The impact of parental depressive problems on children’s depressive symptoms has been widely studied. The Stress Buffering Hypothesis states that social support acts as a protective factor between the impacts of stress from negative life events on physical and psychological health. The current study examined the stress buffering hypothesis in terms of the relationship between parental depressive problems and emerging adult depressive problems. The differential buffering strength of both perceived social support and received social support between stress from negative life events and depressive problems were examined along with the moderating effects of parent and emerging adult gender. Neither perceived nor received social support significantly moderated the aforementioned relationship. When parental depressive problems were added to the model, the three-way interaction between received social support, perceived stress, and paternal depressive problems, on male depressive problems was significant. Other significant pathways and models were discussed.

The purpose of this study was to describe the perceptions of women diagnosed with gynecologic cancers or pre-cancers regarding participation in an online support group. The study contributed to the literature regarding online support for women with gynecologic cancers and pre-cancers. The data were analyzed using the descriptive univariate analysis method of frequency distribution presented in percentages. Out of a population of 472 members of an online support group for women with gynecologic cancers and pre-cancers, 379 (80%) participated in the study. A survey instrument consisting of 6 parts was used in this study. Part I and Part IV of the instrument were designed to collect data regarding the benefits (personal enrichments) of participating in an online support group. Part II and Part III were designed to collect data regarding the advantages of a support group being online, while Part V collected data regarding online support, illness, information, awareness, and sense of self. Part VI collected demographic information and personal information. The research questions posed in the study were developed to examine benefits, advantages, and information about participating in an online support group. The results from this study indicated that there are many benefits (personal enrichments) of online support for the women with gynecologic cancers and pre-cancers who joined these groups, as well as many advantages for them of a support group being online. The results also suggested that although these members were demographically different and were experiencing a variety of gynecologic cancers and pre-cancers, they were very cohesive in their wants and needs from online support. The results indicated that the experiences, both physical and emotional, of the women in these groups were more similar than different. Conclusions and recommendations based on the findings in this study indicated that online support is a positive addition to the lives of the women dealing with cancers and pre-cancers and that more in-depth studies should be conducted and the information disseminated to cancer patients.

The objectives of this research were to develop the best methods for cellulose nanowhiskers (CNWs) preparation from raw biomass materials and the feasibility to perform CNWs as Fe3+ catalyst support in converting syngas to biofuels. Raw kenaf bast and switchgrass were initially pretreated with dilute NaOH followed by dilute H2SO4. High yields of alpha-cellulose were obtained. Hemicellulose, ash, and most lignin were removed during pretreatment. Preparation of CNWs after pretreatment was then conducted via H2SO4 hydrolysis. The most efficient hydrolysis condition was determined as H2SO4 concentration through orthogonal experiments. In contrast with pure cellulose fibers, CNWs supported Fe3+ catalyst applied in converting syngas to biofuels showed shorter stabilization time and higher C4+ product selectivity. With the increase of reaction temperature to 310°C, CO and H2 could reach their peak conversion rates of 83.4% and 72.1%, while the maximum selectivity of CO2 was 41.1%.

Given the significance of completing college, the low college graduation rate for students with disabilities, and the effect of support services on students in the general population's ability to complete college, it is essential to understand the link between accessing support and attaining positive postsecondary education outcomes for the wide-ranging population of college students with disabilities. Students with disabilities attend postsecondary education more significantly than ever before, and the literature shows they do not perform as well academically as their peers. Higher education institutes expect students with disabilities to perform academically at the same levels as their non-disabled peers. Therefore, institutions must identify and support them. With graduation completion rates deteriorating throughout higher education, administrators, faculty, and staff are more pressured than ever to meet all students' needs. In response, higher education institutions are developing and restructuring their support services to meet the needs of students with disabilities. Through this study the researcher sought to compare the perceptions of students with disabilities who chose to register with the university’s disability resource center and utilize the accommodations and services they provide and the students who disabilities who chose not to register for these services. A quantitative study was performed using the National Survey of Student Engagement 2021-2022 to identify first year and senior students with disabilities. Multiple choice questions from the survey were analyzed to address each research question. The study compared the students identifying as having a disability and their registration status with the university’s disability resource office. The data from this study provided insight into the perceptions of students with disabilities, and how they feel about MSU’s DRC and utilizing its services and accommodations. Data also provided a comparison of students with disabilities who chose to register with DRC and those who did not in active learning, collaboration with peers, collaborative strategies with faculty, and the facilitation of the students social and emotional well-being and a supportive academic environment on campus by faculty.

