Media ethics in the Pacific: Ethical challenges in the Marshall Islands

Media ethics in the Pacific Islands varies considerably among nations in practice, as shown in scholarship. This case study of 16 Marshall Islands journalists aims to provide evidence of ethical decision-making in practice in one Pacific Island nation, and demonstrate the intersection of imported journalism values and local culture. It builds on survey work of Pacific Island journalists’ roles by Singh and Hanusch (2021), the Worlds of Journalism study by Hanitzsch et al. (2019) and works by Robie (2004, 2014 and 2019). Responses from 16 journalists in the Republic of the Marshall Islands who made ethical decisions during a journalism workshop facilitated by the newly established Pacific Media Institute at the College of Marshall Islands in June 2022 were analysed. First, the participants identified ethical conflicts in carrying out their professional duties. Next, they applied standard ethics codes from democracies (absolutism), to local scenarios. Discussion centered on how to address the core value of independence because of dominance of the church and the strongly influential chiefly system in RMI. Personal relationships were also factored in their ethical decision-making because the journalists considered the perspectives of all stakeholders in reporting on Marshallese culture and society. They were keenly aware of the consequences of their reporting on their community. They offered unique, locally derived solutions from different perspectives. They often exhibited an ‘ethics of care', prioritising humanity and sometimes societal harmony

Integrated genomic characterization of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

We performed integrated genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic profiling of 150 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) specimens, including samples with characteristic low neoplastic cellularity. Deep whole-exome sequencing revealed recurrent somatic mutations in KRAS, TP53, CDKN2A, SMAD4, RNF43, ARID1A, TGFβR2, GNAS, RREB1, and PBRM1. KRAS wild-type tumors harbored alterations in other oncogenic drivers, including GNAS, BRAF, CTNNB1, and additional RAS pathway genes. A subset of tumors harbored multiple KRAS mutations, with some showing evidence of biallelic mutations. Protein profiling identified a favorable prognosis subset with low epithelial-mesenchymal transition and high MTOR pathway scores. Associations of non-coding RNAs with tumor-specific mRNA subtypes were also identified. Our integrated multi-platform analysis reveals a complex molecular landscape of PDAC and provides a roadmap for precision medicine

Impact of Optimized Breastfeeding on the Costs of Necrotizing Enterocolitis in Extremely Low Birthweight Infants

To estimate risk of NEC for ELBW infants as a function of preterm formula and maternal milk (MM) intake and calculate the impact of suboptimal feeding on NEC incidence and costs

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

The Honolulu Star-Bulletin's crusading culture through tough times and salad days: a historically informed analysis of culture and identity

Mode of access: World Wide Web.Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2004.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 313-321).Electronic reproduction.Also available by subscription via World Wide Webviii, 321 leaves, bound 29 c

nifH Sequences and Nitrogen Fixation in Type I and Type II Methanotrophs

Some methane-oxidizing bacteria (methanotrophs) are known to be capable of expressing nitrogenase and utilizing N(2) as a nitrogen source. However, no sequences are available for nif genes in these strains, and the known nitrogen-fixing methanotrophs are confined mainly to a few genera. The purpose of this work was to assess the nitrogen-fixing capabilities of a variety of methanotroph strains. nifH gene fragments from four type I methanotrophs and seven type II methanotrophs were PCR amplified and sequenced. Nitrogenase activity was confirmed in selected type I and type II strains by acetylene reduction. Activities ranged from 0.4 to 3.3 nmol/min/mg of protein. Sequence analysis shows that the nifH sequences from the type I and type II strains cluster with nifH sequences from other gamma proteobacteria and alpha proteobacteria, respectively. The translated nifH sequences from three Methylomonas strains show high identity (95 to 99%) to several published translated environmental nifH sequences PCR amplified from rice roots and a freshwater lake. The translated nifH sequences from the type II strains show high identity (94 to 99%) to published translated nifH sequences from a variety of environments, including rice roots, a freshwater lake, an oligotrophic ocean, and forest soil. These results provide evidence for nitrogen fixation in a broad range of methanotrophs and suggest that nitrogen-fixing methanotrophs may be widespread and important in the nitrogen cycling of many environments