Bike Athlete Performance

Faculty reflection on VCU Great Bike Race Book course. Course Description: This track will focus on nutritional and training practices of cyclists competing in the UCI Worlds. YouTube Videos referenced in reflection: VCU Exercise Science: Christian Vande Velde Interview VCU Exercise Science - Sports Nutritionist Dr Janet Rankin Interview Fuel for a 5 Hour Ride Assignment 3: My Musette Assignment 4: Bike Athlete Performance VCU Exercise Science: Professional Cyclist Evie Stevens Intervie

A quantum theoretical explanation for probability judgment errors

A quantum probability model is introduced and used to explain human probability judgment errors including the conjunction, disjunction, inverse, and conditional fallacies, as well as unpacking effects and partitioning effects. Quantum probability theory is a general and coherent theory based on a set of (von Neumann) axioms which relax some of the constraints underlying classic (Kolmogorov) probability theory. The quantum model is compared and contrasted with other competing explanations for these judgment errors including the representativeness heuristic, the averaging model, and a memory retrieval model for probability judgments. The quantum model also provides ways to extend Bayesian, fuzzy set, and fuzzy trace theories. We conclude that quantum information processing principles provide a viable and promising new way to understand human judgment and reasoning

Simple Non-Markovian Microscopic Models for the Depolarizing Channel of a Single Qubit

The archetypal one-qubit noisy channels ---depolarizing, phase-damping and amplitude-damping channels--- describe both Markovian and non-Markovian evolution. Simple microscopic models for the depolarizing channel, both classical and quantum, are considered. Microscopic models which describe phase damping and amplitude damping channels are briefly reviewed.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures. Title corrected. Paper rewritten. Added references. Some typos and errors corrected. Author adde

Critical currents in superconductors with quasiperiodic pinning arrays: One-dimensional chains and two-dimensional Penrose lattices

We study the critical depinning current J_c, as a function of the applied magnetic flux Phi, for quasiperiodic (QP) pinning arrays, including one-dimensional (1D) chains and two-dimensional (2D) arrays of pinning centers placed on the nodes of a five-fold Penrose lattice. In 1D QP chains of pinning sites, the peaks in J_c(Phi) are shown to be determined by a sequence of harmonics of long and short periods of the chain. This sequence includes as a subset the sequence of successive Fibonacci numbers. We also analyze the evolution of J_c(Phi) while a continuous transition occurs from a periodic lattice of pinning centers to a QP one; the continuous transition is achieved by varying the ratio gamma = a_S/a_L of lengths of the short a_S and the long a_L segments, starting from gamma = 1 for a periodic sequence. We find that the peaks related to the Fibonacci sequence are most pronounced when gamma is equal to the "golden mean". The critical current J_c(Phi) in QP lattice has a remarkable self-similarity. This effect is demonstrated both in real space and in reciprocal k-space. In 2D QP pinning arrays (e.g., Penrose lattices), the pinning of vortices is related to matching conditions between the vortex lattice and the QP lattice of pinning centers. Although more subtle to analyze than in 1D pinning chains, the structure in J_c(Phi) is determined by the presence of two different kinds of elements forming the 2D QP lattice. Indeed, we predict analytically and numerically the main features of J_c(Phi) for Penrose lattices. Comparing the J_c's for QP (Penrose), periodic (triangular) and random arrays of pinning sites, we have found that the QP lattice provides an unusually broad critical current J_c(Phi), that could be useful for practical applications demanding high J_c's over a wide range of fields.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures (figures 7, 9, 10, 13, 15 in separate "png" files

Italy in the Australian news media, 2005-2012

Presents a systematic analysis of the coverage of Italian matters in the Australian news media in the period 2005-2012. Executive summary The study presents a systematic analysis of the coverage of Italian matters in the Australian news media in the period 2005-2012. As far as the authors are aware it is largest study of the representation of Italy in the news media of a foreign country ever undertaken.   The study was undertaken by the University of Canberra’s News and Media Research Centre (N&MRC) in association with the On. Marco Fedi, who commissioned research on coverage of Italian politics in selected Australian newspapers.   During the period covered by the study there was more than usual interest in Italian political developments in Australia, both because of their inherent newsworthiness and because of the newly-acquired right of direct participation of expatriate Italians in Australia in the 2006 and 2008 Italian general elections.   To obtain as wide a view of Italy in the Australian news as practicable both the press and television were included in the study.   Three well -known and respected newspapers, namely The Australian, the major national newspaper, The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) published in Sydney and The Age published in Melbourne were selected for the study. All editorial matter in all issues of these newspapers for the years 2005-2012 was searched using ‘Factiva’– a business information and research tool owned by Dow Jones & Company. The initial search for relevant news in the press generated a very large number of items (around 10,000) which were then assessed individually for relevance and eligibility for inclusion in the analysis. This process generated a data set of 5325 news items

Posterior moments and quantiles for the normal location model with Laplace prior

We derive explicit expressions for arbitrary moments and quantiles of the posterior distribution of the location parameter eta in the normal location model with Laplace prior, and use the results to approximate the posterior distribution of sums of independent copies of eta