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A numerical model for two-phase debris flows is developed in this paper, on the basis of understanding of the physical characteristics of debris flows from field investigations and experiments. Employing a moving coordinate, the kinetic energy equation of gravel particles in unit volume in debris flow is developed by considering the potential energy of the particles, energy from the liquid phase, energy consumption due to inner friction-collision between the particles, energy dispersion through collisions between particles, energy for inertia force, energy consumption due to the friction with the rough bed and energy consumption at the debris front. The model is compared with measured results of two-phase debris flow experiments and the calculated velocity profiles agree well with the measured profiles. The gravel’s velocity at the debris flow head is much smaller than that of particles in the following part and the velocity profile at the front of the debris flow wave is almost linear, but the profile in the main flow shows an inverse ‘s’ shape. This is because the gravel particles in the main flow accelerate as they receive energy from the gravitational energy and flowing liquid and decelerate as they transmit the energy to the debris flow head and consume energy due to collision with the channel bed.

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Backgrounds: This study aimed to determine community-initiated Lassa fever prevention and control strategies in Africa.
Materials & Methods: Literature search was performed on four databases, including PubMed, Google Scholar, African Journal OnLine (AJOL), and BioMed Central, using different combinations of the following search terms. A three-stage methodology was employed to conduct the study. At first, related articles were identified using pre-defined key terms, such as Lassa fever, Lassa fever control, Lassa fever prevention, community engagement and Lassa fever, and community participation and Lassa fever. Thereafter, articles were screened to remove duplicates and articles not relevant to the study objectives.
Findings: Community mobilization and sensitization and risk communication were some of the community-directed activities towards Lassa fever prevention and control. Also, stakeholders’ advocacy and engagement, rodent control practices, environmental sanitation, and proper food processing and preservation were practiced to prevent Lassa fever. In addition, a referral mechanism from the community to the health facility was constituted through the engagement of community health workers.
Conclusion: Health program managers should strive to provoke coordinated and sustainable community-initiated efforts to improve rodent preventive and control measures. Strategies should be developed and implemented to promote environmental sanitation and restrict cultural practices facilitating contact with rodents or infected persons.

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Backgrounds: COVID-19 diagnostic testing and research substantially depend on high-quality COVID-19 specimens, for which biobanks are an important repository. This systematic review aimed to highlight the considerations for maintaining safety in biobanks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Materials & Methods: A systematic review of literature was conducted using the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. The literature search was conducted across Google Scholar, PubMed, and Directory of Open Access Journal because of their high indexation on many journals. Pre-defined search terms were used in the literature search. Overall, 7,184 articles were retrieved, and 2,054 duplicates among them were removed. After screening for eligibility using pre-defined criteria, 12 articles were included in the review.
Findings: Challenges faced by biobanks amid the COVID-19 pandemic include poor handling of COVID-19 specimens, poor sample collection, and sample contamination due to unclarified standard operating procedures. Strategies such as developing a framework for governing and monitoring the export of biological samples should be employed to overcome dangers eminent in the collection of biological samples. Total adherence to standard operating procedures should be ensured to maintain safety in COVID-19 samples collection, handling, and storage modalities. A deficit in material supply should be promptly addressed.
Conclusion: Compliance with issued guidelines should be ensured by the management and staff of COVID-19 biobanks.

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In the first season of archeological excavations of Tepe Zarnagh in 2013, many clay figurines of human and animal forms were discovered, which belonged to the Early Bronze Age. Contrary to most of the figurines found around the world, which are feminine fertility goddesses; Tepe Zarnaghs’figurines are male forms. Significant number of this type of male figurines reveals the special social structure of the respective society and the special religious status of this type of figurines in that society. As most of the archeological studies in sites related to Kura-Araxs culture have focused on the architectures and potteries, no research has been done on the clay figurines. Hence, by studying Kura-Araxs figurines, in this paper we attempt to analyze and categorize statuettes of Tepe Zarnagh and identify the relationship between these artifacts and social and ideological factors and social structure of Kura-Araxs region in Early Bronze Age.      

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Background: The complicated host-parasite relationships have hindered the effective diagnosis, treatment, and control of human parasitic diseases. This review examines how genomics and proteomics are unraveling these complex interactions and transforming human parasitology.
Materials & Methods: Related studies were chosen according to the PRISMA flow diagram. An extensive literature search between January 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023 was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases, and a systematic screening process was undertaken, resulting in the identification and inclusion of 72 studies in this narrative review on the applications of genomics and proteomics in human parasitology research. Articles that were duplicates, irrelevant based on title/abstract screening, unavailable, or irrelevant based on full text review were excluded from the study.
Findings: A total of 453 records were retrieved, of which 72 articles remained after title, abstract, and full text screening. Genomics and proteomics have elucidated parasite biology, enabled precision diagnostics, and guided drug development by providing molecular insights into host-parasite interactions. However, challenges remain, including computational complexity and translation of findings to human infections.
Conclusion: The integration of genomics and proteomics has allowed an unprecedented understanding of human parasites and holds great promise for improving diagnosis, treatment, and control.

