Special Processing Research Articles

Ethnobotanical and Ethnopharmacological Study of Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis in Yunnan Province, China

The traditional medicinal knowledge in the northwest of Yunnan Province, China have been poorly studied. Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis (PPvY) is widely cultivated and used as indigenous traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to treat cancer in northwest Yunnan. This study aims to reveal the traditional medicinal knowledge of PPvY and folk formulas related to PPvY through literature research and ethnobotanical investigation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 highly regarded folk doctors in the northwest of Yunnan, China, based on relevant data collected in the initial phase of the research. We identified twenty-three traditional treatments, thirty pairing herbs used with PPvY in therapy, and eight processing methods of PPvY. The results indicated that PPvY and its associated formulas containing PPvY were primarily used for treating cancer and inflammation and for clearing heat and detoxifying. The TCM herbs most frequently used alongside PPvY included Engleromyces sinensis and Glycyrrhiza yunnanensis. The commonly employed processing methods primarily involved using PPvY in both its dry and fresh forms, while special processing methods, such as processing in wine and honey, steaming, and foil-packet boiling, were worth further research. Our results highlight the diversity of medicinal plants and the richness of traditional medical knowledge in northwest Yunnan, China. This study may offer clues for the development and research of indigenous medicinal plants. Additionally, a collective effort is needed to create a plan for the sustainable use of indigenous medicinal plants, enhancing local economic development while safeguarding biodiversity and traditional medicinal knowledge.

Spore PCR and qPCR Methods for Rapid Detection of Five Colletotrichum Species Responsible for Pepper Anthracnose in Korea

Pepper anthracnose, caused by <i>Colletotrichum</i> spp., leads to a decrease in the quantity of pepper fruit production. Molecular diagnosis is crucial for rapid identification of pathogens and determination of fungicide resistance. However, the traditional process of isolating the pathogen, extracting genomic DNA, and analyzing the gene sequence is time-consuming, which delays rapid diagnosis. In this study, we introduced a method using conidia of <i>Colletotrichum</i> spp. instead of genomic DNA, eliminating the need for DNA extraction or special processing for diagnosis. To elucidate this method, sensitivity was assessed through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) tests using internal transcribed spacer-based primer pairs. Both PCR and qPCR tests showed that detection is feasible with just one conidia, with over 1,000 conidia yielding results comparable to approximately 1 pg of genomic DNA. For amplifying the cytochrome b gene for quinone-outside inhibitor fungicide susceptibility testing, detection from a single conidium is achievable, but a stable PCR product is obtained by increasing the number of cycles to 35. Additionally, the addition of 10% grinding fresh chili pepper paste to V8-Juicea gar medium, which is known for inducing conidia rapidly from the isolates, resulted in 3.2 to 6.0 times more conidia compared to the commonly used potato dextrose agar medium, enhancing the potential for swift testing. Taken together, this study presents a direct utilization of pepper anthracnose conidia through PCR or qPCR, offering a valuable technique for amplifying target genes, such as the minimum conidial amount and barcode genes, for molecular identification of anthracnose disease in pepper through PCR and qPCR analysis.

