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Aim: Extensive ongoing research on probiotics and infant formulas raises a number of safety questions. One concern is the potential influence of d-lactic acid-containing preparations on the health of infants and children. The aim of this review was to summarise the available knowledge on the ingestion of d-lactic acid-producing bacteria, acidified infant formulas and fermented infant formulas as a potential cause of paediatric d-lactic acidosis.Methods: A Medline database search was performed in July 2017, with no restrictions on the language, article type or publication date. The 1715 search results were screened for clinical trials, review articles, case series and case reports of relevance to the topic.Results: We identified five randomised controlled trials from 2005 to 2017 covering 544 healthy infants and some case reports and experimental studies. No clinically relevant adverse effects of d-lactic acid-producing probiotics and fermented infant formulas were described in healthy children. However, a harmless, subclinical accumulation of d-lactate was theoretically possible. The only known cases of paediatric d-lactic acidosis occurred in patients with short bowel syndrome or, historically, in infants fed with acidified formulas.Conclusion: Our main finding was that probiotics and fermented formulas did not cause d-lactic acidosis in healthy children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A new detection system KRATTA, Kraków Triple Telescope Array, is presented. This versatile, low threshold, broad energy range system has been built to measure the energy, emission angle, and isotopic composition of light charged reaction products. It consists of 38 independent modules which can be arranged in an arbitrary configuration. A single module, covering actively about 4.5msr of the solid angle at the optimal distance of 40cm from the target, consists of three identical, thick, large area photodiodes, used also for direct detection, and of two CsI(1500ppm Tl) crystals of 2.5 and 12.5cm length, respectively. All the signals are digitally processed. The lower identification threshold, due to the thickness of the first photodiode, has been reduced to about 2.5MeV for protons ( of Si equivalent) by applying a pulse shape analysis. The pulse shape analysis allowed also to decompose the complex signals from the middle photodiode into their ionization and scintillation components and to obtain a satisfactory isotopic resolution with a single readout channel. The upper energy limit for protons is about 260MeV. The whole setup is easily portable. It performed very well during the ASY-EOS experiment, conducted in May 2011 at GSI. The structure and performance of the array are described using the results of Au+Au collisions at 400MeV/nucleon obtained in this experiment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The discriminant-analysis method has been applied to optimize the exotic-beam charge recognition in a projectile fragmentation experiment. The experiment was carried out at the GSI using the fragment separator (FRS) to produce and select the relativistic secondary beams, and the ALADIN setup to measure their fragmentation products following collisions with Sn target nuclei. The beams of neutron poor isotopes around 124La and 107Sn were selected to study the isospin dependence of the limiting temperature of heavy nuclei by comparing with results for stable 124Sn projectiles. A dedicated detector to measure the projectile charge upstream of the reaction target was not used, and alternative methods had to be developed. The presented method, based on the multivariate discriminant analysis, allowed to increase the efficacy of charge recognition up to about 90%, which was about 20% more than achieved with the simple scalar methods. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Excitation functions of flow and stopping observables for the Au+ Au system at energies from 40 to 1500MeV per nucleon are presented. The systematics were obtained by merging the results of the INDRA and FOPI experiments, both performed at the GSI facility. The connection to the nuclear equation of state is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Directed and elliptic flow for the 197Au + 197Au system at incident energies between 40 and 150 MeV per nucleon has been measured using the INDRA 4π multi-detector. For semi-central collisions, the elliptic flow of particles switches from in-plane to out-of-plane enhancement at around 100 MeV per nucleon, in good agreement with the result reported by the FOPI Collaboration. The directed flow changes sign at a bombarding energy between 50 and 60 MeV per nucleon and remains negative at lower energies. The conditions for the appearance and possible origins of the observed antiflow are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

For a few years, the medical cyclotron Proteus C-235 at the Cyclotron Centre Bronowice in Kraków, Poland has been regularly used fornuclear structure experiments. One of the ongoing studies is focused on the γ decay of collective states populated in (p,p'γ) reactions. In a recent experiment, γ decays of excited states in the energy region of the Pygmy Dipole Statesin 208Pb have been observed. Good efficiency and energy resolution provided by the PARIS clusters and LaBr3Ce scintillators facilitate a comparison of the obtained energy spectra with previous measurements of pygmy states in this nucleus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A very first experiment in the field of nuclear structure at the Cyclotron Centre Bronowice (CCB) facility in Kraków, Poland has been performed recently. The medical cyclotron IBA Proteus C-235 located at CCB produces proton beams in the energy range of 70-230 MeV, that can be used for experimental purposes as well. In the reported measurement, the energy of scattered protons at the incident beam energy of 85 MeV and emitted γrays from the excited 208Pb target were measured in coincidence. During the experiment excitations in the energy region of the Giant Quadrupole and Dipole