Search

Pacific Island Countries and Territories are highly exposed to natural disasters, intensified by increases in frequency and force of extreme weather events. Pacific societies, like in Vanuatu, have been shaped in many ways by such natural disasters; reflected in customary practices and social fabric of rural coastal communities. When a natural disaster occurs, government attention justifiably focuses on channelling and coordinating international humanitarian aid to fill gaps in capacity and resourcing national recovery efforts. However, central to disaster recovery, particularly in the immediate aftermath of disruption, are the ways that local people support each other (within and between communities). Disconnects between national and local recovery efforts are common and stand to inhibit effective responses. This study aims to understand horizontal, self-organised community-to-community support systems and communities’ post-disaster engagement with external aid. It draws from two different datasets: i) the observations collected through the emergency relief work led by the National Disaster Management Office in Vanuatu shortly after the 2023 twin tropical cyclones Judy and Kevin hit the country, as well as ii) the loss and damage survey led by the Vanuatu Fisheries Department to estimate the level of damage these cyclones caused in various regions of Vanuatu. Through this process, we highlight the social systems that enable community-to-community support, as well as potential opportunities for external-aid to support communities in a more efficient manner. Results reveal that community-to-community support is critical in the first weeks post-disaster. Recognizing the roles that different support networks play at different stages of disaster response is critical not only to improving people's and institutions' ability to bounce back from particular disruptions, but also in broader efforts to strengthen community resilience in the face of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sea-level rise (SLR) is one of the greatest future threats to mangrove forests. Mangroves have kept up with or paced past SLR by maintaining their forest floor elevation relative to sea level through root growth, sedimentation, and peat development. Monitoring surface elevation change (SEC) or accretion rates allows us to understand mangrove response to SLR and prioritizes resilient ecosystems for conservation or vulnerable ecosystems for restoration. We compared three methods to measure SEC and accretion in mangrove forests: 210Pb, surface elevation tables (SETs), and a terrestrial light detection and ranging system (compact biomass LiDAR—CBL). Lead-210 accretion rates were not significantly different than SET SEC rates and differences between the two methods (− 2 to 2 mm/year) were within the error of our measurements. Lead-210 only measures accretion in the upper meter of sediment and cannot capture deeper subsurface processes (e.g., subsidence, compaction) that SETs can. The lack of differences suggests the following: (1) surface processes in the active root zone are influencing forest floor elevation more than subsurface processes, (2) subsurface processes were not large enough to effect elevation, or (3) the SETs were not installed deep enough to capture subsurface processes. CBL SEC rates did not differ significantly from SET SEC rates. The larger spatial scale of the CBL scans resulted in significantly different SEC rates from some of the plots. This was due to the CBL measuring areas missed by the SET. The greater number of points measured by CBL (~ 30,000 vs 36) increased precision and lowered standard error. The traditional SET/rSET method is currently 3–10 × cheaper than the 210Pb or CBL method, respectively, and can accurately track changes in forest floor elevation. Costs of the use of LiDAR are likely to decrease in the future with the advent of newer and more cost-effective technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hikitia te Ora (Certificate in Health Sciences) is a 1 year Indigenous bridging foundation programme at the University of Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. The programme aims to increase Māori and Pacific health workforce representation. This qualitative study applied a Kaupapa Māori positioning to elucidate the strengths, challenges, and opportunities of the programme. Data were collected through two workshops and seven focus groups with a total of 67 participants who were students of Hikitia te Ora from past and present cohorts, or their family members. Using a general inductive thematic analysis, the primary themes identified were that programme successes encompassed whanaungatanga (process of establishing relationships), academic and pastoral support, programme structure and the teaching content. Challenges included social cliques and divisive social groupings, timetabling of courses and high workloads. The three areas that emerged for further development include extending Pacific content, increasing the number of students in the programme, and maintaining a programme-specific study space for students. Implementing the findings from this study into Hikitia te Ora is expected to improve educational outcomes for Māori and Pacific students and may have the potential to benefit other bridging foundation courses aiming to promote Indigenous health workforce development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drivers and dynamics of initial human migrations across individual islands and archipelagos are poorly understood, hampering assessments of subsequent modification of island biodiversity. We developed and tested a new statistical-simulation approach for reconstructing the pattern and pace of human migration across islands at high spatiotemporal resolutions. Using Polynesian colonisation of New Zealand as an example, we show that process-explicit models, informed by archaeological records and spatiotemporal reconstructions of past climates and environments, can provide new and important insights into the patterns and mechanisms of arrival and establishment of people on islands. We find that colonisation of New Zealand required there to have been a single founding population of approximately 500 people, arriving between 1233 and 1257 AD, settling multiple areas, and expanding rapidly over both North and South Islands. These verified spatiotemporal reconstructions of colonisation dynamics provide new opportunities to explore more extensively the potential ecological impacts of human colonisation on New Zealand's native biota and ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the resilience and damage dynamics of agroforests, a critically important yet understudied agroecological system, in the aftermath of Category-5 Cyclone Winston in Fiji. As agroforestry gains prominence globally as a versatile production system able to support agrobiodiversity and food security for climate resilience, understanding the characteristics that contribute to its resistance and resilience to disturbance becomes increasingly important. Here we examine the effects of individual and species-specific traits, and management (planted and fallow vs forest areas) on the probability of tree stem survival and damage, and discuss the resistant and resilient qualities of trees and management actions in these systems. We found that the probability of post-cyclone survival increased as a function of wood density, irrespective of management type. Damage severity increased with tree size (diameter at breast height). Some of the species with the highest wood density were native trees, emphasizing the role of native species in agroforests, and the value of agroforests to conservation. Overall, agroforest trees experienced relatively low stem mortality (12.2%), suggesting that these agroforests may resist extreme disturbances despite their potential vulnerabilities such as landscape edge effects and altered species compositions. Our study provides insight into the potential of agroforests as resilient agroecological systems capable of withstanding escalating cyclone intensities, and the role of effective management strategies for fostering resilience amid a rapidly changing climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is an evidence-based mental health intervention with a robust body of research substantiating its efficacy, but concerns exist around its applicability to ethnically diverse and under-represented minority populations such as Pacific peoples. Cultural adaptation is important to increase engagement in such populations and frameworks recommend qualitative expert consultation studies to inform preliminary adaptation design. This study aimed to examine the perspectives of two Pacific clinical and cultural experts on MBCT and its potential for cultural adaptation for Pacific populations. Methods: The perspectives of experts in Pacific mental health and culture who had also experienced MBCT were explored using in-depth semi-structured interviews. These interviews were qualitatively analysed using reflexive thematic analysis with the aim of producing a comprehensive, primarily descriptive analysis. Results: Five themes were identified pertaining to acceptability, cultural adaptation, communication, connectivity, and spirituality. Experts considered MBCT an acceptable mental health intervention that could benefit Pacific communities. Cultural adaptations suggested