Digital Commons Network^™

Methods For Tagging Whale Sharks: Insights Into Performance And Best Practices With A Focus On Clamp Attachments, Freya C. Womersley, Sofia Green, Alberto Garcia-Baciero, Ronan Conlon, Amy L. Jeffries, Matt J. Waller, Sara S. Ratão, Nuno Queiroz, Pedro Afonso, Gonzalo Araujo, Adam Barnett, Christine Barry, Michael L. Berumen, Farukhkha Bloch, Ginevra Boldrocchi, Camrin D. Braun, Ryan Caillouet, Constance Chapman, Jesse E.M. Cochran

Faculty Publications

Background: Biologging and telemetry have transformed our understanding of marine megafauna movement ecology. Yet, methodological constraints continue to limit data quality and deployment duration. Devices recording whale shark (Rhincodon typus) behaviours and movements have been used for decades, but they remain challenging to deploy and vary in success. Recently, spring-loaded clamp-based systems have emerged as one of the most widely used approaches to attach electronic tags to the fins of this globally endangered species. Currently, however, no consensus guidelines exist as to how to optimise this approach, potentially leading to continued underperforming deployments limiting analysis potential. Here, we synthesise experiences …

Did We Build What We Promised? Evaluating Maker Culture And Practice At A Public Historically Black University​, Harvey D. Long, Nicole Whetsel, Darian Quick

Faculty Publications

In 2021, F.D. Bluford Library at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (North Carolina A&T) received a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant to establish a makerspace to expand access to making, support project-based learning, and foster a sense of belonging at North Carolina A&T. Although the College of Engineering has a makerspace, North Carolina A&T did not have one available to students across all majors.

North Carolina A&T is a public, land-grant historically Black university, serving more than 15,000 students. As an institution with a longstanding emphasis on STEM education, entrepreneurship, and innovation, North Carolina A&T provides …

Mora Valley Of The Mills 2026: A Documentary Report History Of The Milling Industry And Cultural Heritage Preservation, Jose A. Rivera

Faculty Publications

The flour mills along the upper Mora River constitute the largest number of still standing commercial mills in the State of New Mexico, namely the Cleveland Roller Mill, the St. Vrain Mill, the Gordon-Sánchez Mill, and the La Cueva Mill at the Houser Raspberry Ranch. Notably, all four mills are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. During their heyday, 1964-1920, Mora County was seen as the “breadbasket of New Mexico” due to its bountiful supply of cereal and cool climate vegetables. Local acequia farmers supplied the mills with the input of wheat, corn and other grains that led …

Complementary Thermodynamic Mechanisms Of Boron And Carbon Segregation At Grain Boundaries In Nickel Alloys, Tyler D. Dolezal, Rodrigo Freitas, Ju Li

Faculty Publications

Grain boundary stabilization by light interstitials is central to the performance of Ni-based superalloys, yet the thermodynamic mechanisms governing their interactions with substitutional chemistry remain poorly resolved. Here, we use hybrid Monte Carlo molecular dynamics simulations to quantify how boron and carbon modify the thermodynamic, structural, and chemical ordering of grain boundaries in Ni-Cr alloys. By analyzing interfacial state variables, site-resolved segregation spectra, local chemical ordering, and structural evolution, we show that boron and carbon stabilize grain boundaries through complementary pathways. Carbon drives saturation-controlled stabilization by recruiting Cr and conditioning boundary chemistry, while suppressing temperature-driven structural transformations of the boundary. …

Application Of Machine Learning To Discover Dynamical Structures In 4d Poincaré Maps In The Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem, Kevin M. Trigg, Daniel J. Broyles, Robert A. Bettinger, Tyler J. Kapolka

Faculty Publications

The spatial Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem (CR3BP) produces complex orbital dynamics that are difficult to classify at scale using traditional, manual Poincaré map analysis. A Poincaré map simplifies continuous orbital motion by recording the points where a trajectory intersects a chosen surface in phase space, converting a continuous path into a discrete set of crossings that reveal underlying topological structure. These crossings make it easier to characterize trajectory behavior, but interpreting them visually becomes impractical for large datasets and as Poincaré maps evolve from two into four dimensions. To address this challenge, an unsupervised clustering pipeline for discovering dynamical structures …

Enhancing The Bearing Capacity And Settlement Performance Of Soft Clay Using Geocell Reinforcement: A 3d Numerical Parametric Study, Alaa Ata, Engy E. Elbasuny, Ayman Metodiev El-Zohairy, Marwa Nabil

