Thesis (Ph. D.)--California Institute of Technology, 1973. UM #73-07,291. / Advisor names found in the Acknowledgments pages of the thesis. Title from home page. Viewed 01/19/2010. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Texas at Arlington, 2007.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-72).

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-73).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--California Institute of Technology, 1982. UM #82-08,712. / Advisor names found in the Acknowledgments pages of the thesis. Title from home page. Viewed 02/18/2010. Includes bibliographical references.

Impact ejecta material is produced during every significant impact event in our Solar System. Bodies that possess an atmosphere and sub‐surface volatiles produce unique morphologies of ejecta that are not observed on bodies that are devoid of these properties. Recent advancements in planetary exploration have lead to an explosion in research of cratering processes on Mars and other planets. However, the enthusiasm to interpret distant worlds has led many to neglect the areas of impact processes that are still to be fully understood on Earth. In doing so, interpretations of impact ejecta processes on other planets have been based on untested models. I present here extensive research that has set out to test the validity of published models of impact ejecta processes (both distal and proximal) by critically comparing them to actual geological observations. To achieve this I have developed new techniques, conducted various detailed laboratory and field investigations, and report for the first time the discovery of 2 new layered ejecta deposits. The results of this study have shown that published models for the genesis of proximal layered ejecta deposits are flawed. I suggest an alternative model based on geological observations showing that the morphologies of proximal layered ejecta deposits are controlled by identical processes (although on a larger scale) that occur in the volcaniclastic environment. I also state that both sub‐surface volatiles (in the form of water) and atmospheric interaction play vital roles in their development. Through the analysis of the Manicouagan impact crater and its associated distal ejecta deposit I have been able to prove, for the first time, the spatial origins of distal impact ejecta showing that it is derived from the top 1/3 of the target sequence. In doing so, the research presented also quantifies the actual amount of erosion that has occurred since the formation of the Manicouagan impact structure (>3.5 km) and that distal impact ejecta without a preserved melt component can still be successfully correlated to a crater through heavy mineral correlation techniques.

Expenditure on food is a major item of the budget of British households. For low income households it may be the single largest expenditure category. It follows from this that there are major welfare implications in the placement of the retail stores from which foodstuffs may be bought. This issue has been a topic of debate ever since the grocery retail system began to restructure into larger outlets. Food retailing in Britain is highly competitive and the major chains have an excellent record of supplying food on low profit margins per item. This in itself, however, forces them to seek other ways of reducing overheads. Accordingly, there are sound economic reasons why grocery retailers must seek low-cost locations that are accessible to the more mobile sectors of the community. The advent of the French-style hypermarket drew attention to the possibility that such a revision of the system of retailing might offer low prices but at the cost of making stores inaccessible to the less mobile low income groups who most need those low prices. It is to this vital issue that this thesis addresses itself. Empirical analysis is undertaken in South Hampshire in order to compare a hypermarket with a superstore. The latter type of store offers similar facilities of large scale grocery shopping but in a more accessible location. Three separate types of analysis, each within the positivist/ behaviouralist tradition proposed by Johnston, are attempted in order to draw out the welfare implications of these contrasted store types. Analyses are undertaken at each of the stores, in the hinterland of the stores and among higher-income and lower-income residents of the area. The conclusions are that the superstore is td be favoured on welfare grounds. At the same time, it is recognised that such stores develop within the overall framework of control offered by the British Planning System. Accordingly, the 'Managerialist' theories of Pahl are drawn upon in order to place the research in a wider context. This makes it possible to extend the applicability of the findings beyond the immediate research area. Observations are made on possible planning strategies to maximise the likelihood that superstores, rather than hypermarkets, will be built in the future.

The current study aimed at investigating the impact of foreign banks on domestic banks in (Brazil, Russia, India and China) BRIC group of countries during 2001-2011. The importance of this topic is due to instability of financial industry and continuously changing financial markets. Financial liberalization did not only give boom to banking industry but also made it more competitive and unstable. To stay in competition, banks follow risky practices that do not only create problems within financial industry but also become cause of financial crisis. Financial crisis in 2008 is one of the examples of risky practices. Due to the importance of this topic, many researchers conducted studies on it. One of the famous studies on that topic was conducted by Claessens et al in (2001). Their study examined foreign and domestic banks in developing and the developed countries. It was found that foreign banks became the cause of reduction in domestic banks’ income, profit and cost in developing countries. Current study was the extension of Claessens et al (2001) with some amendments. First of all, current study focused on BRIC countries only which are the fastest growing developing countries. Second, this study compared foreign bank’s profitability with domestic bank’s profitability. Whereas, return on assets and return on equity was used as an indicator of profitability. Nearly 1600 bank’s financial data was collected from Bankscope database and Thomason Reuter’s DataStream. The current Study followed a Quantitative research method in order to investigate two research questions; first was the impact of foreign bank’s profitability on domestic bank’s earnings during 2001-2011 and second was foreign and domestic bank’s financial performance during financial crisis. Hierarchical multiple regression in the absence of control variables (foreign bank’s market share, inflation rate, real interest rate and GDP growth rate) explained that foreign banks were positively related with domestic banks in BRIC during 2001-2011. This Study rejected previous research results that foreign banks had negative relation with domestic banks in developing countries. Second result showed that in fast growing developing countries like Brazil, Russia, India and China, domestic banks performed better than foreign banks during financial crisis whereas foreign bank’s profitability had high volatility then domestic banks in financial crisis.

Size reduction represents one of the most energy-intensive and costly processes in the extraction of valuable minerals and rocks. Drilling and blasting, being the first operation in the size reduction chain, may have a significant downstream effect, influencing mine economics. This thesis investigates effects of blasting on subsequent size reduction operations. A series of small scale blasts have been conducted, and the fragments have been screened, drop weight tested, crushed and their Bond Work Index and breakage parameters have been determined. The process was repeated for 3 different types of granite blocks (Stanstead, Laurentian, and Barre granite) using samples not blasted previously and samples blasted with three different powder factors (0.391, 0.782, and 1.173kg/m3). As well, four types of different charge methods with the same powder factor were used to investigate the influence of blasting energy distribution on grindability in the case of Barre granite. Subsequently, stress wave collision blasting and the effect of delay timing were tested under the same powder factor conditions. Generally, powder factor resulted in the most significant changes in the breakage parameters as well as fragmentation. The Bond Work Index showed a small decrease as a function of powder factor, which can be considered to be material dependent. There is indication that distribution of charge resulted in better grindability while fragmentation seems to be similar in both cases and better than when air decking was used. The results from Barre granite showed clearly that stemming affected fragmentation by producing finer fragments. / Thesis (Master, Mining Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2010-04-23 12:49:29.244

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