Global Precipitation Nowcasting of Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM: A U-Net Convolutional LSTM Architecture

This paper presents a deep learning architecture for nowcasting of precipitation almost globally every 30 min with a 4-hour lead time. The architecture fuses a U-Net and a convolutional long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network and is trained using data from the Integrated MultisatellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) and a few key precipitation drivers from the Global Forecast System (GFS). The impacts of different training loss functions, including the mean-squared error (regression) and the focal-loss (classification), on the quality of precipitation nowcasts are studied. The results indicate that the regression network performs well in capturing light precipitation (below 1.6 mm/hr), but the classification network can outperform the regression network for nowcasting of precipitation extremes (>8 mm/hr), in terms of the critical success index (CSI).. Using the Wasserstein distance, it is shown that the predicted precipitation by the classification network has a closer class probability distribution to the IMERG than the regression network. It is uncovered that the inclusion of the physical variables can improve precipitation nowcasting, especially at longer lead times in both networks. Taking IMERG as a relative reference, a multi-scale analysis in terms of fractions skill score (FSS), shows that the nowcasting machine remains skillful (FSS > 0.5) at the resolution of 10 km compared to 50 km for GFS. For precipitation rates greater than 4~mm/hr, only the classification network remains FSS-skillful on scales greater than 50 km within a 2-hour lead time

Study of educational needs, level of education, and training courses of employees in herbal stores of Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari Province, Iran

Background and aims: Over 70 of Iranians treat their diseases by using medicinal plants and about 67 of these plants are prepared and distributed by herbal stores. Many people working in the herbal stores do not have specialized or academic education related to medicinal plants. Due to the importance of medicinal plants in human health, this study was conducted to determine the level of education and training courses of employees in herbal stores in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, Iran. Methods: In this descriptive study, 48 people participated and the method of sampling was convenience.The data collection tool was a questionnaire that was filled out through interviews. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software. Results: 62.5 of people did not have specialized education related to herbalism. 54.2 of the participants had attended related training courses and 45.8 had not. 70.8 of people had participated in private training courses and 29.2 had participated in university courses. The most important educational need of the participants was related to the amount of consumption, followed by side effects and interaction of medicinal plants with chemical drugs. 73.8 of people tended to attend courses offered by universities. Conclusion: Half of the preparation and distribution of medicinal plants is done by inexperienced people with low education. This is an unprofessional behavior and illegal medical intervention that causes many problems and complications in patients. These interventions require correction. Authorized organizations should improve the scientific level of employees using educational interventions and programs and prevent the activities of unauthorized people

The structure Biology and Application of Phytohemagglutinin (PHA) in Phytomedicine: With special up-to-date references to lectins

Lectins first discovered more than 100 years ago in plants, they are now known to be present throughout nature. Phytohemagglutinin (PHA), the lectin extract from the red kidney bean (Phaseolus Vulgaris), contain potent, cell agglutinating and mitogenic activities. They play a role in biological recognition phenomena involving cells and proteins towards medical applications. The present article is a brief review of the history of lectin in nature.  By reviewing the web-based search for all types of peer review articles published, was initiated using ISI web of Sciences and Medline / PubMed, and other pertinent references on websites about lectins. Here, we present a brief account of 100-plus years of lectin research and show how these proteins have become the focus of intense interest for biologists and in particular for the research and applications in medicine. Phytohemagglutinin, has been widely used for mitotic stimulation to human lymphocytes, cell arrest, or apoptosis, potential sources for developing novel  pharmaceutical preparation    and intensive interest for health care services, biologist and phytomedicine  research can be considere

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Development of an in situ solvent formation microextraction and preconcentration method based on ionic liquids for the determination of trace cobalt (II) in water samples by flame atomic absorption spectrometry

A simple in situ solvent formation microextraction (ISFME) methodology based on the application of ionic liquid (IL) as an extractant solvent and sodium hexafluorophosphate (NaPF6) as an ion-pairing agent was proposed for the preconcentration of the trace levels of cobalt ions. In this method cobalt was complexed with 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol (5-Br-PADAP) and extracted into an ionic liquid phase. After phase separation, the enriched analyte in the final solution is determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). Some effective factors that influence the microextraction efficiency were investigated and optimized. Under the optimum experimental conditions, the limit of detection and the enrichment factor were 0.97 μg L−1 and 50, respectively. The relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) was obtained as 2.4%. The proposed method was assessed through the analysis of certified reference water and recovery experiments

Combining Hydrologic Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment Approaches to Evaluate Sustainability of Water Infrastructure: Uncertainty Analysis

