Organizational-Legal and Technological Aspects of Ensuring Environmental Safety of Mining Enterprises: Perspective Analysis in the Context of the General Enhancement of Environmental Problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vorontsova, Elena; Vorontsov, Andrey; Drozdenko, Yuriy

2017-11-01

The article is devoted to the analysis of problems of maintenance of ecological safety of the mining enterprises. The aim of the work was the formulation of proposals, the implementation of which, in the opinion of the authors, is capable of raising the level of environmental safety of the mining industry and ultimately ensuring the environmentally oriented growth of the Russian economy.

Human Behavior Analysis by Means of Multimodal Context Mining

PubMed Central

Banos, Oresti; Villalonga, Claudia; Bang, Jaehun; Hur, Taeho; Kang, Donguk; Park, Sangbeom; Huynh-The, Thien; Le-Ba, Vui; Amin, Muhammad Bilal; Razzaq, Muhammad Asif; Khan, Wahajat Ali; Hong, Choong Seon; Lee, Sungyoung

2016-01-01

There is sufficient evidence proving the impact that negative lifestyle choices have on people’s health and wellness. Changing unhealthy behaviours requires raising people’s self-awareness and also providing healthcare experts with a thorough and continuous description of the user’s conduct. Several monitoring techniques have been proposed in the past to track users’ behaviour; however, these approaches are either subjective and prone to misreporting, such as questionnaires, or only focus on a specific component of context, such as activity counters. This work presents an innovative multimodal context mining framework to inspect and infer human behaviour in a more holistic fashion. The proposed approach extends beyond the state-of-the-art, since it not only explores a sole type of context, but also combines diverse levels of context in an integral manner. Namely, low-level contexts, including activities, emotions and locations, are identified from heterogeneous sensory data through machine learning techniques. Low-level contexts are combined using ontological mechanisms to derive a more abstract representation of the user’s context, here referred to as high-level context. An initial implementation of the proposed framework supporting real-time context identification is also presented. The developed system is evaluated for various realistic scenarios making use of a novel multimodal context open dataset and data on-the-go, demonstrating prominent context-aware capabilities at both low and high levels. PMID:27517928

Human Behavior Analysis by Means of Multimodal Context Mining.

PubMed

Banos, Oresti; Villalonga, Claudia; Bang, Jaehun; Hur, Taeho; Kang, Donguk; Park, Sangbeom; Huynh-The, Thien; Le-Ba, Vui; Amin, Muhammad Bilal; Razzaq, Muhammad Asif; Khan, Wahajat Ali; Hong, Choong Seon; Lee, Sungyoung

2016-08-10

There is sufficient evidence proving the impact that negative lifestyle choices have on people's health and wellness. Changing unhealthy behaviours requires raising people's self-awareness and also providing healthcare experts with a thorough and continuous description of the user's conduct. Several monitoring techniques have been proposed in the past to track users' behaviour; however, these approaches are either subjective and prone to misreporting, such as questionnaires, or only focus on a specific component of context, such as activity counters. This work presents an innovative multimodal context mining framework to inspect and infer human behaviour in a more holistic fashion. The proposed approach extends beyond the state-of-the-art, since it not only explores a sole type of context, but also combines diverse levels of context in an integral manner. Namely, low-level contexts, including activities, emotions and locations, are identified from heterogeneous sensory data through machine learning techniques. Low-level contexts are combined using ontological mechanisms to derive a more abstract representation of the user's context, here referred to as high-level context. An initial implementation of the proposed framework supporting real-time context identification is also presented. The developed system is evaluated for various realistic scenarios making use of a novel multimodal context open dataset and data on-the-go, demonstrating prominent context-aware capabilities at both low and high levels.

Indoor metallic pollution and children exposure in a mining city.

PubMed

Barbieri, Enio; Fontúrbel, Francisco E; Herbas, Cristian; Barbieri, Flavia L; Gardon, Jacques

2014-07-15

Mining industries are known for causing strong environmental contamination. In most developing countries, the management of mining wastes is not adequate, usually contaminating soil, water and air. This situation is a source of concern for human settlements located near mining centers, especially for vulnerable populations such as children. The aim of this study was to assess the correlations of the metallic concentrations between household dust and children hair, comparing these associations in two different contamination contexts: a mining district and a suburban non-mining area. We collected 113 hair samples from children between 7 and 12 years of age in elementary schools in the mining city of Oruro, Bolivia. We collected 97 indoor dust samples from their households, as well as information about the children's behavior. Analyses of hair and dust samples were conducted to measure As, Cd, Pb, Sb, Sn, Cu and Zn contents. In the mining district, there were significant correlations between non-essential metallic elements (As, Cd, Pb, Sb and Sn) in dust and hair, but not for essential elements (Cu and Zn), which remained after adjusting for children habits. Children who played with dirt had higher dust-hair correlations for Pb, Sb, and Cu (P=0.006; 0.022 and 0.001 respectively) and children who put hands or toys in their mouths had higher dust-hair correlations of Cd (P=0.011). On the contrary, in the suburban area, no significant correlations were found between metallic elements in dust and children hair and neither children behavior nor gender modified this lack of associations. Our results suggest that, in a context of high metallic contamination, indoor dust becomes an important exposure pathway for children, modulated by their playing behavior. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Recommendation in Higher Education Using Data Mining Techniques

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vialardi, Cesar; Bravo, Javier; Shafti, Leila; Ortigosa, Alvaro

2009-01-01

One of the main problems faced by university students is to take the right decision in relation to their academic itinerary based on available information (for example courses, schedules, sections, classrooms and professors). In this context, this work proposes the use of a recommendation system based on data mining techniques to help students to…

Target-Based Maintenance of Privacy Preserving Association Rules

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahluwalia, Madhu V.

2011-01-01

In the context of association rule mining, the state-of-the-art in privacy preserving data mining provides solutions for categorical and Boolean association rules but not for quantitative association rules. This research fills this gap by describing a method based on discrete wavelet transform (DWT) to protect input data privacy while preserving…

Transplantation of epiphytic bioaccumulators (Tillandsia capillaris) for high spatial resolution biomonitoring of trace elements and point sources deconvolution in a complex mining/smelting urban context

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goix, Sylvaine; Resongles, Eléonore; Point, David; Oliva, Priscia; Duprey, Jean Louis; de la Galvez, Erika; Ugarte, Lincy; Huayta, Carlos; Prunier, Jonathan; Zouiten, Cyril; Gardon, Jacques

2013-12-01

Monitoring atmospheric trace elements (TE) levels and tracing their source origin is essential for exposure assessment and human health studies. Epiphytic Tillandsia capillaris plants were used as bioaccumulator of TE in a complex polymetallic mining/smelting urban context (Oruro, Bolivia). Specimens collected from a pristine reference site were transplanted at a high spatial resolution (˜1 sample/km2) throughout the urban area. About twenty-seven elements were measured after a 4-month exposure, also providing new information values for reference material BCR482. Statistical power analysis for this biomonitoring mapping approach against classical aerosols surveys performed on the same site showed the better aptitude of T. Capillaris to detect geographical trend, and to deconvolute multiple contamination sources using geostatistical principal component analysis. Transplanted specimens in the vicinity of the mining and smelting areas were characterized by extreme TE accumulation (Sn > Ag > Sb > Pb > Cd > As > W > Cu > Zn). Three contamination sources were identified: mining (Ag, Pb, Sb), smelting (As, Sn) and road traffic (Zn) emissions, confirming results of previous aerosol survey.

Unsupervised User Similarity Mining in GSM Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Shad, Shafqat Ali; Chen, Enhong

2013-01-01

Mobility data has attracted the researchers for the past few years because of its rich context and spatiotemporal nature, where this information can be used for potential applications like early warning system, route prediction, traffic management, advertisement, social networking, and community finding. All the mentioned applications are based on mobility profile building and user trend analysis, where mobility profile building is done through significant places extraction, user's actual movement prediction, and context awareness. However, significant places extraction and user's actual movement prediction for mobility profile building are a trivial task. In this paper, we present the user similarity mining-based methodology through user mobility profile building by using the semantic tagging information provided by user and basic GSM network architecture properties based on unsupervised clustering approach. As the mobility information is in low-level raw form, our proposed methodology successfully converts it to a high-level meaningful information by using the cell-Id location information rather than previously used location capturing methods like GPS, Infrared, and Wifi for profile mining and user similarity mining. PMID:23576905

Graphics-based intelligent search and abstracting using Data Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jaenisch, Holger M.; Handley, James W.; Case, Carl T.; Songy, Claude G.

2002-11-01

This paper presents an autonomous text and context-mining algorithm that converts text documents into point clouds for visual search cues. This algorithm is applied to the task of data-mining a scriptural database comprised of the Old and New Testaments from the Bible and the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. Results are generated which graphically show the scripture that represents the average concept of the database and the mining of the documents down to the verse level.

Environmental Decision Making on Acid Mine Drainage Issues in South Africa: An Argument for the Precautionary Principle.

PubMed

Morodi, T J; Mpofu, Charles

2017-06-28

This paper examines the issue of acid mine drainage in South Africa and environmental decision making processes that could be taken to mitigate the problem in the context of both conventional risk assessment and the precautionary principle. It is argued that conventional risk assessment protects the status quo and hence cannot be entirely relied upon as an effective tool to resolve environmental problems in the context of South Africa, a developing country with complex environmental health concerns. The complexity of the environmental issues is discussed from historical and political perspectives. An argument is subsequently made that the precautionary principle is an alternative tool, and its adoption can be used to empower local communities. This work, therefore, adds to new knowledge by problematising conventional risk assessment and proposing the framing of the acid mine drainage issues in a complex and contextual scenario of a developing country-South Africa.

Foundational Principles for Large-Scale Inference: Illustrations Through Correlation Mining.

PubMed

Hero, Alfred O; Rajaratnam, Bala

2016-01-01

When can reliable inference be drawn in fue "Big Data" context? This paper presents a framework for answering this fundamental question in the context of correlation mining, wifu implications for general large scale inference. In large scale data applications like genomics, connectomics, and eco-informatics fue dataset is often variable-rich but sample-starved: a regime where the number n of acquired samples (statistical replicates) is far fewer than fue number p of observed variables (genes, neurons, voxels, or chemical constituents). Much of recent work has focused on understanding the computational complexity of proposed methods for "Big Data". Sample complexity however has received relatively less attention, especially in the setting when the sample size n is fixed, and the dimension p grows without bound. To address fuis gap, we develop a unified statistical framework that explicitly quantifies the sample complexity of various inferential tasks. Sampling regimes can be divided into several categories: 1) the classical asymptotic regime where fue variable dimension is fixed and fue sample size goes to infinity; 2) the mixed asymptotic regime where both variable dimension and sample size go to infinity at comparable rates; 3) the purely high dimensional asymptotic regime where the variable dimension goes to infinity and the sample size is fixed. Each regime has its niche but only the latter regime applies to exa cale data dimension. We illustrate this high dimensional framework for the problem of correlation mining, where it is the matrix of pairwise and partial correlations among the variables fua t are of interest. Correlation mining arises in numerous applications and subsumes the regression context as a special case. we demonstrate various regimes of correlation mining based on the unifying perspective of high dimensional learning rates and sample complexity for different structured covariance models and different inference tasks.

Assessing Lost Ecosystem Service Benefits Due to Mining-Induced Stream Degradation in the Appalachian Region: Economic Approaches to Valuing Recreational Fishing Impacts

EPA Science Inventory

Sport fishing is a popular activity for Appalachian residents and visitors. The region’s coldwater streams support a strong regional outdoor tourism industry. We examined the influence of surface coal mining, in the context of other stressors, on freshwater sport fishing in...

Interstitial Lung Diseases in the U.S. Mining Industry: Using MSHA Data to Examine Trends and the Prevention Effects of Compliance with Health Regulations, 1996-2015.

PubMed

Yorio, Patrick L; Laney, A Scott; Halldin, Cara N; Blackley, David J; Moore, Susan M; Wizner, Kerri; Radonovich, Lewis J; Greenawald, Lee A

2018-04-12

Given the recent increase in dust-induced lung disease among U.S. coal miners and the respiratory hazards encountered across the U.S. mining industry, it is important to enhance an understanding of lung disease trends and the organizational contexts that precede these events. In addition to exploring overall trends reported to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), the current study uses MSHA's enforcement database to examine whether or not compliance with health regulations resulted in fewer mine-level counts of these diseases over time. The findings suggest that interstitial lung diseases were more prevalent in coal mines compared to other mining commodities, in Appalachian coal mines compared to the rest of the United States, and in underground compared to surface coal mines. Mines that followed a relevant subset of MSHA's health regulations were less likely to report a lung disease over time. The findings are discussed from a lung disease prevention strategy perspective. © 2018 Society for Risk Analysis.

The Spatial Assessment of the Current Seismic Hazard State for Hard Rock Underground Mines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wesseloo, Johan

2018-06-01

Mining-induced seismic hazard assessment is an important component in the management of safety and financial risk in mines. As the seismic hazard is a response to the mining activity, it is non-stationary and variable both in space and time. This paper presents an approach for implementing a probabilistic seismic hazard assessment to assess the current hazard state of a mine. Each of the components of the probabilistic seismic hazard assessment is considered within the context of hard rock underground mines. The focus of this paper is the assessment of the in-mine hazard distribution and does not consider the hazard to nearby public or structures. A rating system and methodologies to present hazard maps, for the purpose of communicating to different stakeholders in the mine, i.e. mine managers, technical personnel and the work force, are developed. The approach allows one to update the assessment with relative ease and within short time periods as new data become available, enabling the monitoring of the spatial and temporal change in the seismic hazard.

Incorporating ecosystem services into environmental management of deep-seabed mining

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Le, Jennifer T.; Levin, Lisa A.; Carson, Richard T.

2017-03-01

Accelerated exploration of minerals in the deep sea over the past decade has raised the likelihood that commercial mining of the deep seabed will commence in the near future. Environmental concerns create a growing urgency for development of environmental regulations under commercial exploitation. Here, we consider an ecosystem services approach to the environmental policy and management of deep-sea mineral resources. Ecosystem services link the environment and human well-being, and can help improve sustainability and stewardship of the deep sea by providing a quantitative basis for decision-making. This paper briefly reviews ecosystem services provided by habitats targeted for deep-seabed mining (hydrothermal vents, seamounts, nodule provinces, and phosphate-rich margins), and presents practical steps to incorporate ecosystem services into deep-seabed mining regulation. The linkages and translation between ecosystem structure, ecological function (including supporting services), and ecosystem services are highlighted as generating human benefits. We consider criteria for identifying which ecosystem services are vulnerable to potential mining impacts, the role of ecological functions in providing ecosystem services, development of ecosystem service indicators, valuation of ecosystem services, and implementation of ecosystem services concepts. The first three steps put ecosystem services into a deep-seabed mining context; the last two steps help to incorporate ecosystem services into a management and decision-making framework. Phases of environmental planning discussed in the context of ecosystem services include conducting strategic environmental assessments, collecting baseline data, monitoring, establishing marine protected areas, assessing cumulative impacts, identifying thresholds and triggers, and creating an environmental damage compensation regime. We also identify knowledge gaps that need to be addressed in order to operationalize ecosystem services concepts in deep-seabed mining regulation and propose potential tools to fill them.

Efficient management of marine resources in conflict: an empirical study of marine sand mining, Korea.

PubMed

Kim, Tae-Goun

2009-10-01

This article develops a dynamic model of efficient use of exhaustible marine sand resources in the context of marine mining externalities. The classical Hotelling extraction model is applied to sand mining in Ongjin, Korea and extended to include the estimated marginal external costs that mining imposes on marine fisheries. The socially efficient sand extraction plan is compared with the extraction paths suggested by scientific research. If marginal environmental costs are correctly estimated, the developed efficient extraction plan considering the resource rent may increase the social welfare and reduce the conflicts among the marine sand resource users. The empirical results are interpreted with an emphasis on guidelines for coastal resource management policy.

The mine management professions in the twentieth-century Scottish coal mining industry

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Perchard, A.

2007-07-01

This book seeks to redress the exclusion of colliery managers and other mining professionals from the history of British, and particularly Scottish, coal industries. This is accomplished by examining these groups within the most crucial period of their ascendancy in the Scottish coal mining industry, 1930-1966. This work seeks to place such persons within their context and to examine their roles, statuses and behaviours through their relationships with employees and the execution of their functions, also examining their terms and conditions of employment, the outlook of their professional associations, and that of their union. Through all this, Dr. Perchard illustratesmore » how this growing consciousness amongst managerial employees in the industry was accompanied by an intense public discussion, within the mining professions, over their future shape, principles and occupational standards.« less

An Algorithm of Association Rule Mining for Microbial Energy Prospection

PubMed Central

Shaheen, Muhammad; Shahbaz, Muhammad

2017-01-01

The presence of hydrocarbons beneath earth’s surface produces some microbiological anomalies in soils and sediments. The detection of such microbial populations involves pure bio chemical processes which are specialized, expensive and time consuming. This paper proposes a new algorithm of context based association rule mining on non spatial data. The algorithm is a modified form of already developed algorithm which was for spatial database only. The algorithm is applied to mine context based association rules on microbial database to extract interesting and useful associations of microbial attributes with existence of hydrocarbon reserve. The surface and soil manifestations caused by the presence of hydrocarbon oxidizing microbes are selected from existing literature and stored in a shared database. The algorithm is applied on the said database to generate direct and indirect associations among the stored microbial indicators. These associations are then correlated with the probability of hydrocarbon’s existence. The numerical evaluation shows better accuracy for non-spatial data as compared to conventional algorithms at generating reliable and robust rules. PMID:28393846

A risk-based decision support framework for selection of appropriate safety measure system for underground coal mines.

PubMed

Samantra, Chitrasen; Datta, Saurav; Mahapatra, Siba Sankar

2017-03-01

In the context of underground coal mining industry, the increased economic issues regarding implementation of additional safety measure systems, along with growing public awareness to ensure high level of workers safety, have put great pressure on the managers towards finding the best solution to ensure safe as well as economically viable alternative selection. Risk-based decision support system plays an important role in finding such solutions amongst candidate alternatives with respect to multiple decision criteria. Therefore, in this paper, a unified risk-based decision-making methodology has been proposed for selecting an appropriate safety measure system in relation to an underground coal mining industry with respect to multiple risk criteria such as financial risk, operating risk, and maintenance risk. The proposed methodology uses interval-valued fuzzy set theory for modelling vagueness and subjectivity in the estimates of fuzzy risk ratings for making appropriate decision. The methodology is based on the aggregative fuzzy risk analysis and multi-criteria decision making. The selection decisions are made within the context of understanding the total integrated risk that is likely to incur while adapting the particular safety system alternative. Effectiveness of the proposed methodology has been validated through a real-time case study. The result in the context of final priority ranking is seemed fairly consistent.

Foundational Principles for Large-Scale Inference: Illustrations Through Correlation Mining

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hero, Alfred O.; Rajaratnam, Bala

When can reliable inference be drawn in the ‘‘Big Data’’ context? This article presents a framework for answering this fundamental question in the context of correlation mining, with implications for general large-scale inference. In large-scale data applications like genomics, connectomics, and eco-informatics, the data set is often variable rich but sample starved: a regime where the number n of acquired samples (statistical replicates) is far fewer than the number p of observed variables (genes, neurons, voxels, or chemical constituents). Much of recent work has focused on understanding the computational complexity of proposed methods for ‘‘Big Data.’’ Sample complexity, however, hasmore » received relatively less attention, especially in the setting when the sample size n is fixed, and the dimension p grows without bound. To address this gap, we develop a unified statistical framework that explicitly quantifies the sample complexity of various inferential tasks. Sampling regimes can be divided into several categories: 1) the classical asymptotic regime where the variable dimension is fixed and the sample size goes to infinity; 2) the mixed asymptotic regime where both variable dimension and sample size go to infinity at comparable rates; and 3) the purely high-dimensional asymptotic regime where the variable dimension goes to infinity and the sample size is fixed. Each regime has its niche but only the latter regime applies to exa-scale data dimension. We illustrate this high-dimensional framework for the problem of correlation mining, where it is the matrix of pairwise and partial correlations among the variables that are of interest. Correlation mining arises in numerous applications and subsumes the regression context as a special case. We demonstrate various regimes of correlation mining based on the unifying perspective of high-dimensional learning rates and sample complexity for different structured covariance models and different inference tasks.« less

Foundational Principles for Large-Scale Inference: Illustrations Through Correlation Mining

PubMed Central

Hero, Alfred O.; Rajaratnam, Bala

2015-01-01

When can reliable inference be drawn in fue “Big Data” context? This paper presents a framework for answering this fundamental question in the context of correlation mining, wifu implications for general large scale inference. In large scale data applications like genomics, connectomics, and eco-informatics fue dataset is often variable-rich but sample-starved: a regime where the number n of acquired samples (statistical replicates) is far fewer than fue number p of observed variables (genes, neurons, voxels, or chemical constituents). Much of recent work has focused on understanding the computational complexity of proposed methods for “Big Data”. Sample complexity however has received relatively less attention, especially in the setting when the sample size n is fixed, and the dimension p grows without bound. To address fuis gap, we develop a unified statistical framework that explicitly quantifies the sample complexity of various inferential tasks. Sampling regimes can be divided into several categories: 1) the classical asymptotic regime where fue variable dimension is fixed and fue sample size goes to infinity; 2) the mixed asymptotic regime where both variable dimension and sample size go to infinity at comparable rates; 3) the purely high dimensional asymptotic regime where the variable dimension goes to infinity and the sample size is fixed. Each regime has its niche but only the latter regime applies to exa cale data dimension. We illustrate this high dimensional framework for the problem of correlation mining, where it is the matrix of pairwise and partial correlations among the variables fua t are of interest. Correlation mining arises in numerous applications and subsumes the regression context as a special case. we demonstrate various regimes of correlation mining based on the unifying perspective of high dimensional learning rates and sample complexity for different structured covariance models and different inference tasks. PMID:27087700

Foundational Principles for Large-Scale Inference: Illustrations Through Correlation Mining

DOE PAGES

Hero, Alfred O.; Rajaratnam, Bala

2015-12-09

When can reliable inference be drawn in the ‘‘Big Data’’ context? This article presents a framework for answering this fundamental question in the context of correlation mining, with implications for general large-scale inference. In large-scale data applications like genomics, connectomics, and eco-informatics, the data set is often variable rich but sample starved: a regime where the number n of acquired samples (statistical replicates) is far fewer than the number p of observed variables (genes, neurons, voxels, or chemical constituents). Much of recent work has focused on understanding the computational complexity of proposed methods for ‘‘Big Data.’’ Sample complexity, however, hasmore » received relatively less attention, especially in the setting when the sample size n is fixed, and the dimension p grows without bound. To address this gap, we develop a unified statistical framework that explicitly quantifies the sample complexity of various inferential tasks. Sampling regimes can be divided into several categories: 1) the classical asymptotic regime where the variable dimension is fixed and the sample size goes to infinity; 2) the mixed asymptotic regime where both variable dimension and sample size go to infinity at comparable rates; and 3) the purely high-dimensional asymptotic regime where the variable dimension goes to infinity and the sample size is fixed. Each regime has its niche but only the latter regime applies to exa-scale data dimension. We illustrate this high-dimensional framework for the problem of correlation mining, where it is the matrix of pairwise and partial correlations among the variables that are of interest. Correlation mining arises in numerous applications and subsumes the regression context as a special case. We demonstrate various regimes of correlation mining based on the unifying perspective of high-dimensional learning rates and sample complexity for different structured covariance models and different inference tasks.« less

Platinum and Gold Mining in South Africa: The Context of the Marikana Massacre.

PubMed

Cairncross, Eugene; Kisting, Sophia

2016-02-01

Mining is a source of extraordinary wealth, but its benefits often do not accrue to the workers and communities most involved. This paper presents two case studies of mining in South Africa to reflect on the history and legacy of mining both through observation and through the voices of affected communities. Interviews and observations on field visits to the platinum and gold mining areas of South Africa in the immediate aftermath of the Marikana massacre highlight this legacy--including vast quantities of tailings dumps and waste rock, lakes of polluted water and a devastated physical and social environment, high unemployment, high rates of occupational injury and disease including silicosis with co-morbidities, absent social security, and disrupted rural and agricultural communities. Exploitative conditions of work and the externalization of the health and environmental costs of mining will require international solidarity, robust independent trade unions, and a commitment to human rights. © The Author(s) 2016.

Stochastic production phase design for an open pit mining complex with multiple processing streams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asad, Mohammad Waqar Ali; Dimitrakopoulos, Roussos; van Eldert, Jeroen

2014-08-01

In a mining complex, the mine is a source of supply of valuable material (ore) to a number of processes that convert the raw ore to a saleable product or a metal concentrate for production of the refined metal. In this context, expected variation in metal content throughout the extent of the orebody defines the inherent uncertainty in the supply of ore, which impacts the subsequent ore and metal production targets. Traditional optimization methods for designing production phases and ultimate pit limit of an open pit mine not only ignore the uncertainty in metal content, but, in addition, commonly assume that the mine delivers ore to a single processing facility. A stochastic network flow approach is proposed that jointly integrates uncertainty in supply of ore and multiple ore destinations into the development of production phase design and ultimate pit limit. An application at a copper mine demonstrates the intricacies of the new approach. The case study shows a 14% higher discounted cash flow when compared to the traditional approach.

ABC for AIDS prevention in Guinea: migrant gold mining communities address their risks.

PubMed

Kis, Adam Daniel

2010-04-01

Contrary to expectation when compared with other migrant mining zones of sub-Saharan Africa, the nation of Guinea has a comparatively low and stable HIV rate. In addition, the regions with the largest gold, diamond, and bauxite mining operations report the lowest HIV rates within the country. This research set out to explain practices and beliefs within gold mining communities near Siguiri, Guinea--the highest-producing gold mining zone in the country--that may contribute to this phenomenon, particularly as they relate to the Abstinence, Be faithful, use a Condom approach to AIDS prevention. Structured interviews on a randomly selected sample of 460 adults and regular visitation to 16 pharmacies and health clinics within the mining zone yielded data showing that abstinence and condom use are minimally practiced for AIDS prevention. Instead, faithfulness to partners was overwhelmingly reported as the method of choice for AIDS avoidance. In addition, this research explored ways in which local conceptions of fidelity differed from those generally understood in other contexts, including engagement in short-term marriages at the gold mining sites.

Data Analysis and Data Mining: Current Issues in Biomedical Informatics

PubMed Central

Bellazzi, Riccardo; Diomidous, Marianna; Sarkar, Indra Neil; Takabayashi, Katsuhiko; Ziegler, Andreas; McCray, Alexa T.

2011-01-01

Summary Background Medicine and biomedical sciences have become data-intensive fields, which, at the same time, enable the application of data-driven approaches and require sophisticated data analysis and data mining methods. Biomedical informatics provides a proper interdisciplinary context to integrate data and knowledge when processing available information, with the aim of giving effective decision-making support in clinics and translational research. Objectives To reflect on different perspectives related to the role of data analysis and data mining in biomedical informatics. Methods On the occasion of the 50th year of Methods of Information in Medicine a symposium was organized, that reflected on opportunities, challenges and priorities of organizing, representing and analysing data, information and knowledge in biomedicine and health care. The contributions of experts with a variety of backgrounds in the area of biomedical data analysis have been collected as one outcome of this symposium, in order to provide a broad, though coherent, overview of some of the most interesting aspects of the field. Results The paper presents sections on data accumulation and data-driven approaches in medical informatics, data and knowledge integration, statistical issues for the evaluation of data mining models, translational bioinformatics and bioinformatics aspects of genetic epidemiology. Conclusions Biomedical informatics represents a natural framework to properly and effectively apply data analysis and data mining methods in a decision-making context. In the future, it will be necessary to preserve the inclusive nature of the field and to foster an increasing sharing of data and methods between researchers. PMID:22146916

Symbolic solutions for deadly dilemmas: an analysis of federal coal mine health and safety legislation.

PubMed

Curran, D J

1984-01-01

Numerous studies of coal mine laws have argued that the passage of all significant health and safety legislation can be attributed to a succession of catastrophic disasters which heightened awareness and propelled lawmakers into action. This paper takes issue with this "disaster-law" argument because it obscures the intricacies of law creation by focusing on a single factor. More accurately, mining disasters represent one dimension of a process aimed at resolving conflicts occurring within a specific social context. Historically, legislation has been utilized to avert economic crises by addressing the demands of protesting miners. Unfortunately, while the "written law" assured improvements, the "law in action" did not meet these guarantees and the deaths in the mines continued. A case study of the Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 demonstrates how a law with apparently progressive standards can fail to effect change because of its dualistic nature and incomplete implementation.

The Interaction of Economic Rewards and Moral Convictions in Predicting Attitudes toward Resource Use

PubMed Central

Bastian, Brock; Zhang, Airong; Moffat, Kieren

2015-01-01

When people are morally convicted regarding a specific issue, these convictions exert a powerful influence on their attitudes and behavior. In the current research we examined whether there are boundary conditions to the influence of this effect. Specifically, whether in the context of salient economic rewards, moral convictions may become weaker predictors of attitudes regarding resource use. Focusing on the issue of mining we gathered large-scale samples across three different continents (Australia, Chile, and China). We found that moral convictions against mining were related to a reduced acceptance of mining in each country, while perceived economic rewards from mining increased acceptance. These two motivations interacted, however, such that when perceived economic benefit from mining was high, the influence of moral conviction was weaker. The results highlight the importance of understanding the roles of both moral conviction and financial gain in motivating attitudes towards resource use. PMID:26267904

Use of a remotely piloted aircraft system for hazard assessment in a rocky mining area (Lucca, Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salvini, Riccardo; Mastrorocco, Giovanni; Esposito, Giuseppe; Di Bartolo, Silvia; Coggan, John; Vanneschi, Claudio

2018-01-01

The use of remote sensing techniques is now common practice in different working environments, including engineering geology. Moreover, in recent years the development of structure from motion (SfM) methods, together with rapid technological improvement, has allowed the widespread use of cost-effective remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) for acquiring detailed and accurate geometrical information even in evolving environments, such as mining contexts. Indeed, the acquisition of remotely sensed data from hazardous areas provides accurate 3-D models and high-resolution orthophotos minimizing the risk for operators. The quality and quantity of the data obtainable from RPAS surveys can then be used for inspection of mining areas, audit of mining design, rock mass characterizations, stability analysis investigations and monitoring activities. Despite the widespread use of RPAS, its potential and limitations still have to be fully understood.In this paper a case study is shown where a RPAS was used for the engineering geological investigation of a closed marble mine area in Italy; direct ground-based techniques could not be applied for safety reasons. In view of the re-activation of mining operations, high-resolution images taken from different positions and heights were acquired and processed using SfM techniques to obtain an accurate and detailed 3-D model of the area. The geometrical and radiometrical information was subsequently used for a deterministic rock mass characterization, which led to the identification of two large marble blocks that pose a potential significant hazard issue for the future workforce. A preliminary stability analysis, with a focus on investigating the contribution of potential rock bridges, was then performed in order to demonstrate the potential use of RPAS information in engineering geological contexts for geohazard identification, awareness and reduction.

Analysis of environmental-social changes in the surrounding area of KWB Turow in the historical context

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ciesłik, Tobiasz; Górniak-Zimroz, Justyna

2018-01-01

Opencast mining of large-area lignite deposits impacts the environment, and the health and life of people living in the vicinity of the conducted mining activity. Therefore, the attempt was made to develop a methodology for identification of environmental and social changes in the Bogatynia municipality (south-western Poland), resulting from functioning of Turow lignite mine within its area. During the study of changes occurring over the years, the development of mining pit was noticed, as well as the transformations of this area and impact of the mining plant on the selected elements of environment and surrounding areas. Analogue and digital data were used for the preparation of cartographic compilations, the usefulness of which was analyzed in accordance with the guidelines contained in the standard [1]. The conducted cartographic studies allowed to learn the history of the mine together with identification of changes taking place in the municipality Bogatynia. The obtained results show the form and condition of the objects in the analyzed year, allowing for the interpretation of changes that occurred in the surrounding areas of the Turow mine. Due to the conducted activity of the mine and Turow power plant, both negative and positive aspects were noted in connection with the carrying out of mining activity in the Bogatynia municipality.

From chemical risk assessment to environmental resources management: the challenge for mining.

PubMed

Voulvoulis, Nikolaos; Skolout, John W F; Oates, Christopher J; Plant, Jane A

2013-11-01

On top of significant improvements and progress made through science and engineering in the last century to increase efficiency and reduce impacts of mining to the environment, risk assessment has an important role to play in further reducing such impacts and preventing and mitigating risks. This paper reflects on how risk assessment can improve planning, monitoring and management in mining and mineral processing operations focusing on the importance of better understanding source-pathway-receptor linkages for all stages of mining. However, in light of the ever-growing consumption and demand for raw materials from mining, the need to manage environmental resources more sustainably is becoming increasingly important. The paper therefore assesses how mining can form an integral part of wider sustainable resources management, with the need for re-assessing the potential of mining in the context of sustainable management of natural capital, and with a renewed focus on its the role from a systems perspective. The need for understanding demand and pressure on resources, followed by appropriate pricing that is inclusive of all environmental costs, with new opportunities for mining in the wastes we generate, is also discussed. Findings demonstrate the need for a life cycle perspective in closing the loop between mining, production, consumption and waste generation as the way forward.

The Positive Environmental Contribution of Jarosite by Retaining Lead in Acid Mine Drainage Areas

PubMed Central

Figueiredo, Maria-Ondina; da Silva, Teresa Pereira

2011-01-01

Jarosite, KFe3(SO4)2(OH)6, is a secondary iron sulphate often found in acid mine drainage (AMD) environments, particularly in mining wastes from polymetallic sulphide ore deposits. Despite the negative environmental connotation usually ascribed to secondary sulphate minerals due to the release of hazardous elements to aquifers and soils, jarosite acts as an efficient remover and immobilizer of such metals, particularly lead. The mineral chemistry of jarosite is reviewed and the results of a Fe K-edge XANES (X-Ray Absorption Near-Edge Structure) study of K-, Na- and Pb-jarosite are described and discussed within the context of the abandoned old mines of São Domingos and Aljustrel located in southern Portugal, in the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB). PMID:21655138

[Text mining, a method for computer-assisted analysis of scientific texts, demonstrated by an analysis of author networks].

PubMed

Hahn, P; Dullweber, F; Unglaub, F; Spies, C K

2014-06-01

Searching for relevant publications is becoming more difficult with the increasing number of scientific articles. Text mining as a specific form of computer-based data analysis may be helpful in this context. Highlighting relations between authors and finding relevant publications concerning a specific subject using text analysis programs are illustrated graphically by 2 performed examples. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

42 CFR 1007.1 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... context: Data mining is defined as the practice of electronically sorting Medicaid or other relevant data... and relationships within that data to identify aberrant utilization, billing, or other practices that...

42 CFR 1007.1 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... context: Data mining is defined as the practice of electronically sorting Medicaid or other relevant data... and relationships within that data to identify aberrant utilization, billing, or other practices that...

Context Mining of Sedentary Behaviour for Promoting Self-Awareness Using a Smartphone.

PubMed

Fahim, Muhammad; Baker, Thar; Khattak, Asad Masood; Shah, Babar; Aleem, Saiqa; Chow, Francis

2018-03-15

Sedentary behaviour is increasing due to societal changes and is related to prolonged periods of sitting. There is sufficient evidence proving that sedentary behaviour has a negative impact on people's health and wellness. This paper presents our research findings on how to mine the temporal contexts of sedentary behaviour by utilizing the on-board sensors of a smartphone. We use the accelerometer sensor of the smartphone to recognize user situations (i.e., still or active). If our model confirms that the user context is still, then there is a high probability of being sedentary. Then, we process the environmental sound to recognize the micro-context, such as working on a computer or watching television during leisure time. Our goal is to reduce sedentary behaviour by suggesting preventive interventions to take short breaks during prolonged sitting to be more active. We achieve this goal by providing the visualization to the user, who wants to monitor his/her sedentary behaviour to reduce unhealthy routines for self-management purposes. The main contribution of this paper is two-fold: (i) an initial implementation of the proposed framework supporting real-time context identification; (ii) testing and evaluation of the framework, which suggest that our application is capable of substantially reducing sedentary behaviour and assisting users to be active.

Analysis of Occupational Accidents in Underground and Surface Mining in Spain Using Data-Mining Techniques.

PubMed

Sanmiquel, Lluís; Bascompta, Marc; Rossell, Josep M; Anticoi, Hernán Francisco; Guash, Eduard

2018-03-07

An analysis of occupational accidents in the mining sector was conducted using the data from the Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Safety between 2005 and 2015, and data-mining techniques were applied. Data was processed with the software Weka. Two scenarios were chosen from the accidents database: surface and underground mining. The most important variables involved in occupational accidents and their association rules were determined. These rules are composed of several predictor variables that cause accidents, defining its characteristics and context. This study exposes the 20 most important association rules in the sector-either surface or underground mining-based on the statistical confidence levels of each rule as obtained by Weka. The outcomes display the most typical immediate causes, along with the percentage of accidents with a basis in each association rule. The most important immediate cause is body movement with physical effort or overexertion, and the type of accident is physical effort or overexertion. On the other hand, the second most important immediate cause and type of accident are different between the two scenarios. Data-mining techniques were chosen as a useful tool to find out the root cause of the accidents.

Advances in Machine Learning and Data Mining for Astronomy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Way, Michael J.; Scargle, Jeffrey D.; Ali, Kamal M.; Srivastava, Ashok N.

2012-03-01

Advances in Machine Learning and Data Mining for Astronomy documents numerous successful collaborations among computer scientists, statisticians, and astronomers who illustrate the application of state-of-the-art machine learning and data mining techniques in astronomy. Due to the massive amount and complexity of data in most scientific disciplines, the material discussed in this text transcends traditional boundaries between various areas in the sciences and computer science. The book's introductory part provides context to issues in the astronomical sciences that are also important to health, social, and physical sciences, particularly probabilistic and statistical aspects of classification and cluster analysis. The next part describes a number of astrophysics case studies that leverage a range of machine learning and data mining technologies. In the last part, developers of algorithms and practitioners of machine learning and data mining show how these tools and techniques are used in astronomical applications. With contributions from leading astronomers and computer scientists, this book is a practical guide to many of the most important developments in machine learning, data mining, and statistics. It explores how these advances can solve current and future problems in astronomy and looks at how they could lead to the creation of entirely new algorithms within the data mining community.

Development of ergonomics audits for bagging, haul truck and maintenance and repair operations in mining.

PubMed

Dempsey, Patrick G; Pollard, Jonisha; Porter, William L; Mayton, Alan; Heberger, John R; Gallagher, Sean; Reardon, Leanna; Drury, Colin G

2017-12-01

The development and testing of ergonomics and safety audits for small and bulk bag filling, haul truck and maintenance and repair operations in coal preparation and mineral processing plants found at surface mine sites is described. The content for the audits was derived from diverse sources of information on ergonomics and safety deficiencies including: analysis of injury, illness and fatality data and reports; task analysis; empirical laboratory studies of particular tasks; field studies and observations at mine sites; and maintenance records. These diverse sources of information were utilised to establish construct validity of the modular audits that were developed for use by mine safety personnel. User and interrater reliability testing was carried out prior to finalising the audits. The audits can be implemented using downloadable paper versions or with a free mobile NIOSH-developed Android application called ErgoMine. Practitioner Summary: The methodology used to develop ergonomics audits for three types of mining operations is described. Various sources of audit content are compared and contrasted to serve as a guide for developing ergonomics audits for other occupational contexts.

Surface Soil Preparetion for Leguminous Plants Growing in Degraded Areas by Mining Located in Amazon Forest-Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Irio Ribeiro, Admilson; Hashimoto Fengler, Felipe; Araújo de Medeiros, Gerson; Márcia Longo, Regina; Frederici de Mello, Giovanna; José de Melo, Wanderley

2015-04-01

The revegetation of areas degraded by mining usually requires adequate mobilization of surface soil for the development of the species to be implemented. Unlike the traditional tillage, which has periodicity, the mobilization of degraded areas for revegetation can only occur at the beginning of the recovery stage. In this sense, the process of revegetation has as purpose the establishment of local native vegetation with least possible use of inputs and superficial tillage in order to catalyze the process of natural ecological succession, promoting the reintegration of areas and minimizing the negative impacts of mining activities in environmental. In this context, this work describes part of a study of land reclamation by tin exploitation in the Amazon ecosystem in the National Forest Jamari- Rondonia Brazil. So, studied the influence of surface soil mobilization in pit mine areas and tailings a view to the implementation of legumes. The results show that the surface has areas of mobilizing a significant effect on the growth of leguminous plants, areas for both mining and to tailings and pit mine areas.

Data Mining and Privacy of Social Network Sites' Users: Implications of the Data Mining Problem.

PubMed

Al-Saggaf, Yeslam; Islam, Md Zahidul

2015-08-01

This paper explores the potential of data mining as a technique that could be used by malicious data miners to threaten the privacy of social network sites (SNS) users. It applies a data mining algorithm to a real dataset to provide empirically-based evidence of the ease with which characteristics about the SNS users can be discovered and used in a way that could invade their privacy. One major contribution of this article is the use of the decision forest data mining algorithm (SysFor) to the context of SNS, which does not only build a decision tree but rather a forest allowing the exploration of more logic rules from a dataset. One logic rule that SysFor built in this study, for example, revealed that anyone having a profile picture showing just the face or a picture showing a family is less likely to be lonely. Another contribution of this article is the discussion of the implications of the data mining problem for governments, businesses, developers and the SNS users themselves.

Environmental management in North American mining sector.

PubMed

Asif, Zunaira; Chen, Zhi

2016-01-01

This paper reviews the environmental issues and management practices in the mining sector in the North America. The sustainable measures on waste management are recognized as one of the most serious environmental concerns in the mining industry. For mining activities, it will be no surprise that the metal recovery reagents and acid effluents are a threat to the ecosystem as well as hazards to human health. In addition, poor air quality and ventilation in underground mines can lead to occupational illness and death of workers. Electricity usage and fuel consumption are major factors that contribute to greenhouse gases. On the other hand, many sustainability challenges are faced in the management of tailings and disposal of waste rock. This paper aims to highlight the problems that arise due to poor air quality and acid mine drainage. The paper also addresses some of the advantages and limitations of tailing and waste rock management that still have to be studied in context of the mining sector. This paper suggests that implementation of suitable environmental management tools like life cycle assessment (LCA), cleaner production technologies (CPTs), and multicriteria decision analysis (MCD) are important as it ultimately lead to improve environmental performance and enabling a mine to focus on the next stage of sustainability.

Training and Employment of Land Mine and Booby Trap Detector Dogs. Volume II

DTIC Science & Technology

1976-09-01

1Of injury, disease, and other physical abnormalities. All obligatory Li [1/ • ,i 4’: vaccinations should 1•e current ( canine distemper , infectious...as a procedures manual and reference text to be used during the training of initially naive canines v for land mine and booby trap detection service... canine L. training contexts. * • The techniques and procedures elaborated in the present docu- ment were developed for the United States Army Mobility

A concept for the modernization of underground mining master maps based on the enrichment of data definitions and spatial database technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krawczyk, Artur

2018-01-01

In this article, topics regarding the technical and legal aspects of creating digital underground mining maps are described. Currently used technologies and solutions for creating, storing and making digital maps accessible are described in the context of the Polish mining industry. Also, some problems with the use of these technologies are identified and described. One of the identified problems is the need to expand the range of mining map data provided by survey departments to other mining departments, such as ventilation maintenance or geological maintenance. Three solutions are proposed and analyzed, and one is chosen for further analysis. The analysis concerns data storage and making survey data accessible not only from paper documentation, but also directly from computer systems. Based on enrichment data, new processing procedures are proposed for a new way of presenting information that allows the preparation of new cartographic representations (symbols) of data with regard to users' needs.

A Visualization Tool for Integrating Research Results at an Underground Mine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boltz, S.; Macdonald, B. D.; Orr, T.; Johnson, W.; Benton, D. J.

2016-12-01

Researchers with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health are conducting research at a deep, underground metal mine in Idaho to develop improvements in ground control technologies that reduce the effects of dynamic loading on mine workings, thereby decreasing the risk to miners. This research is multifaceted and includes: photogrammetry, microseismic monitoring, geotechnical instrumentation, and numerical modeling. When managing research involving such a wide range of data, understanding how the data relate to each other and to the mining activity quickly becomes a daunting task. In an effort to combine this diverse research data into a single, easy-to-use system, a three-dimensional visualization tool was developed. The tool was created using the Unity3d video gaming engine and includes the mine development entries, production stopes, important geologic structures, and user-input research data. The tool provides the user with a first-person, interactive experience where they are able to walk through the mine as well as navigate the rock mass surrounding the mine to view and interpret the imported data in the context of the mine and as a function of time. The tool was developed using data from a single mine; however, it is intended to be a generic tool that can be easily extended to other mines. For example, a similar visualization tool is being developed for an underground coal mine in Colorado. The ultimate goal is for NIOSH researchers and mine personnel to be able to use the visualization tool to identify trends that may not otherwise be apparent when viewing the data separately. This presentation highlights the features and capabilities of the mine visualization tool and explains how it may be used to more effectively interpret data and reduce the risk of ground fall hazards to underground miners.

Thinking in/through Movements; Working with/in Affect within the Context of Norwegian Early Years Education and Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rossholt, Nina

2018-01-01

This paper draws on data undertaken with very young children within the context of Norwegian kindergartens. Specifically, the paper focuses on non-human and human movements. Mine included, that are undertaken in time and space. Following I argue that as the researcher I am always already entangled in inquiry and that there is no beginning. As a…

Consultation and remediation in the north: meeting international commitments to safeguard health and well-being.

PubMed

Banfield, Laura; Jardine, Cynthia G

2013-01-01

International commitments exist for the safeguarding of health and the prevention of ill health. One of the earliest commitments is the Declaration of Alma-Ata (1978), which provides 5 principles guiding primary health care: equity, community participation, health promotion, intersectoral collaboration and appropriate technology. These broadly applicable international commitments are premised on the World Health Organization's multifaceted definition of health. The environment is one sector in which these commitments to safeguarding health can be applied. Giant Mine, a contaminated former gold mine in the Northwest Territories, Canada, represents potential threats to all aspects of health. Strategies for managing such threats usually involve an obligation to engage the affected communities through consultation. To examine the remediation and consultation process associated with Giant Mine within the context of commitments to safeguard health and well-being through adapting and applying the principles of primary health care. Semi-structured interviews with purposively selected key informants representing government proponents and community members were conducted. in reviewing themes which emerged from a series of interviews exploring the community consultation process for the remediation of Giant Mine, the principles guiding primary health were mapped to CONSULTATION IN the North: (a) "equity" is the capacity to fairly and meaningfully participate in the consultation; (b) "community participation" is the right to engage in the process through reciprocal dialogue; (c) "health promotion" represents the need for continued information sharing towards awareness; (d) "intersectoral collaboration" signifies the importance of including all stakeholders; and (e) "appropriate technology" is the need to employ the best remediation actions relevant to the site and the community. Within the context of mining remediation, these principles form an appropriate framework for viewing consultation as a means of meeting international obligations to safeguard health.

The production of consumption: addressing the impact of mineral mining on tuberculosis in southern Africa

PubMed Central

Basu, Sanjay; Stuckler, David; Gonsalves, Gregg; Lurie, Mark

2009-01-01

Background Miners in southern Africa experience incident rates of tuberculosis up to ten times greater than the general population. Migration to and from mines may be amplifying tuberculosis epidemics in the general population. Discussion Migration to and from mineral mines contributes to HIV risks and associated tuberculosis incidence. Health and safety conditions within mines also promote the risk of silicosis (a tuberculosis risk factor) and transmission of tuberculosis bacilli in close quarters. In the context of migration, current tuberculosis prevention and treatment strategies often fail to provide sufficient continuity of care to ensure appropriate tuberculosis detection and treatment. Reports from Lesotho and South Africa suggest that miners pose transmission risks to other household or community members as they travel home undetected or inadequately treated, particularly with drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis. Reducing risky exposures on the mines, enhancing the continuity of primary care services, and improving the enforcement of occupational health codes may mitigate the harmful association between mineral mining activities and tuberculosis incidence among affected communities. Summary Tuberculosis incidence appears to be amplified by mineral mining operations in southern Africa. A number of immediately-available measures to improve continuity of care for miners, change recruitment and compensation practices, and reduce the primary risk of infection may critically mitigate the negative association between mineral mining and tuberculosis. PMID:19785769

Using Data Mining to Detect Health Care Fraud and Abuse: A Review of Literature

PubMed Central

Joudaki, Hossein; Rashidian, Arash; Minaei-Bidgoli, Behrouz; Mahmoodi, Mahmood; Geraili, Bijan; Nasiri, Mahdi; Arab, Mohammad

2015-01-01

Inappropriate payments by insurance organizations or third party payers occur because of errors, abuse and fraud. The scale of this problem is large enough to make it a priority issue for health systems. Traditional methods of detecting health care fraud and abuse are time-consuming and inefficient. Combining automated methods and statistical knowledge lead to the emergence of a new interdisciplinary branch of science that is named Knowledge Discovery from Databases (KDD). Data mining is a core of the KDD process. Data mining can help third-party payers such as health insurance organizations to extract useful information from thousands of claims and identify a smaller subset of the claims or claimants for further assessment. We reviewed studies that performed data mining techniques for detecting health care fraud and abuse, using supervised and unsupervised data mining approaches. Most available studies have focused on algorithmic data mining without an emphasis on or application to fraud detection efforts in the context of health service provision or health insurance policy. More studies are needed to connect sound and evidence-based diagnosis and treatment approaches toward fraudulent or abusive behaviors. Ultimately, based on available studies, we recommend seven general steps to data mining of health care claims. PMID:25560347

Evidence of Historical Mining Impacts on Saltmarshes from east Cornwall, UK

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iurian, Andra-Rada; Taylor, Alex; Millward, Geoff; Blake, William

2016-04-01

In landscapes with extensive mining history, saltmarshes can become sinks for contaminants that are vulnerable to release with sea-level rise and increased storminess. Given the prolonged residence time of heavy metals in the environment, data is urgently required to contextualise the impacts of past and present mining and pollution events and provide a baseline against which to assess Water Framework Directive (WFD) (2000/60/EC) compliance within an integrated catchment management framework. The geology of east Cornwall, UK (with intrusions of granite into the surrounding sedimentary rocks) was favourable for a prosperous mining industry, although large scale operations did not start until about 1830. Tin, cooper, lead and tungsten were the most important ores in the region. In order to quantify the spatial and temporal extent of contamination from past mining, sediment cores were collected from three saltmarshes, namely: Antony Marsh and Treluggan Marsh on the Lower Basin of River Lynher, and Port Eliot Marsh on the Lower Basin of River Tiddy. Core sections at 1 cm intervals were analysed by gamma-ray spectrometry for Pb-210, Ra-226, Cs-137 and Am-241, and the well-established Constant Rate of Supply (CRS) model was employed to derive Pb-210 geochronology with bomb-derived Cs-137 and Am-241 as independent chronological markers. The geochronological data provided the sedimentary accumulation and temporal context for the study. In terms of sediment quality with respect to mining pollution, core sections were analysed using Q-ICP-MS techniques and, additionally, WD-XRF instrumentation at Plymouth University. Measurements were performed for target elements that are normally associated with mining and smelting activities (e.g. Pb, Cu, Sn, Zn, Cr, Cd, etc.), and lithogenic elements (e.g. Fe, Al, Ti) that allow enrichment factors for the anthropogenically-derived elements to be determined. The grain size distribution was determined to identify storminess events and to detect discontinuities in the sediment record. Downcore trends in metal pollutants are discussed in the context of the chronological data, sediment composition and historic meteorological and river flow records. Acknowledgements: Andra-Rada Iurian acknowledges the support of a Marie Curie Fellowship (H2020-MSCA-IF-2014, Grant Agreement number: 658863) within the Horizon 2020.

Definition of redox and pH influence in the AMD mine system using a fuzzy qualitative tool (Iberian Pyrite Belt, SW Spain).

PubMed

de la Torre, M L; Grande, J A; Valente, T; Perez-Ostalé, E; Santisteban, M; Aroba, J; Ramos, I

2016-03-01

Poderosa Mine is an abandoned pyrite mine, located in the Iberian Pyrite Belt which pours its acid mine drainage (AMD) waters into the Odiel river (South-West Spain). This work focuses on establishing possible reasons for interdependence between the potential redox and pH, with the load of metals and sulfates, as well as a set of variables that define the physical chemistry of the water-conductivity, temperature, TDS, and dissolved oxygen-transported by a channel from Poderosa mine affected by acid mine drainage, through the use of techniques of artificial intelligence: fuzzy logic and data mining. The sampling campaign was carried out in May of 2012. There were a total of 16 sites, the first inside the tunnel and the last at the mouth of the river Odiel, with a distance of approximately 10 m between each pair of measuring stations. While the tools of classical statistics, which are widely used in this context, prove useful for defining proximity ratios between variables based on Pearson's correlations, in addition to making it easier to handle large volumes of data and producing easier-to-understand graphs, the use of fuzzy logic tools and data mining results in better definition of the variations produced by external stimuli on the set of variables. This tool is adaptable and can be extrapolated to any system polluted by acid mine drainage using simple, intuitive reasoning.

BAGEL4: a user-friendly web server to thoroughly mine RiPPs and bacteriocins.

PubMed

van Heel, Auke J; de Jong, Anne; Song, Chunxu; Viel, Jakob H; Kok, Jan; Kuipers, Oscar P

2018-05-21

Interest in secondary metabolites such as RiPPs (ribosomally synthesized and posttranslationally modified peptides) is increasing worldwide. To facilitate the research in this field we have updated our mining web server. BAGEL4 is faster than its predecessor and is now fully independent from ORF-calling. Gene clusters of interest are discovered using the core-peptide database and/or through HMM motifs that are present in associated context genes. The databases used for mining have been updated and extended with literature references and links to UniProt and NCBI. Additionally, we have included automated promoter and terminator prediction and the option to upload RNA expression data, which can be displayed along with the identified clusters. Further improvements include the annotation of the context genes, which is now based on a fast blast against the prokaryote part of the UniRef90 database, and the improved web-BLAST feature that dynamically loads structural data such as internal cross-linking from UniProt. Overall BAGEL4 provides the user with more information through a user-friendly web-interface which simplifies data evaluation. BAGEL4 is freely accessible at http://bagel4.molgenrug.nl.

Analysis of Occupational Accidents in Underground and Surface Mining in Spain Using Data-Mining Techniques

PubMed Central

Sanmiquel, Lluís; Bascompta, Marc; Rossell, Josep M.; Anticoi, Hernán Francisco; Guash, Eduard

2018-01-01

An analysis of occupational accidents in the mining sector was conducted using the data from the Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Safety between 2005 and 2015, and data-mining techniques were applied. Data was processed with the software Weka. Two scenarios were chosen from the accidents database: surface and underground mining. The most important variables involved in occupational accidents and their association rules were determined. These rules are composed of several predictor variables that cause accidents, defining its characteristics and context. This study exposes the 20 most important association rules in the sector—either surface or underground mining—based on the statistical confidence levels of each rule as obtained by Weka. The outcomes display the most typical immediate causes, along with the percentage of accidents with a basis in each association rule. The most important immediate cause is body movement with physical effort or overexertion, and the type of accident is physical effort or overexertion. On the other hand, the second most important immediate cause and type of accident are different between the two scenarios. Data-mining techniques were chosen as a useful tool to find out the root cause of the accidents. PMID:29518921

Exploring the effects of acid mine drainage on diatom teratology using geometric morphometry.

PubMed

Olenici, Adriana; Blanco, Saúl; Borrego-Ramos, María; Momeu, Laura; Baciu, Călin

2017-10-01

Metal pollution of aquatic habitats is a major and persistent environmental problem. Acid mine drainage (AMD) affects lotic systems in numerous and interactive ways. In the present work, a mining area (Roșia Montană) was chosen as study site, and we focused on two aims: (i) to find the set of environmental predictors leading to the appearance of the abnormal diatom individuals in the study area and (ii) to assess the relationship between the degree of valve outline deformation and AMD-derived pollution. In this context, morphological differences between populations of Achnanthidium minutissimum and A. macrocephalum, including normal and abnormal individuals, were evidenced by means of valve shape analysis. Geometric morphometry managed to capture and discriminate normal and abnormal individuals. Multivariate analyses (NMDS, PLS) separated the four populations of the two species mentioned and revealed the main physico-chemical parameters that influenced valve deformation in this context, namely conductivity, Zn, and Cu. ANOSIM test evidenced the presence of statistically significant differences between normal and abnormal individuals within both chosen Achnanthidium taxa. In order to determine the relative contribution of each of the measured physico-chemical parameters in the observed valve outline deformations, a PLS was conducted, confirming the results of the NMDS. The presence of deformed individuals in the study area can be attributed to the fact that the diatom communities were strongly affected by AMD released from old mining works and waste rock deposits.

The United States and Vietnam Relationship: Benefits and Challenges for Vietnam

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-10

the current stage in their bilateral relations. The U.S.-Vietnam relationship has been increasingly cemented in the context of the contemporary...reach the current stage in their bilateral relations. The U.S.-Vietnam relationship has been increasingly cemented in the context of the contemporary...Major Exports to Vietnam aircraft, mining equipment, electronic machinery, steel wire, raw cotton, plastics Source: Mark E. Manyin, The Vietnam

Phase I Contaminant Transport Parameters for the Groundwater Flow and Contaminant Transport Model of Corrective Action Unit 97: Yucca Flat/Climax Mine, Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada, Revision 0

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

John McCord

2007-09-01

This report documents transport data and data analyses for Yucca Flat/Climax Mine CAU 97. The purpose of the data compilation and related analyses is to provide the primary reference to support parameterization of the Yucca Flat/Climax Mine CAU transport model. Specific task objectives were as follows: • Identify and compile currently available transport parameter data and supporting information that may be relevant to the Yucca Flat/Climax Mine CAU. • Assess the level of quality of the data and associated documentation. • Analyze the data to derive expected values and estimates of the associated uncertainty and variability. The scope of thismore » document includes the compilation and assessment of data and information relevant to transport parameters for the Yucca Flat/Climax Mine CAU subsurface within the context of unclassified source-term contamination. Data types of interest include mineralogy, aqueous chemistry, matrix and effective porosity, dispersivity, matrix diffusion, matrix and fracture sorption, and colloid-facilitated transport parameters.« less

A data mining based approach to predict spatiotemporal changes in satellite images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boulila, W.; Farah, I. R.; Ettabaa, K. Saheb; Solaiman, B.; Ghézala, H. Ben

2011-06-01

The interpretation of remotely sensed images in a spatiotemporal context is becoming a valuable research topic. However, the constant growth of data volume in remote sensing imaging makes reaching conclusions based on collected data a challenging task. Recently, data mining appears to be a promising research field leading to several interesting discoveries in various areas such as marketing, surveillance, fraud detection and scientific discovery. By integrating data mining and image interpretation techniques, accurate and relevant information (i.e. functional relation between observed parcels and a set of informational contents) can be automatically elicited. This study presents a new approach to predict spatiotemporal changes in satellite image databases. The proposed method exploits fuzzy sets and data mining concepts to build predictions and decisions for several remote sensing fields. It takes into account imperfections related to the spatiotemporal mining process in order to provide more accurate and reliable information about land cover changes in satellite images. The proposed approach is validated using SPOT images representing the Saint-Denis region, capital of Reunion Island. Results show good performances of the proposed framework in predicting change for the urban zone.

