High-Resolution X-ray and Ultraviolet Spectroscopy of the Complex Intrinsic Absorption in NGC 4051 with Chandra and HST

We present the results from simultaneous observations of the Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 4051 with the Chandra High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer and the HST Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. The X-ray grating spectrum reveals absorption and emission lines from hydrogen-like and helium-like ions of O, Ne, Mg and Si. We resolve two distinct X-ray absorption systems: a high-velocity blueshifted system at -2340+/-130 km/s and a low-velocity blueshifted system at -600+/-130 km/s. In the UV spectrum we detect strong absorption, mainly from C IV, N V and Si IV, that is resolved into as many as nine different intrinsic absorption systems with velocities between -650 km/s and 30 km/s. Although the low-velocity X-ray absorption is consistent in velocity with many of the UV absorption systems, the high-velocity X-ray absorption seems to have no UV counterpart. In addition to the absorption and emission lines, we also observe rapid X-ray variability and a state of low X-ray flux during the last ~15 ks of the observation. NGC 4051 has a soft X-ray excess which we fit in both the high and low X-ray flux states. The high-resolution X-ray spectrum directly reveals that the soft excess is not composed of narrow emission lines and that it has significant spectral curvature. A power-law model fails to fit it, while a blackbody produces a nearly acceptable fit. We compare the observed spectral variability with the results of previous studies of NGC 4051.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures included, LaTeX emulateapj5.sty, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal (this version is the same as the first version

The high energy Universe at ultra-high resolution: the power and promise of X-ray interferometry

We propose the development of X-ray interferometry (XRI), to reveal the Universe at high energies with ultra-high spatial resolution. With baselines which can be accommodated on a single spacecraft, XRI can reach 100 μ as resolution at 10 Å (1.2 keV) and 20 μ as at 2 Å (6 keV), enabling imaging and imaging-spectroscopy of (for example) X-ray coronae of nearby accreting supermassive black holes (SMBH) and the SMBH ‘shadow’; SMBH accretion flows and outflows; X-ray binary winds and orbits; stellar coronae within ∼100 pc and many exoplanets which transit across them. For sufficiently luminous sources XRI will resolve sub-pc scales across the entire observable Universe, revealing accreting binary SMBHs and enabling trigonometric measurements of the Hubble constant with X-ray light echoes from quasars or explosive transients. A multi-spacecraft ‘constellation’ interferometer would resolve well below 1 μ as, enabling SMBH event horizons to be resolved in many active galaxies and the detailed study of the effects of strong field gravity on the dynamics and emission from accreting gas close to the black hole

Intensive disc-reverberation mapping of Fairall 9: First year of Swift and LCO monitoring

We present results of time-series analysis of the first year of the Fairall 9 intensive disc-reverberation campaign. We used Swift and the Las Cumbres Observatory global telescope network to continuously monitor Fairall 9 from X-rays to near-infrared at a daily to subdaily cadence. The cross-correlation function between bands provides evidence for a lag spectrum consistent with the τ ∝ λ4/3 scaling expected for an optically thick, geometrically thin blackbody accretion disc. Decomposing the flux into constant and variable components, the variable component’s spectral energy distribution is slightly steeper than the standard accretion disc prediction. We find evidence at the Balmer edge in both the lag and flux spectra for an additional bound-free continuum contribution that may arise from reprocessing in the broad-line region. The inferred driving light curve suggests two distinct components, a rapidly variable (100 d) component with an opposite lag to the reverberation signal.JVHS and KH acknowledge support from the Science and Technology Facilities Council grant ST/R000824/1. RE gratefully acknowledges support from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Swift Key Project grant number 80NSSC19K0153. JMG gratefully acknowledges support from NASA under the ADAP award 80NSSC17K0126. AAB, KLP, and PAE acknowledge support from the UK Space Agency. Research by AJB was supported by National Science Foundation (NSF) grant AST-1907290. EMC gratefully acknowledges support from the NSF through grant AST-1909199. MV gratefully acknowledges financial support from the Independent Research Fund Denmark via grant number DFF 8021-00130. The authors appreciate the hard work and dedication of the Swift Observatory staff, who created a new UVOT mode in support of this project and put in considerableeffort in scheduling this large program. This work makes use of observations from the LCO network, and of the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive, which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. This research was made possible through the use of the AAVSO Photometric All-Sky Survey (APASS), funded by the Robert Martin Ayers Sciences Fund and NSF AST-1412587. This research also made use of ASTROPY, a community-developed core PYTHON package for astronomy (Astropy Collaboration et al. 2013), and MATPLOTLIB (Hunter 2007)

