Digital Commons Network^™

Individual Factors Associated With Self-Management In People With Coronary Heart Disease In Colombia, Jennifer Rojas Reyes, Edith Arredondo Holguín, Maria Paulina Florez Gonzalez

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Introduction: The rise in mortality from ischemic heart diseases such as acute myocardial infarction in Colombia—14,964 deaths by 2024 (1)—shows the need to identify factors that support self-management, an issue scarcely studied in Latin America, where most research focuses on cardiovascular risk (2–4) or other chronic diseases (4,5).

Objective: To examine correlations between individual factors and self-management in people with acute myocardial infarction in a quaternary hospital in Medellín, Colombia.

Method: A cross-sectional study with 177 participants with confirmed AMI who were close to hospital discharge. After ethical approval and informed consent, the adapted “Partners in Health Scale” (6) and …

The Etsu Historian, Tyla Melkonyan

The ETSU Historian

No abstract provided.

Impact Of Sleep On Glucose Metabolism In Individuals With Overweight Or Obesity: A Systematic Review, Trudy Abla Sitsofe Accorley, Patricia Casas-Agustench, Gail Rees, Kathy Redfern

School of Biomedical Sciences

INTRODUCTION: The obesity epidemic has coincided with chronic sleep deprivation. Sleep disturbances may contribute to metabolic dysfunction in individuals with BMI ≥ 25 kg/m 2. This review investigates associations between sleep patterns and glucose metabolism in this population.

METHODS: A PRISMA-guided search across five databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, CINAHL, and MEDLINE) was conducted through January 2026. Studies examined sleep patterns and glucose metabolism in adults with BMI ≥ 25 kg/m 2. Quality was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool 2.0 and Newcastle-Ottawa Scale.

RESULTS: Eighteen studies (7715 adults) were included from 2993 records: crossover trials (n = 7), …

Metal Oxide Semiconductor Gas Sensors For Exhaled Breath Cancer Biomarker Detection, Guanglan Chen, Huihui Luo, Wenwen Peng, Shiyu Xu, Yuting Li, Huijie Ke, Sihui Zhong, Jiaao Wei, Tong Chen, Xiaokun Li, Youlin Zhang, Wei Chen

Online First

Early cancer screening can significantly improve therapeutic outcomes, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other related gases in exhaled breath, as cancer-specific biomarkers, offer a novel approach for non-invasive diagnosis. Metal oxide semiconductor (MOS)-based gas sensors are pivotal for exhaled breath VOCs detection, featuring compact size, cost-effectiveness, and rapid response. This review summarizes the most recent five-year research advances in cancer biomarker detection and clarifies the core mechanisms of electrical property changes from sensing material-VOCs interactions and key performance metrics including sensitivity, selectivity, humidity tolerance, response/recovery time, stability, and operating temperature. This review highlights the optimization strategies of sensing materials such …

A Comparative Analysis Of Radio Frequency And Optical Inter-Satellite Link Communications For Leo Mega-Constellations, Alexa Houck, Suryansh Aryan, Kevin Schroeder, Samantha Kenyon

Small Satellite Conference

SpaceNet design  

Software-based testbed for simulating large satellite networks, specifically LEO-based constellations to analyze network behavior, connectivity, routing, and overall communication.  

• Phase one focuses on connectivity and routing: Given the topology and link availability over time, how does my network behave? 
• Phase two focuses on network emulation: Given the topology and link availability over time, how does my network behave? 

Arcsecond-Level Pointing Accuracy In A Cubesat: Development And Verification Of The High-Precision Pointing System For The Cubespec Mission, Leonardo Peri

Small Satellite Conference

Mission and objectives 

CubeSpec is a 12U CubeSat mission designed to demonstrate high-resolution stellar spectroscopy from a small, low-cost space platform. 

Its scientific objectives require the payload line-of-sight to remain stable within a few arcseconds. This is beyond the capability of conventional CubeSat Attitude Determination & Control Systems (ADCS). 

To meet this challenge, CubeSpec uses a dual-stage pointing architecture: the spacecraft ADCS provides coarse body pointing, while a High-Precision Pointing Platform applies fast, precise corrections directly to the payload line-of-sight.

