Predicting potential pollutant release from waste rock at the abandoned Beck mine (Karelia, Russia) by equilibrium kinetic modeling

The Beck mine, located in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, is an abandoned mining site with significant potential for environmental contamination due to the presence of potential pollutants in its waste rocks. In this study, we investigated the chemical composition of mine waters and waste rocks and developed a theoretical model to understand waterrock interactions and the release of potential pollutants. Water samples collected from various locations on the Beck mine property were analyzed for chemical composition and showed low concentrations of total dissolved solids with pH values ranging from 6.42 to 7.74. The chemical composition of natural waters was determined by ICP-MS, ICP-AES, ion chromatography, potentiometric titration, and spectrophotometry. Equilibrium kinetic modeling was used to simulate water-rock interactions. The model predicted the concentrations of major and trace elements, demonstrating that dissolution-precipitation and complexation are the primary mechanisms shaping the chemical composition of mine waters. The dynamics of dissolution-precipitation of Fe-containing minerals highlighted the importance of the duration of water-rock interaction, with stagnant mine waters exhibiting higher concentrations of heavy metals. In addition, the presence of dissolved organic matter played a critical role in the accumulation of iron and arsenic in the studied mine waters. Overall, this study highlights the utility of equilibrium kinetic modeling in understanding the behavior of heavy metals during water-rock interactions and provides valuable insights into the potential environmental impacts of abandoned mine sites such as the Beck mine

The Influence of DOC on the Migration Forms of Elements and Their Sedimentation from River Waters at an Exploited Diamond Deposit (NW Russia)

The development of mineral deposits causes changes that are comparable to natural exogenous geological processes, and prevail over the latter in local areas of intensive mining activity. In this article, a diamond deposit is selected, developed by quarries of great depth, and a forecast is made of the impact of drainage water discharge on changes in the composition of surface water and bottom sediments during the entire period of development of the deposit. Modeling was performed according to various scenarios, taking into account changes in the total dissolved solids of groundwater from 0.5 to 21.7 g/kg H2O. Thermodynamic calculations were carried out using the HCh software package. The role of dissolved organic carbon in the migration of chemical elements and the effect of DOC on the precipitation of chemical elements from mixed solutions is given. It has been established that fulvic acid completely binds to Fe in the Fe(OH)2FA− complex in all types of natural waters and under all mixing scenarios. With humic acid, such a sharp competitive complex formation does not occur. It is distributed among the various elements more evenly. It was determined that the mass of precipitating iron in the presence of DOC decreases by 18–27%, and its precipitation in winter is more intense. In contrast to Fe, the precipitation of Ca, Mg, and C from solutions with DOC is higher in summer, and there are more of them in the solutions in winter. This study contributes to a better understanding of the behavior of heavy metals in surface waters and sediments under anthropogenic pressures in order to improve the sustainable management of water resources in the face of anthropogenic activities

Modeling Changes in the Composition of River Water with Discharged Wastewater: A Case Study in NW Russia

The technogenic impact of the development of the Lomonosov diamond deposit is associated with the discharge of quarry and drainage water into the river, which has a special conservation status. Earlier studies on the composition of bottom sediments showed that there are signs of increased accumulation of heavy metals and radionuclides at wastewater discharge sites. The purpose of this work was to predict changes in the composition of surface water and bottom sediment in the river during the further development of mining operations with brackish and salty water captured by drainage systems, the presence of which was established in the zone of their future influence. For this, a simulation of changes in the composition of the water in the river was carried out using the GEOCHEQ software package by minimizing the free energy of the system using a convex simplex algorithm. It was found that the maximum salinity of surface water can reach 1.51 g/L. In this case, the MPC of Cl−, Na+, SO42−, Mg2+, Sr, V, and U can be exceeded for fishery watercourses. The genetic basis of the accumulation of these components in solutions for mixing was considered. According to the calculations, when about 5000 m3/h of drainage water is discharge d into the river, the mass of precipitated chemical elements will be 56–191 t/h, including up to 2.1 t/h of iron; therefore, accumulation in the discharge zone must be controlled

Modeling Changes in the Composition of River Water with Discharged Wastewater: A Case Study in NW Russia

The technogenic impact of the development of the Lomonosov diamond deposit is associated with the discharge of quarry and drainage water into the river, which has a special conservation status. Earlier studies on the composition of bottom sediments showed that there are signs of increased accumulation of heavy metals and radionuclides at wastewater discharge sites. The purpose of this work was to predict changes in the composition of surface water and bottom sediment in the river during the further development of mining operations with brackish and salty water captured by drainage systems, the presence of which was established in the zone of their future influence. For this, a simulation of changes in the composition of the water in the river was carried out using the GEOCHEQ software package by minimizing the free energy of the system using a convex simplex algorithm. It was found that the maximum salinity of surface water can reach 1.51 g/L. In this case, the MPC of Cl−, Na+, SO42−, Mg2+, Sr, V, and U can be exceeded for fishery watercourses. The genetic basis of the accumulation of these components in solutions for mixing was considered. According to the calculations, when about 5000 m3/h of drainage water is discharge d into the river, the mass of precipitated chemical elements will be 56–191 t/h, including up to 2.1 t/h of iron; therefore, accumulation in the discharge zone must be controlled

