We have identified a new population of luminous, optical, narrow-lined transients (FWHM ∼1000 km s−1) coincident with the nuclear region of Seyfert galaxies. According to extensive spectrophotometric follow-ups of the main event (PS1-10adi), we could exclude both normal active galactic nucleus activity and changing-look quasars as the origin. The integrated energy output and spectral evolution over a time-scale of several years point to two possible paths of origin: a tidal disruption of a star by a supermassive black hole, or an extremely energetic supernova occurring within the Seyfert galaxy’s narrow-line (or broad-line) region. The former model would require invoking a specific variant of a tidal disruption, while the latter would require an extremely efficient conversion of kinetic energy via shock interaction between the supernova ejecta and the dense ambient medium.

Supernova (SN) 1987A has provided a unique opportunity to study how SN ejecta evolve in 30 years time scale. We report our ALMA spectral observations of SN 1987A, taken in 2014, 2015 and 2016, with detections of CO, 28SiO, HCO+ and SO, with weaker lines of 29SiO.

We find a dip in the SiO line profiles, suggesting that the ejecta morphology is likely elongated. The difference of the CO and SiO line profiles is consistent with hydrodynamic simulations, which show that Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities causes mixing of gas, with heavier elements much more disturbed, making more elongated structure.

Using 28SiO and its isotopologues, Si isotope ratios were estimated for the first time in SN 1987A. The estimated ratios appear to be consistent with theoretical predictions of inefficient formation of neutron rich atoms at lower metallicity, such as observed in the Large Magellanic Cloud (about half a solar metallicity).

The deduced large HCO+ mass and small SiS mass, which are inconsistent to the predictions of chemical model, might be explained by some mixing of elements immediately after the explosion. The mixing might have made some hydrogen from the envelope to sink into carbon and oxygen-rich zone during early days after the explosion, enabling the formation of a substantial mass of HCO+. Oxygen atoms may penetrate into silicon and sulphur zone, suppressing formation of SiS.

Our ALMA observations open up a new window to investigate chemistry, dynamics and explosive-nucleosynthesis in supernovae.

Previous studies on individual foods and nutrients and Parkinson's disease (PD) risk have been inconsistent. Furthermore, only one study has examined the association between the quality of diet and PD. We investigated the prediction of food groups and diet quality on PD in the Finnish Mobile Clinic Survey (1966–72). The population comprised 4524 individuals, aged 40–79 years and free from PD at baseline. Data collection included health examinations, a questionnaire and a 1-year dietary history interview. A modified Alternate Healthy Eating Index was formed to assess diet quality. Statistical analyses were based on Cox's model. During a 41-year follow-up, eighty-five incident cases of PD occurred. No statistically significant associations were found between PD incidence and most of the food groups examined. A few exceptions were fruits and berries in men and milk in women, which showed positive associations. An inverse association between the intake of meat products and PD was found in women. The diet quality index did not predict PD, the adjusted relative risk between the highest and lowest quartiles being 1·83 (95 % CI 0·65, 5·18) in men and 0·97 (95 % CI 0·38, 2·48) in women. The present study suggests that since most of the single food groups or the quality of diet did not predict PD occurrence, the role of diet is apparently rather modest.

Thermal comfort sensations are often studied in isolation, with the subjects' attention specifically directed towards their evaluation, both by instructions and by the recurrent act of questioning. A closer approach to the field situation, in which room temperature is at most a background stimulus, is made possible by the method of spontaneous magnitude estimation of thermal sensation. Thirty-six male and 36 female 17-year-old subjects in standard cotton uniforms (0·7 clo) were exposed in groups of 4 in a climate chamber to patterns of changing air temperature typical of conditions in occupied classrooms. Temperatures remained within the range 20–29° C. and did not increase more rapidly than 4° C./hr. Each individual recorded his thermal sensation on a dial voting apparatus, registering changes spontaneously as a secondary task while performing mental work during three successive 50 min. periods, with 10 min. breaks between. It was thus possible to obtain a measure of the time course of thermal discomfort sensations, including the extent to which they distracted attention. Significant differences were found between the responses of males and females, males in general feeling hotter and reacting more rapidly to changes in temperature. Response distributions are given in detail.

