Many studies have been conducted on military families in order to determine the effect of parent absence and frequent family moves on the academic adjustment and emotional well-being of children. Research has shown that environmental factors, such as parents coping abilities, social support, length of deployment, frequency of moves, and preparation for deployments or moves can influence the effects children experience due to deployments and relocations. Children of military families can be resilient and successful in school during deployment and moves. / text

This qualitative descriptive study investigated the unique and specific impact of being pregnant while one's husband was deployed to a combat zone. Three specific aims were used to address the study objectives 1) Describe the experience of being pregnant while one's husband is deployed 2) Describe the women's experiences with health-care providers 3) Describe the types of support women sought or had access to during pregnancy. Participants were 16 women who had been pregnant while their husbands were deployed for greater than 30 days from 2004-2014, with no prior personal history of being deployed. Participants completed demographic questionnaires on their pregnancy course, and their husband's military and deployment history. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with each participant individually. Content and matrix analysis were utilized to explore the study aims. The Stress and Coping Model by Lazarus and Folkman (1984) provided the theoretical framework for this study. Communication was an important part of receiving support from the husband and daily communication (n=4, 25%) was associated with more problem-based coping (75%) and feelings of emotional support from the husband (38%). Six participants stated a history of preterm labor or birth, and most of those participants used emotion-based coping predominantly (57%). Participants who perceived that their husbands experienced significant danger were more likely to use emotion-based coping (56%). Participants overall had more positive interactions with certified nurse midwives (76%) and civilian obstetric physicians (77%), and reported more negative interactions with military obstetric providers (87%). Primiparous participants reported that 61% of all experiences with providers were positive while multiparous participants were more likely to have negative (66%) or mixed (6%) experiences. Support systems sought or accessed were different for officer and enlisted wives as well as for different ages. The wives of enlisted soldiers were more likely to not participate, or have an unfavorable view (52%) of the FRGs. Whereas, the wives of officers felt more support and involvement (69%). Wives who were 29-years-old or less sought out more support from friends/co-workers (33%) than the 30-years-old or older group (19%). The 30-years-old or older group was more likely to have sought support from family (50%) versus the 29-years-old or younger group (40%). The difference in support sought or accessed from the FRG between the two age groups was much less significant (28% for ≤ 29-years old versus 31% for ≥ 30-years old). The findings from this study could be adapted to create a screening tool that would alert providers to those pregnant women who might need specific resources or social support.

Many applications require deployable structures to meet operational objectives such as satellites that unfurl antenna arrays. Typically, most deployment efforts involve the use of explosive and non-explosive actuators (EAs and NEAs respectively) that have implementation drawbacks such as the expense associated with special handling and the bulk encountered with mounting the devices. To mitigate EA and NEA drawbacks, the integration of shape memory alloys (SMA) as a deployment actuator was investigated. SMA specimens were heated and pulled to failure developing an environmental and structural operating envelope for application as deployment mechanisms. A Finite Element Model (FEM) was also created to model the response behavior induced during specimen testing so that modeled performance could be used in lieu of testing when integrating SMA actuators into deployment systems. Experimental results verified that SMAs can be implemented as deployment actuators. Recorded data showed that SMA fracture is possible over a wide range of temperatures and strains, filling a material performance gap not found in the literature. The obtained information allows design engineers to appropriately size SMAs given design requirements achieving the desired deployment effects. The Finite Element Model was partially successful, capable of emulating strained ambient material behavior up to approximately 6.1%. The limited response is due to lack of experimentally derived large stress and strain available for model emulation.

No description available.

Extended periods of parent-child separation is a stressor that some families face due to vocational factors, immigration, incarceration and other interruptions in family living arrangements. Research suggests that these families are at increased risk for child behavioral and academic difficulties, mental health issues, and other psycho-social challenges. Within military families, extended periods of separation are relatively common, but are also compounded by additional risks that accompany a military deployment. The present study employed a cross-sectional mixed-methods research design to examine adaptations that occurred across the deployment cycle in a sample of 28 military couples (with at least one child), who had recently experienced a deployment. Quantitative analyses showed that the military parents found the post deployment period more challenging than the pre deployment period, while the home parents rated the deployment period as the most challenging. Additionally, a number of interesting associations were found; for example, increased military risk during deployment was linked with higher relationship satisfaction and reduced mental health challenges after deployment. Qualitative analyses supported these interesting findings and provided examples of common resilience factors across these families along with additional indicators of how these military families adapted to separation and reunion. Results are discussed in regards to how they align with family systems theory and previous research in the area.

The ushering in of the new democratic order in South Africa in 1994 brought with it far-reaching changes that impacted on the lives of every citizen. South Africa was faced with the task of translating the dreams of its citizens into reality. To do so, the state, through its various departments had to revisit it approach to service delivery. this led to the extensive restructuring processes that characterised the first decade of democratic rule in this country. The changes that occurred and are still occurring in education are remarkable and commendable. Post 1994, the Ministry of Education had to dismantle the apartheid structure and create a unified education system. During apartheid there were 19 Education Departments, which had to be amalgamated into one National Department, which is further divided into nine Provincial Education Departments (Hofmeyer, 2000:2). this was to create a more equitable system of financing in a context of the huge demand on the limited financial resources and to create a policy framework, which gave concrete expression to the values, which underpinned the post apartheid state. The first five years of reconstruction were dedicated towards the dismantling of apartheid, and the creation of structures and procedures. This included transfers of staff, offices, records, assets and more than ten million learners and educators into the new system without compromising service delivery. Educators are central to educational change, the policy on norms and standard for educators were introduced in 2000 (Robinson, 2003:19). This policy created the framework and procedures for the approval of teacher education programmes and outlined the kinds of qualifications that the Department of Education would consider for funding and for employment. The policy provides an outline of the knowledge, skills and values that are seen as the hallmarks of a professional and competent educator (Robinson, 2003:21 ). / (MBA) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2006

This record of study details the experience and the knowledge applied by an engineering doctoral candidate during two internships with two separate organizations in the cardiovascular device industry. The first internship was with an early startup company with a large focus in early research and design. The second was in a more mature organization with a focus in process control and increasing efficiencies. The startup company provided the appropriate dynamic for applying engineering design methods such as generating customer requirements, generating product functional requirements, building a quality function deployment, and proposing a basic high level design approach. With the mature company the focus was on investigating procedural inefficiencies through root cause analysis and mitigating the inefficiencies through integrated software solutions. The detailed accounts of these experiences provide a broad overview of the many challenges facing the cardiovascular device industry and the organizations involved. These accounts also illustrate the importance and value of engineering design principles and systems based engineering management in the industry.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Missouri University of Science and Technology, 2008. / Degree granted by Missouri University of Science and Technology, formerly known as the University of Missouri-Rolla. Vita. The entire thesis text is included in file. Title from title screen of thesis/dissertation PDF file (viewed April 29, 2008) Includes bibliographical references (p. 108-111).

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, August, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Stuttgart, Univ., Diss., 2007.