Talking About Race and Positionality in Psychology: Asians as Tangata Tiriti

The article discusses the dominance of Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) perspectives in the field of psychology in Aotearoa New Zealand. This has resulted in a racial hierarchy of knowledge, with Indigenous and culturally diverse epistemologies marginalized. The lack of diversity in the curriculum and the limited representation of non-Pākehā (non-New Zealand European) psychologists in the country have led to calls for a more inclusive environment. The first perspective proposed is to understand Asians as a racialized group with diverse experiences. Asians in Aotearoa come from various backgrounds and face different degrees of racism and acculturation. The notion of 'Asian' may be used to marginalize the interests of Māori, perpetuating institutional racism. The concept of 'Asianisations' describes different forms of racial marginalization experienced by Asians in the country. The second perspective emphasizes the positionality of Asians as tangata Tiriti (people of the Treaty). Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the Treaty between the British Crown and Māori chiefs, is seen as granting tangata Tiriti equal rights and privileges alongside Pākehā and Māori. As tangata Tiriti, Asians have a responsibility to uphold Tiriti principles, which include partnership, active protection, equity, and options to address Māori inequities. Asian psychologists can engage in culturally safe care for Māori clients and collaborate with and empower Māori leadership in research. The article highlights the need for Asian psychologists to reflect on their positionality, power structures, and biases within the discipline and society. It encourages them to challenge the dominance of WEIRD psychology and work towards decolonizing the field. By doing so, they can contribute to the flourishing of Kaupapa Māori psychology and develop culturally informed practices that draw on the richness of Asian cultures

Prevalence and correlates of mental health difficulties amongst LGBTQ people in Southeast Asia: A systematic review

No study to date has reviewed the evidence base concerning prevalence and correlates of depression, anxiety, non-suicidal self-injury, and suicidality amongst LGBTQ people in Southeast Asia. We carried out a systematic review of quantitative articles (n = 25) identified through electronic databases. Heightened prevalence of mental health difficulties and minority stressors were found amongst Southeast Asian LGBTQ people which included significant effect size differences relative to cisgender and heterosexual people. This review underscores the need for a more nuanced understanding of minority stressors and protective factors to inform mental health prevention efforts

An ecological analysis of hope amongst Asian rainbow young people in Aotearoa New Zealand

Rainbow research tends to prioritise gender and sexuality experiences over the racialised experiences of Asian rainbow young people. Informed by an intersectional lens, we employed a hope-based ecological framework to examine how multiple overlapping axes of oppression (e.g. cisgenderism, heterosexism and racism) shape the aspirations of these youth. We drew on the voices of Asian participants from the 2021 Aotearoa New Zealand Identify Survey, who had responded to an open-text question on their hopes for rainbow young people (n = 217; age range = 14 to 26). The content analysis identified seven prominent categories of hope across three ecological levels (macro exo and meso). These categories were societies: 1) break away from cisheterosexist expectations; 2) confront racism and intersection with cisheterosexism; 3) promote rainbow-inclusive education; 4) ban sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts; 5) improve access to culturally safe health care; 6) dismantle white-dominated rainbow spaces; and 7) provide more rainbow-inclusive family support. These hopes were constructed amidst the desire to challenge unacceptance and exclusion by the wider society for not adhering to white cisheterosexist expectations. The study provides critical insights for community organisations, education settings, and government to consider in addressing the diverse needs of Asian rainbow young people

Racism and Employment: A Narrative Review of Aotearoa New Zealand and International Qualitative Studies

In Aotearoa New Zealand, employment inequities exist for minoritised ethnic groups (Māori, Pasifika, Asian, racialised migrants and refugees) in the forms of barriers to employment, occupation inequities, differences in promotion to leadership roles, ethnic pay gaps and discriminatory experiences at workplaces. In this review, we compiled Aotearoa qualitative studies to depict the dynamics of racism alongside other intersectional forms of prejudices that disadvantage the employment processes and career progression of minoritised ethnicities. Literature gaps in Aotearoa research were identified through reviewing international literature published between 2016 and 2021. Reviewed Aotearoa studies were categorised into three themes: unemployment and underemployment, workplace discrimination, and strategies for navigating racism. Drawing upon a framework that recognises racialised processes as spanning across micro- (individual), meso- (organisational) and macro- (institutional) levels, we found most Aotearoa studies analysing racism in the workplace focus on micro-level experiences. Compared with international literature, research in Aotearoa has yet to consider the roles of organisations and technologies as racialised structures that engender employment inequities, and the interaction of individuals in response to meso- and macro-structures that build on settler colonialism and racism. Our review echoes the call of Aotearoa scholars to name racism as the overarching oppressive mechanism embedded within organisations and to use anti-racism praxes such as te Tiriti o Waitangi as a way forward to promote employment equity

How Well Does Psychological Research in Aotearoa New Zealand Reflect Diversity?

