CP violation in K±→π0π0π±K^{\pm}\to\pi^0\pi^0\pi^{\pm} decay

CP violation leads to a difference between the parameters $g^+$ and $g^-$ describing the energy distributions of the charged pions produced in the $K^+ \to\pi^0 \pi^0 \pi^+$ and $K^- \to \pi^0\pi^0 \pi^-$ decays. We study the difference $(g^+ - g^-)$ as a function of the relative contributions from the QCD-penguin and the electroweak-penguin diagrams. We find that the combination of these contributions in $(g^+ - g^-)$ is very similar to the corresponding one defining the parameter $\epsilon'$ in the $K_L \to 2\pi$ decays. This observation allows a determination of the value of $(g^+ - g^-)$, using data on $\epsilon'$

Magnetic Moments of Heavy Baryons

First non-trivial chiral corrections to the magnetic moments of triplet (T) and sextet (S^(*)) heavy baryons are calculated using Heavy Hadron Chiral Perturbation Theory. Since magnetic moments of the T-hadrons vanish in the limit of infinite heavy quark mass (m_Q->infinity), these corrections occur at order O(1/(m_Q \Lambda_\chi^2)) for T-baryons while for S^(*)-baryons they are of order O(1/\Lambda_\chi^2). The renormalization of the chiral loops is discussed and relations among the magnetic moments of different hadrons are provided. Previous results for T-baryons are revised.Comment: 11 Latex pages, 2 figures, to be published in Phys.Rev.

Electromagnetic Decays of Heavy Baryons

The electromagnetic decays of the ground state baryon multiplets with one heavy quark are calculated using Heavy Hadron Chiral Perturbation Theory. The M1 and E2 amplitudes for S^{*}--> S gamma, S^{*} --> T gamma and S --> T gamma are separately computed. All M1 transitions are calculated up to O(1/Lambda_chi^2). The E2 amplitudes contribute at the same order for S^{*}--> S gamma, while for S^{*} --> T gamma they first appear at O(1/(m_Q \Lambda_\chi^2)) and for S --> T gamma are completely negligible. The renormalization of the chiral loops is discussed and relations among different decay amplitudes are derived. We find that chiral loops involving electromagnetic interactions of the light pseudoscalar mesons provide a sizable enhancement of these decay widths. Furthermore, we obtain an absolute prediction for the widths of Xi^{0'(*)}_c--> Xi^{0}_c gamma and Xi^{-'(*)}_b--> Xi^{-}_b gamma. Our results are compared to other estimates existing in the literature.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Determining the neurotransmitter concentration profile at active synapses

Establishing the temporal and concentration profiles of neurotransmitters during synaptic release is an essential step towards understanding the basic properties of inter-neuronal communication in the central nervous system. A variety of ingenious attempts has been made to gain insights into this process, but the general inaccessibility of central synapses, intrinsic limitations of the techniques used, and natural variety of different synaptic environments have hindered a comprehensive description of this fundamental phenomenon. Here, we describe a number of experimental and theoretical findings that has been instrumental for advancing our knowledge of various features of neurotransmitter release, as well as newly developed tools that could overcome some limits of traditional pharmacological approaches and bring new impetus to the description of the complex mechanisms of synaptic transmission

Neurochemical Changes in the Mouse Hippocampus Underlying the Antidepressant Effect of Genetic Deletion of P2X7 Receptors.

