In colonial mammals like fur seals, mutual vocal recognition between mothers and their pup is of primary importance for breeding success. Females alternate feeding sea-trips with suckling periods on land, and when coming back from the ocean, they have to vocally find their offspring among numerous similar-looking pups. Young fur seals emit a 'mother-attraction call' that presents individual cha...

During a survey of yaws prevalence in the Solomon Islands, we collected samples from skin ulcers of 41 children. Using PCR, we identified Haemophilus ducreyi infection in 13 (32%) children. PCR-positive and PCR-negative ulcers were phenotypically indistinguishable. Emergence of H. ducreyi as a cause of nongenital ulcers may affect the World Health Organization's yaws eradication program.

We report here a retrospective analysis of all malaria cases in military personnel reported to the Australian Defence Force (ADF) Central Malaria Register from 1998 to 2007. A total of 637 cases of malaria were notified affecting 487 individuals. Of these 85.9% (547) were infected with Plasmodium vivax malaria and 10.2% (65) with P. falciparum malaria. The majority of cases were from Timor Lest...

Peter D Massey ([email protected]) Rowena Asugeni ([email protected]) John Wakageni ([email protected]) Esau Kekeubata ([email protected]) John Maena'aadi ([email protected]) John Laete'esafi ([email protected]) Jackson Waneagea ([email protected]) Vunivesi Asugeni ([email protected]) David Maclaren ([email protected]) Rich...

The integer cohomology algebra of the complement of a complex subspace arrangement with geometric intersection lattice is completely determined by the combinatorial data of the arrangement. We give a combinatorial presentation of the cohomology algebra in the spirit of the Orlik-Solomon result on the cohomology algebras of complex hyperplane arrangements. Our methods are elementary: we work wit...

This paper draws on a recent household survey to examine the incidence and depth of poverty in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. It replicates the Multidimensional Poverty Index recently developed by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative. This represents the first time that the Multidimensional Poverty Index is calculated for the Solomon Islands and the first time that it is report...

Consider a complex projective space with its Fubini-Study metric. We study certain one parameter deformations of this metric on the complement of an arrangement (= finite union of hyperplanes) whose Levi-Civita connection is of Dunkl type. Interesting examples are obtained from the arrangements defined by finite complex reflection groups. We determine a parameter interval for which the metric i...

The largest rookery for hawksbill turtles in the oceanic South Pacific is the Arnavon Islands, which are located in the Manning Strait between Isabel and Choiseul Province, Solomon Islands. The history of this rookery is one of overexploitation, conflict and violence. Throughout the 1800s Roviana headhunters from New Georgia repeatedly raided the Manning Strait to collect hawksbill shell which ...