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Publications Report, The Editorial Board

Swiss American Historical Society Review

2025 was a busy year for the Editorial Board. In addition to publishing three issues of the SAHS Review, we also completed editing and publishing Helvetic Heights: A Human History of the Swiss Alps by our own Richard Hacken. The book has been well received by members and others as a comprehensive history of people living and working in the Swiss Alps since prehistory.

The February 2025 issue of the SAHS Review featured five interesting and very different articles. Thomas Quinn Marabello researched and wrote about the connection between Zermatt, Switzerland and Vail, Colorado. The founders of Vail, a ski …

Full Issue

Swiss American Historical Society Review

No abstract provided.

Influence Of Superhydrophobic Surface Microstructure On Transient Jet Impingement Cooling, D. Jacob Butterfield, Brian D. Iverson, Daniel Maynes, Julie Crockett

Faculty Publications

Water jet impingement is an effective method of rapidly cooling a surface, but heat transfer from the surface is highly dependent on the surface condition and properties. Here, the impact of a superhydrophobic (SH) surface on heat transfer to an impinging, axisymmetric, room-temperature water jet with Re=6 x 10³to 18 x 103 is explored. SH surfaces are created by etching thin silicon wafers to form different micropatterns (posts or holes). Surfaces are heated to between 200 and 320°C, and the local surface temperature is measured with a thermal camera. The time resolved heat transfer from the surface and …

End Matter

Swiss American Historical Society Review

No abstract provided.

Swiss Settlers On The Nebraska Prairie In The 1880s, Karl Horat

Swiss American Historical Society Review

Hundreds of thousands of emigrants from all over Europe, as well as many Americans, were attracted to the West in the nineteenth century. It was the time of the “Homestead Act,” a law for land settlement signed by President Abraham Lincoln. It had taken force on New Year’s Eve, 1863.

Among the early settlers in the Great Plains of Nebraska in the 1880s were landless Swiss farmers. The presence of two families from the Bernese Oberaargau, Lisette and Ueli Uhlmann-Schütz, along with Annelies and Hans-Ueli Kleeb-Heiniger, was documented on 19th century photographic plates. The black and white pictures illustrate both …

Friends Of The Swiss American Historical Society (Sahs) Switzerland Chapter, Barbara Müller

Swiss American Historical Society Review

The Swiss Chapter of SAHS held their annual general meeting and outing in St. Legier, Canton Vaud at the Pepperdine University campus in the renovated Château d’Hauteville on September 10th, 2025. The château belonged to Pierre-Philippe Canac, who installed Benjamin Franklin’s lightning rods on the château roof when he built it in the 1760s. It then passed through marriage to Daniel Grand, the youngest son of Franklin’s French banker. The installed lightning rods still protect the château today from the storms passing over Lake Geneva. Pepperdine has done a wonderful job in renovating the château and keeping it for generations …

Figure Data For "Evaluating Platinum, Gold, Glassy Carbon, And Graphite Anodes For Chlorine Evolution In Molten Calcium Chloride Salt", Cameron Vann, Shelssie Klavceck, Carlos Mejia, Devin Rappleye

ScholarsArchive Data

This Data Set provides machine readable .csv files for the figures in:

Vann, C., Klvacek, S., Mejia, C., & Rappleye, D. (2025). Evaluating Platinum, Gold, Glassy Carbon, and Graphite Anodes for Chlorine Evolution in Molten Calcium Chloride Salt. ECS Advances, 4(4), 040501.

The file names of each .csv file correspond to the figure number in the article.

The “20 Magic Prompts”, Yoshihiko Ariizumi

Learning, Teaching, & Researching Optimization

This list provides 20 intuitive prompts designed to help you recognize Divine handiwork and personal growth amidst the chaos of daily life. By selecting just one or two questions each night, you transform fleeting experiences into "lifetime wisdom" and deepen your dialogue with Heavenly Father. It serves as a practical tool to shift from a passive passenger to a proactive driver, grounding your spiritual insights into a concrete narrative.

