Search

B ackground: According to the World Health Organization, preventive measures are the o nly non-pharmacological method to combat the COVID-19 epidemic. This study aimed t o investigate the relationship between perceived social support and preventive behaviors mediated by the variables of life expectancy and mental wellbeing. Materials and Methods: This study is applied in terms of purpose and was conducted by survey method. The statistical population included women living in Tehran City, Iran, with a sample size of 428. The study data were collected using the preventive behavior scale, mental wellbeing scale, Snyder hope scale, and multidimensional perceived social support scale. The obtained data were analyzed using SPSS 25 and AMOS 23 software. Results: The study results showed a positive and significant relationship between perceived social support and mental wellbeing, between perceived social support and life expectancy, and between mental wellbeing and life expectancy. Also, life expectancy and mental wellbeing variables mediate between perceived social support and preventive behaviors. Conclusion: Considering the critical role of women in family management and preventive measures during the COVID-19 epidemic, strengthening social support networks, hope, and mental wellbeing should be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exponential growth of population and industries has brought about an increase in energy consumption, causing severe climatic and environmental problems. Therefore, the move towards green renewable energy is being ever more intensified. This study aims at estimating the rooftop solar power production for Tehran, the capital city of Iran, using a Geospatial Information System (GIS) to assess the big data of city building parcels. Tehran is faced with severe air pollution due to its excessive fossil fuel usage, and its electricity demand is increasing. As a result, this paper attempts to provide the quantified solar power potential of city roof tops for policymakers and authorities in order to facilitate decision-making in relation to integrating renewable energies into the power production infrastructure. The results shows that approximately 3000 GWh (more than 14% of the total electric energy consumption) of solar power can be produced by the rooftop PV installations in Tehran. The potential nominal power of rooftop PV installations is estimated to be more than 2000 MW, which is four times the current installed PV capacity of the whole country. The findings of the study suggest that there is great potential hidden on the rooftops of the city, which can be utilized to assist the power systems of the city in the longer run for a more sustainable future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Daily use of public restrooms may have a significant impact on spreading infectious diseases. Human society could be affected by spreading of transitional infectious diseases through feces, urinary tract infection and poor personal hygiene. According to the World Health Organization reports, plenty of people's developed diseases caused by contaminated public restrooms that may result in severe health problems. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 7,482 samples that were collected randomly in 6 months (spring and summer 2019) in different regions of Tehran. The Data were obtained by analyzing 804 restroom's indoor and outdoor handles, 1062 toilet faucet, 826 washbasin taps, 1,062 toilet hoses, 804 flush tank levers, 643 soap dispenser bottoms, 643 liquid soaps, 99 bar soaps, 169 toilet papers and paper towels, and 50 hand dryer machines. Samples which were tested, based on bacteriology standard methods. Result: 7,482 samples were gathered of which 6,678 contaminated cases (89.25%) were observed and 804 cases (10.75%) were found non-contaminated. Escherichia coli with 28.48% and Pseudomonas with 0.39% were the most and the least common bacteria, respectively, in this study. Conclusion: The required tests to identify the bacteria that cause contamination through the use of public restrooms have been done. It is essential to inform the public of the mentioned items and teach how to prevent infectious diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper intends to underline the importance of historic public spaces as the deposits of collective memories, proposing the critical analysis, reinterpretation, and systematization of relevant informative historical layers as a counter model to the globalizing tendencies and their fast pace of transformation. Baharestanis a historic square located in the northeast of Tehran's Historic Center, and it is the home to Iran's Parliament and the Ministry of Culture. It makes the square significant at the national level, especially due to its location surrounded by several exquiste historical heritage buildings. However, following the decline of Tehran's historic center, Baharestan lost its socio-cultural vitality and spatial quality, hosting urban functions mainly heterogeneous to its identity, and eventually turning into a traffic node. Through the comparative study of numerous historical documents, and adapting the concept of "palimpsest", Baharestan Square has been interpreted as the assemblage of different city layers in relation to the environmental and socio-political narratives of the city. The shift from one layer to another intends to reflect some of the lost memories of Tehran and its collective identity in the transition from traditional to modern society. Later on, the paper argues how this palimpsest quality and co-evolution of those plural layers and narratives in Baharestan demonstrate this symbolic square as a "catalytic social infrastructure", giving Tehran an opportunity to overcome the challenge of "social amnesia" and promoting its civic culture and cohesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel approach for regional modeling and forecasting of PWV using LS-SVR is suggested. • The results of the new model are analyzed at control and radiosonde stations. • A comparative analysis between the results of new model, GPS and VBT is made. We propose a new model for spatio-temporal modeling and forecasting of precipitable water vapor (PWV) using least square support vector regression (LS-SVR) method. The LS-SVR uses simple linear equations. As a result, the complexity of the computational algorithm is reduced. In addition, the convergence speed and accuracy of the results increase. The evaluation of the new method has been done with the observations of the GPS networks at north-west and central Alborz in Iran. In the north-west GPS network, observations of 23 GPS stations in the period of 27 October to 10 November 2011 are used. However, in central Alborz network, the observations of 11 GPS stations in the period of 10 to 24 June 2016 have been used. The north-west GPS network is in the mountainous region and its observations are for the winter season. But, the second network is near the coastal area and summer season measurements are used. The latitude, longitude and height of GPS stations, DOY, time, relative humidity, temperature and pressure are considered as an input of the LS-SVR model. The output of the new model is the PWV (LS-SVR PWV). After the training step, the new model is used to estimate the spatio-temporal variation of PWV. The results of the LS-SVR model are compared and evaluated with the standard neural network (SNN), adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), support vector regression (SVR), Saastamoinen, global pressure and temperature 3 (GPT3), voxel-based tomography (VBT) models, as well as with radiosonde measurements. Error evaluation of models has been done in control stations as well as by precise point positioning (PPP) method. For LS-SVR model, the averaged RMSE in the control stations of the north-west GPS network is 1.69 mm, while for the central Alborz GPS network, 1.88 mm is calculated. Also, the averaged relative error of LS-SVR model calculated in the Tabriz and Tehran radiosonde stations are 4.66 % and 6.12 %, respectively. The results of this paper show that the LS-SVR model has a very high capability in forecasting the spatio-temporal variation of PWV at the GPS network territory. The new model can be used for accurate estimation of PWV, meteorological applications and flood forecasting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subway stations are one of the most popular public spaces in the Iranian big cities, which is accompanied by urban design low qualities. The urban design of knowledge, art, and profession is the organization of the environmental qualities of the urban and public domain of the subject. Considering low qualities in these modern spaces that are used by everyday people, the most important issue of the present research is constructed without reference to indigenous fields. Emphasis on indigenous patterns, in the construction of underground spaces, especially subway stations, can lead to the sustainability and desirability of these spaces. The development of urban-rural spaces can play an important role in the sustainability of contemporary large and populated cities. Construction and construction of these spaces is a new phenomenon in Iran that can weaken or strengthen the natural, human, social, cultural, and economic characteristics of cities such as Tehran. In this paper, the purpose of this paper is to explain the status of the design of urban design in metro station spaces, with emphasis on indigenous patterns. The present study is conducted using the descriptive-analytical methodology and studies between the three areas of urban design and related qualities; subsurface development and metro station spaces; native architectural and urban design patterns. Therefore, after the design of the problem and terminology, the study of definitions and urban design qualities from the point of view of the experts and the addition and extraction of comprehensive urban design qualities was done with the article approach. Subsequently, in order to study Imam Khomeini, Seventh, and Revolution Square subway stations, they were studied and analyzed. The results of the study indicate that the planning and design of metro station spaces should pay attention to the comprehensive design quality of the city. These qualities include identity recognition, environmental sustainability, socioeconomic and economic sustainability, safety and security, efficiency and diversity, accessibility and accessibility, continuity and integrity, proportions and human scale, freedom, flexibility, Vitality, intuition and sensual richness, justice. The analysis of case examples, both