Digital Commons Network^™

Teaching Machine Learning To Undergraduate Electrical Engineering Students, Gerald L. Fudge, Anika Rimu, William Zorn, July Ringle, Cody Barnet

Faculty Publications

Proficiency in machine learning (ML) and the associated computational math foundations have become critical skills for engineers. Required areas of proficiency include the ability to use available ML tools and the ability to develop new tools to solve engineering problems. Engineers also need to be proficient in using generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools in a variety of contexts, including as an aid to learning, research, writing, and code generation. Using these tools properly requires a solid understanding of the associated computational math foundation. Without this foundation, engineers will struggle with developing new tools and can easily misuse available ML/AI tools, …

Effect Of Practice On The Control Of Reach Extent, Faith N. Schroers, Troy M. Herter, Dylan Bruemmer, Takeo Ichiyanagi, Austin Herherington, Michael O'Dpnnell, Janelle Ozorowski, Chad Simmons, Jill Campbell Stewart Pt, Phd

Faculty Publications

The control of reaches to targets that vary in distance involves a combination of anticipatory planning and feedback-based adjustments. However, it is not known if their contributions to the control of reach extent change with repetitive practice. This study investigated the effect of three days of practice on the control of reach extent. Right-hand dominant participants reached with either the non-dominant left arm or dominant right arm to six targets presented in two directions and three distances in a virtual environment. The effect of practice on planning and feedback-based adjustments to control reach extent was examined by determining how well …

Online Cyber-Physical Neural Network Model For Real-Time Hybrid Simulation, Faisal Nissar Malik, Liang Cao, James Ricles, Austin Downey

Faculty Publications

Real-time hybrid simulation (RTHS) is an experimental testing methodology that divides a structural system into an analyticaland an experimental substructure. The analytical substructure is modeled numerically, and the experimental substructure ismodeled physically in the laboratory. The two substructures are kinematically linked together at their interface degrees of freedom,and the coupled equations of motion are solved in real-time to obtain the response of the complete system. A key challenge inapplying RTHS to large or complex structures is the limited availability of physical devices, which makes it difficult to representall required experimental components simultaneously. The present study addresses this challenge by introducing …

Interactions And Community Structure Of Fungi And Prokaryotes In Salt And Brackish Marsh Ecosystems, Madeleine A. Thompso, Xuefeng Peng

Faculty Publications

Microbial communities play a fundamental role in biogeochemical cycling within salt and brackish marsh ecosystems, yet fungal-prokaryotic interactions in these environments remain poorly understood. This study employed metabarcoding of the 16S and 28S rRNA genes to investigate prokaryotic and fungal communities across four locations in sediments and surface waters of the North Inlet salt marsh and Winyah Bay brackish marsh (South Carolina, USA) over four time points from 2020 to 2021. Co-occurrence network analyses were used to identify potential microbial interactions and their ecological implications. Distinct fungal and prokaryotic communities were observed between the two marsh types. From the 16S …

A New Low-Rate Stable Hydrogel Cathode For Aqueous Zn-Ion Batteries, Roya Rajabi, Shichen Sun, Jamil A. Khan, Morgan Stefik, Kevin Huang

Faculty Publications

Aqueous Zn-ion batteries (ZIBs) are attractive candidates for large-scale energy storage owing to the abundance, low cost, and intrinsic safety of Zn metal. However, their practical application is hindered by poor cycle stability, especially at low current densities, due to cathode dissolution and limited electrochemically active sites (EAS). Herein, a hydrogel-based cathode comprising ammonium vanadate, carbon black, and a Zn-ion-conducting carboxymethyl chitosan–acrylamide hydrogel matrix doped with Zn(ClO4)2 is reported. This design establishes a continuous Zn-ion-conducting network, thereby maximizing EAS density throughout the electrode volume. The ZIB with the hydrogel cathode exhibits outstanding cycling stability, with 77% capacity retention after 2000 …

Fuel Adulteration Detection Using Open-Ended Coaxial Line And Circular Waveguide Techniques, Abdulrahman Alofi, Ahmed Shamseldin, Sharif Iqbal M. Sheikh, Hussein Attia

Faculty Publications

Fuel adulteration, the practice of blending lower-quality substances like kerosene with gasoline, poses significant challenges for ensuring fuel quality and safety. This study investigates two electromagnetic-based methods for detecting such adulteration: the open-ended coaxial line method and the circular waveguide method. The results reveal that the open-ended coaxial line technique is particularly effective in detecting kerosene contamination, identifying levels as low as 10% by measuring changes in the dielectric constant of the gasoline-kerosene mixture. Operating in the frequency range of 0.25–1.25 GHz, this method captures subtle changes in permittivity. In contrast, the circular waveguide method evaluates contamination by monitoring shifts …

