Gravity Wave Generation and Momentum Deposition in the Atmosphere

The first part of this study investigates gravity wave parameterization in the middle atmosphere, focusing on internal waves with a broad spectrum of phase speeds. A column model based on CIRA wind and temperature profiles is employed to assess the characteristics of the Hines Doppler-Spread (1997) and Warner-McIntyre-Scinocca (2001) nonorographic drag parameterizations for internal gravity waves. The Alexander-Dunkerton (1999) variant of Warner-McIntyre-Scinocca scheme is also briefly considered. This study goes into more detail than previous comparisons by performing a spectral analysis of the momentum deposition and drag, and by examining the ability of each scheme to reproduce saturation. Comparisons with pure critical level filtering are also made, and it is found that Hines DSP mainly constitutes an enhancement to critical level absorption, while the Warner-McIntyre-Scinocca scheme produces substantially different wave drag profiles. We find several undesirable characteristics in the drag produced by the Hines scheme. For typical midlatitude profiles, it produces an abrupt onset of large accelerations that are confined to a relatively narrow layer. It is also unable to reproduce wave spectra consistent with observed saturation at high vertical wavenumbers. The second part of this study investigates the generation mechanisms of the gravity waves over Newfoundland and Labrador (NL). We performed a series of simulations for a selection of the strongest peak events using WRF model to further investigate the characteristics and generation mechanisms of gravity wave peak events over NL. We studied three different peak events, 2003, 2008 and 2014. We showed that gravity wave events in the winter hotspot region over NL can have both topographic and jet streak sources. In the cases we examined, one source of waves was the Torngat range on the northern coast of Labrador. However, the other two wave sources were in fact outside the hotspot region, and a combination of advection and propagation caused those packets to enter the hotspot in the middle atmosphere. We have demonstrated that topographic wave packets, which are normally assumed to remain stationary over the source, can in fact be advected far downstream from the source

Mnemonic Cartography of Violence

Important historical events such as revolutions sometimes lead to changes in the relationships that individuals have with places. The citadel of Shahr-e No, the largest brothel of Iran was burnt a little time after the end of the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Streets and buildings are one of the most stable social frameworks, they are the one that lasted through wars, riots, and revolutions. They play a key role in the process of recollecting memories. A social group can leave its print in a place, as a place can leave its print on a social group. In the case of the citadel, everything that constituted the memory of the place and of the life that people lived there disappeared. I have done a forensic cartography in order to bring back the memory of this erased place. Indeed, in the absence of oral as well as visual testimony about the citadel, I resorted to the object, that is the map. My practical work in connection with my research work is based on maps dating from before and after the destruction of the citadel and they report on the violence of the erasure of a public space and of its memory. I try to restore a critical relationship between memory, time, place, and political violence

Malaria elimination in Iran, importance and challenges

Background: The aim of study is to assess the importance and challenges of Malaria elimination (ME) in Iran's health system. Material: Opinion of experts from Ministry of Health and Medical Education and the chancellors of medical universities affected by malaria were gathered using Focus Group Discussions and in­depth interviews. We asked them about the importance and main challenges of ME in Iran. Results: Main factors on importance of ME were: it's a struggle to reach to equity in the poorest regions of county, prevention of emerging disease in susceptible regions, lowering the cost of control and its effects on the region's socioeconomic condition. Main challenges were Iran's long border with malaria­endemic countries Pakistan and Afghanistan and illegal immigrants, underdevelopment in rural areas, system's insensitivity and diagnosis problem due to reduction of cases. Conclusion: Quantitative and holistic researches are needed for assessing the consequences of ME

Healthcare utilization in patients with esophageal cancer in a high risk area in northeast of Iran

Introduction: Golestan, a province located north of Persian Gulf in northeastern part of Iran is a well known area for high risk of esophageal cancer (EC) in the world. There is no information about healthcare utilization in populations residing in the area. This study was conducted to assess utilization of healthcare and its associated factors among esophageal cancer patients in this region as well as to address ethical implication of this utilization. Methods: All new cases of EC in Golestan province during year of 2007 were recruited. Seven diagnostic and five therapeutic services were used to assess diagnostic utilization index (DUI), and therapeutic utilization index (TUI), respectively. Multivariate regression analysis was used to assess the relationship between variables and DUI or TUI. P-value of less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: Tow hundred twenty three, patients were enrolled with mean (Standard Deviation) age of 64.3 (12.5) years with 57.8% male. We observed that occupation (P<0.01), ethnicity (P<0.01) and sex (P=0.03) were strongly associated with DUI. Insurance coverage (P<0.01), place of residency (P<0.01), and occupation (P=0.01) were associated with TUI. Conclusion: We concluded that several factors contribute to disparity in healthcare utilization in the studied population

Determinants of inflation in Iran based on Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA)

Due to the important influence of inflation on macro-economic variables, researchers pay tremendous amount of attention to its determinants. Accordingly, in the following research, the impact of 13 variables on inflation during the period of 1338-1391 by using Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) method has been investigated for Iran economy. The ranking of the 13 explanatory variables are obtained based on the probability of their inclusion in model. The results show that the energy price and money imbalance (lagged ratio of money to nominal output) have expected and positive effect on inflation rate with a probability of 100 % and they are considered as the key explanatory variables in inflation equation. The energy price, money imbalance, money growth and market exchange rate growth have the first to fourth rank respectively. The influence of the production growth is not significant on the inflation in the short-run but it gradually influences the inflation through money imbalance channel in the long-run. In addition, most of the disinflation effects due to decrease in money supply will appear with delay. These results imply the dominance of monetary variables on inflation with cost push factors not having important impacts on prices. Also, oil revenue and imports influence the inflation through exchange rate channel, production and money velocity

