Semi-Trusted Mixer Based Privacy Preserving Distributed Data Mining for Resource Constrained Devices

In this paper a homomorphic privacy preserving association rule mining algorithm is proposed which can be deployed in resource constrained devices (RCD). Privacy preserved exchange of counts of itemsets among distributed mining sites is a vital part in association rule mining process. Existing cryptography based privacy preserving solutions consume lot of computation due to complex mathematical equations involved. Therefore less computation involved privacy solutions are extremely necessary to deploy mining applications in RCD. In this algorithm, a semi-trusted mixer is used to unify the counts of itemsets encrypted by all mining sites without revealing individual values. The proposed algorithm is built on with a well known communication efficient association rule mining algorithm named count distribution (CD). Security proofs along with performance analysis and comparison show the well acceptability and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. Efficient and straightforward privacy model and satisfactory performance of the protocol promote itself among one of the initiatives in deploying data mining application in RCD.Comment: IEEE Publication format, International Journal of Computer Science and Information Security, IJCSIS, Vol. 8 No. 1, April 2010, USA. ISSN 1947 5500, http://sites.google.com/site/ijcsis

Beyond the artisanal mining site: migration, housing capital accumulation and indirect urbanization in East Africa

During the past 30 years, Tanzania has experienced successive precious mineral rushes led by artisanal miners. Their settlement, livelihood and housing strategies have evolved amidst high mobility in pursuit of mineral wealth. Cumulatively, the spatial movement of artisanal miners and an associated following of economically motivated migrant service providers have catalysed large-scale “direct urbanization” at artisanal mine sites-cum-small towns. These settlements have been generally characterized by relatively makeshift accommodation, which may mask accumulated savings of in situ earnings for housing investment elsewhere. In this article, in addition to documenting the mine-led direct urbanization process, we draw attention to a subsequent “indirect urbanization” phenomenon, whereby many successful artisanal miners and other entrepreneurial mining settlement residents make strategic house building investments in larger towns and cities. In anticipation of declining mineral yields and retirement from days of “roughing it” in mining sites, they endeavour to channel savings into housing in more urbanized locations, aiming to diversify into profitable business activities, living a life with better physical and social amenities. Their second-wave onward migration from mine sites encompasses more diverse destinations, particularly regional towns and cities, which accommodate their work and family life cycle needs and lifestyle preferences. Such mine-led direct and indirect urbanization processes arise from sequential migration decision-making of participants in Tanzania’s artisanal mining sector. In this article, we interrogate mining settlement residents’ locational choices on the basis of fieldwork survey findings from four artisanal gold and diamond mining settlements in Tanzania’s mineral-rich regions of Geita, Mwanza and Shinyanga, and from in-depth interviews with miners-cum-entrepreneurs residing in Mwanza, Tanzania’s second largest city, situated in the heart of Tanzania’s gold fields

Geotourism and local development based on geological and mining sites utilization, zaruma-portovelo, Ecuador

This study offers a detailed assessment of the geosites and mining sites present in the Zaruma-Portovelo mining district (Ecuador) through their qualitative and quantitative assessment. It shows up the potentiality of this area taking advantage of its geological-mining heritage. The methodological process includes: (i) compilation and inventory of all the sites within the study area with particular geological or mining interest; (ii) preparation of reports and thematic cartography, (iii) assessment and classification of the elements of geological-mining interest; (iv) SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis and TOWS (Threats, Opportunities, Weaknesses, Strengths) matrix preparation seeking strategies to guarantee the viability of geotourism. A total of 16 sites of geological interest and 11 of mining interest were identified. The 77% of these sites was proved to be of high and very high interest in scientific terms. Likewise, their susceptibility to degradation assessed from their vulnerability and fragility was found to be high or very high in the 30% of the cases. As for the protection priority, all the studied sites obtained a medium-high result. Finally, the study based on the SWOT-TOWS revealed the possibility of applying action strategies in order to facilitate the compatibility of geotourism with the current productive activities, despite the difficult situation in the study area created by mining activities

Assessment of practicality of remote sensing techniques for a study of the effects of strip mining in Alabama

Because of the volume of coal produced by strip mining, the proximity of mining operations, and the diversity of mining methods (e.g. contour stripping, area stripping, multiple seam stripping, and augering, as well as underground mining), the Warrior Coal Basin seemed best suited for initial studies on the physical impact of strip mining in Alabama. Two test sites, (Cordova and Searles) representative of the various strip mining techniques and environmental problems, were chosen for intensive studies of the correlation between remote sensing and ground truth data. Efforts were eventually concentrated in the Searles Area, since it is more accessible and offers a better opportunity for study of erosional and depositional processes than the Cordova Area

Assessing the freshwater quality of a large-scale mining watershed : the need for integrated approaches

