Systematic study of effects of pH and ionic strength on attachment of phage PRD1

Objectives of this work are to investigate effects of pH and ionic strength (IS) on virus transport in saturated soil and to develop a quantitative relationship for these effects. A series of 50-cm column experiments with clean quartz sand under saturated conditions and with pH values of 5, 6, 7, 8, and IS values of 1, 10, and 20 mM were conducted. Bacteriophage PRD1 was used as a model virus. Applying a one-site kinetic model, attachment, detachment, and inactivation rate coefficients were determined from fitting breakthrough curves using the software package Hydrus-1D. Attachment rate coefficients increased with decreasing pH and increasing IS, in agreement with DLVO theory. Sticking efficiencies were calculated from the attachment rate coefficients and used to develop an empirical formula for sticking efficiency as a function of pH and IS. This relationship is applicable under unfavorable conditions for virus attachment. We compared sticking efficiencies predicted by the empirical formula with those from field and column experiments. Within the calibrated range of pH and IS, the predicted and observed sticking efficiencies are in reasonable agreement for bacteriophages PRD1 and MS2. However, the formula significantly overestimates sticking efficiencies for IS higher than 100 mM. In addition, it performs less well for viruses with different surface reactivity than PRD1 and MS2. Effects of pH and IS on detachment and inactivation rate coefficients were also investigated but the experimental results do not allow constraining these parameters with sufficient certainty.     

Post-2012 CDM multi-criteria analysis of industries in six Asian countries: Iranian case study

The prospects of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and for carbon income, up to and beyond 2012, in the industrial sectors of Iran and five other Asian countries are investigated. The attractiveness and suitability of each host country, the status of their industrial sectors (based on four post-2012 scenarios), and the post-2012 potential of the CDM (or similar carbon projects) in these sectors are all examined. A multi-criteria analysis of Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, China, and India, based on seven sets of criteria (institutional, regulatory, economic, political, social, CDM experience, and energy production/consumption), is conducted, and the post-2012 potential carbon incomes of each country – based on CO₂e emissions of industrial processes – are calculated. Finally, the Iranian industrial sector and the impact of deregulation of energy prices are examined. The post-2012 potential savings in the Iranian industrial sector are calculated based on energy savings, carbon income, and environmental savings. The results indicate that there is strong demand for investment and new technology in this sector to combat several-fold energy price increases. Moreover, high-priced carbon credits could play a meaningful role in post-2012 energy policies in this sector.

Policy relevance

This research is the first study to quantify the carbon market potentials in the industrial sectors of the selected Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members. The Kyoto Protocol is considered by most OPEC countries to be a mixed bag of threats and opportunities and they have shown ambivalence towards it, mainly due to the threat a reduction of fossil fuel consumption poses to their economies. On the other hand, energy efficiency is a desirable goal for their industrial sectors. Iran, as an OPEC member country with vast energy resources, has mostly ignored the CDM during the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol and has performed poorly on CDM implementation. However, the current deregulation of energy prices in Iran, with profound cuts in energy subsidies, would definitely alter the perspective of its industrial decision makers on the post-2012 carbon potentials.     

Multiple Classifier Systems for Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Data Classification

One of the most widely used outputs of remote sensing technology is Hyperspectral image. This large amount of information can increase classification accuracy. But at the same time, conventional classification techniques are facing the problem of statistical estimation in high-dimensional space. Recently in remote sensing, support vector machines (SVMs) have shown very suitable performance in classifying high dimensionality problem. Another strategy that has recently been used in remote sensing is multiple classifier system (MCS). It can also improve classification accuracy by combining different classifier methods or by a diversity of the same classifier. This paper aims to classify a Hyperspectral data using the most common methods of multiple classifier systems i.e. adaboost and bagging and a MCS based on SVM. The data used in the paper is an AVIRIS data with 224 spectral bands. The final results show the high capability of SVMs and MCSs in classifying high dimensionality data.     

Geology,alteration, age,and origin of iron oxide–apatite deposits in Upper Eocene quartz monzonite,Zanjan district,NW Iran

Iron oxide–apatite deposits are present in Upper Eocene pyroxene-quartz monzonitic rocks of the Zanjan district, northwestern Iran. Mineralization occurred in five stages: (1) deposition of disseminated magnetite and apatite in the host rock; (2) mineralization of massive and banded magnetite ores in veins and stockwork associated with minor brecciation and calcic alteration of host rocks; (3) deposition of sulfide ores together with potassic alteration; (4) formation of quartz and carbonate veins and sericite, chlorite, epidote, silica, carbonate, and tourmaline alteration; and (5) supergene alteration and weathering. U–Pb dating of monazite inclusions in the apatite indicates an age of 39.99?±?0.24 Ma, which is nearly coeval with the time of emplacement of the host quartz monzonite, supporting the genetic connection. Fluid inclusions in the apatite have homogenization temperatures of about 300 °C and oxygen isotopic compositions of the magnetite support precipitation from magmatic fluids. Late-stage quartz resulted from the introduction of a cooler, less saline, and isotopically depleted fluid. The iron oxide–apatite deposits in the Tarom area of the Zanjan district are typical of a magmatic–hydrothermal origin and are similar to the Kiruna-type deposits with respect to mineral assemblages, fabric and structure of the iron ores, occurrence of the ore bodies, and wall rock alteration.     