Faculty Publications

Problematic soils pose a risk to structures due to excessive or uneven settlement, swelling, and limited bearing capacity. To address some of these issues, mechanical reinforcement using geosynthetic products such as geocells can be employed, given their ease and speed of implementation. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of geocells on the behavior of soft clay soil in Port Said, Egypt, using a three-dimensional finite element model, namely, the PLAXIS 3D software. The results show that replacing the top 1.5 m of the soft clay with sand significantly reduced settlement. This improvement was further enhanced by …

The Evolution Of Reliability Methods For Nondestructive Evaluation (Nde): From Probability Of Detection (Pod) Conception To Contemporary Practices, Christine E. Knott, Jennifer Brown, John Aldrin, Christine M. Schubert Kabban

Faculty Publications

Nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods are powerful tools for detecting and characterizing flaws in structural components, but their reliability must be evaluated before they can be used in critical applications. For more than 50 years, probabilistic and statistical methods have been used effectively to estimate reliability by describing an NDE system’s Probability of Detection (POD) for flaws of realistic sizes. The POD methods used by the USAF and NASA, like Hit/Miss, Signal-Response (â vs. a), and Point Estimate method (PEM, a.k.a. 29/29) have evolved, alongside newer approaches like Limited Sample POD (LS-POD) method, and Model Assisted Probability of Detection …

Karhunen-Loève Modes For Coherent Arrays, Jack E. Mccrae, Santasri R. Bose-Pillai, Steven T. Fiorino

Faculty Publications

The optimal modes for correcting atmospheric turbulence on coherent arrays are determined. These Karhunen-Loève modes are eigenvectors of a covariance matrix. Creating this covariance matrix requires knowledge of the power spectrum of the turbulence, the aperture geometry, and a basis set for the matrix. The Kolmogorov power law is ordinarily chosen here for the turbulence spectrum. By choosing the phase on each array subaperture element minus the phase averaged over all subapertures as this basis, infinite values in the variances and covariances can be avoided. The piston mode of the whole array, which would otherwise also be infinite, is thus …

Quantification Of Uncertainty Propagation For Transient Heat Transfer In A Hollow Sphere, Rama Subba Reddy Gorla, Lochlan Joyce, Elie John Barbari

Faculty Publications

Uncertainty propagation and transient heat transfer for a hollow sphere are analyzed. The stochastic Biot number, stochastic linear non-dimensional initial conditions, and various boundary conditions are introduced to define uncertainty propagation influencing the temperature distribution throughout the hollow sphere. The resulting uncertainty amplitude was observed to have transient evolution in time. The uncertainty can either increase or decrease depending on the stochastic parameters. Results are presented for the variation in temperature due to uncertainties in the initial conditions and particular boundary conditions.

Evaluating A Dual-Beacon Hartmann Turbulence Profiling Technique Using Wave Optics Simulations, Benjamin C. Wilson, Matthew Kalensky, Santasri Bose-Pillai, Jack E. Mccrae

Faculty Publications

Resolving how optical turbulence varies along a propagation path remains a key challenge for designers of free-space optical propagation systems. Instruments such as scintillometers and differential image motion monitors are commonly used, but only provide path-integrated turbulence estimates. Point sensors provide localized estimates of turbulence strength and can be used to generate path-resolved profiles when an array of point sensors are distributed along the optical path. However, this approach can be costly and complex to deploy in certain environments. Alternatively, a single point sensor can be mounted on a mobile platform that collects data while traversing the optical path, although …

Development Of Robust Ratio Linear Fitting Method Of Temperature And Emissivity Separation For High-Temperature Data, Mitchell Manzardo, Michael L. Dexter, Shannon R. Young, John Bowlan, Anthony L. Franz

Faculty Publications

Accurate temperature and emissivity separation from thermal infrared radiance is essential for characterizing materials under high-temperature laboratory conditions. Existing temperature and emissivity separation methods have largely been developed for multispectral remote sensing applications, where long atmospheric path lengths require extensive atmospheric compensation. In contrast, the current work considers hyperspectral laboratory measurements acquired over a short optical path, where atmospheric effects are comparatively small but increased measurement uncertainty remains within portions of the measured spectrum. The ABB MR304 FTIR spectrometer used in this study exhibits reduced optical transmission below approximately 2.5 μm, producing increased measurement uncertainty within the spectral region containing …

The Use Of Machine Learning Models For Predicting The Dielectric Strength Of Gases, Matthew Mileski, Paul W. Groth, Timothy S. Wolfe, Adib J. Samin

