Varying constants, Gravitation and Cosmology

Fundamental constants are a cornerstone of our physical laws. Any constant varying in space and/or time would reflect the existence of an almost massless field that couples to matter. This will induce a violation of the universality of free fall. It is thus of utmost importance for our understanding of gravity and of the domain of validity of general relativity to test for their constancy. We thus detail the relations between the constants, the tests of the local position invariance and of the universality of free fall. We then review the main experimental and observational constraints that have been obtained from atomic clocks, the Oklo phenomenon, Solar system observations, meteorites dating, quasar absorption spectra, stellar physics, pulsar timing, the cosmic microwave background and big bang nucleosynthesis. At each step we describe the basics of each system, its dependence with respect to the constants, the known systematic effects and the most recent constraints that have been obtained. We then describe the main theoretical frameworks in which the low-energy constants may actually be varying and we focus on the unification mechanisms and the relations between the variation of different constants. To finish, we discuss the more speculative possibility of understanding their numerical values and the apparent fine-tuning that they confront us with.Comment: 145 pages, 10 figures, Review for Living Reviews in Relativit

Consumer confidence and consumption in Sweden

: The role of confidence indices in explaining consumption growth in Sweden during the period 1975-94 is analysed in this paper. We first analysed which variables i nfluence the levels of the confidence indices. Two important such factors are found to be changes in real interest rates and changes in the inflation rate. Of the two forward-looking indices considered, the one regarding the personal financial situation is found to be more closely related to changes in consumption than the index regarding the general economic situation. The latter has no additional information content in the presence of the former. In a crude analysis the personal financial situation index explains about 37 % of the variance in the growth rate of consumption. The index has an important significant effect even in the presence of other variables in the two types of consumption models that are considered, an Euler equation and a solved-out consumption model. In the latter model, the confidence index increases ..

Organizational foundations and closures in a regulated environment : Swedish commercial banks 1831-1990

This study analyzes the foundations and closures of the total population of Swedish commercial banks in 1831-1990 using both semi-parametric and parametric event-history methods. With reference to the comparatively rigid control of entries and exits in banking, five hypotheses are formulated: (1) acquisitions constitute the principal reason for closure in banking; (2) the early years are less hazardous for banks than for members of other industries; (3) the survival patterns of banks are related to the freedom of banking operations; (4) the survival rates of banks are positively related to the general economic activity at the time of foundation; and (5) the survival rates of banks are negatively related to the degree to which customer relationships already exist. The findings support the first, second, third and fifth hypotheses; some evidence also favours the fourth hypothesi

Organizational foundations and closures in a regulated environment : Swedish commercial banks 1831-1990

This study analyzes the foundations and closures of the total population of Swedish commercial banks in 1831-1990 using both semi-parametric and parametric event-history methods. With reference to the comparatively rigid control of entries and exits in banking, five hypotheses are formulated: (1) acquisitions constitute the principal reason for closure in banking; (2) the early years are less hazardous for banks than for members of other industries; (3) the survival patterns of banks are related to the freedom of banking operations; (4) the survival rates of banks are positively related to the general economic activity at the time of foundation; and (5) the survival rates of banks are negatively related to the degree to which customer relationships already exist. The findings support the first, second, third and fifth hypotheses; some evidence also favours the fourth hypothesis

Organizational foundations and closures in a regulated environment: Swedish commercial banks 1831-1990

This study analyses the foundations and closures of the total population of Swedish commercial banks, 1831-1990. With reference to the comparatively rigid control of entries and exits in banking, four hypotheses are formulated: (1) acquisitions constitute the principal method of closure in banking; (2) the early years are less hazardous for members of the banking industry than for members of other industries; (3) the survival rates of banks are negatively related to the freedom of bank operations; and (4) the survival rates of banks are negatively related to the degree to which customer relationships already exist. The analysis provides evidence supporting the four hypotheses.

Prostate cancer risk and serologic evidence of human papilloma virus infection: a population-based case-control study.

Epidemiological evidence is accumulating that sexual history may be associated with prostate cancer, and some studies have suggested a relation between human papilloma virus (HPV) infections and prostate cancer. We measured the presence of antibodies to the major oncogenic HPV types 16, 18, and 33 among 238 subjects with untreated prostate cancer and 210 population-based control subjects. Odds ratios (ORs) were estimated from multivariate logistic regression models, controlling for age and HPV types 16, 18, and 33, simultaneously. HPV types 16 and 18 were not associated with prostate cancer [OR, 0.7; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.4-1.3 for HPV 16; OR, 0.9; 95% CI, 0.5-1.9 for HPV 18]. There was a possible association between HPV 33 and prostate cancer (OR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.0-2.7), and there was a significant excess risk for subjects with high antibody levels against HPV 33 (OR when the difference in absorbance exceeded 0.2, 2.3; 95% CI, 1.2-4.1). When HPV antibody levels were modeled as continuous variables, the results were qualitatively similar. The data do not support previous studies that have suggested an association with HPV 16 or 18 and prostate cancer risk. Inconsistent associations with different HPV types seen in different studies suggest that the association may be because of chance, bias, or confounding by some unknown risk factor that may associate with different HPV infections in different populations. Additional studies of the relationship between prostate cancer and other HPV types, notably HPV 33, could be helpful for clarifying the possible role of sexual risk factors