Digital Commons Network^™

Green Pharmaceutical Systems: Alpha-Tocopherol Encapsulation In Nanostructured Lipid Carriers Via Microwaves-Based Technique As Advanced Topical Drug Delivery Systems, Hayder Kadhim Drais, Mohammed A Albarki, Hayder Ridha-Salman, Ahmed Abbas Hussein, Ashraf Abbas Drais

Al-Mustaqbal Journal of Pharmaceutical and Medical Sciences

Alpha tocopherol (Vitamin E) is practically insoluble in water. It is important for skin health due to its many therapeutic actions, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and photoprotection. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop, prepare, and evaluate nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs)-based hydrogels as a topical dosage form to improve stability and therapeutic activity of vitamin E. The microwave-based method prepared five lavender oil-based NLCs (LN1–LN5) formulations that were assessed thermodynamically and entered into characterization processes. Hydrogels formulations based on NLCs (LNG1–LNG5) were prepared and evaluated. All of the lavender oil-based NLC formulations (LN1–LN5) had suitable surface charge, a …

Toward Somewhere Livable: Contemporary Filipino Fiction Against Primers Of Values, Edgar Calabia Samar

Kritika Kultura

This introduction to the Kritika Kultura special issue positions contemporary Filipino fiction as a counter-practice to state-driven moral discourses that flatten history, depoliticize crisis, and naturalize inequity. Reading against the NCCA’s Filipino Values for the Common Good, the essay argues that literary work in Filipino refuses the primer’s rhetoric of timeless virtues by foregrounding structural violence, decolonial epistemologies, and the uneven terrains of translation. Through close attention to the nine selected works written originally in Filipino— and to the English translations that accompany them—the introduction shows how fiction enacts a literacy of refusal that interrupts the coercive demands of state, …

Red Flag In The Pearl Of The Orient?: The Image Of China In The Philippine Periodical La Solidaridad (1889-1895), Lois Mauri Anne Liwanag, Tiffany Ritz Mendoza, Sophia Marie Enriquez, Vianca Jamyla Joven, Leslie Anne Liwanag, Michael Charleston "Xiao" Chua

Kritika Kultura

This paper attempts to deduce how certain articles in La Solidaridad that specifically discussed China present a general image of the said Celestial Empire. Its significance lies in the fact that it can provide further knowledge of how Filipino intellectuals of that time perceive the Philippines in relation to its neighbors in Asia as well as the dynamics of the region’s political situation. This article is also important due to its potential to provide a Filipino perception of China before it was altered by the Philippine-Chinese territorial conflict that emerged during the latter part of twentieth century. This paper has …

Towards A Trans-Ethnic Representation Of Survival: Illness And Medical Writing In The Rag Doll Plagues, Qianqian Xu, Baojie Li

Kritika Kultura

As a peculiar condition affecting the body or mind, illness is an inescapable aspect of human existence. While intimately connected to the body, it does not belong solely to the domain of natural science. Instead, illness is a phenomenon inherently embedded in power relations and cannot be understood without the influence of external factors such as politics, religion, ideology, and economics. In Alejandro Morales’s historical novel The Rag Doll Plagues, the diachronic histories of different geographic spaces intersect synchronically due to the pervasive presence of human disease. Morales invites readers to explore the interplay between illness— particularly epidemic and pandemic …

Energetics And Kinetics Of Alkali Ion Exchange In Analcime, Jinyi Liu, An T. Ta, R. Seaton Ullberg, Jean Wilfried Hounfodji, Michael Badawi, Hans Conrad Zur Loye, Simon R. Phillpot

Faculty Publications

We employ density functional theory calculations to investigate the energetics and diffusion mechanisms of alkali metal ions (Na⁺, K⁺, Rb⁺, and Cs⁺) within the analcime framework. While Na⁺preferentially adsorbs at the center of the 8-member ring, DFT calculations show that larger ions, such as Cs⁺, occupy the center of the cage due to steric constraints. The computed exchange energies indicate that exchange of Na⁺by Cs⁺is thermodynamically favorable. Migration energy barriers, determined using the climbing image nudged elastic band method, show that Na⁺is …

Julien Grisonas Family V. Argentina, Kamila Knaudt

Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review

This case is about the forced disappearance and murder of a Uruguayan artist and member of the Party for the Victory of the People and his wife by Argentina within the framework of Operation Condor. The case was brought by their children, who had been separated from their parents when they were taken and given up for adoption in Chile. Eventually, the Court found Argentina in violation of several articles of the American Convention but did not find a violation of the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons.