Legal issues of construction waste as an object of environmental law regulations

Problem setting. The problem of handling construction waste is one of the most urgent in modern environmental law. The growing scale of construction, both in the residential and infrastructural sectors, leads to an increase in the volume of construction waste, which is often not disposed of properly. These wastes contain various materials, including those that are potentially hazardous to the environment. The existing legislation on waste management often does not take into account the specifics of construction waste, which leads to environmental risks, as well as insufficient responsibility of business entities. This requires analysis of legal problems and improvement of legislative mechanisms in this area. Analysis of recent researches and publications on the legal problems of construction waste management shows that this issue is increasingly attracting the attention of both domestic and foreign scientists. The main emphasis in research is on the need to improve legal regulatory mechanisms, as well as on the environmental aspect of construction waste management. In particular, in this area there were publications of legal scholars: A.P. Hetman, V.L. Bredikhina, Y.S. Shemshuchenko, N.R. Malysheva, G.N. Polyanskaya, V.G. Emelyanova, V.V. Nosik and others. Purpose of research is to analyze the legal problems of handling construction waste, their environmental impact and mechanisms of legal regulation, as well as to determine ways to improve legislation in the field of construction waste management. In particular, the research is aimed at identifying gaps in the legal framework, formulating recommendations for improving legal regulation and increasing the responsibility of business entities for violations of environmental norms. Article’s main body. Construction waste differs in its composition from ordinary household waste. They may contain dangerous chemical compounds, heavy metals, remains of concrete, plastic, wood and other materials that require special disposal and processing methods. Modern practice shows that many subjects of construction activity ignore the requirements of environmental safety, creating spontaneous landfills or improperly disposing of waste. This increases environmental risks, including soil, water and air pollution. Legal regulation of construction waste in Ukraine is fragmented and not sufficiently detailed. Ukraine’s waste legislation is mainly focused on general solid household waste, while construction waste is often neglected. The lack of special laws or by-laws that would regulate all stages of handling such waste from its collection to processing and disposal, creates a legal gap. For example, in Ukraine, there are no special requirements for enterprises to manage construction waste or to encourage their recycling, which makes it difficult to implement environmentally safe solutions. Conclusions and prospects for development. Therefore, the legal problems of handling construction waste are a significant challenge for the environmental policy and legal system of Ukraine. The imperfection of the current legislation, the absence of special normative acts and insufficient control by the state lead to ecological violations and create threats to the environment. Reforming legislation in this area is a necessary condition for ensuring environmental safety and introducing the principles of sustainable development in the construction industry. The perspective of the development of the topic is the further study of the European experience in regulating the management of construction waste and its adaptation to Ukrainian legislation. It is necessary to implement effective mechanisms of monitoring, responsibility and incentives for subjects of construction activity, which will contribute to the reduction of the amount of waste and the development of the system of their processing. It is also important to continue researching new technologies for the disposal of construction waste and methods of reuse of materials, which will reduce the environmental footprint of the construction industry.

Peripapillary and subfoveal choroidal vascular index in patients with tension-type headache and migraine.

This study aimed to evaluate the choroidal vascular characteristics of patients followed up with different headache diagnoses. Prospective comparative study. This study included 21 patients with migraine with visual aura (MwA), 20 with migraine without aura, 29 patients experiencing episodic tension-type headache, and 30 healthy participants. The participants was performed refraction values, axial length, and intraocular pressure were examined. Choroidal thickness was determined in all participants with HD-line optical coherence tomography (OCT) in the subfoveal, nasal, and temporal quadrants 500 μm from the fovea. Using special image processing software, luminal area (LA), stromal area, total choroidal area, and choroidal vascular index (CVI) values were calculated in both macular and peripapillary regions. OCT was also used to perform peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) thickness and optic disc head measurements. Spherical refraction, axial length, and intraocular pressure values did not significantly differ among the four groups with similar gender and age distributions (P > 0.05). The LA values in both macular and peripapillary regions were found to be statistically significantly lower in the MwA group (P = 0.007 and P = 0.005, respectively). There was no statistically significant difference among the groups in terms of the remaining choroidal area parameters or CVI values (P > 0.05). The groups also did not show any significant difference in the pRNFL or optic disc head measurements performed in different quadrants (P > 0.05). While LA, one of the choroidal vascular parameters, was found to be lower in the MwA group in both the macular and peripapillary regions, there were no statistically significant differences between the groups in terms of the peripapillary or macular CVI values.

Assessment of structural defects and mechanical characteristics of IN718/St6 functionally graded material produced by direct laser deposition

Functionally graded materials (FGM) do not show special processing in the composite structure due to the combination of mechanical, thermal, magnetic and stress gradient properties. The aim of this study is to produce IN718/St6 FGM samples by direct laser deposition method. The product of this model should enable the development of mechanical products. Best of all, this can be done without significant reduction in texture and case to residual stress that are a consequence of rapid changes in mechanical and thermal properties in non-FGM samples. To fabricate part, direct laser deposition system equipped with a 1 kW continuous fiber laser is used, SEM/EDS analysis and microhardness testing to measure porosity, chemical composition, and quantify gradient mechanical properties is used. In this study, the cladding composition is selected from 100% IN718 to 100% St6 with a 25% change in St6 composition. To prevent the formation of defects, both single-parameter modes and individual layering are examined, considering the diverse nature of the combination. The result shows that using an individual layering structure, reduces 100% Lack of fusion defects in the IN718/St6 structure. EDS analysis confirmed that the St6 content gradually increased from the first to the fifth layer. The substrate hardness gradually increases from 200 Vickers hardness to 550 Vickers hardness, showing an almost linear trend. Moreover, by using individual layering, the coaxial structure is reduced by 55% and the relative orientation of the vertical line is reduced by 18° compared to using the St6 directly (non-FGM).

