A review of respirable crystalline silica dust concentration, characteristics, toxicity, and regulation in US metal and nonmetal mines.

Occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica (RCS) remains a significant health concern in metal and nonmetal (MNM) mining operations, contributing to the development of silicosis, lung cancer, and other chronic respiratory conditions. This review examines the prevalence and effects of RCS exposure in MNM mining environments, the toxicity of silica dust, and the effectiveness of regulatory interventions aimed at controlling exposure and mitigating health hazards. Key factors influencing RCS concentrations, including mine type, size, and geographic location, are analyzed, with particular focus on the impact of recent regulatory updates from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).

Three-dimensional characterization of caves within the Grand Canyon's deep karst aquifer.

Understanding groundwater movement within karst aquifers remains challenging because flow-defining conduit and fracture networks are both complex and inaccessible. In Grand Canyon National Park, dye tracers have been used to establish flow paths for springs that support ecosystems and park operations. Unfortunately, these point-to-point studies are limited when attempting to extrapolate flow paths over thousands of square kilometers.

Dynamics of a quartic Korteweg-de Vries equation with multiple dissipations via an Abelian integral approach.

We analyze both solitary and periodic wave solutions of a quartic Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation that incorporates multiple dissipative effects. The investigation primarily focuses on the dynamical behavior within a two-dimensional invariant manifold. To establish the existence of solitary waves, we employ the evaluation of the associated Abelian integral along a homoclinic loop, a method that offers significant insights into both their existence and stability.

DEEP Q-NAS: A new algorithm based on neural architecture search and reinforcement learning for brain tumor identification from MRI.

A significant obstacle in brain tumor treatment planning is determining the tumor's actual size. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is one of the first-line brain tumor diagnosis. It takes a lot of effort and mostly depends on the operator's experience to manually separate the size of a brain tumor from 3D MRI volumes.

Historic mine waste contains diverse microbial communities that reflect waste type and geochemistry.

Unlabelled: Waste rock and tailings left behind by historic mining operations can contain substantial critical mineral resources. However, over the decades and centuries, since these deposits were emplaced, microbial communities developed that can catalyze rock weathering and elemental cycling, which could have impacted the economic resources but also might be harnessed for future biomining or other metal recovery efforts. Here, we combined microbial cell counting, rRNA gene and transcript sequencing, and whole rock geochemistry to compare the composition and abundance of microbial communities from five inactive mine sites in south-central New Mexico that contain critical minerals.

Coincident shifts in riparian ground-active arthropod diversity and soil nutrients under an introduced symbiotic N2-fixing tree.

Symbiotic nitrogen-fixing plants such as Russian olive can significantly impact soil chemistry and invertebrate biodiversity in riparian ecosystems. Here, the effects of Russian olive on soil chemical properties and invertebrate communities in riparian zones of the southwestern United States were investigated. Russian olive stands were compared to native cottonwood stands and restoration sites by analyzing soil nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and moisture levels, and arthropod diversity and abundance.

The Epidemiology of Coccidioidomycosis (Valley fever) and the Disease Ecology of spp. in New Mexico (2006-2023).

Coccidioidomycosis (Valley fever), caused by spp., is a fungal infection endemic to semi-arid regions of the Americas. Despite 80 years of disease recognition in New Mexico, there is limited disease awareness.

Diverse spp. from sulfide mineral weathering environments oxidize ferrous iron and reduced inorganic sulfur compounds.

Unlabelled: Microorganisms are important catalysts for the oxidation of reduced inorganic sulfur compounds. One environmentally important source of reduced sulfur is metal sulfide minerals that occur in economic mineral deposits and mine waste. Previous research found that spp.

Multidrug-resistant Shigella flexneri outbreak affecting humans and non-human primates in New Mexico, USA.

Shigellosis is a gastrointestinal infection caused by species of Shigella. A large outbreak of Shigella flexneri serotype 2a occurred in Albuquerque, New Mexico between May 2021 and November 2023 that involved humans and non-human primates (NHP) from a local zoo. We analyzed the genomes of 202 New Mexican isolates as well as 15 closely related isolates from other states, and four from NHP.

Uncovering the Role of Critical Bonds in the Thermomechanical Response of Zn(1,4-benzenedicarboxylate)(1,4-diazabicyclo[2,2,2]octane) Using Simulations and Physics-Constrained Neural Networks.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are susceptible to harsh conditions involving high temperatures, mechanical loading, host/guest chemical interactions, or a combination thereof due to the disruption of underlying bonds. Here, we probed the thermomechanical response of Zn(BDC)(DABCO) (BDC = 1,4-benzenedicarboxylate and DABCO = 1,4-diazabicyclo[2,2,2]octane) MOF or Zn-DMOF, whose metal nodes are connected to two BDC and DABCO linkers via Zn-O and N-Zn bonds, respectively. We have examined the relative contributions of such bonds toward Zn-MOF's thermomechanical response at 200 and 300 K, by training a physics-constrained neural network with molecular dynamics (AIMD)-derived interatomic vibration data, and quantitatively estimated interatomic bond strengths within a local environment in the MOF body.

Thermally treated FeCrAl alloy as potential biomaterial: surface characterization, corrosion resistance and cytotoxicity studies.

Metal alloys are widely used in implantology due to their excellent mechanical properties. However, their biocompatibility can be compromised by corrosion, which releases toxic metal ions that may provoke adverse biological reactions and contribute to implant failure. This study introduces a novel metal-ceramic composite based on a high-chromium FeCrAl alloy, specifically engineered to form a thermally grown α-Al₂O₃ surface layer.

Permeability scaling relationships of volcanic tuff from core to field scale measurements.

