Digital Commons Network^™

Orthopedic Bone Drill, Logan G. Schmid, Matthew T. Wold, May Geng

Biomedical Engineering

This project aims to design a bone drill for orthopedic procedures which alleviates the heat generated in the bone during drilling.

A Closer Look At The Innovator: The Interplay Between Divergent And Convergent Processes Of Self-Regulation, Ronald Bledow, Hye Jung Eun, Lien Vossaert

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Creativity and innovation are essential for modern organizations. While abundant research has helped to better understand creativity in everyday work life, considerably less attention has been paid to how individuals achieve creative performance during the implementation of innovation projects. We articulate a dialectical interplay between divergent and convergent processes of self-regulation that supports creative performance in innovation projects. We propose that a divergent exploration orientation contributes to creative performance by inducing a broad search for novelty and by stimulating iteration—repeated cycles of experimentation and refinement. Convergent processes of self-regulation—outcome focus and planning—strengthen the relationship between divergent processes and creative performance. …

An Intersectional Framework For Effectively Mentoring Latinas In Stem Fields, Rosalynn A. Vega

Anthropology Faculty Publications

While Latinas are underrepresented across all areas of academia, this problem is especially severe in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. This chapter offers a “best practices,” step‑by-step guide for how to effectively mentor Latinas in STEM fields—drawing from interdisciplinary concepts, culled from critical race studies, statistics, and anthropology—and personal experience as a Latina in STEM, mentor, and mentee. Crenshaw’s (1989) theory of intersectionality, Farmer’s (1999) notion of structural violence, and multivariate statistical modeling is used to demonstrate that intersectional inequality can be traced back to social structures. Multi‑gender and multiethnic mentoring by individuals who are motivated to …

Sweet Is The Work, Allie M. Wheeler

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

Sweet is the Work is a collection of collagraph prints, collages, and sculptural artworks created through a dialogue between surface textures, colors, and imagery, sourced from personal experiences and the home environment that nurtured them. My artwork functions as a visual journal of my memories of living on a family farm in Delta, Utah, in an engaged religious lifestyle. Daily life at home was filled with responsibilities, from sweeping the floor to tending crops and livestock. Tasks like preserving food were guided less by necessity than by tradition. A history of family record keeping inspires my process of documentation. Each …

Interest Fit Beyond The Riasec: The Comprehensive Assessment Of Basic Interests-O*Net (Cabin-Net), Chu Chu, Kevin A. Hoff, Zihan Liu, Nicholas F. Heimpel, Anthony Greco, Frederick L. Oswald, James Rounds

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Over the past half-century, Holland’s RIASEC model has dominated vocational interest research. Although the RIASEC categories effectively capture general occupational themes, their breadth obscures meaningful variability across underlying basic interests, which are more refined interest scales. In this research, we adapted the Comprehensive Assessment of Basic Interests (CABIN; Su et ., 2019) to be used alongside O*NET for assessing interest fit, resulting in the 60-item CABIN-NET that measures 20 basic interest scales organized under RIASEC domains. In Study 1, we refined items for the CABIN-NET using a nationally representative adult sample (N = 768). In Studies 2 and 3, we …

Global Value Chains And Economic Inequality, Vivek Soundararajan, Ari Van Assche, Hari Bapuji, Gokhan Ertug

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In their inaugural editorial, Van Assche and De Marchi (2024) argued that meaningful progress in international business policy requires a more fine-grained understanding of how private international business practices intersect with public policy objectives. This editorial builds on that insight by applying it to a critical yet still underexplored issue – one on which we hope to see more research in this journal: the role of multinational enterprises (MNEs) and global value chains (GVCs) in shaping economic inequality within developing economies. Decisions related to sourcing, contracting, and GVC governance are inherently distributional rather than neutral, with important implications for how …

Collaborative Work Management Technologies And Managerial Intensity In U.S. Corporations: An Examination, Piyush Gulati, Arianna Marchetti, Phanish Puranam

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Do digital technologies reinforce managerial hierarchies or, instead, make them less relevant? We propose that the answer to this question depends on the nature of the technology: specifically, its relative impact on managers' capacity to supervise and on subordinates' need for supervision. Applying this framework to collaborative work management (CWM) technologies that facilitate real-time collaboration, communication, and task coordination, we predict that the adoption of such technologies should reduce managerial intensity and increase decentralization in organizations. To test this prediction, we use a difference-in-differences design on a novel data set built from over 26 million job listings (Lightcast) and over …

Using Ai To Redirect Donor Support To Smaller Organizations, Madeleine Alegria, Brandolon Barnett

The Foundation Review

Despite rising interest in supporting local causes, many donors continue to give to large, nationally recognized nonprofits. This reflects ongoing structural barriers such as limited nonprofit visibility, decision fatigue, and search environments that prioritize brand familiarity.

