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The typology of quantifier float (QF) in classifier languages has been the subject of research in several recent works. Some proposals suggest that languages should either have noun classifiers or the ability for the quantifier to “float”, that is, appear separate from the noun it quantifies. QF has never been described for any Hmong-Mien language, leaving a critical gap in existing work and limiting the existing typology. The current work fills this gap with an analysis of quantifier float in Hmong, and considers that Hmong possesses both bare classifiers and quantifier float, a combination previously unattested in the literature on QF and contrasts with current typological proposals. Hmong allows this via two quantifier + noun orderings (QN and NQ) related to two functions of the classifier system that both permit quantifier float. The QN-only ordering is canonically associated with indefinite nouns, and the NQ ordering involves a nested noun phrase structure and is associated with definite nouns (generally with inner NP-internal bare noun classifiers) and partitive or distributive readings. The QN-only ordering is particularly significant for the typology as quantifier float to the right is permitted for quantifier + classifier sequences associated with a prenominal NP-internal position, where the classifier involved in this QF pattern occupies the same syntactic position within the noun phrase as the bare noun classifier in noun phrases generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated Hmong American adolescents' perceptions of their mother as helping them understand race as Asian American youths in an urban context. Twenty-four Hmong American adolescents ages 14 to 18 (M = 15.8; 67% female; 54% U.S. born, 46% born in Southeast Asia) participated in semi-structured interviews, following approval of the Institutional Review Board. Directed content analysis revealed three themes of racial, ethnic, and neutral socialization practices. Frequently, responses reflected the categories of racism awareness, racial group identification, and diversity awareness, as well as no discussion of race (racial socialization theme). Although the study asked specifically about racial socialization, some responses indicated that mothers engaged in cultural practices that included cultural markers and ethnic group identification (ethnic socialization theme). A few responses also represented neutral socialization that emphasized good behavior. Emergent categories included intra-racial discrimination and bicultural socialization. More frequently than girls, boys reported having discrimination experiences without discussing race with mothers. Girls reported more intra-racial discrimination messages, as well as bicultural and neutral messages than boys. These findings can help Hmong American adolescents and their families continue to build successful strategies for dealing with racism and discrimination, and support understanding how Asian Americans address racialized experiences in the U.S. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While visual methods have been employed in research regarding human‐animal relationships and entanglements, the possible benefits of utilizing drawing elicitation have not been explored to date. Our study utilizes drawing elicitation with Hmong and Mien (Yao) ethnic minority farmers in the northern Vietnamese borderlands. We aim to investigate human‐animal relationships within these communities, considering their longstanding socio‐economic and spiritual entanglements with a number of domesticated animals. Simultaneously, we aim to assess the benefits and drawbacks of employing drawing elicitation in the context of more‐than‐human research in the Global South. Through the drawing exercises, participants not only conveyed important insights into human‐animal entanglements within these rural uplands, resulting in nuanced and at times highly emotive drawings, but they also provided reflections on the drawing activity itself. Despite challenges faced in encouraging drawing within a semiliterate population, our findings, guided by participant feedback, reveal numerous possibilities for employing this approach in more‐than‐human research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been an increased focus on the factors that influence gang continuity given the short- and long-term consequences associated with gang membership. Despite this, Asian gangs—notably the Hmong—have rarely been at the center of these academic inquiries. This is especially troubling given that their cultural and historical profile provides a unique vantage point for assessing how culture, diaspora, and immigration affect social deviance and crime. Considering these empirical gaps, the current study examines the motivations associated with gang persistence by analyzing life history interviews and ethnographic observations among a sample of 34 current and former Hmong gang members in the United States. Emergent themes suggest that brother love, perceptions of power, and a sense of obligation ensnare individuals in gang life for extended periods of time, with notable geographic and cultural distinctions. These findings highlight important avenues for future research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Treaties & Documents / Razprave in Gradivo is the property of Institut za Narodnostna Vprasanja 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.)

