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Images licensed CC BY-SA and scheduled to appear in the journal Progress in Materials Science.

These slides contain figures prepared over my teaching career, and will appear in Chapter 14 of Advances in Structural Adhesive Bonding (2nd ed., 2023). The figures are provided for reuse under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license.

This transcription is from a letter written from Henry M. Misemer (signed as H. M. Misemer) to his wife, Martha J. Misemer, dated March 20th, 1864, and sent from Nashville, Tennessee. This transcription and its attendant annotations, explanatory material, and bibliography was prepared by students in ENGL 618: Research Methods in English, the required gateway class for the MA in English degree program at Western Carolina University (WCU).

The 2021 Student Debates of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) were held at the Annual Meeting in Denver, CO. The event was organized by the Student Debates Subcommittee (SDS) of the Student Affairs Committee (SAC). The theme of the 2021 Student Debates was “Transforming Entomology to Adapt to Global Concerns”, with 3 topics. Each topic had an unbiased introduction and 2 teams. The debate topics were (i) Nonnative insect introduction is an ethical approach for counteracting proliferation and overpopulation of consumers, (ii) What is the best technology to control undesirable insect pests in urban and agricultural settings? and (iii) Compared to other solutions, like plant-based diets, insect farming is the best method to address rising human global food and nutrient supply demands. Unbiased introduction speakers and teams had approximately 6 months to prepare for their presentations.

Microbial species rarely exist alone. Nearly everywhere you could think to look, microorganisms of various species live together in harmony. Microbes together in their communities are incredibly powerful actors wherever they are found; they perform small miracles---the conversion of milk into yogurt---and large ones---production of most of the planet's oxygen and organic carbon. Our burgeoning knowledge of microbial life combined with modern technologies to manipulate it create a critical, exciting opportunity to harness microbial power for the betterment of technology, people, and the planet. This thesis presents a body of work which explores the manipulation of microbial communities using the intersectional bio-engineering approach of synthetic biology. We demonstrate how molecular tools evolved by bacteria can be repurposed to create rationally designed systems for controlling features of bacterial populations. We begin by examining a genetic circuit that caps the size of a bacterial population by coordinating the deaths of population members -- the population capping or "pop cap" circuit. Briefly, E. coli cells in the pop cap circuit are engineered to synthesize a chemical -- a quorum sensing (QS) signal -- that reports the density of the population, sense this chemical, and produce the ccdB toxin to destroy themselves in response. The molecular tools that make up this circuit are drawn from organisms across the spectrum of bacterial diversity. Brought together, they create a feedback control circuit that controls population size by causing member cells to die when a target population size has been reached. To improve the performance of this population controller and reduce the influence of the environment on the circuit, we add the aiiA quorum sensing signal degradase to allow the experimenter control over the degradation rate of the QS density signal. Additionally, we explore RNA and protein mechanisms to sequester the death-caus

This thesis is an intellectual and cultural exploration of U.S. Black and Afro-Brazilian feminism(s). Each chapter begins with history and scholarship from Brazil to shift the conversation away from an Anglophone-Americentric perspective. Within U.S. Black feminist thought, there is an over-representation of voices and experiences of English-speaking Black women. This is not to say that U.S. Black feminists have not reached across socially-constructed borders to incorporate scholarship from women living in other parts of the Black diaspora. However, there has not been nearly enough cross-cultural and transnational dialogue happening between U.S Black and Afro-Brazilian feminists. The time frame of this project begins with the colonial history (a period marked by racialized gender violence and the various ways Black women resisted) to enter the post-abolition era (where we see the development of the myth of racial democracy in Brazil), and finally into the height of anti-racism and anti-sexism movements, such as the Unified Black Movement in Brazil and second-wave feminism in Brazil and the U.S. The goal of this thesis is to assist in bridging this diasporic divide by demonstrating that Afro-Brazilian women’s intellectual knowledge should move from the margin to the center within mainstream Black feminist thought. Multicultural communication is a vital component in any liberation struggle. It is a way for individuals and collectives to learn about people’s different struggles as well as how to struggle together. In constructing these converging herstories, my hope is for future Black feminists to not allow differences in cultures and languages to deter them from reimagining a more inclusive and diverse feminism.

