Riparian Soil Pollution Caused by Sediment Metal Transport: Seasonal Changes and Ecological Risk Assessment.

The accumulation of pollutants in the sediment along surface water may negatively affect riparian zones and increase ecological risk. This article investigates the effects of metal sediments on riparian soil via field monitoring and ICP-OES analysis. To this end, pollution levels, seasonal changes, and potential sources of the pollutants were determined for the Melen River watershed, Turkey. The ecological statuses (contamination factor, enrichment factor, index of geo-accumulation, pollution index, modified pollution index, and potential and modified ecological risk indexes) of the watershed were also analyzed. Although no significant seasonal differences in the metal sediments were observed, their spatial distribution in the sediments and riparian soils varied markedly. Cr (11.4 to 136), Co (7.7 to 21.52), Cu (11.4 to 76.6), and Ni (14.06 to 128.2) recorded as mg/kg significantly increased from the upstream to the downstream. The metals possessing the highest risk in the sediment and riparian soil regarding the river health were Cu, Co, and Ni. The risk values were found to be heavily polluted (PI > 3 and MPI > 10), and the risk indexes were above the "desired environment without the risk". The risk index was found to be more than 50, and the modified risk indexes exceeded 200 at many points. The transportation of pollutants in surface water became evident in the sediment, resulting in adverse effects on the riparian zone and the ecological system.

Assemblage characterization of Giardia duodenalis in South Khorasan province, eastern Iran, using HRM real-time PCR method.

BACKGROUND: Giardia duodenalis is a common parasitic protozoan causing gastrointestinal illness in humans worldwide. The genetic diversity of G. duodenalis is reflected through the identification of different assemblages. In this study, we aimed to determine the assemblages of G. duodenalis in eastern Iran using nested-PCR and high-resolution melting (HRM) real-time PCR methods. METHODS: A total of 58 positive G. duodenalis, which were isolated from 1800 subjects, referred to medical center laboratories in South Khorasan province, eastern Iran, from April 2020 to March 2022, were included in this study. DNA was extracted and HRM real-time PCR was performed for assemblage characterization. RESULTS: HRM real-time PCR successfully characterized all samples. Accordingly, out of 58 positive samples, 53 (91.36%) and 5 (8.62%) were identified as assemblage A and B, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings showed that HRM real-time PCR was able to characterize the assemblages of G. duodenalis. In addition, our results suggest high prevalence of assemblage A in eastern region of Iran.

Hydro-meteorological droughts across the Baltic Region: The role of the accumulation periods.

Based on the physical and geographical conditions, the Baltic Region is categorised as a humid climate zone. This means that, there is usually more precipitation than evaporation throughout the year, suggesting that droughts should not occur frequently in this region. Despite the humid climate in the region, the study focused on assessing the spatio-temporal patterns of droughts. The drought events were analysed across the Baltic Region, including Sweden, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. This analysis included two drought indices, the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and the Streamflow Drought Index (SDI), for different accumulation periods. Daily data series of precipitation and river discharge were used. The spatial and temporal analyses of selected drought indices were carried out for the Baltic Region. In addition, the decadal distribution of drought classes was analysed to disclose the temporal changes and spatial extent of drought patterns. The Pearson correlation between SPI and SDI was applied to investigate the relationship between meteorological and hydrological droughts. The analysis showed that stations with more short-duration SPI or SDI cases had fewer long-duration cases and vice versa. The number of SDI cases (SDI ≤ -1) increased in the Western Baltic States and some WGSs in Sweden and Finland from 1991 to 2020 compared to 1961-1990. The SPI showed no such tendencies except in Central Estonia and Southern Finland. The 6-month accumulation period played a crucial role in both the meteorological and hydrological drought analyses, as it revealed prolonged and widespread drought events. Furthermore, the 9- and 12-month accumulation periods showed similar trends in terms of drought duration and spatial extent. The highest number of correlation links between different months was found between SPI12-SDI9 and SPI12-SDI12. The results obtained have deepened our understanding of drought patterns and their potential impacts in the Baltic Region.

Can river flow prevent land subsidence in urban areas?

