title: Inu kava anga-mahení, ʻatamaí mo ʻene fakakaukaú mo e tuʻunga taau ke fakaʻuli saliote mīsiní (Traditional kava-drinking, cognition and driver fitness [Tongan])

authors: Aporosa, S. 'Apo'

abstract: Kava, ʻiloa ko e ngoue ʻa e ngāhi ʻotuá, kuo mafola he ngāhi motu fakatalopiki ʻi he Pasifikí. Kuo ngaue ʻaki ʻi he ngāhi faitoʻo tuʻufonuá, ʻaia ʻoku tuki hono aká ʻo palu3 mo fakatatau ko e vai fakanonga. Ko hono tala he anga fakafonuá ko e meʻa mahuʻinga lahi, ka koeʻuhí ko hono maʻu lahi mo tō-tuʻa ʻo lau houá, ʻoku tupu ai e hohaʻa heʻene uesia tamaki e tuʻunga malu ʻo e fakaʻuli saliote mīsiní. Ko Dr Apo Aporosa, ko e tangata fakatotolo fakaako ʻi he ʻUnivēsiti ʻo Waikató (Niu Sila), ʻaia naʻa ne fekumi ai ki he uesia ʻe he inu kava anga-mahení e fakahoko fatongia ʻa e ʻatamaí mo ʻene ueʻi e tuʻunga malu ʻo e fakaʻuli saliote misiní. Ko e fekumi ne fai ʻe Dr Apo Aporosa ki he uesia ʻe he inu kava anga-mahení e fai fatongia ʻa e ʻatamaí mo ʻene ueʻi e tuʻunga malu ʻo e fakaʻuli saliote mīsiní. 

(Kava, or ‘the plant of the gods’, grows widely across tropical Moananuiākea (the Pacific). Used in traditional medicine, its roots are also pounded and strained through water to make a drink with relaxant effects. Kava has deep cultural significance, but because it is drunk in large quantities over several hours, concerns have been raised about its effects on driver safety. Dr ‘Apo’ Aporosa, a Research Fellow at the University of Waikato in New Zealand, has studied the impact of traditional kava use on cognition and its implications for driver fitness. The findings of that research are presented here in the Tongan language.)

text: Inu kava anga-mahení, ʻatamaí mo ʻene fakakaukaú mo e tuʻunga taau ke fakaʻuli saliote mīsiní (Traditional kava-drinking, cognition and driver fitness [Tongan]) Kava, ʻiloa ko e ngoue ʻa e ngāhi ʻotuá, kuo mafola he ngāhi motu fakatalopiki ʻi he Pasifikí. Kuo ngaue ʻaki ʻi he ngāhi faitoʻo tuʻufonuá, ʻaia ʻoku tuki hono aká ʻo palu3 mo fakatatau ko e vai fakanonga. Ko hono tala he anga fakafonuá ko e meʻa mahuʻinga lahi, ka koeʻuhí ko hono maʻu lahi mo tō-tuʻa ʻo lau houá, ʻoku tupu ai e hohaʻa heʻene uesia tamaki e tuʻunga malu ʻo e fakaʻuli saliote mīsiní. Ko Dr Apo Aporosa, ko e tangata fakatotolo fakaako ʻi he ʻUnivēsiti ʻo Waikató (Niu Sila), ʻaia naʻa ne fekumi ai ki he uesia ʻe he inu kava anga-mahení e fakahoko fatongia ʻa e ʻatamaí mo ʻene ueʻi e tuʻunga malu ʻo e fakaʻuli saliote misiní. Ko e fekumi ne fai ʻe Dr Apo Aporosa ki he uesia ʻe he inu kava anga-mahení e fai fatongia ʻa e ʻatamaí mo ʻene ueʻi e tuʻunga malu ʻo e fakaʻuli saliote mīsiní. 

(Kava, or ‘the plant of the gods’, grows widely across tropical Moananuiākea (the Pacific). Used in traditional medicine, its roots are also pounded and strained through water to make a drink with relaxant effects. Kava has deep cultural significance, but because it is drunk in large quantities over several hours, concerns have been raised about its effects on driver safety. Dr ‘Apo’ Aporosa, a Research Fellow at the University of Waikato in New Zealand, has studied the impact of traditional kava use on cognition and its implications for driver fitness. The findings of that research are presented here in the Tongan language.)

year: 2023

title: Toxin-antitoxin systems of mycobacterium smegmatis are essential for cell survival

authors: Frampton, Rebekah A.

