Heat-producing crust regulation of subsurface temperatures : a stochastic model re-evaluation of the geothermal potential in western Queensland, Australia

A large subsurface, elevated temperature anomaly is well documented in Central Australia. High Heat Producing Granites (HHPGs) intersected by drilling at Innamincka are often assumed to be the dominant cause of the elevated subsurface temperatures, although their presence in other parts of the temperature anomaly has not been confirmed. Geological controls on the temperature anomaly remain poorly understood. Additionally, methods previously used to predict temperature at 5 km depth in this area are simplistic and possibly do not give an accurate representation of the true distribution and magnitude of the temperature anomaly. Here we re-evaluate the geological controls on geothermal potential in the Queensland part of the temperature anomaly using a stochastic thermal model. The results illustrate that the temperature distribution is most sensitive to the thermal conductivity structure of the top 5 km. Furthermore, the results indicate the presence of silicic crust enriched in heat producing elements between and 40 km.

The need for legislative reform of the privity doctrine in commercial contracts in Malaysia : a comparative analysis

This thesis commences with the proposition that the first limb of the doctrine of privity causes injustice to third party beneficiaries in Malaysia, particularly in commercial contracts. The doctrine of privity has been the subject of criticism by the judiciary and academic commentators in common law jurisdictions, mainly directed at the first limb of the doctrine, whereby only parties to a contract can sue and be sued. The first limb prevents a third party from enforcing benefits conferred on them by those contracts thereby resulting in third parties suffering loss and injustice to those parties. In several common law countries, such as England, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, legislative reform of the doctrine has occurred. The legislative reform has abrogated to a significant extent the doctrine of privity in commercial contracts. Malaysia is a common law country, where the doctrine of privity is still applied to contracts. An analysis of Malaysian case law demonstrates that the most affected third party beneficiaries are those seeking to enforce insurance and construction contracts. While a small number of other third parties to commercial contracts, such as agreements to pay for work done, sale and purchase agreements and tenancy agreements are also affected, the detriment is not as significant. As a consequence, this thesis focuses primarily on the impact of the doctrine of privity on commercial contracts in the areas of insurance and construction in Malaysia The thesis aims to recommend appropriate reforms to address the injustices arising from the privity doctrine for third parties seeking to obtain the benefit of insurance and construction contracts, which may also benefit third parties to other types of commercial contracts. While the Malaysian insurance, consumer protection, negotiable instruments and agency laws allow third party beneficiaries to enforce benefits in contracts, the rights are found to be inadequate. As not all third parties seeking to enforce an insurance or construction contract can rely upon the legislation, the injustice arising from the doctrine of privity remains and needs to be addressed. To achieve this aim, a comparative analysis of the rights of third party beneficiaries under insurance and construction contracts in Malaysia, Australia and England is undertaken. The results of the analysis are used to identify appropriate elements for a legislative framework guided by the three essential criteria for effective law reform developed in the thesis. The three criteria are certainty, public interest and justice. The thesis recommends first the enactment of general legislation applicable to all commercial contracts including insurance contracts. Secondly, the thesis recommends specific targeted legislation to address the injustice faced by third party beneficiaries in construction contracts.

Non-contact laser-scanning confocal microscopy of the human cornea in vivo

PURPOSE To investigate the utility of using non-contact laser-scanning confocal microscopy (NC-LSCM), compared with the more conventional contact laser-scanning confocal microscopy (C-LSCM), for examining corneal substructures in vivo. METHODS An attempt was made to capture representative images from the tear film and all layers of the cornea of a healthy, 35 year old female, using both NC-LSCM and C-LSCM, on separate days. RESULTS Using NC-LSCM, good quality images were obtained of the tear film, stroma, and a section of endothelium, but the corneal depth of the images of these various substructures could not be ascertained. Using C-LSCM, good quality, full-field images were obtained of the epithelium, subbasal nerve plexus, stroma, and endothelium, and the corneal depth of each of the captured images could be ascertained. CONCLUSIONS NC-LSCM may find general use for clinical examination of the tear film, stroma and endothelium, with the caveat that the depth of stromal images cannot be determined when using this technique. This technique also facilitates image capture of oblique sections of multiple corneal layers. The inability to clearly and consistently image thin corneal substructures - such as the tear film, subbasal nerve plexus and endothelium - is a key limitation of NC-LSCM.

