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From 2009 to 2012, 16 species of Curculionidae (Coleoptera) from the subfamily Lixinae were collected on 17 species of food plants in Iranian rangelands. Identified species belong to seven genera in the tribes Lixini and Cleonini. The host plants from which they were collected were in the families Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Campanulaceae, Brassicaceae and Zygophyllaceae. Of the 16 species that we captured, two (Lixus subfarinosus Desbrochers, 1893 and Larinus remissus Faust, 1889) represent the first records from Iran. These new data also extend the known ranges of several species (Larinus fucatus Faust, 1894, Larinus grisescens Gyllenhal, 1835, Microlarinus rhinocylloides Hochhuth, 1847 and Bangasternus planifrons (Brulle, 1832) in Iran. The distribution of beetles and their associated host plants are presented and ecological notes on each species are provided.

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Among the recently collected chalcidoid wasps in a rice field of eastern Guilan province (coast of Caspian Sea), in July 2012, there was a specimen of Pteromalidae belonging to the genus Callitula. It was identified as Callitula ferrierei (Bouček, 1964). Both genus and species are new record for Iranian fauna. Morphological characters and geographical distribution of the newly recorded species are given.

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Considering the importance of parasitic wasps in biological control of pests, a faunal study was conducted in the year 2012 on eulophid wasps (Hym.: Chalcidoidea) in rice fields in the east of Guilan province, southern coast of Caspian Sea. Several specimens were captured via Malaise traps. The specimens were identified as Aprostocetus deobensis (Graham), Aprostocetus mycerinus (Walker), Elasmus phthorimaeae Ferrière and Hemiptarsenus sp. Two species, A. deobensis and A. mycerinus are new records for Iran. In addition, association of A. deobensis, A. mycerinus and E. phthorimaeae with rice is new.  

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Hemiptarsenus autonomus (Mercet, 1924) (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae, Eulophinae) was found for the first time outside of Europe. Studied specimen was collected by a Malaise trap in the north west of Iran, East-Azarbaijan province, Khajeh (46°38'E & 38°09'N). Current record of Hemiptarsenus species of Iran adds up to seven species. These species and their geographical distribution in Iran are listed.

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Chalcidoidea play an important role in the biological control of many agricultural pests. The present study determines and compares the diversities of this superfamily in four ecosystems in the Lake Urmia basin. It is the largest hypersaline lake in the world with a large basin of different ecological conditions in northwest Iran. These stations were: Khajeh (K) and Tasuj (T) in Lake Urmia Basin (LUB_in) and Khoda-Afarin (KA) and Tikme-Dash (TD) out of their (LUB_out). Four months of Malaise trapping in these habitats resulted in a total of 512 specimens from 11 families of Chalcidoidea, including 6, 9, 10 and 10 families in K, KA, T and TD, respectively. Maximum abundance was observed in the T station with 192 and the minimum was in the K station with 38. However, the families, Encyrtidae and Chalcididae have maximum abundance in T and KA, respectively. The maximum activity of chalcidoid wasps was observed during June-August. The majority of the species were belonging to the family Mymaridae (25%), in LUB_out habitats peaked at 47 specimens in TD during the sampling period, while the corresponding LUB_in habitats peaked at 40 specimens in T. The two LUB_out habitats had greater community similarity (60%) than found between in and LUB_out habitats (42%) and diversity of chalcidoid wasps in LUB_out was found much more than LUB_in. Biodiversity studies showed that the KA station has the greatest values of diversity, evenness, and richness of Chalcidoidea. This station is located outside of Lake Urmia basin with the warmest and most humid climate and forest ecosystem on the margins of the Aras River.

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This paper presents the results of cyclic tests investigating the in-plane behavior of URM walls as the main lateral resistant members in school buildings. Generally, URM walls of existing building in the country contain different material properties with different strengths. Therefore, considering the effect of changing in material properties on their failure modes is required. A hypothetical two-story URM building was defined as the prototype structure of the presented cyclic in-plane research study. This prototype structure was selected to be a proper representative of existing URM school buildings in Iran. First story walls of this building with a loading bay equal to five meter were selected as the test specimens. Some properties of specimens were assumed and considered stationary to make the global response of the specimen match with the real condition of existing URM buildings in Iran. For this purpose, the thickness and the height of the walls were considered 0.35 and 3 m, respectively. The experimental study was carried out on two full-scale specimens. A special height-to-length aspect ratio of the wall was selected to generate enough lateral strength to ensure the bed-joint sliding failure of the URM wall during in-plane cyclic experiment. Lateral strength, Q, of considering URM walls was considered the lesser of the lateral strength based on bed-joint sliding, rocking, diagonal tension or toe crushing strengths. Changing in material properties of walls was considered as the major parameters in the investigation. The specimens were constructed in the structural laboratory of Building and Housing Research Center (B.H.R.C) and subjected to a sequence of cyclic loads. In the construction of walls, similar brick with different mortar and then different strengths were used. According to the results, the behavior of specimens revealed that they could be able to maintain a significant amount of their resistance after cracking without considerable strength degradation especially for the wall with proper mortar strength. Therefore, URM walls can resist lateral load after formation of the first crack with little lose of strength. According to this ductile behavior of walls and partnership of other elements in lateral load capacity of URM building, the estimation of system strength could be more than limited strength by the first crack of the wall. Changing in material properties of wall affected the failure mode, lateral resistant, displacement capacity, and energy dissipation. The specimen with proper mortar strength experienced bed-joint sliding failure mode, while the specimen with weaker mortar strength experienced mixed sliding-diagonal failure mode. The relationships presented in the standards can present relatively proper prediction for shear sliding capacity of the specimens, while the predicted capacity of them for diagonal capacity is overestimated. Test results showed that the improving the material properties of URM wall improved the lateral strengths of specimens. The wall constructed with the mortar with more appropriate properties revealed more lateral resistant and could experience more deformations. This wall could dissipate much more energy. The experimental m-factors were higher than current code values for both specimens and improving the material properties resulted in a considerable increment in m-factor.

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In the past two decades, explaining the technology strategy as one of the most crucial needs of various entities was particularly considered and many experts in the field classified it at a higher level than other operating strategies in terms of its profound influence on other operating firm operational strategies. The aim of developing technology strategy in an organization is the method of achieving competitive advantage position and how to realize the long-term technological goals. In this study in order to formulate technology strategy in the steel industry after reviewing the conducted studies a model was presented based on the strategy map and the identification of key processes. First, the key processes were identified according to the company's strategic goals. Then, the key process technologies with process approach were identified through the interview with senior managers and the study of electronic sources. Finally, in order to evaluate the identified technologies, the matrix of technology feasibility/attractiveness was used. By putting the technologies in the matrix, 7 technologies were placed in the area of high feasibility and attractiveness, 1 technology in the area of low feasibility and attractiveness, 4 technologies in the area of moderate feasibility and attractiveness, and 2 technologies in the area of high feasibility and moderate attractiveness. For each area an appropriate strategy was proposed.

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