Vibrissae-Inspired Vision-Based Magnetic-Actuated Whisker, Zhixian Hu, Yi Cheng, Juan P. Wachs, Yu She

School of Industrial Engineering Faculty Publications

Tactile perception is significant for robotic operation in unstructured environments. Whisker-based sensors offer lightweight bio-inspired solutions, yet most rely on single-whisker sensing and are limited by passive interaction and constrained functionality. Here we present a circular array of eight independently actuated whiskers, each driven by a pulse-switchable permanent magnet and tracked by a camera. This design enables simultaneous multi-point sensing and coordinated actuation, supporting diverse functions. Quantitative analyses demonstrate accurate pixel-to-physical mapping, consistent pixel-to-force characterization, and long-term repeatability. In this work, we show that an vibrissae-inspired vision-based magnetic-actuated whisker array integrating distributed perception with active interaction achieves reliable physical mapping, …

Movilla Galarcio Et. Al. V. Colombia, Katrina Karaguzian

Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review

This case is about the forced disappearance of a trade unionist and political militant in Colombia. Colombia partially admitted responsibility. The Court found Colombia in violation of several articles of the American Convention and of the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons.

Society For Immunotherapy Of Cancer: Standards For Reporting Of Multiplex Immunohistochemistry/Immunofluorescence Assays (Stormi), Sam Sater, Carlo B Bifulco, Jaime Rodriguez-Canales, Joe Yeong, Guray Akturk, Michael Angelo, Carmen Ballesteros-Merino, Peter Bankhead, Subham Basu, Jorge M Blando, Saska Brajkovic, Marco Cassano, Benjamin J Chen, Ahmet F Coskun, Tricia R Cottrell, Carlos E De Andrea, Robin H Edwards, Colt Egelston, Logan L Engle, Marc S Ernstoff, Rong Fan, Michael Feldman, Bernard A Fox, Jerome Galon, Robyn Gartrell, Sacha Gnjatic, Benjamin F Green, James L Gulley, Anne Hellebust, Stephen Hewitt, Travis J Hollmann, Lucas A Horn, William J Howat, Clifford C Hoyt, Shawn M Jensen, Arutha Kulasinghe, Wiem Lassoued, Steven Lott, James Mansfield, Sebastian Marwitz, George Netto, David B Page, Edwin Parra, David L Rimm, Scott J Rodig, Roberto Salgado, Denis Schapiro, Kurt A Schalper, Joel C Sunshine, Michael J Surace, Alexander S Szalay, Magdalena Thurin, Jose C Villasboas, Keith Wharton, Ignacio I Wistuba, Jennifer H Yearley, Yinyin Yuan, Geroge Zaki, James Ziai, Janis M Taube

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Multiplex immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry (mIF/IHC) are increasingly employed antibody-based technologies that use tissue sparingly and facilitate the detection of co-localized or neighboring biomarkers. Specifically, these platforms enable spatial analyses of the tumor microenvironment as well as extended applications, for example, describing normal tissue anatomy, autoimmunity, infectious diseases, etc. mIF/IHC has greatly enhanced biomarker discovery efforts, and a growing number of studies suggest superiority to traditional IHC. Standardization of staining approaches, reporting of image analysis strategies and resultant data is critical for facilitating cross-study comparisons, validation, deployment, and generalization of findings. To address this challenge, The Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer …

Investigating The Potential Of Time-Varying Free Parameters In Equilibrium Shoreline Change Models Through Data Assimilation, Georgios Azorakos, Bruno Castelle, Déborah Idier, Vincent Marieu, Raimundo Ibaceta, Kristen D. Splinter, Stéphane Bertin, Gerd Masselink, Timothy Scott

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Equilibrium shoreline change models with calibrated, time-invariant free parameters have demonstrated good skill in hindcasting shoreline evolution at sites dominated by cross-shore sediment transport. However, their performance can be biased by the specific conditions present during the calibration period. In this study, a dual parameter-state ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) was applied to track non-stationarity in model free parameters at three sites along the west coast of Europe. Introducing time-varying parameters did not substantially improve performance relative to an already well-calibrated stationary model. Model skill improvement occurred mainly during the EnKF correction step, highlighting the potential of real-time data assimilation for …

