My project is a tribute to all water paths, waterways and rivers. It is an acknowledgement of their global significance, and of their mysterious and mythic presence in legend and history. The main body of the research and studio practice focuses on the Murray-Darling River System. Contained within the research there is a store of personal knowledge and memories of a complex river network. I view this research as my personal tribute. Some of the most important environmental challenges currently faced by us as a community in the twenty first century are water quality and water usage. By understanding and integrating people's needs, and ensuring that the communities in the Basin are able to engage in the process of change, a sense of identity can be fostered, so that long - term sustainability becomes a shared goal. Salinity, algal blooms, trading water property rights, and establishing a balance between the needs of the environment and the needs of the communities in the consumption of water are some of the strategies that are planned under the Murray - Darling Basin Initiative. For my exploration into the environment, ecology and poetry of water paths, I have researched and will discuss the work of a number of contemporary visual artists, and quoted from works of both writers and poets, to further illustrate aspects of a water path and landscape environment. My selection is primarily governed by artworks that specifically reference the human traces that mark or imprint on the landscape, water paths in the riverine landscape and the linked ecology. By reflecting on the broader position of water, its usage and control, it can be seen how this factor relates to the health of our ecological environment, and the most likely impact water usage and control will have in the future. Through both studio research and exegesis, I encapsulate a key part of childhood memory and significance of place, and established a sense of its importance within my integral identity. Simultaneo usly, the research explores the duality of this river environment and its atmospheric moods. I encompass the meditative qualities and beauty of this specific river environment, and include some investigation of social and ecological factors related to the presence and usage of water in the Murray - Darling Basin.

Thesis (M.V.A.)--University of Sydney, 2006. / Title from title screen (viewed 27 March 2008). Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Visual Arts to the Sydney College of the Arts. Degree awarded 2006; thesis submitted 2005. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print form.

Thesis (PhD) -- Stellenbosch Univesrsity, 1972. / The Darling batholith is characterised by large scale hybridisation, but mainly consists of the coarsely porphyritic Darling granite. This granite changes gradationally into a biotite-rich variety which occupies a roughly elliptical area with a major, northwesterly trending axis of 30 km. The biotite granite envelops a large irregular body of hybrid granodiorite. Small intrusions of younger granite occur within the batholith namely the Klipberg and Contreberg granites and possibly the biotite-rich Dassenberg granite. Dassen Island is underlain by fine-grained granite which could be related to either the younger or coarsely porphyritic granites. A prominent northwesterly trending mylonite zone can be traced through Darling to Swartberg, and ultimately to Trekoskraal in the Saldanha batholith, but is not continuous since it occasionally changes into gneissic granite and is also interrupted by the younger intrusives. Quantitative mapping included measurement of matrix grain size, average maximum phenocryst length, xenolith distribution density, quartz nodule distribution density and average size, lineation, dark mineral index and gneissosity. On Dassen Island the distribution of tourmaline nodules was , determined. The results are displayed as small scale contour maps which show strong correlation between the various parameters. The average values of matrix grain size, average phenocryst length and xenolith distribution density are respectively 2-5mm, 20-60mm and 0-1,5 per m² for the Darling granite, and 1-2 mm, 5-20 mm and 1-9 per m² for the hybrid granodiorite. It was found that the matrix grain size decreases with increase in hybridisation. The spotty distribution pattern of tourmaline nodules on Dassen Island indicates addition of boron by assimilation of metamorphites and a late stage liquid immiscibility process. The granites :.have normal mineralogy and the K-feldspar of the phenocrysts is maximum microcline (Δ = 0,9 - 1,0). The hybrid granodiorite contains much pinitised cordierite and locally garnet. The deeply pleochroic bioti te is probably of the 2M1 polytype and has a higher Fe:Mg ratio in the hybrid granodiorite than in the granite (2,8 - 3,0 vs. 2,2 - 2,3). The intimately associated chlorite seems to be of the Ia polytype. The cordierite is of the normal and low temperature type with average intensity index of 2,7 , distortion index of 0,3 and 2 a of 63°. The xenoliths are predominantly quartzitic metagraywackes, but lime-rich types holding sphene and diopside were occasionally encountered. Thirteen new chemical analyses and thirty-one previously published analyses are used to calculate average composite analyses of the various rock types. The results of calculations employing Barth standard cell values indicate that the hybrid granodiorite