A survey dataset to identify industry practices and challenges for mine rehabilitation completion criteria in Western Australia.

The development of acceptable and achievable completion criteria is fundamental to the successful relinquishment of mined land to a post-mining use. Despite the central role of completion criteria, there is still a need to build capacity and understanding of how to set targets and develop measurable completion criteria that are accepted by all stakeholders involved. The work described in this paper aimed to elicit industry practice, barriers, and opportunities for the development of feasible and acceptable completion criteria. We developed a quantitative survey that was administered online. The target respondents consisted of mining companies, consulting businesses, and relevant regulators in Western Australia. The survey questionnaire, raw survey data, and summary statistics are provided in this paper to increase research transparency and facilitate reproducibility of the methods by researchers in other jurisdictions.

Identifying industry practice, barriers, and opportunities for mine rehabilitation completion criteria in western Australia.

Around the world, the development of acceptable and achievable completion criteria is a necessary part of mine closure planning and fundamental to the successful transition of mined land to a post-mining use. Without adequate completion criteria, a mining company cannot proceed to the process of relinquishment, which is the ultimate goal of most mine closure processes. Despite the central role of completion criteria, there is still a need to build capacity and understanding of how to set targets and develop measurable completion criteria that are accepted by all stakeholders involved. We investigate how completion criteria are currently developed in one of Australia's major mining jurisdictions: Western Australia. Through an industry consultation process that involved interviews and a survey with a total of 102 participants from mining companies, consulting businesses, and relevant regulators, we highlight key challenges and opportunities that the sector faces to successfully define clear, achievable, and agreed completion criteria. This is one of the few industry-wide investigations to capture and analyze the perspectives of stakeholders involved in writing and assessing mine closure completion criteria. Results show that some major challenges included inconsistent coordination within and between stakeholder groups, a lack of knowledge or data about restoration, and an overreliance on status quo practices and post-mining land uses. Our work shows that ongoing research on ecological restoration and technological innovations is necessary, but that additional organizational and regulatory barriers need to be addressed to achieve a consistent, coordinated, multi-stakeholder approach to define completion criteria and to advance successful mine rehabilitation and relinquishment.

Mine completion criteria defined by best-practice: A global meta-analysis and Western Australian case studies.

In many mining-intensive areas around the world, knowledge-sharing among companies is critical to advance best-practices in mine rehabilitation and closure. The academic literature documents innovative, best-practices options, yet these are often not accessible to field practitioners. Published mine closure plans provide relevant examples of standards accepted by regulators, however, regulations vary with jurisdiction and can change over time, limiting the utility of these plans. There is, therefore, a need for greater transparency and accessibility of practical knowledge to inform the definition of achievable completion criteria. The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of best-practices for the purpose of defining mine completion criteria. The methods comprise: i) a qualitative meta-analysis of the global peer-reviewed literature; and ii) three in-depth case studies in Western Australia. The research identifies ten key best-practices that could be potentially applied by mining proponents to guide the definition of successful completion criteria. These include: multiple references, monitoring and corrective actions, science-informed completion criteria, holistic rehabilitation, dynamic targets, leading indicators, integration of rehabilitation with mine operations, innovation-guided completion criteria, specific objectives and indicators and risk-based completion criteria. These best-practices are further examined through recent mine rehabilitation and closure programs of mid-to-large mining operators in Western Australia. Our findings provide the first comprehensive review of best-practices towards the definition of mine completion criteria, which are relevant to industries requiring rehabilitation of disturbed lands across Australian and international jurisdictions.

A framework for developing completion criteria for mine closure and rehabilitation.

The mining industry is a major contributor to Australia's economy. However, such returns may come at high environmental and social costs, including loss of biodiversity or heritage values. Thus, companies worldwide are required to rehabilitate mine sites to a state that is safe, non-polluting and capable of supporting an agreed post-mining land use. While national and international guidelines on mine rehabilitation and closure exist, there is a lack of guidance on how to define achievable and measurable criteria that reflect rehabilitation success. This often leads to discrepancies between proponents and regulators, which hinder progression towards mine closure and relinquishment. The purpose of this study was to develop a systematic framework for the definition of completion criteria for mine closure and rehabilitation. The study was informed by a global review of the literature and collaborative research with mining stakeholders from Western Australia. The proposed framework consists of six fundamental steps: 1) selection of post mining land use; 2) definition of aspects and closure objectives; 3) selection of reference(s); 4) selection of attributes; 5) definition of completion criteria; and 6) evaluation of performance. This framework is the first to provide a step-by-step guide for defining site-specific completion criteria and applying a risk-based monitoring approach throughout the life of mine. The framework is applicable across jurisdictions and industries, in Australia and internationally, that require similar rehabilitation of disturbed lands.

