851 research outputs found
The Importance of Broad Emission-Line Widths in Single Epoch Black Hole Mass Estimates
Estimates of the mass of super-massive black holes (BHs) in distant active
galactic nuclei (AGNs) can be obtained efficiently only through single-epoch
spectra, using a combination of their broad emission-line widths and continuum
luminosities. Yet the reliability and accuracy of the method, and the resulting
mass estimates, M_BH, remain uncertain. A recent study by Croom using a sample
of SDSS, 2QZ and 2SLAQ quasars suggests that line widths contribute little
information about the BH mass in these single-epoch estimates and can be
replaced by a constant value without significant loss of accuracy. In this
Letter, we use a sample of nearby reverberation-mapped AGNs to show that this
conclusion is not universally applicable. We use the bulge luminosity (L_Bulge)
of these local objects to test how well the known M_BH - L_Bulge correlation is
recovered when using randomly assigned line widths instead of the measured ones
to estimate M_BH. We find that line widths provide significant information
about M_BH, and that for this sample, the line width information is just as
significant as that provided by the continuum luminosities. We discuss the
effects of observational biases upon the analysis of Croom and suggest that the
results can probably be explained as a bias of flux-limited, shallow quasar
samples.Comment: 10 text pages + 4 Figures + 1 Table. Accepted for publication in ApJ
Letter
Reverberation Mapping Results from MDM Observatory
We present results from a multi-month reverberation mapping campaign
undertaken primarily at MDM Observatory with supporting observations from
around the world. We measure broad line region (BLR) radii and black hole
masses for six objects. A velocity-resolved analysis of the H_beta response
shows the presence of diverse kinematic signatures in the BLR.Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of the IAU Symposium No. 267:
Co-Evolution of Central Black Holes and Galaxies, Rio de Janeiro, 200
Dilemmas and solutions- experiences of a national Family Medicine applied knowledge licensing test during a pandemic
ABSTRACT: Background: The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic brought significant challenges to all of medicine, including primary care training and examinations. The MRCGP AKT is high-stakes licensing 200-item MCQ for UK trainee family physicians and is part of an assessment tripos that, up to the onset of the pandemic, included a Clinical Skills Assessment using Simulated Patients and workplace based assessment. The AKT is blueprinted onto a curriculum content specification and computer delivered three times a year at test centres across the UK. It tests the knowledge base underpinning independent general practice within the context of the UK National Health Service. We report on the challenges and dilemmas faced during the pandemic, decisions taken, and lessons learned. Rapid exam changes needed to be made, and communicated effectively to candidates, whilst maintaining standards and fairness to candidates.
Summary of Work: Challenges included lockdown travel restrictions, reduced capacity, social distancing and shielding candidates being unable to leave home. The April 2020 AKT was cancelled and prioritisation measures implemented to ensure candidates at the end of their training could enter the (stressed) workforce. We engaged with a wide range of stakeholders, carefully looked at remote testing, made contingency plans prioritised for those unable to sit exams and changed exam regulations to ensure fairness to candidates. In this emergency, we delivered a previously published exam which some candidates were unaware they had sat previously, and assessed how these candidates performed. We compared cohort performance before and during the pandemic.
Summary of Results: We summarise why we did not remote test, how we obtained key worker status, and adapted contingency plans. Analysis of candidates who had previously sat the same exam showed they performed less well. Despite wide-ranging changes in training and workplace experience, there was no significant difference in cohort performance overall pre-and peri-pandemic.