could have originated by reaction between granite magma and Malmesbury quartzitic metagraywacke and pe-lite with a little limestone. A "granite differentiation index" based on weight percentages of (Ti02 + MgO + FeO + Fe2O3) and (Si02 + Na2O + K2O) shows a linear relationship between the granites in probable order of age. The magmatic differentiation trend is separated from the hybridisation trend on a 6alk - 2(al - alk) - (100 - 2al) diagram. Mesonorms and their cordierite variants are used to effect comparison with the experimental granitic system of von Platen (1965). The Darling and Contreberg granites plot near the relevant cotectic surfaces. A pilot experimental study of melting behaviour indicates that the Contreberg granite is closer to a minimum melt composition than the Darling granite. Comparison of alkali values with a M Na2O - M K2O Schreinemakers diagram of Korzhinskii (1959), shows that the alkali ratio of the older analyses may be incorrect, and indicates that the dark minerals have a greater effect on plagioclase composition than the amount of K-feldspar. The classification of granites by means of Harpum diagrams is shown to have little relevance to the reconstruction of the ancient thermodynamical variants. The Darling granite is correlated with the Hoedjies Point granite of the Saldanha batholith and on geochronological evidence probably corresponds in age (500- 600 m.y.) with the Cape Peninsula granite. The younger granites of Darling are tentatively correlated with the Cape Columbine granite of the Saldanha batholith. The northeastern boundary of the Darling batholith is a major fault, the Colenso fault, which is considered to extend as far as Northwest Bay, Saldanha. It is proposed that the Darling batholith occupies a down-faulted block within a graben and that the hybrid granodiorite represents a remnant synform of the roof rocks intruded by the granite. The younger granites constitute only four percent by volume of the batholith and may represent anatectic melts from a nearby subjacent source.

This thesis addresses the question “What is the essence of the Murray Darling river system conundrum that is usually posed as an issue of environmental remediation?”- following perceptions of problems in catchment strategy formulation regarding project selection and public consultation. The question is initially seen as having four facets – governance, public, participation and remediation. An initial literature review indicated that previous examination of these topics seemed insufficiently radical or comprehensive for the enquiry’s purposes, seeming not to attribute full humanness to members of the public. A fieldwork program of quasi-anthropological nature was conducted. Interpretation of the fieldwork reports focuses primarily on the lack of attribution of full humanness to members of the public. Interpretive techniques including a phenomenological-style process was applied and found that the district houses a number of unrecognised people “nexors’ occupying linking or nexus roles who exercise personal skills and initiatives to underpin effective remediation outcomes. Towards the end of the fieldwork program, further literature indicated that the initial four-facet nature of the enquiry should be reformulated, to include the overall nature of western society as it appears in the district (in place of participation), to reconstitute the concept of remediation more radically. Governance as a topic is broader than the ways in which it appears in the examined district, and suitable hybridizing of competing world view concepts remains unresolved in this thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Thesis (MVerbruikerswet)--University of Stellenbosch, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Rural areas in South Africa experience extreme levels of unemployment, and therefore are in dire need for skills training. In some rural areas this training takes place in community centres. Participants are empowered to generate an income. The activities mostly take place in a group context. In such a community centre a lack of the presentation of structured skills training programmes was identified. The aim of the study is to develop a skills training programme to help rural people in starting an income-generating project in a group context by means of intervention. In the literature study the concept of community centres was discussed. The basic human needs and the needs for training were related to the concept of group work. Programme development for adult education, income-generation and interventions were described in detail. The development of creativity, empowerment, capacity building and sustainable development were briefly discussed as potential outcomes of skills training programmes for the generation of income. For the purpose of this study a case study was undertaken of existing needlework groups in the Darling Focus Community Centre. A study group of 15 members was identified. The duration of the study group's involvement in needlework training was determined. The need for skills training workshops and the study group's interest in group work were established. Although the activities of the study group take place in group context, very little evidence exist of co-operation towards the objective of income generation. A major shortcoming is the failure to pinpoint objectives in the group. Darling is a rural tourist attraction with a target