Incentives for the Iranian Chemical Boom: A Strategic Motivation or Applied Needs?

Iran's scientific impact has suffered hard from decades of imposed and self‐elected isolation from Western influences and international collaboration. Lately, however, the world has witnessed a remarkable increase in scientific publications from Iranian scientists in fields like nanotechnology; material science; and, perhaps most pronounced, chemistry. In this article, the factors behind this “publication boom” are discussed and examined together with an analysis of the coherence between the country's long‐term research strategies and short‐term needs in relation to present organic chemical research conducted at various Iranian universities and institutes. Organic chemistry is a keystone in important Iranian industrial sectors like the petroleum and agricultural industries, and also in the growing field of life science and pharmacology. The development of the petroleum industry and further refinement of raw oil into value‐added fine chemicals holds a key position in the reinforcement of the Iranian economy and labor market, thus motivating a governmental investment in chemical science and research. Taking an approach to find a reasonable balance with the impact from Western and Far Eastern scientific communities, Iran's own scientific roots and Islamic ideology could well be the success factor in becoming a worthy player on the international scientific arena.     

MIGRATION AS A WAY TO DIVERSIFY: EVIDENCE FROM RURAL TO URBAN MIGRATION IN THE U.S.

This paper extends the utility maximization model of migration by introducing income and unemployment‐related uncertainties as determinants of utility, and analyzes the effects of the informational advantages of migrants. The paper maintains that migration would expand an individual's economic choices and opportunities and allow diversification. Consequently, diversification advantages influence the location decisions of migrants, an effect captured by the correlation of incomes at the origin and potential destinations. We use the discrete choice model based on random utility maximization as the framework for our empirical investigation of migration from the United States rural to urban counties. This paper takes advantage of an equivalent relation between the conditional logit model and Poisson regression to study the migration decisions using aggregate data among a large set of spatial alternatives. The results show that the diversification concerns have significant effects on location decisions of the rural‐urban migrants in the United States.     

Late Ordovician cephalopods,tentaculitides, machaeridians and echinoderms from Kuh-e Faraghan,High Zagros,Iran

Ghavidel-Syooki, M., Evans, D.H., Ghobadi Pour, M., Popov, L.E., Álvaro, J.J., Rakhmonov, U., Klishevich, I.A. & Ehsani, M.D., 15.5.2015. Late Ordovician cephalopods, tentaculitides, machaeridians and echinoderm columnals from Kuh-e Faraghun, High Zagros, Iran. Alcheringa 39, 530–549. ISSN 0311-5518.

Late Ordovician (Katian, uppermost Acanthochitina barbata to Armoricochitina nigerica chitinozoan zones) cephalopods, tentaculitides, machaeridians and echinoderms are documented for the first time from the southern Zagros Ranges. A low-diversity cephalopod fauna includes Geisonocerina dargazense sp. nov., Isorthoceras sp. cf. I. bisignatum (Barrande) and other undetermined orthoceratides. The presence of Late Ordovician tentaculitides in the high- to mid-latitude margins of Gondwana has been documented previously, but no examples have been described in detail. Thus, Costatulites kimi sp. nov., which currently occurs associated with brachiopods characteristic of the Svobodaina havliceki (brachiopod) Association, represents the earliest undoubted record of tentaculitides in Gondwana. Machaeridians constitute a relatively common component of the Late Ordovician benthic faunas from the Mediterranean margin of Gondwana, but no previous records on the Gondwanan Iranian-Arabian segment have been reported. Three echinoderm taxa based on dissociated columnals are documented from the Armoricochitina nigerica chitinozoan Zone, including Sumsaricystis radiatus Stukalina, Ristnacrinus sp. and Rosulicrinus rosulus Stukalina.