Properties of individual S-bursts observed in the frequency band of 10–32 MHz during the rising phase of 25-th solar cycle

Introduction: The properties of the S-bursts observed during the storm on 20–21 June 2022 in frequency band 10–32 MHz by the radio telescope URAN-2 are discussed in this paper. The storm was highly populated with other solar bursts, such as Type III bursts and drift pairs. The occurrence rate of S-bursts was very high reaching 60 bursts per minute. All observed S-bursts were characterized by low fluxes with respect to the background radio emission. Thus special processing methods are used to retrieve spectral properties of the bursts. Some individual “long” S-bursts covered the whole frequency band of the URAN-2 radio telescope from 10 to 32 MHz. Such extended in frequency S-bursts were recorded for the first time. 50 extended S-bursts were selected for the further analysis.Methods: The S-bursts dynamic spectra with time-frequency resolutions of 100 ms and 4 kHz as well as single-frequency profiles were used in the analysis. Due to low S-bursts intensities the drift rates were estimated from the time-differentiated dynamic spectra, highlighting the tracks of the bursts maxima. Polarization dynamic spectra were used for measuring the degree and sense of the S-bursts circular polarization. Individual S-bursts tracks were used for instant coronal inhomogeneities diagnostics. Mean S-bursts parameters retrieved from the statistical processing of the set of 50 bursts were compared with previously obtained ones.Results: We concluded that by the mean durations, drift rates, frequency extent and the polarization all observed S-bursts could be divided into two separate groups, the “short” and the “long” S-bursts. The power-law index of the drift rate-frequency dependence averaged over all 50 selected bursts was found to be 1.7. It was shown that sources of S-bursts most likely move through the Newkirk corona with the velocities of 0.06–0.08c. The power-law dependence of the “long” S-bursts durations on frequency in frequency band of 12–30 MHz was obtained. Its index equal to −0.61 appeared to be very close to that for Type III bursts. From this dependence the electron velocity dispersion in the beam, responsible for S-bursts generation was calculated. Its value of 0.02 indicates that the beams, responsible for S-bursts generation are almost monoenergetic.Discussion: It is assumed that non-monotonic appearance of individual S-bursts tracks on the dynamic spectrum reflects density inhomogeneities encountered by the sources on their paths. From the dynamic spectra of such S-bursts the characteristic size and amplitude of these coronal inhomogeneities were detected. From the S-bursts durations and the velocities of their sources the longitudinal sizes of the latter were estimated. It was then shown that the sizes of small-scale coronal inhomogeneities were comparable to those of “long” S-bursts sources. Thus we concluded that individual tracks of the “long” S-bursts can be used for fie diagnostics the coronal plasma at heliocentric heights range from 1.7 to 3.2 Rs, where Rs is the solar radius. On the other hand, these tracks being ensemble-averaged give the information about the long-term large scale properties of the corona.

Framework for Measuring Relevancy in Discovery Environments

Institutional discovery environments now serve as central resource databases for researchers in the academic environment. Over the last several decades, there have been numerous discovery layer research inquiries centering primarily on user satisfaction measures of discovery system effectiveness. This study focuses on the creation of a largely automated method for evaluating discovery layer quality, utilizing the bibliographic sources from student research projects. Building on past research, the current study replaces a semiautomated Excel Fuzzy Lookup Add-In process witha fully scripted R-based approach, which employs the stringdist R package and applies the Jaro-Winkler distance metric as the matching evaluator. The researchers consider the error rate incurred by relying solely on an automated matching metric. They also use Open Refine for normalization processes and package the tools together on an OSF site for other institutions to use. Since the R-based approach does not require special processing or time and can be reproduced with minimal effort, it will allow future studies and users of our method to capture larger sample sizes, boosting validity. While the assessment process has been streamlined and shows promise, there remain issues in establishing solid connections between research paper bibliographies and discovery layer use. Subsequent research will focus on creating alternatives to paper titles as search proxies that better resemble genuine information-seeking behavior and comparing undergraduate and graduate student interactions within discovery environments.

