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Papua New Guinea (papua + new_guinea)
Terms modified by Papua New Guinea Selected AbstractsTHINKING THROUGH IMAGES: KASTOM AND THE COMING OF THE BAHA'IS TO NORTHERN NEW IRELAND, PAPUA NEW GUINEATHE JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, Issue 4 2005Graeme Were We can learn a lot about religious ideas by studying not just the impact on them of missionization but also how religious beliefs and practices are translated into local religious forms. In this article I draw attention to the case of the Baha'i faith in the Nalik area of northern New Ireland (Papua New Guinea). In discussing how the faith became strongly associated with the ability to harness ancestral power, I argue that this relationship emerged through Nalik people's ability to think through images, in other words through transforming forms in order to create new understandings. This study not only underlines the importance of localized studies into the technology of image production but also fills a gap in anthropological studies that, up until now, have systematically ignored the Baha'i movement and its place in the contemporary Pacific. [source] Credibility of REDD and Experiences from Papua New GuineaCONSERVATION BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2010David Melick No abstract is available for this article. [source] Evaluating social performance in the context of an ,audit culture': a pilot social review of a gold mine in Papua New GuineaCORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2008Martha Macintyre Abstract The growth of sustainable development frameworks that emphasize the social dimension has created a need for new approaches to evaluate social performance. The paper describes the design and pilot of a social review conducted at the Lihir Gold Mine in Papua New Guinea. The aim was to investigate more integrated measures , understood as combining qualitative and quantitative measures, and bridging international and local community standards , of social performance. The paper discusses the demands of time and resources placed on a range of stakeholders as part of a review. It then identifies impediments to developing integrated approaches, and analyses these with reference to Power's (1999, 2003) discussion of an emerging audit culture, which focuses on management systems rather than first-order questions of quality and performance. The authors conclude that, while an audit culture influenced this pilot study, an integrated approach on these two dimensions remains an achievable goal. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] ,Best Practice' Options for the Legal Recognition of Customary TenureDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 3 2005Daniel Fitzpatrick Is there a ,best practice' model for the legal recognition of customary tenure? If not, is it possible to identify the circumstances in which a particular model would be most appropriate? This article considers these questions in the light of economic theories of property rights, particularly as illustrated by the World Bank's 2003 land policy report. While these theories have their flaws, the underlying concept of tenure security allows a typological framework for developing legal responses to customary tenure. In particular, this article suggests that the nature and degree of State legal intervention in a customary land system should be determined by reference to the nature and causes of any tenure insecurity. This hypothesis is discussed by reference to a wide variety of legal examples from Africa, Papua New Guinea and the South Pacific. The objective is not to suggest that law determines resource governance outcomes in pluralist normative environments, but to improve the quality of legal interventions in order to assist customary groups to negotiate better forms of tenure security and access to resources. [source] Host specificity of ambrosia and bark beetles (Col., Curculionidae: Scolytinae and Platypodinae) in a New Guinea rainforestECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 6 2007JIRI HULCR Abstract 1.,Bark and ambrosia beetles are crucial for woody biomass decomposition in tropical forests worldwide. Despite that, quantitative data on their host specificity are scarce. 2.,Bark and ambrosia beetles (Scolytinae and Platypodinae) were reared from 13 species of tropical trees representing 11 families from all major lineages of dicotyledonous plants. Standardised samples of beetle-infested twigs, branches, trunks, and roots were taken from three individuals of each tree species growing in a lowland tropical rainforest in Papua New Guinea. 3.,A total of 81 742 beetles from 74 species were reared, 67 of them identified. Local species richness of bark and ambrosia beetles was estimated at 80,92 species. 4.,Ambrosia beetles were broad generalists as 95% of species did not show any preference for a particular host species or clade. Similarity of ambrosia beetle communities from different tree species was not correlated with phylogenetic distances between tree species. Similarity of ambrosia beetle communities from individual conspecific trees was not higher than that from heterospecific trees and different parts of the trees hosted similar ambrosia beetle communities, as only a few species preferred particular tree parts. 5.,In contrast, phloeophagous bark beetles showed strict specificity to host plant genus or family. However, this guild was poor in species (12 species) and restricted to only three plant families (Moraceae, Myristicaceae, Sapindaceae). 