A future perspective on work integrated learning for South African mine surveyors

Abstract: The defining factor of the National Diploma: Mine Surveying qualification is considered to be the experiential learning component of one year. It has long been considered that this compulsory one year exposure to the working environment enables the newly qualified Mine Survey diplomat to be of immediate use within the mining industry with very little site induction required to make the student a fully functional member of a production crew. With the introduction of a new Bachelor degree in Mine Surveying this critical component of the current qualification will no longer form a core component due to a number of legislative and safety concerns. A model that will incorporate most of these requirements is required to replace the current experiential learning model..

An evaluation of the efficiency of laser scanning technology in the quantitative analysis of corrosion

Abstract: It is estimated that corrosion causes around R260 Billion of damage to infrastructure and equipment in the South African industry annually. Corrosion evaluation and protection in the marine environment is well established. In the mining industry the field of corrosion evaluation is not as well established as it could be. The evaluation and measurement of corrosion rates and physical deterioration of structures through electrochemical measurement, visual inspection and non‐destructive test method measuring techniques are well established. The use of sonar (ultrasonic) and laser scanning has been investigated. Laser scanning technology has improved exponentially over the past years and terrestrial and hand‐held units are now smaller, more manageable and affordable to the surveyor. Conventional laser scanners are able to measure to an accuracy of millimeters and generate a point cloud of 1million points per second in some cases. Latest developments in laser scanning include multi‐spectral analysis and Red‐Green‐Blue (RGB) intensity values for each point. Point clouds of data can now be imported into a CAD package and compared to design specifications. In the case where “as‐built” specifications differ for the initial design, laser scanning allows the engineer the opportunity to compare and quantify in minute detail the differences between the final structure and the original design..

Factors influencing a mother's choice of feeding after discharge of her baby from a neonatal unit

Objective. To assess feeding methods chosen by mothers of babies who spent time in a neonatal unit.  Factors influencing this decision were investigated.Design. Descriptive study.Methods. Mothers were interviewed on the day they took their babies home. Basic demographic data on mother and baby were collected from the hospital records.Setting. The neonatal unit, Pelonomi Hospital, Bloemfontein from May 1996 to May 1998.Subjects. Eighty-one mothers of babies admitted to the neonatal unit.Outcome measures. At discharge 60% of mothers intended to breast-feed their babies exclusively the  next day. The mother's decision to breasHeed her baby at home was significantly associated with her decision before delivery (P = 0.0050). Otherfactors positively associated with the decision to breast-feed exclusively at home were a significantly higher birth weight of the baby (P < 0.0008) and gestational age of the baby (P < 0.0005). The only hospital practice positively associated with this decision was the frequency with which mothers saw their babies during their stay in the unit (P = 0.0153). Mothers' knowledge of how to increase breast-milk supply was very poor.Conclusions. Infants with a lower weight and gestational age, who stayed in the unit longer, were less  likely to be breast-fed after discharge from the neonatal unit. The mothers' experience in the unit did not seem to alter their choice of feeding method decided upon before delivery. This suggests that efforts to promote breast-feeding in the neonatal unit were either ineffectual or inadequate. In order to remedy this situation it is necessary to keep the motherinfant pair together (lodger mothers) and to promote  breastfeeding before and after delivery. It would also be necessary to train staff in the management of lactation problems

Rasberry Pi and BeagleBones : evaluating a cost effective GPS system for on‐mine navigation

Abstract: The South African Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA) requires the mine surveyor to inform the manager of all workings within 100 metres of other workings, abandoned areas and hazardous accumulations of water or gas. The main purpose of this requirement is to ensure that all employees are aware and can take all the necessary precautions against un‐planned breakthroughs, falls of ground and subsidence. In the case where mines are mining through abandoned workings in order to remove remnant pillars and previously unmined reserves, the potential for subsidence and equipment falling into excavated areas become a reality. A single incident where a machine falls into a collapsed working can amount to in excess of R1 million per incident, excluding the risk of loss of life or serious injury. An unplanned collapse of workings in the specific case study can also lead to sufficient air flow into the old underground to cause spontaneous combustion of the remaining pillars. Although systems for navigation of drill rigs exist the cost to deploy a similar unit to all vehicles in the mining area is prohibitive. A low‐cost system that can navigate a vehicle and indicate to the operator what the subsurface features look like in the direct surroundings of the vehicle was developed using off‐the‐shelf technologies. This paper discusses the process of developing a lowcost navigation system towards a real time information management system for a mining operation. Benefits from this system may be applied in underground navigation and guiding rescue services in the search of illegal miners in abandoned mines

The areca nut chewing habit and oral squamous cell carcinoma in South African Indians

