits, but with a confidence of only 80%. Radial velocity and photometric data are only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/526/A130

A Phase I Trial of Bortezomib in Combination with Epirubicin, Carboplatin and Capecitabine (VECarboX) in Advanced Gastric and Gastro-oesophageal Junction Adenocarcinoma

PURPOSE:
The protease inhibitor bortezomib attenuates the action of NF-κB and has shown preclinical activity alone and in combination with chemotherapy.

DESIGN:
A Phase I dose-escalation study was performed administering bortezomib (0.7, 1.0, 1.3 and 1.6 mg m(-2) on days 1 and 8 from cycle 2 onwards) in combination with Epirubicin 50 mg m(-2) intravenously on day 1, Carboplatin AUC 5 day 1 and Capecitabine 625 mg m(-2) BD days 1-21 every 21 days (VECarboX regimen), in patients with advanced oesophagogastric adenocarcinoma. The primary objective was to define the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of Bortezomib when combined with ECarboX.

RESULTS:
18 patients received bortezomib 0.7 (n = 6), 1.0 (n = 3), 1.3 (n = 6) and 1.6 mg m(-2) (n = 3) and a protocol amendment reducing the capecitabine dose to 500 mg m(-2) BD was enacted due to myelotoxicity. Common treatment-related non-haematological adverse events of any grade were fatigue (83.3 %), anorexia (55.6 %), constipation (55.6 %) and nausea (55.6 %). Common Grade 3/4 haematological toxicities were neutropenia (77.8 %) and thrombocytopenia (44.4 %). Objective responses were achieved in 6 patients (33.3 %) and a further 5 patients (27.8 %) had stable disease for >8 weeks.

CONCLUSIONS:
The addition of Bortezomib to ECarboX is well tolerated and response rates are comparable with standard chemotherapy.

Ultracam - An Ultra-Fast Triple-Beam CCD Camera

ULTRACAM is a high-speed three-colour CCD camera designed to provide imaging photometry at high temporal resolutions. The instrument is highly portable and will be used at a number of large telescopes around the world. ULTRACAM was successfully commissioned on the 4.2-m William Herschel Telescope on La Palma on 16 May 2002 over 3 months ahead of schedule and within budget. The instrument was funded by PPARC and designed and built by a consortium involving the Universities of Sheffield Southampton and the UKATC Edinburgh. We present an overview of the design and performance characteristics of ULTRACAM and highlight some of its most recent scientific results.

Optimised extraction of heterocyclic aromatic amines from blood using hollow fibre membrane liquid-phase microextraction and triple quadrupole mass spectrometry

Heterocyclic aromatic amines (HCA) are carcinogenic mutagens formed during cooking of proteinaceous foods, particularly meat. To assist in the ongoing search for biomarkers of HCA exposure in blood, a method is described for the extraction from human plasma of the most abundant HCAs: 2-Amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo(4,5-b)pyridine (PhIP), 2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (MeIQx) and 2-amino-3,4,8-trimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (4,8-DiMeIQx) (and its isomer 7,8-DiMeIQx), using Hollow Fibre Membrane Liquid-Phase Microextraction. This technique employs 2.5 cm lengths of porous polypropylene fibres impregnated with organic solvent to facilitate simultaneous extraction from an alkaline aqueous sample into a low volume acidic acceptor phase. This low cost protocol is extensively optimised for fibre length, extraction time, sample pH and volume. Detection is by UPLC-MS/MS using positive mode electrospray ionisation with a 3.4 min runtime, with optimum peak shape, sensitivity and baseline separation being achieved at pH 9.5. To our knowledge this is the first description of HCA chromatography under alkaline conditions. Application of fixed ion ratio tolerances for confirmation of analyte identity is discussed. Assay precision is between 4.5 and 8.8% while lower limits of detection between 2 and 5 pg/mL are below the concentrations postulated for acid-labile HCA-protein adducts in blood.

FAST MODE SURFACE-PLASMON DAMPING ON TUNNEL JUNCTION STRUCTURES

Using a prism-air gap-sample (Otto) configuration we have optically excited surface plasmon polaritons at the Ag-air interface of passive Al-Al oxide-Ag tunnel junction structures at wavelength 632.8 nm. It is found that the internal damping of this excitation is more than a factor of 2 greater for samples with a very thin (approximately 15 nm) Ag electrode than for samples with a thicker (approximately 40 nm) Ag electrode. This observation is explained by the fact that the fields of the surface plasmon polariton penetrate more substantially into the lossy Al base electrode when the Ag top electrode is very thin.