Deep Learning Based Contactless Fingerprint Identification, Mohammad Alsmirat, M. Moneb Khaled, Aghyad A.L. Sayadi

Faculty Publications

Biometric authentication systems, particularly contactless fingerprint methods, offer enhanced security and convenience across various domains like access control, law enforcement, and finance. Despite these advantages, contactless systems face significant challenges related to image quality, finger orientation, and environmental factors. To address this, our paper presents the first extensive deep learning-based study on contactless fingerprint recognition using a large dataset of 2,143 images from 175 individuals. Our proposed approach integrates state-of-the-art preprocessing techniques with deep learning models to boost identification performance. After studying various transfer learning models, we achieved a high accuracy of 93.5%. We also conducted two further studies on …

Joint Neutrino Oscillation Analysis From The T2k And Nova Experiments, S. Abubakar, M. A. Acero, B. Acharya, P. Adamson, N. Anfimov, A. Antoshkin, E. Arrieta-Diaz, L. Asquith, A. Aurisano, D. Azevedo, A. Back, N. Balashov, P. Baldi, A. Bambah, E. F. Barenboim, A. Bashyal, A. Basti, K. Bromberg, N. Buchanan, Roberto Petti

Faculty Publications

The landmark discovery that neutrinos have mass and can change type (or flavour) as they propagate—a process called neutrino oscillation^1,2,3,4,5,6—has opened up a rich array of theoretical and experimental questions being actively pursued today. Neutrino oscillation remains the most powerful experimental tool for addressing many of these questions, including whether neutrinos violate charge-parity (CP) symmetry, which has possible connections to the unexplained preponderance of matter over antimatter in the Universe^7,8,9,10,11. Oscillation measurements also probe the mass-squared differences between the different neutrino mass states (Δm²), whether there are two light states and a heavier …

University Students’ Condom Use During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Cross-Cultural Differences And What Predict Them, Liam Dacosta, James S. Morandini, Rebecca T. Pinkus, Elien De Caluwé, Lik Sam Chan, Olivine Lo, Saowanee Thongnopakun, Sawitree Visanuyothin, Cheryl Harasymchuk, Samantha Joel, Helen C. Harton, Alyssa Mccoy, Victoria Dale, David L. Rodrigues, Judit Takács, Alexandra Sipos, Veronica M. Lamarche, Racidon Bernarte, Viktorija Čepukienė, Ivana M. Jakšić, Bojana Bodroža, Huỳnh Hồng Mai, Tran Thi Hong, Grace Akello, Ivana Hromatko, Asha Ganesan, Jiawei Zhang, Damian Murray, James Moran, Juan Ramón Barrada, Ángel Castro, Claudia Navarro-Roldan, Kuan-Pin Su, Jane Chang, Matthew B. Ruby, Donya Ziadlou, Shin Nakamine, Yutaka Watanabe, Albert Lee, Richelle-Joy Chia, Ilan Dar-Nimrod

Faculty Publications

Humans instinctively adopt methods to reduce their risk of encountering harmful pathogens, yet their adherence to preventive health practices can often be erratic. Condoms exemplify one vital preventive tool against sexually transmitted infections (STIs) that, despite their effectiveness, are not consistently utilized. This pattern of behavior appears to persist even during periods of widespread disease transmission, with varied data from the COVID-19 pandemic indicating that condom usage remained inconsistent. The present study aimed to clarify these inconsistencies by examining changes in condom use cross-culturally. Heterosexual participants who were sexually active (N = 3,972 [1,327 men, 2,645 women], Mage= 22.82) across …

Vertical Sorting Of Bed Material In Gravel-Bed Streams-- Insights From Long-Term Observations In East Creek, British Columbia, Marwan A. Hassan, Tianqi Xing, Conor Mcdowell, Kevin J. Pierce, Mike Turley, Sol Leader-Cole, Enrica Viparelli

Faculty Publications

The vertical sorting of streambed grains is a key control on river channel stability and sediment transport rates. In this study, we report on burial depths and mobility characteristics of coarse sediment in a small gravel-bed stream using an extensive data set of nearly 1,500 magnetically tagged tracer grains, deployed and annually surveyed between 2004 and 2018. We observe that sediment burial correlates with grain size and event magnitude, and we identify correlations between the burial depths of coarse grains and their mobility, residence time, and travel distance characteristics. A particularly large event in 2007 produced significant vertical sorting which …

