Search

This paper for the first time improved a Robust Multi-Output machine learning regression model for seismic hazard zoning of Turkey, Iraq and Iran using constructed 3-D shear-wave velocity (Vs), seismic tomography dataset model for the crust and uppermost mantle beneath the study area. The focus of this paper's opportunity is to develop a scientific framework leveraging machine learning that will ultimately provide the rapid and more complete characterization of earthquake properties. This work can be targeted at improving the seismic hazard zones system ability to detect and associate seismic signals, or at estimating other seismic characteristics (crust acceleration and crust energy) while traditionally, methods cannot monitor the earthquakes system. This work has derived some physical equations for extraction of many variables as inputs for our developed machine learning model based on a reliable understanding of the tomography data to physical variables by preparing huge dataset from different physical conditions of crust. We have extracted the velocity values of the shear waves from the original NETCDF file, which contains the S velocity values for every one km of the depths of the crust for the study area from one km down to the uppermost mantle beneath the Middle East. For the first time, this study calculated new seismic hazard parameter called Peak Crust Acceleration (PCA) for seismic hazard analysis by considering the transmitted initial seismic energy through the Earth's crust layers from hypocenter. All machine learning algorithms in this study wrote in python language using anaconda platform the open-source Individual Edition (Distribution). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past two decades, human geneticists have substantially embraced the concept of "biogeographical ancestry" to account for the racial, ethnic, and linguistic categories they use to analyze and interpret genetic difference. Understanding the ongoing role of these categories in human genetic research therefore requires attention to geneticists' representations of geography, particularly the geographic maps they use to illustrate gene distribution and migration. This article examines how the methods and imagery of international genetic geography and its major evolutionary narratives have reinforced or refashioned nationalist practices of geography in the Middle East. Geneticists simultaneously conceptualize the region's physical space as both a historical "crossroads" of human migration and the birthplace of distinct gene sequences and civilizations, alternately blurring and sharpening the boundaries between Europe and Asia. Focusing on genetic research in Turkey and Iran, this paper analyzes how geneticists draw and interpret geographic maps of the region while selectively erasing or highlighting state borders. These genetic maps negotiate between the idealized aims of international projects to reconstruct human evolutionary history, and the reality of practicing science under the constraints of nationstate politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term "free zone" refers to designated areas in which companies are taxed very lightly and it enhances global market presence by attracting new business and foreign investments. For over a century, governments around the world have sought to boost and exploit the economic power of their particular regions and zones by designating them as "special" or "free" economic zones. The trend of establishing such zones or areas have gained momentum in the last four or five decades with countries accounting for small businesses and millions of direct or indirect jobs. The Middle East, especially the countries in the Persian Gulf, for some and other reasons, have particularly embarked on such a trend. The current paper tries to highlight benefits and challenges faced by free trade zones in Iran, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, taking into account recent global financial crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Machine learning approaches are increasingly being employed to forecast the key characteristics of strong ground motions, including the challenging classification of Pulse-Like (PL) ground motions. The PL ground motions are characterized by their impulsive nature and have the potential to cause significant damage to structures. The classification of PL ground motions continues to be a significant challenge due to the absence of consensus on their definition and categorization. This paper investigates the potential benefits of several Machine Learning Classifiers (MLCs) algorithms such as decision tree, random forest, logistic regression, naive Bayes, support vector machine, K-nearest neighbor, ensemble model, and artificial neural network models for predicting PL and Non-Pulse-Like (NPL) ground motions. In this regard, a dataset comprising 200 near-fault ground motions records compiled from active tectonic regions like Taiwan, Turkey, Iran, and Japan, was divided into 2 portions, with 75% used to train the model and the remaining 25% used for testing. Plots of performance metrics, confusion matrix, and receiver operating curve indicate that the ensemble classifier outperforms the other classifier with 86.2% accuracy and the lowest misclassification of PL and NPL ground motions. Additionally, the trained MLC has been compared with the existing ground motion classification models to further assess the accuracy of the different classifiers in the present study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, particularly since 2002, relations between Iran and Turkey have been on the rise and generally expanding. The aim of this paper is to analyse and clarify the reasons for the sustainability of the two countries' relations while undergoing intermittent eruptions of disputes over the years. In other words, the main question is: why have Iran and Turkey, with their political frictions, routinely embraced rapprochement and collaboration in recent decades? Accordingly, the hypothesis proposed is that a key reason for the ongoing cooperation between Tehran and Ankara in different fields, is the rationale of geopolitical complementarity engendering their security needs in broad meaning, particularly energy security and natural gas. Whilst the