by experts primarily referred to language, spirituality, and the incorporation of Pacific cultural values and protocols. The group delivery format of MBCT was identified as a potential point of synergy and resonance with the Pacific worldview. Conclusions: Experts suggest that MBCT is a relevant, compatible, and acceptable intervention for Pacific populations with significant potential for further adaptation. Co-design approaches to cultural adaptation were advocated. Further research is required to examine the perspectives of more diverse and representative Pacific populations as part of the co-design process. Preregistration: This study is not preregistered because it is a preliminary exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-pandemic resilience in the Pacific region presents some unique, context-specific, economic, social, environmental, and political challenges as well as opportunities. This study aims at developing a holistic definition of post-pandemic resilience in the Pacific context, based on the interconnected aspects and factors that contribute. As there is a gap in the literature for a holistic definition of post-pandemic resilience based on empirical studies from the Pacific Island countries, this study tries to plug that gap. Using a qualitative systems thinking approach, data was collected from primary and secondary sources including semi-structured interviews with ten senior leaders in the Pacific. This study first captures the multiple levels and different interconnected aspects of post-pandemic resilience in the Pacific and then presents a holistic definition. An analysis of the different papers published in this special issue based on this holistic definition and their contexts is also provided in this article. Overall, this study contributes to the literature and practice on post-pandemic resilience by developing a holistic definition using an empirical study based in the Pacific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Pacific Island Countries (PICs) have long been grappled with their unique economic challenges stemming from their small, dispersed populations, limited resource endowments, and vulnerability to external shocks. The outbreak of COVID-19 further thrust these nations into an unprecedented crisis and left them with the daunting task of economic recovery and resilience building. As these nations strive to rebuild and strengthen their economies, the banking sector can play a pivotal role in economic resurgence and resilience. The extant literature demonstrates the vital role of the banking sector in economic development; however, studies specific to PICs are relatively scant. Hence, a comprehensive study to understand the financial systems and their interaction with economic growth especially after the COVID-19 crisis in the PICs region is imperative. In this context, our study examines the moderating role of the banking sector in economic resurgence and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic in the PICs region. Our sample consists of five PICs: Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, and Solomon Islands. To avoid the potential endogeneity issues, we employ the system GMM estimation model, and the results indicate that the banking sector plays a substantial role in the economic development of this region. Also, results indicate that the banking sector facilitates the economic resurgence and resilience of PICs through improved performance, which is examined through the growth in loans and deposits, and return on assets. The findings of our study provide insights for financial institutions, policymakers, and researchers into the financial dynamics of the PICs region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Octopuses present a difficult resource to manage because of their relatively short life spans, rapid growth rates, high natural mortality and seasonal fluctuations in abundance. With exploitation efforts increasing worldwide, particularly in the Pacific Island region, substantial knowledge gaps in their biology, exploitation and management remain. We conducted a literature review to summarise their species distribution, abundance, ecological attributes, utilization, importance and management within the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) of Fiji, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Tonga, Samoa and American Samoa. We found that 23 species of octopuses within 11 genera were recorded from these PICTs, belonging to the families Amphitretidae and Octopodidae. Overall, Tonga was the most speciose country with 11 occurrence records and Samoa recorded the least with just a single species. All other countries recorded between 2 and 8 taxa. The day octopus (Octopus cyanea) was recorded from all PICTs except Samoa. There are no specific national regulations on octopus fisheries within the PICTs and management is largely dependent on overarching national fisheries legislation. However, community-based management efforts can be an effective platform in sustaining octopus stocks. Octopuses also play an important role in the folklore and customs of many Pacific Islanders, and we provide a summary of these for the specific PICTs assessed. This review highlights areas for further research and development for the Pacific Island region and the urgent need to address specific knowledge gaps on octopus taxonomy, stock assessment and fishery management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The torquaratorid enteropneust Quatuoralisia malakhovi Ezhova et Lukinykh in Ezhova, Lukinykh, Galkin, Krylova, et Gebruk, 2022 has been known only by the type material from the bathyal zone at depths of 1957–2289 m on the slopes of the submarine Piip Volcano in the Volcanologists Massif, southwestern Bering Sea. In this study, fragments of soft-bodied animals were obtained among trawled material from the bathyal zone in the Japan Trench, about 41.51° N, 144.13° E, at depths of 1987–2007 m during the cruise KH-22-8 of the R/V Hakuho-maru in October 2022. Partial sequences of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene from two fragments showed a 100% match with the ones determined from the type series of Q. malakhovi, suggesting conspecificity among them. This study broadens the known geographic distribution range of Q. malakhovi by ~2500 km southwestward. This is also the first record of the species as well as the family Torquaratoridae from Japanese waters. In total, the Hakuho-maru cruise KH-22-8 yielded four species of acorn worms in the Japan Trench (all represented by body fragments), including Q. malakhovi and two unidentified species in the family Harrimaniidae (briefly reported in this paper, about 40.80° N, 144.51° E, 6800 m, and 40.70° N, 144.68° E, 7000 m) in addition to Stereobalanus sp. (previously reported in another paper, about 40.80° N, 144.65° E, 7400 m). The phylogenetic positions of the two unidentified harrimaniids are inferred based on partial sequences of the 16S rRNA gene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data from QuikSCAT, ERA5, WAVERYS, drifters, and HYCOM + NCODA Reanalysis in the northern Pacific are analyzed under tropical cyclones (TCs) and extratropical cyclones (ECs). The EC (TC) has the stable (unstable) wind directions and wider (narrower) fetch resulting in a larger (smaller) significant wave height (Hs). For modest and weak wind speeds (W ≤ 26 m s−1), the current speed (U) is higher in low latitudes than in mid-latitudes since the oceanic mixed-layer thickness (ℎ) is not large enough. For strong wind speed (W > 26 m s−1), ℎ deepens more in low latitudes and causes lower U. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teratology is a congenital abnormality commonly observed in the shells of mollusks. A new case of teratology in polyplacophorans is documented. This corresponds to a new case of coalescence in the species Plaxiphora aurata, an extant marine mollusk from Punta Arenas (53°S), in southern Chile. In this specimen, the third and fourth shell plates were fused together, causing the fourth plate to be considerably reduced. To compare with another species of the genus several specimens of P. mercatoris, including a teratological specimen, were measured. Morphometrics suggest that chitons are similar in size and shape compared to normal individuals of the same species. Similar cases from the same region were also compared, where teratological individuals (with both hypomerism and coalescence) reached lengths of several centimeters, surviving for over several years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding popular attitudes to climate change can be important in developing effective climate adaptation responses. However, in the Pacific region, which is at the forefront of impacts of a changing climate, little attention has been given to popular perceptions of climate change. This paper presents the findings of a climate change module in the first Pacific Attitudes Survey (PAS), conducted in Samoa from December 2020 to January 2021. Drawing on a nationally representative sample of Samoans of voting age (n = 1319), the PAS gauges the views of ordinary Samoans towards climate change, including perceptions of the urgency of climate change action, perceptions of the effects of climate change in Samoa, and of individual or institutional capacity to act on climate change. Findings reveal that while most respondents believe