Deployable structures have made an immense impact in the engineering world. The concept of the deployable structure has been able to reduce costs and sizing limits across a variety of use cases. However, sizing and cost reduction are not the only reasons that deployable structures are prominent. There are unique propeller blades that have entered into the world of deployable structures, where the ability to be stowed away and deployed to a much larger diameter can increase launch flexibility, and the engine efficiencies of aircraft. Although, most of the deployable propeller blades that have been designed in studies have the usual hinge mechanism where the down side of a hinge is that it does not necessarily provide any stiffness nor does it change the diameter of the propeller blade when stowed away. However, an unique strategy, that uses the underlying principle of snap through buckling can help to negate the use of hinges. This principle allows the propeller blade itself to be folded and stowed away, where stored strain energy is used in order to self-deploy back into the original shape. This paper will present an overall approach to the structural architecture development, conceptual prototype fabrication, and computational analysis of a foldable propeller blade.

Lightweight aerospace structures have been sought after since humans took flight in 1903, making major strides in NASA's pursuit of the moon with the development of sandwich panel composites. Sandwich structures typically consist of two stiff phases (i.e., face sheets) separated by a lightweight phase (i.e., core), which are stacked together through adhesive layers. Such a structural arrangement provides a high stiffness-to-weight ratio and is often used in applications where weight saving is critical. Functionally Graded Materials (FGMs), refer to multifunctional materials, which contain a spatial variation of composition and/or microstructure for the specific purpose of altering thermal and structural properties. Recent advancements in Additive Manufacturing (AM), or 3D printing, drastically increased research capabilities. This thesis poses two novel concepts. First, sandwich beams manufactured as a single unit through additive manufacturing, eliminates the need for secondary bonding used in traditional sandwich structures. Second, with the introduction of a Functionally Graded (FG) core, sandwich structures offer enhanced flexural stiffness-to-weight ratio. To test these hypotheses, the design space of sandwich beams with FG cores is analytically explored by forming governing equations from existing methods and developing specific FG performance parameters. These equations are then exploited in MATLAB to map variation of the sandwich beam stiffness-to-weight ratio as a function of core relative density. Analytical estimations are verified for a particular design point of variable core density using the Finite Element (FE) models developed in the commercial FE program ABAQUS. Both the analytical and numerical results reveal a performance increase of approximately 31% of the stiffness-to-weight ratio for a variable core density. Finally, the selected design is additively manufactured using a poly-jet printer (Stratasys J55). The flexural modulus and strength of the additively manufactured sandwich beams are measured by the three-point bend test method. The experimental results clearly match the analytical and numerical estimations.

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The objective of this study is to determine the potential association between teaching state, subject taught, perceived preparation given by teacher preparedness programs, and perceived support from administration and colleagues, and overall happiness of teachers and their satisfaction with the university education program they attended. We use generalized Fisher’s exact tests, two-sample t-tests, linear regression, logistic regression to accomplish this objective. State and subject have very little effect on teacher satisfaction. Teacher support systems are associated with both the way a teacher perceives they were prepared, as well as the satisfaction they experience in their career. How well a teacher feels they were is also associated with teacher satisfaction.

Individuals that perceive stigma surrounding their identity and fear rejection of support requests may experience a paradox whereby they seek support indirectly from support networks (friends and family) to avoid rejection and are met with unsupportive responses. This study extended this paradox to sexual minorities using survey data from a sample of 133 individuals self-identified as gay and lesbian. Results of structural equation modeling showed self-stigma and fear of support rejection linked to increased indirect support seeking, which in turn explained unsupportive network responses, providing support for a paradox among gays and lesbians. Findings may have implications for interventions to improve support exchanges in the lives of sexual minorities.

Ethnic minority groups are societally defined groups that exist as psychological and/or numerical minorities, and whose members presumably share biological and/or cultural heritage (Markus, 2008). Although religious and national minority groups clearly are defined by culture, racial minority groups (which psychologists have tended to regard as defined by biology; Fairchild, Yee, Wyatt, & Weizmann, 1995;Yee, Fairchild, Weizmann, & Wyatt, 1993) similarly are defined by culture (Jones, 1997). In turn, culturally diverse families are defined by the presence of one or more family members who are members of racial, religious, or national minority groups within a given society (Gaines, 1997). According to Erving Goffman (1963), stigmatization toward members of ethnic minority groups not only can affect those individuals but also can affect the individuals' families. Within the U.S.A. and other Western nations, majority group members as well as minority group members in interracial marriages often are acutely aware of the transmission of stigmatization throughout entire families (Gaines & Ickes, 2000). However, the transmission of stigmatization can occur in all families in which one or more members belong to racial, religious, or national minority groups (Gaines, 2001). In the present chapter, we draw upon Goffman's (1959, 1963) symbolic interactionist theory in examining support communication within culturally diverse families. We pay particular attention to Goffman's (1963) concept of stigma as applied to members of ethnic minority groups and as applied to their families. Moreover, we focus on specific forms of support communication (following Mickelson & Williams, 2008; Williams & Mickelson, 2008) that members of ethnic minority groups may use to obtain social support from family members and, thus, counteract the potentially negative effects of stigmatization. In addition, we consider the utility of Claude Steele's (1997) concept of stereotype threat in explaining the potential lack of generalizability of support communication processes across ethnic (and especially racial) groups.