Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 225-229). / xv, 229 leaves, bound col. ill., music, facsimilies 29 cm

The speech recognition threshold (SRT) is an important measure, as it validates the pure-tone average (PTA), assists in the diagnosis and prognosis of hearing impairments, and aids in the identification of non-organic hearing impairments. Research has shown that in order for SRT testing to yield valid and reliable measures, testing needs to be performed in the patient's native language. There are currently no published materials for SRT testing in the Samoan language. As a result, audiologists are testing patients with English materials or other materials not of the patient's native language. Results produced from this manner of testing are confounded by the patient's vocabulary knowledge and may reflect a language deficit rather than a hearing loss. The present study is aimed at developing SRT materials for native speakers of Samoan to enable valid and reliable measures of SRT for the Samoan speaking population. This study selected 28 trisyllabic Samoan words that were found to be relatively homogeneous in regard to audibility and psychometric function slope. Data were gathered on 20 normal hearing native speakers of Samoan and the intensity of each selected word was adjusted to make the 50% performance threshold of each word equal to the mean PTA of the 20 research participants (5.33 dB HL). The final edited words were digitally recorded onto compact disc to allow for distribution and use for SRT testing in Samoan.

This thesis is a textbook designed to assist LDS missionaries studying the Samoan language both in a two-month intensive language-learning school (the Missionary Training Center) and in individual study in the Samoan Islands. The thesis is prefaced with a rationale for and explanation of the Missionary Training Center language program and the design and purposes of the text itself.The textbook contains fifty Samoan language lessons, divided into ten units of five lessons each. At the end of each unit is a review module, or test. Except for two overview lessons (designed to introduce grammatical terms and pronunciation), each of the fifty lessons is either a grammar lesson (consisting of presentation and practice of grammar rules sequenced from simple to complex) or a Speak Your Language lesson (consisting of presentation and practice of phrases, patterns, and vocabulary required for competence in particular notions and situations, sequenced according to the communicative needs of the missionaries). Supplementary material included at the end of the book includes Extra Mile Lessons (additional information on grammar, phrases, patterns, and vocabulary) and two appendices (Samoan songs and a bibliography).

What’s God got to do with Sex? Exploring the relationship between Spiritual engagement and the sexual health activities of Samoan youth. Improving the health and social wellbeing of Pacific youth is a key priority for the New Zealand Government. When the Pacific youth population’s sexual health is compared with that of other ethnic groups in New Zealand there are clear disparities. At the same time, spiritual engagement is frequently noted as protecting young people from engaging in health-risk taking behaviours. Objectives: This study determines whether a relationship exists between patterns of spiritual engagement and the sexual health activities of Samoan attending secondary schools in New Zealand. Does going to church or rating spiritual beliefs as important influence the sexual health activities of Samoan youth? Method: This research analyses data from ‘Youth 2000’, a youth health and wellbeing survey conducted in 2001. The survey was conducted with approximately 10,000 New Zealand secondary school students which included 646 Samoan and 5219 New Zealand Europeans. Nine sexual health activities were explored. Data relating to spiritual engagement and the sexual health activities of Samoan and New Zealand European students were extracted from the survey, measured and compared. Results: A significant proportion of Samoan youth have not had sexual intercourse. Just under a third of Samoan students (32.1%) have had sexual intercourse, with the average age of first sexual intercourse around 14 years. Findings reveal that the spiritual engagement variables: church attendance and the importance of spiritual beliefs have mixed influences on the different sexual health activities of Samoan youth. Conclusions: This study reinforces the central importance of spiritual engagement in the lives of many Samoan secondary school students. Government policies and interventions require an understanding of key health behaviours and their related risk and protective factors specific to New Zealand youth.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 47-50). / 50 leaves, bound 29 cm

