Potential of the marine diatom Halamphora coffeaeformis to simultaneously produce omega-3 fatty acids, chrysolaminarin and fucoxanthin in a raceway pond

Omega-3 eicosapentaenoic fatty acid (C20:5; EPA), β-glucan and fucoxanthin have received widespread attention owing to their potential industrial applications; however, their availability is currently limited to unsustainable sources such as fish oils and macroalgae. Though some species of diatoms are also a natural source of these metabolites, progress needs to be made in reducing the cost barriers involved in their large-scale production. The aim of the present study was therefore to assess the potential of the marine diatom Halamphora coffeaeformis to simultaneously accumulate EPA, chrysolaminarin and fucoxanthin in a raceway pond sustained by fertilizer (Bayfolan®)-enriched seawater. The biomass production increased significantly along the experiment, the specific growth rate, biomass productivity and areal yield being 2.03 day−1, 0.128 g.L−1.d−1 and 25.73 g.m−2.d−1, respectively. Proteins dominated in the first culture phase, while lipids, carbohydrates and pigments increased toward the end of the stationary phase. The harvested biomass presented 310 mg.g−1 DW (dry weight) of total lipids containing high amounts of EPA (24% of total fatty acids), 114 mg.g−1 DW of chrysolaminarin and 38 mg.g−1 DW of fucoxanthin. These values compare favorably with those obtained from commercially used sources. The culture medium proposed represents a non-conventional, cost-effective resource allowing for sustained high biomass levels throughout 22 days, guaranteeing the accumulation of valuable metabolites. Furthermore, the robustness and auto-flocculation capacity of the species increase the chances of viable scalability. These findings indicate the potential of H.coffeaeformis as a high-value metabolite feedstock, focusing on sustainable bioprocesses

Time Projection Chamber (TPC) detectors for nuclear astrophysics studies with gamma beams

Gamma-Beams at the HIS facility in the USA and anticipated at the ELI-NP facility, now constructed in Romania, present unique new opportunities to advance research in nuclear astrophysics; not the least of which is resolving open questions in oxygen formation during stellar helium burning via a precise measurement of the 12C() reaction. Time projection chamber (TPC) detectors operating with low pressure gas (as an active target) are ideally suited for such studies. We review the progress of the current research program and plans for the future at the HIS facility with the optical readout TPC (O-TPC) and the development of an electronic readout TPC for the ELI-NP facility (ELITPC)

Measurements of π±\pi^\pm, K±^\pm, p and pˉ\bar{\textrm{p}} spectra in proton-proton interactions at 20, 31, 40, 80 and 158 GeV/c with the NA61/SHINE spectrometer at the CERN SPS

Measurements of inclusive spectra and mean multiplicities of $\pi^\pm$, K$^\pm$, p and $\bar{\textrm{p}}$ produced in inelastic p+p interactions at incident projectile momenta of 20, 31, 40, 80 and 158 GeV/c ($\sqrt{s} =$ 6.3, 7.7, 8.8, 12.3 and 17.3 GeV, respectively) were performed at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron using the large acceptance NA61/SHINE hadron spectrometer. Spectra are presented as function of rapidity and transverse momentum and are compared to predictions of current models. The measurements serve as the baseline in the NA61/SHINE study of the properties of the onset of deconfinement and search for the critical point of strongly interacting matter

Status of data analysis and preliminary results of the CHIFAR experiment

In the CHIFAR experiment, carried out at the INFN-LNS laboratory, we studied reactions between beams of Sn-124, Xe-124 and Sn-112, accelerated at 20 AMeV, and targets of Ni-64, Zn-64 and Ni-58 by using the CHIMERA multi-detector coupled to 10 telescopes of the FARCOS array. The main topics of the experiment are the competition between reaction mechanisms and the Intermediate Mass Fragment production phenomenon, aiming to extend towards the low energy regime the studies performed in previous CHIMERA experiments carried out at beam energy of 35 AMeV. Status of data analysis arid preliminary results will be presented

Multiplicity and transverse momentum fluctuations in inelastic proton-proton interactions at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron

