LAMPSS: Discovery of Metal-Poor Stars in the Galactic Halo with the CaHK filter on CFHT MegaCam

We present the Lancaster Astrophysics Metal Poor Star Search (LAMPSS) in the Milky Way halo, conducted using the metallicity-sensitive Ca H & K lines. We use the CaHK filter of the MegaPrime/MegaCam on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) to survey an area of 1.010deg2 over the COSMOS field. We combine our new CaHK data with broadband optical and near-infrared photometry of COSMOS to recover stars down to mHK ∼ 26. After removing galaxies, we find 70% completion and 30% contamination for our remaining 1772 stars. By exploring a range of spectral types and metallicities, we derive metallicity-sensitive colour-colour diagrams which we use to isolate different spectral types and metallicities (−5 ≤ [Fe/H ≤ 0). From these, we identify 16 potentially extremely metal-poor stars. One of which, LAMPS 1229, we predict to have [Fe/H] ∼ −5.0 at a distance of (78.21 ± 9.37) kpc. We construct a Metallicity Distribution Function for our sample of metal-poor stars, finding an expected sharp decrease in count as [Fe/H] decreases

A Blueprint to Address Research Gaps in the Development of Biomarkers for Pediatric Tuberculosis

Childhood tuberculosis contributes significantly to the global tuberculosis disease burden but remains challenging to diagnose due to inadequate methods of pathogen detection in paucibacillary pediatric samples and lack of a child-specific host biomarker to identify disease. Accurately diagnosing tuberculosis in children is required to improve case detection, surveillance, healthcare delivery, and effective advocacy. In May 2014, the National Institutes of Health convened a workshop including researchers in the field to delineate priorities to address this research gap. This blueprint describes the consensus from the workshop, identifies critical research steps to advance this field, and aims to catalyze efforts toward harmonization and collaboration in this are

A blueprint to address research gaps in the development of biomarkers for pediatric tuberculosis

Childhood tuberculosis contributes significantly to the global tuberculosis disease burden but remains challenging to diagnose due to inadequate methods of pathogen detection in paucibacillary pediatric samples and lack of a child-specific host biomarker to identify disease. Accurately diagnosing tuberculosis in children is required to improve case detection, surveillance, healthcare delivery, and effective advocacy. In May 2014, the National Institutes of Health convened a workshop including researchers in the field to delineate priorities to address this research gap. This blueprint describes the consensus from the workshop, identifies critical research steps to advance this field, and aims to catalyze efforts toward harmonization and collaboration in this area