Basin analysis and economic geology of the Northern Mount Isa Basin

The Mount Isa Basin is a new concept used to describe the area of Palaeo- to Mesoproterozoic rocks south of the Murphy Inlier and inappropriately described presently as the Mount Isa Inlier. The new basin concept presented in this thesis allows for the characterisation of basin-wide structural deformation, correlation of mineralisation with particular lithostratigraphic and seismic stratigraphic packages, and the recognition of areas with petroleum exploration potential. The northern depositional margin of the Mount Isa Basin is the metamorphic, intrusive and volcanic complex here referred to as the Murphy Inlier (not the "Murphy Tectonic Ridge"). The eastern, southern and western boundaries of the basin are obscured by younger basins (Carpentaria, Eromanga and Georgina Basins). The Murphy Inlier rocks comprise the seismic basement to the Mount Isa Basin sequence. Evidence for the continuity of the Mount Isa Basin with the McArthur Basin to the northwest and the Willyama Block (Basin) at Broken Hill to the south is presented. These areas combined with several other areas of similar age are believed to have comprised the Carpentarian Superbasin (new term). The application of seismic exploration within Authority to Prospect (ATP) 423P at the northern margin of the basin was critical to the recognition and definition of the Mount Isa Basin. The Mount Isa Basin is structurally analogous to the Palaeozoic Arkoma Basin of Illinois and Arkansas in southern USA but, as with all basins it contains unique characteristics, a function of its individual development history. The Mount Isa Basin evolved in a manner similar to many well described, Phanerozoic plate tectonic driven basins. A full Wilson Cycle is recognised and a plate tectonic model proposed. The northern Mount Isa Basin is defined as the Proterozoic basin area northwest of the Mount Gordon Fault. Deposition in the northern Mount Isa Basin began with a rift sequence of volcaniclastic sediments followed by a passive margin drift phase comprising mostly carbonate rocks. Following the rift and drift phases, major north-south compression produced east-west thrusting in the south of the basin inverting the older sequences. This compression produced an asymmetric epi- or intra-cratonic clastic dominated peripheral foreland basin provenanced in the south and thinning markedly to a stable platform area (the Murphy Inlier) in the north. The fmal major deformation comprised east-west compression producing north-south aligned faults that are particularly prominent at Mount Isa. Potential field studies of the northern Mount Isa Basin, principally using magnetic data (and to a lesser extent gravity data, satellite images and aerial photographs) exhibit remarkable correlation with the reflection seismic data. The potential field data contributed significantly to the unravelling of the northern Mount Isa Basin architecture and deformation. Structurally, the Mount Isa Basin consists of three distinct regions. From the north to the south they are the Bowthorn Block, the Riversleigh Fold Zone and the Cloncurry Orogen (new names). The Bowthom Block, which is located between the Elizabeth Creek Thrust Zone and the Murphy Inlier, consists of an asymmetric wedge of volcanic, carbonate and clastic rocks. It ranges from over 10 000 m stratigraphic thickness in the south to less than 2000 min the north. The Bowthorn Block is relatively undeformed: however, it contains a series of reverse faults trending east-west that are interpreted from seismic data to be down-to-the-north normal faults that have been reactivated as thrusts. The Riversleigh Fold Zone is a folded and faulted region south of the Bowthorn Block, comprising much of the area formerly referred to as the Lawn Hill Platform. The Cloncurry Orogen consists of the area and sequences equivalent to the former Mount Isa Orogen. The name Cloncurry Orogen clearly distinguishes this area from the wider concept of the Mount Isa Basin. The South Nicholson Group and its probable correlatives, the Pilpah Sandstone and Quamby Conglomerate, comprise a later phase of now largely eroded deposits within the Mount Isa Basin. The name South Nicholson Basin is now outmoded as this terminology only applied to the South Nicholson Group unlike the original broader definition in Brown et al. (1968). Cored slimhole stratigraphic and mineral wells drilled by Amoco, Esso, Elf Aquitaine and Carpentaria Exploration prior to 1986, penetrated much of the stratigraphy and intersected both minor oil and gas shows plus excellent potential source rocks. The raw data were reinterpreted and augmented with seismic stratigraphy and source rock data from resampled mineral and petroleum stratigraphic exploration wells for this study. Since 1986, Comalco Aluminium Limited, as operator of a joint venture with Monument Resources Australia Limited and Bridge Oil Limited, recorded approximately 1000 km of reflection seismic data within the basin and drilled one conventional stratigraphic petroleum well, Beamesbrook-1. This work was the first reflection seismic and first conventional petroleum test of the northern Mount Isa Basin. When incorporated into the newly developed foreland basin and maturity models, a grass roots petroleum exploration play was recognised and this led to the present thesis. The Mount Isa Basin was seen to contain excellent source rocks coupled with potential reservoirs and all of the other essential aspects of a conventional petroleum exploration play. This play, although high risk, was commensurate with the enormous and totally untested petroleum potential of the basin. The basin was assessed for hydrocarbons in 1992 with three conventional exploration wells, Desert Creek-1, Argyle Creek-1 and Egilabria-1. These wells also tested and confrrmed the proposed basin model. No commercially viable oil or gas was encountered although evidence of its former existence was found. In addition to the petroleum exploration, indeed as a consequence of it, the association of the extensive base metal and other mineralisation in the Mount Isa Basin with hydrocarbons could not be overlooked. A comprehensive analysis of the available data suggests a link between the migration and possible generation or destruction of hydrocarbons and metal bearing fluids. Consequently, base metal exploration based on hydrocarbon exploration concepts is probably. the most effective technique in such basins. The metal-hydrocarbon-sedimentary basin-plate tectonic association (analogous to Phanerozoic models) is a compelling outcome of this work on the Palaeo- to Mesoproterozoic Mount lsa Basin. Petroleum within the Bowthom Block was apparently destroyed by hot brines that produced many ore deposits elsewhere in the basin.

