Traditional architecture in the Pacific

Architecture of the Pacific covers a region of more than third of the earth’s surface. The sparse Pacific population spreads over some 30 000 islands, which graduate in size from small atolls to the largest island, Australia, a continent. Pacific architecture can be studied as four cultural units: Micronesia, Polynesia, Melanesia, and Australasia (Australia and New Zealand). While many of the islands of Micronesia lie above the Equator, the remaining Pacific islands are in the southern hemisphere. With the exception of Australia, most of the islands have a warm and humid tropical climate with high rainfalls and lush vegetation. Some islands lie in the cyclonic and earthquake belts. Two distinct racial groups settled the region. The indigenous people, the Micronesians, Melanesians, Polynesians, Australian Aborigines and New Zealand Maoris, migrated from Asia thousands of years ago. The second group, the recent immigrants, were Europeans, who occupied the region during the last two centuries, and pockets of Asians brought in by colonial administrations as labourers during the early twentieth century.

Patterns of species diversity in the gastrointestinal helminths of a coral reef fish, Epinephelus merra (Serranidae), from French Polynesia and the south Pacific Ocean

Large-scale patterns of species diversity in the gastrointestinal helminth faunas of the coral reef fish Epinephelus merra (Serranidae) were investigated in French Polynesia and the South Pacific Ocean. The richer barrier reef community in French Polynesia supported richer parasite communities in E. merra than that on the fringing reef. While parasite communities among fish from the same archipelago were similar, differences in potential host species and the distance between archipelagos may have contributed to a qualitative difference in parasite communities between archipelagos. Digenean community diversity in coral reef fishes was greater in the western South Pacific, following similar patterns in free-living species. However, overall species diversity of camallanid nematodes of coral reef fishes does not appear to have been similarly affected.

The fraction of ischaemic heart disease and stroke attributable to smoking in the WHO Pacific and South-East Asian regions

Background: Tobacco will soon be the biggest cause of death worldwide, with the greatest burden being borne by low and middle-income countries where 8/10 smokers now live. Objective: This study aimed to quantify the direct burden of smoking for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) by calculating the population attributable fractions (PAF) for fatal ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke (haemorrhagic and ischaemic) for all 38 countries in the World Health Organization Western Pacific and South East Asian regions. Design and subjects: Sex-specific prevalence of smoking was obtained from existing data. Estimates of the hazard ratio (HR) for IHD and stroke with smoking as an independent risk factor were obtained from the,600 000 adult subjects in the Asia Pacific Cohort Studies Collaboration (APCSC). HR estimates and prevalence were then used to calculate sex-specific PAF for IHD and stroke by country. Results: The prevalence of smoking in the 33 countries, for which relevant data could be obtained, ranged from 28-82% in males and from 1-65% in females. The fraction of IHD attributable to smoking ranged from 13-33% in males and from < 1-28% in females. The percentage of haemorrhagic stroke attributable to smoking ranged from 4-12% in males and from < 1-9% in females. Corresponding figures for ischaemic stroke were 11-27% in males and < 1-22% in females. Conclusions: Up to 30% of some cardiovascular fatalities can be attributed to smoking. This is likely an underestimate of the current burden of smoking on CVD, given that the smoking epidemic has developed further since many of the studies were conducted.