Search

This paper outlines some of the ways early artefact collecting contributed to the definition of the Australian region now known and marketed as the 'World Heritage Wet Tropics'. While others have collected in this region, we focus on the collecting activities of Hermann Klaatsch and the work of Norman Tindale to explore some factors that contributed to their claims that certain artefacts represent a region and its history. We argue that these understandings of region and the past, along with the now widely dispersed artefacts, maintain a lively, albeit transformed, presence in current debates about Aboriginal regional culture, linking assertions of rights to lost and stolen cultural property with notions of large-scale environmental management within the 'Wet Tropics'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both the colonial encapsulation and post-colonial recognition of North Queensland's Aboriginal population have been achieved through legislative demarcation. This paper explores the way such demarcation has extended the influence of the state within local Aboriginal life-worlds, focusing on the State of Queensland's Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897 and the Commonwealth's Native Title Act 1993. Drawing on ethnographic and historical material from Central Cape York Peninsula, and recent anthropological theorization of the state, I argue that anthropologists need to seriously consider Aboriginal claims about what Michel-Roiph Trouillot calls 'state effects'. But careful examination of these claims suggests that the state no longer simply imposes its projects on fundamentally distinct Aboriginal life-worlds. Not only is the state now deeply engaged within these life-worlds, it is also deeply interwoven into post-colonial Aboriginal subjectivities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interactions between catchment variables and sediment transport processes in rivers are complex, and sediment transport behaviour during high-flow events is not well documented. This paper presents an investigation into sediment transport processes in a short-duration, high-discharge event in the Burdekin River, a large sand- and gravel-bed river in the monsoon- and cyclone-influenced, semi-arid tropics of north Queensland. The Burdekin's discharge is highly variable and strongly seasonal, with a recorded maximum of 40 400 m3 s−1. Sediment was sampled systematically across an 800 m wide, 12 m deep and straight reach using Helley-Smith bedload and US P-61 suspended sediment samplers over 16 days of a 29-day discharge event in February and March 2000 (peak 11 155 m3 s−1). About 3·7 × 106 tonnes of suspended sediment and 3 × 105 tonnes of bedload are estimated to have been transported past the sample site during the flow event. The sediment load was predominantly supply limited. Wash load included clay, silt and very fine sand. The concentration of suspended bed material (including very coarse sand) varied with bedload transport rate, discharge and height above the bed. Bedload transport rate and changes in channel shape were greatest several days after peak discharge. Comparison between these data and sparse published data from other events on this river shows that the control on sediment load varies between supply limited and hydraulically limited transport, and that antecedent weather is an important control on suspended sediment concentration. Neither the empirical relationships widely used to estimate suspended sediment concentrations and bedload (e.g. Ackers & White, 1973) nor observations of sediment transport characteristics in ephemeral streams (e.g. Reid & Frostick, 1987) are directly applicable to this river. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contains a description of a new species of oribatid mite, Birobates hepaticolus sp. nov., from eucalypt woodland and rainforest in North Queensland, Australia. Adults and immatures of B. hepaticolus live completely enclosed within the ventral lobules of the corticolous liverwort Frullania ferdinandi-muelleri Steph. The ventral lobes provide a protected, moisture-buffered microhabitat on tree bark that would otherwise be subject to extremes of wetting and drying. Analysis of gut contents indicates that B. hepaticolus appears to feed on liverwort tissue. To our knowledge this is the first documented example of an association between an oribatid mite and a leafy liverwort based on the provision of food and habitat. The genus Birobates is redefined and diagnosed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the regionalization of rural medical training in North Queensland, Queensland. Essence of medical training in resolving rural medical workforce issues; Importance of the reform in general practice education; Outline of the key principles and characteristics of a successful regional rural medical training system.

