Open Access Theses

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 15659

Open Access
The 1, 2-photoaromatization reaction : a versatile route to highly strained ring systems
(1972) Nunn, Eric Edward
Open Access
15N NMR correlation spectroscopy : co-polymerisation in melamine- and melamine replacement-urea-formaldehyde resins
(2005) Philbrook, Amy
Open Access
The 1978/1979 academic year university graduates in Thailand : internal migration for purposes of tertiary education and subsequent employment
(1982) Tantiratanavong, Jiranee
This thesis describes the patterns of migration and distribution of undergraduates and employed graduates using the Survey of the 1978/1979 Academic Year Graduates' Job Placement which was conducted by the Office of University Affairs, Thailand, as the principal source of data. In Chapter 2, undergraduate migration is studied by examining the in- and out-migration of the respondents for the seven regions of the country. The effect of the higher education decentralization policies on levels of migration are considered. Graduate employment trends during the 1974/1975-1978/1979 academic years are studied in Chapter 3 to give a general idea of the employment situation of government university graduates. It is concluded that the overall levels of unemployment amongst government university graduates do not constitute a problem at present. In Chapter 4, the patterns and redistribution of employed graduates are examined by various types of migration. It is demonstrated that Bangkok university graduates are less mobile for employment than other graduates. The final chapter concludes with a discussion of the implications of the findings and the limitations and possible further development of the study.
Open Access
19F NMR studies on DnaB helicase
(2014) Kuppan, Kekini Vahini
NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectroscopy is an important technique used for structural characterisation of proteins under near-physiological condition. It is used for determining the structure of proteins at atomic resolution and to study protein-protein interactions. However, its major limitation is the size of protein. The limitation can be overcome by solution state fluorine NMR, a promising technique which is used for studying the structural dynamics of large proteins by selective fluorine labelling. Cellular processes such as bacterial DNA replication is carried out by large protein complexes such as DnaB helicase, DnaG primase and DNA polymerase enzyme. It is necessary to study these proteins under physiological conditions to gain insights into the process. DnaB is primary DNA helicase in the replisome and its main function is unwinding the duplex DNA. It interacts with various other proteins and performs different functions during the process. Its structural characterisation by electron microscopy has established that it adopts two different rotational symmetry states (C3 and C6) and the conformational interchange occurs in N-terminal domain only. The symmetrical states were determined under non-physiological conditions. The factors triggering the conformational change were determined under physiological conditions however; the precise conformation adopted by DnaB under these conditions is elusive. To gain insights into structure, dynamics and interactions of DnaB under physiological conditions, I have studied the DnaB helicase and partner proteins by fluorine NMR spectroscopy. In this thesis, I report my studies that employed fluorine 1D NMR to study conformational changes of hexameric DnaB helicase with mass of 315 kDa in solution under physiological conditions. Trifluoromethylphenylalanine (tfmF) was the chosen fluorine label, incorporated into DnaB site-specifically. DnaB helicase and their partner proteins from Escherichia coli and Bacillus stearothermophilus were studied to observe the significant features in both systems. tfmF labelled E.coli DnaB was expressed by cell-free protein synthesis and examination at different pH established that its N-terminus is flexible in solution under near-physiological conditions rather than adopting rigid conformation. Furthermore, the study revealed that its interaction with helicase loader induced more flexibility into N-terminus of DnaB. The complex of E.coli DnaB and its helicase loader is a 480 kDa protein complex and the presented fluorine data are first attempts to study the conformational changes in such large protein systems. Bacillus stearothermophilus DnaB helicase was studied with its primase, helicase loader and magnesium ion. TfmF was incorporated into DnaB by in vivo method. The fluorine data showed that N-terminus is flexible similar to E.coli DnaB. However, its interaction with primase induced rigidity to N-terminus and adopted C3 symmetry, which is in concurrence with previous work. Moreover, the gel filtration data showed that magnesium ion rendered the integrity of hexamers by forming unstable monomers. We report the initial studies on Bacillus stearothermophilus helicase loader, DnaI. The fluorine NMR and gel filtration data suggests that it interacts with DnaB monomer instead of hexamers. The presented data shows fluorine NMR as a useful tool in determining the structural dynamics of large protein systems in solutions and its data can supplement previous structural information.
