Investigation of correlation of the variations in land subsidence (detected by continuous GPS measurements) and methodological data in the surrounding areas of Lake Urmia

Lake Urmia, a salt lake in the north-west of Iran, plays a valuable role in the environment, wildlife and economy of Iran and the region, but now faces great challenges for survival. The Lake is in immediate and great danger and is rapidly going to become barren desert. As a result, the increasing demands upon groundwater resources due to expanding metropolitan and agricultural areas are a serious challenge in the surrounding regions of Lake Urmia. The continuous GPS measurements around the lake illustrate significant subsidence rate between 2005 and 2009. The objective of this study was to detect and specify the non-linear correlation of land subsidence and temperature activities in the region from 2005 to 2009. For this purpose, the cross wavelet transform (XWT) was carried out between the two types of time series, namely vertical components of GPS measurements and daily temperature time series. The significant common patterns are illustrated in the high period bands from 180–218 days band (~6–7 months) from September 2007 to February 2009. Consequently, the satellite altimetry data confirmed that the maximum rate of linear trend of water variation in the lake from 2005 to 2009, is associated with time interval from September 2007 to February 2009. This event was detected by XWT as a critical interval to be holding the strong correlation between the land subsidence phenomena and surface temperature. Eventually the analysis can be used for modeling and prediction purposes and probably stave off the damage from subsidence phenomena

Energy conditions in f(R) gravity and Brans-Dicke theories

The equivalence between f(R) gravity and scalar-tensor theories is invoked to study the null, strong, weak and dominant energy conditions in Brans-Dicke theory. We consider the validity of the energy conditions in Brans-Dicke theory by invoking the energy conditions derived from a generic f(R) theory. The parameters involved are shown to be consistent with an accelerated expanding universe.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure, to appear in IJMP

Insider trading and future stock returns in firms with concentrated ownership levels

Peer reviewedPostprin

A Practical Load Disaggregation Approach for Monitoring Industrial Users Demand with Limited Data Availability

The emergence of smart sensors has had a significant impact on the utility industry. In particular, it has made the planning and implementation of demand-side management (DSM) programmes easier. Nevertheless, for various reasons, some users may not implement smart meters for load monitoring. This paper addresses such cases, particularly large-scale industrial users, which, despite heavy electrical loads coming from many different processes, implement only simple energy measuring equipment for billing purposes. This necessitates the utilisation of novel methodologies for load disaggregation, often referred to as nonintrusive load monitoring (NILM). The availability of such tools can create multifold benefits for industrial park management, utility service providers, regulators, and policymakers. Here, we introduce an optimisation algorithm for nonintrusive load disaggregation that is low-cost, speedy, and acceptably accurate. As a case study, we used real network data of three industrial sectors: food processing, stonecutting, and glassmaking. For all cases, the optimisation framework developed a desegregated profile and estimated the load with an error of less than 5%. For non-workdays, given the higher uncertainty for the continuity of different processes, the estimation error was higher but still in an acceptable range of around 3.63–15.09% with an average of 8.10%.</jats:p

Predictors of quality of life in HIV-infected rural women: Psychometric test of the Chronic Illness Quality of Life Ladder

The Chronic Illness Quality of Life Ladder (CIQOLL) underwent psychometric testing in a sample of 278 women with HIV disease. The CIQOLL, a self-anchoring striving scale based on Cantril’s Ladder, measures seven domains (physical , emotional, financial, family and friends, spiritual well-being, peace of mind, and overall life satisfaction) across four time periods (present, past, future, life without a diagnosis of HIV). The domains were derived from focus groups with persons with HIV disease. Women with a diagnosis of HIV Infection, age 18 or older, residing in rural areas in the southeastern United States, completed questionnaires that measured physical functioning, HIV related symptom frequency and distress, depressive symptoms, social support, and quality of life. Procedures used to assess reliability included item–item, item–total, and subscale–subscale correlations, and Chronbach’s coefficient a. Criterion-related (concurrent) validity was assessed by correlating the CIQOLL with HIV symptoms, functional status and social support. Construct validity was estimated using factor analysis and predictive modeling. Results provide preliminary evidence that the CIQOLL is a reliable and valid scale that may provide meaningful information about persons living with a chronic illness, such as HIV disease, especially low literacy and unacculturated populations. Additional research is needed to weight the domains, test the sensitivity of the scale to changes over time, and explore the usefulness of discrepancy scores

New multi-proxy record shows potential impacts of precipitation on the rise and ebb of Bronze Age and imperial Persian societies in southeastern Iran