Land subsidence, a silent death, occurs due to various factors like significant reduction in groundwater (GW) levels. It is a widespread phenomenon with irreparable consequences on buildings, infrastructures, and, in severe cases, groundwater aquifers. This study aims to assess the impact of river flow on the acceleration and control of land subsidence in an arid and semi-arid region. To achieve this goal, we analyze the interconnection between GW and SW and investigate the role of the Zayandeh-Rud River's drying up on land subsidence in the Isfahan-Borkhar aquifer in Iran's central plateau. To facilitate this assessment, we utilize the Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) technique to estimate the vertical deformation velocity of the aquifer (average land subsidence rate). The results show that the Isfahan-Borkhar aquifer has experienced a significant annual decline of more than 25 m, with an alarming rate exceeding 0.8 m/year. Our analysis of 31 piezometric wells (P-Wells) from 2000 to 2022 reveals a downward monotonic (in 16 P-Wells) and nonmonotonic (in 12 P-Wells) trend in groundwater table changes. Moreover, the GW table in the P-Wells near the river depends entirely on river flow. Furthermore, our findings indicate that river regulation exerts a dominant role in the control of land subsidence. Consequently, when water flows in the Zayandeh-Rud River, the rate of land subsidence declines significantly, particularly in urban regions. Therefore, maintaining a constant flow of water in the river can prevent or reduce ongoing land subsidence in Isfahan.

Nordic socio-recreational ecosystem services in a hydropeaked river.

Fluctuating energy prices call for short-term river flow regulation at hydropower plants (HPPs), which can lead to hydropeaking - the pulsating water flow downstream from a HPP. Hydropeaking can affect land use areas of regulated rivers and subsequently their socio-recreational ecosystem services (SRESs). These areas often offer a range of services, such as swimming, boating, fishing, hiking, cycling, and berry picking. Such activities hold significant value in Nordic culture and for human wellbeing. We have examined how SRES land use areas are affected by hourly hydropeaking in a reach of the Kemijoki River in Finland. First, we determined the state of hydropeaking in the river by employing two indicators, normalized daily maximum flow difference and sub-daily flow ramping. Next, we looked at the spatiotemporal impacts of peaking hydrology using inundation maps derived from 2D-hydrodynamic modeling and a high-resolution land use map with clearly identified SRES areas. Finally, we examined the hazards to hydraulic safety in the river channel in the context of instream recreation. Our results show that hydropeaking levels in the study area remained consistently high throughout the entire study period, from 2010 to 2021. This was the case in all seasons except for the spring of 2013, 2016 and 2019. We determined that hydropeaking impacts on SRESs are mostly felt in the littoral zone (0.84 km2 i.e., 3.1 % of the study area) during the summer season as 25 % (0.21 km2) of this zone is influenced by hydropeaking. In addition, multiple recreational use areas in this zone, such as beaches, riparian forest, and summer cottages, were found to be affected by hydropeaking. The results show that most of the river channel becomes hydraulically unsafe during high ramping flows. The highest hazard to instream recreation opportunities is likely to occur during summer. Consequently, hydropeaking can threaten the social and recreational services of Nordic rivers.

TGF-ß Targeted by miR-27a Modulates Anti-Parasite Responses of Immune System.

Background: Immune cells and their secreted cytokines are known as the first barrier against pathogens. Leishmania major as an intracellular protozoan produces anti-inflammatory cytokines that lead to proliferation and survival of the parasite in the macrophages. miRNAs are small non-coding RNA molecules that regulate mRNAs expression. We aimed to investigate the relationship between the expression of TGF-ß and a bioinformatically candidate miRNA, in leishmaniasis as a model of TGF-ß overexpression. Methods: The miRNAs that target TGF-ß -3'UTR were predicted and scored by bioinformatic tools. After cloning of TGF-ß-3'UTR in psi-CHECK ™- 2 vector, targeting validation was confirmed using Luciferase assay. After miRNA mimic transfection, the expression of miR-27a, TGF-ß, as well as Nitric Oxide concentration was evaluated. Results: miR-27a received the highest score for targeting TGF-ß in bioinformatic predictions. Luciferase assay confirmed that miR-27a is targeting TGF-ß-3'UTR, since miR-27a transfection decreased the luciferase activity. After miRNA transfection, TGF-ß expression and Nitric Oxide concentration were declined in L. major infected macrophages. Conclusion: Bioinformatic prediction, luciferase assay, and miRNA transfection results showed that miR-27a targets TGF-ß. Since miRNA and cytokine-base therapies are developing in infectious diseases, finding and validating miRNAs targeting regulatory cytokines can be a novel strategy for controlling and treating leishmaniasis.