Improving Surface Analysis Through The Correct Use Of Low Energy Ion Scattering And X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy: Best Practices, Common Errors, And Multimodal Approaches For Material Development, Joshua W. Pinder

Theses and Dissertations

Surface analysis is the study of the atoms at surfaces and their connectivity, including their relative depth distribution, concentration, chemical state, and crystallinity. These characteristics govern many important material properties. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is one of the most widely used surface analysis techniques. Proper interpretation of XPS spectra including the appropriate use of backgrounds, peak shapes, peak positions, and charge compensation, with appropriate constraints on fitting parameters provide valuable information about elemental composition, concentration, depth distribution, and chemical speciation of surface atoms. However, despite widespread use, much of the XPS literature contains poor interpretations and irreproducible results which undermine …

Effects Of Social Support Interventions On Medical Patient Survival: A Meta-Analysis Of Non-Randomized Clinical Trials, Ksenia Illinykh-Bair, Timothy B. Smith

Faculty Publications

Background: Prior research confirms that social support promotes resilience among medical patients with chronic illness. Beyond emotional benefits, research has increasingly shown the importance of social support on physical health outcomes. Therefore, identifying and evaluating interventions that increase social support among medical patients with chronic conditions is a priority for healthcare. Methods: This meta-analysis summarized data from 39,493 medical patients across 14 non-randomized trials that had been identified by a prior review of the survival benefits of social support interventions. Results: Across four studies reporting hazard ratio data, the results failed to reach statistical significance (HR = 2.10, 95% CI …

Access Is The Outcome: Rethinking Metrics, Worthiness, And Human Rights Across Philanthropy And Development, Stephanie Zabriskie

Faculty Publications

This thought paper examines how philanthropic evaluation frameworks misclassify access to basic human rights as a preliminary step rather than a complete outcome. In competitive funding environments, post-access behavioral metrics such as utilization and compliance are often elevated to outcome status and used to assess program worthiness. Drawing on rights-based and systems-level evaluation frameworks, the paper argues that access itself constitutes a sufficient and legitimate outcome, and that post-access data should function as program management inputs rather than legitimacy or financial thresholds. Reframing access as the outcome has implications for philanthropic accountability, administrative burden, and the ethical consistency of funding …

Distributed Model Predictive Control-Based Power Management Scheme For Grid-Integrated Microgrids, Sergio Escareno, Sijo Augustine, Liang Sun, Sathishkumar J. Ranade, Olga Lavrava, Enrico Pontelli, John Hedengren

Faculty Publications

Transitioning from traditional electrical grids to smart grids is currently an ongoing process that many nations are striving for due to their access to renewable resources. Energy management is one of the key parameters that decides the performance of such complex systems. Distributed Model Predictive Control (DMPC) is a promising technique that can be used to improve the energy management of grid-connected systems. This paper analyzes a grid-connected inverter system with DMPC that exchanges key operating parameters with the grid to optimize coordinated power sharing between its respective loads. The state-space model for the inverter is derived and verified to …

Molecular Survival Strategies Against Kidney Filtration: Implications For Therapeutic Protein Engineering, William Heaps, Anna Elise Packard, Kristina M. Mccammon, Tyler P. Green, Joseph P. Talley, Bradley C. Bundy, Dennis Della Corte

Faculty Publications

The glomerular filtration barrier poses a significant challenge for circulating proteins, with molecules below ~60–70 kDa facing rapid renal clearance. Endogenous proteins have evolved sophisticated evasion mechanisms including oligomerization, carrier binding, electrostatic repulsion, and FcRn-mediated recycling. Understanding these natural strategies provides blueprints for engineering therapeutic proteins with improved pharmacokinetics. This review examines how endogenous proteins resist filtration, evaluates their application in protein engineering, and discusses clinical translation including established technologies (PEGylation, Fc-fusion) and emerging strategies (albumin-binding domains, glycoengineering). We address critical challenges of balancing half-life extension with tissue penetration, biological activity, and immunogenicity—essential considerations for the rational design of next-generation …

Report On A Self-Directed Pilot Study (For Researchers), Yoshihiko Ariizumi

Spiritual Proficiency

Strategic Self-Regulation for Spiritual and Cognitive Enhancement

This pilot study investigates the impact of structured spiritual interventions on cognitive processing and emotional regulation. By integrating meta-cognitive tools—such as narrative accountability, systematic scripture application, and "mental toggles" via hymns—the research demonstrates a significant acceleration in learning efficiency and a reduction in emotional recovery time. The findings suggest that spiritual experiences are not merely random occurrences but "probability-controllable phenomena" that can be systematically cultivated through intentional environmental settings and habitual reflection.