Vietnam is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and impoverished ethnic minority groups in marginalized areas are more adversely affected. This article focuses on the Northern Mountainous Region (NMR) of Vietnam, which is the poorest region in the country. It employs a participatory case study approach in assessing the vulnerability of the three major ethnic minority groups in the region: (1) the Tay, (2) Dao, and (3) Hmong. The results show that each of the three groups is vulnerable to climate change in different ways. The Tay people are vulnerable to flooding, whereas the Hmong and Dao groups are vulnerable to droughts and cold snaps. This study provides valuable insights into the complex relationship between ethnicity and vulnerability. The vulnerability of specific communities in the study area to climate change impacts gets amplified due to their already existing vulnerabilities, which are accordingly determined by the complex links among culture, geography, poverty, marginalization, and the communities' lack of access to resources and capital. This underscores the importance of looking beyond simplistic technical response measures; instead, policy and decision-makers need to address both climatic and non-climatic conditions, including the drivers of social vulnerability. Only through this amalgamation of approaches can planners develop measures that are flexible enough to incorporate and mitigate the existing and many "new" vulnerabilities emerging from rapidly evolving human--environment systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PURPOSE The experience of ethnically diverse parents of children with serious illness in the US health care system has not been well studied. Listening to families from these communities about their experiences could identify modifiable barriers to quality pediatric serious illness care and facilitate the development of potential improvements. Our aim was to explore parents' perspectives of their children's health care for serious illness from Somali, Hmong, and Latin-American communities in Minnesota. METHODS We conducted a qualitative study with focus groups and individual interviews using immersion-crystallization data analysis with a community-based participatory research approach. RESULTS Twenty-six parents of children with serious illness participated (8 Somali, 10 Hmong, and 8 Latin-American). Parents desired 2-way trusting and respectful relationships with medical staff. Three themes supported this trust, based on parents' experiences with challenging and supportive health care: (1) Informed understanding allows parents to understand and be prepared for their child's medical care; (2) Compassionate interactions with staff allow parents to feel their children are cared for; (3) Respected parental advocacy allows parents to feel their wisdom is heard. Effective communication is 1 key to improving understanding, expressing compassion, and partnering with parents, including quality medical interpretation for low-English proficient parents. CONCLUSIONS Parents of children with serious illness from Somali, Hmong, and Latin-American communities shared a desire for improved relationships with staff and improved health care processes. Processes that enhance communication, support, and connection, including individual and system-level interventions driven by community voices, hold the potential for reducing health disparities in pediatric serious illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Miao of Fenghuang county, Hunan province, China, maintain two distinct song taxonomies. One is functional and shared across all Miao communities, while the other is specific to the county, is known as the Fenghuang Miao taxonomy, and is based on locality and melody types. This study explores the Fenghuang Miao taxonomy through consultations with community members and examinations of locally produced songbooks and documentary videos. Utilising ethnographic and musicological approaches, the study reveals the intricate relationships between melody type and four aspects: locality, function, theme, and performance setting. Unlike existing scholarly categorisations, this taxonomy not only reflects Miao distinctions and priorities but also extends to broader Miao social dynamics. Interview findings highlight the practical significance of songs as relevant to subgroups' identities, with song-masters and singers able to identify subgroups' based on melody types. Analysis of musical elements reveals correlations between melody types and subgroup aesthetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While change and flexibility in ritual practices and traditions have been in some sense constitutive elements of Hmong religion, the religious landscape of the contemporary Hmong diaspora is marked by dramatic changes of an altogether new scale. These include the proliferation of a wide range of competing millenarian movements. Leaders of these movements vie for recognition by casting traditional Hmong ritual practice in a way that allows them to convey their ritual innovations as more authentic than traditional religious forms, underwritten by a genuine mandate of heaven. This requires religious activists to decouple the indexical relationship between traditional ritual and its objects (ancestors and a prosperous future) in order to forge new semiotic relationships between new ritual canons, orthographies, and the future of Hmong society. Hmong millenarian activism challenges conventional notions of 'conversion' and 'proselytizing', both because the intended audience is limited to fellow Hmong, and because the suasive practices in which these activists engage are actively trying to rework semiotic connections within a broadly shared Hmong matrix of meaning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On February 5, 2023, Suối village in Lai Châu, a northern border village of Vietnam, has been recognized as the most attractive community-based tourism area in ASEAN. Indeed, this village is situated amidst majestic natural scenery, inhabited