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This report describes the research, development, fabrication, and testing of the AGES ram-air inflated parachute wings. The primary focus of the investigation to date was on high-airspeed tests in order to obtain data on the structural integrity of the parachute wing and reefing system design and performance.

The present study described the career planning, commitment, and involvement orientations of military health professionals (N = 1,384). Efforts were made to (a) validate measures of career orientation and commitment and (b) investigate differences in those measures as a function of health care occupation and career orientation, career involvement, and organizational commitment varied by occupational category and career stage level. Implications are discussed in terms of the need to identify specific variables which facilitate career decision-making and planning within career stages. (Author)

The purpose of this study was to determine the factor structure underlying responses of psychiatric outpatients to the Health Opinion Survey (HOS), and to assess variations in those dimensions among diagnostic subgroups. The sample was composed of 2,168 enlisted Navy personnel with modal age of 19-20 years. Principle components analysis yielded three interpretable dimensions: Depression, Anxiety, and Somatic Concerns. The salient variables defining each component were item analyzed to produce psychometrically acceptable subscales and the relationships between scores on the HOS subscales and clinical diagnosis were explored. It was found that: (1) there was significant variation across diagnoses on each of the three subscales; (2) for each scale there was a notable difference between more disturbed and less disturbed outpatients; and (3) there was consistency in the relative scoring positions of the several diagnostic groups on HOS subscales. The HOS dimensions which emerged had both empirical and clinical validity, and the factor structure associated with the patient sample evidenced greater differentiation than that previously reported for nonclinical groups. It was concluded that the HOS subscales have potential clinical usefulness and warrant further development and refinement.

A description is given of a means of simulating the flow of telegraph messages through a network of store-and-forward switches. Messages may be multi-address and have any one of five levels of precedence. The modelling process is carried down to the level of individual subscribers. Buffers within the switches are represented in a simple manner but no other aspects of the internal operation of switches are modelled. The output facilities are comprehensive and include gross statistics, such as median delays for each level of precedence, as well as more detailed information.

Factor analysis was used to delineate the most important motivational patterns associated with drug use in a population of Navy enlisted men (N = 664) under-going drug rehabilitation. Ss indicated which of 31 reasons for drug use were associated with various drugs and similarly which of 39 risks were perceived in using the same drugs. Four factors, representing major need dimensions, emerged from the analysis of reasons; these were labeled Insight, Therapy, Sentience, and Pleasure. The Insight factor was the largest and embodied a general concept of seeking meaning and self-fulfillment. Sentience, which is often lumped together with the insight concept in discussion of motives for drug use, was clearly defined as a separate dimension. Four risk factors, labeled Psychiatric Problems, Social Problems, Sexual Problems, and Medical Problems, meaningfully described major complications or side-effects of drug use. The findings suggest a number of hypotheses pertaining to interrelationships among patterns of motives for drug use, perceived risks, choice of drugs, and actual drug use behavior. (Author)

P.0. 6-4-0118, The effects of sloshing liquid cargo on the limit performance of articulated trucks have been investigated. The limit performances of four vehicle configurations in cornering and braking maneuvers were simulated using an augmented version of the vehicle simulation program, TDVS (Three Dimensional Vehicle Simulation). The vehicle configurations consisted of tractor with unbaffled, baffled, and compartmentalized tank trailers and a baseline van. Simulated maneuvers were lane change, cornering, straight-line braking, and braking-in-a-turn. Both vehicle configurations and maneuvers were modeled to correspond with the full-scale experiments, "Effect of Cargo Shifting on Vehicle Handling", (DOT-FH-11-9195), conducted by Dynamic Sciences, Inc. This report covers the validation of the augmented TDVS program, and the development and implementation of a methodology for conducting limit of performance simulations. Results are discussed and summarized in the context of the simulation program and in light of experimental data. Finally, recommendations are presented for vehicle dynamics analysis methodology and for future studies.