Open Access
The 2/2 Australian infantry battalion : the history of a group experience
(1989) Barter, Margaret Ann
The 2/2 Battalion A. I.F. was a volunteer fighting unit of the Second World War. This study explores the collective experience of battalion members from recruitment in October/November 1939 to disbandment in February 1946. During that time the unit engaged in five campaigns: three of the Middle East and Mediterranean under British cammand and two of the Pacific War under American cammand. Battalion ideals, which find their fullest expression in the unit history and post-war association tend to project public images of communal effort, sustained high morale and unswerving loyalty. Using War Diary records, letters, diaries and veteran interviews this study examines the men's varied and fluctuating responses to their fighting conditions as well as those of the long waiting periods in between. Traditionally military histories deal more with aspects of strategy and operations rather than individual or group responses to fear, death, wounds and illness in battle. Neither do they usually broach the subject of social tensions in an army unit both in and out of action. Questions guiding such an approach allow fruitful comparisons between the 2/2's public and private account of its experience in the years 1939-1946. Such enquiry also raises important questions about the formation of wartime identities, long-observed to be indissoluble in the post-war period.
Open Access
20 Short Piano Pieces of Pedagogic Intent, Using Aspects of Traditional Persian Sources
(2009) Azadeh, Atri
The history of composition for the keyboard reveals a very diverse musical landscape, as well as various technical requirements. Friskin and Freundlich, among others, have already surveyed this large spectrum of keyboard music from 1580 to 1952 by ataloguing “those pieces which have artistic value” (1973: viii), as opposed to mere finger exercises. Performing and enjoying such a large repertoire requires a deep understanding of technique and sound. Obtaining such knowledge is due to the educational systems and pedagogic practices which expose students to the ideas of sound and finger technique from the early stages of learning. For this reason, not only finger exercises should be included in teaching methods, but also the artistic aspects of music should be considered. <...> Since no pedagogical piano composition has been written to date in Persian modes, this project presents 20 pieces in which the Persian ambience has been created by means of Dastgah(s) (Persian modes) or non-specific keys. As the Dastgah(s) mostly have quarter-tones and western classical music does not allow such a system, I have used my own adaptation from the original Dastgah(s). The project is informed by primary source material as well as a variety of secondary sources relating to piano performance and education. For example, the piano compositions of Kabalevsky, Kurtag, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, and Sitsky for children have been studied, as well as studies by Debussy, and Scriabin which concentrate on a number of advanced technical and tonal problems. Moreover, two interviews were conducted in 2008 with Dr. Geoffrey Lancaster and Arnan Wiesel, the piano lecturers at ANU's School of Music, regarding the technical development of the piano students through the existing repertoire.
Open Access
2D+3D Indoor Scene Understanding from a Single Monocular Image
(2018) Zhuo, Wei
Scene understanding, as a broad field encompassing many subtopics, has gained great interest in recent years. Among these subtopics, indoor scene understanding, having its own specific attributes and challenges compared to outdoor scene under- standing, has drawn a lot of attention. It has potential applications in a wide variety of domains, such as robotic navigation, object grasping for personal robotics, augmented reality, etc. To our knowledge, existing research for indoor scenes typically makes use of depth sensors, such as Kinect, that is however not always available. In this thesis, we focused on addressing the indoor scene understanding tasks in a general case, where only a monocular color image of the scene is available. Specifically, we first studied the problem of estimating a detailed depth map from a monocular image. Then, benefiting from deep-learning-based depth estimation, we tackled the higher-level tasks of 3D box proposal generation, and scene parsing with instance segmentation, semantic labeling and support relationship inference from a monocular image. Our research on indoor scene understanding provides a comprehensive scene interpretation at various perspectives and scales. For monocular image depth estimation, previous approaches are limited in that they only reason about depth locally on a single scale, and do not utilize the important information of geometric scene structures. Here, we developed a novel graphical model, which reasons about detailed depth while leveraging geometric scene structures at multiple scales. For 3D box proposals, to our best knowledge, our approach constitutes the first attempt to reason about class-independent 3D box proposals from a single monocular image. To this end, we developed a novel integrated, differentiable framework that estimates depth, extracts a volumetric scene representation and generates 3D proposals. At the core of this framework lies a novel residual, differentiable truncated signed distance function module, which is able to handle the relatively low accuracy of the predicted depth map. For scene parsing, we tackled its three subtasks of instance segmentation, se- mantic labeling, and the support relationship inference on instances. Existing work typically reasons about these individual subtasks independently. Here, we leverage the fact that they bear strong connections, which can facilitate addressing these sub- tasks if modeled properly. To this end, we developed an integrated graphical model that reasons about the mutual relationships of the above subtasks. In summary, in this thesis, we introduced novel and effective methodologies for each of three indoor scene understanding tasks, i.e., depth estimation, 3D box proposal generation, and scene parsing, and exploited the dependencies on depth estimates of the latter two tasks. Evaluation on several benchmark datasets demonstrated the effectiveness of our algorithms and the benefits of utilizing depth estimates for higher-level tasks.
