EXPLORING FOR FAN AND DELTA SANDSTONES IN THE OFFSHORE FALKLANDS BASINS

Four basins surround the Falkland Islands, but only the North Falkland Basin has been drilled; six wells were drilled there in 1998. Although all six wells encountered good quality sandstones, none of them targeted the basin margins, on what are now thought to be the optimum migration pathways associated with the basin's thick lacustrine source rocks. Subsequently, a 3D seismic survey acquired in 2004 was designed to identify potential basin-margin -derived sandstones entering the basin along transfer zones. From this survey, a number of basin-margin -attached fans have been identified; these prograded into lacustrine waters of varying depths. These Early Cretaceous alluvial/fan delta/deep-lacustrine fan systems are interpreted to provide excellent potential reservoir facies as they are intimately associated with thick, mature source rocks. They will provide the focus for the next planned phase of exploration in the North Falkland Basin.
A phase of drilling is also planned for the basins to the south of the Islands, where large deltaic and fan systems, slightly younger than those imaged in the North Falkland Basin, are seen on seismic to prograde from the same Palaeozoic hinterland that produced the older, North Falkland Basin fans.
This paper attempts to show how sedimentary models derived from targeted seismic programmes following initial exploration can be utilised to plan and improve new drilling campaigns in a frontier basin. It presents an analysis of sediment dispersal patterns in basins of marine and lacustrine origin linked to a single hinterland area, and highlights the nature of the relationship between relay ramp/transfer zone development and sediment dispersal patterns in the subsurface.     

Divergence of Intracellular Trafficking of Sphingosine Kinase 1 and Sphingosine-1-Phosphate Receptor 3 in MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells and MCF-7-Derived Stem Cell-Enriched Mammospheres

Breast cancer MCF-7 cell-line-derived mammospheres were shown to be enriched in cells with a CD44+/CD24– surface profile, consistent with breast cancer stem cells (BCSC). These BCSC were previously reported to express key sphingolipid signaling effectors, including pro-oncogenic sphingosine kinase 1 (SphK1) and sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 3 (S1P3). In this study, we explored intracellular trafficking and localization of SphK1 and S1P3 in parental MCF-7 cells, and MCF-7 derived BCSC-enriched mammospheres treated with growth- or apoptosis-stimulating agents. Intracellular trafficking and localization were assessed using confocal microscopy and cell fractionation, while CD44+/CD24- marker status was confirmed by flow cytometry. Mammospheres expressed significantly higher levels of S1P3 compared to parental MCF-7 cells (p < 0.01). Growth-promoting agents (S1P and estrogen) induced SphK1 and S1P3 translocation from cytoplasm to nuclei, which may facilitate the involvement of SphK1 and S1P3 in gene regulation. In contrast, pro-apoptotic cytokine tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα)-treated MCF-7 cells demonstrated increased apoptosis and no nuclear localization of SphK1 and S1P3, suggesting that TNFα can inhibit nuclear translocation of SphK1 and S1P3. TNFα inhibited mammosphere formation and induced S1P3 internalization and degradation. No nuclear translocation of S1P3 was detected in TNFα-stimulated mammospheres. Notably, SphK1 and S1P3 expression and localization were highly heterogenous in mammospheres, suggesting the potential for a large variety of responses. The findings provide further insights into the understanding of sphingolipid signaling and intracellular trafficking in BCs. Our data indicates that the inhibition of SphK1 and S1P3 nuclear translocation represents a novel method to prevent BCSCs proliferation.     

A study of the plasma lipoproteins and the tissue lipids of the migrating lamprey,Mordacia mordax

Sea lampreys,Mordacia mordax, were collected in spring from the Yarra River, Victoria, during their upstream spawning migration, to study the lipid composition in their tissues and plasma and their lipid transport system. Plasma lipoproteins were isolated by preparative ultracentrifugation and their chemical compositions were analyzed. The major classes of lipoproteins were found to be similar to those of man and higher animals. Lipids from the muscle and liver were analyzed for fatty acids. The striking feature of the lipids in the migrating lamprey is the presence of very high levels of cholesterol in both plasma and muscle. The possible metabolic roles of cholesterol have been discussed.     

Experiences from using heat integration software to determine retrofit opportunities within a refinery process

Heat integration techniques can be used to optimize the energy requirement for both new and retrofit plant designs. Software tools for identifying retrofit options are becoming available. This paper reports our experiences from using heat exchanger network (HEN) optimization software for a retrofit case study of an oil refinery process. The HEN optimization software was used to automate the search for the most beneficial retrofit designs following the twostage process proposed by Asante and Zhu. The software provided three potential retrofit designs. Results from this analysis were used as the basis of a rigorous mass and energy balance simulation of the plant. The simulation corroborated the energy savings, but there were some important differences. The simulation required 20% more heat exchange area. Furthermore, the retrofit design involving one topology change was shown to be less economic than an alternative design. These differences are discussed and a revised methodology is proposed.     

