Digital Commons Network^™

Spatiotemporal Variations In Lung Cancer Mortality In China Between 2006 And 2012: A Multilevel Analysis, Yunning Liu, Thomas E. Astell-Burt, Jiangmei Liu, Peng Yin, Xiaoqi Feng, Jinling You, Andrew Page, Maigeng Zhou, Lijun Wang

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

We investigated temporal trends and geographical variations in lung cancer mortality in China from 2006 to 2012. Lung cancer mortality counts for people aged over 40 years were extracted from the China Mortality Surveillance System for 161 disease surveillance points. Negative binomial regression was used to investigate potential spatiotemporal variation and correlations with age, gender, urbanization, and region. Lung cancer mortality increased in China over the study period from 78.77 to 85.63 (1/100,000), with higher mortality rates evident in men compared to women. Median rate ratios (MRRs) indicated important geographical variation in lung cancer mortality between provinces (MRR = 1.622) …

Spatiotemporal Variation In Diabetes Mortality In China: Multilevel Evidence From 2006 And 2012, Maigeng Zhou, Thomas Astell-Burt, Peng Yin, Xiaoqi Feng, Andrew Page, Yunning Liu, Jiangmei Liu, Yichong Li, Shiwei Liu, Limin Wang, Lijun Wang, Linhong Wang

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background: Despite previous studies reporting spatial in equality in diabetes prevalence across China, potential geographic variations in diabetes mortality have not been explored. Methods: Age and gender stratified annual diabetes mortality counts for 161 counties were extracted from the China Mortality Surveillance System and interrogated using multilevel negative binomial regression. Random slopes were used to investigate spatiotemporal variation and the proportion of variance explained was used to assess the relative importance of geographical region, urbanization, mean temperature, local diabetes prevalence, behavioral risk factors and relevant biomarkers. Results: Diabetes mortality tended to reduce between 2006 and 2012, though there appeared to …

General Practice Research Training: Impact Of The Australian Registrar Research Workshop On Research Skills, Confidence, Interest And Involvement Of Participants, 2002-2006, Karin Ried, Brett D. Montgomery, Nigel P. Stocks, Elizabeth A. Farmer

Graduate School of Medicine - Papers (Archive)

Background. An intensive 3-day training programme, the ‘Registrar Research Workshop’ (RRW), has aimed to build research capacity among Australian general practice registrars since 1994.

Objectives. To investigate the impact of the RRW on participants' skills, confidence, interest in research and research activity.

Methods. Cross-sectional postal survey in 2006 of five groups of registrars who participated in the annual workshop in 2002–2006 (response rate: 64%; 77 of 121). Outcome measures included research experience and skills prior to and after the workshop; impact of the workshop on capacity, confidence, attitude and interest in research; and research involvement as measured by publications and …

Review Keyes, Roger S. 2006. Ehon: The Artist And The Book In Japan., Helen Kilpatrick

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

This handsome tome is based on an exhibition of Japanese picture books held by the New York Public Library from October 2006 to February 2007. Despite the more contemporary connotations associated with the term ehon, this is not a catalogue of books for children. The collection is best described as a volume that traces the traditions of Japanese artists’ books. With the inclusion of two more recent works by non-Japanese (American and German) artists, the volume also features international entries that are currently ‘‘contribut[ing] to the living Japanese book tradition’’ (p. 313). Although it excludes neither children’s nor contemporary books …

Impact Of Data Uncertainty On The Spatio-Temporal Distribution Of Australian Cyclones, 1906-2006, Marjetta L. Puotinen

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Tropical cyclones (known elsewhere as hurricanes or typhoons) regularly track through Australia’s northern coastal regions (Figure 1).