6.,Local diversity of both bark and ambrosia beetles is not driven by the local diversity of trees in tropical forests, since ambrosia beetles display no host specificity and bark beetles are species poor and restricted to a few plant families. [source] Moving Beyond Postdevelopment: Facilitating Indigenous Alternatives for "Development"ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, Issue 4 2003George N. Curry Using the example of smallholder oil-palm production in Papua New Guinea, this article illustrates how elements of a market economy and modernity become enmeshed and partly transformed by local place-based nonmarket practices. The persistence, even efflorescence, of indigenous gift exchange, in tandem with greater participation in the market economy, challenges conventional notions about the structures and meanings of development. The introduced market economy can be inflected to serve indigenous sociocultural and economic goals by place-based processes that transform market relations and practices into nonmarket social relationships. These kinds of inflections of the market economy are common and widespread and therefore worthy of consideration for their theoretical insights into processes of social and economic change and the meanings of development. The article concludes by outlining some preliminary thoughts on how development practice could be modified to provide more scope for this process of inflection, so that development strategies accord better with indigenous sociocultural meanings of development. [source] Rural hospital generalist and emergency medicine training in Papua New GuineaEMERGENCY MEDICINE AUSTRALASIA, Issue 2 2007David Symmons Abstract The present paper describes the role of the hospital generalist in rural Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the contribution of emergency medicine training to that practice. Generalist practice in Tinsley District Hospital in Western Highlands Province is described, with emphasis on emergency surgery and anaesthesia. The potential of the PNG emergency medicine training programme for preparing generalists is discussed. Tinsley Hospital served a population of 40 000 people, with 4000 admissions and 300,400 operations performed annually. Two doctors and 50 nurses and community health workers provided care with minimal resources. The doctors provided supervision and teaching for nurses, community health workers, hospital administrators and primary health carers, including on long range medical patrols. Over 16 months, doctors performed 243 emergency surgical procedures including orthopaedics, general surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology. The generalist in rural hospitals is required to perform a wide variety of medical tasks in isolated settings yet there is no active postgraduate training programme. The Master of Medicine, Emergency Medicine programme includes rotations through the major disciplines of surgery, anaesthesia, internal medicine, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology. It has the potential to train doctors in PNG for a generalist role as graduates will learn the foundations of the required skills. [source] HIV antibody seroprevalence in the emergency department at Port Moresby General Hospital, Papua New GuineaEMERGENCY MEDICINE AUSTRALASIA, Issue 4 2005Chris Curry Abstract Objective:, To determine the prevalence of HIV antibody in patients presenting to the ED at Port Moresby General Hospital in Papua New Guinea. Method:, Three hundred patients in whom blood samples were taken for investigation of illness or injury between April and July 2003 were surveyed for HIV antibodies. Sex, age and presenting illness were recorded. Results:, Fifty-four tests (18%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 14,23%) were positive. Forty-seven per cent were men and 53% were women. The most common presenting illnesses were respiratory tract infections (37%) and gastrointestinal tract infections (26%). Because of resource constraints results were not linked to patients and there was no follow up. Conclusion:, These limited data support the prediction that the developing HIV/AIDS epidemic in Papua New Guinea will be serious. [source] Sponge disease: a global threat?ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 6 2007Nicole S. Webster Summary Sponges are the most simple and primitive metazoans, yet they have various biological and ecological properties that make them an influential component of coral-reef ecosystems. Marine sponges provide refuge for many small invertebrates and are critical to benthic-pelagic coupling across a wide range of habitats. Reports of sponge disease have increased dramatically in recent years with sponge populations decimated throughout the Mediterranean and Caribbean. Reports also suggest an increased prevalence of sponge disease in Papua New Guinea, the Great Barrier Reef and in the reefs of Cozumel, Mexico. These epidemics can have severe impacts on the survival of sponge populations, the ecology of the reef and the fate of associated marine invertebrates. Despite the ecological and commercial importance of sponges, the understanding of sponge disease is limited. There has generally been a failure to isolate and identify the causative agents of sponge disease, with only one case confirming Koch's postulates and identifying a novel Alphaproteobacteria strain as the primary pathogen. Other potential disease agents include fungi, viruses, cyanobacteria and bacterial strains within the Bacillus and Pseudomonas genera. There is some evidence for correlations between sponge disease and environmental factors such as climate change and urban/agricultural runoff. This review summarizes the occurrence of sponge disease, describes the syndromes identified thus