The Integration of Generative Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision in Industrial Robotic Arms

Intelligent manufacturing has gradually become an important development trend in the industrial field. As an artificial intelligence technology, machine vision has been widely used in the field of automation. This paper discusses the development and application of robot arm intelligent picking system based on machine vision in the field of intelligent manufacturing. The system converts the target into the image signal through the image acquisition device, and sends it to the special image processing system for digital processing. Then, the image system performs various operations on the signal to extract the features of the target, and controls the action of the field equipment according to the discriminating results. With machine vision technology as the core, the system realizes automatic picking tasks and improves production efficiency and quality.

Analysis of Chemical, Microstructural and Mechanical Properties of a CuAlBe Material Regarding Its Role as a Non-Sparking Material.

We developed and analyzed a novel non-sparking material based on CuAlBe for applications in potentially explosive environments. Using a master alloy of CuBe, an established material for anti-sparking tools used in oil fields, mines, or areas with potentially explosive gas accumulations, and pure Al, we used an Ar atmosphere induction furnace to obtain an alloy with ~10 wt% Al and ~2 wt% Be percentages and good chemical and structural homogeneity. The new material was tested in an explosive gaseous mixture (10% H2 or 6.5% CH4) under extremely strong wear for 16,000 cycles, and no hot sparks capable of igniting the environment were produced. The material was used in the form of hot-rolled plates obtained from melted ingots. The experimental results reflect the use of a suitable material for non-sparking tools. This material has good deformability during hot rolling, abnormal grain growth during deformation under heat treatment and special thermo-mechanical processing, and no high chemical composition variation. Additionally, there are slightly different corrosion resistance and mechanical properties between the melt and hot-rolled state of CuAlBe material. Through hot rolling, the material's corrosion resistance increased, reducing the chances of generating sparks capable of causing explosions.

The Future of Computing: Microprocessor Advancements in 2024

In 2024, the microprocessor landscape witnessed a revolutionary shift, marked by cutting-edge advancements and transformative trends across various industries. The relentless pursuit of Moore's Law drove innovation, leading to the creation of highly efficient processors through state-of-the-art fabrication technologies. Embracing sub-3nm processes, semiconductor manufacturers enhanced performance metrics while reducing power consumption. The rise of heterogeneous computing architectures and specialized edge processors tailored for decentralized environments further diversified the microprocessor ecosystem, setting the stage for unprecedented levels of performance, efficiency, and adaptability. These developments not only shaped the future of computing but also underscored the pivotal role of microprocessors in driving digital innovation Keywords Artificial Intelligence (AI), Sports Bikes, Ride Quality, User Experience, Safety, Adaptive Cruise Control, Collision Avoidance Systems, Rider Safety, Engine Performance Improvements, Predictive Maintenance Algorithms, Bike Performance, Dependability, AI Driven Design Techniques Keywords: Microprocessor, Fabrication technologies, Sub-3nm processes, Microprocessor ecosystem.

Microstructural and textural evolution of double stage cold rolled non-grain oriented electrical steel

Non-grain oriented electrical steels (NGOES) are typically used in electric applications with rotating magnetic fields and thus essential for the production of electric motors. The increasing number of electric vehicles results in a growing demand for electrical steel sheets used in the stacked laminations of rotor and stator components. E-mobility applications require the best possible magnetic properties for optimum performance and efficiency, especially at high frequencies. In addition, increased mechanical strength is necessary to withstand the centrifugal forces resulting from high revolution speeds. Chemical composition, microstructure and crystallographic texture strongly influence the magnetic properties, whereas the mechanical properties are mainly affected by the chemical composition and grain size. Optimizing the texture is a possible method for improving the magnetic properties without significantly compromising the mechanical strength. In this work a special processing route for the production of 3.25% Si NGOES sample material has been studied, using laboratory cold rolling and annealing facilities. Compared to the classical processing route of single stage cold rolling and annealing, this alternative method involves two cold rolling steps with an intermediate annealing treatment between the first and second rolling sequence and a final annealing treatment after the second rolling step. The samples were produced with different intermediate thicknesses, changing the amount of cold rolling deformation of each sample variation. The degree of deformation affects the recrystallization and grain growth behavior and thus the resulting microstructure and texture. The microstructural and textural evolution was investigated in the hot rolled, intermediate annealed and final annealed state using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). Finished samples were additionally examined using magnetic testing and tensile testing. The results indicate a correlation between the intermediate thickness and the final grain size of the steel samples. Furthermore, the highly grain size dependent mechanical strength and magnetic losses are influenced. EBSD-data were used to interpret the texture and to calculate a parameter describing the magnetic quality of the texture. The results show a strong improvement of magnetically favorable texture components along with increasing intermediate thickness, enabling significantly better polarization values in rolling direction and transversal direction. However, anisotropy of the magnetic properties increases as well due to the textural changes.

