Underground mining of aggregates. Main report

This report examines the economic feasibility of underground mining for crushed rock aggregates in the UK, but particularly in the London, South East and East of England regions (the South East area of England). These regions import substantial volumes of crushed rock, primarily from the East Midlands and South West regions, requiring relatively long transport distances to market for this bulk commodity. A key part of the research was to determine whether or not aggregate could be produced and delivered to a local market from an underground aggregates operation at a cost comparable with that for production and transport of the commodity from traditional surface quarries located further afield. In essence the investigation asked – could the reduced transport costs compensate for the higher production costs underground so that underground crushed rock aggregates producers can compete with the established Leicestershire and Somerset surface quarries exporting to the South East? Work Programme The research effort involved establishing and verifying cost models for aggregates production, stone processing (sizing and sorting), haulage of product to market, environmental impact mitigation, health and safety, decommissioning and restoration. Another major element of the work was the re-examination of the BGS exploratory borehole and geophysical databases to identify potential areas of crushed rock aggregates resource at depth in the South East area of England. Land use pressure is typically higher in this area of England than elsewhere so another major part of the research was the identification of potential concurrent uses of land around the surface facilities of underground aggregates mines. The value, development costs for specific developments and determination of yields expected, from these uses were estimated. These were also used to investigate potential economic benefits associated with after uses of remediated surface land above potential underground aggregates mines and also for the new underground space that would be created. Key technical issues such as subsidence within relatively heavily populated areas of the South East area of England were also addressed. Economic Results The discounted cost of aggregate delivered at a discount rate of 10% was the metric used to appraise the options. This is the price of aggregate that leads to a zero net present value of project cash flows realised over the aggregates project life. The results show that the discounted costs of aggregate delivered to a local South East area of England market from an underground mine producing 3.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of crushed rock aggregates, are in the range of £13.03 per tonne to £13.93 per tonne for the top six prospect locations. These are greater than the corresponding cost for a “reference” quarry in Leicestershire producing 3.5 MTPA (£10.95 per tonne), but lower than a “reference” quarry in Leicestershire producing 1.25 MTPA (£16.48 per tonne). These figures indicate that underground crushed rock aggregate mines located within the South East area of England may be able to compete for a share in the overall market by replacing / displacing aggregate imported from the quarries in Leicestershire and Somerset producing around or less than 1.25 MTPA. The surprise in these figures is not really that the more remote surface quarry has a lower discounted cost of aggregate delivered, but that the values for the quarry and underground mine are so close. The capital intensity for the development of underground aggregates mines was found to be higher than that required for surface quarries of comparable scale, by a factor ranging from 1.33 to 1.65 and thus may represent a disincentive for aggregates operators. Carbon Emissions The total carbon emissions of the ‘reference’ 3.5 MTPA quarry in Leicestershire were estimated at 9.28 kg CO2/tonne aggregate delivered and this is to be compared with carbon emissions for the 150 metre deep underground mines serving the local market which were estimated at 9.31 kg CO2/tonne delivered for a Bletchley prospect using an adit to access the sub-surface and 14.25 kg CO2/tonne delivered for a prospect based on the Chitty bore hole using a shaft. Depth of the mine is a key factor in determination of the relative carbon emissions from each of the underground mining operations considered as electricity consumption for ventilation, pumping and winding is proportional to depth. Recommendations The current research generated seven principal recommendations which are discussed in detail in the concluding section of the report. These are: Appraise policy incentives for underground aggregates mining. Conduct an industry-wide consultation on findings from the current research. Obtain public and stakeholder opinion on new uses for underground space. Conduct research to reducing the energy intensity of mine services. Develop a deep level aggregates-specific drilling campaign. Investigate underground aggregates mines developed from existing surface quarries. Investigate underground aggregates as co-products of industrial minerals mining

Oma1 Links Mitochondrial Protein Quality Control and TOR Signaling To Modulate Physiological Plasticity and Cellular Stress Responses

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank Dennis Winge (University of Utah) and the members of the Khalimonchuk laboratory for critical comments. We also thank Christoph Schuller (University of Natural Resources, Austria) and Paul Herman (Ohio State University) for reagents. We acknowledge the expert technical assistance of Nataliya Zahayko. We also thank Donna MacCallum for help with the Candida virulence assays. This research was supported by grants from the NIH (P30GM103335 and 5R01GM108975 [O.K.], GM071775-06 and GM105781-01 [A.B.], DK079209 [J.L.]), the U.K. Biotechnology and Biological Research Council (BB/K017365/1 [A.J.P.B.]), the U.K. Medical Research Council (MR/ M026663/1 [A.J.P.B.]), and the European Research Council (C-2009- AdG-249793 [A.J.P.B.]). We declare that we have no competing financial interests. FUNDING INFORMATION This work, including the efforts of Alistair J. P. Brown, was funded by Biotechnology and Biological Research Counsil (BB/K017365/1). This work, including the efforts of Oleh Khalimonchuk, was funded by HHS | National Institutes of Health (NIH) (5R01GM108975). This work, including the efforts of Oleh Khalimonchuk, was funded by HHS | National Institutes of Health (NIH) (P30GM103335).This work, including the efforts of Antoni Barrientos, was funded by HHS | National Institutes of Health (NIH) (GM071775-06). This work, including the efforts of Antoni Barrientos, was funded by HHS | National Institutes of Health (NIH) (GM105781-01). This work, including the efforts of Jaekwon Lee, was funded by HHS | National Institutes of Health (NIH) (DK079209). This work, including the efforts of Alistair J. P. Brown, was funded by Medical Research Council (MRC) (MR/M026663/1). This work, including the efforts of Alistair J. P. Brown, was funded by EC | European Research Council (ERC) (C-2009-AdG-249793).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

