The blowfly Chrysomya latifrons inhabits fragmented rainforests, but lacks genetic diversity and population structure

Climate change and deforestation are causing rainforests to become increasingly fragmented, placing them at heightened risk of biodiversity loss. Invertebrates constitute the greatest proportion of this biodiversity, yet we lack basic knowledge of their population structure and ecology. It is not currently feasible to assess the population structure of every invertebrate species, so there is a compelling need to identify indicator species that are broadly indicative of habitat-level patterns and processes. Blowflies are an ideal candidate, because they are widespread, abundant, and can be easily collected within rainforests. Here, we present the first study of the blowfly Chrysomya latifrons , which is endemic to the rainforests of New South Wales, Australia. We genotyped 188 flies from 15 isolated rainforests and found low overall genetic diversity and a complete lack of genetic structure between populations, suggesting the presence of a single large panmictic population along 1,000 km of the Australian east coast. This highlights that: (1) Ch. latifrons inhabits every rainforest in NSW and undoubtedly plays an important role in these ecosystems, but low genetic diversity may cause it to struggle to adapt to a changing climate; (2) strongly dispersing insects have the capacity to migrate between isolated rainforests, likely carrying pollen, parasites, phoronts, and pathogens with them to form crucial trophic networks; and (3) there is an urgent need for similar studies on poorly dispersing rainforest insects, as these may be the most fragmented and at highest risk of local extinction.

Dealing With Radicalised Youth Offenders: The Development and Implementation of a Youth-Specific Framework

Background: In 2018 in the Australian State of New South Wales, a specialist Countering Violent Extremism Unit was established in the youth criminal justice system. This was in direct response to a number of youth below the age of 18 who have been charged for terrorism offences and identified as involved in violent extremist acts. This youth-specific framework was the first of its kind in Australia. It was designed to provide multidisciplinary practitioner-based approaches for the early-identification, diversion, and disengagement of at-risk and radicalised youth offenders.Aims: This paper will explore the experiences and lessons learned by the Youth Justice New South Wales Countering Violent Extremism Unit. It will discuss the relevance of youth radicalisation within Australia's evolving national security climate. This includes emerging trends in relation to youth radicalisation to varied violent extremist ideologies. This paper will explore the specialist approach adopted for preventing and countering violent extremism through the identification, assessment, and case management of at-risk and radicalised youth offenders.Implications: The Youth Justice New South Wales experience indicates that youth criminal justice settings can be designed to tackle the challenges posed by at-risk and radicalised youth. The practitioner experience canvassed in this paper highlights that a pluralistic and non-punitive approach to supervision, client-focused assessment and case management processes, and widespread resourcing of multidisciplinary practitioners and programs can be used to account for developmental and psychosocial vulnerabilities in addition to violent extremism risk factors amongst youth offenders. These approaches should be supplemented by youth-specific countering violent extremism practitioner expertise, and a range of violent extremism case management and risk assessment measures.

Pressure, compromise and overwork: How Australian regional journalists gain job satisfaction through community service

In a time of enormous change in the Australian news media industry – with outlet closures, redesign of company business models, rationalization of staff and shifts in medium uptake – this article explores journalists’ exposure to and perceptions of work pressures in their jobs. It explores the relationship of these experiences with the journalists’ job satisfaction. The study reports that journalists find the industry difficult and demanding, with time pressures, ethical compromise and overwork being their main concerns. However, the study also found that journalists still derive satisfaction from a profession they perceive as meaningful through informing their communities about matters that affect their decision making and how they live. This passion for community service alongside the notion of holding authority to account result in a sense of overarching job satisfaction. This article presents part of a study that investigated the experience of journalists in remote and regional media organizations in Queensland and New South Wales through survey and interviews.

