Effects of different three live foods on growth performance and survival rates in beluga (Huso huso) larvae

To determine the best live food and to reevaluate the optimal weaning period for beluga fish (Huso huso) larvae, seven experimental diets: Daphina (DP), Chironomids (CH), Gammarid (G), Daphina + formulated diet (DPFD), Chironomids + formulated diet (CHFD), Gammarid + formulated diet (GFD ) and formulated diet (FD) in triplicate groups were fed to 4662 sixteen-days-old larvae which were captured from the stock tank and randomly distributed into 21 tanks. The microdiets contained 48-50% crude protein, 12-13% crude fat, 9-11% moisture and 8.5-9.5% ash . After 25 days feeding trial, weight gain (WG), specific growth rate (SGR) and feed efficiency (FE) of fish fed CHFD were significantly higher than those of fish fed the other diets ( P< 0.05). Frequent cannibalism and higher mortality in larvae fed G, GFD and FD diets were observed. These results may show the importance of live food followed by formulated diets in a gradual application pattern, as early as on the fourth to fifth day after hatching

Tau Polarimetry with Inclusive Decays

The spin asymmetry parameter $A_\tau$ characterizing the angular distribution of the total hadron momentum in the decay of a polarized tau can be calculated rigorously using perturbative QCD and the operator product expansion. Perturbative QCD corrections to the free quark result $A_\tau = 1/3$ can be expressed as a power series in $\alpha_s(M_\tau)$ and nonperturbative QCD corrections can be expanded systematically in powers of $1/M_\tau^2$. The QCD prediction is $A_\tau = 0.41 \pm 0.02$. In the decay of a high energy tau into hadrons, the value of the hadronic energy distribution $dR_\tau/dz$ evaluated at the maximum hadronic energy fraction $z = 1$ can also be calculated rigorously from QCD.Comment: LateX, 11 pages, no figures, NUHEP-TH-93-

Microspore Abortion and Abnormal Tapetal Degeneration in BNS Thermo-sensitive Male Sterile Wheat Lines

Studies of the pollen abortion mechanism in thermo-sensitive male sterile lines may provide a strong foundation for breeding hybrid wheat and establishing a theoretical basis for marker-assisted selection. To investigate the cause of pollen abortion in Bainong thermo – sensitive male sterile (BNS) lines, we analyzed the properties of pollen grains, changes in the tapetum and microspores in different anther developmental stages, and the distribution and deposition of nutrient substances in microspores. We found that tapetum degraded in the early uninucleate stage in sterile BNS (S-BNS), which was earlier than that of fertile BNS (F-BNS) tapetum. Large amounts of insoluble polysaccharides, lipids, and proteins were deposited until the trinucleate pollen stage in the nutritive cells in F-BNS. At the binucleate stage, the vacuoles disappeared and pollen inclusion increased gradually. At the trinucleate stage, these nutrients would help pollen grains mature and participate in fertilization normally. Therefore, early degradation of the tapetum, which inhibits normal microspore development, and the limited content of nutrient substances in pollen may be the main factors responsible for male sterility in BNS lines

The Leptonic Higgs as a Messenger of Dark Matter

We propose that the leptonic cosmic ray signals seen by PAMELA and ATIC result from the annihilation or decay of dark matter particles via states of a leptonic Higgs doublet to $\tau$ leptons, linking cosmic ray signals of dark matter to LHC signals of the Higgs sector. The states of the leptonic Higgs doublet are lighter than about 200 GeV, yielding large $\bar{\tau} \tau$ and $\bar{\tau} \tau \bar{\tau} \tau$ event rates at the LHC. Simple models are given for the dark matter particle and its interactions with the leptonic Higgs, for cosmic ray signals arising from both annihilations and decays in the galactic halo. For the case of annihilations, cosmic photon and neutrino signals are on the verge of discovery.Comment: 34 pages, 9 figures, minor typos corrected, references adde

All-particle cosmic ray energy spectrum measured with 26 IceTop stations

We report on a measurement of the cosmic ray energy spectrum with the IceTop air shower array, the surface component of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole. The data used in this analysis were taken between June and October, 2007, with 26 surface stations operational at that time, corresponding to about one third of the final array. The fiducial area used in this analysis was 0.122 km^2. The analysis investigated the energy spectrum from 1 to 100 PeV measured for three different zenith angle ranges between 0{\deg} and 46{\deg}. Because of the isotropy of cosmic rays in this energy range the spectra from all zenith angle intervals have to agree. The cosmic-ray energy spectrum was determined under different assumptions on the primary mass composition. Good agreement of spectra in the three zenith angle ranges was found for the assumption of pure proton and a simple two-component model. For zenith angles {\theta} < 30{\deg}, where the mass dependence is smallest, the knee in the cosmic ray energy spectrum was observed between 3.5 and 4.32 PeV, depending on composition assumption. Spectral indices above the knee range from -3.08 to -3.11 depending on primary mass composition assumption. Moreover, an indication of a flattening of the spectrum above 22 PeV were observed.Comment: 38 pages, 17 figure

