Innovative approaches to evaluate geochemical risk related to sulphide-bearing Abandoned Mine Lands

Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) are often perceived to have significant environmental impacts, particularly on superficial and ground waters, from water contaminated with acid and elevated metals flowing from eroding waste dumps and from underground workings. These conditions would require risk assessment and remediation in case of necessity. However AML have heritage and historical value because of their age and the significance of their structures and the processes used. This value could be destroyed by remediation done following the environmental law in force. Take into account the particular features of AML (terrains characterised by natural high metal and metalloid concentrations) and environmental law problems (the inability of agencies to cite or allocate clear ownership for the problems at the sites), rise the need to develop an approach that allows the right and complete geo-environmental characterisation of AML and that supports the management and/or the remediation of AML. The main problems related to AML comprise: the identification and characterisation of mine dumps; the assessment of the geochemical hazard; the persistence in time of the chemical processes which occur at the site. Mine dumps are the waste products of exploitation, composed mainly of rocks with metal concentration too low to be economic but rather high to be a source of environmental pollution. A preliminary low-cost identification of mine dumps could be done by means of digital elaboration of topographic maps. This operation allows to identify and to evaluate the morphology and dimension of mine dumps having bibliographic data and CAD software (Servida et al., 2009). Mine dumps characterisation could be completed and refined by Electrical Resistivity Ground Imaging (ERGI) investigations (Mele et al., 2007) that enable to reduce direct investigation number and, consequently, to reduce costs and acquisition time. Moreover ERGI investigations supply 3D information concerning a more extended area. Geochemical hazard related to sulphide-bearing AML could not be evaluated taking into account only the metal and metalloid concentrations of terrains, since it is high by nature. It is suggested to evaluate geochemical hazard starting from the combination of high metal and metalloid concentrations and of the acid production or neutralising potential of terrains by AMIRA procedure (IWRI & EGI, 2002). Hazard evaluation was performed by geostatistical analyses, resulting from 1) the interpolation of the terrain chemical features on the whole area, 2) the overlapping of previous results and 3) the adding of the topographic setting. This approach allows to identify the areas where the presence of metal and metalloids is really hazardous. It also supports the choice of areas that need any treatment. Since AMD processes have a key-role in environmental damages from mining pollution, it is important to know their persistence in time. No studies about this topic have already done. In a preliminary step, the persistence of AMD processes could be calculated starting from common data as yearly rainfall, mining waters pH and acid production or neutralising potential of terrains. The following step is to consider the results of kinetic tests. These approaches have been developed on three pilot sites with different geo-environmental setting: Rio Marina mining district (Elba Island, LI), characterised by hematite + pyrite ore association, exploited for iron from Etruscan age till 1981; Libiola mine (GE), characterised by chalcopyrite + pyrite ore association, exploited for copper from 1864 till 1962; The application of the proposed methodologies and techniques allows a better geo-environmental characterisation of AML. Moreover we think that the proposed approach for the assessment of geochemical risk related to AML could contribute to reduce the areas that need remediation. Consequently will be possible to reduce costs of remediation and impact of remediation on AML

A Forensic Analysis of Home Automation Devices (FAHAD) Model: Kasa Smart Light Bulb and Eufy Floodlight Camera as Case Studies

The adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) devices is rapidly increasing with the advancement of network technology, these devices carry sensitive data that require adherence to minimum security practices. The adoption of smart devices to migrate homeowners from traditional homes to smart homes has been noticeable. These smart devices share value with and are of potential interest to digital forensic investigators, as well. Therefore, in this paper, we conduct comprehensive security and forensic analysis to contribute to both fields—targeting a security enhancement of the selected IoT devices and assisting the current IoT forensics approaches. Our work follows several techniques such as forensic analysis of identifiable information, including connected devices and sensor data. Furthermore, we perform security assessment exploring insecure communication protocols, plain text credentials, and sensitive information. This will include reverse engineering some binary files and manual analysis techniques. The analysis includes a data-set of home automation devices provided by the VTO labs: (1) the eufy floodlight camera, and (2) the Kasa smart light bulb. The main goal of the technical experiment in this research is to support the proposed model