Cooperative organic mine avoidance path planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McCubbin, Christopher B.; Piatko, Christine D.; Peterson, Adam V.; Donnald, Creighton R.; Cohen, David

2005-06-01

The JHU/APL Path Planning team has developed path planning techniques to look for paths that balance the utility and risk associated with different routes through a minefield. Extending on previous years' efforts, we investigated real-world Naval mine avoidance requirements and developed a tactical decision aid (TDA) that satisfies those requirements. APL has developed new mine path planning techniques using graph based and genetic algorithms which quickly produce near-minimum risk paths for complicated fitness functions incorporating risk, path length, ship kinematics, and naval doctrine. The TDA user interface, a Java Swing application that obtains data via Corba interfaces to path planning databases, allows the operator to explore a fusion of historic and in situ mine field data, control the path planner, and display the planning results. To provide a context for the minefield data, the user interface also renders data from the Digital Nautical Chart database, a database created by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency containing charts of the world's ports and coastal regions. This TDA has been developed in conjunction with the COMID (Cooperative Organic Mine Defense) system. This paper presents a description of the algorithms, architecture, and application produced.

The mine and the furnace: Francis Bacon, Thomas Russell, and early Stuart mining culture.

PubMed

Pastorino, Cesare

2009-01-01

Notwithstanding Francis Bacon's praise for the philosophical role of the mechanical arts, historians have often downplayed Bacon's connections with actual artisans and entrepreneurs. Addressing the specific context of mining culture, this study proposes a rather different picture. The analysis of a famous mining metaphor in The Advancement of Learning shows us how Bacon's project of reform of knowledge could find an apt correspondence in civic and entrepreneurial values of his time. Also, Bacon had interesting and so far unexplored links with the early modern English mining enterprises, like the Company of Mineral and Battery Works, ofwhich he was a shareholder. Moreover, Bacon's notes in a private notebook, Commentarius Solutus, and records of patents of invention, allow us to start grasping Bacon's connections with the metallurgist and entrepreneur Thomas Russell. Lastly, this paper argues that, to fully understand Bacon's links with the world of Stuart technicians and entrepreneurs, it is necessary to consider a different and insufficiently studied aspect of Bacon's interests, namely his work as patents referee while a Commissioner of Suits.

Stratification-Based Outlier Detection over the Deep Web.

PubMed

Xian, Xuefeng; Zhao, Pengpeng; Sheng, Victor S; Fang, Ligang; Gu, Caidong; Yang, Yuanfeng; Cui, Zhiming

2016-01-01

For many applications, finding rare instances or outliers can be more interesting than finding common patterns. Existing work in outlier detection never considers the context of deep web. In this paper, we argue that, for many scenarios, it is more meaningful to detect outliers over deep web. In the context of deep web, users must submit queries through a query interface to retrieve corresponding data. Therefore, traditional data mining methods cannot be directly applied. The primary contribution of this paper is to develop a new data mining method for outlier detection over deep web. In our approach, the query space of a deep web data source is stratified based on a pilot sample. Neighborhood sampling and uncertainty sampling are developed in this paper with the goal of improving recall and precision based on stratification. Finally, a careful performance evaluation of our algorithm confirms that our approach can effectively detect outliers in deep web.

Data Mining in the Exploration of Stressors Among NCAA Student Athletes.

PubMed

Hwang, Seunghyun; Choi, Youngjun

2016-12-01

Collegiate student athletes face psychological stressors in adjusting to campus life. This study used preexisting, nationally representative data administered by the National Collegiate Athletic Association for student athletes in 2010 to explore the conjunctive relationships among demographics, personal characteristics, social contexts, and physical condition in predicting perceived stress. The number of valid samples was 19,967 from 609 member institutions. A data mining methodology (i.e., SEARCH) was applied to model the distribution of the perceived stress. Results showed that significant stressors included the variables related to academics, physical well-being, and social contexts. Academic anxiety was the most important predictor, and its interactions with abusive coaching behavior and an inclusive team environment were shown to reduce perceived stress. Sufficient sleep was also found as a moderator in the positive relationship between perceived stress and academic anxiety. © The Author(s) 2016.

Stratification-Based Outlier Detection over the Deep Web

PubMed Central

Xian, Xuefeng; Zhao, Pengpeng; Sheng, Victor S.; Fang, Ligang; Gu, Caidong; Yang, Yuanfeng; Cui, Zhiming

2016-01-01

For many applications, finding rare instances or outliers can be more interesting than finding common patterns. Existing work in outlier detection never considers the context of deep web. In this paper, we argue that, for many scenarios, it is more meaningful to detect outliers over deep web. In the context of deep web, users must submit queries through a query interface to retrieve corresponding data. Therefore, traditional data mining methods cannot be directly applied. The primary contribution of this paper is to develop a new data mining method for outlier detection over deep web. In our approach, the query space of a deep web data source is stratified based on a pilot sample. Neighborhood sampling and uncertainty sampling are developed in this paper with the goal of improving recall and precision based on stratification. Finally, a careful performance evaluation of our algorithm confirms that our approach can effectively detect outliers in deep web. PMID:27313603

Data Mining Methods for Recommender Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amatriain, Xavier; Jaimes*, Alejandro; Oliver, Nuria; Pujol, Josep M.

In this chapter, we give an overview of the main Data Mining techniques used in the context of Recommender Systems. We first describe common preprocessing methods such as sampling or dimensionality reduction. Next, we review the most important classification techniques, including Bayesian Networks and Support Vector Machines. We describe the k-means clustering algorithm and discuss several alternatives. We also present association rules and related algorithms for an efficient training process. In addition to introducing these techniques, we survey their uses in Recommender Systems and present cases where they have been successfully applied.

Understanding Information Uncertainty within the Context of a Net-Centric Data Model: A Mine Warfare Example

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-06-01

key assumption in the calculation of the primary MIW MOEs of the estimated risk to a transitor and the expected time required to clear all of the mines...primary MOE of Risk, or Probability of Damage to a Ship Transitor , is calculated by using information in the highlighted circle on the left, to include...percent clearance achieved. 0 E( ) Pr( | , ) r R r r m p ∞ = = ∗∑ (0.2) Risk can be calculated for each transitor given the expected number of

Assessing the Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts of Artisanal Gold Mining on the Livelihoods of Communities in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality in Ghana.

PubMed

Obiri, Samuel; Mattah, Precious A D; Mattah, Memuna M; Armah, Frederick A; Osae, Shiloh; Adu-kumi, Sam; Yeboah, Philip O

2016-01-26

Gold mining has played an important role in Ghana's economy, however the negative environmental and socio-economic effects on the host communities associated with gold mining have overshadowed these economic gains. It is within this context that this paper assessed in an integrated manner the environmental and socio-economic impacts of artisanal gold mining in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality from a natural and social science perspective. The natural science group collected 200 random samples on bi-weekly basis between January to October 2013 from water bodies in the study area for analysis in line with methods outlined by the American Water Works Association, while the social science team interviewed 250 residents randomly selected for interviews on socio-economic issues associated with mining. Data from the socio-economic survey was analyzed using logistic regression with SPSS version 17. The results of the natural science investigation revealed that the levels of heavy metals in water samples from the study area in most cases exceeded GS 175-1/WHO permissible guideline values, which are in tandem with the results of inhabitants' perceptions of water quality survey (as 83% of the respondents are of the view that water bodies in the study area are polluted). This calls for cost-benefits analysis of mining before new mining leases are granted by the relevant authorities.

Assessing the Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts of Artisanal Gold Mining on the Livelihoods of Communities in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality in Ghana

PubMed Central

Obiri, Samuel; Mattah, Precious A. D.; Mattah, Memuna M.; Armah, Frederick A.; Osae, Shiloh; Adu-kumi, Sam; Yeboah, Philip O.

2016-01-01

Gold mining has played an important role in Ghana’s economy, however the negative environmental and socio-economic effects on the host communities associated with gold mining have overshadowed these economic gains. It is within this context that this paper assessed in an integrated manner the environmental and socio-economic impacts of artisanal gold mining in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality from a natural and social science perspective. The natural science group collected 200 random samples on bi-weekly basis between January to October 2013 from water bodies in the study area for analysis in line with methods outlined by the American Water Works Association, while the social science team interviewed 250 residents randomly selected for interviews on socio-economic issues associated with mining. Data from the socio-economic survey was analyzed using logistic regression with SPSS version 17. The results of the natural science investigation revealed that the levels of heavy metals in water samples from the study area in most cases exceeded GS 175-1/WHO permissible guideline values, which are in tandem with the results of inhabitants’ perceptions of water quality survey (as 83% of the respondents are of the view that water bodies in the study area are polluted). This calls for cost-benefits analysis of mining before new mining leases are granted by the relevant authorities. PMID:26821039

The Prospects of Accounting at Mining Enterprises as a Factor of Ensuring their Sustainable Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tyuleneva, Tatiana

2017-11-01

One of the problems of sustainable development of mining companies is attracting additional investment. To solve it requires access to international capital markets, in this context, enterprises need to prepare financial statements with international requirements based on the data generated by the accounting system. The article considers the basic problems of accounting in the extractive industries due to the nature of the industry, as well as evaluation of the completeness of their solution in the framework of international financial reporting standards. In addition, lists the characteristics of accounting for mining industry, due to the peculiarities of the production process that need to be considered to solve these problems. This sector is extremely important for individual countries and on a global scale.

Open data mining for Taiwan's dengue epidemic.

PubMed

Wu, ChienHsing; Kao, Shu-Chen; Shih, Chia-Hung; Kan, Meng-Hsuan

2018-07-01

By using a quantitative approach, this study examines the applicability of data mining technique to discover knowledge from open data related to Taiwan's dengue epidemic. We compare results when Google trend data are included or excluded. Data sources are government open data, climate data, and Google trend data. Research findings from analysis of 70,914 cases are obtained. Location and time (month) in open data show the highest classification power followed by climate variables (temperature and humidity), whereas gender and age show the lowest values. Both prediction accuracy and simplicity decrease when Google trends are considered (respectively 0.94 and 0.37, compared to 0.96 and 0.46). The article demonstrates the value of open data mining in the context of public health care. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Recent progress in automatically extracting information from the pharmacogenomic literature

PubMed Central

Garten, Yael; Coulet, Adrien; Altman, Russ B

2011-01-01

The biomedical literature holds our understanding of pharmacogenomics, but it is dispersed across many journals. In order to integrate our knowledge, connect important facts across publications and generate new hypotheses we must organize and encode the contents of the literature. By creating databases of structured pharmocogenomic knowledge, we can make the value of the literature much greater than the sum of the individual reports. We can, for example, generate candidate gene lists or interpret surprising hits in genome-wide association studies. Text mining automatically adds structure to the unstructured knowledge embedded in millions of publications, and recent years have seen a surge in work on biomedical text mining, some specific to pharmacogenomics literature. These methods enable extraction of specific types of information and can also provide answers to general, systemic queries. In this article, we describe the main tasks of text mining in the context of pharmacogenomics, summarize recent applications and anticipate the next phase of text mining applications. PMID:21047206

[Gender inequity in health in contexts of environmental risk from mining and industrial activity in Mexico].

PubMed

Catalán-Vázquez, Minerva; Riojas-Rodríguez, Horacio

2015-06-01

Analyze how gender inequity manifests in contexts of poverty in different environmental risk scenarios in Mexico. Qualitative design based on six discussion groups and 54 in-depth interviews with women from six exposed communities: two to environmental manganese in a mining district, two in an industrial corridor, and two bordering a sanitary landfill. A document review of environmental and health studies in each area was done to relate them to the women's perspective on the problem. In the three case studies, by gender roles, women stay at home and do housework and, therefore, are subject to intense environmental exposure when carrying out their daily tasks, such as house cleaning. Interview and discussion group results were found to be related to epidemiological study results. In the case of the mining district, women's perceptions are consistent with study comments on adverse cognitive effects of manganese exposure. In all three cases, there are serious limitations on women's political participation in environmental risk management. Due to conditions of inequity, women are highly exposed to environmental health risks and their social participation in solving environmental problems is quite limited. These results have social and environmental policy implications in the areas studied, especially with regard to risk assessment, management, and communication.

Assessing the effectiveness of sustainable land management policies for combating desertification: A data mining approach.

PubMed

Salvati, L; Kosmas, C; Kairis, O; Karavitis, C; Acikalin, S; Belgacem, A; Solé-Benet, A; Chaker, M; Fassouli, V; Gokceoglu, C; Gungor, H; Hessel, R; Khatteli, H; Kounalaki, A; Laouina, A; Ocakoglu, F; Ouessar, M; Ritsema, C; Sghaier, M; Sonmez, H; Taamallah, H; Tezcan, L; de Vente, J; Kelly, C; Colantoni, A; Carlucci, M

2016-12-01

This study investigates the relationship between fine resolution, local-scale biophysical and socioeconomic contexts within which land degradation occurs, and the human responses to it. The research draws on experimental data collected under different territorial and socioeconomic conditions at 586 field sites in five Mediterranean countries (Spain, Greece, Turkey, Tunisia and Morocco). We assess the level of desertification risk under various land management practices (terracing, grazing control, prevention of wildland fires, soil erosion control measures, soil water conservation measures, sustainable farming practices, land protection measures and financial subsidies) taken as possible responses to land degradation. A data mining approach, incorporating principal component analysis, non-parametric correlations, multiple regression and canonical analysis, was developed to identify the spatial relationship between land management conditions, the socioeconomic and environmental context (described using 40 biophysical and socioeconomic indicators) and desertification risk. Our analysis identified a number of distinct relationships between the level of desertification experienced and the underlying socioeconomic context, suggesting that the effectiveness of responses to land degradation is strictly dependent on the local biophysical and socioeconomic context. Assessing the latent relationship between land management practices and the biophysical/socioeconomic attributes characterizing areas exposed to different levels of desertification risk proved to be an indirect measure of the effectiveness of field actions contrasting land degradation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Anthropocene landscape change and the legacy of nineteenth- and twentieth-century mining in the Fourmile Catchment, Colorado Front Range

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dethier, David P.; Ouimet, William B.; Murphy, Sheila F.; Kotikian, Maneh; Wicherski, Will; Samuels, Rachel M.

2018-01-01

Human impacts on earth surface processes and materials are fundamental to understanding the proposed Anthropocene epoch. This study examines the magnitude, distribution, and long-term context of nineteenth- and twentieth-century mining in the Fourmile Creek catchment, Colorado, coupling airborne LiDAR topographic analysis with historical documents and field studies of river banks exposed by 2013 flooding. Mining impacts represent the dominant Anthropocene landscape change for this basin. Mining activity, particularly placer operations, controls floodplain stratigraphy and waste rock piles related to mining cover >5% of hillslopes in the catchment. Total rates of surface disturbance on slopes from mining activities (prospecting, mining, and road building) exceed pre-nineteenth-century rates by at least fifty times. Recent flooding and the overprint of human impacts obscure the record of Holocene floodplain evolution. Stratigraphic relations indicate that the Fourmile valley floor was as much as two meters higher in the past 2,000 years and that placer reworking, lateral erosion, or minor downcutting dominated from the late Holocene to present. Concentrations of As and Au in the fine fraction of hillslope soil, mining-related deposits, and fluvial deposits serve as a geochemical marker of mining activity in the catchment; reducing As and Au values in floodplain sediment will take hundreds of years to millennia. Overall, the Fourmile Creek catchment provides a valuable example of Anthropocene landscape change for mountainous regions of the Western United States, where hillslope and floodplain markers of human activity vary, high rates of geomorphic processes affect mixing and preservation of marker deposits, and long-term impact varies by landscape location.

Sustainability of uranium mining and milling: toward quantifying resources and eco-efficiency.

PubMed

Mudd, Gavin M; Diesendorf, Mark

2008-04-01

The mining of uranium has long been a controversial public issue, and a renewed debate has emerged on the potential for nuclear power to help mitigate against climate change. The central thesis of pro-nuclear advocates is the lower carbon intensity of nuclear energy compared to fossil fuels, although there remains very little detailed analysis of the true carbon costs of nuclear energy. In this paper, we compile and analyze a range of data on uranium mining and milling, including uranium resources as well as sustainability metrics such as energy and water consumption and carbon emissions with respect to uranium production-arguably the first time for modern projects. The extent of economically recoverable uranium resources is clearly linked to exploration, technology, and economics but also inextricably to environmental costs such as energy/water/chemicals consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and social issues. Overall, the data clearly show the sensitivity of sustainability assessments to the ore grade of the uranium deposit being mined and that significant gaps remain in complete sustainability reporting and accounting. This paper is a case study of the energy, water, and carbon costs of uranium mining and milling within the context of the nuclear energy chain.

Determining a pre-mining radiological baseline from historic airborne gamma surveys: a case study.

PubMed

Bollhöfer, Andreas; Beraldo, Annamarie; Pfitzner, Kirrilly; Esparon, Andrew; Doering, Che

2014-01-15

Knowing the baseline level of radioactivity in areas naturally enriched in radionuclides is important in the uranium mining context to assess radiation doses to humans and the environment both during and after mining. This information is particularly useful in rehabilitation planning and developing closure criteria for uranium mines as only radiation doses additional to the natural background are usually considered 'controllable' for radiation protection purposes. In this case study we have tested whether the method of contemporary groundtruthing of a historic airborne gamma survey could be used to determine the pre-mining radiological conditions at the Ranger mine in northern Australia. The airborne gamma survey was flown in 1976 before mining started and groundtruthed using ground gamma dose rate measurements made between 2007 and 2009 at an undisturbed area naturally enriched in uranium (Anomaly 2) located nearby the Ranger mine. Measurements of (226)Ra soil activity concentration and (222)Rn exhalation flux density at Anomaly 2 were made concurrent with the ground gamma dose rate measurements. Algorithms were developed to upscale the ground gamma data to the same spatial resolution as the historic airborne gamma survey data using a geographic information system, allowing comparison of the datasets. Linear correlation models were developed to estimate the pre-mining gamma dose rates, (226)Ra soil activity concentrations, and (222)Rn exhalation flux densities at selected areas in the greater Ranger region. The modelled levels agreed with measurements made at the Ranger Orebodies 1 and 3 before mining started, and at environmental sites in the region. The conclusion is that our approach can be used to determine baseline radiation levels, and provide a benchmark for rehabilitation of uranium mines or industrial sites where historical airborne gamma survey data are available and an undisturbed radiological analogue exists to groundtruth the data. © 2013.

Proceedings: Fourth Workshop on Mining Scientific Datasets

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kamath, C

Commercial applications of data mining in areas such as e-commerce, market-basket analysis, text-mining, and web-mining have taken on a central focus in the JCDD community. However, there is a significant amount of innovative data mining work taking place in the context of scientific and engineering applications that is not well represented in the mainstream KDD conferences. For example, scientific data mining techniques are being developed and applied to diverse fields such as remote sensing, physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, structural mechanics, computational fluid dynamics etc. In these areas, data mining frequently complements and enhances existing analysis methods based on statistics, exploratorymore » data analysis, and domain-specific approaches. On the surface, it may appear that data from one scientific field, say genomics, is very different from another field, such as physics. However, despite their diversity, there is much that is common across the mining of scientific and engineering data. For example, techniques used to identify objects in images are very similar, regardless of whether the images came from a remote sensing application, a physics experiment, an astronomy observation, or a medical study. Further, with data mining being applied to new types of data, such as mesh data from scientific simulations, there is the opportunity to apply and extend data mining to new scientific domains. This one-day workshop brings together data miners analyzing science data and scientists from diverse fields to share their experiences, learn how techniques developed in one field can be applied in another, and better understand some of the newer techniques being developed in the KDD community. This is the fourth workshop on the topic of Mining Scientific Data sets; for information on earlier workshops, see http://www.ahpcrc.org/conferences/. This workshop continues the tradition of addressing challenging problems in a field where the diversity of applications is matched only by the opportunities that await a practitioner.« less

Climate policy: Uncovering ocean-related priorities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barkemeyer, Ralf

2017-11-01

Given the complexity and multi-faceted nature of policy processes, national-level policy preferences are notoriously difficult to capture. Now, research applying an automated text mining approach helps to shed light on country-level differences and priorities in the context of marine climate issues.

A structural informatics approach to mine kinase knowledge bases.

PubMed

Brooijmans, Natasja; Mobilio, Dominick; Walker, Gary; Nilakantan, Ramaswamy; Denny, Rajiah A; Feyfant, Eric; Diller, David; Bikker, Jack; Humblet, Christine

2010-03-01

In this paper, we describe a combination of structural informatics approaches developed to mine data extracted from existing structure knowledge bases (Protein Data Bank and the GVK database) with a focus on kinase ATP-binding site data. In contrast to existing systems that retrieve and analyze protein structures, our techniques are centered on a database of ligand-bound geometries in relation to residues lining the binding site and transparent access to ligand-based SAR data. We illustrate the systems in the context of the Abelson kinase and related inhibitor structures. 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Institutional challenges for mining and sustainability in Peru.

PubMed

Bebbington, Anthony J; Bury, Jeffrey T

2009-10-13

Global consumption continues to generate growth in mining. In lesser developed economies, this growth offers the potential to generate new resources for development, but also creates challenges to sustainability in the regions in which extraction occurs. This context leads to debate on the institutional arrangements most likely to build synergies between mining, livelihoods, and development, and on the socio-political conditions under which such institutions can emerge. Building from a multiyear, three-country program of research projects, Peru, a global center of mining expansion, serves as an exemplar for analyzing the effects of extractive industry on livelihoods and the conditions under which arrangements favoring local sustainability might emerge. This program is guided by three emergent hypotheses in human-environmental sciences regarding the relationships among institutions, knowledge, learning, and sustainability. The research combines in-depth and comparative case study analysis, and uses mapping and spatial analysis, surveys, in-depth interviews, participant observation, and our own direct participation in public debates on the regulation of mining for development. The findings demonstrate the pressures that mining expansion has placed on water resources, livelihood assets, and social relationships. These pressures are a result of institutional conditions that separate the governance of mineral expansion, water resources, and local development, and of relationships of power that prioritize large scale investment over livelihood and environment. A further problem is the poor communication between mining sector knowledge systems and those of local populations. These results are consistent with themes recently elaborated in sustainability science.

Institutional challenges for mining and sustainability in Peru

PubMed Central

Bebbington, Anthony J.; Bury, Jeffrey T.

2009-01-01

Global consumption continues to generate growth in mining. In lesser developed economies, this growth offers the potential to generate new resources for development, but also creates challenges to sustainability in the regions in which extraction occurs. This context leads to debate on the institutional arrangements most likely to build synergies between mining, livelihoods, and development, and on the socio-political conditions under which such institutions can emerge. Building from a multiyear, three-country program of research projects, Peru, a global center of mining expansion, serves as an exemplar for analyzing the effects of extractive industry on livelihoods and the conditions under which arrangements favoring local sustainability might emerge. This program is guided by three emergent hypotheses in human-environmental sciences regarding the relationships among institutions, knowledge, learning, and sustainability. The research combines in-depth and comparative case study analysis, and uses mapping and spatial analysis, surveys, in-depth interviews, participant observation, and our own direct participation in public debates on the regulation of mining for development. The findings demonstrate the pressures that mining expansion has placed on water resources, livelihood assets, and social relationships. These pressures are a result of institutional conditions that separate the governance of mineral expansion, water resources, and local development, and of relationships of power that prioritize large scale investment over livelihood and environment. A further problem is the poor communication between mining sector knowledge systems and those of local populations. These results are consistent with themes recently elaborated in sustainability science. PMID:19805172

Local sustainability and gender ratio: evaluating the impacts of mining and tourism on sustainable development in Yunnan, China.

PubMed

Huang, Ganlin; Ali, Saleem

2015-01-19

This study employed rapid evaluation methods to investigate how the leading industries of mining and tourism impact sustainability as manifest through social, economic and environmental dimensions in Yunnan, China. Within the social context, we also consider the differentiated impact on gender ratio-which is a salient feature of sustained development trajectories. Our results indicate that mining areas performed better than tourism areas in economic aspects but fell behind in social development, especially regarding the issue of gender balance. Conclusions on environmental status cannot be drawn due to a lack of data.  The results from the environmental indicators are mixed. Our study demonstrates that rapid evaluation using currently available data can provide a means of greater understanding regarding local sustainability and highlights areas that need attention from policy makers, agencies and academia.

Emergency Braking of a Mine Hoist in the Context of the Braking System Selection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wolny, Stanisław

2017-03-01

The paper addresses the selected aspects of the dynamic behaviour of mine hoists during the emergency braking phase. Basing on the model of the hoist and supported by theoretical backgrounds provided by the author (Wolny, 2016), analytical formulas are derived to determine the parameters of the braking system such that during an emergency braking it should guarantee that: - the maximal loading of the hoisting ropes should not exceed the rope breaking force, - deceleration of the conveyances being stopped should not exceed the admissible levels Results of the dynamic analysis of the mine hoist behaviour during an emergency braking phase summarised in this study can be utilised to support the design of conveyance and rope attachments by the fatigue endurance methods, with an aim to adapt it to the specified operational parameters of the hoisting installation (Eurokod 3).

Geospatial Image Mining For Nuclear Proliferation Detection: Challenges and New Opportunities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vatsavai, Raju; Bhaduri, Budhendra L; Cheriyadat, Anil M

2010-01-01

With increasing understanding and availability of nuclear technologies, and increasing persuasion of nuclear technologies by several new countries, it is increasingly becoming important to monitor the nuclear proliferation activities. There is a great need for developing technologies to automatically or semi-automatically detect nuclear proliferation activities using remote sensing. Images acquired from earth observation satellites is an important source of information in detecting proliferation activities. High-resolution remote sensing images are highly useful in verifying the correctness, as well as completeness of any nuclear program. DOE national laboratories are interested in detecting nuclear proliferation by developing advanced geospatial image mining algorithms. Inmore » this paper we describe the current understanding of geospatial image mining techniques and enumerate key gaps and identify future research needs in the context of nuclear proliferation.« less

The future of Yellowcake: a global assessment of uranium resources and mining.

PubMed

Mudd, Gavin M

2014-02-15

Uranium (U) mining remains controversial in many parts of the world, especially in a post-Fukushima context, and often in areas with significant U resources. Although nuclear proponents point to the relatively low carbon intensity of nuclear power compared to fossil fuels, opponents argue that this will be eroded in the future as ore grades decline and energy and greenhouse gas emissions (GGEs) intensity increases as a result. Invariably both sides fail to make use of the increasingly available data reported by some U mines through sustainability reporting - allowing a comprehensive assessment of recent trends in the energy and GGE intensity of U production, as well as combining this with reported mineral resources to allow more comprehensive modelling of future energy and GGEs intensity. In this study, detailed data sets are compiled on reported U resources by deposit type, as well as mine production, energy and GGE intensity. Some important aspects included are the relationship between ore grade, deposit type and recovery, which are crucial in future projections of U mining. Overall, the paper demonstrates that there are extensive U resources known to meet potential short to medium term demand, although the future of U mining remains uncertain due to the doubt about the future of nuclear power as well as a range of complex social, environmental, economic and some site-specific technical issues. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Gold-rush in a forested El Dorado: deforestation leakages and the need for regional cooperation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dezécache, Camille; Faure, Emmanuel; Gond, Valéry; Salles, Jean-Michel; Vieilledent, Ghislain; Hérault, Bruno

2017-03-01

Tropical forests of the Guiana Shield are the most affected by gold-mining in South America, experiencing an exponential increase in deforestation since the early 2000’s. Using yearly deforestation data encompassing Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and the Brazilian State of Amapá, we demonstrated a strong relationship between deforestation due to gold-mining and gold-prices at the regional scale. In order to assess additional drivers of deforestation due to gold-mining, we focused on the national scale and highlighted the heterogeneity of the response to gold-prices under different political contexts. Deforestation due to gold-mining over the Guiana Shield occurs mainly in Guyana and Suriname. On the contrary, past and current repressive policies in Amapá and French Guiana likely contribute to the decorrelation of deforestation and gold prices. In this work, we finally present a case study focusing on French Guiana and Suriname, two neighbouring countries with very different levels of law enforcement against illegal gold-mining. We developed a modelling framework to estimate potential deforestation leakages from French Guiana to Suriname in the border areas. Based on our assumptions, we estimated a decrease in deforestation due to gold-mining of approx. 4300 hectares in French Guiana and an increase of approx. 12 100 hectares in Suriname in response to the active military repression of illegal gold-mining launched in French Guiana. Gold-mining in the Guiana Shield provides challenging questions regarding REDD+ implementation. These questions are discussed at the end of this study and are important to policy makers who need to provide sustainable alternative employment to local populations in order to ensure the effectiveness of environmental policies.

The persistence of lead from past gasoline emissions and mining drainage in a large riparian system: Evidence from lead isotopes in the Sacramento River, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dunlap, C.E.; Alpers, Charles N.; Bouse, R.; Taylor, Howard E.; Unruh, D.M.; Flegal, A.R.

2008-01-01

Lead concentrations and isotope ratios measured in river water colloids and streambed sediment samples along 426 km of the Sacramento River, California reveal that the influence of lead from the historical mining of massive sulfide deposits in the West Shasta Cu-mining district (at the headwaters of the Sacramento River) is confined to a 60 km stretch of river immediately downstream of that mining region, whereas inputs from past leaded gasoline emissions and historical hydraulic Au-mining in the Sierra Nevadan foothills are the dominant lead sources in the remaining 370 km of the river. Binary mixing calculations suggest that more than 50% of the lead in the Sacramento River outside of the region of influence of the West Shasta Cu-mining district is derived from past depositions of leaded gasoline emissions. This predominance is the first direct documentation of the geographic extent of gasoline lead persistence throughout a large riparian system (>160,000 km2) and corroborates previous observations based on samples taken at the mouth of the Sacramento River. In addition, new analyses of sediment samples from the hydraulic gold mines of the Sierra Nevada foothills confirm the present-day fluxes into the Sacramento River of contaminant metals derived from historical hydraulic Au-mining that occurred during the latter half of the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries. These fluxes occur predominantly during periods of elevated river discharge associated with heavy winter precipitation in northern California. In the broadest context, the study demonstrates the potential for altered precipitation patterns resulting from climate change to affect the mobility and transport of soil-bound contaminants in the surface environment. ?? 2008 Elsevier Ltd.

“Even if I were to consent, my family will never agree”: exploring autopsy services for posthumous occupational lung disease compensation among mineworkers in South Africa

PubMed Central

Banyini, Audrey V.; Rees, David; Gilbert, Leah

2013-01-01

Context In the South African mining sector, cardiorespiratory-specific autopsies are conducted under the Occupational Diseases in Mines and Works Act (ODMWA) on deceased mineworkers to determine eligibility for compensation. However, low levels of autopsy utilisation undermine the value of the service. Objective To explore enablers and barriers to consent that impact on ODMWA autopsy utilisation for posthumous monetary compensation. Methods In-depth interviews were conducted with mineworkers, widows and relatives of deceased mineworkers as well as traditional healers and mine occupational health practitioners. Results A range of socio-cultural barriers to consent for an autopsy was identified. These barriers were largely related to gendered power relations, traditional and religious beliefs, and communication and trust. Understanding these barriers presents opportunities to intervene so as to increase autopsy utilisation. Conclusions Effective interventions could include engagement with healthy mine-workers and their families and re-evaluating the permanent removal of organs. The study adds to our understanding of utilisation of the autopsy services. PMID:23364088

Mining Hesitation Information by Vague Association Rules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, An; Ng, Wilfred

In many online shopping applications, such as Amazon and eBay, traditional Association Rule (AR) mining has limitations as it only deals with the items that are sold but ignores the items that are almost sold (for example, those items that are put into the basket but not checked out). We say that those almost sold items carry hesitation information, since customers are hesitating to buy them. The hesitation information of items is valuable knowledge for the design of good selling strategies. However, there is no conceptual model that is able to capture different statuses of hesitation information. Herein, we apply and extend vague set theory in the context of AR mining. We define the concepts of attractiveness and hesitation of an item, which represent the overall information of a customer's intent on an item. Based on the two concepts, we propose the notion of Vague Association Rules (VARs). We devise an efficient algorithm to mine the VARs. Our experiments show that our algorithm is efficient and the VARs capture more specific and richer information than do the traditional ARs.

SPATIAL DISTRIBUTIONS OF ARSENIC EXPOSURE AND MINING COMMUNITIES FROM NHEXAS ARIZONA

EPA Science Inventory

Within the context of the National Human Exposure Assessment Survey (NHEXAS), metals were evaluated in the air, soil, dust, water, food, beverages, and urine of a single respondent. Potential doses were calculated for five metals including arsenic. In this paper, we seek to val...

Possibilities of magnetotelluric methods in geophysical exploration for ore minerals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Varentsov M., Iv.; Kulikov, V. A.; Yakovlev, A. G.; Yakovlev, D. V.

2013-05-01

In the past decade, the applications of magnetotelluric method in the electric prospecting for ore bodies have been rapidly progressing. In the present work, we summarize the first results on this way. We discuss the specificity of the geoelectrical models in the problems of mining prospecting for ore bodies. The state-of-the-art capabilities of the method, which rely on the synchronous observation systems and the procedure of joint inversion of magnetotelluric and magnetovariational responses, are considered in the context of ore mineral exploration. The results of modeling a typical mining audio-magnetotelluric survey for ore minerals are presented. On the basis of these simulations and the data provided by in-situ soundings, the efficient approaches to the processing, analysis, and inversion of these data are discussed and illustrated. The future trends in magnetotellurics as applied to the mining prospecting are analyzed.

The determination of methane resources from liquidated coal mines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trenczek, Stanisław

2017-11-01

The article refers to methane presented in hard coal seams, which may pose a serious risk to workers, as evidenced by examples of incidents, and may also be a high energy source. That second issue concerns the possibility of obtaining methane from liquidated coal mines. There is discussed the current methodology for determination of methane resources from hard coal deposits. Methods of assessing methane emissions from hard coal deposits are given, including the degree of rock mass fracture, which is affected and not affected by mining. Additional criteria for methane recovery from the methane deposit are discussed by one example (of many types) of methane power generation equipment in the context of the estimation of potential viable resources. Finally, the concept of “methane resource exploitation from coal mine” refers to the potential for exploitation of the resource and the acquisition of methane for business purposes.

Local Sustainability and Gender Ratio: Evaluating the Impacts of Mining and Tourism on Sustainable Development in Yunnan, China

PubMed Central

Huang, Ganlin; Ali, Saleem

2015-01-01

This study employed rapid evaluation methods to investigate how the leading industries of mining and tourism impact sustainability as manifest through social, economic and environmental dimensions in Yunnan, China. Within the social context, we also consider the differentiated impact on gender ratio—which is a salient feature of sustained development trajectories. Our results indicate that mining areas performed better than tourism areas in economic aspects but fell behind in social development, especially regarding the issue of gender balance. Conclusions on environmental status cannot be drawn due to a lack of data.  The results from the environmental indicators are mixed. Our study demonstrates that rapid evaluation using currently available data can provide a means of greater understanding regarding local sustainability and highlights areas that need attention from policy makers, agencies and academia. PMID:25607602

Integrated pathway-based transcription regulation network mining and visualization based on gene expression profiles.

PubMed

Kibinge, Nelson; Ono, Naoaki; Horie, Masafumi; Sato, Tetsuo; Sugiura, Tadao; Altaf-Ul-Amin, Md; Saito, Akira; Kanaya, Shigehiko

2016-06-01

Conventionally, workflows examining transcription regulation networks from gene expression data involve distinct analytical steps. There is a need for pipelines that unify data mining and inference deduction into a singular framework to enhance interpretation and hypotheses generation. We propose a workflow that merges network construction with gene expression data mining focusing on regulation processes in the context of transcription factor driven gene regulation. The pipeline implements pathway-based modularization of expression profiles into functional units to improve biological interpretation. The integrated workflow was implemented as a web application software (TransReguloNet) with functions that enable pathway visualization and comparison of transcription factor activity between sample conditions defined in the experimental design. The pipeline merges differential expression, network construction, pathway-based abstraction, clustering and visualization. The framework was applied in analysis of actual expression datasets related to lung, breast and prostrate cancer. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An Adaptive Sensor Mining Framework for Pervasive Computing Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rashidi, Parisa; Cook, Diane J.

Analyzing sensor data in pervasive computing applications brings unique challenges to the KDD community. The challenge is heightened when the underlying data source is dynamic and the patterns change. We introduce a new adaptive mining framework that detects patterns in sensor data, and more importantly, adapts to the changes in the underlying model. In our framework, the frequent and periodic patterns of data are first discovered by the Frequent and Periodic Pattern Miner (FPPM) algorithm; and then any changes in the discovered patterns over the lifetime of the system are discovered by the Pattern Adaptation Miner (PAM) algorithm, in order to adapt to the changing environment. This framework also captures vital context information present in pervasive computing applications, such as the startup triggers and temporal information. In this paper, we present a description of our mining framework and validate the approach using data collected in the CASAS smart home testbed.

Affordable non-traditional source data mining for context assessment to improve distributed fusion system robustness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bowman, Christopher; Haith, Gary; Steinberg, Alan; Morefield, Charles; Morefield, Michael

2013-05-01

This paper describes methods to affordably improve the robustness of distributed fusion systems by opportunistically leveraging non-traditional data sources. Adaptive methods help find relevant data, create models, and characterize the model quality. These methods also can measure the conformity of this non-traditional data with fusion system products including situation modeling and mission impact prediction. Non-traditional data can improve the quantity, quality, availability, timeliness, and diversity of the baseline fusion system sources and therefore can improve prediction and estimation accuracy and robustness at all levels of fusion. Techniques are described that automatically learn to characterize and search non-traditional contextual data to enable operators integrate the data with the high-level fusion systems and ontologies. These techniques apply the extension of the Data Fusion & Resource Management Dual Node Network (DNN) technical architecture at Level 4. The DNN architecture supports effectively assessment and management of the expanded portfolio of data sources, entities of interest, models, and algorithms including data pattern discovery and context conformity. Affordable model-driven and data-driven data mining methods to discover unknown models from non-traditional and `big data' sources are used to automatically learn entity behaviors and correlations with fusion products, [14 and 15]. This paper describes our context assessment software development, and the demonstration of context assessment of non-traditional data to compare to an intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance fusion product based upon an IED POIs workflow.

Prediction of Human Activity by Discovering Temporal Sequence Patterns.

PubMed

Li, Kang; Fu, Yun

2014-08-01

Early prediction of ongoing human activity has become more valuable in a large variety of time-critical applications. To build an effective representation for prediction, human activities can be characterized by a complex temporal composition of constituent simple actions and interacting objects. Different from early detection on short-duration simple actions, we propose a novel framework for long -duration complex activity prediction by discovering three key aspects of activity: Causality, Context-cue, and Predictability. The major contributions of our work include: (1) a general framework is proposed to systematically address the problem of complex activity prediction by mining temporal sequence patterns; (2) probabilistic suffix tree (PST) is introduced to model causal relationships between constituent actions, where both large and small order Markov dependencies between action units are captured; (3) the context-cue, especially interactive objects information, is modeled through sequential pattern mining (SPM), where a series of action and object co-occurrence are encoded as a complex symbolic sequence; (4) we also present a predictive accumulative function (PAF) to depict the predictability of each kind of activity. The effectiveness of our approach is evaluated on two experimental scenarios with two data sets for each: action-only prediction and context-aware prediction. Our method achieves superior performance for predicting global activity classes and local action units.

Examining Teacher Instructional Leadership within the Small Group Dynamics of Collegial Groups.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keedy, John L.

1999-01-01

Examined the dynamics of teacher leadership, using two teacher collegial groups as a small-group context. After discussing teacher leadership and teacher-mediation effects, describes data collection, which involved observations, interviews, surveys, and document mining. Results indicated that teacher-mediation effects did not counter teacher…

Integrated method of RS and GPR for monitoring the changes in the soil moisture and groundwater environment due to underground coal mining

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bian, Zhengfu; Lei, Shaogang; Inyang, Hilary I.; Chang, Luqun; Zhang, Richen; Zhou, Chengjun; He, Xiao

2009-03-01

Mining affects the environment in different ways depending on the physical context in which the mining occurs. In mining areas with an arid environment, mining affects plants’ growth by changing the amount of available water. This paper discusses the effects of mining on two important determinants of plant growth—soil moisture and groundwater table (GWT)—which were investigated using an integrated approach involving a field sampling investigation with remote sensing (RS) and ground-penetrating radar (GPR). To calculate and map the distribution of soil moisture for a target area, we initially analyzed four models for regression analysis between soil moisture and apparent thermal inertia and finally selected a linear model for modeling the soil moisture at a depth 10 cm; the relative error of the modeled soil moisture was about 6.3% and correlation coefficient 0.7794. A comparison of mined and unmined areas based on the results of limited field sampling tests or RS monitoring of Landsat 5-thermatic mapping (TM) data indicated that soil moisture did not undergo remarkable changes following mining. This result indicates that mining does not have an effect on soil moisture in the Shendong coal mining area. The coverage of vegetation in 2005 was compared with that in 1995 by means of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) deduced from TM data, and the results showed that the coverage of vegetation in Shendong coal mining area has improved greatly since 1995 because of policy input RMB¥0.4 per ton coal production by Shendong Coal Mining Company. The factor most affected by coal mining was GWT, which dropped from a depth of 35.41 m before mining to a depth of 43.38 m after mining at the Bulianta Coal Mine based on water well measurements. Ground-penetrating radar at frequencies of 25 and 50 MHz revealed that the deepest GWT was at about 43.4 m. There was a weak water linkage between the unsaturated zone and groundwater, and the decline of water table primarily resulted from the well pumping for mining safety rather than the movement of cracking strata. This result is in agreement with the measurements of the water wells. The roots of nine typical plants in the study area were investigated. Populus was found to have the deepest root system with a depth of about 26 m. Based on an assessment of plant growth demands and the effect of mining on environmental factors, we concluded that mining will have less of an effect on plant growth at those sites where the primary GWT depth before mining was deep enough to be unavailable to plants. If the primary GWT was available for plant growth before mining, especially to those plants with deeper roots, mining will have a significant effect on the growth of plants and the mechanism of this effect will include the loss of water to roots and damage to the root system.

Toxic element mobility assessment and modeling for regional geo-scientific survey to support Risk Assessment in a European Union context

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdaal, Ahmed; Jordan, Gyozo; Bartha, Andras; Fugedi, Ubul

2013-04-01

The Mine Waste Directive 2006/21/EC requires the risk-based inventory of all mine waste sites in Europe. The geochemical documentation concerning inert classification and ranking of the mine wastes requires detailed field study and laboratory testing and analyses of waste material to assess the Acid Mine Drainage potential and toxic element mobility. The procedure applied in this study used a multi-level decision support scheme including: 1) expert judgment, 2) data review, 3) representative field sampling and laboratory analysis of formations listed in the Inert Mining Waste List, and 4) requesting available laboratory analysis data from selected operating mines. Based on expert judgment, the listed formations were classified into three categories. A: inert B: probably inert, but has to be checked, C: probably not inert, has to be examined. This paper discusses the heavy metal contamination risk assessment (RA) in leached quarry-mine waste sites in Hungary. In total 34 mine waste sites (including tailing lagoons and heaps of both abandoned mines and active quarries) have been selected for scientific testing using the EU Pre-selection Protocol. Over 93 field samples have been collected from the mine sites including Ore (Andesite and Ryolite), Coal (Lignite, black and brown coals), Peat, Alginite, Bauxite, Clay and Limestone. Laboratory analyses of the total toxic element content (aqua regia extraction), the mobile toxic element content (deionized water leaching) and the analysis of different forms of sulfur (sulfuric acid potential) ) on the base of Hungarian GKM Decree No. 14/2008. (IV. 3) concerning mining waste management. A detailed geochemical study together with spatial analysis and GIS has been performed to derive a geochemically sound contamination RA of the mine waste sites. Key parameters such as heavy metal and sulphur content, in addition to the distance to the nearest surface and ground water bodies, or to sensitive receptors such as settlements and protected areas are calculated and statistically evaluated using STATGRAPHICS® in order to calibrate the RA methods. Results show that some of the waste rock materials assumed to be inert were found non/inert. Thus, regional RA needs more spatial and petrological examination with special care to rock and mineral deposit genetics.

Design approaches in quarrying and pit-mining reclamation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Arbogast, Belinda F.

1999-01-01

Reclaimed mine sites have been evaluated so that the public, industry, and land planners may recognize there are innovative designs available for consideration and use. People tend to see cropland, range, and road cuts as a necessary part of their everyday life, not as disturbed areas despite their high visibility. Mining also generates a disturbed landscape, unfortunately one that many consider waste until reclaimed by human beings. The development of mining provides an economic base and use of a natural resource to improve the quality of human life. Equally important is a sensitivity to the geologic origin and natural pattern of the land. Wisely shaping out environment requires a design plan and product that responds to a site's physiography, ecology, function, artistic form, and publication perception. An examination of selected sites for their landscape design suggested nine approaches for mining reclamation. The oldest design approach around is nature itself. Humans may sometimes do more damage going to an area in the attempt to repair it. Given enough geologic time, a small-site area, and stable adjacent ecosystems, disturbed areas recover without mankind's input. Visual screens and buffer zones conceal the facility in a camouflage approach. Typically, earth berms, fences, and plantings are used to disguise the mining facility. Restoration targets social or economic benefits by reusing the site for public amenities, most often in urban centers with large populations. A mitigation approach attempts to protect the environment and return mined areas to use with scientific input. The reuse of cement, building rubble, macadam meets only about 10% of the demand from aggregate. Recognizing the limited supply of mineral resources and encouraging recycling efforts are steps are steps in a renewable resource approach. An educative design approach effectively communicates mining information through outreach, land stewardship, and community service. Mine sites used for art show a celebration of beauty and experience -- abstract geology. The last design approach combines art and science in a human-nature ecosystem termed integration. With environmental concerns, an operating or reclaimed mine site can no longer be considered isolated from its surroundings. Site analysis of mine works needs to go beyond site-specific information and relate to the regional context of the greater landscape. Understanding design approach can turn undesirable features (mines and pits) into something perceived as desirable by the public.

Natural radionuclides in plants, soils and sediments affected by U-rich coal mining activities in Brazil.

PubMed

Galhardi, Juliana Aparecida; García-Tenorio, Rafael; Bonotto, Daniel Marcos; Díaz Francés, Inmaculada; Motta, João Gabriel

2017-10-01

Mining activities can increase the mobility of metals by accelerating the dissolution and leaching of minerals from the rocks and tailing piles to the environment and, consequently, their availability for plants and subsequent transfer to the food chain. The weathering of minerals and the disposal of coal waste in tailing piles can accelerate the generation of acid mine drainage (AMD), which is responsible for the higher dissolution of metals in mining areas. In this context, the behavior of U, Th and K in soils and sediment, and the transfer factor (TF) of 238 U, 234 U and 210 Po for soybean, wheat, pine and eucalyptus cultivated around a coal mine in southern Brazil was evaluated. Alpha and gamma spectrometry were used for the measurements of the activity concentration of the radioelements. 210 Po was the radionuclide that is most accumulated in the plants, especially in the leaves. When comparing the plant species, pine showed the highest TF values for 234 U (0.311 ± 0.420) for leaves, while eucalyptus showed the highest TF for 238 U (0.344 ± 0.414) for leaves. In general, TF were higher for the leaves of soybean and wheat when compared to the grains, and grains of wheat showed higher TF for 210 Po and 238 U than grains of soybean. Deviations from the natural U isotopic ratio were recorded at all investigated areas, indicating possible industrial and mining sources of U for the vegetables. A safety assessment of transport routes and accumulation of radionuclides in soils with a potential for cultivation is important, mainly in tropical areas contaminated with solid waste and effluents from mines and industry. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Facilitating knowledge discovery and visualization through mining contextual data from published studies: lessons from JournalMap

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Valuable information on the location and context of ecological studies are locked up in publications in myriad formats that are not easily machine readable. This presents significant challenges to building geographic-based tools to search for and visualize sources of ecological knowledge. JournalMap...

A Decision Support System for Predicting Students' Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Livieris, Ioannis E.; Mikropoulos, Tassos A.; Pintelas, Panagiotis

2016-01-01

Educational data mining is an emerging research field concerned with developing methods for exploring the unique types of data that come from educational context. These data allow the educational stakeholders to discover new, interesting and valuable knowledge about students. In this paper, we present a new user-friendly decision support tool for…

Web-Based Collaborative Writing in L2 Contexts: Methodological Insights from Text Mining

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yim, Soobin; Warschauer, Mark

2017-01-01

The increasingly widespread use of social software (e.g., Wikis, Google Docs) in second language (L2) settings has brought a renewed attention to collaborative writing. Although the current methodological approaches to examining collaborative writing are valuable to understand L2 students' interactional patterns or perceived experiences, they can…

Building an Adverse Outcome Pathway Framework through HTS Data and Literature Mining Integration (FutureToxII)

EPA Science Inventory

Interpreting EPA’s ToxCast in vitro assay data in the context of Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) development is a significant challenge. While chemical activation in these assays may shed light on the molecular initiating event, the downstream effect of these activities at higher ...

On the unsupervised analysis of domain-specific Chinese texts

PubMed Central

Deng, Ke; Bol, Peter K.; Li, Kate J.; Liu, Jun S.

2016-01-01

With the growing availability of digitized text data both publicly and privately, there is a great need for effective computational tools to automatically extract information from texts. Because the Chinese language differs most significantly from alphabet-based languages in not specifying word boundaries, most existing Chinese text-mining methods require a prespecified vocabulary and/or a large relevant training corpus, which may not be available in some applications. We introduce an unsupervised method, top-down word discovery and segmentation (TopWORDS), for simultaneously discovering and segmenting words and phrases from large volumes of unstructured Chinese texts, and propose ways to order discovered words and conduct higher-level context analyses. TopWORDS is particularly useful for mining online and domain-specific texts where the underlying vocabulary is unknown or the texts of interest differ significantly from available training corpora. When outputs from TopWORDS are fed into context analysis tools such as topic modeling, word embedding, and association pattern finding, the results are as good as or better than that from using outputs of a supervised segmentation method. PMID:27185919

Trace metals in the hair of habitants of the Ok Tedi region, Papua New Guinea.

PubMed

Jones, G L; Willy, D; Lumsden, B; Taufa, T; Lourie, J

1987-01-01

It has long been known that mining activity can markedly change the level and distribution of certain heavy metals in the adjacent environment. This pollution can be quite widespread and long lasting and often has deleterious effects on the health of local populations. In the present study scalp hair was used as the biopsy material because of its ease of collection and long history of use in this connection. Hair was collected from all the local villages in the vicinity of the mine site, as well as from Papua New Guinean nationals from other provinces, and European expatriates who were employed by the mining company and who were resident in the area. Hair from local people showed a remarkably high iron content by comparison with previously studied populations. The extreme variations in hair iron levels were reflected in the differential distribution of levels according to location, age and sex. Hair cadmium was also high in the population studied. Hair copper, lead, zinc and mercury all appeared to be within 'normal' limits by comparison with other general populations. These results are discussed in the context of the environmental and social impact of the mining operations on the local people.

Semantic Context Detection Using Audio Event Fusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chu, Wei-Ta; Cheng, Wen-Huang; Wu, Ja-Ling

2006-12-01

Semantic-level content analysis is a crucial issue in achieving efficient content retrieval and management. We propose a hierarchical approach that models audio events over a time series in order to accomplish semantic context detection. Two levels of modeling, audio event and semantic context modeling, are devised to bridge the gap between physical audio features and semantic concepts. In this work, hidden Markov models (HMMs) are used to model four representative audio events, that is, gunshot, explosion, engine, and car braking, in action movies. At the semantic context level, generative (ergodic hidden Markov model) and discriminative (support vector machine (SVM)) approaches are investigated to fuse the characteristics and correlations among audio events, which provide cues for detecting gunplay and car-chasing scenes. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approaches and provide a preliminary framework for information mining by using audio characteristics.

Post-mining deterioration of bauxite overburdens in Jamaica: storage methods or subsoil dilution?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harris, Mark A.; Omoregie, Samson N.

2008-03-01

Rapid degradation of disturbed soil from a karst bauxite mine in Jamaica was recorded. Substantial macronutrient losses were incurred during a short (1 month) or a long (12 months) storage of the replaced topsoils during frequent wet/dry changes. The results suggested very high rates (>70% in the first year) of soil degradation from storage, alongside moderate rates (30%) within the same storage dump. However, higher levels of soil organic matter (SOM) were indicated just below the surface, compared with the surface horizons. It was unlikely that under a high leaching humid tropical rainfall regime, natural degradation processes could have re-emplaced such material firmly intact in the 15-30 cm zone. It was therefore concluded that these SOM anomalies were due to mechanical dilution of surface soil with subsoil material during overburden removal and emplacement rather than from long storage. Increasing the soil organic content during storage could be one corrective approach. However, it is far less costly to exercise greater care to apply more precise overburden removal and emplacement techniques initially, than it is to correct the results of topsoil contamination with subsoil. Although this study was limited to one mine, in the context of imminent large-scale mining expansion and current practices, further investigations are needed to accurately ascertain the proportion of similar subsoil contamination in other bauxite-mined sites.

Textpresso Central: a customizable platform for searching, text mining, viewing, and curating biomedical literature.

PubMed

Müller, H-M; Van Auken, K M; Li, Y; Sternberg, P W

2018-03-09

The biomedical literature continues to grow at a rapid pace, making the challenge of knowledge retrieval and extraction ever greater. Tools that provide a means to search and mine the full text of literature thus represent an important way by which the efficiency of these processes can be improved. We describe the next generation of the Textpresso information retrieval system, Textpresso Central (TPC). TPC builds on the strengths of the original system by expanding the full text corpus to include the PubMed Central Open Access Subset (PMC OA), as well as the WormBase C. elegans bibliography. In addition, TPC allows users to create a customized corpus by uploading and processing documents of their choosing. TPC is UIMA compliant, to facilitate compatibility with external processing modules, and takes advantage of Lucene indexing and search technology for efficient handling of millions of full text documents. Like Textpresso, TPC searches can be performed using keywords and/or categories (semantically related groups of terms), but to provide better context for interpreting and validating queries, search results may now be viewed as highlighted passages in the context of full text. To facilitate biocuration efforts, TPC also allows users to select text spans from the full text and annotate them, create customized curation forms for any data type, and send resulting annotations to external curation databases. As an example of such a curation form, we describe integration of TPC with the Noctua curation tool developed by the Gene Ontology (GO) Consortium. Textpresso Central is an online literature search and curation platform that enables biocurators and biomedical researchers to search and mine the full text of literature by integrating keyword and category searches with viewing search results in the context of the full text. It also allows users to create customized curation interfaces, use those interfaces to make annotations linked to supporting evidence statements, and then send those annotations to any database in the world. Textpresso Central URL: http://www.textpresso.org/tpc.

The mineral sector and economic development in Ghana: A computable general equilibrium analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Addy, Samuel N.

A computable general equilibrium model (CGE) model is formulated for conducting mineral policy analysis in the context of national economic development for Ghana. The model, called GHANAMIN, places strong emphasis on production, trade, and investment. It can be used to examine both micro and macro economic impacts of policies associated with mineral investment, taxation, and terms of trade changes, as well as mineral sector performance impacts due to technological change or the discovery of new deposits. Its economywide structure enables the study of broader development policy with a focus on individual or multiple sectors, simultaneously. After going through a period of contraction for about two decades, mining in Ghana has rebounded significantly and is currently the main foreign exchange earner. Gold alone contributed 44.7 percent of 1994 total export earnings. GHANAMIN is used to investigate the economywide impacts of mineral tax policies, world market mineral prices changes, mining investment, and increased mineral exports. It is also used for identifying key sectors for economic development. Various simulations were undertaken with the following results: Recently implemented mineral tax policies are welfare increasing, but have an accompanying decrease in the output of other export sectors. World mineral price rises stimulate an increase in real GDP; however, this increase is less than real GDP decreases associated with price declines. Investment in the non-gold mining sector increases real GDP more than investment in gold mining, because of the former's stronger linkages to the rest of the economy. Increased mineral exports are very beneficial to the overall economy. Foreign direct investment (FDI) in mining increases welfare more so than domestic capital, which is very limited. Mining investment and the increased mineral exports since 1986 have contributed significantly to the country's economic recovery, with gold mining accounting for 95 percent of the mineral sector's contribution. The mining sector in general is identified as a leading sector for economic development.

Trace elements and Pb isotopes in soils and sediments impacted by uranium mining.

PubMed

Cuvier, A; Pourcelot, L; Probst, A; Prunier, J; Le Roux, G

2016-10-01

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the contamination in As, Ba, Co, Cu, Mn, Ni, Sr, V, Zn and REE, in a high uranium activity (up to 21,000Bq∙kg(-1)) area, downstream of a former uranium mine. Different geochemical proxies like enrichment factor and fractions from a sequential extraction procedure are used to evaluate the level of contamination, the mobility and the availability of the potential contaminants. Pb isotope ratios are determined in the total samples and in the sequential leachates to identify the sources of the contaminants and to determine the mobility of radiogenic Pb in the context of uranium mining. In spite of the large uranium contamination measured in the soils and the sediments (EF≫40), trace element contamination is low to moderate (2

Data mining techniques for scientific computing: Application to asymptotic paraxial approximations to model ultrarelativistic particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Assous, Franck; Chaskalovic, Joël

2011-06-01

We propose a new approach that consists in using data mining techniques for scientific computing. Indeed, data mining has proved to be efficient in other contexts which deal with huge data like in biology, medicine, marketing, advertising and communications. Our aim, here, is to deal with the important problem of the exploitation of the results produced by any numerical method. Indeed, more and more data are created today by numerical simulations. Thus, it seems necessary to look at efficient tools to analyze them. In this work, we focus our presentation to a test case dedicated to an asymptotic paraxial approximation to model ultrarelativistic particles. Our method directly deals with numerical results of simulations and try to understand what each order of the asymptotic expansion brings to the simulation results over what could be obtained by other lower-order or less accurate means. This new heuristic approach offers new potential applications to treat numerical solutions to mathematical models.