The future of the music industry in an age of digital distribution

This is an invited public lecture. The talk will cover how the music industry has changed due to digital technologies. During the talk I will look at how the changing balance between live music, music licensing and recorded music. I will also discuss online music subscription services and whether they might be a future for music distribution in China and elsewhere in the world. It will also look at how music artists and composers are affected by this change.

Digitization of the music industries in Australasia [Editorial]

The music business is one of the most international of all the cultural industries. Music, industry practices, and people travel easily across country borders and the major music companies are dominating national music markets across the globe. However, at the same time the music industries in different countries are very idiosyncratic. Music is an ingrained part of a country’s history, its culture and heritage. One aspect of this idiosyncrasy is related to how creatives, audiences and music organizations are affected by and is able to take advantage of the ongoing digitization of society...

Expression and in vitro functions of the ghrelin axis in endometrial cancer

Ghrelin is a peptide hormone produced in the stomach and a range of other tissues, where it has endocrine, paracrine and autocrine roles in both normal and disease states. Ghrelin has been shown to be an important growth factor for a number of tumours, including prostate and breast cancers. In this study, we examined the expression of the ghrelin axis (ghrelin and its receptor, the growth hormone secretagogue receptor, GHSR) in endometrial cancer. Ghrelin is expressed in a range of endometrial cancer tissues, while its cognate receptor, GHSR1a, is expressed in a small subset of normal and cancer tissues. Low to moderately invasive endometrial cancer cell lines were examined by RT-PCR and immunoblotting, demonstrating that ghrelin axis mRNA and protein expression correlate with differentiation status of Ishikawa, HEC1B and KLE endometrial cancer cell lines. Moreover, treatment with ghrelin potently stimulated cell proliferation and inhibited cell death. Taken together, these data indicate that ghrelin promotes the progression of endometrial cancer cells in vitro, and may contribute to endometrial cancer pathogenesis and represent a novel treatment target.

How much information can be obtained from tracking the position of the leading edge in a scratch assay?

Moving cell fronts are an essential feature of wound healing, development and disease. The rate at which a cell front moves is driven, in part, by the cell motility, quantified in terms of the cell diffusivity $D$, and the cell proliferation rate �$\lambda$. Scratch assays are a commonly-reported procedure used to investigate the motion of cell fronts where an initial cell monolayer is scratched and the motion of the front is monitored over a short period of time, often less than 24 hours. The simplest way of quantifying a scratch assay is to monitor the progression of the leading edge. Leading edge data is very convenient since, unlike other methods, it is nondestructive and does not require labeling, tracking or counting individual cells amongst the population. In this work we study short time leading edge data in a scratch assay using a discrete mathematical model and automated image analysis with the aim of investigating whether such data allows us to reliably identify $D$ and $\lambda$�. Using a naıve calibration approach where we simply scan the relevant region of the ($D$;$\lambda$�) parameter space, we show that there are many choices of $D$ and $\lambda$� for which our model produces indistinguishable short time leading edge data. Therefore, without due care, it is impossible to estimate $D$ and $\lambda$� from this kind of data. To address this, we present a modified approach accounting for the fact that cell motility occurs over a much shorter time scale than proliferation. Using this information we divide the duration of the experiment into two periods, and we estimate $D$ using data from the first period, while we estimate �$\lambda$ using data from the second period. We confirm the accuracy of our approach using in silico data and a new set of in vitro data, which shows that our method recovers estimates of $D$ and $\lamdba$� that are consistent with previously-reported values except that that our approach is fast, inexpensive, nondestructive and avoids the need for cell labeling and cell counting.