Prioritizing Data Quality In Machine Learning For Thermophysical Property Prediction: A Case Study On Normal Boiling Points Of Organic Compounds, Frank T. Mtetwa, Neil F. Giles, W. Vincent Wilding, Thomas A. Knotts Iv

Faculty Publications

Accurate prediction of the normal boiling point (NBP) of organic compounds is essential for the design and optimization of chemical processes. This is especially true for modern practice since experimental measurements of many compounds of contemporary importance are difficult to perform due to cost, purity, and stability issues. Traditional methods, such as group contribution (GC) and quantitative structure–property relationship (QSPR) approaches, are limited by inflexibility and diminishing accuracy in these situations. Machine learning (ML) approaches have shown promise but are plagued by two weaknesses for the nonspecialist: ease of use (especially compared to GC and QSPR) and proven accuracy for …

Intrinsic Defects (Vacancies And Antisites) In Neutron Irradiated Cdsip2 Crystals, Timothy D. Gustafson, Elizabeth M. Scherrer, Nancy C. Giles, Kevin T. Zawilski, Peter G. Schunemann, Jonathan E. Slagle, Kent L. Averett, Larry E. Halliburton

Faculty Publications

Cadmium silicon phosphide (CdSiP₂) is a nonlinear optical material widely used in optical parametric oscillators. Intrinsic defects (vacancies and antisites) are responsible for unwanted broad optical absorption bands in these crystals that degrade the performance of the devices. In the present work, optical absorption and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra are acquired (at room temperature and 12 K, respectively) from a neutron-irradiated CdSiP₂ crystal. After the irradiation, the crystal is highly absorbing from the band edge near 600 nm to beyond 1.3 μm because of overlapping defect-related absorption bands. Heating to 550 °C removes nearly all the …

A Comprehensive Assessment And Benchmark Studyof Large Atomistic Foundation Models For Phonons, Md Zaibul Anam, Ogheneyoma Aghoghovbia, Mohammed Al-Fahdi, Lingyu Kong, Victor Fung, Ming Hu

Faculty Publications

The rapid development of universal machine learning potentials (uMLPs) has enabled efficient, accurate predictions of diverse material properties across broad chemical spaces. While their capability for modeling phonon properties is emerging, systematic benchmarking across chemically diverse systems remains limited. We evaluate six recent uMLPs—EquiformerV2, MatterSim, MACE, and CHGNet—on 2429 crystalline materials from the Open Quantum Materials Database. Models were used to compute atomic forces in displaced supercells, derive interatomic force constants (IFCs), and predict phonon properties including lattice thermal conductivity (LTC), compared with density functional theory and experimental data. The EquiformerV2 pretrained model trained on the OMat24 dataset exhibits strong …

College For All And The Postsecondary Experiences Of Rural First-Generation College Students: Patterns Of Alignment With A Predominant Master Narrative, Andrew D. Coppens, Sarah Jusseaume, Jayson O. Seaman, Cindy L. Hartman, Erin H. Sharp

Faculty Publications

The aim of this study was to understand the experiences of rural, first-generation college (RFGC) students in relation to dominant culturally normative expectations about postsecondary educational and workforce trajectories. The study adopted patterns of engagement with a master narrative as both a conceptual framework and unit of analysis, examining both biography and cultural ecologies as well as highlighting agency in the lives and choices of study participants. Evidence is drawn from 4 in-depth narrative interviews with each of 14 RFGC students, conducted both at school and students’ homes, from rural and small-town communities. Results show that a master narrative of …

Using Serial Open Circuit Potentiometry To Study Ce And Gd Deposition In Molten Licl-Kcl Eutectic, Ranon G. Fuller, Guy L. Fredrickson, Devin Rappleye

Faculty Publications

The ability to electrochemically separate individual species in a pyrochemical reprocessing salt relies on first being able to detect a separation in their reaction potentials. This requires the ability to measure reaction potentials with extreme precision. In this work, we introduce a novel technique called serial open circuit potentiometry (SOCP) and demonstrate its effectiveness at precisely measuring metal deposition reaction potentials. SOCP has several advantages over traditional open circuit potentiometry, including its abilities to quantify the error of measured equilibrium potentials by averaging many individual OCP measurements, determine overpotential deposition nucleation potentials to instrument precision, and simultaneously determine the nucleation …

Social Determinants Of Self-Reported Health In Vulnerable Populations During A Polycrisis In Lebanon, Rindala Fayyad, Marie Elizabeth Ragi, Hala Ghattas Ph.D., Stephen J. Mccall

Faculty Publications

Importance: In the context of a polycrisis, which is characterized by multiple interconnected and mutually reinforcing crises, humanitarian and health needs increase. It is therefore crucial to identify social determinants impacting health and well-being of vulnerable populations to better inform appropriate interventions.