logic also applies to water security, both states attach greater importance to border security and energy. In short, their common geopolitical destiny over-rides individual state preferences. To examine this hypothesis, Barry Buzan's theory based on a broad definition of security as well as regional security complex has been deployed through descriptive analytics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we revise the Merodon aberrans species group of the genus Merodon Meigen, 1803 (Diptera: Syrphidae), providing morphological diagnoses and descriptions, molecular data for three species, as well as an illustrated key and a discussion of the different taxonomic characters used. We also discuss distribution patterns for this species group. The results revealed that the M. aberrans group is composed of five described species (M. aberrans Egger, 1860, M. brevis Paramonov, 1926, M. flavitibius Paramonov, 1926, M. hamifer Sack, 1913, and M. warnckei Hurkmans, 1993) and three new ones, namely M. hermonensis Vujić, Radenković et Likov sp. nov., M. petiolatus Vujić, Radenković et Rojo sp. nov., and M. retectus Vujić, Radenković et Likov sp. nov. Following a detailed study of the type material in different entomological collections, the status of several species is revised, one new synonym is proposed (subspecies M. aberrans isperensis Hurkmans, 1993 as junior synonym of M. flavitibius), lectotypes are designated for M. kneri Mik, 1867 and M. flavitibius, and paralectotypes are designated for M. hamifer and M. flavitibius. Seven out of eight species from the M. aberrans group are distributed in the Asian continent, namely all Caucasian countries, Turkey and Iran, confirming the notion about high diversity of Merodon species in these regions, but also highlighting the need for a systematic faunistic research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper aims at earthquake prediction assessment in Iran using VLF radio signal sounding and space-based ULF emission observation. VLF subionospheric data using the Denizkoy transmitter in Turkey at 26.7 kHz and a receiving station in Tehran are incorporated. Three earthquake events during 2019 located at different distances to the signal propagation path are used in this study. The short-term variations in the VLF signal for the 5 days averaged amplitude, as well as the deviation of the VLF signal against the 30 days averaged signal to monitor the alternation in the trend, are employed in this study to perform earthquake prediction assessment using VLF radio signal sounding. Several characteristic parameters of the VLF signal such fall-time, minimum 1 and minimum 2 throughout the day are used. A threshold over the standard deviation of the signal is used to determine the signal anomaly. The signal anomalies associated with three selected events and the correlation of prediction with the distance are discussed. A decision-making procedure for the detection of EQ-related anomalies based on the assessment of the proposed approach is introduced. The ULF emissions recorded by the China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES) are provided and associated with the two analyzed earthquakes using the VLF data due to lack of time coverage for the third case. The space-based detected ULF signals are presented and discussed. The proximity of the detected ULF emission with respect to the earthquake epicenter is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Late Neoproterozoic to Early Cambrian (Cadomian) magmatic rocks are abundant in Iran, but their occurrence in east-central Iran is voluminous. This paper reports, for the first time, on the Cadomian rocks of the eastern Iranian region known as Tapeh Tagh and deals with their geochemistry and uranium-lead (U-Pb) zircon ages. The Tapeh Tagh region contains masses of Cadomian meta-igneous rocks (including various types of granitic gneiss) and overlying meta-sedimentary rocks. The granitic gneisses show tectonic contact with metasedimentary rocks and their connection appears to have been obscured during the younger tectonic movements. The granitic gneisses show mylonitic texture with quartz ribbons and feldspar augen. Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry U-Pb dating of zircon grains, separated from medium to coarse-grained gneissic rocks, consistently yielded near concordant to discordant pairs of 527 ± 5 and 522 ± 10 Ma. Geochemically, these rocks show a felsic composition with SiO2 content varying from 70.30 to 79.63 wt.%, a high content of FeO(t), alkalis, and incompatible trace elements (Zr, Nb), along with high ratios of Ga/Al and FeO(t)/MgO. They have fractionated rare earth element (REE) patterns with La/Yb = 9.1–24.7. Eu shows depletion with Eu/Eu*<1. The highly fractionated granites of the Tapeh Tagh are geochemically classified into the volcanic arc granites (VAG) and within plate granite.The granitic gneisses are geochemically and geochronologically similar to other Cadomian granites and gneisses in other parts of Iran as well as the Cadomian magmatic rocks from Turkey. These widely disseminated Cadomian basement rocks in Iran and Turkey are considered as fragments of Neoproterozoic to Early Cambrian continental arcs that formed the northern active margin of Gondwanaland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ensuring international transport corridors' safety is essential for countries along the routes. For the sustainable development of international transport channels, this paper discusses how to evaluate the operational risks and how to alleviate the adverse effects caused by emergencies. First, an indicator system of international transport corridors' operational risks was constructed, which consists of 30 indicators from five dimensions of politics, economy, society, safety, and technology. Secondly, a comprehensive scoring approach combined with a network analysis method was applied to examine the effects caused by operational hazards. On this basis, the quantitative method and rigorous statistical analysis were used to evaluate the China-Pakistan-Iran-Turkey International Transport Corridor in the south line of the Silk Road Economic Belt, whose operational risks from 2010 to 2019 were analyzed. Finally, the operational risk index was discussed in detail. Results demonstrate the