far, explores potential linkages with environmental change and proposes a strategy for future research towards better management of sponge disease outbreaks. [source] Contiguous multi-proxy analyses (X-radiography, diatom, pollen, and microcharcoal) of Holocene archaeological features at Kuk Swamp, Upper Wahgi Valley, Papua New GuineaGEOARCHAEOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 6 2009Tim Denham Contiguous multi-proxy analyses (X-radiography, diatom, pollen, and microcharcoal) have been conducted on the fills of early, mid-, and mid-late Holocene features at Kuk Swamp, Upper Wahgi Valley, Papua New Guinea. The features are associated with key periods of archaeological interest: plant exploitation (ca. 10,000 cal yr B.P.), earliest cultivation (6950,6440 cal yr B.P.), and earliest ditches (ca. 4000 cal yr B.P.). The analyses are designed to clarify uncertainties regarding the reliability and association of different samples within feature fills for the interpretation of human activities on the wetland in the past. Methodologically, these investigations have clarified site formation processes, including pedogenesis within feature fills, which enable a better determination of archaeological associations for different samples within those fills. Substantively, the results provide higher resolution interpretations of paleoenvironments and past human activities on the wetland margin. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] The geochemical characterization and correlation of Late Holocene tephra layers at Ambra Crater and Kuk Swamp, Papua New GuineaGEOLOGICAL JOURNAL, Issue 5 2009Sarah E. Coulter Abstract Major element geochemical analyses of volcanic glass shards from visible, macroscopic tephra layers in Papua New Guinea were used to test field-based correlations between local Late Holocene sequences. Previously, synchronization of sediment records at archaeological and palaeoecological sites across the Papua New Guinea highlands had been based largely on the physical properties and stratigraphic relationships of visible volcanic layers. The geochemical analysis of tephra-derived glass demonstrates miscorrelations and enables more robust tephrostratigraphic links to be made between a globally significant archaeological site, Kuk Swamp, and a nearby volcanic cone, Ambra Crater. The results indicate that field-based correlations of tephras can be problematic, especially given variable post-depositional changes in colour and texture of relatively thin tephra layers in different depositional environments. Additionally, the findings call into question some previous tephrochronological associations at archaeological and palaeoecological sites in the Papua New Guinea highlands, and demonstrate the necessity of grain-discrete geochemical analysis of glass shards as a basis for future tephrochronological studies in this region. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Ribosomal DNA spacer genotypes of the Anopheles bancroftii group (Diptera: Culicidae) from Australia and Papua New GuineaINSECT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, Issue 5 2001N. W. Beebe Abstract Mosquitoes of the Anopheles bancroftii group collected from Northern Australia and Papua New Guinea (PNG) were investigated for sequence variation within the ribosomal DNA ITS2. Wing fringe morphology originally used to identify members of this group was compared to genotypes identified by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis (RFLP) and heteroduplex analysis (HDA) of the rDNA ITS2. Members of this group separated into four RFLP genotypes (A, B, C and D) with some genotypes displaying wing fringe polymorphisms. Heteroduplex analysis of the ITS2 within and between populations identified genotype A as containing two geographically separate ITS2 sequences: A1 from the Northern Territory of Australia and A2 from Queensland and the Western Province of PNG. Genotypes B and C and genotypes C and D were found sympatric and appeared to be evolving independently suggesting the possibility of cryptic species. Genotype C contained two ITS2 sequence types within the genome. [source] Prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV infection in Pacific countriesINTERNAL MEDICINE JOURNAL, Issue 4 2007P. Rupali Abstract Introduction: A generalized epidemic of HIV infection has been evolving in Papua New Guinea over the last decade, whereas in other Pacific Island countries and territories (PICT) HIV transmission has generally been less widespread. Programmes to detect HIV infection in pregnant women and to prevent mother to child transmission (MTCT) during either delivery or breast-feeding can decrease the incidence of infection in infants. The limited health infrastructure present in some PICT may delay the implementation of effective programmes to decrease MTCT of HIV. Methods: We used a standardized questionnaire to survey health-care providers in 22 PICT for information on the epidemiology of HIV infection and strategies used during 2004 to prevent MTCT of HIV infection in their country. We supplemented these survey responses with data obtained from regional organizations supporting national responses to HIV. Results: We obtained responses from 21 PICT. The reported prevalence of known HIV infection was >150 per 100 000 persons in Papua New Guinea, approximately 100 per 100 000 persons in French Polynesia, Guam, New Caledonia and Tuvalu and <50 per 100 000 persons in the remaining 14 PICT. Other than in Papua New Guinea, where an estimated 500 pregnant women had HIV infection diagnosed in 2004, reported HIV infection among pregnant women was rare. Ten PICT reported that an HIV antibody test was offered