by friendly, open-hearted Hmong people adhering to the Christian faith, who are adept at communication. Few are aware that the present-day beauty and vitality of Suối village have been revitalized from a community nearly depleted by long isolation, economic deprivation, and opium addiction. Studies explaining the changes among the newly-formed Protestant Hmong communities in northern highlands of Vietnam tend to emphasize the roles of Protestantism in the improvement of their living conditions. Our research, based on field data analysis spanning from 2018 to 2023 and through the lens of religious and developmental theories, underscores that the development of the Hmong Protestants in Suối village represent a successful combination of two main factors recognized as religion and state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study tested predicted bidirectional associations between irritability and physical and relational forms of aggression, disentangling theorized within- and between-person effects using latent curve models with structured residuals (LCM-SR) over one year in middle childhood. Gender differences and robustness of results when controlling for other externalizing problems (i.e., attention problems, delinquency) were also considered. Method: Children in third, fourth, and fifth grade (N = 704, 49.9% female) were recruited from schools in a large midwestern city. The sample was diverse in regard to race/ethnicity (31% Black, 29% White, 13% Hmong, 14% Latinx, 4% Native American, 4% Asian, 5% other races/ethnicities). Irritability, attention problems, and delinquency were measured using teacher-report, and physical and relational aggression were measured using self-report at three time points over one calendar year. Results: At the between-person level, higher mean levels of irritability predicted higher initial levels of physical and relational aggression. Irritability continued to predict higher levels of physical aggression across the course of the study, whereas the effect of irritability on relational aggression diminished. Boys showed higher starting levels of physical aggression, but no other significant gender differences emerged. No significant within-person associations were found. Conclusions: The present study suggests that irritability may represent a between-person risk factor for high levels of physical and relational aggression in middle childhood, although effects on physical aggression may be more persistent. This highlights the importance of considering affective processes to understand the development of aggression trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Hmong population constitutes an independent ethnic group historically dispersed throughout Southeast Asia; fallout from the Vietnam War led to their forced migration to the United States as refugees. This study seeks to investigate characteristics of the Hmong population diagnosed with in colorectal cancer (CRC) as well as survival within this population. Methods: Cases of colon and rectal adenocarcinoma diagnosed between 2004 and 2017 were identified from the National Cancer Database (NCDB). Summary statistics of demographic, clinical, socioeconomic, and treatment variables were generated with emphasis on age and stage at the time of diagnosis. Cox‐proportional hazard models were constructed for survival analysis. Results: Of 881,243 total CRC cases within the NCDB, 120 were classified as Hmong. The average age of Hmong individuals at diagnosis was 58.9 years compared 68.7 years for Non‐Hispanic White (NHW) individuals (p < 0.01). The distribution of analytic stage differed between the Hmong population and the reference NHW population, with 61.8% of Hmong individuals compared to 45.8% of NHW individuals with known stage being diagnosed at stage III or IV CRC compared to 0, I, or II (p = 0.001). However, there was no difference in OS when adjusting for potential confounders (HR 1.00 [0.77–1.33]; p = 0.998). Conclusions: Hmong individuals are nearly a decade younger at the time of diagnosis of CRC compared to the NHW individuals. However, these data do not suggest an association between Hmong ethnicity and overall survival, when compared to the NHW population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Baghdad Science Journal is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) 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.)

Since the 1980s, there has been a considerable change in the religious life of the Hmong ethnic communities from the mountainous provinces of northern Vietnam—specifically, their conversion to Protestantism. Protestantism was introduced into the communities under a modified model known as Vàng Trứ/Vàng Chứ through the endeavors of the Far East Broadcasting Company. From 1993 to 2004, the number of Protestant followers among these communities increased sharply. Today, the mountainous northern area of Vietnam is home to 300,000 Hmong Protestants of various denominations. This study, based on textual analysis, participant observations, in-depth interviews, and field trips, seeks to explore the Hmong conversion to Protestantism. The focus is on issues relating to the growth of Protestantism and Protestant influence on the Hmong people from 1987 (widely understood to be the beginning of Protestantism in the Hmong community) to the present day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an analysis of Hmong American population trends in the 2020 decennial census. Geographic units included in the analysis are the United States, the major U.S. regions, states, cities and places, counties and at the more micro-level, census tracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using Census and American Community Survey data, this paper analyzes Hmong American educational attainment from 2000-2020. The analysis reveals substantial improvements in Hmong Americans' college attendance and college completion rates over the past three decades. In 2000, fewer than 25 percent of Hmong Americans had attended college, a figure that surpassed 50 percent by 