University of Denver

Growth in electric vehicle (EV) adoption has increased interest in using EV batteries as grid resources. Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technologies enable bidirectional power flows between electric vehicles and the electricity system and have demonstrated potential to support grid reliability and resilience in pilot programs worldwide. Despite demonstrated technical feasibility and system-level benefits for utility resource planning, broader V2G deployment remains limited. This study examines barriers to V2G adoption in the United States using qualitative evidence from 33 interviews with 42 stakeholders, including utilities, government agencies, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), school districts, and participants in V2G pilot programs. We apply the Extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) as an organizing framework to examine adoption barriers across five constructs: facilitating conditions, effort expectancy, performance expectancy, price value, and social influence. Barriers related to facilitating conditions and effort expectancy emerge as the most salient, reflecting persistent challenges in standardization and interoperability across the V2G ecosystem, as well as concerns related to market development, infrastructure readiness, grid integration, and compatibility between vehicles and charging equipment. Performance expectancy follows, as stakeholders raise concerns about battery degradation, vehicle warranty implications, and vehicle availability in day-to-day operations. This study contributes to understanding barriers to V2G adoption and identifies policy-relevant pathways to reduce implementation challenges, including the development of interoperable standards and clearer institutional support. • Interviews with 42 experts identify key barriers to U.S. V2G deployment. • Non-uniform standards and interconnection processes limit V2G scalability. • UTAUT2 highlights facilitating conditions and effort expectancy as key barriers. • Utilities and OEMs face coordination and market-creation challenges. • Battery degradation, warranties, and value uncertainty constrain V2G adoption.

Commonly used since at least the middle of the 20th century, action research can bridge the gap between science and practice, but within the field of strength and conditioning (S&C), it is a novel research approach. The education and development of S&C practitioners is essential to their understanding of evidence-informed practice and the application of knowledge to improve athletic performance, fitness, and other outcomes, including athlete-centered outcomes, such as well-being. Using a novel, multi-method action research approach, the purpose of this study was to understand S&C stakeholders’ perceived value of learning psychosocial S&C coaching knowledge. In collaboration with the United Kingdom S&C Association (UKSCA), we designed, delivered, and assessed a workshop that included modules on psychological, pedagogical, philosophical, and sociocultural S&C psychosocial coaching competencies. A total of 11 UKSCA participants, including 6 S&C coaches (5 men, 1 woman) and 5 stakeholders (3 men, 2 women), between 38-57 years of age, attended one of the two workshops. Multiple learner-centered activities were completed in the workshop, and then, participants completed data collection methods, including reflection grids and semi-structured interviews. Researchers performed a thematic analysis on the interviews, reflection grids, and field notes that resulted in two overarching themes: participants’ learning and instructional approaches used in the workshop. Participants perceived value from the content and instructional approach used in the workshop, while expressing challenges and recommendations for improvement. This original action research study advances the knowledge about S&C through a novel methodological approach and the education of S&C stakeholders’ psychosocial competencies.

Urban adolescents of color experience disproportionately high rates of trauma, depression, anxiety, and substance use. Yet, limited research has examined how protective factors-such as social support, psychological resilience, and psychological sense of community (SOC) or community connectedness-interact to influence these outcomes. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 2002 adolescents (ages 12-18) from two urban high schools in Northeastern New Jersey. Participants completed validated measures assessing trauma (Child Trauma Screen), depression (PHQ-9A), anxiety (GAD-7), alcohol use, social support (MSPSS), sense of community (BSCS-Y), and psychological resilience (BRS). Multiple regression, logistic regression, and moderation analyses were used, controlling for demographic covariates. Higher social support was significantly associated with lower trauma-related symptom severity, depression, anxiety, and alcohol use (p < .001). Sense of community was negatively related to anxiety (p < .001) but not to trauma or depression. Psychological resilience was positively associated with trauma reactions and distress (p < .001). Social support moderated these relationships, offsetting some of the impact of psychological resilience on trauma, depression, and anxiety, and reducing alcohol use risk at higher support levels. Findings highlight the protective influence of social support and suggest that psychological resilience among youth of color may reflect survival-based adaptation rather than the absence of distress. Prevention efforts should strengthen social support and SOC within culturally responsive, trauma-informed school and community frameworks.