that climate change was an urgent problem that needs to be addressed, a significant minority thought it will "never be necessary" to address climate change. This study also found level of education to be a significant factor in climate beliefs. Respondents who had higher education levels were more likely to rate climate change as an urgent problem. Those identifying climate change as an urgent problem that needs to be addressed were significantly more likely to agree that climate change was affecting Samoa in general and their own personal lives. We also found a significant association between perceptions that climate change was an "urgent problem that needs to be addressed", and willingness to permanently migrate for work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence and advancement of Information Communication Technologies have transformed facilitation and content delivery in higher education worldwide, the Pacific region being no exception. The extensive use of mobile phones in the Pacific, especially with the student-aged populace, is gradually creating a niche for mobile learning in the education landscape. However, there is a growing concern on the effectiveness of this innovative intervention keeping in mind the digital intelligence of Pacific students. This paper explores the readiness and perception of the Pacific students using mobile devices for learning. An online questionnaire was used to collect data for this exploratory research. While the results revealed the student's willingness and positive perception to leverage on mobile phones for learning in higher education, their readiness for the mobile-driven education is rather dependent on various factors which are explored in detail. The paper concludes with recommendations for the higher education institutes and education ministries in the Pacific region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to uncover some experiences and perceptions of elder abuse among New Zealand Pacific elders within their own communities. A qualitative design was used, in which data were collected and analysed, and meanings were ascribed, based on the cultural perspective and philosophical worldview of Pacific Island elders and the Fonofale model of holistic well-being. The Fonofale framework, congruent with a Pacific worldview, allowed for a guided understanding of abuse, as perceived by 50 older Pacific Island participants. In this study, the themes of abuse included psychological, financial, spiritual, neglect and cultural abuse in the form of disrespect. Importantly, spiritual and cultural abuse often overlaid the other forms, and intergenerational differences emerged as a prominent factor contributing to abuse. Shame, fear and loyalty negatively impacted help seeking behaviours. The Fonofale model of health and well-being was used to evaluate the findings, and inform evidence-based research that can guide healthcare professionals when addressing abuse within their own individual Pacific communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This systematic review aims to address gaps in understanding how concepts of gender, climate change and security are given meaning and linked in empirical scholarship within the Pacific Islands Region. The review assesses the 53 articles returned through Web of Science, SCOPUS and ProQuest databases that are derived from empirical research and refer to gender, climate change and security. The findings indicate that this is an emerging topic in a region that is one of the most vulnerable to climate change across the globe. Most frequently gender analysis is given superficial treatment; there is limited literature that connects gendered vulnerabilities to historical legacies and structural inequalities; and women's critical roles that create security are often overlooked and devalued. The review indicates that greater work is needed to question perceived threats to security and to reveal how climate change, gendered institutions, systems and spaces, historical legacies and politics interact to construct security in the Pacific Islands Region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Western and Central Pacific (WCP) tuna fisheries form part of a broad and complex social and ecological system (SES). This consists of interconnected elements including people (social, cultural, economic) and the biophysical environment in which they live. One area that has received little attention by policy makers is gender. Gender is important because it deepens understandings of behaviours, roles, power relations, policies, programs, and services that may differentially impact on social, ecological, economic, cultural, and political realities of people. This paper contributes a "first step" to examining gender issues in WCP tuna SES. Women's roles in WCP tuna SES in Fiji are explored and an evaluation of the impact fisheries development policy has on gender equality over the past two decades is revealed. Three key findings emerged from interviews, focus group discussions, and observations: 1) traditional gendered roles remain where women are marginalised in either invisible or low-paid and unskilled roles, and violence is sanctioned; 2) gender mainstreaming of policy and practice remain simplistic and narrow, but are transitioning towards more equitable outcomes for women; and 3) failure to consider gender within the context of WCP tuna SES leads to unintended outcomes that undermine potential benefits of the fishery to broader society, especially to women. A multifaceted approach is recommended to integrate substantive gender equality into SES-based approaches. This research argues educating and getting women opportunities to work on boats falls short of redressing inequality and injustice that is embedded in the social, political, and economic status quo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) share high burdens of nutrition-related conditions, including non-communicable diseases, associated with an increasing reliance on imported, processed foods. Improving health through increasing the production and consumption of local, nutritious foods is a policy objective of many SIDS governments. This study aimed to understand contemporary challenges and opportunities to strengthening local food systems in two case study settings, Fiji and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Fifty-two in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with key stakeholders involved in local food production. Interviews were analysed by both country teams using thematic analysis. Local food production networks in both settings included formal governance bodies as well as more informal connections through civil society and communities. Their main function was the sharing of resources and knowledge, but levels of trust and cooperation between the stakeholders varied in a market open to intense competition from imports. Local food production was hindered by few and slow investments by local governments, dated technology, and lack of knowledge. Stakeholders believed this marginalisation was occurring against a background of rising preferences for imported foods in the population, and increasing disinterest in employment in the sector. Despite the challenges, strong narratives of resilience and opportunity were highlighted such as national pride in local produce for commercialisation and local diets. Efforts to support local food production in SIDS should focus on strengthening governance structures to prioritise local produce over corporate and import markets, assist collaboration and co-learning, and support alternative agro-food practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The weaponization of racialized imagery has been a common feature of geopolitical contestation in contemporary history. The paper critically examines the historical genesis of Sinophobic narratives, which have been common features of the big power geopolitical contestation in the Pacific. The globalization of capitalism in the nineteenth century and the West's attempts to penetrate the Chinese market and exploitation of its resources led to tension, skirmishes and wars. The myth of racial European superiority and corresponding inferiority of the Chinese was weaponized as an ideological justification for colonial domination, exploitation of cheap labour and appropriation of China's resources and wealth. In recent years, the Sinophobic paranoia has been exacerbated by China's Belt and Road initiative, a strategy at global economic and technological supremacy to counter the West's dominance. This competition for global hegemony is played out in various parts of the world and the Pacific included. The paper critically discusses various historical factors associated with Sinophobia in the context of the USA, France and Australia and how these have influenced these countries' contemporary approaches to Chinese expansionism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Aussen- und Sicherheitspolitik is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This research investigated eight stations in Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCFZ) in the eastern tropical Pacific in 2017 to study the spatial distribution characteristics of nutrients and chlorophyll a (Chl a) concentration, and compared nutrient concentrations and molar ratios with those of other investigations 20 years ago in the same area. The study found