African American women represent 19% of the 2.1 million living female veterans. They are the largest minority group among veteran women; however, little is known about the challenges that they face when they transition to a postsecondary learning environment. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand better how this cohort of veterans who served in the U.S. Army during military campaigns in the Middle East overcame transitional challenges to higher education. This study utilized Schlossberg's adult transition theory and identity formation as described in Josselson's theory of identity development in women. The focus of this study was on how female veterans constructed meaning as they overcame transitional challenges and coped with change. The research questions focused on understanding the perceived social, emotional, and financial needs and discerning to what extent faculty and staff helped or hindered their academic success. Purposeful sampling strategies were used to select 12 veteran African American females who attend higher education to participate in semistructured interviews. Thematic analysis of the data indicated that being a better role model and provider; facing financial difficulties; and balancing home, school, and career were among the key findings. These findings on challenges of African American female veterans' experiences can be used to inform university administrators, state employment agencies, the Army's Soldier for Life Transition Program, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. This study contributes to positive social change by providing understanding to institutions of higher education regarding the transitional experiences of African American female veterans and the need to implement programs to assist them better.

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La diversité des affrontements qui ont touchés la Moselle et la singularité historique de ce département y ont rendu difficile la construction d’une mémoire collective des conflits. Les associations mosellanes d’anciens combattants sont aujourd’hui à un tournant de leur histoire. Leur étude permet d’établir leurs rôles et permet de voir comment a évolué leur force, non seulement au sein du milieu militaire, mais aussi dans le monde civil. Nous avons abordé l’évolution de la place et du pouvoir de ces associations, envisagées dans leur grande diversité et nous nous sommes demandé quelles sont la ou les organisations spatiales et hiérarchiques, ainsi que le contenu de leur discours. Ces travaux s’articulent donc autour de l’histoire militaire, sociale et orale. L’analyse de plusieurs associations spécifiques et notamment la plus connue d’entre elles, celle des Malgré-Nous et Réfractaires, permet d’établir une typologie générale de ces structures. Si cette thèse établit des conclusions sur les associations de Moselle, elle apporte surtout une grille de lecture pour des travaux similaires appliqués à d’autres départements. / The diversity of the conflicts that affected the Moselle region and the historical uniqueness of this départment made difficult to form a collective memory on modern conflicts. Moselle’s War veterans organisations are now at a turning point in their history. The study of these associations provides us insight into the role they have played hitherto and how they have evolved within the military environment and the civilian world. We have addressed the evolution of the place and the influence of these associations, seen in their great diversity and we investigated the different spatial and hierarchical organizations, as well as the contents of their speechs. This work therefore revolve around the military, social and oral history. This analysis of several specific associations, including the most known of them, Malgré-Nous et Réfractaires, allows to establish a general typology of these structures. If this thesis establishes conclusions regarding the associations of Moselle, it mainly provides an analytical framework for similar works applied to other départments.

Excerpt: Tinnitus: Clinical and Research Perspectives summarizes contemporary findings from basic and clinical research regarding tinnitus mechanisms, effects, and interventions. The text features a collection of international authors, active researchers, and clinicians who provide an expansive scope of material that ensures relevance for patients and professionals. Reviews and reports of contemporary research findings underscore the text s value for classroom use in audiology and otolaryngology programs. Patients and students of audiology will benefit from the text s coverage of tinnitus mechanisms, emerging practice considerations, and expectations for outcomes--for example, recent successes of cognitive behavioral therapy, neuromodulation, and hearing aid use. These and other topics, such as the effects of noise and drugs on tinnitus, are reported in a way that enhances clinicians ability to weave such strategies into their own work. The influence of tinnitus on all aspects of life is explored, from art to medicine and communication to isolation, thereby providing clinicians and patients a deeper understanding of and greater facility managing a tinnitus experience. Finally, this text includes case studies that provide a practical view of tinnitus effects and management approaches. The editors hope that the consideration of mechanisms, interventions, and outcomes resonates with patients, clinicians, and students of audiology.

