Does Quantum Physics Refute Realism, Materialism and Determinism?

It is argued that the correct answer to the three questions in the title is ??no??: that the theses being denied derive from traditional philosophy, not from the way the quantum theories are used. For example, the calculation of the energy spectrum of an atom assumes the autonomous existence of the atom, rather than its dependence upon the observer. However, it is also suggested that the problem has been unnecessarily complicated by a careless use of the terms ??realism??, ??materialism??, and ??determinism??. Precise definitions of these words are proposed.     

A Cultural Comparison of Trust in eLearning Artifacts

A significant body of literature focuses on learning mediated by technology (eLearning). We conceptually develop and empirically test a model of trust antecedents with online undergraduate students. Contributing to the student eLearning success literature, we posit that eLearning students require the support of technologies and trust in those technologies to feel satisfied with their learning and perceive that they will have a positive learning outcome. This study considers the effect of culture by comparing the trust and satisfaction of American and Latin American students in eLearning technologies. By conducting this study in two countries that differ in terms of national culture power distance and individualism, we learned that culture directly and significantly impacts trust in learning technologies. Culture also significantly changes the strength of the relation between trust and satisfaction. Future research directions and implications for researchers and higher education instructors are discussed.     

Why robots should not be treated like animals

Responsible Robotics is about developing robots in ways that take their social implications into account, which includes conceptually framing robots and their role in the world accurately. We are now in the process of incorporating robots into our world and we are trying to figure out what to make of them and where to put them in our conceptual, physical, economic, legal, emotional and moral world. How humans think about robots, especially humanoid social robots, which elicit complex and sometimes disconcerting reactions, is not predetermined. The animal–robot analogy is one of the most commonly used in attempting to frame interactions between humans and robots and it also tends to push in the direction of blurring the distinction between humans and machines. We argue that, despite some shared characteristics, when it comes to thinking about the moral status of humanoid robots, legal liability, and the impact of treatment of humanoid robots on how humans treat one another, analogies with animals are misleading.     

Privacy exchanges: restoring consent in privacy self-management

This article reviews the qualitative changes that big data technology introduced to society, particularly changes that affect how individuals control the access, use and retention of their personal data. In particular interest is whether the practice of privacy self-management in this new context could still ensure the informed consent of individuals to the privacy terms of big data companies. It is concluded that that accepting big data companies’ privacy policies falls short of the disclosure and understanding requirements for informed consent. The article argues that the practice of privacy self-management could remain viable if the review, understanding and acceptance of privacy agreements is streamlined, standardized and automated. Technology should be employed to counter the privacy problems created by big data technology. The creation of the privacy exchange authorities (PEA) is proposed as a solution to the failures of privacy self-management. The PEA are intermediaries that empower individuals to define their own privacy terms and express informed consent in their dealings with data companies. They will create the technological infrastructure for individuals to select their own privacy terms from a list of standard choices, potentially only once. The PEA will further mediate the delivery and authentication of the individual users’ privacy terms to data companies. A logical proof of concept is offered, illustrating the potential steps involved in the creation of the PEA.     

Effects of different exercise intensities in the morning on football performance components in the afternoon

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of two different exercise interventions in the morning on football-specific components of performance in the afternoon under conditions simulating a competition day. In the morning on 3 experimental days, 12 football players (age 24.1?±?5.5 years) completed three different preload interventions that were applied in a counter-balanced order: (1) no intervention (NI); (2) moderate-intensive exercise (MI); and (3) high-intensive exercise (HI). The subjects performed the preload exercises, consisting of a small-sided game and repeated maximal sprints, from 10:00–11:00 a.m. At 3:00 p.m., the Bangsbo test (BT) was applied to examine the effects of the different morning interventions on football-specific endurance capacity. The results showed that the HI led to significantly higher blood-lactate concentrations (moderate to very large effect) and heart rates (very large to extremely large effect) compared to the MI. In addition, there was a significant measurement?×?intervention effect on concentrations of adrenalin and noradrenalin in the urine, which reached higher values immediately after the HI (very large effect) and MI (moderate effect) compared to NI. All effects disappeared by the time of the BT in the afternoon. During all trials, after the preload intervention, reaction time and critical flicker fusion frequency increased significantly compared to the baseline morning values (reaction time: small; critical flicker fusion: trivial to small effect), but no measurement?×?intervention interaction was found. During the BT, the mean total distance covered (trivial to small effect) and the pacing pattern did not differ significantly among the trials despite numerous small individual effects. We conclude that exercise interventions of various intensities in the morning have no general effect on football-specific components of performance in the afternoon despite significant metabolic, endocrinological and cognitive short-term effects. Coaches should consider individual preferences when prescribing competition-day procedures.     

Squat Jump Performance During Growth in Both Sexes

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to investigate leg muscle power and compare two activities (jumping and cycling) in 383 girls and 407 boys ages 9–19 years. Results in anthropometric characteristics and jumping performance were comparable until midadolescence, and sex differences were observed. Lean leg volume (LLV) was the reason for most of the variance (76% in girls and 88% in boys) in jumping performance. However, the LLV exponent was higher than expected in boys but not girls. Therefore, unidentified qualitative changes of muscle function during growth in boys must be considered. The squat jump index (SJI) was highly correlated to cycling peak power (CPP; N = 790, r = .94, p < .001). Although prediction error of CPP from SJI was less than 5% when considering each sex-and-age group, individual errors mounted to 40%. Due to its practicability, SJI is recommended in large-scale developmental prospective studies. However, cycling and jumping protocols are not interchangeable when measuring peak power values.     

Validity and reliability of a novel iPhone app for the measurement of barbell velocity and 1RM on the bench-press exercise

The purpose of this study was to analyse the validity and reliability of a novel iPhone app (named: PowerLift) for the measurement of mean velocity on the bench-press exercise. Additionally, the accuracy of the estimation of the 1-Repetition maximum (1RM) using the load–velocity relationship was tested. To do this, 10 powerlifters (Mean (SD): age = 26.5 ± 6.5 years; bench press 1RM · kg^?1 = 1.34 ± 0.25) completed an incremental test on the bench-press exercise with 5 different loads (75–100% 1RM), while the mean velocity of the barbell was registered using a linear transducer (LT) and Powerlift. Results showed a very high correlation between the LT and the app (r = 0.94, SEE = 0.028 m · s^?1) for the measurement of mean velocity. Bland–Altman plots (R² = 0.011) and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC = 0.965) revealed a very high agreement between both devices. A systematic bias by which the app registered slightly higher values than the LT (P < 0.05; mean difference (SD) between instruments = 0.008 ± 0.03 m · s^?1). Finally, actual and estimated 1RM using the app were highly correlated (r = 0.98, mean difference (SD) = 5.5 ± 9.6 kg, P < 0.05). The app was found to be highly valid and reliable in comparison with a LT. These findings could have valuable practical applications for strength and conditioning coaches who wish to measure barbell velocity in the bench-press exercise.