Planning research and educational partnerships with Indigenous communities : practice, realities and lessons

Increasingly planning practice and research are having to engage with Indigenous communities in Australia to empower and position their knowledge in planning strategies and arguments. But also to act as articulators of their cultural knowledge, landscape aspirations and responsibilities and the need to ensure that they are directly consulted in projects that impact upon their &lsquo;country&rsquo; generally and specifically. This need has changed rapidly over the last 25 years because of land title claim legal precedents, state and Commonwealth legislative changes, and policy shifts to address reconciliation and the consequences of the fore-going precedents and enactments. While planning instruments and their policies have shifted, as well as research grant expectations and obligations, many of these Western protocols do not recognise and sympathetically deal with the cultural and practical realities of Indigenous community management dynamics, consultation practices and procedures, and cultural events much of which are placing considerable strain upon communities who do not have the human and financial resources to manage, respond, co-operate and inform in the same manner expected of non-Indigenous communities in Australia. This paper reviews several planning formal research, contract research and educational engagements and case studies between the authors and various Indigenous communities, and highlights key issues, myths and flaws in the way Western planning and research expectations are imposed upon Indigenous communities that often thwart the quality and uncertainty of planning outcomes for which the clients, research agencies, and government entities were seeking to create.<br /

Guided by the light: Roost choice and behaviour of urban Rainbow Lorikeets (Trichoglossus haematodus)

1. The formation of large communal roosts is a conspicuous phenomenon associated with a wide range of bird&nbsp;species successfully exploiting urban environments. In many Australian cities, the abundance of the Rainbow&nbsp;Lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus), a native parrot, has increased markedly in recent decades, with the species&nbsp;roosting in very large numbers within suburban sites. These roosting locations are noisy and cause significant&nbsp;fouling of the land beneath, resulting in conflict with humans.2. We investigated the selection of roosting sites in this species in Brisbane, Australia, by comparing characteristics&nbsp;of both the general sites of these roosts as well as individual trees used within roosting sites and trees&nbsp;that were avoided.3. Lorikeets used a wide variety of tree types for roosting but demonstrated a clear preference for clumped trees&nbsp;within sparsely treed areas that received significantly more artificial light at night than otherwise suitable sites &nbsp;and trees nearby.4. These features of roosting sites may enhance the detection of nocturnal predators by Rainbow Lorikeets,&nbsp;suggesting a potential positive impact of anthropogenic lighting. Our findings provide valuable insights into the&nbsp;management of roost-related conflicts in urban areas. We encourage further investigations into the possible&nbsp;benefits of artificial light

Scenes from the Decline and Fall of the American Empire

At their zenith, empires become haunted by images of their inevitable demise. This article examines historical theories of imperial decline, as exemplified by the works of Edward Gibbon, C-F Volney and Oswald Spengler, and suggests a recurring concern with 'revolutionary orientalism' in such writings. The USA is currently in its late-imperial decadent phase, and much given in consequence to apocalyptic or catastrophic narratives. These are hardly new - the late-Victorian British Empire produced a large number of disaster fictions hardly less spectacular, with H G Wells foremost amongst his contemporary catastrophists - London is destroyed many hundreds of times in the period's fiction. The article closes with an analysis of 9/11 fictions and theories, and looks particularly at the novels of Don DeLillo and Jonathan Safran Foer

The Formation and Control of Iodinated Trihalomethanes in Drinking Water Treatment