Resonances, as well as the Pygmy Dipole States were observed. By applying different conditions on the data, spectra corresponding to decays of excited states to selected low-lying levels in 208Pb were obtained, allowing a look into the Brink-Axel hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diamond production by sintering and synthesis is known from the mid-fifties of the twentieth century. The sintering technology of PCD materials has not significantly changed even to this day. Nonetheless, there are publications providing a lot of success in the field of synthesis of diamond composite materials sintering using SPS technology, yet these studies are limited to pressures mainly up to 140 MPa. In this work HP SPS (High Pressure Spark Plasma Sintering) device, was used to sinter diamond composite with titanium‑boron bonding phase. Thus obtained material was then compared with HP-HT (High Pressure High Temperature) sintered sample, to investigate the influence of the heating by means of direct pulsed current on the crystallite size and phase composition of diamond with 10 wt% of Ti + 2B bonding phase. Both HP SPS and HP-HT processes were carried out at 8.0 ± 0.2 GPa and at the temperature of 1650 ± 50 °C during 20 s of holding time. The XRD analysis carried out showed that the different type of current used for heating has significant influence on kinetics of the sintering, which is visible in differences in phase composition and level of lattice strain, when comparing standard HP-HT with HP SPS methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

KATANA - the Krakow Array for Triggering with Amplitude discrimiNAtion - has been built and used as a trigger and veto detector for the S π RIT TPC at RIKEN. Its construction allows operating in magnetic field and providing fast response for ionizing particles, giving an approximate forward multiplicity and charge information. Depending on this information, trigger and veto signals are generated. The article presents performance of the detector and details of its construction. A simple phenomenological parametrization of the number of emitted scintillation photons in plastic scintillator is proposed. The effect of the light output deterioration in the plastic scintillator due to the in-beam irradiation is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

KATANA -- the Kraków Array for Triggering with Amplitude discrimiNAtion, has been built and used as a trigger and Veto detector for the SπRIT TPC at RIKEN. Its construction allows for operation in magnetic field and provides a fast response for ionizing particles giving the approximate forward multiplicity and charge information. Depending on this information, trigger and veto signals are generated. The Multi-Pixel Photon Counters were used as light sensors for plastic scintillators. Performance of the detector is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new accelerator facility -- Cyclotron Centre Bronowice (CCB) -- was opened two years ago in Kraków, Poland. Aside from cancer therapy, a scientific program of the nuclear structure research making use of proton beams in the energy range of 70-230 MeV plays a significant role as well. Lead and graphite targets were used to prove the feasibility of exclusive experiments on collective modes in various nuclei. The experimental technique consists of simultaneous energy measurement of scattered beam particles in coincidence with γ rays emitted from excited nuclei. This article describes the set-up and the method of analysis used for the experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decay of the 21.47-MeV stretched resonance in 13C, arising from p 3 / 2 → d 5 / 2 nucleon excitation coupled to maximum spin, was investigated in a (p , p ′) experiment at 135 MeV proton bombarding energy, performed at the Cyclotron Centre Bronowice (CCB) at IFJ PAN in Krakow. First experimental information on the proton and neutron decay branches from this state was obtained by using coincidence measurement of protons inelastically scattered on a 13C target and γ rays from daughter nuclei, namely, 12B (proton decay) and 12C (neutron decay). The main branches lead to the J π = 2 + , first-excited state at 0.953 MeV in 12B, and to the J π = 1 + , T = 1 level at 15.110 MeV in 12C. The results were compared with predictions from the Gamow Shell Model (GSM), which was used to describe the stretched resonance in terms of its energy, width, electromagnetic transition strengths and decay pattern. A very good agreement was obtained between the measured and calculated properties of the 21.47-MeV stretched resonance in 13C, demonstrating the high-quality and precision of the GSM wave function calculations, which include coupling to the resonant and non-resonant particle continuum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A multiplicity trigger detector (MTD) was developed for the S π RIT experiment that aims to probe the high-density symmetry energy via heavy-ion collisions (HICs). The MTD is designed to measure the charged-particle multiplicity in HICs to provide a trigger signal that can be used to select high-multiplicity events induced by central collisions. The MTD consists of two side-walls segmented into 30 plastic scintillation paddles, each equipped with a multi-pixel photon counter. A custom board with EASIROC front-end ASIC is used as readout electronics. A multiplicity logic signal is generated by an on-board FPGA that processes the discriminated signals from EASIROCs. The overall latency of the whole detector system for outputting the trigger is less than 100 ns, including 52 ns of electronics latency for processing the signals. During the measurement of 112 Sn + 124 Sn reactions at an incident energy of 270 MeV/nucleon, the minimum multiplicity threshold of the MTD was set to 4, where the overall trigger efficiency was obtained to be about 39 % for inclusive nuclear reactions. A simulation study with a numerical calculation of HICs found that the central collisions of impact parameters of less than 4 fm can be triggered with a high efficiency of more than 95 % by the experimental trigger condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The elliptic-flow ratio of neutrons with respect to protons or light complex particles in reactions of neutron-rich systems at relativistic energies is proposed as an observable sensitive to the strength of the symmetry term in the equation of state at supra-normal densities. The results obtained from the existing FOPI/LAND data for 197Au+ 197Au collisions at 400 MeV/nucleon in comparison with the UrQMD model favor a moderately soft symmetry term with a density dependence of the potential term proportional to with . [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