Recent investigations have revealed that the genetic deletion of P2X7 receptors (P2rx7) results in an antidepressant phenotype in mice. However, the link between the deficiency of P2rx7 and changes in behavior has not yet been explored. In the present study, we studied the effect of genetic deletion of P2rx7 on neurochemical changes in the hippocampus that might underlie the antidepressant phenotype. P2X7 receptor deficient mice (P2rx7-/-) displayed decreased immobility in the tail suspension test (TST) and an attenuated anhedonia response in the sucrose preference test (SPT) following bacterial endotoxin (LPS) challenge. The attenuated anhedonia was reproduced through systemic treatments with P2rx7 antagonists. The activation of P2rx7 resulted in the concentration-dependent release of [3H]glutamate in P2rx7+/+ but not P2rx7-/- mice, and the NR2B subunit mRNA and protein was upregulated in the hippocampus of P2rx7-/- mice. The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression was higher in saline but not LPS-treated P2rx7-/- mice; the P2rx7 antagonist Brilliant blue G elevated and the P2rx7 agonist benzoylbenzoyl ATP (BzATP) reduced BDNF level. This effect was dependent on the activation of NMDA and non-NMDA receptors but not on Group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR1,5). An increased 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation was also observed in the dentate gyrus derived from P2rx7-/- mice. Basal level of 5-HT was increased, whereas the 5HIAA/5-HT ratio was lower in the hippocampus of P2rx7-/- mice, which accompanied the increased uptake of [3H]5-HT and an elevated number of [3H]citalopram binding sites. The LPS-induced elevation of 5-HT level was absent in P2rx7-/- mice. In conclusion there are several potential mechanisms for the antidepressant phenotype of P2rx7-/- mice, such as the absence of P2rx7-mediated glutamate release, elevated basal BDNF production, enhanced neurogenesis and increased 5-HT bioavailability in the hippocampus

Search for direct CP-violation in K+- --> pi+-pi0pi0 decays

A search for direct CP-violation in K+- --> pi+-pi0pi0 decays based on 47.14 million events has been performed by the NA48/2 experiment at the CERN SPS. The asymmetry in the Dalitz plot linear slopes A_g=(g^+ - g^-)/(g^+ + g^-) is measured to be A_g=(1.8 +- 2.6).10^{-4}. The design of the experiment and the method of analysis provide good control of instrumental charge asymmetries in this measurement. The precision of the result is limited by statistics and is almost one order of magnitude better than that of previous measurements by other experiments.Comment: 14 page

Charged Kaon K \to 3 pi CP Violating Asymmetries at NLO in CHPT

We give the first full next-to-leading order analytical results in Chiral Perturbation Theory for the charged Kaon K \to 3 pi slope g and decay rates CP-violating asymmetries. We have included the dominant Final State Interactions at NLO analytically and discussed the importance of the unknown counterterms. We find that the uncertainty due to them is reasonable just for \Delta g_C, i.e. the asymmetry in the K^+ \to pi^+ pi^+ pi^- slope g; we get \Delta g_C = -(2.4 +- 1.2) 10^{-5}. The rest of the asymmetries are very sensitive to the unknown counterterms. In particular, the decay rate asymmetries can change even sign. One can use this large sentivity to get valuable information on those counterterms and on Im(G_8) coupling --very important for the CP-violating parameter epsilon'_K-- from the eventual measurement of these asymmetries. We also provide the one-loop O(e^2 p^2) electroweak octet contributions for the neutral and charged Kaon K \to 3 pi decays.Comment: 43+2 pages, 2 figures. Version accepted in JHEP. Small changes in the final numerics of CP asymmetries due to change in input valu

Speech Perception Changes in the Acoustically Aided, Nonimplanted Ear after Cochlear Implantation: A Multicenter Study

In recent years there has been an increasing percentage of cochlear implant (CI) users who have usable residual hearing in the contralateral, nonimplanted ear, typically aided by acoustic amplification. This raises the issue of the extent to which the signal presented through the cochlear implant may influence how listeners process information in the acoustically stimulated ear. This multicenter retrospective study examined pre- to postoperative changes in speech perception in the nonimplanted ear, the implanted ear, and both together. Results in the latter two conditions showed the expected increases, but speech perception in the nonimplanted ear showed a modest yet meaningful decrease that could not be completely explained by changes in unaided thresholds, hearing aid malfunction, or several other demographic variables. Decreases in speech perception in the nonimplanted ear were more likely in individuals who had better levels of speech perception in the implanted ear, and in those who had better speech perception in the implanted than in the nonimplanted ear. This raises the possibility that, in some cases, bimodal listeners may rely on the higher quality signal provided by the implant and may disregard or even neglect the input provided by the nonimplanted ear

Imaging the Partonic Structure of the Nucleon

We discuss the main properties of different types of parton distribution functions, which provide complementary multidimensional images of the partonic structure of the nucleon. These distributions are the generalized parton distributions, the transverse-momentum dependent parton distributions and the Wigner distributions. They have attracted increasing attention in the last years as they represent new tools to study how the composite structure of the proton results from the underlying quark-gluon dynamics