1,440 research outputs found
Include medical ethics in the Research Excellence Framework
The Research Excellence Framework of the Higher Education
Funding Council for England is taking place in 2013, its three
key elements being outputs (65% of the profile), impact (20%),
and “quality of the research environment” (15%). Impact will
be assessed using case studies that “may include any social,
economic or cultural impact or benefit beyond academia that
has taken place during the assessment period.”1
Medical ethics in the UK still does not have its own cognate
assessment panel—for example, bioethics or applied
ethics—unlike in, for example, Australia. Several researchers
in medical ethics have reported to the Institute of Medical Ethics
that during the internal preliminary stage of the Research
Excellence Framework several medical schools have decided
to include only research that entails empirical data gathering.
Thus, conceptual papers and ethical analysis will be excluded.
The arbitrary exclusion of reasoned discussion of medical ethics
issues as a proper subject for medical research unless it is based
on empirical data gathering is conceptually mistaken. “Empirical
ethics” is, of course, a legitimate component of medical ethics
research, but to act as though it is the only legitimate component
suggests, at best, a partial understanding of the nature of ethics
in general and medical ethics in particular. It also mistakenly
places medicine firmly on only one side of the
science/humanities “two cultures” divide instead of in its rightful
place bridging the divide.
Given the emphasis by the General Medical Council on medical
ethics in properly preparing “tomorrow’s doctors,” we urge
medical schools to find a way of using the upcoming Research
Excellence Framework to highlight the expertise residing in
their ethicist colleagues. We are confident that appropriate
assessment will reveal work of high quality that can be shown
to have social and cultural impact and benefit beyond academia,
as required by the framework
A photometric study of the hot exoplanet WASP-19b
Context: When the planet transits its host star, it is possible to measure
the planetary radius and (with radial velocity data) the planet mass. For the
study of planetary atmospheres, it is essential to obtain transit and
occultation measurements at multiple wavelengths.
Aims: We aim to characterize the transiting hot Jupiter WASP-19b by deriving
accurate and precise planetary parameters from a dedicated observing campaign
of transits and occultations.
Methods: We have obtained a total of 14 transit lightcurves in the r'-Gunn,
IC, z'-Gunn and I+z' filters and 10 occultation lightcurves in z'-Gunn using
EulerCam on the Euler-Swiss telescope and TRAPPIST. We have also obtained one
lightcurve through the narrow-band NB1190 filter of HAWK-I on the VLT measuring
an occultation at 1.19 micron. We have performed a global MCMC analysis of all
new data together with some archive data in order to refine the planetary
parameters and measure the occultation depths in z'-band and at 1.19 micron.
Results: We measure a planetary radius of R_p = 1.376 (+/-0.046) R_j, a
planetary mass of M_p = 1.165 (+/-0.068) M_j, and find a very low eccentricity
of e = 0.0077 (+/-0.0068), compatible with a circular orbit. We have detected
the z'-band occultation at 3 sigma significance and measure it to be dF_z'= 352
(+/-116) ppm, more than a factor of 2 smaller than previously published. The
occultation at 1.19 micron is only marginally constrained at dF_1190 = 1711
(+/-745) ppm.
Conclusions: We have shown that the detection of occultations in the visible
is within reach even for 1m class telescopes if a considerable number of
individual events are observed. Our results suggest an oxygen-dominated
atmosphere of WASP-19b, making the planet an interesting test case for
oxygen-rich planets without temperature inversion.Comment: Published in Astronomy & Astrophysics. 11 pages, 11 figures, 4 table
Limits to the planet candidate GJ 436c
We report on H-band, ground-based observations of a transit of the hot
Neptune GJ 436b. Once combined to achieve sampling equivalent to archived
observations taken with Spitzer, our measurements reach comparable precision
levels. We analyze both sets of observations in a consistent way, and measure
the rate of orbital inclination change to be of 0.02+/-0.04 degrees in the time
span between the two observations (253.8 d, corresponding to 0.03+/-0.05
degrees/yr if extrapolated). This rate allows us to put limits on the relative
inclination between the two planets by performing simulations of planetary
systems, including a second planet, GJ 436c, whose presence has been recently
suggested (Ribas et al. 2008). The allowed inclinations for a 5 M_E super-Earth
GJ 436c in a 5.2 d orbit are within ~7 degrees of the one of GJ 436b; for
larger differences the observed inclination change can be reproduced only
during short sections (<50%) of the orbital evolution of the system. The
measured times of three transit centers of the system do not show any departure
from linear ephemeris, a result that is only reproduced in <1% of the simulated
orbits. Put together, these results argue against the proposed planet candidate
GJ 436c.Comment: Replaced with accepted version. Minor language corrections. 4 pages,
4 figures, to appear in A&A Letter
Lupus-TR-3b: A Low-Mass Transiting Hot Jupiter in the Galactic Plane?
