Methodological approach to characterizing pollution of natural water bodies using satellite data with account of aggregation of finely dispersed mineral processing waste

The level of the environmental impact of the mining industry specifies the urgency of ecological management of the natural resources based on the satellite monitoring data. The high content of the suspended mineral particles in the industrial waters and the requirement to reduce their access to the natural water reservoirs determine the need to characterize the mininginduced pollution that can be carried out correctly with due account of the aggregate stability of dispersions. In spite of the theoretical concepts, prediction of the particles aggregation is limited by a lack of data on their interaction parameters. In order to parametrize the interactions in the mineral-water-mineral system it is proposed to use experimental data on aggregation of finely dispersed particles, obtained by the laser diffraction method in the equilibrium conditions. For this purpose the procedure of the experimental appraisal of the effective Hamaker constants has been elaborated using ores of developed deposits of the Kola mining complex as an example. The authors have studied the conditions of the surface layer of natural water reservoirs in the most industrially developed central part of the Murmansk region and defined characteristics of pollution with finely dispersed by-products of the mineral raw material treatment, according to the satellite observation data of the spatial distribution of the normalized difference turbidity index. The authors have established that the least propagation of the pollution into the natural water reservoirs is observed in the case of the apatite-nepheline ores processing by-products, which is explained by the effective aggregation of the finely dispersed nepheline particles. The proposed approach to apply data on mineral particles aggregation for interpretation of the satellite observations does not require carrying out in-situ observations and makes it possible to identify the mining-induced pollution of natural water reservoirs in industrial territories using suspended particles.

Topophilia, Placemaking, and Boundary Work

The COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally changed the nature of work by shifting most in-person work to a predominantly remote modality as a way to limit the spread of the coronavirus. In the process, the shift to working-from-home rapidly forced the large-scale adoption of groupware technologies. Although prior empirical research examined the experience of working-from-home within small-scale groups and for targeted kinds of work, the pandemic provides HCI and CSCW researchers with an unprecedented opportunity to understand the psycho-social impacts of a universally mandated work-from-home experience rather than an autonomously chosen one. Drawing on boundary theory and a methodological approach grounded in humanistic geography, we conducted a qualitative analysis of Reddit data drawn from two work-from-home-related subreddits between March 2020 and January 2021. In this paper, we present a characterization of the challenges and solutions discussed within these online communities for adapting work to a hybrid or fully remote modality, managing reconfigured work-life boundaries, and reconstructing the home's sense of place to serve multiple, sometimes conflicting roles. We discuss how these findings suggest an emergent interplay among adapted work practice, reimagined physical (and virtual) spaces, and the establishment and continual re-negotiation of boundaries as a means for anticipating the long-term impact of COVID on future conceptualizations of productivity and work.

Energy Security in Danger? A Comparative Analysis of Oil and Copper Supply

This study aims to examine energy security in terms of crude oil and copper supply. While oil remains the leading energy commodity globally, copper is crucial for many new technologies, foremost for RES. Therefore, both oil and copper are extremely important for current and future energy security. This article contains a bivariate methodological approach to a comparative analysis of oil and copper supply: determining supply security with an Index of security of supply, and examines price stability with generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) models. This research provides evidence that there are many differences but also significant similarities between these two completely different commodities in terms of both supply security and price stability. Facing the future for RES, significant demand may cause a threat to energy security on a previously unknown scale. Therefore this instability, both supply- and price-related, appears to be the main threat to future energy security.

Suffixation and sequentiality

This paper offers some reflections on the study of morphology – broadly speaking, ‘word formation’ – as a participants’ resource in social interaction. I begin by calling attention to morphology as a comparatively underexamined component of linguistic structure by conversation analysts and interactional linguists, in that it has yet to receive the same dedicated consideration as have, e.g., phonetics and syntax. I then present an ongoing study of suffixes/suffixation in Spanish – focusing on diminutives (e.g., –ito), augmentatives (e.g., –ote), and superlatives (i.e., –ísimo) – and describe how the sequentiality of interaction can offer analysts profound insight into participants’ orientations to morphological resources. With what I refer to as ‘morphological transformations’ – exemplified here in both same-turn and next-turn positions – interactants sequentially construct and expose morphological complexity as such, locally instantiating its relevance in the service of action. It is argued that a focus on transformations therefore provides analysts with a means to ‘break into’ morphology-based collections. A range of cases are presented to illustrate this methodological approach, before a concluding discussion in which I describe how morphology-focused investigations may intersect with explorations of other interactional phenomena.