New results for the strength of the symmetry energy are presented which illustrate the complementary aspects encountered in reactions probing nuclear densities below and above saturation. A systematic study of isotopic effects in spectator fragmentation was performed at the ALADIN spectrometer with 124Sn primary and 107Sn and 124La secondary beams of 600 MeV/nucleon incident energy. The analysis within the Statistical Fragmentation Model shows that the symmetry-term coefficient entering the liquid-drop description of the emerging fragments decreases significantly as the multiplicity of fragments and light particles from the disintegration of the produced spectator systems increases. Higher densities were probed in the FOPI/LAND study of nucleon and light-particle flows in central and mid-peripheral collisions of 197Au+197Au nuclei at 400 MeV/nucleon incident energy. From the comparison of the measured neutron and hydrogen squeeze-out ratios with predictions of the UrQMD model a moderately soft symmetry term with a density dependence of the potential term proportional to (ρ/ρ0)γ with γ = 0.9 ± 0.3 is favored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Fragment properties of hot fragmenting sources of similar sizes produced in central and semi-peripheral collisions are compared in the excitation energy range . For semi-peripheral collisions a method for selecting compact quasi-projectiles sources in velocity space similar to those of fused systems (central collisions) is proposed. The two major results are related to collective energy. The weak radial collective energy observed for quasi-projectile sources is shown to originate from thermal pressure only. The larger fragment multiplicity observed for fused systems and their more symmetric fragmentation are related to the extra radial collective energy due to expansion following a compression phase during central collisions. A first attempt to locate where the different sources break in the phase diagram is proposed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Collisions of a very heavy nuclear system, 197Au + 197Au, were studied at the energy of 15 MeV/nucleon with the aim to identify and investigate main macroscopic modes of re-separation of such a heavy nuclear system. The experiment was performed at the INFN LNS laboratory in Catania by using the multidetector array CHIMERA. Along with binary strongly damped collisions, a strong component of a new re-separation mode: the "fast ternary fission" in characteristic nearly co-linear configuration was observed and the time scale of this process was determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cumulant ratios up to fourth order of the Z distributions of the largest fragment in spectator fragmentation following 107,124Sn+Sn and 124La+Sn collisions at 600 MeV/nucleon have been investigated. They are found to exhibit the signatures of a second-order phase transition established with cubic bond percolation and previously observed in the ALADIN experimental data for fragmentation of 197Au projectiles at similar energies. The deduced pseudocritical points are found to be only weakly dependent on the A / Z ratio of the fragmenting spectator source. The same holds for the corresponding chemical freeze-out temperatures of close to 6 MeV. The experimental cumulant distributions are quantitatively reproduced with the Statistical Multifragmentation Model and parameters used to describe the experimental fragment multiplicities, isotope distributions and their correlations with impact-parameter related observables in these reactions. The characteristic coincidence of the zero transition of the skewness with the minimum of the kurtosis excess appears to be a generic property of statistical models and is found to coincide with the maximum of the heat capacity in the canonical thermodynamic fragmentation model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When Time Projection Chambers (TPCs) are used in low to intermediate heavy ion collisions, the mass and momentum range of the emitted particles cover a wide range in energy losses. Many TPC readout electronics currently only have a single gain output with a fixed dynamic range. In a recent set of experiments using the SAMURAI Pion-Reconstruction and Ion-Tracker (S π RIT) TPC, it was important to simultaneously measure relativistic pions and heavy ion tracks from the same collisions. As the ionization from a track's energy loss is collected and multiplied by the anode wires, a distribution of image charges is induced on the TPC read-out pads. If the avalanche on a wire is large enough, the charge collected by pads directly underneath will saturate the readout electronics; pads farther away in the distribution will not be saturated. Using these unsaturated pads and the known pad distribution function, we can estimate the charge on saturated pads, increasing the dynamic range by a factor of 5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The elliptic flow (squeeze-out) of neutrons, protons and light complex particles in reactions of neutron-rich systems at relativistic energies is proposed as an observable, sensitive to the strength of the symmetry term in the equation of state at supra-normal densities. Preliminary results from a study of the existing FOPI/LAND data for 197Au + 197Au collisions at 400 A MeV with the UrQMD model favor a moderately soft symmetry term with a density dependence of the potential term proportional to with . [Copyright &y& Elsevier]