Assessing Navy Flag-Level Command Transitions: Commanders, Command Teams, and Effectiveness

NPS NRP Technical ReportAssessing Navy Flag-Level Command Transitions: Commanders, Command Teams, and EffectivenessCommander, Operational Test and Evaluation Force (COMOPTEVFOR)This research is supported by funding from the Naval Postgraduate School, Naval Research Program (PE 0605853N/2098). https://nps.edu/nrpChief of Naval Operations (CNO)Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.

Assessing Executive Leadership Development: Leaders, Leadership Teams, and Command Agility

NPS NRP Executive SummaryAssessing Executive Leadership Development: Leaders, Leadership Teams, and Command AgilityCommander, Operational Test and Evaluation Force (COMOPTEVFOR)This research is supported by funding from the Naval Postgraduate School, Naval Research Program (PE 0605853N/2098). https://nps.edu/nrpChief of Naval Operations (CNO)Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.

Assessing Navy Flag-Level Command Transitions: Commanders, Command Teams, and Effectiveness

NPS NRP Project PosterAssessing Navy Flag-Level Command Transitions: Commanders, Command Teams, and EffectivenessCommander, Operational Test and Evaluation Force (COMOPTEVFOR)This research is supported by funding from the Naval Postgraduate School, Naval Research Program (PE 0605853N/2098). https://nps.edu/nrpChief of Naval Operations (CNO)Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.

The mechanical properties and microstructures of aluminum containing 25 vol.% of 0.3[mu]m alumina particles

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, 1996.In title on t.p., "[mu]" is the lower-case Greek letter.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 175-183).by Ann Marie Jansen.Ph.D

Adhesion Between Yttrium Stabilised Zirconia Ceramic And Indirect Composite Resin

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the bond energy of three indirect restorative composite veneering materials to Yittrium stabilised zirconia (YZr) by using the strain energy release rate testing method. Materials and methods: Three indirect composite veneering materials (Ceramage – Shofu Inc; Signum - Heraeus Kulzer GmbH; Sinfony- 3M ESPE) were bonded to YZr plates with and without sandblasting and manufacturer’s recommended bonding agents. Utilising the method described by Cheng et al. (1999), a 12mm composite rod was bonded to a YZr plate with two opaque layers at the bond surface interface then, brought to failure using a universal testing machine. G-values were calculated. One-way ANOVA and Dunnetts’s tests (P = 95%) were performed. Homogeneity of the variables was confirmed with Bartlett’s test. Results: No significant difference in G-values was observed between the control groups of Ceramage, Signum and Sinfony. Within the Ceramage group, there was no significant difference between the surface treatments. In the Signum group no significant difference was observed between the control and sandblasted groups as well as between the sandblasted surfaces in combination with the bonding agent group, but no significant difference between the control and bonding agent alone was observed. In the Sinfony group, no significant difference was observed between the control and sandblasted groups, but a significant difference was observed between the control and sandblasted with bonding agent groups. Conclusion: The application of acidic functional phosphate monomer MDP or silicatising the YZr surfaces before veneering with indirect composite veneering material, resulted in higher bond energy results. Sandblasting the YZr surfaces with 120grit AlO2 only, did not increase the bond energy. The elastic modulus of the composite material influenced the bond energy required for detachment from to the YZr substructure

A multilevel evolutionary framework for sustainability analysis

Sustainability theory can help achieve desirable social-ecological states by generalizing lessons across contexts and improving the design of sustainability interventions. To accomplish these goals, we argue that theory in sustainability science must (1) explain the emergence and persistence of social-ecological states, (2) account for endogenous cultural change, (3) incorporate cooperation dynamics, and (4) address the complexities of multilevel social-ecological interactions. We suggest that cultural evolutionary theory broadly, and cultural multilevel selection in particular, can improve on these fronts. We outline a multilevel evolutionary framework for describing social-ecological change and detail how multilevel cooperative dynamics can determine outcomes in environmental dilemmas. We show how this framework complements existing sustainability frameworks with a description of the emergence and persistence of sustainable institutions and behavior, a means to generalize causal patterns across social-ecological contexts, and a heuristic for designing and evaluating effective sustainability interventions. We support these assertions with case examples from developed and developing countries in which we track cooperative change at multiple levels of social organization as they impact social-ecological outcomes. Finally, we make suggestions for further theoretical development, empirical testing, and application

The OCareCloudS project: toward organizing care through trusted cloud services

The increasing elderly population and the shift from acute to chronic illness makes it difficult to care for people in hospitals and rest homes. Moreover, elderly people, if given a choice, want to stay at home as long as possible. In this article, the methodologies to develop a cloud-based semantic system, offering valuable information and knowledge-based services, are presented. The information and services are related to the different personal living hemispheres of the patient, namely the daily care-related needs, the social needs and the daily life assistance. Ontologies are used to facilitate the integration, analysis, aggregation and efficient use of all the available data in the cloud. By using an interdisciplinary research approach, where user researchers, (ontology) engineers, researchers and domain stakeholders are at the forefront, a platform can be developed of great added value for the patients that want to grow old in their own home and for their caregivers

Conjugated Polyimidazole Nanoparticles as Biodegradable Electrode Materials for Organic Batteries

Conjugated polymers are promising active materials for batteries. Batteries not only need to have high energy density but should also combine safe handling with recyclability or biodegradability after reaching their end-of-life. Here, π-conjugated polyimidazole particles are developed, which are prepared using atom economic direct arylation adapted to a dispersion polymerization protocol. The synthesis yields polyimidazole nanoparticles of tunable size and narrow dispersity. In addition, the degree of crosslinking of the polymer particles can be controlled. It is demonstrated that the polyimidazole nanoparticles can be processed together with carbon black and biodegradable carboxymethyl cellulose binder as an active material for organic battery electrodes. Electrochemical characterization shows that a higher degree of crosslinking significantly improves the electrochemical performance and leads to clearer oxidation and reduction signals of the polymer. Polyimidazole as part of the composite electrode shows complete degradation by exposure to composting bacteria over the course of 72 h

Dutch translation and cross-cultural validation of the Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit (ASCOT)

Background: The Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit was developed to measure outcomes of social care in England. In this study, we translated the four level self-completion version (SCT-4) of the ASCOT for use in the Netherlands and performed a cross-cultural validation. Methods: The ASCOT SCT-4 was translated into Dutch following international guidelines, including two forward and back translations. The resulting version was pilot tested among frail older adults using think-aloud interviews. Furthermore, using a subsample of the Dutch ACT-study, we investigated test-retest reliability and construct validity and compared response distributions with data from a comparable English study. Results: The pilot tests showed that translated items were in general understood as intended, that most items were reliable, and that the response distributions of the Dutch translation and associations with other measures were comparable to the original English version. Based on the results of the pilot tests, some small modifications and a revision of the Dignity items were proposed for the final translation, which were approved by the ASCOT development team. The complete original English version and the final Dutch translation can be obtained after registration on the ASCOT website (http://www.pssru.ac.uk/ascot). Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence that the Dutch translation of the ASCOT is valid, reliable and comparable to the original English version. We recommend further research to confirm the validity of the modified Dutch ASCOT translation