High altitude underground mining. Acclimatization and possible toxicological risks.

SUMMARY: Background. Aim of our study was to measure the first responses to hypobaric hypoxia: changes in ventilation minute, heart rate, and hemoglobin saturation which are important parameters involved in the health of mine-workers at high-altitude. Material and Methods. We develop a study of parameters mentioned on Chilean miners working in an underground mine at high altitude, between 3.070 and 3.656 masl, in an unusual shift system consisting of 12-hour daily work during 4 days, and consecutive 4 resting days. The results obtained at high altitude are contrasted with the corresponding for clerks working at 800 masl. Results. Either miners who has work less than 6 months at HA as those who are exposed at their workplace to contaminants, as diesel and others, show Hemoglobin Saturation below 90%. Heart Rate increases in response to exposure to acute and/or chronic hypoxia at high altitude. Miners during their resting period at 800 masl or less show an average heart rate lower than clerks no exposed to high altitude. Average Minute Volume of miners at high altitude, on each and every day of the shift, is higher than the mean volume of clerks at 800 masl. Conclusions. The most of studied miners present acclimatization responses at high altitude in all the studied parameters. The increase in Minute Volume implies a risky condition due to the increase of inhaled toxic inherent to the production process. It appears as an urgency to study the combined effects of hypobaric at high altitude and toxics present at the underground mine.

Metodología para evaluar la exposición ocupacional a contaminantes químicos en altitud / Methodology to evaluate occupational exposure to chemical contaminants at high altitude

Este artículo examina el actual método para evaluar la exposición a contaminantes químicos en altitud usando los Threshold Limit Value (TLV). Estos valores son establecidos para trabajos a nivel del mar en jornadas de 8 horas diarias y 40 horas semanales. Se analiza este problema aplicándolo a un grupo específico de mineros chilenos que trabaja sobre los 3000 m con jornadas excepcionales de 12 horas diarias. Se comparan dos alternativas para evaluar la exposición a contaminantes químicos: ajustes al TLV en altitud, y el cálculo de la dosis inhalada. Puesto que la ventilación por minuto es el parámetro fisiológico que cambia en altitud se propone y fundamenta como método de evaluación el cálculo de la dosis inhalada del contaminante químico (AU)

This study reviews the current method for assessing exposure to chemical contaminants at high altitude, which is based on the use of Threshold Limit Values (TLV). These TLVs were originally established for work performed at sea level, for 8-hour shifts over a 40-hour work week. Our study analyzes the problem for a specific group of Chilean miners working at altitudes above 3000, and for shifts of up to 12 hours a day. We examined different approaches for the evaluation of exposure to chemical contaminants: adjusting the TLV for work at high altitude and calculating inhaled dose. Since minute ventilation changes at different altitudes, we propose using calculated inhaled dose of the chemical contaminant as the method of choice (AU)

[Methodology to evaluate occupational exposure to chemical contaminants at high altitude]. / Metodología para evaluar la exposición ocupacional a contaminantes químicos en altitud.

This study reviews the current method for assessing exposure to chemical contaminants at high altitude, which is based on the use of Threshold Limit Values (TLV). These TLVs were originally established for work performed at sea level, for 8-hour shifts over a 40-hour work week. Our study analyzes the problem for a specific group of Chilean miners working at altitudes above 3000, and for shifts of up to 12 hours a day. We examined different approaches for the evaluation of exposure to chemical contaminants: adjusting the TLV for work at high altitude and calculating inhaled dose. Since minute ventilation changes at different altitudes, we propose using calculated inhaled dose of the chemical contaminant as the method of choice.

Este artículo examina el actual método para evaluar la exposición a contaminantes químicos en altitud usando los Threshold Limit Value (TLV). Estos valores son establecidos para trabajos a nivel del mar en jornadas de 8 horas diarias y 40 horas semanales. Se analiza este problema aplicándolo a un grupo específico de mineros chilenos que trabaja sobre los 3000 m con jornadas excepcionales de 12 horas diarias. Se comparan dos alternativas para evaluar la exposición a contaminantes químicos: ajustes al TLV en altitud, y el cálculo de la dosis inhalada. Puesto que la ventilación por minuto es el parámetro fisiológico que cambia en altitud se propone y fundamenta como método de evaluación el cálculo de la dosis inhalada del contaminante químico.

CNN-Based Classifier as an Offline Trigger for the CREDO Experiment.

Gamification is known to enhance users' participation in education and research projects that follow the citizen science paradigm. The Cosmic Ray Extremely Distributed Observatory (CREDO) experiment is designed for the large-scale study of various radiation forms that continuously reach the Earth from space, collectively known as cosmic rays. The CREDO Detector app relies on a network of involved users and is now working worldwide across phones and other CMOS sensor-equipped devices. To broaden the user base and activate current users, CREDO extensively uses the gamification solutions like the periodical Particle Hunters Competition. However, the adverse effect of gamification is that the number of artefacts, i.e., signals unrelated to cosmic ray detection or openly related to cheating, substantially increases. To tag the artefacts appearing in the CREDO database we propose the method based on machine learning. The approach involves training the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to recognise the morphological difference between signals and artefacts. As a result we obtain the CNN-based trigger which is able to mimic the signal vs. artefact assignments of human annotators as closely as possible. To enhance the method, the input image signal is adaptively thresholded and then transformed using Daubechies wavelets. In this exploratory study, we use wavelet transforms to amplify distinctive image features. As a result, we obtain a very good recognition ratio of almost 99% for both signal and artefacts. The proposed solution allows eliminating the manual supervision of the competition process.