Digital Commons Network^™

Simulation Of Human Ankle Trajectory During Stance Phase Of Gait, Leslie Castelino

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

A simulation was developed which mimics the human gait characteristics based on the input of an individual’s gait trajectory. This simulation also estimates the impedance of the human ankle based on the ground reaction forces measured by the force plate. This simulation will accept alterations of the following parameters: total body weight, weight of the shank, weight of the foot, trajectories of the shank and foot of the individual and orientation of the force plate, which would generate a new gait trajectory for the ankle during the stance phase of gait. The goal of this simulation was to validate the …

Simulation Study On Effect Of Gas Charging And Egr In A Dual-Fuel Engine, Satyavenkata Naga Sai Sharath Gorthy

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Natural gas combined with diesel as micro pilot has the capabilities of achieving lower NOx and soot emissions. Optimization of the combustion process in engines with natural gas and diesel micro-pilot is essential to achieve higher efficiencies and loads. Gas charging (intake air boosting) and EGR are two technologies which when implemented in the natural gas-diesel engines, provide the opportunity to achieve higher efficiencies and loads and low emissions. Simulation study is one of the approaches to investigate the extent and effects of gas charging and EGR on the performance of the engine. With the rapid improvements over the past …

The Visual And Performing Arts In The Technical Communication Classroom: Reinforcing The University's Internal Community Literacy Via Service-Learning, Richard L. Ward

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This report details a class taught that was an exploration into the value of STEAM or science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics within the confines of Technical Communication as it applies to the business and industry of theatre. It was an experiment in service learning as it could be tied into the Arts via differing technai, as described by John Wild in “Plato’s Theory of Texnh a Phenomenological Interpretation,” demonstrating a necessity for Arts as they pertain to STEM-centric universities. This report discusses a section of Technical and Professional Communication taught at Michigan technological University that consisted of twenty-five students …

Techno-Economic And Life Cycle Assessments Of Biofuel Production From Woody Biomass Through Torrefaction-Fast Pyrolysis And Catalytic Upgrading, Olumide Winjobi

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Biofuel production through fast pyrolysis of biomass is a promising conversion route in the production of biofuels compatible with existing technology. The bio-oil produced from fast pyrolysis is a versatile feedstock that can be used as a heating oil or upgraded to a transportation hydrocarbon biofuel. Comparative study of a one-step, fast pyrolysis only pathway and a two-step torrefaction-fast pyrolysis pathway was carried out to evaluate the effect of torrefcation on (i) the minimum selling price of biofuel and (ii) the potential life cycle GHG emissions of the biofuel production pathway.

To produce bio-oil which can serve as a substitute …

Performance Comparison Of Binarized Neural Network With Convolutional Neural Network, Lopamudra Baruah

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Deep learning is a trending topic widely studied by researchers due to increase in the abundance of data and getting meaningful results with them. Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) is one of the most popular architectures used in deep learning. Binarized Neural Network (BNN) is also a neural network which consists of binary weights and activations. Neural Networks has large number of parameters and overfitting is a common problem to these networks. To overcome the overfitting problem, dropout is a solution. Randomly dropping some neurons along with its connections helps to prevent co-adaptations which finally help in reducing overfitting. Many researchers …

Simulation Of Diesel Particulate Filter Regeneration Using Lattice Boltzmann Method, Kshitiz Kumar Jain

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Lattice Boltzmann Method is a novel approach, which has shown promise in solving a wide variety of fluid flow problems including single and multi-phase flows in complex geometries. Volume elements of the fluid domain are considered to be composed of particles and these particles fall under a velocity distribution function at each grid point. Particles collide with each other under the influence of external forces and the rules of collision are defined so as to be compatible with the Navier-Stokes Equation. In the current work, LBM has been applied to Diesel Particulate filters which is a device used for reducing …

How A Diverse Research Ecosystem Has Generated New Rehabilitation Technologies: Review Of Nidilrr’S Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers, David J. Reinkensmeyer, Sarah Blackstone, Cathy Bodine, John Brabyn, David Brienza, Kevin Caves, Frank Deruyter, Edmund Durfee, Stefania Fatone, Geoff Fernie, Steven Gard, Patricia Karg, Todd A. Kuiken, Gerald F. Harris, Mike Jones, Yue Li, Jordana Maisel, Michael Mccue, Michelle A. Meade, Helena Mitchell, Tracy L. Mitzner, James L. Patton, Philip S. Requejo, James H. Rimmer, Wendy A. Rogers, W. Zev Rymer, Jon A. Sanford, Lawrence Schneider, Levin Sliker, Stephen Sprigle, Aaron Steinfeld, Edward Steinfeld, Gregg Vanderheiden, Carolee Winstein, Li-Qun Zhang, Thomas Corfman

