Introducción: Las arcillas expansivas sufren cambios de volumen debido a variaciones en su humedad adquirida por capilaridad y/o por infiltración. Algunas edificaciones cimentadas sobre estratos tipo arcilloso expansivo, experimentan constantes cambios volumétricos. Metodología: Se aplica un método de estabilización química a las muestras de suelo alteradas e inalteradas obtenidas en el sector de la Autopista Azogues- El Descanso, mediante la sustitución del suelo por diversos porcentajes de hidróxido de cal obtenidos del ábaco propuesto por Charles McDowell, en función del índice plástico y porcentaje de suelo pasante del tamiz Nro. 40 por vía húmeda. Resultados: Los resultados de ensayos aplicados al suelo natural lo clasifican como arcillas inorgánicas de alta plasticidad, expansivas tipo CH, al que se adicionó 3% de hidróxido de cal obtenido del ábaco de Charles McDowell; este suelo modificado experimentó transformaciones físicas y químicas definidas de la caracterización, pasando a clasificarse como suelo tipo limoso orgánico ML. Discusión: El porcentaje de hidróxido de cal añadido al suelo provoca reducción de la plasticidad y mejora su comportamiento, debido a los nuevos silicatos y aluminatos de calcio generados por la sustitución. Conclusiones: El suelo estabilizado con 3% hidróxido de cal, se caracteriza por el incremento de resistencia al corte y resistencia a la compresión.

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is increasingly used to produce scientific–visual material, but a polished result is not evidence that its content is correct or its sources are checkable. This study examined 41 infographics on scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and its geological applications, produced in one undergraduate Geology course in Ecuador in an assignment requiring GenAI use. The unit of analysis was the infographic, not the student. Two evaluators scored every artifact with a study-specific eight-criterion rubric applied after submission. The mean weighted score was 72.93 ± 13.01 on a 25–100 scale. Scientific accuracy (mean 3.52 of 4) and visual hierarchy (3.38) were the strongest criteria, whereas source quality and traceability were the weakest (1.63), with most artifacts at the minimum score. Agreement on the total score was moderate but imprecise, and one criterion, verifiability of images and claims, was scored too inconsistently to support firm conclusions. Artifacts with clearer source evidence tended to integrate text and images more coherently. Within this single course, the results indicate which aspects of scientific material produced under a GenAI-required assignment require human checking. Sustainability is an implication of that verification work, a quality-assurance practice aligned with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, rather than an outcome measured here.

Local communities’ perceptions influence whether mining projects are accepted or contested, but the evidence is dispersed across artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) and large-scale mining (LSM). This systematic review synthesised how communities perceive the impacts of both scales, how they position themselves towards mining, and which factors studies associate with their stance. Following PRISMA 2020, 328 studies from 63 countries and territories were included (LSM, 208; ASM, 91; both scales, 28; not reported, 1). Communities perceived environmental impacts as harmful in 142 of the 160 studies that reported them, whereas social impacts were perceived as harmful, beneficial or both. Among the 165 studies that assessed a stance, opposition predominated in 69, divided positions in 53 and acceptance, often conditional, in 43; opposition was concentrated in LSM, whereas ASM studies more often described acceptance or divided positions. Unfair procedures, threats to land and identity, and unfair distribution of benefits were associated with opposition, and local economic benefits with acceptance. Methodological reporting was often incomplete. A sensitivity analysis showed that the search missed many eligible studies, mostly on LSM, so the findings describe a large sample of the literature rather than all of it.