Modelling and solving train scheduling problems under capacity constraints

Many large coal mining operations in Australia rely heavily on the rail network to transport coal from mines to coal terminals at ports for shipment. Over the last few years, due to the fast growing demand, the coal rail network is becoming one of the worst industrial bottlenecks in Australia. As a result, this provides great incentives for pursuing better optimisation and control strategies for the operation of the whole rail transportation system under network and terminal capacity constraints. This PhD research aims to achieve a significant efficiency improvement in a coal rail network on the basis of the development of standard modelling approaches and generic solution techniques. Generally, the train scheduling problem can be modelled as a Blocking Parallel- Machine Job-Shop Scheduling (BPMJSS) problem. In a BPMJSS model for train scheduling, trains and sections respectively are synonymous with jobs and machines and an operation is regarded as the movement/traversal of a train across a section. To begin, an improved shifting bottleneck procedure algorithm combined with metaheuristics has been developed to efficiently solve the Parallel-Machine Job- Shop Scheduling (PMJSS) problems without the blocking conditions. Due to the lack of buffer space, the real-life train scheduling should consider blocking or hold-while-wait constraints, which means that a track section cannot release and must hold a train until the next section on the routing becomes available. As a consequence, the problem has been considered as BPMJSS with the blocking conditions. To develop efficient solution techniques for BPMJSS, extensive studies on the nonclassical scheduling problems regarding the various buffer conditions (i.e. blocking, no-wait, limited-buffer, unlimited-buffer and combined-buffer) have been done. In this procedure, an alternative graph as an extension of the classical disjunctive graph is developed and specially designed for the non-classical scheduling problems such as the blocking flow-shop scheduling (BFSS), no-wait flow-shop scheduling (NWFSS), and blocking job-shop scheduling (BJSS) problems. By exploring the blocking characteristics based on the alternative graph, a new algorithm called the topological-sequence algorithm is developed for solving the non-classical scheduling problems. To indicate the preeminence of the proposed algorithm, we compare it with two known algorithms (i.e. Recursive Procedure and Directed Graph) in the literature. Moreover, we define a new type of non-classical scheduling problem, called combined-buffer flow-shop scheduling (CBFSS), which covers four extreme cases: the classical FSS (FSS) with infinite buffer, the blocking FSS (BFSS) with no buffer, the no-wait FSS (NWFSS) and the limited-buffer FSS (LBFSS). After exploring the structural properties of CBFSS, we propose an innovative constructive algorithm named the LK algorithm to construct the feasible CBFSS schedule. Detailed numerical illustrations for the various cases are presented and analysed. By adjusting only the attributes in the data input, the proposed LK algorithm is generic and enables the construction of the feasible schedules for many types of non-classical scheduling problems with different buffer constraints. Inspired by the shifting bottleneck procedure algorithm for PMJSS and characteristic analysis based on the alternative graph for non-classical scheduling problems, a new constructive algorithm called the Feasibility Satisfaction Procedure (FSP) is proposed to obtain the feasible BPMJSS solution. A real-world train scheduling case is used for illustrating and comparing the PMJSS and BPMJSS models. Some real-life applications including considering the train length, upgrading the track sections, accelerating a tardy train and changing the bottleneck sections are discussed. Furthermore, the BPMJSS model is generalised to be a No-Wait Blocking Parallel- Machine Job-Shop Scheduling (NWBPMJSS) problem for scheduling the trains with priorities, in which prioritised trains such as express passenger trains are considered simultaneously with non-prioritised trains such as freight trains. In this case, no-wait conditions, which are more restrictive constraints than blocking constraints, arise when considering the prioritised trains that should traverse continuously without any interruption or any unplanned pauses because of the high cost of waiting during travel. In comparison, non-prioritised trains are allowed to enter the next section immediately if possible or to remain in a section until the next section on the routing becomes available. Based on the FSP algorithm, a more generic algorithm called the SE algorithm is developed to solve a class of train scheduling problems in terms of different conditions in train scheduling environments. To construct the feasible train schedule, the proposed SE algorithm consists of many individual modules including the feasibility-satisfaction procedure, time-determination procedure, tune-up procedure and conflict-resolve procedure algorithms. To find a good train schedule, a two-stage hybrid heuristic algorithm called the SE-BIH algorithm is developed by combining the constructive heuristic (i.e. the SE algorithm) and the local-search heuristic (i.e. the Best-Insertion- Heuristic algorithm). To optimise the train schedule, a three-stage algorithm called the SE-BIH-TS algorithm is developed by combining the tabu search (TS) metaheuristic with the SE-BIH algorithm. Finally, a case study is performed for a complex real-world coal rail network under network and terminal capacity constraints. The computational results validate that the proposed methodology would be very promising because it can be applied as a fundamental tool for modelling and solving many real-world scheduling problems.

