Decision support model systems for regional water policies in open-pit lignite mining areas

The impact of open-pit lignite mining on water resources creates significant conflicts between different interest groups, such as the mining industry, water supply agencies, and agriculture in the mining region. The activities of each of the interest groups modify the water resources system and at the same time the conditions for resources use by other groups. Consequently, there is an apparent need for the analysis of regional water policies to reconcile the conflicting interests within such socio-economic environmental systems. On that, a collaborative study between the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis and Research Institutes in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and Poland is directed.     

On the testing of network cyber threat detection methods on spam example

As a response to the increasing number of cyber threats, novel detection and prevention methods are constantly being developed. One of the main obstacles hindering the development and evaluation of such methods is the shortage of reference data sets. What is proposed in this work is a way of testing methods detecting network threats. It includes a procedure for creating realistic reference data sets describing network threats and the processing and use of these data sets in testing environments. The proposed approach is illustrated and validated on the basis of the problem of spam detection. Reference data sets for spam detection are developed, analysed and used to both generate the requested volume of simulated traffic and analyse it using machine learning algorithms. The tests take into account both the accuracy and performance of threat detection methods under real load and constrained computing resources.     

Children's Achievement in Early Elementary School: Longitudinal Effects of Parental Involvement, Expectations, and Quality of Assistance.

In this prospective, longitudinal study, the authors examined the relations among parental behaviors, parental expectations, and children's academic achievement. Participants were 187 low-income children and their mothers, studied from birth of the child through 3rd grade. Mothers' quality of instruction prior to school entry had significant direct effects on IQ and indirect effects on achievement in 1st and 3rd grades. Parental expectations in 3rd grade had significant direct effects on parental involvement in 3rd grade. Children's achievement in 1st grade had significant direct effects on parental involvement and expectations in 3rd grade. Parental involvement in 3rd grade had a significant direct effect on achievement in 3rd grade. Results suggest that early parenting factors are important for children's academic achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ground water and geotechnical problems

This paper is based on the Author's lectures presented during his stay as a Visiting Professor at The City University, London, in November 1982. Starting from a general view of the main problems, it describes the driving forces in hydro-geomechanical processes, especially the forces induced by pressure changes in the underground water. The estimation of the stresses and strains in the ground (soil and rock) requires the solution of coupled systems of equations of soil and ground water flow and geotechnical strain or failure of the ground. The paper describes in detail problems of regional ground subsidence due to pumping in open-cast mine areas and problems of estimation of seepage forces in saturated or unsaturated loose rocks with anisotropic conductivities and in fissured hard rocks with conductivities characterised by a tensor. Possibilities of the solution of those problems with analog and numerical models are briefly discussed.     

Implications of Predicted Hydrologic Changes on Lake Senftenberg as Calculated Using Water and Reactive Mass Budgets

Lake Senftenberg, Germany, is a post-mining lake that was flooded 30 years ago. It is anticipated that the levels of the surrounding post-mining lakes will rise, and that this will lead to a reversal of groundwater flow and consequently to an increase of acidifying groundwater flux into the lake. A tool to predict the future water quality of Lake Senftenberg has been developed. Present and future groundwater fluxes were calculated using a 3D hydraulic model of the surrounding aquifers. Oscillating hydraulic fluxes within the saturated and the unsaturated zones of the island within the lake, caused by continuous lake level changes, were calculated using a 2D sub-model. Mass fluxes into the lake from the aquifers, from the island, and from the River Schwarze Elster were determined by sampling or by laboratory experiments and were coupled with the hydraulic fluxes. The fluxes of acidifying components from the island sediments and sulfide oxidation products from drained zones were determined in laboratory experiments. Sediment erosion due to rill and gully formation after significant lake level change were calculated. The amount of acidifying compounds released from the eroded sediments was determined by laboratory experiments. The input of alkalinity due to the sedimentation of biomass was estimated. Gaseous partial pressures and mineral phases were used to describe the geochemical boundary conditions of the resulting lake water.