An ultradiscrete matrix version of the fourth Painleve equation

We establish a matrix generalization of the ultradiscrete fourth Painlev\'e equation (ud-PIV). Well-defined multicomponent systems that permit ultradiscretization are obtained using an approach that relies on a group defined by constraints imposed by the requirement of a consistent evolution of the systems. The ultradiscrete limit of these systems yields coupled multicomponent ultradiscrete systems that generalize ud-PIV. The dynamics, irreducibility, and integrability of the matrix valued ultradiscrete systems are studied.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures, Latex2e, Submitted to J. Phys. A, corrections mad

Effect of vicarious fear learning on children's heart rate responses and attentional bias for novel animals

Research with children has shown that vicarious learning can result in changes to 2 of Lang's (1968) 3 anxiety response systems: subjective report and behavioral avoidance. The current study extended this research by exploring the effect of vicarious learning on physiological responses (Lang's final response system) and attentional bias. The study used Askew and Field's (2007) vicarious learning procedure and demonstrated fear-related increases in children's cognitive, behavioral, and physiological responses. Cognitive and behavioral changes were retested 1 week and 1 month later, and remained elevated. In addition, a visual search task demonstrated that fear-related vicarious learning creates an attentional bias for novel animals, which is moderated by increases in fear beliefs during learning. The findings demonstrate that vicarious learning leads to lasting changes in all 3 of Lang's anxiety response systems and is sufficient to create attentional bias to threat in children

Preventing the development of observationally learnt fears in children by devaluing the model's negative response

Vicarious learning has become an established indirect pathway to fear acquisition. It is generally accepted that associative learning processes underlie vicarious learning; however, whether this association is a form of conditioned stimulus-unconditioned stimulus (CS-US) learning or stimulus-response (CS-CR) learning remains unclear. Traditionally, these types of learning can be dissociated in a US revaluation procedure. The current study explored the effects of post-vicarious learning US revaluation on acquired fear responses. Ninety-four children (46 males and 48 females) aged 6 to 10 years first viewed either a fear vicarious learning video or a neutral vicarious learning video followed by random allocation to one of three US revaluation conditions: inflation; deflation; or control. Inflation group children were presented with still images of the adults in the video and told that the accompanying sound and image of a very fast heart rate monitor belonged to the adult. The deflation group were shown the same images but with the sound and image of a normal heart rate. The control group received no US revaluation. Results indicated that inflating how scared the models appeared to be did not result in significant increases in children's fear beliefs, avoidance preferences, avoidance behavior or heart rate for animals above increases caused by vicarious learning. In contrast, US devaluation resulted in significant decreases in fear beliefs and avoidance preferences. Thus, the findings provide evidence that CS-US associations underpin vicarious learning and suggest that US devaluation may be a successful method for preventing children from developing fear beliefs following a traumatic vicarious learning episode with a stimulus

SLIDES: Climate Change & the Ecological Resources of the West

Presenter: Chris Field, Director, Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution of Washington, DC. 39 slides. Contains references

Web development evolution: the assimilation of web engineering security

In today’s e-commerce environment, information is an incredibly valuable asset. Surveys indicate that companies are suffering staggering financial losses due to web security issues. Analyzing the underlying causes of these security breaches shows that a significant proportion of them are caused by straightforward design errors in systems and not by failures in security mechanisms. There is significant research into security mechanisms but there is little research into the integration of these into software design processes, even those processes specifically designed for Web Engineering. Security should be designed into the application development process upfront through an independent flexible methodology that contains customizable components

Longitudinal variable selection by cross-validation in the case of many covariates

Longitudinal models are commonly used for studying data collected on individuals repeatedly through time. While there are now a variety of such models available (Marginal Models, Mixed Effects Models, etc.), far fewer options appear to exist for the closely related issue of variable selection. In addition, longitudinal data typically derive from medical or other large-scale studies where often large numbers of potential explanatory variables and hence even larger numbers of candidate models must be considered. Cross-validation is a popular method for variable selection based on the predictive ability of the model. Here, we propose a cross-validation Markov Chain Monte Carlo procedure as a general variable selection tool which avoids the need to visit all candidate models. Inclusion of a “one-standard error” rule provides users with a collection of good models as is often desired. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our procedure both in a simulation setting and in a real application.

2005 Oregon Vineyard and Winery Report

This statewide survey report on vineyards and wineries in Oregon covers bearing and nonbearing acres, size of vineyard operation, variety and county, size distribution, prices, yields, crush, inventory, and sales. The report also contains some comparisons of data for 2004 and 2005. According to this report, Oregon produced and crushed a record number of grapes in 2005

Extension of the Adler-Bobenko-Suris classification of integrable lattice equations

The classification of lattice equations that are integrable in the sense of higher-dimensional consistency is extended by allowing directed edges. We find two cases that are not transformable via the 'admissible transformations' to the lattice equations in the existing classification.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figure

2011 Oregon Vineyard Report

This statewide survey report on vineyards in Oregon, produced separately from the report on Oregon wineries, covers bearing and nonbearing acres, size of vineyard operation, variety and county, size distribution, prices, and yields. The report also contains some comparisons of data for 2010 and 2011. According to this report, wine grape production rose 33% in 2011