Open Access
2D-3D image registration of scanning electron microscope images and micro-CT volumes
(2012) Mohideen, Farlin
This thesis investigates the employment of feature based methods for 2D-3D image registration. Image registration of 2D images and 3D volumes has many industrial and medical applications. Industrial applications include grain structure analysis, data fusion for fault detection, medical image analysis. In this thesis we are interested in Micro-CT volume and SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) image registration. State of the art 2D-3D registration techniques are computationally expensive. For example, registration of a Mega-pixel 2D image to a Giga-voxel 3D volume computation time is in many hundreds of CPU hours utilizing state of the art CPU technology. We address this problem by introducing a point feature based registration framework for 2D-3D registration. Specifically, we present novel techniques for repeatable key-point detection for 2D images and 3D volumes, a novel way of descriptor formation for matching 2D key-points and 3D key-points and model estimation for registration up to an affinity under low feature matching accuracy. We further develop techniques for model estimation. We present an affine registration estimation based on an algorithm, which re{u00AD} quires three true positive matches of feature points and extend this to estimate the model based on only a single true positive match, which we call the one{u00AD} point algorithm. We present an algorithm based on Branch-and-Bound for rigid model estimation with proof that convergence is guaranteed. We experimentally validate the performance of this algorithm and show its theoretical superiority compared to RANSAC. In addition, handling image scale is also addressed by resolving the ambiguity of 2D image scale and 3D image scale. We show that 2D scale and 3D scale do not represent similar image and volume neighborhoods. We compare our technique with state of the art global registration techniques, such as correlation based registration and mutual information based registration and indicate the superior performance of our method. Furthermore, we introduce a novel feature descriptor based on image curvature founded on mathematically sound principles for improving feature matching accuracy. We indicate that the 2D-3D registration accuracy improves under this novel feature descriptor. Other practical applications, such as homography estimation and pose estimation, are also investigated. Furthermore, we extend the Branch-and-Bound based algo rithm with guaranteed convergence for vanishing point estimation and essential matrix estimation, for which empirical results are provided.
Open Access
3 P-sampling and its potential for forest inventory in Pakistan
(1981) Bukhari, Mohammad A. H. Fatime
Open Access
3-D tomographic imaging of the Southeast Australian crust : new insight into the evolution of the east Gondwana margin
(2014) Pilia, Simone
Seismic tomography is arguably the most powerful geophysical method for imaging the Earth's interior. From its origins in the early 1970s, rapid growth in computing power, increased availability of high quality digital data, and ongoing technique development have all conspired to propel it to a stage where images of unprecedented detail are now produced on a regular basis. In this thesis, cutting edge seismic tomography methods will be used to image 3-D crustal structure in southeast Australia, with the aim of better understanding the tectonic evolution of the former east Gondwana margin. A key objective of the first strand of this thesis is to use data from an array of 24 seismometers to image the crust beneath the Flinders Ranges by using Local Earthquake Tomography. A subset of P- and S-wave traveltimes is inverted to jointly recover earthquake hypocenters, P-wave velocity structure and Vp/Vs anomalies to improve our understanding of crustal structure, rheology, and the mechanism responsible for the localised intraplate deformation that characterises this area. Clusters of seismicity are observed within distinct low velocity regions (i.e., between the Archean-Mesoproterozoic Gawler Craton and the Palaeo-Mesoproterozoic Curnamona Province and along a major sequence of N-S trending Ross-Delamerian thrust faults). I postulate that pre-existing mechanical weaknesses in the lithosphere, principally due to structure and composition, exert first-order control on the distribution of seismicity in the Flinders Ranges. In the second strand of my research, ambient noise data from an array of 24 seismometers is used to produce a 3-D crustal shear wave velocity model of Bass Strait, the key to understanding the missing link between Tasmania and mainland Australia. I apply a transdimensional, hierarchical Bayesian inversion approach to construct a 3-D shear wave velocity model of the area. This allows the entire crust beneath Bass Strait to be imaged in high detail and elucidates the geometry and position of