Blended System Research Articles

Beyond the screen: a comparative study of the student's perception of online education effectiveness in pre- and post-pandemic times

This research was carried out to compare the effectiveness of online education in pre- and post-pandemic periods as perceived by the students of higher education institutions in developing countries facing financial and technological limitations. For this purpose, time-lagged data from 288 students of higher education institutions were collected and analysed in SPSS version 26 using the paired sample t-test for differences. Using adapted questionnaires, the effectiveness of online education was assessed in terms of blended learning, goal setting, interaction, time management, self-evaluation, learning environment, skills to use online learning tools, quality of learning technologies, and learning motivation. Results indicate that students' perception significantly differs during the pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period, compared to all dimensions of online education. It was found that the students, teachers, and institutions have acquired the requisite knowledge, skills, and technology during the pandemic. Therefore, the usefulness of online education has improved in the post-pandemic period. These results significantly affect all stakeholders, including students, teachers, researchers, institutions, and policymakers. The study suggests continuing blended learning systems in higher education institutions to ensure extended access to equitable education and the sustainability of online learning practices.

Evaluating the effectiveness of a blended learning system for developing technological andragogical content knowledge (tack) in community educators

Objective: The relevance of content knowledge, as well as andragogical knowledge and technological knowledge, is rapidly coming into focus as a challenge to turn into Technological Andragogical Content Knowledge (TACK). This study aimed to understand better the substantial variations in learning outcomes attributed to each of the seven sub-indicators of comprehension of technological andragogical content knowledge. Method: This study part of quantitative study. The data were gathered twice in this research, once before and once after the TACK intervention program began, to examine the impact of the TACK training paradigm. The TACK Training Model Development program was offered to 97 instructors from 28 Community Learning Activity Centers in the West Sumatra Province, Indonesia. These instructors engaged in the program on a voluntary basis. Result: The results of this study show that there was a statistically significant difference in TACK among currently practicing educators. This study suggests that a blended learning system for educational applications as an intelligence tutor may provide an alternate means of guiding educators. The findings of this research align with other research suggesting that the blended learning strategy has great potential for future TACK-based professional learning enabled by data analytics. This study's findings add to the expanding body of literature on blended learning in teacher education and teacher professional development, which seeks to enhance how adult instructors get specialized professional training to significantly impact their students' achievements. Conclusions: According to the findings, the TACK of the participants showed substantial signs of improvement. These findings contribute to the relatively small body of research that has been done on TACK, which helps adult educators further their professional development through the support of a blended learning system. This allows them to acquire the knowledge necessary to andragogically incorporate digital technology into students' educational experiences in Community Learning Activity Centers. This investigation has the potential to serve as a case study of the integration of blended learning with adult learning theory.

Promoting quality education through blended learning during and post COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on all facets of education. This led to educational institutions deploying blended and online systems for teaching and learning. The purpose of this study was to assess the role of blended learning in promoting quality education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach The qualitative research design was deployed in this study and enabled the researcher to collect data via in-depth interviews. Twenty-five (25) tertiary institutions accredited by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) were randomly selected to participate in this study. The registrars of the institutions were purposively selected and served as the participants for the study. Thematic content analysis was used to analyze the data collected via the interview. Ethical considerations were adhered to during the study. Findings The study established that COVID-19 had a devastating effect on tertiary institutions; multiple technological and open-sourced systems were deployed for teaching and learning; blended learning was adopted to augment the traditional face-to-face mode of teaching and learning due to its ease of use, usefulness and accessibility as it was used for quizzes and assignments, accessing lecture notes, among others. Despite these, the deployment of technological and blended systems was met with challenges that somehow affected effective teaching, learning. Research limitations/implications The study was limited to 25 tertiary educational institutions in Ghana. It was again limited to the COVID-19 era. Practical implications This research aids in understanding the extent of the impact of COVID-19 on teaching and learning and how blended learning is currently deployed and used in tertiary institutions in Ghana. The findings are relevant to policymakers and management of educational institutions as it informs them of the right method and tools to deploy for teaching and learning during pandemics. Originality/value As educational institutions globally are dealing with the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is prudent to look into how tertiary institutions in Ghana deploy blended learning to facilitate teaching and learning. Thus, this paper is original as it fills the relevant literature gap in terms of scope, setting, methodology and findings.

