Optimising the operational energy efficiency of an open-pit coal mine system

This thesis investigates factors that impact the energy efficiency of a mining operation. An innovative mathematical framework and solution approach are developed to model, solve and analyse an open-pit coal mine. A case study in South East Queensland is investigated to validate the approach and explore the opportunities for using it to aid long, medium and short term decision makers.

"Miksi lehmät pitää tappaa?" : Etnografinen tutkimus 2000-luvun alun huumemarkkinoista Helsingissä

The present study focuses on the drug market in Helsinki in the early 2000s, mainly on the dealing in and use of amphetamines, cannabis and the pharmaceutical Subutex. The drug market is usually analysed into upper, middle and lower level markets. These levels are very different in terms of their operating practices, although there may be some mingling. The present study is mainly concerned with drug dealers and users in the lower and middle level markets. Operations also differ depending on whether the dealing involves just one drug or several. Dealing in and using Subutex is a very different business from dealing and using home grown cannabis, for instance: both the customers and the dealers are mostly quite different. The study material was mostly collected through ethnographical field work, including observations and interviews. Interviews with officials and minutes of pre-trial investigations concerning aggravated drug crimes are also included. The study discusses the roles of dealers on the various levels of the drug market in Helsinki and traces activities at various levels. Ethnographical methods are employed to observe day-to-day drug dealing and use and leisure pursuits in private homes and in public premises. The study takes note of the risks inherent in drug dealing and estimates what kind of drug dealers can last the longest on the market without the authorities intervening. At the same time, the study discusses how small groups on the middle and lower levels of the drug market avoid control measures undertaken by the authorities and how the authorities address these groups. Moreover, the study discusses what the drug market is like in prison from the perspective of a drug dealer sent to prison, what their everyday lives are like after release, and how much money dealers on various levels of the drug market make. The study demonstrates that drug dealing in Helsinki, whether we consider the very top or the very bottom of the pyramid, is a far from rational pursuit. The undertakings are not very systematic; they are more a reaction to intoxicant addiction( s) and other problems caused by other dealers, the dealers own actions and the actions of the police. The everyday lives of drug dealers are often chaos only alleviated by drug use in the company of buyers or alone. If a drug dealer uses drugs himself/herself, things become even more complicated and a vicious circle develops. At the same time, everyday life is certainly exciting, and a drug dealer often has a highly eventful if brief life. Drug dealing is a very masculine pursuit, and there is a sort of macho code governing it, although this does not nearly always work as it should. This macho code, typically for illegal activities, involves the threat of violence as a control measure. Hence the untranslatable slang expression Kill the cows : the Finnish word for calf has the slang meaning snitch or police informant . No more cows, no more calves. But informing on others to the authorities is a fact of life in the drug-dealing world. Contributing factors to being reported to the authorities are the dealer s own mistakes and the actions of other dealers and the police. A determined drug dealer will not be deterred from drug dealing by a prison sentence. However, following time in prison only few dealers manage to gain an income from drug dealing commensurate with its risks.

"Pitää kuitenkin lähentyä sitä vangin roolia, vaikka ite ois toista mieltä" : Diskurssianalyyttinen tutkimus toiseuden rakentumisesta vankilaopetuksessa