in terms of both generic and indigenous patterns, has a low status and poor quality of urban design and indigenous patterns. In general, paying attention to the design qualities of a design based on native patterns can enhance their sustainability, utility, and humanity. Introduction Urban design is a science, art, and profession dealing with organizing the environmental qualities of urban and public areas. Paying attention to the vacuum of urban design qualities in these modern spaces that are used daily by people is the most important issue of the present study, which has been constructed without any connection with local contexts. By presenting this issue, the purpose of this study is to explain the position of urban design qualities in metro station spaces with an emphasis on local patterns. In the process of urban development, all aspects of environmental quality must be considered. In other words, strengthening or meeting one or more (private and public) needs and environmental quality should not lead to the weakening or loss of other environmental qualities. This is an issue common in contemporary projects. One-dimensional views of urban projects, such as a purely economic or traffic approach, will neglect the underlying features, undermine identity, and move in the opposite direction of sustainable development. The theme of this research is that, on the one hand, the development of urban infrastructures such as metro stations, especially in large cities and their centers, is a matter of certainty and these infrastructures in the dimensions of transportation, space, play an important role in the life of urban centers. But on the other hand, the construction of these spaces is often devoid of environmental qualities and less attention is paid to local patterns. The research hypothesis is that by accompanying and using local models in the planning and development of subsurface spaces, both goals can be achieved, namely the development of urban infrastructure, strengthening urban identity, and improving environmental qualities. Therefore, this study seeks solutions to use local patterns in the development of subsurface spaces and subway stations. Research Methods This study aims to analyze the position of urban design qualities in the design of metro stations. The study is conducted using a combined research approach (i.e. quantitative and qualitative methods). In this regard, the most important research question is: What is the position of urban design qualities in the design of metro stations? Also, the research sub-questions are: What are the qualities of urban design effective in the design of metro stations? What are the ways to apply these qualities with emphasis on indigenous patterns in subway stations? In this research, while analyzing the features and qualities of native patterns, the application of these patterns, related features, and qualities in the planning and design of contemporary underground spaces in our country are discussed and solutions and suggestions are presented. Therefore, while defining these concepts from the theorists’ point of view, we summarize and conclude these definitions, and then search for native patterns of architecture and urban planning for use in the planning and design of metro stations. Research Findings The results of the study show that in planning and designing metro station spaces, comprehensive qualities of urban design should be considered. These qualities include identity, legibility, environmental sustainability, social, cultural and economic sustainability, safety and security, efficiency and diversity, pedestrianism and ease of access, cohesion and integration, human proportions and scale, freedom, flexibility, vitality, attractiveness and sensory richness, and justice. The analysis of case studies, both in terms of general qualities and indigenous patterns, indicates the low and weak position of urban design qualities and indigenous patterns. In general, paying attention to urban-design qualities with a focus on indigenous patterns can promote their sustainability, desirability, and humanity. Emphasis on indigenous patterns in the construction of underground spaces, especially subway stations, can lead to the stability and desirability of these spaces. The development of suburban urban spaces can play an important role in the sustainability of large and densely populated contemporary cities. The construction of these spaces is a new phenomenon in Iran that can weaken or strengthen the natural, human, social, cultural, and economic characteristics of cities like Tehran. From all these issues, it can be concluded that the role of subsurface spaces, including metro stations, in the sustainable development of cities, should be taken seriously and the comprehensive realization of environmental qualities should be considered by avoiding one-dimensional approaches in planning and designing these spaces. It can also be said that traditional Iranian indigenous buildings and collections such as Gudal Baghcheh, Shovadan, Cistern, the historical bazaar have valuable structural features (in terms of the form and function on architectural and urban scales) and can be a local model for the development of metro station spaces. Given that our country is on the verge of developing such spaces, paying attention to these points can play an important role in stabilizing cities and strengthening urban identity, and improving environmental qualities. These templates and design guides can be used in the planning and design of metro station complexes. Since the metro network is one of the most widely used underground spaces in large cities, the subsurface development in relation to metro stations and using the native patterns studied in this research can be useful and effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to prepare a list of appropriate far-field records for the purpose of time history analysis and structural design assessment in Tehran. Accordingly, the study focused on considering all parameters affecting the choice of accelerogram pair for Tehran. For this purpose, a total of 1000 accelerogram pairs of the earthquakes that occurred in Iran during 1978–2010 were studied in terms of the parameters affecting the choice of appropriate accelerogram pair for Tehran, including distance to the epicenter, magnitude, frequency content, earthquake mechanism, soil properties, and configuration of ground layers. An important objective followed by preparing such a list was to appropriately match it to susceptibility and performance levels set in local design standards. For this purpose, seismic, statistical, and analytic studies were performed, finally ending up with a list of appropriate accelerogram pairs for time history analysis and design assessment in Tehran. In this research, to provide a proper understanding of the proposed list's applied demands on the region's structures, numerical and statistical studies and comparisons with the FEMA-P695 list have been done. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between managerial ability and earnings classification shifting of firms listed in the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). The paper consists of a sample of 1,875 firm-year observations after applying systematic elimination sampling method during a period of fifteen years, from 2005 to 2019. This study used the multivariate panel data regression for testing the links between variables. The results of this study provide that there is a positive relationship between managerial ability and earnings classification shifting. The obtained results indicate that there is a negative relationship between managerial ability and real earnings management and no relationship between managerial ability and AEM. In addition, managerial ability mitigates the negative effect of earnings management on future firm performance. Furthermore, managerial ability affects its agency cost positively due to the reduction in earnings management. This paper contributes to developing management literature and financial reporting literature. The study focuses on links managerial ability and earnings classification shifting and agency cost in a developing country like Iran, and the results of the paper can fill distance theory and practice by empirical test. Furthermore, the results of this study indicate in an emerging market, namely, Iran, that has a political business environment among the other countries of the Middle East, managerial ability can release Iranian firms on economic sanctions and financial pressures. This paper is the first study of its type in Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficient banking system with the right monetary policy by controlling liquidity and inflation and directing resources to productive economic activities plays an essential role in economic development. However, banks' performance is influenced by various political, economic, managerial, and social factors, and the study of these factors has been considered the topic of interest to researchers. This paper uses the structural equation modeling method to investigate the effect of ownership structure and corporate governance on listed banks' performance in the Tehran Stock Exchange from 2011 to 2017. Based on the results, ownership structure dimensions have a relatively insignificant impact on corporate governance. However, the financial performance dimension has a statistically significant negative effect. The results also indicate that corporate governance is significantly associated with a positive effect on financial performance. Consequently, the results indicate that corporate governance may mitigate the negative impact that ownership structure dimensions may have on bank financial performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In developing countries where conventional trains are still in use, passengers endure lengthy hours on board. These passengers could opt for air travel, which offers a much shorter duration. Therefore, environmental factors significantly contribute to the overall comfort of passengers and the modal share of railways. In this cross-sectional research, a questionnaire has been developed to quantify passenger evaluations of factors such as light, temperature, noise, and vibrations. An 11-hour journey between Tehran, the capital of Iran, and the second major city is selected, along with two trains (five-star and four-star). Passengers responded to paper questionnaires, and 382 fully completed ones were collected and analyzed. Satisfaction from light was highest while thermal comfort was lowest. A statistically significant difference was observed between