We present the results of a dust reverberation survey for 17 nearby Seyfert 1 galaxies, which provides the largest homogeneous data collection for the radius of the innermost dust torus. A delayed ...response of the K-band light curve after the V-band light curve was found for all targets, and 49 measurements of lag times between the flux variation of the dust emission in the K band and that of the optical continuum emission in the V band were obtained by the cross-correlation function analysis and also by an alternative method for estimating the maximum likelihood lag. We discuss the possible origins of the intrinsic scatter of the dust lag-luminosity correlation, which was estimated to be approximately 0.13 dex, and we find that the difference of internal extinction and delayed response of changes in lag times to the flux variations could have partly contributed to intrinsic scatter.
We present the results of a dust-reverberation survey of quasars at redshifts z < 0.6. We found a delayed response of the K-band flux variation after the optical flux variation in 25 out of 31 ...targets, and obtained the lag time between them for 22 targets. Combined with the results for nearby Seyfert galaxies, we provide the largest homogeneous collection of K-band dust-reverberation data for 36 type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGNs). This doubles the sample and includes the most distant AGN and the largest lag so far measured. We estimated the optical luminosity of the AGN component of each target using three different methods: spectral decomposition, the flux-variation-gradient method, and image decomposition. We found a strong correlation between the reverberation radius for the innermost dust torus and the optical luminosity over a range of approximately four orders of magnitude in luminosity, as is already known for Seyfert galaxies. We estimated the luminosity distances of the AGNs based on their dust-reverberation lags, and found that the data in the redshift-distance diagram are consistent with the current standard estimates of the cosmological parameters. We also present the radius-luminosity relations for isotropic luminosity indicators such as the hard X-ray (14-195 keV), O IV 25.89 m, and mid-infrared (12 m) continuum luminosities, which are applicable to obscured AGNs.
Salt marshes are highly productive coastal wetlands that provide important ecosystem services such as storm protection for coastal cities, nutrient removal and carbon sequestration. Despite ...protective measures, however, worldwide losses of these ecosystems have accelerated in recent decades. Here we present data from a nine-year whole-ecosystem nutrient-enrichment experiment. Our study demonstrates that nutrient enrichment, a global problem for coastal ecosystems, can be a driver of salt marsh loss. We show that nutrient levels commonly associated with coastal eutrophication increased above-ground leaf biomass, decreased the dense, below-ground biomass of bank-stabilizing roots, and increased microbial decomposition of organic matter. Alterations in these key ecosystem properties reduced geomorphic stability, resulting in creek-bank collapse with significant areas of creek-bank marsh converted to unvegetated mud. This pattern of marsh loss parallels observations for anthropogenically nutrient-enriched marshes worldwide, with creek-edge and bay-edge marsh evolving into mudflats and wider creeks. Our work suggests that current nutrient loading rates to many coastal ecosystems have overwhelmed the capacity of marshes to remove nitrogen without deleterious effects. Projected increases in nitrogen flux to the coast, related to increased fertilizer use required to feed an expanding human population, may rapidly result in a coastal landscape with less marsh, which would reduce the capacity of coastal regions to provide important ecological and economic services.
Abstract
The search for Population III stars has fascinated and eluded astrophysicists for decades. One promising place for capturing evidence of their presence must be high-redshift objects; ...signatures should be recorded in their characteristic chemical abundances. We deduce the Fe and Mg abundances of the broadline region (BLR) from the intensities of ultraviolet Mg
ii
and Fe
ii
emission lines in the near-infrared spectrum of UKIDSS Large Area Survey (ULAS) J1342+0928 at
z
= 7.54, by advancing our novel flux-to-abundance conversion method developed for quasars up to z ∼ 3. We find that the BLR of this quasar is extremely enriched, by a factor of 20 relative to the solar Fe abundance, together with a very low Mg/Fe abundance ratio: Fe/H = +1.36 ± 0.19 and Mg/Fe =−1.11 ± 0.12, only 700 million years after the Big Bang. We conclude that such an unusual abundance feature cannot be explained by the standard view of chemical evolution that considers only the contributions from canonical supernovae. While there remains uncertainty in the high-mass end of the Population III initial mass function, here we propose that the larger amount of iron in ULAS J1342+0928 was supplied by a pair-instability supernova (PISN) caused by the explosion of a massive Population III star in the high-mass end of the possible range of 150–300
M
⊙
. Chemical evolution models based on initial PISN enrichment well explain the trend in Mg/Fe-
z
all the way from
z
< 3 to
z
= 7.54. We predict that stars with very low Mg/Fe at all metallicities are hidden in the galaxy, and they will be efficiently discovered by ongoing new-generation photometric surveys.
