Cholesterol level affects surface charge of lipid membranes in saline solution

Peer reviewe

Towards the elimination of paediatric tuberculosis in high-income, immigrant-receiving countries: a 25-year conventional and molecular epidemiological case study

The epidemiology of tuberculosis (TB) in high-income countries is increasingly dictated by immigration. The influence of this trend on paediatric TB and TB elimination are not well defined. We undertook a 25-year conventional and molecular epidemiologic study of paediatric TB in Alberta, one of four major immigrant-receiving provinces in Canada. All isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis were DNA fingerprinted using standard methodology. Between 1990 and 2014, 176 children aged 0–14 years were diagnosed with TB. Foreign-born children or Canadian-born children of foreign-born parents accounted for an increasingly large proportion of total cases during the study period (from 32.1% to 89.5%). Of the 78 culture-positive cases, 35 (44.9%) had a putative source case identified by conventional epidemiology, with 34 (97.1%) having a concordant molecular profile. Of the remaining 43 culture-positive cases, molecular profiling identified spatially and temporally related sources in six cases (14.0%). These six children, along with four other children whose source cases were discovered through reverse-contact tracing, had a high morbidity and mortality. The increasing burden of paediatric TB in both foreign-born children and Canadian-born children of foreign-born parents calls for more timely diagnosis of source cases and more targeted screening for latent TB infection

Is the plateau state in GRS 1915+105 equivalent to canonical hard states?

GRS1915+105 is a very peculiar black hole binary that exhibits accretion-related states that are not observed in any other stellar-mass black hole system. One of these states, however -- referred to as the plateau state -- may be related to the canonical hard state of black hole X-ray binaries. Both the plateau and hard state are associated with steady, relatively lower X-ray emission and flat/inverted radio emission, that is sometimes resolved into compact, self-absorbed jets. However, while generally black hole binaries quench their jets when the luminosity becomes too high, GRS1915+105 seems to sustain them despite the fact that it accretes at near- or super-Eddington rates. In order to investigate the relationship between the plateau and the hard state, we fit two multi-wavelength observations using a steady-state outflow-dominated model, developed for hard state black hole binaries. The data sets consist of quasi-simultaneous observations in radio, near-infrared and X-ray bands. Interestingly, we find both significant differences between the two plateau states, as well as between the best-fit model parameters and those representative of the hard state. We discuss our interpretation of these results, and the possible implications for GRS 1915+105's relationship to canonical black hole candidates.Comment: accepted for publication in MNRA

Radio Emission and the Timing Properties of the Hard X-ray State of GRS 1915+105

We combine a complete sample of 113 pointed observations taken with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer between 1996-1999, monitoring observations taken with the Ryle telescope and the Green Bank Interferometer, and selected observations with the Very Large Array to study the radio and X-ray properties of GRS 1915+105 when its X-ray emission is hard and steady. We establish that radio emission always accompanies the hard-steady state of GRS 1915+105, but that the radio flux density at 15.2 GHz and the X-ray flux between 2-200 keV are not correlated. Therefore we study the X-ray spectral and timing properties of GRS 1915+105 using three approaches: first, by describing in detail the properties of three characteristic observations, then by displaying the time evolution of the timing properties during periods of both faint and bright radio emission, and lastly by plotting the timing properties as a function of the the radio flux density. We find that as the radio emission becomes brighter and more optically thick, 1) the frequency of a ubiquitous 0.5-10 Hz QPO decreases, 2) the Fourier phase lags between hard (11.5-60 keV) and soft (2-4.3 keV) in the frequency range of 0.01-10 Hz change sign from negative to positive, 3) the coherence between hard and soft photons at low frequencies decreases, and 4) the relative amount of low frequency power in hard photons compared to soft photons decreases. We discuss how these results reflect upon basic models from the literature describing the accretion flow around black holes and the possible connection between Comptonizing electrons and compact radio jets.Comment: 22 pages with 8 figures and 2 tables in emulateapj style. Submitted to Ap

Radio Astronomy

Contains reports on nine research projects.National Science Foundation (Grant AST 86-17172)National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Contract NAS7-918)Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Contract 958048)U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research (Contract N00014-84-C-2082)U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research (Contract N00014-86-C-2114)SM Systems and Research, Inc.National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Goddard Space Flight Center (Grant NAG5-10)Center for Advanced Television StudiesBrazil, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (Grant 300.832-82)National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Goddard Space Flight Center (Grant NAG5-537

Gastric intramural hematoma: A case report and literature review

Intramural hematoma of the gastrointestinal tract is an uncommon occurrence, with the majority being localized to the esophagus or duodenum. Hematoma of the gastric wall is very rare, and has been described most commonly in association with coagulopathy, peptic ulcer disease, trauma, and amyloid-associated microaneurysms. A case of massive gastric intramural hematoma, secondary to anticoagulation therapy, and a gastric ulcer that was successfully managed with conservative therapy, is presented. A literature review of previously reported cases of gastric hematoma is also provided