This paper presents our reflections as psychological researchers based on a content analysis of studies published in Journal of the New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists and New Zealand Journal of Psychology over the last decade. We found the frequency of articles that had considered biculturalism, multiculturalism and diversity was related to the scope of the journal and the release of special issues on specific themes (e.g. Indigenous psychologies in 2017). Five issues were identified around the inclusion of cultural diversity in psychological research: inadequate data collection, controlling for diversity, no contextualisation of diversity, pathologisation of diversity and passing responsibility to others. Each issue was succinctly discussed with examples provided. Through this paper, we hope to open up a conversation on how psychological researchers can meet their ethical responsibility to Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Mental health of people of diverse genders and sexualities in Aotearoa/New Zealand: Findings from the New Zealand Mental Health Monitor

Issues addressed: To examine mental health inequities, and social exclusion and isolation and protective factor differences between people of diverse genders and sexualities (lesbian/gay, bisexual, gender diverse, and takatāpui) and cisgender and heterosexual people in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Methods: We employed data from the pooled probability sample of 2016 and 2018 New Zealand Mental Health Monitor. The sample comprised of 2,938 people at least 15 years old, of which 93 had diverse gender and sexuality identities. Generalised linear models were used to test for differences in mental health (current and lifetime mental distress, depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicide), social exclusion and isolation, and friend and family support for people of diverse genders and sexualities. We also conducted exploratory linear regression analyses to examine whether mental health difficulties were associated with social exclusion and isolation and friend/family support. Results: People of diverse genders and sexualities had high rates of mental health difficulties across all variables we examined. For example, people identifying as diverse genders and sexualities had three times the risk of considering self-harm and suicide than their cisgender and heterosexual counterparts (22% vs 5%; RR = 3.12). People of diverse genders and sexualities also scored an average of 6.08 points higher on the 27-point PHQ-9 depression scale when they had experienced social isolation, and 4.01 points higher when they experienced social exclusion. Conclusion: Our results are consistent with current literature on the large mental health inequities faced by people of diverse genders and sexualities. So what?: Policy makers and healthcare providers in Aotearoa/New Zealand should consider the negative mental health consequences of social exclusion and isolation for people of diverse genders and sexualities

PORCN moonlights in a wnt-independent pathway that regulates cancer cell proliferation

10.1371/journal.pone.0034532PLoS ONE74

Antigenicity and immunogenicity of differentially glycosylated HCV E2 envelope proteins expressed in mammalian and insect cells

Development of a prophylactic vaccine for hepatitis C virus (HCV) remains a global health challenge. Cumulative evidence supports the importance of antibodies targeting the HCV E2 envelope glycoprotein to facilitate viral clearance. However, a significant challenge for a B cell-based vaccine is focusing the immune response on conserved E2 epitopes capable of eliciting neutralizing antibodies not associated with viral escape. We hypothesized that glycosylation might influence the antigenicity and immunogenicity of E2. Accordingly, we performed head-to-head molecular, antigenic and immunogenic comparisons of soluble E2 (sE2) produced in (i) mammalian (HEK293) cells, which confer mostly complex and high mannose type glycans; and (ii) insect (Sf9) cells, which impart mainly paucimannose type glycans. Mass spectrometry demonstrated that all 11 predicted N-glycosylation sites were utilized in both HEK293- and Sf9-derived sE2, but that N-glycans in insect sE2 were on average smaller and less complex. Both proteins bound CD81 and were recognized by conformation-dependent antibodies. Mouse immunogenicity studies revealed that similar polyclonal antibody responses were generated against antigenic domains A–E of E2. Although neutralizing antibody titers showed that Sf9-derived sE2 induced moderately stronger responses than HEK293-derived sE2 against the homologous HCV H77c isolate, the two proteins elicited comparable neutralization titers against heterologous isolates. Given that global alteration of HCV E2 glycosylation by expression in different hosts did not appreciably affect antigenicity or overall immunogenicity, a more productive approach to increasing the antibody response to neutralizing epitopes may be complete deletion, rather than just modification, of specific N-glycans proximal to these epitopes

Characterization of the commercially-available fluorescent chloroquine-BODIPY conjugate, LynxTag-CQGREEN, as a marker for chloroquine resistance and uptake in a 96-well plate assay

Chloroquine was a cheap, extremely effective drug against Plasmodium falciparum until resistance arose. One approach to reversing resistance is the inhibition of chloroquine efflux from its site of action, the parasite digestive vacuole. Chloroquine accumulation studies have traditionally relied on radiolabelled chloroquine, which poses several challenges. There is a need for development of a safe and biologically relevant substitute. We report here a commercially-available green fluorescent chloroquine-BODIPY conjugate, LynxTag-CQGREEN, as a proxy for chloroquine accumulation. This compound localized to the digestive vacuole of the parasite as observed under confocal microscopy, and inhibited growth of chloroquine-sensitive strain 3D7 more extensively than in the resistant strains 7G8 and K1. Microplate reader measurements indicated suppression of LynxTag-CQGREEN efflux after pretreatment of parasites with known reversal agents. Microsomes carrying either sensitive or resistant-type PfCRT were assayed for uptake; resistant-type PfCRT exhibited increased accumulation of LynxTag-CQGREEN, which was suppressed by pretreatment with known chemosensitizers. Eight laboratory strains and twelve clinical isolates were sequenced for PfCRT and Pgh1 haplotypes previously reported to contribute to drug resistance, and pfmdr1 copy number and chloroquine IC50s were determined. These data were compared with LynxTag-CQGREEN uptake/fluorescence by multiple linear regression to identify genetic correlates of uptake. Uptake of the compound correlated with the logIC50 of chloroquine and, more weakly, a mutation in Pgh1, F1226Y