Ultraviolet Line-Continuum Properties of Seyfert 1 Galaxies and Quasars

Active galaxies are most luminous objects in the universe whose spectra are characterized by both permitted and forbidden emission line features. The spectra of Seyfert 1 galaxies and quasars contain strong and broad emission lines of wide ranging ionization potentials. The velocity widths of the lines range from a minimum of ˜ 500 km/s for narrow lines to a maximum of 20,000 km/sec for broad lines. The UV spectra of the active galaxies contain strong and broad emission lines such as Lyα, NV, SiIV, OIV], CIV, CIII] and MgII lines. The widths of the broad lines are attributed to the differential doppler shifts of the emission lines due to the bulk motions of individual clumpy gas clouds in the BLR region. We have anlysed UV spectra of Seyfert 1 galaxies and quasars from IUE satellite archival database to understand the nature of dependence of the emission line properties with the underlying UV continuum. We have undertaken line luminosity correlation studies for Lyα and CIV lines with their underlying UV continuum luminosity at 1125Å, 1425Å & 1625Å. The IUE archival spectra have been reduced for galactic reddening using the E(B-V) and NHI values published continuum luminosity has been observed at 1125Å, 1425Å & 1625Å. The Lyα line line has exhibited strongest linear correlation wavelengths while CIV line has shown at 1425Å and 2625Å wavelengths. These results are empirically consistent with the predictions of the general multi-component photo-ionization models suggesting that the central strong UV continuum has been reprocessed by the clumpy gas clouds of the broad emission region (BLR). A detailed account of the data reduction, UV flux measurement and the significance of line-luminosity correlations are discussed in this paper

Luminosity-Distances of Iue Observed Active Galaxies

Active galaxies are the most luminous objects observed in the Universe and are believed to be powered by mass accretion processes taking place in the vicinity of the central Super massive black hole (M BH ≥ 108M sun ). However, the details of the power generation mechanisms are not understood well yet. In this paper, we are presenting a comparative study of luminosity-distance estimations for the complete sample of active galaxies observed by IUE satellite by different methods. IUE has made UV spectroscopic observations of nearly 400 active galaxies comprising mostly Seyfert 1 galaxies and quasars. We have chosen all the active galaxies observed by IUE satellite for the study of luminosity-distance with redshift. The luminosity-distances (D L ) have been calculated using the Hubbles law under non-relativistic and relativistic limits with H0 = 73 Km/sec/Mpc and Terrell (1979) also. We have found that all D L estimations are consistent with each other for z ≤ 1 and diverge for z ≥ 1. The results of cosmological calulator I and II are found to consistent with each other and higher by several factors over cosmological calculator IV and the predictions of the Hubble's law under relativistic case. We observe a kind bimodal distributions in D L for z ≤ 3.5

Production status of GaAs/Ge solar cells and panels

GaAs/Ge solar cells with lot average efficiencies in excess of 18 percent were produced by MOCVD growth techniques. A description of the cell, its performance and the production facility are discussed. Production GaAs/Ge cells of this type were recently assembled into circuits and bonded to aluminum honeycomb panels to be used as the solar array for the British UOSAT-F program

Long Term UV Continuum and Line Variability in NGC 1275

In this paper, we present our results for the first time on long term emission-line and continuum variability studies using the International Ultraviolet Explorer’s final archive of UV spectroscopic data obtained in the wavelength region from 1150 Å to 3200 Å for NGC 1275, a dust dominated BL Lac characterized by the Rmax and  F-variance parameter. The UV continuum flux variability analysis presented in this paper covers more number of emission-line free continuum windows in the UV region centred at  1710 Å, 1800 Å, 2625 Å, 2875 Å & 3025 Å. We have obtained a higher value of Fvar  ~ 45 % at 1710 Å and a lower value of ~ 30 % at 1800 Å for the IUE's observational period of 1978 - 1989. The Lyα, C IV, C III] and Mg II emission lines have been observed as weaker line features on fewer occasions intermittently