Measurements of multiplicity and transverse momentum fluctuations of charged particles were performed in inelastic p+p interactions at 20, 31, 40, 80 and 158 GeV/c beam momentum. Results for the scaled variance of the multiplicity distribution and for three strongly intensive measures of multiplicity and transverse momentum fluctuations \$\Delta[P_{T},N]\$, \$\Sigma[P_{T},N]\$ and \$\Phi_{p_T}\$ are presented. For the first time the results on fluctuations are fully corrected for experimental biases. The results on multiplicity and transverse momentum fluctuations significantly deviate from expectations for the independent particle production. They also depend on charges of selected hadrons. The string-resonance Monte Carlo models EPOS and UrQMD do not describe the data. The scaled variance of multiplicity fluctuations is significantly higher in inelastic p+p interactions than in central Pb+Pb collisions measured by NA49 at the same energy per nucleon. This is in qualitative disagreement with the predictions of the Wounded Nucleon Model. Within the statistical framework the enhanced multiplicity fluctuations in inelastic p+p interactions can be interpreted as due to event-by-event fluctuations of the fireball energy and/or volume.Comment: 18 pages, 12 figure

Pion emission from the T2K replica target: method, results and application

The T2K long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment in Japan needs precise predictions of the initial neutrino flux. The highest precision can be reached based on detailed measurements of hadron emission from the same target as used by T2K exposed to a proton beam of the same kinetic energy of 30 GeV. The corresponding data were recorded in 2007-2010 by the NA61/SHINE experiment at the CERN SPS using a replica of the T2K graphite target. In this paper details of the experiment, data taking, data analysis method and results from the 2007 pilot run are presented. Furthermore, the application of the NA61/SHINE measurements to the predictions of the T2K initial neutrino flux is described and discussed.Comment: updated version as published by NIM

Measurements of π±\pi^\pm, K±K^\pm, KS0K^0_S, Λ\Lambda and proton production in proton-carbon interactions at 31 GeV/cc with the NA61/SHINE spectrometer at the CERN SPS

Measurements of hadron production in p+C interactions at 31 GeV/c are performed using the NA61/ SHINE spectrometer at the CERN SPS. The analysis is based on the full set of data collected in 2009 using a graphite target with a thickness of 4% of a nuclear interaction length. Inelastic and production cross sections as well as spectra of $\pi^\pm$, $K^\pm$, p, $K^0_S$ and $\Lambda$ are measured with high precision. These measurements are essential for improved calculations of the initial neutrino fluxes in the T2K long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment in Japan. A comparison of the NA61/SHINE measurements with predictions of several hadroproduction models is presented.Comment: v1 corresponds to the preprint CERN-PH-EP-2015-278; v2 matches the final published versio

NA61/SHINE facility at the CERN SPS: beams and detector system

NA61/SHINE (SPS Heavy Ion and Neutrino Experiment) is a multi-purpose experimental facility to study hadron production in hadron-proton, hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron. It recorded the first physics data with hadron beams in 2009 and with ion beams (secondary 7Be beams) in 2011. NA61/SHINE has greatly profited from the long development of the CERN proton and ion sources and the accelerator chain as well as the H2 beamline of the CERN North Area. The latter has recently been modified to also serve as a fragment separator as needed to produce the Be beams for NA61/SHINE. Numerous components of the NA61/SHINE set-up were inherited from its predecessors, in particular, the last one, the NA49 experiment. Important new detectors and upgrades of the legacy equipment were introduced by the NA61/SHINE Collaboration. This paper describes the state of the NA61/SHINE facility - the beams and the detector system - before the CERN Long Shutdown I, which started in March 2013

Measurement of negatively charged pion spectra in inelastic p+p interactions at plabp_{lab} = 20, 31, 40, 80 and 158 GeV/c

We present experimental results on inclusive spectra and mean multiplicities of negatively charged pions produced in inelastic p+p interactions at incident projectile momenta of 20, 31, 40, 80 and 158 GeV/c ($\sqrt{s} =$ 6.3, 7.7, 8.8, 12.3 and 17.3 GeV, respectively). The measurements were performed using the large acceptance NA61/SHINE hadron spectrometer at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron. Two-dimensional spectra are determined in terms of rapidity and transverse momentum. Their properties such as the width of rapidity distributions and the inverse slope parameter of transverse mass spectra are extracted and their collision energy dependences are presented. The results on inelastic p+p interactions are compared with the corresponding data on central Pb+Pb collisions measured by the NA49 experiment at the CERN SPS. The results presented in this paper are part of the NA61/SHINE ion program devoted to the study of the properties of the onset of deconfinement and search for the critical point of strongly interacting matter. They are required for interpretation of results on nucleus-nucleus and proton-nucleus collisions.Comment: Numerical results available at: https://edms.cern.ch/document/1314605 Updates in v3: Updated version, as accepted for publicatio