The first low-mass black hole x-ray binary identified in quiescence outside of a globular cluster

The observed relation between the X-ray and radio properties of low-luminosity accreting black holes (BHs) has enabled the identification of multiple candidate black hole X-ray binaries (BHXBs) in globular clusters (GCs). Here, we report an identification of the radio source VLA J213002.08+120904 (aka M15 S2), recently reported in Kirsten et al., as a BHXB candidate. They showed that the parallax of this flat-spectrum variable radio source indicates a - + 2.2 0.30.5 kpc distance, which identifies it as lying in the foreground of the GC M15. We determine the radio characteristics of this source and place a deep limit on the X-ray luminosity of ~4 × 1029 erg s.1. Furthermore, we astrometrically identify a faint red stellar counterpart in archival Hubble images with colors consistent with a foreground star; at 2.2 kpc, its inferred mass is 0.1-0.2Me. We rule out that this object is a pulsar, neutron star X-ray binary, cataclysmic variable, or planetary nebula, concluding that VLA J213002.08+120904 is the first accreting BHXB candidate discovered in quiescence outside of a GC. Given the relatively small area over which parallax studies of radio sources have been performed, this discovery suggests a much larger population of quiescent BHXBs in our Galaxy, 2.6 ± 104-1.7 × 108 BHXBs at 3× confidence, than has been previously estimated (~102-104) through population synthesis

Pharmacy study of natural health product adverse reactions (SONAR): a cross-sectional study using active surveillance in community pharmacies to detect adverse events associated with natural health products and assess causality

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the rates and causality of adverse event(s) (AE) associated with natural health product (NHP) use, prescription drug use and concurrent NHP-drug use through active surveillance in community pharmacies. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study of screened patients. SETTING: 10 community pharmacies across Alberta and British Columbia, Canada from 14 January to 30 July 2011. PARTICIPANTS: The participating pharmacy staff screened consecutive patients, or agents of patients, who were dropping or picking up prescription medications.PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Patients were screened to determine the proportions of them using prescription drugs and/or NHPs, as well as their respective AE rates. All AEs reported by the screened patients who took a NHP, consented to, and were available for, a detailed telephone interview (14%) were adjudicated fully to assess for causality.RESULTS: Over a total of 105 pharmacy weeks and 1118 patients screened, 410 patients reported taking prescription drugs only (36.7%; 95% CI 33.9% to 39.5%), 37 reported taking NHPs only (3.3%; 95% CI 2.4% to 4.5%) and 657 reported taking prescription drugs and NHPs concurrently (58.8%; 95% CI 55.9% to 61.6%). In total, 54 patients reported an AE, representing 1.2% (95% CI 0.51% to 2.9%), 2.7% (95% CI 0.4% to 16.9%) and 7.3% (95% CI 5.6% to 9.6%) of each population, respectively. Compared with patients who reported using prescription drugs, the patients who reported using prescription drugs and NHPs concurrently were 6.4 times more likely to experience an AE (OR; 95% CI 2.52 to 16.17; p<0.001). Combined with data from Ontario, Canada, a national proportion was calculated, which found that 45.4% (95% CI 43.8% to 47.0%) of Canadians who visit community pharmacies take NHPs and prescription drugs concurrently, and of those, 7.4% (95% CI 6.3% to 8.8%) report an AE.CONCLUSIONS: A substantial proportion of community pharmacy patients use prescription drugs and NHPs concurrently; these patients are at a greater risk of experiencing an AE. Active surveillance provides a means of detecting such AEs and collecting high-quality data on which causality assessment can be based

Coalescent-based genome analyses resolve the early branches of the euarchontoglires

Despite numerous large-scale phylogenomic studies, certain parts of the mammalian tree are extraordinarily difficult to resolve. We used the coding regions from 19 completely sequenced genomes to study the relationships within the super-clade Euarchontoglires (Primates, Rodentia, Lagomorpha, Dermoptera and Scandentia) because the placement of Scandentia within this clade is controversial. The difficulty in resolving this issue is due to the short time spans between the early divergences of Euarchontoglires, which may cause incongruent gene trees. The conflict in the data can be depicted by network analyses and the contentious relationships are best reconstructed by coalescent-based analyses. This method is expected to be superior to analyses of concatenated data in reconstructing a species tree from numerous gene trees. The total concatenated dataset used to study the relationships in this group comprises 5,875 protein-coding genes (9,799,170 nucleotides) from all orders except Dermoptera (flying lemurs). Reconstruction of the species tree from 1,006 gene trees using coalescent models placed Scandentia as sister group to the primates, which is in agreement with maximum likelihood analyses of concatenated nucleotide sequence data. Additionally, both analytical approaches favoured the Tarsier to be sister taxon to Anthropoidea, thus belonging to the Haplorrhine clade. When divergence times are short such as in radiations over periods of a few million years, even genome scale analyses struggle to resolve phylogenetic relationships. On these short branches processes such as incomplete lineage sorting and possibly hybridization occur and make it preferable to base phylogenomic analyses on coalescent methods

Comparative chromosome painting discloses homologous Segments in distantly related mammals

Comparative chromosome painting, termed ZOO-FISH, using DNA libraries from flow sorted human chromosomes 1,16,17 and X, and mouse chromosome 11 discloses the presence of syntenic groups in distantly related mammalian Orders ranging from primates (Homo sapiens), rodents (Mus musculus), even-toed ungulates (Muntiacus muntjak vaginalis and Muntiacus reevesi) and whales (Balaenoptera physalus). These mammalian Orders have evolved separately for 55-80 million years (Myr). We conclude that ZOO-FISH can be used to generate comparative chromosome maps of a large number of mammalian species

A Systematic Review of Music Therapy Practice and Outcomes with Acute Adult Psychiatric In-Patients

PMCID: PMC3732280This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Grounds for engagement: Dissonances and overlaps at the intersection of contemporary civilizations analysis and postcolonial sociology

This article elucidates grounds for engagement between two fields of the social sciences engaged in critique of Eurocentrism: contemporary civilizations analysis and postcolonial sociology. Between the two fields there are both evident dissonances and points of potential dialogue and engagement. The article identifies three areas of high contention: divergent perceptions of essentialism, commitments to transformative politics and evaluations of the paradigm of multiple modernities. Despite extensive theoretical and normative differences, a notional intersection of the two fields is outlined in the form of three conceptual and methodological shifts. The first is a displacement of ideal typology. The second move is the most original. ‘Intercivilizational encounters’ and ‘intracivilizational encounters’ are re-cast as ‘intercivilizational engagement’. The goal is the demarcation of a discrete position based on a strong version of interaction that goes further than the notion of intercivilizational encounters recently re-developed in civilizational analysis. To illustrate potential grounds for engagement on this point, the article reviews the historiography of ‘connected histories’ and the insights of relational historians. Finally, the article urges for a nuanced definition of ‘region’ and deeper appreciation of the multiplicity of regionalisms as a meeting point for both fields of critique of Eurocentrism