that dissolved inorganic nutrient (N, P and Si) concentrations were lowest in the upper layer, and increased from surface to some depths, then they decreased a little to the bottom. N was the limited nutrient factor for the growth of phytoplankton community. Although nutrient concentrations and molar ratios have no obvious changes in 2017 comparing those in 1998–2003, supplemented from the equatorial Pacific, nutrient concentrations in the study area were higher than those in seamounts in the North Pacific and Station ALOHA. Furthermore, this study used Generalized Additive Models (GAMs) to infer the underlying bottom-up factors controlling phytoplankton abundance (Chl a concentration), showing that depth, salinity and PO43−-P concentration were major factors controlling the growth of phytoplankton community. Furthermore, this study can provide basic data and theoretical support for the development of polymetallic nodule area and its long-term impact assessment on the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Instrumental records suggest multidecadal variability in Arctic surface temperature throughout the twentieth century. This variability is caused by a combination of external forcing and internal variability, but their relative importance remains unclear. Since the early twentieth century Arctic warming has been linked to decadal variability in the Pacific, we hypothesize that the Pacific could impact decadal temperature trends in the Arctic throughout the twentieth century. To investigate this, we compare two ensembles of historical all-forcing twentieth century simulations with the Norwegian Earth System Model (NorESM): (1) a fully coupled ensemble and (2) an ensemble where momentum flux anomalies from reanalysis are prescribed over the Indo-Pacific Ocean to constrain Pacific sea surface temperature variability. We find that the combined effect of tropical and extratropical Pacific decadal variability can explain up to ~ 50% of the observed decadal surface temperature trends in the Arctic. The Pacific-Arctic connection involves both lower tropospheric horizontal advection and subsidence-induced adiabatic heating, mediated by Aleutian Low variations. This link is detected across the twentieth century, but the response in Arctic surface temperature is moderated by external forcing and surface feedbacks. Our results also indicate that increased ocean heat transport from the Atlantic to the Arctic could have compensated for the impact of a cooling Pacific at the turn of the twenty-first century. These results have implications for understanding the present Arctic warming and future climate variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Located at the southern boundary of the tropical rainfall belt within the South Africa monsoon regime, Rodrigues Island, ∼2500 km east of East Africa, is ideally located to investigate climatic changes over the southwest Indian Ocean (SWIO). In this study, we investigate the climatic controls of its modern interannual rainfall variability in terms of teleconnection and local effects. We find that increased rainfall over the SWIO tends to occur in association with anomalously warm (cold) SSTs over the equatorial central Pacific (Maritime Continent), resembling the central Pacific El Niño, closely linked with the Victoria mode in the North Pacific. Our analyses show that the low-level convergence induced by warm SST over the equatorial central Pacific leads to anomalous low-level divergence over the Maritime Continent and convergence over a large area surrounding the Rodrigues Island, which leads to increased rainfall over the SWIO during the rainy season. Meanwhile, the excited Rossby wave along the tropical Indian Ocean transports more water vapor from the tropical convergence zone into the SWIO via intensified northwest wind. Furthermore, positive feedback induced by the Rossby wave response to the increased rainfall in the region contributes to the large interannual variations over the SWIO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Espiritu Santo Island (ESI) has the highest elasmobranch richness among the Gulf of California islands, exemplifying its importance for conservation. In the present study, we assessed the temporal variation of the batoid assemblages captured in the southern ESI. Using the monthly artisanal fishing fleet catch data between 2013 and 2015, we applied three methods to evaluate changes in diversity: descriptive (i.e., richness, dominance, evenness, and Shannon–Wiener index), taxonomic diversity, and functional diversity. Four orders, ten families, ten genera, and 15 species were identified. Mobula munkiana, Hypanus dipterurus, Narcine entemedor, and Rhinoptera steindachneri were the most numerically abundant (dominant) during the study period. The Biological Values Index of these species indicated temporary changes mainly attributable to sea surface temperature. Diversity and average taxonomic distinctiveness values were high, indicating stability in the batoids assemblage assessed. Further, we identified nine functional groups classified mainly into two life history types, benthic and pelagic. The former group was characterized as having small- to medium-sized species and circular and oval body shape with preferences to remain buried or on sea bottom. The second group was formed by large–body size species and rhomboid body shape with high motility in the water column and with migrations. The ESI community of batoids has a stable taxonomic structure over time, whose functional groups have adapted to the ESI environmental conditions and available resources. This study confirms and highlights the importance of ESI as a critical site for these batoid species within the Gulf of California and thus their conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both Savai'i Island and Upolu Island of Samoa are home to numerous potential geosites that could form the basis of geopark projects at a range of scales from local, regional, or global. During the Samoa Geoparks Project Phase 1, intensive research identified Samoa's geoheritage values, resulting in the selection of the island of Savai'i as a location for development of geosite inventories, using a first-order approach to create a scientific basis for future geoheritage, geoconservation, and geotourism ventures. The rationale behind this decision was based on the size of the island; the geodiverse and largely untouched landscapes with high geodiversity values; and superbly exposed young volcanic features that are relatively accessible. Most of these volcanic features derived from Holocene and even historical volcanic activity. Within the potential areas of geosites, volcanic features currently utilized as tourist attractions (mataaga in Samoan) are mostly associated with living cultural activities in terms of traditional stories, myth, and place names. These geoheritage components are a very significant part of the Samoa Geoparks Project in general. Workshop and training for further development of the Samoa Geoparks Project are recommended in this study to co-design and co-develop the geopark concept with local communities working in collaboration with geoscience experts. The role of external geoscientists has been redefined as facilitators of participatory methods using iterative, step-by-step processes, where each facet of the geopark is co-produced through truly inclusive methods and frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical cyclones can dramatically reduce coral cover, coral diversity and structural complexity, which can all cause flow-on effects to fish communities. In 2016, Fiji sustained extensive damage from one of the most severe cyclones recorded in the southern hemisphere (Category 5 cyclone Winston). We assessed the impacts of cyclone Winston on the coral reef habitat and fish assemblages in Kubulau and Levuka districts in Fiji. Wave modelling showed that cyclone-generated waves were substantially larger and persisted longer in Levuka than Kubulau. Damage to live corals was spatially variable and highest in Levuka, with the extent of damage highly correlated to the exposure, height and duration of waves at each site. We recorded increases in macroalgae directly after the cyclone and increases in encrusting coralline algae two years after the cyclone. We did not detect many changes in the fish assemblage caused by cyclone Winston. Obligate corallivores, and species within this group, Chaetodon baronessa and Labrichthys unilineatus, were the only fish to show a decline post-cyclone, most likely caused by declines in coral cover. We found that the modelling of cyclone wave dynamics (wave height, duration and exposure) explained the variation and damage to live corals better than proximity to the cyclone path, providing a useful tool to predict cyclone damage. Future climate models predict that more cyclones will reach the highest intensities. Understanding the impact this will have on vulnerable coastal communities that are dependent on marine resources and are protected from wave energy by reefs is essential for effective mitigation and adaptive management plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction of immunotherapy has fundamentally transformed the treatment landscape in cancer, providing long-term survival benefit for patients with advanced disease across multiple tumor types, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In