subjects: Bacterial Metabolism

abstract: The role of chromosomal toxin-antitoxin (TA) modules in bacterial physiology remains enigmatic despite their abundance in the genomes of many bacteria. Mycobacterium smegmatis contains three putative TA systems, VapBC, MazEF, and Phd/Doc, and previous work from our group has shown VapBC to be a bona fide TA system. In this study, we show that MazEF and Phd/Doc are also TA systems that are constitutively expressed, transcribed as leaderless transcripts, and subject to autoregulation, and expression of the toxin component leads to growth inhibition that can be rescued by the cognate antitoxin. No phenotype was identified for deletions of the individual TA systems, but a triple deletion strain (ΔvapBC, mazEF, phd/doc), designated ΔTAtriple, exhibited a survival defect in complex growth medium demonstrating an essential role for these TA modules in mycobacterial survival. Transcriptomic analysis revealed no significant differences in gene expression between wild type and the ΔTAtriple mutant under these conditions suggesting that the growth defect was not at a transcriptional level. Metabolomic analysis demonstrated that in response to starvation in complex medium, both the wild type and ΔTAtriple mutant consumed a wide range of amino acids from the external milieu. Analysis of intracellular metabolites revealed a significant difference in the levels of branched-chain amino acids between the wild type and ΔTAtriple mutant, which are proposed to play essential roles in monitoring the nutritional supply and physiological state of the cell and linking catabolic with anabolic reactions. Disruption of this balance in the ΔTAtriple mutant may explain the survival defect in complex growth medium.

text: Toxin-antitoxin systems of mycobacterium smegmatis are essential for cell survival The role of chromosomal toxin-antitoxin (TA) modules in bacterial physiology remains enigmatic despite their abundance in the genomes of many bacteria. Mycobacterium smegmatis contains three putative TA systems, VapBC, MazEF, and Phd/Doc, and previous work from our group has shown VapBC to be a bona fide TA system. In this study, we show that MazEF and Phd/Doc are also TA systems that are constitutively expressed, transcribed as leaderless transcripts, and subject to autoregulation, and expression of the toxin component leads to growth inhibition that can be rescued by the cognate antitoxin. No phenotype was identified for deletions of the individual TA systems, but a triple deletion strain (ΔvapBC, mazEF, phd/doc), designated ΔTAtriple, exhibited a survival defect in complex growth medium demonstrating an essential role for these TA modules in mycobacterial survival. Transcriptomic analysis revealed no significant differences in gene expression between wild type and the ΔTAtriple mutant under these conditions suggesting that the growth defect was not at a transcriptional level. Metabolomic analysis demonstrated that in response to starvation in complex medium, both the wild type and ΔTAtriple mutant consumed a wide range of amino acids from the external milieu. Analysis of intracellular metabolites revealed a significant difference in the levels of branched-chain amino acids between the wild type and ΔTAtriple mutant, which are proposed to play essential roles in monitoring the nutritional supply and physiological state of the cell and linking catabolic with anabolic reactions. Disruption of this balance in the ΔTAtriple mutant may explain the survival defect in complex growth medium.

year: 2011

title: Māori and community news constructions of Meningococcal B: the promotion of a moral obligation to vaccinate

authors: Groot, Shiloh Ann Maree

subjects: psychology

abstract: News media communicate various risks of disease, showcase medical breakthroughs and disseminate texts that both reflect and renegotiate shared cultural understandings of health and illness. Little is known about the role of Māori and community news media in the social negotiation of health and illness in Aotearoa. To address this gap in the literature, this paper reports findings from a study of news reporting on Meningococcal B by the Māori Television Service and two community newspapers serving Māori communities. Findings document how news works to position vaccination as a ‘common sense’ practice that whānau have a moral obligation to undergo. Neglected are wider socio-structural considerations that impact the prevalence of illness among Māori.

text: Māori and community news constructions of Meningococcal B: the promotion of a moral obligation to vaccinate News media communicate various risks of disease, showcase medical breakthroughs and disseminate texts that both reflect and renegotiate shared cultural understandings of health and illness. Little is known about the role of Māori and community news media in the social negotiation of health and illness in Aotearoa. To address this gap in the literature, this paper reports findings from a study of news reporting on Meningococcal B by the Māori Television Service and two community newspapers serving Māori communities. Findings document how news works to position vaccination as a ‘common sense’ practice that whānau have a moral obligation to undergo. Neglected are wider socio-structural considerations that impact the prevalence of illness among Māori.

year: 2007