Iran's Network Research Articles

Coordination, cooperation, and creativity within harm reduction networks in Iran: COVID-19 prevention and control among people who use drugs

An unprecedented public health crisis confronts the world. Iran is among the hardest-hit countries, where effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are stretched across society and felt by the most marginalised people. Among people who use drugs, a comprehensive response to the crisis calls for broad collaboration, coordination, and creativity involving multiple government and non-government organisations. This commentary provides early insights into an unfolding experience, demonstrating the operational and policy impact of an initiative, bringing together a diverse array of harm reduction stakeholders to address the pandemic. In the context of lived experiences of social and economic marginalization, this initiative intends to lead efforts in developing an equitable response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Barriers and Challenges of Health Workers Performance Evaluation in the Hypertension and Diabetes Screening Program: Qualitative Content Analysis

Background and Objectives: Evaluation and monitoring of implementation for control and prevention of The Hypertension and Diabetes Screening National Program are important. This study was conducted to identify the challenges of health workers performance evaluation in The Hypertension and Diabetes Screening National Program and provide corrective strategies via exploring the viewpoint of the people involved in this program. Material and Methods: The study was a conventional qualitative content analysis as part of a larger multi-method study. It was conducted in Ahar Healthcare Network in Iran, in year 2017. The sampling was done using purposive model with maximum variation, and the data were collected through three focused group discussions. Results: Twenty-seven healrh workers, observer coaches and senior staff who were involved in the blood pressure Program were selected for the study. Four main categories including contextually, structural, process problems, and results of performance evaluation were identified from the concepts derived from viewpoints of the participants. Conclusion: Regardless of the success in preventing and controlling diabetes, Iran's primary health care system faces challenges in reducing and controlling hypertension and diabetes due to the lack of a national plan with comprehensive guidelines. The major problem address the the process of staff performance assessing. Findings of this study will help managers to address the performance evaluation system.

Evolution, density and completeness of OpenStreetMap road networks in developing countries: The case of Iran

OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a volunteered platform designed to provide up-to-date and freely available geographic information data. OSM is known as one of the most extensively used instances of Crowdsourcing Geographic Data (CSGD)/Crowdsourced Geographic Information (CGI), Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI), or the Neogeography paradigm. Economically, OSM development can be beneficial for governments, especially in developing countries such as Iran, where financial support is limited. This paper analyzes the spatial pattern, evolution, density, and diversity of OSM road (OSMr) networks in Iran between 2008 and 2016 and looks to find casual relations between the OSM and census statistics. This is due to the fact that OSMr completeness reflects the importance of OSM data in human life. The diversity of OSM roads further reflects the concerns, requirements, and worthiness of clients about different roads’ information. The results show that the road network in Iran considerably increased from 2008 to 2016, with road length increasing to 489,400 km in 2016 from 4300 km in 2008. In addition, road density grew while road diversity and evenness declined, which could be due to an increase in main roads. These results propose a more considerable need for a more comprehensive approach using VGI to supplement gaps in authoritative data in developing countries.

Species and space: a combined gap analysis to guide management planning of conservation areas

With accelerating global declines in biodiversity, establishment and expansion of conservation areas (CAs) have increasingly been advocated in recent decades. Gap analysis has been useful to evaluate the sufficiency and performance of CAs. Researchers often identify putative gaps in the protection of biodiversity in CA networks, drawing on evidence from species occurrence patterns (i.e., representation), yet the effect on the gap analyses of the spatial configuration of CAs is poorly understood. Focusing on two large, charismatic carnivores of western Asia, Persian leopard and Asiatic cheetah, we used species distribution models (SDMs) to map potentially suitable habitats throughout the region. We calculated species representation for four categories of CAs within the conservation network in Iran and used a new application of graph theory to include their spatial configuration into our gap analysis. We then regressed species representation against spatial configuration to provide more insights into the performance of different categories of CAs. Results showed that the existing CA network conserves only 32% of the suitable habitats for the two species. Leveraging spatial configuration of the conservation areas into the gap analysis, however, revealed that the recently-established less strictly CAs disproportionately provide a higher contribution to the collective effectiveness of the entire conservation network. We introduce network bias as a new concept in reserve design and argue that incorporating spatial configuration into CA gap analysis improves the ability to evaluate the effectiveness of reserve network designs, and is an important decision support tool for integrated conservation planning.

