Professional Intelligence Judgement Artistry: Some early observations

Intelligence analysis is critical national security and law enforcement function dependant on the intellectual capacity of individual analysts. The practice of intelligence is undertaken in an extremely complex environment often under a veil of secrecy, and where uncertain and deceptive information represents the norm. In order to develop as a profession appropriate constructs with which to explore and explain how analysts process intelligence, make decisions and reach judgements are needed. An improved understanding will offer opportunities to develop appropriate training and professional development for intelligence analysts. This paper introduces the construct of Professional Intelligence Judgement Artistry together with some very early findings to emerge from an initial series of interviews undertaken as part of a pilot study

Embryo development and sex determination in the Cassava whitefly (Bemisia tabaci)

The cassava whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), is a highly invasive and destructive agricultural pest, with a global distribution. B. tabaci insect has evolved resistance to multiple insecticides, and therefore, new control methods will have to be developed to control this insect. The self-limiting system, which produces a female-specific lethal heritable element and causes population suppression, works well for control of mosquitoes. The goal of this thesis is to assess the feasibility of creating a self-limiting system in B. tabaci. The self-limiting system requires generating transgenic insects, and this is done via injection of constructs into eggs at the pre-germ-line cell stage (around blastoderm formation), this enables stable germline transformation. However, there has been limited research into B. tabaci early embryogenesis stages, and therefore it is unclear when transformation constructs will have to be introduced. In this thesis, I conducted confocal microscopy studies to determine the timing of early embryogenesis stages in B. tabaci MED. Unexpectedly, I revealed that early embryogenesis in B. tabaci starts before the eggs are oviposited, unlike in mosquitoes and fruitflies. Therefore, injecting laid B. tabaci eggs is too late for obtaining stable transgenic whitefly lines, though somatic transgenics may be obtained. Past self-limiting transgenic insects used genes found in the sex determination pathway, for female-specific lethality, as these were expressed early and had sex-specific splicing. Genes of the sex determination pathways in B. tabaci and other hemipteran are largely unknown. Hence, I conducted a genome-wide search of 11 publicly available hemipteran genomes to identify their sex determination genes. Also, I conducted single-embryonic RNA-seq experiments in B. tabaci to assess if these genes undergo sex-specific splicing at the early embryogenesis stages in males and females. These results identified sex determination genes in B. tabaci and other hemipterans and revealed potential targets for future genetic control methods

Characterisation of a flocculating strain of pseudomonas putida

Autoflocculation is a feature of some strains of Pseudomonas putida, a bacterium which is of interest commercially because it synthesises dehalogenases. Using shake flask cultures, it was shown that flocculation resulted from growth in magnesium-depleted conditions and the suggestion is made that flocculating strains of P. putida could have higher magnesium requirements than non-flocculating strains. Electron microscope evidence points towards some form of bridging mechanism for flocculation, possibly involving secreted polymers, rather than neutralisation of surface charge. Changes in cell shape were also observed in both flocculating and non-flocculating cultures grown in magnesium-depleted conditions. Measurements of floe strength and re-formation of floes after break-up tend to support the idea that flocculation could be of use in commercial downstream separation of cells

Will private property rights ‘trump’ public rights to use coastal land, under climate change conditions?

Many coastal land titles in New South Wales are already at risk from shoreline recession and more will become affected, as local impacts of global climate change, specifically higher sea levels and more extreme weather events, produce more erosion and inundation of coastal lands. This thesis explores the claimed private property ‘right’ to defend against the sea to protect private land from coastal erosion, and the risks this poses to the public rights to use the foreshore and coastal waters for bathing, surfing or navigation, in the foreseeable future, as coastal lands experience ‘coastal squeeze’, due to rising sea levels and fixed seawalls. This term from biological and tourism contexts, is applied to these public rights and likely impacts on future social, economic and ecological uses of coastal lands as they are squeezed, are discussed and illustrated using original diagrams. The problem is thus defined: claimed private property rights conflict with existing public rights, competing for priority use of the foreshore. As a step towards ascertaining whose rights would prevail in future conflicts, the thesis examines these competing rights and investigates which rights are dominant in current law. Guidance is sought from the courts and NSW legislature as arbiters of similar prior conflicts. Senior appeal court decisions and statutory provisions in five fields of law applicable to coastal lands in this jurisdiction are reviewed, and their relative status under current law is established. However it is posited that a future government could adopt a policy to reverse the status quo, but to do so would need to obtain the legislature’s support for enabling legislation. Hence to estimate possible future events a diverse range of potential responses by a future government to emerging conflicts over competing rights, are identified. A suite of philosophical views which may influence future government policy on whose rights should prevail, are canvassed. Criteria, on ethical land management and successful public policy, drawn from relevant literature, are used to assess the merits of these potential responses. Using these assessments and three political criteria, the responses most likely to be pursued are identified. With a credible forecast of the likely policy environment of the future, the question, ‘will private property rights trump public rights to use coastal lands under climate change conditions?’ is answered in the negative

The contemporary Australian intelligence domain: A multi dimension examination

In the complex and interconnected post 9/11 world the roles and functions of intelligence have evolved beyond being a secret capability of governments focused on national security needs. Intelligence has become recognised as a critical function necessary to support decision making across the full breadth of government and corporate activity. The concept of an intelligence community being purely national security centric and bounded by secrecy has become limited. Intelligence in support of decision making has become a far broader domain than previously believed. This paper investigates the degree of intelligence embedded‐ness across government agencies and departments at the federal, state and local levels. Findings reveal that in excess of 75 discrete intelligence capabilities were identified, categorized by theme before being stratified into a three tier hierarchal intelligence domain map. Many of these categories were not in support of national security per se, but rather in support of broader government decision making

The Contemporary Australian Intelligence Domain - A Multi Dimension Examination

In the complex and interconnected post 9/11 world the roles and functions of intelligence have evolved beyond being a secret capability of governments focused on national security needs. Intelligence has become recognised as a critical function necessary to support decision making across the full breadth of government and corporate activity. The concept of an intelligence community being purely national security centric and bounded by secrecy has become limited. Intelligence in support of decision making has become a far broader domain than previously believed. This paper investigates the degree of intelligence embedded‐ness across government agencies and departments at the federal, state and local levels. Findings reveal that in excess of 75 discrete intelligence capabilities were identified, categorized by theme before being stratified into a three tier hierarchal intelligence domain map. Many of these categories were not in support of national security per se, but rather in support of broader government decision making