A hydro-thermo-chemo-mechanical model for slag-blended cementitious systems at early ages

A comprehensive hydro-thermo-chemo-mechanical model for predicting the early-age properties development of slag-blended cementitious systems is presented in this study. A new kinetic evolution for slag reaction that takes into account the heterogeneous nucleation effect and induction time of slag was proposed, with which the model effectively quantifies the contributions of slag to the hydration, energy exchange and mass conversation within blended systems. This paper provides a thorough documentation of input parameters, fundamental equations, and constitutive laws associated with the model. The hydro-thermo-chemo-mechanical model successfully predicts the heat release, hydration degrees of cement and slag, self-desiccation, basic creep and autogenous shrinkage in slag-blended cementitious systems. The predictions align well with the experimental observation obtained from this work and reported works in the literature, validating the accuracy and reliability of the proposed model in capturing and explaining the complex early-age behaviors of slag-blended cementitious systems.

Bio-based liquid crystal epoxy resins: Toughening and strengthening of conventional epoxy resins with strategically extended spacer layers

Liquid crystal epoxy resin, as an ideal toughening agent, combines the features of liquid crystal ordering and network cross-linking, which can effectively optimize the comprehensive performance of blended epoxy resins and achieve an ideal balance of rigidity and toughness. Here we successfully synthesized rigid and flexible bio-based liquid crystal epoxy resin (THBR-EP) by finely tuning the length of alkyl side chains. Using aromatic diamine as curing agent, a homogeneous network without phase separation was constructed by taking advantage of the different activity but good compatibility with ordinary epoxy resins, which significantly improved the toughness of the blended system. Specifically, only a small amount of THBR-EP(2.5 wt%) was required to exhibit a maximum impact strength of 48.8 kJ/m2. Moreover, the increase in system toughness was accompanied by a benign improvement in flexural strength, modulus and thermal stability. The ordered structure of the liquid crystals and their good compatibility with the resin matrix enhanced the ability to inhibit crack extension and energy dissipation. The feasibility to simultaneously achieve effective toughening and other property improvements of common resins broadens the application of resins under various demanding scenarios.

Corrosion behaviour of 110SS steel in hydrochloric acid and blended acid system at 200°C

The influence of organic acids (formic acid, acetic acid) on the corrosion behaviour of 110SS steel, a hydrogen sulphide corrosion resistant alloy steel, in hydrochloric (HCl) acid environments was studied. The corrosion rates of 110SS steels in HCl acid and blended acid were measured using the high-temperature and high-pressure corrosion tester. Scanning electron microscopy was utilised to observe the morphology of corrosion products on steel samples corroded by different acid systems, and the energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer was used to analyse the elemental composition of the corrosion products. The corrosion morphology was observed using a 3D laser scanner. The results indicated that the corrosion rate of 110SS steel in HCl acid at 200 °C was an exponential function of HCl concentration. Reducing the HCl concentration significantly decreased the corrosion rate of 110SS steel. Organic acids and corrosion inhibitors synergistically reduced the corrosion of 110SS steel in HCl acid. Adding 3 wt.% organic acid to the 15 wt.% HCl acid system further reduced the corrosion rate, with a more pronounced effect observed in the HCl–formic acid system compared to the HCl–acetic acid system. Organic acids chemically adsorbed onto the steel surface and decomposed to produce CO, which hindered the attack of hydrogen ions on the metal. The added corrosion inhibitor and intensifier Sb2O3 resulted in the formation of a compact adsorption film on the steel surface, further inhibiting corrosion. The optimal mass ratio of HCl acid to organic acid was found to be 15% to 3%.