Collaborative mining and interpretation of large-scale data for biomedical research insights.

PubMed

Tsiliki, Georgia; Karacapilidis, Nikos; Christodoulou, Spyros; Tzagarakis, Manolis

2014-01-01

Biomedical research becomes increasingly interdisciplinary and collaborative in nature. Researchers need to efficiently and effectively collaborate and make decisions by meaningfully assembling, mining and analyzing available large-scale volumes of complex multi-faceted data residing in different sources. In line with related research directives revealing that, in spite of the recent advances in data mining and computational analysis, humans can easily detect patterns which computer algorithms may have difficulty in finding, this paper reports on the practical use of an innovative web-based collaboration support platform in a biomedical research context. Arguing that dealing with data-intensive and cognitively complex settings is not a technical problem alone, the proposed platform adopts a hybrid approach that builds on the synergy between machine and human intelligence to facilitate the underlying sense-making and decision making processes. User experience shows that the platform enables more informed and quicker decisions, by displaying the aggregated information according to their needs, while also exploiting the associated human intelligence.

Collaborative Mining and Interpretation of Large-Scale Data for Biomedical Research Insights

PubMed Central

Tsiliki, Georgia; Karacapilidis, Nikos; Christodoulou, Spyros; Tzagarakis, Manolis

2014-01-01

Biomedical research becomes increasingly interdisciplinary and collaborative in nature. Researchers need to efficiently and effectively collaborate and make decisions by meaningfully assembling, mining and analyzing available large-scale volumes of complex multi-faceted data residing in different sources. In line with related research directives revealing that, in spite of the recent advances in data mining and computational analysis, humans can easily detect patterns which computer algorithms may have difficulty in finding, this paper reports on the practical use of an innovative web-based collaboration support platform in a biomedical research context. Arguing that dealing with data-intensive and cognitively complex settings is not a technical problem alone, the proposed platform adopts a hybrid approach that builds on the synergy between machine and human intelligence to facilitate the underlying sense-making and decision making processes. User experience shows that the platform enables more informed and quicker decisions, by displaying the aggregated information according to their needs, while also exploiting the associated human intelligence. PMID:25268270

Metal recovery by bioleaching of sulfidic mining wastes — Application to a European case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guézennec, A. G.; Jacob, J.; Joulian, C.; Dupraz, S.; Menard, Y.; d'Hugues, P.

The non-energy extractive industry (NEEI) of the EU-25 generated a direct turnover of about €40 billion, and provided employment to about 250000 people in 16629 companies in 2004. The use of primary raw materials in the production of other branches of EU industry means they have a central role in guaranteeing industrial and economic sustainability. Nevertheless current demand exceeds production, and so the EU is heavily dependent on minerals and metals imports. In this context of securing access to metals, turning mining wastes into new resources of currently unexploited valuable metals is an important challenge. The mining wastes can contain base and precious metals, but also metalloids and rare earth elements that are nowadays considered as highly critical for the industrial development of the European Union. Nevertheless, the development of alternative routes to conventional processing is still required in order to decrease the cost associated to the treatment of these unconventional resources which are more complex in composition and with lower grades.

Community-company relations in gold mining in Ghana.

PubMed

Garvin, Theresa; McGee, Tara K; Smoyer-Tomic, Karen E; Aubynn, Emmanuel Ato

2009-01-01

As a result of Structural Adjustment Programme from the 1980s, many developing countries have experienced an increase in resource extraction activities by international and transnational corporations. The work reported here examines the perceived impacts of gold mining at the community level in the Wassa West District of Ghana, Africa and discusses those perceived impacts in the context of globalization processes and growing multinational corporate interest in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Interview data compared community members' perceptions with those of company representatives in three communities. The results indicate that communities held companies responsible for a series of economic, social, and environmental changes. While recognizing some of the benefits brought by the mines, communities felt that the companies did not live up to their responsibility to support local development. Companies responded by denying, dismissing concerns, or shifting blame. Findings from this work show that lack of engagement and action by government agencies at all levels resulted in companies acting in a surrogate governmental capacity. In such situations, managing expectations is key to community-company relations.

Data Streams: An Overview and Scientific Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aggarwal, Charu C.

In recent years, advances in hardware technology have facilitated the ability to collect data continuously. Simple transactions of everyday life such as using a credit card, a phone, or browsing the web lead to automated data storage. Similarly, advances in information technology have lead to large flows of data across IP networks. In many cases, these large volumes of data can be mined for interesting and relevant information in a wide variety of applications. When the volume of the underlying data is very large, it leads to a number of computational and mining challenges: With increasing volume of the data, it is no longer possible to process the data efficiently by using multiple passes. Rather, one can process a data item at most once. This leads to constraints on the implementation of the underlying algorithms. Therefore, stream mining algorithms typically need to be designed so that the algorithms work with one pass of the data. In most cases, there is an inherent temporal component to the stream mining process. This is because the data may evolve over time. This behavior of data streams is referred to as temporal locality. Therefore, a straightforward adaptation of one-pass mining algorithms may not be an effective solution to the task. Stream mining algorithms need to be carefully designed with a clear focus on the evolution of the underlying data. Another important characteristic of data streams is that they are often mined in a distributed fashion. Furthermore, the individual processors may have limited processing and memory. Examples of such cases include sensor networks, in which it may be desirable to perform in-network processing of data stream with limited processing and memory [1, 2]. This chapter will provide an overview of the key challenges in stream mining algorithms which arise from the unique setup in which these problems are encountered. This chapter is organized as follows. In the next section, we will discuss the generic challenges that stream mining poses to a variety of data management and data mining problems. The next section also deals with several issues which arise in the context of data stream management. In Sect. 3, we discuss several mining algorithms on the data stream model. Section 4 discusses various scientific applications of data streams. Section 5 discusses the research directions and conclusions.

Natural and mining-related sources of dissolved minerals during low flow in the Upper Animas River Basin, southwestern Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wright, Winfield G.

1997-01-01

As part of the Clean Water Act of 1972 (Public Law 92-500), all States are required to establish water-quality standards for every river basin in the State. During 1994, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment proposed to the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission (CWQCC) an aquatic-life standard of 225 µg/L (micrograms per liter) for the dissolved-zinc concentration in the Animas River downstream from Silverton (fig.1). The CWQCC delayed implementation of this water-quality standard until further information was collected and a plan for the cleanup of abandoned mines was developed. Dissolved-zinc concentrations in this section of the river ranged from about 270 µg/L during high flow, when rainfall and snowmelt runoff dilute the dissolved minerals in the river (U.S. Geological Survey, 1996, p. 431), to 960 µg/L (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, written commun., 1996) during low flow (such as late summer and middle winter when natural springs and drainage from mines are the main sources for the streams). Mining sites in the basin were developed between about 1872 and the 1940's, with only a few mines operated until the early 1990's. For local governments, mining sites represent part of the Nation's heritage, tourists are attracted to the historic mining sites, and governments are obligated to protect the historic mining sites according to the National Historic Preservation Act (Public Law 89-665). In the context of this fact sheet, the term "natural sources of dissolved minerals" refers to springs and streams where no effect from mining were determined. "Mining-related sources of dissolved minerals" are assumed to be: (1 ) Water draining from mines , and (2) water seeping from mine-waste dump pile where the waste piles were saturated by water draining from mines. Although rainfall and snowmelt runoff from mine-waste piles might affect water quality in streams, work described in this fact sheet was done during low-flow conditions when springs and drainage from mine were the main sources of dissolved minerals affecting the streams. Data are being collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to determine the magnitude and sources of dissolved minerals during rainfall- and snowmelt-runoff periods. This fact sheet presents results of studies done by the USGS in collaboration with the Animas River Stakeholders Group and was prepared in cooperation with the Southwestern Colorado Water Conservation District. The studies were done at selected sites in the Upper Animas River Basin to determine natural and mining-related sources of dissolved minerals and are continuing in the basin with the Animas River Stakeholders Group and as part of the Department of the Interior Abandoned Mine Lands Initiative. The results of these studies will provide useful information for determining water-quality standards in the basin.

Literature-based condition-specific miRNA-mRNA target prediction.

PubMed

Oh, Minsik; Rhee, Sungmin; Moon, Ji Hwan; Chae, Heejoon; Lee, Sunwon; Kang, Jaewoo; Kim, Sun

2017-01-01

miRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression by binding to the 3'-UTR of genes. Many recent studies have reported that miRNAs play important biological roles by regulating specific mRNAs or genes. Many sequence-based target prediction algorithms have been developed to predict miRNA targets. However, these methods are not designed for condition-specific target predictions and produce many false positives; thus, expression-based target prediction algorithms have been developed for condition-specific target predictions. A typical strategy to utilize expression data is to leverage the negative control roles of miRNAs on genes. To control false positives, a stringent cutoff value is typically set, but in this case, these methods tend to reject many true target relationships, i.e., false negatives. To overcome these limitations, additional information should be utilized. The literature is probably the best resource that we can utilize. Recent literature mining systems compile millions of articles with experiments designed for specific biological questions, and the systems provide a function to search for specific information. To utilize the literature information, we used a literature mining system, BEST, that automatically extracts information from the literature in PubMed and that allows the user to perform searches of the literature with any English words. By integrating omics data analysis methods and BEST, we developed Context-MMIA, a miRNA-mRNA target prediction method that combines expression data analysis results and the literature information extracted based on the user-specified context. In the pathway enrichment analysis using genes included in the top 200 miRNA-targets, Context-MMIA outperformed the four existing target prediction methods that we tested. In another test on whether prediction methods can re-produce experimentally validated target relationships, Context-MMIA outperformed the four existing target prediction methods. In summary, Context-MMIA allows the user to specify a context of the experimental data to predict miRNA targets, and we believe that Context-MMIA is very useful for predicting condition-specific miRNA targets.

Digital Social Network Mining for Topic Discovery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moradianzadeh, Pooya; Mohi, Maryam; Sadighi Moshkenani, Mohsen

Networked computers are expanding more and more around the world, and digital social networks becoming of great importance for many people's work and leisure. This paper mainly focused on discovering the topic of exchanging information in digital social network. In brief, our method is to use a hierarchical dictionary of related topics and words that mapped to a graph. Then, with comparing the extracted keywords from the context of social network with graph nodes, probability of relation between context and desired topics will be computed. This model can be used in many applications such as advertising, viral marketing and high-risk group detection.

Diagnostic, Predictive and Compositional Modeling with Data Mining in Integrated Learning Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Chien-Sing

2007-01-01

Models represent a set of generic patterns to test hypotheses. This paper presents the CogMoLab student model in the context of an integrated learning environment. Three aspects are discussed: diagnostic and predictive modeling with respect to the issues of credit assignment and scalability and compositional modeling of the student profile in the…

Mining Concept Maps to Understand University Students' Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yoo, Jin Soung; Cho, Moon-Heum

2012-01-01

Concept maps, visual representations of knowledge, are used in an educational context as a way to represent students' knowledge, and identify mental models of students; however there is a limitation of using concept mapping due to its difficulty to evaluate the concept maps. A concept map has a complex structure which is composed of concepts and…

Implications and Challenges to Using Data Mining in Educational Research in the Canadian Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ElAtia, Samira; Ipperciel, Donald; Hammad, Ahmed

2012-01-01

Canadian institutions of higher education are major players on the international arena for educating future generations and producing leaders around the world in various fields. In the last decade, Canadian universities have seen an influx in their incoming international students, who contribute over $3.5 billion to the Canadian economy (Madgett…

Education Scholars' Evolving Uses of Twitter as a Conference Backchannel and Social Commentary Platform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kimmons, Royce; Veletsianos, George

2016-01-01

The scholarly community faces a lack of large-scale research examining how students and professors use social media in authentic contexts and how such use changes over time. This study uses data mining methods to better understand academic Twitter use during, around, and between the 2014 and 2015 American Educational Research Association annual…

Environmental impact assessment of sand mining from the small catchment rivers in the southwestern coast of India: a case study.

PubMed

Sreebha, Sreedharan; Padmalal, Damodaran

2011-01-01

In the past few decades, the demand for construction grade sand is increasing in many parts of the world due to rapid economic development and subsequent growth of building activities. This, in many of the occasions, has resulted in indiscriminate mining of sand from in-stream and floodplain areas leading to severe damages to the river basin environment. The case is rather alarming in the small catchment rivers like those draining the southwestern coast of India due to limited sand resources in their alluvial reaches. Moreover, lack of adequate information on the environmental impact of river sand mining is a major lacuna challenging regulatory efforts in many developing countries. Therefore, a scientific assessment is a pre-requisite in formulating management strategies in the sand mining-hit areas. In this context, a study has been made as a case to address the environmental impact of sand mining from the in-stream and floodplain areas of three important rivers in the southwestern coast of India namely the Chalakudy, Periyar and Muvattupuzha rivers, whose lowlands host one of the fast developing urban-cum-industrial centre, the Kochi city. The study reveals that an amount of 11.527 million ty(-1) of sand (8.764 million ty(-1) of in-stream sand and 2.763 million ty(-1) of floodplain sand) is being mined from the midland and lowland reaches of these rivers for construction of buildings and other infrastructural facilities in Kochi city and its satellite townships. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) carried out as a part of this investigation shows that the activities associated with mining and processing of sands have not only affected the health of the river ecosystems but also degraded its overbank areas to a large extent. Considering the degree of degradation caused by sand mining from these rivers, no mining scenario may be opted in the deeper zones of the river channels. Also, a set of suggestions are made for the overall improvement of the rivers and its biophysical environment.

Environmental Impact Assessment of Sand Mining from the Small Catchment Rivers in the Southwestern Coast of India: A Case Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sreebha, Sreedharan; Padmalal, Damodaran

2011-01-01

In the past few decades, the demand for construction grade sand is increasing in many parts of the world due to rapid economic development and subsequent growth of building activities. This, in many of the occasions, has resulted in indiscriminate mining of sand from instream and floodplain areas leading to severe damages to the river basin environment. The case is rather alarming in the small catchment rivers like those draining the southwestern coast of India due to limited sand resources in their alluvial reaches. Moreover, lack of adequate information on the environmental impact of river sand mining is a major lacuna challenging regulatory efforts in many developing countries. Therefore, a scientific assessment is a pre-requisite in formulating management strategies in the sand mining-hit areas. In this context, a study has been made as a case to address the environmental impact of sand mining from the instream and floodplain areas of three important rivers in the southwestern coast of India namely the Chalakudy, Periyar and Muvattupuzha rivers, whose lowlands host one of the fast developing urban-cum-industrial centre, the Kochi city. The study reveals that an amount of 11.527 million ty-1 of sand (8.764 million ty-1 of instream sand and 2.763 million ty-1 of floodplain sand) is being mined from the midland and lowland reaches of these rivers for construction of buildings and other infrastructural facilities in Kochi city and its satellite townships. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) carried out as a part of this investigation shows that the activities associated with mining and processing of sands have not only affected the health of the river ecosystems but also degraded its overbank areas to a large extent. Considering the degree of degradation caused by sand mining from these rivers, no mining scenario may be opted in the deeper zones of the river channels. Also, a set of suggestions are made for the overall improvement of the rivers and its biophysical environment.

Parameterisation of non-homogeneities in buried object detection by means of thermography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stepanić, Josip; Malinovec, Marina; Švaić, Srećko; Krstelj, Vjera

2004-05-01

Landmines and their natural environment form a system of complex dynamics with variable characteristics. A manifestation of that complexity within the context of thermography-based landmines detection is excessive noise in thermograms. That has severely suppressed application of thermography in landmines detection for the purposes of humanitarian demining. (To be differentiated from military demining and demining for military operations other than war [Land Mine Detection DOD's Research Program Needs a Comprehensive Evaluation Strategy, US GAO Report, GAO-01 239, 2001; International Mine Action Standards, Chapter 4.--Glossary. Available at: < http://www.mineactionstandards.org/IMAS_archive/Final/04.10.pdf>].) The discrepancy between the existing role and the actual potential of thermography in humanitarian demining motivated systematic approach to sources of noise in thermograms of buried objects. These sources are variations in mine orientation relative to soil normal, which modify the shape of mine signature on thermograms, as well as non-homogeneities in soil and vegetation layer above the mine, which modify the overall quality of thermograms. This paper analyses the influence of variable mines, and more generally the influence of axially symmetric buried object orientation on the quality of its signature on thermograms. The following two angles have been extracted to serve as parameters describing variation in orientation: (i) θ--angle between the local vertical axis and mine symmetry axis and (ii) ψ--angle between local vertical axis and soil surface normal. Their influence is compared to the influence of (iii) d--the object depth change, which serves as control parameter. The influences are quantified and ranked within a statistically planned experiment. The analysis has proved that among the parameters listed, the most influential one is statistical interaction dψ, followed with the statistical interaction dθ. According to statistical tests, these two combinations are considered the most significant influences. The results show that the currently applied analysis of thermography in humanitarian demining must be broadened by the inclusion of the variations in mine orientation, otherwise a decrease in the probability of mine detection, due to the presence of a systematic error, occurs.

Applying predictive analytics to develop an intelligent risk detection application for healthcare contexts.

PubMed

Moghimi, Fatemeh Hoda; Cheung, Michael; Wickramasinghe, Nilmini

2013-01-01

Healthcare is an information rich industry where successful outcomes require the processing of multi-spectral data and sound decision making. The exponential growth of data and big data issues coupled with a rapid increase of service demands in healthcare contexts today, requires a robust framework enabled by IT (information technology) solutions as well as real-time service handling in order to ensure superior decision making and successful healthcare outcomes. Such a context is appropriate for the application of real time intelligent risk detection decision support systems using predictive analytic techniques such as data mining. To illustrate the power and potential of data science technologies in healthcare decision making scenarios, the use of an intelligent risk detection (IRD) model is proffered for the context of Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) in children, an area which requires complex high risk decisions that need to be made expeditiously and accurately in order to ensure successful healthcare outcomes.

Managing artisanal and small-scale mining in forest areas: perspectives from a poststructural political ecology.

PubMed

Hirons, Mark

2011-01-01

Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is an activity intimately associated with social deprivation and environmental degradation, including deforestation. This paper examines ASM and deforestation using a broadly poststructural political ecology framework. Hegemonic discourses are shown to consistently influence policy direction, particularly in emerging approaches such as Corporate Social Responsibility and the Forest Stewardship Council. A review of alternative discourses reveals that the poststructural method is useful for critiquing the international policy arena but does not inform new approaches. Synthesis of the analysis leads to conclusions that echo a growing body of literature advocating for policies to become increasingly sensitive to local contexts, synergistic between actors at difference scales, and to be integrated across sectors.

U.S. Geological Survey and Afghanistan Ministry of Mines and Industry cooperative assessment of Afghanistan's undiscovered oil and gas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wandrey, Craig J.; Ulmishek, Gregory; Agena, Warren; Klett, Timothy R.; ,

2006-01-01

Results of the U.S. Geological Survey and Afghanistan Ministry of Mines and Industry cooperative assessment of undiscovered petroleum resources of northern Afghanistan were first released through this presentation on March 14, 2006, at the Afghan Embassy in Washington, D.C. On March 15 the results were presented in Kabul, Afghanistan. The purpose of the assessment and release of the results is to provide energy data required to implement the rebuilding and development of Afghanistan's energy infrastructure. This presentation includes a summary of the goals, process, methodology, results, and accomplishments of the assessment. It provides context for Fact Sheet 2006-3031, a summary of assessment results provided in the presentations.

Asbestos-Related Disease in South Africa

PubMed Central

Braun, Lundy; Kisting, Sophia

2006-01-01

South Africa was the third largest exporter of asbestos in the world for more than a century. As a consequence of particularly exploitative social conditions, former workers and residents of mining regions suffered—and continue to suffer—from a serious yet still largely undocumented burden of asbestos-related disease. This epidemic has been invisible both internationally and inside South Africa. We examined the work environment, labor policies, and occupational-health framework of the asbestos industry in South Africa during the 20th century. In a changing local context where the majority of workers were increasingly disenfranchised, unorganized, excluded from skilled work, and predominantly rural, mining operations of the asbestos industry not only exposed workers to high levels of asbestos but also contaminated the environment extensively. PMID:16809596

Merging chemical ecology with bacterial genome mining for secondary metabolite discovery.

PubMed

Vizcaino, Maria I; Guo, Xun; Crawford, Jason M

2014-02-01

The integration of chemical ecology and bacterial genome mining can enhance the discovery of structurally diverse natural products in functional contexts. By examining bacterial secondary metabolism in the framework of its ecological niche, insights into the upregulation of orphan biosynthetic pathways and the enhancement of the enzyme substrate supply can be obtained, leading to the discovery of new secondary metabolic pathways that would otherwise be silent or undetected under typical laboratory cultivation conditions. Access to these new natural products (i.e., the chemotypes) facilitates experimental genotype-to-phenotype linkages. Here, we describe certain functional natural products produced by Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus bacteria with experimentally linked biosynthetic gene clusters as illustrative examples of the synergy between chemical ecology and bacterial genome mining in connecting genotypes to phenotypes through chemotype characterization. These Gammaproteobacteria share a mutualistic relationship with nematodes and a pathogenic relationship with insects and, in select cases, humans. The natural products encoded by these bacteria distinguish their interactions with their animal hosts and other microorganisms in their multipartite symbiotic lifestyles. Though both genera have similar lifestyles, their genetic, chemical, and physiological attributes are distinct. Both undergo phenotypic variation and produce a profuse number of bioactive secondary metabolites. We provide further detail in the context of regulation, production, processing, and function for these genetically encoded small molecules with respect to their roles in mutualism and pathogenicity. These collective insights more widely promote the discovery of atypical orphan biosynthetic pathways encoding novel small molecules in symbiotic systems, which could open up new avenues for investigating and exploiting microbial chemical signaling in host-bacteria interactions.

Assessing the evolution of sustainability reporting in the mining sector.

PubMed

Perez, Fabiana; Sanchez, Luis E

2009-06-01

Since the 1990s several large companies have been publishing nonfinancial performance reports. Focusing initially on the physical environment, these reports evolved to consider social relations, as well as data on the firm's economic performance. A few mining companies pioneered this trend, and in the last years some of them incorporated the three dimensions of sustainable development, publishing so-called sustainability reports. This article reviews 31 reports published between 2001 and 2006 by four major mining companies. A set of 62 assessment items organized in six categories (namely context and commitment, management, environmental, social and economic performance, and accessibility and assurance) were selected to guide the review. The items were derived from international literature and recommended best practices, including the Global Reporting Initiative G3 framework. A content analysis was performed using the report as a sampling unit, and using phrases, graphics, or tables containing certain information as data collection units. A basic rating scale (0 or 1) was used for noting the presence or absence of information and a final percentage score was obtained for each report. Results show that there is a clear evolution in report's comprehensiveness and depth. Categories "accessibility and assurance" and "economic performance" featured the lowest scores and do not present a clear evolution trend in the period, whereas categories "context and commitment" and "social performance" presented the best results and regular improvement; the category "environmental performance," despite it not reaching the biggest scores, also featured constant evolution. Description of data measurement techniques, besides more comprehensive third-party verification are the items most in need of improvement.

Strengths amidst vulnerabilities: the paradox of resistance in a mining-affected community in Guatemala.

PubMed

Caxaj, C Susana; Berman, Helene; Ray, Susan L; Restoule, Jean-Paul; Varcoe, Coleen

2014-11-01

The influence of large-scale mining on the psychosocial wellbeing and mental health of diverse Indigenous communities has attracted increased attention. In previous reports, we have discussed the influence of a gold mining operation on the health of a community in the Western highlands of Guatemala. Here, we discuss the community strengths, and acts of resistance of this community, that is, community processes that promoted mental health amidst this context. Using an anti-colonial narrative methodology that incorporated participatory action research principles, we developed a research design in collaboration with community leaders and participants. Data collection involved focus groups, individual interviews and photo-sharing with 54 men and women between the ages of 18 and 67. Data analysis was guided by iterative and ongoing conversations with participants and McCormack's narrative lenses. Study findings revealed key mechanisms and sources of resistance, including a shared cultural identity, a spiritual knowing and being, 'defending our rights, defending our territory,' and, speaking truth to power. These overlapping strengths were identified by participants as key protective factors in facing challenges and adversity. Yet ultimately, these same strengths were often the most eroded or endangered due the influence of large-scale mining operations in the region. These community strengths and acts of resistance reveal important priorities for promoting mental health and wellbeing for populations impacted by large-scale mining operations. Mental health practitioners must attend to both the strengths and parallel vulnerabilities that may be occasioned by large-scale projects of this nature.

Conceptual biology, hypothesis discovery, and text mining: Swanson's legacy.

PubMed

Bekhuis, Tanja

2006-04-03

Innovative biomedical librarians and information specialists who want to expand their roles as expert searchers need to know about profound changes in biology and parallel trends in text mining. In recent years, conceptual biology has emerged as a complement to empirical biology. This is partly in response to the availability of massive digital resources such as the network of databases for molecular biologists at the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Developments in text mining and hypothesis discovery systems based on the early work of Swanson, a mathematician and information scientist, are coincident with the emergence of conceptual biology. Very little has been written to introduce biomedical digital librarians to these new trends. In this paper, background for data and text mining, as well as for knowledge discovery in databases (KDD) and in text (KDT) is presented, then a brief review of Swanson's ideas, followed by a discussion of recent approaches to hypothesis discovery and testing. 'Testing' in the context of text mining involves partially automated methods for finding evidence in the literature to support hypothetical relationships. Concluding remarks follow regarding (a) the limits of current strategies for evaluation of hypothesis discovery systems and (b) the role of literature-based discovery in concert with empirical research. Report of an informatics-driven literature review for biomarkers of systemic lupus erythematosus is mentioned. Swanson's vision of the hidden value in the literature of science and, by extension, in biomedical digital databases, is still remarkably generative for information scientists, biologists, and physicians.

In Dogs We Trust? Intersubjectivity, Response-Able Relations, and the Making of Mine Detector Dogs

PubMed Central

Kirk, Robert G W

2014-01-01

The utility of the dog as a mine detector has divided the mine clearance community since dogs were first used for this purpose during the Second World War. This paper adopts a historical perspective to investigate how, why, and to what consequence, the use of minedogs remains contested despite decades of research into their abilities. It explores the changing factors that have made it possible to think that dogs could, or could not, serve as reliable detectors of landmines over time. Beginning with an analysis of the wartime context that shaped the creation of minedogs, the paper then examines two contemporaneous investigations undertaken in the 1950s. The first, a British investigation pursued by the anatomist Solly Zuckerman, concluded that dogs could never be the mine hunter's best friend. The second, an American study led by the parapsychologist J. B. Rhine, suggested dogs were potentially useful for mine clearance. Drawing on literature from science studies and the emerging subdiscipline of “animal studies,” it is argued that cross-species intersubjectivity played a significant role in determining these different positions. The conceptual landscapes of Zuckerman and Rhine's disciplinary backgrounds are shown to have produced distinct approaches to managing cross-species relations, thus explaining how diverse opinions on minedog can coexist. In conclusion, it is shown that the way one structures relationships between humans and animals has profound impact on the knowledge and labor subsequently produced, a process that cannot be separated from ethical consequence. PMID:24318987

Spatial and temporal patterns in trace element deposition to lakes in the Athabasca oil sands region (Alberta, Canada)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cooke, Colin A.; Kirk, Jane L.; Muir, Derek C. G.; Wiklund, Johan A.; Wang, Xiaowa; Gleason, Amber; Evans, Marlene S.

2017-12-01

The mining and processing of the Athabasca oil sands (Alberta, Canada) has been occurring for decades; however, a lack of consistent regional monitoring has obscured the long-term environmental impact. Here, we present sediment core results to reconstruct spatial and temporal patterns in trace element deposition to lakes in the Athabasca oil sands region. Early mining operations (during the 1970s and 1980s) led to elevated V and Pb inputs to lakes located <50 km from mining operations. Subsequent improvements to mining and upgrading technologies since the 1980s have reduced V and Pb loading to near background levels at many sites. In contrast, Hg deposition increased by a factor of ~3 to all 20 lakes over the 20th century, reflecting global-scale patterns in atmospheric Hg emissions. Base cation deposition (from fugitive dust emissions) has not measurably impacted regional lake sediments. Instead, results from a principal components analysis suggest that the presence of carbonate bedrock underlying lakes located close to development appears to exert a first-order control over lake sediment base cation concentrations and overall lake sediment geochemical composition. Trace element concentrations generally did not exceed Canadian sediment quality guidelines, and no spatial or temporal trends were observed in the frequency of guideline exceedence. Our results demonstrate that early mining efforts had an even greater impact on trace element cycling than has been appreciated previously, placing recent monitoring efforts in a critical long-term context.

Radon exposure in uranium mining industry vs. exposure in tourist caves.

PubMed

Quindós Poncela, L; Fernández Navarro, P; Sainz Fernández, C; Gómez Arozamena, J; Bordonoba Perez, M

2004-01-01

There is a fairly general consensus among health physicists and radiation professionals that exposure to radon progeny is the largest and most variable contribution to the population's exposure to natural sources of radiation. However, this exposure is the subject of continuing debate concerning the validity of risk assessment and recommendations on how to act in radon-prone areas. The purpose of this contribution is to situate the radon issue in Spain in two very different settings. The first is a uranium mining industry located in Saelices el Chico (Salamanca), which is under strict control of the Spanish Nuclear Safety Council (CSN). We have measured radon concentrations in different workplaces in this mine over a five-year period. The second setting comprises four tourist caves, three of which are located in the province of Cantabria and the fourth on the Canary Island of Lanzarote. These caves are not subject to any administrative control of radiation exposure. Measured air 222Rn concentrations were used to estimate annual effective doses due to radon inhalation in the two settings, and dose values were found to be from 2 to 10 times lower in the uranium mine than in the tourist caves. These results were analysed in the context of the new European Basic Safety Standards Directive (EU-BSS, 1996).

Extracting semantically enriched events from biomedical literature

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Research into event-based text mining from the biomedical literature has been growing in popularity to facilitate the development of advanced biomedical text mining systems. Such technology permits advanced search, which goes beyond document or sentence-based retrieval. However, existing event-based systems typically ignore additional information within the textual context of events that can determine, amongst other things, whether an event represents a fact, hypothesis, experimental result or analysis of results, whether it describes new or previously reported knowledge, and whether it is speculated or negated. We refer to such contextual information as meta-knowledge. The automatic recognition of such information can permit the training of systems allowing finer-grained searching of events according to the meta-knowledge that is associated with them. Results Based on a corpus of 1,000 MEDLINE abstracts, fully manually annotated with both events and associated meta-knowledge, we have constructed a machine learning-based system that automatically assigns meta-knowledge information to events. This system has been integrated into EventMine, a state-of-the-art event extraction system, in order to create a more advanced system (EventMine-MK) that not only extracts events from text automatically, but also assigns five different types of meta-knowledge to these events. The meta-knowledge assignment module of EventMine-MK performs with macro-averaged F-scores in the range of 57-87% on the BioNLP’09 Shared Task corpus. EventMine-MK has been evaluated on the BioNLP’09 Shared Task subtask of detecting negated and speculated events. Our results show that EventMine-MK can outperform other state-of-the-art systems that participated in this task. Conclusions We have constructed the first practical system that extracts both events and associated, detailed meta-knowledge information from biomedical literature. The automatically assigned meta-knowledge information can be used to refine search systems, in order to provide an extra search layer beyond entities and assertions, dealing with phenomena such as rhetorical intent, speculations, contradictions and negations. This finer grained search functionality can assist in several important tasks, e.g., database curation (by locating new experimental knowledge) and pathway enrichment (by providing information for inference). To allow easy integration into text mining systems, EventMine-MK is provided as a UIMA component that can be used in the interoperable text mining infrastructure, U-Compare. PMID:22621266

Extracting semantically enriched events from biomedical literature.

PubMed

Miwa, Makoto; Thompson, Paul; McNaught, John; Kell, Douglas B; Ananiadou, Sophia

2012-05-23

Research into event-based text mining from the biomedical literature has been growing in popularity to facilitate the development of advanced biomedical text mining systems. Such technology permits advanced search, which goes beyond document or sentence-based retrieval. However, existing event-based systems typically ignore additional information within the textual context of events that can determine, amongst other things, whether an event represents a fact, hypothesis, experimental result or analysis of results, whether it describes new or previously reported knowledge, and whether it is speculated or negated. We refer to such contextual information as meta-knowledge. The automatic recognition of such information can permit the training of systems allowing finer-grained searching of events according to the meta-knowledge that is associated with them. Based on a corpus of 1,000 MEDLINE abstracts, fully manually annotated with both events and associated meta-knowledge, we have constructed a machine learning-based system that automatically assigns meta-knowledge information to events. This system has been integrated into EventMine, a state-of-the-art event extraction system, in order to create a more advanced system (EventMine-MK) that not only extracts events from text automatically, but also assigns five different types of meta-knowledge to these events. The meta-knowledge assignment module of EventMine-MK performs with macro-averaged F-scores in the range of 57-87% on the BioNLP'09 Shared Task corpus. EventMine-MK has been evaluated on the BioNLP'09 Shared Task subtask of detecting negated and speculated events. Our results show that EventMine-MK can outperform other state-of-the-art systems that participated in this task. We have constructed the first practical system that extracts both events and associated, detailed meta-knowledge information from biomedical literature. The automatically assigned meta-knowledge information can be used to refine search systems, in order to provide an extra search layer beyond entities and assertions, dealing with phenomena such as rhetorical intent, speculations, contradictions and negations. This finer grained search functionality can assist in several important tasks, e.g., database curation (by locating new experimental knowledge) and pathway enrichment (by providing information for inference). To allow easy integration into text mining systems, EventMine-MK is provided as a UIMA component that can be used in the interoperable text mining infrastructure, U-Compare.

The Mining Minds digital health and wellness framework.

PubMed

Banos, Oresti; Bilal Amin, Muhammad; Ali Khan, Wajahat; Afzal, Muhammad; Hussain, Maqbool; Kang, Byeong Ho; Lee, Sungyong

2016-07-15

The provision of health and wellness care is undergoing an enormous transformation. A key element of this revolution consists in prioritizing prevention and proactivity based on the analysis of people's conducts and the empowerment of individuals in their self-management. Digital technologies are unquestionably destined to be the main engine of this change, with an increasing number of domain-specific applications and devices commercialized every year; however, there is an apparent lack of frameworks capable of orchestrating and intelligently leveraging, all the data, information and knowledge generated through these systems. This work presents Mining Minds, a novel framework that builds on the core ideas of the digital health and wellness paradigms to enable the provision of personalized support. Mining Minds embraces some of the most prominent digital technologies, ranging from Big Data and Cloud Computing to Wearables and Internet of Things, as well as modern concepts and methods, such as context-awareness, knowledge bases or analytics, to holistically and continuously investigate on people's lifestyles and provide a variety of smart coaching and support services. This paper comprehensively describes the efficient and rational combination and interoperation of these technologies and methods through Mining Minds, while meeting the essential requirements posed by a framework for personalized health and wellness support. Moreover, this work presents a realization of the key architectural components of Mining Minds, as well as various exemplary user applications and expert tools to illustrate some of the potential services supported by the proposed framework. Mining Minds constitutes an innovative holistic means to inspect human behavior and provide personalized health and wellness support. The principles behind this framework uncover new research ideas and may serve as a reference for similar initiatives.

Making All Children Winners: Confronting Social Justice Issues to Redeem America's Soul

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Normore, Anthony H.; Rodriguez, Louie; Wynne, Joan

2007-01-01

Purpose: "If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound with mine, then come, let's work together". These words of Lill Watson, an indigenous activist, frame the context for this article. The purpose of this research was to examine the historical evolution of "grassroots movement…

Both Your Intention and Mine Are Reflected in the Kinematics of My Reach-to-Grasp Movement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Becchio, Cristina; Sartori, Luisa; Bulgheroni, Maria; Castiello, Umberto

2008-01-01

The aim of the present study is to ascertain whether in a social context the kinematic parameters are influenced by the stance of the participants. In particular, we consider two basic modes of social cognition, namely cooperation and competition. Naive subjects were asked either to cooperate or to compete with a partner (a professional female…

"It's Mine!" Does Sharing with Siblings at Age 3 Predict Sharing with Siblings, Friends, and Unfamiliar Peers at Age 6?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

White, Naomi; Ensor, Rosie; Marks, Alex; Jacobs, Lorna; Hughes, Claire

2014-01-01

Research Findings: Studies of children's prosocial behavior typically focus on prosocial acts with a specific partner (e.g., a friend, peer, or sibling), and comparisons of prosociality in different contexts are rare. To address this gap, the current study examined predictive links among children's spontaneous sharing (a common and important form…

A centennial tribute to G.K. Gilbert's Hydraulic Mining Débris in the Sierra Nevada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

James, L. A.; Phillips, J. D.; Lecce, S. A.

2017-10-01

G.K. Gilbert's (1917) classic monograph, Hydraulic-Mining Débris in the Sierra Nevada, is described and put into the context of modern geomorphic knowledge. The emphasis here is on large-scale applied fluvial geomorphology, but other key elements-e.g., coastal geomorphology-are also briefly covered. A brief synopsis outlines key elements of the monograph, followed by discussions of highly influential aspects including the integrated watershed perspective, the extreme example of anthropogenic sedimentation, computation of a quantitative, semidistributed sediment budget, and advent of sediment-wave theory. Although Gilbert did not address concepts of equilibrium and grade in much detail, the rivers of the northwestern Sierra Nevada were highly disrupted and thrown into a condition of nonequilibrium. Therefore, concepts of equilibrium and grade-for which Gilbert's early work is often cited-are discussed. Gilbert's work is put into the context of complex nonlinear dynamics in geomorphic systems and how these concepts can be used to interpret the nonequilibrium systems described by Gilbert. Broad, basin-scale studies were common in the period, but few were as quantitative and empirically rigorous or employed such a range of methodologies as PP105. None demonstrated such an extreme case of anthropogeomorphic change.

NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) signatures of transient ecohydrological systems: The case of post-mining landscapes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brück, Yasemine; Schulte Overberg, Philipp; Pohle, Ina; Hinz, Christoph

2017-04-01

Assessing ecohydrological systems that undergo state transitions due to environmental change is becoming increasingly important. One system that can be used to study severe disturbances are post-mining landscapes as they usually are associated with complete removal of vegetation and afterwards subsequent ecosystem restoration or spontaneous rehabilitation in line with natural succession. Within this context it is of interest, whether and how (fast) the land cover in these areas returns to conditions comparable to those in the undisturbed surrounding or those prior mining. Many aspects of mine site rehabilitation depend on climatic, geomorphic and ecological settings, which determine at which rate vegetation may be re-established. In order to identify general patterns of vegetation establishment, we propose to use NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) time series for mine affected land to estimate rate of recovery across climate regions and ecoregions. In this study we analysed the MODIS Terra Satellite 8 day-composite NDVI for areas influenced by surface mining in different climates from 2001 to 2015. The locations have been chosen based on their extent and the data availability of mining and rehabilitation activities. We selected coal extraction as a case study as strip mining generates well-defined chronosequences of disturbance. The selected mining areas are located in equatorial, arid, warm temperate or snow climates with different precipitation and temperature conditions according to the Köppen-Geiger classification. We analysed the NDVI time series regarding significant characteristics of the re-vegetation phase. We applied hierarchical cluster analysis to capture the spatial heterogeneity between different pixels (ca. 250 * 250 m2 each) in and around each open cast mine. We disentangled seasonality, trend and residual components in the NDVI time series by Seasonal and Trend decomposition using LOESS. As expected the time of the removal of vegetation can be clearly identified from the NDVI time series and provides the starting point of disturbance. The cluster analysis allowed us to distinguish between the non-mining land, the mine and the restored land of different ages. Based on these clusters, the time series decomposition revealed the dominance of the trend of increasing NDVI in areas undergoing the restoration process as well as the prevailing seasonality of the oldest restored sites. The determined phase of a dominant trend component, lasting until the NDVI is in the range of the surrounding landscape or the pre-mining conditions, is in the scale of a decade. The impacts of different hydroclimatic regimes and different rehabilitation strategies on long term NDVI development are currently being investigated. Furthermore, coherence analysis will be applied to quantify short term influences of hydrometeorological variables on vegetation development.

Potash—A vital agricultural nutrient sourced from geologic deposits

USGS Publications Warehouse

Yager, Douglas B.

2016-11-15

This report summarizes the primary sources of potash in the United States. Potash is an essential nutrient that, along with phosphorus and nitrogen, is used as fertilizer for growing crops. Plants require sufficient potash to activate enzymes, which in turn catalyze chemical reactions important for water uptake and photosynthesis. When potassium is available in quantities necessary for healthy plant growth, disease resistance and physical quality are improved and crop yield and shelf life are increased. Potash is a water-soluble compound of potassium formed by geologic and hydrologic processes. The principal potash sources discussed are the large, stratiform deposits that formed during retreat and evaporation of intracontinental seas. The Paradox, Delaware, Holbrook, Michigan, and Williston sedimentary basins in the United States are examples where extensive potash beds were deposited. Ancient marine-type potash deposits that are close to the surface can be mined using conventional underground mining methods. In situ solution mining can be used where beds are too deep, making underground mining cost-prohibitive, or where underground mines are converted to in situ solution mines. Quaternary brine is another source of potash that is recovered by solar evaporation in manmade ponds. Groundwater from Pleistocene Lake Bonneville (Wendover, Utah) and the present-day Great Salt Lake in Utah are sources of potashbearing brine. Brine from these sources pumped to solar ponds is evaporated and potash concentrated for harvesting, processing, and refinement. Although there is sufficient potash to meet near-term demand, the large marine-type deposits are either geographically restricted to a few areas or are too deep to easily mine. Other regions lack sources of potash brine from groundwater or surface water. Thus, some areas of the world rely heavily on potash imports. Political, economic, and global population pressures may limit the ability of some countries from securing potash resources in the future. In this context, a historical perspective on U.S. potash production in a global framework is discussed.

Systematic review of community health impacts of mountaintop removal mining.

PubMed

Boyles, Abee L; Blain, Robyn B; Rochester, Johanna R; Avanasi, Raghavendhran; Goldhaber, Susan B; McComb, Sofie; Holmgren, Stephanie D; Masten, Scott A; Thayer, Kristina A

2017-10-01

The objective of this evaluation is to understand the human health impacts of mountaintop removal (MTR) mining, the major method of coal mining in and around Central Appalachia. MTR mining impacts the air, water, and soil and raises concerns about potential adverse health effects in neighboring communities; exposures associated with MTR mining include particulate matter (PM), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), metals, hydrogen sulfide, and other recognized harmful substances. A systematic review was conducted of published studies of MTR mining and community health, occupational studies of MTR mining, and any available animal and in vitro experimental studies investigating the effects of exposures to MTR-mining-related chemical mixtures. Six databases (Embase, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, Toxline, and Web of Science) were searched with customized terms, and no restrictions on publication year or language, through October 27, 2016. The eligibility criteria included all human population studies and animal models of human health, direct and indirect measures of MTR-mining exposure, any health-related effect or change in physiological response, and any study design type. Risk of bias was assessed for observational and experimental studies using an approach developed by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) Office of Health Assessment and Translation (OHAT). To provide context for these health effects, a summary of the exposure literature is included that focuses on describing findings for outdoor air, indoor air, and drinking water. From a literature search capturing 3088 studies, 33 human studies (29 community, four occupational), four experimental studies (two in rat, one in vitro and in mice, one in C. elegans), and 58 MTR mining exposure studies were identified. A number of health findings were reported in observational human studies, including cardiopulmonary effects, mortality, and birth defects. However, concerns for risk of bias were identified, especially with respect to exposure characterization, accounting for confounding variables (such as socioeconomic status), and methods used to assess health outcomes. Typically, exposure was assessed by proximity of residence or hospital to coal mining or production level at the county level. In addition, assessing the consistency of findings was challenging because separate publications likely included overlapping case and comparison groups. For example, 11 studies of mortality were conducted with most reporting higher rates associated with coal mining, but many of these relied on the same national datasets and were unable to consider individual-level contributors to mortality such as poor socioeconomic status or smoking. Two studies of adult rats reported impaired microvascular and cardiac mitochondrial function after intratracheal exposure to PM from MTR-mining sites. Exposures associated with MTR mining included reports of PM levels that sometimes exceeded Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards; higher levels of dust, trace metals, hydrogen sulfide gas; and a report of increased public drinking water violations. This systematic review could not reach conclusions on community health effects of MTR mining because of the strong potential for bias in the current body of human literature. Improved characterization of exposures by future community health studies and further study of the effects of MTR mining chemical mixtures in experimental models will be critical to determining health risks of MTR mining to communities. Without such work, uncertainty will remain regarding the impact of these practices on the health of the people who breathe the air and drink the water affected by MTR mining. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Hydrochemical characterization of a river affected by acid mine drainage in the Iberian Pyrite Belt.

PubMed

Grande, J A; Santisteban, M; Valente, T; de la Torre, M L; Gomes, P

2017-06-01

This paper addresses the modelling of the processes associated with acid mine drainage affecting the Trimpancho River basin, chosen for this purpose because of its location and paradigmatic hydrological, geological, mining and environmental contexts. By using physical-chemical indicators it is possible to define the contamination degree of the system from the perspective of an entire river basin, due to its reduced dimension. This allows an exhaustive monitoring of the study area, considering the particularity that the stream flows directly into a water dam used for human supply. With such a perspective, and in order to find global solutions, the present study seeks to develop methodologies and tools for expeditious and accurate diagnosis of the pollution level of the affected stream that feeds the water reservoir. The implemented methodology can be applied to other water systems affected by similar problems, while the results will contribute to the development of the state of the art in a representative basin of the Iberian Pyrite Belt, whose pollutants' contributions are incorporated into the reservoir.

Uranium from Africa - An overview on past and current mining activities: Re-appraising associated risks and chances in a global context

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winde, Frank; Brugge, Doug; Nidecker, Andreas; Ruegg, Urs

2017-05-01

In 2003, nuclear power received renewed interest as a perceived climate-neutral way to meet high energy demands of large industrialized countries, such as China, India, Russia and the USA. It triggered a growing demand for uranium (U) as nuclear fuel. Dubbed the 'nuclear renaissance', the U-price rose over tenfold before the global credit crisis dampend the rush. Many efforts to capitalise on the renewed demand focused on Africa. This paper provides an overview on the type and extent of uranium mining, production and exploration on the African continent and discusses the economic benefits as well as the potential environmental and health risks and the long-term needs for remediation of legacy sites. The actual historical results of uranium mining activities in more than thirty African countries provide data against which to assess the existing risks of uranium development. The already existing uraniferous waste in several African countries threatens scarce water resources and the health of adjacent residents. Responsibility should rest with the governments and the companies to ensure that these threats are not realized.

Analysis of occupational health hazards and associated risks in fuzzy environment: a case research in an Indian underground coal mine.

PubMed

Samantra, Chitrasen; Datta, Saurav; Mahapatra, Siba Sankar

2017-09-01

This paper presents a unique hierarchical structure on various occupational health hazards including physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic and psychosocial hazards, and associated adverse consequences in relation to an underground coal mine. The study proposes a systematic health hazard risk assessment methodology for estimating extent of hazard risk using three important measuring parameters: consequence of exposure, period of exposure and probability of exposure. An improved decision making method using fuzzy set theory has been attempted herein for converting linguistic data into numeric risk ratings. The concept of 'centre of area' method for generalized triangular fuzzy numbers has been explored to quantify the 'degree of hazard risk' in terms of crisp ratings. Finally, a logical framework for categorizing health hazards into different risk levels has been constructed on the basis of distinguished ranges of evaluated risk ratings (crisp). Subsequently, an action requirement plan has been suggested, which could provide guideline to the managers for successfully managing health hazard risks in the context of underground coal mining exercise.

The fluid dynamics of deep-sea mining

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peacock, Thomas; Rzeznik, Andrew

2017-11-01

With vast mineral deposits on the ocean floor, deep-sea nodule mining operations are expected to commence in the next decade. Among several fundamental fluid dynamics problems, this could involve plans for dewatering plumes to be released into the water column by surface processing vessels. To study this scenario, we consider the effects of non-uniform, realistic stratifications on forced compressible plumes with finite initial size. The classical plume model is developed to take into account the influence of thermal conduction through the dewatering pipe and also compressibility effects, for which a dimensionless number is introduced to determine their importance compared to the background stratification. Among other things, our results show that small-scale features of a realistic stratification can have a large effect on plume dynamics compared to smoothed profiles and that for any given set of environmental parameters there is a discharge flow rate that minimizes the plume vertical extent. Our findings are put in the context of nodule mining plumes for which the rapid and efficient re-sedimentation of waste material has important environmental consequences.

Intergenerational equity and conservation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Otoole, R. P.; Walton, A. L.

1980-01-01

The issue of integenerational equity in the use of natural resources is discussed in the context of coal mining conversion. An attempt to determine if there is a clear-cut benefit to future generations in setting minimum coal extraction efficiency standards in mining is made. It is demonstrated that preserving fossil fuels beyond the economically efficient level is not necessarily beneficial to future generations even in terms of their own preferences. Setting fossil fuel conservation targets for intermediate products (i.e. energy) may increase the quantities of fossil fuels available to future generations and hence lower the costs, but there may be serious disadvantages to future generations as well. The use of relatively inexpensive fossil fuels in this generation may result in more infrastructure development and more knowledge production available to future generations. The value of fossil fuels versus these other endowments in the future depends on many factors which cannot possibly be evaluated at present. Since there is no idea of whether future generations are being helped or harmed, it is recommended that integenerational equity not be used as a factor in setting coal mine extraction efficiency standards, or in establishing requirements.

Focusing on function to mine cancer genome data | Center for Cancer Research

Cancer.gov

CCR scientists have devised a strategy to sift through the tens of thousands of mutations in cancer genome data to find mutations that actually drive the disease. They have used the method to discover that the JNK signaling pathway, which in different contexts can either spur cancerous growth or rein it in, acts as a tumor suppressor in gastric cancers. 

"Get Your Face Out of Mine": Culture-Oriented Distance in EFL Context. A Helpful Guide for Turkish EFL Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Celik, Servet

2005-01-01

This research study aims to find out the experiences of Turkish EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers in the United States regarding the differences between their understanding and use of personal space and that of Americans, and to discuss how the issue is closely related to foreign language instruction. The study will center around a…

Managing the impact of gold panning activities within the context of integrated water resources management planning in the Lower Manyame Sub-Catchment, Zambezi Basin, Zimbabwe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zwane, Nonhlanhla; Love, David; Hoko, Zvikomborero; Shoko, Dennis

Riverbed alluvial gold panning activities are a cause for degradation of river channels and banks as well as water resources, particularly through accelerated erosion and siltation, in many areas of Zimbabwe. The lower Manyame sub-catchment located in the Northern part of the country is one such area. This study analysed the implications of cross-sectoral coordination of the management of panning and its impacts. This is within the context of conflicts of interests and responsibilities. A situational analysis of different stakeholders from sectors that included mining, environment, water, local government and water users who were located next to identified panning sites, as well as panners was carried out. Selected sites along the Dande River were observed to assess the environmental effects. The study determined that all stakeholder groups perceived siltation and river bank degradation as the most severe effect of panning on water resources, yet there were divergent views with regards to coordination of panning management. The Water Act of 1998 does not give enough power to management institutions including the Lower Manyame Sub-catchment Council to protect water resources from the impacts of panning, despite the fact that the activities affect the water resource base. The Mines and Minerals Act of 1996 remains the most powerful legislation, while mining sector activities adversely affect environmental resources. Furthermore, complexities were caused by differences in the definition of water resources management boundaries as compared to the overall environmental resources management boundaries according to the Environmental Management Act (EMA) of 2000, and by separate yet parallel water and environmental planning processes. Environmental sector institutions according to the EMA are well linked to local government functions and resource management is administrative, enhancing efficient coordination.

Two modelling approaches to water-quality simulation in a flooded iron-ore mine (Saizerais, Lorraine, France): a semi-distributed chemical reactor model and a physically based distributed reactive transport pipe network model.

PubMed

Hamm, V; Collon-Drouaillet, P; Fabriol, R

2008-02-19

The flooding of abandoned mines in the Lorraine Iron Basin (LIB) over the past 25 years has degraded the quality of the groundwater tapped for drinking water. High concentrations of dissolved sulphate have made the water unsuitable for human consumption. This problematic issue has led to the development of numerical tools to support water-resource management in mining contexts. Here we examine two modelling approaches using different numerical tools that we tested on the Saizerais flooded iron-ore mine (Lorraine, France). A first approach considers the Saizerais Mine as a network of two chemical reactors (NCR). The second approach is based on a physically distributed pipe network model (PNM) built with EPANET 2 software. This approach considers the mine as a network of pipes defined by their geometric and chemical parameters. Each reactor in the NCR model includes a detailed chemical model built to simulate quality evolution in the flooded mine water. However, in order to obtain a robust PNM, we simplified the detailed chemical model into a specific sulphate dissolution-precipitation model that is included as sulphate source/sink in both a NCR model and a pipe network model. Both the NCR model and the PNM, based on different numerical techniques, give good post-calibration agreement between the simulated and measured sulphate concentrations in the drinking-water well and overflow drift. The NCR model incorporating the detailed chemical model is useful when a detailed chemical behaviour at the overflow is needed. The PNM incorporating the simplified sulphate dissolution-precipitation model provides better information of the physics controlling the effect of flow and low flow zones, and the time of solid sulphate removal whereas the NCR model will underestimate clean-up time due to the complete mixing assumption. In conclusion, the detailed NCR model will give a first assessment of chemical processes at overflow, and in a second time, the PNM model will provide more detailed information on flow and chemical behaviour (dissolved sulphate concentrations, remaining mass of solid sulphate) in the network. Nevertheless, both modelling methods require hydrological and chemical parameters (recharge flow rate, outflows, volume of mine voids, mass of solids, kinetic constants of the dissolution-precipitation reactions), which are commonly not available for a mine and therefore call for calibration data.

Microbial Diversity and Metal Speciation Changes in Mine Tailings Following Compost-Assisted Direct Planting: A Four-Year Superfund Site Field Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maier, R. M.; Gil-Loaiza, J.; Honeker, L. K.; Hottenstein, J. D.; Valentin-Vargas, A.; Jennings, L. L.; Hammond, C.; Neilson, J. W.; Root, R. A.; Chorover, J.

2014-12-01

EPA estimates that future mine tailings remediation costs will exceed US $50 billion using present technologies based on constructing an inert or biological cap on the tailings. Both approaches require large amounts of capping materials that can be difficult and expensive to obtain especially for sites several thousand hectares in size. An alternative technology is direct planting into tailings. However, direct planting alone is not feasible for many legacy sites due to extreme acidity and high metal content which prevent plant germination and growth. Therefore the process must be "assisted" through the addition of amendments such as compost. Here we present results from the first four years of a field study at the Iron King Mine and Humboldt Smelter Superfund site demonstrating the feasibility of compost-assisted direct planting. Parameters measured during the field study included: canopy cover, pH, nutrient content, plant metal uptake, metal(loid) speciation, mineral analysis, microbiome analysis, and plant root-metal-microbe interactions. Integrated analysis of these parameters suggests that even in this "worst-case scenario" mine tailings site (pH 2.5; As and Pb each exceeding 2 g kg-1), we have created a sustainable system. In this system, phyto-catalyzed stabilization of inorganic contaminants in the root zone is driven by plant root exudates and the associated rhizosphere microbial community. The results of this research will be put into context of a larger topic- that of ecological engineering of mine tailings sites - a technique being proposed to prevent creation of acidic conditions and metal(loid) mobilization in the first place.

Microbial Diversity and Metal Speciation Changes in Mine Tailings Following Compost-Assisted Direct Planting: A Four-Year Superfund Site Field Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maier, R. M.; Gil-Loaiza, J.; Honeker, L. K.; Hottenstein, J. D.; Valentin-Vargas, A.; Jennings, L. L.; Hammond, C.; Neilson, J. W.; Root, R. A.; Chorover, J.

2015-12-01

EPA estimates that future mine tailings remediation costs will exceed US $50 billion using present technologies based on constructing an inert or biological cap on the tailings. Both approaches require large amounts of capping materials that can be difficult and expensive to obtain especially for sites several thousand hectares in size. An alternative technology is direct planting into tailings. However, direct planting alone is not feasible for many legacy sites due to extreme acidity and high metal content which prevent plant germination and growth. Therefore the process must be "assisted" through the addition of amendments such as compost. Here we present results from the first four years of a field study at the Iron King Mine and Humboldt Smelter Superfund site demonstrating the feasibility of compost-assisted direct planting. Parameters measured during the field study included: canopy cover, pH, nutrient content, plant metal uptake, metal(loid) speciation, mineral analysis, microbiome analysis, and plant root-metal-microbe interactions. Integrated analysis of these parameters suggests that even in this "worst-case scenario" mine tailings site (pH 2.5; As and Pb each exceeding 2 g kg-1), we have created a sustainable system. In this system, phyto-catalyzed stabilization of inorganic contaminants in the root zone is driven by plant root exudates and the associated rhizosphere microbial community. The results of this research will be put into context of a larger topic- that of ecological engineering of mine tailings sites - a technique being proposed to prevent creation of acidic conditions and metal(loid) mobilization in the first place.

Context-Aware Adaptive Hybrid Semantic Relatedness in Biomedical Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Emadzadeh, Ehsan

Text mining of biomedical literature and clinical notes is a very active field of research in biomedical science. Semantic analysis is one of the core modules for different Natural Language Processing (NLP) solutions. Methods for calculating semantic relatedness of two concepts can be very useful in solutions solving different problems such as relationship extraction, ontology creation and question / answering [1--6]. Several techniques exist in calculating semantic relatedness of two concepts. These techniques utilize different knowledge sources and corpora. So far, researchers attempted to find the best hybrid method for each domain by combining semantic relatedness techniques and data sources manually. In this work, attempts were made to eliminate the needs for manually combining semantic relatedness methods targeting any new contexts or resources through proposing an automated method, which attempted to find the best combination of semantic relatedness techniques and resources to achieve the best semantic relatedness score in every context. This may help the research community find the best hybrid method for each context considering the available algorithms and resources.