Low genetic heterogeneity of Leishmania major in different geographical regions of Iran.

To examine the genetic diversity of Leishmania major, 100 Giemsa-stained positive slides were collected from endemic foci of Iran (Northeast, Central, and Southwest provinces) over two consecutive years during 2019-2021. The Leishmania ITS-rDNA gene was amplified and Leishmania sp. was recognized by PCR-RFLP and sequencing. In addition, 178 registered ITS-rDNA sequences from other geographical regions of Iran were retrieved from GenBank, including different host species (human, sandfly and rodent). A total of 40 new haplotypes were discovered using the ITS-rDNA sequence analysis. IR29 (20.6%) and IR34 (61%) were the two most common haplotypes, represented by a star-like feature in the overall population. Analysis of the molecular variance test revealed low genetic diversity of L. major in human cases (Haplotype diversity; 0.341), rodent (Hd; 0.387) and sandfly (Hd; 0.390) sequences. The lowest genetic diversity of L. major was observed in Southwest/Southeast Iran (Hd: 0.104-0.286). The statistically Fst value indicated that L. major is not genetically differentiated between geographic regions of Iran, except for the Northeast-Southwest (Fst: 0.29055) and Central-Southwest (Fst: 0.30294) population pairs. The current study as the first investigation discloses new perspectives for further evaluation in the identification local transmission paradigms and initiating effective prevention strategies.

Multigene typing of Giardia Duodenalis isolated from tuberculosis and non-tuberculosis subjects.

Giardia duodenalis is a cryptic protozoan, which has eight assemblages (A-H). Assemblages A and B are the main genotypes reported from humans with probable anthroponotic and zoonotic transmission. The current study aimed to characterize G. duodenalis assemblages in tuberculosis (TB) patients and healthy subjects using multilocus genotyping (MLG). Thirty Giardia-positive stool samples, which were obtained from TB patients and healthy subjects were included in the study. After total DNA extraction, three ß-giardin (bg), triosephosphate isomerase (tpi), glutamate dehydrogenase (gdh) genes were amplified and sequenced. Obtained sequences were compared to the GenBank database to characterize assemblages. Phylogenetic analysis using Maximum Likelihood (ML) and Tamura 3-parameter was performed for each gene. From 30 Giardia-positive subjects, 17 (57%) and 13 (43%) were from healthy and TB-infected subjects, respectively. There was no significant co-existence of Giardia and tuberculosis (P-value = 0.051). In addition, 14 (46.7%) and 16 (53.3%) of Giardia isolates were from asymptomatic and symptomatic subjects, respectively. PCR amplification was successful in 25 single samples (83.3%) consisted of 20 for tpi, 15 for bg, and 13 for gdh genes. Accordingly, 13/25 (52%) and 8/25 (32%) belonged to assemblage A and assemblages B, respectively, whereas 4/25 (16%) were either assemblage A or B with different genes at the same time. Significant correlation between assemblages and TB, age, and symptoms was not seen. The phylogenetic analyses represented no separation based on TB and gastrointestinal symptoms. Assemblage A was the predominant genotype in samples. The high frequency of assemblage AII indicated importance of anthroponotic transmission of Giardia in both healthy and TB patients. In addition, considering the exclusive reports of sub-assemblage AIII in wild ruminants, the presence of AIII in the current study have to be carefully interpreted. The inconsistency between the assemblage results of either bg or gdh loci with tpi gene signifies the insufficiency of single gene analysis and the necessity for MLG in molecular epidemiology of G. duodenalis.

Three-decade assessment of dry and wet spells change across Iran, a fingerprint of climate change.