An improved method for measuring muon energy using the truncated mean of dE/dx

The measurement of muon energy is critical for many analyses in large Cherenkov detectors, particularly those that involve separating extraterrestrial neutrinos from the atmospheric neutrino background. Muon energy has traditionally been determined by measuring the specific energy loss (dE/dx) along the muon's path and relating the dE/dx to the muon energy. Because high-energy muons (E_mu > 1 TeV) lose energy randomly, the spread in dE/dx values is quite large, leading to a typical energy resolution of 0.29 in log10(E_mu) for a muon observed over a 1 km path length in the IceCube detector. In this paper, we present an improved method that uses a truncated mean and other techniques to determine the muon energy. The muon track is divided into separate segments with individual dE/dx values. The elimination of segments with the highest dE/dx results in an overall dE/dx that is more closely correlated to the muon energy. This method results in an energy resolution of 0.22 in log10(E_mu), which gives a 26% improvement. This technique is applicable to any large water or ice detector and potentially to large scintillator or liquid argon detectors.Comment: 12 pages, 16 figure

Azimuthal anisotropy and correlations in p+p, d+Au and Au+Au collisions at 200 GeV

We present the first measurement of directed flow ($v_1$) at RHIC. $v_1$ is found to be consistent with zero at pseudorapidities $\eta$ from -1.2 to 1.2, then rises to the level of a couple of percent over the range $2.4 < |\eta| < 4$. The latter observation is similar to data from NA49 if the SPS rapidities are shifted by the difference in beam rapidity between RHIC and SPS. Back-to-back jets emitted out-of-plane are found to be suppressed more if compared to those emitted in-plane, which is consistent with {\it jet quenching}. Using the scalar product method, we systematically compared azimuthal correlations from p+p, d+Au and Au+Au collisions. Flow and non-flow from these three different collision systems are discussed.Comment: Quark Matter 2004 proceeding, 4 pages, 3 figure

Azimuthal anisotropy: the higher harmonics

We report the first observations of the fourth harmonic (v_4) in the azimuthal distribution of particles at RHIC. The measurement was done taking advantage of the large elliptic flow generated at RHIC. The integrated v_4 is about a factor of 10 smaller than v_2. For the sixth (v_6) and eighth (v_8) harmonics upper limits on the magnitudes are reported.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, contribution to the Quark Matter 2004 proceeding

Partonic flow and ϕ\phi-meson production in Au+Au collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200 GeV

We present first measurements of the $\phi$-meson elliptic flow ($v_{2}(p_{T})$) and high statistics $p_{T}$ distributions for different centralities from $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV Au+Au collisions at RHIC. In minimum bias collisions the $v_{2}$ of the $\phi$ meson is consistent with the trend observed for mesons. The ratio of the yields of the $\Omega$ to those of the $\phi$ as a function of transverse momentum is consistent with a model based on the recombination of thermal $s$ quarks up to $p_{T}\sim 4$ GeV/$c$, but disagrees at higher momenta. The nuclear modification factor ($R_{CP}$) of $\phi$ follows the trend observed in the $K^{0}_{S}$ mesons rather than in $\Lambda$ baryons, supporting baryon-meson scaling. Since $\phi$-mesons are made via coalescence of seemingly thermalized $s$ quarks in central Au+Au collisions, the observations imply hot and dense matter with partonic collectivity has been formed at RHIC.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, submit to PR

Plasma Wakefield Acceleration with a Modulated Proton Bunch

The plasma wakefield amplitudes which could be achieved via the modulation of a long proton bunch are investigated. We find that in the limit of long bunches compared to the plasma wavelength, the strength of the accelerating fields is directly proportional to the number of particles in the drive bunch and inversely proportional to the square of the transverse bunch size. The scaling laws were tested and verified in detailed simulations using parameters of existing proton accelerators, and large electric fields were achieved, reaching 1 GV/m for LHC bunches. Energy gains for test electrons beyond 6 TeV were found in this case.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure