An Assessment of the Air Force’s Return on Investment for Product Support Business Case Analysis Processes

There have been many fiscal challenges over the years facing the Department of Defense (DOD). With these challenges, cost savings initiatives have become commonplace. To meet these fiscal challenges head-on, new policies to improve estimating and control costs have been implemented. Senior leaders within the cost analysis community are tasked with managing these changes while continuing to provide timely and accurate cost estimates. The purpose of this research is to focus on one of the more important cost savings initiatives -- Product Support Business Case Analyses (PS-BCA). Our research questions explore the current cost and impact of this DoD cost saving policy using a mixed methods approach using both quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative data showed significant improvements in the process in conducting PS-BCA’s as they became more standardized after 2016 however, despite this, 60% of programs showed a negative return on investment should their recommendations get implemented. Furthermore the qualitative data collected showed significant concerns regarding the PS-BCA process and that there is a belief that the Air Force is receiving suboptimal ROI in this process. These results were then used to answer our research questions to address these concerns and to also make policy recommendations to improve the PS-BCA process. Our results may assist senior leaders within the cost analysis career field in their decision making and also may be a useful starting point for future research

A Longitudinal Analysis of Young Adult Pathways to STEMH Occupations

This 21-page paper, from the Association for Career and Technical Education Research, discusses the findings of a study on educational pathways and key life course transitions of young adults who enter STEMH (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and health) technician and professional jobs. Study "findings underscored gender, ethnic and racial background, high school achievement and career and technical education (CTE) participation, earning high school industry certifications, postsecondary enrollment (2 year and 4 year), and degree attainment as factors contributing to the attainment of STEMH technician and professional careers."The paper includes the following sections: Abstract, Introduction, Purpose and Research Questions, Theoretical Framework Status Attainment, The Impact of Participation in Career and Technical Education, Post-Secondary Technician Education and Life Course Transitions, Methods, Results, and more

Bridging Technical Skills Gaps between High School Students and Local Employers

The purpose of this study was to explore how technical skills taught and learned in Florida engineering and engineering technology-themed career academies fit technical skills desired by local employers in technology and manufacturing. The analysis utilized the narratives of 70 students and four teachers from career academies at four high schools and 27 industry leaders from the same geographical region of Florida. Data interpretation led to understanding that employers expressed an urgent need for technical skills using appropriate equipment and technologies, teachers were teaching students technical skills by simulating the real-world work environment, and students valued their abilities to transform their classroom project ideas into tangible products

Flow Injection Systems for Directly Coupling On-line Digestions with Analytical Atomic Spectrometry Part 2. Reactions in a Microwave Field

A flow injection system incorporating a stopped-flow microwave-heated reactor was constructed for the preparation of solutions for subsequent analysis by atomic spectrometric techniques. Slurry samples were injected into the manifold and transported into a glass reactor mounted inside a microwave oven. Nitric acid was flushed into the reactor, which was then sealed and the contents were heated by an appropriate microwave programme so that the pressure was held at 400 Ib in-* for 5 min. During this period the presssure was continuously monitored. After cooling, the reactor was vented and the contents were flushed out into a calibrated flask and diluted to volume. The procedure was evaluated by the determination of some minor elements in cocoa powder (for which the results were compared with those of two other digestion procedures), Horse Kidney (International Atomic Energy Agency Certified Reference Material H-8) and coal [National Institute of Standards and Technology Standard Reference Material 1632b Trace Elements in Coal (Bituminous)]. A comparison of the results showed no significant difference (95% confidence) for the trace element contents of these materials between the flow injection method and other two methods of sample preparation. An analysis of variance showed no indication of sample slurry inhomogeneity. Low recoveries were obtained for the coal material, perhaps owing to incomplete dissolution of the silicate constituents

Methods for comparative evaluation of propulsion system designs for supersonic aircraft