as a routine component of antenatal care and 11 reported that antiretroviral medications were available for the prevention of MTCT of HIV infection. Conclusion: The prevalence of HIV infection differs greatly between PICT with a varying risk of MTCT of HIV infection. Successful prevention of MTCT of HIV infection throughout the PICT will require improved uptake of antenatal HIV antibody testing and better access to antiretroviral medications. [source] Betel quid not containing tobacco and oral cancer: A report on a case,control study in Papua New Guinea and a meta-analysis of current evidenceINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue 6 2007Steven J. Thomas Abstract Smoking and betel quid chewing are associated with increased risk of oral cancer but few studies have reported on associations in populations where betel quid does not contain tobacco. We conducted a case,control study in Papua New Guinea and a systematic review. Our case,control study recruited 143 cases with oral cancer and 477 controls. We collected information on smoking and betel quid chewing. Current smoking was associated with an increased risk of oral cancer with an adjusted odds ratio (OR) for daily smokers of 2.63 (95% confidence intervals (95% CI) 1.32, 5.22) and amongst heaviest smokers of 4.63 (95% CI 2.07, 10.36) compared to never-smokers. Betel chewing was associated with increased risk of oral cancer with an adjusted OR for current chewers of 2.03 (95% CI 1.01, 4.09) and in the heaviest chewers of 2.47 (95% CI 1.13, 5.40) compared to nonchewers. The OR in those who both smoked tobacco and chewed betel quid was 4.85 (95% 1.10, 22.25), relative to those who neither smoked nor chewed. The systematic review identified 10 previous studies that examined risk of oral cancer associated with betel quid chewing that controlled for smoking in populations where betel quid did not contain tobacco. In studies that reported results for non-smokers the combined OR was 2.14 (95% CI 1.06, 4.32) in betel quid chewers and in studies that adjusted for smoking the combined OR was 3.50 (95% CI 2.16, 5.65) in betel quid chewers. Preventive efforts should discourage betel quid chewing as well as smoking. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Change in mean temperature as a predictor of extreme temperature change in the Asia,Pacific regionINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLIMATOLOGY, Issue 10 2005G. M. Griffiths Abstract Trends (1961,2003) in daily maximum and minimum temperatures, extremes and variance were found to be spatially coherent across the Asia,Pacific region. The majority of stations exhibited significant trends: increases in mean maximum and mean minimum temperature, decreases in cold nights and cool days, and increases in warm nights. No station showed a significant increase in cold days or cold nights, but a few sites showed significant decreases in hot days and warm nights. Significant decreases were observed in both maximum and minimum temperature standard deviation in China, Korea and some stations in Japan (probably reflecting urbanization effects), but also for some Thailand and coastal Australian sites. The South Pacific convergence zone (SPCZ) region between Fiji and the Solomon Islands showed a significant increase in maximum temperature variability. Correlations between mean temperature and the frequency of extreme temperatures were strongest in the tropical Pacific Ocean from French Polynesia to Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and southern Japan. Correlations were weaker at continental or higher latitude locations, which may partly reflect urbanization. For non-urban stations, the dominant distribution change for both maximum and minimum temperature involved a change in the mean, impacting on one or both extremes, with no change in standard deviation. This occurred from French Polynesia to Papua New Guinea (except for maximum temperature changes near the SPCZ), in Malaysia, the Philippines, and several outlying Japanese islands. For urbanized stations the dominant change was a change in the mean and variance, impacting on one or both extremes. This result was particularly evident for minimum temperature. The results presented here, for non-urban tropical and maritime locations in the Asia,Pacific region, support the hypothesis that changes in mean temperature may be used to predict changes in extreme temperatures. At urbanized or higher latitude locations, changes in variance should be incorporated. Copyright © 2005 Royal Meteorological Society. [source] Colonization of an island volcano, Long Island, Papua New Guinea, and an emergent island, Motmot, in its caldera lake.JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, Issue 11-12 2001Abstract Biogeographical context Long Island, in Vitiaz Strait, is 55 km north of New Guinea, 60 km from Umboi Island and 125 km from New Britain. After its explosive caldera-forming eruption in about 1645, Long is being recolonized by animals and plants. Through renewed volcanic activity in the 1950s a new island emerged from Long's caldera lake, 4 km from the nearest lake shore and was recreated by eruptions in 1968. Long Island thus provides the opportunity to study a nested pair of natural colonization sequences. The geological background, eruptive history, course and results of the seventeenth century eruption, and the geographical features and climate of Long Island are summarized. Existing knowledge of Long's recolonization, confined almost entirely to surveys of its avifauna in 1933 and 1972, is reviewed. The geological history of Motmot is outlined, and published knowledge of its colonization by animals and plants from 1968 