Geodetic and seismological observations applied for investigation of subsidence formation in the CSM Mine (Czech Republic)

Purpose. Undermined areas are affected by the creation of subsidence depressions due to long-term underground mining. In general, different geodetic methods are applied to obtain further information needed to determine the spatial development of the formation of a subsidence depression. Methods. Application of these surveying methods enables us to investigate spatio-temporal changes of landscape relief in detail. Although the development of surveying technologies is in progress at present, conventional geodetic methods are still in use. Nowadays Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) surveying is mostly used for obtaining the actual degree of relief affection in undermined areas. Considering that during coal extraction induced seismic events are observed underground and on the surface, some seismological methods for their parameters determination were applied, e.g. foci location of induced seismic events, their classification by units of magnitude and by released seismic energy, frequency energy distribution, construction of Benioff graph and its derivation for assessment of adjacent working endangerment. Findings. The results of the assessment and analyses of spatial data demonstrate the real development of the sub-sidence depression under study and the relief changes of the landscape during the investigated period, respectively. Originality. It was recognized that all methods applied in this study represent very helpful tools for surveying subsidence depression and simultaneous monitoring of seismic activity development on an undermined area. Practical implications. Based on obtained results it is possible to perform a comparison of current subsidence dimensions with the original rate of affection.Мета. Дослідження причин утворення просідань земної поверхні в околиці шахти CSM (Чеська Республіка) за допомогою геодезичних і сейсмологічних методів спостереження. Методика. В роботі використано сейсмічні методи для визначення локалізації місць явищ техногенної сейсмічності, їх класифікації за магнітудами і кількістю виділеної сейсмічної енергії та її частотного розподілу; побудову графіка Беньофа та його модифікацію для оцінки безпеки суміжних до шахти територій; моделювання просторово-часового розвитку опускання поверхні за допомогою GPS-вимірювань. Результати. У результаті оцінки та аналізу просторових даних була визначена реальна область просідань і зміни навколишнього рельєфу протягом всього часу проведення досліджень. Ґрунтуючись на аналізі наявних сейсмічних даних та наземних GPS-вимірювань, встановлено, що протягом досліджуваного періоду ніякого виразного впливу розвитку зсувів і деформацій поверхні через сейсмічну активність не спостерігалося. Виконано моделювання просторово-часового розвитку опускання поверхні у досліджуваній області, що дозволило визначити швидкість осідання поверхні з часом. Визначено горизонтальні переміщення окремих точок і встановлено, що великі тектонічні розломи створюють природний бар’єр зсувам у масиві. Наукова новизна. Використання унікального комплексу методів дослідження та моніторингу, застосовані у даній роботі, дозволили точно виявити область просідання поверхні й причини її утворення, а також здійснити моніторинг сейсмічної активності в районі, порушеному гірничими роботами. Практична значимість. Отримані результати дозволяють порівняти сучасний стан утворених просідань з їх початковими параметрами, а також прогнозувати інтенсивність їх розвитку у часі.Цель. Исследование причин образования проседания земной поверхности в окрестности шахты CSM (Чешская Республика) при помощи геодезических и сейсмологических методов наблюдения. Методика. В работе использовано сейсмические методы для определения локализации очагов явлений техногенной сейсмичности, их классификации по магнитудам и количеству выделенной сейсмической энергии и ее частотного распределения; построение графика Беньофа и его модификацию для оценки безопасности прилегающих к шахте территорий; моделирование пространственно-временного развития опускания поверхности при помощи GPS-измерений. Результаты. В результате оценки и анализа пространственных данных была определена реальная область проседаний и изменения окружающего рельефа в течение всего времени проведения исследований. Основываясь на анализе имеющихся сейсмических данных и наземных GPS-измерений, установлено, что в течение исследуемого периода никакого выразительного влияния развития смещений и деформаций поверхности из-за сейсмической активности не наблюдалось. Выполнено моделирование пространственно-временного развития опускания поверхности в исследуемой области, позволившее определить скорость оседания поверхности с течением времени. Определены горизонтальные перемещения отдельных точек и установлено, что крупные тектонические разломы создают естественный барьер смещениям в массиве. Научная новизна. Использование уникального комплекса методов исследования и мониторинга, примененные в данной работе, позволили точно выявить область проседания поверхности и причины ее образования, а также осуществить мониторинг сейсмической активности в районе, затронутом горными работами. Практическая значимость. Полученные результаты позволяют сравнить современное состояние образовавшейся впадины с ее первоначальными параметрами, а также прогнозировать интенсивность ее развития со временем.This article was written in connection with the Project Institute of Clean Technologies for Mining and Utilization of Raw Materials for Energy Use – Sustainability Program (reg. No.CZ.1.05/2.1.00/03.0082 and MSMT LO1406), which is supported by the Research and Development for Innovations Operational Programme financed by the Structural Funds of the European Union and the Czech Republic project for the longterm conceptual development of research organisations (RVO: 68145535). Many thanks to Dr. Karel Holub, emeritus researcher from the Institute of Geonics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, for his helpful comments and advices during preparation of manuscript. R.I.P