Field Study of Morphological Parameters in Step-Pool Streams

Nowadays, step-pool formations have attracted a lot of attention, which are distinguished by the successive arrangements of the bed, suitable geometry, and the tumbling flow pattern, which can highly disperse water energy. Field study of a step–pool channel, along with one of the upper reaches of Kamandan River indicated a strong correlation between several morphological parameters of the river such as reach slope, step length, step height, pool depth, local slope, and the like. The length of the reach under the study is 145 meters and has an intermediate morphology based on Montgomery and Buffington’s classification. Therefore, twelve distinct step units were identified for 145 meters upstream while the rest was formed by steep morphology. In the present study, different definitions of wave length were applied to establish the relationships among the above parameters. For instance, the difference between apexes of every two successive step elevation was found to have a considerable relationship with the wavelength with a determination coefficient of 0.9. In addition, bankfull width and depth, along the profile for different cross-sections, were determined to establish a relationship between these parameters and pool spacing. Further, the parameters were applied to create a relationship with step heights

Utilization and Determinants of Postnatal Care Services in Ethiopia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND: Postnatal care use is vital in saving mother and newborn lives which is a continuum of care for maternal, neonatal and child health. This reviewaimed to determine the utilization and determinants of postnatal care use in Ethiopia.METHODS: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase databases were searched on June 25, 2017. The study screening, data extraction and quality assessment were done independently by two reviewers. Effect sizes were pooled using a random-effectsmodel.RESULTS: Nine articles were included in the review. The pooled estimate for utilization of the service was 32% (95% CI: 21%, 43%). The pooled results of determinants of postnatal care use was statistically significant among those mothers who had ability to make decisions (1.89; 1.25, 2.54), had a history of antenatal care utilization (2.55; 1.42, 3.68), received more than two antenatal care visits (1.84; 1.28, 2.40), and received the service from skilled service provider (3.16; 1.62, 4.70). It was also found that mothers who gave birth in health faciliteis (2.13; 1.14, 3.12), had middle monthly income, richer, were from urban areas, and had knowledge of obstetric danger signs were significantly associated with increased odds of postnatal care use.CONCLUSION: Utilization of the services is low in Ethiopia. Antenatal care utilization, skilled service provider, being from urban area and delivery in health facility had a significant effect on postnatal care utilization. More rigorous studies are needed to identify determinant with the causal association to postnatal care utilization. The review was registered on PROSPEROCRD42017060266

Behavioral Barriers of Tuberculosis Notification in Private Health Sector: Policy implication and Practice

Under-reporting of new tuberculosis (TB) cases is one of the main problems in TB control, particularly in countries with high incidence and dominating role of a private sector in TB cases diagnosing. The purpose of this paper was to explore behavioral determinants of under-reporting of new TB cases among private sector physicians in Iran. We conducted a population-based, cross-sectional study of physicians working in private clinics. The data collection tool was designed using the theory of planned behavior. We used structural equation models with maximum likelihood estimation to examine attitude towards the notification behavior. Of 519 physicians, 433 physicians completed the questionnaire. Attitude towards notification had the highest score (mean score=87.65; sd=6.79; range: 0-100). The effect of perceived behavioral controls on the notification behavior ((β ̂)= 0.13; CI: .01-.25) was stronger than the total effect of attitude ((β ̂)=0.06; CI: .00-.12) and subjective norms ((β ̂)=0.01; CI: -.00 -.03) on the behavior. However, the attitude was the main predictor of intention and justified 46% of the intention variance. Intention had a significant effect on the behavior ((β ̂)= 0.09; CI:.01- .16). Considering stronger effect of perceived behavioral control on the behavior, interventions aiming at facilitating notification process would be more effective than those aiming at changing the attitude or enhancing intention among physicians. To the best of our knowledge, no other study previously explored determinants of under-reporting from the behavioral and cognitive perspective. Specifically, we explored the role of the theory of planned behavior constructs in predicting intention to notify new TB cases

Cost effectiveness of Malaria interventions from preelimination through elimination: a study in Iran

Background: Malaria still is considered as a public health problem in Iran. The aim of the National Malaria Control Department is to reach the elimination by 2024. By decreasing the number of malaria cases in preelimination phase the cost effectiveness of malaria interventions decreases considerably. This study estimated the cost effectiveness of various strategies to combat malaria in preelimination and elimination phases in Iran. Methods: running costs of the interventions at each level of intervention was estimated by using evidence and expert opinions. The effect of each intervention was estimated using the documentary evidence available and expert opinions. Using a point estimate and distribution of each variable the sensitivity was evaluated with the Monte Carlo method. Results: The most cost-effective interventions were insecticide treated net (ITN), larviciding, surveillance for diag- nosis and treatment of patients less than 24 hours, and indoor residual spraying (IRS) respectively, No related evi- dence found for the effectiveness of the border facilities. Conclusion: This study showed that interventions in the elimination phase of malaria have low cost effectiveness in Iran like many other countries. However ITN is the most cost effective intervention among the available interventions

Investigation of Flow Pattern in the Vicinity of Lateral Intake at the U-Shape Bend Channels

Source: ICHE Conference Archive - https://mdi-de.baw.de/icheArchiv