following. (1) During the China-Pakistan-Iran-Turkey International Transport Corridor, the Pakistan section has the highest operational risk index, and the next culprit is Turkey, followed by Iran. The Chinese section has the lowest operational risk index. (2) Pakistan has been trapped in severe political risks and security risks in recent years. Turkey suffers from severe security risks due to the Kurdish problem. Iran ranks first in terms of economic risk and social risk. Special attention should be paid to the natural risks for China. (3) Pakistan's operational risks will exhibit consistently high in the future, while China appears downwards in long-term trend. The operational risk index in Iran is on the rise. Turkey shows a flattening of and then a slight decline in the foreseeable future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Not all manuscripts that are accepted and published in scientific journals have retained their status as published articles, and some of them are retracted after publication. There are various reasons for retraction that are usually grouped into a scientific error, such as statistical flaws, and research misconduct such as plagiarism. Nowadays the number of scientific publications are a source of career advancement and respect in the scientific community. To attain these, the focus of researchers is towards increasing the number of publications per year which sometimes compromises the quality of publications. Aim: The current study aimed to investigate the characteristics of retracted publications that were contributed by Turkish authors to scientific databases. Methods: We searched PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. The search strategies were based on a combination of MeSH terms relevant to "retracted publication" and "Turkey." The databases were searched on 23rd October 2021, without any restrictions on the search period. The inclusion criteria were: (i) retracted publication and, (ii) any authors of the study having affiliation with an institution in Turkey. The titles, authors' affiliations, and abstracts of the search results were screened and bibliographic information was extracted. Results: After removing duplicates and irrelevant studies, our search retrieved a total of 147 publications. The oldest retracted article was published in 1996; thereafter an increasing trend of retracted publications was evident. Regarding access to full-text status, 106 (72.1%) of full-texts were available. Overall 127 scientific journals have published these articles. Biochemical Genetics was the most frequent publisher with five publications. From the institutional point of view, Hacettepe University was the main university, contributing seven papers. The most common reason for retractions was duplication = 50 (34%), and most retracted notices have been issued by the editor-in-chief = 63 (42.9% of papers). The majority of publications were from Medical Science = 93 (63.3% of papers). Among the Medical Science publications, the highest number, 44, were from surgery and allied fields. Turkish authors had international collaborations with 20 countries. Sixteen papers have international collaborations with researchers from Iran. Only 10 of the retracted publications have received funding. Five of the first authors have submitted more than one retracted publication. Citation analysis indicates that the median number of citations received by retracted publications was two (IQR 0-7). The minimum time lag between publication and retraction was less than one year and the maximum was 13 years. Conclusion: The publish or perish pressure in academia sometimes leads to intentional and unintentional research misconduct. Although the number of retracted publications is fewer, their trend is increasing. To overcome the problem, it can be suggested that research methodology and research ethics training are essential in the under- and post-graduate curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Main Recent Fault (MRF) is a major active strike-slip fault system at the NE border of the Arabian platform and Central Iran. Both geometry and kinematics of the fault system is rather well known along its central part and at its SE termination, while its possible continuation to the northwest is ambiguous. Moreover, less regard has been paid to possible relationships between this major intracontinental fault system and other strike-slip faults in NW Iran – SE Anatolia. This paper investigates both the structural pattern and kinematics of deformation in the region to the north of latitude 37°N, between the North Tabriz Fault and the MRF. We followed this goal through detailed fault mapping, structural field measurements, and fault-slip analyses, complemented by the reconstruction of cumulative geomorphic offsets along the main fault segments. The collected data sets have led us to propose a new tectonic model for the northwest corner of the Arabia – Central Iran collision zone. Our results reveal that the intracontinental dextral shear between Arabia-Central Iran, which is mainly localized along the MRF, continues to the north of latitude 37°N along a branch of the Neotethyan suture penetrating into SE Anatolia. The dextral fault system abruptly dies out at latitude 37.5° N joining two NNW-striking normal fault zones, which accommodate the dextral translation of Central Iran relative to Arabia through ESE-trending extension. The region in NW Iran and SE Anatolia is affected by a heterogeneous active stress field due to different tectonic processes such as tectonic escape, block translation, and localized extension. The dynamics of these processes is either directly governed by the Arabia – Eurasia oblique convergence or indirectly controlled by frontal collision and pure shear deformation in central Anatolia. • The Region in NW Iran and SE Anatolia is affected by a heterogeneous active stress field. • Arabia-Central Iran dextral shear on the MRF continues northward on a Neotethyan suture branch. • Dextral shear abruptly ends by ESE-WNW extension between NW Iran and SE Anatolia. • Tectonic escape, block translation and localized extension are the main tectonic processes. • Oblique convergence and frontal collision differently govern dynamics of these processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]