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We determined the seroprevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in an affected area in northern Iran in April 2020. Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 were detected in 528 persons by using rapid tests. Adjusted prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity was 22.2% (95% CI 16.4%-28.5%).

The North Tehran Fault (NTF) is located at the southernmost piedmont of Central Alborz and crosses the northern suburbs of the Tehran metropolis and adjacent cities, where ∼15 million people live. Extending over a length of about 110 km, the NTF stands out as a major active fault and represents an important seismic hazard for the Iranian capital after historical seismicity. In order to characterize the activity of the NTF in terms of kinematics, magnitude and recurrence intervals of earthquakes, we carried out a first paleoseismological study of the fault within its central part between Tehran and Karaj cities. We opened a trench across a 3 m‐high fault scarp affecting Quaternary deposits. Our study shows that the scarp is the result of repeated events along a main N115°E trending shallow dipping thrust fault, associated with secondary ruptures. From the trench analysis and Infrared Stimulated Luminescence (IRSL) dating of fault‐related sediments, we interpreted between 6 and 7 surface‐rupturing events that occurred during the past 30 kyrs. Their magnitudes (estimated from the displacements along the faults) are comprised between 6.1 and 7.2. The two last events – the largest ‐ occurred during the past 7.9 ± 1.2 ka, which yields a Holocene slip rate of ∼0.3 mm/yr. The 7 earthquakes scenario suggests a regular periodicity with a mean recurrence interval of ∼3.8 kyrs. However, the two most recent events could correspond to the two largest historical earthquakes recorded in the area (in 312–280 B.C. and 1177 A.D.), and therefore suggest that the NTF activity is not regular. Key Points The first paleoseismological study along the North Tehran, Iran 6‐7 events occurred in the past 30 kyrs with magnitudes between 6.1 and 7.2 Mean return period is 3.8 kyrs, but irregular activity is likely

In this work two samples of Ag/Cu/Cu 2 O and Al:ZnO (AZO) multilayers, on glass substrates were prepared. The Ag/Cu layers were obtained by the physical vapor deposition (PVD) method, while the Cu 2 O and AZO layers were deposited by DC reactive magnetron sputtering. The structural and morphology properties of the considered samples were studied. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed that the first junction signifies a crystal structure of compounds of Ag, Cu and Cu 2 O, but the latter sample showed an amorphous structure. It was shown that the roughness of glass/Ag/Cu/Cu 2 O layers was substantially lower than the roughness of AZO layer deposited on glass substrate. In addition, the microstructure consideration revealed that the glass/Ag/Cu/Cu 2 O surface morphology was highly homogenous with average grain size of 35 nm. Moreover, we investigated the properties of the Cu 2 O/AZO heterojunction. The low turn-on voltage of about 0.64 V was obtained, which indicate that the heterojunction acts as a rectifier diode. The ideality factor was determined to be 10.28.

The power system faces a growing need for increased transmission capacity and reliability with the rising integration of renewable energy resources. To tackle this challenge, Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESSs) prove effective in enhancing grid capacity and relieving transmission congestion. This paper focuses on the PJM market, conducting a thorough revenue analysis to identify and characterize highly profitable nodes for BESS market participants. A comparison between stationary and transportable BESSs reveals that the transportable BESSs can generate higher potential revenue in energy and regulation markets. Based on these findings, we propose an optimal placement algorithm to support market participants in selecting strategic sites for BESS installation, validated with real PJM market data. This paper provides valuable insights for navigating market-based power system participants and promoting the effective integration of BESSs.

Background/aims:Retinoblastoma is a highly malignant eye tumour in children with different survival rates across the world. The aims of this study are to determine the globe and patient survival in children with retinoblastoma in a major referral centre in Iran.Methods:156 eyes of 105 consecutive patients with retinoblastoma were enrolled from 2001 to 2007. All demographic data, family history, presenting symptoms, duration of symptoms, ocular findings and treatment modalities that were used for the patients were collected. For patient survival, event was defined as death and for globe survival as enucleation.Results:The mean age at diagnosis was 28.5 months (unilateral 27.4 months; bilateral 30 months). Five patients had a positive family history. Fifty-two per cent of the cases were unilateral, and 48% were bilateral. The most common presenting sign was leucocoria (64.8%) followed by strabismus (28.2%). Enucleation was done primarily for 75.9% of unilateral cases and 34.3% of bilateral cases. Secondary enucleation was necessary in 5.6% and 7.8% of unilateral and bilaterally involved eyes respectively. Sixty-nine (44.2%) of 156 eyes were salvaged by different globe preserving modalities (unilateral 18.5%; bilateral 57.9%). The Kaplan–Meier survival estimate for globe preservation according to International Classification of Retinoblastoma (ICRB) was 100% for group A eyes, 93.5% for group B, 86.7% for group C, 57.1% for group D and 0% for group E eyes. Kaplan–Meier estimates for patients survival were 100% at 1 year, 94.8% at 3 years and 83.1% at 5 years.Conclusion:Progress in methods of treatment, early detection of the disease and prompt referral to specialised centres have led to improved outcomes for patients with retinoblastoma in terms of globe and patients’ survival rates even in developing countries.