the comfort levels of passengers on the two trains. The results also indicated that certain personal or health conditions affect passenger feelings. For example, individuals suffering from low blood pressure tend to feel cold, or those who wear reading glasses are not satisfied with the illumination. Furthermore, older individuals are more sensitive to vibrations, but those traveling with their families are less sensitive to it. The findings of this research can assist in better compartment allocation for passengers and enhance overall passenger satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information Technology is a key factor in eliminating the limitations posed by time and location and gives a much better and a faster access to information. In other words, technology has revolutionized work methods as a result of which, the paper which was used as a substrate for writing the work upon it has now been replaced by an electronic substrate. The changes created by technology include the use of Blockchain, IoT (Internet of Things), cloud Accounting and Big Data to do accounting in automated form. The statistical sample of this study is given on the basis of the 171 person Cochran formulae consisting of financial managers, accountants and auditors of the Tehran city. Empirical results show that the use of Information Technology has a very significant role on the quality of Accounting Information and all these factors are influential in the quality of accounting system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The functional classification system (FCS) of roads means categorizing roads based on their service characteristics. The two primary considerations in classifying highway and street networks are accessibility and mobility, where by increasing the role of one, the other's role is reduced. In this paper, besides the conventional variables such as geometric design characteristics, parking lots, land use features, and accessibility; the Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System (SCATS) data following the real-time traffic flow and average speed of vehicles collected by Location-Based Services (LBS) are considered as new variables for estimating the FCS. Linear regression is used to model the importance of the variables. The chi-square test compared the observational and predicted speeds in the five categories of roads in Tehran, the capital of Iran. Results show that on-street parking has the highest impact and the land use variable has the lowest impact on speed that changes the FCS. Moreover, the presented classification was one to two categories compared with the conventional FCS presented in manuals in the case of Tehran's transportation network as a developing city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops and applies algorithms for optimally merging satellite precipitation products with rain-gauge precipitation for accurate rainfall estimation. The satellite-based precipitation products (SBPs) PERSIANN-CDR, TMPA-3B42, GPM-IMERG, and GSMaP MKV are combined and evaluated to generate accurate rainfall estimates. Daily satellite precipitation data are compared with corresponding station data to calculate the bias for the period 2014–2019. Three different algorithms are proposed whose adjustable parameters are optimally determined by solving constrained optimization algorithms to produce combinations of satellite-based precipitation products. The optimal combination is named optimally merged satellite-based precipitation (OMSBP). The root mean square error (RMSE), coefficient correlation (CC), and the Nash–Sutcliffe error (NSE) are employed to test the proposed method with precipitation data for the Tehran urban region, Iran. The spatially resolved results over the studied urban area establish that TMPA-3B42, with an average value MAE, MBE, and RMSE equal to 0.68 mm, − 0.31 mm, and 2.94 mm, leads to better estimates of precipitation than those of PERSIANN-CDR, IMERG, and GSMaP MKV. Moreover, algorithms alg7 and alg8 yielded better results with respect to the MAE and MBE, respectively. Lastly, algorithm alg3 produced better results than alg7 and alg8 based on the RMSE, NSE, and CC corresponding to precipitation predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Regarding urban population growth and importance of time and cost in the societies of today, subway systems have faced with demand increase and passengers waiting time have prolonged. In urban transportation systems especially in subways, the passengers waiting time influences the society satisfaction deeply. Since the emersion of rail network, time and scheduling as important challenges have been emerged. Then the periodic train planning as one of the best solutions was introduced to decrease passenger waiting time, reduce travel length, and increase transportation safety. This challenge should be solved by subway managers. Due to the limited number of trains and equipment on subway lines and increase of their cost-effectiveness in reducing passenger waiting times at intersections, an attempt has been made in this paper to reduce waiting time using optimization models that often do not impose costs on the system. In addition, another aim of this paper is to fill the existing research gap in this area. Design/methodology/approach: This paper aims to calculate the weights of intersections stations in order to minimize the passenger waiting time through goal programming (Khalili Damghani et al. 2015; Mosadeghi et al. 2010). Many studies have been done on train scheduling and transportation mathematical modelling all around the world (Moghaddam and Mahlooji, 2017; Sadeghieh and Dehnavi-Arani, 2019). The aim of this paper is to minimize the deviation from desirable situation through goal programming. The main function of the proposed model is formulated again along with new construction, auxiliary variables and optimum values. It consists of variables with the concept of “deviation of desirable situation”. In this paper, both of the deviations of desirable situations are shown by dip and din which are undesired and should be minimized to achieve the optimum value. For this purpose, the fourth line of Tehran subway system and its intersections sections are considered as the real world problem. Findings: The model is solved by Lingo and optimum values are calculated. The model is developed based on goal programming and it can reduce the passenger waiting time and satisfaction which results in increased acceptance of public transportation in society. These findings are compared with current values of time tables for first and last movements. Findings indicated that the proposed model can reduce the passenger current waiting time by 42%. Research limitations/implications: In this paper, the accurate amount of passenger population was determined in a day based on lines, separately. Also, it was difficult to collect study data from the Tehran subway system organization. The proposed approach resulted in reduced passenger waiting time. Suggestions for further study include examining and analyzing the factors causing train delay and comparing the results of each single line with another; using simulation method to develop an optimization model for time tabling of train movement in order to optimize energy consumption; calculating and optimizing the number of subway station staff; and optimizing models to design the subway station network. Practical implications: As Tehran public transportation system is extending to cover more urban regions, the intersection stations will increase. Therefore, the role of these stations will be more tangible. Each intersection station scheduling affects the train movements in other stations and this continues throughout the length of the network. It means that each delay and pause will influence the other intersections, increasingly. The subway system managers can employ this model on other lines and reduce the waiting time of passengers in the whole Tehran subway. Social implications: As mentioned earlier, the waiting time of passengers in different stations, especially in intersections, is an important factor in using subway system as an effective public transportation system. It will increase or decrease the rate of subway usage. More public transportation usage leads to less air pollution, less traffic and faster travels in the city, which are all desirable for society. Originality/value: In this paper, a goal programming model was proposed to minimize the deviations in the objective function and subsequently, the passenger waiting time in intersection stations. As the intersection stations are increased, the role of the proposed method can be considered as a solution for public transportation in different cities of Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of COVID-19 regarding the efficiency of industries based on data in the Tehran stock market. A hybrid model of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and data mining techniques is used to analyze the investment behavior in Tehran stock market. Particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies face financial crises. That is why companies with inferior performance must be benchmarked with efficient companies. First, the financial data of investments on selective companies are analyzed using data mining approaches to recognize the behavioral patterns of investors and securities. Second, customers are clustered into 3 selling and 4 buying groups using data mining techniques. Then, the efficiency of active companies in stock exchange is evaluated using input-oriented DEA. The results indicate that, among 23 industries listed on the stock market in Iran, solely nine were efficient in 2019. Moreover, in 2020, the number of efficient industries further decreased to six industries. Comparing the obtained results with those of another study which was conducted in 2018 by other researchers revealed that COVID-19 strongly affects the performance of an industry and some industries which were efficient in the past such as the bank industry became inefficient in the following year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces an improved convolutional neural network based on the conventional U-Net for simulating built-up land expansion. The proposed method hires a pixel-wise semantic segmentation approach considering the spatial drivers affecting urbanization as data cubes. Independent variables including altitude, slope, and distance from barren, crop, greenery, roads, and urban areas for 1998, 2008, and 2018 were considered as covariates for the simulation of built-up land expansion in Tehran and Karaj regions in Iran. The proposed method was compared with the random forest (RF) algorithm as the baseline model. Evaluation using the area under the total operating characteristic indicated the superiority of our modified U-Net (0.87) over the RF (0.82) algorithm. Furthermore, evaluation using the percent correct metric indicated that our proposed model is capable of learning neighborhood effects effectively leading to simulate built-up land expansion accurately, independent from applying a cellular automata (CA) model. Therefore, the modified U-Net independent from the CA which can consider the neighborhood effects is recommended for the simulation of built-up land expansion precisely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Changes in the gendered division of domestic labour are often assumed to influence childbearing intention, but existing evidence is varied and less examined in the Asian context. This paper aims to investigate the association between the gendered division of domestic labour and the intention to have another child. