Changing genes: Science and being Maori

This commentary follows tangential lines of reason stimulated by Hook‟s thought- provoking paper, “Warrior genes” and the disease of being Māori (2009), to question the ethical responsibilities of scientists to the public in modern society

Determining arterial blood velocity using MAUI software from recorded doppler ultrasound videos

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the repeatability and reproducibility of a new software, developed to provide measurements of arterial blood velocity from recorded Doppler ultrasound videos. Methods: The “Measurements from Arterial Ultrasound Imaging” (MAUI) software (Hedgehog Medical Inc.), developed for the measurement of arterial dimensions, has been expanded to measure the blood velocity from ultrasound videos. MAUI uses an adaptive based segmentation and intelligent outlier removal image analysis method to determine the instantaneous peak velocity in the positive and negative directions and the intensity weighted mean of the signal. Three recorded videos of popliteal arterial velocity were used to evaluate the reproducibility and repeatability of MAUI. For this assessment, two investigators (E1 and E2) each performed 10 measurements of the three test videos using MAUI. Results: MAUI provided blood velocity measurements (cm/s) for each frame of each video. The ten measurements made by E1 and E2 were averaged and are listed below (mean ± SD).Video # Velocity Measure E1 E21 Positive Envelope 27.84 ± 0.15 27.31 ± 0.28 Negative Envelope -13.99 ± 0.28 -13.68 ± 0.19 Mean Signal 13.80 ± 0.24 13.81 ± 0.102 Positive Envelope 42.30 ± 0.13 42.34 ± 0.33 Negative Envelope -11.51 ± 0.28 -11.53 ± 0.24 Mean Signal 29.69 ± 0.02 29.08 ± 0.363 Positive Envelope 53.48 ± 0.11 53.54 ± 0.20 Negative Envelope -13.66 ± 0.10 -13.40 ± 0.21 Mean Signal 38.60 ± 0.12 38.47 ± 0.17Conclusion: Preliminary assessments suggest that MAUI is a viable method for the measurement of blood velocity from recorded Doppler ultrasound video with high repeatability and low interrater variability. In future, measurements of velocity may be combined with existing continuous measurements of arterial diameter for the calculation of blood flow and assessments of vascular health and disease.<br/

Managing Cultural Commodification from an Indigenous Perspective

This presentation draws on examples from New Zealand and the Pacific to describe an Indigenous framework for protecting traditional users and their traditional knowledge. Maui Solomon is a Barrister and Indigenous Peoples Advocate with 22 years legal experience specializing in land and fishing claims, cultural and intellectual property, environmental law and Treaty/Indigenous Peoples Rights issues. Maui is also an IPinCH research team member. &nbsp

High-precision gravimetric survey in support of lunar laser ranging at Haleakala, Maui, 1976 - 1978

The planning, observations and adjustment of high-precision gravity survey networks established on the islands of Maui and Oahu as part of the geodetic-geophysical program in support of lunar laser ranging at Haleakala, Maui, Hawaii are described. The gravity survey networks include 43 independently measured gravity differences along the gravity calibration line from Kahului Airport to the summit of Mt. Haleakala, together with some key points close to tidal gauges on Maui, and 40 gravity differences within metropolitan Honolulu. The results of the 1976-1978 survey are compared with surveys made in 1961 and in 1964-1965. All final gravity values are given in the system of the international gravity standardization net 1971 (IGSN 71); values are obtained by subtracting 14.57 mgal from the Potsdam value at the gravity base station at the Hickam Air Force Base, Honolulu

Maui Analysis of Upper Atmospheric Injections

Maui Analysis of Upper Atmospheric Injections (MAUI) will observe the Space Shuttle engine exhaust plumes from the Maui Space Surveillance Site in Hawaii. The observations will occur when the Space Shuttle fires its engines at night or twilight. A telescope and all-sky imagers will take images and data while the Space Shuttle flies over the Maui site. The images will be analyzed to better understand the interaction between the spacecraft plume and the upper atmosphere of Earth

Preservation of Hawaiian Historic Sites at Waihee Maui

testimony to the maui county council regarding the preservation of hawaiian historic sites at waihee maui including the surrounding environmen

Which multi-attribute utility instruments are recommended for use in cost-utility analysis? A review of national health technology assessment (HTA) guidelines.