2020. The percentage of Hmong Americans who completed a bachelor's degree was less than 8 percent in 2000 and rose to over 23 percent by 2020. Progress was particularly pronounced among Hmong American women and younger adults. From 2000 to 2020, the bachelor's degree completion rate for Hmong American women surged nearly fivefold, in contrast to a twofold increase observed among Hmong American men. In 2020, the bachelor's degree completion rate for Hmong American adults aged 25-34 stood at 56.6 percent, which was more than double the rate for those aged 35-44 and more than five times that of adults aged 45 and older. However, despite these strides, Hmong Americans were less likely than the general population to pursue higher education, and among those who enrolled in college, a smaller percentage attained a bachelor's degree. The findings underscore both the progress made and the existing disparities, emphasizing the need for continued efforts to bridge the educational gap between the Hmong American community and the general population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses the U.S. Census Bureau's 5-year (2016-2020) American Community Survey (ACS) Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) to examine recent social and demographic characteristics of Hmong American society including sex and age distribution, marital status, divorce rate, ancestry, ethnic and racial backgrounds, nativity, citizenship status, voting age population and language spoken at home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an analysis of changes in Hmong American employment status, income, poverty and public assistance rates and educational attainment over time using 2016-2020 American Community Survey PUMS and 2020 Census data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using validation theory as the guiding framework, this qualitative study explored the advising experiences of 16 Hmong college students. Most participants described instances of advising that were academically and interpersonally validating. Several participants also described instances of invalidating advising experiences. This study highlights how validating and invalidating advising experiences impact their persistence in college and graduation from college. Implications for future research and advising practice are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Around 1,000 Hmong refugees arrived in French Guiana in the late 1970s to found two agricultural communities. They were members of an emerging global diaspora of survivors fleeing the violence of the Laotian Civil War. From the perspective of the French government, the relocation became linked with the contemporaneous "Plan Vert" to develop the agricultural potential of the overseas territories. At that time, a significant percentage of the produce consumed in French Guiana was imported from Suriname. Within a few decades, government support helped the Hmong communities of Cacao and Javouhey to develop into critically important agricultural producers. Today they supply more than half of French Guiana's produce, which has helped to eliminate dependence on imports from Suriname. In the early 2010s, the Surinamese government collaborated with Hmong leaders from French Guiana to bring a new wave of Hmong immigrants from Laos to Suriname. Their project, mirroring that of the French government nearly 40 years before, was to reinvigorate the agricultural sector by reclaiming land abandoned during the Surinamese Interior War of 1986–92. These waves of Hmong agricultural immigration are part of a long and ongoing history of displacements and mobilizations of groups of people by colonial and postcolonial governments in the Guianas. At the same time, the ongoing success of Hmong communities in the Guianas cannot be wholly attributed to government support: it is as much due to the dynamism and initiative of the Hmong themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses a research study on the impact of green tourism on the Hmong community in Lao Cai province, Vietnam. The study found that the environmental and sociocultural benefits of green tourism positively influenced the Hmong community's awareness and commitment to sustainable tourism practices. However, economic benefits were not significantly associated with public perception. The study recommends involving local communities in decision-making and providing tangible benefits to promote their engagement in sustainable tourism. The Vietnamese government is prioritizing the development of green tourism in the Hmong people's area, with a focus on preserving cultural heritage, protecting the environment, and promoting sustainable practices. [Extracted from the article]

Sangmi Lee's book, "Reclaiming Diasporic Identity: Transnational Continuity and National Fragmentation in the Hmong Diaspora," provides an in-depth analysis of the contemporary experiences of Hmong people in Vang Vieng, Laos, and Sacramento, California. The book explores the nyuj dab ritual in Dao Tha as an example of the transnational connections and relations that Hmong communities have with other diasporic locations worldwide. It also examines how diasporic identities are shaped by a sense of belonging to transnational ethnic communities and partial affiliation with the nation-states in which they reside. The book is divided into three parts, covering the historical formation of the Hmong diaspora, transnational ethnic and cultural continuity, and cultural differences and discursive fragmentation. The author argues that diasporic connections and national sentiments are not inherently opposed but mutually constitutive. The book offers valuable insights into Hmong communities and will be of interest to scholars in diaspora studies, sociology, anthropology, and political sociology. [Extracted from the article]

Yanghoua Anthony Vue harnesses the frictions and tensions of cultural difference from his transcultural Hmong-Australian experience to develop works that offer more inclusive, diverse, and hybrid tropes of belonging. These [...]