This research examines how counter-stereotypical portrayals influence prosocial behavior across racial groups within the context of medical crowdfunding. Drawing on the stereotype content model and expectancy violation theory, we investigate how messages that contradict stereotypes of racial groups perceived as having low warmth violate expectations about these groups and influence campaign donations. Across two studies—an analysis of over 17,000 crowdfunding campaigns (Studies 1a-c) and an online experiment ( N = 688; Study 2)—counter-stereotypical portrayals of warmth were associated with higher donations for Asian and White beneficiaries but with lower donations for Black beneficiaries. Expectancy violations mediated these effects, with Black beneficiaries experiencing smaller positive expectancy shifts than other groups. The findings highlight the differential effects of warm-based portrayals across racial groups when used to challenge stereotypes. The study advances theoretical frameworks on stereotypes and expectancy violations while offering practical guidance for more effective and equitable messaging strategies.

Abstract This paper presents a novel application of control barrier functions (CBFs) for estimating state of power (SOP) during charging and discharging cycles of lithium-ion batteries. We define SOP as the maximum amount of power that can be maintained over a specified time period. The proposed algorithm predicts the maximum achievable power level within a constraint set defining the operational boundaries of the cell, namely, state of charge (SOC), voltage, and core temperature. To demonstrate the efficacy of this approach, we simulate battery performance under the Urban Dynamometer Driving Schedule (UDDS), a representative profile of city driving conditions. Comparisons with i) model predictive control (MPC) and ii) a conventional bisection-based approach illustrate the merits of the CBF-based method in terms of practicality for real-world automotive applications. The aim of this study is to advance efforts to create safer and more effective battery management solutions for electric vehicles and energy storage technologies.

In vertebrates, newly synthesized lysosomal enzymes traffic to lysosomes through the mannose-6-phosphate (M6P) pathway. The Golgi membrane protein LYSET was recently discovered to regulate lysosome biogenesis by controlling the level of GlcNAc-1-phosphotransferase (GNPT). However, its working mechanism remained unclear. In this study, we demonstrate that LYSET is a two-transmembrane protein essential for GNPT stability, cleavage by Site-1 Protease (S1P), and enzymatic activity. We reconcile conflicting models by showing that LYSET enhances GNPT cleavage and prevents its mislocalization to lysosomes for degradation. We further establish that LYSET achieves this by interacting with GOLPH3 and retromer complexes to anchor the LYSET-GNPT complex at the Golgi. Alanine mutagenesis identified an F4XXR7 motif in LYSET’s N-tail for GOLPH3 binding. The retromer further promotes Golgi retention by binding to the C-terminal of LYSET and recycling it from endolysosomes. Together, our findings reveal LYSET’s multifaceted role in stabilizing GNPT, retaining it at the Golgi, and ensuring the fidelity of the M6P pathway, thereby providing insights into its molecular function.

Sexual minority men face considerable challenges in accessing relevant learning about sex and romantic relationships, and emerging research links their having more inclusive learning experiences with better mental and sexual health outcomes. Little is known about how helpful and affirming sexual minority men perceive different sources of information to be. Sexual minority men (N = 283) in romantic relationships indicated whether each of ten sources (e.g., schools, peers, pornography) had been a source of learning about sex and relationships across seven topics (e.g., sexual orientation) and how helpful and affirming each source had been. One-way ANCOVAs, which excluded three sources (i.e., dating apps, parents, and religious institutions) because of lower endorsement rates, assessed for differences in perceived helpfulness and affirming across learning sources, and for differences in helpfulness across topics within each source. Participants rated their sexual and romantic partners and their personal research on the Internet as more helpful and affirming than all other sources; peers were also seen as more helpful than other sources, except for partners and personal research. Peers and pornography were also perceived as highly affirming, while schools were ranked as less affirming than every other source. Differences in helpfulness across topics were found for schools, social media, and pornography as well. Sexual minority men find learning from personal research on the Internet and from sexual and romantic partners to be especially affirming, as well as helpful, experiences. Participants’ perception that informal sources are most helpful reinforces the need to better understand sexual minority men’s media literacy and the accuracy of sexual and relational health information available online.

