Rigorous research has no minimum age.

Research Article · Research Paper

Ata Ullah

The Rohingya refugee crisis, now approaching its tenth year, represents one of the most protracted displacement situations in the world. Nearly one million Rohingya refugees reside in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar camps, where they face severe restrictions on freedom of movement, the right to work, and access to formal education. Despite billions of dollars in humanitarian aid, the situation remains unresolved, and the refugee population faces a future of uncertainty, statelessness, and dependency. This paper examines the effectiveness and limitations of the humanitarian aid response in the Rohingya refugee camps, with a particular focus on the intersection of aid architecture, statelessness, and the political economy of displacement. Drawing on interviews with refugees, humanitarian officials, and policy experts, as well as document analysis and on-the-ground observation, I argue that the current humanitarian framework is designed to manage displacement rather than to resolve it. Aid has been effective in sustaining life but has largely failed to create pathways to durable solutions—whether through return, local integration, or resettlement. The paper explores the role of the Bangladeshi government, international donors, and humanitarian agencies in shaping the aid response, and the ways in which statelessness has been perpetuated by the systems designed to provide protection. This research contributes to broader debates on aid effectiveness, humanitarian governance, and the political economy of displacement, and offers insights for policymakers and practitioners working in similar contexts globally.

Research Article · Biomedical Engineering

Aarushi Dhawan

Organoids are three-dimensional clusters of stem cells that serve as valuable models for studying organ development and disease. However, their effectiveness is limited because they can form a necrotic core due to lack of nutrients and oxygen. This study looks at nature-inspired methods to improve organoid survival through vascularization and structural changes. First, we compared split organoids to intact ones. We found that splitting increases surface area and improves media flow, which helps reduce hypoxic stress and cell death. Bulk RNA sequencing showed that split organoids had lower expression of pro-apoptotic and stress-related genes. To further address diffusion issues, we explored using plant blood vessel structures by removing the cells from spinach leaves and embedding them in alginate-gelatin hydrogels. Perfusion tests with dye injection showed 64.3% central coverage, confirming that plant-based scaffolds can effectively transport nutrients. These findings suggest that adding vascular-like networks to organoid systems can greatly enhance viability, scalability, and biological relevance. This opens up new possibilities for personalized medicine, regenerative therapies, and modeling neurological diseases.

Research Article · Research Paper

Pragna Prahallad, Pranathi Prahallad, Sai Utkarsh Choudarypally, Hasini Dontula

Over the past decade, wildfires in the western United States have grown more frequent and severe, leaving a widening area of burned land. Restoring it at scale calls for low-input, sustainable amendments rather than costly conventional treatments. Post-fire soils recover slowly because of poor water retention, low fertility, and a depleted microbial community. We tested Mycromist, a biodegradable granule combining biochar (terra preta), a superabsorbent hydrogel, and a microbial consortium (arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, Rhizobium, and Trichoderma harzianum), in a 54-day greenhouse trial of 15 boxes of fire-affected soil (five replicates each of untreated control and Mycromist with hydrogel base A or B) seeded with Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon). For each variable, the five replicate boxes per treatment were averaged each day, and these daily averages were compared on their 54-day means and trends. Treated soils dried more slowly than control (−0.065 index day−1 for control versus −0.033 for A and −0.013 for B) and grew 49–57% taller grass (12.8 and 13.5 in versus 8.6 in). Control fertility declined over the trial (−0.031 class day−1), while both treated groups remained roughly steady, and pH drifted upward in the control but stayed flatter in treated plots. The improvements were consistent but modest.

Research Article · Theoretical Model

Efe Yenice

Research Article · Bioengineering

Cassandra Perera, Ranjeet Sunkara

Research Article · Community Medicine

Vanukuru Kiran Deepthi, Sakunthala