Iran’s Earthen Architectural Heritage as Reflected in the Terra Congress Proceedings and Iran Journal

Iran is an important place for architectural and archaeological studies, especially for its wealth of earthen architecture. International scholarly studies in Iran began in the late nineteen and early twentieth centuries. However much of this research was not published until the end of the 1950s. In the 1960s, many scholarly conferences and publications on the conservation of earthen architecture began. Two major events occurred regarding Iran’s architectural heritage. The first was the founding of an international academic journal, Iran Journal, in 1963 by the British Institute of Persian Studies. The other was the formation of the first international congress on the conservation of earthen heritage, Terra, held in 1972, in Yazd, Iran. In this research with a comprehensive review of the history of the scholarship and heritage conservation in Iran, I did a systematic literature review on the presentation of Iran’s earthen architectural heritage in Terra congress proceedings and Iran Journal. The review of 165 published articles regarding Iran’s earthen heritage, showed three historical periods in this country’s international scholarship since the late 19th century. It also confirmed that majority of the published works come from archaeological and architectural studies, rather than conservation projects. According to this review, Iran challenges with the lack of international collaborative projects in earthen heritage conservation. The comparison studies between two publications showed a big gap in multidisciplinary collaborations between archaeologists, architects, and conservationists. I hope that this research with introducing the gaps in Iran’s earthen heritage research areas can create opportunities for planned scholarly studies

Modeling Virus Transport and Removal during Storage and Recovery in Heterogeneous Aquifers

A quantitative understanding of virus removal during aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) in physically and geochemically heterogeneous aquifers is needed to accurately assess human health risks from viral infections. A two-dimensional axisymmetric numerical model incorporating processes of virus attachment, detachment, and inactivation in aqueous and solid phases was developed to systematically evaluate the virus removal performance of ASR schemes. Physical heterogeneity was considered as either layered or randomly distributed hydraulic conductivities (with selected variance and horizontal correlation length). Geochemical heterogeneity in the aquifer was accounted for using Colloid Filtration Theory to predict the spatial distribution of attachment rate coefficient. Simulation results demonstrate that the combined effects of aquifer physical heterogeneity and spatial variability of attachment rate resulted in higher virus concentrations in the recovered water at the ASR well (i.e. reduced virus removal). While the sticking efficiency of viruses to aquifer sediments was found to significantly influence virus concentration in the recovered water, the solid phase inactivation under realistic field conditions combined with the duration of storage phase had a predominant influence on the overall virus removal. The relative importance of physical heterogeneity increased under physicochemical conditions that reduced virus removal (e.g. lower value of sticking efficiency or solid phase inactivation rate). This study provides valuable insight on site selection of ASR projects and an approach to optimize ASR operational parameters (e.g. storage time) for virus removal and to minimize costs associated with post-recovery treatment

PASA: A Priori Adaptive Splitting Algorithm for the Split Delivery Vehicle Routing Problem

The split delivery vehicle routing problem (SDVRP) is a relaxed variant of the capacitated vehicle routing problem (CVRP) where the restriction that each customer is visited precisely once is removed. Compared with CVRP, the SDVRP allows a reduction in the cost of the routes traveled by vehicles. The exact methods to solve the SDVRP are computationally expensive. Moreover, the complexity and difficult implementation of the state-of-the-art heuristic approaches hinder their application in real-life scenarios of the SDVRP. In this paper, we propose an easily understandable and effective approach to solve the SDVPR based on an a priori adaptive splitting algorithm (PASA). The idea of a priori split strategy was first introduced in Chen et al. (2017). In this approach, the demand of the customers is split into smaller values using a fixed splitting rule in advance. Consequently, the original SDVRP instance is converted to a CVRP instance which is solved using an existing CVRP solver. While the proposed a priori splitting rule in Chen et al. (2017) is fixed for all customers regardless of their demand and location, we suggest an adaptive splitting rule that takes into account the distance of the customers to the depot and their demand values. Our experiments show that PASA can generate solutions comparable to the state-of-the-art but much faster. Furthermore, our algorithm outperforms the fixed a priori splitting rule proposed by Chen et al. (2017)

Joint Satellite Gateway Placement and Routing for Integrated Satellite-Terrestrial Networks

