Investigation of the physical characteristics of mineral artifacts was undertaken with purpose of development of dating by the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) method in a new direction, by means of analysis of spectra of the carbonate probes from the surface of archaeological artifacts. The artifacts – samples of layers from the surface of ceramics and stone tools, containing impurities of quartz and alumosilicates, have been tested. For obtaining the physical characteristics and dating the complex of the methods and equipment has been used which allowed us to reveal specialties of mineral content and structure of the surface. There were chosen optimal conditions for registration, distinguishing and identification of the EPR signals from the paramagnetic centers. Applying of radiation of the ILU-10 accelerator with converter and consequent EPR-studying allowed to estimate the age of artifacts. © 2024 Academy of Sciences of Tatarstan, A.Kh. Khalikov Archaeology Institute. All rights reserved.

Sustainable development cannot be achieved by leaving behind vulnerable and marginalized groups like older persons who experience multidimensional inequalities and social exclusion. This study investigates the root causes, manifestations, and impacts of social exclusion faced by the elderly population in Kazakhstan through an interdisciplinary socio-anthropological lens. Utilizing qualitative and quantitative methods, including surveys, interviews, and empirical analysis, the research examines subjective experiences of loneliness, isolation, low social engagement, and barriers to accessing essential services among older adults. It highlights how factors like health status, income insecurity, ageism, lack of social support systems, and physical/digital accessibility issues intersect to produce and perpetuate social exclusion. In the course of the work carried out, it was revealed that the process of reducing the phenomenon of social exclusion provides an opportunity to increase the effectiveness of social policy, one of the key tasks of which is to ensure a high standard of living for the elderly. Among the results obtained, factors such as subjective feeling of loneliness, diagnosis of social isolation, low level of social activity, and so on, should be noted. Through a conceptual analysis, the main group of risks was considered, which includes a large list of various areas of public activity. Policy proposals include strengthening social protection, facilitating intergenerational solidarity, inclusive urban planning, digital inclusion and enhancing accessibility to public services tailored to older persons’ needs.

Sustainable potable groundwater supply is crucial for human development and the preservation of natural habitats. The largest endorheic inland lake in Kazakhstan, Balkhash Lake, is the main water resource for the arid southeastern part of the country. Several ore enrichment plants that are located along its shore have heavy metal pollution potential. The study area is located around a plant that has an evident anthropogenic impact on the Balkhash Lake aquatic ecological system, with ten known heavy metal toxic hotspots endangering fragile habitats, including some indigenous human communities. This study assessed the risk of heavy metal contamination from tailing dump operations, storage ponds, and related facilities and suggested management practices for preventing this risk. The coastal zone risk assessment analysis used an innovative integrated groundwater numerical flow and transport model that predicted the spread of groundwater contamination from tailing dump operations under several mitigation strategies. Heavy metal pollution prevention models included a no-action scenario, a filtration barrier construction scenario, and two scenarios involving the drilling of drainage wells between the pollution sources and the lake. The scenario assessment indicates that drilling ten drainage wells down to the bedrock between the existing drainage channel and the lake is the optimal engineering solution for confining pollution. Under these conditions, pollution from tailings will not reach Lake Balkhash during the forecast period. The methods and tools used in this study to enable mining activity without environmental implications for the region can be applied to sites with similar anthropogenic influences worldwide. © 2024 by the authors.

Ensuring the process of sustainable development includes special attention to cultural heritage. Effective social strategies are being built on the basis of the use of cultural heritage. Historical buildings are, in fact, the physical preservation of the memory of the development of society in all its diversity. Of particular interest are the “historical scars”, which record phenomena such as a change in the design concept during construction; destruction, restoration, and addition of individual elements; a change and return of the original function; a change in the interpretation of the appearance; reconstruction and renovation. A peculiar illustration of this process is the history of the tomb complex of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi in Turkestan. During the development of the complex, the original idea was adjusted. The complex became more complicated, completed, and rebuilt. A special place is occupied by the innovative approach applied during the reconstruction at the end of the 14th century. The grandiose plan of Emir Timur has not been fully realized. The construction resumed at the end of the 16th century but did not lead to the completion of the complex. The unfinished building, which has a huge historical and cultural potential, can now be completed. This will illustrate the continuity of the cultural process as part of sustainable development. © The Author 2025.

This article considers the problem of occupational health and safety in crushing and grinding mineral ore at the processing plants of mining enterprises. Occupational risks at workplaces are dust of complex composition (aerosol of fibrogenic action), industrial noise (80-105 dB) and vibration (up to 43-56% of working time), unfavorable microclimate. In the structure of occupational injuries, injuries of musculoskeletal system, concussions of the brain and contusions prevail. The aim of the study is to review the literature to identify occupational hazards of workers employed in ore crushing and grinding areas in order to compile a body of knowledge to investigate safety in the workplace. The study synthesizes theoretical statements and results of 38 scientific papers published between 2000 and 2023 in PubMed, Core Collection in Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and RINC databases to display the existing body of knowledge on occupational hazards in ore preparation for further processing in mining companies; PubMed database data were processed by VOS Viewer 1.16.18; descriptive analysis and textual narrative syntheses were compiled through a systematic literature review. Data on occupational risks of occupations such as plate feeder and conveyor (transporter, elevator) operators, crusher operators (jaw, cone, roller, hammer), screen and mill operators were obtained. The results of this study can provide useful information for making proposals for organizational and technical improvement to reduce occupational morbidity during ore preparation at concentrators and reduce the limitations of socio-economic consequences of occupational diseases and accidents.