market for the sale of handcrafted products. For this purpose the crafted products need to adhere to certain criteria. Despite the opportunity to market products to tourists, only the local market is being targeted. The requirements of these clients are not considered a priority in the manufacturing of products. Therefore the study group was considered a suitable case study in this research. An intervention programme was compiled and implemented in group context for the training of skills in the manufacturing, marketing and selling of products. Surveys were done by self-administered questionnaires and unstructured interviews were conducted with important role players. Workshops were presented where skills application was monitored through control lists. The application of business skills was established through a semi-structured interview. Throughout the process the researcher made observations and documented information. Surveys indicated that the duration of the group members' involvement with needlework activities were between three and eleven years. A clear need for skills training as well as interest in group work was established and addressed. Self diagnoses of needs for skills training was done during visits to trade areas. A brainstorming session was conducted to generate ideas for the manufacturing of products to be sold. The skills in making these products were demonstrated during the workshops and practised during follow-up work sessions. A basic business skill workshop was conducted. After implementation of the intervention the results of the group work were evaluated at the hand of success criteria identified from literature. This list of criteria provides a guideline for similar training programmes. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Landelike gebiede in Suid-Afrika gaan gebuk onder werkloosheid wat vaardigheidsopleiding noodsaak. Sommige plattelandse dorpe het gemeenskapsentrums wat onder meer vaardigheidsopleiding bied. Deelnemers aan die opleiding word bemagtig om 'n inkomste te kan genereer. Die aktiwiteite vind meestal in groepverband plaas. 'n Leemte, geïdentifiseer in so 'n gemeenskapsentrum, is die aanbieding van gestruktureerde vaardigheidsopleidingsprogramme in groepverband wat mense in staat stel om 'n volhoubare inkomste te genereer. Die studie het ten doel om deur intervensie 'n vaardigheidsopleidings-program te ontwikkel wat landelike mense help om 'n inkomstegenereringsprojek in groepverband te vestig. In die literatuuroorsig is die konsep van gemeenskapsentrums bespreek. Die basiese menslike behoeftes en behoeftes aan opleiding is in verband gebring met die konsep van groepwerk. Programontwikkeling vir volwassene-onderwys is uiteengesit en inkomstegenerering en –intervensies is volledig bespreek. Die ontwikkeling van kreatiwiteit, bemagtiging, kapasiteitsbou en volhoubare ontwikkeling is kortliks aangeraak as moontlike uitkomste van vaardigheidsopleidingsprogramme vir die generering van inkomste. Vir die doel van hierdie studie is 'n gevallestudie gedoen van bestaande naaldwerkgroepe gesetel in die Darling Fokus Gemeenskapsentrum. ‘n Studiegroep van 15 lede is geïdentifiseer. Die tydperk wat die studiegroep by naaldwerkopleiding betrokke is, is bepaal asook die behoefte aan vaardigheidsopleidingswerkswinkels. Verder is die studiegroep se belangstelling in groepwerk bepaal. Hoewel die aktiwiteite van die studiegroep in groepverband plaasvind, is daar min bewyse van samewerking ten einde die doel van inkomstegenerering te bereik. 'n Groot leemte is dat doelstellings nooit deur die groep gestel was nie. Darling is 'n landelike toeriste-aantreklikheid met 'n teikenmark vir die verkoop van handwerkprodukte. Hiervoor moet produkte aan sekere vereistes voldoen. Ondanks hierdie geleentheid om produkte onder toeriste te bemark, word daar slegs op die plaaslike mark gemik. Die vereistes van hierdie kliënte is nie 'n prioriteit in die vervaardiging van produkte nie. Die studiegroep is daarom as 'n geskikte geval beskou vir hierdie studie. 'n Intervensieprogram is in groepverband vir die opleiding van vaardighede in die vervaardiging, bemarking en verkope van produkte saamgestel en geïmplementeer. Opnames is gedoen deur selfgeadministreerde vraelyste en ongestruktureerde onderhoude is met belangrike rolspelers gevoer. Werkswinkels is aangebied waartydens vaardigheidstoepassing deur middel van kontrolelyste gemoniteer is. Die toepassing van besigheidsvaardighede is deur 'n semi-gestruktureerde onderhoud bepaal. Die navorser het deurentyd die waarneming gedoen en inligting gedokumenteer. Opnames het aangedui dat die groeplede tussen drie en elf jaar by die naaldwerkaktiwiteite betrokke is. 'n Duidelike behoefte aan vaardigheidsopleiding asook belangstelling in groepwerk is gevind en aangespreek. Selfdiagnose van behoeftes aan vaardigheidsopleiding is tydens besoeke aan afsetgebiede gedoen. 'n Dinkskrum is gehou om idees te genereer vir die maak van produkte om te verkoop. Die vaardighede vir die maak van hierdie produkte is deur middel van werkswinkels gedemonstreer en in opvolgende werksessies deur die studiegroep ingeoefen. 'n Besigheidsvaardigheidswerkswinkel waar basiese beginsels behandel is, is aangebied. Die resultate van groepwerk na die implementering van die intervensie is aan die hand van sukseskriteria wat uit literatuur geïdentifiseer is, geëvalueer. Hierdie stel kriteria bied 'n riglyn vir soortgelyke opleidingsprogramme.

