The social history of labor in the Iranian oil industry : the built environment and the making of the industrial working class (1908-1941)

The formation of the wage laboring class in the Iranian oil industry during the first decades of the 20th century is studied as a tangled global-local social history. The analysis seeks to situate the oil complex in Iran within the interlinked contexts of the global transformations of World War One, the social and political-economic tumults of the interwar period, the changing geopolitics of the Persian Gulf and Anglo Iranian relations, the consequences of the 1921 coup d’état in Iran, the local transformations of the oil rich province of Khuzestan, and the urban histories of the oil mining town of Masjed Soleyman and especially the refinery and port city of Abadan. As petroleum was becoming the primary raw material of Fordism and the second industrial revolution the accumulation of capital in oil required the dismantling of existing social structures and the reassembly of resources, technical expertise, and populations in modern built environments designed for oil capitalism. The urban social history of these oil cities shed light on the contentious processes that led to the making of an industrial oil working class, as well as the formation of modern state institutions in Iran, and the Anglo Persian Oil CompanyRoyal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) International Institute of Social History (IISG)Middle Eastern Studie

Cournot competition in networked markets

The paper considers a model of competition among firms that produce a homogeneous good in a networked environment. A bipartite graph determines which subset of markets a firm can supply to. Firms compete a la Cournot and decide how to allocate their production output to the markets they are directly connected to. We assume that markets have inverse linear demand and firms have quadratic production costs. First, we show that the resulting Cournot game has a unique equilibrium for any given network and provide a characterization of the production quantities at equilibrium. Our results identify a close connection between the equilibrium outcome and supply paths in the underlying network structure. In particular, we show that whether two firms see their output in different markets as strategic substitutes or complements depends critically on the paths between those markets in the line graph induced by the original bipartite network. Armed with a characterization of the equilibrium supply decisions, we explore the effect of changes in the network structure on firms' profits and consumer welfare. First, we study the question of a firm entering a new market. We show that entry may not be beneficial for either the firm or the consumers as such a move affects the entire vector of production quantities. The firm might face a more aggressive competition in its original markets due to its entry to a new market. Moreover, the effect on other firms and consumers also depends on their location in the network. This is in stark contrast with standard results in Cournot oligopoly where entry implies more competition in the market and thus higher consumer welfare. Similarly, the effect of a merger between two firms on profits and overall welfare largely depends on the structure of competition in the original Cournot market. In particular, we show that insights from analyzing mergers in a single market do not carry over in a networked environment. Market concentration indices are insufficient to correctly account for the network effect of a merger and one should not restrict attention to the set of markets that the firms participating in the merger supply to. Finally, we study the operations of a cartel including the entire set of firms. We show that the cartel maximizes its profits by appropriately segmenting the markets among its members so that a firm supplies solely to the ones allocated to it, and we provide an algorithm that computes the optimal production quantities for each firm in the cartel. © 2014 Authors

Corrosion polarization behavior and microstructuralanalysis of AA1070 aluminium silicon carbide matrix composites in acid chloride concentrations

The effect of SiC content and NaCl concentration on the corrosion resistance of AA1070 aluminium in 2 M H2SO4 was evaluated with potentiodynamic polarization technique, open circuit potential measurement (OCP) and optical microscopy. Results showed SiC increased the corrosion susceptibility of the alloy at lower NaCl concentrations compared to results obtained at 0% NaCl which showed significant decrease in corrosion rates, with maximum inhibition efficiency of 90.84% at 20% SiC content. The corrosion rates decreased at higher NaCl concentration,with maximum inhibition efficiency of 94.12 and 77.27% at 20% SiC. Alloy samples in 2 M H2SO4/0% NaCl at 0 and 20% SiC visibly decreased in OCP value over wide variation compared to samples with varying NaCl concentration due to loss of passivity. OCP values for alloys at varying NaCl concentration decreased over a very short variation due to repassivation. Statistical data showed silicon carbide to be the only relevant variable responsible for the corrosion rate values with F-values of 8.85 corresponding to a percentage significance of 54.8%. Optical images showed the presence of corrosion pits of smaller dimension, yet deeper on the morphology of the alloy without silicon carbide compared the alloy containing it, whose corrosion pits, seems wider but very shallo

Changes in body mass index and lipid profile in psoriatic patients after treatment with standard protocol of infliximab

