Electromagnetic Form Factors and the Hypercentral CQM

New results about the electromagnetic form factors of the nucleon are obtained with a semirelativistic version of the hypercentral constituent quark model (hCQM) and a relativistic current. The complex structure of the constituent quarks is taken into account implicitly by means of phenomenological constituent quark form factors. We obtain a detailed reproduction of the experimental data up to $5 GeV^2$, moreover our findings about constituent quark root mean square radii are of the same order than the recent ones obtained analyzing the proton structure functions.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

Deuteron photodisintegration within the Quark-Gluon Strings Model and QCD motivated nonlinear Regge trajectories

We investigate deuteron two-body photodisintegration within the framework of the Quark-Gluon Strings Model with nonlinear baryon Regge trajectories. Special attention is paid to the use of QCD motivated Regge trajectories of the logarithmic and square-root form which have been suggested recently by Brisudov\'{a}, Burakovsky and Goldman. We find that the recent experimental data from TJNAF in the few GeV region can reasonably be described by the model. Angular distributions at different $\gamma$-energies are presented and the effect of a forward-backward asymmetry is discussed. Predictions for the energy dependence of $d\sigma/dt$ at higher energies and different $\Theta_{cm}$ are presented, too.Comment: 21 pages, LaTeX, including 6 postscript figures; submitted to Phys. Rev.

Ceramide in Cystic Fibrosis: A Potential New Target for Therapeutic Intervention

Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) are afflicted with many symptoms but the greatest challenge is the fight against chronic bacterial infections, leading to decreased lung function and ultimately death. Our group has recently found reduced levels of ceramides in CF patients and mice. Ceramides are sphingolipids involved in the structure of cell membranes but also participate in the inflammatory response, in cell signalling through membrane microdomains (lipid rafts), and in apoptosis. These characteristics of ceramides make them strong candidates for therapeutic intervention in CF. As more studies have come to evaluate the role of ceramide in CF, conflicting results have been described. This paper discusses various views regarding the potential role of ceramide in CF, summarizes methods of ceramide detection and their role in the regulation of cellular and molecular processes

Studies of Transverse Momentum Dependent Parton Distributions and Bessel Weighting

In this paper we present a new technique for analysis of transverse momentum dependent parton distribution functions, based on the Bessel weighting formalism. The procedure is applied to studies of the double longitudinal spin asymmetry in semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering using a new dedicated Monte Carlo generator which includes quark intrinsic transverse momentum within the generalized parton model. Using a fully differential cross section for the process, the effect of four momentum conservation is analyzed using various input models for transverse momentum distributions and fragmentation functions. We observe a few percent systematic offset of the Bessel-weighted asymmetry obtained from Monte Carlo extraction compared to input model calculations, which is due to the limitations imposed by the energy and momentum conservation at the given energy/Q2. We find that the Bessel weighting technique provides a powerful and reliable tool to study the Fourier transform of TMDs with controlled systematics due to experimental acceptances and resolutions with different TMD model inputs.Comment: 30 pages, 8 figures, enhanced discussion and interpretation of results, new section on errors with an appendix, added references. Accepted for publication in JHE

Ecuaciones de onda relativista y modelos de quarks.

Se presentan algunas Ecuaciones de Onda Relativistas (RWE) para dos cuerpos derivadas de la QED, como la ecuación de Breit, Gross y Mandelzweig-Wallace; y se analizan los efectos de sus aproximaciones, sus simetrías y posibilidades de aplicación en la construcción de modelos relativistas de quarks. Finalmente, se exponen en forma general los problemas de la QCD en la descripción de los sistemas hadrónicos y se estudia brevemente un modelo de quarks basado en una generalización de las RWE.Some two-body Relativistic Wave Equations (RWE) derived from QED are presented: the Breit, Gross and Mandelzweig- Wallace equations. We analyze their advantages, symmetries and application possibilities for the construction of relativistic quarks models. Finally, we expose in a general form, the problems of QCD in the description of hadronic systems, and a quark model based on a generalization of the RWE is briefly studied

The contamination of the surface of Vesta by impacts and the delivery of the dark material

The Dawn spacecraft observed the presence of dark material, which in turn proved to be associated with OH and H-rich material, on the surface of Vesta. The source of this dark material has been identified with the low albedo asteroids, but it is still a matter of debate whether the delivery of the dark material is associated with a few large impact events, to micrometeorites or to the continuous, secular flux of impactors on Vesta. The continuous flux scenario predicts that a significant fraction of the exogenous material accreted by Vesta should be due to non-dark impactors likely analogous to ordinary chondrites, which instead represent only a minor contaminant in the HED meteorites. We explored the continuous flux scenario and its implications for the composition of the vestan regolith, taking advantage of the data from the Dawn mission and the HED meteorites. We used our model to show that the stochastic events scenario and the micrometeoritic flux scenario are natural consequences of the continuous flux scenario. We then used the model to estimate the amounts of dark and hydroxylate materials delivered on Vesta since the LHB and we showed how our results match well with the values estimated by the Dawn mission. We used our model to assess the amount of Fe and siderophile elements that the continuous flux of impactors would mix in the vestan regolith: concerning the siderophile elements, we focused our attention on the role of Ni. The results are in agreement with the data available on the Fe and Ni content of the HED meteorites and can be used as a reference frame in future studies of the data from the Dawn mission and of the HED meteorites. Our model cannot yet provide an answer to the fate of the missing non-carbonaceous contaminants, but we discuss possible reasons for this discrepancy.Comment: 31 pages, 7 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication on the journal ICARUS, "Dark and Bright Materials on Vesta" special issu

Market response to external events and interventions in spherical minority games

We solve the dynamics of large spherical Minority Games (MG) in the presence of non-negligible time dependent external contributions to the overall market bid. The latter represent the actions of market regulators, or other major natural or political events that impact on the market. In contrast to non-spherical MGs, the spherical formulation allows one to derive closed dynamical order parameter equations in explicit form and work out the market's response to such events fully analytically. We focus on a comparison between the response to stationary versus oscillating market interventions, and reveal profound and partially unexpected differences in terms of transition lines and the volatility.Comment: 14 pages LaTeX, 5 (composite) postscript figures, submitted to Journal of Physics