Data documenting the basic characteristics of cyclones in the Australian region is available from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) as early as 1906. This data set (freely available in ASCII format at http://www.bom.gov.au) records some 41 attributes (most of which are not complete for the entire time series) for 22,645 individual cyclone eye positions. Because cyclones can cause considerable impact to both marine and terrestrial environments, data sets such as this are widely used to reconstruct past cyclone conditions (for example, see Berz …

Editorial: Special Issue Contributed From Chemeca 2006-Australasian Process Modelling And Control Selected Papers, Mark Nelson, Brent Young

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

The papers in this issue of Chemical Product and Process Modelling are substantially those that arose from special sessions on ``process simulation and control" (organised by Brent R. Young) and ``mathematical modeling" (organised by Mark I. Nelson) at the 34th Australasian Chemical Engineering Conference (held between 17-20th September 2006, in Auckland, New Zealand). The papers in this special issue are available at: http://www.bepress.com/cppm/vol2/iss2. The papers featured in this issue have been revised and extended from CHEMECA and re-reviewed before publication here.All the papers in this issue use mathematics. However, this special issue only features a small number of the presentations …

Reviews: Australian Plays For The Colonial Stage 1834-1899 Edited By Richard Fotheringham, 2006, Louise D'Arcens

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

This volume offers an extremely valuable collection of nine nineteenth-century plays whose content engaged specifically with representations of life in the Australian colonies. Running the gamut of popular genres from melodrama to burletta, pantomime and masque, these plays’ significance lies in their reflection of ‘popular myths and . . . mass enthusiasms and anxieties’ (p. lxxvii) around such ideologically charged themes as bushranging, pioneering, indigenous Australia, urban life and convictism. It is this that warrants their resurrection in this volume, for, as Fotheringham points out, they were not necessarily representative of the colonial Australian theatre industry, dominated as it was …

Proceedings Of The 2006 Coal Operators' Conference, Naj Aziz

Resource Operators Conference

Proceedings of the 2006 Coal Operators' Conference. All papers in these proceedings are peer reviewed.ISBN: 1 920806 48 2.

Methods Of Interpreting Ground Stress Based On Underground Stress Measurements And Numerical Modelling, Jan Nemcik, W. J. Gale, M. W. Fabjanczyk

Resource Operators Conference

This paper presents several new methods to help interpretation and understanding of ground stress. The methods are based on data from 239 stress measurements conducted in the virgin ground in NSW and Queensland mines and computational models simulating large scale faulted ground behaviour. The underground stress regime plays an important role in mining profitability and safety however, understanding of the stress tensor is often difficult due to its mathematical complexities and non-intuitive behaviour. The aim of this study is to explain stress distribution in faulted ground, its origin and propose several methods of stress interpretation. Major findings presented in this …

A New Real Time Personal Respirable Dust Monitor, A. D. Gillies, H. W. Wu

Resource Operators Conference

A new personal respirable dust monitor developed by Thermo Electron Corporation under a project funded by the US National Institute of Safety and Health (NIOSH) has generated promising results in underground coal mine testing performed in the US recently. An Australian Coal Association Research Project funded study has been undertaken to evaluate this new real-time dust monitor for personal respirable dust evaluation use particularly in engineering studies. It is believed to be the first personal dust monitor instrument (PDM) for use on mine faces that reliably delivers a near-real-time reading. It can quickly highlight high dust situations and allow the …

Why Uniaxial Compressive Strength And Young's Modulus Are Commonly Poor Indicators Of Roadway Roof Stability - Except In The Tailgate, M. Colwell, R. Frith

Resource Operators Conference

For many years underground rock mechanics and in particular, roadway/tunnel roof stability has been underpinned by the often unchallenged assumption that roof strength (as defined by the UCS) and stiffness (E) are key stability controls. This has logically led to the proliferation of laboratory testing of rock specimens and the development of indirect geophysical methods to gain estimates of these two rock parameters. Furthermore, many design methods are significantly focussed on replicating rock mass behaviour through either intact or failed constitutive models. Demonstrably the strength and stiffness of the host rock material is commonly used as one of the key …

Ground Control In Coal Mines In Great Britain, J. Arthur

Resource Operators Conference

In deep coal mining support of the underground roadway is fundamental and without knowledge of the mechanics of ground control a mine is unlikely to be operating safely and efficiently. It is therefore important for the support system to be designed satisfactorily for the size of the excavation required and to do so an understanding of the behaviour of the surrounding strata is required. Over the last 15 years there has been a major change in the mining industry and the support systems adopted. Roofbolting has been adopted as the primary support system, the industry has been privatised, legislation has …