Replacement of natural gas with electricity to improve seismic service resilience: An application to domestic energy utilities in Iran

In recent years, the occurrence of seismic natural disasters has threatened the post-fault performance of community lifelines in seismically prone parts of the world. Among all utilities, natural gas and electricity serve a significant portion of domestic energy consumption in residential regions. Meanwhile, due to their more proximity to seismic waves, underground natural gas networks seem more vulnerable to earthquakes, and their functionality can be disrupted for several days.This paper presents an approach to derive an electric model for natural gas-fired loads in residential houses. The electrification scheme is developed to carry out the feasibility study of replacing natural gas utilities with electricity systems. The consumption of household gas appliances is modelled by utilising conventional electric appliances as well as state-of-the-art heat pumps to investigate the possibility of replacing natural gas with electricity for enhancing service resilience. A case of natural gas and electricity networks in Iran is employed to test the proposed method. The results indicate that replacing natural gas with electricity can contribute to an expanded electricity system which exhibits more resiliency against earthquakes. Additionally, high-efficiency heat pumps can guarantee the viability of satisfying all equivalent gas consumption in residential areas, especially warmer regions.

COVID-19 Related Misinformation on Social Media: A Qualitative Study from Iran.

Background: During outbreaks of diseases a great amount of health threatening misinformation is produced and released. In the web-2 era much of this misinformation is disseminated via social media where information could spread easily and quickly. Monitoring social media content provides crucial insights for health managers to manage the crisis. Objective: Given the misinformation surrounding COVID-19 outbreak, this study was aimed to analyze contents of the most commonly used social networks in Iran that is among the affected countries. Methods: A social media monitoring conducted through a qualitative design to analyze the discussions of social media users about the content related to COVID-19 transferred via Iranian medical faculty members` groups in Telegram and Whats App during Feb 20 to March 20, 2020 emphasizing the misinformation. Discourse analysis was applied and the written dialogues and discussions regarding misinformation about different aspects of the outbreak between medical faculty members all over the country were analyzed. Results: Cultural factors, demand pressure for information during the crisis, the easiness of information dissemination via social networks, marketing incentives and the poor legal supervision of online contents are the main reasons of misinformation dissemination. Disease statistics; treatments, vaccines and medicines; prevention and protection methods; dietary recommendations and disease transmission ways are the main subjective categories of releasing misinformation regarding novel coronavirus outbreak. Consequences of misinformation dissemination regarding disease include psychosocial; economic; health status; health system and ethical ones. Active and effective presence of health professionals and authorities on social media during the crisis and the improvement of public health literacy in the long term are the most recommended strategies for dealing with issues related to misinformation. Conclusion: This study contributes the management of COVID-19 outbreak trough providing applicable insights for health managers to manage public information in this challenging time.

A new ecosystem-based land classification of Iran for conservation goals.

Land management and biodiversity protection are highly dependent on ecosystem classification. To identify the ecosystems, often ecologically homogenous areas are distinguished based on physical and biological features at various scales. These areas can also be considered as biodiversity surrogates for protection policies and planning. We classified the terrestrial areas of Iran into ecosystems using revised and updated layers of landform and climate as our two main criteria. Moreover, we applied a revised vegetation layer as the confirmatory criterion. At a scale of 1:1,000,000, we obtained a total of 119 homogenous ecological units, and based on the dominant vegetation types, we classified them into 21 terrestrial ecosystems at the national level. Of these ecosystems, 11 were dominated by vegetation, and the remaining 10 had sparse nondominant vegetation. Evaluation of the least and most frequent ecosystem patches and ranking of their size classes using landscape metrics provided an information basis for better land protection planning. We maintain that each ecosystem needs to be represented by a protected area and its size and distribution also helps us form a comprehensive and effective protection network in Iran. Graphical abstract.

