  This paper contains examples of closed aspherical manifolds obtained as a
by-product of recent work by the author [arXiv:math.GR/0509490] on the relative
strict hyperbolization of polyhedra. The following is proved.
  (I) Any closed aspherical triangulated n-manifold M^n with hyperbolic
fundamental group is a retract of a closed aspherical triangulated
(n+1)-manifold N^(n+1) with hyperbolic fundamental group.
  (II) If B_1,...,B_m are closed aspherical triangulated n-manifolds, then
there is a closed aspherical triangulated manifold N of dimension n+1 such that
N has nonzero simplicial volume, N retracts to each B_k, and \pi_1(N) is
hyperbolic relative to \pi_1(B_k)'s.
  (III) Any finite aspherical simplicial complex is a retract of a closed
aspherical triangulated manifold with positive simplicial volume and
non-elementary relatively hyperbolic fundamental group.