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Over 50 million United States citizens (1 in 6 people in the US) have a developmental, acquired, or degenerative disability. The average US citizen can expect to live 20% of his or her life with a disability. Rehabilitation technologies play a major role in improving the quality of life for people with a disability, yet widespread and highly challenging needs remain. Within the US, a major effort aimed at the creation and evaluation of rehabilitation technology has been the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers (RERCs) sponsored by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research. As envisioned at their …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Cross-Linked Polyimide Film Using Tolylene Diisocyanate, Sirichai Reeyakad

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Cross-linked polyimide films were synthesized by the reaction between diisocyanate groups and hydroxyl functional groups in polyimide structure, which was confirmed by IR. During the thermal treatment of the cross-linked polyimide, the thermal labile component (CO₂) in the urethane segments was decomposed which might generate pores in the film. The presence of the pores was confirmed from the dielectric constant of the film. The dielectric constant of the films decreased with the increase of TDI loading. By comparing the properties of the films, the PI50-C1.0 exhibited optimum mechanical and good dielectric properties. The cross-linked structure was also confirmed by DMA. …

พอลิแล็กทิกแอซิด/พอลิไวนิลแอลกอฮอล์/แกรฟีนนาโนคอมพอสิต, จาฬุพักต์ รัตนคช

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

งานวิจัยนี้มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อพัฒนาวิธีการเตรียมพอลิแล็กทิกแอซิด/พอลิไวนิลแอลกอฮอล์/แกรฟีนนาโนคอมพอสิต รวมถึงศึกษาอิทธิพลของการเติมอนุภาคแกรฟีนต่อสัณฐานวิทยา สมบัติเชิงกล สมบัติทางความร้อน และสมบัติการนำไฟฟ้าของวัสดุนาโนคอมพอสิตที่เตรียมได้ โดยเริ่มด้วยการสังเคราะห์แกรฟีนจากแกรไฟต์ด้วยวิธีของฮัมเมอร์ และใช้กรดแอลแอสคอร์บิกเป็นตัวรีดิวซ์ พิสูจน์เอกลักษณ์ของอนุภาคแกรฟีนที่เตรียมได้ด้วยเทคนิคอินฟราเรดสเปกโทรสโกปีและเทคนิคเอกซเรย์ดิฟแฟรกชัน จากนั้นเตรียมของผสมระหว่างพอลิไวนิลแอลกอฮอล์กับแกรฟีนที่ปริมาณต่าง ๆ ด้วยวิธีแช่เยือกแข็ง แล้วนำไปผสมกับพอลิแล็กทิกแอซิดด้วยเครื่องอัดรีดสกรูคู่และขึ้นรูปเป็นชิ้นงานด้วยกระบวนการอัดแบบ ศึกษาสัณฐานวิทยาเพื่อวิเคราะห์อันตรกิริยาของผสมระหว่างพอลิไวนิลแอลกอฮอล์กับแกรฟีนด้วยกล้องจุลทรรศน์แบบคอนโฟคอล และวิเคราะห์ภาคตัดขวางของชิ้นงานคอมพอสิตด้วยกล้องจุลทรรศน์อิเล็กตรอนแบบส่องกราด ผลการทดสอบสมบัติเชิงกล สมบัติทางความร้อน และสมบัติการนำไฟฟ้าของวัสดุนาโนคอมพอสิตที่เตรียมได้ พบว่าปริมาณผลึกลดลงเมื่อปริมาณแกรฟีนเพิ่มขึ้น แต่ไม่ส่งผลต่ออุณหภูมิกลาสทรานสิชัน อุณหภูมิหลอมเหลวผลึก และอุณหภูมิการเกิดผลึก อีกทั้งการเติมแกรฟีนที่มีการใช้พอลิไวนิลแอลกอฮอล์เป็นตัวพาลงในพอลิเมอร์เมทริกซ์ ทำให้ความทนแรงดึง และความยืดสูงสุด ณ จุดขาด มีแนวโน้มลดลงด้วย อย่างไรก็ดีการเติมแกรฟีนในปริมาณน้อย ๆ สามารถช่วยเพิ่มความทนแรงดึงได้เมื่อเปรียบเทียบกับงานวิจัยก่อนหน้าที่ไม่มีการเติมตัวพาหรือตัวช่วยเพิ่มการกระจายตัว นอกจากนี้พบว่าปริมาณแกรฟีนที่เพิ่มขึ้น ทำให้ค่าการนำไฟฟ้าของคอมพอสิตเมื่อเทียบกับพอลิแล็กทิกแอซิดบริสุทธิ์เพิ่มขึ้น คอมพอสิตที่พัฒนาขึ้นสามารถนำไปประยุกต์ในงานที่ต้องการสมบัติการต้านทานไฟฟ้าสถิตย์ได้