Deciphering the transfer mechanisms for CO2 absorption into binary blended solutions

A thorough understanding of the mechanisms involved in CO2 chemical absorption is crucial for the development of efficient CO2 capture technologies. Due to the insufficient insight into the interaction mechanism of different components in blended solutions, CO2 absorption reactions were often categorized as unidirectional transfer between absorption products. In this study, the CO2 absorption performance of binary blended solutions, including piperazine (PZ)/n-methyldiethanolamine (MDEA), ethanolamine (MEA)/MDEA, ammonia (NH3)/MDEA, PZ/potassium carbonate (K2CO3), and NH3/K2CO3, was investigated using a combination of experimental and computational methods. The CO2 absorption mechanisms of “competitive reaction”, “transfer reaction” and “parallel reaction” in the binary blended solution system were proposed. Kinetic experiments revealed that different blended solutions had varying impacts on the process of CO2 absorption. Among them, PZ/MDEA and MEA/MDEA solutions reduced the absorption rates by an average of 8% and 25%, respectively, compared to PZ or MEA component solutions. NH3/MDEA and PZ/K2CO3 solutions had absorption rates similar to those of single NH3/PZ component solutions. NH3/K2CO3 solutions, on the other hand, exhibited an average increase of 17% in absorption rates compared to NH3 solutions. Quantum mechanical (QM) methods were employed to evaluate of the absorption products and key processes in terms of kinetics and thermodynamics. Quantitative 13C NMR analyses were conducted to further investigate the interactions between components and the pathways of mass transport in blended solutions, which demonstrated proton transfer and CO2/-COO transfer between adsorption products. This study highlights an accurate description of the transfer mechanisms of various blended systems for the enhanced CO2 capture.

Design and mediated hydrogen bonding strength of Poly(styrene-alt- N–(ethyl–4–hydroxyphenyl)maleimide) copolymer to enhance miscibility with hydrogen bonded acceptor homopolymers

In this study, the monomer N–(ethyl–4–hydroxyphenyl)maleimide (TyHPMI) was synthesized from tyramine and maleic anhydride. Subsequently, free radical copolymerization was used to prepare the poly(S–alt–TyHPMI) alternating copolymer by reacting TyHPMI with styrene. We confirmed the chemical structure using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The sequence distribution of the poly(S–alt–TyHPMI) alternating copolymer was analyzed using mass–analyzed laser desorption ionization/time–of–flight (MALDI–TOF) mass spectrometry. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements showed a single glass transition temperature (Tg) across various weight fractions of binary blended systems containing strong hydrogen–bonded acceptors, such as poly(S–alt–TyHPMI)/poly(4–vinyl pyridine) (P4VP) and poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) PVP, implying full miscibility. The Tg values predicted by kwei equation for the poly(S–alt–TyHPMI)/P4VP and poly(S–alt–TyHPMI)/PVP blends show a positive deviation from linearity. This deviation is due to the short alkyl chain reinforcing the addition of acidic TyHPMI units, which enhances intermolecular hydrogen bonding between the pyridyl or C=O groups and the OH units of the TyHPMI segment. As a result, FTIR spectral analyses indicate that the intermolecular hydrogen bonding between pyridyl and C=O groups is stronger in the poly(S–alt–TyHPMI) copolymer compared to the poly(S–alt–HPMI) copolymer. This is supported by the larger ratio of the inter/self-association equilibrium constant (KA/KB) value.

Pengaruh Penerapan Blended Learning Flex Model Terhadap Hasil Belajar Menulis Teks Prosedur Siswa Kelas IV di UPT SPF SDN Mamajang I Kota Makassar

This research aims to see how much influence results from learning using the Blended learning flex model system on student learning outcomes and their role in the learning process, especially on the material of writing procedural texts. In this study, a One-Group Pretest-Posttest Design was used. One-Group Pretest-Posttest Design is a type of Pre-Experimental Design research. Data collection techniques use exams/tests and documentation. The population and sample size of this research are all class IV students at UPT SPF SDN Mamajang I, Makassar city, totaling 25 students. The results of this research are the pretest posttest which has been tested on students, and the results of hypothesis testing from this research are tcount = 11.0227 with ttable= 2.064, then Ho is rejected and H¹ is accepted. By rejecting

Integrating electro-mechanical impedance data with machine learning for damage detection and classification of blended concrete systems