Extended periods of hydro-climate extremes with excessive or scarce rainfall associated with high or low temperatures have resulted in an imbalanced water cycle and inefficient socio-economic systems in several regions of Iran. However, there is a lack of comprehensive investigations on short-term to long-term variations in timing, duration, and temperature of wet/dry spells. This study bridges the current gap through a comprehensive statistical analysis of historical climatic data (1959-2018). Results indicated that the negative tendency of the accumulated rainfall (- 0.16/ - 0.35 mm/year during the past 60/30 years) in 2- to 6-day wet spells had made significant contributions to the ongoing downward trend in annual rainfall (- 0.5/ - 1.5 mm/year during the past 60/30 years) owing to a warmer climate condition. Warmer wet spells are likely responsible for precipitation patterns changes in snow-dominated stations since their wet spells temperature has more than threefold growth with increasing distance to coasts. The most detected trends in climatic patterns have started in the last two decades and become more severe from 2009 to 2018. Our results confirm the alteration of precipitation features across Iran due to anthropogenic climatic change, and suggest expected increase in air temperature would likely result in further dry and warm conditions over the coming decades.

Spatio-temporal analysis of climate and irrigated vegetation cover changes and their role in lake water level depletion using a pixel-based approach and canonical correlation analysis.

Lake Urmia, located in northwest Iran, was among the world's largest hypersaline lakes but has now experienced a 7 m decrease in water level, from 1278 m to 1271 over 1996 to 2019. There is doubt as to whether the pixel-based analysis (PBA) approach's answer to the lake's drying is a natural process or a result of human intervention. Here, a non-parametric Mann-Kendall trend test was applied to a 21-year record (2000-2020) of satellite data products, i.e., temperature, precipitation, snow cover, and irrigated vegetation cover (IVC). The Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud-computing platform utilized over 10 sub-basins in three provinces surrounding Lake Urmia to obtain and calculate pixel-based monthly and seasonal scales for the products. Canonical correlation analysis was employed in order to understand the correlation between variables and lake water level (LWL). The trend analysis results show significant increases in temperature (from 1 to 2 °C during 2000-2020) over May-September, i.e., in 87 %-25 % of the basin. However, precipitation has seen an insignificant decrease (from 3 to 9 mm during 2000-2019) in the rainy months (April and May). Snow cover has also decreased and, when compared with precipitation, shows a change in precipitation patterns from snow to rain. IVC has increased significantly in all sub-basins, especially the southern parts of the lake, with the West province making the largest contribution to the development of IVC. According to the PBA, this analysis underpins the very high contribution of IVC to the drying of the lake in more detail, although the contribution of climate change in this matter is also apparent. The development of IVC leads to increased water consumption through evapotranspiration and excess evaporation caused by the storage of water for irrigation. Due to the decreased runoff caused by consumption exceeding the basin's capacity, the lake cannot be fed sufficiently.

Causes & effects of upstream-downstream flow regime alteration over Catchment-Estuary-Coastal systems.

The construction of large dams along rivers has significantly changed the natural flow regime, reducing the inflow into many lakes and terminal wetlands. However, the question of the impact of dam operation on downstream estuarine wetlands has less been taken into account. Spatio-temporal flow regime alteration in the Mond River shows the complexity of drivers affecting the estuary-coastal system named the Mond-Protected Area in southern Iran. To this end, we applied river impact (RI) and Indicator of hydrological alteration (IHA) methods on monthly and daily river flow data across the basin. Based on the river impact method, a "drastic" impact below two in-operation (Tangab and Salman Farsi) dams, with RI values of 0.02 and 0.08, diminish to a 'severe' impact with RI value of 0.35 at the last gauge (Ghantareh) on the main corridor of the Mond river due to the addition of flow from a large mid-basin (about 20,254 km2). Furthermore, the degree of hydrological alteration (daily flow analysis) at mid-stream (e.g., Dehram gauges) was similar to the unregulated upstream tributaries (e.g., Hanifaghan gauges). The remote sensing analysis in the Mond Protected Area showed the prevailing impact of sea-level rise in the Persian Gulf with the inundation of the coastal area and a shift of vegetation in a landward direction which complied with standardized precipitation index (SPI) values as a meteorological drought indicator. Thus, the consequence of climate change (e.g., sea-level rise, draught) has a higher impact on the protected area than the upstream river regulation and land-use change in the Mond basin. The holistic approach and the catchment-level study allowed us to see the complexity of the drivers influencing the estuary-coastal system.