to 1988 is summarized. The 1999 expedition and aims An expedition to Long Island and Motmot in 1999 set out to investigate the hitherto little-known flora and present vertebrate fauna of Long Island and to survey the entire flora and fauna of Motmot for comparison with the results of previous surveys. The methods used in the 1999 survey are described, and the papers setting out the results briefly introduced. [source] Colonization of an island volcano, Long Island, Papua New Guinea, and an emergent island, Motmot, in its caldera lake.JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, Issue 11-12 2001Abstract Aim Long Island erupted catastrophically in c. 1645 with the probable destruction of its entire biota. While several expeditions have visited the island since, no survey of its flora has been published. In 1968 a small island, Motmot, emerged from its caldera lake. Motmot has been surveyed several times but not since 1988. The aim of this study was to investigate the colonization by vascular plants of this interesting nested pair of islands. Location Long Island is 55 km off the northeast coast of Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Motmot lies in its fresh water caldera lake, Lake Wisdom, c. 4 km from the rim of the surrounding volcano. Methods We conducted a complete survey of the vascular plants on Motmot and made ad hoc collections on Long Island, including surveying three small plots, over 15 days in 1999. In addition, we incorporated data from several collections lodged at the regional herbarium in Lae. Data on seed dispersal syndromes and plant habit were obtained from the literature. Results We recorded 305 species of vascular plants from Long Island, but most trees were small and the species diversity was low. Motmot was still very sparsely vegetated and only forty-five species of vascular plants were found. Communities on Motmot were unspecialized and common species widespread. The flora of Motmot was not significantly different from that on Long Island in terms of the number of species amongst higher taxa, seed dispersal syndromes or plant habits. Main conclusions Low rainfall combined with very porous soils may be responsible for the small stature and low diversity of the forest on Long Island's caldera rim. The absence of specialist littoral species on Motmot, as a result of its landlocked situation, is probably responsible for the very slow species recruitment on the island. This community appears to be functionally important for colonization by comparison with other small volcanic islands in a marine situation. [source] Colonization of an island volcano, Long Island, Papua New Guinea, and an emergent island, Motmot, in its caldera lake.JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, Issue 11-12 2001Abstract Location, Aim Long Island, 55 km north of New Guinea, erupted explosively in the seventeenth century and has been recolonized by animals and plants. Effectively in 1968, an island, Motmot, emerged from Long's 13 km-diameter fresh-water caldera lake, about 4 km from the nearest shore. A nested pair of colonization sequences is thus available for study. Long Island has been recolonized by birds, and Motmot has been colonized, presumably from the surrounding ring of Long Island. In order to monitor further colonization of Long Island following bird surveys in 1933 and 1972, and to survey the birds of Motmot, Motmot and the western parts of Long were visited for 15 days in 1999. Results In the last 66 years one species probably has become extinct; in the past 27 years three species have colonized and three, present in 1972, were not recorded in 1999. We assess the present number of nonmigrant land bird species as fifty. On Motmot, we recorded eight species, three breeding, and found two more only as prey remains (three raptor species were seen on the island). Main conclusions Long Island's avifauna still has youthful features. Species with good colonizing ability predominate, and there are no island-endemic subspecies. There is a persistently high proportion of supertramps; none of the ten supertramps has been replaced by later-colonizing ,high-S' species. A quasi-equilibrium of about fifty species, fourteen fewer than the predicted equilibrium number for the island, has persisted for at least seven decades and may be seen as that appropriate to the present prolonged stage of Long's floral and vegetational development. Compared with the younger avifauna of Krakatau, Long's avifauna has a higher proportion of nectarivores, predators of large invertebrates and small vertebrates, and ground-foraging insectivore-herbivores, and a lower proportion of the insectivore-frugivore guild. Motmot's small avifauna consists predominantly of species obtaining subsistence from outside the island. [source] Commodity price stabilisation: macroeconomic impacts and policy optionsAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2000Chinna A. Kannapiran Abstract A macroeconometric simulation study is undertaken to evaluate the impact of commodity price stabilisation (CPS) schemes for the export tree crop industry in Papua New Guinea. The findings suggest that there is a negligible level of favourable macroeconomic impacts of CPS. Contrary to the expectation, CPS adversely affects the stability of monetary and external sectors (BOP). CPS policy has failed to stabilise the macroeconomy. The price stabilisation policies are no longer appropriate from the macroeconomic point of view. Technical change, futures market and rural savings are the possible alternative policy options to manage the price risk. [source] Large differences in serum leptin levels between nonwesternized and westernized