New Trends in E-Science: Machine Learning and Knowledge Discovery in Databases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brescia, Massimo

2012-11-01

Data mining, or Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD), while being the main methodology to extract the scientific information contained in Massive Data Sets (MDS), needs to tackle crucial problems since it has to orchestrate complex challenges posed by transparent access to different computing environments, scalability of algorithms, reusability of resources. To achieve a leap forward for the progress of e-science in the data avalanche era, the community needs to implement an infrastructure capable of performing data access, processing and mining in a distributed but integrated context. The increasing complexity of modern technologies carried out a huge production of data, whose related warehouse management and the need to optimize analysis and mining procedures lead to a change in concept on modern science. Classical data exploration, based on local user own data storage and limited computing infrastructures, is no more efficient in the case of MDS, worldwide spread over inhomogeneous data centres and requiring teraflop processing power. In this context modern experimental and observational science requires a good understanding of computer science, network infrastructures, Data Mining, etc. i.e. of all those techniques which fall into the domain of the so called e-science (recently assessed also by the Fourth Paradigm of Science). Such understanding is almost completely absent in the older generations of scientists and this reflects in the inadequacy of most academic and research programs. A paradigm shift is needed: statistical pattern recognition, object oriented programming, distributed computing, parallel programming need to become an essential part of scientific background. A possible practical solution is to provide the research community with easy-to understand, easy-to-use tools, based on the Web 2.0 technologies and Machine Learning methodology. Tools where almost all the complexity is hidden to the final user, but which are still flexible and able to produce efficient and reliable scientific results. All these considerations will be described in the detail in the chapter. Moreover, examples of modern applications offering to a wide variety of e-science communities a large spectrum of computational facilities to exploit the wealth of available massive data sets and powerful machine learning and statistical algorithms will be also introduced.

Environmental risks of abandoning a mining project already started: Romaltyn Mining Baia Mare

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bud, I.; Duma, S.; Gusat, D.; Pasca, I.; Bud, A.

2016-08-01

The history of mining activity, which has been the economy engine in the region and has contributed to the formation of many localities, has been deleted too quickly. During all this time, in the world countries which have invested in mining sector have made considerable progress. The paper brings in question, within the framework of the theme, the implications arising from the abandonment of the Romaltyn project which mainly affects two objectives: Central Tailing Pond and Aurul Tailing Pond. The Central tailing pond constitutes an unfortunate source of pollution for groundwater, surface water, soil and air on a large area around it, because its location upstream of Baia Mare city and in the vicinity of a agricultural production zone. The consequences of the tailing pond maintenance in the current situation are: presence of sclerozing dust with sulphurs content scattered over large agricultural area; soil pollution by acidification; heavy metals release which enter in food chain and will be found in food. The final disposal of the pollution source is the only solution really safe in long term. Abandoning Aurul tailing pond in the current phase of construction involves high environmental risks. Taking in consideration the potential and the huge soil volume which are necessary for rehabilitation, isolation and rehabilitation of this area involve extremely high costs and the realization is, technically, almost impossible in the current context.

A sentence sliding window approach to extract protein annotations from biomedical articles

PubMed Central

Krallinger, Martin; Padron, Maria; Valencia, Alfonso

2005-01-01

Background Within the emerging field of text mining and statistical natural language processing (NLP) applied to biomedical articles, a broad variety of techniques have been developed during the past years. Nevertheless, there is still a great ned of comparative assessment of the performance of the proposed methods and the development of common evaluation criteria. This issue was addressed by the Critical Assessment of Text Mining Methods in Molecular Biology (BioCreative) contest. The aim of this contest was to assess the performance of text mining systems applied to biomedical texts including tools which recognize named entities such as genes and proteins, and tools which automatically extract protein annotations. Results The "sentence sliding window" approach proposed here was found to efficiently extract text fragments from full text articles containing annotations on proteins, providing the highest number of correctly predicted annotations. Moreover, the number of correct extractions of individual entities (i.e. proteins and GO terms) involved in the relationships used for the annotations was significantly higher than the correct extractions of the complete annotations (protein-function relations). Conclusion We explored the use of averaging sentence sliding windows for information extraction, especially in a context where conventional training data is unavailable. The combination of our approach with more refined statistical estimators and machine learning techniques might be a way to improve annotation extraction for future biomedical text mining applications. PMID:15960831

Joint Force Quarterly. Issue 74, 3rd Quarter, July 2014

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-07-01

staging base USS Ponce during International Mine Countermeasures Exercise 13 (DOD/T. Scot Cregan) 16 Forum / Contexts of Future Conflict and War JFQ 74...perspective. Evolution According to David L. Woods in A History of Tactical Communication Techniques, “Since wars began, com- manders have sought...coalition personnel to meet the dynamic joint interoperability challenges within the MTN after nearly four decades. JFQ Notes 1 David L. Woods , A

Understanding and Managing Causality of Change in Socio-Technical Systems 3

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-01-06

influence, and (4) management and control. The questions are listed below. Dynamics and Context  What can be learned from patterns of causal...has proven to be an insufficient method to determine existence of behavioral and performance patterns . Cognitive work analysis, on the other hand...to provide a point of comparison, including Victorian bushfires, Queensland and Victorian floods, and the mine collapse in Chile. Privacy, Threats

A computational method for selecting short peptide sequences for inorganic material binding.

PubMed

Nayebi, Niloofar; Cetinel, Sibel; Omar, Sara Ibrahim; Tuszynski, Jack A; Montemagno, Carlo

2017-11-01

Discovering or designing biofunctionalized materials with improved quality highly depends on the ability to manipulate and control the peptide-inorganic interaction. Various peptides can be used as assemblers, synthesizers, and linkers in the material syntheses. In another context, specific and selective material-binding peptides can be used as recognition blocks in mining applications. In this study, we propose a new in silico method to select short 4-mer peptides with high affinity and selectivity for a given target material. This method is illustrated with the calcite (104) surface as an example, which has been experimentally validated. A calcite binding peptide can play an important role in our understanding of biomineralization. A practical aspect of calcite is a need for it to be selectively depressed in mining sites. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Enriching semantic knowledge bases for opinion mining in big data applications.

PubMed

Weichselbraun, A; Gindl, S; Scharl, A

2014-10-01

This paper presents a novel method for contextualizing and enriching large semantic knowledge bases for opinion mining with a focus on Web intelligence platforms and other high-throughput big data applications. The method is not only applicable to traditional sentiment lexicons, but also to more comprehensive, multi-dimensional affective resources such as SenticNet. It comprises the following steps: (i) identify ambiguous sentiment terms, (ii) provide context information extracted from a domain-specific training corpus, and (iii) ground this contextual information to structured background knowledge sources such as ConceptNet and WordNet. A quantitative evaluation shows a significant improvement when using an enriched version of SenticNet for polarity classification. Crowdsourced gold standard data in conjunction with a qualitative evaluation sheds light on the strengths and weaknesses of the concept grounding, and on the quality of the enrichment process.

Uranium aqueous speciation in the vicinity of the former uranium mining sites using the diffusive gradients in thin films and ultrafiltration techniques.

PubMed

Drozdzak, Jagoda; Leermakers, Martine; Gao, Yue; Elskens, Marc; Phrommavanh, Vannapha; Descostes, Michael

2016-03-24

The performance of the Diffusive Gradients in Thin films (DGT) technique with Chelex(®)-100, Metsorb™ and Diphonix(®) as binding phases was evaluated in the vicinity of the former uranium mining sites of Chardon and L'Ecarpière (Loire-Atlantique department in western France). This is the first time that the DGT technique with three different binding agents was employed for the aqueous U determination in the context of uranium mining environments. The fractionation and speciation of uranium were investigated using a multi-methodological approach using filtration (0.45 μm, 0.2 μm), ultrafiltration (500 kDa, 100 kDa and 10 kDa) coupled to geochemical speciation modelling (PhreeQC) and the DGT technique. The ultrafiltration data showed that at each sampling point uranium was present mostly in the 10 kDa truly dissolved fraction and the geochemical modelling speciation calculations indicated that U speciation was markedly predominated by CaUO2(CO3)3(2-). In natural waters, no significant difference was observed in terms of U uptake between Chelex(®)-100 and Metsorb™, while similar or inferior U uptake was observed on Diphonix(®) resin. In turn, at mining influenced sampling spots, the U accumulation on DGT-Diphonix(®) was higher than on DGT-Chelex(®)-100 and DGT-Metsorb™, probably because their performance was disturbed by the extreme composition of the mining waters. The use of Diphonix(®) resin leads to a significant advance in the application and development of the DGT technique for determination of U in mining influenced environments. This investigation demonstrated that such multi-technique approach provides a better picture of U speciation and enables to assess more accurately the potentially bioavailable U pool. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

How does the mining industry contribute to sexual and reproductive health in developing countries? A narrative synthesis of current evidence to inform practice.

PubMed

Dawson, Angela J; Homer, Caroline S

2013-12-01

To explore client and provider experiences and related health outcomes of sexual and reproductive health interventions that have been led by or that have involved mining companies. Miners, and those living in communities surrounding mines in developing countries, are a vulnerable population with a high sexual and reproductive health burden. People in these communities require specific healthcare services although the exact delivery needs are unclear. There are no systematic reviews of evidence to guide delivery of sexual and reproductive health interventions to best address the needs of men and women in mining communities. A narrative synthesis. A search of peer-reviewed literature from 2000-2012 was undertaken with retrieved documents assessed using an inclusion/exclusion criterion and quality appraisal guided by critical assessment tools. Concepts were analysed thematically. A desire for HIV testing and treatment was associated with the recognition of personal vulnerability, but this was affected by fear of stigma. Regular on-site services facilitated access to voluntary counselling and testing and HIV care, but concerns for confidentiality were a serious barrier. The provision of HIV and sexually transmitted infection clinical and promotive services revealed mixed health outcomes. Recommended service improvements included rapid HIV testing, the integration of sexual and reproductive health into regular health services also available to family members and culturally competent, ethical, providers who are better supported to involve consumers in health promotion. There is a need for research to better inform health interventions so that they build on local cultural norms and values and address social needs. A holistic approach to sexual and reproductive health beyond a focus on HIV may better engage community members, mining companies and governments in healthcare delivery. Nurses may require appropriate workplace support and incentives to deliver sexual and reproductive health interventions in developing mining contexts where task shifting exists. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Planetary science and exploration in the deep subsurface: results from the MINAR Program, Boulby Mine, UK

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Payler, Samuel J.; Biddle, Jennifer F.; Coates, Andrew J.; Cousins, Claire R.; Cross, Rachel E.; Cullen, David C.; Downs, Michael T.; Direito, Susana O. L.; Edwards, Thomas; Gray, Amber L.; Genis, Jac; Gunn, Matthew; Hansford, Graeme M.; Harkness, Patrick; Holt, John; Josset, Jean-Luc; Li, Xuan; Lees, David S.; Lim, Darlene S. S.; McHugh, Melissa; McLuckie, David; Meehan, Emma; Paling, Sean M.; Souchon, Audrey; Yeoman, Louise; Cockell, Charles S.

2017-04-01

The subsurface exploration of other planetary bodies can be used to unravel their geological history and assess their habitability. On Mars in particular, present-day habitable conditions may be restricted to the subsurface. Using a deep subsurface mine, we carried out a program of extraterrestrial analog research - MINe Analog Research (MINAR). MINAR aims to carry out the scientific study of the deep subsurface and test instrumentation designed for planetary surface exploration by investigating deep subsurface geology, whilst establishing the potential this technology has to be transferred into the mining industry. An integrated multi-instrument suite was used to investigate samples of representative evaporite minerals from a subsurface Permian evaporite sequence, in particular to assess mineral and elemental variations which provide small-scale regions of enhanced habitability. The instruments used were the Panoramic Camera emulator, Close-Up Imager, Raman spectrometer, Small Planetary Linear Impulse Tool, Ultrasonic drill and handheld X-ray diffraction (XRD). We present science results from the analog research and show that these instruments can be used to investigate in situ the geological context and mineralogical variations of a deep subsurface environment, and thus habitability, from millimetre to metre scales. We also show that these instruments are complementary. For example, the identification of primary evaporite minerals such as NaCl and KCl, which are difficult to detect by portable Raman spectrometers, can be accomplished with XRD. By contrast, Raman is highly effective at locating and detecting mineral inclusions in primary evaporite minerals. MINAR demonstrates the effective use of a deep subsurface environment for planetary instrument development, understanding the habitability of extreme deep subsurface environments on Earth and other planetary bodies, and advancing the use of space technology in economic mining.

Microbially-mediated thiocyanate oxidation and manganese cycling control arsenic mobility in groundwater at an Australian gold mine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horvath, A. S.; Baldisimo, J. G.; Moreau, J. W.

2010-12-01

Arsenic contamination of groundwater poses a serious environmental and human health problem in many regions around the world. Historical groundwater chemistry data for a Western-Central Victorian gold mine (Australia) revealed a strong inverse correlation between dissolved thiocyanate and iron(II), supporting the interpretation that oxidation of thiocyanate, a major groundwater contaminant by-product of cyanide-based gold leaching, was coupled to reductive dissolution of iron ox(yhydrox)ides in tailings dam sediments. Microbial growth was observed in this study in a selective medium using SCN- as the sole carbon and nitrogen source. The potential for use of SCN- as a tracer of mining contamination in groundwater was evaluated in the context of biological SCN- oxidation potential in the aquifer. Geochemical data also revealed a high positive correlation between dissolved arsenic and manganese, indicating that sorption on manganese-oxides most likely controls arsenic mobility at this site. Samples of groundwater and sediments along a roughly straight SW-NE traverse away from a large mine tailings storage facility, and parallel to the major groundwater flow direction, were analysed for major ions and trace metals. Groundwater from wells approaching the tailings along this traverse showed a nearly five-fold increase (roughly 25-125 ppb) in dissolved arsenic concentrations relative to aqueous Mn(II) concentrations. Thus, equivalent amounts of dissolved manganese released a five-fold difference in the amount of adsorbed arsenic. The interpretation that reductive dissolution of As-bearing MnO2 at the mine site has been mediated by groundwater (or aquifer) microorganisms is consistent with our recovery of synthetic birnessite-reducing enrichment cultures that were inoculated with As-contaminated groundwaters.

Simulation of Helium-3 Extraction from Lunar Ilmenite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kuhlman, K. R.; Kulcinski, G. L.; Schmitt, H. H.

2004-01-01

Knowledge of the trapping mechanisms and diffusion characteristics of solar-wind implanted isotopes in the minerals of the lunar regolith will enable the optimization of the processes to extract solar wind gases from regolith particles. Extraction parameters include the temperature and duration of extraction, particle size, and gas yield. Diffusion data will increase the efficiency and profitability of future mining ventures. This data will also assist in optimizing the evaluations of various potential mining sites based on remote sensing data. For instance, if magnesian ilmenite (Mg,Fel.,Ti03) is found to retain He better than stoichiometric ilmenite (FeTi03), remote sensing data for Mg could be considered in addition to Ti and maturity data. The context of the currently discussed work is the mining of helium-3 for potential use as a fuel for fusion energy generation. However, the potential resources deposited by the solar wind include hydrogen (and derived water), helium-4, nitrogen and carbon. Implantation experiments such as those performed for helium isotopes in ilmenite are important for the optimized extraction of these additional resources. These experiments can easily be reproduced for most elements or isotopes of interest.

Unsupervised text mining for assessing and augmenting GWAS results.

PubMed

Ailem, Melissa; Role, François; Nadif, Mohamed; Demenais, Florence

2016-04-01

Text mining can assist in the analysis and interpretation of large-scale biomedical data, helping biologists to quickly and cheaply gain confirmation of hypothesized relationships between biological entities. We set this question in the context of genome-wide association studies (GWAS), an actively emerging field that contributed to identify many genes associated with multifactorial diseases. These studies allow to identify groups of genes associated with the same phenotype, but provide no information about the relationships between these genes. Therefore, our objective is to leverage unsupervised text mining techniques using text-based cosine similarity comparisons and clustering applied to candidate and random gene vectors, in order to augment the GWAS results. We propose a generic framework which we used to characterize the relationships between 10 genes reported associated with asthma by a previous GWAS. The results of this experiment showed that the similarities between these 10 genes were significantly stronger than would be expected by chance (one-sided p-value<0.01). The clustering of observed and randomly selected gene also allowed to generate hypotheses about potential functional relationships between these genes and thus contributed to the discovery of new candidate genes for asthma. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Improving Agent Bidding in Power Stock Markets through a Data Mining Enhanced Agent Platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chrysopoulos, Anthony C.; Symeonidis, Andreas L.; Mitkas, Pericles A.

Like in any other auctioning environment, entities participating in Power Stock Markets have to compete against other in order to maximize own revenue. Towards the satisfaction of their goal, these entities (agents - human or software ones) may adopt different types of strategies - from na?ve to extremely complex ones - in order to identify the most profitable goods compilation, the appropriate price to buy or sell etc, always under time pressure and auction environment constraints. Decisions become even more difficult to make in case one takes the vast volumes of historical data available into account: goods’ prices, market fluctuations, bidding habits and buying opportunities. Within the context of this paper we present Cassandra, a multi-agent platform that exploits data mining, in order to extract efficient models for predicting Power Settlement prices and Power Load values in typical Day-ahead Power markets. The functionality of Cassandra is discussed, while focus is given on the bidding mechanism of Cassandra’s agents, and the way data mining analysis is performed in order to generate the optimal forecasting models. Cassandra has been tested in a real-world scenario, with data derived from the Greek Energy Stock market.

Temporal data mining for the quality assessment of hemodialysis services.

PubMed

Bellazzi, Riccardo; Larizza, Cristiana; Magni, Paolo; Bellazzi, Roberto

2005-05-01

This paper describes the temporal data mining aspects of a research project that deals with the definition of methods and tools for the assessment of the clinical performance of hemodialysis (HD) services, on the basis of the time series automatically collected during hemodialysis sessions. Intelligent data analysis and temporal data mining techniques are applied to gain insight and to discover knowledge on the causes of unsatisfactory clinical results. In particular, two new methods for association rule discovery and temporal rule discovery are applied to the time series. Such methods exploit several pre-processing techniques, comprising data reduction, multi-scale filtering and temporal abstractions. We have analyzed the data of more than 5800 dialysis sessions coming from 43 different patients monitored for 19 months. The qualitative rules associating the outcome parameters and the measured variables were examined by the domain experts, which were able to distinguish between rules confirming available background knowledge and unexpected but plausible rules. The new methods proposed in the paper are suitable tools for knowledge discovery in clinical time series. Their use in the context of an auditing system for dialysis management helped clinicians to improve their understanding of the patients' behavior.

A Case-Based Toxicology Module on Agricultural- and Mining-Related Occupational Exposures

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Objective. To develop and assess a toxicology module to teach pharmacy students about farming- and mining-related occupational exposures in the context of an existing toxicology elective course. Design. A teaching unit that included lectures and case studies was developed to address the unique occupational exposures of patients working in agricultural and mining environments. Upon completion of this 4-hour (2 class periods) module, students were expected to recognize the clinical signs and symptoms associated with these occupational exposures and propose acceptable therapeutic plans. Assessment. After completing the module, students scored significantly higher on a patient case involving suicide resulting from pesticide consumption. Seventy-three percent of the students scored higher than 90% on a 33-item multiple-choice examination. Eighty-two percent of students were able to correctly read a product label to determine the type of pesticide involved in an occupational exposure. Conclusion. Pharmacy students who completed a module on occupation exposure demonstrated competence in distinguishing occupational exposures from each other and from exposure to prescription and nonprescription drugs. This module can be used to educate future pharmacists about occupational health issues, some of which may be more prevalent in a rural setting. PMID:23049108

Invertebrate drift during in-channel gravel mining: the Upper River Cinca (Southern Pyrenees)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Béjar, Maria; Gibbins, Chris; Vericat, Damià; Batalla, Ramon J.; Muñoz, Efrén; Ramos, Ester; Lobera, Gemma; Andrés López-Tarazón, Jose; Piqué, Gemma; Tena, Álvaro; Buendía, Cristina; Rennie, Colin D.

2015-04-01

Invertebrate drift has been widely studied as an important mechanism to structure the benthic assemblages and as a part of invertebrate behavior in fluvial systems. River channel disturbance is considered the main factor affecting the organization of riverine communities and contributes to key ecological processes. However, little is known about involuntary drift associated to bed disturbance due to the difficulties associated with sampling during floods. In-channel gravel mining offers an opportunity to study involuntary drift associated not only to local bed disturbances but also to sudden changes on suspended sediment concentrations and flow. High suspended sediment concentrations and sudden changes in flow also prompt drift due to the limiting conditions (i.e. lack of oxygen, hydric stress). Within this context, invertebrate drift was monitored in the Upper River Cinca (Southern Pyrenees) during two gravel mining activities performed in summer 2014. The data acquisition design includes: drift, suspended sediment, bedload, bed mobility and flow. Data was acquired before, during and after mining at different sampling locations located upstream and downstream the perturbation. Drift and suspended sediment transport were sampled at 5 sections: 1 control site upstream the mining and 4 downstream. Bedload samples were collected just downstream the channel where gravels were extracted. Bed mobility and changes on topography were assessed by means of GPS-aDcp and repeat topographic surveys. Discharge was continuously recorded 2.5 km downstream the mining location. Additionally, two turbidity meters registered water turbidity at 15 minute intervals in two of the four sampling sections located downstream. This experimental design provides data on the spatial and temporal variability of drift associated to a local bed disturbance that (i) changes the distribution of flow across the section where mining was performed, (ii) increase substantially suspended sediment transport, and (iii) generates bed mobility and changes on local morphology and roughness that, ultimately, modify channel topography. Samples are being post-processed. Preliminary results show markedly differences in drift in terms of densities and species at different temporal and spatial scales. These differences can be attributed to the type of disturbance during mining: (i) hydric stress associated to changes on the distribution of flows, (ii) the sudden increase of suspended sediment concentrations, or (iii) high bed mobility just downstream from the mining location. These results will provide: (a) a new framework to understand ecological responses during river disturbances and (b) key information or guidelines for an appropriate management in human stressed fluvial systems.

Geochemical behavior and environmental risks related to the use of abandoned base-metal tailings as construction material in the upper-Moulouya district, Morocco.

PubMed

Argane, R; El Adnani, M; Benzaazoua, M; Bouzahzah, H; Khalil, A; Hakkou, R; Taha, Y

2016-01-01

In some developing countries, base-metal residues that were abandoned in tailing ponds or impoundments are increasingly used as construction material without any control, engineering basis, or environmental concern. This uncontrolled reuse of mine tailings may constitute a new form of pollution risks for humans and ecosystems through metal leaching. Therefore, the aim of the current study is to assess mine drainage, metal mobility, and geochemical behavior of two abandoned mine tailings commonly used in the upper-Moulouya region (eastern Morocco) as fine aggregates for mortar preparation. Their detailed physical, chemical, and mineralogical properties were subsequently evaluated in the context of developing appropriate alternative reuses to replace their conventional disposal and limit their weathering exposure. The obtained results showed that both tailings contain relatively high quantities of residual metals and metalloids with lead (ranging between 3610 and 5940 mg/kg) being the major pollutant. However, the mineralogical investigations revealed the presence of abundant neutralizing minerals and low sulfide content which influence mine drainage geochemistry and subsequently lower metals mobility. In fact, leachate analyses from weathering cell kinetic tests showed neutral conditions and low sulfide oxidation rates. According to these results, the tailings used as construction material in the upper-Moulouya region have very low generating potential of contaminated effluents and their reuse as aggregates may constitute a sustainable alternative method for efficient tailing management.

Application of data mining in performance measures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, Michael F. S.; Chung, Walter W.; Wong, Tai Sun

2001-10-01

This paper proposes a structured framework for exploiting data mining application for performance measures. The context is set in an airline company is illustrated for the use of such framework. The framework takes in consideration of how a knowledge worker interacts with performance information at the enterprise level to support them to make informed decision in managing the effectiveness of operations. A case study of applying data mining technology for performance data in an airline company is illustrated. The use of performance measures is specifically applied to assist in the aircraft delay management process. The increasingly dispersed and complex operations of airline operation put much strain on the part of knowledge worker in using search, acquiring and analyzing information to manage performance. One major problem faced with knowledge workers is the identification of root causes of performance deficiency. The large amount of factors involved in the analyze the root causes can be time consuming and the objective of applying data mining technology is to reduce the time and resources needed for such process. The increasing market competition for better performance management in various industries gives rises to need of the intelligent use of data. Because of this, the framework proposed here is very much generalizable to industries such as manufacturing. It could assist knowledge workers who are constantly looking for ways to improve operation effectiveness through new initiatives and the effort is required to be quickly done to gain competitive advantage in the marketplace.

The Topological Field Theory of Data: a program towards a novel strategy for data mining through data language

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rasetti, M.; Merelli, E.

2015-07-01

This paper aims to challenge the current thinking in IT for the 'Big Data' question, proposing - almost verbatim, with no formulas - a program aiming to construct an innovative methodology to perform data analytics in a way that returns an automaton as a recognizer of the data language: a Field Theory of Data. We suggest to build, directly out of probing data space, a theoretical framework enabling us to extract the manifold hidden relations (patterns) that exist among data, as correlations depending on the semantics generated by the mining context. The program, that is grounded in the recent innovative ways of integrating data into a topological setting, proposes the realization of a Topological Field Theory of Data, transferring and generalizing to the space of data notions inspired by physical (topological) field theories and harnesses the theory of formal languages to define the potential semantics necessary to understand the emerging patterns.

AMP: A platform for managing and mining data in the treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

PubMed

Linstead, Erik; Burns, Ryan; Duy Nguyen; Tyler, David

2016-08-01

We introduce AMP (Autism Management Platform), an integrated health care information system for capturing, analyzing, and managing data associated with the diagnosis and treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder in children. AMP's mobile application simplifies the means by which parents, guardians, and clinicians can collect and share multimedia data with one another, facilitating communication and reducing data redundancy, while simplifying retrieval. Additionally, AMP provides an intelligent web interface and analytics platform which allow physicians and specialists to aggregate and mine patient data in real-time, as well as give relevant feedback to automatically learn data filtering preferences over time. Together AMP's mobile app, web client, and analytics engine implement a rich set of features that streamline the data collection and analysis process in the context of a secure and easy-to-use system so that data may be more effectively leveraged to guide treatment.

Research on Data Mining of the Internet of Things Based on Cloud Computing Platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Wenqing

2018-02-01

Based on the development of society and the progress of information technology, China’s information industry has made great progress and has gradually become an important pillar of national economic development. In this context, the gradual integration of information technology had promoted the construction of the Internet of Things system, so as to promote the human life developed in the direction of modernization intelligently. At present, in the process of forming the development of the Internet of Things the first need to fully tap the data, which thus provide users with better service, for the development of large-scale development of the Internet. This paper analyzes the meaning of Internet of things, and discusses the characteristics of Internet of things and data mining, hoping to promote the improvement on the Internet of Things system in China, and thus promote the realization of higher efficiency.

Mining the human gut microbiome for novel stress resistance genes

PubMed Central

Culligan, Eamonn P.; Marchesi, Julian R.; Hill, Colin; Sleator, Roy D.

2012-01-01

With the rapid advances in sequencing technologies in recent years, the human genome is now considered incomplete without the complementing microbiome, which outnumbers human genes by a factor of one hundred. The human microbiome, and more specifically the gut microbiome, has received considerable attention and research efforts over the past decade. Many studies have identified and quantified “who is there?,” while others have determined some of their functional capacity, or “what are they doing?” In a recent study, we identified novel salt-tolerance loci from the human gut microbiome using combined functional metagenomic and bioinformatics based approaches. Herein, we discuss the identified loci, their role in salt-tolerance and their importance in the context of the gut environment. We also consider the utility and power of functional metagenomics for mining such environments for novel genes and proteins, as well as the implications and possible applications for future research. PMID:22688726

A Model for Oil-Gas Pipelines Cost Prediction Based on a Data Mining Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Batzias, Fragiskos A.; Spanidis, Phillip-Mark P.

2009-08-01

This paper addresses the problems associated with the cost estimation of oil/gas pipelines during the elaboration of feasibility assessments. Techno-economic parameters, i.e., cost, length and diameter, are critical for such studies at the preliminary design stage. A methodology for the development of a cost prediction model based on Data Mining (DM) process is proposed. The design and implementation of a Knowledge Base (KB), maintaining data collected from various disciplines of the pipeline industry, are presented. The formulation of a cost prediction equation is demonstrated by applying multiple regression analysis using data sets extracted from the KB. Following the methodology proposed, a learning context is inductively developed as background pipeline data are acquired, grouped and stored in the KB, and through a linear regression model provide statistically substantial results, useful for project managers or decision makers.

Enriching semantic knowledge bases for opinion mining in big data applications

PubMed Central

Weichselbraun, A.; Gindl, S.; Scharl, A.

2014-01-01

This paper presents a novel method for contextualizing and enriching large semantic knowledge bases for opinion mining with a focus on Web intelligence platforms and other high-throughput big data applications. The method is not only applicable to traditional sentiment lexicons, but also to more comprehensive, multi-dimensional affective resources such as SenticNet. It comprises the following steps: (i) identify ambiguous sentiment terms, (ii) provide context information extracted from a domain-specific training corpus, and (iii) ground this contextual information to structured background knowledge sources such as ConceptNet and WordNet. A quantitative evaluation shows a significant improvement when using an enriched version of SenticNet for polarity classification. Crowdsourced gold standard data in conjunction with a qualitative evaluation sheds light on the strengths and weaknesses of the concept grounding, and on the quality of the enrichment process. PMID:25431524

Context-based retrieval of functional modules in protein-protein interaction networks.

PubMed

Dobay, Maria Pamela; Stertz, Silke; Delorenzi, Mauro

2017-03-27

Various techniques have been developed for identifying the most probable interactants of a protein under a given biological context. In this article, we dissect the effects of the choice of the protein-protein interaction network (PPI) and the manipulation of PPI settings on the network neighborhood of the influenza A virus (IAV) network, as well as hits in genome-wide small interfering RNA screen results for IAV host factors. We investigate the potential of context filtering, which uses text mining evidence linked to PPI edges, as a complement to the edge confidence scores typically provided in PPIs for filtering, for obtaining more biologically relevant network neighborhoods. Here, we estimate the maximum performance of context filtering to isolate a Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) network Ki from a union of KEGG networks and its network neighborhood. The work gives insights on the use of human PPIs in network neighborhood approaches for functional inference. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Alternative scenarios utilizing nonterrestrial resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eldred, Charles H.; Roberts, Barney B.

1992-01-01

A collection of alternative scenarios that are enabled or substantially enhanced by the utilization of nonterrestrial resources is provided. We take a generalized approach to scenario building so that our report will have value in the context of whatever goals are eventually chosen. Some of the topics covered include the following: lunar materials processing; asteroid mining; lunar resources; construction of a large solar power station; solar dynamic power for the space station; reduced gravity; mission characteristics and options; and tourism.

Data mining and visualization from planetary missions: the VESPA-Europlanet2020 activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Longobardo, Andrea; Capria, Maria Teresa; Zinzi, Angelo; Ivanovski, Stavro; Giardino, Marco; di Persio, Giuseppe; Fonte, Sergio; Palomba, Ernesto; Antonelli, Lucio Angelo; Fonte, Sergio; Giommi, Paolo; Europlanet VESPA 2020 Team

2017-06-01

This paper presents the VESPA (Virtual European Solar and Planetary Access) activity, developed in the context of the Europlanet 2020 Horizon project, aimed at providing tools for analysis and visualization of planetary data provided by space missions. In particular, the activity is focused on minor bodies of the Solar System.The structure of the computation node, the algorithms developed for analysis of planetary surfaces and cometary comae and the tools for data visualization are presented.

The IEEE International Conference on Data Mining (10th) Held in Sydney, Australia on 14-17 December 2010

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-12-17

Approach to Modeling Personalized Contexts of Mobile Users Tengfei Bao, Happia Cao, Enhong Chen, Jilei Tian, and Hui Xiong q Fast and Flexible...Kutsuna q Detecting Blackhole and Volcano Patterns in Directed Networks Zhongmou Li, Hui Xiong , Yanchi Liu, and Aoying Zhou q Exploiting Local Data...Density-Based Network Clustering via Structure-Connected Tree Division or Agglomeration Heli Sun, Jianbin Huang, Jiawei Han, Hongbo Deng, Peixiang Zhao

Balancing novelty with confined chemical space in modern drug discovery.

PubMed

Medina-Franco, José L; Martinez-Mayorga, Karina; Meurice, Nathalie

2014-02-01

The concept of chemical space has broad applications in drug discovery. In response to the needs of drug discovery campaigns, different approaches are followed to efficiently populate, mine and select relevant chemical spaces that overlap with biologically relevant chemical spaces. This paper reviews major trends in current drug discovery and their impact on the mining and population of chemical space. We also survey different approaches to develop screening libraries with confined chemical spaces balancing physicochemical properties. In this context, the confinement is guided by criteria that can be divided in two broad categories: i) library design focused on a relevant therapeutic target or disease and ii) library design focused on the chemistry or a desired molecular function. The design and development of chemical libraries should be associated with the specific purpose of the library and the project goals. The high complexity of drug discovery and the inherent imperfection of individual experimental and computational technologies prompt the integration of complementary library design and screening approaches to expedite the identification of new and better drugs. Library design approaches including diversity-oriented synthesis, biological-oriented synthesis or combinatorial library design, to name a few, and the design of focused libraries driven by target/disease, chemical structure or molecular function are more efficient if they are guided by multi-parameter optimization. In this context, consideration of pharmaceutically relevant properties is essential for balancing novelty with chemical space in drug discovery.

Dense Annotation of Free-Text Critical Care Discharge Summaries from an Indian Hospital and Associated Performance of a Clinical NLP Annotator.

PubMed

Ramanan, S V; Radhakrishna, Kedar; Waghmare, Abijeet; Raj, Tony; Nathan, Senthil P; Sreerama, Sai Madhukar; Sampath, Sriram

2016-08-01

Electronic Health Record (EHR) use in India is generally poor, and structured clinical information is mostly lacking. This work is the first attempt aimed at evaluating unstructured text mining for extracting relevant clinical information from Indian clinical records. We annotated a corpus of 250 discharge summaries from an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in India, with markups for diseases, procedures, and lab parameters, their attributes, as well as key demographic information and administrative variables such as patient outcomes. In this process, we have constructed guidelines for an annotation scheme useful to clinicians in the Indian context. We evaluated the performance of an NLP engine, Cocoa, on a cohort of these Indian clinical records. We have produced an annotated corpus of roughly 90 thousand words, which to our knowledge is the first tagged clinical corpus from India. Cocoa was evaluated on a test corpus of 50 documents. The overlap F-scores across the major categories, namely disease/symptoms, procedures, laboratory parameters and outcomes, are 0.856, 0.834, 0.961 and 0.872 respectively. These results are competitive with results from recent shared tasks based on US records. The annotated corpus and associated results from the Cocoa engine indicate that unstructured text mining is a viable method for cohort analysis in the Indian clinical context, where structured EHR records are largely absent.

Application of the EVEX resource to event extraction and network construction: Shared Task entry and result analysis

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Background Modern methods for mining biomolecular interactions from literature typically make predictions based solely on the immediate textual context, in effect a single sentence. No prior work has been published on extending this context to the information automatically gathered from the whole biomedical literature. Thus, our motivation for this study is to explore whether mutually supporting evidence, aggregated across several documents can be utilized to improve the performance of the state-of-the-art event extraction systems. In this paper, we describe our participation in the latest BioNLP Shared Task using the large-scale text mining resource EVEX. We participated in the Genia Event Extraction (GE) and Gene Regulation Network (GRN) tasks with two separate systems. In the GE task, we implemented a re-ranking approach to improve the precision of an existing event extraction system, incorporating features from the EVEX resource. In the GRN task, our system relied solely on the EVEX resource and utilized a rule-based conversion algorithm between the EVEX and GRN formats. Results In the GE task, our re-ranking approach led to a modest performance increase and resulted in the first rank of the official Shared Task results with 50.97% F-score. Additionally, in this paper we explore and evaluate the usage of distributed vector representations for this challenge. In the GRN task, we ranked fifth in the official results with a strict/relaxed SER score of 0.92/0.81 respectively. To try and improve upon these results, we have implemented a novel machine learning based conversion system and benchmarked its performance against the original rule-based system. Conclusions For the GRN task, we were able to produce a gene regulatory network from the EVEX data, warranting the use of such generic large-scale text mining data in network biology settings. A detailed performance and error analysis provides more insight into the relatively low recall rates. In the GE task we demonstrate that both the re-ranking approach and the word vectors can provide slight performance improvement. A manual evaluation of the re-ranking results pinpoints some of the challenges faced in applying large-scale text mining knowledge to event extraction. PMID:26551766

Cataloging the biomedical world of pain through semi-automated curation of molecular interactions

PubMed Central

Jamieson, Daniel G.; Roberts, Phoebe M.; Robertson, David L.; Sidders, Ben; Nenadic, Goran

2013-01-01

The vast collection of biomedical literature and its continued expansion has presented a number of challenges to researchers who require structured findings to stay abreast of and analyze molecular mechanisms relevant to their domain of interest. By structuring literature content into topic-specific machine-readable databases, the aggregate data from multiple articles can be used to infer trends that can be compared and contrasted with similar findings from topic-independent resources. Our study presents a generalized procedure for semi-automatically creating a custom topic-specific molecular interaction database through the use of text mining to assist manual curation. We apply the procedure to capture molecular events that underlie ‘pain’, a complex phenomenon with a large societal burden and unmet medical need. We describe how existing text mining solutions are used to build a pain-specific corpus, extract molecular events from it, add context to the extracted events and assess their relevance. The pain-specific corpus contains 765 692 documents from Medline and PubMed Central, from which we extracted 356 499 unique normalized molecular events, with 261 438 single protein events and 93 271 molecular interactions supplied by BioContext. Event chains are annotated with negation, speculation, anatomy, Gene Ontology terms, mutations, pain and disease relevance, which collectively provide detailed insight into how that event chain is associated with pain. The extracted relations are visualized in a wiki platform (wiki-pain.org) that enables efficient manual curation and exploration of the molecular mechanisms that underlie pain. Curation of 1500 grouped event chains ranked by pain relevance revealed 613 accurately extracted unique molecular interactions that in the future can be used to study the underlying mechanisms involved in pain. Our approach demonstrates that combining existing text mining tools with domain-specific terms and wiki-based visualization can facilitate rapid curation of molecular interactions to create a custom database. Database URL: ••• PMID:23707966

Mutation extraction tools can be combined for robust recognition of genetic variants in the literature

PubMed Central

Jimeno Yepes, Antonio; Verspoor, Karin

2014-01-01

As the cost of genomic sequencing continues to fall, the amount of data being collected and studied for the purpose of understanding the genetic basis of disease is increasing dramatically. Much of the source information relevant to such efforts is available only from unstructured sources such as the scientific literature, and significant resources are expended in manually curating and structuring the information in the literature. As such, there have been a number of systems developed to target automatic extraction of mutations and other genetic variation from the literature using text mining tools. We have performed a broad survey of the existing publicly available tools for extraction of genetic variants from the scientific literature. We consider not just one tool but a number of different tools, individually and in combination, and apply the tools in two scenarios. First, they are compared in an intrinsic evaluation context, where the tools are tested for their ability to identify specific mentions of genetic variants in a corpus of manually annotated papers, the Variome corpus. Second, they are compared in an extrinsic evaluation context based on our previous study of text mining support for curation of the COSMIC and InSiGHT databases. Our results demonstrate that no single tool covers the full range of genetic variants mentioned in the literature. Rather, several tools have complementary coverage and can be used together effectively. In the intrinsic evaluation on the Variome corpus, the combined performance is above 0.95 in F-measure, while in the extrinsic evaluation the combined recall performance is above 0.71 for COSMIC and above 0.62 for InSiGHT, a substantial improvement over the performance of any individual tool. Based on the analysis of these results, we suggest several directions for the improvement of text mining tools for genetic variant extraction from the literature. PMID:25285203

DEXTER: Disease-Expression Relation Extraction from Text.

PubMed

Gupta, Samir; Dingerdissen, Hayley; Ross, Karen E; Hu, Yu; Wu, Cathy H; Mazumder, Raja; Vijay-Shanker, K

2018-01-01

Gene expression levels affect biological processes and play a key role in many diseases. Characterizing expression profiles is useful for clinical research, and diagnostics and prognostics of diseases. There are currently several high-quality databases that capture gene expression information, obtained mostly from large-scale studies, such as microarray and next-generation sequencing technologies, in the context of disease. The scientific literature is another rich source of information on gene expression-disease relationships that not only have been captured from large-scale studies but have also been observed in thousands of small-scale studies. Expression information obtained from literature through manual curation can extend expression databases. While many of the existing databases include information from literature, they are limited by the time-consuming nature of manual curation and have difficulty keeping up with the explosion of publications in the biomedical field. In this work, we describe an automated text-mining tool, Disease-Expression Relation Extraction from Text (DEXTER) to extract information from literature on gene and microRNA expression in the context of disease. One of the motivations in developing DEXTER was to extend the BioXpress database, a cancer-focused gene expression database that includes data derived from large-scale experiments and manual curation of publications. The literature-based portion of BioXpress lags behind significantly compared to expression information obtained from large-scale studies and can benefit from our text-mined results. We have conducted two different evaluations to measure the accuracy of our text-mining tool and achieved average F-scores of 88.51 and 81.81% for the two evaluations, respectively. Also, to demonstrate the ability to extract rich expression information in different disease-related scenarios, we used DEXTER to extract information on differential expression information for 2024 genes in lung cancer, 115 glycosyltransferases in 62 cancers and 826 microRNA in 171 cancers. All extractions using DEXTER are integrated in the literature-based portion of BioXpress.Database URL: http://biotm.cis.udel.edu/DEXTER.

Cataloging the biomedical world of pain through semi-automated curation of molecular interactions.

PubMed

Jamieson, Daniel G; Roberts, Phoebe M; Robertson, David L; Sidders, Ben; Nenadic, Goran

2013-01-01

The vast collection of biomedical literature and its continued expansion has presented a number of challenges to researchers who require structured findings to stay abreast of and analyze molecular mechanisms relevant to their domain of interest. By structuring literature content into topic-specific machine-readable databases, the aggregate data from multiple articles can be used to infer trends that can be compared and contrasted with similar findings from topic-independent resources. Our study presents a generalized procedure for semi-automatically creating a custom topic-specific molecular interaction database through the use of text mining to assist manual curation. We apply the procedure to capture molecular events that underlie 'pain', a complex phenomenon with a large societal burden and unmet medical need. We describe how existing text mining solutions are used to build a pain-specific corpus, extract molecular events from it, add context to the extracted events and assess their relevance. The pain-specific corpus contains 765 692 documents from Medline and PubMed Central, from which we extracted 356 499 unique normalized molecular events, with 261 438 single protein events and 93 271 molecular interactions supplied by BioContext. Event chains are annotated with negation, speculation, anatomy, Gene Ontology terms, mutations, pain and disease relevance, which collectively provide detailed insight into how that event chain is associated with pain. The extracted relations are visualized in a wiki platform (wiki-pain.org) that enables efficient manual curation and exploration of the molecular mechanisms that underlie pain. Curation of 1500 grouped event chains ranked by pain relevance revealed 613 accurately extracted unique molecular interactions that in the future can be used to study the underlying mechanisms involved in pain. Our approach demonstrates that combining existing text mining tools with domain-specific terms and wiki-based visualization can facilitate rapid curation of molecular interactions to create a custom database. Database URL: •••

Identification of mine collapses, explosions and earthquakes using INSAR: a preliminary investigation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Foxall, B; Sweeney, J J; Walter, W R

1998-07-07

Interferograms constmcted from satellite-borne synthetic aperture radar images have the capability of mapping sub-cm ground surface deformation over areas on the order of 100 x 100 km with a spatial resolution on the order of 10 meters. We investigate the utility of synthetic aperture radar interferomehy (InSAR) used in conjunction with regional seismic methods in detecting and discriminating different types of seismic events in the context of special event analysis for the CTBT. For this initial study, we carried out elastic dislocation modeling of underground explosions, mine collapses and small (M<5.5) shallow earthquakes to produce synthetic interferograms and then analyzedmore » satellite radar data for a large mine collapse. The synthetic modeling shows that, for a given magnitude each type of event produces a distinctive pattern of ground deformation that can be recognized in, and recovered from, the corresponding interferogram. These diagnostic characteristics include not only differences in the polarities of surface displacements but also differences in displacement amplitudes from the different sources. The technique is especially sensitive to source depth, a parameter that is crucial in discriminating earthquakes from the other event types but is often very poorly constrained by regional seismic data alone. The ERS radar data analyzed is from a M L 5.2 seismic event that occurred in southwestern Wyoming on February 3,1995. Although seismic data from the event have some characteristics of an underground explosion, based on seismological and geodetic data it has been identified as being caused by a large underground collapse in the Solvay Mine. Several pairs of before-collapse and after-collapse radar images were phase processed to obtain interferograms. The minimum time separation for a before-collapse and after-collapse pair was 548 days. Even with this long time separation, phase coherence between the image pairs was acceptable and a deformation map was successfully obtained. Two images, separated by 1 day and occurring after the mine collapse, were used to form a digital elevation map (DEM) that was used to correct for topography. The interferograms identify the large deformation at the Solvay Mine as well as some areas of lesser deformation near other mines in the area. The large amount of deformation at the Solvay Mine was identified, but (as predicted by our dislocation modeling) could not be quantified absolutely because of the incoherent interference pattern it produced« less

Computational tools for exploring sequence databases as a resource for antimicrobial peptides.

PubMed

Porto, W F; Pires, A S; Franco, O L

Data mining has been recognized by many researchers as a hot topic in different areas. In the post-genomic era, the growing number of sequences deposited in databases has been the reason why these databases have become a resource for novel biological information. In recent years, the identification of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) in databases has gained attention. The identification of unannotated AMPs has shed some light on the distribution and evolution of AMPs and, in some cases, indicated suitable candidates for developing novel antimicrobial agents. The data mining process has been performed mainly by local alignments and/or regular expressions. Nevertheless, for the identification of distant homologous sequences, other techniques such as antimicrobial activity prediction and molecular modelling are required. In this context, this review addresses the tools and techniques, and also their limitations, for mining AMPs from databases. These methods could be helpful not only for the development of novel AMPs, but also for other kinds of proteins, at a higher level of structural genomics. Moreover, solving the problem of unannotated proteins could bring immeasurable benefits to society, especially in the case of AMPs, which could be helpful for developing novel antimicrobial agents and combating resistant bacteria. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The epidemiology of mesothelioma in historical context.

PubMed

McDonald, J C; McDonald, A D

1996-09-01

Primary malignant mesothelial tumours were recognized by pathologists before asbestiform minerals (chrysotile, crocidolite and amosite) were mined commercially. The discovery, 40 yrs ago, of a causal link with crocidolite and the wide-ranging epidemiological studies which followed are the subject of this review. Early case-control and descriptive surveys, supplemented by cohort studies in insulation workers and chrysotile miners, quickly demonstrated major occupational and geographical differences, with high risk in naval dockyard areas and in the heating trades. In the 1980s, reliable cohort surveys showed that in mining and in the manufacture of asbestos products the mesothelioma risk was much higher when exposure included crocidolite or amosite than chrysotile alone. However, qualitative and quantitative information on exposure was too often inadequate for this evidence to be conclusive. Well-controlled lung fibre analyses have reduced these deficiencies and demonstrated the probable implications of the greater biopersistence of amphibole fibres. Chrysotile for industrial use often contains low concentrations of fibrous tremolite, which may well explain the few cases of mesothelioma associated with this type of asbestos. Progress in this field has been much retarded by controversy, for which the 20 year gap between the availability of reliable estimates of risk for the mining of chrysotile and that for crocidolite or amosite may have been largely responsible.

A perspective on the proliferation risks of plutonium mines

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lyman, E.S.

1996-05-01

The program of geologic disposal of spent fuel and other plutonium-containing materials is increasingly becoming the target of criticism by individuals who argue that in the future, repositories may become low-cost sources of fissile material for nuclear weapons. This paper attempts to outline a consistent framework for analyzing the proliferation risks of these so-called {open_quotes}plutonium mines{close_quotes} and putting them into perspective. First, it is emphasized that the attractiveness of plutonium in a repository as a source of weapons material depends on its accessibility relative to other sources of fissile material. Then, the notion of a {open_quotes}material production standard{close_quotes} (MPS) ismore » proposed: namely, that the proliferation risks posed by geologic disposal will be acceptable if one can demonstrate, under a number of reasonable scenarios, that the recovery of plutonium from a repository is likely to be as difficult as new production of fissile material. A preliminary analysis suggests that the range of circumstances under which current mined repository concepts would fail to meet this standard is fairly narrow. Nevertheless, a broad application of the MPS may impose severe restrictions on repository design. In this context, the relationship of repository design parameters to easy of recovery is discussed.« less

A Comprehensive Workflow of Mass Spectrometry-Based Untargeted Metabolomics in Cancer Metabolic Biomarker Discovery Using Human Plasma and Urine

PubMed Central

Zou, Wei; She, Jianwen; Tolstikov, Vladimir V.

2013-01-01

Current available biomarkers lack sensitivity and/or specificity for early detection of cancer. To address this challenge, a robust and complete workflow for metabolic profiling and data mining is described in details. Three independent and complementary analytical techniques for metabolic profiling are applied: hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC–LC), reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RP–LC), and gas chromatography (GC). All three techniques are coupled to a mass spectrometer (MS) in the full scan acquisition mode, and both unsupervised and supervised methods are used for data mining. The univariate and multivariate feature selection are used to determine subsets of potentially discriminative predictors. These predictors are further identified by obtaining accurate masses and isotopic ratios using selected ion monitoring (SIM) and data-dependent MS/MS and/or accurate mass MSn ion tree scans utilizing high resolution MS. A list combining all of the identified potential biomarkers generated from different platforms and algorithms is used for pathway analysis. Such a workflow combining comprehensive metabolic profiling and advanced data mining techniques may provide a powerful approach for metabolic pathway analysis and biomarker discovery in cancer research. Two case studies with previous published data are adapted and included in the context to elucidate the application of the workflow. PMID:24958150

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bidstrup, Morten, E-mail: bidstrup@plan.aau.dk; Kørnøv, Lone, E-mail: lonek@plan.aau.dk; Partidário, Maria Rosário, E-mail: mariapartidario@tecnico.ulisboa.pt

Cumulative effects (CE) assessment is lacking quality in impact assessment (IA) worldwide. It has been argued that the strategic environmental assessment (SEA) provides a suitable IA framework for addressing CE because it is applied to developments with broad boundaries, but few have tested this claim. Through a case study on the Danish mining sector, this article explores how plan boundaries influence the analytical boundaries applied for assessing CE in SEA. The case was studied through document analysis in combination with semi-structured group interviews of the responsible planners, who also serve as SEA practitioners. It was found that CE are tomore » some extent assessed and managed implicitly throughout the planning process. However, this is through a focus on lowering the cumulative stress of mining rather than the cumulative stress on and capacity of the receiving environment. Plan boundaries do influence CE assessment, though all boundaries are not equally influential. The geographical and time boundaries of the Danish mining plans are broad or flexible enough to accommodate a meaningful assessment of CE, but the topical boundary is restrictive. The study indicates that collaboration among planning authorities and legally appointed CE leadership may facilitate better practice on CE assessment in sector-specific SEA contexts. However, most pressing is the need for relating assessment to the receiving environment as opposed to solely the stress of a proposed plan.« less

A community-based intervention to build community harmony in an Indigenous Guatemalan Mining Town.

PubMed

Caxaj, Claudia Susana; Parroquia de San Miguel Ixtahuacan, Kolol Qnan Tx'otx'

2018-01-24

The presence of large-scale mining operations poses many threats to communities. In a rural community in Guatemala, community leaders were motivated to address divisiveness and local conflict that have been exacerbated since the arrival of a mining company in the region. Prior research by our team identified spiritual and cultural strengths as important sources of strength and resilience in the community. We piloted a community-based intervention centred on spiritual and cultural practices in the region, to address divisiveness and build community harmony. One hundred and seventeen participants from over 18 villages in the municipality participated in the workshops and follow-up focus groups. Community leaders facilitated the intervention and partnered with the academic researcher throughout the research process. Overall, community members and facilitators expressed satisfaction with the workshop. Further, our analysis revealed three important processes important to the development of community harmony in the region: (a) mutual recognition and collectivisation; (b) affirmation of ancestral roots and connections to Mother Earth and (c) inspiring action and momentum towards solutions. These mechanisms, and the socio-political contexts that undermine them, have important implications for how global health programmes are developed and how collective processes for well-being are understood within an inequitable, conflict-laden world.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chambers, Doug; Wiatzka, Gerd; Brown, Steve

This paper provides the life story of Canada's original radium/uranium mine. In addition to the history of operations, it discusses the unique and successful approach used to identify the key issues and concerns associated with the former radium, uranium and silver mining property and the activities undertaken to define the remedial actions and subsequent remedial plan. The Port Radium Mine site, situated approximately 275 km north of Yellowknife on the east shore of Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories, was discovered in 1930 and underground mining began in 1932. The mine operated almost continuously from 1932 to 1982, initially for recoverymore » of radium, then uranium and finally, for recovery of silver. Tailings production totaled an estimated 900,000 tons and 800,000 tons from uranium and silver processing operations respectively. In the early days of mining, Port Radium miners were exposed to radon and associated decay product levels (in Working Level Months of exposure - WLM) hundreds of times greater than modern standards. The experience of the Port Radium miners provides important contribution to understanding the risks from radon. While the uranium mine was originally decommissioned in the early 1960's, to the standards of the day, the community of Deline (formerly Fort Franklin) had concerns about residual contamination at the mine site and the potential effects arising from use of traditional lands. The Deline people were also concerned about the possible risks to Deline Dene arising from their work as ore carriers. In the late 1990's, the community of Deline brought these concerns to national attention and consequently, the Government of Canada and the community of Deline agreed to move forward in a collaborative manner to address these concerns. The approach agreed to was to establish the Canada-Deline Uranium Table (CDUT) to provide a joint process by which the people of Deline could have their concerns expressed and addressed. A great deal of work was done through the CDUT, including efforts to assess site environment and safety issues in the context of modern reclamation standards. In addition to the environmental and remediation studies, an assessment of historic exposures of Deline ore carriers to radiation and a follow-up epidemiological feasibility study were performed. SENES Consultants Limited (SENES) carried out the dose reconstruction for the Port Radium miners in the 1990's, was the environmental consultant to the CDUT from 2000 to 2005, developed the Remedial Action Plan (RAP), engineering plans and specifications for decommissioning the Port Radium mine and vicinity sites in 2005/6, supervised the remedial works in 2007 and carried out the long term post closure monitoring from 2008 to 2012. Our firsthand experience from working cooperatively with the CDUT provides insights into effective decommissioning of historic contaminated sites. (authors)« less

A Systems-Based Conceptual Framework for Assessing the Determinants of a Social License to Operate in the Mining Industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prno, Jason; Slocombe, D. Scott

2014-03-01

The concept of a "social license to operate" (SLO) was coined in the 1990s and gained popularity as one way in which "social" considerations can be addressed in mineral development decision making. The need for a SLO implies that developers require the widespread approval of local community members for their projects to avoid exposure to potentially costly conflict and business risks. Only a limited amount of scholarship exists on the topic, and there is a need for research that specifically addresses the complex and changeable nature of SLO outcomes. In response to these challenges, this paper advances a novel, systems-based conceptual framework for assessing SLO determinants and outcomes in the mining industry. Two strands of systems theory are specifically highlighted—complex adaptive systems and resilience—and the roles of context, key system variables, emergence, change, uncertainty, feedbacks, cross-scale effects, multiple stable states, thresholds, and resilience are discussed. The framework was developed from the results of a multi-year research project which involved international mining case study investigations, a comprehensive literature review, and interviews conducted with mining stakeholders and observers. The framework can help guide SLO analysis and management efforts, by encouraging users to account for important contextual and complexity-oriented elements present in SLO settings. We apply the framework to a case study in Alaska, USA before discussing its merits and challenges. We also illustrate knowledge gaps associated with applications of complex adaptive systems and resilience theories to the study of SLO dynamics, and discuss opportunities for future research.

Genomic research and data-mining technology: implications for personal privacy and informed consent.

PubMed

Tavani, Herman T

2004-01-01

This essay examines issues involving personal privacy and informed consent that arise at the intersection of information and communication technology (ICT) and population genomics research. I begin by briefly examining the ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) program requirements that were established to guide researchers working on the Human Genome Project (HGP). Next I consider a case illustration involving deCODE Genetics, a privately owned genetic company in Iceland, which raises some ethical concerns that are not clearly addressed in the current ELSI guidelines. The deCODE case also illustrates some ways in which an ICT technique known as data mining has both aided and posed special challenges for researchers working in the field of population genomics. On the one hand, data-mining tools have greatly assisted researchers in mapping the human genome and in identifying certain "disease genes" common in specific populations (which, in turn, has accelerated the process of finding cures for diseases tha affect those populations). On the other hand, this technology has significantly threatened the privacy of research subjects participating in population genomics studies, who may, unwittingly, contribute to the construction of new groups (based on arbitrary and non-obvious patterns and statistical correlations) that put those subjects at risk for discrimination and stigmatization. In the final section of this paper I examine some ways in which the use of data mining in the context of population genomics research poses a critical challenge for the principle of informed consent, which traditionally has played a central role in protecting the privacy interests of research subjects participating in epidemiological studies.

A systems-based conceptual framework for assessing the determinants of a social license to operate in the mining industry.

PubMed

Prno, Jason; Slocombe, D Scott

2014-03-01

The concept of a "social license to operate" (SLO) was coined in the 1990s and gained popularity as one way in which "social" considerations can be addressed in mineral development decision making. The need for a SLO implies that developers require the widespread approval of local community members for their projects to avoid exposure to potentially costly conflict and business risks. Only a limited amount of scholarship exists on the topic, and there is a need for research that specifically addresses the complex and changeable nature of SLO outcomes. In response to these challenges, this paper advances a novel, systems-based conceptual framework for assessing SLO determinants and outcomes in the mining industry. Two strands of systems theory are specifically highlighted-complex adaptive systems and resilience-and the roles of context, key system variables, emergence, change, uncertainty, feedbacks, cross-scale effects, multiple stable states, thresholds, and resilience are discussed. The framework was developed from the results of a multi-year research project which involved international mining case study investigations, a comprehensive literature review, and interviews conducted with mining stakeholders and observers. The framework can help guide SLO analysis and management efforts, by encouraging users to account for important contextual and complexity-oriented elements present in SLO settings. We apply the framework to a case study in Alaska, USA before discussing its merits and challenges. We also illustrate knowledge gaps associated with applications of complex adaptive systems and resilience theories to the study of SLO dynamics, and discuss opportunities for future research.

Complex Topographic Feature Ontology Patterns

USGS Publications Warehouse

Varanka, Dalia E.; Jerris, Thomas J.