The spatial distribution of snow plays a vital role in sub-Arctic and Arctic climate, hydrology, and ecology due to its fundamental influence on the water balance, thermal regimes, vegetation, and carbon flux. However, the spatial distribution of snow is not well understood, and therefore, it is not well modeled, which can lead to substantial uncertainties in snow cover representations. To capture key hydro-ecological controls on snow spatial distribution, we carried out intensive field studies over multiple years for two small (2017-2019; g1/4g2.5gkm2) sub-Arctic study sites located on the Seward Peninsula of Alaska. Using an intensive suite of field observations (>g22g000 data points), we developed simple models of the spatial distribution of snow water equivalent (SWE) using factors such as topographic characteristics, vegetation characteristics based on greenness (normalized different vegetation index, NDVI), and a simple metric for approximating winds. The most successful model was random forest, using both study sites and all years, which was able to accurately capture the complexity and variability of snow characteristics across the sites. Approximately 86g% of the SWE distribution could be accounted for, on average, by the random forest model at the study sites. Factors that impacted year-to-year snow distribution included NDVI, elevation, and a metric to represent coarse microtopography (topographic position index, TPI), while slope, wind, and fine microtopography factors were less important. The characterization of the SWE spatial distribution patterns will be used to validate and improve snow distribution modeling in the Department of Energy's Earth system model and for improved understanding of hydrology, topography, and vegetation dynamics in the sub-Arctic and Arctic regions of the globe.

ObjectivesTo examine the relationships between pre-pregnancy diabetes mellitus (DM), gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and county-level social determinants of health, with infant macrosomia within a sample of American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) women receiving Indian Health Service (IHS) care.MethodsThe sample included women-infant dyads representing 1,136 singleton births from fiscal year 2011 (10/1/2019-9/30/2011). Data stemmed from the IHS Improving Health Care Delivery Data Project. Multivariate generalized linear mixed models were fitted to assess the association of macrosomia with pre-pregnancy health status and social determinants of health.ResultsNearly half of the women in the sample were under age 25 years (48.6%), and most had Medicaid health insurance coverage (76.7%). Of those with a pre-pregnancy BMI measure, 66.2% were overweight or obese. Although few women had pre-pregnancy DM (4.0%), GDM was present in 12.8% of women. Most women had a normal term delivery (85.4%). Overweight, obesity, pre-pregnancy DM, and county-level rurality were all significantly associated with higher odds of infant macrosomia.

These slides contain figures prepared over my teaching career, and will appear in Chapter 20 of Advances in Structural Adhesive Bonding (2nd ed., 2023). The figures are provided for reuse under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license.

Explains the educational challenges in the southeast United States that cause negative attitudes among students toward science. Targets safety; introduction to laboratory equipment; learning to construct graphs, tables, and charts; and learning the steps of experimentation as the objectives of classroom instruction. Identifies the assessment of the student learning process. (YDS)

This first edition of the Georgia College Libraries Handbook provides: (1) an introduction to academic and public library service in Milledgeville, Georgia; (2) a general introduction to operating procedures and facilities of the Ina Dillard Russell Library; (3) a description of the library's collections (books and other cataloged materials, the periodical collection, U.S. Government Documents, ERIC documents, college catalogs, telephone directories, and special collections); (4) a directory of information services (including sections on the circulation and information desks, interlibrary loan, "Books in Print," DIALOG online computer searching, and using other University System libraries); (5) guidelines for finding information (with sections on using the library's microfiche catalog, the Library of Congress Classification System, and using periodical indexes) and for conducting library research (including information on using bibliographies and indexes). A directory of Georgia College Media Services is included. Also provided are a glossary of terms used throughout the handbook and directories of library and media services faculty and staff. (GL)

With the advent of online searching, the terminology available for topic searching has greatly expanded and deepened. CD-ROMs and computerized databases available through online search services offer a variety of approaches to research in physical education. The article explains the use of computerized databases in an interdisciplinary field. (SM)

Join Dr. Márcia Balisciano (Founding Director of Benjamin Franklin House), Brandon Dillard (Manager of Historic Interpretation at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello), and Brenda Parker (Coordinator of African American Interpretation at George Washington’s Mount Vernon), as they discuss how these three institutions contextualize and interpret Slavery in the Founding Era.

Sports teams have at their disposal a vast array of wearable technology to assist in monitoring training loads and to assess rehabilitation. In particular, global positioning (GPS) and accelerometry have been incorporated into devices that can be positioned at different locations in the body (e.g. trunk, wrist, ankle and foot). With access to multiple devices and different analysis platforms, can multiple devices provide more insight into athlete monitoring? Are we measuring different things or simply exploring redundancies?