Mohammad Ghavidel-Syooki [m_ghavidelsyooki@yahoo.com] Institute of Petroleum Engineering, Technical Faculty of Tehran University, PO Box 11365-4563, Tehran, Iran; David H. Evans [david.evans@naturalengland.org.uk], Natural England, Suite D, Unex House, Bourges Boulevard, Peterborough PE1 1NG, UK; Mansoureh Ghobadi Pour* [mghobadipour@yahoo.co.uk], Department of Geology, Faculty of Sciences, Golestan University, Gorgan, Iran; Leonid E. Popov [leonid.popov@museumwales.ac.uk], Department of Geology, National Museum of Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NP, UK; J. Javier Álvaro [jj.alvaro@csic.es], Instituto de Geociencias (CSIC-UCM), c/ José Antonio Novais 2, 28040 Madrid, Spain; Utkyr Rakhmonov, Kitab State Geological Reserve, 9 Ipak Yuli Street, Sakhrisabz, Uzbekistan; Inna A. Klishevich, Department of Historical Geology, Geological Faculty, St Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya Naberezhnaya 7/9, 199034 St Petersburg, Russia [inna@IK4848.spb.edu]; Mohammad H. Ehsani [mh_ehsani@hotmail.com], Institute of Petroleum Engineering, Technical Faculty of Tehran University, PO Box 11365-4563, Tehran, Iran. *Also affiliated with Department of Geology, National Museum of Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NP, UK.     

Book reviews

Sayyid Jamal ad‐Diin “al‐Afghani,” A Political Biography. By Nikki R. Keddie. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1972. 496pp. $20.00

A Grammar of Southern Tati Dialects. By Ehsan Yar‐Shater. The Hague: Mouton, 1969. 277pp; two maps.     

The Indonesian Devaluation of November 15, 1978 – A Basketful of Dilemmas

The author has known Kurt Martin since the early 1960s when he was in Indonesia on an assignment to assist a new research institute (LEKNAS) in its formative years. It was the latter part of the Sukarno period, when the economy was suffering from rampant inflation, dwindling exports and foreign exchange reserves, and global political orientations that were not too favourable for the growth of the domestic economy. We remember Kurt Martin from those days as an inspiring counterpart in professional discussions, who always tested the logic and relevance of our arguments. We shall always be grateful to him for this role as intellectual sparring partner, but we were no match for his beloved chess games! Kurt is not responsible if, in later years, we have lost some of our intellectual rigour — after many years in government one tends to lose some purity of thought. The author left government in April 1978 to return to university life, but he is still suffering somewhat in the decompression chamber. He is trying to practice detachment in his observance of public affairs but finds this very difficult.     

Preparation of Engineering Geological Maps of Bam City Using Geophysical and Geotechnical Approach

Engineering geological mapping was carried out at a scale of 1:25000 in the city of Bam, located in southeastern Iran, to provide engineering geological information as a base for seismic microzonation of the city. In this study, Seismic Refraction and Vertical Seismic Profiling (VSP) surveys were employed along with boreholes in order to identify the characteristics of subsurface material in Bam city. A number of different kinds of maps of the city were prepared consisting of Iso-depth, Iso-velocity, and Iso-Poisson's Ratio maps. The study also involves trial pitting and continuous core recovery, in-situ, and laboratory tests. Borehole data, index properties of soils, and standard penetration test results were used to assess subsurface conditions. Geophysical and geotechnical data were combined to simulate geotechnical boreholes and prepare engineering geological maps to provide basic data for seismic geotechnical microzonation to facilitate in the reconstruction of the city of Bam.     

Quantification of Linked Column Frame Seismic Performance Factors for Use in Seismic Design

Previous research has proposed the Linked Column Frame (LCF) as a lateral load-resisting system capable of providing rapid return to occupancy for buildings impacted by moderate earthquake events and collapse prevention in very large events. The LCF consists of flexible moment frames (MF) and linked columns (LC), which are closely spaced dual columns interconnected with bolted links. The linked columns (LC) are designed to limit seismic forces and provide energy dissipation through yielding of the links, while preventing damage to the moment frame under certain earthquake hazard levels. The proposed design procedure ensures the links of the linked column yield at a significantly lower story drift than the beams of the moment frame, enabling design of this system for two distinct performance states: rapid repair, where only link damage occurs and quick link replacement is possible; and collapse prevention, where both the linked column and moment frame may be damaged.

Here, the seismic performance factors for the LCF system, including the response modification factor, R, the system over-strength factor, Ω₀, and the deflection amplification factor, C_d, are established following the procedures described in FEMA P695 [2009]. These parameters are necessary for inclusion of the system in the building code. This work describes the development of archetype structures, numerical models of the LCF systems, incremental dynamic analyses, and interpretation of the results. From the results, it is recommended that R, Ω₀, and C_d values of 8, 3, and 5.5 be used for seismic design of the LCF system. A height limit of 35 m (115ft) is recommended at this time as taller LCFs are not considered in this study.