An Agent‐Based Simulation of Residential Location Choice of Tenants in Tehran,Iran

Residential location choice modeling is one of the substantial components of land use and transportation models. While numerous aggregated mathematical and statistical approaches have been developed to model the residence choice behavior of households, disaggregated approaches such as the agent‐based modeling have shown interesting capabilities. In this article, a novel agent‐based approach is developed to simulate the residential location choice of tenants in Tehran, the capital of Iran. Tenants are considered as agents who select their desired residential alternatives according to their characteristics and preferences for various criteria such as the rent, accessibility to different services and facilities, environmental pollution, and distance from their workplace and former residence. The choice set of agents is limited to their desired residential alternatives by applying a constrained NSGA‐II algorithm. Then, agents compete with each other to select their final residence among their alternatives. Results of the proposed approach are validated by comparing simulated and actual residences of a sample of tenants. Results show that the proposed approach is able to accurately simulate the residence of 59.3% of tenants at the traffic analysis zone level.     

Improving urban cellular automata performance by integrating global and geographically weighted logistic regression models

In many of the conventional cellular automata (CA) models, particularly Urban‐CA which are used for urban growth, the spatial heterogeneities and local differences of the land use conversion processes are ignored. Global logistic regression (LR) is a popular model employed to define the transition rules of Urban‐CA. By considering the local characteristics, Geographically Weighted Logistic Regression (GWLR) provides interesting capabilities for urban growth modelling. In this research, in addition to using GWLR in the definition of transition rules, the advantages of integrating GWLR and LR for urban growth simulation were evaluated; these have not been considered in previous studies. Local and global probabilities obtained from the calibration of GWLR and LR were combined to define the transition rules of an Urban‐CA. Urban growth was simulated in the Islamshahr sub‐region located southwest of Tehran, Iran for the two periods 1992‐1996 and 1996‐2002, and data from these periods were used for training and testing the prediction abilities, respectively. In the first period, GWLR showed good performance and a significant contribution to the enhancement of the simulation performance, but in the second period, the effectiveness of LR on the prediction accuracy increased. Due to their complementary roles, the integration of the GWLR and LR models resulted in improved simulation performance in both periods.     

Application of chlorine dioxide for secondary effluent polishing

There are still many difficulties for developing the projects of using treated effluents. In this study, the efficiency of chlorine deoxide in the process of preparing the effluent of Sahebgharanieh Plant of Tehran for reuse purposes has been determind. Major results are as follows: Total COD reductions resulted from effluent treatment by ClO₂ solutions having concentrations equal to 1/4, 1/2 and 1/1 of COD samples at one hour contact time have been about 42%, 49% and 59% respectively. Total suspended solids were also reduced by treatment with ClO₂ solutions having the certain concentrations mentioned, and the reductions were about 37%,47% and 58% respectively. Besides total and fecal coliforms results indicated that ClO₂ apllied was quite efficient in effluent disinfection. The conclusion is that reasonable reductions would be expected in the amounts of remained major pollutants and so reuse applications for some non-potable purposes may become possible. The acidification of chlorite has been used for ClO₂ generation as it is better suited to small treatment systems.     

Modeling relationships between the network distance and travel time dynamics for assessing equity of accessibility to urban parks

Static models of accessibility are usually based on the fixed distance or Average Travel Time (ATT) models. Because of ignoring the traffic as a dynamic process affecting the accessibility through the change of Travel Time (TT), these models lead to unperceived temporal inequities. In contrast to the consideration of the temporal Variation of TT (VTT) in the previous studies, the variation of traffic- related TT and its relations with network distance has not been considered. In this study, relations between VTT and network distance to access urban parks in Tehran megacity has been modeled. Traffic maps at five times of day are used to produce TT maps of Traffic Analysis Zones (TAZs) to their 3-closest parks. Comparison of the Gini coefficients of accessibility show significant inequities of accessibility at different times of day. Relations between the distance, ATT, and TTmax are modeled by statistical analysis. Results show both TT and TTmax have significant positive relations with distance and traffic and reach their maximum at 6 p.m. Observation of significant relations between distance, ATT, TTmax, and VTT provides interesting knowledge for the conversion of temporal measures of equity (TT) to a physical measure of equity (distance). A simple application of these findings for effective management of the spatiotemporal inequities is the definition of critical distances from public services. As an example, to decrease the TTmax of TAZs to less than 12 min, their maximum distance to the closest parks should be less than 4 km. The developed approach can be adopted for the accessibility evaluation of the other public services, particularly the health and education centers.     

