Habitat use by five sympatric Australian freshwater crayfish species (Parastacidae)

1. The Grampians National Park in Victoria is a 'hot spot' for freshwater crayfish diversity, with seven species from six genera occurring in sympatry. Few studies have examined how multiple species of freshwater crayfish co-exist across landscapes consisting of a mosaic of perennial and seasonal habitats. Despite their endemicity and likely key role in freshwaters, the ecology and biology of these crayfish remains unknown.

2. This study determined the distribution and habitat use of five crayfish species (Euastacus bispinosus, Cherax destructor, Geocharax falcata, Gramastacus insolitus and Engaeus lyelli). Seasonal sampling surveys ascertained whether crayfish distribution was related to habitat type, environmental or physicochemical variables, catchment or season.

3. Distribution was directly related to habitat type and the environmental and physicochemical variables that characterised habitats. Engaeus lyelli, G. falcata and G. insolitus occurred predominantly in floodplain wetlands and flooded vegetation habitats, E. bispinosus occurred only in flowing soft-sediment channels and C. destructor was found in all catchments and habitat types studied. Gramastacus insolitus co-occurred with G. falcata at all sites except two, so no distinct habitat separations were apparent for these two species.

4. A high percentage cover of boulders was the best indicator of crayfish absence, and discriminated between habitat types and crayfish species: it was probably a surrogate for a larger range of environmental and physicochemical variables. Catchment and season did not affect crayfish distribution.

5. These crayfish species varied in their degree of habitat specialisation from strongly generalist (C. destructor) to occupying only a specific habitat type (E. bispinosus). Some species appeared specialised for seasonal wetlands (G. insolitus and G. falcata). Overlap in site occupancy also varied: G. insolitus and G. falcata distributions were strongly associated, whereas C. destructor appeared to occur opportunistically across habitats, both alone and co-occurring with all the other species.

6. Management strategies to conserve multiple species of crayfish co-existing within landscapes will need to incorporate a range of perennial and seasonal habitat types to ensure sufficient space is available for species to maintain different occupancy patterns. Given that water resources are under increasing pressure and are strongly regulated within the Grampians National Park, this may present a conservation challenge to water managers in this location.

From what we know to how we use it : five principles for turning entrepreneurship research and practitioner action guidelines

This and the companion paper that follows owe their existence to a paper presented by Kevin Hindle at the AGSE Regional Entrepreneurship and Innovation Research Exchange in February 2004. In his paper, Hindle (2004) argued passionately that entrepreneurship researchers must ensure that the best of their hardwon wisdom does not find its beginning motivation and final resting place in the pages of arcane journals that practitioners never read. He suggested that if every entrepreneurship researcher committed, say once every two years, to write a "how to" article it would significantly enhance the status of the research community in the eyes of practising entrepreneurs and those who provide support and services to them.

The argument was well-received, particularly by two people in the audience, Robert Anderson, the managing editor of the Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, the journal of the Canadian Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship/Conseil Canadien des PME et de l'entrepreneuriat (CCSBE/ CCPME), and Brian Gibson, the editor of Small Enterprise Research, the journal of the Small Enterprise Association of Australia and New Zealand (SEAANZ). For both editors, Hindle's argument was a familiar one. The membership of CCSBE/CCPME and SEAANZ consists of academic researchers, educators, government employees in both policy and program areas, and those offering support and services to entrepreneurs and the managers of small enterprises. In both organizations, there is a general consensus that the needs of "academics" are well met, but not so the needs of the non-academic constituents.

Assessing the efficacy and standardization potential of five competing venture capital investment evaluation approaches

The research objective behind this article was to perform a critical evaluation and comparison of five representative business plan evaluation aids (BPEAs) to facilitate constructive discussion of the proposition that greater standardization of venture capital decision-making might be both desirable and possible. The five BPEAs were systematically compared using a structured, taxonomic process. The evidence of this investigation suggests a clear superiority of BPEAs that are based on the researched attributes of successful ventures and use actuarial modeling. Discussion centered on the importance of using BPEAs in a quest for greater consistency during venture capital investment decision-making.