populations: the Kitava studyJOURNAL OF INTERNAL MEDICINE, Issue 6 2001S. Lindeberg Abstract.,Lindeberg S, Söderberg S, Ahrén B, Olsson T (Lund University; and Umeå University, Malmö, Sweden). Large differences in serum leptin levels between nonwesternized and westernized populations: the Kitava study. J Intern Med 2001; 249: 553,558. Objectives.,To compare serum leptin between nonwesternized and westernized populations. Setting., (i) The tropical island of Kitava, Trobriand Islands, Papua New Guinea and (ii) the Northern Sweden MONICA study population. Design.,Cross-sectional survey. Methods.,Fasting levels of serum leptin were analysed in 163 randomly selected Kitavans aged 20,86 years and in 224 Swedes aged 25,74. Main outcome measures.,Mean and determinants of serum leptin. Results.,Geometric mean of serum leptin in Kitavan males and females were 1.5 and 4.0 vs. 4.9 and 13.8 ng mL,1 in Swedish male and females (P < 0.0001 for both sexes). In Kitavans, observed geometric mean were close to predicted levels (1.8 ng mL,1 for males and 4.5 ng mL,1 for females) based on multiple linear regression equations including body mass index (BMI), triceps skinfolds (TSF) and age from the Swedish population-based sample. In Kitavans serum leptin was positively related to TSF amongst both sexes and, amongst females, to BMI. In Kitavans leptin was not related to fasting serum insulin. TSF explained 55% of the variation of leptin amongst females. There was a slight age-related increase of leptin amongst males. In Kitava leptin was not related to fasting serum insulin which was substantially lower than in Sweden. Conclusion.,The low concentrations of serum leptin amongst Kitavans probably relates to the absence of overweight and hyperinsulinaemia. At a population level serum leptin can apparently be predicted from simple measures of adiposity. [source] Introduction to climate, disasters and international developmentJOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, Issue 2 2010Ilan Kelman Abstract This Policy Arena provides four papers exploring development policy for climate-related disaster risk reduction, including but not limited to climate change. The first two papers explore popular concepts, first ,vulnerability', ,capacity' and ,resilience' and second ,climate refugees' and ,climate conflict'. The last two papers each cover a Small Island Developing State (SIDS), Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Samoa, respectively. The key development policy lesson from the papers is a framing that places climate change within wider climate, disaster risk reduction and development perspectives. That is further highlighted here through describing the Many Strong Voices programme that learns from the past to aim for a better future by tackling climate change. Learning from the history of international development assists in addressing root causes, such as vulnerability and poverty, to achieve effective development policy. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Molecular epidemiological study of hepatitis B virus infection in two different ethnic populations from the Solomon IslandsJOURNAL OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY, Issue 3 2007Takako Utsumi Abstract The Solomon Islands is a multi-ethnic nation with a high rate of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The prevalence relative to ethnicity was examined in relation to HBV infection, genotypes, and mutations. Asymptomatic populations (n,=,564, 308 Melanesian and 118 Micronesian) from the Western Province were enrolled. Positive samples for Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) were examined for serological status, genotyping, viral load, and mutations of the basic core promoter (BCP) and pre-core (Pre-C) regions. The positive rate for HBsAg was 21.5%. The major Melanesian genotype was C (HBV/C), whereas the major Micronesian genotype was D (HBV/D). The prevalence of Hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) in serum was lower in carriers of HBV/D than of HBV/C. While the prevalence of the BCP mutation (T1762A1764) tended to be higher in HBV/C, that of the Pre-C mutation (T1846) was significantly higher in HBV/D (P,<,0.0001). Genetic distance and phylogenetic analyses based on complete genome sequences were also carried out for two strains of HBV/C and two strains of HBV/D, and the findings were compared with those in the DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank database. The full-length sequence revealed that strains from the Solomon Islands were classified into subgenotype C3 (HBV/C3) and D4 (HBV/D4), and that the HBV/D strains were related closely to those from Papua New Guinea. HBV infection in the Solomon Islands is hyperendemic, and the genotype is ethnicity-specific. HBeAg appears to clear from the serum in young adulthood in HBV/D infection, which may be influenced by genotype-dependent features in relation to viral mutations. J. Med. Virol. 