PREFACE

This year the event of the Joint Geospatial Asia-Europe 2021 and GeoAdvances 2021 was held virtually from Casablanca, Morocco from 5 to 6th October. Sixty-two papers were received and 46 papers were accepted for the ISPRS International Archives. These papers could be categorized into three sub-disciplines – GIS, Geomatics, and Geo-computation (machine learning and applications). All accepted papers as revealed in this proceedings and presented at the conference. Several renowned researchers presented their works as keynotes, they are Prof Dr Peter van Oosterom (from TU Delft, the Netherlands), Prof Dr Volker Coors (from HfT Stuttgart, Germany), Dr Filip Biljecli (from National University of Singapore), Prof Dr Hassan Rhinane (from Hassan II University Casablanca, Morocco), Prof Dr Umit Isikdag (from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Turkey), Assoc Prof Dr Gurcan Buyuksalih (Istanbul, Turkey), Prof Dr Sisi Zlatanova (from University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia), Assoc Prof Dr Lars Bodum (Aalborg University, Denmark), Prof Dr Andreas Buerkert (from University of Kassel, Germany). Presentations from Invited Speakers from various universities and research institutes from Philippines, Malaysia, Poland, Switzerland, Qatar, Indonesia, and Germany enhanced the conference academic standing.We would like to thank all reviewers for their diligent works on the feedbacks and comments on the assigned papers.Last, but not least, gratitude to all the volunteers mainly our research students for making sure all the online system runs smoothly.Enjoy!

The Crown land accounting dilemma in New South Wales local government

PurposeThe paper addresses the question of whether Crown land managed by local authorities in the New South Wales (NSW) local government system should be recognised as assets on municipal balance sheets.Design/methodology/approachThe paper provides a synoptic review of the literature on accounting for public goods assets followed by a critical analysis of the official requirements of the NSW government on the recognition of Crown land.FindingsThe NSW government holds that Crown land managed by local councils should be recognised as an asset on council books. However, following an assessment of the problem through the analytical prism of financial accounting, it is argued that councils do not possess control over Crown land and that such land should thus not be recognised by councils.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper covers the legal and accounting framework applicable to NSW local government. However, it has broader implications for other local government systems with similar institutional and legislative foundations, such as other Australian states, New Zealand and South Africa, and these implications are highlighted in the paper.Practical implicationsIt is argued that NSW government policymakers should re-consider the requirement for Crown land to be recognised on councils' books. Local authorities would then be able to save money and time on external auditing, management of land asset registers and the mandatory valuation of land.Originality/valueAlthough Crown land shares some of the characteristics of other public good assets, unique accounting challenges arise due to the existence of a market in which such land could be traded not by councils, but by its legal owner (the Crown). In financial accounting, legal ownership is not considered as the main criterion over assets. However, the authors argue that for Crown land vested with councils, it becomes a critical factor in decision making.

Source attribution of salmonellosis by time and geography in New South Wales, Australia

Background Salmonella is a major cause of zoonotic illness around the world, arising from direct or indirect contact with a range of animal reservoirs. In the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), salmonellosis is believed to be primarily foodborne, but the relative contribution of animal reservoirs is unknown. Methods The analysis included 4543 serotyped isolates from animal reservoirs and 30,073 serotyped isolates from domestically acquired human cases in NSW between January 2008 and August 2019. We used a Bayesian source attribution methodology to estimate the proportion of foodborne Salmonella infections attributable to broiler chickens, layer chickens, ruminants, pigs, and an unknown or unsampled source. Additional analyses included covariates for four time periods and five levels of rurality. Results A single serotype, S. Typhimurium, accounted for 65–75% of included cases during 2008–2014 but < 50% during 2017–2019. Attribution to layer chickens was highest during 2008–2010 (48.7%, 95% CrI 24.2–70.3%) but halved by 2017–2019 (23.1%, 95% CrI 5.7–38.9%) and was lower in the rural and remote populations than in the majority urban population. The proportion of cases attributed to the unsampled source was 11.3% (95% CrI 1.2%–22.1%) overall, but higher in rural and remote populations. The proportion of cases attributed to pork increased from approximately 20% in 2009–2016 to approximately 40% in 2017–2019, coinciding with a rise in cases due to Salmonella ser. 4,5,12:i:-. Conclusion Layer chickens were likely the primary reservoir of domestically acquired Salmonella infections in NSW circa 2010, but attribution to the source declined contemporaneously with increased vaccination of layer flocks and tighter food safety regulations for the handling of eggs.