The goal of this research is identifying major sources of uncertainty of an environmentally-sustainable urban drainage infrastructure design, based on hydrologic analysis and life cycle assessment (LCA). The uncertainty analysis intends to characterize and compare relative roles of unreliability, incompleteness, technological difference, and spatial and temporal variation in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) data, as well as natural variability in hydrologic data. Uncertainties are analyzed using a robust Monte Carlo simulation approach, performed by High Throughput Computing (HTC) and interpreted by Morse-Scale regression models. The uncertainty analysis platform is applied to a watershed-scale LCA of rainwater harvesting systems (RWH) to control combined sewer overflows (CSOs). To consider the watershed-scale implications, RWH is simulated to serve for both the water supply and CSO control in an urban watershed in Toledo, Ohio, USA. Results suggest that, among the studied parameters, rainfall depth (as a hydrologic parameter) caused more than 86% of the uncertainty, while only 7% of the uncertainty was caused by LCIA parameters. Such an emphasis on the necessity of robust hydrologic data and associated analyses increase the reliability of LCA-based urban water infrastructure design. In addition, results suggest that such a topology-inspired model is capable of rendering an optimal RWH system capacity as a function of annual rainfall depth. Specifically, if the system could capture 1/40th of annual rainfall depth in each event from rooftops, the RWH system would be optimal and, thus, lead to minimized life cycle impacts in terms of global warming potential (GWP) and aquatic eco-toxicity (ETW). This capture depth would be around 2.1 cm for Toledo (given an 85 cm/year rainfall and 200 m2 typical roof area), which could be achieved through an RWH system with 4.25 m3 capacity per household, assuming a uniform plan for the entire studied watershed. Capacities smaller than this suggested optimal value would likely result in loss of RWH potable water treatment savings and CSO control benefits, while capacities larger than the optimal would likely incur an excessive wastewater treatment burden and construction phase impacts of RWH systems

Petrology, geochronology, geochemistry and petrogenesis of Bajestan granitoids, North of Ferdows, Khorasan Razvi Province

Introduction The investigated area is situated in the south west of the Khorasan Razavi Province along the North West of the Lut Block. Different types of metal ore bodies along with non-metal deposits have already been documented in the Lut Block (Karimpour et al., 2008). Most of the study area is covered with granitoid rocks. Metamorphic rocks with unknown age are present in the north of the area. Skarns are observed in contact with fault zones and intrusive bodies. Eocene volcanic rocks with andesite and andesibasalt composition are located in the east and north east of the area (Ahmadirouhani et al., 2015). The study area that is a part of the Lut Block has a high potentials for Cu, Fe, Au, and Barite mineralization along the observed alteration zones. In the present study, the petrography, petrogenesis, Sr–Nd isotopes, and U–Pb zircon age of acidic granitoids in the east of Bajestan were investigated. Materials and methods In the current study, 400 rock samples were collected from the field and 170 thin sections were prepared for petrography studies. Thirty samples of volcanic rocks, intrusions, and dykes were analyzed using XRF at the Geological Survey of Iran. Twenty-five samples were selected for the elemental analysis using ICP-MS by the Acme Lab Company (Canada), 16 samples of them were related to acidic intrusive bodies and dykes. In addition, zircon crystals from four samples of the granitoids bodies were collected for U–Pb dating. Approximately 50 zircon grains (i.e. euhedral, clear, uncracked crystals with no visible heritage cores and no inclusions) were hand-picked from each sample. Through cathodoluminescence imaging, the internal structure and the origin of zircon grains were examined at the Geological Survey of Vienna, Austria. Moreover, zircons were dated using the (LA)-ICP-MS method at the Laboratory of Geochronology, the University of Vienna, Austria using the methodology outlined in Klötzli et al., (2009). Sr and Nd isotopic compositions were also determined for the same samples (i.e. U-Pb samples) using the whole-rock method. The samples were analyzed in the Laboratório de Geologia Isotópica da Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal. Results Granitoids in the study area have mostly monzogranite (biotite monzogranite, hornblende biotite monzogranite and pyroxene hornblende biotite monzogranite), granite, and syenogranite composition. Granular, micro-granular, and porphyritic textures are common textures in these rocks. Common mafic minerals in these rocks include biotite, hornblende and pyroxene. Based on mineralogy, low values of magnetic susceptibility, high aluminum saturation index, and high initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios (> 0.710) of the study of granitoid rocks belong to the ilmenite-series of the reduced S-type granitoids. These magmas originated from the upper continental crust at a syncollosion zone. Furthermore, the rocks normalizing spider diagrams showed characteristics of a crustal environment. The age of the granitoids based on zircon U–Pb age dating was determined, including granite porphyry (79±1 Ma), syenogranite (76±1 Ma), biotite monzogranite (76±1 Ma), all of which belong to the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian), except pyroxene hornblende biotite monzogranite with 30.7±1 Ma, Oligocene age (Rupelian) has a different age. The ranges of their initial 87Sr/86Sr and 143Nd/144Nd ratios for Upper Cretaceous granitoids are 0.710897–0.717908 and 0.511995–0.512186, respectively while they are 0.713292 and 0.512186 for Oligocene intrusion. The initial єNd isotope values for the syenogranite, biotite monzogranite, and granite porphyry are -10.65, -7.38 and -9.51, respectively. The initial єNd isotope value for pyroxene hornblende biotite monzogranite is -8.06. The values of the igneous rocks could be considered as representative of continental crust derived from magma, and melt derived from psammite rocks is considered to have been the source of the granitoids. Discussion Based on the U-Pb dating results, there are two magmatism phases (Upper Cretaceous and Oligocene) in the area which have not reported in the north of Lut Block yet. During the Upper Cretaceous, three localities of granitoids are reported, excluding Bajestan: Bazman (initial 87Sr/86Sr =0.7056) is located in the southern part of the Lut Block, Gazu (initial 87Sr/86Sr =0.7045) is located near the Nayband fault in the Tabas Block and Kaje is located in Ferdows (initial 87Sr/86Sr =0.7061-0.7080). All of these granitoids were formed due to the subduction zone and their magma (I type) originated from mantle. However, granitoids in Bajestan with the initial 87Sr/86Sr =0.711-0.718 were formed during the continental collision while their magma was originated from the continental crust. In addition, the Middle Jurassic granitoids in the Lut Block (Shah Kuh, KlatehAhani and SurkhKuh) with the origin of continental crustal magma have an initial 87Sr/86Sr = 0.7068-0.7081. That is, the continental crust from which Bajestan granitoid magma is originated, is different from the other parts of the Lut Block due to very high (87Sr/86Sr). This indicates that Bajestan perhaps joined the Lut Block after the Upper Cretaceous collision. In addition to Bajestan, the Oligocene granitoids in the Lut block are reported in the Chah-Shaljami, Dehsalm, Mahoor and Khunik areas. Except Bajestan, all of these granitoids were formed in the subduction zone and their magma is I type. Mineralization in Chah-shaljami, Dehsalm, and Mahoor is related to the porphyric system, whereas no mineralization in Khunik and Bajestan Granitoids has been reported yet. References Ahmadirouhani, R., Karimpour, M.H., Rahimi, B. and Malekzadeh Shafaroudi, A., 2015. Enhance of alteration zones and lineation in the east of Bajestan using SPOT, ASTER, ETM+ and Geophysics data. Scientific Quaternary Journal Geosciences, 24: 253-262. Karimpour, M.H., Malekzadeh-Shafaroudi. A., Stern. C.R. and Hidarian, M.R., 2008. Using ETM+ and airborne geophysics data to locating porphyry copper and epithermal gold deposits in Eastern Iran. Journal of Applied Science, 8: 4004–4016. Klötzli, U., Klötzli, E., Günes, Z. and Kosler, J., 2009. Accuracy of laser ablation U–Pb zircon dating: results from test using five different reference zircons. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research, 33: 5–15