The detection and monitoring of pollution caused by gold mining using a vegetation cover index.

This study explores how a vegetation cover (VC) index can be employed as a pollution warning tool in gold mining areas in the Northwest of Iran. The analysis included the following: (a) the extraction of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) maps from Landsat images in three zones, i.e., mining operations, upstream areas without any exploration, and the downstream area of the mining activities, (b) calculation of the zones' VC, (c) investigation of transformation trends in each pixel of VC time series using the Mann-Kendall trend test, (d) determination of the pixels with significant VC reduction and the significant starting points of the trend using the sequential Mann-Kendall test, (e) assessment of the correlation between the zones with significantly reduced VC, and (f) a correlation test between average monthly and annual climate parameters and VC. Our results indicate that although 51 ha of VC has been demolished around the mining activities areas (i.e., zone 1), an overall upward trend in vegetation with no chemical leakage is observed into the downstream area of the basin (i.e., zone 3). This upward trend can be mostly attributed to the increasing precipitation and decreasing temperature in the study period. The fact that the area downstream of the mine shows that the heap leaching method for gold mining in Andaryan mine is currently not damaging the vegetation, this likely means that there is no leakage to the surrounding environment from the mine. Our results further show that using NDVI in a pixel-based scale and statistical methods has a high potential to quantify the effects of human activities on surface biophysical characteristics.

Battle of centralized and decentralized urban stormwater networks: From redundancy perspective.

Recent research underpinned the effectiveness of topological decentralization for urban stormwater networks (USNs) during the planning stage in terms of both capital savings and resilience enhancement. However, how centralized and decentralized USNs' structures with various degrees of redundancy (i.e., redundant water flow pathways) project resilience under functional and structural failure remains an unresolved issue. In this work, we present a systemic and generic framework to investigate the impact of adding redundant flow paths on resilience based on three strategies for optimal centralized versus decentralized USNs. Furthermore, a tailored graph-theory based measure (i.e., eigenvector centrality) is proposed to introduce redundant paths to the critical locations of USNs. The proposed framework is then applied to a real large-scale case study. The results confirm the critical role of layout decentralization under both functional (e.g., extreme precipitation events), and structural failure (e.g., pipe collapse). Moreover, the findings indicate that the implementation of redundant paths could increase resilience performance by up to 8% under functional failure without changing the network's major structural characteristics (i.e., sewer diameters, lengths, and storage capacity), only by leveraging the effective flow redistribution. The scheme proposed in this study can be a fruitful initiative for further improving the USNs' resilience during both planning and rehabilitation stages.

The impact of land use and land cover change on groundwater recharge in northwestern Bangladesh.

Groundwater recharge is affected by various anthropogenic activities, land use and land cover (LULC) change among these. The long-term temporal and seasonal changes in LULC have a substantial influence on groundwater flow dynamics. Therefore, assessment of the impacts of LULC changes on recharge is necessary for the sustainable management of groundwater resources. The objective of this study is to examine the effects of LULC changes on groundwater recharge in the northwestern part of Bangladesh. Spatially distributed monthly groundwater recharge was simulated using a semi-physically based water balance model. Long-term temporal LULC change analysis was conducted using LULC maps from 2006 to 2016, while wet and dry LULC maps were used to examine seasonal changes. The results show that the impervious built-up area has increased by 80.3%, whereas vegetated land cover has decreased by 16.4% over the study period. As a result, groundwater recharge in 2016 has decreased compared to the level seen in 2006. However, the decrease in recharge due to long-term temporal LULC changes is very small at the basin scale (2.6 mm/year), although the impact on regional level is larger (17.1 mm/year) due to urbanization. Seasonal LULC variations also affect recharge due to the higher potential for dry seasonal LULC compared to the wet seasonal LULC, a substantial difference (20.6 mm/year). The results reveal important information about the groundwater system and its response to land cover changes in northwestern Bangladesh.

Unconventional water resources: Global opportunities and challenges.