Assessing the Effect of Bank Interest Rates on Fluctuations in Overdue Receivables of the Banking Network in Iran

Assessing the Effect of Bank Interest Rates on Fluctuations in Overdue Receivables of the Banking Network in Iran

Numerical investigation on geometric configurations affecting seepage from unlined earthen channels and the comparison with field measurements

In this study, a numerical simulation is applied to investigate the effective factors on the seepage from the earthen channels. To authenticate the information at hand, some of the earthen channels in the Zayandeh-Rud irrigation network in Iran and Gediz watershed in Turkey were studied. 246 numerical models, including different sections of trapezoidal, rectangular and triangular earthen channels, were performed using the finite elements method (FEM). The results showed that, for a numerical simulation, a width of 15 times wider than the top width of the water surface in the channel would be required for the modelling of the left and right lateral boundaries. The comparison of the seepage with empirical relationships showed that the empirical relationships have too much error in the seepage estimation, however, Moritz’s relation with the coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.373 was better than the others. The linear and nonlinear multivariate regression relationships provide a suitable match for the seepage discharge estimation. The wetted perimeter has been distinguished as an effective parameter in the seepage from the channels, yet the channels side slope has a low impact on the seepage.

Performance evaluation of telecommunication services provision with combined approach of balanced scorecard and system dynamics (case study: telecommunications infrastructure company)

One of the prerequisites for developing telecommunications industry is continuous performance evaluation. Despite the popularity of balanced scorecard approach (BSC), it has some limitation such as lack of a systematic perspective, not considering the dynamic relationships between indicators and delays. The purpose of this paper is to present a system dynamics (SD) model along with BSC to evaluate the performance of the telecommunications infrastructure company (TIC), the sole custodian of telecommunications networks in Iran. This is the first work that dynamics of TIC is investigated and the performance of TIC is evaluated by combined approach of BSC and SD. In the process of modelling, and according to experts, the indicators of “International Transit Capacity” and “R&D investment” are added to the existing indicators in the literature. Finally by determining the leverage points and simulating different policies, the best policies are presented.

A new model for evaluating the influence of social networks, social learning, and supportive policies on the desire of women for fertility

BACKGROUND: Nowadays, social networks become so famous and attract a lot of users. In recent eras, the increase of online social networks and the digitization of communication types have meant that online social networks have become a significant part of social network examination. OBJECTIVE: In this paper, we investigate the social networks to study the desire of women for fertility. The study has delivered new visions into the elements of reproductive behavior and has discussed the development of increasingly refined and realistic theories of fertility desire. METHODS: A questionnaire is intended for evaluating the elements of the model. Questionnaires were reviewed by experts with significant experiences in this domain. From 384 users of Telegram as an important social network in Iran, data are collected. For statistical examination, the SPSS 22 and SMART- PLS 3.2 software are also utilized. RESULTS: Results confirmed the validity of the model for assessing of the desire of women for fertility. The outcomes have indicated that the social network has a negative effect on the desire of women for fertility. Besides, the results have shown that the role of social networks on social learning is significant and positive. Furthermore, the role of social learning and supportive policies on the desire of women for fertility is positive and significant. CONCLUSIONS: According to findings, managers have enough precision in training women and daughters through social networks and social learning to enhance the desire for fertility. Finally, it is significant to note that since data are self-reported, they could be affected by rationalization and may not correlate with fertility behavior. In future studies, by gathering a comprehensive sample, other important elements can be considered that cause the desire of women for fertility.

Developing a simultaneous scheduling of passenger and freight trains for an inter-city railway considering optimization of carbon emissions and waiting times

The general policy of the European Union in reducing greenhouse gas emissions is such that the increased average global temperature is kept below 2 °C. Many countries are looking for more effective solutions and methods to reduce carbon emissions. There are effective factors in the scheduling passenger and freight trains in the inter-city rail transport industry such as number of trains requested at the station, the number of stops, delays and waiting times for trains at the station which lead to increased fossil fuel consumption and carbon emission. In this paper, we want to present a new mixed integer non-linear model that can choose the best schedule for movement of passenger and freight shuttle trains on a single-line route of the railway network with the least environmental pollution. In this model, the carbon emission factor is based on the weight and prioritization of passenger and freight trains. Also, the average number of demands for using trains at a station and the number of planned or non-planned stops and delays at the middle stations are considered. Also, the proposed model selects the best plan for moving trains with the lowest carbon emissions caused by fuel consumption. To validate the proposed model, a case study of a crowded passenger and freight route of an inter-city railway network in Iran will be solved. We solve the real studied problem using the GAMS v24.9.1 optimization software with BARON solver. Finally, after sensitivity analysis of the results, we demonstrate the convenient and efficient performance of the same model in solving the raised problems in an applied manner.

