A
bstract
We present the calculation of the short-distance power corrections to the CP-violation parameter
ε
K
coming from dimension-8 operators in the ∆
S
= 2 effective Hamiltonian. A first estimate ...of this contribution, obtained for large-
N
c
and in the chiral limit, was provided in ref.
1
. Here we evaluate and include the
O
m
K
2
/
m
c
2
and
O
Λ
QCD
2
/
m
c
2
contributions that, a priori, could induce
O
(1) corrections to previous estimates, as
m
K
is numerically of order Λ
QCD
. Our computation shows that there are several dimension-8 operators besides the one considered before. Their effect on
ε
K
, however, accidentally cancels out to a large extent, leaving the final correction at the level of 1%.
A
bstract
We present a lattice QCD computation of the
b
-quark mass, the
B
and
B
s
decay constants, the
B
-mixing bag prameters for the full four-fermion operator basis as well as determinations for
...ξ
and
f
Bq
extrapolated to the continuum limit and to the physical pion mass. We used
N
f
= 2 twisted mass Wilson fermions at four values of the lattice spacing with pion masses ranging from 280 to 500 MeV. Extrapolation in the heavy quark mass from the charm to the bottom quark region has been carried out on ratios of physical quantities computed at nearby quark masses, exploiting the fact that they have an exactly known infinite mass limit. Our results are
m
b
(
m
b
,
) = 4
.
29(12) GeV,
f
Bs
= 228(8) MeV,
f
B
= 189(8) MeV and
f
Bs
/f
B
= 1
.
206(24). Moreover with our results for the bag-parameters we find
ξ
= 1
.
225(31),
= 1
.
01(2),
f
Bd
= 216(10) MeV and 1
f
Bs
= 262(10) MeV. We also computed the bag parameters for the complete basis of the four-fermion operators which are required in beyond the SM theories. By using these results for the bag parameters we are able to provide a refined Unitarity Triangle analysis in the presence of New Physics, improving the bounds coming from
B
(
s
)
−
mixing.
We present a lattice QCD calculation of the up, down, strange and charm quark masses performed using the gauge configurations produced by the European Twisted Mass Collaboration with Nf=2+1+1 ...dynamical quarks, which include in the sea, besides two light mass degenerate quarks, also the strange and charm quarks with masses close to their physical values. The simulations are based on a unitary setup for the two light quarks and on a mixed action approach for the strange and charm quarks. The analysis uses data at three values of the lattice spacing and pion masses in the range 210–450 MeV, allowing for accurate continuum limit and controlled chiral extrapolation. The quark mass renormalization is carried out non-perturbatively using the RI′-MOM method. The results for the quark masses converted to the MS¯ scheme are: mud(2 GeV)=3.70(17) MeV, ms(2 GeV)=99.6(4.3) MeV and mc(mc)=1.348(46) GeV. We obtain also the quark mass ratios ms/mud=26.66(32) and mc/ms=11.62(16). By studying the mass splitting between the neutral and charged kaons and using available lattice results for the electromagnetic contributions, we evaluate mu/md=0.470(56), leading to mu=2.36(24) MeV and md=5.03(26) MeV.
The role of osteocalcin (OCN) in pubertal development, male hypogonadism, and the effect of testosterone (Te) replacement therapy (TRT) remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the total OCN (tOCN) ...concentrations in male patients with Klinefelter syndrome (KS), a model of adult hypergonadotropic hypogonadism.
This retrospective longitudinal study investigated 254 male patients with KS (47,XXY) between 2007 and 2021 at an academic referral center, categorized as (1) prepubertal, (2) pubertal, and (3) adults. All prepubertal patients were Te-naïve. Adult patients were subcategorized as (1) eugonadal, (2) hypogonadal, and (3) receiving TRT. We also analyzed 18 adult patients with available tOCN levels before and 3 months after TRT commencement.
The tOCN levels varied throughout the lifespan according to pubertal status, were highest in eugonadal and significantly lower in TRT subjects, correlated with both LH (p = 0.017) and FSH levels (p = 0.004) in adults, and significantly declined after 3 months of TRT (p = 0.006) in the adult KS cohort. HPG-axis hormones levels demonstrated no correlation in prepubertal boys. Adjustment for age and body mass index confirmed previous results and revealed significant inverse correlations with total Te (p = 0.004), calculated free Te (p = 0.016), the Te/LH (p = 0.010), and calculated free Te/LH ratios (p = 0.031).