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Background: Modern science in drug delivery systems has long been paid to effectively design drug delivery systems, to reduce side effects, increasing bioavailability, targeted drug delivery, and passing through blood-brain barriers. Nanoparticles are very important as carriers because they  carry different types of drugs to different parts of the body at the right time. Method: In the present study, thiolated nano chitosan loaded with Biperiden was synthesized by ion gel method using two types of crosslinkers (tripolyphosphate and genipin) and their efficiency was investigated. Results: FTIR analysis confirmed the successful synthesis of various stages of thiolated nano chitosan loaded with Biperiden by both crosslinkers. SEM images showed that as-synthesized nano-carriers have a nanorod structure and nanocarriers crosslinked by genipin had a more regular structure with a size of about 150 nm than nanocarrier crosslinked by TPP with a size of approximately 200 nm. In vitro drug release and cytotoxicity studies showed nano-carriers crosslinked by genipin have had a higher release and less cytotoxicity than nano-carriers crosslinked by TPP. Conclusion: Considering the lower toxicity and delayed release of nanoparticles synthesized with genipine than nanocarriers synthesized with TPP, the use of this nanocarrier increases the bioavailability of the drug and can be used as a suitable drug delivery system.

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To determine the droplet characteristics of agricultural spray nozzles through Water Sensitive Paper (WSP), the non-circular and overlapped spots appearing on the water sensitive paper surfaces are eliminated. In the conventional approach, the procedure is done according to the subjective self determined estimation of the operator. The objective of this study was to develop a practical alternative to the conventional approach to Spot Elimination (SE) from WSP surfaces. Droplet samples were taken through application of seven different spray nozzles. Papers were placed within and outside the domain of spraying area and scanned at 600 pixels per inch resolution following their collection. The diameter and roundness values of each spot on multiple WSP samples were determined through image processing software. The overlapped spots and the non-circular ones were manually eliminated by the operator. Spot Roundness (SR) ranged from 0.051 to 6.283 and from 0.130 to 6.283 prior to, and following SE, respectively. Results indicated a linear relationship between minimum SR value and volume median diameter of the droplets. Regression analysis revealed the optimal SR variation interval to be between 0.765 and 2.356 for SE. Characteristics of the spots remaining out of this range were compatible with the characteristics of the droplets conventional SE (when the spots subjectively eliminated). When the volumetric diameters (DV) in the conventional SE approach were compared with the optimum SR variation interval (for 10, 50 and 90 percent ratios) their absolute relative error ratios and confidence intervals at 95% level of significance level found as 2.8%±1.4, 1.8%±0.9, and 3.8%±1.5, respectively.

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Four Chinese pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) cultivars were analyzed for their individual flavonols and flavones (in fruit peel extracts) using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), with changes in flavonols and flavones as occurring during fruit development. The results revealed the presence of kaempferol, quercetin, myricetin, luteolin, and apigenin in all the four cultivars. In addition, the concentrations of flavonols were found out as always higher than those of the flavones in different cultivars and throughout the different fruit developmental phases. Kaempferol was the most prominent flavonol in Hongbaoshi, Lvbaoshi and Shuijingtian, while myricetin the major and dominant flavonol in Moshiliu. The pattern of kaempferol was similar to quercetin in each individual cultivar, but quite differing among the four cultivars. The level of luteolin was higher than that of apigenin in all the cultivars. During test course, similar change patterns for luteolin and apigenin were revealed in each individual cultivar. This is the first report regarding the flavonols and flavones concentration changes in pomegranate peel extracts. The results indicated that the changes in flavonols and flavones were significantly affected by cultivar and its developmental stages. Moshiliu proved to be an excellent pomegranate cultivar with rich flavonol contents. It can be further studied for its potential uses being more fully exploited.

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In plants, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is synthesized by polyamine degradation pathway besides GABA shunt. Aminoguanidine (AG) is a specific inhibitor of the key enzyme (diamine oxidase, DAO) for GABA formation in polyamine degradation pathway. In this study, AG was applied to study the functions of polyamine degradation pathway on growth and GABA accumulation in germinating fava bean under hypoxia-NaCl stress. The results showed that 5.0 mmol L^-1 of AG inhibited DAO activity maximally but not entirely, and inhibited the growth of sprouts simultaneously. Hence, blocking polyamine degradation pathway significantly affected the growth of germinating fava bean. Polyamine degradation pathway provided 26.9 and 29.3% of GABA in cotyledon and embryo, respectively, because DAO activity was not inhibited entirely. Polyamine, especially putrescine (Put), accumulated after polyamine degradation pathway was blocked, indicating that Put was the main substrate of GABA in polyamine degradation pathway.

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The side branches in tomato plants have a great impact on tomato yield and fruit quality and the pruning work is now basically done manually, which has high labor intensity and high-risk factor. The elevated cultivation of tomatoes was taken as the objective of this research and 6 degrees of freedom P-R-R-R-R-R tomato side branch pruning robotic arm was proposed. The dynamic simulation of the robotic arm in the obstacle environment was completed by ADAMS. Simulation results showed the angular velocity and angular acceleration curves of each joint. A trajectory planning method combining Cartesian space and joint space was proposed to ensure that the robotic arm can avoid obstacles while effectively reducing the impact during operation.