Snack Protocol For Reliable High-Throughput Data Transfer On Mtu-Constrained Low-Cost Uhf Radios, Samantha Mallari, Dennis Sarsozo, Miguel Nunes

Small Satellite Conference

• Student CubeSat missions using sub-$100 UHF radios are constrained by small packet sizes, making standard protocols (e.g., TCP, CFDP) too overhead-intensive for payload downlinks.  
• We developed a Selective Negative Acknowledgement (SNACK)-based protocol for the Artemis CubeSat Kit bus to support reliable 160 × 120 LWIR thermal image transmission for the CubeSats for Climate Change Monitoring (C3M) mission  
• A 45-byte SNACK bitmap acknowledges up to 360 packet fragments, minimizing retransmission overhead.  
• Field tests from 5 m to 1.6 km achieved 72.2 kbps peak throughput and ≥98.7% final data integrity.

Austronauts 3u Cubesat Space Weather Payloads Proposal, Tiana Pendray

Small Satellite Conference

CubeSats are becoming increasingly prominent due to their accessibility, affordability and versatility. An emerging field of satellite application is the monitoring of ionospheric space weather, made possible by sensitive instruments that collect data on plasma potential, temperature and ion density. These parameters vary due to changing solar activity in the form of Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) and solar flares, which can have severe impacts on satellite navigation systems, radio communication networks and orbital estimations. The AUStronauts team at the University of New South Wales is developing a 3U CubeSat with two space weather payloads – an Electrodynamic Tether (EDT) and …

Autonomous Microelectronics See Payload For Validating Terrestrial Predictions In Space, Michael A. Blacconiere, Isaac Hudson, John W. Burgoon, Terrance Sacks, Spencer Westfall, Sajal Islam, Davidson Juhke, George Randel, Jared Harvey, Merek Chertkow, Daniel Loveless

Small Satellite Conference

The radiation environment in space is complex and time-varying, causing major risks for microelectronic applications. Terrestrial radiation sources are used to characterize devices before missions to predict in-orbit error rates. However, these predictions are rarely validated in deployment. The payload, designed by IU CREATE and The Radiation Team, the IUB-SAT-1, integrates IU’s RadFX-IC and commercial SRAMs with well-characterized terrestrial radiation responses into a modular payload to collect on-orbit radiation-response data. Results will refine radiation error-rate models and improves confidence in deploying advanced microelectronics to radiation-rich space environments.

Bit-Flip Sensitivity And Selective Fp32 Protection For Onboard Neural Networks In Flight Software: In-Place Secded Healing Of An Fp32 Weight Buffer Inside Nasa Cfs, Ryan Goodman, Carson Cramer, Braden Eichmeier, Emily Gerber, Christopher Roscoe

Small Satellite Conference

Smallsat missions increasingly deploy neural networks on COTS processors. In orbit, a charged particle striking such a device can flip a single bit of memory, a single event upset (SEU). An upset in a network weight raises no fault condition: the network continues to run, returns incorrect values, and the control loop downstream acts on them. 

The standard cFS response to memory corruption is process restart, which interrupts service and discards runtime state.

Development And Validation Of An Operator-Friendly Flight Dynamics System For High-Precision Leo Nanosatellite Operations, K. W. Cheong, M. C. Kim, P. R. Kim, M. G. Kim, J. Y. Yu, G. H. Ju

Small Satellite Conference

A ground-based Flight Dynamics System (FDS) provides essential orbit information for satellite monitoring and mission planning. This study develops a Python-based integrated FDS that processes GPS observations, TLEs, and ephemerides through interconnected orbit determination, orbit propagation, and event prediction modules. The developed system combines Batch Least Squares orbit determination, HPOP/SGP4 propagation, covariance analysis, and nodal-crossing prediction within a consistent time and coordinate framework. 