Psoriasis is a chronic and inflammatory dermatologic disease. Psoriasis may predispose to cardiovascular disease and diabetes. However, the role of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor in mediating this risk is controversial. Regarding frequent use of infliximab in psoriasis, and the hypothesis that anti TNF-α treatment may increase Body Mass Index (BMI) and alter lipid profile in these patients, the aim of this study was to assess changes in BMI and Lipid Profile and level of leptin in Psoriatic Patients under Treatment of Standard Protocol of Infliximab in a 24 week period. This study was accomplished as a before-after study. Twenty-seven psoriatic patients were included, and standard infliximab therapy was applied. All patients underwent 3 times of blood collection and in each session; LDL, HDL, Total Cholesterol, Triglycerides, Leptin, and PASI score were measured at the start of the study and at the 12th and 24th week of follow-up. Twenty-five patients consisted of 18 (72) male and 7 (28) female subjects were evaluated. The mean age of the patients was 36.91±13.31 years. PASI score demonstrated significant decrease after 24 weeks; however, BMI and HDL and leptin showed a significant increase during treatment. Significant negative correlation was seen between Leptin and PASI score changes (r=0.331, P=0.042). HDL and BMI had the most correlations with leptin (positive correlation) and PASI score (negative correlation). Results demonstrated a dramatic decrease in PASI, increase in BMI and HDL and increased in leptin; somewhat correlated to each other. These results suggest that patients taking infliximab should take more care of their weight and lipid profile, while on treatment. © 2016 Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Measuring Young Drivers’ Behaviors during Complex Driving Situations

Driving behaviors of teenagers and adults in complex driving situations, viz., merges and intersections, from an 18-month longitudinal naturalistic driving study were analyzed. Variables from multiple sources were selected to create an Unsafe Driving Index to rate drivers’ behaviors in these locations. Teenagers scored lower on this index, corresponding to safer driving behaviors, than adults. However, the teenagers’ scores for the index increased across the study period. The interpretations of these findings are discussed with respect to the methodological aspects of the study and in terms of driver training and rule following

Driving performance in older adults: Current measures, findings, and implications for roadway safety

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Over 10,000 people a day turn 65 in the United States. For many older adults, driving represents an essential component of independence and is one of the most important factors in overall mobility. Recent survey studies in older adults suggest that up to 60% of older adult drivers with mild cognitive impairment, and up to 30% with dementia, continue to drive. The purpose of this review is to provide a comprehensive and detailed resource on the topics of cognition and driving for clinicians, researchers, and policymakers working on efforts related to older adult drivers. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Publications on PubMed and Medline and discussions with experts working in geriatrics, technology, driving policy, psychology, and diverse aspects of driving performance were utilized to inform the current review. RESULTS: Research indicates that there is a complex and inverse correlation between multiple cognitive measures, driving performance, and risky driving behaviors. The fragmented nature of available peer-reviewed literature, and a reliance on correlative data, do not currently allow for the identification of the temporal and reciprocal nature of the interplay between cognition and driving endpoints. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: There are currently no widely accepted definitions, conceptual models, or uniform set of analyses for conducting geriatric research that is focused on driving. Establishing conventions for conducting research that harmonizes the fields of geriatrics, cognition, and driving research is critical for the development of the evidence base that will inform clinical practice and road safety policy

Reformism, Economic Liberalisation and Popular Mobilisation in Iran

Whereas in other MENA countries the impact of neo-liberal policies has been the subject of intense debate, there are at present few voices that directly analyse or critique its social and political consequences in Iran. This article seeks to address this lacuna by analysing the dynamics of reformism, economic liberalisation and popular mobilisation in Iran. It charts the country’s move from a post-revolutionary populism to a liberalised yet increasingly exclusivist model of politics and compares this to trajectories of economic liberalisation in Egypt. Two distinct outcomes of economic reform are analysed in the first part of the article: Socio-economic exclusion; and the contraction of political rights. In the second half, I investigate the ways successive post-war governments in Iran have packaged neo-liberal reforms, and how their re-imagining of the role of the state has led to differing levels of popular resistance. Finally I argue that under the present administration, political elites increasingly are oriented toward strengthening the state and seeking to limit opposition to their policies. However, the absence of neo-liberal hegemony in Iran means that growing mobilization on socio-economic issues is challenging these policies. The Right in Iranian politics is utilizing this mobilisation to present a populist challenge to the reformists in power