The goal of this investigation was to demonstrate the usefulness of combining wearable technology devices to gain a more complete understanding of gait symmetry. To accomplish this, we examined gait symmetry in an athlete during rehabilitation from anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction.

Americans love sports and part of that love for sports is seen in its biggest sporting event of the year, the Super Bowl. Media, Journalists, Christian Groups, and some Governmental Agencies use this sporting event to hype up the idea that sex trafficking is rampant in cities where the Super Bowl is held or around the time this sport is held. This creates a problem for the nonprofit groups and other think tanks trying to end the illicit trend of sex trafficking. This not only affects women but men and children all over the world including the US. This thesis argues that the stories and statistics provided to create such hype are incorrect or exaggerated. Sex trafficking does not increase during the Super Bowl.

In philosophy, legal theory and law, the Grundnorm, or basic norm, is often assumed to be the constitution, or that which overrides other norms. That is incorrect. This paper argues that the grundnorm should be the norm which regulates human procreation. This norm must proceed from the theoretical absence of human power, or a zero baseline. This essay attempts to correct the grundnorm fallacy with what will be called the Zero-Baseline Model. The correction reorients our human rights regimes and family planning systems, in ways that lead to an inevitable list of specific policy reforms that largely invert current family planning models and policies in use at the United Nations, European Union, the United States, and elsewhere. Those reforms can all be described in a simple narrative of reorienting family planning laws and policies from what would-be parents desire, subjectively, towards what all future children need, objectively. And as the evidence shows, those reforms prove highly effective and much more efficient in promoting child welfare, reducing economic and other inequalities, mitigating the climate and other ecological crises, protecting non-humans, and building democracy, than their alternatives.

New technology improves combat power. The military continually adopts new technology; however, the holistic support and maintenance of that technology may be a lesser consideration. In this case, Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier provided the Soldier Borne Sensor (SBS), which is a hand-launched, remotely controlled drone that offers improved situational awareness to the Soldiers closest to the fight. This study provides insight into how Soldiers were trained to use the system, and how they used it in novel ways. Specifically, this study examined the differences in use between home-station training and operational deployment. Using both surveys and semi-structured interviews, the research team found that the new equipment training (NET) was effective, yet opportunities for improvement exist. Further, and as one might expect, the creativity of the American Soldier in employing new equipment cannot be underestimated. This study documents a few instances of that creativity and suggests that future training should be updated with lessons learned down-range., Major, United States Army, Major, United States Army, Major, United States Army, Major, United States Army, Captain, United States Army, Approved for public release. distribution is unlimited

Shifting the public towards plant-based diets is critical for achieving environmental and public health outcomes. Increasingly news articles and organizations have begun using the saliency of the COVID-19 crisis to highlight the link between animal agriculture, pandemic risks, and other widespread public health threats. Yet, little is known about the effectiveness of this messaging strategy for motivating dietary change. We conducted a randomized trial with an online sample to examine the impact of: (1) a message that uses the saliency of the COVID-19 pandemic to highlight the risk of disease transmission from factory farms, and (2) a message that uses the saliency of the COVID-19 pandemic to highlight the threat to worker's health created by factory farms. We examine whether these messages are more effective at changing beliefs about and behavioral intentions towards plant-based eating, as compared to more traditional messages that highlight the environmental, personal health, or animal welfare implications of factory farmed meat consumption. We find that all messages differentially influenced beliefs about the various negative consequences of meat consumption. However, these altered beliefs did not differentially motivate changes in respondents' intentions to reduce meat consumption and choose plant-based alternatives. This was possibly due to the numerous other barriers to behavior change identified in qualitative survey responses, such as cost, taste, and social factors. We did find that messages that highlight the personal health benefits of reduced meat consumption were more effective at increasing public trust in the message deliverer. Our results suggest that highlighting personal health benefits in messaging and addressing the additional identified barriers to behavior change may be critical for building trust and shifting the public towards plant-based diets.

The aim of this article is to explore some of the challenges of measuring Christian spiritual development across distinct traditions of Christian spirituality. This presses into questions of what might be universal and what might be particular when it comes to Christian spirituality in how it is understood and practiced. We address the feasibility of a general, ecumenical measure by hearing from representative voices of five traditions of Christian spirituality: African American spirituality, Anglican spirituality, Benedictine spirituality, Pentecostal spirituality, and Reformed spirituality. After noting some of the distinctives of these traditions, we conclude with four strategies for navigating the unity and diversity of Christian spirituality in conceptualizing and measuring Christian formation.

