675 research outputs found
The Decay of Accreting Triple Systems as Brown Dwarf Formation Scenario
We investigate the dynamical decay of non-hierarchical accreting triple
systems and its implications on the ejection model as Brown Dwarf formation
scenario. A modified chain-regularization scheme is used to integrate the
equations of motion, that also allows for mass changes over time as well as for
momentum transfer from the accreted gas mass onto the bodies. We integrate an
ensemble of triple systems within a certain volume with different accretion
rates, assuming several prescriptions of how momentum is transferred onto the
bodies. We follow their evolution until the systems have decayed. We analyze
the end states and decay times of these systems and determine the fraction of
Brown Dwarfs formed, their escape speeds as well as the semi-major axis
distribution of the formed Brown Dwarf binaries. We find that the formation
probability of Brown Dwarfs depends strongly on the assumed momentum transfer
which is related to the motion of the gas. Due to ongoing accretion and
consequent shrinkage of the systems, the median escape velocity is increased by
a factor of 2 and the binary separations are decreased by a factor of 5
compared with non-accreting systems. Furthermore, the obtained semi-major axis
distribution drops off sharply to either side of the median, which is also
supported by observations. We conclude that accretion and momentum transfer of
accreted gas during the dynamical decay of triple systems is able to produce
the observed distribution of close binary Brown Dwarfs, making the ejection
model a viable option as Brown Dwarf formation scenario.Comment: 31 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Disc-Disc Encounters between Low-Mass Protoplanetary Accretion Discs
Simulations of the collapse and fragmentation of turbulent molecular clouds
and dense young clusters show that encounters between disc-surrounded stars are
relatively common events which should significantly influence the resulting
disc structure. In turn this should alter the accretion rate of disc matter
onto the star and the conditions under which planet formation occurs. Although
the effects of star-disc encounters have been previously investigated, very
little is known about encounters where both stars are surrounded by discs. In
this paper encounters of such disc-disc systems are studied quantitatively. It
is found that for low-mass discs (= 0.01 M_\sun) the results from
star-disc encounters can be straightforwardly generalized to disc-disc
encounters as long as there is no mass transport between the discs. Differences
to star-disc encounters occur naturally where significant amounts of matter are
transported between the discs. In this case it is found that although the mass
distribution does not change significantly, matter caught onto highly eccentric
orbits is transported surprisingly far inside the disc. The captured mass
partly replenishes the disc, but has a much lower angular momentum. This can
lead to a reduction of the angular momentum in the entire disc and thus
considerably increased accretion shortly after the encounter as well as in the
long term.Comment: 24 pages, 10 figures, accepted by Ap
Binarity at the L/T brown dwarf transition
Current atmospheric models cannot reproduce some of the characteristics of
the transition between the L dwarfs with cloudy atmospheres and the T dwarfs
with dust-depleted photospheres. It has been proposed that a majority of the
L/T transition brown dwarfs could actually be a combinaison of a cloudy L dwarf
and a clear T dwarf. Indeed binarity seems to occur more frequently among L/T
transition brown dwarfs.
We aim to refine the statistical significance of the seemingly higher
frequency of binaries. Co-eval binaries would also be interesting test-beds for
evolutionary models. We obtained high-resolution imaging for six mid-L to
late-T dwarfs, with photometric distances between 8 and 33pc, using the
adaptive optics systems NACO at the VLT, and the Lick system, both with the
laser guide star.
We resolve none of our targets. Combining our data with published results, we
obtain a frequency of resolved L/T transition brown dwarfs of (31+21-15)%,
compared to (21+10-7)% and (14+14-7)% for mid-L and T dwarfs (90% of confidence
level). These fractions do not significantly support, nor contradict, the
hypothesis of a larger binary fraction in the L/T transition. None of our
targets has companions with effective temperatures as low as 360-1000K at
separations larger than 0.5".Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted by A&
Multiplicity of very low-mass objects in the Upper Scorpius OB association: a possible wide binary population
We report the initial results of a VLT/NACO high spatial resolution imaging
survey for multiple systems among 58 M-type members of the nearby Upper
Scorpius OB association. Nine pairs with separations below 100 have been
resolved. Their small angular separations and the similarity in the brightness
of the components (DMagK <1 for all of them), indicate there is a reasonable
likelihood several of them are true binaries rather than chance projections.
