Importance of Geotechnical Investigation for Design and Construction of Shafts over 1000 m Deep

In most cases, copper ore deposits occur at great depths, so the optimization of excavation costs is of utmost importance to identify the most cost effective and productive mining methods, such as block caving or similar methods specifically developed for these deposits. To be able to apply such methods, it is necessary to have a detailed knowledge of the rock mass in terms of its geomechanical, engineering geological and hydrogeological characteristics. This research aims to reduce geological and geotechnical unknowns, analyze in detail the geological environment, and predict geotechnical conditions for the construction of the shaft. This paper uses the example of Borska Reka Copper Deposit, located in Serbia to illustrate the importance of geotechnical investigation to enable best practice in design and construction of shafts that are over 1000 m deep.

Effects of Single and Repeated Exposure to a 50-Hz 2-mT Electromagnetic Field on Primary Cultured Hippocampal Neurons

The prevalence of domestic and industrial electrical appliances has raised concerns about the health risk of extremely low-frequency magnetic fields（ELF-MFs）. At present, the effects of ELF-MFs on the central nervous system are still highly controversial, and few studies have investigated its effects on cultured neurons. Here, we evaluated the biological effects of different patterns of ELF-MF exposure on primary cultured hippocampal neurons in terms of viability, apoptosis, genomic instability,and oxidative stress. The results showed that repeated exposure to 50-Hz 2-mT ELF-MF for 8 h per day after different times in culture decreased the viability and increased the production of intracellular reactive oxidative species in hippocampal neurons. The mechanism was potentially related to the up-regulation of Nox2 expression.Moreover, none of the repeated exposure patterns had significant effects on DNA damage, apoptosis, or autophagy, which suggested that ELF-MF exposure has no severe biological consequences in cultured hippocampal neurons.

Ratcheting boundary of 316LN austenitic stainless steel under thermal aging

Previous studies,including ASME and RCC-MR standards,did not consider the influence of environmental factors on the ratcheting boundary of the material,and only a unified ratcheting boundary was proposed.In this paper,thermal aging was taken into consideration,and the effect of thermal aging time on the ratcheting boundary of 316 LN austenitic stainless steel was characterized by the efficiency diagram rule.The results show that,when the secondary ratio U is small,there is no significant difference in ratcheting boundary between the original material and the thermal aged material.When the secondary ratio U is large,the ratcheting boundary of the material presents a slight upward trend with the increase of thermal aging time.Compared with ASME and RCC-MR standards,it is found that RCC-MR is conservative.Based on the evolution of the efficiency index V with the number of cycles,it is more conservative and reasonable to choose the stage when the efficiency index V develops into a constant.