Compensation covenants for mining activities run with the land : a win for successive landowners

The Queensland Supreme Court case of Cape Flattery Silica Mines Pty Ltd v Hope Vale Aboriginal Shire Council [2012] QSC 381 provides guidance on the long-term ramifications of compensation agreements for mining activities. The central issue considered by the Court was whether compensation payments relate to land and run with the land pursuant to s 53(1) of the Property Law Act.

Accuracy and functional variability in elite and developing fast bowlers

Objectives The relationship between performance variability and accuracy in cricket fast bowlers of different skill levels under three different task conditions was investigated. Bowlers of different skill levels were examined to observe if they could adapt movement patterns to maintain performance accuracy on a bowling skills test. Design 8 national, 12 emerging and 12 junior pace bowlers completed an adapted version of the Cricket Australia bowling skills test, in which they performed 30 trials involving short (n = 10), good (n = 10), and full (n = 10) length deliveries. Methods Bowling accuracy was recorded by digitising ball position relative to the centre of a target. Performance measures were mean radial error (accuracy), variable error (consistency), centroid error (bias), bowling score and ball speed. Radial error changes across the duration of the skills test were used to record accuracy adjustment in subsequent deliveries. Results Elite fast bowlers performed better in speed, accuracy, and test scores than developing athletes. Bowlers who were less variable were also more accurate across all delivery lengths. National and emerging bowlers were able to adapt subsequent performance trials within the same bowling session for short length deliveries. Conclusions Accuracy and adaptive variability were key components of elite performance in fast bowling which improved with skill level. In this study, only national elite bowlers showed requisite levels of adaptive variability to bowl a range of lengths to different pitch locations.

Issues in negotiating a Carbon Sequestration Agreement for a Biosequestration Offsets Project

Biosequestration of carbon in trees, forests and vegetation is a key method for offsetting greenhouse gas emissions. To facilitate it, the Commonwealth has introduced the Carbon Farming Initiative, a scheme whereby carbon credits can be earned for biosequestration offsets projects. The project proponent must acquire under state law a ‘carbon sequestration right’ which confers the benefit of the sequestered carbon on the land. Each State provides for an agreement associated with the carbon sequestration right between the landowner and the holder of the right (‘carbon sequestration agreement’). This article identifies some key risks and issues that must be considered in the drafting of a carbon sequestration agreement to support the successful operation of a biosequestration offsets project.

Conserved and variable features of gag structure and arrangement in immature retrovirus particles

The assembly of retroviruses is driven by oligomerization of the Gag polyprotein. We have used cryo-electron tomography together with subtomogram averaging to describe the three-dimensional structure of in vitro-assembled Gag particles from human immunodeficiency virus, Mason-Pfizer monkey virus, and Rous sarcoma virus. These represent three different retroviral genera: the lentiviruses, betaretroviruses and alpharetroviruses. Comparison of the three structures reveals the features of the supramolecular organization of Gag that are conserved between genera and therefore reflect general principles of Gag-Gag interactions and the features that are specific to certain genera. All three Gag proteins assemble to form approximately spherical hexameric lattices with irregular defects. In all three genera, the N-terminal domain of CA is arranged in hexameric rings around large holes. Where the rings meet, 2-fold densities, assigned to the C-terminal domain of CA, extend between adjacent rings, and link together at the 6-fold symmetry axis with a density, which extends toward the center of the particle into the nucleic acid layer. Although this general arrangement is conserved, differences can be seen throughout the CA and spacer peptide regions. These differences can be related to sequence differences among the genera. We conclude that the arrangement of the structural domains of CA is well conserved across genera, whereas the relationship between CA, the spacer peptide region, and the nucleic acid is more specific to each genus.

A Summative Evaluation of the Stronger Smarter Learning Communities Project : Vol 1 and Vol 2

This is a summative evaluation of the Stronger Smarter Learning Communities (SSLC) project that examines whether and how the SSLC project had an impact on Australian state schools which adopted its models and approaches. Drawing from qualitative and quantitative data sets, it also presents the largest scale and most comprehensive analysis of Indigenous education practices and outcomes to date. It includes empirical findings on: success in changing school ethos and community engagement; challenges in progress at closure of the 'gap' in conventionally measured achievement and performance; schools' and principals' choices in curriculum and instruction; profiles of teachers' and principals' training and views on teacher education; and a strong emphasis on community and school Indigenoous voices and views on Indigenous education.

Teaching journalism students how to tell Indigenous stories in an informed way : a work integrated learning approach

Australian journalism schools are full of students who have never met an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island person and who do not know their history. Journalism educators are ill-equipped to redress this imbalance as a large majority are themselves non-Indigenous and many have had little or no experience with the coverage of Indigenous issues or knowledge of Indigenous affairs. Such a situation calls for educational approaches that can overcome these disadvantages and empower journalism graduates to move beyond the stereotypes that characterize the representation of Indigenous people in the mainstream media. This article will explore three different courses in three Australian tertiary journalism education institutions, which use Work-Integrated Learning Approaches to instil the cultural competencies necessary to encourage a more informed reporting of Indigenous issues. The findings from the three projects illustrate the importance of adopting a collaborative approach by industry, the Indigenous community and educators to encourage students’ commitment to quality journalism practices when covering Indigenous issues.

