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Australia’s 2019/20 bushfire season was one of the most severe on record, from both land mass burned and the economic impact. This extreme weather season allowed the researchers to examine the effect of high PM 2.5 exposure during high bushfire days on birthweight and gestational age. It is well known that bushfire smoke is harmful to human health. However, the impact this has on the developing fetus is not yet clear. 25,346 births were assessed, their exposure calculated based on location data, and outcomes analyzed. Mothers exposed to high PM 2.5 (measured by a 24-hour average PM 2.5 greater than 25 µg/m 3 ) demonstrated a significant birthweight reduction of 0.77 g per day of exposure. Those who were also self-identified as having smoked at any time during their pregnancy were at higher risk, with a 1.33 g reduction in birthweight per day of exposure. Gestational age was reduced by 0.01 days per day of exposure in the total cohort, with no significant difference demonstrated in those who smoked. The compounded effects of high PM 2.5 exposure may result in birthweight reduction, with neonates born to mothers who smoked at increased risk.

The political economy of the Asia-Pacific region is undergoing momentous changes, including the advent of natural economic territories (NET) that are springing to life throughout the region. Variously called growth circles, growth triangles, or sub-regional economic zones, the phenomenon is marked by intensified trade, investment, and technology flows among continuous localities or territories of 3 or more countries. While current research on NETs has contributed to an understanding of the motivations and patterns of trade and investment flows that create NETs, research has only tangentially addressed the political and security questions that arise from these economic relations. At issue are whether there are significant internal tensions, what leverage governments have to address these strains, and whether governments possess adequate tools to channel, speed, or slow the pace of sub-regional economic interaction if they so choose.

The officer education system is in a period of overdue, dynamic change in military curricular substance and approach. Although departures from time-tested procedures are not generally welcomed in the military, this is a time of serious introspection for the armed services. They are prepared to innovate. The challenge to the officer education system is to produce the required number of officers with expertise in the management and application of military resources in deterrent, peacekeeping, advisory, and combat roles in the context of rapid technological, social, and political change. This educational system must provide training to develop specific skills and military professionalism; it must also develop broadly applicable analytical skills and critical judgment. The officer education system can define the parameters of the former far more closely than the latter. It is time for an overall assessment of training requirements for the future based upon the tasks the nation wants its military to perform and a forecast of technological change. Equally important, it is time for an assessment of the values which the nation wishes its military officers to hold and development of personnel management systems which facilitate education designed to produce and promote imaginative officers capable of balanced judgment concerning issues of priorities and trade-offs among resources and values.

Jordan Amos A. Les Etats-Unis à la recherche d'une politique méditerranéenne. In: Politique étrangère, n°5-6 - 1971 - 36ᵉannée. pp. 501-517.

In his article, \"How to Look at the Soviet-American Balance,\" in FOREIGN POLICY 22, Les Aspin challenged the view, put forward by James Schlesinger and some members of the administration, that the Soviet Union was clearly outspending the United States for defense. His article, and the public campaign which Aspin subsequently launched, attracted considerable attention and provoked substantial disagreement. In the exchange which follows, the Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense Amos Jordan and R. W. Komer, a special assistant to President Johnson, dispute Aspin's figures as well as his conclusions. In addition, Jordan comments on Earl C. Ravenal's article, \"After Schlesinger: Something Has to Give,\" which also appeared in the last issue. The replies of both Aspin and Ravenal follow, in one of the most intense debates we have yet published. Although the reader may still find no single, simple answer, there can be no question of the importance of this debate, which has now become an integral part of the election campaign.