Water Resource Models in the Mekong Basin: A Review

Development of the water resources of the Mekong Basin is the subject of intense debate both within the Mekong region and internationally. Water resources modelling is playing an increasingly important role in the debate, with significant effort in building integrated modelling platforms to describe the hydrological, ecological, social and economic impacts of water resource development. In the hydrological domain, a comprehensive set of models has been effective in building understanding of the system, and in identifying and describing the issues and trade-offs involved in basin-scale water planning. In the ecological and social domains, quantitative modelling has not progressed very far; geo-spatial analysis and qualitative frameworks remain the most commonly used tools. Economic models have been used to assess the costs and benefits of water resources development and to describe the trade-offs between different sectors and users. These analyses are likely to play an important role in the policy and planning debate, but are hampered by uncertainties in valuation of ecosystem services. Future efforts should focus on optimising the use of existing model platforms for the Mekong, including structured comparison of multiple hydrological models to quantify errors and identify an optimum set of modelling tools for different applications. A comprehensive research effort is needed to incorporate groundwater into hydrological models for regional planning. Options for social impact assessment should be reassessed before major investments are made in complex modelling platforms, and participatory social survey methods evaluated as part of an integrated assessment framework.     

Retrieval Of Morphological Variants In Searches Of Latin Text Databases

This paper reports a detailed evaluation of the effectiveness of a system that has been developed for the identification and retrieval of morphological variants in searches of Latin text databases. A user of the retrieval system enters the principal parts of the search term (two parts for a noun or adjective, three parts for a deponent verb, and four parts for other verbs), this enabling the identification of the type of word that is to be processed and of the rules that are to be followed in determining the morphological variants that should be retrieved. Two different search algorithms are described. The algorithms are applied to the Latin portion of the Hartlib Papers Collection and to a range of classical, vulgar and medieval Latin texts drawn from the Patrologia Latina and from the PHI Disk 5.3 datasets. The effectiveness of these searches demonstrates the effectiveness of our procedures in providing access to the full range of classical and post-classical Latin text databases. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A transfer function approach to harmonic filter design

This article details a new transfer function approach in passive harmonic filter design for industrial and commercial power system applications. Filter placement along with six common filter configurations are presented. Harmonic impedance, voltage division and current division transfer functions are derived and used in a practical filter design procedure that incorporates IEEE-519 distortion limits directly into the design and component specification process. A simple four-step filter design procedure is outlined and used in a variable speed motor drive pumping plant application     

Life cycle environmental performance and improvement of a yogurt product delivery system

A life cycle assessment was conducted to evaluate the environmental performance of the yogurt product delivery system used by Stonyfield Farm. A life cycle model was developed which included material production, manufacturing and disposition for primary and secondary packaging, as well as the related transportation links between these stages and filling, retail and the point of consumption. Product delivery systems (PDS) that utilized 4, 6, 8 and 32 oz polypropylene (PP) cups and 2 oz linear low‐density polyethylene (LLDPE) tubes were analysed. Ten strategies for improving the environmental performance of these systems were proposed and their impacts on the total life cycle burden were analysed. The life cycle energy consumption for the 2, 4, 6, 8 and 32 oz containers was 4050, 4670, 5230, 4390 and 3620 MJ/1000 lb yogurt delivered to market, respectively. Material production of the primary packaging accounted for 58% of the life cycle energy, while Distribution 3 (yogurt delivery to distributors/retailers) alone accounted for one‐third of the life cycle total energy. The life cycle solid waste profile showed that as the container size decreased, the solid waste burden increased, from 27.3 kg (32 oz) to 42.8 kg (6 oz) per 1000 lb yogurt delivered to market. This relationship was even more pronounced for the 4 oz (47.5 kg) and 2 oz (56.2 kg) product delivery systems. The greatest potential improvements in the environmental performance of the PDS are achievable through redesigning the primary packaging and using alternative manufacturing techniques for the yogurt cups. Shifting from injection moulding to thermoforming of 32 oz container reduces the life cycle energy and solid waste by 18.6% and 19.5%, respectively, primarily due to light‐weighting. Elimination of lids for 6 oz and 8 oz containers provided similar benefits. Consumers purchasing yogurt in 32 oz instead of 6 oz containers can save 14.5% of the life cycle energy and decrease solid waste by 27.2%. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.