Generalized Parton Distributions at CLAS

Generalized Parton Distributions represent one of the most exhaustive tools to describe nucleon structure. By combining together information from the electromagnetic form factors and from the standard parton distributions, they provide a three-dimensional picture of hadrons. The experimental access to these quantities is provided by the Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering and the Deeply Virtual Meson Production processes. The specific characteristics of the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer installed at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, with its high capability to reconstruct the final states of these exclusive processes over a large phase space, make this detector one of the best tool for the experimental investigation of the GPDs

Libraries : global reach, local touch / edited by Kathleen de la Peña McCook, Barbara J. Ford and Kate Lippincott. Chicago, London : American Library Association, 1998. v, 256 p. ISBN 0-8389-0738-5

Reseña

A covariant investigation of Neutral Vector Mesons: dynamical properties and electromagnetic decay widths

A simple, but fully-covariant model for describing neutral Vector Mesons, in both light and heavy sectors, is briefly illustrated. The main ingredients of our relativistic constituent model are i) an Ansatz for the Bethe-Salpeter vertex for Vector Mesons, and ii) a Mandelstam-like formula for the electromagnetic decay widths. The free parameters of our approach are fixed through a comparison with the valence transverse-momentum distribution, $n(k_\perp)$, obtained within phenomenological Light-Front Hamiltonian Dynamics models reproducing the mass spectra. Preliminary results for the transverse-momentum distributions, the parton distribution and the electromagnetic decay constants are shown.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. Proceedings of LC2009, to appear in Nucl. Phys. B supp

Analysis of Social Interaction in Music Performance With Score-independent Audio Features

(Abstract to follow

Comparative Studies of Different Preservation Methods and Relative Freeze-Drying Formulations for Extracellular Vesicle Pharmaceutical Applications

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been studied for years for their role as effectors and mediators of cell-to-cell communication and their potential application to develop new and increasingly performing nanotechnological systems for the diagnosis and/or treatment of many diseases. Given all the EVs applications as just isolated, functionalized, or even engineered cellular-derived pharmaceuticals, the standardization of reliable and reproducible methods for their preservation is urgently needed. In this study, we isolated EVs from a healthy blood cell line, B lymphocytes, and compared the effectiveness of different storage methods and relative freeze-drying formulations to preserve some of the most important EVs’ key features, i.e., concentration, mean size, protein content, and surface antigen’s expression. To develop a preservation method that minimally affects the EVs’ integrity and functionality, we applied the freeze-drying process in combination with different excipients. Since EVs are isolated not only from body fluids but also from culture media conditioned by the cells growing there, we decided to test both the effects of the traditional pharmaceutical excipient and of biological media to develop EVs solidified products with desirable appearance and performance properties. Results showed that some of the tested excipients, i.e., sugars in combination with dextran and glycine, successfully maintained the stability and integrity of EVs upon lyophilization. In addition, to evaluate the preservation of the EVs’ biological activity, we assessed the cytotoxicity and internalization ability of the reconstituted EVs in healthy (B lymphocytes) and tumoral (Burkitt’s lymphoma) cells. Reconstituted EVs demonstrated toxicity only toward the cancerous cells, opening new therapeutic opportunities for the oncological field. Furthermore, our study showed how some biological or cellular-conditioned fluids, commonly used in the field of cell cultures, can act not only as cryoprotectants but also as active pharmaceutical ingredients, significantly tuning the therapeutic effect of EVs, even increasing their cellular internalization

The contribution of cohesin-SA1 to gene expression and chromatin architecture in two murine tissues

Cohesin, which in somatic vertebrate cells consists of SMC1, SMC3, RAD21 and either SA1 or SA2, mediates higher-order chromatin organization. To determine how cohesin contributes to the establishment of tissue-specific transcriptional programs, we compared genome-wide cohesin distribution, gene expression and chromatin architecture in cerebral cortex and pancreas from adult mice. More than one third of cohesin binding sites differ between the two tissues and these show reduced overlap with CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) and are enriched at the regulatory regions of tissue-specific genes. Cohesin/CTCF sites at active enhancers and promoters contain, at least, cohesin-SA1. Analyses of chromatin contacts at the Protocadherin (Pcdh) and Regenerating islet-derived (Reg) gene clusters, mostly expressed in brain and pancreas, respectively, revealed remarkable differences that correlate with the presence of cohesin. We could not detect significant changes in the chromatin contacts at the Pcdh locus when comparing brains from wild-type and SA1 null embryos. In contrast, reduced dosage of SA1 altered the architecture of the Reg locus and decreased the expression of Reg genes in the pancreas of SA1 heterozygous mice. Given the role of Reg proteins in inflammation, such reduction may contribute to the increased incidence of pancreatic cancer observed in these animals.The Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) [BFU2013-48481-R to A.L.]; 'Ramon y Cajal' Contract [RYC-2010-06122 to A.C.]; Fundacion La Caixa [PhD Fellowship to S.R.]. Funding for open access charge: The Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) [BFU2013-48481-R]S

Factores incidentes en los resultados de la automatización bibliotecaria: una indagación sobre experiencias de países en desarrollo

The implementation of an automated system in information units in countries involved in a process of library conversion, is usually carried out under the influence of different factors. These are defined as external or contextual, when they refer to the library environment conditions and as internal when they relate to the library structure and intrinsic functioning. This work intends to carry out a qualitative research on the basis of the categories mentioned above, from specific cases selected from the library literature. Its aim is to describe and assess the incidence levels of these factors in the automation of information units. In conclusion, the present analysis reveals the preminence of internal factors (technical and of library management and policy) over those identified as external. It also shows that instances associated with the project planning and human resources training, appear as the most relevant indicator in the stage of results evaluation

Freeze-drying modeling and monitoring using a new neuro-evolutive technique

This paper is focused on the design of a black-box model for the process of freeze-drying of pharmaceuticals. A new methodology based on a self-adaptive differential evolution scheme is combined with a back-propagation algorithm, as local search method, for the simultaneous structural and parametric optimization of the model represented by a neural network. Using the model of the freeze-drying process, both the temperature and the residual ice content in the product vs. time can be determine off-line, given the values of the operating conditions (the temperature of the heating shelf and the pressure in the drying chamber). This makes possible to understand if the maximum temperature allowed by the product is trespassed and when the sublimation drying is complete, thus providing a valuable tool for recipe design and optimization. Besides, the black box model can be applied to monitor the freeze-drying process: in this case, the measurement of product temperature is used as input variable of the neural network in order to provide in-line estimation of the state of the product (temperature and residual amount of ice). Various examples are presented and discussed, thus pointing out the strength of the too