Craft, process and art : teaching and learning music composition in higher education

This paper explores models of teaching and learning music composition in higher education. It analyses the pedagogical approaches apparent in the literature on teaching and learning composition in schools and universities, and introduces a teaching model as: learning from the masters; mastery of techniques; exploring ideas; and developing voice. It then presents a learning model developed from a qualitative study into students’ experiences of learning composition at university as: craft, process and art. The relationship between the students’ experiences and the pedagogical model is examined. Finally, the implications for composition curricula in higher education are presented.

Cigarette smoking in young adults : the influence of the HTR2A T102C polymorphism and punishment sensitivity

Background: The C allele of a common polymorphism of the serotonin 2A receptor (HTR2A) gene, T102C, results in reduced synthesis of 5-HT2A receptors and has been associated with current smoking status in adults. The -1438A/G polymorphism, located in the regulatory region of this gene, is in linkage disequilibrium with T102C, and the A allele is associated with increased promoter activity and with smoking in adult males. We investigated the contributions of the HTR2A gene, chronic psychological stress, and impulsivity to the prediction of cigarette smoking status and dependence in young adults. Methods: T102C and -1438A/G genotyping was conducted on 132 healthy Caucasian young adults (47 smokers) who completed self-report measures of chronic stress, depressive symptoms, impulsive personality and cigarette use. Results: A logistic regression analysis of current cigarette smoker user status, after adjusting for gender, depressive symptom severity and chronic stress, indicated that the T102C TT genotype relative to the CC genotype (OR = 7.53), and lower punishment sensitivity (OR = 0.91) were each significant predictive risk factors. However, for number of cigarettes smoked, only lower punishment sensitivity was a significant predictor (OR = 0.81). Conclusions: These data indicate the importance of the T102C polymorphism to tobacco use but not number of cigarettes smoked for Caucasian young adults. Future studies should examine whether this is explained by effects of nicotine on the serotonin system. Lower punishment sensitivity increased risk of both smoking and of greater consumption, perhaps via a reduced sensitivity to cigarette health warnings and negative physiological effects.

Multiple indicators of ambient and personal ultraviolet radiation exposure and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (United States)

Recent epidemiologic studies have suggested that ultraviolet radiation (UV) may protect against non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), but few, if any, have assessed multiple indicators of ambient and personal UV exposure. Using the US Radiologic Technologists study, we examined the association between NHL and self-reported time outdoors in summer, as well as average year-round and seasonal ambient exposures based on satellite estimates for different age periods, and sun susceptibility in participants who had responded to two questionnaires (1994–1998, 2003–2005) and who were cancer-free as of the earlier questionnaire. Using unconditional logistic regression, we estimated the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals for 64,103 participants with 137 NHL cases. Self-reported time outdoors in summer was unrelated to risk. Lower risk was somewhat related to higher average year-round and winter ambient exposure for the period closest in time, and prior to, diagnosis (ages 20–39). Relative to 1.0 for the lowest quartile of average year-round ambient UV, the estimated OR for successively higher quartiles was 0.68 (0.42–1.10); 0.82 (0.52–1.29); and 0.64 (0.40–1.03), p-trend = 0.06), for this age period. The lower NHL risk associated with higher year-round average and winter ambient UV provides modest additional support for a protective relationship between UV and NHL.