At the same time, small-dollar giving has declined for three consecutive years, highlighting the need for more transparent, accessible, and trustworthy tools to support donor decision-making (Childress, 2024; Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, 2023).

In a 2024 evaluation study, 291 U.S. donors were randomly assigned to use either the Giving Compass Guide to Good platform or general internet tools to select a new nonprofit …

Beyond The Check: Lessons In Trust, Support, And Structure For Flexible Well-Being Grants, Martena Reed, Jennifer Marsack, Chelsey Hurt, Gladys Hairston, Karla Mendez, Tejaswini Vemuganti, Valerie Stewart, Cindy Alvarado

The Foundation Review

This article draws on a developmental evaluation of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation’s Well-Being Grants, which awarded over 100 small, flexible grants to support nonprofit staff and organizational well-being. Using surveys, interviews, focus groups, and document review, authors examined how organizations defined well-being, how they used the funds, and what factors shaped their choices.

Findings show that, while grantees valued flexibility, many relied on familiar approaches such as retreats, stipends, and team building. Long-standing compliance norms engendered caution about experimentation, even when funders encouraged it.

The authors argue that funders must pair flexible dollars with …

Work Environments Matter: The Impacts Of Interpersonal Relationships On Student Affairs Professionals, Lawrence R. Daniel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study examined how everyday workplace relationships influence engagement, professional identity, and retention among student affairs professionals in higher education. Guided by relational leadership theory, the study explored how leadership is experienced not only through formal position or authority, but also through relational presence, psychological safety, and advocacy. Seventeen student affairs professionals representing diverse institutional types, geographic regions, and career stages participated in in-depth semistructured interviews. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis and incorporated both in vivo and line-by-line coding to ensure that findings remained grounded in participants’ voices and lived experiences. Nine themes emerged from the analysis. …

Exploring The Lived Experiences Of Black Women In Undergraduate Stem Core Expansion Pathways, Lizzie L. Evans Martinez Alvarez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The use of social incongruence in the film Hidden Figures, which juxtaposed with STEM education as the most powerful in contrast with Black women as the least powerful, supported the argument for the specific problem of practice to examine the unmet need for socially and ethnically diverse student populations in U.S. STEM higher education and careers. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological research study was to identify and analyze the lived experiences of Black women regarding barriers they perceive in the STEM educational and career decision-making processes, while exploring transformational pathways to STEM academic success. The study specifically analyzed …

Exploring The Personal Management Interview Program As A Burnout Prevention Strategy In Policing: A Qualitative Case Study, Lance C. Arnold

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Police officers in the United States experience severe burnout at rates exceeding other service professions, with approximately 75% experiencing burnout symptoms. Current interventions predominantly focus on individual coping mechanisms rather than addressing organizational and leadership factors contributing to burnout. This qualitative single-case study explored the perceptions and experiences of police leaders and officers concerning the utility of a personal management interview program to foster positive leadership behaviors as a resource-oriented preventive strategy against burnout in a midsize municipal police department in Texas. The study employed semistructured virtual interviews with eight participants: four police leaders and four police officers who had …

Texas Secondary Spanish Teachers’ Perceptions Of Factors Influencing Instructional Self- Efficacy, Satisfaction, And Effectiveness, Tana Verlane Palafox

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ongoing shortages of certified world language teachers and declining enrollment in secondary language programs have intensified concerns about teacher burnout, professional isolation, and instructional quality. Research has indicated that collaboration, targeted professional development, and supportive leadership influence teachers’ instructional self-efficacy, job satisfaction, and instructional effectiveness. However, limited research has examined how secondary Spanish teachers in Texas experience these issues. This qualitative collective case study explored how Texas secondary school Spanish teachers perceive the impact of their professional experiences on instructional self-efficacy, job satisfaction, and instructional effectiveness. Grounded in Bandura’s social cognitive theory and Vygotsky’s social constructivism, the study examined how …

A Narrative Study On The Resilience Of Women In Technology Careers, Gina J. Baldridge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In spite of the promotion of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and careers, there is a lack of women entering the STEM workforce and majoring in STEM subjects. Women can experience gender bias and workplace marginalization in STEM careers, but have learned coping strategies that have contributed to their technology career resilience. The purpose of this narrative qualitative study was to explore how women working as individual performers and leaders in technology companies told their career stories of resilience through the perspective of change acceptance, confidence, and communication, three factors in Kumar’s CR8 model of resilience. The model …