The Achaemenids and Sasanian ‘Persian’ Empires were significant political, economic, and social forces in the Late Bronze Age and Late Antiquity Eurasia, respectively, which have left marks on the heritage of the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern world. While attention is often focused on military and political conditions when discussing the prosperity and decline of these imperial powers, their realms, which crossed a variety of environmental settings, were highly dependent on the predictability of rainfall that drove agriculture and effective provisioning. Here, we present a multi-proxy sedimentological, geochemical, and palynological record from a 2.5-m long peat deposit near the excavation site in Konar Sandal near Jiroft in southeastern Iran, covering 4000-850 cal yr BP. Around 3950 cal yr BP a wet period prevailed based on elemental ratios, stable C isotope, pollen, and diagnostic lipids. Between 3900 and 3300 cal yr BP, wet/semi-wet conditions developed with the appearance of Cerealia-type pollen. Dry and windy conditions followed (ca. 3300-2900 cal yr BP), which coincided with the Siberian anticyclones and climatic shifts developing in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Consequently, the Bronze Age settlements around Jiroft, dependent on agriculture, underwent a steady decline. A prolonged wet period followed (ca. 2900-2300 cal yr BP) with the abundance of Sparganium-type pollen and the aquatic lipid proxy (Paq). This change coincided with intensive agricultural practices and the flourishing of the powerful Median and Achaemenid empires. The shift to high Ti/Al ratios coeval with the lowest δ13COM values suggests an increase in aeolian activity and dry conditions ca. 2100-1650 cal yr BP. The Jiroft valley again experienced wet conditions between 1550 and 1300 cal yr BP, which overlapped with the economic prosperity of the middle to late Sasanian empire. The paleoenvironmental reconstruction indicates that wet periods and intensive agriculture coincide with the Persian empires' zenith, political influence, and economic affluence. Therefore, contextualized and detailed paleoenvironmental records are desirable to explore the interplay of political and climatic factors in the development and fragmentation of the ancient settlements and imperial powers in Eurasian history.1. Introduction 2. Geographical setting 3. Materials and methods 3.1. Sampling, magnetic susceptibility, and grain size analysis 3.2. Radiocarbon analyses 3.3. Elemental and mineralogical analyses 3.4. C/N and stable isotope analyses 3.4.1. Lipid extraction 3.5. Pollen analysis 4. Results 4.1. Age-depth model and chronology 4.2. Units 4.2.1. Unit 1 (U 1; 250-189 cm; ca. 4000-3550 cal yr BP) 4.2.2. Unit 2 (U 2; 189-164 cm; ca. 3550-3300 cal yr BP) 4.2.3. Unit 3 (U 3; 164-134 cm; ca. 3300-2900 cal yr BP) 4.2.4. Unit 4 (U 4; 134-106 cm; ca. 2900-2300 cal yr BP) 4.2.5. Unit 5 (U 5; 106-61 cm; ca. 2300-1550 cal yr BP) 4.2.6. Unit 6 (U 6; 61-10 cm; ca. 1550-850 cal yr BP) 5. Discussion 5.1. Paleoclimate preceding the decline of the Jiroft civilization 5.2. The Late Bronze Age decline in Jiroft 5.3. Rise and fall of the Persian Empire 5.3.1. The pre-Islamic period and recent times 6. Conclusion

Predictors of complications in acute type B aortic dissection

Objectives: Medical treatment is generally advocated for patients with acute type B aortic dissection without complications. The objective of this retrospective analysis was to determine whether there are any initial findings that can help predict the long-term course of the disease. Methods: Case records of the 130 patients treated for type B aortic dissection between 1988 and 1997 were reviewed; 41 (31%) were operated on in the acute phase (≪14 days), 31 (24%) were operated on in the chronic phase and 58 (45%) were treated medically. Results: Overall acute mortality was 10.8%; 22% for patients operated on in the early phase and 5.6% for medically treated patients. Age (P=0.002), persistent pain (P=0.01) and malperfusion (P=0.001) were significant independent predictors of the need for surgery. Paraplegia/para paresis (P=0.0001), leg ischaemia (P=0.003), pleural effusion (P=0.003), rupture (P=0.0001), shock (P=0.0001), age (P=0.003), cardiac failure (P=0.002) and aortic diameter ≫4.5cm (P=0.002) were significant predictors of poor survival. Age and shock also emerged as independent risk factors. Patients without malperfusion (P=0.0001), pleural effusion (P=0.003), rupture (P=0.0001) and shock (P=0.0001) had a significantly better event-free survival (freedom from repeat surgery and death). The actuarial survival rate for high-risk patients (malperfusion, rupture, shock) was 62% at 1 year and 40% at 5 years; the corresponding values for low-risk patients were 94 and 84%, respectively. Conclusions: Rupture, shock and malperfusion are significant predictors of poor survival in patients with acute type B aortic dissectio

Quality of experience and HTTP adaptive streaming: a review of subjective studies

HTTP adaptive streaming technology has become widely spread in multimedia services because of its ability to provide adaptation to characteristics of various viewing devices and dynamic network conditions. There are various studies targeting the optimization of adaptation strategy. However, in order to provide an optimal viewing experience to the end-user, it is crucial to get knowledge about the Quality of Experience (QoE) of different adaptation schemes. This paper overviews the state of the art concerning subjective evaluation of adaptive streaming QoE and highlights the challenges and open research questions related to QoE assessment