79:229,235, 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Late Miocene,Pliocene eclogite facies metamorphism, D'Entrecasteaux Islands, SE Papua New GuineaJOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 2 2007B. D. MONTELEONE Abstract The D'Entrecasteaux Islands of south-eastern Papua New Guinea are active metamorphic core complexes that formed within a region where the plate tectonic regime has transitioned from subduction to rifting. While rapid, post 4 Myr exhumation and cooling of amphibolite and greenschist facies rocks that constitute the footwall of the crustal scale detachment fault system have been previously documented on Fergusson and Goodenough Islands of the D'Entrecasteaux chain, the timing of eclogite facies metamorphism in rocks of the footwall was unknown. Recent work revealed that at least one of the eclogite bodies formed during the Pliocene. We present combined in situ ion microprobe U,Pb age analyses of zircon from five variably retrogressed eclogite samples from Fergusson and Goodenough Islands that document Late Miocene,Pliocene (8,2 Ma) eclogite formation on these islands. Textural relationships and zircon,garnet rare earth element partition coefficients indicate that U,Pb ages constrain zircon crystallization under eclogite facies conditions in all samples. Results suggest westward younging of eclogite facies metamorphism from Fergusson to Goodenough Island. Present-day exposure of Late Miocene,Pliocene eclogites requires exhumation rates > 2.5 cm yr,1. [source] Slow but steady progress in child health in Papua New GuineaJOURNAL OF PAEDIATRICS AND CHILD HEALTH, Issue 12 2004T Duke First page of article [source] Christian Bodies: Dialectics of Sickness and Salvation Among the Maisin of Papua New GuineaJOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS HISTORY, Issue 3 2003John Barker This article examines the impact of a Charismatic youth fellowship movement among the Maisin people of Oro Province, Papua New Guinea, in the late 1990s. Drawing upon ethnographic and archival sources, I show that the response conforms to a pattern repeated periodically over a century of regional religious movements focused upon eradicating sorcery and promoting health. Over several generations, Maisin have experienced and interpreted Christianity in ways that at once confirm a basic belief in sorcery while prodding the faithful towards increasingly individualistic notions of morality and, thus, new collectivist responses to misfortunes like life-threatening illnesses. Thus, while the main intent of religious movements among the Maisin has remained remarkably consistent, the underlying conception of the links between morality, sickness, and healing has shifted markedly over the years. The article thus demonstrates that Christianity in this Melanesian community has had both conservative and transformational effects upon everyday conceptions of morality, sickness, healing, and redemption. More generally, the article advocates moving the study of religious change in longer contacted regions of Melanesia from a dualistic model that opposes Western and indigenous cultures to one that examines the complex historical development of vernacular Christianity. [source] Mimicry in coral reef fishes: ecological and behavioural responses of a mimic to its modelJOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY, Issue 1 2004Janelle V. Eagle Abstract Mimicry is a widely documented phenomenon in coral reef fishes, but the underlying relationships between mimics and models are poorly understood. Juveniles of the surgeonfish Acanthurus pyroferus mimic the coloration of different pygmy angelfish Centropyge spp. at different locations throughout the geographic range of the surgeonfish, while adopting a common species-specific coloration as adults. This study examines the ecological and behavioural relationships between A pyroferus and one of its models, Centropyge vroliki, in Papua New Guinea. Surgeonfish underwent a transition from the juvenile (mimetic) coloration to the adult (non-mimetic) coloration when they reached the maximum size of the angelfish. As typical of mimic,model relationships, mimic surgeonfish were always less abundant than their model. Spatial variation in the abundance of mimics was correlated with models, while the abundance of adults was not. We show that juvenile surgeonfish gain a foraging advantage by mimicking the angelfish. Mimic surgeonfish were always found within 1,2 m of a similar-sized individual of C. vroliki with which they spent c. 10% of their time in close association. When in association with angelfish, juvenile surgeonfish exhibited an increase of c. 10% in the amount of time spent feeding compared to when they were alone. This foraging benefit seems to be explained by reduced aggression by the territorial damselfish Plectroglyphidon lacrymatus, which dominates the reef crest habitat. While adult A. pyroferus and all other surgeonfish were aggressively displaced from damselfish territories, mimic surgeonfish and their models were attacked less frequently and were not always displaced. Stomach contents analysis showed that the diet of C. vroliki differed substantially from P. lacrymatus, while that of A. pyroferus was more similar to the damselfish. We hypothesize that mimics deceive damselfish as to their diet in order to gain access to food supplies in defended areas. [source] Enabling technologies to improve area-wide integrated pest management programmes for the control of screwwormsMEDICAL AND VETERINARY ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 2009A. S. ROBINSON Abstract The economic devastation caused in the past by the New World screwworm fly Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) to the livestock industry in the U.S.A., Mexico and the rest of Central America was staggering. The eradication of this major livestock pest from North and Central America using the sterile insect technique (SIT) as part of an area-wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM) programme was a phenomenal technical and managerial accomplishment with enormous economic implications. The area is maintained screwworm-free by the weekly release of 40 million sterile flies in the Darien Gap in Panama, which prevents migration from screwworm-infested areas in Columbia. However, the species is still a major pest in many areas of the Caribbean and South America and there is