Sports teams have at their disposal a vast array of wearable technology to assist in monitoring training loads and to assess rehabilitation. In particular, global positioning (GPS) and accelerometry have been incorporated into devices that can be positioned at different locations in the body (e.g. trunk, wrist, ankle and foot). With access to multiple devices and different analysis platforms, can multiple devices provide more insight into athlete monitoring? Are we measuring different things or simply exploring redundancies?

The goal of this investigation was to demonstrate the usefulness of combining wearable technology devices to gain a more complete understanding of gait symmetry. To accomplish this, we examined gait symmetry in an athlete during rehabilitation from anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction.

The United States Marine Corps (USMC) Installation & Logistics Command (I&L) seeks to store appropriate inventory levels of war reserve materiel (WRM) to meet future operational needs under surge demands of uncertain environments. The research of this capstone sought to understand the factors affecting appropriate inventory level for USMC WRM under the premise of using the newsvendor model framework. Through a systems engineering approach, the classic newsvendor model was modified to analyze the appropriate inventory levels using marginal cost and marginal benefit concepts. The modified model is demonstrated through a developed tool called the WRM marginal cost analysis tool (WRMMCAT). The WRMMCAT considers equipment, cost of materiel, storage and maintenance costs, materiel intrinsic value parameter, and conflict intensity factor for one Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) with an option to customize results for multiple MEUs. The modified variables in the model provide USMC planners with an output of predicted appropriate quantity of the specified materiel, the expected marginal cost of shortage/overage, and a probability of shortage/overage given a set of user-defined cost and demand data. The WRMMCAT enables a repeatable model for anticipating demand that will add value to the USMC in managing appropriate WRM inventory levels as well as future acquisition and pre-positioning decisions.

This report presents the development of a model designed to assist the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) in prioritizing its acquisition requirements. Traditional benchmarks for obligations and expenditures from the Office of the Secretary of Defense do not sufficiently address USASOC’s concern for capability in the hands of the Special Operations Forces (SOF) operator. Existing methods focus on financial metrics instead of capability-based analysis. This report discusses how the team analyzed stakeholder requirements, decomposed them into traceable value measures, and created a working value model: the Capabilities Assessment Value Model (CAVM). The model assesses projects based on the capability the product or system will provide to the warfighter. Previous research on USASOC acquisitions, qualitative and quantitative value modeling, measurement theory, and detailed input from SOF operators and their leadership are the basis for the development of the CAVM. Unique to the CAVM is the model’s ability to generate a value score that enables USASOC to independently rank-order potential investment projects into a fiscal year order of merit list (OML). The model is a novel evaluation tool that integrates into USASOC’s current process yet breaks from the traditional methods of measuring programmatic success. The CAVM provides USASOC with additional decision-making analysis that focuses on the capability provided to the end user., http://archive.org/details/usasocvaluationm1094564017, Major, United States Army, Captain, United States Army, Major, United States Army, Major, United States Army, Major, United States Army, Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

Army Futures Command (AFC) manages technology development projects in response to identified threats. These projects support future Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) capabilities, which are diverse in duration, cost, and technical requirements. The potential outcomes range from software upgrades to revolutionary concepts in vehicle or weapons technology. AFC must evaluate each program annually to determine priority and funding levels for recommendation in the Program Objective Memorandum (POM). AFC does not currently have a methodology in place that is capable of scoring projects based on their potential future impacts. This project develops a methodology and common metrics to score diverse technology development projects, and the methodology will provide a decision tool to support AFC POM submission. Due to the complexity of the decision-making model, as well as limits in time and available information, this project develops the methodology up to the point of demonstrating its function with simulated data. Taking these factors into consideration, this project does not perform validation and testing.

The purpose of this project is to evaluate alternative contracting practices and approaches the Army Applications Laboratory (AAL) can use to meet the technology development requirements of the Army Futures Command. The Department of Defense operates at a pace that is well behind the commercial high-technology sector, which includes small start-up and nontraditional companies. The U.S. Army has a longstanding reputation for capability overmatch against any potential adversary and therefore must simultaneously preserve and enhance this advantage by continuously developing and adopting the latest technologies for military use at the speed of business-to-business transactions. This project evaluated the efficacy of various contracting practices within the governance of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), and those instruments outside the FAR to make recommendations for AAL to meet its acquisition requirements. The capstone team conducted a thorough review of possible contracting solutions. Leveraging the proven concepts of the Vee Model, the team completed a requirements analysis, developed an evaluation criteria, and generated a contracting decision matrix to determine the best options available. After a thorough analysis, the team made recommendations for methods that could meet AAL's requirements.