A recent chemical explosive test in P-Tunnel at the Nevada National Security Site, Nevada, USA, was conducted to better understand how signals propagate from explosions in the subsurface. A primary signal of interest is the migration of gases that can be used to differentiate chemical from nuclear explosions. Gas migration is highly dependent on the rock permeability which is notoriously difficult to determine experimentally in the field due to a potentially large dependence on the scale over which measurements are made.

Microbial community analysis of the biofilms of both working and counter electrodes in single-chamber microbial electrolysis cells.

This study was conducted to delineate microbial community development and composition on both working and counter electrodes in single-chamber microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) using synthetic wastewater. Two separate bioelectrochemical reactors were inoculated with anaerobic sludge. The first was operated at an anodic potential poised at + 0.

Enhancement of the start-up and performance of an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor using electrochemically-enriched biofilm.

A novel approach was developed to accelerate the start-up of a 20-L UASB reactor under mesophilic conditions. Two runs were conducted, where the first run (Run I) was inoculated with anaerobic sludge, and the second run (Run II) was inoculated with the same sludge supplemented with enriched electro-active biofilms collected from the working and counter electrodes of anodic and cathodic bio-electrochemical systems (BESs). Reactors' performance and microbial dynamics were monitored over 41 days.

3D-Printed Hydrogels from Natural Polymers for Biomedical Applications: Conventional Fabrication Methods, Current Developments, Advantages, and Challenges.

Hydrogels are network polymers with high water-bearing capacity resembling the extracellular matrix. Recently, many studies have focused on synthesizing hydrogels from natural sources as they are biocompatible, biodegradable, and readily available. However, the structural complexities of biological tissues and organs limit the use of hydrogels fabricated with conventional methods.

Prevalence and experience of violence against persons with disabilities in Bangladesh: findings from a nationwide mixed-method study.

Current prevalence of disability in Bangladesh stands at 7.14%. Due to various misconceptions, stigma, and lack of policies, they are more vulnerable to violence and abuse from perpetrators.

Fungi as an emerging waterborne health concern: impact of treated wastewater discharge aerosolization.

The discharge of treated wastewater effluents into river-fed irrigation canals results in a de facto form of water reuse. Waterborne fungal populations in such environments pose a unique human health concern given that opportunistic fungal pathogens can be proliferated during spray irrigation of crops. In the present study, we consider two different routes (effluent discharge bioaerosols) through which wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) can impact the presence and abundance of fungal communities in irrigation canals of the Rio Grande river basin in New Mexico.

Fingerprinting the recovery of Antarctic ozone.

The Antarctic ozone 'hole' was discovered in 1985 (ref. ) and man-made ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) are its primary cause. Following reductions of ODSs under the Montreal Protocol, signs of ozone recovery have been reported, based largely on observations and broad yet compelling model-data comparisons.

UV-Vis spectrophotometric determination of rare earth elements (REE) speciation at near-neutral to alkaline pH. Part II: hydrolysis of Er from 25 to 75 °C.

Aqueous speciation of rare earth elements (REE) controls their mobilization, fractionation, and enrichment in the natural waters. Geochemical modeling of their speciation is key to improve our understanding of the formation of economic mineral deposits, for developing mineral separation and mine tailing recovery technologies, and for characterizing the geochemistry of thermal water. However, our ability to predict the fate of REE in a wide pH and temperature range is limited by the scarcity of thermodynamic data for the REE hydroxyl complexes.

Metastable states assisted homogeneous nucleation in supercooled liquid aluminum alloys: Insights from a phenomenologically coupled atomistic, phase-field, and machine learning investigation.

Crystallization due to liquid → solid transformation is observed in many natural and engineering processes. Extant literature indicates that crystallization in supercooled liquids is initiated by precursory metastable phases or states, also called non-classical nucleation. For face-centered cubic (FCC) materials, latest experimental and computational studies suggest that metastable hexagonal-closed packed (HCP) structures facilitate equilibrium FCC formation.

Rift-inversion orogens are potential hot spots for natural H generation.

Naturally occurring hydrogen gas (H) represents a potential source of clean energy. A promising mechanism for large-scale natural H generation is serpentinization of exhumed mantle material. We study this serpentinization-related H generation during rifting and subsequent rift-inversion orogen development using numerical geodynamic models.

Raman investigation of Dy complexation in Cl-bearing aqueous solutions at 20-300 °C.

Raman spectroscopy provides a versatile tool for characterization of aqueous rare earth elements (REE) speciation at the molecular level. Complexation of REE with ligands such as Cl and OH is of particular interest for understanding the mobility of REE in NaCl-bearing hydrothermal fluids responsible for enriching REE to economic levels in nature. Raman spectroscopic studies of REE speciation in Cl-bearing aqueous fluids are primarily conducted at ambient temperature, whereas natural systems indicate temperatures of >100-600 °C.

Associations between social determinants of health and mental health disorders among U.S. population: a cross-sectional study.

Aims: The impact of social determinants of health (SDOH) on mental health is increasingly realized. A comprehensive study examining the associations of SDOH with mental health disorders has yet to be accomplished. This study evaluated the associations between five domains of SDOH and the SDOH summary score and mental health disorders in the United States.

Cave Pools in Carlsbad Caverns National Park Contain Diverse Bacteriophage Communities and Novel Viral Sequences.

Viruses are the most abundant biological entities on Earth, and they play a critical role in the environment and biosphere where they regulate microbial populations and contribute to nutrient cycling. Environmental viruses have been the most studied in the ocean, but viral investigations have now spread to other environments. Here, viral communities were characterized in four cave pools in Carlsbad Caverns National Park to test the hypotheses that (i) viral abundance is ten-fold higher than prokaryotic cell abundance in cavern pools, (ii) cavern pools contain novel viral sequences, and (iii) viral communities in pools from developed portions of the cave are distinct from those of pools in undeveloped parts of the same cave.