The focus of this discourse analytical study was to review the meanings which prison education and its participants are given in the formal educational policy and to find out whether these meanings are agreed by the prison students. The intrestes of this thesis were to examine what kind of social and individual promises are related to the prison education and what kind of subject positions are possible to the prison students. The thesis was also interested in the meanings of education in different contexts. The aim of this study was to examine prison education especially for women. This thesis was based on Michel Foucault s ideas of power and the view of this study was directly critical. The prison education was seen as normalizing governance which tends to prepare its subjects to the normal. In this process of differentiating the normal and the abnormal the subjects of prison education are reconstructed as the others . The three research questions of this thesis were: how and what kind of prison education is reconstructed firstly in the strategy of prison education and secondly in the interviews. Thirdly it was questioned how and what kind of meanings gender receive in the discourse of prison education. The main data was consisted by the Finnish Criminal Sanctions Agency s document The Strategy of the Prison education for years 2008 2012 and the three interviews of women who participated to prison education. The interviews were made for this thesis in Autumn 2010. Two other Finnish Criminal Sanctions Agency s documents Prisoners in education (2007) and Visible women (2008) - the report of the working group on female prisoners were also used as subtext materials. The methods of critical and realistic discourse analysis and rhetorical analysis were applied in the analysis. The results of the thesis support the outlook of prison education as a form of normalizing governance which reconstruct the others position for the prison students. Prison education was seen supportive for personal life control and for integrating to the society. The participants of prison education repeated the official discourses in their accounts which is a signal of internalized governance. The interviewees also used different types of anti-discourses when forming implications of prison education.

Pärjätäkseen pitää olla sosiaalinen, aktiivinen ja menestyvä ihminen. Kaikkea hyvää vaan heille, mutta entäs me muut? Vertaistuki Yksinäisyys-nettiryhmässä avunsaajan ja avunantajan näkökulmista.

Yksinäisyyden merkitys hyvinvointia uhkaavana tekijänä on viimeaikoina noussut esiin yhä enenevissä määrin. Yksinäiset korkeakouluopiskelijat ovat erityisen haavoittuvassa elämäntilanteessa, sillä nuoren aikuisen elämään liittyvät erityiset kehitykselliset haasteet. Tärkeää on, että opiskelijat saavat tukea tilanteeseensa, jotta yksinäisyyden kauaskantoisilta vaikutuksilta vältyttäisiin. Vertaistuki voi monen kohdalla olla tärkeää, ja Internet mahdollistaa matalan kynnyksen paikan avun hakemiseen. Tutkielmassani perehdyn Nyyti ry:n ylläpitämään, korkeakouluopiskelijoille tarkoitettuun Yksinäisyys-nettiryhmään, ja siinä esiintyvään vertaistukeen. Erityisen tutkimusasetelmastani tekee vertaistuen tarkastelu sen kaksijakoisuuden kautta: millaisia avunsaajana olemisen ja avunantajana toimimisen tapoja kirjoituksista on löydettävissä, ja miten ne suhteutuvat toisiinsa. Näin voidaan ymmärtää paremmin keskustelijoiden tarpeita ja odotuksia, ja sitä, miten ryhmä pystyy niihin vastaamaan. Aineistoa on tutkittu sisällönanalyysin menetelmin. Näyttäisi siltä, että ryhmään kohdistetaan enemmän odotuksia ja tarpeita kuin mihin se pystyy vastaamaan. Avunsaajana olemisen luokkia oli yhteensä 15, jotka kuvasivat viittä eri ulottuvuutta. Ulottuvuudet olivat kokemuksellisuus, kontrolliodotus, vaikeusaste, suhde tietoon ja odotuksellisuus. Avunantajana toimimisen kohdalla luokkia muodostui kahdeksan, jotka kuvasivat neljää ulottuvuutta. Näitä olivat empatia, eteenpäin suuntaavuus, opastus ja kyseenalaistus. Avunsaajana oleminen hallitsi nettiryhmän keskusteluja, ja sitä kuvastavat tekstit olivat paitsi määrällisesti pidempiä, myös sisällöllisesti rikkaampia. Suhteutettaessa avunsaajan ja avunantajan tapoja toisiinsa havaitaan, että ryhmässä osoitettu tuki pystyy hyvin vastaamaan moniin odotuksiin, mutta toisaalta jokin tuenmuoto saattaa olla päinvastainenkin joidenkin luokkien tarpeille. Voikin olla, että vertaistuesta on keskustelijoille hyötyä tiettyyn tasoon asti, mutta suuri määrä erilaisia tarpeita ja odotuksia tekee mahdottomaksi niihin kaikkiin vastaamisen. Hyvä jatkotutkimuksen aihe olisi haastatteluin selvittää kirjoittajien omia näkemyksiä siitä, mistä kokevat ryhmään kirjoittaessaan hyötyvänsä. Tutkielman keskeisimpiä lähteitä ovat olleet: Weiss, R.S. (1973). Loneliness: the experience of emotional and social isolation, Kraut, R. ym (1998). Internet paradox. A social technology that reduces social involvement and psychological well-being?, Jung, J. (1987) Toward a social psychology of social support., Dennis, C-L. (2003). Peer support within a health care context: a concept analysis.

