Relativistic phase space: dimensional recurrences

We derive recurrence relations between phase space expressions in different dimensions by confining some of the coordinates to tori or spheres of radius $R$ and taking the limit as $R \to \infty$. These relations take the form of mass integrals, associated with extraneous momenta (relative to the lower dimension), and produce the result in the higher dimension.Comment: 13 pages, Latex, to appear in J Phys

BRS symmetry restoration of chiral Abelian Higgs-Kibble theory in dimensional renormalization with a non-anticommuting γ5\gamma_5

The one-loop renormalization of the abelian Higgs-Kibble model in a general 't Hooft gauge and with chiral fermions is fully worked out within dimensional renormalization scheme with a non-anticommuting $\gamma_5$. The anomalous terms introduced in the Slavnov-Taylor identities by the minimal subtraction algorithm are calculated and the asymmetric counterterms needed to restore the BRS symmetry, if the anomaly cancellation conditions are met, are computed. The computations draw heavily from regularized action principles and Algebraic Renormalization theory.Comment: 32 pages, 11 figures, one table, plane tex in several files, uses epsf.tex. Mathematica programs which generate the tex files with results are included. V.2: references added and minor typos correcte

Social factors influencing child health in Ghana

Objectives Social factors have profound effects on health. Children are especially vulnerable to social influences, particularly in their early years. Adverse social exposures in childhood can lead to chronic disorders later in life. Here, we sought to identify and evaluate the impact of social factors on child health in Ghana. As Ghana is unlikely to achieve the Millennium Development Goals’ target of reducing child mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015, we deemed it necessary to identify social determinants that might have contributed to the non-realisation of this goal. Methods ScienceDirect, PubMed, MEDLINE via EBSCO and Google Scholar were searched for published articles reporting on the influence of social factors on child health in Ghana. After screening the 98 articles identified, 34 of them that met our inclusion criteria were selected for qualitative review. Results Major social factors influencing child health in the country include maternal education, rural-urban disparities (place of residence), family income (wealth/poverty) and high dependency (multiparousity). These factors are associated with child mortality, nutritional status of children, completion of immunisation programmes, health-seeking behaviour and hygiene practices. Conclusions Several social factors influence child health outcomes in Ghana. Developing more effective responses to these social determinants would require sustainable efforts from all stakeholders including the Government, healthcare providers and families. We recommend the development of interventions that would support families through direct social support initiatives aimed at alleviating poverty and inequality, and indirect approaches targeted at eliminating the dependence of poor health outcomes on social factors. Importantly, the expansion of quality free education interventions to improve would-be-mother’s health knowledge is emphasised