Decision Analysis with Value Focused Thinking as a Methodology to Assess Air Force Officer Retention Alternatives

Many countries realize the importance of the retention of qualified military personnel, and have tried to solve this problem using various methods. Nevertheless, the effects of those methods have not been determined or proven yet. The military retention problem is closely related to each individual\u27s separation decision from the military. The characteristics of this decision are multi-objective and highly subjective. Accordingly, the effectiveness of various methods is heavily dependant on the value set of each individual. Decision Analysis (DA) using Value Focused Thinking (VFT) can be an excellent process to deal with this decision. Also, the data can reflect the value trends of different officer groups. The intent of this research is to provide better understanding of the Air Force officer retention problem. This thesis effort involves building a VFT model to find out more effective alternatives in retaining pilots and non-pilots. This model, in conjunction with the results of the post-analysis, shows an example of the application of a VFT approach to the AF officer retention problem. Results show that both officer groups have their own unique value trends concerning their jobs. As a single alternative, Increase Resources is absolutely the best one for pilots, Meanwhile, Close Down Rural/Overseas Bases is the best for non-pilots. The results also show that alternative combinations with relatively little cost can be more influential than an alternative which costs a lot of money

Precoding Method Interference Management for Quasi-EVD Channel

The Cholesky decomposition-block diagonalization (CD-BD) interference alignment (IA) for a multiuser multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) relay system is proposed, which designs precoders for the multiple access channel (MAC) by employing the singular value decomposition (SVD) as well as the mean square error (MSE) detector for the broadcast Hermitian channel (BHC) taken advantage of in our design. Also, in our proposed CD-BD IA algorithm, the relaying function is made use to restructure the quasieigenvalue decomposition (quasi-EVD) equivalent channel. This approach used for the design of BD precoding matrix can significantly reduce the computational complexity and proposed algorithm can address several optimization criteria, which is achieved by designing the precoding matrices in two steps. In the first step, we use Cholesky decomposition to maximize the sum-of-rate (SR) with the minimum mean square error (MMSE) detection. In the next step, we optimize the system BER performance with the overlap of the row spaces spanned by the effective channel matrices of different users. By iterating the closed form of the solution, we are able not only to maximize the achievable sum-of-rate (ASR), but also to minimize the BER performance at a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) region

Nanotwin governed toughening mechanism in hierarchically structured materials

As an important class of natural biocomposite materials, mollusk shells possess remarkable mechanical strength and toughness as a consequence of their hierarchical structuring of soft organic and hard mineral constituents through biomineralization. Strombus gigas, one of the toughest mollusk shell (99 wt% CaCO3, 1 wt% organic), contains high density of nanoscale {110} growth twins in its third order lamellae, the basic building block of the material [1]. Although the existence of these nanotwins has been known for decades their roles and functions in mechanical behaviors and properties of biological materials are still unrevealed because numerous studies in recent years aimed to investigate the relationship between mechanical properties and the elegant nano- and hierarchical structures[1-2]. To evaluate the actual role of these nanotwins, we performed in situ TEM deformation experiment, large scale atomistic simulations and finite element modeling. With these analytic tools, we revealed nano scale twins in conch shell provide a basis of the several orders higher toughness comparing to twin free aragonite. In terms of qualitative experiment, we observed nanotwins can hinder crack propagation effectively comparing to twin free single crystal aragonite and leaving phase transformed area near crack tip (Fig 1 a-c) by in situ TEM deformation experiment. Through large scale MD simulation, we confirmed this phase transformation as a hitherto unknown toughening mechanism governed by nanoscale twins. For the quantitative comparison in terms of toughness, we performed specially designed in situ TEM experiments additionally for conch shell and aragonite single crystal so as to assess the contributions of these nanoscale twins on toughness of conch shell (Fig 1.d). By combining in situ TEM nanoscale mechanical test and FEM simulation, we found that nanotwins in 3rd order lamellar can increase fracture energy an order magnitude higher than twin free aragonite and this effect become amplified via structural hierarchy. The unique properties and structural features of nanotwinned aragonitic conch shell are expected to provide a guide to designing and fabricating hierarchically structured biomimetic materials with high toughness and high modulus

Glycogen Synthase Isoforms in Synechocystis sp. PCC6803: Identification of Different Roles to Produce Glycogen by Targeted Mutagenesis.

Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 belongs to cyanobacteria which carry out photosynthesis and has recently become of interest due to the evolutionary link between bacteria and plant species. Similar to other bacteria, the primary carbohydrate storage source of Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 is glycogen. While most bacteria are not known to have any isoforms of glycogen synthase, analysis of the genomic DNA sequence of Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 predicts that this strain encodes two isoforms of glycogen synthase (GS) for synthesizing glycogen structure. To examine the functions of the putative GS genes, each gene (sll1393 or sll0945) was disrupted by double cross-over homologous recombination. Zymogram analysis of the two GS disruption mutants allowed the identification of a protein band corresponding to each GS isoform. Results showed that two GS isoforms (GSI and GSII) are present in Synechocystis sp. PCC6803, and both are involved in glycogen biosynthesis with different elongation properties: GSI is processive and GSII is distributive. Total GS activities in the mutant strains were not affected and were compensated by the remaining isoform. Analysis of the branch-structure of glycogen revealed that the sll1393− mutant (GSI−) produced glycogen containing more intermediate-length chains (DP 8–18) at the expense of shorter and longer chains compared with the wild-type strain. The sll0945− mutant (GSII−) produced glycogen similar to the wild-type, with only a slightly higher proportion of short chains (DP 4–11). The current study suggests that GS isoforms in Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 have different elongation specificities in the biosynthesis of glycogen, combined with ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase and glycogen branching enzyme

Enzymatic hydrolysate from velvet antler suppresses adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 cells and attenuates obesity in high-fat diet-fed mice

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the potential anti-obesity activity of an enzymatic hydrolysate of velvet antler in inhibiting adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 cells and in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed obese mice. The enzy- matic hydrolysate was prepared using the commercial food grade protease, Protamex. The velvet antler Protamex hydrolysate (VAPH) indicated profound inhibitory effects on adipogenesis dose-dependently by decreasing the accumulation of triglycerides and down-regulating expression levels of adipogenesis-related proteins C/EBPα, SREBP-1, and PPARγ. In a mouse model of HFD-induced obesity, oral administration of VAPH (100 and 300 mg/kg for 13 weeks) significantly reduced the body weight gain that had resulted from the HFD. VAPH treat- ment also lowered the serum glucose and triglyceride levels, while increasing the HDL-C level. Furthermore, the treatment greatly reduced hepatic lipid droplet accumulation as well as the size of adipocytes. Current findings H has profound anti-obesity effects and could be an effective candidate for preventing obesity and obesity-related chronic diseases