A Limited Common-Mode Current Switched-Capacitor Multilevel Inverter Topology and Its Performance and Lifetime Evaluation in Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Applications

In this paper, a switched-capacitor multilevel inverter with voltage boosting and common-mode-voltage reduction capabilities is put forth. The proposed inverter is synthesized with one-half bridge and several switched-capacitor cells. Due to the voltage boosting and common-mode current reduction features, the proposed multilevel inverter is suitable for grid-connected PV applications. In addition, an analytical lifetime evaluation based on mission profile of the proposed inverter has been presented to derive lifetime distribution of semiconductors. Whereas in the proposed inverter, any components failure can bring the whole system to a shutdown. The series reliability model is used to estimate the lifetime of the overall system. The performance of the suggested multilevel inverter in grid-connected applications is verified through the simulation results using the grid-tied model in Matlab/Simulink. Moreover, the viability and feasibility of the presented inverter are proven by using a one kW lab-scaled prototype

Evaluation of treatment outcomes for Tuberculosis patients during 10 years

Background and purpose: Tuberculosis is one of the most common infectious diseases in the world that can affect various organs including the lungs. Currently it is one of the major causes of death and disability, especially in developing countries. The aim of this study is to analyze the outcome of treatment for tuberculosis patients in Chaharmahal & Bakhtiari province during the years 2007-2017. Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive-analytic study of historical cohort. Data on type of treatment, outcome of treatment, demographic and epidemiological characteristics were collected by referring to patients' health records through Health Department. Data were analyzed by SPSS v.20 using chi-square, Kruskal-Wallis and logistic regression tests at the 0.05 level. Results: The number of patients was 342 who were studied during 11 years from 2007-2017. 51.2% were female and 48.8% were male. The mean age of the patients was 49.79 +/- 21.66 years. 1.2% of patients were infected with HIV. The outcome of treatment for a total of 342 patients with tuberculosis, 304 ( 88.9%) were successfully treated and eventually recovered. Of the 38 patients who had unsuccessful treatment, 22 died during the course of treatment and 16 patients had treatment failure and absenteeism. The highest treatment failure, absenteeism, and death were seen in the age group 65 and older. There was a significant relationship between age (p <0.0001), gender (p = 0.01), history of imprisonment (p <0.0001) and type of disease (p <0.0001) with treatment outcome. Conclusion: To achieve desirable outcome of treatment, comprehensive support, supply of drugs needed for TB control, need to improve DOTS strategy and planning for timely screening and identification of patients especially in high risk groups. Keywords:Treatment Outcome; Tuberculosis; Epidemiology; Chaharmahal & Bakhtiar