Short timescale UV variability study in NGC 4151 using IUE data

IUE has made very successful long term and intense short time-scale monitoring spectroscopic study of NGC 4151, a Seyfert 1 galaxy for over nearly 18 years from its launch in 1978 to 1996. The long-term observations have been useful in understanding the complex relation between UV continuum and emission line variability Seyfert galaxies. In this paper, we present the results of our studies on the short-timescale intense monitoring campaign of NGC 4151 undertaken during December 1–15, 1993. A most intense monitoring observation of NGC 4151 was carried out by IUE in 1993, when the source was at its historical high flux state with a shortest interval of 70 min between two successive observations. We present our results on emission line and continuum variability amplitudes characterized by Fvar method. We found highest variability of nearly 8.3% at 1325 Å continuum with a smallest amplitude of 4% at 2725 Å. The relative variability amplitudes (Rmax) have been found to be 1.372, 1.319, 1.302 and 1.182 at 1325, 1475, 1655 and 2725 Å continuum respectively. The continuum and emission line variability characteristics obtained in the present analysis are in very good agreement with the results obtained by Edelson et al. (1996) and Crenshaw et al. (1996) from the analysis of the same observational spectral data. The large amplitude rapid variability characteristics obtained in our study have been attributed to the continuum reprocessing of X-rays absorbed by the material in the accretion disk as proposed by Shakura and Sunyaev (1973). The continuum and emission light curves have shown four distinct high amplitude events of flux maxima during the intense monitoring campaign of 15 days, providing a good limit on the amplitude of UV variability and the BLR size in low luminosity Seyfert galaxies and are useful for constraining the continuum emission models. The decreasing Fvar amplitude of UV continuum with respect to increasing wavelength obtained in the present study and consistent with similar observations by Edelson et al. (1996) and Crenshaw et al. (1996) is a significant result of the intense monitoring observations.IUE has made very successful long term and intense short time-scale monitoring spectroscopic study of NGC 4151, a Seyfert 1 galaxy for over nearly 18 years from its launch in 1978 to 1996. The long-term observations have been useful in understanding the complex relation between UV continuum and emission line variability Seyfert galaxies. In this paper, we present the results of our studies on the short-timescale intense monitoring campaign of NGC 4151 undertaken during December 1–15, 1993. A most intense monitoring observation of NGC 4151 was carried out by IUE in 1993, when the source was at its historical high flux state with a shortest interval of 70 min between two successive observations. We present our results on emission line and continuum variability amplitudes characterized by Fvar method. We found highest variability of nearly 8.3% at 1325 Å continuum with a smallest amplitude of 4% at 2725 Å. The relative variability amplitudes (Rmax) have been found to be 1.372, 1.319, 1.302 and 1.182 at 1325, 1475, 1655 and 2725 Å continuum respectively. The continuum and emission line variability characteristics obtained in the present analysis are in very good agreement with the results obtained by Edelson et al. (1996) and Crenshaw et al. (1996) from the analysis of the same observational spectral data. The large amplitude rapid variability characteristics obtained in our study have been attributed to the continuum reprocessing of X-rays absorbed by the material in the accretion disk as proposed by Shakura and Sunyaev (1973). The continuum and emission light curves have shown four distinct high amplitude events of flux maxima during the intense monitoring campaign of 15 days, providing a good limit on the amplitude of UV variability and the BLR size in low luminosity Seyfert galaxies and are useful for constraining the continuum emission models. The decreasing Fvar amplitude of UV continuum with respect to increasing wavelength obtained in the present study and consistent with similar observations by Edelson et al. (1996) and Crenshaw et al. (1996) is a significant result of the intense monitoring observations.IUE has made very successful long term and intense short time-scale monitoring spectroscopic study of NGC 4151, a Seyfert 1 galaxy for over nearly 18 years from its launch in 1978 to 1996. The long-term observations have been useful in understanding the complex relation between UV continuum and emission line variability Seyfert galaxies. In this paper, we present the results of our studies on the short-timescale intense monitoring campaign of NGC 4151 undertaken during December 1–15, 1993. A most intense monitoring observation of NGC 4151 was carried out by IUE in 1993, when the source was at its historical high flux state with a shortest interval of 70 min between two successive observations. We present our results on emission line and continuum variability amplitudes characterized by Fvar method. We found highest variability of nearly 8.3% at 1325 Å continuum with a smallest amplitude of 4% at 2725 Å. The relative variability amplitudes (Rmax) have been found to be 1.372, 1.319, 1.302 and 1.182 at 1325, 1475, 1655 and 2725 Å continuum respectively. The continuum and emission line variability characteristics obtained in the present analysis are in very good agreement with the results obtained by Edelson et al. (1996) and Crenshaw et al. (1996) from the analysis of the same observational spectral data. The large amplitude rapid variability characteristics obtained in our study have been attributed to the continuum reprocessing of X-rays absorbed by the material in the accretion disk as proposed by Shakura and Sunyaev (1973). The continuum and emission light curves have shown four distinct high amplitude events of flux maxima during the intense monitoring campaign of 15 days, providing a good limit on the amplitude of UV variability and the BLR size in low luminosity Seyfert galaxies and are useful for constraining the continuum emission models. The decreasing Fvar amplitude of UV continuum with respect to increasing wavelength obtained in the present study and consistent with similar observations by Edelson et al. (1996) and Crenshaw et al. (1996) is a significant result of the intense monitoring observations.IUE has made very successful long term and intense short time-scale monitoring spectroscopic study of NGC 4151, a Seyfert 1 galaxy for over nearly 18 years from its launch in 1978 to 1996. The long-term observations have been useful in understanding the complex relation between UV continuum and emission line variability Seyfert galaxies. In this paper, we present the results of our studies on the short-timescale intense monitoring campaign of NGC 4151 undertaken during December 1–15, 1993. A most intense monitoring observation of NGC 4151 was carried out by IUE in 1993, when the source was at its historical high flux state with a shortest interval of 70 min between two successive observations. We present our results on emission line and continuum variability amplitudes characterized by Fvar method. We found highest variability of nearly 8.3% at 1325 Å continuum with a smallest amplitude of 4% at 2725 Å. The relative variability amplitudes (Rmax) have been found to be 1.372, 1.319, 1.302 and 1.182 at 1325, 1475, 1655 and 2725 Å continuum respectively. The continuum and emission line variability characteristics obtained in the present analysis are in very good agreement with the results obtained by Edelson et al. (1996) and Crenshaw et al. (1996) from the analysis of the same observational spectral data. The large amplitude rapid variability characteristics obtained in our study have been attributed to the continuum reprocessing of X-rays absorbed by the material in the accretion disk as proposed by Shakura and Sunyaev (1973). The continuum and emission light curves have shown four distinct high amplitude events of flux maxima during the intense monitoring campaign of 15 days, providing a good limit on the amplitude of UV variability and the BLR size in low luminosity Seyfert galaxies and are useful for constraining the continuum emission models. The decreasing Fvar amplitude of UV continuum with respect to increasing wavelength obtained in the present study and consistent with similar observations by Edelson et al. (1996) and Crenshaw et al. (1996) is a significant result of the intense monitoring observations

