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The present paper addresses a novel two-echelon multi-product Location-Allocation-Routing problem (LARP). It also considers the integration of issues such as disruption, environmental pollution, and energy-efficient vehicles as currently critical issues in a Supply Chain Network (SCN) that includes production plants, central warehouses, and retailers. The aim of this study is to minimize the total cost, which involves costs related to the establishment, shipment processes, environmental pollution, travelling, vehicle usage, and fuel consumption, in a way to cover the total demand of retailers. The problem is NP-hard; thus, to solve it approximately, we developed Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithms. The numerical analysis showed that the proposed algorithms yielded high-quality results in a short computational time where the average gaps of GWO and PSO against CPLEX are 0.78% and 0.9%, respectively. Then, a case study of a dairy factory in Iran is conducted to evaluate the applicability of the proposed methodology and find the optimal policy. Finally, a set of sensitivity analyses is carried out to suggest managerial insights and decision aids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

These two-part paper series aim to optimize the rates of inspection-based maintenance or routine-test on power system equipment. Part I introduced a novel probabilistic model using Markov chains for the inspection-based maintenance and derived the relationships between the transition rates. Part II demonstrates how the proposed method can effectively address budget and data availability constraints. It also presents the derived relationships between the optimal preventive maintenance rate and risk indices. The results presented in this paper are based on an industrial project conducted to optimize the preventive maintenance period of high-voltage equipment in Iran. Additionally, this companion paper provides practical insights, including implementation remarks, and a comprehensive dataset for failure and defect analysis, which proves useful for future research and applications. • A case study on a real sub-transmission substation for the proposed model. • Derived relations between the optimal preventive maintenance rate and risk indices. • Analysis of the simultaneity in the inspection of series components. • How to overcome data and budget limitations by the proposed sensitivity analysis. • Practically, how to use the available data to optimize the inspection rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to its location in one of the most seismically active regions in the world, Iran has witnessed many devastating earthquakes through history. To finance a part of these losses and reconstruction expenses, earthquake insurance has been offered as a rider of fire policy by the Iranian insurers. This mechanism, if well operated, can substantially contribute to disaster risk management. On the other hand, if the pricing and management of catastrophe risk lack a sound, risk-based practice, it might add to the problems and act to the detriment of disaster risk management. In this paper, we first compare the current earthquake insurance pricing and risk management in the Iranian insurance industry with a state-of-the-art insurance regulation in the European Union (Solvency-II). Then, we examine the consequence of following each approach in terms of business profitability and viability by conducting a numerical analysis on a hypothetical portfolio of property risks in Iran. The results suggest that maintaining the current insurance pricing and risk management techniques in Iran will probably lead to a substantial accumulation of earthquake risk for domestic firms and eventually endanger the solvency of these companies in the event of large- scale earthquake losses in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides a multi-disciplinary overview of the seismology and geodetic data with tectonics analysis in order to provide an evaluation of stress trajectories, and probabilistic fault rupture hazard assessment. Based on the different scenarios obtained from the comparison of several overviews and their interpretation, we investigated the kinematics and active tectonics of different structural zones. In this study, the magnitudes and directions of seismic and geodetic strain rates (SSR and GSR) were evaluated using reliable earthquake focal mechanisms and all available GPS data (1999–2015) in the structural subzones of northern Iran, where have experienced more than 14 strong instrumental earthquakes (Mw ≥ 6). In addition, a tectonic stress model was inferred from the Focal Mechanism Stress Inversion (FMSI). The new crustal stress map was proposed by the weighted average analysis of the SSR, GSR, and FMSI. N35.5° E and N104° E were estimated for the Alborz and Talesh mountains, respectively. The numerical analysis of stress regimes confirms the slip partitioning mechanism of oblique shortening on the sub-parallel thrusts and strike-slip faults in the area. Four main stress regime categories were defined, including thrust (49.37%), strike-slip (39.24%), thrust with a strike-slip component (2.53%), normal (1.27%), and unknown faulting (7.59%). Seismic and geodetic moment rates (SMR and GMR) and their comparison were also calculated in order to evaluate the function of these parameters in determining the seismicity arrangement. The ratio of the seismic/geodetic moment rates for the area is ~70.7%. This ratio for the Alborz, western Koppeh-Dagh, north part of Central Iran, South Caspian Basin, and Talesh is ~0.9, 0.3, 11.9, 0.3, and 57.3, respectively, which indicates the most elastic energy has been released in the Talesh and the north part of Central Iran. The comparison of geodetic moment rates in the subzones of the area indicates that geodetic deformation is high in the Central Alborz (networks 8, 9, 17) and western Koppeh-Dagh (networks 5, 13). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]