Intersecting Identities: The Leadership Journeys And Challenges Of Black Women Senior Leaders In Southern U.S. Predominantly White Institutions, Quizanae' Yvonne Cooper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study looked at what Black women in high‑level leadership roles are experiencing at predominantly White institutions in Texas and Florida now that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies have been rolled back. Using Black feminist theory and intersectionality as the foundation, the research focused on how race and gender shape their leadership, their decision‑making, and the ways they navigate their careers. Through in‑depth interviews with 10 Black women in executive positions, the study uses a narrative approach to understand their stories. Eight major themes emerged, and many participants explained that losing DEI initiatives created new obstacles, reduced support systems, …

Stroke Increases Motor Output Variability During Maximal Voluntary Isometric Contractions Of Knee Extensor Muscles In Adults, Zhilun Zhou, Stephanie Christine Wolfe, Brian Schmit, Matthew J. Durand, Sandra Hunter, Allison Hyngstrom

Physical Therapy Faculty Research and Publications

Greater motor output variability (MOV, inconsistency and unsteadiness) during submaximal tasks post stroke is associated with poorer motor performance. However, little is known about MOV during maximal tasks and relationships with clinical measures of motor performance among stroke survivors. This study determined inconsistency (across discrete attempts) and unsteadiness (within a single attempt) during knee extension maximal voluntary isometric contractions (MVICs) in stroke survivors and neurotypical controls. Forty-three stroke survivors (28 female) and 31 age-matched neurotypical controls (15 female) performed a minimum of five knee extension MVICs with paretic and non-paretic legs (stroke) or dominant leg (controls). Inconsistency was calculated as …

Dyadic Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia Outcomes For Mothers And Their Children: Long-Term Follow-Up Of A Randomized Controlled Trial Of Brief Parenting Interventions, Abigail Sullivan, Sophia Eisenberg Garcia, Maria Kinsey, Komal Brown, Rong Bai, Melissa Mcternan, Seth J. Scholer, Ron Prinz, Julia Fleckman, Stacy Drury, Catherine A. Taylor

Student Publications [Scholarly]

This study was part of a longitudinal follow-up of a 3-armed randomized controlled trial designed to test the effects of two brief parenting interventions, Play Nicely (PN) and Triple P-Level 2 (TP2), to a usual care control on parenting outcomes. Female caregivers with an identified index child (Mage = 3.7 years, standard deviation [SD] = 1.7) were recruited through women, infants, and children (WIC) clinics in the greater New Orleans region. At a long-term (Myears = 5 years, SD = 0.9) follow-up assessment, respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was assessed for a subset of these mother–child dyads during three dyadic interaction …

Stepreg: A Comprehensive And Intuitive R Package For Stepwise Regression Analysis, Junhui Li, Kai Hu, Xiaohuan Lu, Cesar B. Sotelo, Sushmita Nayak, Michael A. Lodato, Wenxin Liu, Lihua Julie Zhu

Student Publications [Scholarly]

Stepwise regression remains widely used for model selection, yet the field lacks a comprehensive, well-documented tool that supports diverse model families and selection strategies, implements multiple information criteria, and addresses overfitting and post-selection inference. We present StepReg, an R package that unifies stepwise selection across linear, generalized linear (e.g., logistic, Poisson, Gamma, negative binomial), and Cox models, supporting forward, backward, bidirectional, and best-subset search under various information criteria. StepReg also supports multivariate multiple linear stepwise regression, enabling simultaneous modeling of multiple dependent variables. Users can explore multiple strategies and information criteria within a single function call, and optionally combine them …

Systematic, Bibliographic And Statistical Aspects On Multi Generation Recycled Concrete Materials Research: A Review, Henrique Comba Gomes, Maozhou Meng, Katie Jones, William Vevers, Aissa Bouaissi, Boksun Kim

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

This article aimed to review the current literature related to the topic of multiple generation recycled concrete materials considering systematic, bibliographic and statistical aspects. The review was conducted from an adaptation from the systematic review for engineering and experiments (SREE) method. Papers wrote in English with scientific relevance, title and abstract full aligned with the topic were selected from Scopus and Web of Science databases. Bibliographic aspects highlighted the research novelty, the quality of research and prominence for future works. The systematic review aimed to provide insights in the literature concerning multiple recycling concrete materials. Some of the main aspects …

