Raman and infrared spectroscopic study of turquoise minerals

Raman and infrared spectra of three well-defined turquoise samples, CuAl6(PO4)4(OH)8·4H2O, from Lavender Pit, Bisbee, Cochise county, Arizona; Kouroudaiko mine, Faleme river, Senegal and Lynch Station, Virginia were studied, interpreted and compared. Observed Raman and infrared bands were assigned to the stretching and bending vibrations of phosphate tetrahedra, water molecules and hydroxyl ions. Approximate O–H⋯O hydrogen bond lengths were inferred from the Raman and infrared spectra. No Raman and infrared bands attributable to the stretching and bending vibrations of (PO3OH)2− units were observed.

Reconstruction of a multi-vent kimberlite eruption from deposit and host rock characteristics: Jericho kimberlite, Nunavut, Canada

The Jericho kimberlite (173.1. ±. 1.3. Ma) is a small (~. 130. ×. 70. m), multi-vent system that preserves products from deep (>. 1. km?) portions of kimberlite vents. Pit mapping, drill core examination, petrographic study, image analysis of olivine crystals (grain size distributions and shape studies), and compositional and mineralogical studies, are used to reconstruct processes from near-surface magma ascent to kimberlite emplacement and alteration. The Jericho kimberlite formed by multiple eruptions through an Archean granodiorite batholith that was overlain by mid-Devonian limestones ~. 1. km in thickness. Kimberlite magma ascended through granodiorite basement by dyke propagation but ascended through limestone, at least in part, by locally brecciating the host rocks. After the first explosive breakthrough to surface, vent deepening and widening occurred by the erosive forces of the waxing phase of the eruption, by gravitationally induced failures as portions of the vent margins slid into the vent and, in the deeper portions of the vent (>. 1. km), by scaling, as thin slabs burst from the walls into the vent. At currently exposed levels, coherent kimberlite (CK) dykes (<. 40. cm thick) are found to the north and south of the vent complex and represent the earliest preserved in-situ products of Jericho magmatism. Timing of CK emplacement on the eastern side of the vent complex is unclear; some thick CK (15-20. m) may have been emplaced after the central vent was formed. Explosive eruptive products are preserved in four partially overlapping vents that are roughly aligned along strike with the coherent kimberlite dyke. The volcaniclastic kimberlite (VK) facies are massive and poorly sorted, with matrix- to clast-supported textures. The VK facies fragmented by dry, volatile-driven processes and were emplaced by eruption column collapse back into the volcanic vents. The first explosive products, poorly preserved because of partial destruction by later eruptions, are found in the central-east vent and were formed by eruption column collapse after the vent was largely cleared of country rock debris. The next active vent was either the north or south vent. Collapse of the eruption column, linked to a vent widening episode, resulted in coeval avalanching of pipe margin walls into the north vent, forming interstratified lenses of country rock-rich boulder breccias in finer-grained volcaniclastic kimberlite. South vent kimberlite has similar characteristics to kimberlite of the north vent and likely formed by similar processes. The final eruptive phase formed olivine-rich and moderately sorted deposits of the central vent. Better sorting is attributed to recycling of kimberlite debris by multiple eruptions through the unconsolidated volcaniclastic pile and associated collapse events. Post-emplacement alteration varies in intensity, but in all cases, has overprinted the primary groundmass and matrix, in CK and VK, respectively. Erosion has since removed all limestone cover.

Distribution Revolution: Conversations about the Digital Future of Film and Television

Distribution Revolution is a collection of interviews with leading film and TV professionals concerning the many ways that digital delivery systems are transforming the entertainment business. These interviews provide lively insider accounts from studio executives, distribution professionals, and creative talent of the tumultuous transformation of film and TV in the digital era. The first section features interviews with top executives at major Hollywood studios, providing a window into the big-picture concerns of media conglomerates with respect to changing business models, revenue streams, and audience behaviors. The second focuses on innovative enterprises that are providing path-breaking models for new modes of content creation, curation, and distribution—creatively meshing the strategies and practices of Hollywood and Silicon Valley. And the final section offers insights from creative talent whose professional practices, compensation, and everyday working conditions have been transformed over the past ten years. Taken together, these interviews demonstrate that virtually every aspect of the film and television businesses is being affected by the digital distribution revolution, a revolution that has likely just begun. Interviewees include: • Gary Newman, Chairman, 20th Century Fox Television • Kelly Summers, Former Vice President, Global Business Development and New Media Strategy, Walt Disney Studios • Thomas Gewecke, Chief Digital Officer and Executive Vice President, Strategy and Business Development, Warner Bros. Entertainment • Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer, Netflix • Felicia D. Henderson, Writer-Producer, Soul Food, Gossip Girl • Dick Wolf, Executive Producer and Creator, Law & Order

Screen production enquiry: A study of five Australian doctorates

Within Australian universities, doctoral research in screen production is growing significantly. Two recent studies have documented both the scale of this research and inconsistencies in the requirements of the degree. These institutional variations, combined with a lack of clarity around appropriate methodologies for academic research through film and television practice, create challenges for students, supervisors, examiners and the overall development of the discipline. This paper will examine five recent doctorates in screen production practice at five different Australian universities. It will look at the nature of the films made, the research questions the candidates were investigating, the new knowledge claims that were produced and the subsequent impact of the research. The various methodologies used will be given particular attention because they help define the nature of the research where film production is a primary research method.