Electrical imaging of groundwater that interacts with surface watercourses provides detail on the extent of intervention needed to accurately manage both resources. It is particularly important where one resource is saline or otherwise polluted, where spatial quantification of the interacting resources is critical to water use planning and where losses from surface waterways need to be minimized in order to transport water long distances. Geo-electric arrays or transient electromagnetic devices can be towed along watercourses to image electrical conductivity (EC) at multiple depths within and beneath those watercourses. It has been found that in such environments, EC is typically related primarily to groundwater salinity and secondarily to clay content. Submerged geo-electric arrays can detect detailed canal-bottom variations if correctly designed. Floating arrays pass obstacles easily and are good for surveying constricted rivers and canals. Transient electromagnetic devices detect saline features clearly but have inferior ability to detect fine changes just below beds of watercourses. All require that water depth be measured by sonar or pressure sensors for successful elimination of effects of the water layer on the data. The meandering paths of rivers and canals, combined with the sheer volume of data typically acquired in waterborne surveys, results in a geo-referencing dilemma that cannot be accommodated using either 2D imaging or 3D voxel imaging. Because of this, software was developed by the author which allows users to view vertical section images wrapped along meandering paths in 3D space so that they resemble ribbons. Geo-electric arrays suitable for simultaneous imaging of both shallow and deep strata need exponentially spread receiver electrodes and elongated transmitter electrodes. In order to design and facilitate such arrays, signed monopole notation for arrays with iv segmented elongated electrodes was developed. The new notation greatly simplified generalized geo-electric array equations and led to processing efficiency. It was used in the development of new array design software and automated inversion software including a new technique for stable inversion of datasets including data with values below noise level. The Allen Exponential Bipole (AXB) array configuration was defined as a collinear arrangement of 2 elongated transmitter electrodes followed by receiver electrodes spaced exponentially from the end of the second transmitter electrode. A method for constructing such geo-electric arrays for use in rivers and canals was developed and the resulting equipment was refined during the creation of an extensive set of EC imaging case studies distributed across canals and rivers of the Australian Murray- Darling Basin. Man made and natural variations in aquifers connected to those canals and rivers have been clearly and precisely identified in more than 1000 kilometres of EC imagery.

Master of Visual Arts / This paper grows out of my ongoing practice of photographing the Darling River in western NSW. My interest in imaging the landscape and representing the contemporary divisions within it led me to investigate previous colonial conflicts, which occurred as white explorers in the 1830’s and squatters in the 1850’s took over the Aboriginal tribal lands on the Darling. In this paper I investigate the images created by explorers, artists and photographers, which were the beginnings of a Eurocentric vision for this land. These images were created in the context of a colonial history which forms the ideological backdrop to historical events and representations of this land. This research has involved me in an investigation across three different disciplines; Australian history, Australian visual art, and environmental aspects of human interactions with the land. The postcolonial histories which inform my work are themselves re-evaluations of earlier histories. This recent history has revealed, amid the images of European ‘settlement’ and ‘progress’, views of frontier violence and Aboriginal resistance to colonisation that were excluded from earlier histories. The fan-like shape of the Darling River, which for millennia has bought water to this dry land, is the motif that focuses my investigation. I discuss the relatively recent degradation of the river, which is the focus of contemporary conflicts between graziers, Aboriginal people, environmentalists and irrigators. Because large-scale irrigation now has the capacity to divert the flows of entire rivers for the irrigation of cash crops, the insecurities of earlier generations over the ‘unpredictable’ floods and their perception of lack of control over water - has been entirely reversed. ‘Control’ of water is now held by irrigators and the river down stream from the pumps is kept at a constant low, becoming a chain of stagnant waterholes during summer. Like many rivers in industrialised countries, the Darling no longer flows to its ocean. The physical characteristics of rangeland grazing are an important background to my paper. Although the introduction of sheep and cattle has altered and degraded this landscape, unlike ploughed country to the east this land retains much of its native vegetation and an Aboriginal history embedded across its surface. This paper is an investigation of the changing