Self-assessment forms and diagnostic tests were used to assess benefits of a treatment program that addressed tinnitus and hyperacusis severity in a population of 30 veterans (29 males, 1female) between the ages of 43 and 79. Patients were enrolled in the treatment program for an average of 20.8 months (range=12-31 months). For the purposes of this study, tinnitus was defined as the subjective perception of a sound lacking an environmental correlate. Hyperacusis was defined as the over-sensitivity to an environmental sound present at a level that would not produce excessive loudness for individuals with normal hearing sensitivity. Treatment strategies included guided counseling regarding auditory and neurological mechanisms of tinnitus coupled with sound therapy designed to reduce the tinnitus disruption. Sound therapy instruments utilized by the subjects included hearing aids, cochlear implants, bedside noise generators, and near-level tinnitus maskers. The tinnitus handicap inventory (THI), self-assessment forms, and loudness discomfort level (LDL) testing were administered to assess benefit of the treatment program. Subjects were first interviewed using an interview form adapted from Jastreboff and Jastreboff, 1999. The THI was then administered in interview format to all patients. Initial sessions were approximately two hours in length. Follow-up sessions lasted approximately one hour. Most patients returned for at least three follow-up visits over the course of their treatment. The correlation between the patients hearing thresholds and the tinnitus handicap inventory (THI) score were poor, consistent with previous reports. Pre and post-testing with the THI indicated that 36.7% of the test subjects experienced significant improvement in tinnitus handicap. The total scores and all sub-scale scores on the THI showed statistically significant improvements. An analysis of the self-assessment forms revealed that 27% of the subjects experienced improvement with concentration, 27% experienced improvement with sleep, 36.7% experienced improvement with quiet recreational activities, and 23.3% experienced improvement with social activities. LDL testing was administered at the initial and post treatment sessions with twenty-two of the thirty subjects. LDL testing indicated that hyperacusis severity was reduced by 13.6% in the right ear and 4.6% in the left ear from the initial evaluation to the post treatment evaluation. Regarding test subject satisfaction with the treatment program, 93.3% expressed satisfaction, and 90% indicated they would be unhappy if asked to return their sound generating devices. Test subjects appeared to be satisfied with their overall experiences with the tinnitus treatment program. The clinical implications of these findings will be discussed.

Excerpt: Tinnitus: Clinical and Research Perspectives summarizes contemporary findings from basic and clinical research regarding tinnitus mechanisms, effects, and interventions. The text features a collection of international authors, active researchers, and clinicians who provide an expansive scope of material that ensures relevance for patients and professionals. Reviews and reports of contemporary research findings underscore the text s value for classroom use in audiology and otolaryngology programs. Patients and students of audiology will benefit from the text s coverage of tinnitus mechanisms, emerging practice considerations, and expectations for outcomes--for example, recent successes of cognitive behavioral therapy, neuromodulation, and hearing aid use. These and other topics, such as the effects of noise and drugs on tinnitus, are reported in a way that enhances clinicians ability to weave such strategies into their own work. The influence of tinnitus on all aspects of life is explored, from art to medicine and communication to isolation, thereby providing clinicians and patients a deeper understanding of and greater facility managing a tinnitus experience. Finally, this text includes case studies that provide a practical view of tinnitus effects and management approaches. The editors hope that the consideration of mechanisms, interventions, and outcomes resonates with patients, clinicians, and students of audiology.

This phenomenological qualitative study involved 15 veteran K-6 public school teachers – each having taught a minimum of 24 years - from several districts in Southern California. It identified and examined what factors influenced the ongoing commitment and engagement of these teachers over the course of their careers. Factors mirrored the study’s theoretical framework and included: 1) the teacher’s challenges, 2) the teacher’s personal characteristics or attributes, and 3) the teacher’s professional life phases. A majority of the teachers interviewed spoke to the escalation of the environmental challenges they confronted while on the job, such as, student behavior, administrative and parental support, educational reform, work load, and instructional time constraints as well as individual factors, such as, family issues and personality. In particular, the increased aggressive misbehavior of some students along with an all-too-common lack of support from both parents and administrators left these teachers feeling disrespected, isolated, and even burnt-out at times. However, the study’s findings pointed to the affirmative power of the teachers’ personal characteristics – specifically, their passion for teaching and their students along with the teachers’ resilience – in helping them to combat the trying environmental and individual challenges they faced during the various professional life phases of their careers, and remain committed and engaged. Moreover, the study’s findings suggest that veteran teachers could benefit from recognition, growth, variety and interaction with colleagues in order to have a meaningful longevity in their careers as well as more robust support from both site and district administrators. The findings also recommend that teacher educators introduce their pre-service and beginning teachers to what it takes emotionally to stay committed and engaged in the profession in meaningful ways, thereby, giving these new teachers a deeper foundation of what being an effective and fulfilled teacher really entails.