Science and technology supervision resources

This document is an adaptation of a report submitted to the ALTC in 2009, with additional data collected through subsequent interviews with science supervisors. The organisation of the contents also reflects a development of thought since the original project. The framework presented in this document is intended to provide science and technology supervisors with a range of options with respect to supervisory pedagogy. It has been developed to highlight different aspects of thinking about supervision as a teaching and learning practice; as well as approaches, strategies and roles associated with supervision. It will enable science and technology supervisors to become aware of the diverse options available to them and provide systematic ways of thinking about supervisory practices. Use of this framework will encourage supervisors to make choices based on broader, rather than more limited, repertoires. It will also encourage thinking about supervision as a teaching and learning practice.

Crash risk estimation and assessment tool

Currently in Australia, there are no decision support tools for traffic and transport engineers to assess the crash risk potential of proposed road projects at design level. A selection of equivalent tools already exists for traffic performance assessment, e.g. aaSIDRA or VISSIM. The Urban Crash Risk Assessment Tool (UCRAT) was developed for VicRoads by ARRB Group to promote methodical identification of future crash risks arising from proposed road infrastructure, where safety cannot be evaluated based on past crash history. The tool will assist practitioners with key design decisions to arrive at the safest and the most cost -optimal design options. This paper details the development and application of UCRAT software. This professional tool may be used to calculate an expected mean number of casualty crashes for an intersection, a road link or defined road network consisting of a number of such elements. The mean number of crashes provides a measure of risk associated with the proposed functional design and allows evaluation of alternative options. The tool is based on historical data for existing road infrastructure in metropolitan Melbourne and takes into account the influence of key design features, traffic volumes, road function and the speed environment. Crash prediction modelling and risk assessment approaches were combined to develop its unique algorithms. The tool has application in such projects as road access proposals associated with land use developments, public transport integration projects and new road corridor upgrade proposals.

Adverse health effects to air pollution and guidelines to prevent them

This is the first in a series of four articles which will explore different aspects of air pollution, its impact on health and challenges in defining the boundaries between impact and nonimpact on health. Hardly a new topic one might say. Indeed, it’s been an issue for centuries, millennia even! For example, Pliny the Elder (AD 23-79), a Roman officer and author of the ‘Natural History’ recommended that: “…quarry slaves from asbestos mines not be purchased because they die young”, and suggested: “…the use of a respirator, made of transparent bladder skin, to protect workers from asbestos dust.” Closer to modern times, a Danish Proverb states: "Fresh air impoverishes the doctor". While none of these statements are an air quality guideline in a modern sense, they do illustrate that, for a very long time, we have known that there is a link between air quality and health, and that some measures were taken to reduce the impact of the exposure to the pollutants. Obviously, we are much more sophisticated now!

Informed learning: a pedagogical construct attending simultaneously to information use and learning.

The idea of informed learning, applicable in academic, workplace and community settings, has been derived largely from a program of phenomenographic research in the field of information literacy, which has illuminated the experience of using information to learn. Informed learning is about simultaneous attention to information use and learning, where both information and learning are considered to be relational; and is built upon a series of key concepts such as second–order perspective, simultaneity, awareness, and relationality. Informed learning also relies heavily on reflection as a strategy for bringing about learning. As a pedagogical construct, informed learning supports inclusive curriculum design and implementation. This paper reports aspects of the informed learning research agenda which are currently being pursued at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT). The first part elaborates the idea of informed learning, examines the key concepts underpinning this pedagogical construct, and explains its emergence from the research base of the QUT Information Studies research team. The second presents a case, which demonstrates the ongoing development of informed learning theory and practice, through the development of inclusive informed learning for a culturally diverse higher education context.

