Ecological fire regimes for the recovery and management of threatened small mammals in southern Australia

The application of fire to fauna management, particularly for endangered species, is a significant issue for wildlife managers. Mammals respond to fire regimes including intensity, frequency and season of occurrence, and changes in fire-regimes are implicated in detrimental effects on mammal communities. For many species temporal habitat change is a key factor affecting the persistence of populations. These species require the option of colonising the shifting habitat mosaic. There is substantial evidence that species such as the native rodents New Holland Mouse (Pseudomys novaehollandiae) and Heath Rat (Pseudomys shortridgei) are early successional species dependent on such temporal habitat changes. In conrast species such as the dasyurid marsupial, Swamp Antechinus (Antechinus minimus) are late successional species, which may take up to 20 years to recolonise. In many situations ecological fire regimes need to be implemented to increase areas of suitable habitat for population expansion and reintroductions. This paper assesses research findings and the development of management actions incorporating ecological fire regimes for the recovery of Pseudomyine rodents and the Swamp Antechinus. Spatially explicit models are required to determine changes and patterns at the landscape level. The prospect of global climate change also is of significance and needs to be assessed.

No smoke without fire : Benedict XVI and true liturgical reform

I read the recent comments on Pope Paul VI and the 'smoke of Satan' (July AD2000) with interest not long after I had finished re-reading the massive work by the late Archbishop Annibale Bugnini, generally considered to be the main architect of the liturgical reforms prior to, during, and after Vatican II.

Trial by fire

Victoria is facing its driest summer for nearly one hundred years, with conditions worse than in 1983 when the state was swept by the devastating Ash Wednesday bushfires. The fires were particularly fierce in Mount Macedon in central Victoria, and the Woodend Fire Brigade is in the front line of the struggle to avoid a repeat of Ash Wednesday. Trial by Fire follows this brigade as they do all that they can to keep their community safe from the devastation of the fires.

Academic assessment of arts management journals: a multidimensional rating survey

The authors report the results of a journal rating survey assessing 14 publications dedicated to arts management and related topics. Establishing a rating scheme for journals is an important step in the professionalization of an academic field. The authors argue that the development of a rating system in arts management is in the best interests of the discipline. Academics used weighted multidimensional perceptual ratings to evaluate each journal’s prestige, contribution to theory, contribution to practice and contribution to teaching. Cluster analysis using these four criteria identified three classes of journals: A, B+ and B. The setting of standards serves to identify quality goals for academics and journal editors alike, thus enhancing the standing of arts management as a subdiscipline of management.

Quality of occupational health provision: two rating scales and their determinants

Background To develop quality scales for occupational health services (OHSs) and describe and explain variation in quality across the UK university sector.

Methods Analysis of data from a national survey, to which 93 of 117 (79%) UK universities responded, and from the Higher Education Statistics Agency. Two quality scales were generated, one from the 1985 International Labour Organization recommendations on OHSs and one from clinicians’ perceptions (good, adequate, poor) about their OHS. The determinants examined were number of university staff, type of OHS (in-house, contracted, none/other), number of full-time equivalent occupational health doctors and nurses and OHS leadership (doctor, nurse, other).

Results There was wide variation in quality and a correlation (r = 0.65) between scales. In-house service, increasing service size and leadership by a doctor or nurse were determinants of higher quality; size of the university was not statistically significant after taking account of these factors.

Conclusions Some university OHSs may not be structured or operated to promote the highest quality of service. Inspection of individual quality scale items may be informative. These scales may be applicable in other employment sectors.

The bipolar depression rating scale (BDRS) : its development, validation and utility

Objectives: Unipolar and bipolar depression differ neurobiologically and in clinical presentation. Existing depression rating instruments, used in bipolar depression, fail to capture the necessary phenomenological nuances, as they are based on and skewed towards the characteristics of unipolar depression. Both clinically and in research there is a growing need for a new observer-rated scale that is specifically designed to assess bipolar depression.

Methods: An instrument reflecting the characteristics of bipolar depression was drafted by the authors, and administered to 122 participants aged 18–65 (44 males and 78 females) with a diagnosis of DSM-IV bipolar disorder, who were currently experiencing symptoms of depression. The Bipolar Depression Rating Scale (BDRS) was administered together with the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS).

Results: The BDRS has strong internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.917), and robust correlation coefficients with the MADRS (r = 0.906) and HAM-D (r = 0.744), and the mixed subscale correlated with the YMRS (r = 0.757). Exploratory factor analysis showed a three-factor solution gave the best account of the data. These factors corresponded to depression (somatic), depression (psychological) and mixed symptom clusters.

Conclusions: This study provides evidence for the validity of the BDRS for the measurement of depression in bipolar disorder. These results suggest good internal validity, provisional evidence of inter-rater reliability and strong correlations with other depression rating scales.