Objective: To assess the association between social determinants and pain frequency, self-rated health, and depression over time among vulnerable populations during a polycrisis in Lebanon.

Design, Setting, and Participants: In this population-based longitudinal cohort study, data were collected in Sin-El-Fil, a suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, in 4 waves: June 28 to October 26, 2022; September 8 to December …

Disparities In Street Harassment Exposure And Mental Health Consequences: Elevated Risk For Marginalized Women, Sophia Shaiman, Kaitlin M. Boyle

Faculty Publications

Street harassment is a widespread harm that disproportionately affects women. While research suggests links between racial inequality, street harassment, and mental health outcomes, it is less understood how the severity of harassment experienced is shaped by their demographic characteristics, and how the severity of the harassment shapes mental health outcomes. Thus, we ask two questions. First, which demographic characteristics are associated with a greater risk of “complementary” and “hostile” forms of street harassment? Second, are complementary and hostile forms of street harassment both associated with higher levels of negative emotion, psychological distress, and post-traumatic maladaptive beliefs? To answer these questions, …

Pathlength, Altitude And Angle Of Incidence Dependence Of Remote Water Raman Scattering, Whitney E. Schuler, Paige K. Williams, Zechariah B. Kitzhaber, Caitlyn M. English, Tammi L. Richardson, Nikos Vitzilaios, Michael L. Myrick

Faculty Publications

A small remote Raman sensor was used to measure the Raman scattering signal from clear, still water as a function of water depth (12 cm and 396 cm depth), sensor distance above the water surface (20–300 cm), and angle of incidence (0–80°) to the normal of the water surface. Under thick- and thin-sample conditions, the signal depends on either the inverse, or the inverse square, of sensor distance from the water surface, respectively. A model is derived that fits data for different sensor distances, water depths, and angles of incidence. Fits to the measured data are consistent with the known …

Detecting Polar Ring Galaxies Via Deep Learning, Fawad Kirmani, Anathavishnu S. Unnii, Varsha P. Kulkarni, Kyle Lackey, John R. Rose

Faculty Publications

Polar ring galaxies (PRGs) are peculiar galaxies that show a ring of stars, gas, and dust oriented roughly over the poles of the central ‘host’ galaxy (i.e. roughly orthogonal to the disc of the host galaxy). The formation models for these rings involve mergers or tidal interactions of the host galaxy with another galaxy. Although the identified PRGs look different from each other, they all have a ring that is not in the same plane as the disc of the host galaxy. Unlike in galaxies such as our Milky Way, where stars form in spiral arms, the rings exemplify an …

The Increase In Global Ocean Heat Content And Favorable Conditions For Tropical Cyclone And Cyclop Intensification: Accounting For El Niño, Robert Keenan Forney, Paul W. Miller, Travis A. Smith

Faculty Publications

The ocean heat content (“OHC”)—the heat energy within the ocean integrated to a reference depth—has physical drivers spanning spatial and temporal scales, including seasonality, the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and others. The present article investigates changes in the OHC100 during the period 1994–2020 using GLORYS12 monthly averaged ocean reanalysis. OHC100–ENSO correlation patterns are explored to glean insights about the oceanic mechanisms that facilitate the ENSO’s global teleconnections. After extracting known seasonality and ENSO signals using the Oceanic Niño Index (ONI), the OHC100 residual is analyzed to investigate multidecadal drivers of the OHC100. Lagged ENSO–OHC100 correlations (±12 months) reveal basin-scale oscillations …

Competition And Soil Microbe-Mediated Interactions Following Dieback Of A Dominant Wetland Plant, Joseph Johnston, Aaron E. Devries, Rodrigo Diaz, Vinson P. Doyle, Tracy Elsey-Quirk, James T. Cronin