Follow-up imaging observations with WHT/LIRIS of the two widest binaries
confirm that their near-infrared colours are consistent with physical very low
mass binaries. For one of these two binaries, WHT/LIRIS spectra of each
component were obtained. We find that the two components have similar M6-M7
spectral types and signatures of low-gravity, as expected for a young brown
dwarf binary in this association. Our preliminary results indicate a possible
population of very low-mass binaries with semimajor axis in the range 100 AU
150 AU, which has not been seen in the Pleiades open cluster. If these
candidates are confirmed (one is confirmed by this work), these results would
indicate that the binary properties of very low-mass stars and brown dwarfs may
depend on the environment where they form.Comment: 11 pages, 1 table, 7 figures, request high resolution copies to
[email protected]
Victim-offender mediation and social work: focus groups with mediators in Flanders
The role of social work in the restorative justice field remains largely unexplored. This article reports on the findings of focus groups conducted with mediators of juvenile and adult mediation practices in Flanders (Belgium) to gain more insight into how mediators perceive their professional role and to what extent they refer to individual and structural dimensions of social work practice. Implications for future social work involvement and research are made
Resolved Hubble Space spectroscopy of ultracool binary systems
Using the low-resolution mode of the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph
(STIS) aboard the \emph{Hubble Space Telescope} (HST), we have obtained
spatially resolved spectra of 20 ultracool dwarfs. 18 of them belong to 9 known
very low-mass binary systems with angular separations in the range 0.37-0.098
arcseconds. We have derived spectral types in the range dM7.5 to dL6 from the
PC3 index, and by comparing our STIS spectra with ground-based spectra of
similar spectral resolution from Mart{\'\i}n et al. (1999). We have searched
for H emission in each object but it was clearly detected in only 2 of
them. We find that the distribution of H emission in our sample is
statistically different from that of single field dwarfs, suggesting an
intriguing anticorrelation between chromospheric activity and binarity for
M7--M9.5 dwarfs. We provide measuments of the strength of the main photospheric
features and the PC3 index, and we derive calibrations of spectral subclasses
versus F814W and K-band absolute magnitudes for a subset of 10 dwarfs in 5
binaries that have known trigonometric parallaxes.Comment: accepted for publication in A&
Exploring recent developments in restorative policing in England and Wales
The evolution of the policing role over the last decade has led to 33 police forces in England and Wales integrating restorative justice practices, in one form or another, into their responses to minor crime committed for the first time by both youths and adults. Most recently, this reform dynamic has been used in response to more serious offences committed by persistent offenders and expanded to include all stages of the criminal justice process. Despite the significant positive rhetoric that surrounds the adoption and use of restorative justice, there are a number of procedural and cultural challenges that pose a threat to the extent to which restorative justice may become embedded within the policing response. This article explores these developments and highlights where potential problems for implementation may arise as well as some strategies to overcome them
A search for pre-substellar cores and proto-brown dwarf candidates in Taurus: multiwavelength analysis in the B213-L1495 clouds
In an attempt to study whether the formation of brown dwarfs (BDs) takes
place as a scaled-down version of low-mass stars, we conducted IRAM30m/MAMBO-II
observations at 1.2 mm in a sample of 12 proto-BD candidates selected from
Spitzer/IRAC data in the B213-L1495 clouds in Taurus. Subsequent observations
with the CSO at 350 micron, VLA at 3.6 and 6 cm, and IRAM30m/EMIR in the
12CO(1-0), 13CO(1-0), and N2H+(1-0) transitions were carried out toward the two
most promising Spitzer/IRAC source(s), J042118 and J041757. J042118 is
associated with a compact (<10 arcsec or <1400 AU) and faint source at 350
micron, while J041757 is associated with a partially resolved (~16 arcsec or
~2000 AU) and stronger source emitting at centimetre wavelengths with a flat
spectral index. The corresponding masses of the dust condensations are ~1 and
~5 Mjup for J042118 and J041757, respectively. In addition, about 40 arcsec to
the northeast of J041757 we detect a strong and extended submillimetre source,
J041757-NE, which is not associated with NIR/FIR emission down to our detection
limits, but is clearly detected in 13CO and N2H+ at ~7 km/s, and for which we
estimated a total mass of ~100 Mjup, close to the mass required to be
gravitationally bound. In summary, our observational strategy has allowed us to
find in B213-L1495 two proto-BD candidates and one pre-substellar core
candidate, whose properties seem to be consistent with a scaled-down version of
low-mass stars.Comment: MNRAS, 424, 2778; corrected typos, mass estimate refined in Section
3.2.1 and Section 5.3; conclusions unchange
Identification and in vitro Analysis of the GatD/MurT Enzyme-Complex Catalyzing Lipid II Amidation in Staphylococcus aureus
The peptidoglycan of Staphylococcus aureus is characterized by a high degree of crosslinking and almost completely lacks free carboxyl groups, due to amidation of the D-glutamic acid in the stem peptide. Amidation of peptidoglycan has been proposed to play a decisive role in polymerization of cell wall building blocks, correlating with the crosslinking of neighboring peptidoglycan stem peptides. Mutants with a reduced degree of amidation are less viable and show increased susceptibility to methicillin. We identified the enzymes catalyzing the formation of D-glutamine in position 2 of the stem peptide. We provide biochemical evidence that the reaction is catalyzed by a glutamine amidotransferase-like protein and a Mur ligase homologue, encoded by SA1707 and SA1708, respectively. Both proteins, for which we propose the designation GatD and MurT, are required for amidation and appear to form a physically stable bi-enzyme complex. To investigate the reaction in vitro we purified recombinant GatD and MurT His-tag fusion proteins and their potential substrates, i.e. UDP-MurNAc-pentapeptide, as well as the membrane-bound cell wall precursors lipid I, lipid II and lipid II-Gly5. In vitro amidation occurred with all bactoprenol-bound intermediates, suggesting that in vivo lipid II and/or lipid II-Gly5 may be substrates for GatD/MurT. Inactivation of the GatD active site abolished lipid II amidation. Both, murT and gatD are organized in an operon and are essential genes of S. aureus. BLAST analysis revealed the presence of homologous transcriptional units in a number of gram-positive pathogens, e.g. Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Streptococcus pneumonia and Clostridium perfringens, all known to have a D-iso-glutamine containing PG. A less negatively charged PG reduces susceptibility towards defensins and may play a general role in innate immune signaling
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