Sing for Fukushima

The Fukushima Response Bay Area (FRBA) in collaboration with the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists (BFUU) Poetry Committee and the BFUU Social Justice Committee developed the Fukushima Poetry Anthology project to highlight the ongoing disaster at Fukushima Daiichi, Japan. All works in the Anthology are in response to the nuclear disaster in Fukushima and the ongoing impacts, including this work. Japanese anti-nuclear protest songs first surfaced in the 1980s after the Chernobyl disaster. Since this time there have been numerous anti-nuclear songs, with some still being produced. Research was required to search for such songs along with understanding who sang them. A process of listening to the songs, reading the English sub-titles and sharing the music with others took place. The most popular in the sharing being the song titled You Can't See It, And You Can't Smell It Either by Rankin & Dub Ainu Band (2011).This song and others, includes a mixture of music styles from pop, punk, rap, rock, storytelling, dance hall reggae and traditional Indigenous Japanese music (Tonkori, Ainu). You Can't See It, And You Can't Smell It Either is a catchy song with a rhythmic beat that remains in one’s head long after the song has finished. This music and the people who sang it became the basis for this poem that attempts to capture the style and backgrounds of protest songs within one creative work. It is hoped that the work encourages people to continue singing for Fukushima.

Laboratory investigation on the effects of overburden pressure, water, and time on slaking induced material property degradation of coal mine spoil

In open-cut strip mining, waste material is placed in-pit to minimise operational mine costs. Slope failures in these spoil piles pose a significant safety risk to personnel, along with a financial risk from loss of equipment and scheduling delays. It has been observed that most spoil pile failures occur when the pit has been previously filled with water and then subsequently dewatered. The failures are often initiated at the base of spoil piles where the material can undergo significant slaking (disintegration) over time due to overburden pressure and water saturation. It is important to understand how the mechanical properties of base spoil material are affected by slaking when designing safe spoil pile slope angles, heights, and dewatering rates. In this study, fresh spoil material collected from a coal mine in Brown Basin Coalfield of Queensland, Australia was subjected to high overburden pressure (0 – 900 kPa) under saturated condition and maintained over a period of time (0 – 6 months) allowing the material to slake. To create the above conditions, laboratory designed pressure chambers were used. Once a spoil sample was slaked under certain overburden pressure over a period of time, it was tested for classification, permeability, and strength properties. Results of this testing program suggested that the slaking of saturated coal mine spoil increase with overburden pressure and the time duration over which the overburden pressure was maintained. Further, it was observed that shear strength and permeability of spoil decreased with increase in spoil slaking.

An operational-level multi-stage mine production timetabling model for optimally synchronising drilling, blasting and excavating operations

This paper proposes a new multi-stage mine production timetabling (MMPT) model to optimise open-pit mine production operations including drilling, blasting and excavating under real-time mining constraints. The MMPT problem is formulated as a mixed integer programming model and can be optimally solved for small-size MMPT instances by IBM ILOG-CPLEX. Due to NP-hardness, an improved shifting-bottleneck-procedure algorithm based on the extended disjunctive graph is developed to solve large-size MMPT instances in an effective and efficient way. Extensive computational experiments are presented to validate the proposed algorithm that is able to efficiently obtain the near-optimal operational timetable of mining equipment units. The advantages are indicated by sensitivity analysis under various real-life scenarios. The proposed MMPT methodology is promising to be implemented as a tool for mining industry because it is straightforwardly modelled as a standard scheduling model, efficiently solved by the heuristic algorithm, and flexibly expanded by adopting additional industrial constraints.

Trial of the Primary Care Practice Improvement Tool: Building organisational performance in Australian general practice and primary health care

Objective: To nationally trial the Primary Care Practice Improvement Tool (PC-PIT), an organisational performance improvement tool previously co-created with Australian primary care practices to increase their focus on relevant quality improvement (QI) activities. Design: The study was conducted from March to December 2015 with volunteer general practices from a range of Australian primary care settings. We used a mixed-methods approach in two parts. Part 1 involved staff in Australian primary care practices assessing how they perceived their practice met (or did not meet) each of the 13 PC-PIT elements of high-performing practices, using a 1–5 Likert scale. In Part 2, two external raters conducted an independent practice visit to independently and objectively assess the subjective practice assessment from Part 1 against objective indicators for the 13 elements, using the same 1–5 Likert scale. Concordance between the raters was determined by comparing their ratings. In-depth interviews conducted during the independent practice visits explored practice managers’ experiences and perceived support and resource needs to undertake organisational improvement in practice. Results: Data were available for 34 general practices participating in Part 1. For Part 2, independent practice visits and the inter-rater comparison were conducted for a purposeful sample of 19 of the 34 practices. Overall concordance between the two raters for each of the assessed elements was excellent. Three practice types across a continuum of higher- to lower-scoring practices were identified, with each using the PC-PIT in a unique way. During the in-depth interviews, practice managers identified benefits of having additional QI tools that relate to the PC-PIT elements. Conclusions: The PC-PIT is an organisational performance tool that is acceptable, valid and relevant to our range of partners and the end users (general practices). Work is continuing with our partners and end users to embed the PC-PIT in existing organisational improvement programs.