Analysis of functional properties of Lactobacillus acidophilus

Metabolites from Lactobacillus acidophilus were analysed. The results showed that Lactobacillus acidophilus Ind-1 and Lactobacillus acidophilus Lakcid produced respectively 12.73 g and 13.33 g lactic acid l¿1 after incubating in skim milk at 37 °C for 36 h; and 2.229 unit and 1.808 unit ß-galactosidase l¿1 in an MRS medium. The proteolytic activity of Lactobacillus acidophilus was high and the content of 17 free amino acids in the fermented milk of Lactobacillus acidophilus Ind-1 and Lactobacillus acidophilus Lakcid was 394.4 mg l¿1 and 563.2 mg l¿1, respectively. Meantime, Lactobacillus acidophilus reduced cholesterol level in an MRS medium supplemented with cholesterol. Furthermore, Lactobacillus acidophilus Ind-1 and Lactobacillus acidophilus Lakcid showed antimicrobial activity against Bacillus anthracis and Escherichia col

Optical properties and radiative forcing of urban aerosols in Nanjing, China

AbstractContinuous measurements of atmospheric aerosols were made in Nanjing, a megacity in China, from 18 January to 18 April, 2011 (Phase 1) and from 22 April 2011 to 21 April 2012 (Phase 2). Aerosol characteristics, optical properties, and direct radiative forcing (DRF) were studied through interpretations of these measurements. We found that during Phase 1, mean PM2.5, black carbon (BC), and aerosol scattering coefficient (Bsp) in Nanjing were 76.1 ± 59.3 μg m−3, 4.1 ± 2.2 μg m−3, and 170.9 ± 105.8 M m−1, respectively. High pollution episodes occurred during Spring and Lantern Festivals when hourly PM2.5 concentrations reached 440 μg m−3, possibly due to significant discharge of fireworks. Temporal variations of PM2.5, BC, and Bsp were similar to each other. It is estimated that inorganic scattering aerosols account for about 49 ± 8.6% of total aerosols while BC only accounted for 6.6 ± 2.9%, and nitrate was larger than sulfate. In Phase 2, optical properties of aerosols show great seasonality. High relative humidity (RH) in summer (June, July, August) likely attributed to large optical depth (AOD) and small Angstrom exponent (AE) of aerosols. Due to dust storms, AE of total aerosols was the smallest in spring (March, April, May). Annual mean 550-nm AOD and 675/440-nm AE were 0.6 ± 0.3 and 1.25 ± 0.29 for total aerosols, 0.04 ± 0.02 and 1.44 ± 0.50 for absorbing aerosols, 0.48 ± 0.29 and 1.64 ± 0.29 for fine aerosols, respectively. Annual single scattering albedo of aerosols ranged from 0.90 to 0.92. Real time wavelength-dependent surface albedo from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) was used to assess aerosol DRFs. Both total and absorbing aerosol DRFs had significant seasonal variations in Nanjing and they were the strongest in summer. Annual mean clear sky TOA DRF (including daytime and nighttime) of total and absorbing aerosols was about −6.9 and +4.5 W m−2, respectively. Aerosol DRFs were found to be sensitive to surface albedo. Over brighter surfaces, solar radiation was more absorbed by absorbing aerosols and less scattered by scattering aerosols

Partial Wave Analysis of J/ψ→γ(K+K−π+π−)J/\psi \to \gamma (K^+K^-\pi^+\pi^-)

BES data on $J/\psi \to \gamma (K^+K^-\pi^+\pi^-)$ are presented. The $K^*\bar K^*$ contribution peaks strongly near threshold. It is fitted with a broad $0^{-+}$ resonance with mass $M = 1800 \pm 100$ MeV, width $\Gamma = 500 \pm 200$ MeV. A broad $2^{++}$ resonance peaking at 2020 MeV is also required with width $\sim 500$ MeV. There is further evidence for a $2^{-+}$ component peaking at 2.55 GeV. The non-$K^*\bar K^*$ contribution is close to phase space; it peaks at 2.6 GeV and is very different from $K^{*}\bar{K^{*}}$.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, Submitted to PL

Single Spin Asymmetry ANA_N in Polarized Proton-Proton Elastic Scattering at s=200\sqrt{s}=200 GeV