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Tehran on 455 married women aged 18-40 years who were selected through a multi-stage cluster sampling. Results: Domestic labour is still a feminine role and the majority of women are satisfied with the division of domestic labour. Women's satisfaction with the division of domestic labour is a predictor of their tendency to have another child, but the actual division of domestic labour has not a significant effect on women's desire to childbearing, in the multivariate model. Conclusion: Women's desire for having another child is positively impacted by their satisfaction with the gendered division of labour in their household. To achieve more fertility, gender equality in the family and identifying the factors affecting women's satisfaction with the division of domestic labour is suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article underscores the retraction of a review paper by Massoumeh Ebtekar, an immunologist at Tarbiat Modares University in Tehran, Iran, from an Iranian journal following allegement that it was plagiarized from other scientists's papers. Mohammad Eslami, editor-in-chief of "Iranian Journal of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology" said that the article will be retractred and that the journal will publish an editorial focusing on the policy on the duplication of published materials.

The 2016 Iranian Census reveals that 14 of the country's 31 provinces have sub-replacement fertility. The province of Tehran, where a woman on average gives birth to 1.5 children during her reproductive period, has the lowest fertility in Iran. However, the 'two-child' norm prevails in the country and even a woman of young reproductive age still values having at least two children on average. In other words, there exists a gap between a woman's actual and desired fertility. This paper examines the demographic and socio-economic factors influencing the gap between actual and desired fertility in Tehran city based on a sample survey of 400 married women aged 15–49 years, conducted in 2015. The findings of the study reveal that the women of Tehran would be able to meet their fertility desires of two or more children if they were able to achieve their intended number of children they stated in the survey. However, should these women face any socio-economic constraint, they would be very likely to restrain their fertility desires and have fewer additional children than they initially intended, and thus continue with the sub-replacement fertility as being observed in Iran today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today both the economic growth and expansion of urbanization have increased community access to private cars. Thus, the urban transportation has become a critical part of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The excessive dependence of urban transportation on high-emission fuels is the main obstacle to develop a low-carbon transport. Meanwhile, natural gas is a bridge fuel to develop a low-emission transport. To the best of our knowledge, there has been little attention towards the association between the development of natural gas-fueled vehicles and the CO2 emission. Therefore, the problem we studied is the role of compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles in replacing high-emission fuels. In this study, we aimed to study this association by selecting the system dynamics approach due to the complexities of the social-economic system of transportation. In this modeling, different subsystems of the transport fleet were employed including CNG vehicles and urban transportation subsystems. Iran has used CNG as an alternative fuel in the transportation sector, making it one of the three leading countries in the use of natural gas in the urban transportation system. Our case study is focused on Tehran, which is the capital and the largest city of Iran. In this paper, we considered several scenarios to replace the gasoline fuel in the private car sector and taxis and diesel fuel in the bus fleet with natural CNG fuel. The results show that the replacement of CNG fuel with high-emission fuels can have a significant effect on reducing CO2 emissions. In the synthetic scenario, CO2 emission will be decreased by 11.42% in 2030, as compared to the business as usual (BAU) scenario in this year. According to Iran's commitment to the Paris Agreement, the emission of CO2 in Iran should normally be reduced by 4% in 2030, as compared to its amount in the BAU scenario. Therefore, Iran can easily fulfill its obligations in the urban transport sector only by replacing gasoline and diesel fuel with CNG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at the religious discourse of sexuality in post-revolutionary Iran. Based on my ethnographic fieldwork in Tehran, I discuss how in state-sponsored publications and official education traditional religious rules of sexuality such as tamkin are redefined in relation to society's new demands. I discuss the role played by religious workshops for married couples in justifying Islamic moral codes of behaviour that regulate and control Iranians' sexual lives. However, this paper argues that Islamic sex education is changing the perception of sex and female sexuality amongst its young religious audience. Such changes and their effects on women's sexual lives might not, however, be in accordance with the state's sexual policies. Consequently, younger of women use religious justifications to learn more about sex and increase their own sexual satisfaction in marriage. I argue that it is important for feminist scholars to highlight the complicated effects of disciplinary discourses in order to understand women's lives in Muslim societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detention reservoirs are employed in urban drainage systems to reduce peak flows downstream of reservoirs. In addition to the volume of detention reservoirs, their operational policies could significantly affect their performance. This paper presents a framework for the real-time coordinated operation of detention reservoirs using deep-learning-based rainfall nowcasting data. Considering the short concentration time of urban basins, the real-time operating policies of urban detention reservoirs should be developed quickly. In the proposed framework, a cellular automata (CA)-based optimization algorithm is linked with the storm water management model (SWMM) to optimize real-time operating policies of gates at the inlets and outlets of detention reservoirs. As CA-based optimization models are not population-based, their computational costs are much less than population-based metaheuristic optimization techniques such as genetic algorithms. To evaluate the applicability and efficiency of the framework, it is applied to the east drainage catchment (EDC) of Tehran metropolitan area in Iran. The results illustrate that the proposed framework could reduce the overflow volume by up to 60%. For complete flood control in the study area, in addition to the real-time operation of detention reservoirs, constructing five tunnels with a total length of 13200 m is recommended. To evaluate the performance of the CA-based optimization model, its results are compared with those obtained from the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm III (NSGA-III). It is shown that the CA-based model provides similar results with only 5% of the run-time of NSGA-III. A sensitivity analysis is also performed to evaluate the effects of optimization models' parameters on their performance. • Developing a new framework for coordinated operation of urban detention reservoirs. • Using deep-learning-based rainfall nowcasting data for real-time flood management. • Linking a stormwater simulation model with the cellular automata optimization model. • Applying the framework to the east drainage catchment of the Tehran metropolitan area. • Illustrating that the adaptive framework reduces the overflow volume by up to 60%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on a comprehensive solution for dry municipal solid waste (MSW) management with describes the scenario of the gasification process. For this purpose, the potential of implementing the MSW gasification process in Southeast Asia (Iran) with three agents of air, steam, and air-steam is investigated. In order to manage the MSW gasification process as accurately as possible in the study area, a thermodynamic, exergy, economic, environmental, carbon footprint, water footprint, ecological emergy, and risk assessment for the three mentioned gasification agents were carried out in the most populated cities of Iran. In the capital of Iran (Tehran) with the largest population and as a result of largest MSW production, the potential of the gasification process has been investigated at different times (10 consecutive years and 12 months of a year). Finally, by combining artificial neural networks and genetic programming, comprehensive relationships have been established to predict the thermodynamic conditions of gasification with an air-steam agent. The general results of the survey indicate that gasification with air agents has good potential for most regions. The use of the steam agent has created worse economic, environmental, and risk conditions than the other two agents. Investigating the potential of the gasification process in Tehran shows that this city has a good potential to implement this process compared to other cities in Iran, and the most suitable location for establishing the gasification process is the 4th region of this city. [Display omitted] • Potential