A VLA Survey For Faint Compact Radio Sources in the Orion Nebula Cluster

We present Karl G. Janksy Very Large Array (VLA) 1.3 cm, 3.6 cm, and 6 cm continuum maps of compact radio sources in the Orion Nebular Cluster. We mosaicked 34 square arcminutes at 1.3 cm, 70 square arcminutes at 3.6 cm and 109 square arcminutes at 6 cm, containing 778 near-infrared detected YSOs and 190 HST-identified proplyds (with significant overlap between those characterizations). We detected radio emission from 175 compact radio sources in the ONC, including 26 sources that were detected for the first time at these wavelengths. For each detected source we fit a simple free-free and dust emission model to characterize the radio emission. We extrapolate the free-free emission spectrum model for each source to ALMA bands to illustrate how these measurements could be used to correctly measure protoplanetary disk dust masses from sub-millimeter flux measurements. Finally, we compare the fluxes measured in this survey with previously measured fluxes for our targets, as well as four separate epochs of 1.3 cm data, to search for and quantify variability of our sources.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, 4 tables, ApJ, in pres

Outflow 20--2000 AU from a High-Mass Protostar in W51-IRS2

We present the results of the first high angular resolution observations of SiO maser emission towards the star forming region W51-IRS2 made with the Very Large Array (VLA) and Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA). Our images of the water maser emission in W51-IRS2 reveal two maser complexes bracketing the SiO maser source. One of these water maser complexes appears to trace a bow shock whose opening angle is consistent with the opening angle observed in the distribution of SiO maser emission. A comparison of our water maser image with an image constructed from data acquired 19 years earlier clearly shows the persistence and motion of this bow shock. The proper motions correspond to an outflow velocity of 80 km/s, which is consistent with the data of 19 years ago (that spanned 2 years). We have discovered a two-armed linear structure in the SiO maser emission on scales of ~25 AU, and we find a velocity gradient on the order of 0.1 km/s/AU along the arms. We propose that the SiO maser source traces the limbs of an accelerating bipolar outflow close to an obscured protostar. We estimate that the outflow makes an angle of <20 degrees with respect to the plane of the sky. Our measurement of the acceleration is consistent with a reported drift in the line-of-sight velocity of the W51 SiO maser source.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures (including 3 color). Accepted for publication in ApJ (April 1, 2001 issue

The Circumstellar Disk Mass Distribution in the Orion Trapezium Cluster

We present the results of a submillimeter interferometric survey of circumstellar disks in the Trapezium Cluster of Orion. We observed the 880 micron continuum emission from 55 disks using the Submillimeter Array, and detected 28 disks above 3sigma significance with fluxes between 6-70 mJy and rms noise between 0.7-5.3 mJy. Dust masses and upper limits are derived from the submillimeter excess above free-free emission extrapolated from longer wavelength observations. Above our completeness limit of 0.0084 solar masses, the disk mass distribution is similar to that of Class II disks in Taurus-Auriga and rho Ophiuchus but is truncated at 0.04 solar masses. We show that the disk mass and radius distributions are consistent with the formation of the Trapezium Cluster disks ~1 Myr ago and subsequent photoevaporation by the ultraviolet radiation field from Theta-1 Ori C. The fraction of disks which contain a minimum mass solar nebula within 60 AU radius is estimated to be 11-13% in both Taurus and the Trapezium Cluster, which suggests the potential for forming Solar Systems is not compromised in this massive star forming region.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJL (2009 Feb 3

On Phase Transition of NH4H2PO4NH_{4}H_{2}PO_{4}-Type Crystals by Cluster Variation Method

The Cluster Variation Method (CVM) is applied to the Ishibashi model for ammonium dihydrogen phosphate ($\rm NH_{4}H_{2}PO_{4}$) of a typical hydrogen bonded anti-ferroelectric crystal. The staggered and the uniform susceptibility without hysteresis are calculated at equilibrium. On the other hand, by making use of the natural iteration method (NIM) for the CVM, hysteresis phenomena of uniform susceptibility versus temperature observed in experiments is well explained on the basis of local minimum in Landau type variational free energy. The polarization $P$ curves against the uniform field is also calculated.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figure

Evaluating the impact of flexible alcohol trading hours on violence: an interrupted time series analysis.

