Iranian earthquakes, a uniform catalogue with moment magnitudes

A uniform earthquake catalog is an essential tool in any seismic hazard analysis. In this study, an earthquake catalog of Iran and adjacent areas was compiled, using international and national databanks. The following priorities were applied in selecting magnitude and earthquake location: (a) local catalogs were given higher priority for establishing the location of an earthquake and (b) global catalogs were preferred for determining earthquake magnitudes. Earthquakes that have occurred within the bounds between 23–42° N and 42–65° E, with a magnitude range of M W 3.5–7.9, from the third millennium BC until April 2010 were included. In an effort to avoid the “boundary effect,” since the newly compiled catalog will be mainly used for seismic hazard assessment, the study area includes the areas adjacent to Iran. The standardization of the catalog in terms of magnitude was achieved by the conversion of all types of magnitude into moment magnitude, M W, by using the orthogonal regression technique. In the newly compiled catalog, all aftershocks were detected, based on the procedure described by Gardner and Knopoff (Bull Seismol Soc Am 64:1363–1367, 1974). The seismicity parameters were calculated for the six main tectonic seismic zones of Iran, i.e., the Zagros Mountain Range, the Alborz Mountain Range, Central Iran, Kope Dagh, Azerbaijan, and Makran.The IIEEShttp://link.springer.com/journal/10950hb201

Brain on FIRES: Super Refractory Seizure in a 7 year Old Boy

How to Cite This Article: Tavasoli AR, Gharib B, Alizadeh H, Farshadmoghaddam H, Memarian S, Ashrafi MR, Sharifzade M. Brain on FIRES: Super refractory seizure in a 7 year old boy. Iran J Child Neurol. Autumn 2016; 10(4):80-85.AbstractWe present a 7 year old boy afflicted with super-refractory seizure that responded poorly to antiepileptic drugs and sustained a long course of hospitalization and complications of high doses of medications as well as longstanding stay in hospital. The differential diagnoses were, fever-induced refractory epileptic encephalopathy (FIRES), and infectious and autoimmune encephalitis.However, work-ups had not revealed any evidence of any specific diagnosis, so we assumed that he was afflicted by viral infectious encephalitis as he had, fever, vomiting, and prodromal symptoms of infectious (most probably viral) disease prior to onset of the seizure attacks. References1. William H. Theodore, Epilepsy and Viral Infections, Epilepsy Currents, Vol. 14, No. 1 Supplement 2014 pp. 35–422. Rima Nabbout, AnnamariaVezzani, Olivier Dulac, Catherine Chiron. Acute encephalopathy with inflammation-mediated status epilepticus. Lancet Neurol 2011; 10: 99–108.3. Uri Kramer, Ching-Shiang Chi, Kuang-Lin Lin, Nicola Specchio, Mustafa Sahin, Heather Olson, Rima Nabbout, Gerhard Kluger, Jainn-Jim Lin, Andreas van Baalen. Febrile infection–related epilepsy syndrome (FIRES): Pathogenesis, treatment, and outcome, A multicenter study on 77 children. Epilepsia ; 201152(11):1956–1965.4. Yael Hacohen, Sukhvir Wright, Patrick Waters, Shakti Agrawal, Lucinda Carr, Helen Cross et al. Paediatric autoimmune encephalopathies: clinical features, laboratory investigations and outcomes in patients with or without antibodies to known central nervous system autoantigens. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2012;0:1–8.5. Pedro J, Serrano-Castro, Pablo Quiroga-Subirana, Manuel Payan-Ortiz, Javier Fernandez-Perez. The expanding spectrum of febrile infection-related epilepsy syndrome (FIRES). Seizure 22 (2013), 153-155.6. R Kneen BD, Michael E, Menson B, Mehta A, Easton C, Hemingway PE, Klapper A, Vincent M, Lim E, Carrol T. Solomon, On behalf of the National Encephalitis Guidelines Development and Stakeholder Groups. Management of suspected viral encephalitis in children e Association of British Neurologists and British Paediatric Allergy Immunology and Infection Group National Guidelines. J Infect 2012; 64, 449-477.7. Raoul Sutter, Stephan Rüegg. Refractory Status Epilepticus: Epidemiology, Clinical Aspects and Management of a Persistent Epileptic Storm. Epileptologie 2012; 29: 186 – 193.8. Simon Shorvon. Super-refractory status epilepticus: An approach to therapy in this difficult clinical situation. Epilepsia, 52(Suppl. 8):53–56, 2011.9. Mustafa AM, Salih Heba Y, El Khashab Hamdy H, Hassan Amal Y. Kentab, Sara S. Al Subaei, Radwan M. Zeidan, Mohammed N. Al-Nasser, Saleh A. Othman. A Study on Herpes Simplex Encephalitis in 18 Children, Including 3 Relapses. Open Pediatr Med J 2009, 3, 48-57.10. Thais Armangue, Josep O. Dalmau. Autoimmune Encephalitis. In: Robert M. Kliegman, Bonita F. Stanton, Joseph W. St. Geme III, Nina F. Schor, Richard E. Behrman, et al, editors. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics, 20th Edition. Philadelphia, United States of America: Saunders; 2016: p. 2905-2910