Faculty Publications

Plant invasions can have important consequences for the soil ecosystem which, in turn, can affect interactions with other plant species and impose serious constraints on restoration efforts. In the Mississippi River Delta (MRD), USA, widespread dieback of the dominant wetland plant, Phragmites australis, was followed by the colonization of invasive Colocasia esculenta (taro) in many areas. We conducted a common-garden experiment to investigate the competitive interactions among taro and two P. australis lineages prevalent in the MRD, Delta and European invasive (EU), and the role of taro-soil microbes in mediating those interactions. Plant types were grown alone or together and …

U-Shaped Relationship Between White Blood Cell Counts And Incident Hypertension In Military Young Adults: The Chief Study, 2014–2020, Kun-Zhe Tsai, Chia-Wei Hong, Yun-Chen Chang, Wei-Chun Huang, Xuemei Sui, Carl J. Lavie, Gen-Min Lin

Faculty Publications

Background

Systemic low-grade inflammation, which is characterized by increased counts of blood leukocytes (white blood cells, WBCs), can lead to hypertension, while reduced WBC counts caused by the use of some substances, e.g., alcohol, can also lead to hypertension. However, there have been no studies on the association between WBC counts and the risk of hypertension in young adults.

Methods

This cohort study conducted in Taiwan included a total of 2351 military personnel who were aged 18–39 years, were free of baseline hypertension and were followed up for incident hypertension from 2014 to the end of 2020. Resting blood pressure …

Introducing A Markov Chain-Based Time Calibration Procedure For Multi-Channel Particle Detectors: Application To The Superfgd And Tof Detectors Of The T2k Experiment, S. Abe, H. Alarakia-Charles, I. Alekseev, C. Alt, T. Arai, T. Arihara, S. Arimoto, A. M. Artikov, Y. Awataguchi, N. Babu, V. Baranov, G. Barr, D. Barrow, L. Bartoszek, L. Bernardi, L. Berns, S. Bhattacharjee, A. V. Boikov, A. Blanchet, A. Blondel, A. Bonnemaison, S. Bordoni, M. H. Bui, T. H. Bui, F. Cadoux, S. Cap, A. Cauchois, J. Chakrani, P. S. Chong, A. Chvirova, P. Collard, M. Danilov, C. Davis

Faculty Publications

Inter-channel mis-synchronisation can be a limiting factor to the time resolution of high performance timing detectors with multiple readout channels and independent electronics units. In these systems, time calibration methods employed must be able to efficiently correct for minimal mis-synchronisation between channels and achieve the best detector performance. We present an iterative time calibration method based on Markov Chains, suitable for detector systems with multiple readout channels. Starting from correlated hit pairs alone, and without requiring an external reference time measurement, the method solves for fixed per-channel offsets, with precision limited only by the intrinsic single-channel resolution. A mathematical proof …

Real-Time Electron Spectrometer Utilizing A Permanent Magnet And Diode Detector Array, Mason W. Heath, Kenneth L. Matthews, Garrett M. Pitcher, Kenneth R. Hogstrom

Faculty Publications

Background: Magnetic spectrometers have been previously described for measuring energy spectra of therapeutic electron beams. However, challenges for clinical utilization have been their size, weight, and limited real-time capabilities. Development of a compact, lightweight, and inexpensive device with real-time readout will make an electron spectrometer a practical clinical tool. Purpose: This work integrates a commercial diode detector array with a permanent dipole magnet to create a practical real-time energy spectrometer for therapeutic electron beams. Methods: A 4 kg, 0.55 T permanent dipole magnet was coupled to two PC boards of a Sun Nuclear SRS MapCHECK device, which provided two interlaced …

Adipose Tissue Estrogen Receptor-Alpha Overexpression Ameliorates High-Fat Diet–Induced Adipose Tissue Inflammation, Marion C. Hope, Christian A. Unger, M. Chase Kettering, Cassidy E. Socia, Ahmed K. Aladhami, Barton C. Rice, Darya S. Niamira, Ben P. Wiznitzer, Diego Altomare Ph.D., William E. Cotham, Reilly T. Enos

Faculty Publications

Context

We created an innovative mouse model that enables inducible overexpression of estrogen receptor-alpha (ERα), specifically in adipose tissue (Adipo-ERα↑). Objective

We aimed to investigate how elevated Adipo-ERα↑ influences the development of high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity in both male and female mice. Methods