Discussion and Conclusions: COVID-19 constraints changed trainees clinical exposure, restricted training and supervisor support. However, exam preparedness did not appear adversely affected when measured by overall pass rates. Unexpectedly, candidates who sat an identical exam did not benefit from previous exposure. Take-home Messages: Involving stakeholders in key decisions and regular communications are essential. Test security and standards were not compromised
The Size of the Narrow-Line Emitting Region in the Seyfert 1 Galaxy NGC 5548 from Emission-Line Variability
The narrow [O III] 4959, 5007 emission-line fluxes in the spectrum of the
well-studied Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 5548 are shown to vary with time. From this
we show that the narrow line-emitting region has a radius of only 1-3 pc and is
denser (n ~ 10^5 cm^{-3}) than previously supposed. The [O III] line width is
consistent with virial motions at this radius given previous determinations of
the black hole mass.Since the [O III] emission-line flux is usually assumed to
be constant and is therefore used to calibrate spectroscopic monitoring data,
the variability has ramifications for the long-term secular variations of
continuum and emission-line fluxes, though it has no effect on shorter-term
reverberation studies. We present corrected optical continuum and broad Hbeta
emission-line light curves for the period 1988 to 2008.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, 6 tables. Accepted for publication in Ap
Readability and content analysis of lifestyle education resources for weight management in Australian general practice
© 2016 El-Haddad et al. Background: Weight management education is one of the key strategies to assist patients to manage their weight. Educational resources provide an important adjunct in the chain of communication between practitioners and patients. However, one in five Australian adults has low health literacy. The purpose of this study was to assess the readability and analyse the content of weight management resources. Methods: This study is based on the analysis of 23 resources found in the waiting rooms of ten Sydney-based general practices and downloaded from two clinical software packages used at these practices. The reading grade level of these resources was calculated using the Flesch Reading Ease, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, Fry Readability Graph, and the Simplified Measure of Gobbledygook. Resources' content was analysed for the presence of dietary, physical activity, and behaviour change elements, as recommended by the Clinical practice guidelines for the management of overweight and obesity in adults, adolescents, and children in Australia. Results: The resources' average reading grade level was for a 10th grader (9.5 ± 1.8). These findings highlight that the average reading grade level was two grades higher than the recommended reading grade level for health education resources of 8th grade level or below. Seventy percent of resources contained dietary and behaviour change elements. Physical activity was included in half of the resources. Two messages were identified to be inconsistent with the guidelines and three messages had no scientific basis. Conclusion: A body of evidence now exists that supports the need to develop evidence-based education resources for weight management that place low demand on literacy, without compromising content accuracy. The findings from this study suggest that there is significant room for improvement in the educational resources provided in general practices
Simulations of the OzDES AGN Reverberation Mapping Project
As part of the OzDES spectroscopic survey we are carrying out a large scale
reverberation mapping study of 500 quasars over five years in the 30
deg area of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) supernova fields. These quasars
have redshifts ranging up to 4 and have apparent AB magnitudes between
mag. The aim of the survey is to measure time lags between
fluctuations in the quasar continuum and broad emission line fluxes of
individual objects in order to measure black hole masses for a broad range of
AGN and constrain the radius-luminosity () relationship. Here we
investigate the expected efficiency of the OzDES reverberation mapping campaign
and its possible extensions. We expect to recover lags for 35-45\% of the
quasars. AGN with shorter lags and greater variability are more likely to yield
a lag, and objects with lags 6 months or 1 year are expected be
recovered the most accurately. The baseline OzDES reverberation mapping
campaign is predicted to produce an unbiased measurement of the
relationship parameters for H, Mg II 2798, and C IV
1549. However, extending the baseline survey by either increasing the
spectroscopic cadence, extending the survey season, or improving the emission
line flux measurement accuracy will significantly improve the parameter
constraints for all broad emission lines.Comment: Published online in MNRAS. 28 page
An Alternative Approach To Measuring Reverberation Lags in Active Galactic Nuclei
Motivated by recent progress in the statistical modeling of quasar
variability, we develop a new approach to measuring emission-line reverberation
lags to estimate the size of broad-line regions (BLRs) in active galactic
nuclei. Assuming that all emission-line light curves are scaled, smoothed, and
displaced versions of the continuum, this alternative approach fits the light
curves directly using a damped random walk model and aligns them to recover the
time lag and its statistical confidence limits. We introduce the mathematical
formalism of this approach and demonstrate its ability to cope with some of the
problems for traditional methods, such as irregular sampling, correlated
errors, and seasonal gaps. We redetermine the lags for 87 emission lines in 31
quasars and reassess the BLR size--luminosity relationship using 60 H-beta
lags. We confirm the general results from the traditional cross-correlation
methods, with a few exceptions. Our method, however, also supports a broad
range of extensions. In particular, it can simultaneously fit multiple lines
and continuum light curves which improves the lag estimate for the lines and
provides estimates of the error correlations between them. Determining these
correlations is of particular importance for interpreting emission-line
velocity--delay maps. We can also include parameters for luminosity-dependent
lags or line responses. We use this to detect the scaling of the BLR size with
continuum luminosity in NGC 5548.Comment: match to the version accepted to ApJ. New code release available at
http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~yingzu/spear.htm
The Mass of the Black Hole in the Quasar PG 2130+099
We present the results of a recent reverberation-mapping campaign undertaken
to improve measurements of the radius of the broad line region and the central
black hole mass of the quasar PG 2130+099. Cross correlation of the 5100
angstrom continuum and H-beta emission-line light curves yields a time lag of
22.9 (+4.4 - 4.3) days, corresponding to a central black hole mass MBH= 3.8
(+/- 1.5) x 10^7 Msun. This value supports the notion that previous
measurements yielded an incorrect lag. We re-analyzed previous datasets to
investigate the possible sources of the discrepancy and conclude that previous
measurement errors were apparently caused by a combination of undersampling of
the light curves and long-term secular changes in the H-beta emission-line
equivalent width. With our new measurements, PG 2130+099 is no longer an
outlier in either the R-L or the MBH-Sigma relationships.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figures; Accepted for publication in Ap
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