Artificial Intelligence Applications in Financial Markets and Corporate Finance: Technologies, Challenges, and Opportunities

This study examines the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on financial markets and corporate finance, highlighting its role in enhancing analytical precision, operational efficiency, and strategic decision-making. It explores the historical evolution of AI integration, from early automation to advanced machine learning and deep learning applications, emphasizing their contributions to market analysis, risk management, and portfolio optimization. The paper discusses key AI techniques, including natural language processing, reinforcement learning, and generative models, and their deployment across trading, credit assessment, and corporate governance. Attention is given to data management challenges, ethical considerations such as bias mitigation and transparency, and regulatory compliance in AI-driven financial systems. The work also addresses organizational and cultural factors influencing AI adoption, as well as the societal implications related to financial inclusion and workforce transformation. Methodological approaches encompass quantitative modeling, qualitative insights, and bibliometric analyses, providing a comprehensive overview of AI’s integration within finance. Finally, the study identifies opportunities and challenges associated with AI implementation, underscoring the need for responsible governance and continuous innovation to realize sustainable benefits in the financial sector. Keywords: Artificial Intelligence in Finance, Financial Technology (FinTech), Algorithmic Trading, Deep Learning, Explainable AI (XAI), Regulatory Technology (RegTech), AI-driven Risk Management, Generative AI, Corporate Finance, Ethical AI in Financen

Data for: Effect of local chain ordering on macroscopic charge mobility in chemically doped P3HT

Charge carrier mobility is a key factor underlying the performance of conjugated polymers as conductive materials for flexible and lightweight electronics. Chemical doping is typically used to improve polymer conductivity by increasing the carrier density. However, doping consequently induces both morphological and electrostatic changes within the polymer that impact charge mobility, the extent to which remains unclear. Using regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) polymer films with tuned morphology and controlled ion-carrier distance, we investigated the influence of nanoscale chain ordering on the device-scale mobility of its chemically-induced carriers. Grazing-incidence x-ray diffraction measurements revealed that chemically doping the films resulted in a similar lamellar d-spacing of ~18.5 Å, despite differences in chain ordering within their nanocrystalline domains. Transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy was used to examine the relaxation of hole polarons excited with 0.62 eV (2000 nm) light to study their trapping behavior, and the results were compared with field-effect mobility measurements. Despite a 4-fold difference in hole mobility, the average relaxation times of the mobile and trapped polarons were identically ~0.1 ps and 17 ps, respectively, between the two films. The TA results only showed qualitative differences in the ratio of mobile to trapped polarons, indicating that ordered nanocrystalline domains facilitate the formation of free polarons, which enhance the hole mobility. The results from this study suggest that TA spectroscopy can be used as an electrode-free method of assessing the local mobility of doping-induced charge carriers, and that nanoscale chain ordering – and not just mesoscale structure or ion-carrier distance – is essential to control for improving the device-scale mobility of polarons

Southeastern Blueprint Environmental Pollution Project

This project aims to aid in the decision making for conservation planning of migrating birds in the Southeast United States by evaluating the utility of including new data focused on environmental pollution (air, light, noise). Evaluating pollution data on conservation frameworks is essential for improving their utility

Research Brief: Impacts of Student-Weighted Funding

Student weighted funding is the most widely used means to ensure schools have enough money to provide for the differing needs of students. However, research suggests the benefits of student weighted funding go well beyond adequate resources for specific-needs students, offering significant improvements in (1) general education programming; (2) more targeted and efficient usage of tax dollars, and (3) long-term benefits including higher property values, improved business investments, and lower social costs. While there are considerable differences in how effective student weighted formulae are, they provide the capacity for a more efficient and calibrated use of tax dollars with community-wide benefits

Approaches Towards Revising Instrumentation-Based Reliability Coefficients

This study addresses negative Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficients observed in two constructs of a newly developed questionnaire assessing agricultural educators' adoption of artificial intelligence. A field test with ten participants revealed negative reliability in the "perceived benefits and drawbacks" (α = -.01) and "access and infrastructure" (α = -.56) constructs, indicating potential multidimensionality and reverse-coded items. Through detailed inter-item correlation matrix analysis, specific statement inconsistencies were identified. The study emphasizes the importance of transparency in reporting such irregularities to improve instrumentation. It highlights the need for careful consideration of item phrasing, reverse coding, and construct unidimensionality in early-stage instrument development, advocating for open discussion of methodological challenges and subsequent corrective actions. This research contributes to establishing guidelines for reporting and addressing instrumentation errors in social science research

The Electoral Consequences of Sudden Exogenous Shocks: Psychological, Socioeconomic, and Institutional Pathways Influencing Voting Behavior

Sudden external shocks such as natural disasters, terrorist attacks, pandemics, and economic crises profoundly disrupt political equilibria and influence voting behavior through complex psychological, socioeconomic, and institutional mechanisms. These events introduce exogenous variation that reshapes issue salience, voter emotions, and party competition, often triggering immediate shifts in electoral participation and preferences. Psychological responses, including trauma, risk perception, and social identity dynamics, interact with socioeconomic factors like resource disruption, displacement, and community resilience to mediate political engagement. Institutional quality, government accountability, media coverage, and communication environments further condition how shocks translate into electoral outcomes, affecting incumbent support, partisan alignment, and the emergence of new political actors. Temporal and spatial dimensions influence the persistence and diffusion of behavioral changes, with evidence of intergenerational transmission and cumulative effects from repeated shocks. The interplay of pre-existing social capital, demographic variables, and governance structures shapes heterogeneous responses across regions and regimes. These insights highlight the challenges and opportunities for democratic institutions to adapt and maintain legitimacy amid crises, emphasizing the importance of transparent policy design, effective crisis management, and inclusive political representation in sustaining resilient democratic systems

Time to step in: Practical Interventions for Improving Teacher Retention in Alabama

This report examines how interventions may be developed to reduce teacher turnover by identifying the warning signs and responses that may redirect the path along the process of job withdrawal and turnover. Presented here are the preliminary results and analysis of a statewide survey of the emotional state of teachers in Alabama.Ye

Educational Spending as Economic Development

A major leverage point in improving employment, consumer demand, and investment is through state investments in quality PK-12 education. Research is clear that areas with higher and more targeted investments see significant long-term returns in terms of economic capacity, human capital, wages, and tax revenue, along with a host of social benefits including a ‘multiplier effect’ on local jobs, increased property values, reduced social and judicial costs, and community revitalization. In short, “Jobs follow better schools.”Ye

Videos associated with “Protocol for synchronizing waveforms and videos from electropenetrography studies of arthropods”

Electropenetrography (EPG) is a non-invasive technique for quantifying intra-tissue host-arthropod interactions and behaviors. To use EPG on new species, waveforms must be correlated with behaviors and biological activities. Synchronizing observed waveforms with video recordings of the arthropods during EPG can aid in defining the biological meanings of the waveforms. Our procedure for using Observer XT Behavioral Coding Software to synchronize EPG waveforms with video recordings is published as a “Protocol for synchronizing waveforms and videos from electropenetrography studies of arthropods.” This article references videos in the expected outcomes that are archived here.Submitte

Data from Honey bee beards: internal and external factors driving mass thermoregulatory evacuation

This submission contains the data which were collected and analyzed for the publication titled: "Honey bee beards: internal and external factors driving mass thermoregulatory evacuation." There are six files attached: one readme file, four .xlsx spreadsheets, and one R markdown file used for statistical analysis and figures. The manuscript has been accepted for publication at the journal Insectes Sociaux, and can be found at this DOI: 10.1007/s00040-025-01046-