The ways in which faculty navigate the relationship between their personal identity and the identities of their military connected students, especially concerning their approaches to teaching behaviors (Barnard-Brak, Bagby, Jones, & Sulak, 2011) are influenced by normative values that their institution or department supports (Weidman, 1989) as well as by the values that they themselves hold (Barnard-Brak et al., 2011). Given the fraught history of academia and the military (Summerlot, Green, & Parker, 2009; Downs & Murtazashvili, 2012), such variables are especially important to measure as student-faculty interaction impacts student learning outcomes (Cruce, Wolniak, Seifert, & Pascarella, 2006; Ethington, 2000; Kim, 2010; Kim & Sax, 2009, 2011, 2015). Toward that end, the primary purpose of this study was to create a multi-institutional survey instrument that operationalizes perceptions of teaching behaviors amongst faculty who educate military-connected students (MCS) at civilian colleges and universities. Main objectives included creating and developing items specific to unique teaching behaviors and ensuring validity of this instrument. I used a variety of analyses to create the instrument and to ensure validity of content within the survey. I followed DeVellis’ (2017) model for scale development to create and validate the Military-Connected Student-Faculty Interaction Questionnaire (MCSFI-Q). Eleven field experts participated in cognitive interviews to provide sources of evidence for construct validity (Miller et al., 2014) as well as to uncover and resolve content validity and construct validity issues (Padilla & Benítez, 2014). Following data collection, I conducted content and construct validity analysis to develop a valid and more parsimonious survey instrument. Results from all analyses led to the conclusion that the MCSFI-Q is comprised of conceptually valid items that operationalize teaching behaviors amongst faculty who educate MCS at civilian colleges and universities and that the MCSFI-Q has the potential to collect accurate data. Research next steps include further empirical testing in order for the MCSFI-Q to be useable in measuring teaching norms amongst faculty who educate MCS at civilian colleges and universities.

There is limited research on the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008, known as the 9/11 GI Bill, which provides educational benefits to veterans who have served in the United States military on active duty for 90 days. While outcomes for public and nonprofit universities are well known, less is known about whether proprietary universities are successful in recruitment and enrollment of veterans under the 9/11 GI Bill. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the experiences that veterans who were Post 9/11 Bill beneficiaries had with recruitment strategies and institutional public policy practices from for-profit institutions. Ten veterans who participated in this study received Post-9/11 GI Bill educational benefits and enrolled in a for-profit institution based in Florida. Data was collected using the transcripts of the responses from the face-to-face interviews. These data were inductively coded and analyzed using a modified Van Kaam analysis procedure. The findings indicated that for-profit institutions used excessive recruitment strategies and aggressive targeting to attract veterans who received Post-9/11 GI Bill educational benefits. The findings also suggested that for-profit universities appear to need institutional policy changes and programs to assist veterans in transitioning from academic to civilian life. Recommendations to Veterans' Affairs Offices, legislators, and leaders of proprietary institutions that support positive social change include mandatory reporting of federal funds, development of civilian transition programs, and adopting of key collaborations within departments. These recommendations may promote successful educational outcomes and sustainable employment for veterans.

The main purpose of this study was to determine whether playing soccer at high intensity training for a long period causes degeneration of the lumbar spine or not. This degeneration may occur without any symptoms or low back pain. Results of the present study were discussed in the framework of lumbar disc degeneration, trunk strength, lumbar and hip bone mineral density, trunk flexibility, activity MET scores for active and veteran soccer groups. There have been four subject groups in this study (15 active soccer players, 15 sedentary participants, 14 veteran soccer players, 13 sedentary participants). The BMD was measured in anterior-posterior view with a second-generation dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) device. Isokinetic trunk strength data were recorded with the Biodex System Dynamometer (Biobex Medical Inc, Shirly, NY) at the 60&ordm / /sec and 120&ordm / /sec. Plain lateral radiographs were taken. The presence of degenerative changes of each lumbar vertebra was determined by using the Kellgren and Lowrence Score. A modified Schober test was used to measure lumbar flexion. Findings of the study demonstrated that veteran soccer players displayed greater lumbar disc degeneration than other groups. Moreover, v active soccer group had more BMD than other groups, but the veteran group&amp / #8217 / s BMD results were not different while comparing the control participants. Isokinetic test findings of the current study, trunk extension strength at 60/sec was significantly higher in active 1st group players than 2nd group participants, but there were no significant differences between the 1st group and 2nd group in terms of trunk flexion strength and agonist/antagonist ratio at 60/sec. In conclusion, Findings of the study support the main hypothesis that playing soccer at high intensity training at a long period of time may cause lumbar spine degeneration. Degeneration may occur without low back symptoms. Moreover, results supported the idea that Soccer can be accepted an impact loading sport that are to keep or accelerate bone mineral density. At last, having abnormal trunk extension strength while playing actively may cause lumbar disc degeneration on the spine at later years. A similar study should be carried out with a larger number of subjects, and longitudinal studies should be designed to examine the factors that effect the degeneration on the lumbar spine.