Design and Application of Electronic Toll Collection Special Situation Processing System

<div>In 2018, the state explicitly proposed to “promote the cancellation of expressway toll stations at provincial boundaries.” Electronic toll collection has become the main toll collection method on expressways. With the construction of ETC toll lanes, the proportion of ETC vehicles in the expressway traffic flow is increasing, and the rapid processing of vehicle special situations is facing challenges. At present, various provinces have adopted various methods to improve the traffic efficiency and transaction success rate of ETC from the issuance link, customer service link, and lane transaction link. According to statistical data, the average transaction success rate of ETC lane is not higher than 99% at present. As of October 2021, the number of ETC users nationwide has reached 256 million, and there are an average of 40 million ETC transactions per day across the network, that is, about 400,000 special cases need to be processed. How to efficiently deal with special vehicles in the new mode and avoid ramp toll stations becoming traffic bottlenecks is a new problem facing at this stage. In order to fit the application scenarios of ETC lanes and solve the problems of time-consuming, labor-intensive, and high safety risks of traditional special situation processing methods, this article sorts out the classification and application scenarios of expressway ETC special situations under the new model. The development status and existing problems of ETC special situation processing are studied and analyzed. This article also establishes a more rapid and convenient special situation handling mechanism, which simplifies the processing process of ETC lane special situations to the greatest extent, and avoids traffic congestion and potential safety problems caused by ETC special situations. Finally, the self-service processing and unattended lanes are realized, which improves the efficiency of special situation processing and ensures fast passage.</div>

On intra-urban differences in the destinations of emigrants from the Municipality of Malaga (Spain): An approximation based on the municipal register of inhabitants

Emigrants who left the Municipality of Malaga in the 2017–2021 period went to multiple destinations, mostly municipalities located in the province of Malaga itself, more specifically in its metropolitan area. Average housing prices in these metropolitan municipalities are highly variable, and, in this context, it is reasonable to assume that there will be a relationship between the income levels of emigrants and their destination. Based on a special processing of the Municipal Register of Inhabitants of the Municipality of Malaga, we show how a relationship can effectively be found between the average household income (AHI) of the census tract of origin of the emigrants and the average price of housing in the destination municipality, both for the whole group of emigrants and for selected age groups – children and young adults. A relationship that points to an overrepresentation of municipalities with high housing prices in the sections with the highest income, and vice versa.

Разработка и применение программы для автоматического нахождения невязки при пространственном контроле режимной метеорологической информации

Objective: to develop and apply software for automatic finding of discrepancies in automated meteorological stations in order to identify dubious and unreliable data without direct manual control in Fortran using PostgreSQL programming language queries. Write a program block for processing data from the archive of the database of meteorological stations of the unified network. Having provided a connection, with the help of requests, to ensure the receipt of data of the averaged values of ten-minute meteorological reports according to a special processing technique. Create a subroutine for solving the equation by the least squares matrix method, compare it to check the results with the linear regression method in a third-party application. Ensure proper recording of data before sending them to the database, prepare the necessary table for correct demonstration of data and user convenience in their use. Formulate correct queries to send the results of finding the discrepancy to the database. Formulate queries to create the necessary table, formulate queries and identify conditions for the implementation of the program for its more “flexible”functioning, that is, the ability to process data and find a discrepancy in the case of non-daily operation of the program. Methods: the methodology is similar to the principles of recommendations for the analysis of the results of spatial monitoring of regime meteorological information of the Main Geophysical Observatory named after Voeikova A. I. Methods include the translation of coordinates into a Cartesian system and the implementation of the solution of equation systems by the least squares method. Results: a program has been created that can work without the participation of an operator, performing automatic startup, data processing and data recording for further storage. Practical importance: the program allows you to receive data quickly due to the fast processing speed without errors caused by the human factor.

