Sustaining Public Engagement: Embedded Deliberation in Local Communities

Describes nine communities using organized deliberation to consider public issues over several years and their accomplishments and analyzes how public deliberation addresses deficits in local democratic governance. Includes benchmarks and strategies

Spectro-photometric Evolution of Elliptical Galaxies. II. Models with infall

In this paper we present new chemo-spectro-photometric models of elliptical galaxies in which infall of primordial gas is allowed to occur. They aim to simulate the collapse of a galaxy made of two components, i.e. luminous material and dark matter. The mass of the dark component is assumed to be constant in time, whereas that of the luminous material is supposed to accrete at a suitable rate. They also include the effect of galactic winds powered by supernova explosions and stellar winds from massive, early-type stars. The models are constrained to match a number of properties of elliptical galaxies, i.e. the slope and mean colours of the colour-magnitude relation (CMR), V versus (V--K), the UV excess as measured by the colour (1550--V) together with the overall shape of the integrated spectral energy distribution (ISED) in the ultraviolet, the relation between the Mg2 index and (1550--V), the mass to blue luminosity ratio M/Lb as a function of the B luminosity, and finally the broad-band colours (U--B), (B--V), (V--I), (V--K), etc.Comment: pages 22, 20 postscript figures, 2 external table (tab2_infall using supertabular.sty and tab5_infall using supertabular1.sty

Pre-Main sequence Turn-On as a chronometer for young clusters: NGC346 as a benchmark

We present a novel approach to derive the age of very young star clusters, by using the Turn-On (TOn). The TOn is the point in the color-magnitude diagram (CMD) where the pre-main sequence (PMS) joins the main sequence (MS). In the MS luminosity function (LF) of the cluster, the TOn is identified as a peak followed by a dip. We propose that by combining the CMD analysis with the monitoring of the spatial distribution of MS stars it is possible to reliably identify the TOn in extragalactic star forming regions. Compared to alternative methods, this technique is complementary to the turn-off dating and avoids the systematic biases affecting the PMS phase. We describe the method and its uncertainties, and apply it to the star forming region NGC346, which has been extensively imaged with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). This study extends the LF approach in crowded extragalactic regions and opens the way for future studies with HST/WFC3, JWST and from the ground with adaptive optics.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

The Star Formation History of NGC 1705: a Post-Starburst Galaxy on the Verge of Activity

We infer the star formation history in different regions of the blue compact dwarf NGC 1705 by comparing synthetic color-magnitude diagrams with HST optical and near-infrared photometry. We find that NGC 1705 is not a young galaxy because its star formation commenced at least 5 Gyr ago. On the other hand, we confirm the existence of a recent burst of star formation between 15 and 10 Myr ago. We also find evidence for new strong activity, which started 3 Myr ago and is still continuing. The old population is spread across the entire galaxy, while the young and intermediate stars are more concentrated in the central regions. We derive an almost continuous star formation with variable rate, and exclude the presence of long quiescent phases between the episodes during the last ~1 Gyr. The central regions experienced an episode of star formation of \~0.07 Msun/yr (for a Salpeter initial mass function [IMF]) 15 to 10 Myr ago. This coincides with the strong activity in the central super star cluster. We find a rate of ~0.3 Msun/yr for the youngest ongoing burst which started ~3 Myr ago. This is higher than in other dwarfs and comparable to the rate of NGC 1569. The star formation rate of earlier episodes is not especially high and falls in the range 10^{-3}-10^{-1} Msun/yr. The IMF is close to the Salpeter value or slightly steeper.Comment: 34 pages, including 6 tables and 14 .ps figures (9 in colour), AJ in pres

Reflection on the CEMS-MIM business project about renovas internationalisation and new sales channels expansion with a brief analysis on echange rate risk management and hedging strategies

CEMSThe present work project examines Renova’s intent to enter four new markets, namely Hong Kong, Dubai, Macau and Las Vegas, and to expand into new sales channels, specifically the luxury Horeca segment. The study deals also with the analysis of the risk of exchange rate changes, which Renova might face during its internationalisation plan and how it can manage its exposure. Findings show that Renova should enter Hong Kong and Macau in a segmented way by targeting few specific hotels and restaurants and by exporting its premium coloured paper products. Furthermore, the company should hedge its exchange rate risk exposure

