Small vertebrate captures two years after prescribed fire in stringybark open forest at Bagdad Native Forest Reserve, Robe, South Australia

Post-fire fauna surveys are important for monitoring populations of rare and threatened species, as well as those considered to be of pest significance. We conducted a small vertebrate survey in April 2013, setting 32 pitfall traps and 122 Elliott traps over four days at Bagdad Native Forest Reserve. The aim of the survey was to compare populations of small ground-dwelling vertebrates between a site burnt two years previously in 2011, and an unburnt adjacent one. Significantly more exotic House Mice (Mus musculus) were trapped in the burnt site than in the unburnt. The Western Pygmy-possum (Cercartetus concinnus), which has 'rare' regional conservation status, was only trapped in unburnt habitat. Small numbers of reptiles were captured in both burnt and unburnt sites without apparent preferences, but juvenile reptiles were restricted to the burnt site, including the critically endangered Bardick snake Echiopsis curta.Barbara P. Murphy, Tegan Underwood, Makyla Halliday, Tara Forbes, Josh Fielke, Tom Suljagic, Anton Drummond, Michael Heath, Joan Gibbs, Manfred Jusaitis and Sophie Peti

Ibrutinib: a paradigm shift in management of CLL

B-cell receptor (BCR) signaling plays a vital role in B-cell malignancies; Bruton's Tyrosine Kinase (BTK) is a critical mediator of this signaling. BCR signaling, either constitutively or following antigen binding, leads to activation of several downstream pathways involved in cell survival, proliferation, and migration. The efficacy observed in studies of the BTK inhibitor, ibrutinib, confirms that BCR signaling is critical for the growth of B-cell malignancies. Ibrutinib characteristically induces redistribution of malignant B-cells from tissues into the peripheral blood, and rapid resolution of adenopathy. Further, ibrutinib therapy results in normalization of lymphocyte counts and improvement in cytopenias. Ibrutinib has been shown to have an excellent safety profile and does not cause myelosuppression. Early data from combination studies of ibrutinib with anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies have shown more rapid responses compared to those seen with ibrutinib monotherapy. Current data strongly support continued clinical evaluation of Ibrutinib in B-cell malignancies