A Transient Sub-Eddington Black Hole X-ray Binary Candidate in the Dust Lanes of Centaurus A

We report the discovery of a bright X-ray transient, CXOU J132527.6-430023, in the nearby early-type galaxy NGC 5128. The source was first detected over the course of five Chandra observations in 2007, reaching an unabsorbed outburst luminosity of 1-2*10^38 erg/s in the 0.5-7.0 keV band before returning to quiescence. Such luminosities are possible for both stellar-mass black hole and neutron star X-ray binary transients. Here, we attempt to characterize the nature of the compact object. No counterpart has been detected in the optical or radio sky, but the proximity of the source to the dust lanes allows for the possibility of an obscured companion. The brightness of the source after a >100 fold increase in X-ray flux makes it either the first confirmed transient non-ULX black hole system in outburst to be subject to detailed spectral modeling outside the Local Group, or a bright (>10^38 erg/s) transient neutron star X-ray binary, which are very rare. Such a large increase in flux would appear to lend weight to the view that this is a black hole transient. X-ray spectral fitting of an absorbed power law yielded unphysical photon indices, while the parameters of the best-fit absorbed disc blackbody model are typical of an accreting ~10 Msol black hole in the thermally dominant state.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

ccrABEnt serine recombinase genes are widely distributed in the Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus casseliflavus species groups and are expressed in E. faecium

The presence, distribution and expression of cassette chromosome recombinase (ccr) genes, which are homologous to the staphylococcal ccrAB genes and are designated ccrABEnt genes, were examined in enterococcal isolates (n=421) representing 13 different species. A total of 118 (28 %) isolates were positive for ccrABEnt genes by PCR, and a number of these were confirmed by Southern hybridization with a ccrAEnt probe (n=76) and partial DNA sequencing of ccrAEnt and ccrBEnt genes (n=38). ccrABEnt genes were present in Enterococcus faecium (58/216, 27 %), Enterococcus durans (31/38, 82 %), Enterococcus hirae (27/52, 50 %), Enterococcus casseliflavus (1/4, 25 %) and Enterococcus gallinarum (1/2, 50 %). In the eight other species tested, including Enterococcus faecalis (n=94), ccrABEnt genes were not found. Thirty-eight sequenced ccrABEnt genes from five different enterococcal species showed 94–100 % nucleotide sequence identity and linkage PCRs showed heterogeneity in the ccrABEnt flanking chromosomal genes. Expression analysis of ccrABEnt genes from the E. faecium DO strain showed constitutive expression as a bicistronic mRNA. The ccrABEnt mRNA levels were lower during log phase than stationary phase in relation to total mRNA. Multilocus sequence typing was performed on 39 isolates. ccrABEnt genes were detected in both hospital-related (10/29, 34 %) and non-hospital (4/10, 40 %) strains of E. faecium. Various sequence types were represented by both ccrABEnt positive and negative isolates, suggesting acquisition or loss of ccrABEnt in E. faecium. In summary, ccrABEnt genes, potentially involved in genome plasticity, are expressed in E. faecium and are widely distributed in the E. faecium and E. casseliflavus species groups

Bodyweight Perceptions among Texas Women: The Effects of Religion, Race/Ethnicity, and Citizenship Status

Despite previous work exploring linkages between religious participation and health, little research has looked at the role of religion in affecting bodyweight perceptions. Using the theoretical model developed by Levin et al. (Sociol Q 36(1):157–173, 1995) on the multidimensionality of religious participation, we develop several hypotheses and test them by using data from the 2004 Survey of Texas Adults. We estimate multinomial logistic regression models to determine the relative risk of women perceiving themselves as overweight. Results indicate that religious attendance lowers risk of women perceiving themselves as very overweight. Citizenship status was an important factor for Latinas, with noncitizens being less likely to see themselves as overweight. We also test interaction effects between religion and race. Religious attendance and prayer have a moderating effect among Latina non-citizens so that among these women, attendance and prayer intensify perceptions of feeling less overweight when compared to their white counterparts. Among African American women, the effect of increased church attendance leads to perceptions of being overweight. Prayer is also a correlate of overweight perceptions but only among African American women. We close with a discussion that highlights key implications from our findings, note study limitations, and several promising avenues for future research

How and why environmental and religious attachment matters for quality of life

This chapter waves into focus the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of place and religious attachment in relation to health promotion and quality of life. Hence, the nature of the complex links between religion, place and health are discussed while summarising recent empirical findings on the topic. We discussed how adult attachment processes affect quality of life by drawing on the social referencing and competence theories. We further examined why these attachment relationships are important for health promotion given the advantage for psychological adjustment, emotion regulation, engagement with prosocial behaviour, positive sense of identity and public health promotion. Lastly, further studies and implications of adult attachment experiences are carefully discussed