This thesis presents two studies that form the basis of the Samoan Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries’ (MAF) recent efforts to enhance its animal disease surveillance capacity. The first study investigated a method of enhancing the surveillance value of veterinary case data collected by the MAF’s Animal Health Service, which provides the only veterinary service for livestock in the country, through temporal analysis of cases and syndromes by species. Threshold levels generated from 3-monthly moving averages combined over 3 years of veterinary case data were used to identify unusually high numbers of cases and the cause of these unusual events were investigated. Further, the analysis of data in the system identified gaps in the coverage of the Animal Health Service which helped identify alternative methods for conducting surveillance in these areas using the Crops Division advisory officers. The objective of the second study was to identify if the veterinary case data collected by the Animal Health Service represented pig health problems in the general population. Reproduction and mortality patterns were compared on a group of 10 holdings that were regularly attended by the veterinary staff and 13 holdings that did not utilise the Animal Health Service. The performance of these holdings, measured in liveborn piglets per sow year and pre-weaning and post-weaning mortality were compared given their status as client or non-client of the service and their exposure to various management factors like confinement, protein supplementation, frequency of feeding, management time per sow per day, the use of improved or exotic breeds, the extent of commercial activity and, in the case of piglets their season of birth (rainy or dry season). The mean number of sows per herd was 6, producing a mean litter size of 6.1 piglets with a mean interfarrowing interval of 235 days. The median pre-weaning mortality per litter was 0 and a median of 1 piglet per litter was used for productive purposes (consumed, gifted or sold) at a median age of 153 days. It was found that the greatest influence on productivity in these holdings was nutrition. Sow productivity (in terms of liveborn piglets per sow year and pre-weaning survival) was best in the non-client, free range herds that did not provide protein supplementation (but whose feeding was unrestricted due to their freedom to roam and scavenge) and worst in client and non-client herds that were confined and not given protein supplementation (due to restricted and underfeeding). The mortality of pigs postweaning was significantly higher if they were free roaming, due to their loss to predation, theft and being hit by car. The study showed that the health status of pigs was better on holdings that did not use the Animal Health Service compared with those that did.

This thesis presents two studies that form the basis of the Samoan Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries’ (MAF) recent efforts to enhance its animal disease surveillance capacity. The first study investigated a method of enhancing the surveillance value of veterinary case data collected by the MAF’s Animal Health Service, which provides the only veterinary service for livestock in the country, through temporal analysis of cases and syndromes by species. Threshold levels generated from 3-monthly moving averages combined over 3 years of veterinary case data were used to identify unusually high numbers of cases and the cause of these unusual events were investigated. Further, the analysis of data in the system identified gaps in the coverage of the Animal Health Service which helped identify alternative methods for conducting surveillance in these areas using the Crops Division advisory officers. The objective of the second study was to identify if the veterinary case data collected by the Animal Health Service represented pig health problems in the general population. Reproduction and mortality patterns were compared on a group of 10 holdings that were regularly attended by the veterinary staff and 13 holdings that did not utilise the Animal Health Service. The performance of these holdings, measured in liveborn piglets per sow year and pre-weaning and post-weaning mortality were compared given their status as client or non-client of the service and their exposure to various management factors like confinement, protein supplementation, frequency of feeding, management time per sow per day, the use of improved or exotic breeds, the extent of commercial activity and, in the case of piglets their season of birth (rainy or dry season). The mean number of sows per herd was 6, producing a mean litter size of 6.1 piglets with a mean interfarrowing interval of 235 days. The median pre-weaning mortality per litter was 0 and a median of 1 piglet per litter was used for productive purposes (consumed, gifted or sold) at a median age of 153 days. It was found that the greatest influence on productivity in these holdings was nutrition. Sow productivity (in terms of liveborn piglets per sow year and pre-weaning survival) was best in the non-client, free range herds that did not provide protein supplementation (but whose feeding was unrestricted due to their freedom to roam and scavenge) and worst in client and non-client herds that were confined and not given protein supplementation (due to restricted and underfeeding). The mortality of pigs postweaning was significantly higher if they were free roaming, due to their loss to predation, theft and being hit by car. The study showed that the health status of pigs was better on holdings that did not use the Animal Health Service compared with those that did.

This thesis presents two studies that form the basis of the Samoan Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries’ (MAF) recent efforts to enhance its animal disease surveillance capacity. The first study investigated a method of enhancing the surveillance value of veterinary case data collected by the MAF’s Animal Health Service, which provides the only veterinary service for livestock in the country, through temporal analysis of cases and syndromes by species. Threshold levels generated from 3-monthly moving averages combined over 3 years of veterinary case data were used to identify unusually high numbers of cases and the cause of these unusual events were investigated. Further, the analysis of data in the system identified gaps in the coverage of the Animal Health Service which helped identify alternative methods for conducting surveillance in these areas using the Crops Division advisory officers. The objective of the second study was to identify if the veterinary case data collected by the Animal Health Service represented pig health problems in the general population. Reproduction and mortality patterns were compared on a group of 10 holdings that were regularly attended by the veterinary staff and 13 holdings that did not utilise the Animal Health Service. The performance of these holdings, measured in liveborn piglets per sow year and pre-weaning and post-weaning mortality were compared given their status as client or non-client of the service and their exposure to various management factors like confinement, protein supplementation, frequency of feeding, management time per sow per day, the use of improved or exotic breeds, the extent of commercial activity and, in the case of piglets their season of birth (rainy or dry season). The mean number of sows per herd was 6, producing a mean litter size of 6.1 piglets with a mean interfarrowing interval of 235 days. The median pre-weaning mortality per litter was 0 and a median of 1 piglet per litter was used for productive purposes (consumed, gifted or sold) at a median age of 153 days. It was found that the greatest influence on productivity in these holdings was nutrition. Sow productivity (in terms of liveborn piglets per sow year and pre-weaning survival) was best in the non-client, free range herds that did not provide protein supplementation (but whose feeding was unrestricted due to their freedom to roam and scavenge) and worst in client and non-client herds that were confined and not given protein supplementation (due to restricted and underfeeding). The mortality of pigs postweaning was significantly higher if they were free roaming, due to their loss to predation, theft and being hit by car. The study showed that the health status of pigs was better on holdings that did not use the Animal Health Service compared with those that did.