Northwest Iran is dominated by two main sets of active strike slip faults that accommodate oblique convergence between the Arabian and Iranian Plates. The best known are the right-lateral North-Tabriz, Qoshadagh, Maragheh and Zagros (Main Recent) strike slip Faults. This work reports that these dominant NW–SE to E–W striking faults are conjugate to smaller, NNE–SSW striking, left-lateral faults with minor dip slip component. All of these active faults displace Precambrian rock units, which suggests that they root in the crystalline basement of the NW Iranian microcontinent. Coulomb stress variance during co-seismic rupture along one of these faults may cause reactivation of the other faults. The minor set of left-lateral fault is therefore important to introduce in seismic risk assessment.

AimTo evaluate the effect of intravitreal injection of erythropoietin for the treatment of non-arteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy (NAION).MethodsIn this prospective interventional case series, 31 eyes of 31 patients with NAION were included. Patients received intravitreal injection of 2000 unit (0.2 cm3) of erythropoietin within 1 month of the onset of the disease. Visual acuity and visual field were recorded before injections and 1 week, 1 month, 3 months and 6 months after the injections.ResultsThe mean duration of symptoms before injections was 11.2±5.5 days. Six months after injections, visual acuity improved in 27 eyes (87%), and 17 eyes (54.8%) had ≥3 lines of visual improvement. The mean preinjection visual acuity was 1.01±0.88 logMAR and 0.58±0.58 logMAR (p<0.001) at last follow-up. Visual acuity improvement occurred in 61.2% of patients within the first month. It followed a biphasic pattern in which there was continuous improvement up to 3 months and then started to deteriorate, although it remained significantly better than baseline until the last follow-up. No patient lost any lines of visual acuity compared with the baseline values. The mean of mean deviations of visual field was −19.6±5.7 dB at baseline and −18.6±6.3 dB (p=0.6) at last follow-up.ConclusionsIntravitreal injection of erythropoietin may be safe and effective in the treatment of NAION. The effect may last for a few months and then decline.

Purpose To evaluate the effect of intra-silicone injection of bevacizumab for the treatment of neovascular glaucoma (NVG) after vitrectomy for advanced proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Methods Bevacizumab was injected into the silicone oil in five pseudophakic eyes of five patients with NVG. The iris neovascularization (INV) and NVG had developed 1.5–4 months after vitrectomy and silicone oil tamponade. The main outcome measures were regression of INV, intraocular pressure and visual acuity. Results In all eyes, INV regressed and intraocular pressure was controlled within 7 days. Visual acuity improved in all eyes. In one patient, INV and NVG recurred 10 weeks after the injection and was successfully treated with a repeat intra-silicone bevacizumab injection. Conclusion Intra-silicone injection of bevacizumab is effective in the treatment of patients with INV and NVG after vitrectomy for advanced proliferative diabetic retinopathy.

We introduce the concept of operator h-convex functions for positive linear maps, and prove some Hermite-Hadamard type inequalities for these functions. As applications, we obtain several trace inequalities for operators.

A distributed optimization problem with Markovian switching targets and stochastic observation noises is considered in this paper. In order to solve target following and renewable following for microgrid (MG) optimal power balancing, and to attenuate observation noises simultaneously, distributed optimization algorithms are developed. The interaction between observation noises and Markovian switching targets may introduce a fundamental tradeoff in reducing the optimization errors and choosing the step size. Furthermore, under infrequent Markovian switching assumptions, the mean-square optimization error bounds, the switching ordinary differential equation (ODE) limit, and the asymptotic distributions of the optimization errors are established rigorously and comprehensively. A simulation example on a DC MG is presented to show the main results of the paper.