Thesis (M.S. in Modeling, Virtual Environments, and Simulation)--Naval Postgraduate School, September 2003. / Thesis advisor(s): Russell D. Shilling, Rudolph P. Darken. Includes bibliographical references (p. 169-172). Also available online.

In the last ten years, a number of behavioral approaches to marital therapy have been developed and applied to married couples. Intervention techniques have included selective reinforcement, extinction, modeling, aversive consequences, and contingency contracting. The present study investigated the use of the bug-in-the-ear (BITE) instrument as an aid in shaping marital interaction. The BITE has been applied in several child behavior modification programs, but no applications in marital therapy have been reported. The use of the BITE has been demonstrated and is considered clinically feasible. Since the N of this study was small and since the raters evaluating progress were knowledgeable and indeed involved in the hypothesis under investigation, caution must be exercised in the evaluation of the data. The necessity for evaluation of specific further research issues is discussed.

In this work, we studied the electronic behavior of polymer-derived ceramics (PDCs) and applied them for the synthesis of carbon nanotube reinforced ceramic nanocomposites and ceramic MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) structures. Polymer-derived SiCN ceramics were synthesized by pyrolysis of a liquid polyureasilazane with dicumyl peroxide as thermal initiator. The structural evolution during pyrolysis and post-annealing was studied using FTIR, solid state NMR and Raman. The results revealed that the resultant ceramics consisted of SiCxNx-4 as major building units. These units were connected with each other through C-C/C=C bonds or by shearing N/C. The amount of sp2 free carbon strongly depends on composition and processing condition. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) was used to investigate electronic structure of PDCs; the results revealed that the materials contain unpaired electron centers associated with carbons. Electronic behavior of the SiCN ceramics was studied by measuring their I-V curves, temperature dependence of d.c.-conductivities and impendence. The results revealed that the SiCN ceramics exhibited typical amorphous semiconductor behavior, and their conductivity varied in a large range. The results also revealed that the materials contain more than one phase, which have the different electronic behavior. We explored possibility of using polymer-derived ceramics to make ceramic MEMS for harsh environmental applications with a lithography technique. The cure depth of the polymer precursor was measured as a function of UV intensity and exposure time. The experimental data was compared with the available theoretical model. A few typical SiCN parts were fabricated by lithography technique. We also prepared carbon nanotube reinforced ceramic nanocomposites by using PDC processing. The microstructures of the composites were characterized using SEM and TEM; the mechanical properties were studied characterized using nanoindentation. The significant improvement in mechanical properties was observed for the nanocomposites.