Робастное обнаружение и оценивание широкополосных сигналов

An asymptotically robust invariant (ARI) algorithm for signal detection and time delay estimation is proposed. It is based on the q-point model of noise distributions. The algorithm is based on calculating the correlation statistics of the nonlinear transformation of the observed sample with the vector of reference signal samples. Time delay estimate is determined by special processing of the obtained statistics, taking into account the presence of mirror interference in the observed process. The algorithm is implemented in the frequency domain, which allows the use of the fast Fourier transform to reduce computational costs. The simulation results show that in the case of heavy-tailed noise distributions, ARI algorithm provides an energy gain compared to the classical correlation algorithm, and it has similar performance in the case of Gaussian noise.

Diagrams with composition fields of the pelitic fraction of bottom sediments in the estuarine parts of different modern river’s categories: another approach to verification

According to analytical data given in publications [Savenko, 2006; Bayon et al., 2015], compared the position of data points of pelitic fraction of bottom sediments in the estuarine parts of a number of large rivers (rivers of category 1 according to [Bayon et al., 2015]: Amazon, Congo, Mississippi, Niger, Yangtze, Mackenzie, Volga, Danube, Mekong, Amu Darya, Northern Dvina and Loire) and their suspended material on the (La/Yb)N – Eu/Eu* and (La/Yb)N – Th diagrams. The first samples were subjected to special processing. The samples of the latter were not processed before the study. It has been established that the data points of both sample’s groups in the above diagrams are localized in the field of fine-grained (pelitic) suspension of large rivers, demonstrating some scatter for specific rivers, but generally not going beyond its limits. This gives additional reason to believe that for decoding the categories of rivers that formed certain sedimentary sequences, not only specially prepared samples can be used, but also data obtained from bulk/unprocessed samples. At the example of a fine-grained suspension of Zambezi river (South Africa) some features of the use of (La/Yb)N – Eu/Eu* and (La/Yb)N – Th diagrams were considered.

Исследование влияния комбинированного модификатора из отходов кремниевого производства на свойства серых чугунов

Introduction. During the metallurgical production of silicon, waste is generated that accumulates in dumps, causing harm to the environment. Disposal and recycling of solid waste from silicon production is especially important because They contain important chemical compounds (silicon dioxide, silicon carbide, carbon nanotubes) that can be used in other industries, which will bring greater economic value. Considering the possibilities for extracting these useful components from silicon production waste, it is necessary to bring processing technologies to the stage of widespread practical application. Therefore, the development of a special waste processing technology to obtain a useful product in the form of a composition of silicon dioxide and silicon carbide remains an urgent problem. Purpose of the work: to study the formation of the morphological form of graphite with the introduction of nano-modifiers from silicon production waste. The work examined samples of gray cast iron after modification with a combined modifier obtained from silicon production waste. The research methods are mechanical tests for statistical tension, analysis of the chemical composition and metallographic studies. Results and discussion. It was revealed that the mechanical properties of gray cast iron increased by 30-50% after modification with a combined modifier, compared with witness samples. The morphology of graphite is an important parameter affecting the properties of cast iron. It has been established that during the modification process the morphology of graphite changes from lamellar to vermicular. Specimens of gray cast iron with vermicular form of graphite have high strength values compared to specimens of gray cast iron with lamellar form of graphite. The presented results confirm the promise of the developed approach aimed at obtaining new classes of modifiers and products made of gray cast iron with a high range of mechanical properties.

Modification of tetrahedrite Cu12Sb4S13 thermoelectric performance via the combined treatment of mechanochemistry and composite formation

Tetrahedrite Cu12Sb4S13 with its low thermal conductivity represents a flagship in sulphide thermoelectrics. However, to achieve a reasonable figure-of-merit ZT (measure of thermoelectric efficiency), adequate doping or special sample processing is needed. In this work, a different approach (without doping) is illustrated for the two tetrahedrite-containing systems. In the first approach binary composite tetrahedrite Cu12Sb4S13/chalcopyrite CuFeS2 was prepared by mechanochemical leaching with the aim to obtain partly decomposed tetrahedrite. In this approach, the alkaline leaching medium (Na2S + NaOH) was applied to extract Sb from tetrahedrite thus changing its composition. The obtained composite (formed from its own phases in an intrinsic mode) shows low values of ZT = 0.0022@673 K in comparison with the non-treated tetrahedrite where ZT was 0.0090@673 K. In this case the extremely high electric resistivity (6–20 mΩ cm−1) was documented. In the second approach binary composite tetrahedrite Cu12Sb4S13/muscovite KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 (formed from its own and foreign phases in an extrinsic mode) was prepared by two-step mechanical activation in which combined treatment of industrial vibratory milling and subsequent laboratory planetary milling was applied. The addition of a foreign phase, muscovite, did not give extraordinary thermoelectric performance results. However, the two-step milling process (without the addition of foreign phase) gives the value of ZT = 0.752@673 K which belongs to the highest in the tetrahedrite thermoelectric community. In this case, the two-times increase in specific surface area and the increased amount of tetrahedrite in comparison to famatinite are suspectable for this effect. Both applied non-traditional approaches to synthesize tetrahedrite composites form a platform for potential modification of its thermoelectric performance.