the placebo-controlled phase 3 PACIFIC trial, the PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab demonstrated significant improvements in progression-free survival and overall survival in patients with unresectable, stage III NSCLC who had not progressed after platinum-based chemoradiotherapy (CRT). These findings have led to the widespread acceptance of the ‘PACIFIC regimen’ (durvalumab after CRT) as the standard of care in this setting. Moreover, the PACIFIC trial is the first study to demonstrate a proven survival advantage with an immunotherapy in a curative-intent setting, thereby providing a strong rationale for further investigation of durvalumab in early-stage cancers. Herein, we describe the extensive clinical development program for durvalumab across multiple tumor types in curative-intent settings, outlining the scientific rationale(s) for its use and highlighting the innovative research (e.g., personalized cancer monitoring) advanced by these trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comparative analysis of the biological and morphometric characteristics of the Pacific herring Clupea pallasii from different parts of the range, from the White Sea to the Yellow Sea, was performed. Forming of the modern species range, covering the waters of the Arctic, boreal, and subtropical zoogeographic zones, was preconditioned by the system of adaptations developed during the long evolution in the specific conditions of the northern Pacific Ocean. The results of multivariate discriminant analysis indicated relatively small differences in the complex of meristic features when comparing the samples from the Pacific Ocean and the samples obtained in the Arctic Ocean and the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As large-scale ocean circulation is a key regulator in the redistribution of oceanic energy, evaluating the multi-decadal trends in the western Pacific Ocean circulation under global warming is essential for not only understanding the basic physical processes but also predicting future climate change in the western Pacific. Employing the hydrological observations of World Ocean Atlas 2018 (WOA18) from 1955 to 2017, this study calculated the geostrophic currents, volume transport and multi-decadal trends for the North Equatorial Current (NEC), the North Equatorial Countercurrent (NECC), the Mindanao Current (MC), the Kuroshio Current (KC) in the origin and the New Guinea Coastal Undercurrent (NGCUC) within tropical western Pacific Ocean over multi-decades. Furthermore, this study examined the contributions of temperature and salinity variations. The results showed significant strengthening trends in NEC, MC and NGCUC over the past six decades, which is mainly contributed by temperature variations and consistent with the tendency in the dynamic height pattern. Zonal wind stress averaged over the western Pacific Ocean in the same latitude of each current represents the decadal variation and multi-decadal trends in corresponding ocean currents, indicating that the trade wind forcing plays an important role in the decadal trend in the tropical western Pacific circulation. Uncertainties in the observed hydrological data and trends in the currents over the tropical western Pacific are also discussed. Given that the WOA18 dataset covers most of the historical hydrological sampling data for the tropical western Pacific, this paper provides important observational information on the multi-decadal trend of the large-scale ocean circulation in the western Pacific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the twentieth century, small island states in the Pacific experienced a dietary shift from traditional foods characteristic of the region to imported foods of poor nutritional quality. In Kiribati, noncommunicable diseases including diabetes and hypertension are now the largest burden of disease in the country and the primary cause of premature mortality. Food and nutritional security in Kiribati are now a major public health challenge. Climate change is likely to negatively affect traditional food production systems. In this study, twelve gender-segregated focus groups in six communities were carried out across Kiribati. Food charts were obtained from each focus group, where all food items mentioned by communities were listed and scored for health and importance. These were analysed using Excel and Stata. Health scores were on average 42.4% lower for imported food compared to local food with strongly significant findings at a p value of <0.001. This significance however disappears entirely for importance scores, with a p value of 0.943, indicating that while local foods are perceived as healthier, they are not seen as more important. Nutritional diversity is greater in rural communities compared to urban communities in Kiribati. Taking local perceptions of food into account, this study informs policymakers on new strategies to improve food and nutritional security and help island communities become more climate resilient through a renewed focus on local agricultural production, which would also improve health outcomes. Food access and availability issues in Kiribati mean that public health policies should factor these in future policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global ascent of the knowledge economy has opened an unprecedented opportunity to value the earth's evolutionary and ecological fabric as a transnational reservoir of latent scientific knowledge that could define this emerging economy as profoundly as oil has shaped the industrial economy. It has also uniquely positioned the international resort enterprise to bring science into the heart of a business model in which quality and prestige grow along with investments in geographically unrestrained scientific discoveries and which delivers formidable legacy dividends in its defiance of monopoly over the funded research. The article expands on these original assertions, the accomplishments they ignited, and the academic credentials that fortify them, with an emphasis on the business model's capacity to build novel economic foundations for global conservation and to empower basic science at the most challenging scale above national jurisdictions where it merits designation as common heritage of mankind. It discloses how the resort sites' label as premier real estate wastes many of these sites' worth as crossroads of wonder-packed connections among variously distant ecosystems, geological formations, and other pillars of the earth's architecture. It translates this disclosure into a blueprint, for new-generation resorts, of the power to align a private enterprise system with appreciation of knowledge as a precursor of future knowledge and, in the process, to chart a transformative course for the global knowledge economy. An island portfolio in the Gulf of Panama and the Hawaiian island of Lanai are profiled in their distinctive potentials to emblematize the rewards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Like many Pacific countries, Solomon Islands has more than one legal system operating concurrently: customary law, statutory law and the common law of England. Governance also occurs at national, provincial and local scales. Local people managing coastal and marine resources under customary marine tenure (CMT) have increasing difficulties in enforcement as external threats exceed their scope of governance. Before 2015, CMT breaches were not a fisheries violation as recognised by the western legal system. Drawing on our involvement in developing a new Fisheries Management Bill in 2007–2015 and consultations within the Solomon Islands Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, we examine how, and to what effect, the resultant Act—specifically Section 18 on Community Fisheries Management Plans (CFMPs)—has accommodated or shifted the relationship between customary governance systems and the state's contemporary fisheries legislation. We examine if, and how, employing Section 18 can contribute to regional and global fisheries governance policy implementation. The Fisheries Management Act 2015 recognises the rights of customary rights holders to institute CFMPs, provides a mechanism to codify and enforce access and use rights through CMT and empowers these efforts as a legitimate management tool under statutory law. We conclude that statutory law has been 'nudged' to make space for the dynamic process of customary law. We contend that use of Section 18 has the potential to elevate community voices in discussions of coastal and marine resource management at different scales, if practitioners do not lose sight of the intent behind the statute's development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change adaptation decision-making frameworks have evolved over the past three decades, with the management of information and knowledge now a key element of these processes. This paper examines the use of climate change-related information for national adaptation planning and decision-making in the Pacific Islands region to better understand the use of, and demand for, such information. Using an appreciative inquiry approach, a situation analysis was undertaken to examine the information praxis of national governments in Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Tuvalu, as well as the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme. The study revealed that adaptation