The propulsion system comparative evaluation study was conducted to define a rapid, approximate method for evaluating the effects of propulsion system changes for an advanced supersonic cruise airplane, and to verify the approximate method by comparing its mission performance results with those from a more detailed analysis. A table look up computer program was developed to determine nacelle drag increments for a range of parametric nacelle shapes and sizes. Aircraft sensitivities to propulsion parameters were defined. Nacelle shapes, installed weights, and installed performance was determined for four study engines selected from the NASA supersonic cruise aircraft research (SCAR) engine studies program. Both rapid evaluation method (using sensitivities) and traditional preliminary design methods were then used to assess the four engines. The method was found to compare well with the more detailed analyses

Behavioral implications of shortlisting procedures

We consider two-stage “shortlisting procedures” in which the menu of alternatives is first pruned by some process or criterion and then a binary relation is maximized. Given a particular first-stage process, our main result supplies a necessary and sufficient condition for choice data to be consistent with a procedure in the designated class. This result applies to any class of procedures with a certain lattice structure, including the cases of “consideration filters,” “satisficing with salience effects,” and “rational shortlist methods.” The theory avoids background assumptions made for mathematical convenience; in this and other respects following Richter’s classical analysis of preference-maximizing choice in the absence of shortlisting

Luminescence Lifetime-based Sensor For Cyanide And Related Anions

A new Ru(II) complex is described which serves as a luminescence lifetime-based sensor for fluoride and cyanide anions (KF = 640 000 mol-1, KCN = 430 000 mol-1). This chromophore displays observable changes in its UV-vis and steady-state luminescence spectra upon cyanide binding. Prior to cyanide addition, this complex exhibits a single-exponential lifetime (tau = 377 +/- 20 ns). With increasing cyanide concentrations, the intensity decays are composed of two exponentials: long tau (320-370 ns) and short tau (13-17 ns). The average lifetimes shorten as a function of cyanide concentration since the fractional intensity shifts from an initial dominant long lifetime component to the short lifetime component. This work represents the first example of a direct method for the luminescence lifetime-based sensing of anions

Peripheral nerve injury increases contribution of L-type calcium channels to synaptic transmission in spinal lamina II: Role of α2δ-1 subunits

BACKGROUND: Following peripheral nerve chronic constriction injury, the accumulation of the α2δ-1 auxiliary subunit of voltage-gated Ca2+channels in primary afferent terminals contributes to the onset of neuropathic pain. Overexpression of α2δ-1 in Xenopus oocytes increases the opening properties of Cav1.2 L-type channels and allows Ca2+influx at physiological membrane potentials. We therefore posited that L-type channels play a role in neurotransmitter release in the superficial dorsal horn in the chronic constriction injury model of neuropathic pain. RESULTS: Whole-cell recording from lamina II neurons from rats, subject to sciatic chronic constriction injury, showed that the L-type Ca2+channel blocker, nitrendipine (2 µM) reduced the frequency of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents. Nitrendipine had little or no effect on spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic current frequency in neurons from sham-operated animals. To determine whether α2δ-1 is involved in upregulating function of Cav1.2 L-type channels, we tested the effect of the α2δ-1 ligand, gabapentin (100 µM) on currents recorded from HEK293F cells expressing Cav1.2/β4/α2δ-1 channels and found a significant decrease in peak amplitude with no effect on control Cav1.2/β4/α2δ-3 expressing cells. In PC-12 cells, gabapentin also significantly reduced the endogenous dihydropyridine-sensitive calcium current. In lamina II, gabapentin reduced spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic current frequency in neurons from animals subject to chronic constriction injury but not in those from sham-operated animals. Intraperitoneal injection of 5 mg/kg nitrendipine increased paw withdrawal threshold in animals subject to chronic constriction injury. CONCLUSION: We suggest that L-type channels show an increased contribution to synaptic transmission in lamina II dorsal horn following peripheral nerve injury. The effect of gabapentin on Cav1.2 via α2δ-1 may contribute to its anti-allodynic action