New technology improves combat power. The military continually adopts new technology; however, the holistic support and maintenance of that technology may be a lesser consideration. In this case, Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier provided the Soldier Borne Sensor (SBS), which is a hand-launched, remotely controlled drone that offers improved situational awareness to the Soldiers closest to the fight. This study provides insight into how Soldiers were trained to use the system, and how they used it in novel ways. Specifically, this study examined the differences in use between home-station training and operational deployment. Using both surveys and semi-structured interviews, the research team found that the new equipment training (NET) was effective, yet opportunities for improvement exist. Further, and as one might expect, the creativity of the American Soldier in employing new equipment cannot be underestimated. This study documents a few instances of that creativity and suggests that future training should be updated with lessons learned down-range.

Mistakes during training are expected and usually welcomed for their teaching potential, but when realistic training subjects emergency responders to dangerous scenarios then there is still a high level of risk. Training is crucial for reducing risks associated with real-life operations, but how can real-life scenarios be practiced where it can be safe to learn from mistakes? This research will investigate the question, 'to what extent can Monterey Phoenix (MP) behavior modeling be used to support low-risk training for emergency responders?' We use MP to first generate a baseline 'typical-case' model of an active shooter scenario from FBI and FEMA procedures. We next develop alternative models by adding SME-provided variables to generate all possible scenarios within a scope limit with MP. Multiple scenarios allow emergency responders to practice making good decisions and gain a better understanding of the scenario, creating opportunities to decrease injuries and fatalities. This research found that both of the MP models, the typical-case model and the alternative events model, provide trainees with deeper insights into the roles and their actions during an active shooter scenario. In the alternative events model, we also see the variables that can occur within the scenario and identify where critical decisions are made by the corresponding roles. Both models are useful tools for improving training programs or understanding critical decision points.

Soldiers on the modern battlefield are taking advantage of aerial surveillance systems to provide better situation awareness while limiting their exposure to the enemy. The efficacy of this technology is a function of the human factors considerations inherent in the design. This study investigated the impact of display size on Soldiers’ situation awareness in a target detection and identification task using a 2 (screen sizes) × 3 (# of personnel in scenario) × 5 (activity types) full factorial design. Accuracy, response time, and confidence data were collected from 56 participants who observed 30 scenarios. No significant difference was found for display size but certain activities were more difficult to identify. Implications of the results and recommendations for additional research are discussed.

African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a complex nucleocytoplasmic large DNA virus (NCLDV) that causes a devastating swine disease currently present in many countries of Africa, Europe, and Asia. Despite intense research efforts, relevant gaps in the architecture of the infectious virus particle remain. Here, we used single-particle cryo-EM to analyze the three-dimensional structure of the mature ASFV particle. Our results show that the ASFV virion, with a radial diameter of ~2,080 Å, encloses a genome-containing nucleoid surrounded by two distinct icosahedral protein capsids and two lipoprotein membranes. The outer capsid forms a hexagonal lattice (triangulation number T = 277) composed of 8,280 copies of the double jelly-roll major capsid protein (MCP) p72, arranged in trimers displaying a pseudo-hexameric morphology, and of 60 copies of a penton protein at the vertices. The inner protein layer, organized as a T = 19 capsid, confines the core shell, and it is composed of the mature products derived from the ASFV polyproteins pp220 and pp62. Also, an icosahedral membrane lies between the two protein layers, whereas a pleomorphic envelope wraps the outer capsid. This high-level organization confers to ASFV a unique architecture among the NCLDVs that likely reflects the complexity of its infection process and may help explain current challenges in controlling it.