Investigation of economic and environmental impacts of optimization and correction of sugar beet distribution network in Iran’s sugar supply chain

سابقه و هدف: با توجه به هزینه­ های بالا حمل و نقل در بخش شکر تولیدی از چغندرقند ﻣﺪﯾﺮﯾﺖ منطقی زﻧﺠﯿﺮه­ یﺗﺎﻣﯿﻦ آن از اﻫﻤﯿﺖ ﺧﺎﺻﯽ ﺑﺮﺧﻮردار اﺳﺖ ﮐﻪ ﻣﯽ­ﺗﻮاﻧﺪ در ﮐﺎﻫﺶ ﻫﺰﯾﻨﻪ، ﮐﺎﻫﺶ آﻻﯾﻨﺪه­ﻫﺎی ﻫﻮا، ﻣﮑﺎن­ﯾﺎﺑﯽ ﺗﺴﻬﯿﻼت، ﺗﺤﻮﯾﻞ ﺑﻪ ﻣﻮﻗﻊ خدمات ﺑﻪ ﻧﻘﺎط ﺗﻘﺎﺿﺎ و رﺿﺎﯾﺖ ﻣﺸﺘﺮی را ﺑﻪ ﻫﻤﺮاه داﺷﺘﻪ ﺑﺎﺷﻨﺪ. بررسی مطالعه­ های گذشته نشان می ­دهد که بررسی­ های اندکی در زمینه بهینه ­یابی شبکه توزیع محصول ­های کشاورزی در زنجیره تامین با در نظر گرفتن تاثیر اقتصادی و محیط زیستی انجام شده است. بنابراین تحقیق حاضر به بهینه ‏سازی شبکه توزیع چغندر قند از منطقه­ های تولیدی به کارخانه­ های بهره­ برداری و تصفیه چغندرقند در زنجیره تامین شکر ایران و تعیین تاثیر اقتصادی و محیط زیستی محیطی آن می ‏پردازد. در این پژوهش افزون بر مقایسه هزینه ‏های حمل و نقل در وضعیت توزیع موجود و بهینه، تغییرات در مصرف سوخت به ازای تغییر در توزیع چغندرقند، کاهش انتشار ناشی از اصلاح شبکه حمل و نقل و منافع اقتصادی آن در کشور نیز محاسبه شد. مواد و روش ­ها: مطالعه حاضر با استفاده از آمار و اطلاعات مرکز آمار ایران در سال 1393 برای10 استان تولیدکننده چغندرقند شامل آذربایجان غربی، کرمانشاه، خوزستان، فارس، یاسوج، لرستان، سمنان، قزوین، خراسان رضوی و خراسان شمالی و 24 مرکز تقاضا انجام شد. این مطالعه با استفاده از الگوی برنامه ­ریزی ریاضی و مدل‏سازی حمل و نقل به تجزیه و تحلیل داده­ها با بکارگیری نرم افزار GAMS پرداخت. نتایج و بحث: نتایج اجرای برنامه بهینه حمل و نقل نشان داد اجرای برنامه پیشنهادی سبب صرفه ­جویی در هزینه ­ها به میزان 43.7 میلیارد ریال معادل 3.84 درصد شد. همچنین، نتایج اجرای برنامه بهینه حمل و نقل با در نظر گرفتن اثرهای محیط زیستی، نشان­دهنده­ی کاهش مصرف سوخت به میزان 2 میلیون و 177 هزار لیتر گازوئیل و منافع محیط زیستی حدود 5.7 میلیارد ریال است. نتیجه ­گیری: بنابراین می ­توان نتیجه گرفت اجرای برنامه بهینه حمل و نقل سبب کاهش هزینه­های حمل و نقل و کاهش مصرف سوخت شده است. لذا اجرای برنامه بهینه افزون­ بر کاهش هزینه ­ی حمل و نقل و قیمت تمام شده شکر سبب کاهش آلودگی و مصرف سوخت در کشور نیز می‏ شود. بر اساس نتایج به ­دست آمده، پیشنهاد می­ شود، در جریان برنامه ­ریزی حمل و نقل در زنجیره تأمین شکر، از الگوی پیشنهادی در این مطالعه برای حمل و نقل چغندرقند استفاده شود، زیرا اجرای برنامه بهینه بر کاهش هزینه ­ی حمل و نقل و کاهش مصرف سوخت فسیلی و در نتیجه بر قیمت تمام شده شکر تاثیر می‏ گذارد.