considerable interest in extending the eradication programme to these countries. Understanding New World screwworm fly populations in the Caribbean and South America, which represent a continuous threat to the screwworm-free areas of Central America and the U.S.A., is a prerequisite to any future eradication campaigns. The Old World screwworm fly Chrysomya bezziana Villeneuve (Diptera: Calliphoridae) has a very wide distribution ranging from Southern Africa to Papua New Guinea and, although its economic importance is assumed to be less than that of its New World counterpart, it is a serious pest in extensive livestock production and a constant threat to pest-free areas such as Australia. In the 1980s repeated introductions and an expansion of Old World screwworm populations were reported in the Middle East; in the 1990s it invaded Iraq and since late 2007 it has been reported in Yemen, where a severe outbreak of myiasis occurred in 2008. Small-scale field trials have shown the potential of integrating the SIT in the control of this pest and various international organizations are considering using the release of sterile insects as part of an AW-IPM approach on a much wider scale. Wohlfahrtia magnifica (Schiner) (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) is a screwworm of temperate regions, which, although of limited agricultural importance, has invaded several new locations in the past few years. This special issue reports on the results of a 6-year project funded by the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations/International Atomic Energy Agency (FAO/IAEA) Programme of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture entitled ,Enabling Technologies for the Expansion of the SIT for Old and New World Screwworm'. A major goal of the project was to better understand population genetic variation in screwworms as an aid to the identification of isolated populations. The project also addressed issues related to genetic sexing, cuticular hydrocarbons, population dynamics, genetic transformation and chromosome analysis. [source] Giving Birth to Gonolia: "Culture" and Sexually Transmitted Disease among the Huli of Papua New GuineaMEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2002Holly Wardlow The "culture concept" has been challenged on a number of fronts, both by medical anthropologists researching AIDS and in the discipline of cultural anthropology more generally. Medical anthropologists have argued against the "etiologization" of culture, and cultural anthropologists have taken issue with the tendency to treat beliefs and practices as static and seamlessly shared. Using the narrative of one Huli woman's shifting explanation of a diagnosis of syphilis, this article argues that, rather than avoid the notion of culture, we should strive for representations that demonstrate how individuals use discourses in expedient, ad hoc, and yet deeply felt ways. This article also argues for the importance of a sociology of knowledge approach to understanding local notions of etiology. The woman's understanding of her situation was strongly influenced by her entry into a new "community" of women who had similarly been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease. [Papua New Guinea, sexually transmitted disease, gender, etiology] [source] Spawning times, reproductive compatibilities and genetic structuring in the Acropora aspera group: evidence for natural hybridization and semi-permeable species boundaries in coralsMOLECULAR ECOLOGY, Issue 8 2002Madeleine J. H. Van Oppen Abstract Species boundaries among five sympatric coral species of the Indo-Pacific Acropora aspera group were examined by a combination of in vitro breeding trials, comparisons of spawning times and DNA sequence analysis of ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer (rDNA ITS) and 5.8S regions. The breeding trials showed that reproductive compatibility exists between at least some colonies of all the species pairs tested, suggesting a large potential for natural hybridization and introgression. The Acropora ITS regions exhibited extremely high levels of variability (up to ,62% for ITS1, ,11% for 5.8S and ,43% for ITS2), but most of the variation was shared among four of the five species, A. millepora, A. papillare, A. pulchra and A. spathulata, consistent with extensive introgression. Phylogenetic analyses did not resolve these four species as distinct clusters across a wide biogeographic region stretching from the southern Great Barrier Reef to Papua New Guinea. However, most colonies of the fifth species, A. aspera, constituted a distinct clade in phylogenetic analyses. This is consistent with our observations of a semi-permeable temporal barrier involving differences in spawning times between this and the other four species. Although the majority of colonies of all five species generally spawned within 90 min of each other, in two out of four years, gametes were absent prior to mass spawning episodes from at least some A. aspera colonies. Hence, our data suggest that transient reproductive barriers may be the result of year-to-year variation in the date of spawning and that this difference in spawning time contributes to the genetic structure detected among Acropora species in this group. Occasional leakage through the reproductive barrier was confirmed by the observation of A. aspera ×A. pulchra F1 hybrids, identified based on additivity of ITS sequences. [source] Skull Art in Papua New Guinea by Sabine Jell-BahlsenAMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Issue 1 2009ERIC KLINE SILVERMAN No abstract is available for this article. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||