Faculty Publications

Technological advancements in high voltage systems have pushed sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) to its operational limits. Furthermore, this gas has other drawbacks including a high liquefaction temperature and a high global warming potential. Therefore, there has been an urgent need to find alternative gases with high dielectric strength (DS). In this work, density functional theory (DFT) is used to calculate molecular descriptors that are fed into an artificial neural network (ANN) and a random forest (RF). These machine learning (ML) models are then used to predict the DS for hundreds of molecules. A finite element model (FEM) is also used to …

An Atmospheric Optical Turbulence Structure Parameter Measurements System Based On Direct Ri Sensing Using High-Resolution Fiber-Optic Sensors, Matej Njegovec, Simon Pevec, Vedran Budinski, Boris Macuh, Melissa K. Beason, Denis Onlagic

Faculty Publications

The paper presents a method to characterize the refractive index structure parameter (C_n²) associated with optical turbulence directly. The characterization system is based on miniature, high‑resolution, all‑fiber refractive index (RI) sensors. The refractive index sensors employ open‑path, low‑finesse Fabry–Perot interferometers that are approximately 8 mm long and 200 μm in diameter. The active part of the interferometers is made of ultra‑low‑expansion glass, which eliminates the influence of thermal expansion on the refractive index measurements. The proposed refractive index sensor, operating in a differential configuration, achieved a resolution of 2×10^-9 RIU using a custom‑designed spectral interrogation system …

Effective Visibility In The Infrared Bands, Peter L. Dean-Erlander, Steven T. Fiorino, Ronald G. Driggers

Faculty Publications

Visibility is an atmospheric metric for the comparison of terrestrial imaging conditions and locations. A limitation of visibility is that it is defined for the visible spectrum only, and there is no simple infrared equivalent. This study compares three reflective infrared wavebands: near-IR (NIR), shortwave IR (SWIR), and extended shortwave IR (eSWIR), to the visible band across a global set of cities to develop three rule-of-thumb functions for IR effective visibility. To accomplish this, a radiometric sensor model is combined with the Laser Environmental Effects Definition and Reference (LEEDR) software package to calculate the visibility of a black-and-white contrast target …

Enhancing A Mid-Wave Infrared Fourier Transform Hyperspectral Imager For Explosions, James T. Stofel, Kody A. Wilson, Martin Larivière-Bastien, Anthony L. Franz, Michael L. Dexter

Faculty Publications

Capturing reliable hyperspectral imager data at a meaningful frame rate for explosions and other fast-changing scenes is not possible in the mid-wave infrared region under traditional sensor operating configurations and processing techniques, which typically have frame rates on the order of 0.5–2.0 Hz. To combat these shortcomings, the scene acquisition parameters were tailored for explosions and a new method for processing optical signatures of fast transient scenes with Fourier-transform infrared hyperspectral imagers was developed. For this technique, the instrument was first configured to collect asymmetric interferograms while optimizing the number of measurement points on the short side of the interferogram. …

Terahertz Electromagnetic Effects And Chirality-Induced Spin Selectivity In Dna, F. Matthew Mihelic Md

Faculty Publications

The effects of terahertz electromagnetic stimulation of the DNA molecule can be understood through modeling of the quantum logical mechanics of the DNA molecule.  Coherent conduction of electron spin states along the aromatic nucleotide base pairs and chirality-induced spin selectivity are two characteristics of the DNA molecule that are involved in the precise separation of the double-stranded DNA molecule at a specific location.  Such modeling can inform predictions of DNA strand separation and has significant implications for understanding DNA transcription bubble formation.

Modeling Formation Of Turbulent Sporadic-E Clouds Using Realistic Wind Data, Aaron M. Schinder, Kenneth S. Obenberger, Jorge L. Chau, Juan M. Urco, Matthias Clahsen, Benjamin F. Akers, Daniel J. Emmons

Faculty Publications

A high resolution two-dimensional multi-fluid model of sporadic-E layers was developed and driven with physically realistic mesosphere, lower thermosphere (MLT) winds measured over Albuquerque, New Mexico. The realistic E-region winds are produced by the HYdrodynamic Point-wise Environment Reconstructor (HYPER) model that ingests meteor derived wind observations from a Spread-spectrum Interferometric Multistatic meteor radar Observing Network (SIMONe) system combined with the Navier-Stokes equations to provide high resolution three-dimensional wind fields over time. Sporadic-E dynamics are simulated using both realistic winds from HYPER as well as idealized hyperbolic tangent windshears to compare and contrast. Overall, the model shows greater inhomogeneity and irregularity …

Automated Guided Wave Characterization Of Marcelling: In-Plane Fiber Waviness In Thermoplastic Composites, Sourav Banerjee, Ana Tudor, Corey Leydig, Thomas Ferguson, Tally Bovender, Darun Barazanchy, Josh Widosky, Paul Ziehl