Impact of pit-toilet leachate on groundwater chemistry and role of vadose zone in removal of nitrate and E-coli pollutants in Kolar District, Karnataka, India

Assessment of chemistry of groundwater infiltrated by pit-toilet leachate and contaminant removal by vadose zone form the focus of this study. The study area is Mulbagal Town in Karnataka State, India. Groundwater level measurements and estimation of unsaturated permeability indicated that the leachate recharged the groundwater inside the town at the rate of 1 m/day. The average nitrate concentration of groundwater inside the town (148 mg/L) was three times larger than the permissible limit (45 mg/L), while the average nitrate concentration of groundwater outside the town (30 mg/L) was below the permissible limit. The groundwater inside the town exhibited E. coli contamination, while groundwater outside the town was free of pathogen contamination. Infiltration of alkalis (Na+, K+) and strong acids (Cl-, SO4 (2-)) caused the mixed Ca-Mg-Cl type (60 %) and Na-Cl type (28 %) facies to predominate groundwater inside the town, while, Ca-HCO3 (35 %), mixed Ca-Mg-Cl type (35 %) and mixed Ca-Na-HCO3 type (28 %) facies predominated groundwater outside/periphery of town. Reductions in E. coli and nitrate concentrations with vadose zone thickness indicated its participation in contaminant removal. A 4-m thickness of unsaturated sand + soft, disintegrated weathered rock deposit facilitates the removal of 1 log of E. coli pathogen. The anoxic conditions prevailing in the deeper layers of the vadose zone (> 19 m thickness) favor denitrification resulting in lower nitrate concentrations (28-96 mg/L) in deeper water tables (located at depths of -29 to -39 m).

Estimate of N2O release from pit-toilets

The use of pit-toilets has severely contaminated the groundwater with nitrate ions in Mulbagal town, Karnataka, India. This paper examines the potential of nitrate ions in the pit-toilet effluents to transform to N2O and to escape to atmosphere from 16 wards of Mulbagal town. Anaerobic conditions prevailing in the pit-toilet convert 25 % of the available N to ammonium ions. Only 3-33 % of ammonium ions transform to nitrate ions in the pit-toilet and escape with the effluent. During migration to aquifer, only 4.5 % of available nitrate concentration in the effluent transforms to N-2 and N2O gases in the 1.5-m-thick saturated zone underlying the pit-toilet; 36-55 % of the gases comprise N2O and the remainder of N-2. Further only 18 % of N2O formed escapes to atmosphere, while the remainder is retained in soil solution. Calculations show that 9.88 x 10(13) molecules of N2O/cm(2) would be cumulatively released from 16 wards of Mulbagal town, over an area of 4.9 km(2).

Implementación del Sistema de Alerta Temprana para el Monitoreo de la Roya del Cafeto (Hemileia vastatrix Berkeley & Broome) y Prevenir Epidemias Futuras en Nicaragua: Informe de Pasantías realizadas en el Instituto de Protección y Sanidad Agropecuaria (IPSA)

