A Delphi Expert Assessment of Proactive Contracting in an Evolutionary Acquisition Environment

This study used structured group discussions (The Delphi Method) among three groups of contracting professionals from the Air Armament, Aeronautical Systems, and the Electronic Systems Centers in order to identify potential roadblocks to implementation of Evolutionary Acquisition strategies. The Delphi groups also tackled the problem of identifying and exploring potential business strategies that may counter the identified challenges. Discussions revealed that current laws, regulations, and internal processes pose challenges in an evolutionary acquisition environment. No single business strategy emerged as the best way to implement the EA strategy. Participants suggested that all three Centers concluded that robust business planning, pre-contract agreements between the Government and the contractor, long-term relationships, and encouraging team behavior are key factors. Participants from all three Centers are accommodating evolutionary acquisition with current contract types. Multiple contract types are being combined under one contract vehicle; award and incentive fees are being tailored to motivate specific contractor behavior. The best strategy for an evolutionary acquisition may be a strategy that is tailored to the specific requirement

Speech Sounds of Preschool Children

Beginning in 1924 and extending over a period of four years the Iowa Child Welfare Research Station, in cooperation with the Department of Speech of the University of Iowa, has been studying the development of preschool children in the ability to produce correctly the consonant elements, consonant blends, vowels and diphthongs of the English language. The project has involved the cooperation of a number of individuals from both departments

The Experimental Psychology of the Preschool Child

Since the establishment of the first preschool psychological laboratory in 1921, the Iowa Child Welfare Research Station has been conducting, as one part of the program in the mental development of young children, a series of experiments that have been repeated, extended and amplified from year to year. These experiments have been planned to afford detailed analyses of performance and the evaluation of psychological processes rather than test standards or the clinical diagnosis of a particular child

Erosion of gadolinia doped EB-PVD TBCs

Gadolinia additions have been shown to significantly reduce the thermal conductivity of EB-PVD TBCs. The aim of this paper is to further the understanding on the effects of dopants on the erosion resistance of EB-PVD TBCs by studying the effects of 2 mol% Gd2O3 additions on the room and high temperature erosion resistance of as received and aged EB-PVD TBCs. Previously it has been reported that gadolinia additions increased the erosion rate of EB- PVD TBCs, this is indeed the case for room temperature erosion, however under high temperature (825 à °C) erosion conditions this is not the case and the doped TBCs have a slightly lower erosion rate than the standard YSZ EB-PVD TBCs. This has been attributed to a change in the erosion mechanisms that operate at the different temperatures. This change in mechanism was not expected under the impact conditions used and has been attributed to a change in the column diameter, and how this influences the dynamics of particle impactio

Public colleges for educational access in Colorado

2014 Summer.This thesis explores the frameworks for university-funded educational access programs in Colorado. Through the use of qualitative methods, I conduct a case study of 6 access programs, their practitioners, and their undergraduate student volunteers. I examine the values and social position of access practitioners as well as their ability to work across traditional social and institutional boundaries. Employing a network analytic approach, I examine and conceptualize the structure and connectivity of both federal Trio and university-funded access programs. My research shows that both Trio and access programs are well positioned for mutually beneficial collaborations. This includes access providing services for Trio parents and families and Trio sharing program evaluation metrics with access programs. Additionally, access programs have a unique ability capacity to recruit and retain students because of their position within universities. Finally, recommendations are made for access program transferability and sustainability. Near-peer mentoring and provide culturally-relevant programs are highly exportable aspects of access programs. In order to sustain access programs, practitioners should link their program to university strategic priorities while also involving high-level university officials in program development and assessment

Networked Families

Presents survey results on the use of the Internet and ownership of cell phones and computers, by household type. Examines how technology ownership affects the frequency, form, purpose, and quality of communications among family members and friends

El hogar en red

Proponemos que los individuos, en lugar de las solidaridades familiares, se han convertido en la principal unidad de conectividad en el hogar. Muchos hogares no funcionan como grupos tradicionales densamente conectados sino como redes sociales más dispersas donde los individuos tratan de hacer compatibles sus dispares horarios y agendas. En un momento en el que muchas personas ejercen múltiples roles individuales en casa, en la comunidad y en el trabajo nos preguntamos: ¿cómo se comunican entre sí los adultos miembros del hogar? ¿Cómo utilizan los adultos miembros del hogar las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TICs) para organizar, comunicar y coordinar su tiempo libre y su comportamiento social dentro y fuera de casa? Las entrevistas y encuestas realizadas en 2004-2005 en East York (Toronto, Canadá) muestran que los hogares siguen conectados -pero como redes más que como grupos solidarios. Describimos cómo los individuos en red construyen puentes entre sus relaciones y se conectan entre sí dentro y fuera de casa. Las TICs han permitido a los miembros del hogar la capacidad de seguir sus caminos separados mientras permanecen conectados -por teléfono móvil, correo electrónico e IM, así como con las líneas telefónicas tradicionales. De ese modo, en lugar de desmembrar las familias, las TICs con frecuencia facilitan la comunicación, las relaciones y la integración funcional.We argue that individuals, rather than family solidarities, have become the primary unit of household connectivity. Many households do not operate as traditional denselyknit groups but as more sparsely-knit social networks where individuals juggle their somewhat separate agendas and schedules. At a time when many people enact multiple, individual roles at home, in the community and at work, we ask: how do adult household members communicate with each other? How do adult household members use information and communication technologies (ICTs) to organize, communicate and coordinate their leisure and social behaviour both inside and outside the home? Interviews and surveys conducted in 2004-2005 in the Toronto, Canada area of East York show that households remain connected - but as networks rather than solidary groups. We describe how networked individuals bridge their relationships and connect with each other inside and outside the home. ICTs have afforded household members the ability to go about on their separate ways while staying more connected -by mobile phone, email and IM- as well as by traditional landlines. In such ways, rather than pulling families apart, ICTs often facilitate communication, kinship and functional integration