Water is of central importance for reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. With predictions of dire global water scarcity, attention is turning to resources that are considered to be unconventional, and hence called Unconventional Water Resources (UWRs). These are considered as supplementary water resources that need specialized processes to be used as water supply. The literature encompasses a vast number of studies on various UWRs and their usefulness in certain environmental and/or socio-economic contexts. However, a recent, all-encompassing article that brings the collective knowledge on UWRs together is missing. Considering the increasing importance of UWRs in the global push for water security, the current study intends to offer a nuanced understanding of the existing research on UWRs by summarizing the key concepts in the literature. The number of articles published on UWRs have increased significantly over time, particularly in the past ten years. And while most publications were authored from researchers based in the USA or China, other countries such as India, Iran, Australia, and Spain have also featured prominently. Here, twelve general types of UWRs were used to assess their global distribution, showing that climatic conditions are the main driver for the application of certain UWRs. For example, the use of iceberg water obviously necessitates access to icebergs, which are taken largely from arctic regions. Overall, the literature review demonstrated that, even though UWRs provide promising possibilities for overcoming water scarcity, current knowledge is patchy and points towards UWRs being, for the most part, limited in scope and applicability due to geographic, climatic, economic, and political constraints. Future studies focusing on improved documentation and demonstration of the quantitative and socio-economic potential of various UWRs could help in strengthening the case for some, if not all, UWRs as avenues for the sustainable provision of water.

Genetic characterization of Blastocystis from poultry, livestock animals and humans in the southwest region of Iran-Zoonotic implications.

Blastocystis is the most common intestinal parasite found in epidemiological studies in Iran. The genus Blastocystis comprises multiple subtypes (ST), evincing the existence of extensive intrageneric diversity. Meanwhile, information on Blastocystis STs in domestic animals in Iran is limited. This study was designed to identify the prevalence and subtype distribution of Blastocystis in domestic animals and to evaluate the extent of zoonotic origin of human Blastocystis carriage. A total of 395 faecal samples from farm animals (220 from poultry, 100 from sheep and 75 from cattle) and 23 Blastocystis positive samples from humans (available from the previous report of this study and included for reference) from the Khuzestan province, southwestern Iran, were analysed. Standard parasitological methods and PCR-based analysis of the SSU-rRNA gene were used. Overall, 115 (29.1%; 95% CI, 26.5%-31.6%) of the animals were positive for Blastocystis sp. by parasitological methods. The highest colonization rate was found in cattle (50.6%, 38/75), followed by sheep (32.0%, 32/100) and poultry (20.4%, 45/220). Eight Blastocystis STs were identified among 55 sequenced isolates from animals (n = 32) and humans (n = 23): ST3 (27.3%), ST14 (25.4%), ST1 (12.7%), ST7 (12.7%), ST2 (9.1%), ST6 (7.3%), ST5 (3.6%) and ST10 (1.8%). Blastocystis ST1 and ST3 were found in both human and non-human hosts, and examples of shared alleles (strains) were observed. Meanwhile, ST2 was observed only in humans, ST5 only in sheep, ST6 only in poultry and ST10 in only cattle. This is the most comprehensive report of Blastocystis STs in farm animals in Iran.

Association of Blastocystis ST6 with higher protease activity among symptomatic subjects.

BACKGROUND: Blastocystis sp. is an anaerobic intestinal protozoan parasite of humans and a wide range of animals worldwide. In the current study the correlation between the cysteine protease activity of clinical samples of Blastocystis sp. ST1-3 and 6 with the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines was evaluated. METHODS: Stool samples were collected from subjects with or without clinical symptoms. All samples were cultivated in DMEM medium. The bacteria were eliminated or reduced in Blastocystis sp. positive samples subtypes 1-3 and 6 by a variety of antibiotics and consecutive sub-cultures. To prepare parasite lysate, 1 × 105 Blastocystis sp. from each isolate were harvested and lysed using freeze-thaw. Protease activity of each isolate was measured and the gene expression of pro-inflammatory biomarkers in HT-29 cell line sensed by isolates was investigated using quantitative Real-time PCR. RESULTS: Protease activity assay showed inter- and intra-subtype variations among subtypes regarding the presence of symptoms, while the protease activity of symptomatic isolates was higher than asymptomatic isolates. The highest and lowest levels of protease activity were seen in ST6 and ST2, respectively. However, patterns of the expression of pro-inflammatory biomarkers in HT-29 cell line was different regarding the presence of symptoms and time points. There was no significant correlation between protease activity of different subtypes with the expression levels of pro-inflammatory biomarkers. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicated a higher protease activity among isolates from symptomatic compared to asymptomatic subjects, suggesting functional role for proteases in clinical symptoms due to Blastocystis sp. The lack of correlation between the levels of expression of pro-inflammatory biomarkers with subtypes regarding the presence of clinical symptoms proposes the importance of host-related factors in presentation of clinical symptoms.