ผลของการเติมเถ้าแกลบต่อการเกิดชั้นฟิล์มในกระบวนการอะลูมิไนซิงแบบผงบนนิกเกิลบริสุทธิ์, บุญฤทธิ์ เฮงประยูร

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

การปรับปรุงกระบวนการอะลูมิไนซิงแบบผงทำได้โดยการเจือธาตุซิลิกอนเพื่อเพิ่มความเสถียรของชั้นออกไซด์ที่เกิดขึ้นในการใช้งานที่อุณหภูมิสูง ซึ่งเถ้าแกลบมีส่วนประกอบของซิลิกาอยู่มากกว่า 90 เปอร์เซ็นต์โดยน้ำหนัก ในงานวิจัยนี้จะหาความเป็นไปได้ในการใช้เถ้าแกลบแทนซิลิกาจากอุตสาหกรรม (ควอทซ์) เพื่อเจือซิลิกอนลงในกระบวนการอะลูมิไนซิงแบบผง โดยวิเคราะห์ถึงความแตกต่างของโครงสร้างผลึก สารเจือในเถ้าแกลบ ขนาดอนุภาค ลักษณะพิ้นผิวและพื้นที่ผิวจำเพาะระหว่างผงควอทซ์และผงเถ้าแกลบที่จะส่งผลต่อโครงสร้างจุลภาค โครงสร้างของสารประกอบของชั้นแพร่และปริมาณซิลิกอนที่พบในชั้นแพร่ในผิวชิ้นงานที่ใช้สารตั้งต้นเป็นควอทซ์และเถ้าแกลบ ซึ่งปริมาณสารเจือที่เติมคือ 9, 13.5, 18 เปอร์เซ็นต์โดยน้ำหนัก เผาที่อุณหภูมิ 800 และ 1000๐C เป็นเวลา 4 ชั่วโมง และทดสอบความต้านทานการเกิดออกซิเดชันที่อุณหภูมิ 1000๐C เป็นเวลา 100 ชั่วโมง ชิ้นงานที่นำมาทดสอบคือ นิกเกิลบริสุทธิ์, ชิ้นงานที่ทำอะลูมิไนซิงที่ 900๐C เป็นเวลา 4 ชั่วโมง, ชิ้นงานที่เติมควอทซ์ 13.5 เปอร์เซ็นต์โดยน้ำหนัก ทำอะลูมิไนซิงที่ 1000๐C เป็นเวลา 4 ชั่วโมงและชิ้นงานที่เติมเถ้าแกลบ 13.5 เปอร์เซ็นต์โดยน้ำหนัก ทำอะลูมิไนซิงที่ 1000๐C เป็นเวลา 4 ชั่วโมง นำชิ้นงานมาวิเคราะห์ลักษณะพื้นผิวและโครงสร้างของสารประกอบออกไซด์ที่เกิดขึ้นที่ผิว พบว่าชิ้นงานที่เติมเถ้าแกลบจะมีปริมาณซิลิกอนที่พบในชั้นแพร่มากกว่าและมีความสามารถในการต้านทานการเกิดออกซิเดชันที่อุณหภูมิสูงดีกว่าชิ้นงานที่เติมควอทซ์

Long-Period Fiber Grating Corrosion Sensors For Life-Cycle Monitoring And Assessment Of Reinforced Concrete Structures, Yizheng Chen

Doctoral Dissertations

"This study aims to: (1) explore, develop, calibrate and validate Fe-C coated, long period fiber grating (LPFG) sensors for short-term mass loss measurement of the Fe-C coating; (2) develop, calibrate, and validate steel tube-encapsulated, fiber optic probes and LPFG sensors for long-term mass loss detection of the steel tube; (3) correlate the corrosion process of packaging metal materials with that of steel bars in direct contact with the packaged probe or sensor except for a thin insulation tape; and (4) apply both types of corrosion sensors into reinforced concrete (RC) structures for reinforcing bar corrosion monitoring and structural condition assessment. …