Faculty Publications

Thermoplastic composite (TPC) materials often develop in-plane fiber waviness during manufacturing, a defect known as marcelling. Marcelling negatively impacts the strength and overall performance of the composite and are hard to control. While it may appear as a surface imperfection, it can also extend partially through the thickness of the material. Currently, there is no established nondestructive evaluation (NDE) method to reliably detect and quantify marcelling in composites after manufacturing. As marcelling is not a local defect but spans across the surface in in-plane dimensions of the structure, traditional pulse-echo and phased-array ultrasonic NDE are ineffective. Automated multi-directional guided …

The Long Arc Of Global Citizenship: Historical Foundations, Modern Challenges, And Institutional Innovation At Rollins College, Wenxian Zhang

Faculty Publications

The concept of global citizenship can be traced back to the Greek and Roman periods in Western civilization, as well as to ancient Eastern philosophies. Representing both a prescriptive ideal and an aspirational faith in humanity, the notion is closely linked to the historical development of cosmopolitanism, transnationalism, and transnationality. This study first reviews the rich historical roots and core values of global citizenship, along with the growing need for global citizenship education in the modern era. It then highlights several influential individuals who strongly championed its principles, including theoretical physicist and Nobel Prize winner Albert Einstein and internationalist and …

Nitrate Levels In The Tap Water Of Several Northeast Iowa Communities In 2026, Kamyar Enshayan

Faculty Publications

Tap water samples were taken from numerous sites in several northeast Iowa communities along the Cedar River to learn what levels of nitrate people are actually drinking over a several-months period in 2026, with the hope of inspiring public conversations, understanding and action. Samples were taken from February to June 2026.  None of the tap water samples violated the current outdated nitrate limit of 10 mg/l set 35 years ago. However, published public health studies in the past 15 years reveal that consuming nitrate in drinking water at levels as low as 5mg/l for a long time can increase the …

Indigenous Community Research Opportunities, Sharon Hausam, Aaron M. Canter

Faculty Publications

This is a working paper produced as part of National Science Foundation project #2115169, “Transforming Rural-Urban Systems: Trajectories for Sustainability in the Intermountain West,” known as the “Intermountain West Transformation Network” (TN), led by the University of New Mexico with institutional partners at three additional universities in New Mexico, two in Arizona, and one each in Utah, Colorado, and Washington. The TN’s Indigenous and Tribal engagement was supported through a contract with Dr. Sharon Hausam, additional work by Aaron M. Canter, coordination with Dr. Lani Tsinnajinnie, and an Advisory Committee on Indigenous Information Needs primarily comprised of Indigenous representatives in …

Ai-Powered Resume Screening, Sang Suh, Numery Zaber

Faculty Publications

Traditional resume screening is manual, slow, and susceptible to bias, and it struggles to keep pace with today’s application volumes. This paper presents a dual-engine, AI-powered resume screening system designed for transparency and reproducibility. The primary (classical) pipeline encodes resumes and job descriptions using Sentence-BERT (SBERT), computes a resume–job match score via cosine similarity, classifies candidates into 25 job categories using XGBoost, and provides model interpretability through SHAP. In parallel, a prompted large language model (LLM) baseline (GPT-4o/4o-mini) outputs a match score and predicted category for comparative analysis. A Streamlit-based interface integrates both engines to support recruiter workflows and human-in-the-loop …

Instructional Slides From Molten Salt Electrochemistry Symposium (Moses) 2026, Devin Rappleye, Carlos Mejia, Alex Peroff

Faculty Publications

This instructional slide set was developed for the 2026 Molten Salt Electrochemistry Symposium (MoSES) as an introduction and review of fundamental electrochemical concepts and methods used in molten salt systems. The material is intended for students, researchers, and practitioners seeking to better understand and interpret electrochemical measurements in high-temperature molten salts.

Topics include electrochemical thermodynamics, kinetics, mass transfer, electrode potentials, cyclic voltammetry, chronopotentiometry, chronoamperometry, square-wave voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and common approaches for analyzing electrochemical data. Emphasis is placed on building physical intuition, understanding underlying assumptions, recognizing common experimental artifacts, and connecting electrochemical signals to real chemical and transport …

Property Tables For Thermally Perfect Gases At Low Pressure, Travis J. Moore, Matthew R. Jones

Faculty Publications

Tables giving gas properties at low pressure enable the efficient analysis of processes in which the gas is approximated as thermally perfect but not calorically perfect. In addition to specific enthalpy and specific internal energy, thermally perfect gas tables include special functions that depend only on temperature—relative pressure and relative specific volume. These functions may be used to determine pressure, volume, and temperature of thermally perfect gases undergoing hypothetical isentropic processes. However, the definitions of these functions included in widely used thermodynamics textbooks are vague, inconsistent, or incorrect. The intent of this work is to discuss common inaccuracies in the …

