Interacting crumpled manifolds

In this article we study the effect of a delta-interaction on a polymerized membrane of arbitrary internal dimension D. Depending on the dimensionality of membrane and embedding space, different physical scenarios are observed. We emphasize on the difference of polymers from membranes. For the latter, non-trivial contributions appear at the 2-loop level. We also exploit a ``massive scheme'' inspired by calculations in fixed dimensions for scalar field theories. Despite the fact that these calculations are only amenable numerically, we found that in the limit of D to 2 each diagram can be evaluated analytically. This property extends in fact to any order in perturbation theory, allowing for a summation of all orders. This is a novel and quite surprising result. Finally, an attempt to go beyond D=2 is presented. Applications to the case of self-avoiding membranes are mentioned

Adsorption of a random heteropolymer at a potential well revisited: location of transition point and design of sequences

The adsorption of an ideal heteropolymer loop at a potential point well is investigated within the frameworks of a standard random matrix theory. On the basis of semi-analytical/semi-numerical approach the histogram of transition points for the ensemble of quenched heteropolymer structures with bimodal symmetric distribution of types of chain's links is constructed. It is shown that the sequences having the transition points in the tail of the histogram display the correlations between nearest-neighbor monomers.Comment: 11 pages (revtex), 3 figure

On the reciprocal interaction between believing and feeling: an adaptive agent modelling perspective

An agent’s beliefs usually depend on informational or cognitive factors such as observation or received communication or reasoning, but also affective factors may play a role. In this paper, by adopting neurological theories on the role of emotions and feelings, an agent model is introduced incorporating the interaction between cognitive and affective factors in believing. The model describes how the strength of a belief may not only depend on information obtained, but also on the emotional responses on the belief. For feeling emotions a recursive body loop between preparations for emotional responses and feelings is assumed. The model introduces a second feedback loop for the interaction between feeling and belief. The strength of a belief and of the feeling both result from the converging dynamic pattern modelled by the combination of the two loops. For some specific cases it is described, for example, how for certain personal characteristics an optimistic world view is generated in the agent’s beliefs, or, for other characteristics, a pessimistic world view. Moreover, the paper shows how such affective effects on beliefs can emerge and become stronger over time due to experiences obtained. It is shown how based on Hebbian learning a connection from feeling to belief can develop. As these connections affect the strenghts of future beliefs, in this way an effect of judgment ‘by experience built up in the past’ or ‘by gut feeling’ can be obtained. Some example simulation results and a mathematical analysis of the equilibria are presented

Universality in movie rating distributions

In this paper histograms of user ratings for movies (1,...,10) are analysed. The evolving stabilised shapes of histograms follow the rule that all are either double- or triple-peaked. Moreover, at most one peak can be on the central bins 2,...,9 and the distribution in these bins looks smooth `Gaussian-like' while changes at the extremes (1 and 10) often look abrupt. It is shown that this is well approximated under the assumption that histograms are confined and discretised probability density functions of L\'evy skew alpha-stable distributions. These distributions are the only stable distributions which could emerge due to a generalized central limit theorem from averaging of various independent random avriables as which one can see the initial opinions of users. Averaging is also an appropriate assumption about the social process which underlies the process of continuous opinion formation. Surprisingly, not the normal distribution achieves the best fit over histograms obseved on the web, but distributions with fat tails which decay as power-laws with exponent -(1+alpha) (alpha=4/3). The scale and skewness parameters of the Levy skew alpha-stable distributions seem to depend on the deviation from an average movie (with mean about 7.6). The histogram of such an average movie has no skewness and is the most narrow one. If a movie deviates from average the distribution gets broader and skew. The skewness pronounces the deviation. This is used to construct a one parameter fit which gives some evidence of universality in processes of continuous opinion dynamics about taste.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publicatio