High School Dropout Rates Among Latin Students In The United States, Taryn T. Marriott

Student Works

An ongoing concern of educators and community members is the disproportionately high amounts of Latinx students dropping out of high school in the United States. Although there has been notable research done and action taken, the problem still remains. Lack of familial support, discrimination, and residence in low-income areas all contribute to the low retention rates of Latinx youth on track to graduate high school. As a result, youth who do not complete their education and set their sights on career goals have a harder time with employment, communicating in their society, and tend to show higher levels of engagement …

Report On A Self-Directed Pilot Study (For Students), Yoshihiko Ariizumi

Spiritual Proficiency

Level Up Your Life: The Science of Spiritual Growth

Ever feel like you're stuck in "mental noise" or struggling to stay focused? This study explores how a simple 4-week routine can literally "accelerate" your brain and emotional resilience. By using checklists and specific mental "switches," I found that we can turn daily frustrations into moments of gratitude and even boost our ability to learn complex subjects. This isn't just about faith; it's about a practical "system" to help you stay calm, sharp, and connected to your higher purpose in a busy world.

Acoustic Analysis Of Prosodic Speech Pause In Autistic And Neurotypical Adults, Rachel Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine prosodic speech pause across two groups: neurotypical and autistic young adults. Conversational speech samples were collected from 11 neurotypical and 11 autistic young adults between the ages of 18 and 26. Speech samples were subsequently transcribed and analyzed using Praat Software. The boundaries of between- and within-utterance pauses were identified, as well as acoustically determining if the pause was filled, silent, or a combination of both. Results found a significant difference in the frequency of pauses as a function of location, pause type, and neurological status. As expected, combination pauses were the …

Perception Of Prosodic Speech Patterns Of Autistic Individuals, Rebecca Lunt

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the perception that neurotypical individuals have of autistic individuals’ speech, including their speech prosody. Speech samples were collected from four neurotypical and four autistic young adults as they answered interview questions. Then, 50 neurotypical listeners (28 female, 22 male) were recruited to listen to the speech samples and rate the speech on visual analogy scales on their likeability and ability to communicate. Participants were told prior to listening to the speech samples whether or not the speaker had autism; however, there were both deceptive and truthful listening conditions, with some autistic speakers …

Precision Acoustofluidics For High-Throughput Mechanobiology In Suspension Cells, Kaichun Yang, Ruoyu Zhong, Ke Li, John Mai, Pengzhan Liu, Ye He, Joseph Rich, Ying Chen, Janna Wang, Zhiteng Ma, Zhiteng Ma, Xianchen Xu, Qian Wu, Tony Jun Huang

Faculty Publications

Mechanomodulation, the process of altering cellular behavior through applied mechanical forces, plays a critical role in physiological processes and has substantial implications for cancer therapy, immunology, and drug development. However, precise and efficient stimulation of nonadherent cells remains a major challenge, limiting the investigation of mechanotransduction pathways and the development of targeted therapeutics. Here, we developed an acoustofluidic platform named Suspension-cell Targeted Response to Excitation via Acoustofluidic Mechanomodulation (STREAM) to enable precise, high-throughput stimulation of suspension cells. STREAM accomplishes this using 101.14-megahertz high-frequency surface acoustic waves to deliver controlled mechanical stimulation at a throughput of 500,000 cells per minute. STREAM …

Humanizing The Base Of The Pyramid: Exploring The Influence Of Resource (Dis)Advantages On Value Creation, Ted London, Lisa Jones Christensen, Tyson Mackey, Alison Mackey, Heather Esper, Andrew Grogan-Kaylor

Faculty Publications

Base of the pyramid (BoP) scholarship emphasizes the potential for enterprises to generate profits by enhancing the wellbeing of the impoverished, often by selling socially-beneficial products (SBPs). Yet, many such BoP enterprises have experienced mixed results. We argue that this may stem from insufficient attention to how BoP consumers value SBPs and other products. We frame SBPs as a type of human capital investment and thus use human capital theory to study how the consumption of SBPs does or does not create value for consumers. Specifically, we use a novel data set from rural India to measure value creation in …

Choco Pies, Economic Gains, And The Opening Of North Korea:, Quinci Rasband

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

Since the armistice was signed putting a hold on the Korean War (July 27, 1953) and officially created two separate entities, has there ever been a time when North Korea and South Korea—two diametrically opposed countries— worked together towards a common goal? If there really was such a time when North Korea and South Korea collaborated, one can wonder how this was received in the minds of North Koreans and South Koreans. While it is challenging to understand North Korean citizens’ perceptions of events, delving into accessible sources can shed light onto South Korea’s viewpoint of inter-Korean relations. One such …