In recent years, the assessment of structural integrity and durability of concrete systems has significantly advanced with the integration of novel sensing technologies and data-driven techniques. This study introduces an innovative approach that utilizes electro-mechanical impedance (EMI) data acquired through embedded piezo sensors (EPS) to monitor and analyze the condition of blended concrete systems. Moreover, the study involves blended concrete specimens are subjected to controlled damage scenarios under mechanical loadings to establish EPS as an early warning sensor for detecting damage in these systems. Furthermore, the extent of damage under these loadings is comprehensively evaluated using statistical indices and an equivalent stiffness parameter. Additionally, the study focuses on the application of machine learning (ML) algorithms to interpret EMI data for efficient damage classification. ML models, such as decision trees (DT), random forests (RF), k-nearest neighbors (KNN), support vector machines (SVM), and naive Bayes (NB) are trained to identify patterns correlating with different types and extents of structural damage. Among them, the RF classifier exhibits the highest accuracy of 0.91, followed by DT, KNN, SVM, and NB with accuracies of 0.88, 0.86, 0.68, and 0.17 respectively. The integration of EMI data with ML approaches demonstrates significant potential to revolutionize predictive maintenance strategies, enabling precise classification of structural damage and providing critical insights for engineers and stakeholders to proactively address issues, thereby significantly enhancing the safety, durability, and lifespan of concrete infrastructure. This study not only extends the current understanding of EMI data applications but also opens new paths for automated and real-time structural health monitoring.

Modeling of effect of fly ash amount on microstructure and chloride diffusivity of blended fly ash-cement systems

Reasonable utilization of industrial fly-ash wastage in concrete engineering has been regarded as an effective way to reduce carbon emissions. By adding the reasonable dosage of fly ash to cement paste, the compactness and microstructure characteristics of the blended cement systems can be significantly improved, thereby effectively enhancing the durability of concrete structures. The vector hydration model of blended fly ash-cement systems with the interference effects of different hydration layers of fly ash and cement particles, the solubility equilibrium of solid phases and the electrical neutrality of the pore solution involved is established. By fully comparing with the experimental data of hydration degree, capillary porosity and CH content, the accuracy of the developed hydration model is verified. Based on the hydration model, the effect of fly ash content on the concentration of different ions and pH in the pore solution with curing time is discussed. Additionally, the evolution characteristic of hydration degree, capillary porosity and CH content with curing time at different fly ash content is also analyzed. Based on the reconstructed microstructure of blended systems, the rolling sweep (RS) technique is used to determine the pore size distribution of capillary pores. The effect of fly ash content on cumulative pore size distribution and differential pore size distribution at different curing time is quantitatively evaluated and discussed. By utilizing the first-passage cube, the dual-probability-Brownian motion method is constructed to predict the chloride diffusivity of blended cement systems. After diffusion model is verified by multi-group experimental data, the optimal dosage of fly ash at different water-binder ratio is calculated, which can provide theoretical guidance for practical applications in concrete engineering.

Hybrid Filtering and Probabilistic Techniques for Privacy-Preserving Community Detection in OSNs

Online Social Networks (OSNs) face the major challenge of protecting participant's privacy, due to the high dimensionality and volume of the data. In real-time social networks, where hundreds of personal details of people are shared every day, there remains a significant threat to privacy. Privacy preservation is challenging for a community detection problem due to the high computational complexity and memory requirements, especially in larger real-world OSN graphs. Although weighted nodes provide better results, as they allow capturing the frequencies of the values, the privacy preservation of sensitive attributes such as specific profiles becomes harder compared to these models. This problem can result in queries and subsequent learnings from social network profiles of specific individuals, which may be of personal, political or otherwise concern. Online social networks (OSNs) grapple with significant privacy challenges due to the extensive dimensions and vast quantities of data involved. This research fills the void in current privacy-preserving community detection methodologies, which face problems in computational complexity and memory usage in large-scale OSNs. The proposed framework seeks to bolster privacy preservation through a comprehensive multi-step process. Data filtering uses a blended data filter system to remove outliers and irrelevant data, thus enhancing the quality of the input data. Density-Oriented Clustering phase employs a density-oriented clustering model to identify communities, with each cluster representing a distinct community. Privacy Preservation component introduces a new privacy preservation technique for sensitive OSN attributes, surpassing existing k-anonymization methods. The developed density-based social network community detection model and its novel privacy-preserving scheme are evaluated using the datasets Yelp, Football, Zachary and Dolphin from the SNAP dataset. Experimental results on these datasets embed a comprehensive evaluation based on the order of each node and the graph-based networks, where each node is laden with weights as proximity values, indicating the semantic proximity between communities and individuals. The proposed framework employs the normalized mutual information (NMI), modularity (Q), Rand index and runtime measurements to demonstrate widespread advantages in the multi-dimensional functional space, including greater accuracy, cluster compatibility, and computational tractability over the existing prominent traditional models for OSNs.