We present a strong case for a transiting Hot Jupiter planet identified
during a single-field transit survey towards the Lupus Galactic plane. The
object, Lupus-TR-3b, transits a V=17.4 K1V host star every 3.91405d.
Spectroscopy and stellar colors indicate a host star with effective temperature
5000 +/- 150K, with a stellar mass and radius of 0.87 +/- 0.04M_sun and 0.82
+/- 0.05R_sun, respectively. Limb-darkened transit fitting yields a companion
radius of 0.89 +/- 0.07R_J and an orbital inclination of 88.3 +1.3/-0.8 deg.
Magellan 6.5m MIKE radial velocity measurements reveal a 2.4 sigma K=114 +/-
25m/s sinusoidal variation in phase with the transit ephemeris. The resulting
mass is 0.81 +/- 0.18M_J and density 1.4 +/- 0.4g/cm^3. Y-band PANIC image
deconvolution reveal a V>=21 red neighbor 0.4'' away which, although highly
unlikely, we cannot conclusively rule out as a blended binary with current
data. However, blend simulations show that only the most unusual binary system
can reproduce our observations. This object is very likely a planet, detected
from a highly efficient observational strategy. Lupus-TR-3b constitutes the
faintest ground-based detection to date, and one of the lowest mass Hot
Jupiters known.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ
Spin density distribution in a partially magnetized organic quantum magnet
Polarized neutron diffraction experiments on an organic magnetic material
reveal a highly skewed distribution of spin density within the magnetic
molecular unit. The very large magnitude of the observed effect is due to
quantum spin fluctuations. The data are in quantitative agreement with direct
diagonalization results for a model spin Hamiltonian, and provide insight on
the actual microscopic origin of the relevant exchange interactions.Comment: 5 pages 4 figure
Hubble Space Telescope Near-IR Transmission Spectroscopy of the Super-Earth HD 97658b
Recent results from the Kepler mission indicate that super-Earths (planets
with masses between 1-10 times that of the Earth) are the most common kind of
planet around nearby Sun-like stars. These planets have no direct solar system
analogue, and are currently one of the least well-understood classes of
extrasolar planets. Many super-Earths have average densities that are
consistent with a broad range of bulk compositions, including both
water-dominated worlds and rocky planets covered by a thick hydrogen and helium
atmosphere. Measurements of the transmission spectra of these planets offer the
opportunity to resolve this degeneracy by directly constraining the scale
heights and corresponding mean molecular weights of their atmospheres. We
present Hubble Space Telescope near-infrared spectroscopy of two transits of
the newly discovered transiting super-Earth HD 97658b. We use the Wide Field
Camera 3's scanning mode to measure the wavelength-dependent transit depth in
thirty individual bandpasses. Our averaged differential transmission spectrum
has a median 1 sigma uncertainty of 23 ppm in individual bins, making this the
most precise observation of an exoplanetary transmission spectrum obtained with
WFC3 to date. Our data are inconsistent with a cloud-free solar metallicity
atmosphere at the 10 sigma level. They are consistent at the 0.4 sigma level
with a flat line model, as well as effectively flat models corresponding to a
metal-rich atmosphere or a solar metallicity atmosphere with a cloud or haze
layer located at pressures of 10 mbar or higher.Comment: ApJ in press; revised version includes an updated orbital ephemeris
for the plane
WASP-23b: a transiting hot Jupiter around a K dwarf and its Rossiter-McLaughlin effect
We report the discovery of a new transiting planet in the Southern
Hemisphere. It has been found by the WASP-south transit survey and confirmed
photometrically and spectroscopically by the 1.2m Swiss Euler telescope, LCOGT
2m Faulkes South Telescope, the 60 cm TRAPPIST telescope and the ESO 3.6m
telescope. The orbital period of the planet is 2.94 days. We find it is a gas
giant with a mass of 0.88 \pm 0.10 Mj and a radius estimated at 0.96 \pm 0.05
Rj . We have also obtained spectra during transit with the HARPS spectrograph
and detect the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect despite its small amplitude. Because
of the low signal to noise of the effect and of a small impact parameter we
cannot place a constraint on the projected spin-orbit angle. We find two
confiicting values for the stellar rotation. Our determination, via spectral
line broadening gives v sin I = 2.2 \pm 0.3 km/s, while another method, based
on the activity level using the index log R'HK, gives an equatorial rotation
velocity of only v = 1.35 \pm 0.20 km/s. Using these as priors in our analysis,
the planet could either be misaligned or aligned. This should send strong
warnings regarding the use of such priors. There is no evidence for
eccentricity nor of any radial velocity drift with time.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, 7 tables, accepted for publication in A&
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