Significance Conservation of a large section of an early, sophisticated sailing canoe recently discovered on the New Zealand coast provides an opportunity to study maritime technology directly associated with the colonization of East Polynesia. A sea turtle carved on its hull makes symbolic connections with ancestral Polynesian culture. We describe the artifact, identify and radiocarbon date construction materials, and reconstruct a likely form of the canoe in the context of archaeological and ethnohistoric information. The canoe is contemporary with early archaeological settlements around New Zealand and on-going voyaging between Polynesian islands.

Acute Rheumatic Fever (ARF) is an autoimmune condition caused by untreated Group A Streptococcal (GAS) infection of the upper respiratory tract (and possibly skin). Multiple or severe attacks of ARF can cause cardiac damage, known as Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) which remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality globally and is rare in developed countries. In Australia, New Zealand (NZ) and the Pacific Region, the disease burden of ARF and RHD amongst Indigenous and Pacific communities is one of the highest in the world, usually affecting children and young adults. A GAS vaccine remains years from being available and until then, the most effective recommended preventative measure for ARF requires painful monthly intramuscular injections of Benzathine Penicillin G (BPG) for 10 years or more, known as secondary prophylaxis (SP). Adherence to SP remains a challenge in many settings and improved understanding of barriers and novel approaches to BPG delivery are urgently needed. To create a reformulation of BPG that encourages SP adherence, insight is needed into the reformulation preferences of those with ARF/RHD. This work seeks to explore the experiences and investigate children/teen on SP, family, and healthcare professional and practitioner preferences for potential BPG reformulation characteristics in Tonga. Three software applications will be adapted from pre-developed applications already piloted and pretested, and optimized for use to ensure age, cultural appropriateness and efficient data collection. This is the first time software applications have been successfully developed and utilized to collect qualitative and quantitative data on individual preferences for BPG formulations and dosing regimens in Tonga.

Acute Rheumatic Fever (ARF) is the autoimmune condition caused by untreated group A streptococcal (GAS) infection of the throat and possibly skin. Repeated or severe untreated attacks of ARF can cause permanent heart damage known as rheumatic heart disease (RHD). ARF/RHD rates in the Pacific (Samoa, Tonga and Fiji) have been reported as being 5 times higher than that found in NZ. Pacific Peoples living in NZ currently comprise ~ 7% of the NZ population so prioritization of ARF/RHD prevention, treatment and management efforts within the Pacific region and NZ is warranted due to high incidence rates and migration between countries. As a GAS vaccine is not yet available, the most effective recommended preventative measure for ARF requires painful monthly injections of Benzathine Penicillin G (BPG) be given intramuscularly for 10 years. Known as secondary prophylaxis, the purpose is to prevent GAS infections that can lead to ARF and cause RHD. A reformulated BPG is desperately needed. To support the generation of a more appropriate BPG reformulation that encourages treatment adherence, this work explored the BPG reformulation preferences of predominantly Māori and Pacific children/teens in New Zealand currently receiving monthly BPG intramuscular injections, their families and healthcare providers. The appropriate governance, cultural leadership and guidance essential for this project work to progress safely by the research team was provided by Pasifika and Māori health researchers, leaders, representatives, scientists and academics with careful considerations integrated into the development of the software applications and into the research work.

Acute Rheumatic Fever (ARF) is an autoimmune condition caused by untreated group A streptococcal (GAS) infection of the upper respiratory tract (and possibly skin). Multiple or severe attacks of ARF can cause cardiac damage known as rheumatic heart disease (RHD). In Australia, New Zealand (NZ) and the Pacific Region, the disease burden of ARF and RHD amongst Indigenous and Pacific communities is one of the highest in the world, usually affecting children and young adults. The most effective recommended management for ARF requires monthly intramuscular injections of 1.2 million units of Benzathine Penicillin G (BPG) known as secondary prophylaxis (SP) for 10 years or more. The goal of SP is to prevent GAS infections that may lead to the recurrence of ARF. Even with these monthly BPG injections, adherence to SP schedules are usually low due to the frequency and duration of injection, pain and access to proper and timely healthcare. A less painful and longer acting BPG formulation would ideally help prevent recurrence of ARF and improve compliance rates to this schedule with improved understanding of barriers and novel approaches to BPG delivery urgently needed. To better understand the BPG reformulation preferences of children/teens currently receiving monthly BPG intramuscular injections, and that of their families and healthcare providers who administer BPG, three software applications will be developed from pre-existing applications that have been optimized for use in target populations in New Zealand. This will be the first time software applications have been used to collect qualitative and quantitative data on individual preferences for BPG formulations and dosing regimens in Samoa.

Acute Rheumatic Fever (ARF) is an autoimmune condition caused by untreated Group A Streptococcal (GAS) infection of the upper respiratory tract (and possibly skin). Multiple or severe attacks of ARF can cause cardiac damage, known as Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) which remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality globally and is rare in developed countries. In Australia, New Zealand (NZ) and the Pacific Region, the disease burden of ARF and RHD amongst Indigenous and Pacific communities is one of the highest in the world, usually affecting children and young adults. A GAS vaccine remains years from being available and until then, the most effective recommended preventative measure for ARF requires painful monthly intramuscular injections of Benzathine Penicillin G (BPG) for 10 years or more, known as secondary prophylaxis (SP). Adherence to SP remains a challenge in many settings and improved understanding of barriers and novel approaches to BPG delivery are urgently needed. To create a reformulation of BPG that encourages SP adherence, insight is needed into the reformulation preferences of those with ARF/RHD. This work seeks to explore the experiences and investigate children/teen on SP, family, and healthcare professional and practitioner preferences for potential BPG reformulation characteristics in Tonga. Three software applications will be adapted from pre-developed applications already piloted and pretested, and optimized for use to ensure age, cultural appropriateness and efficient data collection. This is the first time software applications have been successfully developed and utilized to collect qualitative and quantitative data on individual preferences for BPG formulations and dosing regimens in Tonga.