Conversion of large areas of native eucalypt forest to exotic conifer plantations in south-eastern Australia has met with considerable criticism from people and organizations outside the forestry ...industry. The effect on wildlife has been a particularly contentious issue.
Recent research has shown that conifer plantations are not so-called biological deserts, but rather, simplified ecosystems designed to maximize wood production, which lack certain of the species of mammals, birds and plants present in mature native forest communities. Species numbers and population densities vary with stand age and the structural complexity of the vegetation, and particularly with the presence or absence of areas of native forest within or alongside the plantation.
Consideration is given to the formulation of management policies for conifer plantations, commensurate with wildlife conservation. The application of the equilibrium theory of island biogeography for the design of retained areas of native forest within a plantation is discussed. It is concluded that for optimizing wildlife conservation plantation management should be directed towards the establishment of pine stands with interconnecting areas of retained native forest throughout and alongside the plantation. Such plantation complexes would need to be managed on a compartmentalized basis if wildlife conservation and softwood forestry are to be reconciled.
Wishing Won't Make It So Gil Friend, Pamela Gordon and Michael Kirschner
Wall Street journal. Europe,
08/2005
Newspaper Article
Example: In a recent survey one of us conducted, more than 40% of U.S.-based electronic companies described themselves as ill-prepared for the WEEE electronics take-back requirements; fewer than 25% ...had selected or "were actively selecting" compliance schemes; 23% hadn't even started and 17% were "completely confused" -- less than eight weeks before the trigger date! Three in five respondent companies are doing nothing to reduce WEEE costs. It's only a temporary stay, and the challenge doesn't end with WEEE and RoHS; in fact it's just begun. In just two years, Europe will require electronic and electrical companies to significantly reduce their use of energy -- in the components and materials they buy, in their manufacturing processes, in the products themselves and their intended uses, and even in their "end of life" recovery. The Energy- using Products (EuP) initiative makes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star requirements look minimal. (According to our recent benchmark study, 60% of electronic-equipment manufacturers world-wide don't know about EuP and/or have done nothing about it.) The EU's forthcoming REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals) directive, according to author and investigative reporter Mark Schapiro, "represents an upheaval in the basic philosophy of chemical regulation, flipping the American presumption of 'innocent until proven guilty' on its head by placing the burden of proof on manufacturers to prove chemicals are safe."
Singlet exciton fission (SF), the conversion of one spin-singlet exciton (S
) into two spin-triplet excitons (T
), could provide a means to overcome the Shockley-Queisser limit in photovoltaics. SF ...as measured by the decay of S
has been shown to occur efficiently and independently of temperature, even when the energy of S
is as much as 200 meV less than that of 2T
. Here we study films of triisopropylsilyltetracene using transient optical spectroscopy and show that the triplet pair state (TT), which has been proposed to mediate singlet fission, forms on ultrafast timescales (in 300 fs) and that its formation is mediated by the strong coupling of electronic and vibrational degrees of freedom. This is followed by a slower loss of singlet character as the excitation evolves to become only TT. We observe the TT to be thermally dissociated on 10-100 ns timescales to form free triplets. This provides a model for 'temperature-independent' efficient TT formation and thermally activated TT separation.
Abstract Multiple approaches have been adopted in an attempt to effectively identify and discriminate melancholic and non-melancholic depressive subtypes. We recently developed the Sydney Melancholia ...Prototype Index (SMPI) which incorporates antecedent and illness course variables as well as symptoms, with clinician-rated and self-rated SMPI versions, and with the former having been shown to have superior sensitivity and specificity in discriminating melancholic from non-melancholic depression. The aim of this study was to further evaluate the capacity of the SMPI to identify melancholia in comparison to DSM-based and clinician-judged assignments. The sample comprised 214 patients diagnosed with melancholic or non-melancholic depression according to a detailed clinical assessment and by the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Structured Interview (MINI) assessing formal DSM-IV melancholia criteria. DSM-IV assignment to melancholic versus non-melancholic depression was contrasted with clinician-judged allocation, the combination of these two strategies (“concordant diagnoses”), and to the SMPI (CR or clinician-rated and SR or self-report versions), with the likely validity of each approach examined against historical ascriptions for melancholia. DSM-IV criteria assigned the highest percentage of the sample with a melancholic diagnosis (64%), whereas the SMPI-SR assigned the smallest percentage with a melancholic diagnosis (37%). DSM-IV assignment was associated with the fewest number of validating variables, whilst SMPI-CR and independent clinician diagnosis were associated with the greatest number of differentiating variables including negative childhood experiences, past and recent stressors, satisfaction with life and perceived social support. These comparative analyses provide further support for the SMPI-CR in identifying and discriminating melancholic depression from non-melancholic depression. Replication of these findings in other samples with independent raters is recommended.
Abstract Background Bipolar (BP) disorder has been linked to creativity following investigation of prominent artists and controlled trials of creativity in BP disorder patients. However, it is ...unclear whether creativity is differentially expressed across the BP I and BP II subtypes. Methods 219 patients (aged 19–63 years) diagnosed with BP disorder by clinical interview and DSM-IV criteria were asked whether they tended to be more creative during hypo/manic episodes, and answered five questions about personality styles associated with creativity. Qualitative analyses were performed on a smaller subset of 69 BP patients ( n =19 BP I, n =50 BP II) who provided written responses of the types of creative activities engaged in when hypo/manic and any perceived advantages or disadvantages of their creative pursuits. Results 82% of BP patients affirmed being creative when hypo/manic, with comparable results for the BP I and BP II subtypes (84% and 81% respectively). Both BP subtypes engaged mostly in writing, painting, work or business ideas and ‘other’ forms of art; however BP II patients were more likely to draw and be musical. Both subgroups reported the consequences of feeling good, being productive or quitting their project. BP I patients were more likely to overspend during their creative highs while BP II patients were more likely to experience improved focus and clarity. BP patients affirming creative highs were significantly more likely to report creative personality styles more generally outside of a mood episode. Limitations BP patients' self-reported creative activities were not retrospectively judged for quality or originality and so may reflect common creative abilities rather than exceptional quality. The impact of depressive episodes on creativity was not assessed. Uneven sample sizes in the BP I and BP II subgroups may have compromised statistical power. Conclusion Creativity during hypo/manic episodes was extremely common in both BP subtypes. While some nuances in activity type and outcomes were observed, no significant creative phenotype specific to BP I or BP II disorder emerged.
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