"Going back to our roots": second generation biocomputing

Researchers in the field of biocomputing have, for many years, successfully "harvested and exploited" the natural world for inspiration in developing systems that are robust, adaptable and capable of generating novel and even "creative" solutions to human-defined problems. However, in this position paper we argue that the time has now come for a reassessment of how we exploit biology to generate new computational systems. Previous solutions (the "first generation" of biocomputing techniques), whilst reasonably effective, are crude analogues of actual biological systems. We believe that a new, inherently inter-disciplinary approach is needed for the development of the emerging "second generation" of bio-inspired methods. This new modus operandi will require much closer interaction between the engineering and life sciences communities, as well as a bidirectional flow of concepts, applications and expertise. We support our argument by examining, in this new light, three existing areas of biocomputing (genetic programming, artificial immune systems and evolvable hardware), as well as an emerging area (natural genetic engineering) which may provide useful pointers as to the way forward.Comment: Submitted to the International Journal of Unconventional Computin

AI and OR in management of operations: history and trends

The last decade has seen a considerable growth in the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for operations management with the aim of finding solutions to problems that are increasing in complexity and scale. This paper begins by setting the context for the survey through a historical perspective of OR and AI. An extensive survey of applications of AI techniques for operations management, covering a total of over 1200 papers published from 1995 to 2004 is then presented. The survey utilizes Elsevier's ScienceDirect database as a source. Hence, the survey may not cover all the relevant journals but includes a sufficiently wide range of publications to make it representative of the research in the field. The papers are categorized into four areas of operations management: (a) design, (b) scheduling, (c) process planning and control and (d) quality, maintenance and fault diagnosis. Each of the four areas is categorized in terms of the AI techniques used: genetic algorithms, case-based reasoning, knowledge-based systems, fuzzy logic and hybrid techniques. The trends over the last decade are identified, discussed with respect to expected trends and directions for future work suggested

AI Solutions for MDS: Artificial Intelligence Techniques for Misuse Detection and Localisation in Telecommunication Environments

This report considers the application of Articial Intelligence (AI) techniques to the problem of misuse detection and misuse localisation within telecommunications environments. A broad survey of techniques is provided, that covers inter alia rule based systems, model-based systems, case based reasoning, pattern matching, clustering and feature extraction, articial neural networks, genetic algorithms, arti cial immune systems, agent based systems, data mining and a variety of hybrid approaches. The report then considers the central issue of event correlation, that is at the heart of many misuse detection and localisation systems. The notion of being able to infer misuse by the correlation of individual temporally distributed events within a multiple data stream environment is explored, and a range of techniques, covering model based approaches, `programmed' AI and machine learning paradigms. It is found that, in general, correlation is best achieved via rule based approaches, but that these suffer from a number of drawbacks, such as the difculty of developing and maintaining an appropriate knowledge base, and the lack of ability to generalise from known misuses to new unseen misuses. Two distinct approaches are evident. One attempts to encode knowledge of known misuses, typically within rules, and use this to screen events. This approach cannot generally detect misuses for which it has not been programmed, i.e. it is prone to issuing false negatives. The other attempts to `learn' the features of event patterns that constitute normal behaviour, and, by observing patterns that do not match expected behaviour, detect when a misuse has occurred. This approach is prone to issuing false positives, i.e. inferring misuse from innocent patterns of behaviour that the system was not trained to recognise. Contemporary approaches are seen to favour hybridisation, often combining detection or localisation mechanisms for both abnormal and normal behaviour, the former to capture known cases of misuse, the latter to capture unknown cases. In some systems, these mechanisms even work together to update each other to increase detection rates and lower false positive rates. It is concluded that hybridisation offers the most promising future direction, but that a rule or state based component is likely to remain, being the most natural approach to the correlation of complex events. The challenge, then, is to mitigate the weaknesses of canonical programmed systems such that learning, generalisation and adaptation are more readily facilitated

Lattice modeling of excavation damage in argillaceous clay formations: Influence of deformation and strength anisotropy

This paper presents modeling of mechanical anisotropy in argillaceous rocks using an irregular lattice modeling approach, namely the rigid-body-spring network. To represent the mechanical anisotropy, new schemes are implemented in the modeling framework. The directionality of elastic deformation is resolved by modifying the element formulation with anisotropic elastic properties. The anisotropy of strength and failure characteristics is facilitated by adopting orientation-dependent failure criteria into the failure model. The verification of the improved modeling procedures is performed against theoretical model predictions for unconfined compression tests with various bedding orientations. Furthermore, excavation damage and fracturing processes in rock formations are simulated for different geomechanical configurations, such as rock anisotropy and tectonic heterogeneity. The simulated excavation damage characteristics are realistic and comparable with the actual field observation at a tunnel located in an argillaceous clay formation. The simulation results provide insights into the excavation damage zone phenomena with an explicit representation of fracturing processes