Importance of IL-1β in SARS-CoV-2 infection

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) provokes the host immune responses and induces severe respiratory syndrome by overreaction of immune cells. IL-1β is a pro-inflammatory cytokine highly associated with the related inflammation and cytokine storm, and several IL-1β antagonists are being used to treat cytokine release syndrome (CRS). Accordingly, some studies and clinical trials are investigating the effects of IL-1β antagonists for controlling Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) associated CRS. Here, we will review any interaction and association between IL-1β and SARS-CoV-2 infection

Safety and efficacy of Favipiravir in moderate to severe SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia

Background: We examined the safety and efficacy of a treatment protocol containing Favipiravir for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2. Methods: We did a multicenter randomized open-labeled clinical trial on moderate to severe cases infections of SARS-CoV-2. Patients with typical ground glass appearance on chest computerized tomography scan (CT scan) and oxygen saturation (SpO2) of less than 93 were enrolled. They were randomly allocated into Favipiravir (1.6 gr loading, 1.8 gr daily) and Lopinavir/Ritonavir (800/200 mg daily) treatment regimens in addition to standard care. In-hospital mortality, ICU admission, intubation, time to clinical recovery, changes in daily SpO2 after 5 min discontinuation of supplemental oxygen, and length of hospital stay were quantified and compared in the two groups. Results: 380 patients were randomly allocated into Favipiravir (1 9 3) and Lopinavir/Ritonavir (1 8 7) groups in 13 centers. The number of deaths, intubations, and ICU admissions were not significantly different (26, 27, 31 and 21, 17, 25 respectively). Mean hospital stay was also not different (7.9 days SD = 6 in the Favipiravir and 8.1 SD = 6.5 days in Lopinavir/Ritonavir groups) (p = 0.61). Time to clinical recovery in the Favipiravir group was similar to Lopinavir/Ritonavir group (HR = 0.94, 95% CI 0.75 � 1.17) and likewise the changes in the daily SpO2 after discontinuation of supplemental oxygen (p = 0.46) Conclusion: Adding Favipiravir to the treatment protocol did not reduce the number of ICU admissions or intubations or In-hospital mortality compared to Lopinavir/Ritonavir regimen. It also did not shorten time to clinical recovery and length of hospital stay. © 2021 Elsevier B.V

Jointing and fracturing of flat-lying rock masses, Illawarra Coal Measures, southeastern Sydney Basin New South Wales, Australia

Fracture mapping of the Late Permian Illawarra Coal Measures, between Coalcliff and Wollongong, shows that joints developed originally in extension (mode I) and were faulted in subsequent events. Conjugate joint sets are a consequence of two separate fracturing events. Extension joints developed in joint units of different size and shape, with boundaries at changes in mechanical properties. The fracture pattern of extension joints in a joint unit is related to the mechanical properties of the rock mass and loading history. Joints with regional distribution fall into two, early and late formed, groups. Group I regional joints strike N-NNE, NE and SE. These joints propagated horizontally and never interfered with each other. All the existing interactions are the result of succeeding events. Group I regional joints were recracked subsequently. Recracking commenced with jointing and continued with lateral slip. All the faulted joints are classified as hybrid fractures. Faulted joints grew horizontally by the connection of recracked segments. En echelon arrays are the result of vertical propagation of faulted joints into intact rock. Recracking of rock also formed a set of secondary joints parallel to Oi. The sense of movement along conjugate faulted joints and orientation of sets of secondary joints, are related to 3 compressional stress fields namely: NNE-SSW, E-W and SSE-NNW. The intensity of recracking and the amount of lateral slip is mostly related to the strength of infilling materials, the angle between the fracture and the maximum compression direction, and the number of compressional events imposed on the fracture. In the southeastern Sydney Basin, some of the northwesterly trending normal faults were active during Late Permian deposition. Slip along these listric faults formed northwesterly trending gentle folds. A quasi-extensional regime, related to the forebulge of the Sydney Basin, reactivated appropriately oriented basement faults, which in turn, generated grabens in the cover. Group I regional joints formed after lithification and are classified as burial joints. Normal faults and dykes also developed during the Mesozoic. It is considered that the later part this episode was related to rifting that predated the opening of the Tasman Sea and its subsequent extensional history. The youngest deformational events were compressional. Group II regional joints and reactivation of pre-existing fractures occurred during these post-Early Tertiary events. Anticlockwise motion of the Australian crust, relative to the rest of the enclosing plate, caused by the collision between the Indo-Australian and Pacifîc Plates, may have been responsible for the NNE-SSW compression in the eastem part of the Southem Coalfield. The E-W compression most probably postdated the NNE-SSW event. Rock fracturing controlled the present configuration of the coastal platforms. Fractures in bedrock also governed the location of many landslips in talus along the Illawarra Escarpment. A method is presented for predicting the presence of dykes in underground coal mines, using adjacent joints