Incorporating Increased Road User Costs Into Pavement Management Modeling: A Case Study Of Two-Lane Rural Highways, Khaled A. Abaza, Mohamed S. Yamany

Faculty Publications

The impact of increased road user costs on optimal pavement rehabilitation plans has been investigated using a simplified pavement management model. The increased road user costs include elevated vehicle operating costs (VOCs) due to work-zone lane closures and traveling on severely deteriorated pavements. A model is proposed for estimating the VOC for work-zone lane closures on two-lane rural highways, considering both stopping and idling costs. Another model for approximating the increased VOC associated with driving on poor/bad pavements is suggested as a function of the relevant VOC rate and a proportionality factor. Sample results are presented for a two-lane rural …

Regulating Manipulative Design Is Not Preempted By Cda 230 Or The First Amendment, Brett Frischmann, Peter Ormerod

Faculty Publications

For over two decades, there has been a heated debate among legal scholars, activists, judges, and others about the scope of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. A persistent theme in those debates has been hyperbolic claims about the necessity of immunity from state laws for digital tech platforms and fearmongering that anything less than maximum immunity will destroy the Internet.

This Article argues that states retain considerable discretion to regulate digital platforms’ design and engineering decisions. We argue that manipulation, engineered behavior, and even habituation and normalization of engineered behavior by digital platforms are content-agnostic harms attributable to …

The Hope College Department Of Biology: The First 50+ Years, Christopher C. Barney

Faculty Publications

The Hope College Department of Biology was founded in 1899 with the appointment of the first Professor of Biology at Hope, Samuel Mast. During the first 50+ years of the Biology Department, there were eight total faculty members in the department, including Frances Koeman, the first female faculty member in the natural sciences. Four faculty members, Mast, Frank Patterson, Oscar Thompson, and Teunis Vergeer were primarily responsible for developing the department’s curriculum and programs, with Mast and Vergeer also carrying out published research. The department was housed primarily in Van Raalte Hall and the Science Building (now Lubbers Hall) for …

Comparative Analysis Of Task Scheduling In Multi-Tier Fog-Cloud Computing: From Classical Approaches To Greedy Multi-Objective Optimization, Zafril Rizal M. Azmi, Najmul Haque, Saydul Akbar Murad

Faculty Publications

Fog computing extends cloud services to the network edge, enabling low-latency processing for time-sensitive applications. However, scheduling complexity significantly increases due to heterogeneous resources, dynamic workloads, and strict Quality-of-Service (QoS) constraints. Although numerous scheduling techniques have been proposed, existing studies often assess only a narrow subset of algorithms or rely on offline metaheuristics unsuitable for real-time environments. This paper presents a comprehensive comparative evaluation of twelve scheduling algorithms, including five classical, one heuristic, and six metaheuristic-inspired approaches, within a realistic 20-node multi-tier fog-cloud topology. Across 1,365 experiments spanning seven utilization levels, we analyze each algorithm’s deadline adherence, load distribution, and …

An Abundant Lack Of Introspection, Jonathan Adler

Faculty Publications

In this review Jonathan Adler critiques Abundance authors Klein and Thompson's analysis of how regulation is holding back progress in decarbonization, America's housing supply crisis, and innovation. While agreeing with the authors' assessment that regulation policy is hampering efforts in these areas, Adler objects to the book's proposals for improving regulatory bottlenecks, arguing the authors of Abundance refuse to acknowledge the role of market institutions in creating abundant supply or to admit the fault in their assumption that the failures of centralized government decision making can be repaired while maintaining centralized government decision making.

This abstract has been constructed from …

Atomistic Simulations Of Crystallographic Anisotropy And Defects In Shock Loading, Benjamin P. Helman, Andre Archer, Logan Nagy, Samuel C. Wagers, Douglas E. Spearot, Adib J. Samin

Faculty Publications

The impact of crystallographic orientation, select grain boundaries, and vacancies on the shock response of aluminum was investigated using molecular dynamics simulations. Shock loading in the [001], [011], and [111] directions was explored, revealing anisotropic behavior in shock speed, generated dislocation density, and melting. The Hugoniot elastic limit (HEL) in the [100], [110], and [111] directions were calculated as 18.7 GPa, 17.8 GPa, and 22.5 GPa, respectively. These results were found to be an order of magnitude larger than the uniaxial compressive yield strengths computed at high strain rate using an affine loading scheme. Metastable melting in the [011] and …