In KS, a model of male hypergonadotropic hypogonadism, tOCN levels were not associated with gonadal function during normal prepuberty and pubertal development but were associated with worse testicular function and a higher degree of HPG stimulation in adults. TRT acutely reduced tOCN levels in adults.
A
bstract
We present a new method to evaluate with high precision leading isospin breaking effects due to the small mass difference between the up and down quarks using lattice QCD. Our proposal is ...applicable in principle to any hadronic observable which can be computed on the lattice. It is based on the expansion of the path-integral in powers of the small parameter
m
d
−
m
u
. In this paper, we apply this method to compute the leading isospin breaking effects for several physical quantities of interest: the kaon meson masses, the kaon decay constant, the form factors of semileptonic
K
ℓ
3
decays and the neutron-proton mass splitting.
Purpose
Higher grade aneuploidies (HGAs) of the male sex chromosomes are a rare genetic group of pathologies caused by nondisjunction meiotic events. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact ...of early androgenic therapy on the testicular secretory hormone profile, and the pathophysiological implications.
Patients and methods
In this cross-sectional study, 18 HGA subjects aged 6–8 years were recruited. They were divided into two groups, based on whether or not they had previously undergone testosterone therapy (group 1: 11 untreated subjects; group 2: 7 treated subjects). Serum FSH, LH, testosterone (T), inhibin B (INHB) and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) were determined, and auxological parameters were assessed. Five group 1 patients and four group 2 patients were treated with hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) for inguinal cryptorchidism; their hormone profile and auxological parameters were assessed both pre- and post-hCG treatment.
Results
Group 1 subjects showed significantly higher testicular volume and higher levels of AMH and INHB (
p
< 0.0001). Subjects who had undergone hCG therapy showed a significantly higher testicular volume, penis length (respectively,
p
= 0.008 and
p
= 0.0005 for group 1 and
p
= 0.04 and
p
= 0.001 for group 2) and T (
p
= 0.005 for group 1 and
p
= 0.004 for group 2).
Conclusions
HGA patients undergoing early testosterone therapy show an earlier and persistent suppression of testicular secretory function. At this age, the testes are still responsive to stimulation with hCG. The selection of patients to be treated must be accompanied by a thorough clinical and hormonal evaluation.
The lack of information on structural basis where proteins are involved, as well as the biomineralization processes of different systems such as bones, diatom frustules, and eggshells, have intrigued ...scientists from different fields for decades. This scientific curiosity has led to the use of methodologies that help understand the mechanism involved in the formation of these complex structures. Therefore, this work focuses on the use of eggshell membranes from different species of ratites (emu and ostrich) and reptiles (two species of crocodiles) as a model to differentiate biocalcification and biosilicification by introducing calcium phosphate or silica inside the membrane fiber mantles. We performed this to obtain information about the process of eggshell formation as well as the changes that occur in the membrane during crystal formation. In order to identify and understand the early processes leading to the formation of the microstructures present in the eggshell, we decided to carry out the synthesis of silica-carbonate of calcium, barium, and strontium called biomorph in the presence of intramineral proteins. This was carried out to evaluate the influence of these proteins on the formation of specific structures. We found that the proteins on untreated membranes, present a structural growth similar to those observed in the inner part of the eggshell, while in treated membranes, the structures formed present a high similarity with those observed in the outer and intermediate part of the eggshell. Finally, a topographic and molecular analysis of the biomorphs and membranes was performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman and Fourier-transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopies.
The recently measured B→τν branching ratio allows to test the Standard Model by probing virtual effects of new heavy particles, such as a charged Higgs boson. The accuracy of the test is currently ...limited by the experimental error on BR(B→τν) and by the uncertainty on the parameters fB and |Vub|. The redundancy of the Unitarity Triangle fit allows to reduce the error on these parameters and thus to perform a more precise test of the Standard Model. Using the current experimental inputs, we obtain BR(B→τν)SM=(0.84±0.11)×10−4, to be compared with BR(B→τν)exp=(1.73±0.34)×10−4. The Standard Model prediction can be modified by New Physics effects in the decay amplitude as well as in the Unitarity Triangle fit. We discuss how to disentangle the two possible contributions in the case of minimal flavour violation at large tanβ and generic loop-mediated New Physics. We also consider two specific models with minimal flavour violation: the Type-II Two Higgs Doublet Model and the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model.
PDF
