Determination of f+K(0)f_+^K(0) and Extraction of ∣Vcs∣|V_{cs}| from Semileptonic DD Decays

By globally analyzing all existing measured branching fractions and partial rates in different four momentum transfer-squared $q^2$ bins of $D\to Ke^+\nu_e$ decays, we obtain the product of the form factor and magnitude of CKM matrix element $V_{cs}$ to be $f_+^K(0)|V_{cs}|=0.717\pm0.004$. With this product, we determine the $D\to K$ semileptonic form factor $f_+^K(0)=0.737\pm0.004\pm0.000$ in conjunction with the value of $|V_{cs}|$ determined from the SM global fit. Alternately, with the product together with the input of the form factor $f_+^K(0)$ calculated in lattice QCD recently, we extract $|V_{cs}|^{D\to Ke^+\nu_e}=0.962\pm0.005\pm0.014$, where the error is still dominated by the uncertainty of the form factor calculated in lattice QCD. Combining the $|V_{cs}|^{D_s^+\to\ell^+\nu_\ell}=1.012\pm0.015\pm0.009$ extracted from all existing measurements of $D^+_s\to\ell^+\nu_\ell$ decays and $|V_{cs}|^{D\to Ke^+\nu_e}=0.962\pm0.005\pm0.014$ together, we find the most precisely determined $|V_{cs}|$ to be $|V_{cs}|=0.983\pm0.011$, which improves the accuracy of the PDG'2014 value $|V_{cs}|^{\rm PDG'2014}=0.986\pm0.016$ by $45\%$

Effective potential for composite operators and for an auxiliary scalar field in a Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model

We derive the effective potentials for composite operators in a Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model at zero and finite temperature and show that in each case they are equivalent to the corresponding effective potentials based on an auxiliary scalar field. The both effective potentials could lead to the same possible spontaneous breaking and restoration of symmetries including chiral symmetry if the momentum cutoff in the loop integrals is large enough, and can be transformed to each other when the Schwinger-Dyson (SD) equation of the dynamical fermion mass from the fermion-antifermion vacuum (or thermal) condensates is used. The results also generally indicate that two effective potentials with the same single order parameter but rather different mathematical expressions can still be considered physically equivalent if the SD equation corresponding to the extreme value conditions of the two potentials have the same form.Comment: 7 pages, no figur

Preparation of productive and highly purified mogrosides from Siraitia grosvenorii

The mogrosides of Siraitia grosvenorii are natural sweetener and potential chemopreventive agents. In order to obtain high-yield and good-quality mogrosides, the flash extraction method was employed to extract mogrosides from S. grosvenorii. The extraction parameters were optimized by Taguchi’s experimental design, and the total yield of mogrosides was 8.6% under the optimum conditions. After purification by the chromatography column, the purity of mogrosides was greater than 92%. The separation technique described here may be applicable to commercial production of high-quality mogrosides.Key words: Flash extraction, mogrosides, mogroside V, purification, Taguchi’s experimental design

Plant Natural Product Formononetin Protects Rat Cardiomyocyte H9c2 Cells against Oxygen Glucose Deprivation and Reoxygenation via Inhibiting ROS Formation and Promoting GSK-3β Phosphorylation

The opening of mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) is a major cause of cell death in ischemia reperfusion injury. Based on our pilot experiments, plant natural product formononetin enhanced the survival of rat cardiomyocyte H9c2 cells during oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD) and reoxygenation. For mechanistic studies, we focused on two major cellular factors, namely, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK-3β), in the regulation of mPTP opening. We found that formononetin suppressed the formation of ROS and superoxide in a concentration-dependent manner. Formononetin also rescued OGD/reoxygenation-induced loss of mitochondrial membrane integrity. Further studies suggested that formononetin induced Akt activation and GSK-3β (Ser9) phosphorylation, thereby reducing GSK-3β activity towards mPTP opening. PI3K and PKC inhibitors abolished the effects of formononetin on mPTP opening and GSK-3β phosphorylation. Immunoprecipitation experiments further revealed that formononetin increased the binding of phosphor-GSK-3β to adenine nucleotide translocase (ANT) while it disrupted the complex of ANT with cyclophilin D. Moreover, immunofluorescence revealed that phospho-GSK-3β (Ser9) was mainly deposited in the space between mitochondria and cell nucleus. Collectively, these results indicated that formononetin protected cardiomyocytes from OGD/reoxygenation injury via inhibiting ROS formation and promoting GSK-3β phosphorylation.published_or_final_versio

Determination of f+π(0)f_+^\pi(0) and Extraction of ∣Vcd∣|V_{cd}| from Semileptonic DD Decays

By globally analyzing all existing measured branching fractions for $D\to \pi e^+\nu_e$ decays, partial decay rates in different four momentum transfer-squared $q^2$ bins, as well as products of the decay form factor $f_+^\pi(q^2)$ and the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) quark-mixing matrix element $|V_{cd}|$, we obtain $f_+^\pi(0)|V_{cd}|=0.1428\pm0.0019$. This product, in conjunction with $|V_{cd}|$ from a global Standard Model fit, implies a value for the $D\to\pi$ semileptonic form factor $f_+^\pi(0)=0.634\pm0.008\pm0.002$, which is consistent within error with those calculated in theory based on QCD, but with higher precision than the most accurate $f_+^\pi(0)_{\rm LQCD}=0.666\pm0.020\pm0.021$ calculated in LQCD by a factor of 3.3. Alternately, using this product together with the most accurate form factor calculated in LQCD, we find $|V_{cd}|^{D\to \pi e^+\nu_e}=0.2144\pm0.0029_{\rm exp}\pm 0.0093_{\rm LQCD}$. Combining this $|V_{cd}|^{D\to \pi e^+\nu_e}$ together with $|V_{cd}|^{D^+\to\mu^+\nu_\mu}=0.2160\pm0.0049\pm0.0014$ extracted from both the BESIII and CLEO-c measurements of $D^+\to\mu^+\nu_\mu$ decays, we find the most precisely extracted $|V_{cd}|$ to be $|V_{cd}|=0.2157\pm0.0045$ up to date, which improves the accuracy of the PDG'2014 value $|V_{cd}|_{\rm PDG'2014}=0.225\pm0.008$ by over $70$. Using this $|V_{cd}|$ together with the PDG'2014 $|V_{ud}|$ and $|V_{td}|$, we check for first column unitarity and find $|V_{ud}|^2+|V_{cd}|^2+|V_{td}|^2-1=-0.004\pm0.002$, which deviates from unitarity by $2\sigma$. In addition, we find the ratio of $f_+^\pi(0)$ and $D^+$ decay constant $f_{D^+}$ to be $f_+^\pi(0)/f_{D^+}=(3.11\pm0.08)$ GeV$^{-1}$, which can be used to validate LQCD calculations for these two quantities.Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1409.804