Objective: The present study explored the practices of, and perceived barriers to, physical activity of young people living in remote communities in the Torres Strait and Northern Peninsula Area of Far North Queensland. Design and setting: A cross-sectional survey exploring physical activity practices of children attending primary and secondary schools in two communities in the Torres Strait, Far North Queensland. Participants: A total of 367 primary and secondary school-aged children (aged 9–16 years). Main outcome measures: Only 50% of the children reported being active for more than 30 min a day and approximately 25% of both primary and high school children surveyed were ‘pretty much active only at week-ends’. The major barriers cited to being active were related to the climate, lack of equipment and child-specific activities and low self-perception of ability. Conclusions: A large proportion of school students in the Torres Strait and Northern Peninsula Area reported low levels of physical activity. The main barriers cited to being active suggest that structural and family-based strategies are required to help young people, especially girls, to engage in more physical activity. There is also a need for skills and confidence-building activities delivered in a non-competitive environment for those who feel that they lack the necessary skills to participate fully. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women who are diagnosed with gynaecological cancer face a difficult journey. For women residing in areas geographically removed from major health providers the journey can be much more difficult. While they ‘make do’ and ‘struggle on’, their lived experiences can provide valuable insight into the complex issues surrounding a cancer diagnosis in rural areas. This study aimed to understand their experiences through the women's stories and sought to identify the major themes impacting on these stories. This qualitative phenomenological study undertook interviews with seven women with gynaecological cancer who reside in rural and remote north Queensland. Analysis of the data collected revealed three themes: seeking answers at a distance; sharing information within a small community; and experiences of navigating the health system. The results show the inherent difficulties in accessing support in rural areas and the difficulties associated with travelling considerable distances to undergo treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lifetime records of 442 Holstein cows on one farm in North Queensland, Australia, were analysed to evaluate the effects of age at first calving (AFC) and first lactation milk yield on parities per lifetime, longevity, milk yield in subsequent lactations, lifetime milk production and the longevity index (LI), that is the proportion of a cow's life spent in active milk production. The mean daily yield in the first lactation was a reliable indicator of milk yield in subsequent lactations, estimated lifetime production, longevity and LI. The AFC had no effect on lifetime days in milk. Neither the AFC nor the milk yield in the first lactation significantly affected the number of parities per lifetime. For the majority of cows, which produced less than 30 l/day in the first lactation, there was a significant positive relationship between longevity and AFC. However, none of the cows that produced more than 30 l/day in the first lactation survived for more than two lactations. The optimal AFC was thus two to two-and-a-half years, as these cows had the highest first lactation yield, estimated lifetime production and LI. The optimal mean daily yield in the first lactation was 20 to 30 l/day, as these cows lived longer and had a higher LI and lifetime production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To evaluate the clinical signs, results of clinical pathology and serology tests, and treatment outcome of clinical leptospirosis in 40 dogs from North Queensland. Design Retrospective study from January 1995 to August 1999. Procedure Case records were reviewed for age, breed, sex, month of submission, geographical location and presenting clinical signs in 40 dogs with titres of ≥ 200 for leptospirosis by the microscopic agglutination test. A biochemistry panel and complete blood count were performed on 18 dogs. Results Canine leptospirosis occurred most frequently during the summer and autumn particularly in the ‘wet’ tropical coastal areas of Mackay and Cairns. Fewer cases were seen in the Atherton Tablelands and ‘dry’ tropics around Townsville. Young and male dogs were more commonly affected. Most cases were caused by L australis (80%) and L zanoni (15%) with individual cases of L hardjo and L copenhageni. All dogs showed a distinctive multiorgan disease pattern including renal failure and cholestatic hepatopathy. Presenting clinical signs were related to these disease syndromes and included jaundice, vomiting, lethargy, inappetence, dehydration, pyrexia, abdominal pain and diarrhoea. Just over 50% of the dogs in the present study failed to recover. Clinical biochemical changes indicative of renal failure and cholestasis were significantly less severe in dogs that recovered compared with dogs that did not survive. Conclusions Clinical pathology testing should be performed on all dogs presented for illness in the endemic areas so as to help make a presumptive diagnosis and assist in determining the prognosis as soon as possible. The presumptive diagnosis should be confirmed serologically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australian Nymphulinae are a diverse group of moths with aquatic caterpillars that probably play an important role in determining the composition and abundance of aquatic macrophytes in Australian freshwater systems. Less than 10% of the nymphuline larvae in Australia have been described. As part of a project to develop biological control agents for hydrilla, Hydrilla verticillata, we encountered a variety of Nymphulinae larvae feeding on this and other aquatic plants. We illustrate, describe and provide a key to five species of Nymphulinae larvae ( Ambia ptolycusalis (Walker), Parapoynx diminutalis Snellen, Hygraula nitens Butler, Margarosticha repititalis (Warren) and Theila siennata (Warren)) that feed on hydrilla in North Queensland. Information on their host plants also is included. Our field research indicates that none of these species should be considered as potential biological control agents for hydrilla. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dose-response relationship for hepatic 7-ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) induction in barramundi (Lates calcarifer) was examined under controlled laboratory conditions for 15 d using farm-reared barramundi. These results were compared with EROD activity measured in barramundi collected from two rivers catchments (impacted and nonimpacted) in northern Queensland, Australia. Barramundi were dosed by intraperitoneal injection with a known cytochrome P4501A (CYP1A) inducer, β-naphthoflavone (β-NF), at 5, 10, and 50 mg kg-1 using two controls: A vehicle control (corn-oil injected) and an experimental control (no injection). The EROD induction occurred within 4 h in the 5, 10, and 50 mg β-NF kg-1 exposures, reaching mean maximum activities of 88.6 (±51.9), 85.5 (±91.7), and 149.1 (±106.4) pmol min-1 mg protein-1, respectively. Mean EROD activities remained low in the corn-oil controls (2.1 ± 1.8 pmol min-1 mg protein-1) and experimental controls (5.3 ± 4.4 pmol min-1 mg protein-1) throughout the study. Barramundi demonstrated a rapid response curve, which was dose dependent (50 > 10 > 5 mg β-NF kg-1) and decreased progressively over time from induction. Measurement of total cytochrome P450 content (nmol mg protein-1) was not dose dependent. The EROD activities from field-collected barramundi from the Johnstone River (impacted) and Olive River (nonimpacted) suggest exposure to low-level contaminants in the Johnstone River fish only. With more controlled laboratory and field studies, barramundi have the potential to become a major indicator species in assessing exposure to environmental contaminants in coastal areas throughout northern Queensland, Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis the annual obstetric audit data collected over the decade 1991-2000 from the Atherton Hospital in North Queensland. Evidences of safe obstetric practice; Result of statistical analysis on hospital obstetric patients; Observation of a trend in the number of obstetric cases.

Examines the effects of tree clearing and pasture establishment on a population of mound-building termites in North Queensland, Queensland. Predominant component for each harvester termite species; Dietary preference of termite colonies; Influence of grazing cattle on the termite population.

Describes freeze coring as a method of collecting unconsolidated lake sediments in North Queensland. Rationale behind freezing the in situ sediment to the outer surface of an aluminum tube; Method of recovering the core from the sampler; Advantage of using a pressure-release valve over a rubber glove or polythene bag.

Analyzes the foraging ecology of conspicuous species of birds in lowland tropical rainforest at Lacey's Creek, North Queensland. Measurement of the species degree of specialization with respect to height of foraging; Recognition of different categories of foraging behavior; Combination of the data on foraging height and site.