Male and female Adipo-ERα↑ mice and littermate controls were fed a low-fat diet (LFD) or HFD for 13 weeks. Adipo-ERα↑ was induced at the initiation of dietary treatment. Body morphology and composition, hepatic lipid accumulation, glucose tolerance, fasting insulin concentrations, and adipose tissue mRNA profiling were assessed. Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry was used to determine circulating and adipose …

Pentanary And Hexanary Alkali Lanthanide Germanates Grown From Lanthanide Rich Flux Growth Reactions, Gregory Morrison, K. Pilar Zamorano, Virginia G. Jones, Ethan N. Adams, Hans Conrad Zur Loye

Faculty Publications

Single crystals of five compounds of a new structure type, the K3Nd52Ge12O100F7 type, were grown from lanthanide rich reactions using a KF/KCl flux: K3Ln52Ge12O100F7 (Ln = Nd, Eu), K3Ln52Ge12O100+δF7-δ (Ln = Pr, Tb), and K3Ca0.872Nd51.128Ge12O99.128F7.872. The five compounds crystallize in the cubic space group I-43d with lattice parameter 22.0350(2) Å for K3Nd52Ge12O100F7. The structure consists of a 3D checkerboard of LnX8, LnX7, LnX6, and GeO4 polyhedra, where X = O/F, and can be conceptually derived from the fluorite structure. K3Eu52Ge12O100F7 exhibits the fluorescence typical of Eu³⁺.

Attribution As Architecture In The Digital Age, Laura A. Heymann

Faculty Publications

As technology changes, one thing remains constant: human creators seem to care about attribution, whether as creators or as audience members. Current U.S. law lacks the means for many creators to effectively address attributional interests, and experience has shown that top-down, imposed technological solutions can fail to gain the necessary buy-in and adoption. The best approach, examples suggest, is for platforms to think of attribution as part of the architecture of their systems, but to take their cues from user-developed, individualized solutions, which will not only be more responsive to user interests but also allow adaptation as interests change and …

Cannabis Improves Metabolic Dysfunction And Macrophage Signatures In Obese Mice, Brandon N. Vanderveen, Thomas D. Cardaci, Christian A. Unger, Mitchell M. Nesmith, Jeffrey C. Freeman, Arianna V. Bastian, Kasie Roark, Mansi Upadhyay, Andrew G. Levy, Brooke M. Bullard, Sierra J. Mcdonald, Kandy T. Velázquez, Reilly T. Enos, Jason L. Kubinak, Lorne J. Hofseth Ph.D., James Hébert Scd, Daping Fan, E. Angela Murphy

Faculty Publications

Obesity rates continue to rise, highlighting the need for new treatments that are effective, safe, and widely accessible. Aligned with the easing of restrictions on cannabis use, interest in its therapeutic potential is evolving. As such, we examined the effects of the cannabis plant with high cannabidiol (CBD) content or high Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content on metabolic and immune dysregulation in obese mice. Briefly, female C57BL/6 mice were randomized into four groups (n = 15/group): 1) lean, 2) obese placebo, 3) obese CBD, and 4) obese THC. Lean mice consumed a low-fat diet for the study …

Stories Of Racism And Resistance: A Narrative Analysis Of Stories Told In The Uk Windrush Generation And Descendants Of The Windrush Generation, Jessica Blumsom, Jacqui Scott, Emma Karwatzki, Aishath Nasheeda, David Hernandez-Saca, Alyson Malach, Glenda Andrew

Faculty Publications

The Windrush Generation (WG) and their descendants continue to experience adversity in the UK, including racism and the Windrush Scandal, with such adversities absent from psychological research literature. Intergenerational trauma is a psychological concept explaining that adverse experiences can be transmitted from one generation to impact subsequent generations. There has been limited consideration of the ongoing impact of adverse experiences that span multiple generations, such as experiences of racism within Western Europe. This paper utilised a narrative research design to study the narratives of members of the WG and those of their descendants in the UK. Eight expert by experience …

Better Digital Contracts With Prosocial Friction-In-Design, Brett Frischmann, Moshe Y. Vardi

Faculty Publications

Contract law is supposed to enable people to reach genuine agreements and cooperate. If this ideal was ever a reality, the rise of mass market contracts and boil­erplate rendered it pure fiction. Modern consumer contracts are incomprehensible to most people. No one reads them anyway.

Digital contracting involves design features that amplify traditional boilerplate harms and create others. For example, digital contracting is too cheap; low marginal costs lead to overexpansion in scale and scope. To make matters worse, the loss of autonomy from repeat engagement with digital contracting systems is pernicious. People become increasingly predictable and programmable as digital …