Volcanic stratigraphy, alteration zoning, and vein paragenesis of the Sascha-Pelligrini low-sulphidation epithermal system, Santa Cruz, Argentina

The Sascha-Pelligrini low-sulphidation epithermal system is located on the western edge of the Deseado Massif, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. Outcrop sampling has returned values of up to 160g/t gold and 796g/t silver, with Mirasol Resources and Coeur D.Alene Mines currently exploring the property. Detailed mapping of the volcanic stratigraphy has defined three units that comprise the middle Jurassic Chon Aike Formation and two units that comprise the upper Jurassic La Matilde Formation. The Chon Aike Formation consists of rhyodacite ignimbrites and tuffs, with the La Matilde Formation including rhyolite ash and lithic tuffs. The volcanic sequence is intruded by a large flow-banded rhyolite dome, with small, spatially restricted granodiorite dykes and sills cropping out across the study area. ASTER multispectral mineral mapping, combined with PIMA (Portable Infrared Mineral Analyser) and XRD (X-ray diffraction) analysis defines an alteration pattern that zones from laumontite-montmorillonite, to illite-pyritechlorite, followed by a quartz-illite-smectite-pyrite-adularia vein selvage. Supergene kaolinite and steam-heated acid-sulphate kaolinite-alunite-opal alteration horizons crop out along the Sascha Vein trend and Pelligrini respectively. Paragenetically, epithermal veining varies from chalcedonic to saccharoidal with minor bladed textures, colloform/crustiform-banded with visible electrum and acanthite, crustiform-banded grey chalcedonic to jasperoidal with fine pyrite, and crystalline comb quartz. Geothermometry of mineralised veins constrains formation temperatures from 174.8 to 205.1¡ÆC and correlates with the stability field for the interstratified illite-smectite vein selvage. Vein morphology, mineralogy and associated alteration are controlled by host rock rheology, permeability, and depth of the palaeo-water table. Mineralisation within ginguro banded veins resulted from fluctuating fluid pH associated with selenide-rich magmatic pulses, pressure release boiling and wall-rock silicate buffering. The study of the Sascha-Pelligrini epithermal system will form the basis for a deposit-specific model helping to clarify the current understanding of epithermal deposits, and may serve as a template for exploration of similar epithermal deposits throughout Santa Cruz.

A further step in the modelling of the mechanical behaviour of bagasse

A better understanding of the behaviour of prepared cane and bagasse during the crushing process is believed to be an essential prerequisite for further improvements to the crushing process. Improvements could be made, for example, in throughput, sugar extraction, and bagasse moisture. The ability to model the mechanical behaviour of bagasse as it is squeezed in a milling unit to extract juice would help identify how to improve the current process to reduce final bagasse moisture. However an adequate mechanical model for bagasse is currently not available. Previous investigations have proven with certainty that juice flow through bagasse obeys Darcy’s permeability law, that the grip of the rough surface of the grooves on the bagasse can be represented by the Mohr- Coulomb failure criterion for soils, and that the internal mechanical behaviour of the bagasse is critical state behaviour similar to that for sand and clay. Current Finite Element Models (FEM) available in commercial software have adequate permeability models. However, the same commercial software do not contain an adequate mechanical model for bagasse. Progress has been made in the last ten years towards implementing a mechanical model for bagasse in finite element software code. This paper builds on that progress and carries out a further step towards obtaining an adequate material model.

How do public librarians constitute information literacy?

To date, much work has been done to examine the ways in which information literacy – a way of thinking about, existing alongside and working with information- functions in an academic setting. However, its role in the non-academic library professions has been largely ignored. Given that the public librarian is responsible for designing and delivering services and programmes aimed at supporting the information literacy needs of the community-at-large there is great value to be had from examining the ways in which public libraries understand and experience IL. The research described in this paper investigates, through the use of phenomenography; the ways in which public librarians understand and experience the concept of Information Literacy.

Ocklawaha River restoration : the fate of the Rodman Reservoir

The Rodman Reservoir, an impoundment on the Ocklawaha River in north central Florida, is a last remnant of the Cross-Florida Barge Canal (CFBC). The canal, conceived in the 1820's, was designed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to shorten shipping lanes between the Fulf ports and the Atlantic coast. Opposition to CFBC by Florida's young environmental movement led to a half in construction of the CFBC in 1971, but decommissioning of the already-constructed Rodman dam and the reservoir behind it has been mired in controversy every since.

A DRD2 polymorphism predicts PANSS score variability in schizophrenia patients treated with antipsychotics

Antipsychotic medications act as either antagonists or partial agonists of the dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) and antipsychotic drugs vary widely in their binding affinity for the D2 receptor (Kapur and Seeman, 2000). The DRD2 957CNT (rs6277) polymorphism has previously been associated with schizophrenia (Lawford et al., 2005) and the T-allele of the 957CNT polymorphism is associated with reduced mRNA stability and synthesis of the dopamine D2 receptor (Duan et al., 2003). The aim of the study was to determine if the rs6277 polymorphism predicts some of the variability of positive and negative symptoms observed in schizophrenia patients being treated with antipsychotic medication.