BACKGROUND: On November 24(th) 2005, the Government of England and Wales removed regulatory restrictions on the times at which licensed premises could sell alcohol. This study tests availability theory by treating the implementation of Licensing Act (2003) as a natural experiment in alcohol policy. METHODS: An interrupted time series design was employed to estimate the Act's immediate and delayed impact on violence in the City of Manchester (Population 464,200). We collected police recorded rates of violence, robbery, and total crime between the 1st of February 2004 and the 31st of December 2007. Events were aggregated by week, yielding a total of 204 observations (95 pre-, and 109 post-intervention). Secondary analysis examined changes in daily patterns of violence. Pre- and post-intervention events were separated into four three-hour segments 18∶00-20∶59, 21∶00-23.59, 00∶00-02∶59, 03∶00-05∶59. RESULTS: Analysis found no evidence that the Licensing Act (2003) affected the overall volume of violence. However, analyses of night-time violence found a gradual and permanent shift of weekend violence into later parts of the night. The results estimated an initial increase of 27.5% between 03∶00 to 06∶00 (ω = 0.2433, 95% CI = 0.06, 0.42), which increased to 36% by the end of the study period (δ = -0.897, 95% CI = -1.02, -0.77). CONCLUSIONS: This study found no evidence that a national policy increasing the physical availability of alcohol affected the overall volume of violence. There was, however, evidence suggesting that the policy may be associated with changes to patterns of violence in the early morning (3 a.m. to 6 a.m.)

Stellar and Molecular Radii of a Mira Star: First Observations with the Keck Interferometer Grism

Using a new grism at the Keck Interferometer, we obtained spectrally dispersed (R ~ 230) interferometric measurements of the Mira star R Vir. These data show that the measured radius of the emission varies substantially from 2.0-2.4 microns. Simple models can reproduce these wavelength-dependent variations using extended molecular layers, which absorb stellar radiation and re-emit it at longer wavelengths. Because we observe spectral regions with and without substantial molecular opacity, we determine the stellar photospheric radius, uncontaminated by molecular emission. We infer that most of the molecular opacity arises at approximately twice the radius of the stellar photosphere.Comment: 12 pages, including 3 figures. Accepted by ApJ

Protoplanetary Disk Masses in the Young NGC 2024 Cluster

We present the results from a Submillimeter Array survey of the 887 micron continuum emission from the protoplanetary disks around 95 young stars in the young cluster NGC 2024. Emission was detected from 22 infrared sources, with flux densities from ~5 to 330 mJy; upper limits (at 3sigma) for the other 73 sources range from 3 to 24 mJy. For standard assumptions, the corresponding disk masses range from ~0.003 to 0.2Msolar, with upper limits at 0.002--0.01Msolar. The NGC 2024 sample has a slightly more populated tail at the high end of its disk mass distribution compared to other clusters, but without more information on the nature of the sample hosts it remains unclear if this difference is statistically significant or a superficial selection effect. Unlike in the Orion Trapezium, there is no evidence for a disk mass dependence on the (projected) separation from the massive star IRS2b in the NGC 2024 cluster. We suggest that this is due to either the cluster youth or a comparatively weaker photoionizing radiation field.Comment: ApJ, in pres

ALMA Observations of the Largest Proto-Planetary Disk in the Orion Nebula, 114-426: A CO Silhouette