Simulation study of CO2 sequestration potential of the Mary Lee coal zone, Black Warrior basin

Significant potential exists for CO₂ sequestration in coalbed methane reservoirs of the Black Warrior basin. Reservoir simulation is an appropriate approach to estimate both the storage capacity and methane recovery enhancement. However, prior to a reliable reservoir modeling and simulation, conducting an accurate and comprehensive reservoir characterization study is necessary. The purpose of the present study is twofold: (a) to provide a rigorous reservoir characterization study required for modeling Mary Lee coal group in the Blue Creek field of the Black Warrior basin; (b) to run fluid flow simulations to predict the performance of ECBM process applied to an under pressured zone of the Mary Lee coal group. According to the current well configuration of Blue Creek field, three applicable well patterns, namely a direct line drive, an inverted 5-spot and a normal 5-spot were separately (i.e., in three distinct cases) used for simulating ECBM. Simulations were run on an approximately 32 ha (80-acre) drainage area, and included coal matrix shrinkage/swelling effects. The injected gas was assumed to be pure CO₂. Using an inverted 5-spot pattern, simulations predicted that after 7.5 years of CO₂ injection, approximately 32,000 tonnes of CO₂ would be sequestered per 32 ha of this zone and that methane recovery would be enhanced by 36 %. Using a normal 5-spot pattern, CO₂ breakthrough would occur 2.4 years earlier, and about 40,000 tonnes CO₂ would be sequestered. However, methane production would be enhanced by 33 %. Considering methane recovery enhancement, direct line drive pattern delivered poor results in comparison with two other patterns. As expected, the results also showed that CO₂ injection would increase water production.     

Sensitivity of simulated cyclone Gonu intensity and track to variety of parameterizations: Advanced hurricane WRF model application

Domain configuration and several physical parameterization settings such as planetary boundary layer, cumulus convection, and ocean–atmosphere surface flux parameterizations can play significant roles in numerical prediction of tropical cyclones. The present study focuses to improve the prediction of the TC Gonu by investigating the sensitivity of simulations to mentioned configurations with the Advanced Hurricane WRF model. The experiments for domain design sensitivity with 27 km resolution has been shown moving the domains towards the east improve the results, due to better account for the large-scale process. The fixed and movable nests on a 9-km grid were considered separately within the coarse domain and their results showed that despite salient improvement in simulated intensity, an accuracy reduction in simulated track was observed. Increasing horizontal resolution to 3 km incredibly reduced the simulated intensity accuracy when compared to 27 km resolution. Thereafter, different initial conditions were experimented and the results have shown that the cyclone of 1000 hPa sea level pressure is the best simulation initial condition in predicting the track and intensity for cyclone Gonu. The sensitivity of simulations to ocean–atmosphere surface-flux parameterizations on a 9-km grid showed the combination of ‘Donelan scheme’ for momentum exchanges along with ‘Large and Pond scheme’ for heat and moisture exchanges provide the best prediction for cyclone Gonu intensity. The combination of YSU and MYJ PBL scheme with KF convection for prediction of track and the combination of YSU PBL scheme with KF convection for prediction of intensity are found to have better performance than the other combinations. These 22 sensitivity experiments also implicitly lead us to the conclusion that each particular forecast aspect of TC (e.g., track, intensity, etc.) will require its own special design.     

