Variational Principle in the Algebra of Asymptotic Fields

This paper proposes a variational principle for the solutions of quantum field theories in which the ``trial functions'' are chosen from the algebra of asymptotic fields, and illustrates this variational principle in simple cases.Comment: 15 pages, Latex, no figure

Quality of life of patients treated surgically for head and neck cancer

The quality of survival of 48 patients treated surgically for head and neck cancer was assessed using a problem-orientated self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was based on the European Organization for Research into the Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) core questionnaire to which a specific head and neck module was added. The following domains were studied: pain, fatigue, physical symptoms (gastrointestinal and 'other'), functional activity, psychological symptoms, overall physical condition and overall quality of life. For the analysis, five groups of patients were considered: laryngectomy (n = 15), pharyngolaryngoesophagectomy (n = 5), craniofacial procedure (n = 11), 'other operations' (n = 9) and patients with disease recurrence (n = 8). Each group identified different problem areas. Laryngectomees and 'other operation' patients reported relatively few problems, whereas patients with disease recurrence described difficulties in all of the domains examined. Symptoms of fatigue were common. Information collected in this way may facilitate improved rehabilitation and thus better quality of survival

Glacial cycles promote greater dispersal, which can help explain larger clutch sizes, in north temperate birds

Earth’s glacial history and patterns in the life history traits of the planet’s avifauna suggest the following interpretations of how recent geological history has affected these key characteristics of the biota: 1) Increased colonizing ability has been an important advantage of increased dispersal, and life history strategies are better categorized by dispersive colonizing ability than by their intrinsic growth rates; 2) Birds of the North Temperate Zone show a greater tendency to disperse, and they disperse farther, than tropical or south temperate birds; 3) Habitat changes associated with glacial advance and retreat selected for high dispersal ability, particularly in the North; and 4) Selection for greater dispersal throughout the unstable Pleistocene has also resulted in other well-recognized life history contrasts, especially larger clutch sizes in birds of North Temperate areas

The chameleon groups of Richard J. Thompson: automorphisms and dynamics

The automorphism groups of several of Thompson's countable groups of piecewise linear homeomorphisms of the line and circle are computed and it is shown that the outer automorphism groups of these groups are relatively small. These results can be interpreted as stability results for certain structures of PL functions on the circle. Machinery is developed to relate the structures on the circle to corresponding structures on the line

Strategic Outsourcing: Evidence from the British Companies

Outsourcing has become an increasingly popular option for many organisations. But they vary in terms of activities being outsourced, reasons for and benefits from outsourcing, and how the decision was made. This article presents an empirical research on fourteen companies. It found out, a) in most cases it was the ‘peripheral’ support activity being outsourced with cost reduction as the primary driver; b) outsourcing decision was being made early in the process without active involvement of the in-house provider; and c) there were problems in supplier selection and management. The research identified pre-outsourcing decision process and post-outsourcing management as the two key areas that gave cause for concern, and offered recommendations for improvement

Non-Pauli Effects from Noncommutative Spacetimes

Noncommutative spacetimes lead to nonlocal quantum field theories (qft's) where spin-statistics theorems cannot be proved. For this reason, and also backed by detailed arguments, it has been suggested that they get corrected on such spacetimes leading to small violations of the Pauli principle. In a recent paper \cite{Pauli}, Pauli-forbidden transitions from spacetime noncommutativity were calculated and confronted with experiments. Here we give details of the computation missing from this paper. The latter was based on a spacetime $\mathcal{B}_{\chi\vec{n}}$ different from the Moyal plane. We argue that it quantizes time in units of $\chi$. Energy is then conserved only mod $\frac{2\pi}{\chi}$. Issues related to superselection rules raised by non-Pauli effects are also discussed in a preliminary manner.Comment: 15 Pages, 1 Table, Full details and further developments of arXiv:1003.2250. This version is close to the one accepted by JHE

Search for exchange-antisymmetric two-photon states

Atomic two-photon J=0 $\leftrightarrow$J'=1 transitions are forbidden for photons of the same energy. This selection rule is related to the fact that photons obey Bose-Einstein statistics. We have searched for small violations of this selection rule by studying transitions in atomic Ba. We set a limit on the probability $v$ that photons are in exchange-antisymmetric states: $v<1.2\cdot10^{-7}$.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, ReVTeX and .eps. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. Revised version 9/25/9