2015-01-01

Semantic ontologies are examined as effective data models for the representation of complex topographic feature types. Complex feature types are viewed as integrated relations between basic features for a basic purpose. In the context of topographic science, such component assemblages are supported by resource systems and found on the local landscape. Ontologies are organized within six thematic modules of a domain ontology called Topography that includes within its sphere basic feature types, resource systems, and landscape types. Context is constructed not only as a spatial and temporal setting, but a setting also based on environmental processes. Types of spatial relations that exist between components include location, generative processes, and description. An example is offered in a complex feature type ‘mine.’ The identification and extraction of complex feature types are an area for future research.

Evolution of the landscape along the Clear Creek Corridor, Colorado; urbanization, aggregate mining and reclamation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Arbogast, Belinda; Knepper, Daniel H.; Melick, Roger A.; Hickman, John

2002-01-01

Prime agricultural land along the Clear Creek floodplain, Colorado, attracted settlement in the 1850's but the demand for sand and gravel for 1900's construction initiated a sequence of events that exceeded previous interests and created the modified landscape and urban ecosystem that exists today. The Clear Creek valley corridor offers a landscape filled with a persistent visible and hidden reminder of it's past use. The map sheets illustrate the Clear Creek landscape as a series of compositions, both at the macro view (in the spatial context of urban structure and highways from aerial photographs) and micro view (from the civic scale where landscape features like trees, buildings, and sidewalks are included). The large-scale topographic features, such as mountains and terraces, appear 'changeless' (they do change over geologic time), while Clear Creek has changed from a wide braided stream to a narrow confined stream. Transportation networks (streets and highways) and spiraling population growth in adjacent cities (from approximately 38,000 people in 1880 to over a million in 1999) form two dominant landscape patterns. Mining and wetland/riparian occupy the smallest amount of land use acres compared to urban, transportation, or water reservoir activities in the Clear Creek aggregate reserve study area. Four types of reclaimed pits along Clear Creek were determined: water storage facilities, wildlife/greenbelt space, multiple-purpose reservoirs, and 'hidden scenery.' The latter involves infilling gravel pits (with earth backfill, concrete rubble, or sanitary landfill) and covering the site with light industry or residential housing making the landform hard to detect as a past mine site. Easier to recognize are the strong-edged, rectilinear water reservoirs, reclaimed from off-channel sand and gravel pits that reflect the land survey grid and property boundaries. The general public may not realize softly contoured linear wildlife corridors connecting urban, industrial, and natural space were once mine sites too. Multiple-use water projects from exhausted pits appear to be the new millennium parks, providing water storage, passive recreation, and habitat restoration for the Denver metropolitan area. The public objects to mining yet enjoys the reclaimed mine sites as recreation and wildlife space.

Microbial N and P mining regulates the effect of N deposition on soil organic matter turnover

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meyer, Nele; Welp, Gerhard; Rodionov, Andrei; Borchard, Nils; Martius, Christopher; Amelung, Wulf

2017-04-01

Nitrogen (N) deposition to soils has become a global issue during the last decades. Its effect on mineralization of soil organic carbon (SOC), however, is still debated. Common theories based on Liebig's law predict higher SOC mineralization rates in nutrient-rich than in nutrient-poor soils. Contrastingly, the concept of microbial N mining predicts lower mineralization rates after N deposition. The latter is explained by ceased decomposition of recalcitrant soil organic matter (SOM) as the need of microbes to acquire N from this pool decreases. As N deposition might shift the nutrient balance towards relative phosphorus (P) deficiency, it is also necessary to consider P mining in this context. Due to limited knowledge about microbial nutrient mining, any predictions of N deposition effects are difficult. This study aims at elucidating the preconditions under which microbial nutrient mining occurs in soil. We hypothesized that the occurrence of N and P mining is controlled by the current nutrient status of the soil. Likewise, soils might respond differently to N additions. To investigate this hypothesis, we conducted substrate-induced respiration measurements on soils with pronounced gradients of N and P availability. We used topsoil samples taken repeatedly from a site which was up to 7 years under bare fallow (Selhausen, Germany) and up to 4 m deep tropical forest soils (Kalimantan, Indonesia). Additional nutrient manipulations (glucose, glucose+N, glucose+P, glucose+N+P additions) were conducted to study the effect of nutrient additions. Samples were incubated for one month. We further conducted 13C labeling experiments to trace the sources of CO2 (sugar vs. SOM derived CO2) for further hints on nutrient mining. Mineralization of glucose was limited by a lack of available N in the bare fallow soil but microbes were able to slowly acquire N from previously unavailable pools. This resulted in a slightly higher release of native SOM-derived CO2 compared to N-fertilized treatments. Nutrient additions had no effect on cumulative CO2 evolution in tropical topsoils. Subsoils of the tropical sites (20 - 100 cm depth) were co-limited by N and P. Here, alleviation of either N or P deficiency was necessary to stimulate the mineralization of glucose. In the deep subsoil (>150 cm depth) only the combined additions of N+P induced any CO2 release. Our results reveal that mining of both N and P potentially occurs but is restricted by multiple nutrient limitations, by the absence of potentially accessible nutrients (e.g., in the deep subsoil), and by full nutrient supply (e.g., high nutrient contents make mining unnecessary). The results suggest several implications for N deposition effects: 1) N deposition decreases (recalcitrant) SOC mineralization in former N-deficient soils, 2) N deposition increases SOC mineralization in former co-limited soils as it facilitates mining of the required P, 3) N deposition has no effect in nutrient rich topsoils.

Breath air measurement using wide-band frequency tuning IR laser photo-acoustic spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kistenev, Yury V.; Borisov, Alexey V.; Kuzmin, Dmitry A.; Bulanova, Anna A.; Boyko, Andrey A.; Kostyukova, Nadezhda Y.; Karapuzikov, Alexey A.

2016-03-01

The results of measuring of biomarkers in breath air of patients with broncho-pulmonary diseases using wide-band frequency tuning IR laser photo-acoustic spectroscopy and the methods of data mining are presented. We will discuss experimental equipment and various methods of intellectual analysis of the experimental spectra in context of above task. The work was carried out with partial financial support of the FCPIR contract No 14.578.21.0082 (ID RFMEFI57814X0082).

A Pronoun Analysis of Couples' Support Transactions.

PubMed

Hinnekens, Céline; Lemmens, Gilbert; Vanhee, Gaëlle; Verhofstadt, Lesley

2016-01-01

The present study collected data about couples' level of relationship quality and their usage of pronouns that express we-ness or separateness in the context of support interactions. The sample consisted of 48 couples in a long-term relationship who provided questionnaire data and participated in two videotaped social support interaction tasks. Couples' videotaped interactions were subsequently coded for the number of personal pronouns-we-words (e.g., we, ours, ourselves) versus you and me-words (e.g., me, mine, you, yours)-used by both partners.

Automatic detection of referral patients due to retinal pathologies through data mining.

PubMed

Quellec, Gwenolé; Lamard, Mathieu; Erginay, Ali; Chabouis, Agnès; Massin, Pascale; Cochener, Béatrice; Cazuguel, Guy

2016-04-01

With the increased prevalence of retinal pathologies, automating the detection of these pathologies is becoming more and more relevant. In the past few years, many algorithms have been developed for the automated detection of a specific pathology, typically diabetic retinopathy, using eye fundus photography. No matter how good these algorithms are, we believe many clinicians would not use automatic detection tools focusing on a single pathology and ignoring any other pathology present in the patient's retinas. To solve this issue, an algorithm for characterizing the appearance of abnormal retinas, as well as the appearance of the normal ones, is presented. This algorithm does not focus on individual images: it considers examination records consisting of multiple photographs of each retina, together with contextual information about the patient. Specifically, it relies on data mining in order to learn diagnosis rules from characterizations of fundus examination records. The main novelty is that the content of examination records (images and context) is characterized at multiple levels of spatial and lexical granularity: 1) spatial flexibility is ensured by an adaptive decomposition of composite retinal images into a cascade of regions, 2) lexical granularity is ensured by an adaptive decomposition of the feature space into a cascade of visual words. This multigranular representation allows for great flexibility in automatically characterizing normality and abnormality: it is possible to generate diagnosis rules whose precision and generalization ability can be traded off depending on data availability. A variation on usual data mining algorithms, originally designed to mine static data, is proposed so that contextual and visual data at adaptive granularity levels can be mined. This framework was evaluated in e-ophtha, a dataset of 25,702 examination records from the OPHDIAT screening network, as well as in the publicly-available Messidor dataset. It was successfully applied to the detection of patients that should be referred to an ophthalmologist and also to the specific detection of several pathologies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Rescuing the Cahoon Mine drill cores: Opportunities for modern mapping of the ca. 1.7 Ga Freedom Formation in southern Wisconsin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stanley, V.; Stewart, E.

2016-12-01

Rock cores collected during historic mineral exploration can provide invaluable data for modern analyses, but only if the samples are properly curated. The Cahoon Mine operated in Baraboo, WI during the 1910's and produced iron ore from the ca. 1.7 Ga Freedom Formation. The Freedom Formation is part of the well-known Baraboo-interval stratigraphy and is only present in the subsurface of Wisconsin (Weidman, 1904). Seventeen exploratory drill cores were rescued by Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey (WGNHS) from the original drying house at the mine site. The condition of the containers endangered the stratigraphic context of the collection; identifiers and depth markings were often obscured or lost. The individual core pieces were coated in residue and dust. Most of what is known about the Freedom Formation is from core logs and master's theses from the early 1900's (Leith, 1935; Schmidt, 1951). Ongoing subsurface mapping of the Baraboo-interval sediments and underlying basement of southern Wisconsin integrates new and existing subsurface and regional geophysical datasets. Mapping involves calibrating unique signals in regional aeromagnetic data to known lithology from drill core and cuttings. The Freedom Formation is especially important in this process as its iron-rich composition and regional continuity causes it to have a somewhat unique signal in regional aeromagnetic data. The Cahoon Mine cores in the WGNHS repository are the most extensive collection of physical samples from the Freedom Formation still in existence. We are in the process of curating the cores to facilitate their use in ongoing bedrock mapping. Today the cost and logistics of extensive sampling of this unit makes the existing core collection irreplaceable. We transferred the material to new containers, digitally recorded metadata, and created archival labels. As a result of this effort, the Cahoon Mine cores are now stored in a format that is physically and digitally accessible.

Gold and palladium minerals (including empirical PdCuBiSe3) from the former Roter Bär mine, St. Andreasberg, Harz Mountains, Germany: a result of low-temperature, oxidising fluid overprint

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cabral, Alexandre Raphael; Ließmann, Wilfried; Lehmann, Bernd

2015-10-01

At Roter Bär, a former underground mine in the polymetallic deposits of St. Andreasberg in the middle-Harz vein district, Germany, native gold and palladium minerals occur very locally in clausthalite-hematite pockets of few millimetres across in carbonate veinlets. The native gold is a Au-Ag intermetallic compound and the palladium minerals are characterised as mertieite-II [Pd8(Sb,As)3] and empirical PdCuBiSe3 with some S. The latter coexists with bohdanowiczite (AgBiSe2), a mineral that is stable below 120 °C. The geological setting of Roter Bär, underneath a post-Variscan unconformity, and its hematite-selenide-gold association suggest that oxidising hydrothermal brines of low temperature were instrumental to the Au-Pd mineralisation. The Roter Bär Au-Pd mineralisation can be explained by Permo-Triassic, red-bed-derived brines in the context of post-Variscan, unconformity-related fluid overprint.

Miners, Silica and Disability: The Bi-National Interplay Between South Africa and the United Kingdom, c1900–1930s

PubMed Central

McIvor, Arthur

2016-01-01

This paper investigates silicosis as a disabling disease in underground mining in the United Kingdom (UK) before Second World War, exploring the important connections between South Africa and the UK and examining some of the issues raised at the 1930 International Labour Office Conference on silicosis in Johannesburg in a British context. The evidence suggests there were significant paradoxes and much contestation in medical knowledge creation, advocacy, and policy-making relating to this occupational disease. It is argued here that whilst there was an international exchange of scientific knowledge on silicosis in the early decades of the twentieth century, it was insufficient to challenge the traditional defense adopted by the British government of proven beyond all scientific doubt before effective intervention in coal mining. This circumspect approach reflected dominant business interests and despite relatively robust trade union campaigning and eventual reform, the outcome was an accumulative legacy of respiratory disease and disability that blighted coalfield communities. PMID:26509751

Geologic mapping and mineral resource inventory by ERTS-1 satellite data in South America

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carter, W. D. (Principal Investigator)

1973-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. ERTS-1 data clearly provide significant contribution of new information on the remote areas of South America. Salar deposits have been measured and compared with those shown on World Navigation Charts; remarkable differences have been found in shape, size, number, and distribution. Repetitive coverage should enable us to develop an index of seasonal and annual environmental trends that can be compared with those of the Northern Hemisphere. New lineations, many of which are probably faults, have been found in Venezuela, Bolivia, and northern Argentina. Circular features, some of volcanic origin, have been recognized that are not shown on existing maps. The courses of several rivers have been revised and our Venezuelan counterparts report that a major new river has been recognized and charted. Large mining operations, such as the open pit copper mine of Chuquicamata in northern Chile, are recognizable and can be studied in their regional context.

Evaluating a variety of text-mined features for automatic protein function prediction with GOstruct.

PubMed

Funk, Christopher S; Kahanda, Indika; Ben-Hur, Asa; Verspoor, Karin M

2015-01-01

Most computational methods that predict protein function do not take advantage of the large amount of information contained in the biomedical literature. In this work we evaluate both ontology term co-mention and bag-of-words features mined from the biomedical literature and analyze their impact in the context of a structured output support vector machine model, GOstruct. We find that even simple literature based features are useful for predicting human protein function (F-max: Molecular Function =0.408, Biological Process =0.461, Cellular Component =0.608). One advantage of using literature features is their ability to offer easy verification of automated predictions. We find through manual inspection of misclassifications that some false positive predictions could be biologically valid predictions based upon support extracted from the literature. Additionally, we present a "medium-throughput" pipeline that was used to annotate a large subset of co-mentions; we suggest that this strategy could help to speed up the rate at which proteins are curated.

Object-graphs for context-aware visual category discovery.

PubMed

Lee, Yong Jae; Grauman, Kristen

2012-02-01

How can knowing about some categories help us to discover new ones in unlabeled images? Unsupervised visual category discovery is useful to mine for recurring objects without human supervision, but existing methods assume no prior information and thus tend to perform poorly for cluttered scenes with multiple objects. We propose to leverage knowledge about previously learned categories to enable more accurate discovery, and address challenges in estimating their familiarity in unsegmented, unlabeled images. We introduce two variants of a novel object-graph descriptor to encode the 2D and 3D spatial layout of object-level co-occurrence patterns relative to an unfamiliar region and show that by using them to model the interaction between an image’s known and unknown objects, we can better detect new visual categories. Rather than mine for all categories from scratch, our method identifies new objects while drawing on useful cues from familiar ones. We evaluate our approach on several benchmark data sets and demonstrate clear improvements in discovery over conventional purely appearance-based baselines.

An approach to developing independent learning and non-technical skills amongst final year mining engineering students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knobbs, C. G.; Grayson, D. J.

2012-06-01

There is mounting evidence to show that engineers need more than technical skills to succeed in industry. This paper describes a curriculum innovation in which so-called 'soft' skills, specifically inter-personal and intra-personal skills, were integrated into a final year mining engineering course. The instructional approach was designed to promote independent learning and to develop non-technical skills, essential for students on the threshold of becoming practising engineers. Three psychometric tests were administered at the beginning of the course to make students aware of their own and their classmates' characteristics. Substantial prescribed reading assignments preceded weekly group discussions. Several projects during the course required team work skills and application of content knowledge to real-world contexts. Results obtained from students' reflection papers, assignments related to 'soft' skills and end of course evaluations suggest that students' appreciation of the need for these skills, as well as their own perceived competence, increased during the course. Their ability to function as independent learners also increased.

A Sequence Mining Method to Predict the Bidding Strategy of Trading Agents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nikolaidou, Vivia; Mitkas, Pericles A.

In this work, we describe the process used in order to predict the bidding strategy of trading agents. This was done in the context of the Reverse TAC, or CAT, game of the Trading Agent Competition. In this game, a set of trading agents, buyers or sellers, are provided by the server and they trade their goods in one of the markets operated by the competing agents. Better knowledge of the strategy of the trading agents will allow a market maker to adapt its incentives and attract more agents to its own market. Our prediction was based on the time series of the traders’ past bids, taking into account the variation of each bid compared to its history. The results proved to be of satisfactory accuracy, both in the game’s context and when compared to other existing approaches.

Human health risk assessment of lead from mining activities at semi-arid locations in the context of total lead exposure.

PubMed

Zheng, Jiajia; Huynh, Trang; Gasparon, Massimo; Ng, Jack; Noller, Barry

2013-12-01

Lead from historical mining and mineral processing activities may pose potential human health risks if materials with high concentrations of bioavailable lead minerals are released to the environment. Since the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives of Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization withdrew the Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake of lead in 2011, an alternative method was required for lead exposure assessment. This study evaluated the potential lead hazard to young children (0-7 years) from a historical mining location at a semi-arid area using the U.S. EPA Integrated Exposure Uptake Biokinetic (IEUBK) Model, with selected site-specific input data. This study assessed lead exposure via the inhalation pathway for children living in a location affected by lead mining activities and with specific reference to semi-arid conditions and made comparison with the ingestion pathway by using the physiologically based extraction test for gastro-intestinal simulation. Sensitivity analysis for major IEUBK input parameters was conducted. Three groups of input parameters were classified according to the results of predicted blood concentrations. The modelled lead absorption attributed to the inhalation route was lower than 2 % (mean ± SE, 0.9 % ± 0.1 %) of all lead intake routes and was demonstrated as a less significant exposure pathway to children's blood, compared with ingestion. Whilst dermal exposure was negligible, diet and ingestion of soil and dust were the dominant parameters in terms of children's blood lead prediction. The exposure assessment identified the changing role of dietary intake when house lead loadings varied. Recommendations were also made to conduct comprehensive site-specific human health risk assessment in future studies of lead exposure under a semi-arid climate.

Tracking natural and anthropogenic origins of dissolved arsenic during surface and groundwater interaction in a post-closure mining context: Isotopic constraints.

PubMed

Khaska, Mahmoud; Le Gal La Salle, Corinne; Verdoux, Patrick; Boutin, René

2015-01-01

Arsenic contamination of stream waters and groundwater is a real issue in Au-As mine environments. At the Salsigne Au-As mine, southern France, arsenic contamination persists after closure and remediation of the site. In this study, natural and anthropogenic arsenic inputs in surface water and groundwater are identified based on (87)Sr/(86)Sr, and δ(18)O and δ(2)H isotopic composition of water. In the wet season, downstream of the remediated zone, the arsenic contents in stream water and alluvial aquifer groundwater are high, with values in the order of 36 μg/L and 40 μg/L respectively, while upstream natural background average concentrations are around 4 μg/L. Locally down-gradient of the reclaimed area, arsenic concentrations in stream water showed 2 peaks, one during an important rainy event (101 mm) in the wet season in May, and a longer one over the dry period, reaching 120 and 110 μg/L respectively. The temporal variations in arsenic content in stream water can be explained i) during the dry season, by release of arsenic stored in the alluvial sediments through increased contribution from base flow and decreased stream flow and ii) during major rainy events, by mobilization of arsenic associated with important surface runoff. The (87)Sr/(86)Sr ratios associated with increasing arsenic content in stream waters downstream of the reclaimed area are significantly lower than that of the natural Sr inherited from Variscan formations. These low (87)Sr/(86)Sr ratios are likely to be associated with the decontaminating water treatment processes, used in the past and still at present, where CaO, produced from marine limestone and therefore showing a low (87)Sr/(86)Sr ratios, is used to precipitate Ca3(AsO4)2. The low Sr isotope signatures will then impact on the Sr isotope ratio of (1) the Ca-arsenate stored in tailing dams, (2) effluent currently produced by water treatment process and (3) groundwater draining from the overall site. Furthermore, Δ(2)H shows that the low (87)Sr/(86)Sr ratio, arsenic rich water is characterized by an evaporated signature suggesting a potential influence of water impacted by evaporation during storage in decantation lagoons. This study shows the suitability of Sr and stable isotopes of water as tracers to differentiate natural and anthropogenic sources of arsenic release or other trace elements from mining context where CaO is used for water treatment. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Tracking natural and anthropogenic origins of dissolved arsenic during surface and groundwater interaction in a post-closure mining context: Isotopic constraints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khaska, Mahmoud; Le Gal La Salle, Corinne; Verdoux, Patrick; Boutin, René

2015-06-01

Arsenic contamination of stream waters and groundwater is a real issue in Au-As mine environments. At the Salsigne Au-As mine, southern France, arsenic contamination persists after closure and remediation of the site. In this study, natural and anthropogenic arsenic inputs in surface water and groundwater are identified based on 87Sr/86Sr, and δ18O and δ2H isotopic composition of water. In the wet season, downstream of the remediated zone, the arsenic contents in stream water and alluvial aquifer groundwater are high, with values in the order of 36 μg/L and 40 μg/L respectively, while upstream natural background average concentrations are around 4 μg/L. Locally down-gradient of the reclaimed area, arsenic concentrations in stream water showed 2 peaks, one during an important rainy event (101 mm) in the wet season in May, and a longer one over the dry period, reaching 120 and 110 μg/L respectively. The temporal variations in arsenic content in stream water can be explained i) during the dry season, by release of arsenic stored in the alluvial sediments through increased contribution from base flow and decreased stream flow and ii) during major rainy events, by mobilization of arsenic associated with important surface runoff. The 87Sr/86Sr ratios associated with increasing arsenic content in stream waters downstream of the reclaimed area are significantly lower than that of the natural Sr inherited from Variscan formations. These low 87Sr/86Sr ratios are likely to be associated with the decontaminating water treatment processes, used in the past and still at present, where CaO, produced from marine limestone and therefore showing a low 87Sr/86Sr ratios, is used to precipitate Ca3(AsO4)2. The low Sr isotope signatures will then impact on the Sr isotope ratio of (1) the Ca-arsenate stored in tailing dams, (2) effluent currently produced by water treatment process and (3) groundwater draining from the overall site. Furthermore, Δ2H shows that the low 87Sr/86Sr ratio, arsenic rich water is characterized by an evaporated signature suggesting a potential influence of water impacted by evaporation during storage in decantation lagoons. This study shows the suitability of Sr and stable isotopes of water as tracers to differentiate natural and anthropogenic sources of arsenic release or other trace elements from mining context where CaO is used for water treatment.

Efficient mining of association rules for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chaves, R.; Górriz, J. M.; Ramírez, J.; Illán, I. A.; Salas-Gonzalez, D.; Gómez-Río, M.

2011-09-01

In this paper, a novel technique based on association rules (ARs) is presented in order to find relations among activated brain areas in single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging. In this sense, the aim of this work is to discover associations among attributes which characterize the perfusion patterns of normal subjects and to make use of them for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Firstly, voxel-as-feature-based activation estimation methods are used to find the tridimensional activated brain regions of interest (ROIs) for each patient. These ROIs serve as input to secondly mine ARs with a minimum support and confidence among activation blocks by using a set of controls. In this context, support and confidence measures are related to the proportion of functional areas which are singularly and mutually activated across the brain. Finally, we perform image classification by comparing the number of ARs verified by each subject under test to a given threshold that depends on the number of previously mined rules. Several classification experiments were carried out in order to evaluate the proposed methods using a SPECT database that consists of 41 controls (NOR) and 56 AD patients labeled by trained physicians. The proposed methods were validated by means of the leave-one-out cross validation strategy, yielding up to 94.87% classification accuracy, thus outperforming recent developed methods for computer aided diagnosis of AD.

Role of soil health in maintaining environmental sustainability of surface coal mining.

PubMed

Acton, Peter M; Fox, James F; Campbell, J Elliott; Jones, Alice L; Rowe, Harold; Martin, Darren; Bryson, Sebastian

2011-12-01

Mountaintop coal mining (MCM) in the Southern Appalachian forest region greatly impacts both soil and aquatic ecosystems. Policy and practice currently in place emphasize water quality and soil stability but do not consider upland soil health. Here we report soil organic carbon (SOC) measurements and other soil quality indicators for reclaimed soils in the Southern Appalachian forest region to quantify the health of the soil ecosystem. The SOC sequestration rate of the MCM soils was 1.3 MgC ha(-1) yr(-1) and stocks ranged from 1.3 ± 0.9 to 20.9 ± 5.9 Mg ha(-1) and contained only 11% of the SOC of surrounding forest soils. Comparable reclaimed mining soils reported in the literature that are supportive of soil ecosystem health had SOC stocks 2.5-5 times greater than the MCM soils and sequestration rates were also 1.6-3 times greater. The high compaction associated with reclamation in this region greatly reduces both the vegetative rooting depth and infiltration of the soil and increases surface runoff, thus bypassing the ability of soil to naturally filter groundwater. In the context of environmental sustainability of MCM, it is proposed that the entire watershed ecosystem be assessed and that a revision of current policy be conducted to reflect the health of both water and soil.

Mining local climate data to assess spatiotemporal dengue fever epidemic patterns in French Guiana

PubMed Central

Flamand, Claude; Fabregue, Mickael; Bringay, Sandra; Ardillon, Vanessa; Quénel, Philippe; Desenclos, Jean-Claude; Teisseire, Maguelonne

2014-01-01

Objective To identify local meteorological drivers of dengue fever in French Guiana, we applied an original data mining method to the available epidemiological and climatic data. Through this work, we also assessed the contribution of the data mining method to the understanding of factors associated with the dissemination of infectious diseases and their spatiotemporal spread. Methods We applied contextual sequential pattern extraction techniques to epidemiological and meteorological data to identify the most significant climatic factors for dengue fever, and we investigated the relevance of the extracted patterns for the early warning of dengue outbreaks in French Guiana. Results The maximum temperature, minimum relative humidity, global brilliance, and cumulative rainfall were identified as determinants of dengue outbreaks, and the precise intervals of their values and variations were quantified according to the epidemiologic context. The strongest significant correlations were observed between dengue incidence and meteorological drivers after a 4–6-week lag. Discussion We demonstrated the use of contextual sequential patterns to better understand the determinants of the spatiotemporal spread of dengue fever in French Guiana. Future work should integrate additional variables and explore the notion of neighborhood for extracting sequential patterns. Conclusions Dengue fever remains a major public health issue in French Guiana. The development of new methods to identify such specific characteristics becomes crucial in order to better understand and control spatiotemporal transmission. PMID:24549761

Genomics Portals: integrative web-platform for mining genomics data.

PubMed

Shinde, Kaustubh; Phatak, Mukta; Johannes, Freudenberg M; Chen, Jing; Li, Qian; Vineet, Joshi K; Hu, Zhen; Ghosh, Krishnendu; Meller, Jaroslaw; Medvedovic, Mario

2010-01-13

A large amount of experimental data generated by modern high-throughput technologies is available through various public repositories. Our knowledge about molecular interaction networks, functional biological pathways and transcriptional regulatory modules is rapidly expanding, and is being organized in lists of functionally related genes. Jointly, these two sources of information hold a tremendous potential for gaining new insights into functioning of living systems. Genomics Portals platform integrates access to an extensive knowledge base and a large database of human, mouse, and rat genomics data with basic analytical visualization tools. It provides the context for analyzing and interpreting new experimental data and the tool for effective mining of a large number of publicly available genomics datasets stored in the back-end databases. The uniqueness of this platform lies in the volume and the diversity of genomics data that can be accessed and analyzed (gene expression, ChIP-chip, ChIP-seq, epigenomics, computationally predicted binding sites, etc), and the integration with an extensive knowledge base that can be used in such analysis. The integrated access to primary genomics data, functional knowledge and analytical tools makes Genomics Portals platform a unique tool for interpreting results of new genomics experiments and for mining the vast amount of data stored in the Genomics Portals backend databases. Genomics Portals can be accessed and used freely at http://GenomicsPortals.org.

Genomics Portals: integrative web-platform for mining genomics data

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background A large amount of experimental data generated by modern high-throughput technologies is available through various public repositories. Our knowledge about molecular interaction networks, functional biological pathways and transcriptional regulatory modules is rapidly expanding, and is being organized in lists of functionally related genes. Jointly, these two sources of information hold a tremendous potential for gaining new insights into functioning of living systems. Results Genomics Portals platform integrates access to an extensive knowledge base and a large database of human, mouse, and rat genomics data with basic analytical visualization tools. It provides the context for analyzing and interpreting new experimental data and the tool for effective mining of a large number of publicly available genomics datasets stored in the back-end databases. The uniqueness of this platform lies in the volume and the diversity of genomics data that can be accessed and analyzed (gene expression, ChIP-chip, ChIP-seq, epigenomics, computationally predicted binding sites, etc), and the integration with an extensive knowledge base that can be used in such analysis. Conclusion The integrated access to primary genomics data, functional knowledge and analytical tools makes Genomics Portals platform a unique tool for interpreting results of new genomics experiments and for mining the vast amount of data stored in the Genomics Portals backend databases. Genomics Portals can be accessed and used freely at http://GenomicsPortals.org. PMID:20070909

Discovering and visualizing indirect associations between biomedical concepts

PubMed Central

Tsuruoka, Yoshimasa; Miwa, Makoto; Hamamoto, Kaisei; Tsujii, Jun'ichi; Ananiadou, Sophia

2011-01-01

Motivation: Discovering useful associations between biomedical concepts has been one of the main goals in biomedical text-mining, and understanding their biomedical contexts is crucial in the discovery process. Hence, we need a text-mining system that helps users explore various types of (possibly hidden) associations in an easy and comprehensible manner. Results: This article describes FACTA+, a real-time text-mining system for finding and visualizing indirect associations between biomedical concepts from MEDLINE abstracts. The system can be used as a text search engine like PubMed with additional features to help users discover and visualize indirect associations between important biomedical concepts such as genes, diseases and chemical compounds. FACTA+ inherits all functionality from its predecessor, FACTA, and extends it by incorporating three new features: (i) detecting biomolecular events in text using a machine learning model, (ii) discovering hidden associations using co-occurrence statistics between concepts, and (iii) visualizing associations to improve the interpretability of the output. To the best of our knowledge, FACTA+ is the first real-time web application that offers the functionality of finding concepts involving biomolecular events and visualizing indirect associations of concepts with both their categories and importance. Availability: FACTA+ is available as a web application at http://refine1-nactem.mc.man.ac.uk/facta/, and its visualizer is available at http://refine1-nactem.mc.man.ac.uk/facta-visualizer/. Contact: tsuruoka@jaist.ac.jp PMID:21685059

A Pronoun Analysis of Couples’ Support Transactions

PubMed Central

Hinnekens, Céline; Lemmens, Gilbert; Vanhee, Gaëlle; Verhofstadt, Lesley

2016-01-01

The present study collected data about couples’ level of relationship quality and their usage of pronouns that express we-ness or separateness in the context of support interactions. The sample consisted of 48 couples in a long-term relationship who provided questionnaire data and participated in two videotaped social support interaction tasks. Couples’ videotaped interactions were subsequently coded for the number of personal pronouns—we-words (e.g., we, ours, ourselves) versus you and me-words (e.g., me, mine, you, yours)—used by both partners. PMID:26869976

Mines and Underwater IEDs in U.S. Ports and Waterways: Context, Threats, Challenges, and Solutions

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-01-01

to work hand in glove and also to collaborate with allies and friends to safeguard maritime security at home and abroad. Maritime domain awareness...and Solutions 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e. TASK NUMBER 5f. WORK UNIT...accepted. In submitting work , the sender warrants that it is original, that it is the sender’s property, and that neither it nor a similar work by the

Context-Aware Recommender Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adomavicius, Gediminas; Tuzhilin, Alexander

The importance of contextual information has been recognized by researchers and practitioners in many disciplines, including e-commerce personalization, information retrieval, ubiquitous and mobile computing, data mining, marketing, and management. While a substantial amount of research has already been performed in the area of recommender systems, most existing approaches focus on recommending the most relevant items to users without taking into account any additional contextual information, such as time, location, or the company of other people (e.g., for watching movies or dining out). In this chapter we argue that relevant contextual information does matter in recommender systems and that it is important to take this information into account when providing recommendations. We discuss the general notion of context and how it can be modeled in recommender systems. Furthermore, we introduce three different algorithmic paradigms - contextual prefiltering, post-filtering, and modeling - for incorporating contextual information into the recommendation process, discuss the possibilities of combining several contextaware recommendation techniques into a single unifying approach, and provide a case study of one such combined approach. Finally, we present additional capabilities for context-aware recommenders and discuss important and promising directions for future research.

A Testbed Demonstration of an Intelligent Archive in a Knowledge Building System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ramapriyan, Hampapuram; Isaac, David; Morse, Steve; Yang, Wenli; Bonnlander, Brian; McConaughy, Gail; Di, Liping; Danks, David

2005-01-01

The last decade's influx of raw data and derived geophysical parameters from several Earth observing satellites to NASA data centers has created a data-rich environment for Earth science research and applications. While advances in hardware and information management have made it possible to archive petabytes of data and distribute terabytes of data daily to a broad community of users, further progress is necessary in the transformation of data into information, and information into knowledge that can be used in particular applications in order to realize the full potential of these valuable datasets. In examining what is needed to enable this progress in the data provider environment that exists today and is expected to evolve in the next several years, we arrived at the concept of an Intelligent Archive in context of a Knowledge Building System (IA/KBS). Our prior work and associated papers investigated usage scenarios, required capabilities, system architecture, data volume issues, and supporting technologies. We identified six key capabilities of an IA/KBS: Virtual Product Generation, Significant Event Detection, Automated Data Quality Assessment, Large-Scale Data Mining, Dynamic Feedback Loop, and Data Discovery and Efficient Requesting. Among these capabilities, large-scale data mining is perceived by many in the community to be an area of technical risk. One of the main reasons for this is that standard data mining research and algorithms operate on datasets that are several orders of magnitude smaller than the actual sizes of datasets maintained by realistic earth science data archives. Therefore, we defined a test-bed activity to implement a large-scale data mining algorithm in a pseudo-operational scale environment and to examine any issues involved. The application chosen for applying the data mining algorithm is wildfire prediction over the continental U.S. This paper reports a number of observations based on our experience with this test-bed. While proof-of-concept for data mining scalability and utility has been a major goal for the research reported here, it was not the only one. The other five capabilities of an WKBS named above have been considered as well, and an assessment of the implications of our experience for these other areas will also be presented. The lessons learned through the testbed effort and presented in this paper will benefit technologists, scientists, and system operators as they consider introducing IA/KBS capabilities into production systems.

A combined hydrochemical - isotopic approach for assessing the regional pollution of an alluvial aquifer in a urbanized environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gesels, Julie; Orban, Philippe; Popescu, Cristina; Knöller, Kay; Brouyère, Serge

2014-05-01

The alluvial aquifer of the Meuse River is contaminated at regional scale in the urbanized and industrialized area of Liège in Belgium with different types of contaminants, in particular inorganics such as sulfate, nitrate and ammonium. The sources of those contaminants are numerous: brownfields, urban waste water, subsurface acid mine drainage from former coal mines, atmospheric deposits related to pollutants emissions in the atmosphere... Sulfate, nitrate and ammonium are both typical pollutants of the aquifer and tracers of the possible pollution sources. According to the European legislation on water, groundwater resources should reach a good quality status before 2015. However, an exemption can be obtained if it may be unfeasible or unreasonably expensive to achieve good status. In this case, groundwater quality objectives and management plans can be adapted to these specific conditions. To obtain such an exemption for the Meuse alluvial aquifer, it is required to demonstrate that the poor qualitative status is caused by acid mine drainage, or by widespread historical atmospheric deposition from industries, and not by recent anthropogenic contamination from the urban and industrial context. In this context, a detailed hydrogeochemical characterization of groundwater has been performed, with the aim of determining the origin of the inorganic contaminations and the main processes contributing to poor groundwater quality. A large hydrochemical sampling campaign was performed, based on 71 selected representative sampling locations, to better characterize the different vectors (end-members) of contamination of the alluvial aquifer and their respective contribution to groundwater contamination in the area. Groundwater samples were collected and analyzed for major and minor compounds and metallic trace elements. The analyses also include stable isotopes in water, sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, boron and strontium. Different hydrogeochemical approaches are combined to obtain a global understanding of the hydrogeochemical processes at regional scale. Hydrochemical interpretations are based on classical diagrams (e.g. Piper), spatial distribution maps, geochemical equations, multivariate statistics and isotopic analyses. With this combined approach, the location of the contaminant sources and most contaminated sectors of the alluvial aquifer together with a better understanding of geochemical processes involved are obtained.

Integrating data from biological experiments into metabolic networks with the DBE information system.

PubMed

Borisjuk, Ljudmilla; Hajirezaei, Mohammad-Reza; Klukas, Christian; Rolletschek, Hardy; Schreiber, Falk

2005-01-01

Modern 'omics'-technologies result in huge amounts of data about life processes. For analysis and data mining purposes this data has to be considered in the context of the underlying biological networks. This work presents an approach for integrating data from biological experiments into metabolic networks by mapping the data onto network elements and visualising the data enriched networks automatically. This methodology is implemented in DBE, an information system that supports the analysis and visualisation of experimental data in the context of metabolic networks. It consists of five parts: (1) the DBE-Database for consistent data storage, (2) the Excel-Importer application for the data import, (3) the DBE-Website as the interface for the system, (4) the DBE-Pictures application for the up- and download of binary (e. g. image) files, and (5) DBE-Gravisto, a network analysis and graph visualisation system. The usability of this approach is demonstrated in two examples.

Reversed mining and reversed-reversed mining: the irrational context of geological disposal of nuclear waste

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Loon, A. J.

2000-06-01

Man does not only extract material from the Earth but increasingly uses the underground for storage and disposal purposes. One of the materials that might be disposed of this way is high-level nuclear waste. The development of safe disposal procedures, the choice of suitable host rocks, and the design of underground facilities have taken much time and money, but commissions in several countries have presented reports showing that — and how — safe geological disposal will be possible in such a way that definite isolation from the biosphere is achieved. Political views have changed in the past few years, however, and there is a strong tendency now to require that the high-level waste disposed of will be retrievable. Considering the underlying arguments for isolation from the biosphere, and also considering waste policy in general, this provides an irrational context. The development of new procedures and the design of new disposal facilities that allow retrieval will take much time again. A consequence may be that the high-active, heat-generating nuclear waste will be stored temporarily for a much longer time than objectively desirable. The delay in disposal and the counterproductive requirement of retrievability are partly due to the fact that earth-science organisations have failed to communicate in the way they should, possibly fearing public (and financial) reactions if taking a position that is (was?) considered as politically incorrect. Such an attitude should not be maintained in modern society, which has the right to be informed reliably by the scientific community.

Site-specific climate analysis elucidates revegetation challenges for post-mining landscapes in eastern Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Audet, P.; Arnold, S.; Lechner, A. M.; Baumgartl, T.

2013-10-01

In eastern Australia, the availability of water is critical for the successful rehabilitation of post-mining landscapes and climatic characteristics of this diverse geographical region are closely defined by factors such as erratic rainfall and periods of drought and flooding. Despite this, specific metrics of climate patterning are seldom incorporated into the initial design of current post-mining land rehabilitation strategies. Our study proposes that a few common rainfall parameters can be combined and rated using arbitrary rainfall thresholds to characterise bioregional climate sensitivity relevant to the rehabilitation these landscapes. This approach included assessments of annual rainfall depth, average recurrence interval of prolonged low intensity rainfall, average recurrence intervals of short or prolonged high intensity events, median period without rain (or water-deficit) and standard deviation for this period in order to address climatic factors such as total water availability, seasonality and intensity - which were selected as potential proxies of both short- and long-term biological sensitivity to climate within the context of post-disturbance ecological development and recovery. Following our survey of available climate data, we derived site "climate sensitivity" indexes and compared the performance of 9 ongoing mine sites: Weipa, Mt. Isa and Cloncurry, Eromanga, Kidston, the Bowen Basin (Curragh), Tarong, North Stradbroke Island, and the Newnes Plateau. The sites were then ranked from most-to-least sensitive and compared with natural bioregional patterns of vegetation density using mean NDVI. It was determined that regular rainfall and relatively short periods of water-deficit were key characteristics of sites having less sensitivity to climate - as found among the relatively more temperate inland mining locations. Whereas, high rainfall variability, frequently occurring high intensity events, and (or) prolonged seasonal drought were primary indicators of sites having greater sensitivity to climate - as found among the semi-arid central-inland sites. Overall, the manner in which these climatic factors are identified and ultimately addressed by land managers and rehabilitation practitioners could be a key determinant of achievable success at given locations at the planning stages of rehabilitation design.

Major and trace element composition of copiapite-group minerals and coexisting water from the Richmond mine, Iron Mountain, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jamieson, H.E.; Robinson, C.; Alpers, Charles N.; McCleskey, R. Blaine; Nordstrom, D. Kirk; Peterson, Ronald C.

2005-01-01

Copiapite-group minerals of the general formula AR4 (SO4)6(OH)2??nH2O, where A is predominantly Mg, Fe2+, or 0.67Al3+, R is predominantly Fe3+, and n is typically 20, are among several secondary hydrous Fe sulfates occurring in the inactive mine workings of the massive sulfide deposit at Iron Mountain, CA, a USEPA Superfund site that produces extremely acidic drainage. Samples of copiapite-group minerals, some with coexisting water, were collected from the Richmond mine. Approximately 200 mL of brownish pore water with a pH of -0.9 were extracted through centrifugation from a 10-L sample of moist copiapite-group minerals taken from pyritic muck piles. The pore water is extremely rich in ferric iron (Fe3+=149 g L-1, FeT=162 g L-1 and has a density of 1.52 g mL-1. The composition of the pore water is interpreted in the context of published phase relations in the Fe2O3- SO3-H2O system and previous work on the chemistry of extremely acid mine waters and associated minerals in the Richmond mine. Two distinct members of the copiapite mineral group were identified in the samples with coexisting water: (1) abundant magnesiocopiapite consisting of platy crystals 10 to 50 ??m and (2) minor aluminocopiapite present as smaller platy crystals that form spheroidal aggregates. The average composition (n=5) of the magnesiocopiapite is (Mg0.90Fe0.172+ Zn0.02Cu0.01)???1.10(Fe3.833+Al0.09)???3.92(SO4) 6.00(OH)1.96??20H2O. Bulk compositions determined by digestion and wet-chemical analysis are consistent with the microanalytical results. These results suggest that magnesiocopiapite is the least soluble member of the copiapite group under the prevailing conditions. Micro-PIXE analysis indicates that the copiapite-group minerals in this sample sequester Zn (average 1420 ppm), with lesser amounts of Cu (average 270 ppm) and As (average 64 ppm). ?? 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Time-dependent phosphate dynamics in reclaimed lignite-mine soils under Robinia pseudoacacia L.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freese, Dirk; Slazak, Anna

2017-04-01

As a consequence of the opencast lignite mining activities in Lusatia/Germany, the cultivation of Short Rotation Coppice plantations (SRC) has been considered as a viable option for reclamation purposes. In this region an area of about 1000 km2 has been degraded. Owing to the unfavourable biotic and abiotic properties of the overburden mining substrate, the biogeochemical processes associated with the soil ecosystem development are in the initial phase. The substrate contains very low amount of nutrients, mainly very low total Phosphate (P) content nearly equal to zero. The lack of P is one of the main issues in reclamation of this marginal site. Therefore, the cultivation of perennial SRC with Robinia pseudoacacia L. is considered as a supporting measurement for effective soil reclamation. In this context, it is important to understand the dynamics of P in this "initial substrate" to describe the P availability and P sorption/desorption.. Iron/aluminium oxides and organic matter are the soil constituents most strongly affecting the reactions and rate of P sorption and desorption, also in post-mining soils. Therefore the interaction of these oxides and organic matter with P is essential with regard to developing effective nutrient management strategies for marginal sites. The study focused on P sorption and desorption with regard to different development stages of R. pseudoacacia L. established in a short rotation coppices on the post mining soils. to describe the P availability (Pav) in relation to total P mobility. The hypothesis is that SRC would cause significant changes in soil P dynamics over time in post lignite mining soils. The trees has been planted in between 1995 and 2007, which means that R. pseudoacacia L. was in a range of 2 to 20 years old at different sampling times. Soil was sampled in 2008 and 2015 at three depths of: 0-3cm, 3-10 cm and 10-30 cm. To characterize the P dynamics different P forms and P sorption/desorption kinetics were analysed. With increasing age of trees the ratio of available P to total P decreased in tendency for all soil layers. The total P content increased slightly over time in all soil layers. But the amount of Fe and Al oxides increased also over time and therefore the overall P sorption capacity increased, too. Hence, the ratio between available P and total P shifted more to the less available forms of P in soil. Within a period of 20 years, R. pseudoacacia L. cultivation on post mining sites increased the contents of available P and total P, repectively. The P sorption increased with time of soil development showing the maximum at the oldest site. Nevertheless, P sorption of these initial post mining soils is still rather low. The results suggest, that the SRC of R. pseudoacacia L. on post mining sites have a positive influence on the P dynamics. References Freese, D., Van Riemsdijk, W.H., Van Der Zee, S.E.A.T.M., 1995. Modelling phosphate-sorption kinetics in acid soils. European Journal of Soil Science 46(2), 239-245. Matos, E.S., Freese, D., Böhm, C., Quinkenstein, A., Hüttl, R.F., 2012. Organic Matter Dynamics in Reclaimed Lignite Mine Soils under Robinia pseudoacacia L. Plantations of Different Ages in Germany. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis 43(5), 745-755.

Advances in genetic circuit design: novel biochemistries, deep part mining, and precision gene expression.

PubMed

Nielsen, Alec A K; Segall-Shapiro, Thomas H; Voigt, Christopher A

2013-12-01

Cells use regulatory networks to perform computational operations to respond to their environment. Reliably manipulating such networks would be valuable for many applications in biotechnology; for example, in having genes turn on only under a defined set of conditions or implementing dynamic or temporal control of expression. Still, building such synthetic regulatory circuits remains one of the most difficult challenges in genetic engineering and as a result they have not found widespread application. Here, we review recent advances that address the key challenges in the forward design of genetic circuits. First, we look at new design concepts, including the construction of layered digital and analog circuits, and new approaches to control circuit response functions. Second, we review recent work to apply part mining and computational design to expand the number of regulators that can be used together within one cell. Finally, we describe new approaches to obtain precise gene expression and to reduce context dependence that will accelerate circuit design by more reliably balancing regulators while reducing toxicity. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Mining and integration of pathway diagrams from imaging data.

PubMed

Kozhenkov, Sergey; Baitaluk, Michael

2012-03-01

Pathway diagrams from PubMed and World Wide Web (WWW) contain valuable highly curated information difficult to reach without tools specifically designed and customized for the biological semantics and high-content density of the images. There is currently no search engine or tool that can analyze pathway images, extract their pathway components (molecules, genes, proteins, organelles, cells, organs, etc.) and indicate their relationships. Here, we describe a resource of pathway diagrams retrieved from article and web-page images through optical character recognition, in conjunction with data mining and data integration methods. The recognized pathways are integrated into the BiologicalNetworks research environment linking them to a wealth of data available in the BiologicalNetworks' knowledgebase, which integrates data from >100 public data sources and the biomedical literature. Multiple search and analytical tools are available that allow the recognized cellular pathways, molecular networks and cell/tissue/organ diagrams to be studied in the context of integrated knowledge, experimental data and the literature. BiologicalNetworks software and the pathway repository are freely available at www.biologicalnetworks.org. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Social networks to biological networks: systems biology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

PubMed

Vashisht, Rohit; Bhardwaj, Anshu; Osdd Consortium; Brahmachari, Samir K

2013-07-01

Contextualizing relevant information to construct a network that represents a given biological process presents a fundamental challenge in the network science of biology. The quality of network for the organism of interest is critically dependent on the extent of functional annotation of its genome. Mostly the automated annotation pipelines do not account for unstructured information present in volumes of literature and hence large fraction of genome remains poorly annotated. However, if used, this information could substantially enhance the functional annotation of a genome, aiding the development of a more comprehensive network. Mining unstructured information buried in volumes of literature often requires manual intervention to a great extent and thus becomes a bottleneck for most of the automated pipelines. In this review, we discuss the potential of scientific social networking as a solution for systematic manual mining of data. Focusing on Mycobacterium tuberculosis, as a case study, we discuss our open innovative approach for the functional annotation of its genome. Furthermore, we highlight the strength of such collated structured data in the context of drug target prediction based on systems level analysis of pathogen.

Mine waste management legislation. Gold mining areas in Romania

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maftei, Raluca-Mihaela; Filipciuc, Constantina; Tudor, Elena

2014-05-01

Problems in the post-mining regions of Eastern Europe range from degraded land and landscapes, huge insecure dumps, surface cracks, soil pollution, lowering groundwater table, deforestation, and damaged cultural potentials to socio economic problems like unemployment or population decline. There is no common prescription for tackling the development of post-mining regions after mine closure nor is there a common definition of good practices or policy in this field. Key words : waste management, legislation, EU Directive, post mining Rosia Montana is a common oh 16 villages; one of them is also called Rosia Montana, a traditional mining Community, located in the Apuseni Mountains in the North-Western Romania. Beneath part of the village area lays one of the largest gold and silver deposits in Europe. In the Rosia Montana area mining had begun ever since the height of the Roman Empire. While the modern approach to mining demands careful remediation of environmental impacts, historically disused mines in this region have been abandoned, leaving widespread environmental damage. General legislative framework Strict regulations and procedures govern modern mining activity, including mitigation of all environmental impacts. Precious metals exploitation is put under GO no. 190/2000 re-published in 2004. The institutional framework was established and organized based on specific regulations, being represented by the following bodies: • The Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC), a public institution which develops the Government policy in the mining area, also provides the management of the public property in the mineral resources area; • The National Agency for the development and implementation of the mining Regions Reconstruction Programs (NAD), responsible with promotion of social mitigation measures and actions; • The Office for Industry Privatization, within the Education Ministry, responsible with privatization of companies under the CEM; • The National Agency for Mineral Resources (NAMR) manages, on behalf of the state, the mineral resources. Waste management framework Nowadays, Romania, is trying to align its regulation concerning mining activity to the European legislation taking into consideration waste management and their impact on the environment. Therefore the European Waste Catalog (Commission Decision 2001/118/EC) has been updated and published in the form of HG 856/2002 Waste management inventory and approved wastes list, including dangerous wastes. The HG 349/2005 establishes the legal framework for waste storage activity as well as for the monitoring of the closing and post-closing existing deposits, taking into account the environment protection and the health of the general population. Based on Directive 2000/60/EC the Ministry of Waters Administration, Forests and Environment Protection from Romania issued the GO No 756/1997 (amended by GO 532/2002 and GO 1144/2002),"Regulations for environment pollution assessment" that contains alarm and intervention rates for soil pollution for contaminants such as metals, metalloids (Sb, Ag, As, Be, Bi, B, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se, Sn, TI, V, Zn) and cyanides. Also GO No 756/1997 was amended and updated by Law No 310/2004 and 112/2006 in witch technical instructions concerning general framework for the use of water sources in the human activities including mining industry, are approved. Chemical compounds contained in industrial waters are fully regulated by H. G. 352/2005 concerning the contents of waste water discharged. Directive 2006/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council relating to the management of waste from extractive industries and amending Directive 2004/35/EC is transposed into the national law of the Romanian Government under Decision No 856/2008. The 856/2008 Decision on the management of waste from extractive industries establishes "the legal framework concerning the guidelines, measures and procedures to prevent or reduce as far as possible any adverse effects on the environment, in particular water, air, soil, fauna, flora and landscape, and any health risks to the population, arising as a result of waste management in extractive industries". Based on the Commission decision 2009/339/EC concerning the waste management facilities - classification criteria - Romanian Government issued GO 2042/2010 witch states the procedures for approving the plan of waste management in extractive industries and its applications norms. Law No. 22/2001 fallows the regulations from the Espoo Convention on assessing the impact of mining on the environment sector in a cross-border context. This work is presented within the framework of SUSMIN project.

Mining local climate data to assess spatiotemporal dengue fever epidemic patterns in French Guiana.

PubMed

Flamand, Claude; Fabregue, Mickael; Bringay, Sandra; Ardillon, Vanessa; Quénel, Philippe; Desenclos, Jean-Claude; Teisseire, Maguelonne

2014-10-01

To identify local meteorological drivers of dengue fever in French Guiana, we applied an original data mining method to the available epidemiological and climatic data. Through this work, we also assessed the contribution of the data mining method to the understanding of factors associated with the dissemination of infectious diseases and their spatiotemporal spread. We applied contextual sequential pattern extraction techniques to epidemiological and meteorological data to identify the most significant climatic factors for dengue fever, and we investigated the relevance of the extracted patterns for the early warning of dengue outbreaks in French Guiana. The maximum temperature, minimum relative humidity, global brilliance, and cumulative rainfall were identified as determinants of dengue outbreaks, and the precise intervals of their values and variations were quantified according to the epidemiologic context. The strongest significant correlations were observed between dengue incidence and meteorological drivers after a 4-6-week lag. We demonstrated the use of contextual sequential patterns to better understand the determinants of the spatiotemporal spread of dengue fever in French Guiana. Future work should integrate additional variables and explore the notion of neighborhood for extracting sequential patterns. Dengue fever remains a major public health issue in French Guiana. The development of new methods to identify such specific characteristics becomes crucial in order to better understand and control spatiotemporal transmission. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Data-mining to build a knowledge representation store for clinical decision support. Studies on curation and validation based on machine performance in multiple choice medical licensing examinations.

PubMed

Robson, Barry; Boray, Srinidhi

2016-06-01

Extracting medical knowledge by structured data mining of many medical records and from unstructured data mining of natural language source text on the Internet will become increasingly important for clinical decision support. Output from these sources can be transformed into large numbers of elements of knowledge in a Knowledge Representation Store (KRS), here using the notation and to some extent the algebraic principles of the Q-UEL Web-based universal exchange and inference language described previously, rooted in Dirac notation from quantum mechanics and linguistic theory. In a KRS, semantic structures or statements about the world of interest to medicine are analogous to natural language sentences seen as formed from noun phrases separated by verbs, prepositions and other descriptions of relationships. A convenient method of testing and better curating these elements of knowledge is by having the computer use them to take the test of a multiple choice medical licensing examination. It is a venture which perhaps tells us almost as much about the reasoning of students and examiners as it does about the requirements for Artificial Intelligence as employed in clinical decision making. It emphasizes the role of context and of contextual probabilities as opposed to the more familiar intrinsic probabilities, and of a preliminary form of logic that we call presyllogistic reasoning. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Safety leadership and systems thinking: application and evaluation of a Risk Management Framework in the mining industry.

PubMed

Donovan, Sarah-Louise; Salmon, Paul M; Lenné, Michael G; Horberry, Tim

2017-10-01

Safety leadership is an important factor in supporting safety in high-risk industries. This article contends that applying systems-thinking methods to examine safety leadership can support improved learning from incidents. A case study analysis was undertaken of a large-scale mining landslide incident in which no injuries or fatalities were incurred. A multi-method approach was adopted, in which the Critical Decision Method, Rasmussen's Risk Management Framework and Accimap method were applied to examine the safety leadership decisions and actions which enabled the safe outcome. The approach enabled Rasmussen's predictions regarding safety and performance to be examined in the safety leadership context, with findings demonstrating the distribution of safety leadership across leader and system levels, and the presence of vertical integration as key to supporting the successful safety outcome. In doing so, the findings also demonstrate the usefulness of applying systems-thinking methods to examine and learn from incidents in terms of what 'went right'. The implications, including future research directions, are discussed. Practitioner Summary: This paper presents a case study analysis, in which systems-thinking methods are applied to the examination of safety leadership decisions and actions during a large-scale mining landslide incident. The findings establish safety leadership as a systems phenomenon, and furthermore, demonstrate the usefulness of applying systems-thinking methods to learn from incidents in terms of what 'went right'. Implications, including future research directions, are discussed.

Where Occupation and Environment Overlap: US Forest Service Worker Exposure to Libby Amphibole Fibers

PubMed Central

Harper, Martin; Butler, Corey; Berry, David; Wroble, Julie

2015-01-01

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducted an evaluation of exposures to asbestiform amphibole, known as Libby Amphibole (LA), to personnel from the US Department of Agriculture-Forest Service (USFS) working in the Kootenai National Forest near a former vermiculite mine close to Libby, Montana. LA is associated with vermiculite that was obtained from this mine; mining and processing over many years have resulted in the spread of LA into the surrounding Kootenai Forest where it has been found in tree bark, soil, and forest floor litter. As a result of this and other contamination, Libby and surrounding areas have been designated a “Superfund” site by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This article describes the application of EPA methods for assessing cancer risks to NIOSH sampling results. Phase-contrast microscopy for airborne asbestos fiber evaluation was found to be less useful than transmission electron microscopy in the presence of interfering organic (plant) fibers. NIOSH Method 7402 was extended by examination of larger areas of the filter, but fiber counts remained low. There are differences between counting rules in NIOSH 7402 and the ISO method used by EPA but these are minor in the context of the uncertainty in concentration estimates from the low counts. Estimates for cancer risk are generally compatible with those previously estimated by the EPA. However, there are limitations to extrapolating these findings of low risk throughout the entire area and to tasks that were not evaluated. PMID:25715191

Where occupation and environment overlap: US Forest Service worker exposure to Libby Amphibole fibers.

PubMed

Harper, Martin; Butler, Corey; Berry, David; Wroble, Julie

2015-01-01

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducted an evaluation of exposures to asbestiform amphibole, known as Libby Amphibole (LA), to personnel from the US Department of Agriculture-Forest Service (USFS) working in the Kootenai National Forest near a former vermiculite mine close to Libby, Montana. LA is associated with vermiculite that was obtained from this mine; mining and processing over many years have resulted in the spread of LA into the surrounding Kootenai Forest where it has been found in tree bark, soil, and forest floor litter. As a result of this and other contamination, Libby and surrounding areas have been designated a "Superfund" site by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This article describes the application of EPA methods for assessing cancer risks to NIOSH sampling results. Phase-contrast microscopy for airborne asbestos fiber evaluation was found to be less useful than transmission electron microscopy in the presence of interfering organic (plant) fibers. NIOSH Method 7402 was extended by examination of larger areas of the filter, but fiber counts remained low. There are differences between counting rules in NIOSH 7402 and the ISO method used by EPA but these are minor in the context of the uncertainty in concentration estimates from the low counts. Estimates for cancer risk are generally compatible with those previously estimated by the EPA. However, there are limitations to extrapolating these findings of low risk throughout the entire area and to tasks that were not evaluated.