Influence of family and friend smoking on intentions to smoke and smoking-related attitudes and refusal self-efficacy among 9-10 year old children from deprived neighbourhoods: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Smoking often starts in early adolescence and addiction can occur rapidly. For effective smoking prevention there is a need to identify at risk groups of preadolescent children and whether gender-specific intervention components are necessary. This study aimed to examine associations between mother, father, sibling and friend smoking and cognitive vulnerability to smoking among preadolescent children living in deprived neighbourhoods. METHODS: Cross-sectional data was collected from 9-10 year old children (n =1143; 50.7% girls; 85.6% White British) from 43 primary schools in Merseyside, England. Children completed a questionnaire that assessed their smoking-related behaviour, intentions, attitudes, and refusal self-efficacy, as well as parent, sibling and friend smoking. Data for boys and girls were analysed separately using multilevel linear and logistic regression models, adjusting for individual cognitions and school and deprivation level. RESULTS: Compared to girls, boys had lower non-smoking intentions (P = 0.02), refusal self-efficacy (P = 0.04) and were less likely to agree that smoking is 'definitely' bad for health (P < 0.01). Friend smoking was negatively associated with non-smoking intentions in girls (P < 0.01) and boys (P < 0.01), and with refusal self-efficacy in girls (P < 0.01). Sibling smoking was negatively associated with non-smoking intentions in girls (P < 0.01) but a positive association was found in boys (P = 0.02). Boys who had a smoking friend were less likely to 'definitely' believe that the smoke from other people's cigarettes is harmful (OR 0.57, 95% CI: 0.35 to 0.91, P = 0.02). Further, boys with a smoking friend (OR 0.38, 95% CI: 0.21 to 0.69, P < 0.01) or a smoking sibling (OR 0.45, 95% CI: 0.21 to 0.98) were less likely to 'definitely' believe that smoking is bad for health. CONCLUSION: This study indicates that sibling and friend smoking may represent important influences on 9-10 year old children's cognitive vulnerability toward smoking. Whilst some differential findings by gender were observed, these may not be sufficient to warrant separate prevention interventions. However, further research is needed

In Search for the Rationality of Moods

What it is about mood, as a specific type of affect, that makes it not easily amenable to standard models of rationality? It is commonly assumed that the cognitive rationality of an affective state is somehow depended upon how that state is related to what the state is about, its so called intentional object; but, given that moods do not seem to bear an intentional relation to an object, it is hard to see how they can be in the offing for rational assessment. In the first part of the paper I outline three ways of attributing intentionality to moods, raising for each one of them a series of problems, thus casting doubt on the viability of an intentionalist grounding for the rationality of moods. I then move to an examination of the view of moods as background feelings, which are intimately related to how we perceive the world; however, in my view, that approach fails to provide standards of assessment that would permit appraising the mood itself as rational or irrational. Finally, I look at an account of moods as mechanisms whose function is to monitor the balance between environmental demands and one’s physical or psychological resources. That is a promising way to proceed in our exploration of mood states; it faces though some formidable phenomenological challenges. All in all, defending the rationality of moods calls for a rethinking of the assumptions that are prevalent in the current literature over the representational dimension of affective states

Control-Value Appraisals, Enjoyment, and Boredom in Mathematics:A Longitudinal Latent Interaction Analysis

Based on the control-value theory of achievement emotions, this longitudinal study examined students' control-value appraisals as antecedents of their enjoyment and boredom in mathematics. Self-report data for appraisals and emotions were collected from 579 students in their final year of primary schooling over three waves. Data were analyzed using latent interaction structural equation modeling. Control-value appraisals predicted emotions interactively depending on which specific subjective value was paired with perceived control. Achievement value amplified the positive relation between perceived control and enjoyment, and intrinsic value reduced the negative relation between perceived control and boredom. These longitudinal findings demonstrate that control and value appraisals, and their interaction, are critically important for the development of students' enjoyment and boredom over time

The Intentional Use of Service Recovery Strategies to Influence Consumer Emotion, Cognition and Behaviour

Service recovery strategies have been identified as a critical factor in the success of. service organizations. This study develops a conceptual frame work to investigate how specific service recovery strategies influence the emotional, cognitive and negative behavioural responses of . consumers., as well as how emotion and cognition influence negative behavior. Understanding the impact of specific service recovery strategies will allow service providers' to more deliberately and intentionally engage in strategies that result in positive organizational outcomes. This study was conducted using a 2 x 2 between-subjects quasi-experimental design. The results suggest that service recovery has a significant impact on emotion, cognition and negative behavior. Similarly, satisfaction, negative emotion and positive emotion all influence negative behavior but distributive justice has no effect

Bringing Habits and Emotions into Food Waste Behaviour

This study examined consumer food waste behaviour using a comprehensive model integrating the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), the theory of interpersonal behaviour, and the comprehensive model of environmental behaviour. Using a temporally lagged design, one hundred and seventy-two respondents answered four questionnaires over a period of 14 months. Questionnaires measured emotions in relation to food waste, habits, the TPB variables, intention to reduce food waste, and self-reported food waste behaviour. Results showed that the less well-studied variables of habits and emotions were important determinants of participants’ intentions to reduce food waste and their current food waste behaviour. As expected, we found that negative emotions were associated with greater intentions to reduce food waste, but contrary to our predictions they were also associated with higher levels of food waste behaviour. In other words, participants who experienced more negative emotion when thinking about food waste intended to reduce their waste but actually ended up wasting more food. Results also show that participants with a greater sense of control, and more normative support for reducing food waste also had stronger intentions to engage in the behaviour. Our findings extend existing understanding and underscore the importance of the non-cognitive determinants of behaviour, namely emotions and habits. The implications for research and practice are discussed