I will start this treatise with a history of two major themes in data integration. In my opinion, the topic began with the major retailers in the 1990s consolidating their sales data into a data warehouse. To do this they needed to extract data from in-store sales systems, transform it into a predefined common representation (think of this as a global schema), and then load it into a data wareh...

In order to automate the scooping task, it is desirable that the resistive force acting on the bucket be obtained before the scooping is performed. The objective of this study is to derive theoretically the resistive forces acting on the bucket during scooping of piled rock fragments. First, the changes in the shape of the rock pile due to the penetration of it by the bucket are modeled. Based ...

We studied the effects of a dry rock sitting on a 3% water-containing martian-surface soil on neutron and gamma-ray fluxes. Rocks with radii of ~25 cm and bigger significantly affect these fluxes and the flux ratios of certain gamma rays. Introduction: The rock surface abundances on Mars are inferred from orbital data to vary from almost zero to ~30% [1]. These rock abundances are consistent wi...

Abstract Rock-burst is one of the most serious risks associated with hard rock tunnelling and mining at high depths. Monitoring acoustic emissions emitted by rock-mass during excavation their interpretation now permits early assessment failure events makes safe management construction works possible. A reliable set-up alarm threshold thus fundamental for correct implementation procedures planne...

Hand scaling is a physically demanding task responsible for numerous overexertion injuries in underground mining. Scaling requires the miner to use a long pry bar to remove loose rock, reducing the likelihood of rock fall injuries. The experiments described in this article simulated "rib" scaling (scaling a mine wall) from an elevated bucket to examine force generation and electromyographic res...

The concept whereby heat is recovered from a geothermal reservoir by replacing the native aqueous phase with essentially pure high-pressure carbon dioxide as the working fluid is referred to as an Enhanced Geothermal System with CO2 (EGSCO2). The concept has yet to be tested in the field, and the chemical consequences, both within the reservoir itself, and at its periphery, are not fully unders...

 Mineralogical Association of Canada Short Course 43, Winnipeg MB, May 2013, p. xx-xx INTRODUCTION The direct disposal of spent nuclear fuel in geologic repositories, built several hundred metres underground, has been under consideration internationally for 20 to 30 years. Various geologic formations are being, or have been, studied including tuff rock, salt domes, sedimentary clay deposits an...

An accumulating body of evidence incriminates Rho kinase (ROCK) in the pathogenesis of pulmonary hypertension (PH). The therapeutic efficacy of azaindole-1, a novel highly selective and orally active ROCK inhibitor, has not yet been investigated in PH. This study aimed to investigate the effects of azaindole-1 on 1) acute hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV), 2) proliferation of pulmonary a...

We recently reported that vasa vasorum expansion occurs in the pulmonary artery (PA) adventitia of chronically hypoxic animals and that extracellular ATP is a pro-angiogenic factor for isolated vasa vasorum endothelial cells (VVEC). However, the sources of extracellular ATP in the PA vascular wall, as well as the molecular mechanisms underlying its release, remain elusive. Studies were undertak...