A latent profile analysis of Pacific health values

Introduction: Pacific health models that centre Pacific values, can serve as a tool to address Pacific disparities in healthcare. In this study, we broadly draw upon the health concepts of these models to determine how Pacific values are translate across Pacific health and wellbeing. Methods: Using data from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study, we identified proxy indicators of common Pacific values. With these proxy indicators we developed a LP Latent Profile Analysis A to uncover subgroups of Pacific peoples based on their orientation towards each proxy indicator and their association with psychological distress. Findings: We identified four subgroups of Pacific peoples: (1) 65% of Pacific peoples identified strongly with Pacific values with low associated psychological distress (2) 18% of Pacific peoples identified moderately with Pacific values with medium associated psychological distress (3) 5% of Pacific peoples identified less with Pacific values with low associated psychological distress (4) 12% of Pacific peoples identified ambivalent with Pacific values with high associated psychological distress. Conclusions: These results suggest that Pacific values and the utility of Pacific health models are an appropriate way of framing health and wellbeing for a vast majority of our Pacific population. However, we also need to recognise the incredible diversity among our Pacific community and be understanding and accommodating of the diverse ways that Pacific peoples can express what they consider valuable.

Age and growth estimates from three hard parts of the spotted catfish, Arius maculatus (Actinopterygii: Siluriformes: Ariidae), in Songkhla Lake, Thailand’s largest natural lake

The spotted catfish, Arius maculatus (Thunberg, 1792), is a euryhaline fish that is economically important in the Indo-West Pacific. Population dynamics studies and stock assessments of this species have focused on marine stocks, but not those from fresh water. In this study, the age and growth of A. maculatus were, therefore, investigated for the inland stock in Songkhla Lake, Thailand. A total of 213 individuals ranging between 35 and 238 mm TL were used. The length–weight relation indicated positive allometry of this population. Three hard parts (otolith, dorsal- and pectoral-fin spines) were used for aging. The marginal increment ratio confirmed that an annulus was deposited once a year in all three hard parts. All of the samples were aged between 0+ and 6+ years. Verification of age estimates from three readers showed that the otolith was the most suitable part for age estimation. Three growth models (von Bertalanffy, Gompertz, and logistic) were applied in the study. The von Bertalanffy model best described the growth of this fish in Songkhla Lake. The obtained asymptotic length was 290.87 mm TL and the relative growth rate parameter was 0.166 year–1. Our results will be applied as inputs for fish stock assessment models. The obtained growth parameters also can serve as a reference for A. maculatus stocks elsewhere.

'The Bitter Sweetness of the Space Between': Creative Reflections of Pasifika Ethnic Mixedness

<p>This Master of Arts thesis investigates and draws conclusions regarding how creative arts present accommodating spaces for articulating and understanding cultural mixedness amongst Pacific populations in New Zealand. New Zealand is home to an expanding Pacific population; statistics identify a growing number of these Pacific people who are multi-ethnic, and who are claiming their mixedness in official census data. As Pacific populations have grown, Pacific artists have risen to national prominence in visual, literary and performing arts. Many of these artists have themselves been of mixed ancestry. This thesis examines the work of three female New Zealand artists of mixed Samoan-English or Samoan-Indian descent, asking, “How do these artists and their work express their cultural mixedness?” Discussion centres on mixed media visual artist Niki Hastings-McFall, who is of English and Samoan descent; spoken word poet Grace Taylor, also of English and Samoan descent; and musical performer Aaradhna Patel, who is of Indian and Samoan descent. Placing both the creative work and public commentary of these three artists at its centre, this thesis explores how these artists publicly identify with their Samoan heritage as well as their other heritage(s); how they use their art as a platform for identity articulation; and how creative arts provide flexible and important spaces for self-expression. The thesis draws its theoretical underpinnings from Pacific studies, art history, transnational cultural studies and postcolonial studies, and utilizes Samoan and Tongan conceptions of vā as a key analytic tool.</p>

'The Bitter Sweetness of the Space Between': Creative Reflections of Pasifika Ethnic Mixedness