Plowing With A Pencil: Policy Approaches For States Squaring Agricultural Interests With Select Public Interests, Mary Eichenberger

Journal of Food Law & Policy

From a fifth-generation wheat farmer on the Kansas plains to a cattle rancher in Montana to a beginning peach producer in Georgia, American agriculture produces, provides, and protects sources of food, fiber, fuel, and shelter. American agriculture, once solely supported by rural family farmers and steeped in an agrarian system, now relies heavily on industrialized operations, creating an arena ripe for the clash of diverse policy perspectives. As farmers produce the food enjoyed at dinner tables across the country, the inevitable impacts of agriculture production on the environment have led to policy and legal arguments surrounding the regulation of agriculture. …

Municipalities, Let The People Have Their Chickens And Eat Them, Too, Cindy Vong

Journal of Food Law & Policy

In the pre-industrial era, before the advent of long-distance transportation or food preservation, human survival necessitated proximity to where food was grown or husbanded. Cities located near agriculturally productive lands and domesticated livestock animals were commonplace within cities. But by the 1920s, the technological innovations of the Second Industrial Revolution left urban areas free of farm animals and farm-related activities. Local governments exercised their powers to codify the separation of residential and agricultural uses within cities and reinforce the idea that food production was not proper in community neighborhoods. Yet, a century later, local governments use those same powers to …

Chaos Engineering In Multi-Gigahertz Solid-State Lasers: A Novel Approach To Optoelectronic Control, Mikhail V. Gorbunkov, Yulia Ya. Maslova, Yulia A. Sinichkina

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

This paper presents a comprehensive study of a multi-gigahertz chaotic generator of light pulses based on solid-state laser sources, including fiber lasers, governed by carefully designed positive and negative feedback loops. It harnesses the inherent nonlinear dynamics within a solid-state laser controlled by a combination of two inertial feedback loops, enabling the realization of complex chaotic behavior, including the logistic map scenario, under moderate amplification conditions. The laser system dynamics are rigorously investigated through theoretical modeling, employing a nonlinear map approach, and high-resolution picosecond simulations. The results of our numerical simulations highlight the efficacy of fast electro-optical feedback system with …

Unveiling The Anticancer Potential Of Syzygium Cumini: In Silico Insights Into Its Mechanistic Action Against Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, Nur Sofiatul Aini, Win Darmanto

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

Non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) is the most periodic type of lung cancer and the second most diagnosed cancer globally. Syzygium cumini is plant that extensively used in cuisine and traditional medicine. However, its potential for NSCLC treatment has not yet been elucidated. This study determined the potential of S. cumini as anti-NSCLC using in silico approaches. The in silico study was applied to perform active compound analysis, selection of target candidates, network pharmacology, functional annotation, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics simulation, respectively. Based on open source databases, S. cumini contained 115 compounds and 14 of them predicted to have …

Characterization And Control Of Rod-Like Soft Robots, Tianrui Li

Mechanical Engineering Research Theses and Dissertations

Micro-scale robotic systems have garnered significant interest for applications in micromanufacturing and biosensing, yet quantitative design rules linking geometry, stiffness distribution, and magnetic actuation to locomotion performance at low Reynolds number remain limited. This thesis investigates magnetically actuated rod-like soft robots composed of hydrogel filaments with embedded micro-magnets and tunable hard:soft length ratios. Four- and eight-magnet swimmers with hard:soft ratios ranging from 1:1 to 2.5:1 and 4:3:1 are fabricated using a simple molding-and-insertion process and tested in water and silicone oil. A triaxial Helmholtz coil system generates rotating magnetic fields from 1 to 10 Hz, and a custom image-processing pipeline …

Commencement [Program], December 20, 2025, University Of Northern Iowa

UNI Commencement Programs

Contents:

University Organization --- 2
Ceremony Symbols & Traditions --- 3
University Honors Program --- 4
Graduation with Honors --- 4
Legacy Graduates --- 4
Order of Events --- 5
College of Education --- 6
College of Humanities, Arts & Sciences --- 12
College of Social & Behavioral Sciences --- 19
David W. Wilson College of Business --- 26
Division of Online Education & Individual Studies --- 31
UNI Alma Mater --- 34

Impact Of Community Health Needs Assessments As Barriers To Chronic Disease Prevention: A Comparative Study, Marissa E. Woelm Ms.