Ever since toxic disinfection by-products (DBPs) were discovered in the 1970s drinking water utilities have had to continue to develop treatment strategies to reduce the acute health risk from infectious pathogens in water, and at the same time limit the formation of disinfection by-products. The recent two stage (1998, 2006) D/DBP rule enacted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which sets limits of 80 µg/L for trihalomethanes (THMs) and 60 µg/L for haloacetic acids (HAAs) will likely put more pressure on utilities in the future to decrease their chorine contact time and follow that with ammonia addition to form monochloramine because chloramination practices form fewer THMs and HAAs. Generally, iodinated DBPs are the most toxic DBPs followed by the brominated and chlorinated DBPs. Because monochloramine practices favor the formation of iodinated DBPs, there are increasing concerns that utilities may be forming more toxic iodinated DBPs such as iodinated trihalomethanes (I-THMs). The main objective of this research was to investigate I-THM formation and control during water treatment for a realistic Br-/I- mass ratio of 10, at two representative bromide/iodide levels [(i) 200 µg/L and 20 µg/L, and (ii) 800 µg/L and 80 µg/L] encountered in source waters. Unfortunately, previous I-THM research often neglected this very important Br-/I- ratio because iodide was often added in much higher concentrations than bromide. Specifically, this research project focused on three main sub-objectives: (i) to investigate and compare I-THM formation from preformed monochloramine and prechlorination followed by ammonia addition, (ii) to evaluate three commonly used preoxidants in water treatment (potassium permanganate, chlorine dioxide, and hydrogen peroxide) for controlling I-THM formation, and (iii) to investigate the importance of bromide to iodide ratio in I-THM formation and speciation from preformed monochloramine and preoxidation. The results showed that for preformed monochloramine, I-THM formation was more favorable in low-SUVA waters than high-SUVA waters. On the other hand, for prechlorination followed by ammonia addition, high-SUVA waters generally formed higher concentrations of I-THMs than low-SUVA waters. For preformed monochloramine, generally higher I-THM and THM formation was observed at lower pH. However, if the iodide concentration was high (\u3e80 µg/L), significant iodoform (CHI3) formation was sometimes observed at higher pH. For prechlorination, it was shown that increases in Cl2/DOC ratio and Cl2/I- ratio decreased I-THM formation, but increased THM formation. Overall, significant differences in I-THM speciation for preformed monochloramine and prechlorination were observed. The results for preoxidation showed that potassium permanganate and hydrogen peroxide were unsuccessful in reducing I-THM formation. Chlorine dioxide showed promising results for reducing I-THM formation for high iodide concentrations (\u3e80 µg/L) because iodoform (CHI3) formation sometimes decreased with increasing preoxidation dose. In some cases, I-THM formation was enhanced from preoxidation. Investigations into the importance of bromide to iodide ratio showed that I-THM yields and speciation formed from preformed monochloramine and preoxidants will depend significantly on bromide to iodide ratios and concentrations

Implementation monitoring of forestry best management practices for harvesting and site preparation in South Carolina 2001-2003

A survey was conducted to determine compliance with BMPs related to timber harvesting and site preparation in South Carolina. 300 sites were evaluated over a 3-year period, and each site was rated for compliance in several categories of BMPs, including forest road construction, stream crossings, streamside management zones, timber harvesting systems, mechanical site preparation, chemical site preparation, prescribed burning, and minor drainage. Overall compliance with BMPs related to harvesting rose to 94% during this survey, and overall compliance with BMPs related to site preparation fell slightly to 96%. Major problems noted on inadequate sites were poor road and stream crossing design, lack of stabilization on forest access roads and stream crossings, insufficient protection of the streamside management zone, and the use of mechanical site preparation techniques on steep slopes

Scenes from the Decline and Fall of the American Empire

At their zenith, empires become haunted by images of their inevitable demise. This article examines historical theories of imperial decline, as exemplified by the works of Edward Gibbon, C-F Volney and Oswald Spengler, and suggests a recurring concern with 'revolutionary orientalism' in such writings. The USA is currently in its late-imperial decadent phase, and much given in consequence to apocalyptic or catastrophic narratives. These are hardly new - the late-Victorian British Empire produced a large number of disaster fictions hardly less spectacular, with H G Wells foremost amongst his contemporary catastrophists - London is destroyed many hundreds of times in the period's fiction. The article closes with an analysis of 9/11 fictions and theories, and looks particularly at the novels of Don DeLillo and Jonathan Safran Foer

Characterization of Dbf4 structure and function in Saccharomyces cerevisiae DNA replication and checkpoint responses.