The role of the ethnic enclave in facilitating immigrant business performance and social integration

Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs, known the world over for their successful business practices (Kee, 1994), tend to start businesses within their ethnic enclave. But in a move away from multiculturalism, host countries increasingly fear that immigration and asylum pose a threat to social integration resulting in a lack of social cohesion and a plethora of government programs (Cheong, Edwards, Goulbourne & Solomos, 2007). For many immigrant entrepreneurs, the EE is an integral part of their social and cultural context and the location where ethnic resources reside (Logan, Alba & Stults, 2003). Immigrant entrepreneurs can harness the networks for labor and customers through various ties in their EE (Portes and Zhou, 1996). Yang, Ho and Chang (2010) illustrate in their paper that the Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs (IE) were able to utilize ethnic network resources as their social capital in order to reduce transaction costs and thus enhance business performance. Tilly (1990) explains that immigrants’ reliance on such networks for business or other information minimizes the socioeconomic hardships they would experience in host countries (Raijman & Tienda, 2000). Acquiring jobs in ethnic businesses and establishing businesses within an EE may facilitate migrants’ social integration into the host country (Tian & Shan, 1999). Although an EE has distinct economic advantages for immigrant entrepreneurs, Sequeira and Rasheed (2006: 367) argue that ‘Exclusive reliance on strong ties within the immigrant enclave has a negative effect on growth outside the enclave community.’ Similarly, Drori, Honig and Ginsberg (2010: 20) also propose that ‘The greater the reliance of transnational entrepreneurs on ethnic (versus societal) embedded resources and network structure, the narrower their possibilities of expanding the scope of their business.’ This research asks, ‘What is the role of the ethnic enclave in facilitating immigrant business growth and social integration? This project has the following important aims: A1 To better understand the role of IE, in particular Chinese IE in the Australian economy A2 To investigate the role of the EE in facilitating or inhibiting immigrant business performance A3 To understand how locating their firm inside or outside of the EE will affect the IE’s embeddedness in co-ethnic and nonco-ethnic networks and social integration A4 To understand how an IE’s social network affects business performance and social integration

Origins of the observed asymmetry in out-of-field dose from a linac fitted with an external micro-MLC

Objective Recently, Taylor et al. reported that use of the BrainLAB m3 microMLC, for stereotactic radiosurgery, results in a decreased out-of-field dose in the direction of leaf-motion compared to the outof- field dose measured in the direction orthogonal to leaf-motion [1]. It was recommended that, where possible, patients should be treated with their superior–inferior axes aligned with the microMLCs leafmotion direction, to minimise out-of-field doses [1]. This study aimed, therefore, to examine the causes of this asymmetry in outof- field dose and, in particular, to establish that a similar recommendation need not be made for radiotherapy treatments delivered by linear accelerators without external micro-collimation systems. Methods Monte Carlo simulations were used to study out-of-field dose from different linear accelerators (the Varian Clinacs 21iX and 600C and the Elekta Precise) with and without internal MLCs and external microMLCs [2]. Results Simulation results for the Varian Clinac 600C linear accelerator with BrainLAB m3 microMLC confirm Taylor et als [1] published experimental data. The out-of-field dose in the leaf motion direction is deposited by lower energy (more obliquely scattered) photons than the out-of-field dose in the orthogonal direction. Linear accelerators without microMLCs produce no asymmetry in out-offield dose. Conclusions The asymmetry in out-of-field dose previously measured by Taylor et al. [1] results from the shielding characteristics of the BrainLAB m3 microMLC device and is not produced by the linear accelerator to which it is attached.

Roles of the matrix metalloproteinases in mammary gland development and cancer

Tissue remodeling is a key process involved in normal development, wound healing, bone remodeling, and embryonic implantation, as well as pathological conditions such as tumor invasion and metastasis, and angiogenesis. The degradation of the extracellular matrix that is associated with those processes is mediated by a number of families of extracellular proteinases. These families include the serine proteinases, such as the plasminogen-urokinase plasminogen activator system and leukocyte elastases, the cysteine proteinases, like cathepsin D and L, and the zinc-dependent matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). Accumulating evidence has highlighted the central role of MMP-driven extracellular matrix remodeling in mammary gland development and breast cancer.