Honors Thesis

Community health needs assessments (CHNAs) are vital tools for identifying population health priorities through monitoring chronic diseases and conditions; however, their effectiveness in preventing chronic diseases remains debated. This comparative study examines CHNAs from sixteen South Dakota hospitals across Avera, Sanford, Monument Health, and independent systems to evaluate their role in preventing chronic diseases. Analysis reveals significant challenges, including biased data sampling, limited community engagement, small survey samples, and inconsistent implementation strategies. While CHNAs effectively identify mental health, cancer, and obesity as the top community concerns alongside several other diseases like diabetes and kidney disease, most reports lack specific timelines …

Differential Impacts Of Wind And Waves On Albatross Flight Performance In Two Ocean Basins, Ian J. Maywar, Richard A. Phillips, Rachael A. Orben, Melinda G. Conners, Scott A. Shaffer, Lesley H. Thorne

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Background: Albatrosses can commute long distances to feed during the breeding season by avoiding energetically costly flapping flight. Energy from both wind and waves can be used to sustain soaring and reduce flapping flight, yet most studies of albatross flight have focused solely on the influence of wind. Methods: To examine how wind and waves allow albatrosses to reduce energetic costs by limiting flapping flight, we analyzed how the flap rates of five albatross species (370 individuals) across two ocean basins varied with wind speed and swell height. Results: For all study species, soaring using both wind and waves resulted …

Exploring Ecological Zonation Of The Yellow River Estuary Coastal Zone Based On Nitrogen And Phosphorus Criteria, Dejuan Jiang, Song Qin, Zhengyi Liu, Ruiteng Sun, Xiaoshuai Hang, Tao Zou, Xiaoguang Li, Lijuan Li, Shichao Tian, Yanfang Li, Yongming Luo, Chuanyuan Wang, Yuan Li

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Estuaries, as ecologically sensitive brackish water mixing zones, face a critical bottleneck in refined management because traditional zonation based on socioeconomic attributes overlooks the ecological heterogeneity driven by salinity gradients and nutrient stoichiometry, leading to a disconnect between management measures and conservation needs. This study proposes a novel approach to coastal zonation using nitrogen and phosphorus nutrient criteria as an ecological benchmark. Overall ecological criteria are established for the Yellow River estuary (dissolved inorganic nitrogen: 0.258 mg/L; phosphate: 0.015 mg/L) and a differentiated management scheme is constructed based on a salinity gradient (26.5 PSU boundary). It is recommended to integrate …

Long-Term Ecological Research Provides Theoretical And Technical Support For Ecological Restoration And High-Quality Development In Agro-Pastoral Ecotone, Wenming Bai, Cunzheng Wei, Longyu Hou, Linghao Li, Xingguo Han, Wenhao Zhang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Since its establishment in 2001, the Duolun Restoration Ecology Station, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Duolun Station) has been dedicated to addressing severe grassland degradation and slow economic development in the agro-pastoral ecotone, north of Beijing. A series of systematic studies were conducted on the degraded grassland ecosystem in the agro-pastoral ecotone of Duolun County, Inner Mongolia. The major research findings are summarized as follows. (1) Elucidated that species-specific trait of plant roots, along with the changes in soil properties, are the primary drivers determining how plant and microbial community structure and function respond to anthropogenic disturbances and …

Duolun Restoration Ecology Station, Institute Of Botany, Chinese Academy Of Sciences, Institute Of Botany, Chinese Academy Of Sciences

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

No abstract provided.

Implementation Of Neutrosophic Logic For Food Security And Agricultural Productivity Analysis In South Asian Countries, Muhammad Yaseen, Korntima Phattanasin, Jamil Afzal, Muhammad Afzal

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

No abstract provided.

Integrating Traditional Diagnostics Methods Through Neutrosophic Set Based Cancer Analysis Using Machine Learning Techniques, P. Tharaniya, M. Raji, R. Rajalakshmi, Surapati Pramanik, R. Balapriya, M. Gayathri Lakshmi

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

No abstract provided.