With the increasing attention to the integrated satellite-terrestrial networks (ISTNs), the satellite gateway placement problem becomes of paramount importance. The resulting network performance may vary depending on the different design strategies. In this paper, a joint satellite gateway placement and routing strategy for the terrestrial network is proposed to minimize the overall cost of gateway deployment and traffic routing, while adhering to the average delay requirement for traffic demands. Although traffic routing and gateway placement can be solved independently, the dependence between the routing decisions for different demands makes it more realistic to solve an aggregated model instead. We develop a mixed-integer linear program (MILP) formulation for the problem. We relax the integrality constraints to achieve a linear program (LP) which reduces time-complexity at the expense of a sub-optimal solution. We further propose a variant of the proposed model to balance the load between the selected gateways.Comment: 6 pages, In Proceedings of IEEE ICC 2020. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9149175 N. Torkzaban, A. Gholami, J. S. Baras and C. Papagianni, "Joint Satellite Gateway Placement and Routing for Integrated Satellite-Terrestrial Networks," ICC 2020 - 2020 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC), Dublin, Ireland, 2020, pp. 1-6. doi: 10.1109/ICC40277.2020.914917

Colloid Release and Clogging in Porous Media: Effects of Solution Ionic Strength and Flow Velocity

The release and retention of in-situ colloids in aquifers play an important role in the sustainable operation of managed aquifer recharge (MAR) schemes. The processes of colloid release, retention, and associated permeability changes in consolidated aquifer sediments were studied by displacing native groundwater with reverse osmosis-treated (RO) water at various flow velocities. Significant amounts of colloid release occurred when: (i) the native groundwater was displaced by RO-water with a low ionic strength (IS), and (ii) the flow velocity was increased in a stepwise manner. The amount of colloid release and associated permeability reduction upon RO-water injection depended on the initial clay content of the core. The concentration of released colloids was relatively low and the permeability reduction was negligible for the core sample with a low clay content of about 1.3%. In contrast, core samples with about 6 and 7.5% clay content exhibited: (i) close to two orders of magnitude increase in effluent colloid concentration and (ii) more than 65% permeability reduction. Incremental improvement in the core permeability was achieved when the flow velocity increased, whereas a short flow interruption provided a considerable increase in the core permeability.This dependence of colloid release and permeability changes on flow velocity and colloid concentration was consistent with colloid retention and release at pore constrictions due to the mechanism of hydrodynamic bridging. A mathematical model was formulated to describe the processes of colloid release, transport, retention at pore constrictions, and subsequent permeability changes. Our experimental and modeling results indicated that only a small fraction of the in-situ colloids was released for any given change in the IS or flow velocity. Comparison of the fitted and experimentally measured effluent colloid concentrations and associated changes in the core permeability showed good agreement, indicating that the essential physics were accurately captured by the model

Comparing Two Methods of Rectal Diclofenac Administration for Pain Management in Second Trimester Abortion: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Background & Objective: Pain is the most common side effect of induced medical abortion. However, the optimal analgesia method remains as a clinical challenge. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of two methods of administration of diclofenac as a prophylactic or a therapeutic in pain management in induced second-trimester medical abortion. Materials & Methods: This randomized clinical trial study was conducted upon pregnant women who were candidates for induced medical abortion and referred to a tertiary educational hospital between October 2019 and December 2020. Participants were divided into two groups based on the mode of diclofenac administration, which was either simultaneously with the first dose of misoprostol or after beginning of the pain. Pain severity, induction-to-abortion time interval, total misoprostol dosage, Hemoglobin concentration, length of hospitalization, and size of retained pregnancy products by ultrasound, and the cumulative dose of opioid usage were compared between the groups. Results: The severity of pain which was measured by a visual analog scale (VAS), residual of conceived products, hospitalization days, and the total misoprostol dosage were significantly lower (P\u3c0.05) in the prophylaxis compared to the treatment group. Conclusion: Simultaneous administration of diclofenac with misoprostol as prophylactic method of pain management may be an optimal method in induced medical abortion in the second trimester

Analysis of ultrasonographic misdiagnosis of cephalothoracopagus janiceps conjoined twins: A case report