Multi‐geophysical methods for characterizing fractures in an open pit mine, western Bushveld Complex, South Africa

AbstractIn the Bushveld Complex, South Africa, open pit mines are faced with a challenge of rock slope stability due to geological structures (fractures, faults and dykes) that compartmentalize the rock mass. Geophysical surveys (seismics, magnetics and electrical methods) were conducted in a 0.2 km2 area at Tharisa mine, with the goal to delineate fractures that may be potential conduits for water migration into the pit. Special processing techniques were applied to the dataset to obtain good quality seismic, magnetic and resistivity models. The P‐wave velocity models show distinct low velocities in the centre of the seismic profile, indicating the presence of weak zones associated with faulting or fracturing. Seismic reflection method was used to image the deeper discontinuities and mineralization contacts. Near surface reflections are observed throughout the profiles and are correlated with the contact between the chromitite and host rock. Ground magnetic surveys were conducted to delineate dykes and fractures. De‐trending and de‐culturing techniques were applied on the magnetic data for correcting regional and temporal variations. The low magnetic regions indicate the presence of fracture systems in the subsurface, whereas the high magnetic region is correlated with the dolerite dyke that crosscuts the pit. The electrical resistivity tomography exhibits linear low resistivity contrast zones that differentiate between the fractured and undisturbed hard rock at an estimated depth of 4–10 m. Resistivity shows discontinuities that suggests the presence of fracturing and dyke‐host rock contacts. Correlation among magnetics, P‐wave velocity models, resistivity section and seismic data is evident when overlaying the different datasets, implying that the low magnetic regions are highly weathered and prone to fracturing. The integration of geophysical data is encouraging, because it was able to image the depth to the bedrock, fractures within the host rock and dyke in a complex mining environment.

Biological-based techniques for real-time water-quality studies: Assessment of non-invasive (swimming consistency and respiration) and toxicity (antioxidants) biomarkers of zebrafish

Swimming consistency and respiration of fish are recognized as the non-invasive stress biomarkers. Their alterations could directly indicate the presence of pollutants in the water ecosystem. Since these biomarkers are a routine process for fish, it is difficult to monitor their activity manually. For this reason, experts employ engineering technologies to create sensors that can monitor the regular activities of fish. Knowing the importance of these non-invasive stress biomarkers, we developed online biological behavior monitoring system-OBBMS and online biological respiratory response monitoring system-OBRRMS to monitor real-time swimming consistency and respiratory response of fish, respectively. We continuously monitored the swimming consistency and respiration (OCR, CER and RQ) of zebrafish (control and atrazine-treatments) for 7 days using our homemade real-time biological response monitoring systems. Furthermore, we analyzed oxidative stress indicators (SOD, CAT and POD) within the vital tissues (gills, brain and muscle) of zebrafish during stipulated sampling periods. The differences in the swimming consistency and respiratory rate of zebrafish between the control and atrazine treatments could be precisely differentiated on the real-time datasets of OBBMS and OBRRMS. The zebrafish exposed to atrazine toxin showed a concentration-dependent effect (hypoactivity). The OCR and CER were increased in the atrazine treated zebrafish. Both Treatment I and II received a negative response for RQ. Atrazine toxicity let to a rise in the levels of SOD, CAT and POD in the vital tissues of zebrafish. The continuous acquisition of fish signals is achieved which is one of the main merits of our OBBMS and OBRRMS. Additionally, no special data processing was done, the real-time data sets were directly used on statistical tools and the differences between the factors (groups, photoperiods, exposure periods and their interactions) were identified precisely. Hence, our OBBMS and OBRRMS could be a promising tool for biological response-based real-time water quality monitoring studies.