Новые форматы развития дополнительных профессиональных компетенций для новой экономики

As the market participants transform the business models, aspiring to building ecosystems, as digital technologies penetrate into all spheres of our life, as the information flows increase the human capital mobility grows, the list of competences expected to develop in today’s university graduates is changing in the global context. Current trends associated with the economic changes and digitalization require continuous upskilling of future professionals and extension of their competences beyond the curriculum. An international summer school (ISS) is an effective tool for short-term training and acquiring professional knowledge combined with managerial, communication, intercultural skills. The purpose of the study is to identify and review the main factors affecting the transformation of the role played by international summer schools in today’s economic education. Based on the review of universities’ learning offerings, the article identifies the learners’ need for acquiring additional competencies through international summer schools. The environmental changes related to the development of a new digital economy and affecting changes in technologies and learning processes at international summer schools in general, were analyzed on the basis of the model for analyzing global trends and changes in paradigms and reskilling patternsПреобразование участниками рынка своих бизнес-моделей и стремление к созданию экосистем, проникновение цифровых технологий во все сферы жизнедеятельности, рост информационных потоков, а также высокая мобильность человеческого капитала изменяют в мировом контексте компетенции, которые должны формироваться у сегодняшних выпускников вузов. Современные тенденции, связанные с изменениями в экономике, цифровизацией, требуют от будущих специалистов постоянного обновления навыков и расширения перечня компетенций за рамками образовательных программ. Международная летняя школа (МЛШ) является эффективным инструментом краткосрочного образования, сочетает возможности получения профессиональных знаний и управленческих, коммуникационных, межкультурных навыков. Целью проведенного исследования стало определение и обзор основных факторов, влияющих на трансформацию роли международных летних школ в современном экономическом образовании. В данной статье на основе обзора академического предложения университетов выявлена потребность со стороны обучающихся в получении дополнительных компетенций через участие в международных летних школах. Изменения внешней среды, связанные с формированием новой цифровой экономики и влияющие на изменение технологий и процессов обучения в международных летних школах в целом, проанализированы на основе модели анализа глобальных трендов и изменений парадигмы и моделей обучения новым компетенция

THE CLINICAL AND IMMUNOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF ANTI-B-CELL THERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

Objective: to study the time course of changes in acute-phase parameters and in the levels of autoantibodies, B lymphocytes, immunoglobulin (Ig) classes G, M, and A in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) 2, 8, 16, and 24 weeks after initiation of therapy with rituximab (RTM)

Retrospective Analysis of a Local Cessation of Vaccination against Poliomyelitis: a Possible Scenario for the Future

The global eradication of poliomyelitis will require substantial changes in immunization practices. One of the proposed scenarios includes cessation of vaccination with live oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) and the creation of an OPV stockpile for emergency response in case of the reintroduction of poliovirus into circulation. We describe here a retrospective analysis of the cessation of OPV usage in a region of the Byelorussian Republic of the former Soviet Union in 1963 to 1966. During this period, a widespread circulation and evolution of independent lineages of vaccine-derived polioviruses took place in the region. Some of these lineages appeared to originate from OPV given to 40 children in the community during this period of essentially no vaccinations. The data demonstrate very high risks associated with both the local cessation of OPV vaccination and the proposed use of OPV to control a possible reemergence of poliovirus in the postvaccination period. The high transmissibility of OPV-derived viruses in nonimmune population, documented here, and the known existence of long-term OPV excretors should be also considered in assessing risks of the synchronized global cessation of OPV usage

Malignant and benign thyroid nodule differentiation through the analysis of blood plasma with terahertz spectroscopy

The liquid and lyophilized blood plasma of patients with benign or malignant thyroid nodules and healthy individuals were studied by terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy and machine learning. The blood plasma samples from malignant nodule patients were shown to have higher absorption. The glucose concentration and miRNA-146b level were correlated with the sample’s absorption at 1 THz. A two-stage ensemble algorithm was proposed for the THz spectra analysis. The first stage was based on the Support Vector Machine with a linear kernel to separate healthy and thyroid nodule participants. The second stage included additional data preprocessing by Ornstein-Uhlenbeck kernel Principal Component Analysis to separate benign and malignant thyroid nodule participants. Thus, the distinction of malignant and benign thyroid nodule patients through their lyophilized blood plasma analysis by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy and machine learning was demonstrated