representations of the Australian landscape, and central to my paper (and a result of growing up in this area) is my recognition, at an early age, of cultural difference in the context of this landscape. I became aware of contradictions in how Aboriginal people were treated by the ‘white’ community and I glimpsed the distinct cultural viewpoints held by Aboriginal people. A connection to country continues to be expressed in art produced by Aboriginal people in the Wilcannia area, including work by Badger Bates and Waddy Harris. The Wilcannia Mob, a schoolboy rap-group received national press coverage, winning a Deadly Award in 2002 for their acclaimed song ‘Down River’. While a discussion of these artworks is not part of the discussion of my paper, it is a context for my research. In broad terms this paper is an investigation of different worldviews, different views of land and landscape by graziers, Aboriginal people, environmentalists and irrigators. These views carry with them different cultural understandings and different representations of the land - different and sometimes opposing views of its past and its future. It seems in 2005 that, just as artists, historians, filmmakers, etc. are beginning to come to terms with Australian colonial history, as the El Nino seasons and the importance of ‘environmental flows’ in the Murray Darling Basin are increasingly understood, that technological changes and the global effects of population densities are creating other changes (greenhouse gasses, ozone depletion, climate changes) that once again appear to be unpredictable and beyond our control. While this environmental discussion is outside the scope of the current paper it is a context for my investigation of this landscape.

<p>Queueing models have been used extensively in the design of call centres. In particular, a queueing model will be used to describe a help desk which is a form of a call centre. The design of the queueing model involves modelling the arrival an service processes of the system.</p><p>Conventionally, the arrival process is assumed to be Poisson and service times are assumed to be exponentially distributed. But it has been proposed that practically these are seldom the case. Past research reveals that the log-normal distribution can be used to model the service times in call centres. Also, services may involve stages/tasks before completion. This motivates the use of a phase-type distribution to model the underlying stages of service.</p><p>This research work focuses on developing statistical models for the overall service times and the service times by job types in a particular help desk. The assumption of exponential service times was investigated and a log-normal distribution was fitted to service times of this help desk. Each stage of the service in this help desk was modelled as a phase in the phase-type distribution.</p><p>Results from the analysis carried out in this work confirmed the irrelevance of the assumption of exponential service times to this help desk and it was apparent that log-normal distributions provided a reasonable fit to the service times. A phase-type distribution with three phases fitted the overall service times and the service times of administrative and miscellaneous jobs very well. For the service times of e-mail and network jobs, a phase-type distribution with two phases served as a good model.</p><p>Finally, log-normal models of service times in this help desk were approximated using an order three phase-type distribution.</p>

<p>Queueing models have been used extensively in the design of call centres. In particular, a queueing model will be used to describe a help desk which is a form of a call centre. The design of the queueing model involves modelling the arrival an service processes of the system.</p><p>Conventionally, the arrival process is assumed to be Poisson and service times are assumed to be exponentially distributed. But it has been proposed that practically these are seldom the case. Past research reveals that the log-normal distribution can be used to model the service times in call centres. Also, services may involve stages/tasks before completion. This motivates the use of a phase-type distribution to model the underlying stages of service.</p><p>This research work focuses on developing statistical models for the overall service times and the service times by job types in a particular help desk. The assumption of exponential service times was investigated and a log-normal distribution was fitted to service times of this help desk. Each stage of the service in this help desk was modelled as a phase in the phase-type distribution.</p><p>Results from the analysis carried out in this work confirmed the irrelevance of the assumption of exponential service times to this help desk and it was apparent that log-normal distributions provided a reasonable fit to the service times. A phase-type distribution with three phases fitted the overall service times and the service times of administrative and miscellaneous jobs very well. For the service times of e-mail and network jobs, a phase-type distribution with two phases served as a good model.</p><p>Finally, log-normal models of service times in this help desk were approximated using an order three phase-type distribution.</p>

No description available.