The objective is to establish and validate an integrated workflow that generates reliable orbit states, future ephemerides, uncertainty information, and operational event products for CubeSat ground operations 

Experimental Assessment Of A 15-N Nitrous Oxide And Ethane Thruster For Premixed And Non-Premixed Operations, Eunwoo Jung, Juwon Kim, Eunkwang Lee, Keunseok Lee, Yonggu Kim, Minwoo Lee

Small Satellite Conference

• Nitrous Oxide (N₂O) has attracted significant attention as an oxidizer for next-generation small scale propulsion systems due to its non-toxic and high vapor pressure, which enables self-pressurization.  
• By combining N₂O with hydrocarbon fuels, propulsion systems can be operated either as bipropellant systems or as premixed propulsion systems.  
• N₂O-based premixed propellants, commonly known as NOFB (Nitrous Oxide Fuel Blend), require only a single propellant tank, similar to monopropellant systems, resulting in a simplified system architecture; however, their high susceptibility to flashback necessitates the incorporation of dedicated flashback prevention devices.  
• The objective of this study is …

Functional Analysis Of Raspberry Pi Rp-Series Microcontrollers Using High-Dose Gamma Radiation For Low-Cost Cubesats, Tyler Nielsen, Aaron Bournias, Joe Dubois

Small Satellite Conference

Radiation testing of non-rad hard microcontrollers is crucial for low-cost CubeSats, allowing teams to avoid the prohibitive cost of radiation-hardened systems while still selecting microcontrollers that will survive in the irradiated environment of space.

In-Transit Debris Remediation: Dual-Use Logistics For Sustainable Cislunar Smallsat Constellations, Wanjiku Chebet Kanjumba

Small Satellite Conference

A Debris Crisis Meets A Logistics Boom: Low- and high-Earth orbit keep accumulating debris faster than the atmosphere can clear it, even as NASA's Artemis and CLPS programs establish routine trans-lunar traffic. The 2009 Iridium-Cosmos collision and later anti-satellite tests proved that single fragmentation events can irreversibly degrade critical orbital shells, raising the specter of Kessler Syndrome. 

• 46,600+ objects tracked on orbit today, with ~130 million sub-cm fragments (ESA, 2025)
• $500K-$2M cost per kilogram for dedicated ADR, fiscally intractable at system scale
• 5-10 / yr large objects must be removed to stabilize LEO (Liou & Johnson)

The Unit-Economics Problem: Purpose-built …

Lessons Learned From The Hyvrid 3u Cubesat Development, Kim Jee Hoon

Small Satellite Conference

Space Object Surveillance System 

• Hanwha Systems’ Next Generation Satellite Laser Ranging (NGSLR) uses the turnaround time of laser emitted from the ground to measure precise distance of satellites or space objects.  
• It is also capable of precise orbit prediction and active response by utilizing high-energy laser. 

Verification Satellite

• CubeSat HYVRID is made to operate as a target satellite of the NGSLR system, verifying the laser ranging, precise orbit prediction, and active response technology.
  • GPS raw data
  • laser detection data
  • images captured before-and-after active response

Microcontroller Debugging Efficiency For Low Cost Cubesat Missions, Koowum Joshi, Tyler Nielson, Tyler Field, Aaron Bounias, Michael Goryll

Small Satellite Conference

This study evaluates the debugging efficiency of different microcontrollers for CubeSat applications by using a “debugging box” system that links two devices to detect faulty code. It compares latency, reliability, and cost to identify the most effective low-cost option. The goal is to improve accessibility to space technologies.

Multi-Phase Guidance And Control For Small Satellite Docking Via Deep Reinforcement Learning, Tanner Gill, Greg Furlich, Nisar Ahmed

Small Satellite Conference

As interest in small satellite Rendezvous, Proximity Operations, and Docking (RPOD) grows, so does the need for high-level autonomy in space systems. Current systems relying on constrained hardware and ground-in-the-loop decision-making are ill-equipped for the evolving, contested space domain. Recent research on autonomous spacecraft guidance and control has moved beyond established optimal control and trajectory optimization methods to incorporate Reinforcement Learning (RL), though these efforts have predominantly focused on a single operational phase. This research advances small satellite docking autonomy by formulating the reference scenario as a Hierarchical Markov Decision Process (H-MDP), expanding the scope of the learned guidance and …

Numerical Characterization Of Phase Coherence In Distributed Smallsat Sar Interferometry, Cameron Kaminski

Small Satellite Conference

Distributed SmallSat SAR requires independent spacecraft to maintain phase coherence over long integration times. This work presents a Monte Carlo simulation that combines manufacturer-derived oscillator phase noise, spacecraft thermal dynamics, and orbital perturbations to evaluate passive coherence limits. The results show that oscillator quality alone is insufficient; differential thermal-state evolution becomes a dominant driver of long-duration coherence performance.