Comparison of momentum roughness lengths of the WRF-SWAN online coupling and WRF model in simulation of tropical cyclone Gonu

Ocean Dynamics - The surface enthalpy fluxes (latent and sensible heat fluxes) provide the necessary energy to intensify tropical cyclones (TCs). The surface momentum fluxes modify the intensity of...     

Elimination of natural organic matter by electrocoagulation using bipolar and monopolar arrangements of iron and aluminum electrodes

The aim of this research was to evaluate the efficiency of electrocoagulation (EC) for the removal of natural organic matter (NOM) by using iron (Fe) and aluminum (Al) electrodes. The effects of several operational parameters such as initial pH (3–10), time of electrolysis (5–30 min), initial concentration of organic matter (10–50 mg NOM/L), current density (0.25–1.25 mA/cm²), type of electrode material (n = 4, 2 sides × 11 cm × 10 cm, wall thickness = 2 mm, distance between each electrode = 5 mm), and type of connection of electrodes (bipolar and monopolar configurations) were explored for the removal of NOM from synthetic humic acid solution in a 2 L laboratory-scale EC cells (A _s/V = 0.110 cm^?1). The optimum conditions for the process were identified as pH = 3 and 7, electrolysis time = 20 and 10 min for Fe and Al electrodes, respectively. Using both electrodes at current density = 0.25 mA/cm² and initial concentration of organic matter = 50 mg/L, a NOM removal efficiency of almost 100% could be achieved in the bipolar mode. Based on the optimum conditions, specific reactor electrical energy consumptions were 14.90 kWh/kg Al (or 0.092 kWh/m³) and 2.88 kWh/kg Fe (or 0.11 kWh/m³). Specific electrode consumptions were obtained to be 0.0062 and 0.0382 kg/m³, and operating costs of the EC system were preliminary estimated at 0.057 and 0.119 $/m³ for Al and Fe electrodes, respectively.     

Assessment of noise induced psychological stresses on printery workers

The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between psychological stresses and noise stresses on printery workers in Tehran, Iran. Hence, 267 workers were randomly selected. The L_eq and L_maxwere measured and the psychological stresses such as depression, anxiety, aggression and job satisfaction were also studied by the relevant questionnaires. The data were statistically analyzed by Pearson correlation test. The results demonstrated that there was no significant statistical relationship between noise and psychological stresses. In addition, by using Spearman regression method, the influence of variables such as age, gender and job history on psychological stresses caused by L_eq and L_max was studied and the results only revealed that the aggression caused by L_eq increased in young personnel (P=0.02) as well as, anxiety caused by L increased accompanied by increasing the job history and age of the workers (P=0.002 and P=0.007). Therefore, more variables must be taken into consideration to judge about noise induced psychological stresses in workplaces.     

Environmental risk assessment of platinum cytotoxic drugs: a focus on toxicity characterization of hospital effluents

Platinum-based cytotoxic drugs are complexes of Pt used in 50–70% of cancer patients. This study was performed during 2015, in two oncology wards of Qom hospitals in Iran. Sampling was carried out using effluent of the oncology wards for measurement of total Pt concentration. Analysis was performed by ICP–OES, and limit of detection was determined (LODs = 1 µg/L). During the sampling days, the total Pt concentration in the wastewater effluent oncology ward ranged from 5 to 762 µg/L at Shahid Beheshti Hospital and from 3 to 629 µg/L at Hazrat Masoumeh Hospital. According to the results from concentration of cytotoxic drugs, the predicted environmental concentrations (PECs) (ng/L) in wastewater treatment plant effluent and river for cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin were determined. Calculated RQ_hww showed that \(\sum {\text{RQ}}_{\text{hww}} = 1.19\). Thus, the total platinum compound drug could have potential toxicity effect on aquatic organisms. It was concluded that monitoring of cytotoxic drugs residue in hospital effluent must be considered because of their toxicity and impact on aquatic pollution. The results also revealed that PEC < 10 ng/L for all the platinum compound drugs and sum of the PEC calculation (\(\sum {\text{PEC}}_{{{\text{cis}},{\text{carbo}},{\text{oxali}}}}\)).