Pre and Post Assessments of Indiana National Guard Soldiers on Cardiorespiratory Endurance

Material created as part of Fundamentals of Exercise Prescription, an Immersive Learning course taught by Nicole Koontz. Created with the cooperation of the Indiana National Guard.INTRODUCTION: Cardiorespiratory endurance (CRE) is a reflection of health and is related to the circulatory, respiratory, and musculoskeletal systems. Soldiers of the National Guard are expected to have sufficient CRE, however, many soldiers fail this portion of the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT). PURPOSE: To evaluate the success of home exercise prescriptions in improving CRE between the Indiana National Guard (ING) soldiers’ pre- and post-tests. METHODS: Participants were 21 ING soldiers (25±6y) who failed or had a history of failing a record APFT and who had completed a pre- and post-testing day ranging from spring 2015 through spring 2017. Soldiers completed a timed two-mile run, push-up and sit-up tests per APFT regulations. Additional health measures were collected or self-reported, including height, weight, resting heart rate, blood pressure, handgrip strength, sit-and-reach scores, waist and hip circumferences and 3-site skinfolds. SPSS V.24 was used to perform descriptive statistics and univariate analysis of variance to assess differences between pre- and post-assessment CRE. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between pre- and post- tests for CRE (p=0.639). Furthermore, there were no significant differences between pre and post-tests for any of the other health parameters assessed. However, trends were observed in the desired direction according to the program’s desired goal of passing the APFT; indicating minor improvement. CONCLUSIONS: CRE is an integral part of the APFT. Although there were no significant differences found between the pre- and post-testing for CRE, there was a trend observed indicating the potential for the home-based exercise prescription program to have success. Limitations include the length of each soldiers program between pre- and post-tests and the efficacy of each soldier completing the home-based exercise prescription. Therefore future research should assess CRE improvements in soldiers of the ING over a longer follow-up period and using a method to track adherence to the exercise prescription

Influence of Melt-Pool Stability in 3D Printing of NdFeB Magnets on Density and Magnetic Properties

The current work presents the results of an investigation focused on the influence of process parameters on the melt-track stability and its consequence to the sample density printed out of NdFeB powder. Commercially available powder of Nd7.5Pr0.7Fe75.4Co2.5B8.8Zr2.6Ti2.5 alloy was investigated at the angle of application in selective laser melting of permanent magnets. Using single track printing the stability of the melt pool was investigated under changing process parameters. The influence of changing laser power, scanning speed, and powder layer thickness on density, porosity structure, microstructure, phase composition, and magnetic properties were investigated. The results showed that energy density coupled with powder layer thickness plays a crucial role in melt-track stability. It was possible to manufacture magnets of both high relative density and high magnetic properties. Magnetization tests showed a significant correlation between the shape of the demagnetization curve and the layer height. While small layer heights are beneficial for sufficient magnetic properties, the remaining main parameters tend to affect the magnetic properties less. A quasi-linear correlation between the layer height and the magnetic properties remanence (Jr), coercivity (HcJ) and maximum energy product ((BH)max) was found

Article Improving the Dimensional Stability and Mechanical Properties of AISI 316L + B Sinters by Si3N4 Addition

The following paper describes a new and effective method to obtain high-density sinters with simultaneously decreased distortions, produced by one press and sinter operation. This effect was achieved through the induced disappearance of the eutectic liquid phase. The study was carried out on AISI 316L stainless steel powder that was mixed with elemental boron and silicon nitride. Boron was used as a sintering process activator. The scientific novelty of this publication consists of the use of a silicon nitride as a solid-state nitrogen carrier that was intended to change the borides’ morphology by binding boron. Based on the thermodynamic calculations, 20 blends of various compositions were tested for physical properties, porosity, microstructure, and mechanical properties. Moreover, phase compositions for selected samples were analyzed. It was shown that the addition of silicon nitride as a nitrogen carrier decreases the boron-based eutectic phase volume and both increases the mechanical properties and decreases after-sintering distortions. An explanation of the observed phenomena was also proposed

Effect of Process Parameters and High-Temperature Preheating on Residual Stress and Relative Density of Ti6Al4V Processed by Selective Laser Melting

The aim of this study is to observe the effect of process parameters on residual stresses and relative density of Ti6Al4V samples produced by Selective Laser Melting. The investigated parameters were hatch laser power, hatch laser velocity, border laser velocity, high-temperature preheating and time delay. Residual stresses were evaluated by the bridge curvature method and relative density by the optical method. The effect of the observed process parameters was estimated by the design of experiment and surface response methods. It was found that for an effective residual stress reduction, the high preheating temperature was the most significant parameter. High preheating temperature also increased the relative density but caused changes in the chemical composition of Ti6Al4V unmelted powder. Chemical analysis proved that after one build job with high preheating temperature, oxygen and hydrogen content exceeded the ASTM B348 limits for Grade 5 titanium

Correcting jurors' overbelief of eyewitness evidence through expert testimony

Abstract not available

The Effectiveness of Judicial Instructions on Eyewitness Evidence in Sensitizing Jurors to Suggestive Identification Procedures Captured on Video

Objectives. One of the legal safeguards designed to educate jurors about eyewitness evidence is judicial instructions. However, their effectiveness in sensitizing jurors to eyewitness accuracy and suggestive identification procedures captured on video is unknown. Methods. Participants (N = 232) watched the video-recorded identification and testimony of one of 16 genuine eyewitnesses. We varied the suggestiveness of the identification procedure, whether they saw an accurate or inaccurate identification, and whether or not they received Victorian judicial instructions about eyewitness evidence. Results. Participants were sensitive to eyewitness accuracy when identification procedures were non-suggestive, with participants more likely to believe accurate eyewitnesses than inaccurate eyewitnesses. This sensitivity to identification accuracy was impaired when participants saw an identification made under suggestive circumstances. Judicial instructions did not significantly affect participants’ judgments with one exception: when they led to confusion. Participants who saw an identification obtained under suggestive circumstances were more willing to believe the eyewitness when they read the judicial instructions compared to those in the control condition. Conclusions. Suggestive identification procedures impaired participants’ sensitivity to eyewitness accuracy. The Victorian judicial instructions did not improve participants’ sensitivity. This is the first test of judicial instructions that used Bayesian analyses to establish the absence of an effect. Thus, judicial instructions might not improve sensitivity to eyewitness accuracy or be an effective remedy for the damaging effects of suggestive identification procedures