Repair Of Metallic Components Using Hybrid Manufacturing, Renwei Liu

Doctoral Dissertations

"Many high-performance metal parts users extend the service of these damaged parts by employing repair technology. Hybrid manufacturing, which includes additive manufacturing (AM) and subtractive manufacturing, provides greater build capability, better accuracy, and surface finish for component repair. However, most repair processes still rely on manual operations, which are not satisfactory in terms of time, cost, reliability, and accuracy. This dissertation aims to improve the application of hybrid manufacturing for repairing metallic components by addressing the following three research topics. The first research topic is to investigate and develop an efficient best-fit and shape adaption algorithm for automating 3D models' …

Discrete Ordinates Ct Organ Dose Simulator (Doctors), Edward T. Norris

Doctoral Dissertations

"Computed tomography (CT) has become pervasive in medical diagnostics as improved imaging techniques and processing algorithms provide higher quality information to doctors. However, the exponentially increasing usage of CT has raised concerns regarding long term low-dose radiological risks.

Currently, the dose to patients is computed using Monte Carlo methods and experimental tests. In other areas of radiation transport, deterministic codes have been shown to be much faster than Monte Carlo codes.

Currently, no deterministic methodology exists to automatically generate a spatially distributed dose profile from a CT voxel phantom. This work proposes a new code, Discrete Ordinate CT Organ Dose …

Volumetric Error Compensation For 5-Axis Machine Tools, Jennifer Ruth Creamer

Doctoral Dissertations

"This work presents a geometric error compensation method for large 5-axis machine tools. The compensation method presented here uses tool tip measurements recorded throughout the axis space to construct a position-dependent geometric error model that can easily be used for error compensation. The measurements are taken using a laser tracker, permitting rapid error data gathering at most locations in the axis space. First two model types are compared for generating table-based error compensation and experimental results are presented. Table-based compensation is then extended to machine tool controller types with restrictions on the number or combination of compensation tables using an …

Cognition-Based Approaches For High-Precision Text Mining, George John Shannon

Doctoral Dissertations

"This research improves the precision of information extraction from free-form text via the use of cognitive-based approaches to natural language processing (NLP). Cognitive-based approaches are an important, and relatively new, area of research in NLP and search, as well as linguistics. Cognitive approaches enable significant improvements in both the breadth and depth of knowledge extracted from text. This research has made contributions in the areas of a cognitive approach to automated concept recognition in.

Cognitive approaches to search, also called concept-based search, have been shown to improve search precision. Given the tremendous amount of electronic text generated in our digital …

Numerical Simulation Of Viscoelastic Buckle Folds: Implications For Stress, Fractures, Porosity And Fluid Flow, Xiaolong Liu

Doctoral Dissertations

"Over the past several decades, buckle folds have been exclusively studied by numerous methods. However, lots of assumptions and simplifications are made, which may not result in realistic in-situ stress conditions leading to rock failure. This study represents the first numerical simulation of folding under the consideration of gravity and pore pressure to simulate the structural development of buckle folds.

The first topic covered in this dissertation is the fracture associated to the single layer fold. It is concluded that burial depth, viscosity, and permeability are critical for the initiation of major fracture sets at the hinge zone with varying …

Dissolution-Enlarged Fractures Imaging Using Electrical Resistivity Tomography (Ert), Elnaz Siami-Irdemoosa

Doctoral Dissertations

"In recent years the electrical imaging techniques have been largely applied to geotechnical and environmental investigations. These techniques have proven to be the best geophysical methods for site investigations in karst terrain, particularly when the overburden soil is clay-dominated. Karst is terrain with a special landscape and distinctive hydrological system developed by dissolution of rocks, particularly carbonate rocks such as limestone and dolomite, made by enlarging fractures into underground conduits that can enlarge into caverns, and in some cases collapse to form sinkholes.