Analysis of Nature of Science Included in Recent Popular Writing Using Text Mining Techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Feng; McComas, William F.

2014-09-01

This study examined the inclusion of nature of science (NOS) in popular science writing to determine whether it could serve supplementary resource for teaching NOS and to evaluate the accuracy of text mining and classification as a viable research tool in science education research. Four groups of documents published from 2001 to 2010 were analyzed: Scientific American, Discover magazine, winners of the Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books, and books from NSTA's list of Outstanding Science Trade Books. Computer analysis categorized passages in the selected documents based on their inclusions of NOS. Human analysis assessed the frequency, context, coverage, and accuracy of the inclusions of NOS within computer identified NOS passages. NOS was rarely addressed in selected document sets but somewhat more frequently addressed in the letters section of the two magazines. This result suggests that readers seem interested in the discussion of NOS-related themes. In the popular science books analyzed, NOS presentations were found more likely to be aggregated in the beginning and the end of the book, rather than scattered throughout. The most commonly addressed NOS elements in the analyzed documents are science and society and empiricism in science. Only one inaccurate presentation of NOS were identified in all analyzed documents. The text mining technique demonstrated exciting performance, which invites more applications of the technique to analyze other aspects of science textbooks, popular science writing, or other materials involved in science teaching and learning.

Job hindrances, job resources, and safety performance: The mediating role of job engagement.

PubMed

Yuan, Zhenyu; Li, Yongjuan; Tetrick, Lois E

2015-11-01

Job engagement has received widespread attention in organizational research but has rarely been empirically investigated in the context of safety. In the present study, we examined the mediating role of job engagement in the relationships between job characteristics and safety performance using self-reported data collected at a coal mining company in China. Most of our study hypotheses were supported. Job engagement partially mediated the relationships between job resources and safety performance dimensions. Theoretical and practical implications and directions for future research are also discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Environmental Remediation to Address Childhood Lead Poisoning Epidemic due to Artisanal Gold Mining in Zamfara, Nigeria

PubMed Central

Tirima, Simba; Bartrem, Casey; von Lindern, Ian; von Braun, Margrit; Lind, Douglas; Anka, Shehu Mohammed; Abdullahi, Aishat

2016-01-01

Background: From 2010 through 2013, integrated health and environmental responses addressed an unprecedented epidemic lead poisoning in Zamfara State, northern Nigeria. Artisanal gold mining caused widespread contamination resulting in the deaths of > 400 children. Socioeconomic, logistic, and security challenges required remediation and medical protocols within the context of local resources, labor practices, and cultural traditions. Objectives: Our aim was to implement emergency environmental remediation to abate exposures to 17,000 lead poisoned villagers, to facilitate chelation treatment of children ≤ 5 years old, and to establish local technical capacity and lead health advocacy programs to prevent future disasters. Methods: U.S. hazardous waste removal protocols were modified to accommodate local agricultural practices. Remediation was conducted over 4 years in three phases, progressing from an emergency response by international personnel to comprehensive cleanup funded and accomplished by the Nigerian government. Results: More than 27,000 m3 of contaminated soils and mining waste were removed from 820 residences and ore processing areas in eight villages, largely by hand labor, and disposed in constructed landfills. Excavated areas were capped with clean soils (≤ 25 mg/kg lead), decreasing soil lead concentrations by 89%, and 2,349 children received chelation treatment. Pre-chelation geometric mean blood lead levels for children ≤ 5 years old decreased from 149 μg/dL to 15 μg/dL over the 4-year remedial program. Conclusions: The unprecedented outbreak and response demonstrate that, given sufficient political will and modest investment, the world’s most challenging environmental health crises can be addressed by adapting proven response protocols to the capabilities of host countries. Citation: Tirima S, Bartrem C, von Lindern I, von Braun M, Lind D, Anka SM, Abdullahi A. 2016. Environmental remediation to address childhood lead poisoning epidemic due to artisanal gold mining in Zamfara, Nigeria. Environ Health Perspect 124:1471–1478; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1510145 PMID:26745642

Environmental Remediation to Address Childhood Lead Poisoning Epidemic due to Artisanal Gold Mining in Zamfara, Nigeria.

PubMed

Tirima, Simba; Bartrem, Casey; von Lindern, Ian; von Braun, Margrit; Lind, Douglas; Anka, Shehu Mohammed; Abdullahi, Aishat

2016-09-01

From 2010 through 2013, integrated health and environmental responses addressed an unprecedented epidemic lead poisoning in Zamfara State, northern Nigeria. Artisanal gold mining caused widespread contamination resulting in the deaths of > 400 children. Socioeconomic, logistic, and security challenges required remediation and medical protocols within the context of local resources, labor practices, and cultural traditions. Our aim was to implement emergency environmental remediation to abate exposures to 17,000 lead poisoned villagers, to facilitate chelation treatment of children ≤ 5 years old, and to establish local technical capacity and lead health advocacy programs to prevent future disasters. U.S. hazardous waste removal protocols were modified to accommodate local agricultural practices. Remediation was conducted over 4 years in three phases, progressing from an emergency response by international personnel to comprehensive cleanup funded and accomplished by the Nigerian government. More than 27,000 m3 of contaminated soils and mining waste were removed from 820 residences and ore processing areas in eight villages, largely by hand labor, and disposed in constructed landfills. Excavated areas were capped with clean soils (≤ 25 mg/kg lead), decreasing soil lead concentrations by 89%, and 2,349 children received chelation treatment. Pre-chelation geometric mean blood lead levels for children ≤ 5 years old decreased from 149 μg/dL to 15 μg/dL over the 4-year remedial program. The unprecedented outbreak and response demonstrate that, given sufficient political will and modest investment, the world's most challenging environmental health crises can be addressed by adapting proven response protocols to the capabilities of host countries. Tirima S, Bartrem C, von Lindern I, von Braun M, Lind D, Anka SM, Abdullahi A. 2016. Environmental remediation to address childhood lead poisoning epidemic due to artisanal gold mining in Zamfara, Nigeria. Environ Health Perspect 124:1471-1478; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1510145.

The Necessity of Public Relations for Sustainable Mining Activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Hyunbock; Ji, Sangwoo

2015-04-01

This paper reports research about the necessity of image making for sustainable mine developments in the Republic of Korea. One of the big risks in mining activities is mining area residents opposing mine developments and operations. Analysis of the media reports on disputes between mining companies and residents can determine causes of opposing mine developments, dispute process, and influences of disputes on processes of mining projects. To do this, civil complaints from 2009 to 2012 and 24 media reports since 2000 on opposing mining activities are analyzed. And, to analyze difficulties of mining companies, the survey is conducted to target to mining companies. 57 representatives of mining companies are participated in the survey. The result of analysis cited that the major reasons of anti-mining activities are environmental degradation and reduced agricultural productivity. And specifically because of water pollution (50%), crop damages (33%), and mining dust pollution (21%), communities of mining area are against mine developments and operations. However, 25% of residents have experience of the damage caused by mining activities and the remaining 75% of residents opposing mining activities simply have anxiety about mining pollution. In the past, construction-oriented, environment-unfriendly mining projects had lasted. And while mine reclamation had been postponed in abandoned mines, mining area residents had suffered from mining pollution. So, mining area residents are highly influenced by the prejudice that mining activities are harmful to mining area communities. Current mining projects in South Korea, unlike the past mining activity, focus on minimizing environmental damage and contributing to mining area communities financially. But, in many case of disputes between mining companies and mining area residents, the both cannot reach an agreements because of the negative prejudice. Moreover, some communities categorically refuse any mining activity. On the other hand, in the survey to determine what the greatest difficulties of the current mining activities, 54% of mining companies chose environmental regulations, 26% of mining companies chose conflicts between mine area residents and mining companies. Environmental regulations are may defined as the greatest difficulty of current mining activities. But most of environmental regulation's problems are caused by frictions with residents, because all of South Korean mines are very close to villages. So, the biggest difficulty of mining activities can be defined conflicts between residents and mining companies. Moreover, general people in South Korea including some mining engineers recognize the mining industry as a declined and pollution industry. Without clear understanding of mining activities, any mine developments and policies related to mining activities cannot be made by rational discussions. And, if their recognition is not formed in a rational way, it will be turned to extreme fear or blind hatred. Therefore, to understand mining activities correctly, the effective public relations strategy is necessary such as corporate advertisements or public advertisements.

The BEL information extraction workflow (BELIEF): evaluation in the BioCreative V BEL and IAT track

PubMed Central

Madan, Sumit; Hodapp, Sven; Senger, Philipp; Ansari, Sam; Szostak, Justyna; Hoeng, Julia; Peitsch, Manuel; Fluck, Juliane

2016-01-01

Network-based approaches have become extremely important in systems biology to achieve a better understanding of biological mechanisms. For network representation, the Biological Expression Language (BEL) is well designed to collate findings from the scientific literature into biological network models. To facilitate encoding and biocuration of such findings in BEL, a BEL Information Extraction Workflow (BELIEF) was developed. BELIEF provides a web-based curation interface, the BELIEF Dashboard, that incorporates text mining techniques to support the biocurator in the generation of BEL networks. The underlying UIMA-based text mining pipeline (BELIEF Pipeline) uses several named entity recognition processes and relationship extraction methods to detect concepts and BEL relationships in literature. The BELIEF Dashboard allows easy curation of the automatically generated BEL statements and their context annotations. Resulting BEL statements and their context annotations can be syntactically and semantically verified to ensure consistency in the BEL network. In summary, the workflow supports experts in different stages of systems biology network building. Based on the BioCreative V BEL track evaluation, we show that the BELIEF Pipeline automatically extracts relationships with an F-score of 36.4% and fully correct statements can be obtained with an F-score of 30.8%. Participation in the BioCreative V Interactive task (IAT) track with BELIEF revealed a systems usability scale (SUS) of 67. Considering the complexity of the task for new users—learning BEL, working with a completely new interface, and performing complex curation—a score so close to the overall SUS average highlights the usability of BELIEF. Database URL: BELIEF is available at http://www.scaiview.com/belief/ PMID:27694210

The BEL information extraction workflow (BELIEF): evaluation in the BioCreative V BEL and IAT track.

PubMed

Madan, Sumit; Hodapp, Sven; Senger, Philipp; Ansari, Sam; Szostak, Justyna; Hoeng, Julia; Peitsch, Manuel; Fluck, Juliane

2016-01-01

Network-based approaches have become extremely important in systems biology to achieve a better understanding of biological mechanisms. For network representation, the Biological Expression Language (BEL) is well designed to collate findings from the scientific literature into biological network models. To facilitate encoding and biocuration of such findings in BEL, a BEL Information Extraction Workflow (BELIEF) was developed. BELIEF provides a web-based curation interface, the BELIEF Dashboard, that incorporates text mining techniques to support the biocurator in the generation of BEL networks. The underlying UIMA-based text mining pipeline (BELIEF Pipeline) uses several named entity recognition processes and relationship extraction methods to detect concepts and BEL relationships in literature. The BELIEF Dashboard allows easy curation of the automatically generated BEL statements and their context annotations. Resulting BEL statements and their context annotations can be syntactically and semantically verified to ensure consistency in the BEL network. In summary, the workflow supports experts in different stages of systems biology network building. Based on the BioCreative V BEL track evaluation, we show that the BELIEF Pipeline automatically extracts relationships with an F-score of 36.4% and fully correct statements can be obtained with an F-score of 30.8%. Participation in the BioCreative V Interactive task (IAT) track with BELIEF revealed a systems usability scale (SUS) of 67. Considering the complexity of the task for new users-learning BEL, working with a completely new interface, and performing complex curation-a score so close to the overall SUS average highlights the usability of BELIEF.Database URL: BELIEF is available at http://www.scaiview.com/belief/. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

A Framework for Learning Analytics Using Commodity Wearable Devices

PubMed Central

Lu, Yu; Zhang, Sen; Zhang, Zhiqiang; Xiao, Wendong; Yu, Shengquan

2017-01-01

We advocate for and introduce LEARNSense, a framework for learning analytics using commodity wearable devices to capture learner’s physical actions and accordingly infer learner context (e.g., student activities and engagement status in class). Our work is motivated by the observations that: (a) the fine-grained individual-specific learner actions are crucial to understand learners and their context information; (b) sensor data available on the latest wearable devices (e.g., wrist-worn and eye wear devices) can effectively recognize learner actions and help to infer learner context information; (c) the commodity wearable devices that are widely available on the market can provide a hassle-free and non-intrusive solution. Following the above observations and under the proposed framework, we design and implement a sensor-based learner context collector running on the wearable devices. The latest data mining and sensor data processing techniques are employed to detect different types of learner actions and context information. Furthermore, we detail all of the above efforts by offering a novel and exemplary use case: it successfully provides the accurate detection of student actions and infers the student engagement states in class. The specifically designed learner context collector has been implemented on the commodity wrist-worn device. Based on the collected and inferred learner information, the novel intervention and incentivizing feedback are introduced into the system service. Finally, a comprehensive evaluation with the real-world experiments, surveys and interviews demonstrates the effectiveness and impact of the proposed framework and this use case. The F1 score for the student action classification tasks achieve 0.9, and the system can effectively differentiate the defined three learner states. Finally, the survey results show that the learners are satisfied with the use of our system (mean score of 3.7 with a standard deviation of 0.55). PMID:28613236

A Framework for Learning Analytics Using Commodity Wearable Devices.

PubMed

Lu, Yu; Zhang, Sen; Zhang, Zhiqiang; Xiao, Wendong; Yu, Shengquan

2017-06-14

We advocate for and introduce LEARNSense, a framework for learning analytics using commodity wearable devices to capture learner's physical actions and accordingly infer learner context (e.g., student activities and engagement status in class). Our work is motivated by the observations that: (a) the fine-grained individual-specific learner actions are crucial to understand learners and their context information; (b) sensor data available on the latest wearable devices (e.g., wrist-worn and eye wear devices) can effectively recognize learner actions and help to infer learner context information; (c) the commodity wearable devices that are widely available on the market can provide a hassle-free and non-intrusive solution. Following the above observations and under the proposed framework, we design and implement a sensor-based learner context collector running on the wearable devices. The latest data mining and sensor data processing techniques are employed to detect different types of learner actions and context information. Furthermore, we detail all of the above efforts by offering a novel and exemplary use case: it successfully provides the accurate detection of student actions and infers the student engagement states in class. The specifically designed learner context collector has been implemented on the commodity wrist-worn device. Based on the collected and inferred learner information, the novel intervention and incentivizing feedback are introduced into the system service. Finally, a comprehensive evaluation with the real-world experiments, surveys and interviews demonstrates the effectiveness and impact of the proposed framework and this use case. The F1 score for the student action classification tasks achieve 0.9, and the system can effectively differentiate the defined three learner states. Finally, the survey results show that the learners are satisfied with the use of our system (mean score of 3.7 with a standard deviation of 0.55).

Building The Bigger Picture - Using a field study geology programme to link and contextualise classroom topics.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allen, Lesley

2013-04-01

Cornwall, UK, has been designated a World Heritage Site for industrial heritage, based on the extensive mining history built around hydrothermal deposits of tin and copper suite deposits. These deposits are found in a very varied and complex geological setting. The tectonic activity which emplaced the deposits also produced intense folding and faulting of Carboniferous and Devonian marine sediments, major and minor igneous intrusions, regional and contact metamorphism, and the emplacement of an ophiolite sequence on the Lizard peninsula. The region is targeted by college and university geology student groups from across the UK. It is also the home of the world famous Camborne School of Mines, part of the University of Exeter. We have developed a comprehensive series of field visits to cover all these geological aspects. We also use the history of mining as a context within which to teach the social, environmental and economic aspects of the geology curriculum at A Level. By this means we can reveal how disparate geological topics link together through 3 physical dimensions plus time. Field visits motivate students; they enthuse and excite them and help them to understand the large-scale and 3D visualisation aspects of geology, the timescales involved, and also assist students in developing observational and practical field and mapping skills. The series of visits also helps to bring many aspects of the curriculum together into a more complete picture. Site 1 - Bude. Intense folding of marine sediments with tectonic and sedimentary structures in cyclical sands and shales and some turbidites. Competent and incompetent rocks, axial planar cleavage, etc. Site 2 - Praa Sands. Minor porphyritic intrusion with baked & chilled margins and flow aligned feldspars. (Also incidental raised beach due to post-glacial isostatic rebound.) Site 3 - Rinsey Cove. Contact zone where 'roof' of major granitic intrusion intrudes slates. Pegmatites, classic marginal features, xenoliths, stoping and faulting visible. Site 4 - Polurrian Cove. Western end of boundary thrust fault between metamorphosed subterranean lava flows (hornblende schists)above and crustal Devonian slates below can be observed. Site 5 - Coverack Cove to Godrevy Cove. The beach rocks change from olivine rich serpentinised peridotite to gabbro as you move across the Moho boundary zone. Further along the coast at Dean Point, dolerite dykes are quarried and basalt dykes are found at neighbouring Godrevy Cove - the complete ophiolite sequence in a few miles! Site 6 - Holmans Mine. Camborne School of Mines' training mine where students can experience blasting and see methods of rock stabilisation. They can also see mineral veins in situ underground and investigate mining techniques. Site 7 - Carnon Valley. Once known as the 'richest square mile in the World' due to the amount of tin and copper being produced. The Wheal Jane pollution incident (1992) caused widespread alarm and was dealt with by chemical and biological treatment systems still in operation. Historical and current tailings dams can be seen and compared, and the ecology of environmentally damaged ground observed. Mine dumps still yield mineral specimens and the streams are still acidic after heavy rain.

Large Mine Permitting - Div. of Mining, Land, and Water

Science.gov Websites

Pebble Project Pogo Mine Red Dog Mine Rock Creek Project True North Mine OPMP Canadian Large Projects Pebble Project Pogo Mine Red Dog Mine Rock Creek Project True North Mine Contact: Kyle Moselle Large Mine

Small solar system bodies as granular systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hestroffer, Daniel; Campo Bagatín, Adriano; Losert, Wolfgang; Opsomer, Eric; Sánchez, Paul; Scheeres, Daniel J.; Staron, Lydie; Taberlet, Nicolas; Yano, Hajime; Eggl, Siegfried; Lecomte, Charles-Edouard; Murdoch, Naomi; Radjai, Fahrang; Richardson, Derek C.; Salazar, Marcos; Schwartz, Stephen R.; Tanga, Paolo

2017-06-01

Asteroids and other Small Solar System Bodies (SSSBs) are currently of great scientific and even industrial interest. Asteroids exist as the permanent record of the formation of the Solar System and therefore hold many clues to its understanding as a whole, as well as insights into the formation of planetary bodies. Additionally, SSSBs are being investigated in the context of impact risks for the Earth, space situational awareness and their possible industrial exploitation (asteroid mining). In all these aspects, the knowledge of the geophysical characteristics of SSSB surface and internal structure are of great importance. Given their size, constitution, and the evidence that many SSSBs are not simple monoliths, these bodies should be studied and modelled as self-gravitating granular systems in general, or as granular systems in micro-gravity environments in particular contexts. As such, the study of the geophysical characteristics of SSSBs is a multi-disciplinary effort that lies at the crossroads between Granular Mechanics, Celestial Mechanics, Soil Mechanics, Aerospace Engineering and Computer Sciences.

Phrase Mining of Textual Data to Analyze Extracellular Matrix Protein Patterns Across Cardiovascular Disease.

PubMed

Liem, David Alexandre; Murali, Sanjana; Sigdel, Dibakar; Shi, Yu; Wang, Xuan; Shen, Jiaming; Choi, Howard; Caufield, J Harry; Wang, Wei; Ping, Peipei; Han, Jiawei

2018-05-18

Extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins have been shown to play important roles regulating multiple biological processes in an array of organ systems, including the cardiovascular system. By using a novel bioinformatics text-mining tool, we studied six categories of cardiovascular disease (CVD), namely ischemic heart disease (IHD), cardiomyopathies (CM), cerebrovascular accident (CVA), congenital heart disease (CHD), arrhythmias (ARR), and valve disease (VD), anticipating novel ECM protein-disease and protein-protein relationships hidden within vast quantities of textual data. We conducted a phrase-mining analysis, delineating the relationships of 709 ECM proteins with the six groups of CVDs reported in 1,099,254 abstracts. The technology pipeline known as Context-aware Semantic Online Analytical Processing (CaseOLAP) was applied to semantically rank the association of proteins to each and all six CVDs, performing analyses to quantify each protein-disease relationship. We performed principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering of the data, where each protein is visualized as a six dimensional vector. We found that ECM proteins display variable degrees of association with the six CVDs; certain CVDs share groups of associated proteins whereas others have divergent protein associations. We identified 82 ECM proteins sharing associations with all six CVDs. Our bioinformatics analysis ascribed distinct ECM pathways (via Reactome) from this subset of proteins, namely insulin-like growth factor regulation and interleukin-4 and interleukin-13 signaling, suggesting their contribution to the pathogenesis of all six CVDs. Finally, we performed hierarchical clustering analysis and identified protein clusters associated with a targeted CVD; analyses revealed unexpected insights underlying ECM-pathogenesis of CVDs.

An Integrated Economics Model for ISRU in Support of a Mars Colony - Initial Status Report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shishko, Robert; Fradet, Rene; Saydam, Serkan; Tapia-Cortez, Carlos; Dempster, Andrew G.; Coulton, Jeff

2015-01-01

The aim of this effort is to develop an integrated set of risk-based financial and technical models to evaluate multiple Off-Earth Mining (OEM) scenarios. This quantitative, scenario- and simulation-based tool will help identify combinations of market variables, technical parameters, and policy levers that will enable the expansion of the global economy into the solar system and return economic benefits. Human ventures in space are entering a new phase in which missions formerly driven by government agencies are now being replaced by those led by commercial enterprises - in launch, satellite deployment, resupply of the International Space Station, and space tourism. In the not-too-distant future, commercial opportunities will also include the mining of asteroids, the Moon, and Mars. This investigation will examine the role of OEM in a growing space economy. (In this investigation, the term 'mining' is taken to embrace minerals, ice/water, and other in situ resources.) OEM can be the engine that drives the space economy, so it would be useful to understand what OEM market conditions and technology requirements are needed for that economy to prosper. These specific elements will be studied in the wider context of creating an economy that could ultimately support a sustainable Mars Colony. Such a colony will need in situ resources not only for its own survival, but to prosper and grow, it must create viable business ventures, essentially by fulfilling the demand for in situ resources from and on Mars. This investigation will focus on understanding the role and economic prospect for OEM associated with the Human Colonization of Mars (HCM).

Sediment matrix characterization as a tool for evaluating the environmental impact of heavy metals in metal mining, smelting, and ore processing areas.

PubMed

Ružičková, Silvia; Remeteiová, Dagmar; Mičková, Vladislava; Dirner, Vojtech

2018-02-21

In this work, the matrix characterization (mineralogy, total and local chemical composition, and total organic (TOC) and inorganic carbon (TIC) contents) of different types of sediments from mining- and metallurgy-influenced areas and the assessment of the impact of the matrix on the association of potentially hazardous metals with the mineral phases of these samples, which affect their mobility in the environment, are presented. For these purposes, sediment samples with different origins and from different locations in the environment were analyzed. Anthropogenic sediments from metal-rich post-flotation tailings (Lintich, Slovakia) represent waste from ore processing, natural river sediments from the Hornád River (Košice, Slovakia) represent areas influenced predominantly by the metallurgical industry, and lake sediments from a water reservoir Ružín (inflow from the Hornád and Hnilec Rivers, Slovakia) represent the impact of the metallurgical and/or mining industries. The total metal contents were determined by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis, the local chemical and morphological microanalysis by scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), and the TOC and TIC contents by infrared (IR) spectrometry. The mobility/bioavailability of Cu, Pb, and Zn in/from sediments at the studied areas was assessed by ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and acetic acid (AA) extraction and is discussed in the context of the matrix composition. The contents of selected potentially hazardous elements in the extracts were determined by the high-resolution continuum source flame atomic absorption spectrometry (HR-CS FAAS).

Ontology-based meta-analysis of global collections of high-throughput public data.

PubMed

Kupershmidt, Ilya; Su, Qiaojuan Jane; Grewal, Anoop; Sundaresh, Suman; Halperin, Inbal; Flynn, James; Shekar, Mamatha; Wang, Helen; Park, Jenny; Cui, Wenwu; Wall, Gregory D; Wisotzkey, Robert; Alag, Satnam; Akhtari, Saeid; Ronaghi, Mostafa

2010-09-29

The investigation of the interconnections between the molecular and genetic events that govern biological systems is essential if we are to understand the development of disease and design effective novel treatments. Microarray and next-generation sequencing technologies have the potential to provide this information. However, taking full advantage of these approaches requires that biological connections be made across large quantities of highly heterogeneous genomic datasets. Leveraging the increasingly huge quantities of genomic data in the public domain is fast becoming one of the key challenges in the research community today. We have developed a novel data mining framework that enables researchers to use this growing collection of public high-throughput data to investigate any set of genes or proteins. The connectivity between molecular states across thousands of heterogeneous datasets from microarrays and other genomic platforms is determined through a combination of rank-based enrichment statistics, meta-analyses, and biomedical ontologies. We address data quality concerns through dataset replication and meta-analysis and ensure that the majority of the findings are derived using multiple lines of evidence. As an example of our strategy and the utility of this framework, we apply our data mining approach to explore the biology of brown fat within the context of the thousands of publicly available gene expression datasets. Our work presents a practical strategy for organizing, mining, and correlating global collections of large-scale genomic data to explore normal and disease biology. Using a hypothesis-free approach, we demonstrate how a data-driven analysis across very large collections of genomic data can reveal novel discoveries and evidence to support existing hypothesis.

Spatio-temporal pattern of eco-environmental parameters in Jharia coalfield, India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saini, V.; Gupta, R. P.; Arora, M. K.

2015-10-01

Jharia coal-field holds unequivocal importance in the Indian context as it is the only source of prime coking coal in the country. The coalfield is also known for its infamous coal mine fires which have been burning since last more than a century. Haphazard mining over a century has led to eco-environmental changes to a large extent such as changes in vegetation distribution and widespread development of surface and subsurface fires. This article includes the spatiotemporal study of remote sensing derived eco-environmental parameters like vegetation index (NDVI), tasseled cap transformation (TCT) and temperature distribution in fire areas. In order to have an estimate of the temporal variations of NDVI over the years, a study has been carried out on two subsets of the Jharia coalfield using Landsat images of 1972 (MSS), 1992 (TM), 1999 (ETM+) and 2013 (OLI). To assess the changes in brightness and greenness over the year s, difference images have been calculated using the 1992 (TM) and 2013 (OLI) images. Radiance images derived from thermal bands have been used to calculate at-sensor brightness temperature over a 23 year period from 1991 to 2013. It has been observed that during the years 1972 to 2013, moderate to dense vegetation has decreased drastically due to the intense mining going on in the area. TCT images show the areas that have undergone changes in both brightness and greenness from 1992 to 2013. Surface temperature data obtained shows a constant increase from 1991 to 2013 apparently due to coal fires. The utility of remote sensing data in such EIA studies has been emphasized.

Environmental and socioeconomic assessment of impacts by mining activities-a case study in the Certej River catchment, Western Carpathians, Romania.

PubMed

Zobrist, Jürg; Sima, Mihaela; Dogaru, Diana; Senila, Marin; Yang, Hong; Popescu, Claudia; Roman, Cecilia; Bela, Abraham; Frei, Linda; Dold, Bernhard; Balteanu, Dan

2009-08-01

In the region of the Apuseni Mountains, part of the Western Carpathians in Romania, metal mining activities have a long-standing tradition. These mining industries created a clearly beneficial economic development in the region. But their activities also caused impairments to the environment, such as acid mine drainage (AMD) resulting in long-lasting heavy metal pollution of waters and sediments. The study, established in the context of the ESTROM programme, investigated the impact of metal mining activities both from environmental and socioeconomic perspectives and tried to incorporate the results of the two approaches into an integrated proposition for mitigation of mining-related issues. The small Certej catchment, situated in the Southern Apuseni Mountains, covers an area of 78 km(2). About 4,500 inhabitants are living in the basin, in which metal mining was the main economic sector. An open pit and several abandoned underground mines are producing heavy metal-loaded acidic water that is discharged untreated into the main river. The solid wastes of mineral processing plants were deposited in several dumps and tailings impoundment embodying the acidic water-producing mineral pyrite. The natural science team collected samples from surface waters, drinking water from dug wells and from groundwater. Filtered and total heavy metals, both after enrichment, and major cations were analysed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Major anions in waters, measured by ion chromatography, alkalinity and acidity were determined by titration. Solid samples were taken from river sediments and from the largest tailings dam. The latter were characterised by X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction. Heavy metals in sediments were analysed after digestion. Simultaneously, the socioeconomic team performed a household survey to evaluate the perception of people related to the river and drinking water pollution by way of a logistic regression analysis. The inputs of acid mine waters drastically increased filtered heavy metal concentrations in the Certej River, e.g. Zn up to 130 mg L(-1), Fe 100 mg L(-1), Cu 2.9 mg L(-1), Cd 1.4 mg L(-1) as well as those of SO(4) up to 2.2 g L(-1). In addition, river water became acidic with pH values of pH 3. Concentrations of pollutant decreased slightly downstream due to dilution by waters from tributaries. Metal concentrations measured at headwater stations reflect background values. They fell in the range of the environmental quality standards proposed in the EU Water Framework Directive for dissolved heavy metals. The outflow of the large tailing impoundment and the groundwater downstream from two tailings dams exhibited the first sign of AMD, but they still had alkalinity. Most dug wells analysed delivered a drinking water that exhibited no sign of AMD pollution, although these wells were a distance of 7 to 25 m from the contaminated river. It seems that the Certej River does not infiltrate significantly into the groundwater. Pyrite was identified as the main sulphide mineral in the tailings dam that produces acidity and with calcite representing the AMD-neutralising mineral. The acid-base accounting proved that the potential acid-neutralising capacity in the solid phases would not be sufficient to prevent the production of acidic water in the future. Therefore, the open pits and mine waste deposits have to be seen as the sources for AMD at the present time, with a high long-term potential to produce even more AMD in the future. The socioeconomic study showed that mining provided the major source of income. Over 45% of the households were partly or completely reliant on financial compensations as a result of mine closure. Unemployment was considered by the majority of the interviewed persons as the main cause of social problems in the area. The estimation of the explanatory factors by the logistic regression analysis revealed that education, household income, pollution conditions during the last years and familiarity with environmental problems were the main predictors influencing peoples' opinion concerning whether the main river is strongly polluted. This model enabled one to predict correctly 77% of the observations reported. For the drinking water quality model, three predictors were relevant and they explained 66% of the observations. Coupling the findings from the natural science and socioeconomic approaches, we may conclude that the impact of mining on the Certej River water is high, while drinking water in wells is not significantly affected. The perceptions of the respondents to pollution were to a large extent consistent with the measured results. The results of the study can be used by various stakeholders, mainly the mining company and local municipalities, in order to integrate them in their post-mining measures, thereby making them aware of the potential long-term impact of mining on the environment and on human health as well as on the local economy.

Sentiments analysis at conceptual level making use of the Narrative Knowledge Representation Language.

PubMed

Zarri, Gian Piero

2014-10-01

This paper illustrates some of the knowledge representation structures and inference procedures proper to a high-level, fully implemented conceptual language, NKRL (Narrative Knowledge Representation Language). The aim is to show how these tools can be used to deal, in a sentiment analysis/opinion mining context, with some common types of human (and non-human) "behaviors". These behaviors correspond, in particular, to the concrete, mutual relationships among human and non-human characters that can be expressed under the form of non-fictional and real-time "narratives" (i.e., as logically and temporally structured sequences of "elementary events"). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using Perilog to Explore "Decision Making at NASA"

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McGreevy, Michael W.

2005-01-01

Perilog, a context intensive text mining system, is used as a discovery tool to explore topics and concerns in "Decision Making at NASA," chapter 6 of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) Report, Volume I. Two examples illustrate how Perilog can be used to discover highly significant safety-related information in the text without prior knowledge of the contents of the document. A third example illustrates how "if-then" statements found by Perilog can be used in logical analysis of decision making. In addition, in order to serve as a guide for future work, the technical details of preparing a PDF document for input to Perilog are included in an appendix.

Ten quick tips for machine learning in computational biology.

PubMed

Chicco, Davide

2017-01-01

Machine learning has become a pivotal tool for many projects in computational biology, bioinformatics, and health informatics. Nevertheless, beginners and biomedical researchers often do not have enough experience to run a data mining project effectively, and therefore can follow incorrect practices, that may lead to common mistakes or over-optimistic results. With this review, we present ten quick tips to take advantage of machine learning in any computational biology context, by avoiding some common errors that we observed hundreds of times in multiple bioinformatics projects. We believe our ten suggestions can strongly help any machine learning practitioner to carry on a successful project in computational biology and related sciences.

Contemporary Network Proteomics and Its Requirements

PubMed Central

Goh, Wilson Wen Bin; Wong, Limsoon; Sng, Judy Chia Ghee

2013-01-01

The integration of networks with genomics (network genomics) is a familiar field. Conventional network analysis takes advantage of the larger coverage and relative stability of gene expression measurements. Network proteomics on the other hand has to develop further on two critical factors: (1) expanded data coverage and consistency, and (2) suitable reference network libraries, and data mining from them. Concerning (1) we discuss several contemporary themes that can improve data quality, which in turn will boost the outcome of downstream network analysis. For (2), we focus on network analysis developments, specifically, the need for context-specific networks and essential considerations for localized network analysis. PMID:24833333

Identification and classification of known and putative antimicrobial compounds produced by a wide variety of Bacillales species.

PubMed

Zhao, Xin; Kuipers, Oscar P

2016-11-07

Gram-positive bacteria of the Bacillales are important producers of antimicrobial compounds that might be utilized for medical, food or agricultural applications. Thanks to the wide availability of whole genome sequence data and the development of specific genome mining tools, novel antimicrobial compounds, either ribosomally- or non-ribosomally produced, of various Bacillales species can be predicted and classified. Here, we provide a classification scheme of known and putative antimicrobial compounds in the specific context of Bacillales species. We identify and describe known and putative bacteriocins, non-ribosomally synthesized peptides (NRPs), polyketides (PKs) and other antimicrobials from 328 whole-genome sequenced strains of 57 species of Bacillales by using web based genome-mining prediction tools. We provide a classification scheme for these bacteriocins, update the findings of NRPs and PKs and investigate their characteristics and suitability for biocontrol by describing per class their genetic organization and structure. Moreover, we highlight the potential of several known and novel antimicrobials from various species of Bacillales. Our extended classification of antimicrobial compounds demonstrates that Bacillales provide a rich source of novel antimicrobials that can now readily be tapped experimentally, since many new gene clusters are identified.

Repeated climate-linked host shifts have promoted diversification in a temperate clade of leaf-mining flies

PubMed Central

Winkler, Isaac S.; Mitter, Charles; Scheffer, Sonja J.

2009-01-01

A central but little-tested prediction of “escape and radiation” coevolution is that colonization of novel, chemically defended host plant clades accelerates insect herbivore diversification. That theory, in turn, exemplifies one side of a broader debate about the relative influence on clade dynamics of intrinsic (biotic) vs. extrinsic (physical-environmental) forces. Here, we use a fossil-calibrated molecular chronogram to compare the effects of a major biotic factor (repeated shift to a chemically divergent host plant clade) and a major abiotic factor (global climate change) on the macroevolutionary dynamics of a large Cenozoic radiation of phytophagous insects, the leaf-mining fly genus Phytomyza (Diptera: Agromyzidae). We find one of the first statistically supported examples of consistently elevated net diversification accompanying shift to new plant clades. In contrast, we detect no significant direct effect on diversification of major global climate events in the early and late Oligocene. The broader paleoclimatic context strongly suggests, however, that climate change has at times had a strong indirect influence through its effect on the biotic environment. Repeated rapid Miocene radiation of these flies on temperate herbaceous asterids closely corresponds to the dramatic, climate-driven expansion of seasonal, open habitats. PMID:19805134

Arsenic-transforming microbes and their role in biomining processes.

PubMed

Drewniak, L; Sklodowska, A

2013-11-01

It is well known that microorganisms can dissolve different minerals and use them as sources of nutrients and energy. The majority of rock minerals are rich in vital elements (e.g., P, Fe, S, Mg and Mo), but some may also contain toxic metals or metalloids, like arsenic. The toxicity of arsenic is disclosed after the dissolution of the mineral, which raises two important questions: (1) why do microorganisms dissolve arsenic-bearing minerals and release this metal into the environment in a toxic (also for themselves) form, and (2) How do these microorganisms cope with this toxic element? In this review, we summarize current knowledge about arsenic-transforming microbes and their role in biomining processes. Special consideration is given to studies that have increased our understanding of how microbial activities are linked to the biogeochemistry of arsenic, by examining (1) where and in which forms arsenic occurs in the mining environment, (2) microbial activity in the context of arsenic mineral dissolution and the mechanisms of arsenic resistance, (3) the minerals used and technologies applied in the biomining of arsenic, and (4) how microbes can be used to clean up post-mining environments.

Updated regulation curation model at the Saccharomyces Genome Database

PubMed Central

Engel, Stacia R; Skrzypek, Marek S; Hellerstedt, Sage T; Wong, Edith D; Nash, Robert S; Weng, Shuai; Binkley, Gail; Sheppard, Travis K; Karra, Kalpana; Cherry, J Michael

2018-01-01

Abstract The Saccharomyces Genome Database (SGD) provides comprehensive, integrated biological information for the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, along with search and analysis tools to explore these data, enabling the discovery of functional relationships between sequence and gene products in fungi and higher organisms. We have recently expanded our data model for regulation curation to address regulation at the protein level in addition to transcription, and are presenting the expanded data on the ‘Regulation’ pages at SGD. These pages include a summary describing the context under which the regulator acts, manually curated and high-throughput annotations showing the regulatory relationships for that gene and a graphical visualization of its regulatory network and connected networks. For genes whose products regulate other genes or proteins, the Regulation page includes Gene Ontology enrichment analysis of the biological processes in which those targets participate. For DNA-binding transcription factors, we also provide other information relevant to their regulatory function, such as DNA binding site motifs and protein domains. As with other data types at SGD, all regulatory relationships and accompanying data are available through YeastMine, SGD’s data warehouse based on InterMine. Database URL: http://www.yeastgenome.org PMID:29688362

Tintina Gold Province Study, Alaska and Yukon Territory, 2002-2007

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gough, Larry P.; Day, Warren C.

2007-01-01

The Tintina gold province is an arc-shaped 2,000-kilometer-long metallogenic province that extends from northern British Columbia, through the Yukon Territory, and across and into southwestern Alaska. In the United States, the province remains a prime area for gold exploration and includes such large gold deposits as Pogo, Fort Knox-True North, and Donlin Creek. In recent years, gold exploration and development and mining activity have accelerated in the area. Plans have been discussed for public and private projects and infrastructures associated with development. A U.S. Geological Survey study undertaken from 2002 to 2007 provides a context for understanding why and how the mineral resources of the area were formed, why this area is so abundantly endowed, and how the environmental signatures that are characteristic of the area are related to the development of mineral resources. Characterization of natural baseline metal concentrations in the area's watersheds is necessary to address future land-use issues related to mining and/or infrastructure activities. A thorough understanding of water-rock and element-bioavailability processes will help predict the possible environmental impact of development. The five tasks of this study add to the science of defining and understanding an 'intrusion-related gold system.'

Data Mining for Anomaly Detection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Biswas, Gautam; Mack, Daniel; Mylaraswamy, Dinkar; Bharadwaj, Raj

2013-01-01

The Vehicle Integrated Prognostics Reasoner (VIPR) program describes methods for enhanced diagnostics as well as a prognostic extension to current state of art Aircraft Diagnostic and Maintenance System (ADMS). VIPR introduced a new anomaly detection function for discovering previously undetected and undocumented situations, where there are clear deviations from nominal behavior. Once a baseline (nominal model of operations) is established, the detection and analysis is split between on-aircraft outlier generation and off-aircraft expert analysis to characterize and classify events that may not have been anticipated by individual system providers. Offline expert analysis is supported by data curation and data mining algorithms that can be applied in the contexts of supervised learning methods and unsupervised learning. In this report, we discuss efficient methods to implement the Kolmogorov complexity measure using compression algorithms, and run a systematic empirical analysis to determine the best compression measure. Our experiments established that the combination of the DZIP compression algorithm and CiDM distance measure provides the best results for capturing relevant properties of time series data encountered in aircraft operations. This combination was used as the basis for developing an unsupervised learning algorithm to define "nominal" flight segments using historical flight segments.

Data mining for blood glucose prediction and knowledge discovery in diabetic patients: the METABO diabetes modeling and management system.

PubMed

Georga, Eleni; Protopappas, Vasilios; Guillen, Alejandra; Fico, Giuseppe; Ardigo, Diego; Arredondo, Maria Teresa; Exarchos, Themis P; Polyzos, Demosthenes; Fotiadis, Dimitrios I

2009-01-01

METABO is a diabetes monitoring and management system which aims at recording and interpreting patient's context, as well as, at providing decision support to both the patient and the doctor. The METABO system consists of (a) a Patient's Mobile Device (PMD), (b) different types of unobtrusive biosensors, (c) a Central Subsystem (CS) located remotely at the hospital and (d) the Control Panel (CP) from which physicians can follow-up their patients and gain also access to the CS. METABO provides a multi-parametric monitoring system which facilitates the efficient and systematic recording of dietary, physical activity, medication and medical information (continuous and discontinuous glucose measurements). Based on all recorded contextual information, data mining schemes that run in the PMD are responsible to model patients' metabolism, predict hypo/hyper-glycaemic events, and provide the patient with short and long-term alerts. In addition, all past and recently-recorded data are analyzed to extract patterns of behavior, discover new knowledge and provide explanations to the physician through the CP. Advanced tools in the CP allow the physician to prescribe personalized treatment plans and frequently quantify patient's adherence to treatment.

Using ZFIN: Data Types, Organization, and Retrieval.

PubMed

Van Slyke, Ceri E; Bradford, Yvonne M; Howe, Douglas G; Fashena, David S; Ramachandran, Sridhar; Ruzicka, Leyla

2018-01-01

The Zebrafish Model Organism Database (ZFIN; zfin.org) was established in 1994 as the primary genetic and genomic resource for the zebrafish research community. Some of the earliest records in ZFIN were for people and laboratories. Since that time, services and data types provided by ZFIN have grown considerably. Today, ZFIN provides the official nomenclature for zebrafish genes, mutants, and transgenics and curates many data types including gene expression, phenotypes, Gene Ontology, models of human disease, orthology, knockdown reagents, transgenic constructs, and antibodies. Ontologies are used throughout ZFIN to structure these expertly curated data. An integrated genome browser provides genomic context for genes, transgenics, mutants, and knockdown reagents. ZFIN also supports a community wiki where the research community can post new antibody records and research protocols. Data in ZFIN are accessible via web pages, download files, and the ZebrafishMine (zebrafishmine.org), an installation of the InterMine data warehousing software. Searching for data at ZFIN utilizes both parameterized search forms and a single box search for searching or browsing data quickly. This chapter aims to describe the primary ZFIN data and services, and provide insight into how to use and interpret ZFIN searches, data, and web pages.

Big Data Analytics for Demand Response: Clustering Over Space and Time

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chelmis, Charalampos; Kolte, Jahanvi; Prasanna, Viktor K.

The pervasive deployment of advanced sensing infrastructure in Cyber-Physical systems, such as the Smart Grid, has resulted in an unprecedented data explosion. Such data exhibit both large volumes and high velocity characteristics, two of the three pillars of Big Data, and have a time-series notion as datasets in this context typically consist of successive measurements made over a time interval. Time-series data can be valuable for data mining and analytics tasks such as identifying the “right” customers among a diverse population, to target for Demand Response programs. However, time series are challenging to mine due to their high dimensionality. Inmore » this paper, we motivate this problem using a real application from the smart grid domain. We explore novel representations of time-series data for BigData analytics, and propose a clustering technique for determining natural segmentation of customers and identification of temporal consumption patterns. Our method is generizable to large-scale, real-world scenarios, without making any assumptions about the data. We evaluate our technique using real datasets from smart meters, totaling ~ 18,200,000 data points, and show the efficacy of our technique in efficiency detecting the number of optimal number of clusters.« less

Community- and family-level factors influence care-giver choice to screen blood lead levels of children in a mining community.

PubMed

Moodie, S M; Tsui, E K; Silbergeld, E K

2010-07-01

Bunker Hill, in Kellogg, Idaho, formerly a lead mine (1884-1981) and smelter (1917-1981), is now a Superfund site listed on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) National Priorities List. Lead contamination from the site is widespread due to past smelter discharges to land, water, and air, placing children at risk for both exposure to lead and resultant health effects of lead. Since 1983, the EPA has used child blood lead levels to inform the clean-up standards for the Bunker Hill Superfund site. This study was undertaken to examine factors that have contributed to the significant fall-off in the rates and numbers of children being screened for blood lead in Kellogg (number screened decreased from 195 to 8 from 2002 to 2007). The goal of this research project was to define community- and family-level factors which influence care-giver choice to screen blood lead levels of their children in this environment. This formative research study used mixed methods and was comprised of three research components: (1) preliminary interviews using community-based participatory research methods to define key research questions of relevance to community members, government and NGOs working in relation to the Bunker Hill clean-up; (2) a quantitative analysis of a cross-sectional household survey conducted with adult care-givers about child blood lead screening in Kellogg; and (3) ethnographic community rapid assessment methods formed the in-depth interview process and qualitative analysis. The survey showed the likelihood of blood lead screening that for children under the age of 18 years increases 34% with each one-year increase in current age of the child (95% CI, 1.08-1.67, p-value=0.009), and decreases 45% with annual household income greater than $10,000 (95% CI, 0.35-0.88, p-value=0.013). Sibling birth order increased the likelihood of blood lead screening by 61% (95% CI, 1.04-2.48, p-value=0.032) for each successive child. Female children were rated by their care-givers as 3.7 times less agitated or easily angered than male children (95% CI, 1.5-8.8, p-value=0.005). Across all levels of interviews, regulators, residents, and non-governmental organization representatives reported that Kellogg's long history as a mining town has continued to influence attitudes and actions of care-givers to access blood lead screening for their children. The mining context has been described as instilling stigmas, parental blame and a sense of shame about lead exposure and resultant health effects. Children under 6 years of age are currently the least likely to have been screened for lead in Kellogg and screening rates decreased in the 2000s. According to most indicators, socio-economic status did not influence the likelihood of a care-giver to screen children's blood lead levels. However, children in homes with an annual income below $10,000 were more likely to have been screened than the rest of the population. Former concerted screening efforts, including outreach, support, follow-up, and financial incentives in the 1980s-1990s to screen children, may have influenced low-income residents. Programmatic outreach for children under 6 years of age in Kellogg should focus on increasing female child and first child blood lead screening, rather than targeting only low-income families, by improving approaches to promotion, implementation and environmental follow-up for child lead screening. Some families have resided in Kellogg for five to six generations, and the long-term mining context influences community values and perceptions of lead exposure and screening for children through a conflicted combination of pride in the mining history, attachment to the past economy that supported the community in juxtaposition to the personalized blame, shame, guilt, and stigma associated with children having high blood lead levels. Health communication and other programs should prioritize methods of reducing parental feelings of blame, shame and guilt, and stigmas associated with the health effects of lead in a way that respects the pride of former mine workers, their families, and the history of the town. 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Implementation of Paste Backfill Mining Technology in Chinese Coal Mines

PubMed Central

Chang, Qingliang; Zhou, Huaqiang; Bai, Jianbiao

2014-01-01

Implementation of clean mining technology at coal mines is crucial to protect the environment and maintain balance among energy resources, consumption, and ecology. After reviewing present coal clean mining technology, we introduce the technology principles and technological process of paste backfill mining in coal mines and discuss the components and features of backfill materials, the constitution of the backfill system, and the backfill process. Specific implementation of this technology and its application are analyzed for paste backfill mining in Daizhuang Coal Mine; a practical implementation shows that paste backfill mining can improve the safety and excavation rate of coal mining, which can effectively resolve surface subsidence problems caused by underground mining activities, by utilizing solid waste such as coal gangues as a resource. Therefore, paste backfill mining is an effective clean coal mining technology, which has widespread application. PMID:25258737

Implementation of paste backfill mining technology in Chinese coal mines.

PubMed

Chang, Qingliang; Chen, Jianhang; Zhou, Huaqiang; Bai, Jianbiao

2014-01-01

Implementation of clean mining technology at coal mines is crucial to protect the environment and maintain balance among energy resources, consumption, and ecology. After reviewing present coal clean mining technology, we introduce the technology principles and technological process of paste backfill mining in coal mines and discuss the components and features of backfill materials, the constitution of the backfill system, and the backfill process. Specific implementation of this technology and its application are analyzed for paste backfill mining in Daizhuang Coal Mine; a practical implementation shows that paste backfill mining can improve the safety and excavation rate of coal mining, which can effectively resolve surface subsidence problems caused by underground mining activities, by utilizing solid waste such as coal gangues as a resource. Therefore, paste backfill mining is an effective clean coal mining technology, which has widespread application.

76 FR 70075 - Proximity Detection Systems for Continuous Mining Machines in Underground Coal Mines

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-10

... Detection Systems for Continuous Mining Machines in Underground Coal Mines AGENCY: Mine Safety and Health... proposed rule addressing Proximity Detection Systems for Continuous Mining Machines in Underground Coal... Detection Systems for Continuous Mining Machines in Underground Coal Mines. MSHA conducted hearings on...

Poker Flats Mine - Div. of Mining, Land, and Water

Science.gov Websites

Lands Coal Regulatory Program Large Mine Permits Mineral Property and Rights Mining Index Land Fishery Water Resources Factsheets Forms banner image of landscape Poker Flats Mine Home Mining Coal Regulatory Program Poker Flats Mine Mining Coal Regulatory Program Info Chickaloon Chuit Watershed Chuitna

76 FR 63238 - Proximity Detection Systems for Continuous Mining Machines in Underground Coal Mines

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-12

... Detection Systems for Continuous Mining Machines in Underground Coal Mines AGENCY: Mine Safety and Health... Agency's proposed rule addressing Proximity Detection Systems for Continuous Mining Machines in... proposed rule for Proximity Detection Systems on Continuous Mining Machines in Underground Coal Mines. Due...

30 CFR 77.1712 - Reopening mines; notification; inspection prior to mining.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... to mining. 77.1712 Section 77.1712 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... prior to mining. Prior to reopening any surface coal mine after it has been abandoned or declared... an authorized representative of the Secretary before any mining operations in such mine are...

30 CFR 77.1712 - Reopening mines; notification; inspection prior to mining.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... to mining. 77.1712 Section 77.1712 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... prior to mining. Prior to reopening any surface coal mine after it has been abandoned or declared... an authorized representative of the Secretary before any mining operations in such mine are...

30 CFR 819.21 - Auger mining: Protection of underground mining.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Auger mining: Protection of underground mining. 819.21 Section 819.21 Mineral Resources OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING RECLAMATION AND ENFORCEMENT... STANDARDS-AUGER MINING § 819.21 Auger mining: Protection of underground mining. Auger holes shall not extend...

Mining (except Oil and Gas) Sector (NAICS 212)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA Regulatory and enforcement information for the mining sector, including metal mining & nonmetallic mineral mining and quarrying. Includes information about asbestos, coal mining, mountaintop mining, Clean Water Act section 404, and abandoned mine lands

Mine Water Treatment in Hongai Coal Mines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dang, Phuong Thao; Dang, Vu Chi

2018-03-01

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is recognized as one of the most serious environmental problem associated with mining industry. Acid water, also known as acid mine drainage forms when iron sulfide minerals found in the rock of coal seams are exposed to oxidizing conditions in coal mining. Until 2009, mine drainage in Hongai coal mines was not treated, leading to harmful effects on humans, animals and aquatic ecosystem. This report has examined acid mine drainage problem and techniques for acid mine drainage treatment in Hongai coal mines. In addition, selection and criteria for the design of the treatment systems have been presented.

30 CFR 49.50 - Certification of coal mine rescue teams.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Certification of coal mine rescue teams. 49.50... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.50 Certification of coal mine... coal mine, the mine operator shall send the District Manager an annual statement certifying that each...

30 CFR 49.50 - Certification of coal mine rescue teams.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Certification of coal mine rescue teams. 49.50... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.50 Certification of coal mine... coal mine, the mine operator shall send the District Manager an annual statement certifying that each...

30 CFR 49.50 - Certification of coal mine rescue teams.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Certification of coal mine rescue teams. 49.50... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.50 Certification of coal mine... coal mine, the mine operator shall send the District Manager an annual statement certifying that each...

30 CFR 49.20 - Requirements for all coal mines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Requirements for all coal mines. 49.20 Section... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.20 Requirements for all coal mines. (a) The operator of each underground coal mine shall make available two certified mine rescue...

30 CFR 49.20 - Requirements for all coal mines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Requirements for all coal mines. 49.20 Section... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.20 Requirements for all coal mines. (a) The operator of each underground coal mine shall make available two certified mine rescue...

30 CFR 49.50 - Certification of coal mine rescue teams.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Certification of coal mine rescue teams. 49.50... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.50 Certification of coal mine... coal mine, the mine operator shall send the District Manager an annual statement certifying that each...

30 CFR 49.20 - Requirements for all coal mines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Requirements for all coal mines. 49.20 Section... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.20 Requirements for all coal mines. (a) The operator of each underground coal mine shall make available two certified mine rescue...

30 CFR 49.20 - Requirements for all coal mines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Requirements for all coal mines. 49.20 Section... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.20 Requirements for all coal mines. (a) The operator of each underground coal mine shall make available two certified mine rescue...

30 CFR 49.50 - Certification of coal mine rescue teams.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Certification of coal mine rescue teams. 49.50... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.50 Certification of coal mine... coal mine, the mine operator shall send the District Manager an annual statement certifying that each...

30 CFR 49.20 - Requirements for all coal mines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Requirements for all coal mines. 49.20 Section... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.20 Requirements for all coal mines. (a) The operator of each underground coal mine shall make available two certified mine rescue...

miRiaD: A Text Mining Tool for Detecting Associations of microRNAs with Diseases.

PubMed

Gupta, Samir; Ross, Karen E; Tudor, Catalina O; Wu, Cathy H; Schmidt, Carl J; Vijay-Shanker, K

2016-04-29

MicroRNAs are increasingly being appreciated as critical players in human diseases, and questions concerning the role of microRNAs arise in many areas of biomedical research. There are several manually curated databases of microRNA-disease associations gathered from the biomedical literature; however, it is difficult for curators of these databases to keep up with the explosion of publications in the microRNA-disease field. Moreover, automated literature mining tools that assist manual curation of microRNA-disease associations currently capture only one microRNA property (expression) in the context of one disease (cancer). Thus, there is a clear need to develop more sophisticated automated literature mining tools that capture a variety of microRNA properties and relations in the context of multiple diseases to provide researchers with fast access to the most recent published information and to streamline and accelerate manual curation. We have developed miRiaD (microRNAs in association with Disease), a text-mining tool that automatically extracts associations between microRNAs and diseases from the literature. These associations are often not directly linked, and the intermediate relations are often highly informative for the biomedical researcher. Thus, miRiaD extracts the miR-disease pairs together with an explanation for their association. We also developed a procedure that assigns scores to sentences, marking their informativeness, based on the microRNA-disease relation observed within the sentence. miRiaD was applied to the entire Medline corpus, identifying 8301 PMIDs with miR-disease associations. These abstracts and the miR-disease associations are available for browsing at http://biotm.cis.udel.edu/miRiaD . We evaluated the recall and precision of miRiaD with respect to information of high interest to public microRNA-disease database curators (expression and target gene associations), obtaining a recall of 88.46-90.78. When we expanded the evaluation to include sentences with a wide range of microRNA-disease information that may be of interest to biomedical researchers, miRiaD also performed very well with a F-score of 89.4. The informativeness ranking of sentences was evaluated in terms of nDCG (0.977) and correlation metrics (0.678-0.727) when compared to an annotator's ranked list. miRiaD, a high performance system that can capture a wide variety of microRNA-disease related information, extends beyond the scope of existing microRNA-disease resources. It can be incorporated into manual curation pipelines and serve as a resource for biomedical researchers interested in the role of microRNAs in disease. In our ongoing work we are developing an improved miRiaD web interface that will facilitate complex queries about microRNA-disease relationships, such as "In what diseases does microRNA regulation of apoptosis play a role?" or "Is there overlap in the sets of genes targeted by microRNAs in different types of dementia?"."

Social Capital and Mental Health in Post-Disaster/Conflict Contexts: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Noel, Pia; Cork, Cliodhna; White, Ross G

2018-03-21

Social capital (SC) is highlighted as an important factor for post-crisis mental health outcomes. However, the heterogeneous nature of the construct makes it difficult to get a clear picture of the evidence concerning the association between SC indices and mental health. This review examines how SC is conceptualized and measured, and the relationships with other variables in quantitative empirical studies investigating the associations between SC and mental health in post-disaster and post-conflict contexts. It includes primary data studies focusing on this association in civilian populations. Studies were identified by searching electronic databases, bibliographic mining, cited reference searching, and personal contact with experts. In total, 15 studies were included: 12 in post-natural disaster contexts and 3 in conflict-affected settings. Findings suggested that individual cognitive SC had an inverse association with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression, and that ecological cognitive SC was positively associated with mental well-being. Individual structural SC (in the form of community networks) may be psychologically protective. However, most of the evidence was cross-sectional, limiting conclusions about causal relationships. More clarity and consistency is needed in the conceptualization and measurement of SC in order to inform post-crisis mental health interventions. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;page 1 of 12).

Network Location-Aware Service Recommendation with Random Walk in Cyber-Physical Systems.

PubMed

Yin, Yuyu; Yu, Fangzheng; Xu, Yueshen; Yu, Lifeng; Mu, Jinglong

2017-09-08

Cyber-physical systems (CPS) have received much attention from both academia and industry. An increasing number of functions in CPS are provided in the way of services, which gives rise to an urgent task, that is, how to recommend the suitable services in a huge number of available services in CPS. In traditional service recommendation, collaborative filtering (CF) has been studied in academia, and used in industry. However, there exist several defects that limit the application of CF-based methods in CPS. One is that under the case of high data sparsity, CF-based methods are likely to generate inaccurate prediction results. In this paper, we discover that mining the potential similarity relations among users or services in CPS is really helpful to improve the prediction accuracy. Besides, most of traditional CF-based methods are only capable of using the service invocation records, but ignore the context information, such as network location, which is a typical context in CPS. In this paper, we propose a novel service recommendation method for CPS, which utilizes network location as context information and contains three prediction models using random walking. We conduct sufficient experiments on two real-world datasets, and the results demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed methods and verify that the network location is indeed useful in QoS prediction.

