Nineteen-day-old dwarf sunflower plants (Helianthus annuus, variety NK894) received a variable dose (0-40 Gy) from a cobalt-60 gamma source. A very sensitive stem monitoring device, developed at Battelle's Pacific Northwest Laboratories, Richland, Washington was used to measure real-time changes in stem diameter. Exposure of plants caused a significant reduction in stem growth and root biomass. Doses as low as 5 Gy resulted in a significant increase in leaf density, suggesting that nonreversible morphological growth changes could be induced by very low doses of radiation. Carbohydrate analysis of 40-Gy irradiated plants demonstrated significantly more starch content in leaves and significantly less starch content in stems 18 days after exposure than did control plants. In contrast, the carbohydrate content in roots of 40-Gy irradiated plants were not significantly different from unirradiated plants 18 days after exposure. These results indicate that radiation either decreased phloem transport or reduced the availability of sugar reducing enzymes in irradiated plants. 44 refs., 12 figs.

A scenario for the central engine of AGN has been developed consisting of a massive black hole (MBH) onto which gas accretes through an accretion disk. The accretion disk radiates the observed optical and ultraviolet continua. Surrounding the MBH is a nonthermal source which produces the infrared and soft x-ray continua by synchrotron emission, and the x-ray spectrum by inverse Compton scattering of the optical-ultraviolet photons from the accretion disk. Previously we modeled the accretion disk (M.A.M.) and nonthermal source (D.L.B.) separately, and here we combine the two models to form a unified description of the AGN engine. This combined model can be inverted to determine source parameters from observed spectra. A group of AGN for which multiband observations exist can then be modeled to: demonstrate the validity of the combined model for a large number of objects; establish the range of parameter values that describe the source; and search for any correlations between source description and type.

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