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Climate Disasters and the Inherent Disparity of Recovery Efforts
Get PDFOver the past twenty years, there has been a dramatic increase in climate-related disasters, including, but not limited to, heatwaves, hurricanes, and flooding. Climate change has exacerbated the severity of many events, such as Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Sandy, and the 2025 California wildfires. This article will examine the disparity in recovery efforts, the significantly worse impact on less privileged communities, and the permanent damage caused by climate disasters. Additionally, this paper will analyze meteorological and economic data to highlight the significant differences in recovery efforts, the intersection of climate science and climate justice, and how geographic locations influence the speed at which populations can recover from climate disasters. The duration of recovery efforts and studies of economic damages will be compared to emphasize the reality that vulnerable, less fortunate populations suffer the worst from the effects of climate change.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_2025/1185/thumbnail.jp
Silenced Voices: Developmental and Racial Disparities in the Exercise of Miranda Rights
Get PDFPicture a teenager forced to confess under intense police interrogation, unable to grasp the implications of waving his Miranda rights – would justice prevail? The current legal framework is insufficient for the developmental vulnerabilities of youth, which leaves them unable to fully exercise their Miranda rights. Young people of color face additional barriers that are rooted in racial bias and developmental disparities. States have a responsibility to protect youth from coercion and manipulation during interrogations. The current practices, such as relying on parental presence instead of mandated legal counsel, are inadequate in protecting youth from such manipulation. Currently, much of the research on minorities is focused on black youth, but case studies and interviews should be expanded to be more representative of all groups of people. Consideration of economic and educational disparities is essential when formulating legislative reforms, and juveniles should be treated accordingly concerning developmental differences amongst all vulnerable youth.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_2025/1188/thumbnail.jp
Polarization and Authoritarianism: How Patterns of Polarization and Democratic Backsliding Have Been Realized in the United States
Get PDFIncreasing political polarization in the twenty-first century led researchers to establish that democracies are weakened by sharply divided electorates and legislatures since opposing groups become willing to tolerate undemocratic behavior to gain power. This research aims to evaluate how American affective polarization in the twenty-first century led to the polarization of the two parties in the 2024 presidential election, and how this election changed this discussion of polarization. After analysis of the literature from the 2010s that connected polarization and authoritarianism, exit polls and other data from the 2024 election, and Donald Trump’s subsequent presidency, findings suggest that trends of polarization from the last two decades steadily increased in the 2024 election, and authoritarian behavior within Donald Trump’s presidency reflect the realization of early twenty-first century research in the United States. This research builds a better understanding of modern American political polarization as authoritarianism becomes a greater concern.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_2025/1187/thumbnail.jp
Classification of human trust in AI using brain activity data
Get PDFTrust plays a crucial role in human-computer interaction, particularly in scenarios involving artificial intelligence (AI) systems. This study explores the feasibility of using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) data to classify trust levels in human-AI interaction scenarios. A total of 18 participants completed an image classification task with an AI team member while their hemodynamic responses were recorded using fNIRS. Preprocessing of fNIRS data involved motion artifact removal, filtering, and normalization. Exploratory analysis identified significant associations between hemodynamic responses in the prefrontal cortex and trust levels. An across-subject binary trust classification model was developed using machine learning techniques, achieving an F1 score of 0.77. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis revealed an Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 0.81, achieving improved F1-score and AUC compared to comparable methods. The brain activity- based classifiers were found be be better at classifying the self-report trust level than the objective measure of trust. These findings demonstrate the potential of fNIRS-based approaches for real-time classification of trust levels in human-AI interaction, with implications for improving user experience and trustworthiness of AI systems
COVID-19 & HEALTHCARE (RE)PRIVATIZATION? A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF HIGH AND MEDIUM PER CAPITA GDP COUNTRIES
Get PDFThis paper examines whether the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated healthcare privatization in high- and medium-GDP countries. Drawing on political economy theories of path dependence and privatization, we analyze changes in public and private healthcare expenditures in eight countries: Canada, Chile, Denmark, Georgia, Luxembourg, Norway, the Philippines, and South Korea—comparing data from 2019 and 2022. Using World Bank indicators on healthcare financing, GDP, aging populations, and food insecurity, we find that although healthcare expenditures generally increased during the pandemic, this increase was primarily in public, not private, spending. Case studies of Georgia and South Korea reveal that local economic and demographic pressures, such as food insecurity and population aging, influenced healthcare financing patterns, but did not result in structural shifts toward privatization. Our findings suggest that while the pandemic placed extraordinary strain on healthcare systems, it did not trigger a widespread move toward private healthcare in the countries studied. Instead, we observe limited evidence of de-privatization in some higher-income cases. These findings challenge claims that crises necessarily accelerate market-based healthcare reforms and point to the need for further research with larger samples and longer-term data to evaluate post-pandemic policy trajectories globally
Neuromuscular Response to High-Velocity, Low-Amplitude Spinal Manipulation—An Overview