key crustal features. A key feature of the 3-D tomography model is a distinct mid-lower crustal NW-SE high velocity zone that extends from northwestern Tasmania to south-central Victoria, confirming a Proterozoic geological connection that has not previously been established in the deep crust. A recent study that uses 3-D geodynamic modelling has controversially suggested that the entrainment of exotic continental fragments may exert first-order control on continental growth via subduction accretion. Evidence from kinematic modelling suggests that the pre-Carboniferous Tasmanides in southeastern Australia may have been subjected to this process. In the final strand of my research, I present the first high-resolution crustal 3-D shear velocity model of southeastern Australia by applying the same inversion approach that was used for the Bass Strait datasets to seismic noise recorded by the WOMBAT seismic array. The main elements of the proposed continental accretionary model are fully imaged here for the first time, including the remains of the ingested continental fragment and the tectonic escape of the back arc region. To date, no other geophysical study has revealed structures in the deep crust related to the entrainment of continental fragments at former convergent accretionary margins.
Open Access
30 Years After the Bayh-Dole Act: Rethinking the Australian Research Commercialisation Experience
(2010) Flening, Eleanor
By granting universities the rights to assert ownership of intellectual property (IP) resulting from United States (US) federally sponsored research, the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 has stimulated considerable interest from policymakers around the world. Inspired by the US example, the Australian government has introduced a similar patent policy to encourage the commercialisation of publicly funded research. Research institutions have quickly responded to this policy and established technology transfer offices (TTOs) to manage the identification, protection and exploitation of IP created by their employees. It is often assumed that this IP-based approach accelerates the transfer of new inventions from academia to industry and helps to generate national benefits and social return from public investment in research. This thesis provides a case study of the commercialisation of publicly funded research in the biotechnology sector in Australia. Following mainly a qualitative approach, the study explores the rise of the research commercialisation phenomenon by tracking its historical origins, key turning points and their present ramifications. It also examines the perceptions, motivation and experiences of various participants such as academic scientists, technology transfer managers, entrepreneurs/CEOs and private investors. At the individual level, an important finding of this study was that the term research commercialisation is understood differently by different participants. Two main views were identified which not only differ semantically, but also in their objectives, timescales, assumptions and measures of success. The clarification of these views enables the participants to better understand each other and minimise unproductive debates. At the institutional level, this study revealed that by focusing on the exploitation of IP resulting from publicly funded research, Australia's current TTO-based structural arrangements may interfere with the flow of scientific discoveries from academia to industry and encourage academic inventors and entrepreneurs to bypass the TTOs. Explanations for these unexpected outcomes are given and suggestions for possible improvement are discussed. Although this study is based on the biotechnology sector in Australia, the research findings may have important implications for any other sectors and for other countries with similar structural arrangements.
Open Access
[3]dendralenes : synthesis and reactivity
(2010) Bradford, Tanya A.
Open Access
3D Hand Shape and Pose Estimation
(2022) Kaviani, Samira
We study the problem of 3D hand shape and pose estimation from monocular RGB images. Recent studies have shown that single-view 3D hand pose estimation is challenging due to depth ambiguity, environmental conditions, object-occlusion, and self-occlusion. Further, acquiring 3D annotations for datasets requires significant efforts. In this research, towards solving these challenges, we propose some contributions. First, we address the problem of estimating the 3D hand shape and pose in a video dataset given only sparsely annotated frames. We propose label propagation to propagate 3D annotations from labelled frames to nearby unlabelled frames. Next, we address the problem of probabilistic 3D hand shape and pose estimation. Most existing works only estimate a unique solution for a 2D observation and ignore depth and occlusion ambiguities. In contrast, we learn a probability distribution over the hand parameters to generate multiple hypotheses for a given 2D observation.