of municipal solid waste (MSW) gasification for all Iranian cities. • Comparison of using air, steam, and air-steam agents for MSW gasification. • The payback period of air agent MSW gasification is lower than other agents. • Machine Learning used for prediction of the behavior of MSW gasification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Islamic Republic of Iran reported its first COVID-19 cases by 19th February 2020, since then it has become one of the most affected countries, with more than 73,000 cases and 4,585 deaths to this date. Spatial modeling could be used to approach an understanding of structural and sociodemographic factors that have impacted COVID-19 spread at a province-level in Iran. Therefore, in the present paper, we developed a spatial statistical approach to describe how COVID-19 cases are spatially distributed and to identify significant spatial clusters of cases and how socioeconomic and climatic features of Iranian provinces might predict the number of cases. The analyses are applied to cumulative cases of the disease from February 19th to March 18th. They correspond to obtaining maps associated with quartiles for rates of COVID-19 cases smoothed through a Bayesian technique and relative risks, the calculation of global (Moran's I) and local indicators of spatial autocorrelation (LISA), both univariate and bivariate, to derive significant clustering, and the fit of a multivariate spatial lag model considering a set of variables potentially affecting the presence of the disease. We identified a cluster of provinces with significantly higher rates of COVID-19 cases around Tehran (p-value< 0.05), indicating that the COVID-19 spread within Iran was spatially correlated. Urbanized, highly connected provinces with older population structures and higher average temperatures were the most susceptible to present a higher number of COVID-19 cases (p-value < 0.05). Interestingly, literacy is a factor that is associated with a decrease in the number of cases (p-value < 0.05), which might be directly related to health literacy and compliance with public health measures. These features indicate that social distancing, protecting older adults, and vulnerable populations, as well as promoting health literacy, might be useful to reduce SARS-CoV-2 spread in Iran. One limitation of our analysis is that the most updated information we found concerning socioeconomic and climatic features is not for 2020, or even for a same year, so that the obtained associations should be interpreted with caution. Our approach could be applied to model COVID-19 outbreaks in other countries with similar characteristics or in case of an upturn in COVID-19 within Iran. Author summary: Iran was among the first countries reporting a rapid increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. Spatial epidemiology is useful to study the spatial distribution of a disease and to identify factors associated with the number of cases of such disease. By applying these methods, we aimed to identify whether there are clusters of regions in Iran with high or low number of COVID-19 cases and the association of different factors with these numbers, considering spatial relationships and maps representing these associations. Interestingly, we found regions of high number of cases and that more COVID-19 cases were present in provinces with more urbanization, aging population, number of physicians, efficient communications, and greater average temperatures, whereas less COVID-19 cases were present in provinces with more literacy. This study allowed us to understand the spatial behavior of the disease and the importance of having adequate health policies, literacy campaigns, and disseminating health information to the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traffic congestion in urban areas is a challenging issue in transportation planning. Policy options have been proposed to evaluate the impacts of interventional action through change detection or before–after studies. In this research, low-cost traffic image data collected by smartphone-based application have been employed and the impact of new congestion charging scheme (CCS) upon congestion within congestion charging zone (CCZ) as well as the entire network in Tehran, the capital of Iran has been investigated. Applying statistical tests indicated the significance of change in congestion within CCZ by applying the new CCS. Differential Moran's I as spatial autocorrelation index specified the spatial patterns of congestion between the critical time of changing the scheme on weekdays (17:00–19:00) and weekend (6:00–13:00) after implementing the new CCS. The approach in this paper can be used with a low-cost appropriate instrument to monitor the probable change in traffic congestion by introducing any new scheme or sudden change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In February 2020, the first sample test was confirmed as positive for corona virus in Masih Daneshvari Hospital that is the reference center in Iran for all pulmonary and respiratory diseases. The decisions made in a hospital or organization to manage a crisis is very vital. Success in managing any crisis requires a scientific and scholarly attitude. This paper was distilled from experiences gained in Masih Daneshvari Hospital in Tehran, capital of Iran, in March 2020 at the stubborn time of coping and managing corona virus crisis. This study was conducted using participatory action research, a methodology which identifies problems in practice, and finds methods to solve them. This Action research involves five stages: statement of the problem, planning, data interpretation and analysis, action, and evaluation of the research process during performing the study. The whole hospital was equipped for corona virus patients in 10 phases during one week and 250 active beds were equipped for these patients. Three models, namely, "corona virus crisis management model", "Pharmaceutical care management in coronavirus crisis model" and "nursing in coronavirus crisis model" were planned and implemented. During one month of implementing these three models, the supervision team monitored the accurate implementation of instructions and resolving or revising the possible deficiencies and faults. The Masih Daneshvari crisis management model in coronavirus, can be a useful and applicable model in other corona virus centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every year natural and man-made disasters cause considerable human and economic losses. It is essential to prepare for different relief operations to prevent and reduce these losses. In this paper, we propose an integrated evacuation and distribution logistic system to obtain simultaneous routing and scheduling of vehicles to evacuate people from affected areas to shelters and provide them with necessary relief commodities. We assume that shelters and vehicles have limited capacity and the demand of each affected area and distribution center could be fulfilled by more than one vehicle (split delivery). The proposed problem is formulated as a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming model with the objective of minimization of the sum of arrival times of the vehicles at affected areas, shelters, and distribution centers. We also propose a Memetic Algorithm (MA) to solve this integrated model on large-scale problems efficiently after tuning the MA parameters using the Taguchi method. The proposed model and algorithm are used to solve a case study in Tehran, the capital of Iran. The evaluation of the results shows the effectiveness of the proposed disaster relief logistic system in minimizing the total waiting time of evacuees and delivery time of supplies. The results also show that the number of relief vehicles and capacity of shelters can considerably affect the total relief time in disaster relief operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: West Nile virus (WNV) can cause a fatal disease in humans and it is mainly transmitted to people through the bites of infected mosquitoes. Vector control using insecticides is a very important goal. Study of Culex pipiens resistance towards several insecticides in the city of Tehran, Iran was evaluated. Methods: Adult females reared from field-caught larvae from southern part of Tehran and lab strain reared in the insectary of Tehran University of Medical Science were determined for resistant status by exposing to 4% DDT, 0.1% bendiocarb, 0.1% propoxur, 1% fenitrothion, 0.05% deltamethrin, 0.75% permethrin, 0.05% lambda-cyhalothrin, 0.5% etofenprox, 5% malathion and 0.15% cyfluthrin papers using the standard WHO susceptibility tests. Results: Results clearly showed resistance development of Cx. pipiens against tested insecticides. Mortalities of Cx. pipiens were less than 90% with high resistance, low knock down rate and knock down time (50%) observed against insecticides. DDT and Malathion showed the most and least lethal time (LT50) values for the field strain. The results of the knockdown test showed that DDT and deltamethrin had the most and least knockdown times (50%) for the field strain, respectively, while DDT and lambda-cyhalothrin had the most and least knockdown times (50%) for the lab strain, respectively. Conclusion: Resistance to mentioned insecticides in Cx. pipiens is widely distributed in southern part of Tehran. Regular implementation of susceptibility test in Cx. pipiens mosquitoes will help local public health authorities to develop new and better control strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we attempt to present a historical examination of the relation between authors and the objective manifestations of power throughout the Iranian history. In addition to a historical study, using various techniques of interview with people associated with the publication industry, including authors, publishers, distribution companies, and booksellers, we will investigate the latest conditions of book publishing in Tehran. The results of this study suggest that the crowning points of flourish of books in Iran were the political discontinuities, suspensions of governments, and the revolutionary situations. As the institution of power is reestablished, the conditions for book production are disturbed, whether in terms of form or content. In this study, we have suggested that over time, the historical, social and critical aspect of books is reduced and their mass-market aspect grows. The results of the study also indicate that over time, as the power of the cyber world has increased, the government has lost the power of control and it has become practically impossible to objectively