Response to Symptoms and Prehospital Delay in Stroke Patients. Is It Time to Reconsider Stroke Awareness Campaigns?

BACKGROUND: Despite recent advances in acute stroke care, reperfusion therapies are given to only 1%-8% of patients. Previous studies have focused on prehospital or decision delay. We aim to give a more comprehensive view by addressing different time delays and decisions. METHODS: A total of 382 patients with either acute stroke or transient ischemic attack were prospectively included. Sociodemographic and clinical parameters and data on decision delay, prehospital delay, and first medical contact were recorded. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify factors related to decision delay of 15 minutes or shorter, calling the Extrahospital Emergency Services, and prehospital delay of 60 minutes or shorter and 180 minutes or shorter. RESULTS: Prehospital delay was 60 minutes or shorter in 11.3% of our patients and 180 minutes or shorter in 48.7%. Major vascular risk factors were present in 89.8% of patients. Severity was associated with decision delay of 15 minutes or shorter (odds ratio [OR] 1.08; confidence interval [CI] 1.04-1.13), calling the Extrahospital Emergency Services (OR 1.17; CI 1.12-1.23), and prehospital delay of 180 minutes or shorter (OR 1.08; CI 1.01-1.15). Adult children as witnesses favored a decision delay of 15 minutes or shorter (OR 3.44; CI 95% 1.88-6.27; P < .001) and calling the Extrahospital Emergency Services (OR 2.24; IC 95% 1.20-4.22; P = .012). Calling the Extrahospital Emergency Services favored prehospital delay of 60 minutes or shorter (OR 5.69; CI 95% 2.41-13.45; P < .001) and prehospital delay of 180 minutes or shorter (OR 3.86; CI 95% 1.47-10.11; P = .006). CONCLUSIONS: Severity and the bystander play a critical role in the response to stroke. Calling the Extrahospital Emergency Services promotes shorter delays. Future interventions should encourage immediately calling the Extrahospital Emergency Services, but the target should be redirected to those with known risk factors and their caregivers.

[External lumbar drainage with volumetric continuing infusion pump in patients with cerebrospinal fluid leak. A case series]. / Drenaje lumbar externo con bomba volumétrica continua en pacientes con fístula cefalorraquídea. Series de casos.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the incidence and complications arising in a number of cases of patients with cerebrospinal fluid leak treated by external lumbar drainage with infusion pump (IP) volumetric continuous from 2001 to 2014. Quantify cerebrospinal fluid leak closed by lumbar drainage with IP. METHODS: Retrospective descriptive case series study. POPULATION: patients undergoing transsphenoidal pituitary surgery, Chiari surgery and laminectomy, that developed postoperative cerebrospinal fluid leak treated with continuous external lumbar drainage by IP. VARIABLES: age, sex, type of intervention, variables related to the practice of the pump and complications. Average and medians were calculated for quantitative variables, frequencies and percentages for qualitative. RESULTS: Sample: 11 subjects. Incidence in running IP: disconnection, occlusion and acoustic alarm activation. Most frequently complication is headache; a case of pneumocephalus. DISCUSSION: The small number of subjects and the heterogeneity of these do not allow for comparison or establishing associations between variables. The resolution of the cerebrospinal fluid leak with continuous IP is lower in this study than others, and may be influenced by the small number of subjects. It should be noted the frequent activation of the pump alarm for no apparent cause. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Protocol would be developed for preparing the IP team to reduce the acoustic alarm activation, and would make a prospective multicenter study.

Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders in Guanajuato, Mexico: The Leon survey.

There are no epidemiological data on autism for Mexico. This study was conducted to generate a first estimate of ASD prevalence in Mexico. We surveyed children age eight in Leon (Guanajuato). The sample was stratified in two strata: (1) children having special education and medical records (SEMR; N = 432) and (2) children attending regular schools (GSS; N = 11,684). GSS children were screened with the SRS and those with the highest scores were invited to a diagnostic evaluation. The final sample comprised 36 children (80.6 % male) who had confirmed ASD. A third had intellectual disability, 25 % were non-verbal, 69 % had co-occurring behavioral problems. The prevalence overall was 0.87 % (95 % CI 0.62, 1.1 %). This survey provides an estimate for ASD prevalence in Mexico that is consistent with recent studies.