Infectious diseases have historically threatened humans, and antibiotics have been developed. Many microorganisms causing infections have evolved antibiotic-resistant strains. Traditional medicinal plant uses can guide the search for new drugs. Thai Hmong possess vast ethnomedicinal plant knowledge. This study highlights medicinal plants for treating infectious diseases among the Thai Hmong ethnic minority. Information on Hmong ethnobotany was extracted from all available publications. The study supplemented literature-based data with newly collected field data from six Hmong villages in Nan Province, Thailand, totaling 25 studied villages. Hmong disease names were carefully interviewed to understand symptoms and match modern medical terms. The study documented 486 uses of 225 plant species for treating infectious disorders. Most used plants were Strobilanthes cusia, Houttuynia cordata, Anethum graveolens, Verbena officinalis, Biancaea sappan, Teucrium viscidum, and Paederia pilifera. Many species have proven antimicrobial activity in lab tests, while others still lack scientific proof of efficacy. Some common Hmong anti-infectious plants were used by other ethnic groups for similar purposes, suggesting potential pharmacological efficiency. Further studies should focus on testing efficacy of remaining plants and developing them into novel drugs for treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The aim of this study was to quantify identifiable sources of variability, including key pharmacogenetic variants in oxypurinol pharmacokinetics and their pharmacodynamic effect on serum urate (SU). Methods: Hmong participants (n = 34) received 100 mg allopurinol twice daily for 7 days followed by 150 mg allopurinol twice daily for 7 days. A sequential population pharmacokinetic pharmacodynamics (PKPD) analysis with non‐linear mixed effects modelling was performed. Allopurinol maintenance dose to achieve target SU was simulated based on the final PKPD model. Results: A one‐compartment model with first‐order absorption and elimination best described the oxypurinol concentration–time data. Inhibition of SU by oxypurinol was described with a direct inhibitory Emax model using steady‐state oxypurinol concentrations. Fat‐free body mass, estimated creatinine clearance and SLC22A12 rs505802 genotype (0.32 per T allele, 95% CI 0.13, 0.55) were found to predict differences in oxypurinol clearance. Oxypurinol concentration required to inhibit 50% of xanthine dehydrogenase activity was affected by PDZK1 rs12129861 genotype (−0.27 per A allele, 95% CI −0.38, −0.13). Most individuals with both PDZK1 rs12129861 AA and SLC22A12 rs505802 CC genotypes achieve target SU (with at least 75% success rate) with allopurinol below the maximum dose, regardless of renal function and body mass. In contrast, individuals with both PDZK1 rs12129861 GG and SLC22A12 rs505802 TT genotypes would require more than the maximum dose, thus requiring selection of alternative medications. Conclusions: The proposed allopurinol dosing guide uses individuals' fat‐free mass, renal function and SLC22A12 rs505802 and PDZK1 rs12129861 genotypes to achieve target SU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hmong American gymnast Sunisa "Suni" Lee won the gold medal in the individual all-around event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. This essay analyzes the media frenzy surrounding Lee's rise to Olympic stardom in US gymnastics. In particular, it focuses on how the media narrate Lee's family and Hmong ethnic history of being refugees to becoming an Olympic gold medalist. This essay deconstructs how the state exceptionalizes this history in the context of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in service of the imperial US nation-state in ways that recuperates US empire and bolsters US nationalism. The essay reveals the ways that ongoing anti-Asian racism in the US contradicts the state's claim to Lee's gold medal. Ultimately, the essay argues that Hmong American writing during Lee's Olympic journey presents a "state-less critique" that situates Lee's success in her ethnic Hmong American community and not within the nation-state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I show how the Hmong religion can provide the basis of a novel version of non-human-centered environmentalism. I do this by outlining some of the core doctrines in the Hmong religion and showing what they imply about the value of nature. I then situate the view that is implied by these doctrines into the traditional Western environmental ethics literature on the value of nature. In particular, I argue that the Hmong religion provides a view in environmental ethics that is non-anthropocentric, individualistic, non-egalitarian, and non-biocentric. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The essential oil, extracted from the Hmong medicine Blumea balsamifera (L.) DC. (BBO), is a purely natural wound repair agent. Its application has, however, been restricted due to its low solubility and high volatility properties. In this study, we have developed a nanoemulsion formulation to improve the characteristics of BBO. The particle size of the nanoemulsion was normally distributed, and 71% of its range was concentrated between 10-100 nm, with an average particle size of 62.8 nm and an encapsulation rate of 98%. After 7 days of application, the wound healing rate of the BBO nanoemulsion (BBO-NE) group was 1.5 times higher than that of the normal BBO group. Along with histological observations, nanoemulsion formulation has been demonstrated to significantly improve the efficacy of BBO for wound repair. In addition, inflammation-related TLR4, CD14 and IRAK-1 gene transcript levels were significantly reduced after the administration of BBO-NE compared to the BBO group, with downregulation of 47.8%, 35.7% and 57.8%, respectively, while the secretion of pro-inflammatory factors IL-6 and TNF-a was also significantly reduced by 83.8% and 32.7%, respectively, in the nanoformulation administration (BBO-NE) group compared to the BBO group. In contrast, the anti-inflammatory factor IL-10 was significantly increased by 4.2-fold. It was