Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis presents a postcolonial critique of development and academic discourses in the context of the South Pacific. Focusing on Fiji’s aid industry, I challenge the apparent inevitabilities underpinning an increasingly narrow and parochial donor ‘good governance’ agenda in the region. I also confront geography’s sojourns in, and on, the ‘Third World’ laying bare a number of epistemological and methodological inconsistencies. Having exposed various definitional rigidities produced by these discourses, I emphasise the decentred and nuanced meanings and ways of envisioning ‘development’ enabled by postcolonial sensibilities. The thesis has three primary aims. First, to highlight the constraining and enabling aspects of discourses. I emphasise the productive features of development discourse; its framing attributes, fragility and transformative potential, drawing on the activities and intentions of NGOs and donor organisations operating in Fiji. Second, I draw attention to the way ‘identities’ form and shape aid relations in the country. Again, utilising examples from Fiji’s aid industry, I foreground the centrality of ‘traditions’, religion, gender and ethnicity in ‘development’ and critique their virtual silence in donor policies and programmes in the region. Finally, I ‘unpack’ the way academia intervenes in development settings. Here I suggest that any reflection on the relevance of research will inevitably involve taking methodology seriously and posing fundamental questions about why we are there in the first place. Advocating more than a methodological revisionism, I argue that ‘doing development differently’ will involve reorienting development relations and embarking on a far-reaching mission to subvert development’s self-evidence while proposing and supporting collaborative efforts that explore negotiated and newly emerging cultural forms.

This study examines the experience of managing Type 2 diabetes from the perspective of Part-European people from Fiji who have this disorder. A qualitative approach was used, and the methodology was grounded theory based on the theoretical perspective of symbolic interactionism. Data was collected from the in-depth interviews of nine participants who have been living with Type 2 diabetes. Text from the interview transcripts was analysed using the version of grounded theory advocated by Strauss and Corbin (1998). This process facilitated the discovery of 'Carrying On With Life And Living' as the main concern shared by Part-Europeans managing Type 2 diabetes. It also identified the substantive theory of 'Walking The Line' as the core category and the basic social and psychological process by which Part-Europeans resolve their main concern of 'Carrying On With Life And Living'. This was a three-stage process involving firstly 'Carrying on Regardless', secondly 'Attempting Balance in Time and Motion and Control', and thirdly 'Balancing, Unbalancing, and Recovering Balance'. The results of this study reveal that the social and historical contexts of Part-European culture, such as heavy drinking, carrying on with life and living in the face of adversity, and taking traditional medicine impact significantly throughout their managing process. Findings of this study may contribute to development of some culturally aware strategies that could assist healthcare services to provide appropriate support, intervention, and education for Part-Europeans with Type 2 diabetes. This study also addresses the lack of studies concerned with the management of Type 2 diabetes in Pacific peoples and serves to inform research initiatives and priorities set by the Health Research Council of New Zealand.

Thesis (M. Sc.) (Hons) -- University of Western Sydney, 2005. / " A thesis presented to the School of Environment and Agriculture, University of Western Sydney, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science (Honours)." Includes bibliography : leaves 165 -175, and appendices.

Thesis (PH. D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 1937. / Table in pocket. Bibliography: p. 77-78.

This thesis examines how global development goals affect Fijian plans and policy strategies to achieve food security. The concept of food security is vast and complex, as several development issues contribute to the difficulty in achieving such security. It is therefore relevant to look at some of the dominating and underlying causes that challenge the possibility for Fiji to achieve food security. Built on previous theoretical and empirical evidence, this thesis identifies poverty and vulnerability as two dominant causes that hinder food security on Fiji. However, other causes, both internal and external, are recognised. Global development goals such as the Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals have highly influenced the strategies built within Fijian plans and policies. Millennium Development Goal 1 and 7, and Sustainable Development Goal 1 and 2, are of particular interest to this study, as the different goals target the issues of poverty, vulnerability and hunger. Although the different goals all target the underlying causes of food insecurity, this thesis finds that they differ in influencing a focus on achieving sustainable food security. Therefore, as the aspects of poverty, vulnerability and food security are highly intertwined, this thesis examines how strategies tackling poverty and vulnerability reduction have influenced strategies on food security on Fiji. By comparing the plans and policies built in consistency with the Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals, it has been possible to analyse whether such global goals have had an influence on addressing the underlying causes of food security on Fiji. Using the method of structured focused comparison in combination with an in-depth text analysis, structured questions have been built in order to analyse the chosen materials. The analysis has been conducted using information from different national plans found to be of relevance to the purpose of this study. The results show that goals with greater focus on social and environmental vulnerability, as well as long-term targets to eradicate poverty, provide a greater success in influencing a focus on food security in Fijian plans and policies. However, additional factors such as political instability, climate change and globalization need to be integrated into further studies on the chosen subject, in order to provide a greater understanding of how to achieve food security in a Pacific Small Island Developing State such as Fiji.