decisions are (i) driven by national strategies and priorities which are innately community-centred, (ii) largely made through collaborative structures involving multiple stakeholders within a specific governance or project setting, and (iii) informed by a range of climatic and nonclimatic information from domestic, regional and international sources. The study also affirmed the importance of information and knowledge management to national adaptation planning and decision-making, evidence of collaborative and multistakeholder decision-making processes, and the trend towards country-driven and user-centred information and knowledge production. The study recommends dedicated commitment to and investment in information and knowledge management for Pacific Islands, and the need for a holistic understanding of the complex environment in which climate change adaptation takes place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the vital role of genebanks in the conservation and use of plant genetic resources, highlighting the South Pacific's version of the Irish Potato Famine and the organizational interdependence necessary to respond to disastrous losses in a cultivated food crop. We conducted an ethnobotanical fieldwork in Fiji, Vanuatu, and the Cook Islands, interviewing over 50 taro experts and farmers to gather the 'Tale of Taro Leaf Blight'. Taro is the staple 'prestige' food crop of Samoa but in 1993, taro leaf blight (TLB), Phytophthora colocasiae, caused an almost 100% loss of the crop, threatening both food security and traditional cultural practices. Several international organizations were formed to conduct botanical expeditions to re-gather crop wild relatives of taro, Colocasia esculenta, from their various centres of origin. This parental material was used in a 10-year breeding cycle process to produce viable TLB-resistant varieties and replant the fallow fields of Samoa. The duty to safeguard these global accessions led to the formalization of CePaCT, which houses this core collection. The collection, conservation, multiplication, and distribution of taro has had a significant impact beyond the regional needs of the Pacific. Taro germplasm samples were distributed to countries worldwide affected by the blight, aiding in staving off potential famines and economic crises. This ancient aroid is one of the most consumed vegetables in the Pacific. It is an indispensable nutritional and caloric resource for subsistence farming nations, and carries deep ethnobotanical and cultural significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communities across the Pacific are being challenged by the impacts of climate change. Attaining food and nutrition security goals is also a priority for the region, particularly in relation to improving dietary quality and reducing the incidence of non-communicable diseases. Addressing these challenges requires context-specific research that incorporates a realistic understanding of the links between drivers of change, food systems, and how these influence diets and health. Using a case study approach, this study explores links between climate hazards, food systems, and diets in remote coastal villages of Fiji. Livelihood transitions and climate hazards explain why households have become less reliant on local fisheries and agriculture for their dietary needs. Most households are routinely consuming only locally sourced food items from four food groups, meaning dietary diversity is low. In addition, diets are shifting and now include significant quantities of energy-dense processed (imported) foods with lower nutritional value. The study highlights the importance of increasing availability of fruits and vegetables, mainly through local production, and diversifying sustainable sources of animal protein as strategies to increase diet quality. These communities are already implementing strategies to adapt to climate change, yet this study underscores the need to link climate adaptation with changes to food systems and diets, in ways that allow livelihoods to be sustained and the quality of life of rural dwellers to improve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unfolding COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of the Pacific food system to externalities and has had far-reaching impacts, despite the small number of COVID-19 cases recorded thus far. Measures adopted to mitigate risk from the pandemic have had severe impacts on tourism, remittances, and international trade, among other aspects of the political economy of the region, and are thus impacting on food systems, food security and livelihoods. Of particular concern will be the interplay between loss of incomes and the availability and affordability of local and imported foods. In this paper, we examine some of the key pathways of impact on food systems, and identify opportunities to strengthen Pacific food systems during these challenging times. The great diversity among Pacific Island Countries and Territories in their economies, societies, and agricultural potential will be an important guide to planning interventions and developing scenarios of alternative futures. Bolstering regional production and intraregional trade in a currently import-dependent region could strengthen the regional economy, and provide the health benefits of consuming locally produced and harvested fresh foods – as well as decreasing reliance on global supply chains. However, significant production, processing, and storage challenges remain and would need to be consistently overcome to influence a move away from shelf-stable foods, particularly during periods when human movement is restricted and during post-disaster recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the lowest-lying island nation states in the world, the Republic of the Marshall Islands is vulnerable to sea level rise, flooding and the associated impacts on soil and water salinity. Persistent drought is further affecting agricultural production and access to drinking water, and heat stress is increasingly common. The number of Marshallese people residing in the USA has increased rapidly from 6650 in 2000 to an estimated 30,000 in 2018. While we know that climate change is already affecting the Marshall Islands and that there are significant migration flows, we do not know to what extent people already migrate because of climate change. This paper addresses this gap and presents findings from interdisciplinary fieldwork in the Marshall Islands and destination areas in the USA. The research team conducted a survey (N = 278), focus group discussions, expert interviews and a geo-spatial analysis of flood extent and migration rates to study the relationship between climatic events, ecosystem services and migration. The results show that respondents primarily cite education, health care, work and family visits as migration drivers, and only few mention climate impacts or environmental change. However, respondents do identify impacts of climate change on their livelihoods, health and safety, and the study finds significant correlations between climate impacts, trends in ecosystem services and migration propensities at household level. Furthermore, 62% of Marshallese respondents in the USA indicated that climate change affects their decision to return to Marshall Islands in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A latitudinal biodiversity gradient has captivated ecologists for years, and has become a widely recognized pattern in biogeography, manifest as an increase in biodiversity from the poles to the tropics. Oceanographers have attempted to discern whether these distribution patterns are shared with marine biota, and a lively debate has emerged concerning the global distribution of microbes. Limitations in sampling resolution for such large-scale assessments have often prohibited definitive conclusions. We evaluated microbial planktonic communities along a ~ 15,400-km Pacific Ocean transect with DNA from samples acquired every 2 degrees of latitude within a 3-month period between late August and early November 2003. Next-generation sequencing targeting the Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya yielded ~ 10.8 million high-quality sequences. Beta-analysis revealed geographic patterns of microbial communities, primarily the Bacteria and Archaea domains. None of the domains exhibited a unimodal pattern of alpha-diversity with respect to latitude. Bacteria communities increased in richness from Arctic to Antarctic waters, whereas Archaea and Eukarya communities showed no latitudinal or polar trends. Based on our analyses, environmental factors related to latitude thought to influence various macrofauna may not define microplankton diversity patterns of richness in the global ocean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: User fees, transportation costs, and time costs impair access to healthcare by rural communities in low and middle income countries. However, effects of time costs on demand for healthcare are less understood than effects of user fees for health providers. In addition, prospective patients might not know about all health services available. This study aims to investigate how the family caregivers of febrile children respond to the pecuniary costs and time costs in their choice of health providers in rural Papua New Guinea. Methods: Using an original questionnaire, we surveyed households in the catchment area surrounding Dagua Health Center in East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea, during February–March 2015. We estimated the probability of choosing one among four categories of providers (i.e., the health center, aid posts, village health volunteers [VHVs], or home-treatment) via a mixed logit model in which we restrict alternatives to those for which family caregivers knew cost information. Results: Of 1173 family caregivers, 96% sought treatment for febrile children from four categories of providers. Almost all knew the location of the health center and a health volunteer, but only 50% knew the location of aid posts. Analysis by discrete choice model showed that pecuniary costs and time costs were inversely associated with the probability of choosing any type of provider. We then changed pecuniary costs and time costs counterfactually to calculate and compare the probability of choosing each provider. Time costs affected the choice more than pecuniary costs, and individual heterogeneity appeared among caregivers with respect to pecuniary costs. When pecuniary or time costs of VHVs are altered, substitution between VHVs and home-treatment appeared. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that policies to increase awareness of aid posts and reduce time costs in addition to treatment fees for each category of healthcare provider could help developing economies to improve access to essential healthcare services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural disasters have major consequences for mental health in low- and middle-income countries. Symptoms are often more pronounced among women. We analyzed patterns and predictors of distress among pregnant and non-pregnant women 3–4 and 15–16 months after a cyclone in Vanuatu, a low- to middle-income country. Distress levels were high among both pregnant and non-pregnant women, although pregnant women showed lower longer-term symptoms. Low dietary diversity predicted greater distress, which could affect women even in villages with little cyclone damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving livelihoods and livelihood opportunities is a popular thrust of development investments. Gender and other forms of social differentiation influence individual agency to access, participate in, and benefit from existing, new, or improved livelihood opportunities. Recent research illustrates that many initiatives intended to improve livelihoods still proceed as "gender blind," failing to account for the norms and relations that will influence how women and men experience opportunities and outcomes. To examine gender in livelihoods, we employed empirical case studies in three coastal communities in Solomon Islands; a small island developing state where livelihoods are predominantly based on fisheries and agriculture. Using the GENNOVATE methodology (a series of focus groups) we investigated how gender norms and relations influence agency (i.e., the availability of choice and capacity to exercise choice). We find that men are able to pursue a broader range of livelihood activities than women who tend to be constrained by individual perceptions of risk and socially prescribed physical mobility restraints. We find the livelihood portfolios of women and men are more diverse than in the past. However, livelihood diversity may limit women's more immediate freedoms to exercise agency because they are simultaneously experiencing intensified time and labor demands. Our findings challenge the broad proposition that livelihood diversification will lead to improvements for agency and overall wellbeing. In community-level decision-making, men's capacity to exercise choice was perceived to be greater in relation to livelihoods, as well as strategic life decisions more broadly. By contrast, capacity to exercise choice within households involved spousal negotiation, and consensus was considered more important than male or female dominance in decision-making. The prevailing global insight is that livelihood initiatives are more likely to bring about sustained and equitable outcomes if they are designed based on understandings of the distinct ways women and men participate in and experience livelihoods. Our study provides insights to make these improvements in a Solomon Islands setting. We suggest that better accounting for these gendered differences not only improves livelihood outcomes but also presents opportunity to catalyze the re-negotiation of gender norms and relations; thereby promoting greater individual agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A discussion program that engages Pacific Island veterans and military families in examining the experience of war through humanities sources including conflict heritage was recently undertaken in Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The program proposes to assist the community with gaining a meaningful and relevant understanding of war as a shared human experience by exploring their local conflict heritage and assisting in integrating Pacific Islander veterans into a sociocultural position of authority in the history of war in their islands. The program is informed by theoretical and practice-based approaches in Indigenous and community archaeology, is interdisciplinary in design, and provides some consideration for future prospects in engagement with descendant and veteran communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is governed by a combination of amplifying and damping ocean–atmosphere feedbacks in the equatorial Pacific. Here we quantify these feedbacks in a flux adjusted HadCM3 perturbed physics ensemble under present day conditions and a future emissions scenario using the Bjerknes Stability Index (BJ index). Relationships between feedbacks and both the present day biases and responses under climate change of the mean equatorial Pacific climate are investigated. Despite minimised mean sea surface temperature biases through flux adjustment, the important dominant ENSO feedbacks still show biases with respect to observed feedbacks and inter-ensemble diversity. The dominant positive thermocline and zonal advective feedbacks are found to be weaker in ensemble members with stronger mean zonal advection. This is due to a weaker sensitivity of the thermocline slope and zonal surface ocean currents in the east Pacific to surface wind stress anomalies. A drier west Pacific is also found to be linked to weakened shortwave and latent heat flux damping, suggesting a link between ENSO characteristics and the hydrological cycle. In contrast to previous studies using the BJ index that find positive relationships between the index and ENSO amplitude, here they are weakly or negatively correlated, both for present day conditions and for projected differences. This is caused by strong thermodynamic damping which dominates over positive feedbacks, which alone approximate ENSO amplitude well. While the BJ index proves useful for individual linear feedback analysis, we urge caution in using the total linear BJ index alone to assess the reasons for ENSO amplitude biases and its future change in models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leucothoe eltoni Thomas, 2015 was described from Indonesia and the Philippines and has been documented as an established invasive species of the Hawaiian Islands, USA. Recently, morphologically identical specimens were collected from US military piers in Okinawa, Japan. As the likelihood of one species inhabiting both sides of the Pacific is highly unlikely, molecular DNA sequence data from specimens of each population were analyzed to confirm that they are in fact the same species. 18S rDNA and COI mtDNA were amplified and sequenced from 64 specimens (31 from Honolulu, HI, 21 from Maui, HI, and 16 from Okinawa, Japan). DNA sequences are nearly identical between Hawaii and Okinawa specimens; yet fresh material is required from the type locality to obtain valid DNA sequence data and to confirm the molecular identity of L. eltoni from Indonesia and the Philippines. However, the sequence data from the Hawaii and Okinawa populations confirm that this species is also in Japan, and based on collection localities, they are most likely transported within their fouling hosts on US military vessels. In the future, these results can be used to advance the understanding of the patterns of introduction that invasive species may utilize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the Holocene colonization of islands in the Pacific and Caribbean by agropastoral and horticulturalist communities, a variety of proxies (material, genetic, zoogeographic etc.) indicate substantial inter-island and inter-community contact. It has been suggested that this contact represents an adaptive response to mitigate intrinsic demographic fragility during the initial phases of island colonization, and that this exogamous imperative faded in the aftermath of initial dispersal as overall population density increased. Here, we evaluate this model by synthesizing and comparing increasingly available 87Sr/86Sr data from funerary populations in the Pacific and Caribbean. After performing basic hygienic discrimination, we conclude that the Caribbean data—both from across the region, and on an intra-site/island basis—lend support to this model, with high early in-migration succeeded by comparatively low in-migration in a relationship