manipulate book production. The books are, on the other hand, controlled by the free market. In other words, controlling books has gone out of the control of the repressive state apparatus, and has been transferred to the hands of the free market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM) is a recent effective tool to manage with the growing challenge of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). The ISWM integrates all the system components (i.e. transfer, treatment, recycling and disposal of wastes) to enhance the sustainable waste management whilst reducing operational costs. In this paper, we investigate an integrated framework of the Fleet Size and Mix Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) to optimize the cost-effective ISWM system. A novel bi-objective Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model is developed to concurrently minimize the transportation cost in the entire waste management system and total deviation from the fair load allocation to transfer stations. A complete ISWM system with all interdependent facilities and multiple technologies, is developed to address a tri-echelon Fleet Size and Mix VRP with a heterogeneous fleet of vehicles under multiple technologies and waste compatibility constraints. The model was solved for both the Preemptive and Non-Preemptive conditions using Lexicographic and Goal Programming optimization approaches. The model was tested on a case of ISWM in the Southern part of Tehran, Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a new Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) with fair Carrier Collaboration (CC) which split multi-pickup and delivery services are considered for serving customers. This study has focused on VRP and serving customers with several commodity requirements from different geographically scattered suppliers subject to constraints on the vehicle capacity. A Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) model to maximize the total profit and the fair sharing of profit among the carriers by considering the travel time minimization is developed. Each carrier with its limited capacity can have reserved requests which must be served by itself and selective requests which can be served by itself or other vehicles or not served at all. There are various applications of the proposed model in the environment which can help reducing number of vehicles serving to the customers and eliminating empty back hauls. A Genetic Algorithm (GA) is proposed to solve this problem due to its Non-deterministic Polynomial-time hard (NP-hard) nature. In addition, Variable Neighbourhood Search (VNS) method is developed for improving the quality of initial solutions. Some instances are generated at different scales to evaluate the algorithm's performance by comparing the results of an exact optimal solution with that of the proposed algorithm. The obtained results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed algorithm in providing reasonable solutions within an acceptable computational time. The algorithm is also tested for an online shopping website in Tehran, Iran. The test outcome shows that the proposed model returns a better benefit compared to the manual methods. The results of sensitivity analysis suggest that increasing the fairness coefficient among carries can led to a decrease in the total obtained profit. • Develop a novel carrier collaboration routing problem model with multi-commodity service and sharing fair profit. • Extend the carrier collaboration to general problems with in many-to-one problem pickup and delivery category. • Solve the problem with genetic algorithm with a new specific chromosome representation. • Result of implementation of the model in the real-world and sample instances. • Sensitivity analysis of the model based on fair distribution between participants is conducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to improve the spatial accuracy of urban growth simulation models and clarify any associated uncertainties. Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), Random Forest (RF), and Logistic Regression (LR) were implemented to simulate urban growth in the megacity of Tehran, Iran, as a case study. Model calibration was performed using data between 1985 and 1999 whereas the data between 1999 and 2014 was used for model validation. First of all, Transition Index Maps (TIMs) were computed by means of each model to assess the potential of urban growth for each cell. Using the standard deviation, consensus between the TIMs was evaluated. Because the TIMs of the individual models manifested discrepancies, they were combined using a number of ensemble forecasting approaches including median, mathematical average, principle component analysis, and weighted area under the total operating characteristic. The individual and combined TIMs were then put into Cellular Automata (CA) to simulate the future pattern of urban growth in Tehran. The results were evaluated in two stages. At first, the TIMs were evaluated by means of Total Operating Characteristics (TOC), and then a set of statistical indices was used to evaluate the spatial accuracy of the simulated urban growth maps. The best result was obtained by median ensemble forecasting, whereas the LR model showed the lowest level of accuracy. In similar studies, it is recommended to implement and compare different ensemble methods when integrating individual models. • We compared the effectiveness of ANNs, RF and LR for urban growth modelling. • Standard error map indicated discrepancy among the results of individual models. • Various ensemble forecasting approaches were proposed to combine individual models. • Mean ensemble forecasting created more accurate simulated maps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finding an appropriate vacant lot to buy is one of the most important land marketing problems in Tehran, Iran. Typically, the land selection and purchase processes in Tehran city are based on face-to-face meetings. Despite the face-to-face land sale and purchase strategies, a few online geo-marketing or real-estate websites have been developed. However, these geo-marketing real-estate web services have two main limitations. The services have focused on simple searches and selections from a set of predefined land parcels according to some basic criteria, such as land price, area etc. They do not consider spatially explicit criteria and spatial analyses relevant to a land selection process (e.g. proximity to transportation stations). The services are lacking a proper scientific foundation for spatial multi-criteria selection of land parcels. Moreover, the alternative land parcels are dynamically created by new sellers. However, the services are hard-coded based on a set of predefined land parcels and fail to support evaluation of the parcels added by new owners. To overcome these limitations, the study proposes a geo-marketing decision support system by integrating geographic information system (GIS) and multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) techniques into the web platform. The GIS-based MCDA tools provide appropriate analytical approaches and platforms to support decision makers/people in spatial decision-making processes based on individual values and interests. The paper demonstrates the implementation of a geo-marketing decision support system for land selection and purchase processes in district no. 22 of Tehran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Occurrence of phthalates in water resources, bottled water, and tap water, and health risk of exposure to the phthalates through drinking water in Tehran, Iran, 2018 were studied. The six phthalates with the most health and environmental concerns, including di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), dimethyl phthalate (DMP), and di-n-octyl phthalate (DNOP) were monitored in drinking water and water resources. The average levels (±standard deviation: SD) of the total phthalates in drinking water from the water distribution system, bottled water, surface waters, and ground waters were determined to be 0.76 ± 0.19, 0.96 ± 0.10, 1.06 ± 0.23, and 0.77 ± 0.06 μg/L, respectively. The dominant compounds in the phthalates were DMP and DEHP causing a contribution to the total phthalate levels higher than 60% in all the water sources. The phthalate levels of drinking water significantly increased by contact of hot water with disposable plastic and paper cups and by sunlight exposure of bottled water (p value < 0.05). The hazard quotients (HQs) of DEHP, BBP, DBP, and DEP for all ages both sexes combined were determined to be 1.56 × 10−4, 1.01 × 10−5, 1.80 × 10−5, and 1.29 × 10−6, respectively that were much lower than the boundary value of 1.0. The disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and DALY rate (per 100,000 people) attributable to DEHP intake through drinking water for all ages both sexes combined were estimated to be 6.385 (uncertainty interval: UI 95% 1.892 to 22.133), and 0.073 (0.022–0.255), respectively. The proportion of mortality in the attributable DALYs was over 96%. The attributable DALY rate exhibited no significant difference by sex, but was considerably affected by age in a manner that the DALY rates ranged from 0.052 (0.015–0.175) in the age group 65 y plus to 0.099 (0.026–0.304) in the age group 5 to 9 y. Both the carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risks of the phthalates in drinking water were considered to be very low. The results can also be of importance in terms of developing frameworks to expand the domain of burden of disease study to the other environmental risks. • Health risk of phthalates in water environment in Tehran was evaluated. • The average level of the total phthalates in drinking water was 0.76 ± 0.19 μg/L. • The dominant phthalates were DMP and DEHP causing a share higher than 60%. • The HQs of all the phthalates were much lower than the boundary value of 1.0. • The attributable DALYs and DALY rate in Tehran were respectively 6.385 and 0.073. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A multi-criteria framework is proposed for bioethanol facility location. • The best worst method is used to calculate the weights of the criteria. • The provinces of Iran are evaluated as alternatives in this study. • A questionnaire answered by 41 experts from Iran is used for the BWM. • Province of Khuzestan (followed by Tehran) is selected for bioethanol production. One of the major factors in the success of renewable energy is finding a proper location for production facilities. At a national level, different parts of a country (e.g. provinces) can be seen as alternatives that can be assessed based on a set of criteria, and ranking them to identify the best location. The focus in this paper is on identifying the best location for the production of bioethanol. After a comprehensive literature review, an evaluation framework is proposed based on the three dimensions of sustainability (economic, environmental and social). Using data provided by a sample of experts in a developing country – Iran – and applying the best-worst method (BWM), a number of decision-making criteria are evaluated. Performance data involving the various provinces of Iran are collected from different sources. The performance data and the weights identified through BWM are used to calculate an overall score for each province, which is then used to rank the provinces, with the province of Khuzestan (closely followed by Tehran) being identified as the most suitable province for bioethanol production in Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization, growth of urban areas, is a process that has been growing rapidly during the last two decades. This phenomenon affects aerobiological, economical, industrial, ecological processes, social control, and the family. Hence, the prediction of the urban area extent has an important role in the future decision of the municipality. Multi-Agent System (MAS) is a proper tool for simulation and modeling process, which has been used for solving different types of spatial and non-spatial problems. In this article, we use MAS for urban simulation in the rural area around Tehran, which is the most populated and the fastest-growing city of Iran. In this paper, the behavior of three groups of agents: environmentalist, industrialist, and resident are simulated. These three groups are the dominant and influential population in the formation of urban texture. In this research, the behavior of these three groups of agents is specified, according to a series of map layers, such as slope, aspect, soil type, distance of urban areas, roads, and so on. The Belief-Desire-Intention (BDI) architecture of agents is used for the simulation, which is defined based on some variables, functions, and coefficients. The simulation is carried out based on two different interaction scenarios: Rational and Nash- Equilibria. The future urban area is predicted by a combination of MAS and spatial urban area. To evaluate the proposed model, the comparison of the predicted area is made at different times and scenarios. The results of implementation in different scenarios show that the residents of the study area follow the Nash-Equilibria interaction with Kappa Coefficient accuracy of 0.8104. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Timely, effective delivery of relief resources to the sufferers in a natural disaster is quite crucial. All governments especially those having high risk of natural disasters must have a comprehensive and implementable plan to suitably manage humanitarian issues after a natural disaster occurs. They should construct sufficient facilities and prepare and store enough relief items (e.g., tents, medical packages, and meals) to be able to quickly respond to necessary needs of injured and homeless people; otherwise, it might lead to humanitarian crises with high numbers of casualties. In this study, we extend the mathematical two-stage stochastic optimization model proposed by Mete and Zabinsky (Int J Prod Econ 126:76-84, 2010) simultaneously considering two phases: pre- and post-disaster. All decisions pertinent to the pre-disaster phase, such as the locations of warehouse and pre-positioned relief items, should be taken in the first stage; however, other decisions pertinent to the post-disaster phase, such as the allocations of warehouses to the demanding points are taken in the second stage. In this study, we consider bi-directional relations between warehouses, which can increase the flexibility of the constructed network to handle the needs of injured people in a shorter time interval. Furthermore, whereas the relief process should be implemented within a specific time interval (e.g., 3 days), our extended optimization model is constructed for a multi-period and multi-product situation. We construct the extended model based on a professional report prepared by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency in a study of the seismic micro zoning of Tehran on April 13, 1999. The respective data in this report has also been updated based on the reports of Tehran Municipality to be matched with the current situation of Tehran. The results of our extended multi-period model for the respective real case study in this paper verify suitable responses and better services to the affected areas compared to what are provided through the respective single-period optimization model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, one of the most important problems in merchandise and stock markets all over the world is increasing prices. Tehran's commodity market seems to be one of the main reasons for Iran's economic growth which is confronted with the mentioned problem. Last year, the prices of the majority of petrochemical commodities have been increased significantly. Some political and economic analysts proposed two main factors (one internal and the other external) for this event. They argued that these factors have affected the Iranian economical body and its merchandise and stock market. The internal factor was the start of the implementation of targeted subsidy reforms by the Iranian government and its psychological effects. Some other analysts believed that sanctions against Iran's government and companies which are signed by the UN Security Council in 2009 are the main reasons. This paper analyzes the exchange data in Tehran Mercantile during a 1-year time span and identifies the main factors influencing the prices using multivariant analysis and forecasting methods. To do this, a list of potential factors prepared based on expert opinions and data related to five petrochemical commodities which have been faced with the price fever have been collected. By doing analysis, it is revealed that the main reason for the occurrence of this event is speculation. This paper is a response to those analysts who introduced other reasons for this event without considering all aspects of the problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The seismic hazard assessment of Tehran, the capital of Iran with a population of over 10 million, is necessary in the decision-making process for risk reduction. The main objective of this paper is to present a procedure for obtaining maximum hazard maps in seismically active regions such as Tehran with a history of destructive earthquakes, but where the number of the instrumentally recorded large magnitude events is small. The deterministic and probabilistic seismic hazard methods are two quantitative approaches with some practical limitations. To overcome their limitations, the Bayesian statistics are used to estimate maximum earthquake magnitude by combining prior seismological information with the available limited data. The Bayesian approach is used to estimate maximum earthquakes corresponding to different individual ground-motion scenarios at a specific hazard level. The maximum hazard maps are obtained by merging different individual worst-case ground-motion scenarios at a specific hazard level. The hazard analyses under different scenarios are conducted by the finite-fault procedure which uses geological and seismological parameters for each seismic source. The obtained results are in agreement with the observed intensities of historical earthquakes. Moreover, the conventional approach of probabilistic seismic hazard analysis is presented to show the difference between the two procedures. The findings provide information about the seismic design or retrofit of structures and infrastructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Currently, share of the scientific output, citation per paper, and coauthorship for articles indexed in databases such as ISI Web of Science, are very important criteria for the evaluation and ranking of countries, researchers, institutes, articles, disciplines and journals in the world. Therefore, the main objectives of the study were to determine co-authorship, the average citation per paper and the most prolific Iranian university or institution in the field of immunology. Methods: For performing this scientometric study, we employed survey methods and citation analysis of the indexed papers in the ISI Web of Science from 1974 to 2010. Results: A total of 1775 articles by Iranian authors in the field of immunology had been indexed in the database for the aforesaid period. Most collaborations and co-authorship of Iranian authors was with their counterparts from the USA. The average citation per paper in the field was 6.26 per paper. Tehran University of Medical Sciences had the highest number of articles in the database. Conclusion: According to the results, Iranians collaborated with American peers more than any other nationality and the average citation per paper in the field of immunology is higher than that of other fields in Iran but lower than the global average. Tehran University of Medical Sciences is the most prolific university in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Train timetabling with minimum delays is the most important operating problem in any railway industry. This problem is considered to be one of the most interesting research topics in railway optimization problems. This paper deals with scheduling different types of trains in a single railway track. The primary focus of this paper is on the periodic aspects of produced timetables and the proposed modeling is based on the periodic event scheduling problem (PESP). To solve large-scale problems, a hybrid meta-heuristic algorithm based on simulated annealing (SA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) is proposed and validated using some numerical examples and an Iranian case study that covers the railway line between two cities of Isfahan and Tehran. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Metropolis such as Tehran might be treated as an example of the cities on their ways to be modernized being faced with emerging problems and issues. With respect to the efficiency of the civil sophisticated experts' ideas for resolving the civic difficulties, an intelligent database named "Idea Bank" has been implemented in Tehran municipality since 2009. The aim of this paper is showing some solutions for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of the idea bank system based on framing effects (FE). Based on extensive review of FE, broad ranges of general case of FE are identified. Then, through field studies and using questionnaire tools, the degree of the applicability of each particular FE lows is determined. The research procedure finally led to the identification of applicable FE in enhancing the performance of idea bank network. The results show the application of sunk cost, bundle/unbundle framing of outcomes and Penny-a-day strategy can effect on generating ideas in the idea bank. Also Pseudo certainty effect could reduce idea bank's awards expenses even the amount of reduction illustrated quantitatively. This work contributes to a more innovative view at framing effects and its psychological effects on effectiveness of expert's decision making in the idea bank. The results of this study could be applied similarly in enhancing the productivity of suggestion systems in organizations or even in contributing of experts in social networks. The paper should be of value to researchers of FE in general, and to implementers of FE theory programs in social networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the January 2011 issue of the periodical which focuses on the research papers to be submitted at a conference in Tehran, Iran from February 15-16, 2011. Also presented are the names of editorial staff, preface and table of contents of the periodical. Abstracts of the papers related to physical fitness are also discussed which includes topics like exercise physiology, sport management and motor behavior.