A quick guide for student-driven community genome annotation

High quality gene models are necessary to expand the molecular and genetic tools available for a target organism, but these are available for only a handful of model organisms that have undergone extensive curation and experimental validation over the course of many years. The majority of gene models present in biological databases today have been identified in draft genome assemblies using automated annotation pipelines that are frequently based on orthologs from distantly related model organisms. Manual curation is time consuming and often requires substantial expertise, but is instrumental in improving gene model structure and identification. Manual annotation may seem to be a daunting and cost-prohibitive task for small research communities but involving undergraduates in community genome annotation consortiums can be mutually beneficial for both education and improved genomic resources. We outline a workflow for efficient manual annotation driven by a team of primarily undergraduate annotators. This model can be scaled to large teams and includes quality control processes through incremental evaluation. Moreover, it gives students an opportunity to increase their understanding of genome biology and to participate in scientific research in collaboration with peers and senior researchers at multiple institutions

Measuring practice leadership in supported accommodation services for people with intellectual disability: Comparing staff-rated and observational measures

Background Studies incorporating staff-rated or observational measures of practice leadership have shown that where practice leadership is stronger, active support is better implemented. The study aim was to compare measures of practice leadership used in previous research to determine the extent of their correspondence. Method A subset of data from a longitudinal study regarding 29 front-line managers working across 36 supported accommodation services in Australia was used. An observed measure of practice leadership, based on an interview and observation of a front-line manager, was compared with ratings of practice leadership completed by staff. The quality of active support was rated after a 2-hour structured observation. Results Correlations between staff-rated and observed measures were non-significant. Only the observed measure was correlated with the quality of active support. Conclusions This study provides evidence to support using an observational measure of practice leadership rather than reliance on staff ratings

Analysis of the Tribolium homeotic complex: insights into mechanisms constraining insect Hox clusters

The remarkable conservation of Hox clusters is an accepted but little understood principle of biology. Some organizational constraints have been identified for vertebrate Hox clusters, but most of these are thought to be recent innovations that may not apply to other organisms. Ironically, many model organisms have disrupted Hox clusters and may not be well-suited for studies of structural constraints. In contrast, the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum, which has a long history in Hox gene research, is thought to have a more ancestral-type Hox cluster organization. Here, we demonstrate that the Tribolium homeotic complex (HOMC) is indeed intact, with the individual Hox genes in the expected colinear arrangement and transcribed from the same strand. There is no evidence that the cluster has been invaded by non-Hox protein-coding genes, although expressed sequence tag and genome tiling data suggest that noncoding transcripts are prevalent. Finally, our analysis of several mutations affecting the Tribolium HOMC suggests that intermingling of enhancer elements with neighboring transcription units may constrain the structure of at least one region of the Tribolium cluster. This work lays a foundation for future studies of the Tribolium HOMC that may provide insights into the reasons for Hox cluster conservation

Who is gonna see the shrink? Anxiety and depression\u27s relationship to openness and willingness to engage in weekly psychotherapy

Digital mental health interventions may offer an alternative to in-person psychotherapy. It is important to understand attitudes about traditional in-person psychotherapy among app users to contextualize treatment seeking and better understand treatment options.https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/durep_posters/1102/thumbnail.jp

Is there an app for that? Social support, depression, and anxiety among users of a digital mental health app

Perceived social support has been associated with mental health. Social distancing guidelines due to COVID-19 heavily shifted social engagement to digital formats. It is important to understand the role of digital mental health interventions in mental health outcomes.https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/durep_posters/1101/thumbnail.jp

Large-scale insertional mutagenesis of a coleopteran stored grain pest, the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum, identifies embryonic lethal mutations and enhancer traps

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Given its sequenced genome and efficient systemic RNA interference response, the red flour beetle <it>Tribolium castaneum </it>is a model organism well suited for reverse genetics. Even so, there is a pressing need for forward genetic analysis to escape the bias inherent in candidate gene approaches.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>To produce easy-to-maintain insertional mutations and to obtain fluorescent marker lines to aid phenotypic analysis, we undertook a large-scale transposon mutagenesis screen. In this screen, we produced more than 6,500 new <it>piggyBac </it>insertions. Of these, 421 proved to be recessive lethal, 75 were semi-lethal, and eight indicated recessive sterility, while 505 showed new enhancer-trap patterns. Insertion junctions were determined for 403 lines and often appeared to be located within transcription units. Insertion sites appeared to be randomly distributed throughout the genome, with the exception of a preference for reinsertion near the donor site.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A large collection of enhancer-trap and embryonic lethal beetle lines has been made available to the research community and will foster investigations into diverse fields of insect biology, pest control, and evolution. Because the genetic elements used in this screen are species-nonspecific, and because the crossing scheme does not depend on balancer chromosomes, the methods presented herein should be broadly applicable for many insect species.</p