The development of a surrogate soil to assist the revegetation and stabilisation of metal-mine tailings

Abandoned mines are considered among the most severe of environmental issues, and are a significant danger to environmental, animal, and human health (Mehta et al., 2020). To date, ~ 600,000 abandoned mines exist, the costly reclamation of which often falls to publicly funded bodies (Archer & Caldwell, 2004; Mayes et al., 2009). Traditional reclamation methods are financially unattainable at ~ £50 million per large mine (McKenna, 2002), and an alternative, lower-cost method is required (Garcia, 2008). One contemporary reclamation method found to be effective is that of capping mine waste with a soil cover (O’Kane & Ayres, 2012). In this research, an adhesive surrogate soil capping layer for the hydraulic application to steep-sided metal-mine tailings was developed at the cost of ~ £6 .m-² (at the time of writing). The surrogate soil was refined throughout a series of trials. A rainfall trial was conducted to develop an adhesive and erosion resistant soil material. A germination trial (N = 500) determined the soil materials which best assisted rapid plant establishment. The successful results of these laboratory-based trials guided a nine-month field trial on an abandoned Pb mine, Nantymwyn (UK) (N = 154). The field trial concluded that the surrogate soils effectively resisted erosion and supported the early (seven month) growth of metal-tolerant grass species. The grasses contained Pb, Zn, Cd and Cu concentrations at < 1% of the phytotoxic threshold. However, seasonal climatic events and a negative water balance ultimately led to complete grass mortality after nine months. Tailings bank destabilisation also influenced grass survival. The research revealed that the soil’s available water supply was of greater impact to plant survival than metal toxicity. The results indicated that should the soils water-holding capacity be improved, the application of a carefully designed surrogate soil has the potential to support vegetative cover on steep, bare metal-mine tailings

Manuscript of Thomas de Quincey\u27s essay \u27Anecdotage\u27

Manuscript of de Quincey\u27s essay \u27Anecdotage\u27, which was first published in The London Magazine, March 1823. Available online at: http://books.google.com/books?id=gtcYAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA244https://scholarworks.umt.edu/whicker/1020/thumbnail.jp

Data Mining for Learning Analytics: does lack of engagement always mean what we think it does?

Context and Objectives Learning Analytics (LA) has the potential to utilise student data to further the advancement of a personalized, supportive system of HE (Johnson et al., 2013). A number of LA systems are now being developed but there have been few studies that have analysed the usage of Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) in order to identify which analytics techniques and sources of data accurately reflect student engagement and achievement. Methods The interactions of 66 students with a Level 4 programming module on a VLE have been analysed via the simple K-means clustering algorithm to identify classes of behaviour and their characteristics. Results Two prominent classes were found with students achieving higher marks attending the lectures and tutorials more regularly and accessing all types of material on the VLE more frequently than students in the lower achieving cluster. However, there were a number of exceptions that had low levels of engagement that gained high marks and vice versa. Discussion A student’s prior experience and characteristics of their degree programme need to be taken into account to avoid incorrectly interpreting high and low levels of engagement. Conclusions The number of times students view online module materials will be an important factor for inclusion in any predictive LA models but must be able to take into account the differences in student backgrounds, delivery styles and subject

The importance and art of articulating thanks: Lessons from non-governmental organisations (NGOs)

Thanking helps organisations to build relationships. In particular, charities need to thank as they build up coalitions of interest around issues, and as, in many cases, they raise income. So what can be learned from some professional thankers, and scholars, in the NGO sector? You’ll learn: • The importance of thanks in interpersonal communications and NGO communications • What we can learn from NGO sector best practice and guidance • A framework for thanking built on NGO researc

The Development of a Point of Care Clinical Guidelines Mobile Application Following a User-Centred Design Approach

This paper describes the development of a point of care clinical guidelines mobile application. A user-centred design approach was utilised to inform the design of a smartphone application, this included: Observations; a survey; focus groups and an analysis of popular apps utilised by clinicians in a UK NHS Trust. Usability testing was conducted to inform iterations of the application, which presents clinicians with a variety of integrated tools to aid in decision making and information retrieval.The study found that clinicians use a mixture of technology to retrieve information, which is often inefficient or has poor usability. It also shows that smartphone application development for use in UK hospitals needs to consider the variety of users and their clinical knowledge and work pattern. This study highlights the need for applying user-centred design methods in the design of information presented to clinicians and the need for clinical information delivery that is efficient and easy to use at the bedside

Learner Analytics; The Need for User-Centred Design in Learning Analytics

The interaction and interface design of Learning Analytics systems is often based upon the ability of the developer to extract information from disparate sources and not on the types of data and interpretive needs of the user. Current systems also tend to focus on the educator’s view and very rarely involve the user in the development process. From using HCI methods, we have found that learners want to be able to access an overarching view of their previous, current and future learning activity. We propose that the only way of truly creating a personalised, supportive system of education is to place the learner at the centre, giving them control of their own Learner Analytics

A Decade On, How Has the Visibility of Energy Changed? Energy Feedback Perceptions from UK Focus Groups

The Smart Meter Rollout Programme in the UK has required energy suppliers to offer new smart meters to customers to provide near real-time energy use information and enable two-way communication between the meter and the central system. The provision was expected to result in meaningful energy reductions, but recent estimates suggest that these reductions may be as low as 2%. This paper contributes to the ongoing debate about the effectiveness of smart meters and in-home energy displays by providing insights on energy feedback perceptions from a series of focus groups with postgraduate consumers. In addition to domestic energy use, the study investigated how participants perceived their energy use at work and how they perceived the energy reduction efforts of their institutions and employers. A laddered and projective methodology was used to more deeply question participant perceptions and reveal their attitudes. The analysis of responses revealed a limited awareness around energy efficiency strategies and opportunities for more visual, mobile, engaging and target-driven interfaces for energy data. The findings also agree with previous observations that environmental concerns are not a key driver of energy reduction behaviours. This was shown by laddered questioning, not to be due to a lack of environmental concern, but rather the perception that reducing energy consumption would have negligible impact. A decade after in-home energy displays enabled a means of providing ‘visibility’ to ‘invisible’ energy consumption, little appears to have changed in the perception and experience of energy feedback