Introduction

AfricaArray (www.AfricaArray.org) is a 20-year initiative, started in 2005, to meet the New Partnership for Africa’s\ud Development (NEPAD) requirements for continent-wide cooperation in human resources development and science capacity building. The name “AfricaArray” refers to arrays of scientists working on linked projects across the continent; arrays of shared training programmes and observational networks; and above all, a shared vision that Africa will build and retain capacity in an array of technical and scientific fields. AfricaArray was established through a partnership of three organisations, the University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg, South Africa), the Council for Geoscience (Pretoria, South Africa), and the Pennsylvania State University (University Park, PA, United States of America), to address demands for a well-trained geosciences workforce in Africa by industry, government, and academia. For details about AfricaArray, the reader is referred to Dirks (2006), Nyblade et al.\ud (2008), and Durrheim (2008)

The minerals industry in the era of digital transition: An energy-efficient and environmentally conscious approach

The concept of the 4th industrial revolution is becoming a strategic determinant of sustainability, success and competitiveness in the modern mining sector. The importance of digital transformation in the mining industry has long been debated, hampered in part by the conservative nature of the mining sector. Much of the debate has focused on choosing suitable mining techniques that provide acceptable levels of ore/waste selectivity, the scale of implementation, cost reduction and suitable metallurgical extraction techniques. The purpose of this review is to give an overview of the digital transformation of the minerals and extractive industry with a focus towards energy efficiency and environmental sustainability. We address: (a) geological elements that influence the level of selectivity during mining, and technologies that deal with waste rejection; (b) eco-friendly techniques, such as tunnel-boring machines, or the use of non-explosive techniques that can assist fragmentation of ores, thereby decreasing energy requirements during mineral processing and improving mineral recovery; (c) use of low-water-consumption automated ore-waste sorting systems; (d) selective metal leaching using coarse particle percolation as an alternate method for treating complicated low-grade ores; and (e) assessing new technological boundaries for the mineral sector. A combination of these aforementioned processes will significantly reduce mining waste. Orebody features, mining methods and equipment, desired scales of implementation, alignment with circular strategies, ore extraction efficiency, and socio-economic factors all play a role in the development and implementation of new technologies and techniques. © 2022 The Author

A Wadati filter for mine-induced seismicity

We introduce a procedure based on Wadati diagrams to assess and improve the consistency of P- and S-wave travel-time picks with the assumption of propagation at constant wave-speed. Wadati diagrams are plots of S-P vs P-wave travel-times and they are expected to lie along a straight line for a medium of constant velocity. Our procedure automatically searches for the largest subset of (P,S-P) travel-time pairs with regression coefficient above 0.9, which effectively removes travel-times associated with non-homogeneous ray-paths. Inaccuracies in travel-time picks due to clock drifts or complex arrivals and/or erroneous event associations are also identified and eliminated through this procedure. An application to P- and S-wave travel-times from 11,224 events recorded during 2007 on an in-mine network in Savuka mine near Carletonville (South Africa), reveals that a high\ud correlation coefficient alone is not sufficient to ensure consistency. The histogram of vp/vs values inferred from the slopes of the Wadati diagrams peaks at values of 1.62 to 1.63, in agreement with the underlying geology, but a significant portion of the catalogued events show unrealistic vp/vs values. Adding realistic constraints on the slopes of the linear fits to the Wadati filter is critical to ensure the consistency of the travel-time picks. Event relocations obtained for the filtered data set assuming propagation at constant wave-speed do not deviate significantly from locations reported by the in-mine network operator

Case definitions, diagnostic algorithms, and priorities in encephalitis: consensus statement of the International Encephalitis Consortium

Background. Encephalitis continues to result in substantial morbidity and mortality worldwide. Advances in diagnosis and management have been limited, in part, by a lack of consensus on case definitions, standardized diagnostic approaches, and priorities for research. Methods. In March 2012, the International Encephalitis Consortium, a committee begun in 2010 with members worldwide, held a meeting in Atlanta to discuss recent advances in encephalitis and to set priorities for future study. Results. We present a consensus document that proposes a standardized case definition and diagnostic guidelines for evaluation of adults and children with suspected encephalitis. In addition, areas of research priority, including host genetics and selected emerging infections, are discussed. Conclusions. We anticipate that this document, representing a synthesis of our discussions and supported by literature, will serve as a practical aid to clinicians evaluating patients with suspected encephalitis and will identify key areas and approaches to advance our knowledge of encephalitis