Extreme surfing : personal and psychological aspects of big wave riders

This qualitative study investigated personal and psychological aspects of big wave riders. A cross-sectional design with non probability purposive sampling was used to gain personal interviews with 32 elite surfers who regularly ride big, life threatening waves. Each athlete was asked three open questions: 1. What do you think are the most important qualities and attributes a surfer needs for riding big waves? 2. What type of mindset is best for riding big waves?, and 3.What motivates you to ride big waves? Content analysis of the taped interview transcripts revealed seven key qualities and attributes including having a thrill seeking, confident and goal oriented personality, a high level of mental strength and control, and an intimate relationship with the ocean. The best mindset included an individually defined arousal level, a committed attitude, and a simple, yet highly aware, focus. Motivations were primarily intrinsic, though drives indicative of a behavioral addiction to the act of riding big waves also emerged. Evidence of common developmental stages for riding big waves also arose from the interviews. Optimal mental approach and preparation techniques are discussed that will enable big wave riders, and other extreme athletes, to more safely and successfully manage extreme situations.

Inclusive schooling : contexts, texts and politics

The title ‘Inclusive schooling: contexts, texts and politics’, names a thesis which critically analyses the development of inclusive schooling in the small Australian Island state of Tasmania between 1996 and 1998. The ‘Inclusion of Students with Disabilities’ policy, introduced in 1995 by the Tasmanian Department of Education, Community and Cultural Development, provides an opportunity to understand the cultural context and politics of change in schooling over this period. The qualitative methodology deployed here is informed by poststructuralism and captures the everyday experiences of university teaching as a research site. The teacher/researcher as the visible maker of the research use metaphors of fibre and textile practice, techniques of textual juxtaposition and her positioned subjectivity as a female academic to tell a 'big story'. The researcher develops a 'double method' as a possible model for Inclusive research practice and educational policy analysis. Using a critical ethnographic method, derived from the work of Carspecken (1996), 'data stories' (Lather & Smithies 1997, p.34) are produced from the narratives of five key informants – a parent, two teachers, a policy-maker and the researcher. Assembled as the data of the thesis the multi-voiced texts provide an account of the sociocultural, professional and systemic context of Inclusive schooling over a three-year period. In the analysis these data are interpreted from a feminist poststructural standpoint. A deconstructuive reading of the data stories interprets the discourse of inclusive schooling emphasising the dominant foundation of the special education knowledge tradition. The idea of author function (after Foucault 1975, 1984b and Grundy and Hatton 1995) is used to interpret the 'texts' of the key Informants as discursive constructions. The researcher theorises inclusive schooling as an entangled, multiple and contradictory discourse, embedded in the social, cultural and material contexts, rather than a singular unitary Idea of the progress within the special education knowledge tradition. The study contributes a fine-grained analysis of the constructed knowledge of inclusive schooling in one locality. The thesis advocates continuing engagement with questions of epistemology and social transformation in inclusive schooling, rather than persisting with technical rationality and the status quo. The researcher takes the position that the opportunities to theorise inclusive schooling lie within the multiple and disparate constructed texts of the micro world of everyday practice and the macro understanding of understandings of contemporary social justice. The poststructuralist writing/reading questions traditionalist theorising in the special education field. Central to the negotiations of power and truth inclusive schooling research and practice is a communicative theory that transforms populist conceptions of inclusion.

Pulling schools up by their bootstraps : the case of a government intervention to raise standards in five 'under-performing' schools

This paper canvasses a school improvement intervention instigated by a government education department to raise the student achievement results of five schools in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne. The paper discusses the theory base of the intervention and the outcomes of its first stage which involved a preliminary survey of all students, teachers, assistant principals and principals from the schools involved. The survey results reveal discrepancies of opinions, perceptions, interests and ideas within these key groups. Future plans are discussed in light of both the findings from the first round of theory-building and other pertinent research concerning improving student learning outcomes.

Linear-motor based five-axis parallel machine for effective material processing

The aim of the work was to reduce the cost and improve the performance of five-axis machines. The main performance criteria were motion cycle-time and positioning accuracy/precision. A novel machine that utilizes the concept of parallel-kinematics and linear motor technology is proposed, designed, built and controlled for this sake.

Conquering and coping with the "Big C" : a phenomenological study of exceptional cancer survivorship

A study of the healing journeys of cancer survivors. The research questions were: "Do cancer survivors have anything in common?" "Is there such a phenomenon as cancer survivorship?" Ten exceptional survivors were interviewed in depth and their stories were analysed for themes. These themes were Overcoming issues of commitment, challenge, control, caring and confidence. The thesis also explores the issues of obstacles to survivorship. These were couses, costs and controversies. The conclusion is that healing journeys will never be prescriptive but that they will always be possible.

Aborigines and the criminal law in South Australia : the first twenty five years

After considering relevant events and cases the conclusion is reached that South Australian Aborigines were not in any practical sense equal before the law at any time during the period 1836-1862, despite considerable efforts by individual government and court officials.