Open Access
3D hand tracking in a stochastic approximation framework
(2009) Chik, Desmond Chun Fung
Open Access
3D image analysis and smart automotive applications
(2010) Mufti, Faisal
Open Access
3D shape matching and registration : a probabilistic perspective
(2010) Xiao, Pengdong
Dense correspondence is a key area in computer vision and medical image analysis. It has applications in registration and shape analysis. In this thesis, we develop a technique to recover dense correspondences between the surfaces of neuroanatomical objects over heterogeneous populations of individuals. We recover dense correspondences based on 3D shape matching. In this thesis, the 3D shape matching problem is formulated under the framework of Markov Random Fields (MRFs). We represent the surfaces of neuroanatomical objects as genus zero voxel-based meshes. The surface meshes are projected into a Markov random field space. The projection carries both geometric and topological information in terms of Gaussian curvature and mesh neighbourhood from the original space to the random field space. Gaussian curvature is projected to the nodes of the MRF, and the mesh neighbourhood structure is projected to the edges. 3D shape matching between two surface meshes is then performed by solving an energy function minimisation problem formulated with MRFs. The outcome of the 3D shape matching is dense point-to-point correspondences. However, the minimisation of the energy function is NP hard. In this thesis, we use belief propagation to perform the probabilistic inference for 3D shape matching. A sparse update loopy belief propagation algorithm adapted to the 3D shape matching is proposed to obtain an approximate global solution for the 3D shape matching problem. The sparse update loopy belief propagation algorithm demonstrates significant efficiency gain compared to standard belief propagation. The computational complexity and convergence property analysis for the sparse update loopy belief propagation algorithm are also conducted in the thesis. We also investigate randomised algorithms to minimise the energy function. In order to enhance the shape matching rate and increase the inlier support set, we propose a novel clamping technique. The clamping technique is realized by combining the loopy belief propagation message updating rule with the feedback from 3D rigid body registration. By using this clamping technique, the correct shape matching rate is increased significantly. Finally, we investigate 3D shape registration techniques based on the 3D shape matching result. Based on the point-to-point dense correspondences obtained from the 3D shape matching, a three-point based transformation estimation technique is combined with the RANdom SAmple Consensus (RANSAC) algorithm to obtain the inlier support set. The global registration approach is purely dependent on point-wise correspondences between two meshed surfaces. It has the advantage that the need for orientation initialisation is eliminated and that all shapes of spherical topology. The comparison of our MRF based 3D registration approach with a state-of-the-art registration algorithm, the first order ellipsoid template, is conducted in the experiments. These show dense correspondence for pairs of hippocampi from two different data sets, each of around 20 60+ year old healthy individuals.
Open Access
3D vision sensing for improved pedestrain safety
(2004) Grubb, Grant
Pedestrian-vehicle accidents account for the second largest source of automotive related fatality and injury worldwide. Automotive manufactures will soon be required to meet regulations specifying safety requirements for pedestrian-vehicle collisions. The inclusion of pedestrian protection systems (eg. External airbags) is being consider as a solution to preventing pedestrian fatality and injury. However, such systems require knowledge of pedestrian presence for correct activation. This thesis describes work towards a computer vision system to detect pedestrians which could fulfil the sensory requirements for activating automotive pedestrian protection devices. In this work, the requirements for a pedestrian sensor were examined and a prototype vision system was developed to demonstrate the concepts discussed in the thesis. To achieve greater robustness and an improved understanding of the environment, we focussed on using 3D and temporal techniques combined with existing pedestrian detection methods. ¶ Stereo vision was employed to provide 3D information about the scene. The well known computer vision concept of disparity maps was used to generate a 3D scene representation. Additional vision algorithms were developed to provide scene understanding and thus segment a scene into obstacles (pedestrians, vehicles and other road infrastructure). Two methods were investigated for this purpose: Inverse Perspective Mapping and v-disparity, with the latter producing superior results, and thus v-disparity was used for 3D obstacle segmentation. ¶ Next, we focused on developing a method to classify detected obstacles as either pedestrian or non-pedestrian. Existing algorithms which examine a pedestrian’s shape and provide a classification result using Support Vector Machines were used to fulfil this obstacle classification task. We extended the existing work to include a pedestrian model from a front/rear and side poses. ¶ Finally, temporal information from both the obstacle detection and classification results were used to enhance system results. We used Kalman filtering techniques to track pedestrians and provide motion predictions. Additionally, Bayesian probability was used to provide a certainty of pedestrian detection based on an object’s classification history. This provided greater robustness to the overall detection results. ¶ The developed prototype was installed on two vehicles, a Toyota Landcruiser and a Volvo S80, to perform real world testing. Results from the prototype were excellent, achieving average detection rates of 83% with average false detection rates of only 0.4%.