Memories Of The Low-Income Elderly Of South Korea, Jacob Gilbert

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

Rain pattered against my umbrella as I walked down the small alleyway near Tapgol Park. An elderly man carrying a black umbrella hobbled past me. Rain dripping from the gutters made puddles at my feet. I carefully avoided several puddles in the pavement making my way to the end of the alleyway. As I drew closer to the end, loud voices echoed down the alley. Around the corner a crowd of elderly people huddled underneath the roof of the front gate to the park. Some stood, while others sat on the ground leaning their backs against the walls of the …

Silencing The Party, Amplifying The Music:, Brian Lewis

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

The 2024 dissolution of the MFP marked a turning point in Thai electoral politics, catalyzing a cultural contest over political expression through music. The court’s decision to dissolve the MFP was perceived as a direct attack on free political discourse, intensifying state-led censorship efforts against musicians who critiqued the establishment. In response, political music became not only a means of protest, but a crucial space for youth to form their political identities and express dissent. This escalation in censorship and the concurrent surge in musical activism cannot be directly attributed to long-standing political trends; rather, they were significantly increased by …

Full Issue

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

No abstract provided.

Connecting To The Motherland:, Grace Truett

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

India was the crown jewel of the British Empire and, despite the oppressive colonialism between 1857 and 1947, it produced citizens who cared for the future of their nation. Jamini Roy is one such citizen who envisioned his rich cultural Motherland untouched by Western forces. Although India had been dominated by Britain economically, socially, and even artistically, Roy was an anti-capitalist artist who used materials native to India to perpetuate Bengali artistic traditions and reinvent Christian folklore; his work aims towards unification of Hindu, Muslim, and Christian Indian viewers through nationalism and connection of Indian citizens to their land, as …

Harmony In Transit:, Bridget Eddy

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

Japan’s public transportation system is famous for its speed and efficiency. But it is more than just a way to travel. Trains and buses shape daily life and behavior in Japan. They reflect pertinent historical and cultural values, which provide a significant connection to society. Similar to sewing a new piece of fabric onto an old kimono, modern technology has become a part of the cultural garment–not a replacement for it–all while the existing fabric has continued to give it meaning and structure. The Japanese have woven older cultural threads into the new systems; concurrently and reflexively, the new technology …

The Second Great Reform:, Margaret Jeppesen

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

Beginning in 1978 under Deng Xiaoping’s leadership, China launched the Great Economic Reform, also known as the Opening-up, as the nation transitioned from a centrally planned system to a market-oriented economy. In a single generation, millions were lifted out of poverty establishing China as a global economic superpower. Since then, China has placed great emphasis on maintaining a continuous economic upward trend and achieving technological self-sufficiency.

The development of artificial intelligence plays a prominent role in China’s second great reform to become a technological superpower. In 2017, President Xi Jinping introduced the New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan (AIDP) —a …

Review:Linklater, Andrew. Violence And Civilization In The Western States-Systems. Cambridge University Press, 2017., Stephen T. Satkiewicz

Comparative Civilizations Review

The late Andrew Linklater (1949-2023) has been considered one of the most influential scholars within the field of International Relations. This was the result of his innovative synthesis into the field, with others, of the historical sociology of Norbert Elias (1897- 1990), work that addressed the long-term figuration processes of societies. This synthesis was enriched with the insights of the English School of International Relations, as devised by Martin Wight (1913-1972) and Hedley Bull (1932-1985), scholars who analyzed the many and differing interlocking networks and connections amongst geopolitical actors on the world stage. These efforts led Linklater to his final …

Gambling Away Stability: Sports Betting’S Impact On Vulnerable H, Scott R. Baker, Justin Balthrop, Mark J. Johnson, Jason Kotter, Kevin Pisciotta

Faculty Publications

We estimate the causal effect of online sports betting on households’ investment, spending, and debt management decisions using household transaction data and a staggered difference-in-differences framework. Following legalization, sports betting spreads quickly, with both the number of participants and frequency of bets increasing over time. This increase does not displace other gambling or consumption but significantly reduces savings, as risky bets crowd out positive expected value investments. These effects concentrate among frequent bettors and low-savings households. Our findings highlight the potential adverse effects of online sports betting on vulnerable households.

To Become More Fully Human, Mandy Luszeck, Rachel Knecht

The Utah English Journal

On September 10th, 2025, I joined a club I never wanted to join—the club of teaching at a school where an act of senseless gun violence took an individual’s life during hours meant for open dialogue and education. On the same day, the teachers at Evergreen High School also joined that club.