The Effect Of Si And Zr On The Formation Of Al3x And V-Phase In A 6005a Alloy With Sc—Part 1: Alloy Design And Heat Treatment Selection, Eli A. Harma, Timothy Langan, Paul Sanders

Michigan Tech Publications

Adding Sc to 6xxx series alloys has led to inconsistent results due to the formation of the high-temperature, thermodynamically stable V-phase (AlSc2Si2). Thermo-Calc single-axis equilibrium and phase diagram calculations were employed to identify V-phase formation with varying Si and Zr concentrations, indicating that increasing Zr and decreasing Si lowered the V-phase equilibrium volume fraction. Increasing Zr also shifted the V-phase equilibrium to higher Si concentrations. To access real-world influences of Zr and Si, four compositions were cast with different Si and Zr concentrations: a high-Si, low-Zr alloy; a medium-Si, medium-Zr alloy; a low-Si, high-Zr alloy; and a baseline alloy without …

Development Of Retrieval-Augmented Generation-Based Large Language Model For Drug-Induced Liver Injury Using Livertox Data, Ashwin Rao, George Cholankeril, Avegail Flores, Gagan Sood, Terrence E White, Fasiha Kanwal, Hashem B El-Serag

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Idiosyncratic DILI is a complex clinical challenge requiring timely and accurate decision support. LiverTox, curated by the National Institute of Health (NIH), offers a comprehensive DILI evidence base, but its encyclopedia-like format hinders point-of-care use. Health care providers increasingly use general large language models (LLMs) for clinical care, raising safety concerns due to LLM hallucinations or misinformation. We hypothesize that retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) integration-grounding LLM responses in LiverTox content-would enable accurate DILI decision support.

Methods: We processed 1343 LiverTox drug monographs into 8759 indexed segments using BioBERT embeddings. We developed a RAG pipeline that employs drug-specific prioritization, section-aware weighting, …

Distributed Battery-Free Bioelectronic Implants With Improved Network Power Transfer Efficiency Via Magnetoelectrics, Joshua E Woods, Fatima Alrashdan, Ellie C Chen, Wendy Tan, Mathews John, Lukas Jaworski, Drew Bernard, Allison Post, Angel Moctezuma-Ramirez, Abdelmotagaly Elgalad, Alexander G Steele, Sean M Barber, Philip J Horner, Amir H Faraji, Dimitry G Sayenko, Mehdi Razavi, Jacob T Robinson

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Networks of miniature implants could enable simultaneous sensing and stimulation at different locations in the body, such as the heart and central or peripheral nervous system. This capability would support precise disease tracking and treatment or enable prosthetic technologies with many degrees of freedom. However, wireless power and data transfer are often inefficient through biological tissues, particularly as the number of implanted devices increases. Here we show that magnetoelectric wireless data and power transfer supports a network of millimetre-sized bioelectronic implants in which system efficiency improves with additional devices. We demonstrate wireless, battery-free networks ranging from one to six implants, …

Biomimetic And Bioinspired Materials: Design Strategies, Mechanical Properties, And Engineering Applications-A Review, Manickaraj Karuppusamy, Sivasubramanian Palanisamy, Mahesh Gurusamy, Vijaya Prakash Balasubramanian, Manivannan Jayamani, Subramanian Lakshmi Sankar, Karthikayan Sundararajan, Gokulkumar Sivanantham, Syed Kashif Ali, Murugesan Palaniappan, Mezigebu Belay, Mohamed Abbas

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The field of biomimetic and bioinspired materials has progressed rapidly by drawing inspiration from nature's intricate structures and multifunctional systems in order to address pressing challenges in modern engineering. This review critically examines the mechanical performance of these materials, focusing on their hierarchical design principles, synthesis strategies, and versatility of application. Natural exemplars such as nacre, spider silk, and bone are emphasized, as their structural efficiency and functional adaptability have informed the development of synthetic analogues with superior strength, toughness, flexibility, and lightweight characteristics. The review also highlights advanced fabrication methods, such as additive manufacturing and precision chemical synthesis, which …

The Anchor: March 2026, Hope College

The Anchor: 2026

The Anchor began in 1887 and was first issued weekly in 1914. Covering national and campus news alike, Hope College’s student-run newspaper has grown over the years to encompass over two-dozen editors, reporters, and staff. For much of The Anchor's history, the latest issue was distributed across campus each Wednesday throughout the academic school year (with few exceptions). In recent years The Anchor moved to monthly print issues and a more frequently updated website. The Anchor is now published in print twice per academic semester. Occasionally, the volume and/or issue numbering is irregular.