<p>This Master of Arts thesis investigates and draws conclusions regarding how creative arts present accommodating spaces for articulating and understanding cultural mixedness amongst Pacific populations in New Zealand. New Zealand is home to an expanding Pacific population; statistics identify a growing number of these Pacific people who are multi-ethnic, and who are claiming their mixedness in official census data. As Pacific populations have grown, Pacific artists have risen to national prominence in visual, literary and performing arts. Many of these artists have themselves been of mixed ancestry. This thesis examines the work of three female New Zealand artists of mixed Samoan-English or Samoan-Indian descent, asking, “How do these artists and their work express their cultural mixedness?” Discussion centres on mixed media visual artist Niki Hastings-McFall, who is of English and Samoan descent; spoken word poet Grace Taylor, also of English and Samoan descent; and musical performer Aaradhna Patel, who is of Indian and Samoan descent. Placing both the creative work and public commentary of these three artists at its centre, this thesis explores how these artists publicly identify with their Samoan heritage as well as their other heritage(s); how they use their art as a platform for identity articulation; and how creative arts provide flexible and important spaces for self-expression. The thesis draws its theoretical underpinnings from Pacific studies, art history, transnational cultural studies and postcolonial studies, and utilizes Samoan and Tongan conceptions of vā as a key analytic tool.</p>

SEVERAL DIMENSIONS, ANTHROPOMETRIC INDICES AND NUTRITIONAL CONDITION OF FRESHMEN IN HANOI MEDICAL UNIVERSITY, YEAR 2019-2020

Our aim is to describe the morphology, physical and nutritional status of Vietnamese medical students in the late years of second decade of the 21th Centery. A research about physical form included 861 freshmen (335 male, 526 female) from Hanoi Medical University (2019 - 2020): Male students’ physical form measurement and figures are much better than female students’ and these indices is largely better than the previous studies of other authors. Physical form seems to increase by the time, after 45 years: male was 9.5 cm higher and 15.9 kg heavier, female was 7.0 cm higher and 5.8 kg heavier. In comparison with students in 2007, male students were8.5 kgs heavier and female students were 3.9 kgs heavier. In comparison with a research ten years ago, the height of male and female increased 4.2 cm and 3.3 cm, respectively. According to an Asian - Pacific population classification, students from Hanoi Medical University had medium weight.

Aotearoa New Zealand Māori and Pacific population-specific gout risk variants: CLNK is a separate risk gene at the SLC2A9 locus

Objective The Māori and Pacific (Polynesian) population of Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) has a high prevalence of gout. Our aim was to identify potentially functional missense genetic variants in candidate inflammatory genes amplified in frequency that may underlie the increased prevalence of gout in Polynesian populations. Methods A list of 712 inflammatory disease-related genes was generated. An in silico targeted exome set was extracted from whole genome sequencing data in people with gout of various ancestral groups (Polynesian, European, East Asian; n = 55, 780, 135, respectively) to identify Polynesian-amplified common missense variants (AF > 0.05). Candidate functional variants were tested for association with gout by multivariable-adjusted regression analysis in 2,528 individuals of Polynesian ancestry. Results We identified 26 variants common in the Polynesian population and uncommon in the European and East Asian populations. Three of the 26 population-specific variants were nominally associated with the risk of gout (rs1635712, KIAA0319, ORmeta = 1.28, Pmeta = 0.028; rs16869924, CLNK, ORmeta = 1.37, Pmeta = 0.0017; rs2070025, FGA, ORmeta = 1.34, Pmeta = 0.017). The CLNK variant, within the established SLC2A9 gout locus, was genetically-independent of the association signal at SLC2A9. Conclusion We provide nominal evidence for the existence of population-amplified genetic variants conferring risk of gout in Polynesian populations. Polymorphisms in CLNK have previously been associated with gout in other populations, supporting our evidence for association of this gene with gout.

Natal origin of Namibian grey whale implies new distance record for in-water migration

We use genomics to identify the natal origin of a grey whale found in the South Atlantic, at least 20 000 km from the species core range (halfway around the world). The data indicate an origin in the North Pacific, possibly from the endangered western North Pacific population, thought to include only approximately 200 individuals. This contributes to our understanding of Atlantic sightings of this species known primarily from the North Pacific, and could have conservation implications if grey whales have the potential for essentially global dispersion. More broadly, documenting and understanding rare extreme migration events have potential implications for the understanding of how a species may be able to respond to global change.