Pubblicazioni Business Legitimacy, Agricultural Biodiversity, and Environmental Ethics: Insights from Sustainable Bakeries data pubblicazione15 mag 2020 descrizione pubblicazioneHandbook of Business Legitimacy. Responsibility, Ethics and Society (Springer International Publishing) descrizione pubblicazioneThe relationship between biodiversity and ethics is complex and concerns the broader environmental ethics. In the agricultural industry, these issues are fundamental and, in the context of agro-biodiversity, bread production activity plays a primary role. Artisanal bread and its derivatives represent basic food products and a short supply chain, with only one intermediate step between the producer of the raw material (flour) and the consumer, represented by bakery. Furthermore, bakery industry is characterized by different needs, motivations, evaluations, and ethical/moral values, as well as philosophical considerations towards nature, of producers and consumers. Through a multiple case study on four specific companies of the interesting and relevant natural and sustainable bakery industry, our aim is to understand what are the motivations and ethical-moral drives behind specific ideological and operational choices that have an impact on nature and its biodiversity. It is also intended to investigate how the different ethical-philosophical approaches to nature lead to economic and management choices that are also very distant from each other and have different impacts on the protection and promotion of agricultural biodiversity. This study has allowed to place the positions and choices of some entrepreneurs and artisans in the different ethical approaches to nature and therefore to biodiversity. It was also possible to highlight how the different behaviors of consumers and producers arise from the ethical conceptions through which they look at reality and the consequences of their choices on production and sales activities. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-68845-9_119-1 ISBN

Artwork created for the #VoicesOfCLE Public Art Initiative. #VoicesOfCLE, organized by Downtown Cleveland Alliance, is meant to give local artists a platform for freedom of expression. The goal is to beautify downtown Cleveland with art that will be painted on many of the boarded-up storefronts. The boarded-up storefronts were the result of the protests and riots in Downtown Cleveland in relation to the death of George Floyd and the Black lives matter movement.

Charles Dillard (better known by his stage name, Mr. Charlie Brown) was born in 1949 and grew up in Westmoreland, Tenn. Brown performed as a drag queen throughout much of the South before settling in Atlanta and becoming a major figure in the city’s gay community. After over 40 years of performances, Brown still performs locally in Atlanta as of 2019., In this interview, Charlie Brown begins by discussing his childhood and early performances while living in Tennessee. Brown discusses the evolution of drag in America and its acceptance into mainstream society, as well as the role Atlanta and his partner has had on influencing his life. He describes highlights and notable moments from his career, and discusses ways in which he has given back to the gay community throughout the years.

The Arctic Council, a collaborative forum among governments and Arctic communities, has highlighted the problem of suicide and potential solutions. The mental health initiative during the United States chairmanship, Reducing the Incidence of Suicide in Indigenous Groups: Strengths United Through Networks (RISING SUN), used a Delphi methodology complemented by face-to-face stakeholder discussions to identify outcomes to evaluate suicide prevention interventions. RISING SUN underscored that multilevel suicide prevention initiatives require mobilizing resources and enacting policies that promote the capacity for wellness, for example, by reducing adverse childhood experiences, increasing social equity, and mitigating the effects of colonization and poverty.

African American men who have sex with men and women (MSMW) are among the populations with the highest need for HIV prevention programs in the USA. We tested a theory-based, community participatory behavioral intervention aiming to reduce sexual risk for HIV transmission in this population. A randomized clinical trial involving 396 African American MSMW who were assigned to a 4-session intervention involving HIV testing and counseling (n = 199) or to a HIV testing and counseling only (n = 197) control. In the 4-session intervention program, counselors provided education on HIV and STI risk, condom use, HIV testing, interpersonal sexual dynamics with both male and female partners, and motivational "triggers" of condomless sex. Participants completed baseline, 6-month, and 9-month assessments, and changes in HIV behavioral risk indicators were examined by condition and time. There were no statistically significant differences in sexual risk between the intervention condition and the control condition. Regardless of condition, participants reported significant reductions in mean number of condomless sex events with female casual partners from baseline (6.04) to 6 months (2.58) and 9 months (1.47), and with male casual partners from baseline (2.61) to 6 months (1.18) and 9 months (0.60). Condition-by-time interaction effects and condition main effects were non-significant. Although there were no significant differences by condition, findings support the effects of brief behavioral counseling and HIV testing on reducing condomless sex with casual female and male partners among African American MSMW. Future research should examine further the potential for brief behavioral counseling to promote biomedical HIV prevention and to reduce co-morbid health issues such as substance use among African American MSMW.

This resource paper draws lessons from a twenty-year partnership between the Native Hawaiian community of Papakōlea, the Hawai‘i Alliance for Community-Based Economic Development, and the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Hawai‘i. Key players and co-authors describe five principles for sustained partnerships: (1) building partnerships based upon community values with potential for long-term commitments; (2) privileging indigenous ways of knowing; (3) creating a culture of learning together as a co-learning community; (4) fostering reciprocity and compassion in nurturing relationships; and (5) utilizing empowering methodologies and capacity-building strategies.

