Tree-level contributions to B -> Xs gamma

Weak radiative decay B -> X_s gamma is known to be a loop-generated process. However, it does receive tree-level contributions from CKM-suppressed b -> u ubar s gamma transitions. In the present paper, we evaluate such contributions together with similar ones from the QCD penguin operators. For a low value of the photon energy cutoff E_0 ~ m_b/20 that has often been used in the literature, they can enhance the inclusive branching ratio by more than 10%. For E_0 = 1.6 GeV or higher, the effect does not exceed 0.4%, which is due to phase-space suppression. Our perturbative results contain collinear logarithms that depend on the light quark masses m_q (q=u,d,s). We have allowed m_b/m_q to vary from 10 to 50, which corresponds to values of m_q that are typical for the constituent quark masses. Such a rough method of estimation may be improved in the future with the help of fragmentation functions once the considered effects begin to matter in the overall error budget for BR(B -> X_s gamma).Comment: v3: Corrected factors of 2 in the subdominant T_3 contributions. Minor changes in the numerical results (Table II

ANALIZA STOSOWALNOŚCI USŁUG SIECIOWYCH TYPU REST I SOAP

Web Services are common means to exchange data and information over the network. Web Services make themselves available over the Internet, where technology and platform are independent. These web services can be developed on the basis of two interaction styles such as Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) and Representational State Transfer Protocol (REST). In this study, a comparison of REST and SOAP web services is presented in terms of their applicability in diverse areas. It is concluded that in the past both technologies were equally popular, but during the rapid Internet development the REST technology has become the leading one in the area of access to Internet services.Usługi sieciowe są powszechnie stosowane do wymiany danych i informacji w Internecie. Usługi sieciowe nie zależą od użytej platformy sprzętowej oraz od oprogramowania. W niniejszym artykule zostały omówione dwie najpopularniejsze technologie tworzenia usług sieciowych: REST (ang. Representational State Transfer) i SOAP (ang. Simple Object Access Protocol). W trakcie realizacji badań przeprowadzono analizę stosowalności  tych usług w różnych obszarach zastosowań. Stwierdzono że w przeszłości obie technologie cieszyły się porównywalną  popularnością, lecz w momencie gwałtownego rozwoju Internetu technologia REST stała się technologią dominującą w zakresie dostępu do usług sieciowych

Interactions between the prefrontal cortex and attentional systems during volitional affective regulation : an effective connectivity reappraisal study

Reappraisal is an emotion regulation strategy used to change reactions to emotion-related stimuli by reinterpreting their meaning. During down-regulation of negative emotions, wide areas of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) inhibit emotion-related brain areas such as the amygdala. Little is known, however, about how this control activity influences the earliest stages of affective responses by modulating perceptual and attentional areas. The aim of this study is to identify the connectivity patterns between the PFC and the core regions of two well-known attentional networks: the dorsal attentional network (which controls attention volitionally) and the ventral attentional network (which controls attention spontaneously) during reappraisal. We used a novel method to study emotional control processes: the directed transfer function, an autoregressive effective connectivity method based on Granger causality. It was applied to EEG recordings to quantify the direction and intensity of information flow during passively watching (control condition) or reappraising (experimental condition) negative film clips. Reappraisal was mostly associated with increased top-down influences from the right dorsolateral PFC over attentional and perceptual areas, reaching areas including dorsal attentional regions. The left dorsolateral PFC was associated with the activation of the ventral attentional network. Passively watching clips (control condition) resulted in increased flow from attentional areas to the left dorsolateral PFC, what is interpreted as a monitoring process. Thus, reappraisal seems to be related to both volitional and automatic control of attention, triggered by the right and left dorsolateral PFC respectively

Foetal and neonatal alloimune thrombocytopenia as a rare exapmle of thrombocytopenia in newborn