Investigating the capability of deformation rate analysis method in stress estimation: a case study of water conveyance tunnel of Gotvand Dam

Knowledge of the magnitude and orientation of the initial in situ stress of rock mass in underground spaces in mining, construction, and oil projects are so vital; hence, putting it aside could not only cost a lot rather incur some irrecoverable damage. Various methods are available to estimate in situ stress in rock mass. However, the most commonly used one, i.e., hydraulic fracturing (HF) method is considered expensive and time consuming. As a matter of fact, laboratory methods based on drilled “core” have become prevalent these days considering them simple, cheap, and quick. Taking into account one such procedure, i.e., deformation rate analysis (DRA), the current research tries to review the DRA capability in determining the magnitude of initial in situ stress is in different parts of stress–strain curve. Further, an investigation was made about the usage of DRA method for both brittle and ductile rocks. To compare the DRA and hydraulic fracturing methods in in situ stress measurement, the water conveyance tunnel of Gotvand Dam was selected as a case study. The DRA tests were conducted on core samples prepared from blocks of tuff (as brittle) and soft sandstones (as ductile) from shallow quarry. The results show that the DRA method is suitable for all types of intact rock and that this could easily estimate in situ stress values. A comparison between in situ stress values obtained by DRA and those of HF method show the feasibility of geotechnical project, simplicity, speed, and low cost.     

Fluoride pollution in soils and waters of Koohbanan region, southeastern Iran

Dental fluorosis occurs because of fluoride over-absorption during tooth calcification and maturation. We studied fluoride concentration in water and soil samples of the Koohbanan region in Kerman province of southeastern Iran and the effects of calcium chloride and gypsum treatments in decreasing the amount of fluoride in water samples of this region. The results indicate that the high amount of fluoride in the water samples of Koohbanan region is not in agreement with the recommended amount of fluoride concentration for drinking water by World Health Organization (that is 1–1/5 mg/l). Applying calcium chloride and gypsum treatments decreased the amount of fluoride in the water samples showing that utilizing calcium chloride (6 mg/l) or gypsum (12 mg/l) can lower the fluoride concentration in the water samples of Koohbanan, and thus solve the observed dental fluorosis problem.     

Heavy metal contamination in water and sediment of the Port Klang coastal area, Selangor, Malaysia

This investigation presents the temporal and spatial distribution of heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Hg, and Zn), in water and in sediments of Port Klang, Malaysia. Water and sediment samples were collected from 21 stations at 3-month intervals, and contamination factor $ (C_{\text{f}} ) $ and contamination degree $ (C_{\text{d}} ) $ were calculated to estimate the contamination status at the sampling stations. Cluster analysis was used to classify the stations based on the contamination sources. Results show that concentrations of As, Cd, Hg, and Pb in sediment and As, Cd, Hg, Pb, Cr, and Zn in water were significantly higher than the background values at which these metals are considered hazardous. The main sources of heavy metal contamination in Port Klang were industrial wastewater and port activities.     

Delineation of groundwater potential zones using remote sensing,GIS, and AHP technique in Tehran–Karaj plain,Iran

Evaluation of groundwater resources in dry areas without enough data is a challenging task in many parts of the world, including Tehran–Karaj plain in Iran, which includes Tehran, the capital city of Iran and Karaj, one of Iran’s biggest cities. Water demand due to increasing agricultural and industrial activities caused many problems in the field of water resources management. In this study, the potential of groundwater resources was evaluated using remote sensing, geographic information system (GIS), and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) for the first time. Digital Elevation Model from Shuttle Radar Topography Mission was used to generate a slope map and drainage density map. Three Landsat-8 satellite images were utilized to provide lineament density and land cover/land use maps. Geological and soil type maps were provided from the Geological Survey and Mineral Explorations of Iran (GSI). Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission data were used to prepare average annual precipitation map. Discharge values from 102 pumping wells in the time period of 2002–2014 were used to evaluate the results. Seven data layers were prepared, and the geodatabase was made in GIS. The layers and their classes were assigned weights using AHP method. Finally, the layers were overlaid based on their weights, and the potential map of groundwater resources was generated. The area was classified into five zones with very high, high, moderate, low, and very low potentials. The zones covered 5.95, 32.90, 22.70, 10.20, and 28.25% of the study area, respectively. The results showed good agreement with the field data obtained from discharge wells.     

The performance of SPI and PNPI in analyzing the spatial and temporal trend of dry and wet periods over Iran

Drought monitoring is carried out using various drought indices, including SPI, to generate time series of dry and wet periods. Furthermore, the dispersion of dry and wet periods was embossed with different intensities (high, medium, and low) over the data record years. Although these results were very necessary for planning and predicting future droughts, it appeared that the application of any trend over dry and wet periods could provide more accurate and unbiased or safer predictions in terms of analysis process. Generally, most of the researchers believed that the results of a drought trend analysis have been influenced by short-term persistence or significant autocorrelation with different lags on drought event time series and the mentioned impact should be preferably removed. Accordingly, drought monitoring was accomplished using SPI and PNPI drought indices to extract time series of dry and wet periods in terms of 50-year (1965–2014) annual rainfall data of 40 synoptic stations over Iran. Having used the basic and modified Mann–Kendall nonparametric tests, it was attempted to analyze the trend of dry and wet periods extracted from mentioned indices. The results represent the relative advantage of using the modified Mann–Kendall test in drought trend analysis. Furthermore, it was shown that the trend of dry and wet periods was negative in the majority of selected stations and that this trend was significant at 95% confidence level in northwest of Iran. Also, the results indicated the similar performance of SPI and PNPI indices in trend analysis of dry and wet periods.