Bedding planes, joints, and faults are the principal structural guides for underground flow and dissolution in almost …

Novel Applications Of Pulse Pre-Pump Brillouin Optical Time Domain Analysis For Behavior Evaluation Of Structures Under Thermal And Mechanical Loading, Yi Bao

Doctoral Dissertations

"This study aims to: (1) develop an analytical model for the strain transfer effect of distributed fiber optic sensors in a uniform or non-uniform stress field; (2) develop a measurement approach to monitor strains in concrete and detect damage (e.g. crack and delamination) in bonded and unbonded concrete overlays; (3) characterize the strain and temperature sensitivities of distributed fiber optic sensors at elevated temperatures; (4) develop a thermal annealing approach to enhance the thermal stability and temperature sensitivity of the distributed sensors; and (5) apply the distributed sensors to assess structural behaviors of concrete and steel structures exposed to fire. …

High-Volume Recycled Materials For Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure, Seyedhamed Sadati

Doctoral Dissertations

"The objective of this study is to investigate the feasibility of using high performance concrete made with high-volume of recycled materials in transportation infrastructure. The main focus was to develop mixtures for rigid pavement construction. A variety of fine and coarse recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) were investigated. The feasibility of replacing 50% of Portland cement with industrial by-products and supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) was also evaluated. Experimental program was conducted to quantify the effect of concrete mixture design and RCA characteristics on mechanical properties, drying shrinkage, cracking potential, and durability of concrete. The development of a database and analysis using …

Smart Rocks For Bridge Scour Monitoring -- Design And Localization Using Electromagnetic Techniques And Embedded Orientation Sensors, Andro Radchenko

Doctoral Dissertations

"River bridge scour is an erosion process in which flowing water removes sediment materials (such as sand, rocks) from a bridge foundation, river beds and banks. As a result, the level of the river bed near a bridge pier is lowering such that the bridge foundation stability can be compromised, and the bridge can collapse. The scour is a dynamic process, which can accelerate rapidly during a flood event. Thus, regular monitoring of the scour progress is necessary to be performed at most river bridges. Present techniques are usually expensive, require large man/hour efforts, and often lack the real-time monitoring …

The Effect Of Testing Conditions On Lost Circulation Materials' Performance In Simulated Fractures, Montri Jeennakorn

Doctoral Dissertations

"Lost circulation (LOC) problems increase costs of drilling significantly. It is not only the cost of the drilling fluid that is lost into the formation but also the costs of subsequent problems that can be higher than the cost of the drilling fluids. LOC also possibly leads to a serious risk of blowout incident.

Lost circulation materials (LCM) are regularly added to the drilling fluids with an expectation of plugging the flow path. Due to the difficulties of testing and monitoring LCM sealing processes in the field, LCM evaluation in the laboratory is often used to prove and assure successful …

Optimal Design And Freeform Extrusion Fabrication Of Functionally Gradient Smart Parts, Amir Ghazanfari

Doctoral Dissertations

"An extrusion-based additive manufacturing process, called the Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion (CODE) process, for producing three-dimensional ceramic components with near theoretical density was developed. In this process, an aqueous paste of ceramic particles with a very low binder content (<1 vol%) is extruded through a moving nozzle at room temperature. After a layer is deposited, it is surrounded by oil (to a level just below the top surface of most recent layer) to preclude non-uniform evaporation from the sides. Infrared radiation is then used to partially, and uniformly, dry the just-deposited layer so that the yield stress of the paste increases and the part maintains its shape. The same procedure is repeated for every layer until part fabrication is completed. Sample parts made of alumina and fully stabilized zirconia were produced using this process and their mechanical properties including density, strength, Young's modulus, Weibull modulus, toughness, and hardness were examined. Microstructural evaluation was also performed to measure the grain size, and critical flaw sizes were obtained. The results indicate that the proposed method enables fabrication of geometrically complex parts with superior mechanical properties. Furthermore, several methods were developed to increase the productivity of the CODE process and enable manufacturing of functionally graded materials with an optimum distribution of material composition. As an application of the CODE process, advanced ceramic components with embedded sapphire optical fiber sensors were fabricated and properties of parts and sensors were evaluated using standard test methods"--Abstract, page iv.