further found that the drug penetration per unit area increased significantly 6.30% to 19.5% at different time points after the application of the BBO-NE compared to the BBO. In conclusion, nano-formulation enhanced the drug penetration of the BBO, reduced inflammatory factors, increased the level of anti-inflammatory factors, and promoted collagen deposition, thereby accelerating wound repair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Results from an ethnobotany study of Hmong ethnic groups in Bolikhamxay Province, Laos PDR between 2021 and 2023 identifies plant uses for 133 species, 104 genera, and 50 families. The research focusses on specific plant uses. Quantitative analyses are applied with Use Value (UV), Fidelity Level (FL), and Informant Agreement Ratio (IAR). Cluster analysis based on the Jaccard's Similarity Index (JI) are calculated for the similarity of edible plant used in three areas as follows: cultivated, from the forest, and in the market. The most important plant species are Imperata cylindrica (L.) Raeusch. with a UV of 3.45 followed by Calamus viminalis Willd. (2.85) and Curcuma zedoaria (Christm.) Roscoe (2.83). The highest FL value for 23 plant species with 100% FL. The highest consensus within ailment categories is for urinary system symptoms, neurological symptoms and oral syndrome (IAR=1.00). The JI varies between 0.1013 and 0.2981; the highest JI is for pairs of cultivated and in the market. UPGMA cluster analysis indicates that the plants are collected from isolated forests with low similarity to other areas. Considering the numerous useful plants that have been documented, along with the identification of culturally and historically significant species, as well as their distribution and conservation status, it becomes evident that forest conservation is crucial for preserving the livelihoods and associated ethnobotanical knowledge of the local and indigenous people in Bolikhamxay Province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Refugees are often depicted in studies and popular media as helpless and in need of rescuing. In the song "Hmoob Zaj," which was released on YouTube in 2019, Hmong rapper Shong Lee humanizes Hmong refugee experiences by sharing a story that has been "secreted" (M. Vang, 2021, p. 10) by the U.S. government. Through the public archiving of this story on YouTube, Lee presents what Espiritu (2014) calls an "oppositional narrative" (p. 163) that speaks back to the empire. He asserts a critical stance to challenge the dominant narrative, validate the experiential knowledge of Hmong people, contribute to Hmong collective remembering, and co-construct a Hmong diasporic collectivity that looks to the future without forgetting the past. Specifically, "Hmoob Zaj" is a testimony that reveals U.S. injustices in Southeast Asia and positions Hmong people as legitimate producers of knowledge not confined to the boundaries of Western ideals. This type of knowledge is essential to transforming the schooling process by (a) providing an inclusive, humanizing, and just understanding of Hmong history and (b) revealing the way dominant perspectives and ideals distort Hmong realities in order to uphold existing power relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neoliberalism impacts the implementation of diversity in higher education, consequently this affects the place and meaning of diversity as it relates to Hmong students. Within the neoliberal university, diversity is increasingly co-opted to stand for institutional inclusivity and implemented to silence critiques about the academic industrial complex. I consider and examine the interplay between "neoliberal diversity" and Hmong students' experiences at the University of California, Merced (UC Merced). I use critical refugee scholar Yên Lê Espiritu's (2014) refugee framework and Indigenous scholar Glen Coulthard's (2014) selfrecognition model to examine the Hmong Student Association. The data for this study is from a larger project that involves historical analysis, archival research, and interviews. My preliminary findings suggest that Hmong students problematize UC Merced's diversity. I argue that Hmong students' presence and actions force an interrogation of "neoliberal diversity" at the neoliberal university and they redefine recognition for themselves by creating belonging and building community and solidarity through their actions. This article counters the deficit discourse of Hmong students in education studies in that it reveals Hmong students have agency in creating their own belonging and lived experiences on campus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dress has been used as a visual avowal of social status, personality, personal taste, identity, and philosophy throughout history. This article aims to assess the changing dress practices and understand the meaning of ethnic dress in the diasporic community in a super-connected era. This article examines the cultural–historical contexts that contribute to dress practices at the macro level and individuals' perceptions at the micro level. This article demonstrates how the Hmong experience can contribute to the knowledge of dress as a vehicle of agency, identity, and aspiration in fashion and material culture studies. In doing so, this article provides new insights into a growing area of research by exploring the emotionality of materials in terms of how imagination and aspiration of ethnicity are inscribed in and ascribed to dress and clothing in diasporic groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative investigation of Hmong music in China and Thailand seeks to examine how 200 years of separation and the influence of different national politics, economies, and cultures have affected the development of Hmong musical traditions. The two field locations for this investigation were purposively selected as Leishan County, Guizhou Province, China, and Khao Kho District, Phetchabun Province, Thailand. Data were collected from documentary review and field investigations between October 2020 and December 2021. The findings demonstrate that traditional Hmong music is present in both China and Thailand. The