Survey of nine surface mines in North America. [Nine different mines in USA and Canada

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hayes, L.G.; Brackett, R.D.; Floyd, F.D.

This report presents the information gathered by three mining engineers in a 1980 survey of nine surface mines in the United States and Canada. The mines visited included seven coal mines, one copper mine, and one tar sands mine selected as representative of present state of the art in open pit, strip, and terrace pit mining. The purpose of the survey was to investigate mining methods, equipment requirements, operating costs, reclamation procedures and costs, and other aspects of current surface mining practices in order to acquire basic data for a study comparing conventional and terrace pit mining methods, particularly inmore » deeper overburdens. The survey was conducted as part of a project under DOE Contract No. DE-AC01-79ET10023 titled The Development of Optimal Terrace Pit Coal Mining Systems.« less

Using stable isotopes (δD, δ18O, δ34S and 87Sr/86Sr) to identify sources of water in abandoned mines in the Fengfeng coal mining district, northern China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qu, Shen; Wang, Guangcai; Shi, Zheming; Xu, Qingyu; Guo, Yuying; Ma, Luan; Sheng, Yizhi

2018-05-01

With depleted coal resources or deteriorating mining geological conditions, some coal mines have been abandoned in the Fengfeng mining district, China. Water that accumulates in an abandoned underground mine (goaf water) may be a hazard to neighboring mines and impact the groundwater environment. Groundwater samples at three abandoned mines (Yi, Er and Quantou mines) in the Fengfeng mining district and the underlying Ordovician limestone aquifer were collected to characterize their chemical and isotopic compositions and identify the sources of the mine water. The water was HCO3·SO4-Ca·Mg type in Er mine and the auxiliary shaft of Yi mine, and HCO3·SO4-Na type in the main shaft of Quantou mine. The isotopic compositions (δD and δ18O) of water in the three abandoned mines were close to that of Ordovician limestone groundwater. Faults in the abandoned mines were developmental, possibly facilitating inflows of groundwater from the underlying Ordovician limestone aquifers into the coal mines. Although the Sr2+ concentrations differed considerably, the ratios of Sr2+/Ca2+ and 87Sr/86Sr and the 34S content of SO4 2- were similar for all three mine waters and Ordovician limestone groundwater, indicating that a close hydraulic connection may exist. Geochemical and isotopic indicators suggest that (1) the mine waters may originate mainly from the Ordovician limestone groundwater inflows, and (2) the upward hydraulic gradient in the limestone aquifer may prevent its contamination by the overlying abandoned mine water. The results of this study could be useful for water resources management in this area and other similar mining areas.

North American Bats and Mines Project: A cooperative approach for integrating bat conservation and mine-land reclamation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ducummon, S.L.

Inactive underground mines now provide essential habitat for more than half of North America`s 44 bat species, including some of the largest remaining populations. Thousands of abandoned mines have already been closed or are slated for safety closures, and many are destroyed during renewed mining in historic districts. The available evidence suggests that millions of bats have already been lost due to these closures. Bats are primary predators of night-flying insects that cost American farmers and foresters billions of dollars annually, therefore, threats to bat survival are cause for serious concern. Fortunately, mine closure methods exist that protect both batsmore » and humans. Bat Conservation International (BCI) and the USDI-Bureau of Land Management founded the North American Bats and Mines Project to provide national leadership and coordination to minimize the loss of mine-roosting bats. This partnership has involved federal and state mine-land and wildlife managers and the mining industry. BCI has trained hundreds of mine-land and wildlife managers nationwide in mine assessment techniques for bats and bat-compatible closure methods, published technical information on bats and mine-land management, presented papers on bats and mines at national mining and wildlife conferences, and collaborated with numerous federal, state, and private partners to protect some of the most important mine-roosting bat populations. Our new mining industry initiative, Mining for Habitat, is designed to develop bat habitat conservation and enhancement plans for active mining operations. It includes the creation of cost-effective artificial underground bat roosts using surplus mining materials such as old mine-truck tires and culverts buried beneath waste rock.« less

Chapter J: Issues and challenges in the application of geostatistics and spatial-data analysis to the characterization of sand-and-gravel resources

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hack, Daniel R.

2005-01-01

Sand-and-gravel (aggregate) resources are a critical component of the Nation's infrastructure, yet aggregate-mining technologies lag far behind those of metalliferous mining and other sectors. Deposit-evaluation and site-characterization methodologies are antiquated, and few serious studies of the potential applications of spatial-data analysis and geostatistics have been published. However, because of commodity usage and the necessary proximity of a mine to end use, aggregate-resource exploration and evaluation differ fundamentally from comparable activities for metalliferous ores. Acceptable practices, therefore, can reflect this cruder scale. The increasing use of computer technologies is colliding with the need for sand-and-gravel mines to modernize and improve their overall efficiency of exploration, mine planning, scheduling, automation, and other operations. The emergence of megaquarries in the 21st century will also be a contributing factor. Preliminary research into the practical applications of exploratory-data analysis (EDA) have been promising. For example, EDA was used to develop a linear-regression equation to forecast freeze-thaw durability from absorption values for Lower Paleozoic carbonate rocks mined for crushed aggregate from quarries in Oklahoma. Applications of EDA within a spatial context, a method of spatial-data analysis, have also been promising, as with the investigation of undeveloped sand-and-gravel resources in the sedimentary deposits of Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, Utah. Formal geostatistical investigations of sand-and-gravel deposits are quite rare, and the primary focus of those studies that have been completed is on the spatial characterization of deposit thickness and its subsequent effect on ore reserves. A thorough investigation of a gravel deposit in an active aggregate-mining area in central Essex, U.K., emphasized the problems inherent in the geostatistical characterization of particle-size-analysis data. Beyond such factors as common drilling methods jeopardizing the accuracy of the size-distribution curve, the application of formal geostatistical principles has other limitations. Many of the variables used in evaluating gravel deposits, including such sedimentologic parameters as sorting and such United Soil Classification System parameters as gradation coefficient, are nonadditive. Also, uniform sampling methods, such as drilling, are relatively uncommon, and sampling is generally accomplished by a combination of boreholes, water-well logs, test pits, trenches, stratigraphic columns from exposures, and, possibly, some geophysical cross sections. When evaluated in consideration of the fact that uniform mining blocks are also uncommon in practice, subsequent complexities in establishment of the volume/variance relation are inevitable. Several approaches exist to confront the limitations of geostatistical methods in evaluating sand-and-gravel deposits. Initially, we must acknowledge the practical requirements of the aggregate industry, as well as the limitations of the data collected by that industry, as a function of what the industry requires at the practical level, and consider that broader acceptance of formal geostatistics may require modifications of typical exploration and sampling protocols. Future investigations should utilize data from the full spectrum of sand-and-gravel deposits (flood plain, glacial, catastrophic flood, and marine), integrate such other disci plines as sedimentology and geophysics into the research, develop commodity-specific approaches to nonadditive variables, and include the results of comparative drilling.

Atmospheric particulate matter size distribution and concentration in West Virginia coal mining and non-mining areas.

PubMed

Kurth, Laura M; McCawley, Michael; Hendryx, Michael; Lusk, Stephanie

2014-07-01

People who live in Appalachian areas where coal mining is prominent have increased health problems compared with people in non-mining areas of Appalachia. Coal mines and related mining activities result in the production of atmospheric particulate matter (PM) that is associated with human health effects. There is a gap in research regarding particle size concentration and distribution to determine respiratory dose around coal mining and non-mining areas. Mass- and number-based size distributions were determined with an Aerodynamic Particle Size and Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer to calculate lung deposition around mining and non-mining areas of West Virginia. Particle number concentrations and deposited lung dose were significantly greater around mining areas compared with non-mining areas, demonstrating elevated risks to humans. The greater dose was correlated with elevated disease rates in the West Virginia mining areas. Number concentrations in the mining areas were comparable to a previously documented urban area where number concentration was associated with respiratory and cardiovascular disease.

Evaluation of mine seals constructed in 1967 at Elkins, Randolph County, West Virginia. Report of investigations/1984

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Adams, L.M.; Lipscomb, J.R.

1984-01-01

In 1980, the Bureau of Mines surveyed a group of mine seals in Randolph County, WV, to evaluate their effectiveness for reducing toxic pollutants in mine water discharges. The survey focused on 11 block wet mine seals, but mine seals of several other types were also examined. The seals were designed to prevent air from entering the mine portals while allowing mine water to flow out. It was believed that by preventing air from entering inactive or abandoned mines, the formation of toxic pollutants and acid mine drainage (AMD) could be reduced.

POST-MINING DEVELOPMENT USING RESOURCES FROM FLOODED UNDERGROUND MINE WORKINGS

EPA Science Inventory

Post-mining issues of land and surface utilization now serve to accentuate how important it is to incorporate sustainable development aspects into hard rock mining. In an effort to revitalize lands degraded by historic mining, 10 acres of mine tailings near the Belmont Mine have...

75 FR 17511 - Coal Mine Dust Sampling Devices

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-06

... Part III Department of Labor Mine Safety and Health Adminisration 30 CFR Parts 18, 74, and 75 Coal Mine Dust Sampling Devices; High-Voltage Continuous Mining Machine Standard for Underground Coal Mines...-AB61 Coal Mine Dust Sampling Devices AGENCY: Mine Safety and Health Administration, Labor. ACTION...

Publications - SR 68 | Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys

Science.gov Websites

Mining District; Base Metals; Bethel Mining District; Bismuth; Black Mining District; Bluff (Place ; Livengood Mining District; Lode; Marshall Mining District; Massive Sulfide Deposit; Massive Sulfide Occurrence; Massive Sulfide Prospect; Massive Sulfides; McGrath Mining District; Melozitna Mining District

78 FR 79010 - Criteria to Certify Coal Mine Rescue Teams

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-27

... to Certify Coal Mine Rescue Teams AGENCY: Mine Safety and Health Administration, Labor. ACTION... updated the coal mine rescue team certification criteria. The Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response... mine operator to certify the qualifications of a coal mine rescue team is that team members are...

77 FR 16863 - Proposed Extension of Existing Information Collection; Mine Mapping and Records of Opening...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-22

... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Mine Safety and Health Administration Proposed Extension of Existing Information Collection; Mine Mapping and Records of Opening, Closing, and Reopening of Mines (Formerly, Record of Mine Closures, Opening & Reopening of Mines) AGENCY: Mine Safety and Health Administration, Labor...

30 CFR 49.5 - Mine rescue station.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Mine rescue station. 49.5 Section 49.5 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Metal and Nonmetal Mines § 49.5 Mine rescue station. (a) Except...

30 CFR 49.15 - Mine rescue station.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Mine rescue station. 49.15 Section 49.15 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.15 Mine rescue station. (a) Every operator...

78 FR 35974 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Coal Mine Rescue Teams; Arrangements for...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-14

... Request; Coal Mine Rescue Teams; Arrangements for Emergency Medical Assistance and Transportation for... Part 49, Mine Rescue Teams, Subpart B--Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines, sets standards related to the availability of mine rescue teams; alternate mine rescue capability for small and remote...

30 CFR 49.15 - Mine rescue station.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Mine rescue station. 49.15 Section 49.15 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.15 Mine rescue station. (a) Every operator...

30 CFR 49.4 - Alternative mine rescue capability for special mining conditions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Alternative mine rescue capability for special mining conditions. 49.4 Section 49.4 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Metal and...

30 CFR 49.5 - Mine rescue station.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Mine rescue station. 49.5 Section 49.5 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Metal and Nonmetal Mines § 49.5 Mine rescue station. (a) Except...

30 CFR 49.15 - Mine rescue station.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Mine rescue station. 49.15 Section 49.15 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.15 Mine rescue station. (a) Every operator...

30 CFR 49.5 - Mine rescue station.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Mine rescue station. 49.5 Section 49.5 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Metal and Nonmetal Mines § 49.5 Mine rescue station. (a) Except...

30 CFR 49.15 - Mine rescue station.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Mine rescue station. 49.15 Section 49.15 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.15 Mine rescue station. (a) Every operator...

30 CFR 49.4 - Alternative mine rescue capability for special mining conditions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Alternative mine rescue capability for special mining conditions. 49.4 Section 49.4 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Metal and...

30 CFR 49.4 - Alternative mine rescue capability for special mining conditions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Alternative mine rescue capability for special mining conditions. 49.4 Section 49.4 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Metal and...

30 CFR 49.15 - Mine rescue station.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Mine rescue station. 49.15 Section 49.15 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.15 Mine rescue station. (a) Every operator...

COPS: Detecting Co-Occurrence and Spatial Arrangement of Transcription Factor Binding Motifs in Genome-Wide Datasets

PubMed Central

Lohmann, Ingrid

2012-01-01

In multi-cellular organisms, spatiotemporal activity of cis-regulatory DNA elements depends on their occupancy by different transcription factors (TFs). In recent years, genome-wide ChIP-on-Chip, ChIP-Seq and DamID assays have been extensively used to unravel the combinatorial interaction of TFs with cis-regulatory modules (CRMs) in the genome. Even though genome-wide binding profiles are increasingly becoming available for different TFs, single TF binding profiles are in most cases not sufficient for dissecting complex regulatory networks. Thus, potent computational tools detecting statistically significant and biologically relevant TF-motif co-occurrences in genome-wide datasets are essential for analyzing context-dependent transcriptional regulation. We have developed COPS (Co-Occurrence Pattern Search), a new bioinformatics tool based on a combination of association rules and Markov chain models, which detects co-occurring TF binding sites (BSs) on genomic regions of interest. COPS scans DNA sequences for frequent motif patterns using a Frequent-Pattern tree based data mining approach, which allows efficient performance of the software with respect to both data structure and implementation speed, in particular when mining large datasets. Since transcriptional gene regulation very often relies on the formation of regulatory protein complexes mediated by closely adjoining TF binding sites on CRMs, COPS additionally detects preferred short distance between co-occurring TF motifs. The performance of our software with respect to biological significance was evaluated using three published datasets containing genomic regions that are independently bound by several TFs involved in a defined biological process. In sum, COPS is a fast, efficient and user-friendly tool mining statistically and biologically significant TFBS co-occurrences and therefore allows the identification of TFs that combinatorially regulate gene expression. PMID:23272209

Rising floodwaters: mapping impacts and perceptions of flooding in Indonesian Borneo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wells, Jessie A.; Wilson, Kerrie A.; Abram, Nicola K.; Nunn, Malcolm; Gaveau, David L. A.; Runting, Rebecca K.; Tarniati, Nina; Mengersen, Kerrie L.; Meijaard, Erik

2016-06-01

The roles of forest and wetland ecosystems in regulating flooding have drawn increasing attention in the contexts of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. However, data on floods are scarce in many of the countries where people are most exposed and vulnerable to their impacts. Here, our separate analyses of village interview surveys (364 villages) and news archives (16 sources) show that floods have major impacts on lives and livelihoods in Indonesian Borneo, and flooding risks are associated with features of the local climate and landscape, particularly land uses that have seen rapid expansions over the past 30 years. In contrast with government assessments, we find that flooding is far more widespread, and that frequent, local, events can have large cumulative impacts. Over three years, local news agencies reported floods that affected 868 settlements, 966 times (including 89 in urban areas), inundated at least 197 000 houses, and displaced more than 776 000 people, possibly as many as 1.5 million (i.e. 5%-10% of the total population). Spatial analyses based on surveys in 364 villages show that flood frequency is associated with land use in catchment areas, including forest cover and condition, and the area of wetlands, mines (open-cut coal or gold mines), and oil palm. The probability that floods have become more frequent over the past 30 years was higher for villages closer to mines, and in watersheds with more extensive oil palm, but lower in watersheds with greater cover of selectively-logged or intact forests. We demonstrate that in data-poor regions, multiple sources of information can be integrated to gain insights into the hydrological services provided by forest and wetland ecosystems, and motivate more comprehensive assessment of flooding risks and options for ecosystem-based adaptation.

Are Female Applicants Disadvantaged in National Institutes of Health Peer Review? Combining Algorithmic Text Mining and Qualitative Methods to Detect Evaluative Differences in R01 Reviewers' Critiques.

PubMed

Magua, Wairimu; Zhu, Xiaojin; Bhattacharya, Anupama; Filut, Amarette; Potvien, Aaron; Leatherberry, Renee; Lee, You-Geon; Jens, Madeline; Malikireddy, Dastagiri; Carnes, Molly; Kaatz, Anna

2017-05-01

Women are less successful than men in renewing R01 grants from the National Institutes of Health. Continuing to probe text mining as a tool to identify gender bias in peer review, we used algorithmic text mining and qualitative analysis to examine a sample of critiques from men's and women's R01 renewal applications previously analyzed by counting and comparing word categories. We analyzed 241 critiques from 79 Summary Statements for 51 R01 renewals awarded to 45 investigators (64% male, 89% white, 80% PhD) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison between 2010 and 2014. We used latent Dirichlet allocation to discover evaluative "topics" (i.e., words that co-occur with high probability). We then qualitatively examined the context in which evaluative words occurred for male and female investigators. We also examined sex differences in assigned scores controlling for investigator productivity. Text analysis results showed that male investigators were described as "leaders" and "pioneers" in their "fields," with "highly innovative" and "highly significant research." By comparison, female investigators were characterized as having "expertise" and working in "excellent" environments. Applications from men received significantly better priority, approach, and significance scores, which could not be accounted for by differences in productivity. Results confirm our previous analyses suggesting that gender stereotypes operate in R01 grant peer review. Reviewers may more easily view male than female investigators as scientific leaders with significant and innovative research, and score their applications more competitively. Such implicit bias may contribute to sex differences in award rates for R01 renewals.

Are Female Applicants Disadvantaged in National Institutes of Health Peer Review? Combining Algorithmic Text Mining and Qualitative Methods to Detect Evaluative Differences in R01 Reviewers' Critiques

PubMed Central

Magua, Wairimu; Zhu, Xiaojin; Bhattacharya, Anupama; Filut, Amarette; Potvien, Aaron; Leatherberry, Renee; Lee, You-Geon; Jens, Madeline; Malikireddy, Dastagiri; Carnes, Molly

2017-01-01

Abstract Background: Women are less successful than men in renewing R01 grants from the National Institutes of Health. Continuing to probe text mining as a tool to identify gender bias in peer review, we used algorithmic text mining and qualitative analysis to examine a sample of critiques from men's and women's R01 renewal applications previously analyzed by counting and comparing word categories. Methods: We analyzed 241 critiques from 79 Summary Statements for 51 R01 renewals awarded to 45 investigators (64% male, 89% white, 80% PhD) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison between 2010 and 2014. We used latent Dirichlet allocation to discover evaluative “topics” (i.e., words that co-occur with high probability). We then qualitatively examined the context in which evaluative words occurred for male and female investigators. We also examined sex differences in assigned scores controlling for investigator productivity. Results: Text analysis results showed that male investigators were described as “leaders” and “pioneers” in their “fields,” with “highly innovative” and “highly significant research.” By comparison, female investigators were characterized as having “expertise” and working in “excellent” environments. Applications from men received significantly better priority, approach, and significance scores, which could not be accounted for by differences in productivity. Conclusions: Results confirm our previous analyses suggesting that gender stereotypes operate in R01 grant peer review. Reviewers may more easily view male than female investigators as scientific leaders with significant and innovative research, and score their applications more competitively. Such implicit bias may contribute to sex differences in award rates for R01 renewals. PMID:28281870

Soil contamination assessment for Pb, Zn and Cd in a slag disposal area using the integration of geochemical and microbiological data.

PubMed

Kasemodel, Mariana Consiglio; Lima, Jacqueline Zanin; Sakamoto, Isabel Kimiko; Varesche, Maria Bernadete Amancio; Trofino, Julio Cesar; Rodrigues, Valéria Guimarães Silvestre

2016-12-01

Improper disposal of mining waste is still considered a global problem, and further details on the contamination by potentially toxic metals are required for a proper assessment. In this context, it is important to have a combined view of the chemical and biological changes in the mining dump area. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the Pb, Zn and Cd contamination in a slag disposal area using the integration of geochemical and microbiological data. Analyses of soil organic matter (SOM), pH, Eh, pseudo-total concentration of metals, sequential extraction and microbial community by polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) were conducted. Metal availability was evaluated based on the geoaccumulation index (I geo ), ecological risk ([Formula: see text]), Risk Assessment Code (RAC) and experimental data, and different reference values were tested to assist in the interpretation of the indices. The soil pH was slightly acidic to neutral, the Eh values indicated oxidized conditions and the average SOM content varied from 12.10 to 53.60 g kg -1 . The average pseudo-total concentrations of metals were in the order of Zn > Pb > Cd. Pb and Zn were mainly bound to the residual fraction and Fe-Mn oxides, and a significant proportion of Cd was bound to the exchangeable and carbonate fractions. The topsoil (0-20 cm) is highly contaminated (I geo ) with Cd and has a very high potential ecological risk ([Formula: see text]). Higher bacterial diversity was mainly associated with higher metal concentrations. It is concluded that the integration of geochemical and microbiological data can provide an appropriate evaluation of mining waste-contaminated areas.

Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery tools for exploiting big Earth-Observation data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Espinoza Molina, D.; Datcu, M.

2015-04-01

The continuous increase in the size of the archives and in the variety and complexity of Earth-Observation (EO) sensors require new methodologies and tools that allow the end-user to access a large image repository, to extract and to infer knowledge about the patterns hidden in the images, to retrieve dynamically a collection of relevant images, and to support the creation of emerging applications (e.g.: change detection, global monitoring, disaster and risk management, image time series, etc.). In this context, we are concerned with providing a platform for data mining and knowledge discovery content from EO archives. The platform's goal is to implement a communication channel between Payload Ground Segments and the end-user who receives the content of the data coded in an understandable format associated with semantics that is ready for immediate exploitation. It will provide the user with automated tools to explore and understand the content of highly complex images archives. The challenge lies in the extraction of meaningful information and understanding observations of large extended areas, over long periods of time, with a broad variety of EO imaging sensors in synergy with other related measurements and data. The platform is composed of several components such as 1.) ingestion of EO images and related data providing basic features for image analysis, 2.) query engine based on metadata, semantics and image content, 3.) data mining and knowledge discovery tools for supporting the interpretation and understanding of image content, 4.) semantic definition of the image content via machine learning methods. All these components are integrated and supported by a relational database management system, ensuring the integrity and consistency of Terabytes of Earth Observation data.

A geostatistical approach to estimate mining efficiency indicators with flexible meshes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freixas, Genis; Garriga, David; Fernàndez-Garcia, Daniel; Sanchez-Vila, Xavier

2014-05-01

Geostatistics is a branch of statistics developed originally to predict probability distributions of ore grades for mining operations by considering the attributes of a geological formation at unknown locations as a set of correlated random variables. Mining exploitations typically aim to maintain acceptable mineral laws to produce commercial products based upon demand. In this context, we present a new geostatistical methodology to estimate strategic efficiency maps that incorporate hydraulic test data, the evolution of concentrations with time obtained from chemical analysis (packer tests and production wells) as well as hydraulic head variations. The methodology is applied to a salt basin in South America. The exploitation is based on the extraction of brines through vertical and horizontal wells. Thereafter, brines are precipitated in evaporation ponds to obtain target potassium and magnesium salts of economic interest. Lithium carbonate is obtained as a byproduct of the production of potassium chloride. Aside from providing an assemble of traditional geostatistical methods, the strength of this study falls with the new methodology developed, which focus on finding the best sites to exploit the brines while maintaining efficiency criteria. Thus, some strategic indicator efficiency maps have been developed under the specific criteria imposed by exploitation standards to incorporate new extraction wells in new areas that would allow maintain or improve production. Results show that the uncertainty quantification of the efficiency plays a dominant role and that the use flexible meshes, which properly describe the curvilinear features associated with vertical stratification, provides a more consistent estimation of the geological processes. Moreover, we demonstrate that the vertical correlation structure at the given salt basin is essentially linked to variations in the formation thickness, which calls for flexible meshes and non-stationarity stochastic processes.

Should the Red Dragon arise? Assessing China's options vis-à-vis the enactment of a domestic space resources utilization law

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hao, L.; Tronchetti, F.

2017-05-01

The past couple of years have witnesses one of the most exciting, yet controversial, developments in the field of space law, namely the adoption of domestic laws authorizing the (private) appropriation and utilization of outer space resources. Even though the technology to effectively mine resources in outer space is still under development countries like the United States and Luxembourg have taken this legislative step as a mean to promote the growth of a domestic private space mining sector. The enactment of national space resources utilization laws has generated extensive interest both within academic circles and official fora, such as the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS). In this context, several countries have expressed their opinion about these initiatives, by often criticizing their legality vis-a-vis international space law. Despite this remarkable level of interest there is a country that throughout this process has maintained a low profile, namely China. Indeed, China has neither reacted to the US and Luxembourgish moves nor has officially commented on the lawfulness of domestic space mining laws. This conduct is particularly relevant not only in the light of the growing importance of the Chinese space program but also if one considers that China is the country most involved in the exploration and study of celestial bodies and their resources, particularly the Moon. For this reasons it would have been legitimate to expect China to have a more engaged behavior. However, China has acted otherwise. It seems thus worth evaluating whether China should maintain this 'wait and see' approach or should instead switch towards a more assertive position, both internationally and domestically, especially one which includes the adoption of a space resources utilization act.

30 CFR 49.9 - Mine emergency notification plan.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS § 49.9 Mine emergency notification plan. (a) Each underground mine shall have a mine rescue notification plan outlining the procedures to follow in notifying the mine rescue teams...

30 CFR 49.9 - Mine emergency notification plan.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS § 49.9 Mine emergency notification plan. (a) Each underground mine shall have a mine rescue notification plan outlining the procedures to follow in notifying the mine rescue teams...

Long Term Analysis of Deformations in Salt Mines: Kłodawa Salt Mine Case Study, Central Poland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cała, Marek; Tajduś, Antoni; Andrusikiewicz, Wacław; Kowalski, Michał; Kolano, Malwina; Stopkowicz, Agnieszka; Cyran, Katarzyna; Jakóbczyk, Joanna

2017-09-01

Located in central Poland, the Kłodawa salt dome is 26 km long and about 2 km wide. Exploitation of the dome started in 1956, currently rock salt extraction is carried out in 7 mining fields and the 12 mining levels at the depth from 322 to 625 meters below sea level (m.b.s.l.). It is planned to maintain the mining activity till 2052 and extend rock salt extraction to deeper levels. The dome is characterised by complex geological structure resulted from halokinetic and tectonic processes. Projection of the 3D numerical analysis took into account the following factors: mine working distribution within the Kłodawa mine (about 1000 rooms, 350 km of galleries), complex geological structure of the salt dome, complicated structure and geometry of mine workings and distinction in rocks mechanical properties e.g. rock salt and anhydrite. Analysis of past mine workings deformation and prediction of future rock mass behaviour was divided into four stages: building of the 3D model (state of mine workings in year 2014), model extension of the future mine workings planned for extraction in years 2015-2052, the 3D model calibration and stability analysis of all mine workings. The 3D numerical model of Kłodawa salt mine included extracted and planned mine workings in 7 mining fields and 14 mining levels (about 2000 mine workings). The dimensions of the model were 4200 m × 4700 m × 1200 m what was simulated by 33 million elements. The 3D model was calibrated on the grounds of convergence measurements and laboratory tests. Stability assessment of mine workings was based on analysis of the strength/stress ratio and vertical stress. The strength/stress ratio analysis enabled to indicate endangered area in mine workings and can be defined as the factor of safety. Mine workings in state close to collapse are indicated by the strength/stress ratio equals 1. Analysis of the vertical stress in mine workings produced the estimation of current state of stress in comparison to initial (pre-mining) conditions. The long-term deformation analysis of the Kłodawa salt mine for year 2014 revealed that stability conditions were fulfilled. Local disturbances indicated in the numerical analysis were connected with high chambers included in the mining field no 1 and complex geological structure in the vicinity of mine workings located in the mining fields no 2 and 3. Moreover, numerical simulations that projected the future extraction progress (till year 2052) showed positive performance. Local weakness zones in the mining field no 7 are associated with occurrence of carnallite layers and intensive mining which are planned in the mining field no 6 at the end of rock salt extraction.

Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006. Public Law 109-236, S2803

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

2006-06-15

This Act may be cited as the 'Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006' or the 'MINER Act'. It amends the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 to improve the safety of mines and mining. The Act requires operators of underground coal mines to improve accident preparedness. The legislation requires mining companies to develop an emergency response plan specific to each mine they operate, and requires that every mine has at least two rescue teams located within one hour. S. 2803 also limits the legal liability of rescue team members and the companies that employ them.more » The act increases both civil and criminal penalties for violations of federal mining safety standards and gives the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) the ability to temporarily close a mine that fails to pay the penalties or fines. In addition, the act calls for several studies into ways to enhance mine safety, as well as the establishment of a new office within the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health devoted to improving mine safety. Finally, the legislation establishes new scholarship and grant programs devoted to training individuals with respect to mine safety.« less

30 CFR 49.19 - Mine emergency notification plan.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.19 Mine emergency notification... follow in notifying the mine rescue teams when there is an emergency that requires their services. (b) A...

30 CFR 49.9 - Mine emergency notification plan.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Metal and Nonmetal Mines § 49.9 Mine emergency... procedures to follow in notifying the mine rescue teams when there is an emergency that requires their...

30 CFR 49.9 - Mine emergency notification plan.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Metal and Nonmetal Mines § 49.9 Mine emergency... procedures to follow in notifying the mine rescue teams when there is an emergency that requires their...

30 CFR 49.9 - Mine emergency notification plan.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Metal and Nonmetal Mines § 49.9 Mine emergency... procedures to follow in notifying the mine rescue teams when there is an emergency that requires their...

30 CFR 49.19 - Mine emergency notification plan.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.19 Mine emergency notification... follow in notifying the mine rescue teams when there is an emergency that requires their services. (b) A...

30 CFR 49.19 - Mine emergency notification plan.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.19 Mine emergency notification... follow in notifying the mine rescue teams when there is an emergency that requires their services. (b) A...

30 CFR 49.19 - Mine emergency notification plan.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.19 Mine emergency notification... follow in notifying the mine rescue teams when there is an emergency that requires their services. (b) A...

30 CFR 49.19 - Mine emergency notification plan.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.19 Mine emergency notification... follow in notifying the mine rescue teams when there is an emergency that requires their services. (b) A...

30 CFR 49.4 - Alternative mine rescue capability for special mining conditions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Alternative mine rescue capability for special mining conditions. 49.4 Section 49.4 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS § 49.4 Alternative mine rescue capability for...

30 CFR 49.7 - Physical requirements for mine rescue team.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Physical requirements for mine rescue team. 49... EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Metal and Nonmetal Mines § 49.7 Physical requirements for mine rescue team. (a) Each member of a mine rescue team shall be examined...

30 CFR 49.12 - Availability of mine rescue teams.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Availability of mine rescue teams. 49.12... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.12 Availability of mine rescue teams. (a) Except where alternative compliance is permitted for small and remote mines (§ 49.13), every...

30 CFR 49.2 - Availability of mine rescue teams.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Availability of mine rescue teams. 49.2 Section... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Metal and Nonmetal Mines § 49.2 Availability of mine rescue teams. (a) Except where alternative compliance is permitted for small and remote mines...

30 CFR 49.12 - Availability of mine rescue teams.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Availability of mine rescue teams. 49.12... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.12 Availability of mine rescue teams. (a) Except where alternative compliance is permitted for small and remote mines (§ 49.13), every...

30 CFR 49.12 - Availability of mine rescue teams.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Availability of mine rescue teams. 49.12... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.12 Availability of mine rescue teams. (a) Except where alternative compliance is permitted for small and remote mines (§ 49.13), every...

30 CFR 49.7 - Physical requirements for mine rescue team.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Physical requirements for mine rescue team. 49... EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Metal and Nonmetal Mines § 49.7 Physical requirements for mine rescue team. (a) Each member of a mine rescue team shall be examined...

30 CFR 49.12 - Availability of mine rescue teams.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Availability of mine rescue teams. 49.12... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.12 Availability of mine rescue teams. (a) Except where alternative compliance is permitted for small and remote mines (§ 49.13), every...

30 CFR 49.4 - Alternative mine rescue capability for special mining conditions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Alternative mine rescue capability for special mining conditions. 49.4 Section 49.4 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS § 49.4 Alternative mine rescue capability for...

30 CFR 49.12 - Availability of mine rescue teams.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Availability of mine rescue teams. 49.12... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.12 Availability of mine rescue teams. (a) Except where alternative compliance is permitted for small and remote mines (§ 49.13), every...

30 CFR 49.2 - Availability of mine rescue teams.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Availability of mine rescue teams. 49.2 Section... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Metal and Nonmetal Mines § 49.2 Availability of mine rescue teams. (a) Except where alternative compliance is permitted for small and remote mines...

30 CFR 49.7 - Physical requirements for mine rescue team.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Physical requirements for mine rescue team. 49... EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Metal and Nonmetal Mines § 49.7 Physical requirements for mine rescue team. (a) Each member of a mine rescue team shall be examined...

30 CFR 49.2 - Availability of mine rescue teams.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Availability of mine rescue teams. 49.2 Section... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Metal and Nonmetal Mines § 49.2 Availability of mine rescue teams. (a) Except where alternative compliance is permitted for small and remote mines...

Application of Modern Tools and Techniques for Mine Safety & Disaster Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Dheeraj

2016-04-01

The implementation of novel systems and adoption of improvised equipment in mines help mining companies in two important ways: enhanced mine productivity and improved worker safety. There is a substantial need for adoption of state-of-the-art automation technologies in the mines to ensure the safety and to protect health of mine workers. With the advent of new autonomous equipment used in the mine, the inefficiencies are reduced by limiting human inconsistencies and error. The desired increase in productivity at a mine can sometimes be achieved by changing only a few simple variables. Significant developments have been made in the areas of surface and underground communication, robotics, smart sensors, tracking systems, mine gas monitoring systems and ground movements etc. Advancement in information technology in the form of internet, GIS, remote sensing, satellite communication, etc. have proved to be important tools for hazard reduction and disaster management. This paper is mainly focused on issues pertaining to mine safety and disaster management and some of the recent innovations in the mine automations that could be deployed in mines for safe mining operations and for avoiding any unforeseen mine disaster.

Numerical Study on 4-1 Coal Seam of Xiaoming Mine in Ascending Mining

PubMed Central

Tianwei, Lan; Hongwei, Zhang; Sheng, Li; Weihua, Song; Batugin, A. C.; Guoshui, Tang

2015-01-01

Coal seams ascending mining technology is very significant, since it influences the safety production and the liberation of dull coal, speeds up the construction of energy, improves the stability of stope, and reduces or avoids deep hard rock mining induced mine disaster. Combined with the Xiaoming ascending mining mine 4-1, by numerical calculation, the paper analyses ascending mining 4-1 factors, determines the feasibility of ascending mining 4-1 coalbed, and proposes roadway layout program about working face, which has broad economic and social benefits. PMID:25866840

Mining the Geophysical Research Abstracts Corpus: Mapping the impact of Free and Open Source Software on the EGU Divisions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Löwe, Peter; Klump, Jens; Robertson, Jesse

2015-04-01

Text mining is commonly employed as a tool in data science to investigate and chart emergent information from corpora of research abstracts, such as the Geophysical Research Abstracts (GRA) published by Copernicus. In this context current standards, such as persistent identifiers like DOI and ORCID, allow us to trace, cite and map links between journal publications, the underlying research data and scientific software. This network can be expressed as a directed graph which enables us to chart networks of cooperation and innovation, thematic foci and the locations of research communities in time and space. However, this approach of data science, focusing on the research process in a self-referential manner, rather than the topical work, is still in a developing stage. Scientific work presented at the EGU General Assembly is often the first step towards new approaches and innovative ideas to the geospatial community. It represents a rich, deep and heterogeneous source of geoscientific thought. This corpus is a significant data source for data science, which has not been analysed on this scale previously. In this work, the corpus of the Geophysical Research Abstracts is used for the first time as a data base for analyses of topical text mining. For this, we used a sturdy and customizable software framework, based on the work of Schmitt et al. [1]. For the analysis we used the High Performance Computing infrastructure of the German Research Centre for Geosciences GFZ in Potsdam, Germany. Here, we report on the first results from the analysis of the continuous spreading the of use of Free and Open Source Software Tools (FOSS) within the EGU communities, mapping the general increase of FOSS-themed GRA articles in the last decade and the developing spatial patterns of involved parties and FOSS topics. References: [1] Schmitt, L. M., Christianson, K.T, Gupta R..: Linguistic Computing with UNIX Tools, in Kao, A., Poteet S.R. (Eds.): Natural Language processing and Text Mining, Springer, 2007. doi:10.1007/978-1-84628-754-1_12.

Exploring the determinants of health and wellbeing in communities living in proximity to coal seam gas developments in regional Queensland.

PubMed

Mactaggart, Fiona; McDermott, Liane; Tynan, Anna; Gericke, Christian A

2017-08-03

There is some concern that coal seam gas mining may affect health and wellbeing through changes in social determinants such as living and working conditions, local economy and the environment. The onward impact of these conditions on health and wellbeing is often not monitored to the same degree as direct environmental health impacts in the mining context, but merits attention. This study reports on the findings from a recurrent theme that emerged from analysis of the qualitative component of a comprehensive Health Needs Assessment (HNA) conducted in regional Queensland: that health and wellbeing of communities was reportedly affected by nearby coal seam gas (CSG) development beyond direct environmental impacts. Qualitative analysis was initially completed using the Framework Method to explore key themes from 11 focus group discussions, 19 in-depth interviews, and 45 key informant interviews with health and wellbeing service providers and community members. A key theme emerged from the analysis that forms the basis of this paper. This study is part of a larger comprehensive HNA involving qualitative and quantitative data collection to explore the health and wellbeing needs of three communities living in proximity to CSG development in regional Queensland, Australia. Communities faced social, economic and environmental impacts from the rapid growth of CSG development, which were perceived to have direct and indirect effects on individual lifestyle factors such as alcohol and drug abuse, family relationships, social capital and mental health; and community-level factors including social connectedness, civic engagement and trust. Outer regional communities discussed the effects of mining activity on the fabric of their town and community, whereas the inner regional community that had a longer history of industrial activity discussed the impacts on families and individual health and wellbeing. The findings from this study may inform future health service planning in regions affected by CSG in the development /construction phase and provide the mining sector in regional areas with evidence from which to develop social responsibility programs that encompass health, social, economic and environmental assessments that more accurately reflect the needs of the affected communities.

Orapa Diamond Mine, Botswana

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-11-16

This image from NASA Terra spacecraft shows the Orapa diamond mine, the world largest diamond mine by area. The mine is located in Botswana. It is the oldest of four mines operated by the same company, having begun operations in 1971. Orapa is an open pit style of mine, located on two kimberlite pipes. Currently, the Orapa mine annually produces approximately 11 million carats (2200 kg) of diamonds. The Letlhakane diamond mine is also an open pit construction. In 2003, the Letlhakane mine produced 1.06 million carats of diamonds. The Damtshaa diamond mine is the newest of four mines, located on top of four distinct kimberlite pipes of varying ore grade. The mine is forecast to produce about 5 million carats of diamond over the projected 31 year life of the mine. The image was acquired October 5, 2014, covers an area of 28 by 45 km, and is located at 21.3 degrees south, 25.4 degrees east. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20104

Rare earth metal-containing ionic liquids

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Prodius, Denis; Mudring, Anja-Verena

As an innovative tool, ionic liquids (ILs) are widely employed as an alternative, smart, reaction media (vs. traditional solvents) offering interesting technology solutions for dissolving, processing and recycling of metal-containing materials. The costly mining and refining of rare earths (RE), combined with increasing demand for high-tech and energy-related applications around the world, urgently requires effective approaches to improve the efficiency of rare earth separation and recovery. In this context, ionic liquids appear as an attractive technology solution. Finally, this paper addresses the structural and coordination chemistry of ionic liquids comprising rare earth metals with the aim to add to understandingmore » prospects of ionic liquids in the chemistry of rare earths.« less

Rare earth metal-containing ionic liquids

DOE PAGES

Prodius, Denis; Mudring, Anja-Verena

2018-03-07

As an innovative tool, ionic liquids (ILs) are widely employed as an alternative, smart, reaction media (vs. traditional solvents) offering interesting technology solutions for dissolving, processing and recycling of metal-containing materials. The costly mining and refining of rare earths (RE), combined with increasing demand for high-tech and energy-related applications around the world, urgently requires effective approaches to improve the efficiency of rare earth separation and recovery. In this context, ionic liquids appear as an attractive technology solution. Finally, this paper addresses the structural and coordination chemistry of ionic liquids comprising rare earth metals with the aim to add to understandingmore » prospects of ionic liquids in the chemistry of rare earths.« less

Front Range Infrastructure Resources Project--Biological Resources

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

1998-01-01

Riparian (streamside) vegetation communities are of interest in the context of the Front Range Infrastructure Resources Project (FRIRP) because they are often a focal point for conflicting societal demands. The cottonwoods and willows comprising these communities are structurally complex compared to the surrounding landscape and support diverse assemblages of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. However, riparian areas are also primary sites for water development, agriculture, grazing, sand and gravel mining, and recreation, each of which may limit other uses. Direct and indirect impacts of these activities have led to exploration of new opportunities and techniques for restoring disturbed riparian habitats and to greater concern for some of the scarce species that inhabit them.

Modes and Experience of Green Mine Construction in Yunnan, China: Case Studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Xianfeng; Huang, Qianrui; Yang, Shuran; Xu, Jun; Fan, Youcai; Xu, Gang; Yang, Jiaqing; Yuan, Jia; Qi, Wufu

2017-12-01

Yunnan is one of most important provinces with mineral resources and exploration in China. Meanwhile, Yunnan is Chinese ecological protective screen and try to be Pacesetter of ecological civilization. However, mining industry always disturbs ecological environment seriously. So green mine construction is inevitable and the best choice for Yunnan. In this paper, achievement of green mine construction in Yunnan was summarized. Then the paper takes two mines from Dahongshan and 4 mines from Yunnan Phosphate Chemical Group Co., Ltd (YPC for short) as case studies. Technological innovation in Dahongshan Fe Mine and Dahongshan Cu Mine guarantees their success of green mine construction. Land rehabilitation and harmonious community are highlights of 4 mines from YPC. These modes and experience could be referential to construct green mine.

30 CFR 49.17 - Physical requirements for mine rescue team.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Physical requirements for mine rescue team. 49... EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.17 Physical requirements for mine rescue team. (a) Each member of a mine rescue team shall be examined annually by a...

30 CFR 49.17 - Physical requirements for mine rescue team.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Physical requirements for mine rescue team. 49... EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.17 Physical requirements for mine rescue team. (a) Each member of a mine rescue team shall be examined annually by a...

30 CFR 49.18 - Training for mine rescue teams.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Training for mine rescue teams. 49.18 Section... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.18 Training for mine rescue teams. (a) Prior to serving on a mine rescue team each member shall complete, at a minimum, an initial...

30 CFR 49.8 - Training for mine rescue teams.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Training for mine rescue teams. 49.8 Section 49... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Metal and Nonmetal Mines § 49.8 Training for mine rescue teams. (a) Prior to serving on a mine rescue team each member shall complete, at a minimum...

30 CFR 49.17 - Physical requirements for mine rescue team.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Physical requirements for mine rescue team. 49... EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.17 Physical requirements for mine rescue team. (a) Each member of a mine rescue team shall be examined annually by a...

30 CFR 49.8 - Training for mine rescue teams.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Training for mine rescue teams. 49.8 Section 49... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Metal and Nonmetal Mines § 49.8 Training for mine rescue teams. (a) Prior to serving on a mine rescue team each member shall complete, at a minimum...

30 CFR 49.18 - Training for mine rescue teams.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Training for mine rescue teams. 49.18 Section... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.18 Training for mine rescue teams. (a) Prior to serving on a mine rescue team each member shall complete, at a minimum, an initial...

30 CFR 49.17 - Physical requirements for mine rescue team.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Physical requirements for mine rescue team. 49... EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.17 Physical requirements for mine rescue team. (a) Each member of a mine rescue team shall be examined annually by a...

30 CFR 49.17 - Physical requirements for mine rescue team.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Physical requirements for mine rescue team. 49... EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.17 Physical requirements for mine rescue team. (a) Each member of a mine rescue team shall be examined annually by a...

30 CFR 49.18 - Training for mine rescue teams.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Training for mine rescue teams. 49.18 Section... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.18 Training for mine rescue teams. (a) Prior to serving on a mine rescue team each member shall complete, at a minimum, an initial...

30 CFR 49.18 - Training for mine rescue teams.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Training for mine rescue teams. 49.18 Section... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.18 Training for mine rescue teams. (a) Prior to serving on a mine rescue team each member shall complete, at a minimum, an initial...

30 CFR 49.8 - Training for mine rescue teams.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Training for mine rescue teams. 49.8 Section 49... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Metal and Nonmetal Mines § 49.8 Training for mine rescue teams. (a) Prior to serving on a mine rescue team each member shall complete, at a minimum...

30 CFR 49.18 - Training for mine rescue teams.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Training for mine rescue teams. 49.18 Section... TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.18 Training for mine rescue teams. (a) Prior to serving on a mine rescue team each member shall complete, at a minimum, an initial...

The Mechanization of Mining.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marovelli, Robert L.; Karhnak, John M.

1982-01-01

Mechanization of mining is explained in terms of its effect on the mining of coal, focusing on, among others, types of mining, productivity, machinery, benefits to retired miners, fatality rate in underground coal mines, and output of U.S. mining industry. (Author/JN)

Establishing the Ecological Status of Mining-Impacted Freshwaters from Abrud River Catchment Area Using Benthic Diatom Communities (Ros, ia MontanÄă, Romania)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olenici, Adriana; Baciu, Calin; Momeu, Laura; Cozma, Alexandra; Brahaita, Dorian; Pop, Cristian; Lazar, Laura; Popita, Gabriela; Teodosiu, Gabriela

2015-04-01

Keywords: diatom communities, indicator species, mine waters, water quality, Romania. Diatoms are a very distinct group of algae, identifiable under the light microscope by their yellow - brown coloration and by the presence of a thick silica cell wall. The potential for freshwater organisms to reflect changes in environmental conditions was first noted by Kolenati (1848) and Cohn (1853), who observed that biota in polluted waters were different from those in non-polluted situations. Diatoms are widely used to monitor river pollution because they are sensitive to water chemistry, especially to ionic content, pH, dissolved organic matter and nutrients. Wide geographic distribution and well-studied ecology of most diatom species are mentioned as major advantages of using diatoms as indicator organisms. At the same time water quality has begun to deteriorate increasingly, mainly as a result of the physical, chemical and bacteriological alterations, and the aquatic ecosystems are evermore affected by various types of pollution, the anthropic one being almost always included. A good example is Abrud River and its main tributaries (Roșia Montană and surrounding areas, Romania), which has suffered along the years because of the mining waters discharge. In this context, this study presents data on benthic diatom communities from the Abrud River catchment area. Sixteen sites have been sampled seasonal and the best represented diatom genera were Navicula, Nitzschia, Cymbella, Gomphonema, Achnantes, Surirella and Fragilaria. Qualitatively, the number of diatom species exhibited significant variation among sampling sites, also suggesting seasonal dynamics. For instance, in some sampling sites, algal assemblages were absent, as diatom communities were strongly affected by acid mine waters, released from old mining works and waste rocks depots. Some dominant taxa have been observed as well, suggesting critical saprobic levels of the Abrud River and some of its tributaries. The large quantity of organic matter, originating from untreated municipal water, together with the high concentrations of NO3-, draw attention to the mediocre quality of water in the area. Moreover, the values of the measured physical and chemical parameters (i.e. pH, salinity, conductivity, O2) and the concentrations of SO42-, Fe, Pb, Ni, Cu, Cd and Zn also indicates quality alterations caused by the mine waters flowing into some tributaries and the river. Besides diatoms, the study also referrs to the determination of bacterial communities existing in the same sampling area, that revealed the presence of the main groups of microorganisms involved in the biogeochemical cycles of C, N, Fe and S, and the absence of pathogenic bacteria such as total and faecal coliforms and faecal streptococci. The heterotrophic bacteria strains obtained which are highly adapted to the heavy metals occuring in the investigated habitats could be used as new microorganisms in the bioremediation processes of this water resource in future studies. Acknowledgments: The present contribution was financially supported by a grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research, CCCDI - UEFISCDI, project 3-005 Tools for sustainable gold mining in EU (SUSMIN). Dorian Brahaita has benefited from the financial support provided by the project POSDRU/159/1.5/S/132400.

Abandoned Uranium Mine (AUM) Trust Mine Points, Navajo Nation, 2016, US EPA Region 9

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This GIS dataset contains point features that represent mines included in the Navajo Environmental Response Trust. This mine category also includes Priority mines. USEPA and NNEPA prioritized mines based on gamma radiation levels, proximity to homes and potential for water contamination identified in the preliminary assessments. Attributes include mine names, reclaimed status, links to US EPA AUM reports, and the region in which the mine is located. This dataset contains 19 features.

Identifying Catchment-Scale Predictors of Coal Mining Impacts on New Zealand Stream Communities.

PubMed

Clapcott, Joanne E; Goodwin, Eric O; Harding, Jon S

2016-03-01

Coal mining activities can have severe and long-term impacts on freshwater ecosystems. At the individual stream scale, these impacts have been well studied; however, few attempts have been made to determine the predictors of mine impacts at a regional scale. We investigated whether catchment-scale measures of mining impacts could be used to predict biological responses. We collated data from multiple studies and analyzed algae, benthic invertebrate, and fish community data from 186 stream sites, including un-mined streams, and those associated with 620 mines on the West Coast of the South Island, New Zealand. Algal, invertebrate, and fish richness responded to mine impacts and were significantly higher in un-mined compared to mine-impacted streams. Changes in community composition toward more acid- and metal-tolerant species were evident for algae and invertebrates, whereas changes in fish communities were significant and driven by a loss of nonmigratory native species. Consistent catchment-scale predictors of mining activities affecting biota included the time post mining (years), mining density (the number of mines upstream per catchment area), and mining intensity (tons of coal production per catchment area). Mining was associated with a decline in stream biodiversity irrespective of catchment size, and recovery was not evident until at least 30 years after mining activities have ceased. These catchment-scale predictors can provide managers and regulators with practical metrics to focus on management and remediation decisions.

Identifying Catchment-Scale Predictors of Coal Mining Impacts on New Zealand Stream Communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clapcott, Joanne E.; Goodwin, Eric O.; Harding, Jon S.

2016-03-01

Coal mining activities can have severe and long-term impacts on freshwater ecosystems. At the individual stream scale, these impacts have been well studied; however, few attempts have been made to determine the predictors of mine impacts at a regional scale. We investigated whether catchment-scale measures of mining impacts could be used to predict biological responses. We collated data from multiple studies and analyzed algae, benthic invertebrate, and fish community data from 186 stream sites, including un-mined streams, and those associated with 620 mines on the West Coast of the South Island, New Zealand. Algal, invertebrate, and fish richness responded to mine impacts and were significantly higher in un-mined compared to mine-impacted streams. Changes in community composition toward more acid- and metal-tolerant species were evident for algae and invertebrates, whereas changes in fish communities were significant and driven by a loss of nonmigratory native species. Consistent catchment-scale predictors of mining activities affecting biota included the time post mining (years), mining density (the number of mines upstream per catchment area), and mining intensity (tons of coal production per catchment area). Mining was associated with a decline in stream biodiversity irrespective of catchment size, and recovery was not evident until at least 30 years after mining activities have ceased. These catchment-scale predictors can provide managers and regulators with practical metrics to focus on management and remediation decisions.

30 CFR 49.13 - Alternative mine rescue capability for small and remote mines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines... the operator as to the number of miners willing to serve on a mine rescue team; (8) The operator's...

30 CFR 49.13 - Alternative mine rescue capability for small and remote mines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines... the operator as to the number of miners willing to serve on a mine rescue team; (8) The operator's...

30 CFR 49.13 - Alternative mine rescue capability for small and remote mines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines... the operator as to the number of miners willing to serve on a mine rescue team; (8) The operator's...

30 CFR 49.13 - Alternative mine rescue capability for small and remote mines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines... the operator as to the number of miners willing to serve on a mine rescue team; (8) The operator's...

30 CFR 49.13 - Alternative mine rescue capability for small and remote mines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines... the operator as to the number of miners willing to serve on a mine rescue team; (8) The operator's...

Applications of Geomatics in Surface Mining

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blachowski, Jan; Górniak-Zimroz, Justyna; Milczarek, Wojciech; Pactwa, Katarzyna

2017-12-01

In terms of method of extracting mineral from deposit, mining can be classified into: surface, underground, and borehole mining. Surface mining is a form of mining, in which the soil and the rock covering the mineral deposits are removed. Types of surface mining include mainly strip and open-cast methods, as well as quarrying. Tasks associated with surface mining of minerals include: resource estimation and deposit documentation, mine planning and deposit access, mine plant development, extraction of minerals from deposits, mineral and waste processing, reclamation and reclamation of former mining grounds. At each stage of mining, geodata describing changes occurring in space during the entire life cycle of surface mining project should be taken into consideration, i.e. collected, analysed, processed, examined, distributed. These data result from direct (e.g. geodetic) and indirect (i.e. remote or relative) measurements and observations including airborne and satellite methods, geotechnical, geological and hydrogeological data, and data from other types of sensors, e.g. located on mining equipment and infrastructure, mine plans and maps. Management of such vast sources and sets of geodata, as well as information resulting from processing, integrated analysis and examining such data can be facilitated with geomatic solutions. Geomatics is a discipline of gathering, processing, interpreting, storing and delivering spatially referenced information. Thus, geomatics integrates methods and technologies used for collecting, management, processing, visualizing and distributing spatial data. In other words, its meaning covers practically every method and tool from spatial data acquisition to distribution. In this work examples of application of geomatic solutions in surface mining on representative case studies in various stages of mine operation have been presented. These applications include: prospecting and documenting mineral deposits, assessment of land accessibility for a potential large-scale surface mining project, modelling mineral deposit (granite) management, concept of a system for management of conveyor belt network technical condition, project of a geoinformation system of former mining terrains and objects, and monitoring and control of impact of surface mining on mine surroundings with satellite radar interferometry.

Overview of bureau research directed towards surface powered haulage safety

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

May, J.P.; Aldinger, J.A.

1995-12-31

Surface mining operations, including mills and preparation plants, employ over 260,000 people. This represents a significant contribution to our nation`s economy and an important source of skilled and well-paying jobs. As mine production has shifted from underground to surface, and with continuing advances in underground mine safety, surface mining has unfortunately become the leader in mine fatalities. In 1994 surface mining accidents accounted for 49% of all mine fatalities, followed by underground mining with 37% and mills and preparation plants with 14%. The U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) has targeted surface mining as an important research priority to reduce themore » social and economic costs associated with fatalities and lost-work-time injuries. USBM safety research focuses on the development of technologies that can enhance productivity and reduce mining costs through a reduction in the number and severity of mining accidents. This report summarizes a number of completed and ongoing research programs directed towards surface powered haulage--the single largest category of fatalities in surface mining and a major cause of lost workdays. Research products designed for industry are highlighted and future USBM surface mining safety research is discussed.« less

Factors influencing mine rescue team behaviors.

PubMed

Jansky, Jacqueline H; Kowalski-Trakofler, K M; Brnich, M J; Vaught, C

2016-01-01

A focus group study of the first moments in an underground mine emergency response was conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Office for Mine Safety and Health Research. Participants in the study included mine rescue team members, team trainers, mine officials, state mining personnel, and individual mine managers. A subset of the data consists of responses from participants with mine rescue backgrounds. These responses were noticeably different from those given by on-site emergency personnel who were at the mine and involved with decisions made during the first moments of an event. As a result, mine rescue team behavior data were separated in the analysis and are reported in this article. By considering the responses from mine rescue team members and trainers, it was possible to sort the data and identify seven key areas of importance to them. On the basis of the responses from the focus group participants with a mine rescue background, the authors concluded that accurate and complete information and a unity of purpose among all command center personnel are two of the key conditions needed for an effective mine rescue operation.

Lunar vertical-shaft mining system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Introne, Steven D. (Editor); Krause, Roy; Williams, Erik; Baskette, Keith; Martich, Frederick; Weaver, Brad; Meve, Jeff; Alexander, Kyle; Dailey, Ron; White, Matt

1994-01-01

This report proposes a method that will allow lunar vertical-shaft mining. Lunar mining allows the exploitation of mineral resources imbedded within the surface. The proposed lunar vertical-shaft mining system is comprised of five subsystems: structure, materials handling, drilling, mining, and planning. The structure provides support for the exploration and mining equipment in the lunar environment. The materials handling subsystem moves mined material outside the structure and mining and drilling equipment inside the structure. The drilling process bores into the surface for the purpose of collecting soil samples, inserting transducer probes, or locating ore deposits. Once the ore deposits are discovered and pinpointed, mining operations bring the ore to the surface. The final subsystem is planning, which involves the construction of the mining structure.

New perspectives on a 140-year legacy of mining and abandoned mine cleanup in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Yager, Douglas B.; Fey, David L.; Chapin, Thomas; Johnson, Raymond H.

2016-01-01

The Gold King mine water release that occurred on 5 August 2015 near the historical mining community of Silverton, Colorado, highlights the environmental legacy that abandoned mines have on the environment. During reclamation efforts, a breach of collapsed workings at the Gold King mine sent 3 million gallons of acidic and metal-rich mine water into the upper Animas River, a tributary to the Colorado River basin. The Gold King mine is located in the scenic, western San Juan Mountains, a region renowned for its volcano-tectonic and gold-silver-base metal mineralization history. Prior to mining, acidic drainage from hydrothermally altered areas was a major source of metals and acidity to streams, and it continues to be so. In addition to abandoned hard rock metal mines, uranium mine waste poses a long-term storage and immobilization challenge in this area. Uranium resources are mined in the Colorado Plateau, which borders the San Juan Mountains on the west. Uranium processing and repository sites along the Animas River near Durango, Colorado, are a prime example of how the legacy of mining must be managed for the health and well-being of future generations. The San Juan Mountains are part of a geoenvironmental nexus where geology, mining, agriculture, recreation, and community issues converge. This trip will explore the geology, mining, and mine cleanup history in which a community-driven, watershed-based stakeholder process is an integral part. Research tools and historical data useful for understanding complex watersheds impacted by natural sources of metals and acidity overprinted by mining will also be discussed.