Analysis and modelling of the hydraulic conductivity in aquitards : application to the Galilee Basin and the Great Artesian Basin, Australia

In large sedimentary basins with layers of different rocks, the groundwater flow between aquifers depends on the hydraulic conductivity (K) of the separating low-permeable rocks, or aquitards. Three methods were developed to evaluate K in aquitards for areas with limited field data: • Coherence and harmonic analysis: estimates the regional-scale K based on water-level fluctuations in adjacent aquifers. • Cokriging and Bayes' rule: infers K from downhole geophysical logs. • Fluvial process model: reproduces the lithology architecture of sediment formations which can be converted to K. These proposed methods enable good estimates of K and better planning of further drillholes.

Behavior of the electron temperature in nonuniform complex plasmas

The response of complex ionized gas systems to the presence of nonuniform distribution of charged grains is investigated using a kinetic model. Contrary to an existing view that the electron temperature inevitably increases in the grain-occupied region because of enhanced ionization to compensate for the electrons lost to the grains, it is shown that this happens only when the ionizing electric field increases in the electron depleted region. The results for two typical plasma systems suggest that when the ionizing electric field depends on the spatially averaged electron density, the electron temperature in the grain containing region can actually decrease.

Third harmonic generation of the surface wave in the semiconductor-metal slowing-down structure

A nonlinear process is considered of the surface wave third harmonics generation in a slowing-down semiconductor-metal structure. The process is conditioned by non-parabolicity of the charge carrier dispersion law. It is shown that in narrow-gap semiconducting materials it is necessary to account for the process together with the surface wave second harmonics generation conditioned by nonlinearity of quasi-hydrodynamics and the Maxwell equations. The conclusion is made that the third harmonies amplitude in narrow-gap semiconductors may exceed substantially the signal amplitude at the 3w frequency in a gas plasma and be of the same order with the surface waves second harmonies amplitude.

Evaluating the competitiveness of the tourism industry in Cambodia : self-assessment from professionals

The annual tourism growth rate in Cambodia is among the highest in the world; however, tourist industry impact on Cambodian's economy is quite low. The purpose of our study is to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the Cambodian tourism market so that a framework can be established to help the country's policy-makers formulate strategies to use its resources effectively to create sustainable tourism competitiveness. This study used the perspective of tourism experts in the industry and Ministry of Tourism in Cambodia, and academia in the tourism field to evaluate Cambodian tourism competitiveness relative to its major competitors in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) based on nine categories: endowed resources, created resources, supporting factors, destination management, situational conditions, demand condition, technology, openness and market performance indicators benchmarked from previous research. The results showed that Cambodia has a lot of endowed resources, but lacks supporting resources and factors to achieve tourism competitiveness.

A general approach to tune the vibration properties of the mounting system in the high-speed and heavy-duty engine

Majority of the current research on the mounting system has emphasised on the low/medium power engine, rare work has been reported for the high-speed and heavy-duty engine, the vibration characteristics of which exhibits significantly increased complexity and uncertainty. In this work, a general dynamics model was firstly established to describe the dynamic properties of a mounting system with various numbers of mounts. Then, this model was employed for the optimization of the mounting system. A modified Powell conjugate direction method was developed to improve the optimization efficiency. Basing on the optimization results obtained from the theoretical model, a mounting system was constructed for a V6 diesel engine. The experimental measurement of the vibration intensity of the mounting systems shows excellent agreement with the theoretical calculations, indicating the validity of the model. This dynamics model opens a new avenue in assessing and designing the mounting system for a high-speed and heavy-duty engine. On the other hand, the delineated dynamics model, and the optimization algorithm should find wide applications for other mounting systems, such as the power transmission system which usually has various uncertain mounts.