This thesis presents two studies that form the basis of the Samoan Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries’ (MAF) recent efforts to enhance its animal disease surveillance capacity. The first study investigated a method of enhancing the surveillance value of veterinary case data collected by the MAF’s Animal Health Service, which provides the only veterinary service for livestock in the country, through temporal analysis of cases and syndromes by species. Threshold levels generated from 3-monthly moving averages combined over 3 years of veterinary case data were used to identify unusually high numbers of cases and the cause of these unusual events were investigated. Further, the analysis of data in the system identified gaps in the coverage of the Animal Health Service which helped identify alternative methods for conducting surveillance in these areas using the Crops Division advisory officers. The objective of the second study was to identify if the veterinary case data collected by the Animal Health Service represented pig health problems in the general population. Reproduction and mortality patterns were compared on a group of 10 holdings that were regularly attended by the veterinary staff and 13 holdings that did not utilise the Animal Health Service. The performance of these holdings, measured in liveborn piglets per sow year and pre-weaning and post-weaning mortality were compared given their status as client or non-client of the service and their exposure to various management factors like confinement, protein supplementation, frequency of feeding, management time per sow per day, the use of improved or exotic breeds, the extent of commercial activity and, in the case of piglets their season of birth (rainy or dry season). The mean number of sows per herd was 6, producing a mean litter size of 6.1 piglets with a mean interfarrowing interval of 235 days. The median pre-weaning mortality per litter was 0 and a median of 1 piglet per litter was used for productive purposes (consumed, gifted or sold) at a median age of 153 days. It was found that the greatest influence on productivity in these holdings was nutrition. Sow productivity (in terms of liveborn piglets per sow year and pre-weaning survival) was best in the non-client, free range herds that did not provide protein supplementation (but whose feeding was unrestricted due to their freedom to roam and scavenge) and worst in client and non-client herds that were confined and not given protein supplementation (due to restricted and underfeeding). The mortality of pigs postweaning was significantly higher if they were free roaming, due to their loss to predation, theft and being hit by car. The study showed that the health status of pigs was better on holdings that did not use the Animal Health Service compared with those that did.

This thesis presents two studies that form the basis of the Samoan Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries’ (MAF) recent efforts to enhance its animal disease surveillance capacity. The first study investigated a method of enhancing the surveillance value of veterinary case data collected by the MAF’s Animal Health Service, which provides the only veterinary service for livestock in the country, through temporal analysis of cases and syndromes by species. Threshold levels generated from 3-monthly moving averages combined over 3 years of veterinary case data were used to identify unusually high numbers of cases and the cause of these unusual events were investigated. Further, the analysis of data in the system identified gaps in the coverage of the Animal Health Service which helped identify alternative methods for conducting surveillance in these areas using the Crops Division advisory officers. The objective of the second study was to identify if the veterinary case data collected by the Animal Health Service represented pig health problems in the general population. Reproduction and mortality patterns were compared on a group of 10 holdings that were regularly attended by the veterinary staff and 13 holdings that did not utilise the Animal Health Service. The performance of these holdings, measured in liveborn piglets per sow year and pre-weaning and post-weaning mortality were compared given their status as client or non-client of the service and their exposure to various management factors like confinement, protein supplementation, frequency of feeding, management time per sow per day, the use of improved or exotic breeds, the extent of commercial activity and, in the case of piglets their season of birth (rainy or dry season). The mean number of sows per herd was 6, producing a mean litter size of 6.1 piglets with a mean interfarrowing interval of 235 days. The median pre-weaning mortality per litter was 0 and a median of 1 piglet per litter was used for productive purposes (consumed, gifted or sold) at a median age of 153 days. It was found that the greatest influence on productivity in these holdings was nutrition. Sow productivity (in terms of liveborn piglets per sow year and pre-weaning survival) was best in the non-client, free range herds that did not provide protein supplementation (but whose feeding was unrestricted due to their freedom to roam and scavenge) and worst in client and non-client herds that were confined and not given protein supplementation (due to restricted and underfeeding). The mortality of pigs postweaning was significantly higher if they were free roaming, due to their loss to predation, theft and being hit by car. The study showed that the health status of pigs was better on holdings that did not use the Animal Health Service compared with those that did.