MBA Professional Project, This research used afloat uniforms of the United States Navy to explain the costs and benefits of implementing the Navy 2-Piece (PC) flame-resistant uniform. This study examined the history and characteristics of Navy afloat uniforms. It analyzed benefits and costs of implementing the new flame-resistant 2-PC uniform as an additional at sea uniform along with the current improved flame-resistant variant (IFRV) coveralls. The research concluded that even though course of action (COA) 3 (Status Quo) produces the lowest cost, the improved flame-resistant coverall does not provide the versatility and capability that the 2-PC uniform offers sailors to operate in all climates, environments, and workspaces on a daily basis. In comparison to the flame-resistant coverall, the 2-PC has no limitations and delivers the advantages of being deckplate-driven, improving the quality of life and work, satisfying all communities, and offering a better fit and more comfort. COA 2 has a net benefit of -$85,174,785.00, which is not a viable choice as it does not deliver any benefits. Our study has concluded that COA 1 would be the best option, because it will produce a net benefit of $20,637,638.00 while providing numerous non-monetized benefits to our sailors., http://archive.org/details/costbenefitanaly1094561228, Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy, Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy, Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy

MBA Professional Project, This MBA project report focuses on the development of a spreadsheet model of a finite population queue to replicate the Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT) equipment modernization process. The purpose of this report is to assess the sensitivity of several key determinants of equipment modernization cycle time for policy recommendations. This analysis utilized a published spreadsheet formulation of a finite population, multi-server machine interference problem as the basis for the design of the spreadsheet model that supports the findings of this report. Key modifications to the model include the implementation of customer balking and reneging in the queueing system., http://archive.org/details/assessingtheabct1094561327, Major, United States Army

How can the Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy minimize repetitive requirement changes while maintaining a low cost in its battleship design? This question pivots around the complexity of the ship design process. Although a naval vessel is a single unit, it incorporates a large collection of various systems that range from weapons and navigation systems to habitability and support elements. Interoperability concerns persist within the design phase, which reflects the reality that a naval vessel is part of a larger system, the country’s naval force. Complexity and interoperability add to other challenges in the ship design process including high costs and lengthy schedules. Depending on the type of design procedure implemented, requirement changes increase, thereby extending the schedule and delaying operationalization. The need to establish and practice effective design methodologies has become imperative for achieving efficient naval ship acquisition with reduced costs and condensed timelines. Using the set-based design method—first implemented in U.S. Naval Ship Designs—this thesis explores the prospects of reducing repetitive requirement changes in the ROK Navy’s ship acquisition process., http://archive.org/details/setbaseddesignin1094562264, Lieutenant Commander, Republic of Korea Navy, Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

This report presents the development of a structured approach for architecting counter unmanned underwater vehicle (cUUV) system concepts supported by model-based system engineering (MBSE) analysis. Global proliferation of UUVs and advanced payloads presents a risk to U.S. maritime interests. To address this issue, UUV missions, platforms, and payloads are characterized to derive a cUUV taxonomy to describe cUUV employment concepts, functions, and methods. A passive mine countermeasure (MCM) mission is selected for detailed analysis using an agent-based model (ABM). Using an exploratory ABM simulation, MCM UUV measures of performance are evaluated for vulnerabilities. Using the vulnerabilities, three cUUV system concepts exploring the breadth of the taxonomy are developed and evaluated in the ABM. The simulation results provide key insights into the effectiveness of the proposed cUUV system concepts and the broader counter UUV mission. Building on the insights and findings from the methods and results, recommendations are presented for future work in the emerging cUUV field of research.

This report describes equipping medium-sized unmanned surface vehicles and integrating them with surface action groups to improve defense against anti-ship cruise missile threats. Requirements for air search radar, electronic warfare, soft-kill deception countermeasure, surface-to-air missile, and close-in weapons systems are generated and allocated to physical components. Requirements for supporting subsystems, such as an integrated combat system and communications, electrical power, cooling, hydraulics, positioning, navigation, and timing systems, are also identified. The unmanned surface vehicle's ability to extend sensor and weapons coverage for the surface action group is explored via modeling and simulation. The report presents quantitative analysis that employing unmanned surface vehicles equipped with systems to detect anti-ship cruise missile threats and soft-kill and hard-kill threat response options offers surface action groups a defensive advantage against those threats.