Water quality assessments provide essential information for protecting aquatic habitats and stakeholders downstream of mining sites. Moreover, mining companies must comply with environmental quality standards and include public participation in water quality monitoring (WQM) practices. However, overarching challenges beyond corporate environmental responsibility are the scientific soundness, political relevance and harmonization of WQM practices. In this study, a mountainous watershed supporting large-scale gold mining in the headwaters, besides urban and agricultural landuses at lower altitudes, is assessed in the dry season. Conventional physicochemical and biological (Biological Monitoring Water Party-Colombia index) freshwater quality parameters were evaluated, including hydromorphological and land-use characteristics. According to the indicators used, water quality deterioration by mining was absent, in contrast to the effects of urban economic activities, hydromorphological alterations and (less important) agricultural pollutants. We argue that mining impacts are hardly captured due to the limited ecological knowledge of high-mountain freshwaters, including uncharacterized mining-specific bioindicators, environmental baselines and groundwater processes, as well as ecotoxicological and microbial freshwater quality components. Lessons for overcoming scientific and operational challenges are drawn from joint efforts among governments, academia and green economy competitiveness. Facing a rapid development of extractive industries, interinstitutional and multidisciplinary collaborations are urgently needed to implement more integrated freshwater quality indicators of complex mining impacts

Lunar resource evaluation and mine site selection

Two scenarios in this evaluation of lunar mineral resources and the selection of possible mining and processing sites are considered. The first scenario assumes that no new surface or near-surface data will be available before site selection (presumably one of the Apollo sites). The second scenario assumes that additional surface geology data will have been obtained by a lunar orbiter mission, an unmanned sample return mission (or missions), and followup manned missions. Regardless of the scenario, once a potentially favorable mine site has been identified, a minimum amount of fundamental data is needed to assess the resources at that site and to evaluate its suitability for mining and downstream processing. Since much of the required data depends on the target mineral(s), information on the resource, its beneficiation, and the refining, smelting, and fabricating processes must be factored into the evaluation. The annual capacity and producing lifetime of the mine and its associated processing plant must be estimated before the resource reserves can be assessed. The available market for the product largely determines the capacity and lifetime of the mine. The Apollo 17 site is described as a possible mining site. The use of new sites is briefly addressed

Helium mining on the Moon: Site selection and evaluation

The feasibility of recovering helium (He) from the Moon as a source of fusion energy on Earth is currently being studied at the University of Wisconsin. Part of this study is selection and evaluation of potential sites for lunar He mining. Selection and evaluation of potential mining sites are based on four salient findings by various investigators of lunar samples: (1) Regoliths from areas underlain by highland materials contain less than 20 wppm He; (2) Certain maria regoliths contain less than 20 wppm He, but other contain 25 to 49 wppm; (3) The He content of a mare regolith is a function of its composition; regoliths rich in Ti are relatively rich in He; and (4) He is concentrated in the less than 100-micron size fractions of regoliths. The first three findings suggest that maria are the most promising mining sites, specifically, those that have high-Ti regoliths. Information on the regional distribution and extent of high-Ti regoliths comes mainly from two sources: direct sampling by various Apollo and Luna missions, and remote sensing by gamma-ray spectroscopy and Earth-based measurements of lunar spectral reflectance. Sampling provides essential control on calibration and interpretation of data from remote sensing. These data indicate that Mare Tranquillitatis is the principal area of high-Ti regolith of the eastern nearside, but large areas of high-Ti regolith are indicated in the Imbrium and Procellarum regions. Recovery of significant amounts of He-3 will require mining billions of tonnes of regolith. Large individual areas suitable for mining must therefore be delineated. The concentration of He in the finer size fractions and considerations of ease of mining mean that mining areas must be as free as possible of sizable craters and blocks of rock. Pending additional lunar missions, information regarding these features must be obtained from lunar photographs, photogeologic maps, and radar surveys. The present study is decidedly preliminary; available information is much to limited to permit even a close approach to final evaluations. As a prelude to recovery of He from the Moon, systematic exploration and sampling of high-Ti regoliths should therefore have a high priority in future lunar missions

SIDEROPHORES FOR SELECTIVE SOLID PHASE EXTRACTION OF STRATEGIC ELEMENTS

All over the world, industrial mining is leaving contaminated areas and dumps that, although being full of valuable metals, have high concentrations of toxic heavy metals that pollute the environment. The development of sustainable alternative biomining and bioremediation processes offers the potential to fully exploit these unexploited mining sites

Cis-regulatory module detection using constraint programming

We propose a method for finding CRMs in a set of co-regulated genes. Each CRM consists of a set of binding sites of transcription factors. We wish to find CRMs involving the same transcription factors in multiple sequences. Finding such a combination of transcription factors is inherently a combinatorial problem. We solve this problem by combining the principles of itemset mining and constraint programming. The constraints involve the putative binding sites of transcription factors, the number of sequences in which they co-occur and the proximity of the binding sites. Genomic background sequences are used to assess the significance of the modules. We experimentally validate our approach and compare it with state-of-the-art techniques