Foetal and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (FNAIT) is caused by antigenic incompatibility of platelets between a pregnant woman and her child, resulting in producing antibodies by a mother against specific antigens (HPA- Human Platelet Antigens) located on fetal platelets inherited from his father. The aim of this study is to present a 29-year-old patient in the 40th week of the second pregnancy admitted to the Department after rupturing of membranes. A male infant was born vaginally with numerous petechiae, bruising and yellowish skin colour. Due to severe thrombocytopenia 1 unit of leucocyte-reduced, irradiated, reconstituted platelet concentrate (LRIRPC) of blood group O RhD (+), suspended in plasma type AB was ordered. Human immunoglobulin (Kiovig preparation) was transfused. A check exam of complete blood count of the newborn revealed 5 x 103/µL of platelets count 4 hours after the transfusion. Following transfusions of LRIRPC and Kiovig were ordered. Again with no therapeutic effect. The newborn’s HPA antigens were identified as: 1a/b; 2a/a; 3a/a; 5a/a; 4a/a; 15b/b, platelet antibodies derived from the mother were found in his serum. After transfusion of 1 unit of HPA-1b/b LRIRPC at 37 hours of the newborn’s life the platelet count increased to 67 x103/µL. The treatment with dexamethasone and Kiovig was continued. The infant was discharged in good condition in the 33rd day of life. The FNAIT diagnostics is usually carried out only as a result of clinical manifestations of thrombocytopenia in the newborn. There was a possibility for all pregnant women from 8 weeks of pregnancy to have their blood tested for the presence of HPA-1a antigen in the period between October of 2013 to January of 2017 in Poland. It made it possible to nominate HPA-1a negative women

The assessment of testosterone and radioisotopic index of bone metabolism and bone mineral density in men with testosterone deficiency after one year of testosterone therapy

Background: Testosterone deficiency in men is characterized by typical symptoms of hypogonadism and negative influence on the preservation of bone mass. In this study, we analysed the relationship between testosterone concentration and bone metabolism. Moreover, we assessed the impact of one-year compensation of testosterone deficiency in elderly men on bone metabolism and bone mineral density. Radioisotopic methods of bone metabolism assessment provide new research opportunities. Materials and methods: Men with total testosterone concentration (TT) ≤ 3 ng/ml were included into this study. Patients with disorders or injuries of bone system, elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA), enlarged prostate, disorders of thyroid and liver, diabetes mellitus or a history of chemotherapy as well as those treated for a long time with antibiotics were excluded from this study. The results of 50 men aged 57.52 ± 6.71 years obtained before the treatment (I test) and after one year of oral testosterone supplementation (test II) were analysed in this study. The following examinations and analyses were performed: interview and physical examination, orthopaedic, neurological and urological consultations, blood biochemistry, determination of hormones levels, assessment of Testosterone Deficiency Syndrome (TDS), densitometric and radioisotope assessment of bone metabolism. Moreover, radioisotopic index of bone metabolism was calculated. Testosterone therapy with oral preparation Undestor Testo Caps (Organon) containing 40 mg of testosterone lasted for 12 months. Statistical analysis was performed using Statistica 12 and Excel 2010 programs. Correlations between results before and after treatment were analysed. Results: After 12 months of treatment, testosterone concentration increased by mean 78% and the level of luteinizing hormone (LH) decreased by 62%. TDS index increased from 0.53 ± 0.21 (in test I) to 1.91 ± 0.60 (in test II). After the therapy this index was significantly higher in all men (p < 0.0001). Moreover, BMD was also improved following therapy, however, the difference between test I and II was statistically insignificant. The greatest change was found in case of IBM (Index of Bone Metabolism). We observed a positive correlation between IBM and BMD before treatment (r = 0.7991), however, its strength decreased after one-year therapy (r = 0.6757). Conclusions: In our opinion, IBM is more sensitive than other methods of the assessment of changes occurring in bone system under the influence of testosterone therapy. The observed changes in IBM were proportional to changes in testosterone concentration. Testosterone level, TDS and radioisotopic assessment of bone metabolism may be used as prognostic and therapeutic factors of osteoporosis and bone fractures in elderly men.  BACKGROUND: Testosterone deficiency in men is characterized by typical symptoms of hypogonadism and negative influ­ence on the preservation of bone mass. In this study, we analysed the relationship between testosterone concentration and bone metabolism. Moreover, we assessed the impact of one-year compensation of testosterone deficiency in elderly men on bone metabolism and bone mineral density. Radioisotopic methods of bone metabolism assessment provide new research opportunities. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Men with total testosterone concentration (TT) ≤ 3 ng/ml were included into this study. Patients with disorders or injuries of bone system, elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA), enlarged prostate, disorders of thyroid and liver, diabetes mellitus or a history of chemotherapy as well as those treated for a long time with antibiotics were excluded from this study. The results of 50 men aged 57.52 ± 6.71 years obtained before the treatment (I test) and after one year of oral testosterone supplementation (test II) were analysed in this study. The following examinations and analyses were performed: interview and physical examination, orthopaedic, neurological and urological consultations, blood biochemistry, determination of hormones levels, assessment of Testosterone Deficiency Syndrome (TDS), densitometric and radioisotope assessment of bone metabolism. Moreover, radioisotopic index of bone metabolism was calculated. Testosterone therapy with oral preparation Undestor Testo Caps (Organon) containing 40 mg of testosterone lasted for 12 months. Statistical analysis was performed using Statistica 12 and Excel 2010 programs. Correlations between results before and after treatment were analysed. RESULTS: After 12 months of treatment, testosterone concentration increased by mean 78% and the level of luteinizing hormone (LH) decreased by 62%. TDS index increased from 0.53 ± 0.21 (in test I) to 1.91 ± 0.60 (in test II). After the therapy this index was significantly higher in all men (p &lt; 0.0001). Moreover, BMD was also improved following therapy, however, the difference between test I and II was statistically insignificant. The greatest change was found in case of IBM (Index of Bone Metabolism). We observed a positive correlation between IBM and BMD before treatment (r = 0.7991), however, its strength decreased after one-year therapy (r = 0.6757). CONCLUSIONS: In our opinion, IBM is more sensitive than other methods of the assessment of changes occurring in bone system under the influence of testosterone therapy. The observed changes in IBM were proportional to changes in testosterone concentration. Testosterone level, TDS and radioisotopic assessment of bone metabolism may be used as prognostic and therapeutic factors of osteoporosis and bone fractures in elderly men.