Get PDFThe clinical use of spinal manipulation to treat musculoskeletal conditions has nearly tripled in the United States since 1980, and it is currently recommended by most global clinical guidelines as a conservative treatment for musculoskeletal pain, despite a lack of knowledge concerning its mechanisms of action. This overview highlights evidence of direct neuromuscular responses to high-velocity, low-amplitude spinal manipulation (HVLA-SM) as delivered by chiropractic, osteopathic, and physical therapy clinicians, with an intent to foster greater interprofessional dialogue and collaborative research to better address current gaps in mechanistic knowledge of the neuromuscular response to HVLA-SM. Three databases (PubMed, CINAHL Ultimate (EBSCO), EMBASE (Elsevier)) were searched from 2000 to December 2024 with specific search terms related to thrust HVLA-SM and the neuromuscular response. To focus strictly on neuromuscular responses related to HVLA-SM, this literature overview excluded articles using non-HVLA-SM manual therapy techniques (i.e., massage, non-thrust joint mobilization, and/or combined HVLA-SM with other forms of treatment such as exercise or non-thrust joint mobilization) and studies in which patient-centered outcomes (i.e., pain scores) were the primary outcomes of the HVLA-SM interventions. Pediatric studies, animal studies, and studies in languages other than English were also excluded. One-hundred and thirty six articles were identified and included in this overview. Neuromuscular findings related to HVLA-SM in the areas of electromyography (EMG), muscle thickness, muscle strength, reflexes, electroencephalogram (EEG), and evoked potential were often mixed; however, evidence is beginning to accumulate either in favor of or opposed to particular neuromuscular responses to HVLA-SM as larger and more scientifically rigorous studies are being performed. Recurrent limitations of many HVLA-SM-related studies are small sample sizes, leading to a lack of generalizability, and the non-standardization of HVLA-SM delivery, which has prevented researchers from arriving at definitive conclusions regarding neuromuscular responses to HVLA-SM. Discussions of future neuromuscular research needs related to HVLA-SM are included for clinicians and researchers inside and outside of the field of manual therapy, to advance this field
Sustainability Hub Newsletter - Summer 2025
Get PDFHappy summer everyone! Check out this special edition of the Newsletter for some tips for having a sustainable summer, a fun recipe, a job opportunity, and more
Representation Styles amongst Establishment and Non-Establishment Parties in Germany
Get PDFThe question of representation and its typology is still an ongoing discussion in the literature. There has, however, been a seminal approach, first posited by Hanna Pitkin, discussing a polysematic view of representation. There has, however, been a lack of coverage of how political parties utilize the different forms of representation Pitkin describes. This project studies political posters around the city of Leipzig, Germany, categorizing them based on their displayed messages into the three applicable types of representation (Symbolic, Descriptive, and Substantive). Through this lens, we will analyze how the political parties in Germany use these differing representation styles, and examine these differences in a broader discourse about establishment and nonestablishment representation. I argue that nonestablishment parties will use more symbolic representation because nonestablishment parties–particularly populist parties–require a type of party identification that comes from atypical discourses. The difference in representation style displays the political position of the different parties in the German political system and displays a critical aspect of populist representation against typical liberal-democratic representation
Out of Many, (Some) People: Race, Identity, and Beauty in Jamaican Nationalism
Get PDFWhen Jamaica gained independence in 1962, it grappled with the question of how to define Jamaican national identity. With the absence of Indigenous culture, Jamaican nationalism sought to develop an identity that would unify its diverse population that comprised the descendants of African, Asian, Middle Eastern, and European peoples. Despite this approach towards racial inclusion, this multiracial vision of nationalism reflected colonial power arrangements and beauty aesthetic standards.The biggest proponents of Jamaican nationalism, the mixed-race government, were invested in valorizing a mixed ‘Brown’ identity over and above the Black identity shared by the majority of Jamaicans. Thus, 20th-century Jamaican nationalism is a reflection of the country’s colonial history of the racialized social hierarchy. This undesirableness of being Black within Jamaican nationalism, is defined through enacted violence against the Afrocentric expressions of Rastafarians and whiteness becomes amplified through beauty standards and pageants. Instead of addressing the racial tensions and problems in society, the government masks it under the motto, “Out of Many, One People,” and race is no longer a problem. The multiculturalism of Jamaican identity valorizes the cultural mixing of the tiny mixed race and White minority as representative of the larger Black population, actively erasing the history of class and colorism within Jamaican society
Integrating Neural Networks for Predictive Torque Control and Obstacle Avoidance in Autonomous Robot
Get PDFIn the field of robotics, precise motion control and accurate computation of joint forces are critical for ensuring optimal performance. Traditional methods, such as using the Jacobian matrix for joint angle determination and Euler-Lagrange equations for torque computation, are reliable but computationally intensive, making them less suitable for real-time applications. This paper presents an advanced approach to improving the productivity and efficiency of a 3-Degree of Freedom (DOF) robotic arm by utilizing Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The proposed system dynamically predicts joint angles and torque, enabling faster and more efficient motion control.
To address the challenge of obstacle avoidance in dynamic environments, a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) is integrated with pathfinding algorithms such as the A* algorithm. This combination facilitates real-time obstacle detection and avoidance while maintaining accurate predictions for joint angles and torque requirements. The implementation showcases the effectiveness of neural networks in optimizing motion control and improving the overall performance of robotic systems. The proposed methodology highlights a significant advancement in real-time robotic motion planning and control, providing a scalable solution for robotic systems operating in dynamic environments