This study examines the process of groundwater purification from heavy metals through the control of high-frequency ozone generators using a sensor network. The use of high ozone concentrations allows for effective removal of heavy metals from water. The goal is to enhance the efficiency of the purification process by automating it through ozone generator control. The initial ozone concentration starts at zero and gradually reaches 2 mg/L over time. The initial concentration of heavy metals is 10 mg/L, and due to the impact of ozone, it is reduced to 0.2 mg/L. The sensor network ensured real-time adjustment of ozone levels, optimizing the process. As a result, purification efficiency increased by up to 60%. In addition to removing heavy metals, this method allowed for up to 20% energy savings. The modeling enabled prediction and optimization of the system's operational parameters. Controlling the ozone concentration through sensor networks helped maintain process stability. The results demonstrated the significant role of ozone in the water purification process. This technology is important as an eco-friendly and efficient solution, offering possibilities for energy saving and water quality improvement. Automation of the system reduces human intervention and optimizes the process.

Hydrotransport equipment of mining and processing plants has a low operational reliability, insufficient working resource due to intensive hydroabrasive wear of working surfaces of pipelines and pumping equipment, drawbacks in the design of some nodes of groundwater pumps and their operation. Significant hydroabrasive wear of the main element of the ground pump design, the impeller, causes additional disturbing dynamic forces, which leads to increased vibration of the unit and, consequently, to its premature failure. Until now, insufficient attention has been paid to the influence of water abrasion of the impeller on the service life of their units and their service life. The paper analyzes the manifestation of cavitation wear of parts of the flowing part of groundwater pumps, outlines measures to reduce cavitation by favorable conditions of fluid intake into the pump and reducing the vacuum suction height. A number of measures of technological and constructive decision, decrease of harmful influence of cavitation are also offered. Materials for manufacturing parts of the centrifugal soil pump with high performance and high service life have been selected and analyzed. These alloys showed high corrosion resistance due to their high chromium content. The ways of improvement of the centrifugal soil pump parts design, allowing to increase the resource of their work, to create an automated system of diagnosing the condition of the construction as a whole are outlined. On the basis of the analysis of wear of parts of a centrifugal soil pump the improved designs of an armored disk with a replaceable disc and a composite impeller with improved indicators of wear resistance and maintainability are developed, allowing to increase their service life, to reduce the cost of spare parts and to reduce the repair period. The influence of wear and tear of centrifugal soil pump parts on its operating parameters has been determined; the dependence of pump head and pumping capacity on the volume of pumped hydro-abrasive mixture has been established. © 2023, National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan. All rights reserved.

Adverse environmental conditions, including drought stress, pose a significant threat to plant survival and agricultural productivity, necessitating innovative and efficient approaches to enhance their resilience. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are recognized as key elements in regulating plant adaptation to drought stress, with a notable ability to modulate various physiological and molecular mechanisms. This review provides an in-depth analysis of the role of miRNAs in drought response mechanisms, including abscisic acid (ABA) signaling, reactive oxygen species (ROS) detoxification, and the optimization of root system architecture. Additionally, it examines the effectiveness of bioinformatics tools, such as those employed in in silico analyses, for studying miRNA-mRNA interactions, as well as the potential for their integration with experimental methods. Advanced methods such as microarray analysis, high-throughput sequencing (HTS), and RACE-PCR are discussed for their contributions to miRNA target identification and validation. Moreover, new data and perspectives are presented on the role of miRNAs in plant responses to abiotic stresses, particularly drought adaptation. This review aims to deepen the understanding of genetic regulatory mechanisms in plants and to establish a robust scientific foundation for the development of drought-tolerant crop varieties.

This study investigates the efficacy of high molecular weight hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) solutions in enhancing oil recovery under high salinity conditions. The viscosity values of 0.25 wt.% HPAM solutions in 250 g∙L─1 brine with high content of divalent cations (Ca and Mg) were found to range from 11.5 to 12.6 cP for both 10% and 30% hydrolysis polymers. The displacement of 420-cP oil from sand pack models showed that injecting 3 pore volumes (PVs) of polymer solutions significantly increased the oil recovery factor, with an increment of 16─28% after the injection of 1 PV of water. The results of fractional flow calculations, along with sand pack flooding experiments, suggest that the oil recovery factor measurements are most likely overestimated by roughly 10%. An explanation for this is the plugging of pores by high molecular weight polymers. In fact, as the molecular weight increased from low to medium high and super high, it required the assumption of a much higher viscosity to achieve a fit between fractional flow predictions and actual polymer flood results. These findings highlight the potential of high molecular weight HPAM solutions to enhance oil recovery in high salinity environments and underscore the importance of using both sand pack flooding experiments and fractional flow calculations for comparing different polymers.

Providing safe drinking water to people in developing countries is an urgent worldwide water problem and a main issue in the UN Sustainable Development Goals. One of the most efficient and cheapest methods to attain these goals is to promote the use of slow sand filters. This review shows that slow sand filters can efficiently provide safe drinking water to people living in rural communities not served by a central water supply. Probably, the most important aspect of SSF for developing and less-developed countries is its function as a biological filter. WASH problems mainly relate to the spread of viruses, bacteria, and parasites. The surface and shallow groundwater in developing countries around urban areas and settlements are often polluted by domestic wastewater containing these microbes and nutrients. Thus, SSF’s function is to treat raw water in the form of diluted wastewater where high temperature and access to nutrients probably mean a high growth rate of microbes and algae but probably also high predation and high efficiency of the SSF. However, factors that may adversely affect the removal of microbiological constituents are mainly low temperature, high and intermittent flow rates, reduced sand depth, filter immaturity, and various filter amendments. Further research is thus needed in these areas, specifically for developing countries. © 2023 by the authors.