The skin is the largest organ in the body. Its function is to protect the body from potential harm and to maintain homeostasis. The epidermis is the outermost layer of the skin. Stratum corneum is the outermost layer of the epidermis, composed of corneocytes and surrounding lipids. The lipids are produced by different enzymes that all play a role in the formation and function of the skin permeability barrier. Mutations in genes coding for these enzymes can lead to barrier dysfunction and could cause autosomal recessive congenital ichthyosis (ARCI). Nine genes have been identified as ARCI-causative and two of them are CYP4F22 and CERS3.   The purpose of this project was to study co-localization of CYP4F22 with CERS3 and also mutated CYP4F22 enzymes, by transfecting plasmids into HeLa and HaCaT cells and performing PLA on HEKn cells. Co-localization could indicate potential interactions and by studying these more in the future, novel treatment strategies can be developed for ARCI patients.   Transfection attempts showed a low transfection grade of wild type genes in both HeLa and HaCaT cells. Tendencies towards co-localization was seen in both cell types and some HeLa cells showed strong correlation after image analysis. Transfection of mutated genes failed, unfortunately. PLA showed co-localization in normal keratinocytes. The obtained results indicated a co-localization, but results need to be confirmed by immunoprecipitation and immunoblotting in the future.

Periodically-harvested fisheries closures (PHCs) are a widespread form of community-based marine spatial management used throughout the Indo-Pacific that also is currently being intensively advocated by conservation organizations for supporting productive fisheries and healthy marine ecosystems. However, local implementation of PHCs has historically been designed to support occasional and efficient exploitation of fish stocks, and not necessarily sustainable fisheries yields and stock conservation. The efficacy of PHCs for achieving their historical cultural objectives of periodicity and efficiency of harvest, simultaneously with achieving contemporary fisheries objectives of fisheries productivity and conservation is undetermined. As a result, the utility of PHCs for supporting contemporary ecosystem-based fisheries management is uncertain given environmental, social and climate change. We developed a biological-economic fisheries model of PHCs to test the value of this form of marine resource management for achieving cultural, fisheries and conservation objectives under sustainable and overfishing scenarios. Our results reveal PHCs to be more effective at achieving the multiple objectives than either non-spatial or fully-protected area management when fisher impact on fish behavior is considered. These results describe the performance of PHCs in general when fish behavior is considered, but does not provide detailed guidance for a particular PHC. Thus, we modified and calibrated our biological-economic fisheries model with empirical data from Nakodu Village on Koro Island in Fiji. The calibrated model allowed us to estimate the effectiveness of Nakodu Village’s current PHC management and predict consequences of future management actions. Results suggest that 5-year PHC closures are optimal for simultaneously achieving fisheries productivity and conservation goals in Nakodu Village. These findings challenge the dogma that PHCs are simply a cultural legacy and warrant further investigation of the utility of PHCs for supporting ecosystem-based management beyond the Indo-Pacific.

Six species of haplosplanchnids are reported in this study. Haplosplanchnus caudatus (Srivastava, 1939) Skrjabin and Guschanskaja, 1955 was found in large numbers in 8 of 9 Mugil cephalus. H. purii Srivastava, 1939 was found in small numbers in 2 of 9 Liza vaigiensis and 1 of 9 Mugil cephalus. Both of these findings represent a new locality record. Schikhobalotrema southi n. sp. is described from a single specimen from Scarus rivulatus. S. scari n. sp. from the same host is also described from a single specimen. Schikhobalotrema sp. is described but not named because of insufficient data. Hymenocotta mulli Manter, 1961 from Mugil cephalus and Liza vaigiensis is also reported, based on one specimen from each host. New synonyms: Haplosplanchnus stunkardi Gupta and Ahmad, 1979 is a synonym of H. caudatus (Srivastava, 1939) Skrjabin and Guschanskaja, 1955. H. otolithi Gupta and Ahmad, 1979 is a synonym of H. purii Srivastava, 1939. Neohaplosplanchnus ablennis Abdul-Salam and Khalil, 1987 is transferred to the genus Schikhobalotrema becoming S. ablennis n. comb. A key to the genus Schikhobalotrema including the new species is included.

Due to globalization and migration people and their cultures spread worldwide andcareer-guiding practitioners have to be more culturally considerate when they meetpeople. Our studies made in Fiji shows that there is a gap between thoughts regardingestimated income, education and effort in a workplace and actual labour-marketconditions. Educated and qualified Fijians look for work abroad when they can’t findemployment at home. One way to understand and describe what happens when peoplemake career decisions is to use career or decision-making theories, and a way to workwith career decisions and ideas about work is to have guidance-interviews or groupsessions. The aim of this paper is to present an example of how a recognized interviewmodel might be adapted for career guidance in a Fiji-context and what considerations that have to be made, through the explanations offered by a career theory, a decisionmaking theory and a guidance theory. Based on the life-story of a group of Fijians the result showed that the main considerations were regarding social structures and conceptions of time.

Non-communicable disease (NCD) rates, like diabetes, in Fiji are among the highest globally. Given that poor nutrition behaviours increase one’s risk for developing NCDs later in life, it is critical to address this early on.  However, there is limited evidence on drivers of nutrition behaviours among indigenous iTaukei university students in Fiji nor how to best engage them in nutrition programming.  The study, informed by the Behavioural Drivers Model and Human Centered Design, uses a qualitative approach to identify behavioural drivers relevant to nutrition among iTaukei university students attending two universities in Suva, Fiji’s capital city. The research also engages student participants to identify ideas for interventions that they would be interested in taking forward.   Findings of the study uncover the complexity of behaviour and highlight the psychological, sociological and environmental drivers that are critical behavioural determinants of students’ diets. Research participants propose innovative ideas to shape nutrition programming and ensure they are active participants in the process.