Rapid Rating Using Coal Mine Roof Rating To Provide Rapid Mine Roof Characterisation From Exploration Drilling, J. Calleja

Resource Operators Conference

The Australian coal industry is currently experiencing rapid expansion with many companies fast tracking the development of new mines. In many cases, operators are collecting large quantities of exploration drilling data for pre-feasibility and feasibility studies as well as for operational start-up and mine expansion. “Rapid Rating” is a new method for calculating the Coal Mine Roof Rating (CMRR). It has been designed to allow large quantities of exploration data to be processed quickly to provide a standardised indicator of geotechnical conditions. It is intended to make CMRR more readily available to mine operators. When the CMRR was first developed …

Observations On The Variation In Acoustic Emissions With Changes In Rock Cutting Conditions, E. Williams, P. Hagan

Resource Operators Conference

The emission of acoustic signals or micro seismic activity in rock subjected to stress is a well established phenomenon that has been exploited in geomechanics for example to understand changes in stress levels around excavations in active mine areas. Another potential application is in the area of rock cutting. The finding of a study to investigate whether changes in rock cutting conditions are reflected in the nature of acoustic signals generated in rock is presented. A test facility was established comprising a linear rock cutting machine, acoustic transducer and data acquisition system. The study examined changes between a new and …

Recovering From Major Roof Cavities On The Longwall Face - A Current Perspective, R. Frith

Resource Operators Conference

Recovering from roof cavities on the longwall face is an endemic aspect of longwall mining and this is especially the case today as longwall faces are wider and higher than they have ever been, yet powered support ratings are effectively technology constrained. There is little doubt that the ever-increasing dimensions of longwall faces are consequently increasing the likelihood of major roof falls occurring, especially in those more challenging geotechnical environments containing poor immediate roof conditions at depths of cover greater than 250 m. As a result, the efficiency and safety of longwall roof cavity recoveries is being given increased attention …

Joint Structure And Coal Strength As Controls On Rib Stability, Ross W. Seedsman

Resource Operators Conference

The assessment of the stability of coal ribs needs to consider not only the impact of the cleating and jointing in the coal but also the possible onset of failure of the coal itself. The same planar, wedge and toppling failure modes seen in pitwall slopes can be present in underground roadways. A 20o offset of the roadway from the strike of the through-going joints reduces the fall hazard, but a 35o offset may be required to reduce delays in installing support. Mining-induced fractures (MIF) in coal may be a manifestation of brittle rock behaviour and its preferential location at …

Airborne Geophysical Techniques, M. Armstrong, A. Rodeghiero

Resource Operators Conference

Airborne geophysical surveys have been used extensively in the mineral exploration industry predominantly for the delineation of metalliferous deposits. Recent advances in technology and the integration of multiple geophysical data-sets including aeromagnetic, radiometric and gravity surveys can provide useful information on lithology and structure. Additionally advances in data analysis, processing and image enhancement techniques have improved the resolution of geophysical datasets so that very subtle variations in the geophysical responses can be identified. High resolution aeromagnetic and radiometric surveys have recently been acquired over the Dendrobium mine district in the Illawarra Coal Fields. The primary objective of this survey was …

An Integrated Real-Time Roof Monitoring System For Underground Coal Mines, B. Shen, H. Guo, A. King, M. Wood

Resource Operators Conference

CSIRO has been conducting a five-year research project under the sponsorship of JCOAL and Ulan Mine to develop a real-time roof monitoring and roof fall warning system for underground coal mines. A preliminary system has been developed and successfully trialled twice in the gateroads at Ulan Mine during 2004 and 2005. The system integrates the displacement monitoring, stress monitoring and seismic monitoring in one package. It includes: • GEL multi-anchor extensometers • Vibrating wire uniaxial stress meters • ESG seismic monitoring system with microseismic sensors and high frequency AE sensors. The monitoring system has been automated and the data are …

