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We describe a philosophy and process by which cultural awareness and traditional ways of knowing were incorporated into courses on communicating ocean sciences for college and graduate students in Hawai'i. The result is a culturally relevant framework that contextualizes the course for Hawai'i audiences while also enabling students to better understand the host culture. We offer an overview of the similarities and differences between Western and Native Hawaiian worldviews as they relate to science, exploration, and explanation. Our approach focused on two main elements of science communication and pedagogy in Hawai'i: (1) people and relationships, and (2) place and culture. As the foundation for all scientific endeavors--Western or Native Hawaiian--people and relationships were used as a natural and critical starting point for bringing cultural context to science education and communication. Similarly, the significance of place in Native Hawaiian and other traditional knowledge systems and the importance of allowing space for viewing science through a cultural lens were explicitly explored throughout the course. Open class discussion, understanding different cultural approaches to education, and personal interaction with Native Hawaiian scholars and experts were all important elements in students' development of cultural awareness and sensitivity in teaching science, as evidenced by course evaluations. Although our courses focused on ocean sciences, this commentary offers ideas on how traditional ways of knowing might be incorporated into communication or education courses in any science discipline.

Background: Escalation of youth violence within a large geographic school-complex area in southeastern rural Hawaii became a major problem in 2006. How cultural forces impact the problem was an impetus to examine youth violence from perspectives of adults and children in rural communities. Gathering these data was an essential first step toward school-based youth violence prevention program development. Methods: Eight focus groups involving 86 community stakeholders included 51 adults (parent, teachers, school staff, community leaders) and 35 children aged 8-15 years old (3rd- to 10-th grade). Qualitative narrative analysis elicited major themes. Results: Five themes emerged: (1) School-community violence takes on many forms that become entrenched in local culture. (2) Disintegration of community resources and a sense of learned helplessness underlie the escalation of youth violence. (3) Inadequate role modeling coupled with behavioral ambivalence among adults has sustained a climate of local cultural acceptance with youth violence. (4) Connection to cultural values has diminished, leading to a sense of loss in cultural identity among students. (5) Cultural values and practices are potential strategies for youth violence prevention. Conclusions: Cultural and community contextual factors contributed to youth violence in rural Hawaiian communities. Study implications include the need to further investigate the impact of vigilant, community involvement of stakeholders in school-based youth violence prevention program development. Cultural revitalization at family, school, and community levels may be critical success factors of such programs.

The article presents a discussion on the Portuguese population in Hawaii. It cites the best known and most important Portuguese in Hawaii named João Eliot de Castro, a native of Portugal who became physician to Kamehameha in 1812. The Portuguese were considered as among the most industrious people working as farmers or dairymen, or serving in plantations and ranches. A typical representative of the pre-1878 group was Antone Rosa, Sr. who arrived on a whaling ship in 1852. The migration of Portuguese in Hawaii was implemented by Dr. William Hillebrand.

Based on a study of the prevalence of intestinal polyps in New Orleans and on international comparisons, the following conclusions are reached. 1) There is a close parallelism in the epidemiology of colon cancer and adenomatous polyps. Both conditions are statistically associated with respect to geography, anatomic localization, socioeconomic class, migration experience and time trends. 2) The strength of the association favors the notion of a direct, positive correlation between multiplicity, size and atypia of polyps, and cancer risk, equivalent to "dose-effect". 3) The epidemiologic findings are coherent with other biologic facts derived from clinical, morphological and experimental studies. 4) Adenomatous polyps are a good epidemiologic indicator of colon cancer risk and their presence should be helpful in advancing from studies of the epidemiology of colon cancer to the epidemiology of precursor lesions.

The epidemiology of stomach cancer is reviewed and key events identified, including migrant population studies, the Jarvi-Laurén classification of gastric carcinoma, and application of this classification to comparative autopsy studies. The gradual transformation to the epidemiology of precancer lesions is sketched, and the studies in Colombia contributing to this transformation are described. An etiologic model based on the formation of carcinogenic N-nitroso compounds is proposed. Future work for investigators in the Department of Nariño (Colombia) to test and evaluate this hypothesis is described.