We present ALMA observations of the largest protoplanetary disk in the Orion Nebula, 114-426. Detectable 345 GHz (856 micron) dust continuum is produced only in the 350 AU central region of the ~1000 AU diameter silhouette seen against the bright H-alpha background in HST images. Assuming optically thin dust emission at 345 GHz, a gas-to-dust ratio of 100, and a grain temperature of 20 K, the disk gas-mass is estimated to be 3.1 +/- 0.6 Jupiter masses. If most solids and ices have have been incorporated into large grains, however, this value is a lower limit. The disk is not detected in dense-gas tracers such as HCO+ J=4-3, HCN J=4-3, or CS =7-6. These results may indicate that the 114-426 disk is evolved and depleted in some light organic compounds found in molecular clouds. The CO J=3-2 line is seen in absorption against the bright 50 to 80 K background of the Orion A molecular cloud over the full spatial extent and a little beyond the dust continuum emission. The CO absorption reaches a depth of 27 K below the background CO emission at VLSR ~6.7 km/s about 0.52 arcseconds (210 AU) northeast and 12 K below the background CO emission at VLSR ~ 9.7 km/s about 0.34 arcseconds (140 AU) southwest of the suspected location of the central star, implying that the embedded star has a mass less than 1 Solar mass .Comment: 20 pages, 4 figure

Effect of inoculants of different composition on the quality of rye silages harvested at different stages of maturity

Winter rye (Secale cereale L.), one of the small-grain winter annuals, can be used as a cover crop for protection against soil erosion for absorption of unused soil nitrogen, and for cattle feed by preserving as silage. The experiment was conducted with the objective to evaluate the potential of the blend of homofermentative and hetero- and homofermentative lactic acid bacteria (LAB) as a rye silage additive. Early-cut rye (at boot stage, wilted) and whole-crop rye (at milk and soft dough stages of grain) were ensiled in laboratory mini-silos with (1) a blend of homofermentative LAB strains containing Lactobacillus plantarum (DSM26571), Enterococcus faecium (DSM22502), and Lactococcus lactis (NCIMB30117), (2) a blend of hetero- and homofermentative LAB strains containing Lactobacillus plantarum (DSM26571), Enterococcus faecium (DSM22502), and Lactobacillus buchneri (DSM22501), or (3) a blend of hetero- and homofermentative LAB strains containing Lactobacillus buchneri (DSM22501) and Lactococcus lactis (DSM11037). They were compared to ensiling without additive. After 60 days of fermentation at room temperature, mini-silos were opened, sampled for proximate analysis, forage hygiene, fermentation profile, and subjected to an aerobic stability (AS) test. Although the addition of homofermentative LAB strains was effective in reducing fermentation losses, it impaired the aerobic stability of rye silages. The combination of hetero- and homofermentative LAB strains was effective in reducing the aerobic deterioration of the rye silages by supporting a low pH value and inhibiting the proliferation of yeast and moulds

A Submillimeter Array Survey of Protoplanetary Disks in the Orion Nebula Cluster

We present the full results of our 3-year long Submillimeter Array survey of protoplanetary disks in the Orion Nebula Cluster. We imaged 23 fields at 880 microns and 2 fields at 1330 microns, covering an area of ~6.5 arcmin^2 and containing 67 disks. We detected 42 disks with fluxes between 6-135 mJy and at rms noise levels between 0.6 to 5.3 mJy/beam. Thermal dust emission above any free-free component was measured in 40 of the 42 detections, and the inferred disk masses range from 0.003-0.07 Msolar. We find that disks located within 0.3 pc of theta^1 Ori C have a truncated mass distribution, while disks located beyond 0.3 pc have masses more comparable to those found in low-mass star forming regions. The disk mass distribution in Orion has a distance dependence, with a derived relationship max(M_(disk)) = 0.046Msolar(d/0.3pc)^0.33 for the maximum disk masses. We found evidence of grain growth in disk 197-427, the only disk detected at both 880 microns and 1330 microns with the SMA. Despite the rapid erosion of the outer parts of the Orion disks by photoevaporation, the potential for planet formation remains high in this massive star forming region, with approximately 18% of the surveyed disks having masses greater than or equal to 0.01 Msolar within 60 AU.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 36 pages, 10 figure