Recycled Concrete Fines as a Supplementary Cementitious Material: Mechanical Performances, Hydration, and Microstructures in Cementitious Systems

Using recycled concrete fines (RFs) as a supplementary cementitious material in blended cement systems offers potential benefits for the construction industry. This study investigated the mechanical properties, hydration development, and microstructural evolutions of blended Portland cement systems incorporating different particle-size distributions of untreated RFs. The results highlighted that finer RFs improved the compressive strength of mortar and influenced hydration by promoting monocarbonate formation. The incorporation of RFs optimizes the pore structure in the early stage but increases porosity. RFs affected the distribution of capillary pores and created a rougher and more complex surface compared to inert mineral admixtures. Furthermore, the particle size of RFs impacted the fractal dimension of multi-scale pore sizes.

Synergistic enhancement of metal–organic framework-derived hierarchical porous materials towards photothermal conversion and storage properties of phase change materials

The design and synthesis of composite phase change materials that integrate photothermal conversion and latent heat storage have guiding significance for the efficient development and utilisation of solar energy. In this study, taking into consideration the advantages of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) with adjustable structure and properties, HKUST-1-derived CuO/hierarchical porous carbon materials were employed and integrated with palmitic acid (PA) to synthesise composite phase change materials that exhibit exceptional comprehensive properties. The effects of different carbonation temperatures on HKUST-1-derived CuO/hierarchical porous carbon were analysed through a series of characterisations. The hierarchical porous structure in the blended system offers abundant pore structure and high specific surface area to prevent leakage of phase change materials. Composite phase change materials can maintain good shape stability and excellent thermal energy storage capacity. The thermal storage efficiency and photothermal conversion efficiency are 98.28% and 81.83%, respectively. Meanwhile, the thermal conductivity of the composite phase change material is 3.65 times that of pure PA. In conclusion, the MOFs derivative-based composite phase change materials designed in this study exhibited potential for thermal energy storage and can be applied to the field of solar energy conversion and storage systems.

Investigation on the compressive strength, chloride migration of MK-FA-LS blended cementitious materials with electrochemical techniques

Blended cementitious materials has become an efficient method to reduce the CO2 emission while improving the long-time performance in construction filed, especially for the application of combined supplementary cementitious materials. However, the microstructure and performance evolution of the new materials need further deep investigation. In this study, metakaolin (MK), fly ash (FA) and limestone (LS) was introduced in cementitious materials to form a complicated quaternary system. The compressive strength and chloride migration performance are evaluated, with different MK/FA proportions. Then through the calorimetry test, X-ray Diffraction (XRD)/Rietveld analysis, free water content measurements, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) test, the phase assemblage and microstructure quantification of the blended systems are compared. Finally, to better understand the performance change, the correlation between the compressive strength/chloride migration coefficient and the electrochemical parameters are established. Results showed that the combination of MK, FA and LS is beneficial for the improvement of compressive strength and the chloride resistance in a proper mix design. EIS is a proper nondestructive method to understand the microstructure evolution of blended systems and even predict the chloride resistance of similar systems. This study shields a light for the application of the quaternary system, with a better durability, higher CO2 emission reduction and lower price.

Effects of Lime Powder on the Properties of Portland Cement-Sulphoaluminate Cement Composite System at Low Temperature.

In order to reduce the risk of early freezing damage to cement-based materials in winter construction, lime powder was used to improve the properties of the Portland cement-sulphoaluminate cement (PC-CSA) composite system at low temperatures. In this study, the effects of lime powder dosage on the properties of a PC-CSA blended system with two proportions (PC:CSA = 9:1 and 7:3) at -10 °C were investigated, and the mechanisms of improvement were revealed. The results showed that the compressive strength of the PC-CSA composite system was effectively improved, and the setting time was shortened by the addition of lime powder. Lime powder could effectively act as an early heating source in the PC-CSA composite system, as the maximum temperature of samples exposed to sub-zero temperatures was increased and the time before dropping to 0 °C was prolonged by the addition of lime powder. The extra CH generated by the hydration of lime powder provided an added hydration path for C4A3S¯, which accelerated the formation of AFt at each stage. Frozen water as well as the early frost damage were effectively decreased by lime powder because of the faster consumption of free water at an early stage. The modification of the hydration products also contributed to the denseness of the microstructure.

