Spin and Statistics and First Principles

It was shown in the early Seventies that, in Local Quantum Theory (that is the most general formulation of Quantum Field Theory, if we leave out only the unknown scenario of Quantum Gravity) the notion of Statistics can be grounded solely on the local observable quantities (without assuming neither the commutation relations nor even the existence of unobservable charged field operators); one finds that only the well known (para)statistics of Bose/Fermi type are allowed by the key principle of local commutativity of observables. In this frame it was possible to formulate and prove the Spin and Statistics Theorem purely on the basis of First Principles. In a subsequent stage it has been possible to prove the existence of a unique, canonical algebra of local field operators obeying ordinary Bose/Fermi commutation relations at spacelike separations. In this general guise the Spin - Statistics Theorem applies to Theories (on the four dimensional Minkowski space) where only massive particles with finite mass degeneracy can occur. Here we describe the underlying simple basic ideas, and briefly mention the subsequent generalisations; eventually we comment on the possible validity of the Spin - Statistics Theorem in presence of massless particles, or of violations of locality as expected in Quantum Gravity.Comment: Survey based on a talk given at the Meeting on "Theoretical and experimental aspects of the spin - statistics connection and related symmetries", Trieste, Italy - October 21-25, 200

Potential Role of Ultrafine Particles in Associations between Airborne Particle Mass and Cardiovascular Health

Numerous epidemiologic time-series studies have shown generally consistent associations of cardiovascular hospital admissions and mortality with outdoor air pollution, particularly mass concentrations of particulate matter (PM) ≤2.5 or ≤10 μm in diameter (PM(2.5), PM(10)). Panel studies with repeated measures have supported the time-series results showing associations between PM and risk of cardiac ischemia and arrhythmias, increased blood pressure, decreased heart rate variability, and increased circulating markers of inflammation and thrombosis. The causal components driving the PM associations remain to be identified. Epidemiologic data using pollutant gases and particle characteristics such as particle number concentration and elemental carbon have provided indirect evidence that products of fossil fuel combustion are important. Ultrafine particles < 0.1 μm (UFPs) dominate particle number concentrations and surface area and are therefore capable of carrying large concentrations of adsorbed or condensed toxic air pollutants. It is likely that redox-active components in UFPs from fossil fuel combustion reach cardiovascular target sites. High UFP exposures may lead to systemic inflammation through oxidative stress responses to reactive oxygen species and thereby promote the progression of atherosclerosis and precipitate acute cardiovascular responses ranging from increased blood pressure to myocardial infarction. The next steps in epidemiologic research are to identify more clearly the putative PM casual components and size fractions linked to their sources. To advance this, we discuss in a companion article (Sioutas C, Delfino RJ, Singh M. 2005. Environ Health Perspect 113:947–955) the need for and methods of UFP exposure assessment

Charity registration and reporting:a cross-Jurisdictional and theoretical analysis of regulatory impact

Increasingly governments worldwide regulate charities, seeking to restrict the number of organizations claiming taxation exemptions, reduce abuse of state support and fraud. Under public interest theory governments may increase philanthropy through public trust and confidence in charities. Under public choice theory regulators will maximize political returns, ‘manage’ charity-government relationships, and avoid regulatory capture. Phillips and Smith (2014) suggest that charities’ regulatory regimes should coalesce, despite jurisdictional diversity. We analyse charity regulatory regimes against underlining theories of regulation, and assess regulatory costs and benefits. Thus regulators can reduce regulatory inefficiency, and balance accountability and transparency demands with charities’ abilities to deliver

Kinetics of the Methyl-Vinyl Radical + O-2 Reactions Associated with Propene Oxidation

The bimolecular rate coefficients of reactions CH3CCH2 + O-2 (1) and cis/trans-CH3CHCH + O-2 (2a/3a) have been measured using a tubular laminar flow reactor coupled with a photoionization mass spectrometer (PIMS). These reactions are relevant in the combustion of propene. Pulsed excimer laser photolysis of a ketone or a bromide precursor molecule at 193 or 248 nm wavelength was used to produce radicals of interest homogeneously along the reactor. Time-resolved experiments were performed under pseudo-first-order conditions at low pressure (0.3-1.5 Torr) over the temperature range 220-660 K. The measured bimolecular rate coefficients were found to be independent of bath gas concentration. The bimolecular rate coefficients possess negative temperature dependence at low temperatures (T 420 K). Observed products of the reaction CH3CCH2 + O-2 were CH3 and H2CO, while for the reaction cis/trans-CH3CHCH + O-2, observed products were CH3CHO and HCO. Current results indicate that the reaction mechanism of both reactions is analogous to that of C2H3 + O-2. Methyl substitution of the vinyl radical changes its reactivity toward O-2 upward by ca. 50% if it involves the alpha-position and downward by ca. 30% if the methyl group takes either of the beta-positions, respectively.Peer reviewe

Indoor bacterial microbiota and development of asthma by 10.5 years of age

Background: Early-life indoor bacterial exposure is associated with the risk of asthma, but the roles of specific bacterial genera are poorly understood. Objective: We sought to determine whether individual bacterial genera in indoor microbiota predict the development of asthma. Methods: Dust samples from living rooms were collected at 2 months of age. The dust microbiota was characterized by using Illumina MiSeq sequencing amplicons of the bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA gene. Children (n = 373) were followed up for ever asthma until the age of 10.5 years. Results: Richness was inversely associated with asthma after adjustments (P = .03). The phylogenetic microbiota composition in asthmatics patients' homes was characteristically different from that in nonasthmatic subjects' homes (P = .02, weighted UniFrac, adjusted association, permutational multivariate analysis of variance, PERMANOVA-S). The first 2 axis scores of principal coordinate analysis of the weighted UniFrac distance matrix were inversely associated with asthma. Of 658 genera detected in the dust samples, the relative abundances of 41 genera correlated (r > vertical bar 0.4 vertical bar) with one of these axes. Lactococcus genus was a risk factor for asthma (adjusted odds ratio, 1.36 [95% CI, 1.13-1.63] per interquartile range change). The abundance of 12 bacterial genera (mostly from the Actinomycetales order) was associated with lower asthma risk (P <.10), although not independently of each other. The sum relative abundance of these 12 intercorrelated genera was significantly protective and explained the majority of the association of richness with less asthma. Conclusion: Our data confirm that phylogenetic differences in the microbiota of infants' homes are associated with subsequent asthma risk and suggest that communities of selected bacteria are more strongly linked to asthma protection than individual bacterial taxa or mere richness.Peer reviewe

Model for long QT syndrome type 2 using human iPS cells demonstrates arrhythmogenic characteristics in cell culture

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Particle-flow reconstruction and global event description with the CMS detector

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Principal-component analysis of two-particle azimuthal correlations in PbPb and pPb collisions at CMS

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Search for dark matter and unparticles in events with a Z boson and missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

Erratum 1: DOI:10.1007/JHEP09(2017)106 Erratum 2: DOI:10.1007/JHEP01(2018)056Peer reviewe