Revaluating Iran’s undergraduate engineering programs final project

In the past few decades, the final project of the undergraduate engineering programs of Iran has been a mainly practical, three unit course. In most of the approved engineering programs of Iran, the final project is not well defined and thus different institutions offer it differently. In North America, the final project is mainly based on designing an artifact, (goods, processes, systems or programs), by a group of students. Although the structure of this course is not similar in different institutions, but the aim of almost all of them is to provide a practical design experience for the engineering students. Another objective of this course is developing the communication and teamwork skills in students, promoting their self confidence, and improving the link between academia and industry. This paper presents the current status of this course in Iranian universities, and compares it with the capstone design course in North America. This is followed by a proposal for revaluating the structure of this course and promoting it in Iranian engineering program

Revaluation of engineering education

Concurrent with the dawn of the 20th century and emergence of a new millennium, numerous countries revaluate their higher education and consequently engineering education. Similarly, international organizations, and in their forefront, UNESCO, along with national and international professional societies, put a vast effort on revaluation of higher education and proposing solutions for future. A great reform took place in engineering education to cope with the progress of modern world. These revaluations follow almost a similar pattern and intend to produce graduates that at least have the minimum required competencies recommended for an engineering graduate. Presently, revaluation of engineering programs has two centralized and decentralized forms. Centralized revaluation is done occasionally and usually focuses on major issues of engineering education, while the decentralized one is a continuous process done by educational institutions to upgrade the program through internal assessment. In the past few decades, all the aspects of planning and revaluation of engineering education programs of Iran were centralized. After almost one decade from the last revision of Iran’s engineering programs, their revaluation is underway. In this paper, after reviewing the strategies for revaluation of engineering programs in the world, some suggestions for revaluation of Iran’s engineering educational programs are presented

New student-centered methods in engineering education

Students learn course material via different styles. Education and instruction methods are also diverse. Students’ learning in class depends on the conformity between students’ preferred learning style and the professor’s education method, among other factors. In traditional university education method, most of class time is spent on professor lecture and students listening. Students do their homework alone and group work is not encouraged. On the contrary, in student-centered methods, the focus of activities is shifted from instructor to student. In other words, the responsibility of organizing what should be learnt is given over to the student him/herself. The most important of these methods is active learning, in which students are effectively involved in what they are taught, answer questions, raise questions, participate in discussion, and explain the material. In collaborative learning, students work as teams on homework and projects, so that both their individual responsibility and effective group work is satisfied. In problem-based learning, first a question is raised and then required knowledge and skills to solve that problem is gradually provided to students. Student-centered methods have a clear advantage over traditional instructor-centered methods. This advantage can be observed in instances like faster and more lasting learning, deeper comprehension of course material, application of critical thinking or creative problem solving skills, and establishing a positive attitude toward lectures

Sense of Leadership Affects Problematic Video Gaming

Following the emergence of the Internet, online video games, have become a fast-growing trend among adolescents. Among all the IT-related activities, The hedonic use of video games has resulted in non-substance addictions (Charlton & Danforth, 2010; Huh & Bowman, 2008). The video games have been designed to operate in a simulated open-world space, engaging multiplayer from all around the world and paving the way for real-time gaming. Among adolescents, the number of players who are using online video games in a problematic way is considerable (Kowert et al., 2015; Van Reijmersdal et al., 2010). while the problematic use of video games raised concern among the parents and officials, On May 25, 2019, WHO officially voted to adopt the latest edition of its International Classification of Diseases (ICD) to include an entry on gaming disorder as a behavioral addiction (World Health Organization, 2018). Such a classification highlights the importance of identifying the factors affecting an underage player to demonstrate problematic behavior in the context of online video games. Although not all online games are addictive or harmful, some games, including many massively multiplayer online games, can be addiction-prone owing to their interaction and competition (Barnett & Coulson, 2010; Liu & Peng, 2009). These features give such games a social aspect that may be missing from offline activities and make it difficult to stop playing (Young, 2010). As such, excessive use of online video games and addiction to them have become common and may result in many harmful psychological and physical damages, including social isolation, lack of sleep, and deterioration of academic performance, specifically in young adults. Games also impact players’ motivation due to their uncertain outcomes and the focus on a goal, providing a sense of challenge for players. This is fed by the opportunities to explore and discover new information and solutions (Bonk & Dennen, 2005). The motivational power of gaming was mentioned by educators Bowman (1982) and Yee (2006)found that players have a wide array of varied motivations to play and interact with others in their studies of player motivations in massively multiplayer online role-playing games. According to Game-Based Learning theory, the learning occurs predominantly due to the game played by developing mechanics like role-playing, achievement, competition, and reward system (Kapp, 2012). Through this process, the players develop and improve their leadership skills in the context of video games. However, we argue that role-playing and competition-award mechanism may lead to demonstrate excessive video gaming. Therefore, our research question is: “How and why the players\u27 sense of leadership is associated with problematic video gaming?” After defining survey questionnaires, we will collect the data and use SmartPLS (Ringle et al., 2005) and SPSS to analyze the data