Improvements In The Thermal Stability And Mechanical Robustness Of Holograms Recorded In Acrylamide/Polyvinyl Alcohol-Based Photopolymers Through The Use Of D-Sorbitol As A Plasticizer, Michael Murray, Aaron Byrne, Izabela Naydenova, Suzanne Martin

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

In this work, a photopolymer formulation is presented that demonstrates significant improvements in layer hardness and temperature stability, while retaining the excellent holographic recording characteristics and ease of preparation associated with acrylamide (AA)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based photopolymers. This is achieved through the use of N-phenyl glycine as an electron donor and, for the first time, D-Sorbitol, a naturally occurring sugar-alcohol, as a plasticizer. The plasticizing effect of D-Sorbitol is demonstrated through the minimal loss of diffraction efficiency (η) observed upon UV bleaching (fixing) of 500 lines/mm gratings, which is evidence for effective mass transport during holographic recording. This solves a key …

Advancing Activated Carbon Production: Utilizing Pine Pruning Biochar Via Induction Heating With Co2and Iron-Based Catalysts, Ahmet Erdem, Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan, Ahmed Jasim

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This study introduces an induction heating approach for producing activated carbon from biochar obtained by thermal degradation of pine pruning waste from timber-related industries, using CO₂ and iron-based catalysts as activation agents. Activation experiments were performed using a 10 kW high-frequency induction system (28–40 kHz) under continuous CO₂ flow (15 mL min⁻¹), with electric current intensities of 200, 300, 400, and 500 A (corresponding to 700–1100°C) and durations of 30, 60, and 90 min, employing 45 g of iron-based catalysts (Fe–Ni–Ti–C, 85:6:3:6 wt.%) per 3 g biochar (15:1 w/w). Mass loss increased from 13.7 % (200 A, …

March 2026 Cafe Newsletter, Missouri University Of Science And Technology

CAFE Faculty Newsletters

Center for Advancing Faculty Excellence (CAFE) newsletter March 2026

Thermodynamically Consistent Incorporation Of The Langmuir Adsorption Model Into Compressible Fluctuating Hydrodynamics, Hyun Tae Jung, Hyungjun Kim, Alejandro L. Garcia, Andrew J. Nonaka, John B. Bell, Ishan Srivastava, Changho Kim

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

For a gas–solid interfacial system where chemical species undergo reversible adsorption, we develop a mesoscopic stochastic modeling method that simulates both gas-phase hydrodynamics and surface coverage dynamics by coupling the Langmuir adsorption model with compressible fluctuating hydrodynamics. To this end, we derive a thermodynamically consistent mass–energy update scheme that accounts for how the mass and energy variables in the gas and surface subsystems should be updated according to the changes in the number of molecules of each species in each subsystem due to adsorption and desorption events. By performing a stochastic analysis for the ideal Langmuir model and the full …

New Insights Into Dynamic Evolution Of Colloidal Network Structure During Early-Age Hardening Of Cementitious Materials, Hengrui Liu, Kaiyin Zhao, Shipeng Zhang, Hanghua Zhang, Shuangshuang Liu, Lucen Hao, Hongyan Ma, Kamal Khayat, Chi Sun Poon

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The evolution of microstructure in cementitious materials during their transition from fluid to solid state plays a critical role in determining their ultimate mechanical strength and overall performance. This hydration stage primarily involves a dynamic densification process occurring within the colloidal network. However, the field of cement-based materials currently lacks a comprehensive theoretical framework and associated parameters capable of effectively characterizing the specific structural regions within this network. In this study, we propose an Improved Particle Linkage (IPL) theory for describing the strength, types, and quantities of particle linkages within colloidal network. The IPL theory classifies the internal network structure …

State Of Charge Estimation Of Ev Secondary Battery Pack Using Hybrid Hedge Feedforward Feedback-Based Gated Recurrent Unit To Extend Lifespan, Md Ohirul Qays, Iftekhar Ahmad, Daryoush Habibi, Mohammad A.S. Masoum, Paul Moses

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Accurate estimation of state of charge (SoC) and maintaining balanced charge levels across secondary battery cells are crucial in battery management systems (BMSs) to extend battery life while improving the performance and thermal stability of Li-ion batteries (LIBs) in electric vehicles (EVs). However, there are still underexplored challenges associated with circulating currents in electrochemical cells during continuous operation which can overheat battery packs, reducing their life span or result in dangerous thermal runaways. This paper investigates SoC estimation using various real-world charging and discharging profiles, along with charge-balancing strategies to enhance the longevity of parallel-connected Li-ion battery cells. A newly …