Normanton2020

Normanton2020 This exhibition showcases the work of 3rd -4th year undergraduate landscape architecture, architecture, Interior Design, Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering students in response to issues of sustainability in the Gulf of Carpentaria town of Normanton. 16 students and four staff set off on a 2488km journey to undertake the second half of the Carpentaria Project (following Linking Karumba: Creating Sustainable Connections 2008), in the other Carpentaria Shire town of Normanton. This project, Get EnGulfed: Normanton 2020, looked back and forwards to propose strategies strengthening local and regional identities. Our project partners recognised the need for a strategic approach to developing future visions for Normanton’s growth as a socially, culturally, economically and ecologically sustainable town in the decade to 2020. They proposed: Project aims to foster: • Enhanced liveability; • A strengthened expression of town identity; • Expanded sustainable tourism. Primary challenges & opportunities: • Remoteness; • Two seasons: wet & dry; • Local economy; • Society and Cultural Heritage. The Exhibition Four groups of four students produced four strategic planning and design options toward this future: Mud Maps of Normanton: Rhys Belnap, AJ Humphries, Amos Shirreff, Haiku Van Keuk Normanton: Stay Another Day: Belle Dalton, Tom Jordan, Josh Nielsen, Carla Ramsland The Sweet Spot on the Savannah Way: Daniel Lapham, Yvonne Phillips, Patrick Poon, Dan Young Resilience Through Diversity: Jillian Kenny, Tania Metcher, Stephen Orr, Evan Thompson

Get EnGulfed: Normanton2020

Get EnGulfed: Normanton2020 This exhibition showcases the work of 3rd -4th year undergraduate landscape architecture, architecture, Interior Design, Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering students in response to issues of sustainability in the Gulf of Carpentaria town of Normanton. It presented the work to QUT staff from across the university, as well as industry partners and invited guests. 16 students and four staff set off on a 2488km journey to undertake the second half of the Carpentaria Project (following Linking Karumba: Creating Sustainable Connections 2008), in the other Carpentaria Shire town of Normanton. This project, Get EnGulfed: Normanton 2020, looked back and forwards to propose strategies strengthening local and regional identities. Our project partners recognised the need for a strategic approach to developing future visions for Normanton’s growth as a socially, culturally, economically and ecologically sustainable town in the decade to 2020. They proposed: Project aims to foster: • Enhanced liveability; • A strengthened expression of town identity; • Expanded sustainable tourism. • Primary challenges & opportunities: • Remoteness; • Two seasons: wet & dry; • Local economy; • Society and Cultural Heritage. The Exhibition Four groups of four students produced four strategic planning and design options toward this future: Mud Maps of Normanton: Rhys Belnap, AJ Humphries, Amos Shirreff, Haiku Van Keuk Normanton: Stay Another Day: Belle Dalton, Tom Jordan, Josh Nielsen, Carla Ramsland The Sweet Spot on the Savannah Way: Daniel Lapham, Yvonne Phillips, Patrick Poon, Dan Young Resilience Through Diversity: Jillian Kenny, Tania Metcher, Stephen Orr, Evan Thompson

Inferring kangaroo phylogeny from incongruent nuclear and mitochondrial genes

The marsupial genus Macropus includes three subgenera, the familiar large grazing kangaroos and wallaroos of M. (Macropus) and M. (Osphranter), as well as the smaller mixed grazing/browsing wallabies of M. (Notamacropus). A recent study of five concatenated nuclear genes recommended subsuming the predominantly browsing Wallabia bicolor (swamp wallaby) into Macropus. To further examine this proposal we sequenced partial mitochondrial genomes for kangaroos and wallabies. These sequences strongly favour the morphological placement of W. bicolor as sister to Macropus, although place M. irma (black-gloved wallaby) within M. (Osphranter) rather than as expected, with M. (Notamacropus). Species tree estimation from separately analysed mitochondrial and nuclear genes favours retaining Macropus and Wallabia as separate genera. A simulation study finds that incomplete lineage sorting among nuclear genes is a plausible explanation for incongruence with the mitochondrial placement of W. bicolor, while mitochondrial introgression from a wallaroo into M. irma is the deepest such event identified in marsupials. Similar such coalescent simulations for interpreting gene tree conflicts will increase in both relevance and statistical power as species-level phylogenetics enters the genomic age. Ecological considerations in turn, hint at a role for selection in accelerating the fixation of introgressed or incompletely sorted loci. More generally the inclusion of the mitochondrial sequences substantially enhanced phylogenetic resolution. However, we caution that the evolutionary dynamics that enhance mitochondria as speciation indicators in the presence of incomplete lineage sorting may also render them especially susceptible to introgression.

