Formation of double-Λ\Lambda hypernuclei at PANDA

We study the formation of single- and double-$\Lambda$ hypernuclei in antiproton-induced reactions relevant for the forthcoming PANDA experiment at FAIR. We use the Giessen Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck (GiBUU) transport model with relativistic mean-fields for the description of non-equilibrium dynamics and the statistical multifragmentation model (SMM) for fragment formation. This combined approach describes the dynamical properties of strangeness and fragments in low energy $\bar{p}$-induced reactions fairly well. We then focus on the formation of double-$\Lambda$ hypernuclei in high energy $\bar{p}$-nucleus collisions on a primary target including the complementary $\Xi$-induced reactions to a secondary one, as proposed by the PANDA collaboration. Our results show that a copious production of double-$\Lambda$ hyperfragments is possible at PANDA. In particular, we provide first theoretical estimations on the double-$\Lambda$ production cross section, which strongly rises with decreasing energy of the secondary $\Xi$-beam.Comment: 20 pages, 11 figures, Nuclear Physics A, in pres

Human Embryonic Stem Cell Technology: Large Scale Cell Amplification and Differentiation

Embryonic stem cells (ESC) hold the promise of overcoming many diseases as potential sources of, for example, dopaminergic neural cells for Parkinson’s Disease to pancreatic islets to relieve diabetic patients of their daily insulin injections. While an embryo has the innate capacity to develop fully functional differentiated tissues; biologists are finding that it is much more complex to derive singular, pure populations of primary cells from the highly versatile ESC from this embryonic parent. Thus, a substantial investment in developing the technologies to expand and differentiate these cells is required in the next decade to move this promise into reality. In this review we document the current standard assays for characterising human ESC (hESC), the status of ‘defined’ feeder-free culture conditions for undifferentiated hESC growth, examine the quality controls that will be required to be established for monitoring their growth, review current methods for expansion and differentiation, and speculate on the possible routes of scaling up the differentiation of hESC to therapeutic quantities