AN ATTEMPT TO INVESTIGATE THE IMPACT OF SELECTED INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS ON THE POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE BIGGEST EUROPEAN CITIES. APPLICATION OF THE SHIFTING MODEL (INTERVENING OPPORTUNITIES MODEL TYPE)

The aim of this article is to present research of simulating economic change diffusion, based on the well established Shifting Model (intervening opportunities model type). The algorithm allowed to detect macro regions in Europe, that show heightened potential in&nbsp;development of interdisciplinary economic clusters.&nbsp; Simulation experiments were conducted in two series: for predicting the impact of the Central Communication Port alone and prediction of the joint impact of the Central Communication Port and Via Carpathia (also known as “New Amber Road”). In this paper, we tried to answer the question: which areas of Europe will benefit the most from the Central Communication Port? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The achieved results of the simulation experiments confirmed the significant inertia of the European economic system in terms of centers and clusters forming, including the durable condition of the most developed regions.Przedmiotem niniejszego artykułu jest symulacyjne badanie dyfuzji zmian gospodarczych, oparte na ugruntowanym modelu pośrednich możliwości. Użyty algorytm&nbsp; umożliwił detekcję makroregionów europejskich, w których istnieje wyraźnie podwyższony potencjał rozwoju wielobranżowych klastrów gospodarczych. Eksperymenty symulacyjne wykonano w dwóch seriach: dla prognozy wpływu działania Centralnego Portu Komunikacyjnego oraz dla działania CPK łącznie z budowaną jednocześnie Via Carpatia (czyli tzw. “Nowym Szlakiem Bursztynowym”).&nbsp; W niniejszym artykule staraliśmy się odpowiedzieć na pytanie: które rejony Europy najwięcej zyskają działaniu Centralnego Portu Komunikacyjnego? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Osiągnięte przez nas wyniki eksperymentów symulacyjnych potwierdziły znaczną bezwładność systemu gospodarczego Europy w zakresie formowania centrów i klastrów, w tym trwałość kondycji rejonów najwyżej rozwiniętyc

Wealth condensation and "corruption" in a toy model

We discuss the wealth condensation mechanism in a simple toy economy in which individual agent’s wealths are distributed according to a Pareto power law and the overall wealth is fixed. The observed behaviour is the manifestation of a transition which occurs in Zero Range Processes (ZRPs) or "balls in boxes" models. An amusing feature of the transition in this context is that the condensation can be induced by increasing the exponent in the power law, which one might have naively assumed penalised greater wealths more