In correspondence arising out of our recent paper (Wyon, Andersen & Lundqvist, 1972), interest has been expressed in the relative widths of the comfort zones obtained by using the Bedford 7-point scale and our proposed dial-vote scale. It was possible to make a direct comparison on our original data, using votes registered simultaneously on the two scales at the end of each hour of exposure. Air temperature rose only slowly towards the end of each hour, and the comparison is probably valid also for steady-state conditions. The proportions voting ‘too hot’ (Bedford categories 6, 7, dial vote >66·6%) and ‘too cold’ (Bedford categories 1, 2, dial vote <33·3%) were derived and probit analysis was performed (Pinney, 1947). Only responses obtained from the 36 female subjects are considered, for very few males were too cold in the temperature range 23–29° C The results are shown in Fig. 1, using the same presentation as in fig. 7 of the original paper. No statistically significant differences could be shown between the pairs of regression lines, either in terms of their slopes or median values. However, the tendency is clearly for the dial-vote method to yield if anything a rather narrower and lower comfort distribution, and hence a narrower zone of comfort, however defined. This in spite of a marked ‘comfort zone’ occupying as much as one-third full scale. As pointed out in our original paper, the comfort zone yielded by either scale should be regarded as a zone of tolerance and not as a zone of ideal comfort.

The Supernova Working Group was re-established at the IAU XXV General Assembly in Sydney, 21 July 2003, sponsored by Commissions 28 (Galaxies) and 47 (Cosmology). Here we report on some of its activities since 2005.

The high resolution obtained through the use of VLBI gives an unique opportunity to directly observe the interaction of an expanding radio supernova with its surrounding medium. We present here results from our VLBI observations of the young supernovae SN 1979C, SN 1986J, and SN 2001gd.

Optical data in the V-band gathered with the 8.2m ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the radio interferometric position of PSR 1706-44 are presented. The pulsar is close to a bright star in projection and was not detected. The pulsar magnitude limit must be fainter than V=24.5 for a distance of ≤ from the bright star. In the outer gap model for an aligned rotor the optical flux should scale with the gammaray flux. For pulsars which emit pulsed gamma-rays but are not detected in the optical bands, the synchrotron cutoff frequency for the tertiary photons must be well below the optical frequencies and the magnetic and spin axes may be misaligned.

Genetic engineering of crop plants has been in progress since the dawn of agriculture, about 10 000 years ago. For millennia the genetic make-up of our crop plants has been changed by mankind's selection of naturally occurring variants. As the trade routes were developed, novel plant types were introduced into new environments and provided more variation from which to choose. At the end of the nineteenth century an understanding of the laws of heredity was gained and plant breeding protocols were devised whereby selection became accompanied by deliberate crossing. As the knowledge of the genetic structure of crop plants improved, new ways of manipulation were invented and exploited. Indeed plant breeding became a testing bed for new ideas in genetics. For the plant breeder the techniques which were most widely employed in the past were those which aided breeding, for example techniques which speeded up the production of new varieties, but still used traditional routes of crossing and selection. This was a transitional phase between plant breeding as an art and plant breeding as a science.

The time dependent ionization and temperature structure of the circumstellar medium around supernovae has been calculated, in order to interpret recent supernova radio observations. For a stellar wind origin of the circumstellar medium, we relate the time of radio turn-on to the progenitor mass loss rate. We also show that large column densities for the UV resonance lines are expected. The results are applied to SN 1979c, SN 1980k and SN 1987A.

1. A‘new’carbon radioisotope, 11C, for use in nutritional studies is presented. It has a 20 min half-life, and decays by positron emission giving annihilation photons of 511 keV energy (Wolf & Redvanly. 1977). Thus repeated studies can be made with short time intervals and the distribution of radioactivity in the experimental animal can be detected externally.

2. 11C was produced with a tandem Van de Graaff accelerator and L-[Me-11C]methionine was synthesized and used in model experiments in the pig. The tracer wasadministered intravenously through a catheter in the jugular vein of pigs weighing between 40 and 100 kg. In a series of experiments, one pig received a low-melhionine diet supplemented with DL-methionine to give three different levels of methioninc intake.

3. The radioactivity distribution between liver and muscle was measured as a function of time by external detectors for 2–3 h after administration. Blood and exhaled CO2 were sampled and measured for radioactivity.

4. The results indicate that 11C is a useful radionuclide in nutritional studies in intact large domestic animals.