Polarization-Modulated Laser Satellite Experiment (Pulse-A) Thermal Control, Zane Ebel, Alexavier Moore, Samy Kouidri, Veryan Johnson, Robert Pitu, Juan Ignacio Prieto Asbun, Tian Zhong

Small Satellite Conference

• UChicago's first student-developed satellite, started in September 2023
• Accepted under Batch 15 of NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) in March 2024
• 3U CubeSat demonstrating space-to-ground optical downlink using circular polarization shift keying (CPolSK)
• LEO, 400-500 km, ~90 min orbit
• Preparing for Critical Design Review in Fall 2026

Aggiesat6 University Cubesat Ops Prep And Leops, Avery G. Barriga, Garrett M. Stevenson, John F. Connolly

Small Satellite Conference

AggieSat6 (AGS6) is a 6U CubeSat designed and developed by students at Texas A&M University (TAMU) as part of the University Nanosatellite Program (UNP) NS-10 cycle. The mission will demonstrate a space-based radio frequency array for Space Domain Awareness (SDA) applications and collect low-energy electron radiation data to improve existing environmental models. Beginning in January 2025, students at TAMU established mission operations architecture, implemented operator training and certification, and prepared to assume sole responsibility for on-orbit operations. The AggieSat6 bus launched into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in April of 2026. The AGS6 Mission was supported by the University Nanosatellite Program. …

Experimental Analysis Of Cryptography Overhead For Secure Cubesat Telemetry, Tyler Field, Michael Goryll

Small Satellite Conference

Encryption consumes critical and limited resources, such as computing power, energy, and memory. Results from this research has helped SquidSat, a student-led 3u CubeSat launching sometime in 2027-2028, by providing data showing which microcontrollers are most effective for encryption algorithms.

Forecast-Aware Formation Initialization For High-Revisit Vleo Imaging, Mina Khalilzadeh Fathi, Zachary Wrensch, Chaoying Pei

Small Satellite Conference

Very-low Earth orbit (≲ 300 km) enables high-resolution imaging with smaller optics. A leader/follower pair can halve the revisit gap by maintaining precise along-track phasing. 

At 250 km, even a small ballistic-coefficient mismatch amplified by geomagnetic storms drives a phasing error that grows quadratically in time and closes the imaging window within days. 

• Conventional methods focus on formation keeping and react to density after the fact. 
• We act before the drift grows: a density forecast is used to choose both the handover phase and the optimal time to reverse the drift. 

F Prime To Flight Faster: Hardware-In-The-Loop Continuous Integration For Accelerated Cubesat Development, Nate Gay, Saidi Adams, Michael Pham

Small Satellite Conference

Flight software teams iterate quickly in development and then slow down at integration, because the software must be validated against real hardware that is itself still changing. 

Bench testing is manual, intermittent, and happens late. Defects surface days after the commit that caused them, once the context is gone and the change has been built on.

Promoting Assured Formation Flight Autonomy Onboard Resource Constrained Systems, Ryan Johnson, Maggie Michelsen, Jackson Gardner, Mario Harper, Charles Swenson, Jackson Kulik, Shawn Jones

Small Satellite Conference

Autonomously determining fuel-optimal, formation-keeping trajectories for small spacecraft operating in formation flight is often limited by available processing power. Because SmallSat missions are constrained by size, weight, and power (SWaP), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are an attractive option for onboard computing. Traditional formation-keeping relies on convex optimization to solve for fuel-optimal burns and burn times; however, implementing these solvers on FPGAs is challenging due to limited board resources.

To address the need for fast, reliable trajectory planning onboard space vehicles, we investigate leveraging machine learning to reduce computational cost for real-time, onboard execution. We propose using a deep neural network …

Propellant-Free Formation Keeping Using Environmental Perturbations In Leo Via Orbital Angular Momentum Vector Matching, Yu Seike, Takaya Inamori, Keita Tanaka

Small Satellite Conference

Small-satellite formation flying enables new mission capabilities.

e.g. MIMO (Multi Input Multi Output) Communication

Challenge: Conventional formation keeping requires thrusters. Small satellites have limited onboard resources.