Impact of Calcined Natural Clinoptilolite Zeolite on Hydration Kinetics and Shrinkage of Cementitious Materials

Abstract Previous literature has provided contradictory results, so we present the current investigation to provide additional information to assess the suitability of using soak calcination as a pretreatment method to increase the performance of calcined zeolite when used as the supplementary cementitious material. In this study, natural clinoptilolite zeolite was calcined for three hours at 200°C, 400°C, 600°C, 800°C, and 1,000°C, and the effects of calcination on different physical and chemical properties were observed using a range of experimental tests. The impacts of calcined zeolite were investigated in the hydrated system with the replacement of portland cement up to 20 % by mass on hydration kinetics (i.e., heat of hydration, setting time, chemical shrinkage, degree of hydration), drying shrinkage, and compressive strength. Results revealed that calcination minorly decreased the crystallinity, particle size, and peak pore size of the zeolite, leading to a slightly increased external specific surface area, whereas it increased the rate of moisture absorption and pH of zeolite particles. In the hydrated cementitious system, calcined zeolite reduced the workability and heat of hydration and retarded the initial setting time. The calcined zeolite particles absorbed a part of the water from the fresh mixture and expanded volumetrically, which led to a negative volume of chemical shrinkage up to the final setting time and increased the drying shrinkage. As the dosages of calcined zeolite increased, the compressive strength substantially decreased because of the lower degree of hydration. Overall, soak calcination pretreatment decreased the reactivity of clinoptilolite zeolite particles and impacted the performance of calcined zeolite in the blended system.

DIGITAL EDUCATION REVOLUTION : THE IMPACT OF MOODLE-BASED E-CLASS ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

The learning methods in Vocational High Schools (SMK) have undergone significant changes. These changes were made because the education system needs to adapt to the conditions of society during the COVID-19 pandemic. SMKN 8 Bandung has implemented a blended learning system with 50% offline and 50% online learning. To maximize the teaching and learning process, the school has developed a Webmoodle application to aid student learning. This research aims to determine students' responses to using e-class and WhatsApp as learning media and to assess the improvement in student learning outcomes through the implementation of Webmoodle-based learning media. This study uses a quantitative approach with a quasi-experimental method, employing a nonequivalent control group design with pre-test and post-test. The results of this study show that e-class learning media is superior to WhatsApp. Nonetheless, both e-class and WhatsApp can effectively enhance student learning outcomes.

Exploring the hydration feature and microstructure evolution of MK-Q-LS blended cementitious materials with electrochemical techniques

The hydration process of blended cementitious materials is primarily affected by the effect mechanism of supplementary cementitious materials. This study utilizes electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) method to investigate the hydration kinetics of cementitious materials incorporating metakaolin (MK), quartz (Q) and limestone powder (LS). The experimental results reveal the influence of MK+Q+LS on the hydration kinetics, phase assemblage, and microstructure of the blended systems. Besides, the electrochemical impedance response of blended cement materials exhibits variation based on the MK contents and the curing age. Furthermore, the resistance of the continuously connected micro-pores (Rccp) in the blended cementitious material progressively increases throughout the hydration process. The inclusion of MK reduces the Rccp values at early ages, while contributes to an increase in Rccp values from 7 days onward. Additionally, positive correlations are established between the Rccp value and compressive strength/heat release across different MK contents and curing ages. The combination of Rccp values and other characterization method can effectively reveal the microstructure evolution process. Therefore, as a nondestructive method, EIS can be effectively applied to predict the hydration of cementitious materials and the mechanical properties.

Financially Fully Mission Capable for the Long-Term? A Strategic Look at Military Retirement

We create a retirement pay multiple (RPM) to assist military service members, at any point in their career, with determining whether they are on track to retire and maintain their living standard. This strategic financial planning tool helps these servicemembers assess whether they are fully mission capable (FMC) in their personal financial lives. The RPM incorporates myriad relevant financial factors, including taxes, Social Security, participation in the Department of Defense’s recently established Blended Retirement System (BRS), actuarial life expectancy, inflation, and military pay growth rates. An associated online calculator also permits customization of these factors.