Background & Objective: Conjoined twins (CTs) are rare complications of monozygotic twinning. Cephalothoracopagus is the rarest subtype of CTs and occurs once in every 58 sets of conjoined twins or once in every three million births. Here we present such a case and analyze the possible reasons for ultrasonographic misdiagnosis and recommend solutions to avoid it. Case Report: In this article, we have reported a case of Cephalothoracopagus Janiceps twining. The ultrasonographic diagnosis was missed at 7 and 12 weeks scans. Increased thickness of nuchal translucency and absent nasal bone was observed alongside with suspected gastroschisis. The patient was referred for further evaluation at 13-14 weeks of pregnancy. Unexpectedly, two alive fetuses were reported fused in the head, thorax, and abdomen. Because of the poor prognosis, counseling was provided for parents and elective medical pregnancy termination was carried out. We have analyzed the possible reasons for ultrasonographic misdiagnosis. Conclusion: Without applying a standardized scanning of the entire uterus both in a longitudinal and transverse approach in early pregnancy, cephalothoracopagus twining may be misdiagnosed with a singleton pregnancy. A high level of concerns may raise for conjoined cephalothoracopagus twinning in case of finding a single fetal pole with an irregular body outline and a disproportionally large head in the presence of two separate fetal hearts in early pregnancy. Two fused heads with two brains and two sets of lower and upper extremities do confirm the diagnosis

Maternal mortality following thromboembolism; incidences and prophylaxis strategies.

BACKGROUND: Thromboembolism is one of the main causes of maternal mortality, which can be prevented in many cases. The present study was designed to investigate the incidence and prophylaxis strategies for maternal mortality following thromboembolism in postnatal. METHODS: In this case series study, the data of the mortality cases were extracted according to the ethical and security standards of the Ministry of Health of the country and compared with a healthy control group. The thromboembolism risk factors measured and scored using a questionnaire entitled the evaluation of risk factors for maternal mortality following thromboembolism during pregnancy, labor, or post-partum . RESULTS: The maternal mortality rate was 16 per 100,000 live births. Among 297 mortality cases, 27 (9%) death were due to thromboembolism. The mean gestational age was 32.5 weeks. Dyspnea (88.8%) and tachycardia (18.5%) were found as common clinical manifestations in these patients. Sixteen cases (59.3%) did not get heparin, 6 (22.2%) received single dose and 5 (18.5%) received two doses and more. In these 11 cases, 5 (45%) patients received heparin before surgery, 1 after surgery, and 5 before and after surgery. Twenty cases deceased in the first hours after delivery and the rest after 2 to 12 days. The average score of risk for thromboembolism based on Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynecologist (RCOG) guideline was 4.6. CONCLUSION: It seems that one of the most important cause of maternal mortality in this study was the lack of recognition of high-risk patients and the lack of prescription for prophylaxis with heparin and this clearly explains the need for accurate screening of high-risk mothers, designing a standard form and the care and treatment of these patients

Transport of <i>Sporosarcina pasteurii</i> in sandstone and its significance for subsurface engineering technologies

The development of microbially mediated technologies for subsurface remediation and rock engineering is steadily increasing; however, we are lacking experimental data and models to predict bacterial movement through rock matrices. Here, breakthrough curves (BTCs) were obtained to quantify the transport of the ureolytic bacterium, Sporosarcina pasteurii, through sandstone cores, as a function of core length (1.8–7.5 cm), bacterial density (4 × 10&lt;sup&gt;6&lt;/sup&gt; to 9 × 10&lt;sup&gt;7&lt;/sup&gt; cells/ml) and flow rate (5.8–17.5 m/s). &lt;i&gt;S. pasteurii&lt;/i&gt; was easily immobilised within the homogeneous sandstone matrix (&gt;80%) in comparison to a packed sand column (&lt;20%; under similar experimental conditions), and percentage recovery decreased almost linearly with increasing rock core length. Moreover, a decrease in bacterial density or flow rate enhanced bacterial retention. A numerical model based on 1D advection dispersion models used for unconsolidated sand was fitted to the BTC data obtained here for sandstone. Good agreement between data and model was obtained at shorter rock core lengths (&lt;4 cm), suggesting that physicochemical filtration processes are similar in homogeneous packed sand and sandstones at these lengths. Discrepancies were, however observed at longer core lengths and with varying flow rates, indicating that the attributes of consolidated rock might impact bacterial transport progressively more with increasing core length. Implications of these results on microbial mineralisation technologies currently being developed for sealing fluid paths in subsurface environment is discussed