Plasma Magnet Propulsion For Smallsat Deep Space Missions: Scaling Laws, Trajectory Analysis, And A Path To Flight Demonstration, Surya S. Kalluri

Small Satellite Conference

The plasma magnet uses a rotating magnetic field (RMF) to drive azimuthal currents in ambient plasma, inflating a spacecraft dipole to kilometre scale so momentum is taken directly from the solar wind. Using plasma currents in place of physical coil proposed for similar concepts previously like Magnetosail, M2P2 etc., eliminates the constraints on size and dynamic pressure of seed plasma. Because the inflated plasma — not a structure — sets the obstacle size, thrust is independent of distance from sun while the required power falls as the antenna grows. Earlier experiments showed >10 kA driven currents, inflation beyond ten coil …

Bcon-2 Operations And Pre-Flight Testing, Kenny Blanton, Brayden Kuchenbacker, Dan White

Small Satellite Conference

As part of the Dream Big Phase I mission, Valpo Space Program’s (VSP) satellite BCON-2 is a 0.5U ThinSat CubeSat designed by NearSpace Launch (NSL).

Dimensions: 0.5U ThinSat (10 cm × 10 cm × 5 cm).

• Comms/MCU Board: STM-32 based PocketQube satellite board that utilizes an AX5043 transceiver to manage VHF/UHF radio communications and subsystem connectivity via CAN bus.
• ADCS Payload: Collaborative flight of the University of Luxembourg’s (UniLu) Space Systems Engineering (SpaSys) system; features their PCB-embedded tri-axial magnetorquer coils Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS).
• Square Koch Fractal Antenna: The RF systems remain inactive for this mission due to …

Effect Of Personal, Organizational, And Work Attributes On Long-Term Care Nurses’ Intent To Stay, Marilyn J. Hodgins, Caitlin Mcarthur, Janice M. Keefe, Rick Audas, Carole Estabrooks, Rose Mccloskey, Gail Tomblin Murphy

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

A stable workforce is key to creating and maintaining a positive work environment, enhancing productivity, reducing adverse events, and lowering recruitment and orientation costs (De Vries et al., 2023). Stability in staffing of long-term care (LTC) facilities is particularly important given the vulnerability of the residents and increasing complexity of their physical and psychosocial care needs (Calver et al., 2025; Virdo & Daly, 2025). However, before action can be taken to address high turnover rates among LTC staff (Gandhi et al., 2021), factors influencing such decisions need to be understood.

PURPOSE: To examine extent that LTC nurses’ intent to stay …

Postpartum Depression Screening By Pediatric Clinicians In North-Central Florida, Jessica S. Bahorski, Sionika Thayagabalu, Stacy Wright, Dominick Lemas

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Background: Perinatal depression is defined as an episode of depression during pregnancy or within the first year after birth (National Institute of Mental Health, nd; World Health Organization, 2022). Perinatal mental health disorders in women are underrecognized with screening recommended during pregnancy and the postpartum period (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 2023; Earls et al., 2019; World Health Organization, 2022). The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends screening for postpartum depression (PPD) at well child checks/visits (WCC) in the 6 months after birth (Earls et al., 2019). To determine if pediatric clinics incorporate this practice, this study aimed to …

Harnessing Expert Insights To Strengthen Hiv Care Through Innovative Programme Development, Mebelo Medupe, Deliwe Rene Phetlhu

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Purpose: The aim of this study was to develop and validate an education programme designed to improve the quality of life (QoL) of people living with HIV (PLHIV) on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in the Johannesburg Metropole. The Delphi technique was employed to gather expert consensus on the content, scope, and relevance of the program to ensure its appropriateness and effectiveness.

Methods: A three-round Delphi process was conducted with ten purposively selected experts, including HIV/AIDS specialists, practitioners, nurses, and PhD students with relevant experience. Round one involved the development of an initial questionnaire based on literature review and previous research, which …