The Use Of Downhole Presometers Implications For Modern Underground Mines, J. Doyle, G. Poole

Resource Operators Conference

An understanding of the hydrogeological environment of the strata over and about an operating mine provides some insight into the effectiveness of gas drainage, the identification of potential difficult drainage areas and the behaviour of overlying aquifers during mining. Bore hole piezometers have been routinely installed in BHP Billiton’s exploration holes for many years. The instruments were developed as one of the outcome of NERDCC research grants completed in 1983 and 1986. Piezometers and geophones packaged to survive the difficult environments of the Southern Coalfield remain operational and are routinely read today, twenty years after their installation. The data acquired …

Pike River Coal - Hydraulic Mine Design On New Zealand's West Coast, P. Whittall

Resource Operators Conference

Pike River Coal Limited is in the process of developing the Pike River Coal Mine in the Paparoa Ranges of New Zealand’s South Island. The mine will be developed to extract a coking coal deposit of the Brunner Seam, some 46 km north-east of Greymouth, using a combination of continuous miners and hydraulic extraction . The mining area is located within Department of Conservation (DOC) land and is adjacent to the escarpment of the Paparoa Range and the Paparoa National Park. As such, the major restriction to planned extraction is protection of: • The western escarpment; • Vertical and sub-vertical …

Advances In Surface Seismic Acquisition, Processing And Interpretation, A. Rodegheiro, L. Fredericks

Resource Operators Conference

Seismic Reflection surveys and borehole drilling have been the two primary exploration tools used in Illawarra Coal’s operations in the Southern Coalfield. For the past 10 years the exploration department has been using their in house acquisition system developed by BHP. However, this system was limited to 180 channels and two dimensional surveys and a more advanced system was required with a much larger channel capacity for modern three dimensional seismic surveys. In July 2004 Illawarra Coal acquired a more advanced seismic acquisition system from Vibtech in the UK, which enabled high resolution three dimensional surveys to be conducted. Acquisition, …

A Website On Coal And Gas Outburst Management, D. Vyas, N. Aziz, R. Caladine, L.Ucia Tome

Resource Operators Conference

The University of Wollongong received funding from the Australian Coal Association Research Program (ACARP) in 2005 to develop a website on coal and gas outbursts in the Australian environment < www.uow.edu.au/outburst >. The primary objective of the website is to provide the coal mining industry with the information on outburst occurrence and mechanisms of outburst phenomenon and the means of treating it. The online system provides access to the experiences, knowledge and information acquired by the coal mining industry, research organisations and educational institutions in a quality controlled environment. Although the website is specific to the Australian scene, it nevertheless contains information …

An Investigation Into Underground Mine Interaction With Overlying Aquifers, Huntly East Mine, New Zealand, G. Guy, W. Gale, B. Sinclair, D. Fergusson, B. Farnworth

Resource Operators Conference

In recent years, Huntly East Mine has operated at a depth range of approximately 100 m to 220 m below a Quaternary aged clay, sand and silt aquifer that is connected to a nearby large river system (Waikato River). A key issue for mine planning and environmental management has been the development of mine design criteria to allow efficient mining of the reserves and to maintain the integrity of the aquifer. A case study and back analysis at Huntly East Mine is presented, which investigates the overburden conductivity and the impacts caused by mining-induced caving. The case study includes: i. …

Developing Methods For Placing Sand-Propped Hydraulic Fractures For Gas Drainage In The Bulli Seam, K. Mills, R. Jeffrey, D. Black, T. Meyer, K. Carey, S. Goddard

Resource Operators Conference

BHP Billiton Illawarra Coal is seeking ways to significantly increase gas capture rates from in seam drilling programs in its underground coal mining operations. Hydraulic Fracture Technology (HFT), a joint venture between SCT Operations Pty Ltd and CSIRO Petroleum, is working with Illawarra Coal to develop the capability to enhance gas drainage rates in the Bulli Seam using sand-propped hydraulic fracturing based on HFT’s experience at Dartbrook Mine where gas drainage rates were increased by 5 to 180 times. One of the principal challenges for implementing sand-propped hydraulic fracturing in the Bulli Seam is the high vertical stresses that cause …

