The structure of Green functions in quantum field theory with a general state

In quantum field theory, the Green function is usually calculated as the expectation value of the time-ordered product of fields over the vacuum. In some cases, especially in degenerate systems, expectation values over general states are required. The corresponding Green functions are essentially more complex than in the vacuum, because they cannot be written in terms of standard Feynman diagrams. Here, a method is proposed to determine the structure of these Green functions and to derive nonperturbative equations for them. The main idea is to transform the cumulants describing correlations into interaction terms.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figure

Promoting Transparency in Social Science Research

There is growing appreciation for the advantages of experimentation in the social sciences. Policy-relevant claims that in the past were backed by theoretical arguments and inconclusive correlations are now being investigated using more credible methods. Changes have been particularly pronounced in development economics, where hundreds of randomized trials have been carried out over the last decade. When experimentation is difficult or impossible, researchers are using quasi-experimental designs. Governments and advocacy groups display a growing appetite for evidence-based policy-making. In 2005, Mexico established an independent government agency to rigorously evaluate social programs, and in 2012, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget advised federal agencies to present evidence from randomized program evaluations in budget requests (1, 2)

The Vaccination Model in Psychoneuroimmunology Research: A Review

This chapter explores the reasoning behind using the vaccination model to examine the influence of psychosocial factors on immunity. It then briefly discusses the mechanics of the vaccination response and the protocols used in psychoneuroimmunology vaccine research, before giving examples from the research literature of the studies examining relationships such as the association between stress and vaccination response. It also explores the ways the vaccination model can be used to answer key questions in psychoneuroimmunology, such as the following: “Does it matter when stressful life events occur relative to when the vaccine is received?” “What are the effects of prior exposure to the antigen?” “Do other psychosocial factors influence vaccine response besides stress?” Finally, it briefly considers the mechanisms underlying psychosocial factors and vaccination response associations and the future research needed to understand these better, and indeed to use current and future knowledge to improve and enhance vaccine responses in key at-risk populations

Emotional repression, stress disclosure responses, and Epstein-Barr viral capsid antigen titers.

Based on the theory of psychosomatic inhibition, we hypothesized that subjects who abstained from disclosing emotional material on a laboratory task would have poorer control of latent Epstein-Barr virus (as evidenced by high titers for the viral capsid antigen), and similarly, those subjects with psychometrically derived repressive interpersonal styles would show the highest Epstein-Barr viral capsid antigen titers (EBV-VCA). Eighty first-year undergraduates completed a personality inventory and were asked to write an essay/letter for 30 minutes about a stressful event that had happened in their life. Blood was collected from each subject immediately after writing. Essays were scored for degree of emotional disclosure according to the ratio of emotional-to-total words used. Degree of disclosure was found to be associated with impaired control of latent EBV (high antibody titers to the EBV-VCA) controlling for medication use, recent sleep loss, physical activity, lean body mass, caloric intake, and alcohol and recreational drug use. Further, individual differences in interpersonal style (characterized by emotional suppression) related to this immunologic marker in a similar fashion, and these two factors interacted in determining EBV-VCA titers. That is, Repressors who were either high or low disclosers had high levels of antibody titer to EBV-VCA, whereas only those Sensitizers who did not disclose had high antibody titers to EBV-VCA. In addition to supporting the hypothesis that emotional repression is associated with some aspects of host-virus interaction, the present findings highlight the importance of obtaining behavioral and psychometric assessments in psychoimmunologic investigations of this abstract affective construct (i.e., repression)

Psychosocial Stressors, herpes virus reactivation and HIV infection

https://nsuworks.nova.edu/hpd_com_facbooks/1023/thumbnail.jp

Emotional disclosure through writing or speaking modulates latent Epstein-Barr virus antibody titers.

Healthy Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) seropositive undergraduates ( N = 57) completed a personality inventory, provided blood samples, and were randomly assigned to write or talk about stressful events, or to write about trivial events, during three weekly 20-min sessions, after which they provided a final blood sample. Individuals assigned to the verbal/stressful condition had significantly lower EBV antibody titers (suggesting better cellular immune control over the latent virus) after the intervention than those in the written/stressful group, who had significantly lower values than those in the written/trivial control group. Subjects assigned to the written/stressful condition expressed more negative emotional words than the verbal/stressful and control groups and more positive emotional words than the verbal/stressful group at each time point. The verbal/stressful group expressed more negative emotional words compared with the control group at baseline. Content analysis indicated that the verbal/stressful group achieved the greatest improvements in cognitive change, self-esteem, and adaptive coping strategies