Detection of PrPres in the spleen of hamsters used as an in vivo model for experimental TSE

In order to detect the presence of PrPres in the spleen of infected hamsters, we used a newly developed extraction method, before Western blot analysis, allowing the precipitation of PrPres. The NaPTA treatment applied before proteolysis causes a change in the PK cleavage site, resulting in the generation of larger PrPres fragments, acting on the N-terminal region of PrPres. By using this procedure, with some modifications, we succeeded in detecting the prion protein in the spleen and obtained the expected bands of prion protein, while in previous reports only very weak signals were obtained. Moreover, it was possible to confirm that the amount of detectable PrPres in the hamster spleen is very low, suggesting that the spleen plays a non-essential role for development of the disease in the hamster experimental model

Forensic Investigation of Google Assistant

Google Nest devices have seen a rise in demand especially with Google’s huge advantage in search engine results and a complex ecosystem that consists of a range of companion devices and compatible mobile applications integrated and interacting with its virtual assistant, Google Assistant. This study undertakes the forensics extraction and analysis of client-centric and cloud-native data remnants left behind on Android smartphones by the Google Home and Google Assistant apps used to control a Google Nest device. We identified the main database and file system storage location central to the Google Assistant ecosystem. From our analysis, we show forensic artifacts of interest associated with user account information, the chronology and copies of past voice conversations exchanged, and record of deleted data. The findings from this study describe forensic artifacts that could assist forensic investigators and can facilitate a criminal investigation

Mineralogical and geochemical characterisation of open-air tailing and waste-rock dumps from the Libiola Fe-Cu sulphide mine (Eastern Liguria, Italy)

Active acid mine drainage (AMD) processes at the Libiola Fe-Cu sulphides mine are mainly triggered by water–rock interaction occurring within open-air tailing and waste-rock dumps. These processes are mainly controlled by exposure to weathering agents, the grain size of the dumped materials, and by the quantity of sulphides, the sulphide types, and their mode of occurrence. Due to these factors, several paragenetic stages of evolution have been recognised at different depths at different sites and within the same site. The dump samples were investigated with mineralogical (reflected- and transmitted-light optical microscopy, XRPD, and SEM-EDS) and geochemical (ICP-AES, Leco) techniques. The AMD evaluation of the tailing and waste-rock samples was performed by calculating the Maximum Potential Acidity, the Acid Neutralising Capacity, (and the Net Acid Producing Potential. The results allowed us to demonstrate that the open-air tailings had already superseded their AMD apex and are now practically inert material composed mainly of stable goethite ± lepidocrocite ± hematite assemblages. On the contrary, the sulphide-rich waste rocks still have a strong potential to produce long term AMD, causing the acidification of circulating waters and the release of several hazardous elements

Human metapneumovirus infection after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Background: The clinical characteristics of human metapneumovirus (hMPV)-associated lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is not well described. We describe the clinical course in eight HSCT recipients suffering from hMPV infection. Methods: We prospectively included all patients with hMPV-associated LRTI after allogeneic HSCT during a period of 1year. hMPV was diagnosed by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). Results: Eight patients with hMPV-associated LRTI were identified from 93 BAL samples. Three of the eight patients had co-infections with other pathogens. The median age of the patients was 45years [interquartile range (IQR) 36.8-53.5], the median time posttransplant was 473days (IQR 251-1,165), 5/8 patients had chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGvHD), and 6/8 patients received immunosuppression. Chest computed tomography (CT) scanning showed a ground-glass pattern in 7/8 patients. Seven of eight patients required hospitalization due to severe symptoms and hypoxemia. All were treated with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), which was combined with oral ribavirin in six patients. The mortality rate was 12.5% (1/8). Conclusions: hMPV-associated LRTI in allogeneic HSCT recipients are not uncommon and present with unspecific respiratory symptoms, ground-glass pattern in CT scanning, and co-infectio