which, based on chi-square tests, is statistically significant (1, N = 290) = 4.046, p = 0.044). The Pacific situation is more complex, with data from the Bismarck Archipelago and northern Solomon Islands skewing the analysis. However, in considering these data in detail, we demonstrate that there are reasons to suppose that the Pacific data may also tentatively support a model of high rates of in-migration being replaced later in settlement histories by comparatively low rates. We conclude by highlighting future directions for this incipient research program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rissoidae is a very diverse family of marine microgastropods; however, its Arctic representatives are poorly studied. Taxonomy of Arctic and Subarctic rissoids is still based exclusively on characters of shell, while internal morphology remains unknown for the majority of the species. The present paper provides a taxonomic revision of the genus Boreocingula Golikov et Kussakin, 1974 based on morphology of shell and soft body. The genus includes five species: three of them [B. martyni (Dall, 1887), B. alaskana (Bartsch, 1912), and B. sirenkoi sp.n.] are present in the extreme north of the Pacific Ocean and the adjacent Siberian Seas; and the other two [B. castanea (Møller, 1842) and B. globulus (Møller, 1842)] are known from the Arctic parts of the Atlantic Ocean. B. sirenkoi sp. n. is described as a new species; lectotype for B. martyni is designated. Imposex females are described for B. martyni for the first time. Also, general patterns of rissoid diversity in the Arctic are reviewed based on the results of the present study and published sources. Only 26 species of the family are reliably known from the Arctic seas. The highest species richness was observed in Greenland (16) and in Barents Sea, except for its southwestern part (11). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Endometrial cancer accounts for 3.9% of all female cancers globally, and its incidence appears to be increasing in women under 40 years of age. This paper investigated ethnic-specific trends in endometrial cancer across different age groups in New Zealand.Methods: Women who were diagnosed with endometrial cancer between 1996 and 2012 were identified from the New Zealand Cancer Registry. Annual age-standardized incidence and mortality rates were calculated for each ethnicity (Māori, Pacific, and non-Māori non-Pacific) in four age groups (< 40, 40-49, 50-74, and 75 +). The estimates were adjusted for hysterectomy. Joinpoint regression analysis was used to assess trends over time and annual percentage changes (APCs) were estimated.Results: Between 1996 and 2012, age-standardized incidence rates increased in all women and significantly in the < 40, 40-49, and 50-74 age groups (APC 9.22, 3.56, and 1.65 respectively). Incidence rates were highest in Pacific women and increased most rapidly in those under 50 years of age (APC 9.36). Conversely, age-standardized mortality rates decreased in all women and significantly in the 50-74 and 75 + age groups (APC - 5.25 and - 5.06 respectively), with the highest rate observed in Pacific women.Conclusion: Pacific women had the highest incidence of endometrial cancer and the trend was increasing, particularly in young women. This could be attributed, at least in part, to a high and increasing rate of obesity in these women and should be explored in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle is often blamed for disasters in Pacific island communities. From a disaster risk reduction (DRR) perspective, the challenges with the El Niño part of the ENSO cycle, in particular, are more related to inadequate vulnerability reduction within development than to ENSO-induced hazard influences. This paper analyses this situation, filling in a conceptual and geographic gap in El Niño-related research, by reviewing El Niño-related preparedness (the conceptual gap) for Pacific islands (the geographic gap). Through exploring El Niño impacts on Pacific island communities alongside their vulnerabilities, resiliences, and preparedness with respect to El Niño, El Niño is seen as a constructed discourse rather than as a damaging phenomenon, leading to suggestions for El Niño preparedness as DRR as part of development. Yet the attention which El Niño garners might bring resources to the Pacific region and its development needs, albeit in the short term while El Niño lasts. Conversely, the attention given to El Niño could shift blame from underlying causes of vulnerability to a hazard-centric viewpoint. Instead of focusing on one hazard-influencing phenomenon, opportunities should be created for the Pacific region to tackle wider DRR and development concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The two largest islands of the Samoan chain, Savai’i and Upolu, possess almost 400 volcanic cones. Their craters form enclosed, internally drained basins that potentially retain long, detailed and uninterrupted sedimentary sequences. Because of the sparsity, fragmentary nature and low temporal resolution of records of environmental change from the tropical Pacific, these deposits have the potential to fill an important gap in our knowledge of global climatic and environmental change. To interpret such records we must understand the depositional processes that operate in these basins. Unfortunately, although the post-eruptive sedimentology of volcanic calderas and maars is relatively well-established, that of crater lakes remains poorly understood. The volcanic edifice of Mount Lanotō in southeast Upolu was selected for investigation. The form of the volcano and its crater are typical of those observed across the island. The sediments retained in the crater are composed largely of plant-organic-rich muds that display little visible evidence of stratigraphic variation. Mineral magnetic and chemical methods were therefore employed to document the types and distribution of sedimentary facies represented in the post-eruptive crater fill and, by inference, the processes of sedimentation that had operated in the crater. The earliest post-eruptive deposits are the result of the failure of the crater’s oversteepened internal slopes. The crater floor subsequently collapsed to form a pit crater. The basal deposits in the pit crater are likely to be the product of the collapse of its walls and roof. However, the bulk of the material in the feature was laid down under lacustrine conditions. These deposits accumulated in a relatively deep-water environment. Across the rest of the accumulation zone, by contrast, water levels appear to have been shallow. Sedimentation during this phase was dominated by autochthonous plant-organic-rich deposits, with minor fine-grained clastic input. Deposition was intermittently interrupted by localised episodes of mass movement that reworked the regolith mantling the steep internal slopes of the crater into the accumulation zone in the form of low-angle fans. At the broad scale, the sedimentology of Lake Lanotō displays similarities with that of volcanic calderas and maar lakes. However, the morphological simplicity of the basin, the general absence of contemporaneous volcanic activity, the timing of the onset of lacustrine conditions, the derivation of the clastic deposits in the volcanic crater almost solely from the by-products of the volcanic eruption, and the high biological activity in the lake waters mean that there are important differences between the types and distribution of sedimentary facies identified in Lake Lanotō and those represented in models of deposition in maars and volcanic calderas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In the early 1990s, a comprehensive cancer control (CCC) approach was developed in the United States (US). In 2003, the US-Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI) adopted the CCC approach through a regional coalition, the Cancer Council of the Pacific Islands (CCPI). Using the CCC approach, the CCPI developed jurisdiction-specific cancer coalitions and initiated their respective cancer plans.Methods: The evolution of the CCC approach and the history of the CCPI regional coalition are reviewed. The outcomes of the regional approach for cancer control in the USAPI are described to illustrate the possibilities, value-added and innovation of using a CCC strategy in a multi-national coalition based in a resource-limited environment.Results: The CCC approach enabled the CCPI to (1) harmonize cancer control efforts between the six USAPI jurisdictions, (2) represent the USAPI cancer needs as a single voice, and (3) develop a regional cancer control strategy. Outcomes include (1) a regional cancer registry, (2) three sequential regional CCC plans, (3) leveraged resources for the USAPI, (4) enhanced on-site technical assistance and training, (5) improved standards for cancer screening, (6) evidence-based cancer control interventions adapted for the USAPI.Conclusion: The regional CCPI coupled with the CCC approach is an effective engine of change. The CCC strategies enabled navigation of the political, geographic, cultural, and epidemiologic Pacific environment. The regional partners have been able to harmonize cancer control efforts in resource-limited settings. Regional cancer coalitions may be effective in the global arena for cancer control between communities, states, or countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]