Climate change is rapidly altering high-latitude coastal wetlands through increasing temperatures, more frequent flooding, and changing herbivore abundance and distribution. Examining plant functional trait responses to these drivers provides insight into how plant communities are shaped by climate change. We used a one-year full-factorial mesocosm experiment in coastal Alaska to assess immediate responses of two size-related traits (vegetative height and leaf area) and two leaf economics traits (specific leaf area [SLA] and leaf dry matter content [LDMC]) to warming, flooding, and goose herbivory in three dominant species across two wetland communities (Lowland and Upland) differing in landscape position. We sampled different sedges (Carex rariflora and Carex lyngbyei) and the same deciduous dwarf-shrub (Salix fuscescens) in the two wetlands. Warming increased plant size for the sedge (leaf area: + 15%) and the shrub (height: + 15%; leaf area: + 19%) in the Lowland wetland only. Flooding promoted acquisitive trait values for the Lowland sedge (SLA: + 8%; LDMC: - 6%) and conservative values for the Upland shrub (SLA: - 9%; LDMC: + 11%). The shrub thus showed clear wetland-specific responses to warming and flooding. Herbivory triggered coordinated responses across all three species, consistently decreasing size-related trait values (height: - 17-35%; leaf area: - 33-50%) and promoting acquisitive trait values (SLA: + 14-40%; LDMC: - 12-23%). Despite the absence of interactions, each driver contributed significantly to trait variation, underscoring the value of multifactorial approaches. The combination of consistent (herbivory) and context-dependent (flooding and warming) responses highlights the complexity of trait responses and improves predictions of rapid phenotypic adjustments in coastal high-latitude wetlands.

Leadership transitions are a fact of organizational life, yet the impact of successors' leadership behavior on organizational outcomes is little understood. Building on change readiness, uncertainty management, and romance of leadership theory and research, we propose a novel theory describing the distinctive effects of successors' versus incumbents' leadership behavior in driving change in collective engagement and organizational performance. We theorize that when employees perceive a great need for organizational change, successors' vision communication and coaching are more likely than incumbents' to yield improvements in collective engagement and organizational performance. But when employees perceive little need for change, successors' vision communication and coaching are more likely than incumbents' to yield declines. To test our model, we conducted a longitudinal, quasi-experimental study of principal succession in a sample of 113 U.S. elementary schools. As predicted, when employees perceived a great need for change, successors' coaching sparked gains in collective engagement and organizational performance. When employees perceived little need for change, successors' coaching backfired, spurring declines in collective engagement and organizational performance. As predicted, the effects of incumbents' coaching were muted. Finally, contrary to our predictions, neither successors' nor incumbents' vision communication drove change in collective engagement and performance. Our theory and findings illuminate the distinctive risks and benefits of successors' leadership behavior in driving change in collective engagement and organizational performance. For good and for bad, successors' coaching changes their organizations in ways that incumbents' leadership does not. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Children experiencing difficulties learning mathematics often have a long-embedded coping mechanism of looking to others as authorities for the correctness of their solutions. In this pilot case study, we demonstrate ways in which promoting their checking of their own answers can empower their development. Specifically, we examine answer-checking schemes that a cognitively diverse 6th grader with difficulties learning mathematics used when solving additive tasks. We draw on constructivist scheme theory as a framework to analyze data from a year-long teaching experiment, demonstrating a rather rapid progress in his problem-solving schemes, from counting-all to break-apart-make-ten. Along with this rapid conceptual progress, we found that his answer-checking schemes developed in tandem with the problem-solving schemes, typically being one cognitive step behind the latter, that is, advancing from no answer-checking to a numerical count-on scheme. During problem-solving, he may have used schemes at either a participatory or anticipatory stage, whereas for answer-checking he mostly used schemes at the anticipatory stage. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of these novel findings about numerical progress in a cognitively diverse student. • A case study of how a cognitively diverse 6th grader’s use of answer-checking supported his development in problem-solving. • Introduces Tandem Conceptual Progression to consider the relationship between answer-checking and problem-solving schemes. • Considers the practical implications of focusing on answer-checking.