El cambio climático ha modificado el comportamiento de plagas en cultivos, provocando incidencia en momentos no previstos, afectando la calidad y rendimientos de los mismos. El cultivo del cafeto, es uno de los principales rubros de exportación en la regi ón Centroamericana y República Dominicana. No exento del cambio climático este rubro ha sufrido altos y bajos desde el punto de vista fitosanitario, precios del mercado, afectando de manera directa a grupos vulnerables que viven en zonas rurales y para qui enes las divisas provenientes de la caficultura representan su única fuente de ingreso. El reciente repunte del hongo de la roya ( Hemileia vastatrix Berkeley & Broome ) en las zonas de mayor producción ha provocado alarma entre los pequeños productores sie ndo estos las más vulnerables por los bajos rendimientos por área, sumado a una seria de consecuencias en los niveles económicos, sociales y ambientales. El sistema de alerta temprana de café (SATCAFE), que actualmente se está implementado en los países Ce ntroamericanos (Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panamá) y República Dominicana, mediante el apoyo técnico de la oficina sub regional de FAO/SLM, está contribuyendo con los esfuerzos emprendidos por los gobiernos a través de los ministerios de agricultura , institutos de café, mediante el levantamiento de información de datos cuantitativos del comportamiento de la roya y broca del cafeto y el impacto de esta en la producción y la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional de las familias productoras

Dynamic readout of subdiffraction-limited pit arrays with a silver superlens

Recent theoretical and experimental results suggested that the silver superlens could be constructed through controlling silver thin film thickness and preparation conditions, and applied in subdiffraction-limited optical imaging and optical lithography. In this work, we report another significant application of silver superlens-ultrahigh density optical data storage. With the silver superlens the subdiffraction-limited pit arrays on an optical disk are dynamically read out and the carrier-to-noise ratio can reach 25 dB for the thin film thickness of 46 nm. The readout laser power and readout velocity have little effect on the carrier-to-noise ratio. Additionally, in our experiment the silver thin film thickness needs to be controlled in the range from 20 to 80 nm.

On the dynamic readout of sub-diffraction-limit pit arrays with a silver thin film

Fast moving arrays of periodic sub-diffraction-limit pits were dynamically read out via a silver thin film. The mechanism of the dynamic readout is analysed and discussed in detail, both experimentally and theoretically. The analysis and experiment show that, in the course of readout, surface plasmons can be excited at the silver/air interface by the focused laser beam and amplified by the silver thin film. The surface plasmons are transmitted into the substrate/silver interface with a large enhancement. The surface waves at the substrate/silver interface are scattered by the sinusoidal pits of sub-diffraction-limit size. The scattered waves are collected by a converging lens and guided into the detector for the readout.

Geomicrobiology of meromictic, metal-mine pit lakes in the Iberian Pyrite Belt and biotechnological applications

220 p.

Berkeley e o relativismo

No sistema de Berkeley chamado de imaterialismo a substância material é negada, existindo apenas dois tipos de entes: aqueles que percebem (os espíritos) e aqueles que são percebidos (as ideias). Os objetos sensíveis não possuem qualquer existência além daquela que lhes é atribuída pelo ato da percepção. Assim, diz o autor, ser é ser percebido (esse est percipi), e tudo o que se conhece são as qualidades reveladas durante o processo de percepção sensível. No entanto, tal afirmação parece nos conduzir para uma forma bastante particular do relativismo, um subjetivismo individualista, que implica grandes problemas. Em suas duas obras mais importantes: Tratado sobre os princípios do conhecimento humano e Três diálogos entre Hylas e Philonous, Berkeley faz várias alusões à relatividade das qualidades sensíveis. Com efeito, as qualidades percebidas de cada objeto são diferentes, segundo os indivíduos. Entretanto, a opinião dos comentadores sobre a relevância que Berkeley atribui a tais referências relativistas é divergente. O objetivo do presente trabalho é, então, tentar apresentar uma possível solução para o problema das referências relativistas no imaterialismo de Berkeley. Pretendemos investigar ao longo dos quatro capítulos que se seguem, cada um abordando um aspecto relevante acerca da relação entre o relativismo e a teoria de Berkeley, como pode ser possível que o filósofo concilie as duas posições, conservando intacta a possibilidade de conhecimento objetivo do mundo, e a sintonia que alega manter com o senso comum.