We have pioneered a new method for the measurement of extragalactic distances. This method uses the time lag between variations in the short wavelength and long wavelength light from an active ...galactic nucleus (AGN), based on a quantitative physical model of dust reverberation that relates the time lag to the absolute luminosity of the AGN. We use the large homogeneous data set from intensive monitoring observations in optical and near-infrared wavelength bands with the dedicated 2 m MAGNUM telescope to obtain the distances to 17 AGNs in the redshift range z = 0.0024 to z = 0.0353. These distance measurements are compared with distances measured using Cepheid variable stars, and are used to infer that H sub(0) = 73 + or - 3 (random) km s super(-1) Mpc super(-1). The systematic error in H sub(0) is examined, and the uncertainty in the size distribution of dust grains is the largest source of the systematic error, which is much reduced for a sample of AGNs for which their parameter values in the model of dust reverberation are individually measured. This AGN time lag method can be used beyond 30 Mpc, the farthest distance reached by extragalactic Cepheids, and can be extended to high-redshift quasi-stellar objects.
River inputs of nutrients and organic matter impact the biogeochemistry of arctic estuaries and the Arctic Ocean as a whole, yet there is considerable uncertainty about the magnitude of fluvial ...fluxes at the pan-Arctic scale. Samples from the six largest arctic rivers, with a combined watershed area of 11.3 x 10⁶ km², have revealed strong seasonal variations in constituent concentrations and fluxes within rivers as well as large differences among the rivers. Specifically, we investigate fluxes of dissolved organic carbon, dissolved organic nitrogen, total dissolved phosphorus, dissolved inorganic nitrogen, nitrate, and silica. This is the first time that seasonal and annual constituent fluxes have been determined using consistent sampling and analytical methods at the pan-Arctic scale and consequently provide the best available estimates for constituent flux from land to the Arctic Ocean and surrounding seas. Given the large inputs of river water to the relatively small Arctic Ocean and the dramatic impacts that climate change is having in the Arctic, it is particularly urgent that we establish the contemporary river fluxes so that we will be able to detect future changes and evaluate the impact of the changes on the biogeochemistry of the receiving coastal and ocean systems.
A series of seasonally distributed measurements from the six largest Arctic rivers (the Ob', Yenisey, Lena, Kolyma, Yukon and Mackenzie) was used to examine the magnitude and significance of Arctic ...riverine DIC flux to larger scale C dynamics within the Arctic system. DIC concentration showed considerable, and synchronous, seasonal variation across these six large Arctic rivers, which have an estimated combined annual DIC flux of 30 Tg C yr−1. By examining the relationship between DIC flux and landscape variables known to regulate riverine DIC, we extrapolate to a DIC flux of 57 ± 9.9 Tg C yr−1for the full pan‐arctic basin, and show that DIC export increases with runoff, the extent of carbonate rocks and glacial coverage, but decreases with permafrost extent. This pan‐arctic riverine DIC estimate represents 13–15% of the total global DIC flux. The annual flux of selected ions (HCO3−, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Sr2+, and Cl−) from the six largest Arctic rivers confirms that chemical weathering is dominated by inputs from carbonate rocks in the North American watersheds, but points to a more important role for silicate rocks in Siberian watersheds. In the coastal ocean, river water‐induced decreases in aragonite saturation (i.e., an ocean acidification effect) appears to be much more pronounced in Siberia than in the North American Arctic, and stronger in the winter and spring than in the late summer. Accounting for seasonal variation in the flux of DIC and other major ions gives a much clearer understanding of the importance of riverine DIC within the broader pan‐arctic C cycle.