A Neutrosophic Fisher-Copula For Commercial Value Evaluation Of Green Biotechnology: Integrating Ecological Monitoring And Economic Benefits, Hongxia Lei

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

No abstract provided.

A Decision-Making Model For The Travelling Salesman Problem Based On Neutrosophic Edge Connectivity, Aparna Tripathy, Amaresh Chandra Panda, Siva Prasad Behera, Prasanta Raut

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

No abstract provided.

Crediting Prison Crime, Jacob Gordon

NULR Online

No abstract provided.

Ecological Barrier Of Coastal Zone In China: Concept, Functions, And Construction Theory, Guangxuan Han, Xiaoli Bi, Xiyong Hou, Xiaoli Zhang, Qianguo Xing, Yuan Li, Haiqing Ma, Ting Wang, Song Qin

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The ecological barrier of coastal zone serves as a critical defense line for safeguarding coastal ecological security and sustainable socio-economic development, with multifaceted functions including wave attenuation, shoreline stabilization, and climate regulation. This study systematically elaborates on the concept and essence of ecological barriers of coastal zone, highlighting their core as land-sea continuums that synergistically leverage ecosystem integrity, hydrological connectivity, and biodiversity to provide systemic deliver protective functions. Nevertheless, China’s coastal ecological barrier construction faces four major challenges, namely, (1) theoretical frameworks, often derived from inland models, inadequately represent the complex land-sea interactions and socio-economic drivers; (2) the absence of …

Development Of A Procedure For Prion Surveillance In The Laboratory Setting, Damian Gorski, Isaac Schauer, Kane Spicker, Ananya Tupaki-Sreepurna, Fei Wang, Claudio Soto, Sandra Pritzkow

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Infectious prions readily adhere to common surfaces, retain infectivity, and are highly resistant to conventional decontamination, posing significant biosafety challenges in the medical and research environments. Recent occupational exposures underscore the urgency of improving safety measures. Here, we describe an approach combining foam-swab surface sampling and protein misfolding cyclic amplification to enhance prion surveillance. Our results demonstrate the ability to detect prions most relevant to human health directly from contaminated surfaces, even at 100 million-fold dilutions of the brain. We applied our method to assess the completeness of prion decontamination and show that high prion quantities can resist even approved …

Updating The Epidemiology Of Blastomycosis And Histoplasmosis In The United States, Using National Electronic Health Record Data, 2013-2023., Juliana G E Bartels, Simon K. Camponuri, Theo T. Snow, Brittany L Morgan Bustamante, Natalie J. Kane, Rose Reynolds, Aidan Lee, Mark A. Hoffman, Theodore C. White, Justin V. Remais, Jennifer R. Head

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Where surveillance data are limited, nationally representative electronic health records allow for geographic, temporal, and demographic characterization of the fungal diseases blastomycosis and histoplasmosis.

METHODS: We identified incident blastomycosis and histoplasmosis cases from 2013 to 2023 within Oracle EHR Real-World Data, which comprises 1.6 billion healthcare encounters nationally. To characterize spatiotemporal incidence trends, we used generalized estimating equations weighted for nonrepresentativeness of electronic health record-reporting facilities. We computed standardized incidence rate ratios (sIRRs), which relay relative differences in standardized incidence rates between regions, race/ethnicity, gender, and age subgroups and the national population.

RESULTS: National incidence rates in 2023 were …

Trait-Like Visual Cortical Hyperactivity In Trait Anxiety, Zhaohan Wu, Yuqi You, Joshua A Brown, Raymond J Dolan, Wen Li

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Sensory processing varies across individuals, with some traits-particularly sensory hypersensitivity to basic non-valenced stimuli-linked to emotional traits and psychiatric risk. Traditional accounts attribute this sensory-emotion linkage to limbic or prefrontal modulation, but empirical support is limited. Growing evidence suggests sensory cortex itself flexibly encodes value beyond labeled-line analysis. Across four high-density EEG experiments with multi-wave assessments, we identified reliable visual cortical hyperactivity in high trait anxiety. The effect emerged as early as 46 ms, localized to V1/V2, and was specific to the parvocellular pathway. It was reproducible across arousal states, stimulus valence, extended intervals, and paradigms, and evident for both …