A retrospective study (1983 - 1989) of oral squamous carcinomas and concomitant oral habits was undertaken in South African Indians from Natal. Information came from hospital records and interviews with patients, famlilies and friends. There were 143 oral squamous carcinomas; these occurred in a ratio of 1:1,6 for men and women respectively. Squamous carcinomas of the cheek (buccal mucosa, alveolar sulcus and gingiva) occurred most frequently, especially in women (57/89 - 64%), while in men tongue cancer predominated (22/54 - 41-%). Ninety-three per cent of women (83/87) and 17% of men (9/54) habitually chewed the areca nut. Thirty-nine of 57 women (68%) with cheek cancer and 21/25 (84%) with tongue cancer only chewed the nut (no tobacco, snuff or smoking). Analyses confinned an association between nut chewing and cheek cancer. The odds ratio (OR) for oral cancer in women 25 years and older who only chewed the nut was 43,9 and the attributable risk (AR) 0,89 (89%). With tobacco the OR increases to 47,42 and the AR to 0,91 (91%). The data showed that the areca nut habit with or without tobacco use is important in the development of oral squamous carcinoma. Elimination of this habit can reduce the risk in these women substantially (89 - 91%) if all other factors remain the same

Measurement and verification of a municipal water pumping project

The processes that were followed to develop the baseline to Measure and Verify (M&V) a Municipal Demand Side Management (DSM) water pumping project that is being implemented is described in this paper. This paper is a follow-up on a previous paper presented at the ICUE 2004 (Measurement and Verification of a Municipal Water Pumping Project). The previous paper described the M&V process and the methodology that would be used to develop the baseline for the project. The project is currently in the implementation phase. To develop the baseline, energy data was recorded for all the pumps as well as the total flow from the pump station. The baseline was developed by determining an average 30 minute weekday, Saturday and Sunday profile. The baseline also includes a relation between daily water pumped and electricity consumption. Therefore, the baseline can be adjusted if the total amount of water pumped daily is lower or higher than the average values used. This will ensure that the baseline takes possible load growth or possible load reduction into consideration. The baseline will be used to determine the impact of the project after implementation

Measurement and verification of a municipal water pumping project

The processes that were followed to develop the baseline to Measure and Verify (M&V) a Municipal Demand Side Management (DSM) water pumping project that is being implemented is described in this paper. This paper is a follow-up on a previous paper presented at the ICUE 2004 (Measurement and Verification of a Municipal Water Pumping Project). The previous paper described the M&V process and the methodology that would be used to develop the baseline for the project. The project is currently in the implementation phase. To develop the baseline, energy data was recorded for all the pumps as well as the total flow from the pump station. The baseline was developed by determining an average 30 minute weekday, Saturday and Sunday profile. The baseline also includes a relation between daily water pumped and electricity consumption. Therefore, the baseline can be adjusted if the total amount of water pumped daily is lower or higher than the average values used. This will ensure that the baseline takes possible load growth or possible load reduction into consideration. The baseline will be used to determine the impact of the project after implementation

Greenhouse gas emissions during the 2003 World Summit

In recent years, global warming and climate change have become international issues for both industrialized and developing countries. Increasingly we will need to understand and manage our Greenhouse Gas (GHG) risks in order to comply with national and regional policies aimed at reducing GHG emissions. It is for these reasons that it is fast becoming critical to know which processes cause GHG emissions and how much they are causing. This article will describe the link that exists between processes and GHG emissions. As a demonstration, the article will describe how these GHG emissions was generated during the 2003 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) and how a model was developed to determine what the GHG emissions were during the WSSD. The GHG study, and subsequent model development, was done in order to keep the WSSD in line with its principles for the ecologically sound management of the environment and the issue of climate change. It was proposed that the WSSD be made carbon neutral. This meant that all the GHG (and thus carbon or carbon equivalent) emission generated by actions of the WSSD be offset over a period of time. In order to offset the GHG emissions of the WSSD it was essential to have a good assessment of the amount of emissions that was generated during the Summit. An emission Footprint model was developed, based on information obtained throughout the Summit. The method used a number of resources to determine the emissions resulting from delegate air travel to and from the host city, road travel to and from Summit venues, energy consumption at hotels and venues and waste generation amongst others. This paper will provide the critical factors that influenced and contributed towards the model. The results of the model will also be provided and discussed

Greenhouse gas emissions during the 2003 World Summit

In recent years, global warming and climate change have become international issues for both industrialized and developing countries. Increasingly we will need to understand and manage our Greenhouse Gas (GHG) risks in order to comply with national and regional policies aimed at reducing GHG emissions. It is for these reasons that it is fast becoming critical to know which processes cause GHG emissions and how much they are causing. This article will describe the link that exists between processes and GHG emissions. As a demonstration, the article will describe how these GHG emissions was generated during the 2003 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) and how a model was developed to determine what the GHG emissions were during the WSSD. The GHG study, and subsequent model development, was done in order to keep the WSSD in line with its principles for the ecologically sound management of the environment and the issue of climate change. It was proposed that the WSSD be made carbon neutral. This meant that all the GHG (and thus carbon or carbon equivalent) emission generated by actions of the WSSD be offset over a period of time. In order to offset the GHG emissions of the WSSD it was essential to have a good assessment of the amount of emissions that was generated during the Summit. An emission Footprint model was developed, based on information obtained throughout the Summit. The method used a number of resources to determine the emissions resulting from delegate air travel to and from the host city, road travel to and from Summit venues, energy consumption at hotels and venues and waste generation amongst others. This paper will provide the critical factors that influenced and contributed towards the model. The results of the model will also be provided and discussed