Luminous Thermal Flares from Quiescent Supermassive Black Holes

A dormant supermassive black hole lurking in the center of a galaxy will be revealed when a star passes close enough to be torn apart by tidal forces, and a flare of electromagnetic radiation is emitted when the bound fraction of the stellar debris falls back onto the black hole and is accreted. Here we present the third candidate tidal disruption event discovered in the GALEX Deep Imaging Survey: a 1.6x10^{43} erg s^{-1} UV/optical flare from a star-forming galaxy at z=0.1855. The UV/optical SED during the peak of the flare measured by GALEX and Palomar LFC imaging can be modeled as a single temperature blackbody with T_{bb}=1.7x10^{5} K and a bolometric luminosity of 3x10^{45} erg s^{-1}, assuming an internal extinction with E(B-V)_{gas}=0.3. The Chandra upper limit on the X-ray luminosity during the peak of the flare, L_{X}(2-10 keV)< 10^{41} erg s^{-1}, is 2 orders of magnitude fainter than expected from the ratios of UV to X-ray flux density observed in active galaxies. We compare the light curves and broadband properties of all three tidal disruption candidates discovered by GALEX, and find that (1) the light curves are well fitted by the power-law decline expected for the fallback of debris from a tidally disrupted solar-type star, and (2) the UV/optical SEDs can be attributed to thermal emission from an envelope of debris located at roughly 10 times the tidal disruption radius of a ~10^{7} M_sun central black hole. We use the observed peak absolute optical magnitudes of the flares (-17.5 > M_{g} > -18.9) to predict the detection capabilities of upcoming optical synoptic surveys. (Abridged)Comment: Accepted for Publication in ApJ, 19 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables, emulateapj, corrections from proofs adde

Rituximab in Combination with Corticosteroids for the Treatment of Anti-Neutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody-Associated Vasculitis: A NICE Single Technology Appraisal

As part of its single technology appraisal (STA) process, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) invited the manufacturer of rituximab (Roche Products) to submit evidence of the clinical and cost effectiveness of rituximab in combination with corticosteroids for treatment of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV). The School of Health and Related Research Technology Appraisal Group at the University of Sheffield was commissioned to act as the independent Evidence Review Group (ERG). The ERG produced a critical review of the evidence for the clinical and cost effectiveness of the technology, based upon the manufacturer’s submission to NICE. The evidence was derived mainly from a double-blind, phase III, placebo-controlled trial of rituximab in patients with new or relapsed ‘severe’ AAV, which compared a rituximab treatment regimen with an oral cyclophosphamide treatment regimen. Intravenous cyclophosphamide is also commonly used but was not included in the pivotal trial. The evidence showed that rituximab is noninferior to oral cyclophosphamide in terms of induction of remission in adults with AAV and de novo disease, and is superior to oral cyclophosphamide in terms of remission in adults who have relapsed once on cyclophosphamide. The ERG concluded that the results of the manufacturer’s economic evaluation could not be considered robust, because of errors and because the full range of relevant treatment sequences were not modelled. The ERG amended the manufacturer’s model and demonstrated that rituximab was likely to represent a cost-effective addition to the treatment sequence if given after cyclophosphamide treatment