This capstone report presents an analysis of alternatives (AoA) for the sunset and replacement of the TWR-841 (Torpedo Weapon Retriever) currently in service at the Narragansett Bay Test Facility (NBTF) at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Division Newport (NUWCDIVNPT). The analysis follows a systems engineering approach to define the problem space, generate requirements, generate alternatives, and analyze the proposed solutions. A Design Reference Mission (DRM) defines the current capabilities and operations of the TWR-841 and similar vessels. Operational and system requirements are then derived from this DRM to describe the capabilities required for a replacement. Three primary categories of alternatives were identified, including procurement of a new vessel, procurement and modification of an operational ship, and contracting of currently fielded vessels for operations. The performance of each alternative was compared against the defined requirements to identify overall performance of each vessel. A life-cycle cost estimate including procurement and operations and sustainment for each alternative is presented. This study found that the contracting-as-a-service option was the most cost-effective alternative. Of the contracting options, the M/V GO America was the most economically viable option for the NBTF, meeting the system requirements for the lowest price.

Since 1992, the General Accountability Office placed the DoD contract management on the high-risk list due to the workforce’s lack of training, experience, and education. Their report found that budget constraints in the mid-1990s forced the DoD to reduce the acquisition workforce. The DoD began rebuilding its acquisition workforce in 2009. The Army founded the Army Contract Command (ACC) in 2008 to address issues in the contracting workforce. The ACC developed the 51C Proficiency Guide Assessment in 2010 and replaced the training guidance in 2019 with the 51C Job Aid. The purpose of this research was to identify the training requirements in each contracting environment including home-station, short-duration deployments, and long-duration deployments. This study used 22 of the 29 contract training tasks from the Job Aid and contracting data from the ACC Business Analyst Division to analyze the differences in tasks experienced between contracting environments. We captured the differences in each environment by accounting for the frequency of tasks performed in the environment. We concluded that the tasks performed in each contracting environment with varying frequency. The tasks contracting personnel executed in home-station were significantly different than the tasks they performed in deployment. Our study suggests that Army contracting should consider developing separate training plans that address tasks required to perform in each contracting environment.

This capstone report provides a cost effectiveness analysis of various radar systems capable of guiding the Multi-Mission High Energy Laser (MMHEL) from a Stryker platform. The Army's Rapid Capability and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) is developing the MMHEL to provide a Mobile Short-Range Air Defense (MSHORAD) capability to maneuver units. The MMHEL requires a radar to cue the fire control system for target engagement. Past efforts to employ high-energy lasers have relied on large, stationary radars for target acquisition. The reliance on such radars limits a unit's ability to maneuver and results in the laser being employed primarily from a defensive posture. To maximize maneuverability and enable the offensive employment of the MMHEL, the U.S. Army needs an on-platform radar that is compact and inexpensive enough to equip multiple Strykers within a Stryker Brigade Combat Team with the capability to engage targets from a mobile platform. The RCCTO is currently tasked with accelerating efforts to fill this need. The intent of this report is to assist the RCCTO in these efforts by generating a list of viable radar alternatives and conducting a cost effectiveness analysis to produce a recommendation of the most optimal solution. The results indicate that RADA's aCHR radar presents the best value in terms of cost and benefit to the warfighter.

This report presents the development of a model designed to assist the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) in prioritizing its acquisition requirements. Traditional benchmarks for obligations and expenditures from the Office of the Secretary of Defense do not sufficiently address USASOC’s concern for capability in the hands of the Special Operations Forces (SOF) operator. Existing methods focus on financial metrics instead of capability-based analysis. This report discusses how the team analyzed stakeholder requirements, decomposed them into traceable value measures, and created a working value model: the Capabilities Assessment Value Model (CAVM). The model assesses projects based on the capability the product or system will provide to the warfighter. Previous research on USASOC acquisitions, qualitative and quantitative value modeling, measurement theory, and detailed input from SOF operators and their leadership are the basis for the development of the CAVM. Unique to the CAVM is the model’s ability to generate a value score that enables USASOC to independently rank-order potential investment projects into a fiscal year order of merit list (OML). The model is a novel evaluation tool that integrates into USASOC’s current process yet breaks from the traditional methods of measuring programmatic success. The CAVM provides USASOC with additional decision-making analysis that focuses on the capability provided to the end user.