Sharif Digital Repository

Pricing for an insurance policy can be described as the process of calculation of expected compensation to be paid to property losers as well as associated costs of potential risks. Loss forecast is accurate if the risks will be identified appropriately in order to calculate the frequency and expected severity of losses.This is particularly important about environmental risks since most of them appear in the long run. Environmental risk assessment model is both able to estimate the environmental liability premium for environmental pollution and degradation, and it can play a valuable role in promoting this industry. ELIS (Environmental Liability Insurance) software calculates the... 

Both natural montmorilonite (CN) and organically modified montmorilonite (CB) improved significantly the mechanical performance of novolac phenolic resin (PF)/woven glass-fiber (GF) composites due to their nanodispersion and good interfacial interaction with the matrix. It was revealed that the incorporation of 2.5 wt% of the clays enhances the elastic modulus up to 38% for CN and 43% for CB. Aging of PF/GF composites at various aqueous solutions, i.e. water, brine and acidic environments, increased stiffness of the composite (∼100-250% increase in elastic modulus) due to possible secondary crosslinking caused by water molecules and hydroxyl groups of PF resin. However, aging led to the... 

Nickel-base superalloys such as René 80 are widely used in manufacturing aircraft turbine blades. They are usually coated in order to increase their wear, oxidation, erosion, and hot corrosion properties against environmental degradation. In this article, the mechanical behavior (tensile and low-cycle fatigue (LCF)) of uncoated and aluminide-coated (CODEP-B) René 80 has been studied at 871 °C and 982 °C. Experimental results show that the tensile properties of coated specimens are relatively lower than those of uncoated ones in the same conditions, but application of coating increases the LCF life of René 80 at T = 871 °C, 982 °C, R = (εmin/εmax) = 0, strain rate of 2 × 10-3 s-1, and Δεt =... 

Non-point source pollution of phosphorus (P) is a primary cause of eutrophication of aquatic ecosystems, and poses a persistent management challenge due to the dynamic and poorly understood processes controlling the transport and transformation of P at the watershed scale. We examined phosphorus inputs, retention, and riverine losses in 62 diverse watersheds that included a wide range of land cover and use (minimally disturbed to human dominated) and human P inputs in Minnesota, USA. Fertilizer inputs from row crop cultivation were the dominant source of P to agricultural watersheds. A large majority of P inputs was retained in watershed soils or removed in agricultural products. However,... 

Herein, Kiwi peel activated carbon (AC), Materials Institute Lavoisier (MIL-88B (Fe), and AC/MIL-88B (Fe) composite were synthesized and used as catalysts to degrade Reactive Red 198. The material properties were analyzed by the FTIR, BET-BJH, XRD, FESEM, EDX, TGA, and UV–Vis/DRS. The BET surface area of AC, MIL-88B (Fe) and AC/MIL-88B (Fe) was 1113.3, 150.7, and 199.4 m2/g, respectively. The band gap values (Eg) estimated by Tauc plot method, were obtained 5.06, 4.19 and 3.79 eV for AC, MIL-88B (Fe) and AC/MIL-88B (Fe), respectively. The results indicated that the AC/MIL-88B (Fe) composite had higher photocatalytic activity (99%) than that of pure AC (79%) and MIL-88B (Fe) catalysts (87%).... 

Iran, having two separate coastlines at its north and south of about 3000 km length, with very different characteristics, suffers from various coastal problems. While its northern coastal area is over-populated and its sensitive and unique habitats must be protected from destruction, most of its southern coastal areas are undeveloped and deserted. Intense oil and gas exploitation activities in the Caspian Sea region and occurrence of two wars in the Persian Gulf during the last two decades have rendered hydrocarbon pollution a major issue for this country's marine and coastal environment. Biodiversity is under threat in some areas and natural resources are deteriorating. To overcome the... 

Sustainable development is significantly contributing the environmental degradation due to improvements in financial sector in One Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) region. Thus, the present research work constructs the sustainable development index for BRI. Afterwards, it unfolds the nexus of sustainable development-environmental degradation and also evaluates the role of financial development indicators in BRI economies. By utilizing the robust mean group, the present study quantifies the long-run marginal impacts of sustainable development, financial development indicators, energy consumption, and urban sprawl on environmental degradation, respectively. The marginal impacts infer an inverted...