Deep-sea Ophiuroidea (Echinodermata) from the Danish Galathea II Expedition, 1950–52, with taxonomic revisions

The brittle star samples collected by the Danish cruise ‘Galathea II’ (1950–52) had not been studied completely. We examined the remaining deep-sea samples (>400 m) and present the species inventory, discussing taxonomic issues in relation to recent phylogenetic data. About 235 samples were examined, over 9,300 individuals, from 67 species and 74 sampling localities, at depths of 425–5340 m. The species complex Amphiophiura bullata (Thomson, 1877) is morphologically not well separated, but molecular data suggest at least two clades. We propose to apply A. bullata for Atlantic and Australian populations and A. convexa (Lyman, 1878) for the North Pacific clade. We consider A. bullata pacifica Litvinova, 1971 conspecific with A. convexa. Ophiuroglypha irrorata (Lyman, 1878) and its subspecies are a polyphyletic group with unclear morphological boundaries. We propose to transfer Ophiura ossiculata (Koehler, 1908), Ophiura plana (Lütken & Mortensen, 1899) and Ophiura scomba Paterson, 1985 to Ophiuroglypha. Silax Fell, 1962, until now synonymised with Amphioplus Verrill, 1899, is proposed as a valid genus with the species S. verrilli (Lyman, 1879), S. consors (Koehler, 1908), S. daleus (Lyman, 1879), S. patulus (Lyman, 1879) and S. magnificus (Koehler, 1907). Triplodia Turner & Hallen, 2011 (a replacement name for Triodia A. M. Clark, 1970, due to homonymy) is synonymised with Silax, and possible specimens of its type species Triodia abdita A. M. Clark, 1970 are analysed. The species limits of Ophiacantha cosmica Lyman, 1879 and Ophiacantha pacifica Lütken & Mortensen, 1899 could not be confirmed morphologically, but published molecular data suggest two clades. We propose to apply O. pacifica to the Northern/Central Pacific population and O. cosmica to the Southern Pacific/Antarctic population.

Identifying planktonic foraminiferal morphospecies: which are the important images?

Selection of imagery that promotes accurate identification of morphotaxa is viewed as a significant problem in the taxonomy of planktonic foraminifera. Currently, imagery of taxa is sparse, apparently selected by visual judgement, and presented without information about its typicality. What is required are impartially selected images which embrace population variation to serve as training sets for reliable identification of taxa. Outlined here is a simple morphometrically-based solution, applied to the shape of shells in two orientations, in which shape variation is resolved onto three principal component axes. On the premise that the best-adapted shells are the commonest, specimens within 1 standard deviation (sd) of the trivariate mean are recognized as population exemplars suitable for use as trainers. Specimens which project at ≥2 sd onto at least one axis are mapped as boundary specimens whose identity might be questioned. This procedure is trialled on samples of Truncorotalia crassaformis. Exemplars from the Equatorial Atlantic and Caribbean compare closely; they partially overlap with those from a Holocene Southwest Pacific population provisionally interpreted as a subtaxon, Truncorotalia crassaformis hessi.

Bone loss markers in the earliest Pacific Islanders

Kingdom of Tonga in Polynesia is one of the most obese nations where metabolic conditions, sedentary lifestyles, and poor quality diet are widespread. These factors can lead to poor musculoskeletal health. However, whether metabolic abnormalities such as osteoporosis occurred in archaeological populations of Tonga is unknown. We employed a microscopic investigation of femur samples to establish whether bone loss afflicted humans in this Pacific region approximately 3000 years ago. Histology, laser confocal microscopy, and synchrotron Fourier-transform infrared microspectroscopy were used to measure bone vascular canal densities, bone porosity, and carbonate and phosphate content of bone composition in eight samples extracted from adult Talasiu males and females dated to 2650 BP. Compared to males, samples from females had fewer vascular canals, lower carbonate and phosphate content, and higher bone porosity. Although both sexes showed evidence of trabecularised cortical bone, it was more widespread in females (35.5%) than males (15.8%). Our data suggest experiences of advanced bone resorption, possibly as a result of osteoporosis. This provides first evidence for microscopic bone loss in a sample of archaeological humans from a Pacific population widely afflicted by metabolic conditions today.