Management in the Gulf and Caribbean: mosaic or melting pot?

Does \u27\u27managing large pelagic fishes mean the same thing across the diversity of maritime jurisdictions, governance arrangements, economies, languages, cultures, scales of operation and other features of the Gulf and Caribbean region? It would be surprising if it did. Yet international fisheries management urges this mosaic of management to become a melting pot; at least integrated, even if differentiated. This paper examines some themes underlying whether a mosaic or melting pot is the most apt metaphor for where we are, and are headed, in attempts to manage large pelagic fishes in the region. We pay particular attention to the multi-dimensional concept of scale. Included are the scales of management units, fisheries authorities, management outcomes, harvest and postharvest enterprises, and the interdisciplinary perspectives that can be brought to bear on fishery problems and solutions. We are also interested in linkages, because linkage is connected to the scaling-up that is important in a region with many small countries and territories. Even if the management of large pelagics starts as a mosaic, coherent patterns of sub-regional and regional interactions can conceivably be nested and linked to improve the integration, and hence effectiveness, of management interventions ... at least in theory

Household enterprises in Vietnam : survival, growth, and living standards

In Vietnam almost a quarter of adults worked in nonfarm household enterprises in 1998. Based on household panel data from the Vietnam Living Standards Surveys of 1993 and 1998, the authors find some evidence that operating an enterprise leads to greater affluence. The data show that nonfarm household enterprises are most likely to be operated by urban households, by those with moderately good education, and by the children of proprietors. The authors were able to construct a panel of nonfarm household enterprises; 39 percent of enterprises operating in 1993 were still in business in 1998. Those in the (more affluent) south of the country were less likely to survive, as were smaller and younger businesses. A pattern emerges from the data. In poor areas the lack of education, credit, and effective demand limits the development of nonfarm household enterprises. In rich areas there is the attraction of wage labor. Nonfarm household enterprises are thus most important in the period of transition, when agriculture is declining in importance but before the formal sector becomes established. The authors expect these enterprises to continue to play a modest supporting role in fostering economic growth in Vietnam.Public Health Promotion,Housing&Human Habitats,Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management,Microfinance,Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management,Small and Medium Size Enterprises,Private Participation in Infrastructure,Microfinance

Renewable power for lean desktops in media applications

An integration of solar microgeneration to supply a low-power IT desktop, using the Power over Ethernet standards IEEE 802.3af/at as a low power distribution network avoiding transformer losses from DC generation to mains power AC and back to low-voltage DC and hence maximising efficiency. The resulting design points to applications in media technology where reducing grid power consumption is critical for improving sustainability, or where there are supply constraints, and indicates new directions in how we manage and consume power for IT devices

'Can you give it to someone who needs it more? Remunerating people who participate in research

In this short commentary, we reflect critically on the practice of remunerating people for their participation in qualitative research by drawing on our own ongoing research exploring ‘working mums’ experiences of mothering during economic crisis

UK Black Hair Matters: A Thematic Analysis exploring Afro-Caribbean women’s hair as representations of the socially constructed knowledge of identity and identity threats

Hair has the ability to visibly define ethnic difference, determine identity and impact self-esteem. Although empirical research has explored the hair texture altering behaviours of African American women, the experiences of Afro-caribbean women in the UK have been under-investigated despite being shaped by distinct cultural and historical contexts. Guided by the theoretical explanations of identity processes theory and situational identity and threats, semi-structured interviews of UK Afro-Caribbean women were used to investigate intergroup factors which affect their responses to intergroup relations and the salience of personal and social identity. Through the social constructionist epistemological approach, thematic analysis suggested that Afro-Caribbean women’s hair was subjectively positioned as a source of everyday subtle racism. The findings differ from American studies as UK Afro-Caribbean women describe the threat to identity as not only pervasive but endemi

Social Constructs of Online Feminine Identities in Social Media: A Thematic Analysis

It has been argued that femininity is a form of control over women’s identity, and that femininity is predominantly performative. This research examines the performative nature of femininity in Instagram posts, based on the idea that social media is a means through which young women negotiate and perform their feminine identity. Self-presentation theories suggest that female social media users perform aspects of self-presentation as influenced by the audience, the situation, and implicit social constructs of gender. This study used Reflexive Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with ten women Instagram users aged between 18 – 27, who post regularly to Instagram. The focus was on exploring the participant's detailed accounts of how they manage their online identity and self-presentation of femininity on Instagram. Emerging themes emphasised the performative aspects of self-presentation, such as self-surveillance and self-monitoring and impression management in relation to online social situations. Findings highlight the significant, influential aspect the audience plays in performative femininity as well as the importance of Goffman’s (1959) dramaturgical theory of self-presentation and Walkerdine’s (1989) concept of femininity as a performance. The study raises important questions about the presentation and performative elements of femininity on Instagram and how femininity is still a form of hegemonic control over women

Flow behaviour of ponded turbidity currents

Sea floor topography can constrict, deflect or reflect turbidity currents resulting in a range of distinctive deposits. Where flows rebound off slopes and a suspension cloud collects in an enclosed basin, ponded or contained turbidites are deposited. Ponded turbidites have been widely recognised in slope mini-basins and on small, structurally-confined basin floors in strike-slip and foreland basin settings. They can have a variable internal structure the significance of which remains poorly understood in terms of flow behaviour. New experiments demonstrate that the ponding process can comprise up to four phases: 1) cloud establishment, 2) inflation, 3) steady-state maintenance, and 4) collapse. The experiments explored the behaviour of sustained turbidity currents draining into small basins and show that the ponded suspensions that form are characterised by an important internal interface; this divides a lower outbound-moving layer from an upper return layer. The basal layer evolves to constant concentration and grain size, whereas the upper layer is graded (concentration and grain size decrease upward). During the cloud inflation stage, the concentration and velocity profiles within the ponded suspension evolve and this phase can dominate the resulting deposit. Outbound internal waves can travel along the interface between the outbound and return layers and impinge against the confining slope and their amplitude is highest when the inter-layer density contrast is greatest, e.g., when the input flows are thin and dense. The experiments show that flow reversals can arise in several ways (initial rebound, episodic collapse of the wedge of fluid above the counter slope, ‘grounding’ of the internal velocity interface) and that despite steady input, velocities decay and the deposit grades upwards. Internal waves emanate from the input point, i.e., do not form as reflections off the counter slope. The internal grain size interface within the suspension may dictate textural trends in sands onlapping the confining slopes. Where flows are partially ponded, internal waves can generate pulsing overspill to basins down dip