Nome Offshore Mining Information

Science.gov Websites

Lands Coal Regulatory Program Large Mine Permits Mineral Property and Rights Mining Index Land potential safety concerns, prevent overcrowding, and provide for efficient processing of the permits and Regulatory Program Large Mine Permitting Mineral Property Management Mining Fact Sheets Mining Forms APMA

A contextual data mining approach toward assisting the treatment of anxiety disorders.

PubMed

Panagiotakopoulos, Theodor Chris; Lyras, Dimitrios Panagiotis; Livaditis, Miltos; Sgarbas, Kyriakos N; Anastassopoulos, George C; Lymberopoulos, Dimitrios K

2010-05-01

Anxiety disorders are considered the most prevalent of mental disorders. Nevertheless, the exact reasons that provoke them to patients remain yet not clearly specified, while the literature concerning the environment for monitoring and treatment support is rather scarce warranting further investigation. Toward this direction, in this study a context-aware approach is proposed, aiming to provide medical supervisors with a series of applications and personalized services targeted to exploit the multiparameter contextual data collected through a long-term monitoring procedure. More specifically, an application that assists the archiving and retrieving of the patients' health records was developed, and four treatment supportive services were considered. The three of them focus on the discovery of possible associations between the patient's contextual data; the last service aims at predicting the stress level a patient might suffer from, in a given context. The proposed approach was experimentally evaluated quantitatively (in terms of computational efficiency and time requirements) and qualitatively by experts on the field of mental health domain. The feedback received was very encouraging and the proposed approach seems quite useful to the anxiety disorders' treatment.

Geomorphology and the Restoration Ecology of Salmon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montgomery, D. R.

2005-05-01

Natural and anthropogenic influences on watershed processes affect the distribution and abundance of salmon across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales, from differences in species use and density between individual pools and riffles to regional patterns of threatened, endangered, and extinct runs. The specific impacts of human activities (e.g., mining, logging, and urbanization) vary among regions and watersheds, as well as between different channel reaches in the same watershed. Understanding of both disturbance history and key biophysical processes are important for diagnosing the nature and causes of differences between historical and contemporary fluvial and watershed conditions based on evaluation of both historical and spatial contexts. In order to be most effective, the contribution of geomorphologic insight to salmon recovery efforts requires both assessment protocols commensurate with providing adequate knowledge of historical and spatial context, and experienced practitioners well versed in adapting general theory to local settings. The historical record of salmon management in Europe, New England and the Pacific Northwest indicates that there is substantial need to incorporate geomorphic insights on the effects of changes in watershed processes on salmon habitat and salmon abundance into salmon recovery efforts.

Light Stable Isotopes in Aquifers Affected by Mining Activities in a Brazilian Mining Province

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moreira, R. M.; de Carvalho, J. B.

2013-05-01

Iron ore is presently a main item in the Brazilian commercial agenda. Large reserves have converted this utility into an important source of export earnings and, secondarily, of raw materials for the domestic industry. Parallel to a boom in mining activities in the last years environmental impacts and a stress on natural resources have soared. A region exhibiting pronouncedly intensive mining activities lies in the central part of the State of Minas Gerais, the third economy of the federation. Mines are sited right beside the capital and neighbor towns amounting to nearly five million inhabitants and a pronounced dependence on groundwater resources. Besides, this region is a water divide enclosing the sources of main contributors to the most strategic fluvial basins in the country. Iron ore is by large the main mineral but other metals (including gold and uranium), as well as non-metals such as limestone, quartz and granite, also occur. Given the significance of this commodity in the country's trade balance and the demand of water resources with acceptable quality for human consumption, the scale of ensuing water use conflicts caused by its exploration is wide ranging and has to be coped with well grounded environmental assessment approaches. Tracer hydrology techniques might be a valuable tool in this context. The characteristics of the area being impacted have been surveyed, including climate and pluviometry, stratigraphic litology, geological structure, use of soil, mineral resources and their exploration, surface and ground water hydrology and their sundry uses. Data to be processed have been procured at local public agencies but as regard local hydrological features, particularly isotopic compositions, ad hoc surveys and methodologies were required. One instance concerns pluviometric isotopy due to the alpine character of the surveyed region altitude and temperature effects might take place. Hence different sites were monitored; cumulative pluviometer samples collected on a monthly base had to be stored in specially designed containers to avoid fractionation due to evaporation. Meteoric and groundwater samples were collected at a monthly rate along a whole year period at a total of forty seven stations including wells, springs and drainage sources, encompassing six aquifer units. Physical-chemical parameters, major ions, and both stable and radioactive nuclides were measured in the collected samples. Stable isotope measurements comprised the 2H/1H and 18O/16O ratios. Tritium level measurements were measured to evaluate the water residence time in the aquifers; since these levels are presently so low in the southern hemisphere electrolytic enrichment was required.

Energy, mining, and the commercial success of the Newcomen "steam" engine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murphy, John Paul

This dissertation is about energy; specifically how prime movers changed at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. These power needs are explored via the history of the Newcomen atmospheric engine, as it was used in the 18th century to drive pumps in flooded mines. This approach examines society as an energy-converting phenomenon, and uses the concept of an energy rent. The dissertation seeks to reach past the 19th century's "high-pressure historiography" of the first engines powered by fire; instead, it traces the actual low-pressure atmospheric technology of the first commercially successful engines, and the surprising, rather than inevitable, transformation they engendered. The costs of fuel are shown to be an essential factor in the success or failure of the first Newcomen engines. Thomas Newcomen's failed first attempts in Cornwall (1710) are contrasted with success in collieries, located in the relatively distant region of the Midlands, only two years later. To test the suggestion that coal is needed for a Newcomen engine to be profitable, two detailed case histories compare 18th century engines, both fired using wood fuel, at iron ore mines. The first was a failed engine at Dannemora, Sweden (1728); the second a successful machine built by the Brown brothers at Cranston, Rhode Island (1783). The Brown engine's case history was based on extensive original archive research, and also provides a detailed history of the Hope Furnace, which used the ore from Cranston. Success for the Browns in Rhode Island is found to have been rooted in their careful planning for fuel needs. The two mines were also found to have significantly different construction of gender roles, suggesting the Rhode Island context had established more thoroughly capitalist relations. The work shows that the demand for more extensive power, which led to these engines, was propelled by the ability of the evolving commercial market place to convert energy profitably (16th and 17th centuries in Europe). The resulting pressure to expand society's energy envelope created this "need" for primary power, which was particularly acute at mining enterprises. A vocabulary for cross-comparing primary movers is developed. The Newcomen engine is found to have teetered on the border between negative and positive energy rents. The dissertation concludes that it tipped positive, when applied in an energy intensive environment, thus contributed to a divergence from the equilibrium of an advanced agricultural society.

Measurement of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in epiphytic lichens and from PM 2.5 filters for receptor modeling in the Alberta Oil Sands Region (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Studabaker, W. B.; Jayanty, J.; Raymer, J. H.; Krupa, S.

2013-12-01

As mining and refinery operations in the Alberta Oil Sands Region (AOSR) have expanded, there has been increasing concern for the impacts of air pollution generated by those operations on both human and ecosystem health. The inaccessibility of much of the AOSR makes it difficult to establish conventional air quality monitoring stations to the extent needed to model long-range impacts of emissions from the AOSR operations. Epiphytic lichens are important markers of ecosystem health, are well-established bioaccumulators of trace metals, and are potentially useful biomonitors of air pollution. However, their ability to take up organic pollutants has not been extensively explored, and only recently have they been used for biomonitoring of pollution by PAHs. Here we describe the determination of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in lichens, collected from sites throughout the AOSR, for modeling emissions associated with mining and oil extraction operations. We also describe preliminary results of the determination of PAHs in PM 2.5 filters from dichotomous samplers stationed in the AOSR, in the context of the biological sample data. Lichens (Hypogymnia physodes) were collected on two separate occasions. During the summer of 2009, single samples were taken from 200 sites in the AOSR; a subset of 20 of these was selected for determination of PAHs. During the summer of 2011, triplicate samples (from separate trees within a site) were collected from 20 sites representing similar locations to the 2008 sites. Lichens were milled in a cryogenic impactor, then were extracted with cyclohexane. Extracts were purified on silica gel using automated solid phase extraction and analyzed by gas chromatography with mass selective detection. Method detection limits for individual PAHs were 2-4 ng/g. Total PAHs in the samples from both collection events ranged from 50 ng/g to 350 ng/g, and declined with increasing distance from the mining and refinery operations. The relative contribution of low ring number PAHs to total PAHs increased with increasing distance. Total PAHs correlated strongly (R2 > 0.80, p < 0.05) with crustal elements, suggesting similar transport mechanisms. Analytical data for PAHs on PM 2.5 filters, including relationships between concentrations, PAH profiles, and distance from the mines, will be presented. The lichen data are consistent with PAH transport close to the mines being more influenced by particulate matter transport mechanisms, whereas PAHs in samples collected from remote areas reflect more of the vapor phase transport mechanisms.

Mine wastes and human health

USGS Publications Warehouse

Plumlee, Geoffrey S.; Morman, Suzette A.

2011-01-01

Historical mining and mineral processing have been linked definitively to health problems resulting from occupational and environmental exposures to mine wastes. Modern mining and processing methods, when properly designed and implemented, prevent or greatly reduce potential environmental health impacts. However, particularly in developing countries, there are examples of health problems linked to recent mining. In other cases, recent mining has been blamed for health problems but no clear links have been found. The types and abundances of potential toxicants in mine wastes are predictably influenced by the geologic characteristics of the deposit being mined. Hence, Earth scientists can help understand, anticipate, and mitigate potential health issues associated with mining and mineral processing.

Coal mine bumps as related to geologic features in the northern part of the Sunnyside District, Carbon County, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Osterwald, Frank W.; Dunrud, C. Richard; Collins, Donley S.

1993-01-01

Coal mine bumps, which are violent, spontaneous, and often catastrophic disruptions of coal and rock, were common in the Sunnyside coal mining district, Utah, before the introduction of protective-engineering methods, modern room-and-pillar retreat mining with continuous mining machines, and particularly modern longwall mining. The coal at Sunnyside, when stressed during mining, fails continuously with many popping, snapping, and banging noises. Although most of the bumps are beneficial because they make mining easier, many of the large ones are dangerous and in the past caused injuries and fatalities, particularly with room- and-pillar mining methods used in the early mining operations. Geologic mapping of underground mine openings revealed many types of deformational features, some pre-mine and some post-mine in age. Stresses resulting from mining are concentrated near the mine openings; if openings are driven at large angles to small pre-mine deformational features, particularly shatter zones in coal, abnormal stress buildups may occur and violent bumps may result. Other geologic features, such as ripple marks, oriented sand grains, intertongued rock contacts, trace fossils, and load casts, also influence the occurrence of bumps by impeding slip of coal and rocks along bedding planes. The stress field in the coal also varies markedly because of the rough ridge and canyon topography. These features may allow excessively large stress components to accumulate. At many places, the stresses that contribute to deformation and failures of mine openings are oriented horizontally. The stratigraphy of the rocks immediately above and below the mined coal bed strongly influences the deformation of the mine openings in response to stress accumulations. Triaxial compressive testing of coal from the Sunnyside No.1 and No.3 Mines indicates that the strength of the coal increases several times as the confining (lateral) stress is increased. Strengths of cores cut from single large blocks of coal vary widely. Although the strengths of coal cores increase slowly at high levels of confining stress, the coal in Sunnyside No. 1 Mine is slightly stronger in laboratory tests than coal in Sunnyside No.3 Mine. The coal in No.1 Mine probably can store larger amounts of stress than coal in the No.3 Mine, which may account for the apparently greater number of violent bumps in No.1 Mine. The strength of coal, and its ability to store stress before failure, may correlate in part with chemical composition, particularly with the amounts of benzene ring compounds in vitrain; coal with relatively large amounts of benzene ring compounds is stronger than coal with lesser amounts of these compounds. Alternatively, the chemical composition of coal may affect its response to stress. Increasing contents of kaolinite in coal appear to reduce its compressive strength at low confining stresses, resulting in easy failures of pillars and ribs in mine openings. Applications of the geologic factors outlined in this report, carefully coupled with advanced modern engineering methods, have markedly reduced the hazards from coal mine bumps and related failures of mine openings at Sunnyside. Similar studies probably could aid in reducing bump-related hazards in other coal mining areas.

Underground gas storage in the Leyden lignite mine

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Meddles, R.M.

1978-01-01

Underground gas storage in the Leyden lignite mine by Public Service Co. of Colorado was preceded by careful studies of mine records with respect to geologic conditions and investigation of the gas-sealing potential of the rocks surrounding the cavern. The water level in shaft No. 3 in Sept. 1958 was about 100 ft above the coal seam at that point. Wells were drilled into the mine up-dip (east) of the structurally highest point that a mine shaft intersected the coal seams, and gas was injected into the mine, using the mine water as a seal. At least the up-dip partmore » of the mine was gas-tight, and tests were expanded to the rest of the mine, which also proved to be gas-tight. All that remained to complete the preparation of the mine for permanent gas storage was sealing of the old mine shafts.« less

Closedure - Mine Closure Technologies Resource

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kauppila, Päivi; Kauppila, Tommi; Pasanen, Antti; Backnäs, Soile; Liisa Räisänen, Marja; Turunen, Kaisa; Karlsson, Teemu; Solismaa, Lauri; Hentinen, Kimmo

2015-04-01

Closure of mining operations is an essential part of the development of eco-efficient mining and the Green Mining concept in Finland to reduce the environmental footprint of mining. Closedure is a 2-year joint research project between Geological Survey of Finland and Technical Research Centre of Finland that aims at developing accessible tools and resources for planning, executing and monitoring mine closure. The main outcome of the Closedure project is an updatable wiki technology-based internet platform (http://mineclosure.gtk.fi) in which comprehensive guidance on the mine closure is provided and main methods and technologies related to mine closure are evaluated. Closedure also provides new data on the key issues of mine closure, such as performance of passive water treatment in Finland, applicability of test methods for evaluating cover structures for mining wastes, prediction of water effluents from mine wastes, and isotopic and geophysical methods to recognize contaminant transport paths in crystalline bedrock.

Mine Waste at The Kherzet Youcef Mine : Environmental Characterization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Issaad, Mouloud; Boutaleb, Abdelhak; Kolli, Omar

2017-04-01

Mining activity in Algeria has existed since antiquity. But it was very important since the 20th century. This activity has virtually ceased since the beginning of the 1990s, leaving many mine sites abandoned (so-called orphan mines). The abandonment of mining today poses many environmental problems (soil pollution, contamination of surface water, mining collapses...). The mining wastes often occupy large volumes that can be hazardous to the environment and human health, often neglected in the past: Faulting geotechnical implementation, acid mine drainage (AMD), alkalinity, presence of pollutants and toxic substances (heavy metals, cyanide...). The study started already six years ago and it covers all mines located in NE Algeria, almost are stopped for more than thirty years. So the most important is to have an overview of all the study area. After the inventory job of the abandoned mines, the rock drainage prediction will help us to classify sites according to their acid generating potential.

THE EPA/DOE MINE WASTE TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM

EPA Science Inventory

Mining activities in the US (not counting coal) produce between 1-2B tons of mine waste annually. Since many of the ore mines involve sulfide minerals, the production of acid mine drainage (AMD) is a common problem from these abandoned mine sites. The combination of acidity, heav...

30 CFR 57.22102 - Smoking (I-C mines).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR METAL AND NONMETAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH SAFETY AND HEALTH STANDARDS-UNDERGROUND METAL AND NONMETAL MINES Safety Standards for Methane in Metal and Nonmetal Mines Fire Prevention and Control § 57.22102 Smoking (I-C mines). (a...

PREVENTION OF ACID MINE DRAINAGE GENERATION FROM OPEN-PIT MINE HIGHWALLS

EPA Science Inventory

Exposed, open pit mine highwalls contribute significantly to the production of acid mine

drainage (AMD) thus causing environmental concerns upon closure of an operating mine. Available information on the generation of AMD from open-pit mine highwalls is very limit...

30 CFR 75.389 - Mining into inaccessible areas.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Mining into inaccessible areas. 75.389 Section 75.389 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR COAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH MANDATORY SAFETY STANDARDS-UNDERGROUND COAL MINES Ventilation § 75.389 Mining into...

30 CFR 75.389 - Mining into inaccessible areas.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Mining into inaccessible areas. 75.389 Section 75.389 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR COAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH MANDATORY SAFETY STANDARDS-UNDERGROUND COAL MINES Ventilation § 75.389 Mining into...

Automation and robotics technology for intelligent mining systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Welsh, Jeffrey H.

1989-01-01

The U.S. Bureau of Mines is approaching the problems of accidents and efficiency in the mining industry through the application of automation and robotics to mining systems. This technology can increase safety by removing workers from hazardous areas of the mines or from performing hazardous tasks. The short-term goal of the Automation and Robotics program is to develop technology that can be implemented in the form of an autonomous mining machine using current continuous mining machine equipment. In the longer term, the goal is to conduct research that will lead to new intelligent mining systems that capitalize on the capabilities of robotics. The Bureau of Mines Automation and Robotics program has been structured to produce the technology required for the short- and long-term goals. The short-term goal of application of automation and robotics to an existing mining machine, resulting in autonomous operation, is expected to be accomplished within five years. Key technology elements required for an autonomous continuous mining machine are well underway and include machine navigation systems, coal-rock interface detectors, machine condition monitoring, and intelligent computer systems. The Bureau of Mines program is described, including status of key technology elements for an autonomous continuous mining machine, the program schedule, and future work. Although the program is directed toward underground mining, much of the technology being developed may have applications for space systems or mining on the Moon or other planets.

Spectral methods to detect surface mines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winter, Edwin M.; Schatten Silvious, Miranda

2008-04-01

Over the past five years, advances have been made in the spectral detection of surface mines under minefield detection programs at the U. S. Army RDECOM CERDEC Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD). The problem of detecting surface land mines ranges from the relatively simple, the detection of large anti-vehicle mines on bare soil, to the very difficult, the detection of anti-personnel mines in thick vegetation. While spatial and spectral approaches can be applied to the detection of surface mines, spatial-only detection requires many pixels-on-target such that the mine is actually imaged and shape-based features can be exploited. This method is unreliable in vegetated areas because only part of the mine may be exposed, while spectral detection is possible without the mine being resolved. At NVESD, hyperspectral and multi-spectral sensors throughout the reflection and thermal spectral regimes have been applied to the mine detection problem. Data has been collected on mines in forest and desert regions and algorithms have been developed both to detect the mines as anomalies and to detect the mines based on their spectral signature. In addition to the detection of individual mines, algorithms have been developed to exploit the similarities of mines in a minefield to improve their detection probability. In this paper, the types of spectral data collected over the past five years will be summarized along with the advances in algorithm development.

Selenium and mining in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming: Phase III - a preliminary survey of selenium concentrations in deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) livers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Raisbeck, M.L.; Vance, G.F.; Steward, D.G.

1995-09-01

Samples of liver tissue from deer mice trapped on not-yet-mined areas and reclaimed areas at five surface coal mines in the Powder River Basin of northeastern Wyoming were analyzed for selenium. The overall mean concentration of selenium in wet weight liver tissue was 1.685 ppm. The mean value from not-yet-mined areas was 1.437 ppm; the mean value from reclaimed areas was 1.910 ppm (significant at p<0.1016). When one not-yet-mined outlier was removed, significance rose to p<0.0004. Mine-to-mine comparison of samples stratified by type (that is, by not-yet-mined or reclaimed), showed average tissue concentrations from the reclaimed area of Mine 1more » were also higher (p<0.0143) then not-yet-mined area samples at Mine 1. No statistically significant differences were found between mines for samples from not-yet-mined areas, and no statistically significant differences were found between Mines 2, 3, 4, and 5 for samples from reclaimed areas. Multiple analysis of variance using the factors: site (mine) and type (not-yet-mined or reclaimed) was not significantly significant (p<0.2115). Simple linear regression showed that selenium concentrations in dry tissue could easily be predicted from wet tissue selenium (r2=0.9775), demonstrating that percent water in the samples was relatively constant. Animal body weight in general was not a predictor for either wet or dry tissue selenium concentrations, but was related to body weight at the higher tissue concentrations of selenium encountered in samples from the reclaimed area at Mine 1. Mouse body weights at Mine 1 were higher on the reclaimed area than mouse body weights from the not-yet-mined area.« less

78 FR 68783 - Refuge Alternatives for Underground Coal Mines

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-15

... Alternatives for Underground Coal Mines AGENCY: Mine Safety and Health Administration, Labor. ACTION: Reopen... coal mines. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit remanded a training... for refuge alternatives in underground coal mines. On January 13, 2009, the United Mine Workers of...

30 CFR 780.27 - Reclamation plan: Surface mining near underground mining.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... RECLAMATION AND OPERATION PLAN § 780.27 Reclamation plan: Surface mining near underground mining. For surface... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Reclamation plan: Surface mining near... ENFORCEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR SURFACE COAL MINING AND RECLAMATION OPERATIONS PERMITS AND COAL...

30 CFR 57.22308 - Methane monitors (III mines).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Methane monitors (III mines). 57.22308 Section... Standards for Methane in Metal and Nonmetal Mines Equipment § 57.22308 Methane monitors (III mines). (a) Methane monitors shall be installed on continuous mining machines and longwall mining systems. (b) The...

U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS ABANDONED MINE LAND REMEDIATION WORKSHOP

EPA Science Inventory

Mining activities in the US (not counting coal) produce 1-2 billion tons of mine waste annually. Since many of the ore mines involve sulfide minerals, the production of acid mine drainage (AMD) is a common problem from these abandoned mine sites. The combination of acidity, heavy...

ASSESSING AND MANAGING MERCURY FROM HISTORIC AND CURRENT MINING ACTIVITIES

EPA Science Inventory

Mining activities in the US (not counting coal) produce between one and two billion tons of mine waste annually. Since many of the ore mines involve sulfide minerals, the production of acid mine drainage (AMD) is a common problem from these abandoned mine sites. The combination o...

30 CFR 819.17 - Auger mining: Subsidence protection.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Auger mining: Subsidence protection. 819.17 Section 819.17 Mineral Resources OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING RECLAMATION AND ENFORCEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE... MINING § 819.17 Auger mining: Subsidence protection. Auger mining shall be conducted in accordance with...

30 CFR 77.1501 - Auger mining; inspections.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Auger mining; inspections. 77.1501 Section 77.1501 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR COAL MINE SAFETY AND... Auger Mining § 77.1501 Auger mining; inspections. (a) The face of all highwalls, to a distance of 25...

36 CFR 5.14 - Prospecting, mining, and mineral leasing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Prospecting, mining, and... OF THE INTERIOR COMMERCIAL AND PRIVATE OPERATIONS § 5.14 Prospecting, mining, and mineral leasing. Prospecting, mining, and the location of mining claims under the general mining laws and leasing under the...

30 CFR 77.1000-1 - Filing of plan.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR COAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH MANDATORY SAFETY STANDARDS, SURFACE COAL MINES AND SURFACE WORK AREAS OF UNDERGROUND COAL MINES Ground..., with the MSHA Coal Mine Safety and Health district office for the district in which the mine is located...

30 CFR 77.1708 - Safety program; instruction of persons employed at the mine.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... at the mine. 77.1708 Section 77.1708 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR COAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH MANDATORY SAFETY STANDARDS, SURFACE COAL MINES AND SURFACE WORK AREAS OF UNDERGROUND COAL MINES Miscellaneous § 77.1708 Safety program; instruction of persons...

30 CFR 49.11 - Purpose and scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.11 Purpose and scope. (a) This subpart... recovery. (b) The following Table 49.11 summarizes the new requirements for mine rescue teams contained in... Operators and Mine Rescue Teams Requirement Type of mine rescue team Mine-site Composite Contract State...

30 CFR 49.11 - Purpose and scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.11 Purpose and scope. (a) This subpart... recovery. (b) The following Table 49.11 summarizes the new requirements for mine rescue teams contained in... Operators and Mine Rescue Teams Requirement Type of mine rescue team Mine-site Composite Contract State...

30 CFR 49.11 - Purpose and scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.11 Purpose and scope. (a) This subpart... recovery. (b) The following Table 49.11 summarizes the new requirements for mine rescue teams contained in... Operators and Mine Rescue Teams Requirement Type of mine rescue team Mine-site Composite Contract State...

30 CFR 49.11 - Purpose and scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.11 Purpose and scope. (a) This subpart... recovery. (b) The following Table 49.11 summarizes the new requirements for mine rescue teams contained in... Operators and Mine Rescue Teams Requirement Type of mine rescue team Mine-site Composite Contract State...

30 CFR 49.11 - Purpose and scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.11 Purpose and scope. (a) This subpart... recovery. (b) The following Table 49.11 summarizes the new requirements for mine rescue teams contained in... Operators and Mine Rescue Teams Requirement Type of mine rescue team Mine-site Composite Contract State...

30 CFR 819.19 - Auger mining: Backfilling and grading.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Auger mining: Backfilling and grading. 819.19 Section 819.19 Mineral Resources OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING RECLAMATION AND ENFORCEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE... MINING § 819.19 Auger mining: Backfilling and grading. (a) General. Auger mining shall be conducted in...

30 CFR 819.17 - Auger mining: Subsidence protection.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Auger mining: Subsidence protection. 819.17 Section 819.17 Mineral Resources OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING RECLAMATION AND ENFORCEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE... MINING § 819.17 Auger mining: Subsidence protection. Auger mining shall be conducted in accordance with...

30 CFR 780.27 - Reclamation plan: Surface mining near underground mining.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Reclamation plan: Surface mining near underground mining. 780.27 Section 780.27 Mineral Resources OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING RECLAMATION AND ENFORCEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR SURFACE COAL MINING AND RECLAMATION OPERATIONS PERMITS AND COAL...

30 CFR 57.22308 - Methane monitors (III mines).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Methane monitors (III mines). 57.22308 Section... Standards for Methane in Metal and Nonmetal Mines Equipment § 57.22308 Methane monitors (III mines). (a) Methane monitors shall be installed on continuous mining machines and longwall mining systems. (b) The...

Methane Content Estimation in DuongHuy Coal Mine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, Van Thinh; Mijał, Waldemar; Dang, Vu Chi; Nguyen, Thi Tuyet Mai

2018-03-01

Methane hazard has always been considered for underground coal mining as it can lead to methane explosion. In Quang Ninh province, several coal mines such as Mạo Khe coal mine, Khe Cham coal mine, especially Duong Huy mine that have high methane content. Experimental data to examine contents of methane bearing coal seams at different depths are not similar in Duong coal mine. In order to ensure safety, this report has been undertaken to determine a pattern of changing methane contents of coal seams at different exploitation depths in Duong Huy underground coal mine.

Approaches to Post-Mining Land Reclamation in Polish Open-Cast Lignite Mining

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kasztelewicz, Zbigniew

2014-06-01

The paper presents the situation regarding the reclamation of post-mining land in the case of particular lignite mines in Poland until 2012 against the background of the whole opencast mining. It discusses the process of land purchase for mining operations and its sales after reclamation. It presents the achievements of mines in the reclamation and regeneration of post-mining land as a result of which-after development processes carried out according to European standards-it now serves the inhabitants as a recreational area that increases the attractiveness of the regions.

Section of Cybernetics in Mining of Mining Committee of Polish Academy of Sciences - Pro Memoria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wojaczek, Antoni; Miśkiewicz, Kazimierz

2017-09-01

Section of Cybernetics in Mining of Mining Committee of Polish Academy of Science (PAN) has been created by PAN Mining Committee in 1969. It was a section in Mining Committee of PAN, whose operation range included widely understood issues of automation, telecommunication and informatics in mining industry. The main operation method of the Section was to organize the periodic conferences dedicated to issues of control systems in mining. The first conference took place in 1971 in Katowice. Together with new (the current one) term of office of Mining Committee of PAN this Section ceased to exist. The paper presents (pro memoria) over 40 year long conference output of this Section that functioned within the scope of operation of Mining Committee of PAN up to 12th January 2016.

Monitoring Metal Pollution Levels in Mine Wastes around a Coal Mine Site Using GIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanliyuksel Yucel, D.; Yucel, M. A.; Ileri, B.

2017-11-01

In this case study, metal pollution levels in mine wastes at a coal mine site in Etili coal mine (Can coal basin, NW Turkey) are evaluated using geographical information system (GIS) tools. Etili coal mine was operated since the 1980s as an open pit. Acid mine drainage is the main environmental problem around the coal mine. The main environmental contamination source is mine wastes stored around the mine site. Mine wastes were dumped over an extensive area along the riverbeds, and are now abandoned. Mine waste samples were homogenously taken at 10 locations within the sampling area of 102.33 ha. The paste pH and electrical conductivity values of mine wastes ranged from 2.87 to 4.17 and 432 to 2430 μS/cm, respectively. Maximum Al, Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn and Ni concentrations of wastes were measured as 109300, 70600, 309.86, 115.2, 38 and 5.3 mg/kg, respectively. The Al, Fe and Pb concentrations of mine wastes are higher than world surface rock average values. The geochemical analysis results from the study area were presented in the form of maps. The GIS based environmental database will serve as a reference study for our future work.

Sustainable rehabilitation of mining waste and acid mine drainage using geochemistry, mine type, mineralogy, texture, ore extraction and climate knowledge.

PubMed

Anawar, Hossain Md

2015-08-01

The oxidative dissolution of sulfidic minerals releases the extremely acidic leachate, sulfate and potentially toxic elements e.g., As, Ag, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Sb, Th, U, Zn, etc. from different mine tailings and waste dumps. For the sustainable rehabilitation and disposal of mining waste, the sources and mechanisms of contaminant generation, fate and transport of contaminants should be clearly understood. Therefore, this study has provided a critical review on (1) recent insights in mechanisms of oxidation of sulfidic minerals, (2) environmental contamination by mining waste, and (3) remediation and rehabilitation techniques, and (4) then developed the GEMTEC conceptual model/guide [(bio)-geochemistry-mine type-mineralogy- geological texture-ore extraction process-climatic knowledge)] to provide the new scientific approach and knowledge for remediation of mining wastes and acid mine drainage. This study has suggested the pre-mining geological, geochemical, mineralogical and microtextural characterization of different mineral deposits, and post-mining studies of ore extraction processes, physical, geochemical, mineralogical and microbial reactions, natural attenuation and effect of climate change for sustainable rehabilitation of mining waste. All components of this model should be considered for effective and integrated management of mining waste and acid mine drainage. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Data mining for health executive decision support: an imperative with a daunting future!

PubMed Central

Glover, Saundra; Rivers, Patrick A; Asoh, Derek A; Piper, Crystal N; Murph, Keva

2010-01-01

Summary Data mining is highly profiled. It has the potential to enhance executive information systems. Such enhancement would mean better decision-making by management, which in turn would mean better services for customers. While the future of data mining as technology should be exciting, some are worried about privacy concerns, which make the future of data mining daunting. This paper examines why data mining is highly profiled – the imperative toward data mining, data mining models and processes. Additionally, the paper examines some of the benefits and challenges of using data mining processes within the health-care arena. We cast the future of data mining by highlighting two of the many data mining tools available – one commercial and one freely available. Subsequently, we discuss a number of social and technical factors that may thwart the extensive deployment of data mining, especially when the intent is to know more about the people that organizations have to serve and cast a view of what the future holds for data mining. This component is especially important when attempting to determine the longevity of data mining within health-care organizations. It is hoped that our discussions would be useful to organizations as they engage data mining, strategies for executive information systems and information policy issues. PMID:20150610

Report of investigation on underground limestone mines in the Ohio region. [Jonathan Mine, Alpha Portland Cement Mine, and Lewisburg Mine

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Byerly, D.W.

1976-06-01

The following is a report of investigation on the geologic setting of several underground limestone mines in Ohio other than the PPG mine at Barberton, Ohio. Due to the element of available time, the writer is only able to deliver a brief synopsis of the geology of three sites visited. These three sites and the Barberton, Ohio site are the only underground limestone mines in Ohio to the best of the writer's knowledge. The sites visited include: (1) the Jonathan Mine located near Zanesville, Ohio, and currently operated by the Columbia Cement Corporation; (2) the abandoned Alpha Portland Cement Minemore » located near Ironton, Ohio; and (3) the Lewisburg Mine located at Lewisburg, Ohio, and currently being utilized as an underground storage facility. Other remaining possibilities where limestone is being mined underground are located in middle Ordovician strata near Carntown and Maysville, Kentucky. These are drift mines into a thick sequence of carbonates. The writer predicts, however, that these mines would have some problems with water due to the preponderance of carbonate rocks and the proximity of the mines to the Ohio River. None of the sites visited nor the sites in Kentucky have conditions comparable to the deep mine at Barberton, Ohio.« less

Change detection from remotely sensed images: From pixel-based to object-based approaches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hussain, Masroor; Chen, Dongmei; Cheng, Angela; Wei, Hui; Stanley, David

2013-06-01

The appetite for up-to-date information about earth's surface is ever increasing, as such information provides a base for a large number of applications, including local, regional and global resources monitoring, land-cover and land-use change monitoring, and environmental studies. The data from remote sensing satellites provide opportunities to acquire information about land at varying resolutions and has been widely used for change detection studies. A large number of change detection methodologies and techniques, utilizing remotely sensed data, have been developed, and newer techniques are still emerging. This paper begins with a discussion of the traditionally pixel-based and (mostly) statistics-oriented change detection techniques which focus mainly on the spectral values and mostly ignore the spatial context. This is succeeded by a review of object-based change detection techniques. Finally there is a brief discussion of spatial data mining techniques in image processing and change detection from remote sensing data. The merits and issues of different techniques are compared. The importance of the exponential increase in the image data volume and multiple sensors and associated challenges on the development of change detection techniques are highlighted. With the wide use of very-high-resolution (VHR) remotely sensed images, object-based methods and data mining techniques may have more potential in change detection.

Timing and context of dolphin clicks during and after mine simulator detection and marking in the open ocean

PubMed Central

Dibble, Dianna S.; Kennemer, Jaime A.

2018-01-01

ABSTRACT Two dolphins carrying cameras swam in the ocean as they searched for and marked mine simulators – buried, proud or moored. As the animals swam ahead of a boat they searched the ocean. Cameras on their harness recorded continuous sound and video. Once a target was detected, the dolphins received a marker to take to the simulator's location. During search and detection, dolphins made almost continuous trains of varying interval clicks. During the marking phase, shorter click trains were interrupted by periods of silence. As the dolphins marked simulators, they often produced victory squeals – pulse bursts that vary in duration, peak frequency and amplitude. Victory squeals were produced on 72% of marks. Sometimes after marking, or at other times during their long swims, the dolphins produced click packets. Packets typically consisted of two to 10 clicks with inter-click intervals of 7-117 ms followed by a silence of 223-983 ms. Click packets appeared unrelated with searching or marking. We suggest that the packets were used to improve signal to noise ratios for locating a boat or other distant object. Victory squeals produced when marking the targets suggest to us that the dolphins know when they have succeeded in this multipart task. PMID:29463515

Timing and context of dolphin clicks during and after mine simulator detection and marking in the open ocean.

PubMed

Ridgway, Sam H; Dibble, Dianna S; Kennemer, Jaime A

2018-02-20

Two dolphins carrying cameras swam in the ocean as they searched for and marked mine simulators - buried, proud or moored. As the animals swam ahead of a boat they searched the ocean. Cameras on their harness recorded continuous sound and video. Once a target was detected, the dolphins received a marker to take to the simulator's location. During search and detection, dolphins made almost continuous trains of varying interval clicks. During the marking phase, shorter click trains were interrupted by periods of silence. As the dolphins marked simulators, they often produced victory squeals - pulse bursts that vary in duration, peak frequency and amplitude. Victory squeals were produced on 72% of marks. Sometimes after marking, or at other times during their long swims, the dolphins produced click packets. Packets typically consisted of two to 10 clicks with inter-click intervals of 7-117 ms followed by a silence of 223-983 ms. Click packets appeared unrelated with searching or marking. We suggest that the packets were used to improve signal to noise ratios for locating a boat or other distant object. Victory squeals produced when marking the targets suggest to us that the dolphins know when they have succeeded in this multipart task. © 2018. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Community and job satisfactions: an argument for reciprocal influence based on the principle of stimulus generalization

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gavin, J.; Montgomery, J.C.

The principle of stimulus generalization provided the underlying argument for a test of hypotheses regarding the association of community and job satisfactions and a critique of related theory and research. Two-stage least squares (2SLS) analysis made possible the examination of reciprocal causation, a notion inherent in the theoretical argument. Data were obtained from 276 employees of a Western U.S. coal mine as part of a work attitudes survey. The 2SLS analysis indicated a significant impact of community satisfaction on job satisfaction and an effect of borderline significance of job on community satisfaction. Theory-based correlational comparisons were made on groups ofmore » employees residing in four distinct communities, high and low tenure groups, males and females, and different levels in the mine's hierarchy. The pattern of correlations was generally consistent with predictions, but significance tests for differences yielded equivocal support. When considered in the context of previous studies, the data upheld a reciprocal causal model and the explanatory principle of stimulus generalization for understanding the relation of community and job satisfactions. Sample characteristics necessitate cautious interpretation and the model per se might best be viewed as a heuristic framework for more definitive research.« less

Fungi Contribute Critical but Spatially Varying Roles in Nitrogen and Carbon Cycling in Acid Mine Drainage

PubMed Central

Mosier, Annika C.; Miller, Christopher S.; Frischkorn, Kyle R.; Ohm, Robin A.; Li, Zhou; LaButti, Kurt; Lapidus, Alla; Lipzen, Anna; Chen, Cindy; Johnson, Jenifer; Lindquist, Erika A.; Pan, Chongle; Hettich, Robert L.; Grigoriev, Igor V.; Singer, Steven W.; Banfield, Jillian F.

2016-01-01

The ecosystem roles of fungi have been extensively studied by targeting one organism and/or biological process at a time, but the full metabolic potential of fungi has rarely been captured in an environmental context. We hypothesized that fungal genome sequences could be assembled directly from the environment using metagenomics and that transcriptomics and proteomics could simultaneously reveal metabolic differentiation across habitats. We reconstructed the near-complete 27 Mbp genome of a filamentous fungus, Acidomyces richmondensis, and evaluated transcript and protein expression in floating and streamer biofilms from an acid mine drainage (AMD) system. A. richmondensis transcripts involved in denitrification and in the degradation of complex carbon sources (including cellulose) were up-regulated in floating biofilms, whereas central carbon metabolism and stress-related transcripts were significantly up-regulated in streamer biofilms. These findings suggest that the biofilm niches are distinguished by distinct carbon and nitrogen resource utilization, oxygen availability, and environmental challenges. An isolated A. richmondensis strain from this environment was used to validate the metagenomics-derived genome and confirm nitrous oxide production at pH 1. Overall, our analyses defined mechanisms of fungal adaptation and identified a functional shift related to different roles in carbon and nitrogen turnover for the same species of fungi growing in closely located but distinct biofilm niches. PMID:26973616

Framing Psychology as a Discipline (1950-1999): A Large-Scale Term Co-Occurrence Analysis of Scientific Literature in Psychology.

PubMed

Flis, Ivan; van Eck, Nees Jan

2017-07-20

This study investigated the structure of psychological literature as represented by a corpus of 676,393 articles in the period from 1950 to 1999. The corpus was extracted from 1,269 journals indexed by PsycINFO. The data in our analysis consisted of the relevant terms mined from the titles and abstracts of all of the articles in the corpus. Based on the co-occurrences of these terms, we developed a series of chronological visualizations using a bibliometric software tool called VOSviewer. These visualizations produced a stable structure through the 5 decades under analysis, and this structure was analyzed as a data-mined proxy for the disciplinary formation of scientific psychology in the second part of the 20th century. Considering the stable structure uncovered by our term co-occurrence analysis and its visualization, we discuss it in the context of Lee Cronbach's "Two Disciplines of Scientific Psychology" (1957) and conventional history of 20th-century psychology's disciplinary formation and history of methods. Our aim was to provide a comprehensive digital humanities perspective on the large-scale structural development of research in English-language psychology from 1950 to 1999. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Asteroid exploration and utilization: The Hawking explorer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carlson, Alan; Date, Medha; Duarte, Manny; Erian, Neil; Gafka, George; Kappler, Peter; Patano, Scott; Perez, Martin; Ponce, Edgar; Radovich, Brian

1991-01-01

The Earth is nearing depletion of its natural resources at a time when human beings are rapidly expanding the frontiers of space. The resources which may exist on asteroids could have enormous potential for aiding and enhancing human space exploration as well as life on Earth. With the possibly limitless opportunities that exist, it is clear that asteroids are the next step for human existence in space. This report comprises the efforts of NEW WORLDS, Inc. to develop a comprehensive design for an asteroid exploration/sample return mission. This mission is a precursor to proof-of-concept missions that will investigate the validity of mining and materials processing on an asteroid. Project STONER (Systematic Transfer of Near Earth Resources) is based on two utilization scenarios: (1) moving an asteroid to an advantageous location for use by Earth; and (2) mining an asteroids and transporting raw materials back to Earth. The asteroid explorer/sample return mission is designed in the context of both scenarios and is the first phase of a long range plane for humans to utilize asteroid resources. The report concentrates specifically on the selection of the most promising asteroids for exploration and the development of an exploration scenario. Future utilization as well as subsystem requirements of an asteroid sample return probe are also addressed.

Asteroid exploration and utilization: The Hawking explorer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carlson, Alan; Date, Medha; Duarte, Manny; Erian, Neil; Gafka, George; Kappler, Peter; Patano, Scott; Perez, Martin; Ponce, Edgar; Radovich, Brian

1991-12-01

The Earth is nearing depletion of its natural resources at a time when human beings are rapidly expanding the frontiers of space. The resources which may exist on asteroids could have enormous potential for aiding and enhancing human space exploration as well as life on Earth. With the possibly limitless opportunities that exist, it is clear that asteroids are the next step for human existence in space. This report comprises the efforts of NEW WORLDS, Inc. to develop a comprehensive design for an asteroid exploration/sample return mission. This mission is a precursor to proof-of-concept missions that will investigate the validity of mining and materials processing on an asteroid. Project STONER (Systematic Transfer of Near Earth Resources) is based on two utilization scenarios: (1) moving an asteroid to an advantageous location for use by Earth; and (2) mining an asteroids and transporting raw materials back to Earth. The asteroid explorer/sample return mission is designed in the context of both scenarios and is the first phase of a long range plane for humans to utilize asteroid resources. The report concentrates specifically on the selection of the most promising asteroids for exploration and the development of an exploration scenario. Future utilization as well as subsystem requirements of an asteroid sample return probe are also addressed.

Spatial database of mining-related features in 2001 at selected phosphate mines, Bannock, Bear Lake, Bingham, and Caribou Counties, Idaho

USGS Publications Warehouse

Moyle, Phillip R.; Kayser, Helen Z.

2006-01-01

This report describes the spatial database, PHOSMINE01, and the processes used to delineate mining-related features (active and inactive/historical) in the core of the southeastern Idaho phosphate resource area. The spatial data have varying degrees of accuracy and attribution detail. Classification of areas by type of mining-related activity at active mines is generally detailed; however, for many of the closed or inactive mines the spatial coverage does not differentiate mining-related surface disturbance features. Nineteen phosphate mine sites are included in the study, three active phosphate mines - Enoch Valley (nearing closure), Rasmussen Ridge, and Smoky Canyon - and 16 inactive (or historical) phosphate mines - Ballard, Champ, Conda, Diamond Gulch, Dry Valley, Gay, Georgetown Canyon, Henry, Home Canyon, Lanes Creek, Maybe Canyon, Mountain Fuel, Trail Canyon, Rattlesnake, Waterloo, and Wooley Valley. Approximately 6,000 hc (15,000 ac), or 60 km2 (23 mi2) of phosphate mining-related surface disturbance are documented in the spatial coverage. Spatial data for the inactive mines is current because no major changes have occurred; however, the spatial data for active mines were derived from digital maps prepared in early 2001 and therefore recent activity is not included. The inactive Gay Mine has the largest total area of disturbance, 1,900 hc (4,700 ac) or about 19 km2 (7.4 mi2). It encompasses over three times the disturbance area of the next largest mine, the Conda Mine with 610 hc (1,500 ac), and it is nearly four times the area of the Smoky Canyon Mine, the largest of the active mines with about 550 hc (1,400 ac). The wide range of phosphate mining-related surface disturbance features (141) from various industry maps were reduced to 15 types or features based on a generic classification system used for this study: mine pit; backfilled mine pit; waste rock dump; adit and waste rock dump; ore stockpile; topsoil stockpile; tailings or tailings pond; sediment catchment; facilities; road; railroad; water reservoir; disturbed land, undifferentiated; and undisturbed land. In summary, the spatial coverage includes polygons totaling about 1,100 hc (2,800 ac) of mine pits, 440 hc (1100 ac) of backfilled mine pits, 1,600 hc (3,800 ac) of waste rock dumps, 31 hc (75 ac) of ore stockpiles, and 44 hc (110 ac) of tailings or tailings ponds. Areas of undifferentiated phosphate mining-related land disturbances, called 'disturbed land, undifferentiated,' total about 2,200 hc (5,500 ac) or nearly 22 km2 (8.6 mi2). No determination has been made as to status of reclamation on any of the lands. Subsequent site-specific studies to delineate distinct mine features will allow additional revisions to this spatial database.

A Study on regeneration cases with industrial Heritage in mining areas of Korea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cho, Seungyeoun; Ji, Sangwoo; Yim, Giljae

2017-04-01

The mining areas have to face urban decline problem in population and aging after its closing. Many mines were shut down due to changes in industrial structure through 20 century. Central and local governments has been trying to solve urban decline of abandoned mine areas by enacting special acts or introducing support programs for decades. In the year of 1995, South Korean government also enacted "Special act on the assistance to the development of abandoned mine areas" to promote the economy of abandoned mine areas that is depressed following the decline of the coal industry and to help balanced regional development and to improve the living standard of the residents in such abandoned mine areas. Local authorities has been trying to revitalize the regional economy by attracting tourism industry under the financial support and deregulation by this special law. With this background, this study analysis 13 regeneration cases which are utilizing the industrial heritage of the abandoned area in S. Korea. Despite the importance of mining, negative images of abandon mine have been engraved due to environmental destruction. Most of abandoned mines were left without any action since its closing. Early stage of abandoned mine area regeneration, such as Sabuk, Munkyong, are focusing on adjacent land not on abandoned mine. Abandoned mines were restored its original state and theme park including hotels, casinos and other tourist facilities were developed on adjacent land. Eco-trails on some granite caves such as Jungsun were opened to the public as natural resources not industrial heritage. The industrial heritage was very restricted to making museums about history of mining industry. However, there has been a significant change in perception toward reusing industrial heritage for urban regeneration in recent years. From the viewpoint of urban regeneration, abandon mine areas and its facilities are receiving attention as important regional assets as industrial heritage to build vibrant cities. The recent urban regeneration projects in abandoned mine areas, such as Pocheon, Kwangmyong and Anyang, are utilizing mining facilities as industrial heritage more actively. They introduced eco-friendly restoration method and made environmental parks or experience centers on mining areas themselves. In conclusion, urban regenerations of abandoned mine areas has been changed from tourist development in neighbouring areas to eco-friendly regeneration in abandoned mine areas. However, there are still some constraints for eco-friendly regeneration. The mine operators have to restore abandoned mine areas to the original state after closing under the current law, "Mining damage prevention and restoration act". Thus lots of abandoned mine areas were left undeveloped or changed to forest. For promoting utilization of mine facilities as industrial heritage, the law have to allow reuse its infrastructure such as loads and subsidiary facilities for urban regeneration.

Micron to Mine: Synchrotron Science for Mineral Exploration, Production, and Remediation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banerjee, N.; Van Loon, L.; Flynn, T.

2017-12-01

Synchrotron science for mineral exploration, production, and remediation studies is a powerful tool that provides industry with relevant micron to macro geochemical information. Synchrotron micro X-ray fluorescence (SR-µXRF) offers a direct, high-resolution, rapid, and cost-effective chemical analysis while preserving the context of the sample by mapping ore minerals with ppm detection limits. Speciation of trace and deleterious elements can then be probed using X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy. Large-scale (tens of cm) µXRF mapping and XANES analysis of samples collected at various mine locations have been undertaken to address questions regarding mineralization history to develop novel trace element exploration vectors. This information provides integral insights into trace element associations with ore minerals, local redox conditions responsible for mineralization, and mineralizing mechanisms. Gold is commonly intimately associated with sulfide mineralization (e.g., pyrite, arsenopyrite, etc.) and is present both as inclusions and filling fractures in sulfide grains. Gold may also occur as nanoparticles and/or in the sulfide mineral crystal lattice, known as "invisible gold". Understanding the nature and distribution of invisible gold in ore is integral to processing efficiency. The high flux and energy of a synchrotron light source allows for the detection of invisible gold by µXRF, and can probe its nature (metallic Au0 vs. lattice bound Au1+) using XANES spectroscopy. The long-term containment and management of arsenic is necessary to protect the health of both humans and the environment. Understanding the relationship of arsenic mineralization to gold deposits can lead to more sophisticated planning for mineral processing and the eventual storage of gangue materials. µXANES spectroscopy is an excellent tool for determining arsenic speciation within the context of the sample. Mineral phases such as arsenopyrite, scorodite, and arsenic trioxide can be accurately identified as well as relative amounts determined. With this information the oxidation-reduction of arsenic-bearing compounds can be monitored to optimize management practices for the long-term capture of arsenic contaminants.

Leaching characteristics, ecotoxicity, and risk assessment based management of mine wastes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, J.; Ju, W. J.; Jho, E. H.; Nam, K.; Hong, J. K.

2016-12-01

Mine wastes generated during mining activities in metal mines generally contain high concentrations of metals that may impose toxic effects to surrounding environment. Thus, it is necessary to properly assess the mining-impacted landscapes for management. The study investigated leaching characteristics, potential environmental effects, and human health risk of mine wastes from three different metal mines in South Korea (molybdenum mine, lead-zinc mine, and magnetite mine). The heavy metal concentrations in the leachates obtained by using the Korean Standard Test Method for Solid Wastes (STM), Toxicity Characteristics Leaching Procedure (TCLP), and Synthetic Precipitation Leaching Procedure (SPLP) met the Korea Waste Control Act and the USEPA region 3 regulatory levels accordingly, even though the mine wastes contained high concentrations of metals. Assuming that the leachates may get into nearby water sources, the leachate toxicity was tested using Daphnia Magna. The toxic unit (TU) values after 24 h and 48 h exposure of all the mine wastes tested met the Korea Allowable Effluent Water Quality Standards (TU<1). The column leaching test showed that the lead-zinc mine waste may have long-term toxic effects (TU>1 for the eluent at L/S of 30) implying that the long-term effect of mine wastes left in mining areas need to be assessed. Considering reuse of mine wastes as a way of managing mine wastes, the human health risk assessment of reusing the lead-zinc mine waste in industrial areas was carried out using the bioavailable fraction of the heavy metals contained in the mine wastes, which was determined by using the Solubility/Bioavailability Research Consortium method. There may be potential carcinogenic risk (9.7E-05) and non-carcinogenic risk (HI, Hazard Index of 1.0E+00) as CR≧1.0E-05 has carcinogenic risk and HI≧1.0E+00 has non-carcinogenic risk. Overall, this study shows that not only the concentration-based assessment but ecological toxic effect and human health risk based assessments can be utilized for mining-impacted landscapes management.

Hibernacula selection by Townsend's big-eared bat in Southwestern Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hayes, Mark A.; Schorr, Robert A.; Navo, Kirk W.

2011-01-01

In western United States, both mine reclamations and renewed mining at previously abandoned mines have increased substantially in the last decade. This increased activity may adversely impact bats that use these mines for roosting. Townsend's big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii) is a species of conservation concern that may be impacted by ongoing mine reclamation and renewed mineral extraction. To help inform wildlife management decisions related to bat use of abandoned mine sites, we used logistic regression, Akaike's information criterion, and multi-model inference to investigate hibernacula use by Townsend's big-eared bats using 9 years of data from surveys inside abandoned mines in southwestern Colorado. Townsend's big-eared bats were found in 38 of 133 mines surveyed (29%), and occupied mines averaged 2.6 individuals per mine. The model explaining the most variability in our data included number of openings and portal temperature at abandoned mines. In southwestern Colorado, we found that abandoned mine sites with more than one opening and portal temperatures near 0°C were more likely to contain hibernating Townsend's big-eared bats. However, mines with only one opening and portal temperatures of ≥10°C were occasionally occupied by Townsend's big-eared bat. Understanding mine use by Townsend's big-eared bat can help guide decisions regarding allocation of resources and placement of bat-compatible closures at mine sites scheduled for reclamation. When feasible we believe that surveys should be conducted inside all abandoned mines in a reclamation project at least once during winter prior to making closure and reclamation recommendations.

30 CFR 74.5 - Tests of coal mine dust personal sampler units.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Tests of coal mine dust personal sampler units. 74.5 Section 74.5 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR COAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH COAL MINE DUST SAMPLING DEVICES Approval Requirements for Coal Mine Dust...

30 CFR 75.1907 - Diesel-powered equipment intended for use in underground coal mines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... underground coal mines. 75.1907 Section 75.1907 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR COAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH MANDATORY SAFETY STANDARDS-UNDERGROUND COAL MINES Diesel-Powered Equipment § 75.1907 Diesel-powered equipment intended for use in underground coal mines. (a) As of...

30 CFR 74.5 - Tests of coal mine dust personal sampler units.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Tests of coal mine dust personal sampler units. 74.5 Section 74.5 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR COAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH COAL MINE DUST SAMPLING DEVICES Approval Requirements for Coal Mine Dust...

30 CFR 49.40 - Requirements for large coal mines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Requirements for large coal mines. 49.40 Section 49.40 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.40 Requirements for large coal...

30 CFR 49.40 - Requirements for large coal mines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Requirements for large coal mines. 49.40 Section 49.40 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.40 Requirements for large coal...

30 CFR 75.1907 - Diesel-powered equipment intended for use in underground coal mines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... underground coal mines. 75.1907 Section 75.1907 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR COAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH MANDATORY SAFETY STANDARDS-UNDERGROUND COAL MINES Diesel-Powered Equipment § 75.1907 Diesel-powered equipment intended for use in underground coal mines. (a) As of...

30 CFR 49.30 - Requirements for small coal mines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Requirements for small coal mines. 49.30 Section 49.30 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.30 Requirements for small coal...

30 CFR 72.800 - Single, full-shift measurement of respirable coal mine dust.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... coal mine dust. 72.800 Section 72.800 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR COAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH HEALTH STANDARDS FOR COAL MINES Miscellaneous § 72.800 Single, full-shift measurement of respirable coal mine dust. The Secretary will use a single, full-shift...

30 CFR 74.5 - Tests of coal mine dust personal sampler units.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Tests of coal mine dust personal sampler units. 74.5 Section 74.5 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR COAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH COAL MINE DUST SAMPLING DEVICES Approval Requirements for Coal Mine Dust...

30 CFR 49.40 - Requirements for large coal mines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Requirements for large coal mines. 49.40 Section 49.40 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.40 Requirements for large coal...

30 CFR 49.30 - Requirements for small coal mines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Requirements for small coal mines. 49.30 Section 49.30 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.30 Requirements for small coal...

30 CFR 75.1907 - Diesel-powered equipment intended for use in underground coal mines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... underground coal mines. 75.1907 Section 75.1907 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR COAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH MANDATORY SAFETY STANDARDS-UNDERGROUND COAL MINES Diesel-Powered Equipment § 75.1907 Diesel-powered equipment intended for use in underground coal mines. (a) As of...

30 CFR 49.40 - Requirements for large coal mines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Requirements for large coal mines. 49.40 Section 49.40 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.40 Requirements for large coal...

30 CFR 75.1907 - Diesel-powered equipment intended for use in underground coal mines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... underground coal mines. 75.1907 Section 75.1907 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR COAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH MANDATORY SAFETY STANDARDS-UNDERGROUND COAL MINES Diesel-Powered Equipment § 75.1907 Diesel-powered equipment intended for use in underground coal mines. (a) As of...

30 CFR 49.40 - Requirements for large coal mines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Requirements for large coal mines. 49.40 Section 49.40 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.40 Requirements for large coal...

30 CFR 49.30 - Requirements for small coal mines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Requirements for small coal mines. 49.30 Section 49.30 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.30 Requirements for small coal...

30 CFR 49.30 - Requirements for small coal mines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Requirements for small coal mines. 49.30 Section 49.30 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.30 Requirements for small coal...

30 CFR 49.30 - Requirements for small coal mines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Requirements for small coal mines. 49.30 Section 49.30 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINE RESCUE TEAMS Mine Rescue Teams for Underground Coal Mines § 49.30 Requirements for small coal...

30 CFR 74.5 - Tests of coal mine dust personal sampler units.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Tests of coal mine dust personal sampler units. 74.5 Section 74.5 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR COAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH COAL MINE DUST SAMPLING DEVICES Approval Requirements for Coal Mine Dust...

30 CFR 77.1200 - Mine map.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... SAFETY STANDARDS, SURFACE COAL MINES AND SURFACE WORK AREAS OF UNDERGROUND COAL MINES Maps § 77.1200 Mine... elevation of any body of water dammed or held back in any portion of the mine: Provided, however, Such bodies of water may be shown on overlays or tracings attached to the mine maps; (g) All prospect drill...

30 CFR 75.1711-3 - Openings of active mines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Openings of active mines. 75.1711-3 Section 75.1711-3 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR COAL MINE SAFETY... active mines. The openings of all mines not declared by the operator, to be inactive, permanently closed...

30 CFR 75.1711-3 - Openings of active mines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Openings of active mines. 75.1711-3 Section 75.1711-3 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR COAL MINE SAFETY... active mines. The openings of all mines not declared by the operator, to be inactive, permanently closed...

30 CFR 75.1711-3 - Openings of active mines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Openings of active mines. 75.1711-3 Section 75.1711-3 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR COAL MINE SAFETY... active mines. The openings of all mines not declared by the operator, to be inactive, permanently closed...

30 CFR 75.1711-3 - Openings of active mines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Openings of active mines. 75.1711-3 Section 75.1711-3 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR COAL MINE SAFETY... active mines. The openings of all mines not declared by the operator, to be inactive, permanently closed...

30 CFR 57.22306 - Methane monitors (I-A mines).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Methane monitors (I-A mines). 57.22306 Section... Standards for Methane in Metal and Nonmetal Mines Equipment § 57.22306 Methane monitors (I-A mines). (a) Methane monitors shall be installed on continuous mining machines, longwall mining systems, and on loading...