Oral Immunization with a Live Coxsackievirus/HIV Recombinant Induces Gag p24-Specific T Cell Responses

The development of an HIV/AIDS vaccine has proven to be elusive. Because human vaccine trials have not yet demonstrated efficacy, new vaccine strategies are needed for the HIV vaccine pipeline. We have been developing a new HIV vaccine platform using a live enterovirus, coxsackievirus B4 (CVB4) vector. Enteroviruses are ideal candidates for development as a vaccine vector for oral delivery, because these viruses normally enter the body via the oral route and survive the acidic environment of the stomach.We constructed a live coxsackievirus B4 recombinant, CVB4/p24(73(3)), that expresses seventy-three amino acids of the gag p24 sequence (HXB2) and assessed T cell responses after immunization of mice. The CVB4 recombinant was physically stable, replication-competent, and genetically stable. Oral or intraperitoneal immunization with the recombinant resulted in strong systemic gag p24-specific T cell responses as determined by the IFN-gamma ELISPOT assay and by multiparameter flow cytometry. Oral immunization with CVB4/p24(73(3)) resulted in a short-lived, localized infection of the gut without systemic spread. Because coxsackieviruses are ubiquitous in the human population, we also evaluated whether the recombinant was able to induce gag p24-specific T cell responses in mice pre-immunized with the CVB4 vector. We showed that oral immunization with CVB4/p24(73(3)) induced gag p24-specific immune responses in vector-immune mice.The CVB4/p24(73(3)) recombinant retained the physical and biological characteristics of the parental CVB4 vector. Oral immunization with the CVB4 recombinant was safe and resulted in the induction of systemic HIV-specific T cell responses. Furthermore, pre-existing vector immunity did not preclude the development of gag p24-specific T cell responses. As the search continues for new vaccine strategies, the present study suggests that live CVB4/HIV recombinants are potential new vaccine candidates for HIV

The transnational matai and the foreign homeland : does the Toloa still return to the water?

The matai and the fanua are explicitly interconnected. The matai not only get their mandate to rule from their aiga, but also from the land to which their aiga and title belong. At the bestowal of their matai title, the new recipient inherits not only a name, but also the land on which their maota or laoa stands. This land becomes their official residence. The adjacent and connecting lands becomes their domain, over which they have complete authority. They command the land and adjoining sea to be farmed and fished, and in times of drought and food shortage, they place tapu over the land, forbidding the consumption of crops and resources allowing it to be replenished. From the day of their bestowal, the matai resides on his/her land, and upon their death, their body returns to the land. The matai is therefore one with the land and vice versa. The above paragraph describes a relationship and a connection between the matai and the land that is strong and harmonious, however the reality is that in today’s world, that connection between the matai and the land as strong as we expect it to be. The primary objective of this paper is to examine whether the transnational Samoan matai still has a connection with customary and family land back in Samoa, and whether such connection eventually leads to a permanent return to the homeland for the transnational matai. According to the popular Samoan saying, “E lele le toloa, ae ma’au lava I le vai” - A wild duck may fly away, but will always return to its habitat, the swamp – alluding to the ideal that when Samoans leave the homeland, they usually return at some later point in time. This paper asks whether transnational matai actually return to the homeland, hence thesubtitle, “Does the Toloa still return to the water?” To what extent are Samoan matai living away from the homeland returning to reconnect with their lands, villages and homeland

Retaining non-traditional students : lessons learnt with Pasifika students in New Zealand

New Zealand tertiary education is currently undergoing extensive reviews and re-organisation in its quest for achieving a ‘knowledge society’. Central to many of these new developments is the need to extend the participation rates of groups previously under-represented. Increasingly, the debate is also centred on how to retain these under-represented groups once they are recruited into tertiary programmes. This article reports a large-scale study of the factors that influence successful completion of tertiary qualifications for Pasifika students. Using a diverse range of data sources throughout New Zealand, the study identified motivation and attitudes, pressures from family groups, peer groups and finances, lack of support services and language issues as negative factors, while the availability of Pasifika staff, promoting a Pasifika ‘presence’ in institutions, positive role models, appropriate pedagogy and readily-available information were all positive factors in increasing retention

Transnational Samoan chiefs: views of the Faamatai (Chiefly System)

Sāmoans make up the largest Pacific population in New Zealand, the United States and Australia. Family networks remain strong between diasporic Sāmoans and their homeland, and through these networks social, political and economic links are maintained. While there is increasing global concern about the ‘erosion’ of the fa’amatai, there is a need for more evidence of how transnational matai experience and practise fa’amatai and their roles and obligations to aiga (families) and villages in their host nations and Samoa, to better understand both the potential and risks associated with the future of the fa’amatai