Abstract: The availability of reliable and ubiquitous urban services data is a key component of successful city management. The inability of traditional bureaucratic public administration to meet citizens’ needs effectively has led to a search for new methods that grant more efficient, effective and reliable provision of services to citizens. Because there are many users with distinct computing platforms and preferences, urban services data must be accessible using interoperable solutions. Numerous solutions for providing interoperability are proposed by the Geospatial Information (GI) community, as well as the Information Technology (IT) community. The most widely used technologies for providing interoperability in the GI community are OGC services framework. In the IT community, Web services technologies provide full potential interoperability among heterogeneous computing platforms. However, these two kinds of services are not directly compatible. To provide an interoperable solution, OGC services and Web services should be integrated efficiently. The underlying issue in integrating OGC services and Web services is the gap between the predefined functionality inherent in the OGC services, and the lack of any predefined functionality in the Web services technologies. This paper identifies the implementation issues in integrating OGC services and Web services and then proposes standards-based approaches to overcome these integration issues. Afterwards, the paper explains the design and development of Standards-based Interoperable Services for Accessing Urban Services Data (SISAUSD). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this study, the efficiency of air cleaners in removal of chemical components of PM 2.5 (PAHs, heavy metals, and ions) in the indoor air of dormitories of Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran were assessed. 12 rooms were selected and randomly divided into two groups: sham air purifier system deployed room (SR) vs. true air purifier system deployed room (TR). 24-h PM 2.5 samples were simultaneously collected in both TR and SR on PTFE filter papers at a flow rate of 5 L/min. The results showed overall removal efficiency of 76.5 ± 15.5%, 63.1 ± 22.5%, and 66.2 ± 24.8% for PAHs, heavy metals and ions, respectively. Moreover, the fraction of positive ions decreased when air purifiers were used in the rooms. The results showed that the smoking is an important influencing factor on the indoor air quality; smoking can leads to reduction in removal efficiency of PAHs, heavy metals and ions by 26%, 40%, and 51%, respectively. An air purifier could decreased the PM 2.5 even lower than the WHO annual guideline level in non-smoker rooms. The present study revealed that use of indoor air purifiers can significantly reduce the risk of carcinogenicity and non-carcinogenicity attributed to heavy metals and PAHs, especially in places without a smoker. [Display omitted] • Efficiency of air purifiers (AP) in removal of components of PM 2.5 was investigated. • The results showed removal of 76.5%, 63.1%, and 66.2% for PAHs, metals and ions, respectively. • Smoking leads to efficiency reduction of PAHs, metals and ions by 26%, 40%, and 51%, respectively. • AP could decline the PM 2.5 even lower than the WHO guideline in non-smoker rooms. • AP can significantly reduce the health risks attributed to metals and PAHs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper treats with K-shortest viable path problem in a transportation network including multiple modes. The considered modes are metro, rapid-bus, private and walking. In this network, a viable path is one that the number of mode changes is limited and the traverse time and also the walking, metro and private usage are restricted subjected to some constraints. The traverse time is defined dependent on congestion level. Because constrained shortest path is NP-hard, we extend two metaheuristic algorithms namely GASA and BACS for the given problem. GASA is a Greedy Algorithm Simulated Annealing and BACS is a bi-direction searching Ant Colony System made by two colonies of ants. We evaluate the validation of these algorithms applying several multimodal random networks. In addition, their results are compared with CPLEX 12.1. We find that GASA is appropriate for small networks and BACS has better performance in median and large-scale networks. Our results on Tehran network also demonstrate that BACS provides better objective values than BACS ones because Tehran public transportation is sparse. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background and Objectives: In recent years, poor industrial waste managements have created many crises in human societies. The aim of this study was to investigate industrial waste management located between Tehran and Karaj zone in 2009-2010. Materials and Methods: This study is descriptive and sectional which was done by site visits, (Iranian environmental protection organization) use of questionnaires, database production and results analysis. The questionnaire consisted of 45 questions mainly about industrial waste; quantity, quality and management. Total number of industries with over 50 personnel's, calculated as 283. Class-weighted sampling was used in which the sample size contained 50 industries. Results: Total generated industrial waste was 123451, kg per day. Major hazardous waste generated in industrial sections included: chemical and plastic making. About 45.28% of waste generated disposed by private sectors. Landfill with 62% and reuse with 17% were the first and second alternative of common methods for final disposal of solid waste in this zone. Conclusion: In order to reduce hazardous waste generation in this zone, reuse and recovery maximization of the waste must be noted in short-term. In long-term, some industries such as chemical-plastic and electronics which have high rate of hazardous waste production must be replaced with other industries with low rate production, such as wood-cellulose and paper industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tunnels are increasingly being excavated in soft ground conditions when services are required in urban environments, and it is now common to have tunnels crossing at various elevations. As the tunnel excavations are undertaken at different levels, there will be an interaction which can have a significant influence on stress distributions and consequently deformations within the tunnels and surface settlement. As multi-layer tunnelling is a three dimensional phenomenon in nature, 3D numerical solutions must be utilized for perpendicularly crossing tunnels at various levels. This paper reports the investigations into the changes in stress distribution, deformations and surface settlements which may be expected when the twin Tohid Tunnels pass beneath the Line 4 metro tunnel in Tehran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents the seismic vulnerability and rehabilitation of a steel building with semi-rigid connections in Tehran. This 19-storey building with an asymmetric plan was constructed 30 years ago in three blocks. The qualitative vulnerability of the building was evaluated in the first step of the study, indicating its high seismic vulnerability. In the next step of the study, the quantitative vulnerability of the structure was investigated. The results show that the building was strong enough to resist gravity loads but the strength was not adequate for seismic loads. Finally, three seismic retrofitting methods consisting of concrete shear wall, steel shear wall, and steel bracing were proposed. The comparison of the three retrofitting alternatives in terms of architecture, implementation, and seismic performance showed the superiority of using the concrete shear walls over the two other alternatives. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, a hybrid model which combines Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) and Genetic Programming (GP) for forecasting of water demand in Tehran is developed. The initial goal of the current work is forecasting monthly water demand using GP for achieving an explicit optimum formula. In the proposed model, the EKF is applied to infer latent variables in order to make a forecasting based on GP results of water demand. The available dataset includes monthly water consumption of Tehran, the capital of Iran, from 1992 to 2002. Five best formulas based on GP results on this dataset are presented. In these models, the first five to three lags of observed water demand are used as probable and independent inputs. For each model, sensitivity of the results for each input is measured mathematically. A model with the most compatibility of the computed versus the observed water demand is used for filtering based on EKF method. Results of GP and hybrid models of EKFGP demonstrate the visible effect of observation precision on water demand prediction. These results can help decision makers of water resources to reduce their risks of online water demand forecasting and optimal operation of urban water systems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]