original heritage pieces share vast similarities and can be considered as coming from the same ethnic group. However, modern musical developments share more similarities with the cultures of the respective nation-states than the Hmong ethnic groups. The conclusion of the paper is that the Hmong people are currently a transboundary group in heritage and memory whose cultural practices are becoming more closely associated with nation-states over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hmong languages, particularly White Hmong, are well studied for their complex tone systems that incorporate pitch, phonation, and duration differences. Still, prior work has made use mostly of tones elicited in their citation forms in carrier phrases. In this paper, we provide a detailed description of both the vowel and tone systems of White Hmong from recordings of read speech. We confirm several features of the language, including the presence of nasal vowels (rather than derived nasalized vowels through coarticulation with a coda [ŋ]), the description of certain tone contours, and the systematic presence of breathy and creaky voice on two of the tones. We also find little evidence of additional intonational f0 targets. However, we show that some tones vary greatly by their position in utterance, and propose novel descriptions for several of them. Finally, we show that $\textrm{H}1^{\!*}$ –H2*, a widely used measure of voice quality and phonation in Hmong and across languages, does not adequately distinguish modal from non-modal phonation in this data set, and argue that noise measures like Cepstral Peak Prominence (CPP) are more robust to phonation differences in corpora with more variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To identify Hmong and Latino adults' perspectives about a mHealth-based care model for hypertension (HTN) management involving blood pressure (BP) self-monitoring, electronic transmission of BP readings, and responsive HTN medication adjustment by a provider team. We conducted a mixed-methods formative study with 25 Hmong and 25 Latino participants with HTN at an urban federally-qualified health center. We used a tool to assess HTN knowledge and conducted open-ended interviews to identify perspectives about mHealth-based care model. While most participants agreed that lowering high blood pressure decreased the risk of strokes, heart attacks, and kidney failure, there were gaps in medical knowledge. Three major themes emerged about the mHealth-based care model: (1) Using mHealth technology could be useful, especially if assistance was available to patients with technological challenges; (2) Knowing blood pressures could be helpful, especially to patients who agreed with doctors' medical diagnosis and prescribed treatment; (3) Transmitting blood pressures to the clinic and their responsive actions could feel empowering, and the sense of increased surveillance could feel entrapping. Some people may feel empowered since it could increase patient-provider communication without burden of clinic visits and could increase involvement in BP control for those who agree with the medical model of HTN. However, some people may feel entrapped as it could breach patient privacy, interfere with patients' lifestyle choices, and curtail patient autonomy. In general, Hmong and Latino adults responded positively to the empowering aspects of the mHealth-based care model, but expressed caution for those who had limited technological knowledge, who did not agree with the medical model and who may feel entrapped. In a shared decision-making approach with patients and possibly their family members, health care systems and clinicians should explore barriers and potential issues of empowerment and entrapment when offering a mHealth care model in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: COVID-19 mitigation strategies such as masking, social distancing, avoiding group gatherings, and vaccination uptake are crucial interventions to preventing the spread of COVID-19. At present, COVID-19 data are aggregated and fail to identify subgroup variation in Asian American communities such as Hmong Americans. To understand the acceptance, adoption, and adherence to COVID-19 mitigation behaviors, an investigation of Hmong Americans' contextual and personal characteristics was conducted. Methods: This study aims to describe COVID-19 mitigation behaviors among Hmong Americans and the contextual and personal characteristics that influence these behaviors. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted from April 8 till June 1, 2021, with Hmong Americans aged 18 and over. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the overall characteristics and COVID-19 related behaviors of Hmong Americans. Chi-square and Fisher's Exact Test were computed to describe COVID-19 mitigation behaviors by gender and generational status (a marker of acculturation). Results: The sample included 507 participants who completed the survey. A majority of the Hmong American participants in our study reported masking (449/505, 88.9%), social distancing (270/496, 55.3%), avoiding group gatherings (345/505, 68.3%), avoiding public spaces (366/506, 72.3%), and obtaining the COVID-19 vaccination (350/506, 69.2%) to stay safe from COVID-19. Women were more likely to socially distance (P =.005), and avoid family (P =.005), and social gatherings (P =.009) compared to men. Social influence patterns related to mitigation behaviors varied by sex. Men were more likely compared to women to be influenced by Hmong community leaders to participate in family and group gatherings (P =.026), masking (P =.029), social distancing (P =.022), and vaccination uptake (P =.037), whereas healthcare providers and government officials were social influencers for social distancing and masking for women. Patterns of social distancing and group gatherings were also influenced by generational status. Conclusion: Contextual and personal characteristics influence COVID-19 mitigation behaviors among English speaking Hmong Americans. These findings have implications for identifying and implementing culturally appropriate health messages, future public health interventions, policy development, and ongoing research with this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parental involvement is well-documented in the literature. Although research suggests a strong positive association between parental involvement and children's educational outcomes, few studies have examined parental involvement at home with children who attend charter schools, especially with small immigrant groups such as the Hmong. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine how Hmong parents of students in charter schools were involved in their children's education at home and what barriers they faced. This study included 23 Hmong parents (9 fathers, 15 mothers) of elementary school-aged children enrolled in three Hmong-focused charter schools in Minnesota. The results showed several themes related to barriers for at-home school involvement, including work schedules, literacy barriers, lack of spousal support, and multiple children at home. Despite these barriers, Hmong parents also indicated that they sacrificed for their children's education by taking on multiple jobs, created and maintained regular family routines to monitor children's education, and connected children to appropriate resources for homework help, including older siblings. Implications for school administrators and teachers who work with Hmong parents, especially Hmong parents who have children enrolled in charter schools, are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hmong men in Minnesota exhibit a high prevalence of gout and hyperuricemia. Although evidence of vitamin C's effectiveness as a treatment for gout is mixed, analysis of therapeutic benefit based on an individual's multiomic signature may identify predictive markers of treatment success. Objectives: The primary objective of the Hmong Microbiome ANd Gout, Obesity, Vitamin C (HMANGO-C) study was to assess the effectiveness of vitamin C on serum urate in Hmong adults with and without gout/hyperuricemia. The secondary objectives were to assess if 1) vitamin C impacts the taxonomic and functional patterns of microbiota; 2) taxonomic and functional patterns of microbiota impact vitamin C's urate-lowering effects; 3) genetic variations impact vitamin C's urate-lowering effects; 4) differential microbial biomarkers exist for patients with or without gout; and 5) there is an association between obesity, gut microbiota and gout/hyperuricemia. Methods: This prospective open-labelled clinical trial was guided by community-based participatory research principles and conducted under research safety restrictions for SARS-CoV-2. We aimed to enroll a convenient sample of 180 Hmong adults (120 with gout/hyperuricemia and 60 without gout/hyperuricemia) who provided medical, demographic, dietary and anthropometric information. Participants took vitamin C 500mg twice daily for 8 weeks and provided pre-and post- samples of blood and urine for urate measurements as well as stool samples for gut microbiome. Salivary DNA was also collected for genetic markers relevant to uric acid disposition. Expected results: We expected to quantify the impact of vitamin C on serum urate in Hmong adults with and without gout/hyperuricemia. The outcome will enhance our understanding of how gut microbiome and genomic variants impact the urate-lowering of vitamin C and associations between obesity, gut microbiota and gout/hyperuricemia. Ultimately, findings may improve our understanding of the causes and potential interventions that could be used to address health disparities in the prevalence and management of gout in this underserved population. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04938024 (first posted: 06/24/2021). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Underrepresentation of subpopulations within geo-ancestral groups engaged in research can exacerbate health disparities and impair progress toward personalized medicine. This is particularly important when implementing pharmacogenomics which uses genomic-based sources of variability to guide medication selection and dosing. This mini-review focuses on pharmacogenomic findings with Hmong in the United States and their potential clinical implications. By actively engaging Hmong community in pharmacogenomic-based research, several clinically relevant differences in allele frequencies were observed within key pharmacogenes such as CYP2C9 and CYP2C19 in Hmong compared to those in either East Asians or Europeans. Additionally, using state-of-the-art genome sequencing approaches, Hmong appear to possess novel genetic variants within CYP2D6, a critical pharmacogene affecting pharmacokinetics of a broad range of medications. The allele frequency differences and novel alleles in Hmong have translational impact and real-world clinical consequences. For example, Hmong patients exhibited a lower warfarin stable dose requirement compared to East Asian patients. This was predicted based on Hmong's unique genetic and non-genetic factors and confirmed using real-world data from clinical practice settings. By presenting evidence of the genetic uniqueness and its translational impact within subpopulations, such as the Hmong, we hope to inspire greater inclusion of other geo-ancestrally underrepresented subpopulations in pharmacogenomic-based research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inquiry into the issue of minority dropout is complex. This paper looks into the reasons for dropping out of higher education among Laotian Hmong minority students and further analyzes the patterns of some emergent reasons. 11 Hmong student-leavers were recruited as the key informants, using a snowball sampling technique. The participants were invited to do a self-report interview study. The paper employed a qualitative content analysis for processing the obtained data. The findings revealed a clear pattern, in which the majority of participants' reasons for dropping out fell into only one group. Furthermore, the study also found that family-related reasons appear to be the most frequently cited. A further inquiry into the subject is strongly recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]