Key Points
DIC flux from major Arctic rivers shows large seasonal and regional variation
Runoff and catchment carbonates, permafrost, and glaciers control DIC flux
Riverwater effects on coastal aragonite saturation appear greatest in spring
To address early and late treatment failures in older patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), we designed a two-stage randomized trial of cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and ...prednisone (CHOP) versus rituximab plus CHOP (R-CHOP), with a second random assignment to maintenance rituximab (MR) or observation in responding patients.
Untreated DLBCL patients who were 60 years or older were randomly assigned to R-CHOP (n = 318) or CHOP (n = 314); 415 responders were randomly assigned to MR (n = 207) or observation (n = 208). The primary end point was failure-free survival (FFS). All P values were two sided.
Three-year FFS rate was 53% for R-CHOP patients and 46% for CHOP patients (P = .04) at a median follow-up time of 3.5 years. Two-year FFS rate from second random assignment was 76% for MR compared with 61% for observation (P = .009). No significant differences in survival were seen according to induction or maintenance therapy. FFS was prolonged with MR after CHOP (P = .0004) but not after R-CHOP (P = .81) with 2-year FFS rates from second random assignment of 77%, 79%, 74%, and 45% for R-CHOP, R-CHOP + MR, CHOP + MR, and CHOP, respectively. In a secondary analysis excluding MR patients, R-CHOP alone reduced the risks of treatment failure (P = .003) and death (P = .05) compared with CHOP alone.
Rituximab administered as induction or maintenance with CHOP chemotherapy significantly prolonged FFS in older DLBCL patients. After R-CHOP, no benefit was provided by MR. These results, which are consistent with an additive effect of rituximab, suggest that future studies could focus on maintenance strategies with novel agents as well as new induction therapies.
Manifold changes in the freshwater cycle of high-latitude lands and oceans have been reported in the past few years. A synthesis of these changes in freshwater sources and in ocean freshwater storage ...illustrates the complementary and synoptic temporal pattern and magnitude of these changes over the past 50 years. Increasing river discharge anomalies and excess net precipitation on the ocean contributed ~20,000 cubic kilometers of fresh water to the Arctic and high-latitude North Atlantic oceans from lows in the 1960s to highs in the 1990s. Sea ice attrition provided another ~ 15,000 cubic kilometers, and glacial melt added ~2000 cubic kilometers. The sum of anomalous inputs from these freshwater sources matched the amount and rate at which fresh water accumulated in the North Atlantic during much of the period from 1965 through 1995. The changes in freshwater inputs and ocean storage occurred in conjunction with the amplifying North Atlantic Oscillation and rising air temperatures. Fresh water may now be accumulating in the Arctic Ocean and will likely be exported southward if and when the North Atlantic Oscillation enters into a new high phase.
The most intense monitoring observations yet made in the optical and near-infrared wave bands were carried out for Seyfert 1 galaxies NGC 5548, NGC 4051, NGC 3227, and NGC 7469 by the MAGNUM ...telescope, and clear time-delayed responses of the K-band flux variations to the V-band flux variations were found for all of these galaxies. Their H - K color temperatures of 1500-1800 K, estimated from their observed flux variation gradients, support a view that the bulk of the K flux should originate in the thermal radiation of hot dust surrounding the central engine and that the lag time should correspond to light-travel distance between them. Cross-correlation analysis measures their lag times to be 47-53 (NGC 5548), 11-18 (NGC 4051), about 20 (NGC 3227), and 65-87 (NGC 7469) days. The lag times are tightly correlated with the optical luminosities, as expected from dust reverberation (t 8 L super(0.5)), while weakly with the central virial masses, which suggests that the inner radii of the dust tori around active nuclei have one-to-one correspondences with their central luminosities. In the lag time versus central luminosity diagram, the K-band lag times place an upper boundary on the similar lag times of broad emission lines in the literature, which not only supports the unified scheme of AGNs but also implies a physical transition from the BLR out to the dust torus that encircles the BLR. Correlated short-term V-band and X-ray flux variations in NGC 5548 are also found with a delay of 1 or 2 days, indicating the thermal reprocessing of X-ray emission by the central accretion flow.
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