Depositional Systems, Sequence Architecture, And Controlling Factors Of An Eocene Stratigraphic Sequence At Minfeng Steep Margin Of Dongying Depression, Eastern China, Zhixin Li

Doctoral Dissertations

“This study is carried out in Minfeng area, the steep margin of Dongying half graben, eastern China, by integrating 3-D seismic, wireline log, and core data, and aims to interpret the depositional systems, reconstruct sequence stratigraphic architecture, and understand the controlling processes and factors at the steep margin of a rift basin. In the first part of this work, an Eocene stratigraphic sequence is divided into three systems tracts, corresponding to different stages of lake evolution, as early expansion (EEST), late expansion-early contraction (LEECST), and late contraction (LCST). EEST is the thickest and diagnostic by the best-developed marginal and basinal …

Promoting Access Over Ownership: Realigning Antitrust And Intellectual Property Law To Usher In An Era Of Collaborative Consumption, Adrian Kuenzler

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Following the US Supreme Court's endorsement of the promotion of consumer welfare as the single goal of antitrust and intellectual property laws, many courts have reasserted their commitment to the market access doctrine for antitrust and intellectual property law liability. These courts have rejected the Court's submission in GTE Sylvania to adhere to a strict output/profitability test concentrating predominantly on the positive and negative welfare effects regarding allegedly infringing conduct. This Article examines several important antitrust and intellectual property law decisions and locates within them a common flaw to express an intelligible, distinct doctrinal function for giving precedence to market …

The "Strict Liability" Of Direct Patent Infringement, Lynda J. Oswald

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

In 1995, the Federal Circuit summarily attached the label of "strict liability" to direct patent infringement, even though that term does not appear in any US Patent Act enacted in the past two centuries. The catechism of "strict" direct patent infringement liability is now so well engrained in patent doctrine that it is easy to lose sight of how recent the advent of this terminology is in the case law, and how troublesome application of this standard has proven, even to the Federal Circuit, which created it. The first Patent Act (1790) preceded the emergence of tort law as a …

Free Speech Or Slavery Profiteering?: Solutions For Policing Online Sex--Trafficking Advertisement, Marguerite A. O'Brien

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Online sex trafficking is big business. The Department of Homeland Security estimates that sex trafficking generates billions of dollars per year. The marketplace for sex has moved from the street corner to classified ad websites such as Backpage.com, and all too often the victims of online sex trafficking are minors. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported an 846 percent increase in reports of child sexual exploitation between 2010 and 2015--growth the organization attributes to the availability of sex ads on websites such as Backpage.com. Law enforcement agencies and victims have sought to hold Backpage.com liable for facilitating …

Flagging The Middle Ground Of The Right To Be Forgotten: Combatting Old News With Search Engine Flags, Hannah L. Cook

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Incomplete and outdated news articles present an increasing problem for individuals who find themselves stigmatized on the basis of truthful but misleading reports. This Article proposes a moderate solution between the European right to be forgotten and the protectionless status quo in the United States. It proposes a flagging system, administered through Federal Trade Commission adjudications, where links to articles whose private harms outweigh their public benefits are flagged in the search results of an individual. This flag will help combat psychological biases that may cause decisionmakers to place an irrational weight on these articles while preserving the ability of …

Federalism And Federalization On The Fintech Frontier, Brian Knight

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

The rise of financial technology (fintech) has the potential to provide better-quality financial services to more people. Although these enhanced financial services have arisen in order to meet consumer need, their regulatory status threatens that progress. Many fintech firms are regulated on a state-by-state basis even though their transactions are interstate, and they compete with firms that enjoy more consistent rules through federal preemption. This dynamic can harm efficiency, competitive equity, and political equity. This Article examines developments in marketplace lending, money transmission, and online sales of securities in an attempt to identify situations in which greater federalization of the …

Evaluating Market Reactions To Non-Practicing Entity Litigation, Emiliano Giudici, Justin Blount

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

An ongoing debate in patent law involves the role "non-practicing entities," sometimes called "patent trolls," serve in the patent system. Some argue they serve as valuable market intermediaries, while others contend they are a drain on innovation and an impediment to a well-functioning patent system. This Article adds to the data available in this debate by conducting an event study that analyzes the market reaction to patent litigation filed by large "mass aggregator" non-practicing entities against large publicly traded companies. This study advances the literature by attempting to reproduce the results of previous event studies done in this area with …

Enter Sandman: The Viability Of Environmental Personhood To Us Soil Conservation Efforts, Thomas E. Johnson

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

The US agricultural system relies on healthy soil for economic and environmental stability. The federal government established soil conservation efforts following the Dust Bowl, and state and local entities later developed legal tools to supplement soil conservation. These efforts, however, are insufficient to protect the nation's soil in the face of a changing climate. Conservation techniques are available that could substantially mitigate the effects of climate change, but the federal government lacks the tools to encourage their uniform adoption. The rigidity of prior state efforts, moreover, has disabled some landowners from adapting conservation lands to modern challenges. This Note recommends …