The rise of birds and mammals: are microevolutionary processes sufficient for macroevolution?

It is a basis of darwinian evolution that the microevolutionary mechanisms that can be studied in the present are sufficient to account for macroevolution. However, this idea needs to be tested explicitly, as highlighted here by the example of the superceding of dinosaurs and pterosaurs by birds and placental mammals that occurred near the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary approximately 65 million years ago. A major problem for testing the sufficiency of microevolutionary processes is that independent ideas (such as the existence of an extraterrestrial impact, and the extinction of dinosaurs) were linked without the evidence for each idea being evaluated separately. Here, we suggest and discuss five testable models for the times and divergences of modern mammals and birds. Determination of the model that best represents these events will enable the role of microevolutionary mechanisms to be evaluated. The question of the sufficiency of microevolutionary processes for macroevolution is solvable, and available evidence supports an important role for biological processes in the initial decline of dinosaurs and pterosaurs.

Genome-scale phylogeny and the detection of systematic biases

Phylogenetic inference from sequences can be misled by both sampling (stochastic) error and systematic error (nonhistorical signals where reality differs from our simplified models). A recent study of eight yeast species using 106 concatenated genes from complete genomes showed that even small internal edges of a tree received 100% bootstrap support. This effective negation of stochastic error from large data sets is important, but longer sequences exacerbate the potential for biases (systematic error) to be positively misleading. Indeed, when we analyzed the same data set using minimum evolution optimality criteria, an alternative tree received 100% bootstrap support. We identified a compositional bias as responsible for this inconsistency and showed that it is reduced effectively by coding the nucleotides as purines and pyrimidines (RY-coding), reinforcing the original tree. Thus, a comprehensive exploration of potential systematic biases is still required, even though genome-scale data sets greatly reduce sampling error.

Four new avian mitochondrial genomes help get to basic evolutionary questions in the late cretaceous

Good phylogenetic trees are required to test hypotheses about evolutionary processes. We report four new avian mitochondrial genomes, which together with an improved method of phylogenetic analysis for vertebrate mt genomes give results for three questions in avian evolution. The new mt genomes are: magpie goose (Anseranas semipalmata), an owl (morepork, Ninox novaeseelandiae); a basal passerine (rifleman, or New Zealand wren, Acanthisitta chloris); and a parrot (kakapo or owl-parrot, Strigops habroptilus). The magpie goose provides an important new calibration point for avian evolution because the well-studied Presbyornis fossils are on the lineage to ducks and geese, after the separation of the magpie goose. We find, as with other animal mitochondrial genomes, that RY-coding is helpful in adjusting for biases between pyrimidines and between purines. When RY-coding is used at third positions of the codon, the root occurs between paleognath and neognath birds (as expected from morphological and nuclear data). In addition, passerines form a relatively old group in Neoaves, and many modern avian lineages diverged during the Cretaceous. Although many aspects of the avian tree are stable, additional taxon sampling is required.

A description of the Mei2-like protein family; structure, phylogenetic distribution and biological context

The Schizosaccharomyces pombe Mei2 gene encodes an RNA recognition motif (RRM) protein that stimulates meiosis upon binding a specific non-coding RNA and subsequent accumulation in a “mei2-dot” in the nucleus. We present here the first systematic characterization of the family of proteins with characteristic Mei2-like amino acid sequences. Mei2-like proteins are an ancient eukaryotic protein family with three identifiable RRMs. The C-terminal RRM (RRM3) is unique to Mei2-like proteins and is the most highly conserved of the three RRMs. RRM3 also contains conserved sequence elements at its C-terminus not found in other RRM domains. Single copy Mei2-like genes are present in some fungi, in alveolates such as Paramecium and in the early branching eukaryote Entamoeba histolytica, while plants contain small families of Mei2-like genes. While the C-terminal RRM is highly conserved between plants and fungi, indicating conservation of molecular mechanisms, plant Mei2-like genes have changed biological context to regulate various aspects of developmental pattern formation.

An illustrated history of settlement

Poem

From rights to responsibilities : reconceptualising carbon sequestration rights in Australia

Biosequestration of carbon in trees, forests and vegetation is a key method for mitigating climate change in Australia. To facilitate this, all States have enacted legislation for carbon sequestration rights, separating commercial rights in carbon from ownership of the land, trees and vegetation in which the carbon is sequestered. Ownership of carbon sequestration rights under state law is a prerequisite for the issue of carbon credits to proponents of ‘eligible sequestration offsets projects’ under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011 (Cth) (‘Carbon Farming Act’). This article examines the extent to which current State carbon sequestration rights support the offsets regime established by the Carbon Farming Act. The Commonwealth Act is concerned with allocating responsibilities to ensure the maintenance of the carbon sequestration, while the State Acts confer commercial rights in the carbon and leave the responsibilities to be allocated by private agreements. The carbon sequestration rights as defined by state laws do not confer the rights of access and management over land that a project proponent needs in order to discharge its responsibilities to maintain the carbon sequestration.