Experimental and numerical investigation of odorant dispersion in natural-gas pipelines

One of the important factors in natural-gas pipeline networks is the optimal concentration of odorant injection. The purpose of this study is to investigate the behavior of odorant dispersion along the natural gas pipelines. A numerical modeling analysis has been conducted on odorant injection at the City Gate Station (CGS) of Shahrekord distribution network in Iran and validated with experimental data of a real gas pipeline at pressure and temperature of 1586 to 1723 kPa and 0- $30 {}^{\circ}{\rm C}$ , respectively. Navier-Stokes, concentration equations and k- $\varepsilon$ turbulence model have been used for numerical modeling of the turbulent and incompressible fluid flow. The results showed that the low pressure or high temperature of the gas as well as the increase in the pipe length decrease the odorant concentration at the gas pipeline. In addition, odorant concentration decreases with high gas velocity and low initial concentration of odorant injection. Finally, by curve fitting through the obtained result, a correlation, with an average error of 3%, was proposed to calculate the final odorant concentration in natural-gas pipelines. This correlation is based on the temperature, pressure and velocity of natural gas, initial concentration and duration of odorant injection, length and diameter of the pipe as input parameters.

Combining Soft Systems Methodology with Interpretive Structural Modeling and System Dynamics for Network Orchestration: Case Study of the Formal Science and Technology Collaborative Networks in Iran

The orchestration of collaborative networks plays a fundamental role in shaping and configuring network cooperation and ensuring the success of a network. Despite a notable number of studies conducted, the issue of orchestrating collaborative networks and establishing a relationship among their diverse and dispersed components has not been designed and developed in the form of a coherent model. The purpose of the present study is to cast light on the process of determining the dimensions of formal science and technology collaborative networks in Iran. Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) was utilized due to its high capability to deal with the dynamic complexity of the problem, the various stakeholders and actors involved, and the conflicting interests of these stakeholders. Accordingly, in addition to investigating and interviewing the informants and obtaining a rich picture of the situation, interpretive structural modeling (ISM) was used to design a conceptual model. The results show that in order to improve the problem condition and achieve an effective output of the network, the communication processes of the founding organization, Steering Board, the network leaderboard, and the members should all be subject to proper changes at the right time. Finally, in order to facilitate the analysis of effective variables and the role of the orchestrator in the formal science and technology collaborative networks in Iran by using System Dynamics (SD), a dynamic model was proposed. According to the obtained results, the orchestrator’s ability, trust and motivation of network members, the socialization process of members, and network sustainability are among the most important factors in network orchestration.

Applying Climate Adaptation Strategies for Improvement of Management Indexes of a River–Reservoir Irrigation System†

AbstractAmong the various water users, the agricultural sector is the largest consumer of water in the world. Thus, the implementation of agricultural adaptation strategies is essential for an optimal allocation of water resources in a changing climate. The objective of this study is to examine the changes in management criteria for a multi‐purpose reservoir system and its downstream Gharanghu irrigation network in Iran under climate change. Five management scenarios were evaluated by changing cropping patterns. First, simulations were performed by using HadCM3 (under the A2) for different climatic scenarios to quantify future reservoir inflows and estimate the future downstream demand (2040–2069). The results showed that water resources decreased by 20% and water use increased by 25% compared to the baseline (1971–2000). Then, eight management indexes were calculated based on the water resources and uses simulated by the WEAP model for the future. The indexes were compared for conditions with and without applying the climate adaptation strategies. Results showed that flexibility increased by 19% and vulnerability decreased by 1.7% with demand management and a 5% reduction of water consumption, while flexibility increased by 38% and vulnerability decreased by 28% with a 20% reduction of demand. Applying adaptation strategies in agriculture can significantly reduce the negative effects of climate change. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Which groups of the poor are supported more by the law? Pro-poor health policy network in Iran.