We report a high precision measurement of the transverse single spin asymmetry $A_N$ at the center of mass energy $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV in elastic proton-proton scattering by the STAR experiment at RHIC. The $A_N$ was measured in the four-momentum transfer squared $t$ range $0.003 \leqslant |t| \leqslant 0.035$ \GeVcSq, the region of a significant interference between the electromagnetic and hadronic scattering amplitudes. The measured values of $A_N$ and its $t$-dependence are consistent with a vanishing hadronic spin-flip amplitude, thus providing strong constraints on the ratio of the single spin-flip to the non-flip amplitudes. Since the hadronic amplitude is dominated by the Pomeron amplitude at this $\sqrt{s}$, we conclude that this measurement addresses the question about the presence of a hadronic spin flip due to the Pomeron exchange in polarized proton-proton elastic scattering.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure

Longitudinal double-spin asymmetry and cross section for inclusive neutral pion production at midrapidity in polarized proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV

We report a measurement of the longitudinal double-spin asymmetry A_LL and the differential cross section for inclusive Pi0 production at midrapidity in polarized proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV. The cross section was measured over a transverse momentum range of 1 < p_T < 17 GeV/c and found to be in good agreement with a next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculation. The longitudinal double-spin asymmetry was measured in the range of 3.7 < p_T < 11 GeV/c and excludes a maximal positive gluon polarization in the proton. The mean transverse momentum fraction of Pi0's in their parent jets was found to be around 0.7 for electromagnetically triggered events.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. D (RC

High pTp_{T} non-photonic electron production in pp+pp collisions at s\sqrt{s} = 200 GeV

We present the measurement of non-photonic electron production at high transverse momentum ($p_T >$ 2.5 GeV/$c$) in $p$ + $p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 200 GeV using data recorded during 2005 and 2008 by the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The measured cross-sections from the two runs are consistent with each other despite a large difference in photonic background levels due to different detector configurations. We compare the measured non-photonic electron cross-sections with previously published RHIC data and pQCD calculations. Using the relative contributions of B and D mesons to non-photonic electrons, we determine the integrated cross sections of electrons ($\frac{e^++e^-}{2}$) at 3 GeV/$c < p_T <~$10 GeV/$c$ from bottom and charm meson decays to be ${d\sigma_{(B\to e)+(B\to D \to e)} \over dy_e}|_{y_e=0}$ = 4.0$\pm0.5$({\rm stat.})$\pm1.1$({\rm syst.}) nb and ${d\sigma_{D\to e} \over dy_e}|_{y_e=0}$ = 6.2$\pm0.7$({\rm stat.})$\pm1.5$({\rm syst.}) nb, respectively.Comment: 17 pages, 17 figure

Evolution of the differential transverse momentum correlation function with centrality in Au+Au collisions at sNN=200\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200 GeV

We present first measurements of the evolution of the differential transverse momentum correlation function, {\it C}, with collision centrality in Au+Au interactions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200$ GeV. {\it C} exhibits a strong dependence on collision centrality that is qualitatively similar to that of number correlations previously reported. We use the observed longitudinal broadening of the near-side peak of {\it C} with increasing centrality to estimate the ratio of the shear viscosity to entropy density, $\eta/s$, of the matter formed in central Au+Au interactions. We obtain an upper limit estimate of $\eta/s$ that suggests that the produced medium has a small viscosity per unit entropy.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, STAR paper published in Phys. Lett.

Longitudinal scaling property of the charge balance function in Au + Au collisions at 200 GeV

We present measurements of the charge balance function, from the charged particles, for diverse pseudorapidity and transverse momentum ranges in Au + Au collisions at 200 GeV using the STAR detector at RHIC. We observe that the balance function is boost-invariant within the pseudorapidity coverage [-1.3, 1.3]. The balance function properly scaled by the width of the observed pseudorapidity window does not depend on the position or size of the pseudorapidity window. This scaling property also holds for particles in different transverse momentum ranges. In addition, we find that the width of the balance function decreases monotonically with increasing transverse momentum for all centrality classes.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Measurement of the Bottom contribution to non-photonic electron production in p+pp+p collisions at s\sqrt{s} =200 GeV

The contribution of $B$ meson decays to non-photonic electrons, which are mainly produced by the semi-leptonic decays of heavy flavor mesons, in $p+p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 200 GeV has been measured using azimuthal correlations between non-photonic electrons and hadrons. The extracted $B$ decay contribution is approximately 50% at a transverse momentum of $p_{T} \geq 5$ GeV/$c$. These measurements constrain the nuclear modification factor for electrons from $B$ and $D$ meson decays. The result indicates that $B$ meson production in heavy ion collisions is also suppressed at high $p_{T}$.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted by PR