A new inverse method for stellar population synthesis and error analysis

The stellar population synthesis in unresolved composite objects is a very tricky problem. Indeed, it is a degenerate problem since many parameters affect the observables. The stellar population synthesis issue thus deserves a deep and rigourous analysis. In this paper we present a method of inversion which uses as observables the intensities at each pixel of a galactic spectrum and provides the stellar contribution to luminosity of all stars considered in a database. The main contribution of this paper to the synthesis problem is that it provides an analytical computation of the uncertainties accompanying a solution. This constitutes an important improvement relative to previous methods which do not provide such infomation except in the method described by Pelat (1997) and Moultaka & Pelat (2000). The latter uses the equivalent widths and intensities of stellar spectra in order to reproduce the equivalent widths of a galactic spectrum. The novelty of this work relative to the previous one is that the dust emission present in the IR spectra can be modeled as well as the velocity dispersion of stars that broadens the lines of a galactic spectrum. Tests are also performed in order to estimate the reliability of the method and the influence on the results of an additive continuum present in a studied spectrum, for example in the case of AGNs.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, 7 tables. In press in A&

The Resolved Stellar Populations in NGC 1705

We present HST photometry of the resolved stellar population in the dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 1705. The galaxy has been observed with both WFPC2 and NICMOS, and successful images have been obtained in the F555W, F814W, F110W and F160W bands. The optical fields cover most of the galaxy, while the infrared field (NIC2) maps only its central regions. The optical photometry provides \~20000 objects down to m_F555W ~ 29 in the PC field of view and ~ 20000 in the three WFCs. In the infrared we have been able to resolve ~ 2400 stars down to m_{F110W}, m_{F160W} ~ 26. A subsample of 1834 stars have been unambiguously measured in all the four bands. The corresponding color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) confirm the existence of an age gradient, showing that NGC 1705 hosts both young (a few Myr old) and very old (up to 15 Gyr old) stars, with the former strongly concentrated toward the galactic center and the latter present everywhere, but much more easily visible in the external regions. The tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) is clearly visible both in the optical and in the infrared CMDs and allows us to derive the galaxy distance. Taking into account the uncertainties related to both the photometry and the TRGB magnitude -- distance relation, we find that the distance modulus of NGC 1705 is (m-M)_0=28.54 +- 0.26, corresponding to a distance D=5.1 +- 0.6 Mpc.Comment: aastex, 37 pages, 13 (reduced resolution) .ps figures. Accepted by AJ. Full resolution figures are available upon request to the first autho

The evolution of H{\sc ii} galaxies: Testing the bursting scenario through the use of self-consistent models

We have computed a series of realistic and self-consistent models of the emitted spectra of H{\sc ii} galaxies. Our models combine different codes of chemical evolution, evolutionary population synthesis and photoionization. The emitted spectrum of H{\sc ii} galaxies is reproduced by means of the photoionization code CLOUDY, using as ionizing spectrum the spectral energy distribution of the modelled H{\sc ii} galaxy, which in turn is calculated according to a Star Formation History (SFH) and a metallicity evolution given by a chemical evolution model that follows the abundances of 15 different elements. The contribution of emission lines to the broad-band colours is explicitly taken into account. The results of our code are compared with photometric and spectroscopic data of H{\sc ii} galaxies. Our technique reproduces observed diagnostic diagrams, abundances, equivalent width-colour and equivalent width-metallicity relations for local H{\sc ii} galaxies.Comment: 13 figures and 2 tables, accepted for publication in MNRAS Main Journa

New Near-Infrared Surface Brightness Fluctuation Models

We present new theoretical models for surface brightness fluctuations in the near-infrared. We show the time evolution of near-infrared brightness fluctuation properties over large age and metallicity ranges, i.e., from 12 Myr to 16 Gyr, and from Z/Zsun=1/50 to Z/Zsun=2.5, for single age, single metallicity stellar populations. All the stellar models are followed from the zero age main sequence to the central carbon ignition for massive stars, or to the end of the thermally pulsing regime of the asymptotic giant branch phase for low and intermediate mass stars. The new models are compared with observed near-infrared fluctuation absolute magnitudes and colours for a sample of Magellanic Cloud star clusters and Fornax Cluster galaxies. For star clusters younger than ~3 Gyr, the predicted near-infrared fluctuation properties are in a satisfactory agreement with observed ones over a wide range of stellar population metallicities. However, for older star clusters, the agreement between the observed and predicted near-IR brightness fluctuations depends on how the surface brightness absolute magnitudes are estimated. The computed set of models are not able to match the observed near-IR fluctuation absolute magnitudes and colours simultaneously. We argue that the observed discrepancies between the predicted and observed properties of old MC superclusters are more likely due to observational reasons.Comment: MNRAS, 2005, 362, 1208 (12 pages, 7 figures