Considering the challenges of health services utilization of the poor in Iran, it is necessary to examine the supportive policy documents about the poor in order to identify such challenges. This study is a policy documents analysis that has evaluated the legal documents in the health financial support to the poor. The researchers looked in the websites for documents and referred to related organizations. Social network analysis approach and UCINET software were chosen for data analysis. Twenty-seven different disadvantaged groups were identified for financial support in the legal documents. The main focus was on "poor people," "unsupported women and children," and "disabled and elderly poor people." There is a bundle of confusion about the number of supporting institutions for different groups and the amount of support in the network. The coverage of the poor in Iran has been impaired by a lack of clear boundary in their support. Because of the interorganizational partnership challenges, much more promising results would have been achieved if there was only one administrative institution for the Iranian poor. Given the inconsistencies seen in the support types and levels for the poor to access health services, it is inevitable to amend the laws.

Wall Decay Coefficient Estimation in a Real-Life Drinking Water Distribution Network

Injection of chlorine as a disinfectant and the correct prediction of the residual amount in water distribution networks are key points and important principles in the quality management of these networks. It is necessary to determine and measure some parameters to develop an effective model in this field. In this study, for the first time, the Simple Hybrid of Genetic Algorithm and Particle Swarm Optimization (SHGAPSO) method along with GA and PSO algorithms are used for qualitative calibration of a real-life water distribution network in Iran to minimize the difference between observed chlorine concentrations at measurement points and the concentrations simulated by the EPANET2.0 hydraulic-qualitative simulation model. The objective functions in this study are Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and Mean Square Error (MSE). The decision variables include bulk (kb) and wall (kw) chlorine decay coefficients are estimated by SHGAPSO, GA, and PSO methods during 4 scenarios. In this study, the amount of residual chlorine in the network was measured by a digital chlorine meter in different days of the year 2018. The results show that SHGAPSO method enhanced the performance of GA and PSO algorithms in the scenarios studied. In scenario 3, this difference was noticeable. Also, scenario 4 with the lowest values of objective functions is selected to estimate the coefficients kw and kb as the best scenario, and finally the qualitative calibration of the network.

A Benders decomposition approach for a real case supply chain network design with capacity acquisition and transporter planning: wheat distribution network

This paper considers a real case problem of supply chain network design inspired from a wheat distribution network in Iran. It generates a network with capacity acquisition and fleet management. The problem first is formulated as a mixed integer linear programming model. Then, a logic-based Benders decomposition algorithm is appropriately developed as the solution methodology. In the presented algorithm, the problem is decomposed into two models of master and subproblem. The master problem is improved by means of the preprocessing and valid inequalities. Moreover, three Benders cuts, one optimality and two feasibility cuts, are developed for the algorithm. The general and relative performance of the model and algorithm is experimentally evaluated. The wheat distribution system of Iran is considered here as the case study of this research. The model is developed based on Iran’s wheat distribution system. All the results show that the algorithm significantly outperforms the mathematical model of the case study. For example, the algorithm solves 95% of the tested instances to optimality, yet the model solves 29%.

Designing a hub location model in a bagasse-based bioethanol supply chain network in Iran (case study: Iran sugar industry)

Bagasse is one of the most abundant agricultural wastes in the world which has recently been considered as one of the prospective sources of second-generation bioethanol. In order to accelerate the commercialization of bagasse-based bioethanol, designing efficient and effective supply chain is very important aiming to promote using this alternative fuel. In this regard, current study proposes a multi-objective, mixed integer linear programming model to locate hub facilities in bagasse-based bioethanol supply chain network. The proposed methodology is capable of determining the optimum number of locations, capacity of facilities, appropriate transportation mode, material flow between each pair-node and production planning in different periods. To illustrate the application of the developed model, a case study of Iran is conducted and the performance of the developed model is evaluated by using a real world data related to the Iran sugar industry. The results show that due to lack of sufficient feedstock, the bioethanol produced in the proposed supply chain network only covers 67% of accumulated demand resulted from 10 metropolitan areas in Iran. The results analysis also clarify alternative ways of compensating this significant amount of shortage which includes supply through imports or domestic increased production. Provided details regarding each of proposed way can help policy makers in selecting methods for sustainable satisfying bioethanol's demand.