Sediment transport modeling in non-deposition with clean bed condition using different tree-based algorithms.

To reduce the problem of sedimentation in open channels, calculating flow velocity is critical. Undesirable operating costs arise due to sedimentation problems. To overcome these problems, the development of machine learning based models may provide reliable results. Recently, numerous studies have been conducted to model sediment transport in non-deposition condition however, the main deficiency of the existing studies is utilization of a limited range of data in model development. To tackle this drawback, six data sets with wide ranges of pipe size, volumetric sediment concentration, channel bed slope, sediment size and flow depth are used for the model development in this study. Moreover, two tree-based algorithms, namely M5 rule tree (M5RT) and M5 regression tree (M5RGT) are implemented, and results are compared to the traditional regression equations available in the literature. The results show that machine learning approaches outperform traditional regression models. The tree-based algorithms, M5RT and M5RGT, provided satisfactory results in contrast to their regression-based alternatives with RMSE = 1.184 and RMSE = 1.071, respectively. In order to recommend a practical solution, the tree structure algorithms are supplied to compute sediment transport in an open channel flow.

Development of HRM real-time PCR for assemblage characterization of Giardia lamblia.

A total of 90 stool samples were collected from dogs, referred to a dog shelter and a veterinary clinic. In addition, 395 stool samples obtained from pet dog owners and shelter keepers, as well as individuals referred to a medical laboratory as controls, were collected in Shahryar district, Tehran, Iran. Stool samples were parasitologically examined and the positive G. lamblia isolates were tested with Nested-PCR/sequencing for the tpi, gdh, and bg genes, and HRM real-time PCR. Microscopical examination revealed 20 (22.2%) and 34 (8.6%) Giardia-positive samples from dogs and humans, respectively. Regarding HRM real-time PCR, the prevalence of assemblages A and B in humans was 55.8% and 14.7%, respectively. In addition, 14.7% of samples were mix assemblages. HRM real-time PCR detected most of microscopically-positive samples in comparison to PCR/sequencing in both humans and dogs. The high prevalence of assemblages A and B in dogs signified the importance of a same source for infection between dogs and humans.

Reliability of functional forms for calculation of longitudinal dispersion coefficient in rivers.

Although dimensional analysis suggests sound functional forms (FFs) to calculate longitudinal dispersion coefficient (Kx), no attempt has been made to quantify both reliability of the estimated Kx value and its sensitivity to variation of the FFs' parameters. This paper introduces a new index named bandwidths similarity factor (bws-factor) to quantify the reliability of FFs based on a rigorous analysis of distinct calibration datasets to tune the FFs. We modified the bootstrap approach to ensure that each resampled calibration dataset is representative of available datapoints in a rich, global database of tracer studies. The dimensionless Kx values were calculated by 200 FFs tuned with the generalized reduced gradient algorithm. Correlation coefficients for the tuned FFs varied from 0.60 to 0.98. The bws-factor ranged from 0.11 to 1.00, indicating poor reliability of FFs for Kx calculation, mainly due to different sources of error in the Kx calculation process. The calculated exponent of the river's aspect ratio varied over a wider range (i.e., -0.76 to 1.50) compared to that computed for the river's friction term (i.e., -0.56 to 0.87). Since Kx is used in combination with one-dimensional numerical models in water quality studies, poor reliability in its estimation can result in unrealistic concentrations being simulated by the models downstream of pollutant release into rivers.