Kennedy-Martin M, Slaap B, Herdman M, et al. Which multi-attribute utility instruments are recommended for use in cost-utility analysis? A review of national health technology assessment (HTA) guidelines. The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care. 2020.BACKGROUND: Several multi-attribute utility instruments (MAUIs) are available from which utilities can be derived for use in cost-utility analysis (CUA). This study provides a review of recommendations from national health technology assessment (HTA) agencies regarding the choice of MAUIs.; METHODS: A list was compiled of HTA agencies that provide or refer to published official pharmacoeconomic (PE) guidelines for pricing, reimbursement or market access. The guidelines were reviewed for recommendations on the indirect calculation of utilities and categorized as: a preference for a specific MAUI; providing no MAUI preference, but providing examples of suitable MAUIs and/or recommending the use of national value sets; and recommending CUA, but not providing examples of MAUIs.; RESULTS: Thirty-four PE guidelines were included for review. MAUIs named for use in CUA: EQ-5D (n=29 guidelines), the SF-6D (n=11), HUI (n=10), QWB (n=3), AQoL (n=2), CHU9D (n=1). EQ-5D was a preferred MAUI in 15 guidelines. Alongside the EQ-5D, the HUI was a preferred MAUI in one guideline, with DALY disability weights mentioned in another. Fourteen guidelines expressed no preference for a specific MAUI, but provided examples: EQ-5D (n=14), SF-6D (n=11), HUI (n=9), QWB (n=3), AQoL (n=2), CHU9D (n=1). Of those that did not specify a particular MAUI, 12 preferred calculating utilities using national preference weights.; CONCLUSIONS: The EQ-5D, HUI, and SF-6D were the three MAUIs most frequently mentioned in guidelines. The most commonly cited MAUI (in 85% of PE guidelines) was EQ-5D, either as a preferred MAUI or as an example of a suitable MAUI for use in CUA in HTA

We are not struggling, we are thriving!

Dance in the Waikato region is thriving, particularly in Whaingaroa (Raglan). Soul Speed, as they introduce themselves are "a dance and theatre troupe from Whaingaroa, Waikato. " We are mothers, fathers, children, friends and family brought together" initially to raise awareness through performance about the critically endangered Maui Dolphin, the Popoto

Vertical Heat and Constituent Transport in the Mesopause Region by Dissipating Gravity Waves at Maui, Hawaii (20.7ºN), and Starfire Optical Range, New Mexico (35ºN)

Vertical heat flux profiles induced by dissipating gravity waves in the mesopause region (85–100 km altitude) are derived from Na lidar measurements of winds and temperatures at Maui (20.7ºN, 156.3ºW), Hawaii, and compared with earlier results from Starfire Optical Range (SOR, 35.0ºN, 106.5ºW), New Mexico. The heat flux profile at SOR has a single downward maximum of 2.25 ± 0.3 K m/s at 88 km, while the profile at Maui has two downward maxima of 1.25 ± 0.5 K m/s and 1.40 ± 0.5 K m/s at 87 and 95 km, respectively. The common maximum below 90 km can be attributed to high probability of convective instability. Comparison of the horizontal wind shear suggests that the second maximum at 95 km at Maui may be associated with dynamic instability. The measured Na flux and predicted Na flux based on measured heat flux at Maui agree well, further confirming earlier findings using SOR data. The dynamical flux of atomic oxygen estimated from the heat flux is smaller at Maui compared with that at SOR, but both are comparable to or larger than the eddy flux. The results also suggest that weaker gravity wave dissipation at Maui may cause two opposite effects on the energy balance in the mesopause region, a reduced cooling from heat transport and reduced chemical heating from atomic oxygen transport

Revitalizing Te Ika-a-Maui: Māori migration and the nation

Maui-Tikitiki-A-Taranga is more than simply a ‘mythic’ hero. For many he is a prominent figure in a long family line. The whakapapa that binds Māori to our tupuna is significant to the present and future, and carries with it the ‘ultimate expression’ of who we are. Maui has been described as ‘the most important culture hero in Māori mythology’, whose exploits and archetype provide precedents that Māori respond to in the present. The status of Maui within my own tribal boundaries is clear: ‘In accordance with the traditions and tikanga of Ngati Porou, we as People of this Land have been here since the beginning of time, or more aptly in the context of Aotearoa, since Maui fished up Te Ika-a-Maui (North Island). Maui-Tikitiki-a-Taranga is attributed with fishing up the North Island, raising it out of the depths of the sea, for successive generations of Māori to populate and cultivate.’ Maui’s waka, as Ngāti Porou uphold, is Nukutaimemeha, believed to be ‘cradled’ upon our ancestral mountain Hikurangi. However, there are other stories that recognize the waka as the South Island, with Stewart Island its anchor. These variations aside, the history remains a well-rehearsed one throughout the Māori world and in other parts of Polynesia