Sustainable Ocean Development in the Pacific: The Need for Discussion of the Blue Economy Concept

Although engagement with the ‘blue economy’ concept has grown rapidly in recent years, discussion around what the term means, how it may be implemented and, indeed, if it is desirable, remains sparse. Broadly speaking, the blue economy refers to the idea of sustainable ocean development — that is, ocean development that strives to achieve social, environmental and economic objectives. This In Brief seeks to encourage deeper engagement and reflection on the blue economy concept, given the current ‘blue acceleration’1 (Jouffray et al. 2020). It outlines key questions for deliberation which flow from one another in a staged process, with conversation generated by one question providing the foundation for discussion of the next. These suggested questions are far from exhaustive or absolute, but hope to provide a starting point for those wishing to foster closer interrogation on what the blue economy means and what potential it may hold. They build upon questions raised throughout the blue economy literature (Bennett et al. 2021; Voyer et al. 2021) and among ocean communities contemplating its value and useAustralian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trad

Looking Back : Song

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The Effects of Gender Diversity Through the Lens of the Body and Sexuality

Men holding so-called “women’s” jobs have received little attention in academic studies of the effects of gender diversity on the sexual division of labour and careers. This article explores this issue based on studies of people in greeting work, emphasizing how the body and sexuality, which are particularly solicited by this activity, have an impact on gender relations. Two ethnographic studies in different greeting contexts (receptionists and special event hosting) show that gendered conceptions of the body participate in the establishment of a sexual division of tasks, which leads to greater freedom of action and less supervision for men in everyday work. “Flirting” at work has differential effects on greeters depending on their gender. It helps men preserve a traditional, heterosexual definition of virility, while allowing them to avoid the subordination and marginalisation resulting from their position in the division of labour and employment. At the same time, it keeps female greeters in occupational isolation. In conclusion, the study of greeters’ careers is used to evaluate the possible existence of a “glass escalator” for men.Les effets de la mixité sur la division sexuelle du travail et sur les carrières ont été peu étudiés lorsqu’elle résulte de la présence d’hommes dans des métiers dits « féminins ». Cet article se propose de les explorer à partir du cas des hôte.sse.s d’accueil et en mettant l’accent sur la manière dont le corps et la sexualité, particulièrement impliqués dans cette activité, jouent sur les rapports de genre à l’œuvre. Les deux enquêtes ethnographiques menées dans des situations d’accueil diversifiées montrent que les conceptions genrées du corps participent à la mise en place d’une division sexuelle des tâches, qui crée plus de latitude d’action et moins de contrôle pour les hommes dans l’activité quotidienne. La « drague » a des effets différenciés sur le personnel d’accueil. Elle concourt à préserver une définition traditionnelle et hétérosexuelle de la virilité des hôtes d’accueil, tout en leur permettant de sortir de la subordination et de la marginalité dérivant de leur position dans la division du travail et de l’emploi. À l’inverse, elle maintient les hôtesses d’accueil dans un certain isolement professionnel. L’étude des carrières du personnel d’accueil permet enfin d’évaluer l’existence d’un éventuel « escalator de verre » pour les hommes

Mathematical approach for understanding deagglomeration behaviour of drug powder in formulations with coarse carrier

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.Deagglomeration of cohesive particles in combination with coarse carrier is a key requirement for inhaled formulations. The aim of the project was to propose a mathematical approach to understand aerosolization behaviour of micronized particles alone and in formulation with carriers. Salbutamol sulphate and salmeterol xinafoate were blended separately with fine lactose (ratio 1:4) and fine and coarse lactose (1:4:63.5). Laser diffraction was employed to characterize the powder median particle size. The deagglomeration of micronized materials followed an asymptotic monoexponential relationship. When the coarse lactose was added, the relationship fitted a bi-exponential equation showing an easily and a poorly dispersed fraction. Using model hydrophobic and hydrophilic APIs, this study has demonstrated the utility of an analytical approach that can parameterize deagglomeration behaviour of carrier-free and carrier-based inhalation formulations. The analytical approach provides the ability to systematically study the effect of material, formulation and processing factors on deagglomeration behaviour.Peer reviewe

Evidence for the existence of powder sub-populations in micronized materials : Aerodynamic size-fractions of aerosolized powders possess distinct physicochemical properties

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited.Purpose: To investigate the agglomeration behaviour of the fine ( 12.8 µm) particle fractions of salmeterol xinafoate (SX) and fluticasone propionate (FP) by isolating aerodynamic size fractions and characterising their physicochemical and re-dispersal properties. Methods: Aerodynamic fractionation was conducted using the Next Generation Impactor (NGI). Re-crystallized control particles, unfractionated and fractionated materials were characterized for particle size, morphology, crystallinity and surface energy. Re-dispersal of the particles was assessed using dry dispersion laser diffraction and NGI analysis. Results: Aerosolized SX and FP particles deposited in the NGI as agglomerates of consistent particle/agglomerate morphology. SX particles depositing on Stages 3 and 5 had higher total surface energy than unfractionated SX, with Stage 5 particles showing the greatest surface energy heterogeneity. FP fractions had comparable surface energy distributions and bulk crystallinity but differences in surface chemistry. SX fractions demonstrated higher bulk disorder than unfractionated and re-crystallized particles. Upon aerosolization, the fractions differed in their intrinsic emission and dispersion into a fine particle fraction (< 5.0 µm). Conclusions: Micronized powders consisted of sub-populations of particles displaying distinct physicochemical and powder dispersal properties compared to the unfractionated bulk material. This may have implications for the efficiency of inhaled drug deliveryPeer reviewe

EDN1 Lys198Asn is Associated with Diabetic Retinopathy in Type 2 Diabetes

Purpose: We tested the hypothesis that genetic variants in vasoactive and angiogenic factors regulating the retina vasculature contribute to the development of diabetic retinopathy (DR). Methods: A case-control study was performed to study the genetic association between DR and polymorphic variants of EDN1 (Lys198Asn), LTA (IVS1–80C>A, IVS1–206G>C, IVS1–252>G), eNOS (Glu298Asp), and ITGA2 (BgI II) in a Chinese population with type 2 diabetes mellitus. A well defined population with type 2 diabetes, consisting of 127 controls and 216 DR patients, was recruited. Results: A higher frequency of the Asn/Asn genotype of EDN1 was found in individuals with at least 10 years of diabetes and no retinopathy (controls) compared with DR patients with any duration of diabetes (DR: 2.3%; control: 11.0%; p=0.0002). The Asn allele was also more frequent in controls than DR patients (DR: 16.4%; control: 29.5%; p=0.007). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the Asn/Asn genotype was the factor most significantly associated with reduced risk of DR (odds ratio=0.19; 95% CI: 0.07-0.53; p=0.002) and with late onset of diabetes (Asn/Asn: 59 years; Lys/Lys + Lys/Asn: 53 years; p=0.02). Moreover, the Lys/Lys genotype was more common among patients with nonproliferative (75.7%) than proliferative DR (56.9%; p=0.008). The distributions of Lys198Asn alleles in hypertension did not differ from normotensive subjects. No associations between DR and polymorphisms of LTA, eNOS, or ITGA2 were detected, and there were no detectable gene-gene or gene-environmental interactions among the polymorphisms.Conclusions The Asn/Asn genotype of EDN1 was associated with a reduced risk of DR and with delayed onset of type 2 diabetes