The Dbf4/Cdc7 kinase complex is required for the initiation of DNA replication and promotes this by acting upon members of the Mcm2-7 helicase. In addition to its role in replication, Dbf4/Cdc7 is a target of the S-phase checkpoint response through the Rad53 checkpoint kinase. In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the regulatory subunit of this complex, Dbf4, is essential for kinase activity. Dbf4 is conserved throughout eukaryotes and contains three regions of discrete homology, termed the N, M, and C motifs, based on their location in the polypeptide chain. Motif C shows the highest conservation of all the motifs of Dbf4 and contains a CCHH type zinc finger. Mutation of the conserved cysteine and histidine residues of this zinc finger impair interactions with origin DNA and the Mcm2-7 helicase subunit Mcm2, but do not disrupt associations with Cdc7, Orc2, or Rad53. Cells where the endogenous Dbf4 CCHH zinc finger has been mutated exhibit slowed growth, and are delayed in their entry to, and progression through S-phase. These cells also display sensitivity upon long-term exposure to the ribonucleotide reductase inhibitor hydroxyurea (HU) and the DNA alkylating agent methyl methanesulfonate (MMS). The crystal structure of an amino-terminal region of Dbf4 containing motif N folds as a BRCA1-carboxy-terminal (BRCT) domain. This domain is required for the interaction with Rad53, but is not sufficient. A fragment of Dbf4 containing the BRCT domain and its fifteen preceding amino acids is sufficient to interact with Rad53 and folds as a modified BRCT domain containing an integral amino-terminal helical projection. Denoted the Helix-BRCT (HBRCT) domain, mutations that destabilize it abrogate the interaction with Rad53, and result in sensitivity to genotoxic agents. Dbf4 is recognized by the forkhead-associated FHA1 domain of Rad53, and the HBRCT domain of Dbf4 interacts directly with FHA1 in vitro. This interaction is phosphorylation independent and relies on a conserved lateral surface of FHA1, distinct from the phosphoepitope binding surface, which when mutated abrogates the interaction between Dbf4 and Rad53 and results in sensitivity to HU and MMS. The in vitro interaction between FHA1 and HBRCT does not require the ability of FHA1 to bind a phosphoepitope, while the in vivo interaction between full-length Rad53 and Dbf4 does. The FHA1 domain of Rad53 can simultaneously bind to a phosphopeptide and HBRCT, indicating that Rad53 recognition of Dbf4 may occur through a bipartite interaction using two surfaces of FHA1

Development of a System to Probe the Differential Production of elF4A from the Paralogous Genes TIF1 and TIF2 in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae

The aim of this Master’s thesis was to evaluate the hypothesis that the Saccharomyces cerevisiae homologs for Eukaryotic Initiation Factor 4A, TIF1 and TIF2, can be individually regulated. This may be an expectation if the retention of the TIF1 and TIF2 duplicates arises from the requirement to respond to a wide variety of cellular needs in S. cerevisiae. These paralogs show an almost identical sequence in their coding region (barring six synonymous changes in the gene sequence) but are substantially different in their 5’ and 3’ untranslated regions that are the probable sites of regulatory functions. To identify differences in use of the TIF1 and TIF2 paralogs, a dual fluorescent reporter strain expressing plasmid borne TIF1-RFP, incorporating the endogenous TIF1 3’ and 5’ untranslated regions, and chromosomally integrated TIF2-GFP was created in order to probe for any differential regulation between TIF1 and TIF2. To create the fluorescent reporters it was necessary to learn and execute sophisticated molecular biology and molecular genetics which are described in this thesis. The generated fluorescence reporter strains were shown to be stable over multiple generations and subjected to high throughput and high content automated confocal microscopy. The commercially available LOPAC1280 Library of Pharmacologically-Active Compounds was used to probe for differential regulation where a “hit” was defined as a significant change in the expression of at least one of TIF1-RFP or TIF2-GFP four hours after application. For TIF2p-GFP, 2 compounds out of the 1280 library showed evidence of regulation under stringent thresholding criteria. For TIF1-RFP, 43 compounds were identified as regulators. There was no overlap of compounds. This screen provides prima-facie evidence that the TIF1 and TIF2 are differentially regulated, as assessed by the criteria of the experimental system described in this thesis

Improving the courtesy BMP exam process

In 1994, the SCFC published South Carolina's Best Management Practices for Forestry (BMP manual), a set of guidelines for use by forest industry to protect water quality when conducting forest management activities. To encourage the appropriate use of these voluntary guidelines, the agency implemented Courtesy BMP Exams. Based on data from the last several years and input received from the BMP Foresters and forest industry, the author suggests various changes to improve the courtesy exam