Management Of Impacts Of Longwall Mining Under Urban Areas, D. Kay, A. Waddington, J. Page, B. De Somer

Resource Operators Conference

Current and proposed expansions to existing underground coal mines are occurring in closer proximity to and directly beneath urban areas. The density of built infrastructure potentially impacted by longwall mining is substantially increased in urban areas when compared with mining beneath rural areas. Management of the impacts of longwall mining in such areas requires extensive consultation with the affected community, including education and management of communities’ expectations regarding what could be expected during and after the mining period. Approaches undertaken by Tahmoor Colliery to manage the potential impacts of mining under the township of Tahmoor are discussed. A summary of …

An Assessment Of Load Transfer Mechanism Using The Instrumented Bolts, H. Jalalifar, N. Aziz, Muhammad N S Hadi

Resource Operators Conference

Load transfer capacity and failure mechanism of a fully grouted bolt installed across joint plane in shear is evaluated experimentally and numerically, tests were made on un-instrumented and strained gauge instrumented bolts. Four types of bolts, with different properties and surface configurations were selected for the study. The changes in strength of the concrete, bolt mechanical properties and bolt pretension load were evaluated in different shear environments. Results from the instrumented bolts and numerical simulation showed that the tensile and compression stresses and strains are generated at early stage of loading and hinge points are created at both sides of …

High-Resolution Topographic Data For Subsidence Impact Assessment And Smp Preparation: Methods And Considerations, Daniel R. Palamara, G. Brassington, Phil Flentje, Ernest Baafi

Resource Operators Conference

Corporate and social requirements relating to sustainable mining practices have resulted in an increasing need for identification and assessment of natural features that may be susceptible to coalmine-induced subsidence. Natural features such as, cliff lines, watercourses and steep slopes, that are typically susceptible to subsidence-induced impacts can often be identified and quantified using high-resolution topographic data and a geographic information system (GIS). Once identified, digital representations of these features can be used in the impact assessment process and for Subsidence Management Plan (SMP) preparation. This paper demonstrates the use of topographic data for site characterisation and feature identification purposes by …

A Case Study On Longwall Mining Under The Tidal Waters Of Lake Macquarie, G. Li, I. Forster, M. Fellowes, A. Myors

Resource Operators Conference

This article presents a case study of longwall mining under the tidal waters of Lake Macquarie, south of Newcastle, NSW. The mining operation took place at the Wyee Colliery from 1998 to 2002, without any incidence of ingress of water from the lake. This paper describes i) the design strategy used for a viable and robust mine layout that minimises the risk of water ingress ii) observations made during the operational phase and iii) a practical tool for designing underground coal mines under surface water bodies.

Monitoring Of Subsidence Movements At Major Infrastructure, J. Barbato, D. Kay, H. Pinkster, B. De Somer

Resource Operators Conference

Time based mine subsidence predictions provide a valuable tool, as part of an overall management strategy to protect infrastructure, which involves making subsidence predictions at set increments of longwall travel. The predictions can be presented as a series of subsidence contours or profiles, and can be animated to show the progression of the subsidence travelling wave. The observed movements at major items of infrastructure can then be compared to the predicted movements at any time throughout the mining period. The challenges in providing time based predictions are discussed. Two examples are provided: the Main Southern Railway at Tahmoor Colliery and …

Airborne And Terrestrial Laser Scanning - Applications For Illawarra Coal, P. Riley, P. Crowe

Resource Operators Conference

Laser Scanning technology was introduced to the mapping industry in 1998. The technology enables the acquisition of point data by a laser scanning device mounted either in a fixed or rotary winged aircraft (Airborne, ALS) or placed on ground stations (Terrestrial, TLS). Laser scanning provides a significant increase in data points (e.g. 18 million data points can be gathered per hour) over traditional data capture methods. It also affords cost reductions due to acquisition and processing times when compared to aerial photogrammetry or ground surveying, particularly in areas that are densely vegetated or difficult to access. Due to the relatively …