Crop Updates 2010 - Crop Specific

This session covers twenty four papers from different authors: PLENARY 1. Challenges facing western Canadian cropping over the next 10 years, Hugh J Beckie, Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan CROP SPECIFIC Breeding 2. The challenge of breeding canola hybrids – new opportunities for WA growers, Wallace Cowling, Research Director, Canola Breeders Western Australia Pty Ltd 3. Chickpea 2009 crop variety testing of germplasm developed by DAFWA/CLIMA/ICRISAT/COGGO alliance. Khan, TN1,3, Adhikari, K1,3, Siddique, K2, Garlinge, J1, Smith, L1, Morgan, S1 and Boyd, C1 1Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA), 2Insititute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia (UWA), 3Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture (CLIMA), The University of Western Australia 4. PBA Pulse Breeding Australia – 2009 Field Pea Results, Ian Pritchard1, Chris Veitch1, Colin Boyd1, Stuart Morgan1, Alan Harris1 and Tony Leonforte2, 1Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia, 2Department of Primary Industries, Victoria 5. PBA Pulse Breeding Australia – 2009 Chickpea Results, Ian Pritchard1, Chris Veitch1, Colin Boyd1, Murray Blyth1, Shari Dougal1 and Kristy Hobson2 1Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia, 2Department of Primary Industries, Victoria Decision Support 6. A tool for identifying problems in wheat paddocks, Ben Curtis and Doug Sawkins, Department of Agriculture and Food 7. DAFWA Seasonal Forecast for 2010, Stephens, D, Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australian, Climate and Modelling Group Disease 8. Enhancement of black spot resistance in field pea, Kedar Adhikari, T Khan, S Morgan and C Boyd, Department of Agriculture and Food, 9. fungicide management of yellow spot in wheat, Ciara Beard, Kith Jayasena, Kazue Tanaka and Anne Smith, Department of Agriculture and Food 10. Resistance to infection by Beet western yellows virus in four Australian canola varieties, Brenda Coutts and Roger Jones, Department of Agriculture and Food 11. Yellow spot carryover risk from stubble in wheat-on-wheat rotations, Jean Galloway, Pip Payne and Tess Humphreys, Department of Agriculture and Food 12. Fungicides for the future: Management of Barley Powdery Mildew and Leaf Rust, Kith Jayasena, Kazue Tanaka and William MacLeod, Department of Agriculture and Food 13. 2009 canola disease survey and management options for blackleg and Sclerotinia in 2010, Ravjit Khangura, WJ MacLeod, M Aberra and H Mian, Department of Agriculture and Food 14. Impact of variety and fungicide on carryover of stubble borne inoculum and yellow spot severity in continuous wheat cropping, Geoff Thomas, Pip Payne, Tess Humphreys and Anne Smith, Department of Agriculture and Food 15. Limitations to the spread of Wheat streak mosaic virus by the Wheat curl mite in WA during 2009, Dusty Severtson, Peter Mangano, Brenda Coutts, Monica Kehoe and Roger Jones, Department of Agriculture and Food 16. Viable solutions for barley powdery mildew, Madeline A. Tucker, Australian Centre for Necrotrophic Fungal Pathogens, Murdoch University Marketing 17. The importance of varietal accreditation in a post-deregulation barley marketing environment, Neil Barker, Barley Australia 18. Can Australia wheat meet requirements for a new middle east market? Robert Loughman, Larisa Cato, Department of Agriculture and Food, and Ken Quail, BRI Australia VARIETY PERFORMANCE 19. Sowing rate and time for hybrid vs open-pollinated canola, Mohammad Amjad and Mark Seymour, Department of Agriculture and Food 20. HYOLA® National Hybrid vs OP Canola Hybrid F1 vs Retained Seed Generation Trial Results and recommendations for growers, Justin Kudnig, Mark Thompson, Anton Mannes, Michael Uttley, Chris Fletcher, Andrew Etherton, Nick Joyce and Kate Light, Pacific Seeds Australia 21. HYOLA® National Hybrid vs OP Canola Sowing Rate Trial Results and plant population recommendations for Australian growers, Justin Kudnig, Mark Thompson, Anton Mannes, Michael Uttley, Andrew Etherton, Chris Fletcher, Nick Joyce and Kate Light, Pacific Seeds Australia; Peter Hamblin, Agritech Research Young, NSW, Michael Lamond, Agrisearch, York, Western Australia 22. Desi chickpea agronomy for 2010, Alan Meldrum, Pulse Australia and Wayne Parker, Department of Agriculture and Food 23. New wheat varieties – exploit the benefits and avoid the pitfalls, Steve Penny, Sarah Ellis, Brenda Shackley, Christine Zaicou, Shahajahan Miyan, Darshan Sharma and Ben Curtis, Department of Agriculture and Food 24. The influence of genetics and environment on the level of seed alkaloid in narrow-leafed lupins, Greg Shea1, Bevan Buirchell1, David Harris2 and Bob French1, 1Department of Agriculture and Food, 2ChemCentr