Open Access
(4+2)pi-cycloaddition reactions : their application to the synthesis of azocines and diazocines
(1971) Wilson, William Sharp
Open Access
4-Acylisoxazoles as acrylate synthons for asymmetric synthesis of 2-isoxazolines
(2002) Lee, Connie Kwok Yee
Open Access
4D Tectonic Reconstruction
(2013) O'Kane, Tomas
The study of plate tectonics spans the entire field of Earth Sciences. Plate tectonic reconstructions, created within the paradigm of the plate tectonic theory, result from the synthesis of extensive geological, geophysical, geochemical, geochronological and seismological data. The images produced through such reconstruction have numerous practical applications. Considerable amounts of data are captured in each snapshot of time. When such data is assimilated, geologic trends and patterns of motion can be revealed that would otherwise not be apparent. Such uses are growing, for the scope and potential of tectonic reconstructions has exploded in line with the growth in computer processing power. Initially, reconstructions involved the simple Euler rotation of continents on a 2D surface. However, now we can view and analyse huge datasets in the realm of subduction and mantle convection models, erosion simulations, or rifting algorithms, for example. Yet for all the high-resolution models, the complex data processing and integrated simulations, limited attention has been given to two crucial components of plate tectonics: crustal deformation and the geometrical evolution of subducted lithosphere. In this thesis we analyse two tectonic systems, and using a new approach incorporate deformation of both the crust and subducted lithosphere into our modelling. The results offer a different outcome to previous studies. In a study of Northern Melanesia, it is found that constraints provided by the extent of subducting lithosphere and crustal deformation require substantial revisions of kinematic histories. We also show that the 3D geometry of the Solomon Sea slab has 4D implications for the tectonic evolution of the region as a whole. Specifically, we made meaningful discoveries about the tectonic evolution of the region by detailing the geometrical evolution of the subducted lithosphere. In this instance, we showed that the Solomon Sea slab, currently subducting at the New Britain Trench, can be described in terms of ailerons – tabular segments suspended from the overlying lithosphere, with each segment potentiallybounded by a vertical slab tear. Such segmentation could result from slab tears, formed during rollback of this strongly curved subduction zone. However, this geometry required the isolation (and eventual drop-off) of a large slab segment. Evidence for this previously undocumented tectonic scenario was found through visualisation of a detached slab segment, located in the upper mantle beneath a geochemically distinct arc. We tentatively drew a link between the fluids and magmas emanating from the detached slab and high-K, volatile-rich magmas that characterise the overlying plate. We also illustrate that the subducted lithosphere beneath PNG has undergone a more complex evolution than previously thought. We provide further evidence that this subducted lithosphere is doubly-dipping, with both north- and south-dipping limbs. Analysis of the spatial distribution seismic activity, and focal mechanisms, also suggests the presence of a slab tear, located beneath the Huon Peninsula. This slab tear detaches the doubly-dipping slab segment from the part that is actively subducting beneath the New Britain Arc. We employed a similar methodology in our analysis of the evolution of the Andean subduction system of western South America. Through modelling of earthquake hypocentre distribution and “slab refloating”, we found that the margins of flat slab segments may, in fact, be vertical slab tears. Tectonic reconstruction reveals a spatial, and possibly a causal, relationship between these tears and subducted oceanic fracture zones. We also examine the evolution of the Andean orogen, illustrating that prior to crustal shortening and oroclinal rotation the western margin of South America was essentially a linear subduction zone. This outcome has many applications in the way we view the subduction history of the system as a whole. The research presented in this thesis demonstrates that if sufficient attention is given to the analysis of large-scale deformation of the continental and subducted lithosphere, alternative theories as to the tectonic history of the region may be uncovered. The methodology described here could be applied in alternative tectonic settings, potentially with similarly important results.