UV emission line studies of NGC-low redshift Seyfert Galaxies, LINERS and HII regions

Active galaxies as a special class of galaxies are characterized by very strong and broad emission lines. The strong emission lines such as Lyα, NV, Si IV, C IV, and Mg II observed in the UV spectra of Seyfert galaxies and quasars can be used to probe the physical conditions of the gas in the BLR regions surrounding the central accretion discs of these most luminous and exotic objects. In the standard model of broad line emission regions for active galaxies it is assumed that the broad permitted lines are emitted by the photo-ionization of a large number of spherically distributed optically thick clouds which are in Keplerian motion surrounding a central continuum source. However, issues related to variability time-scales, delays in the light curves and BLR sizes etc., remain unexplained consistent with observations.  In this paper, a study of emission line properties 9 objects satisfying good SNR (> 5.0) out of 98 NGC (catalogued) IUE observed low redshift active galaxies (z ≤ 0.017) is presented. The International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) satellite launched in 1978 by NASA has made low redshift UV spectroscopic observations of many different kinds of UV sources including active galaxies till 1996 and the flux calibrated spectral data of almost all observations have been hosted in NED-IUE database. In the present studies, IUE spectral data of a complete sample of NGC-catalogued active galaxies has been undertaken to understand the emission line properties of low luminosity and low z active galaxies. We find that the emission lines such as Lyα, N V, Si IV, O III], C III], C IV, and Mg II are observed as strong and broad lines in the spectra of only 9 objects owing to the criterion of S/N ≥ 5.0 adopted for the spectral analysis. The Lyα has not been found to be a strong line unlike in high z Seyfert galaxies and quasars observed by IUE satellite. C IV and Mg II lines are observed to be stronger lines in all the nine objects consistent with their usual presence in the remaining (~ 400) active galaxies observed by the IUE satellite. These observations are indicative of different physical and geometrical conditions in the BLR regions surrounding the central accretion disk compared to the intermediate and high redshift Seyfert galaxies and quasars

Ideotype and relationship between morpho-physiological characters and yield in Indian mustard (Brassica juncea)

Twelve genotypes of Indian mustard [Brassica juncea (L.) Czemj. & Cosson] were evaluated for various yield and morpho- physiological characters during 1990 and 1991. The genotypes were classified basal or non-basal branching type on the basis of the presence or absence of at least 1 productive primary branch within 30 cm height of the plant. A correlation analysis revealed that the traits related to basal branching were positively associated among themselves as well as with the seed yield. There were desirable and negative associations of basal branching characters with flowering time and plant height. Thus breeding for early maturing basal branching plant types with medium height and high yield is possible

Targeting the vasopressin type-2 receptor for renal cell carcinoma therapy.

Arginine vasopressin (AVP) and its type-2 receptor (V2R) play an essential role in the regulation of salt and water homeostasis by the kidneys. V2R activation also stimulates proliferation of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cell lines in vitro. The current studies investigated V2R expression and activity in human RCC tumors, and its role in RCC tumor growth. Examination of the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) database, and analysis of human RCC tumor tissue microarrays, cDNA arrays and tumor biopsy samples demonstrated V2R expression and activity in clear cell RCC (ccRCC). In vitro, V2R antagonists OPC31260 and Tolvaptan, or V2R gene silencing reduced wound closure and cell viability of 786-O and Caki-1 human ccRCC cell lines. Similarly in mouse xenograft models, Tolvaptan and OPC31260 decreased RCC tumor growth by reducing cell proliferation and angiogenesis, while increasing apoptosis. In contrast, the V2R agonist dDAVP significantly increased tumor growth. High intracellular cAMP levels and ERK1/2 activation were observed in human ccRCC tumors. In mouse tumors and Caki-1 cells, V2R agonists reduced cAMP and ERK1/2 activation, while dDAVP treatment had the reverse effect. V2R gene silencing in Caki-1 cells also reduced cAMP and ERK1/2 activation. These results provide novel evidence for a pathogenic role of V2R signaling in ccRCC, and suggest that inhibitors of the AVP-V2R pathway, including the FDA-approved drug Tolvaptan, could be utilized as novel ccRCC therapeutics