The place of neighbourhood in social cohesion: insights from massey,West Auckland

Within public health discourse there is growing recognition that the social structures and ecology of neighbourhoods impact on health and wellbeing. A clearer understanding of the pathways through which this influence occurs will inform locality-based interventions to tackle inequalities. In this paper we report on an interview based study with parents of young children living in Massey, a suburban neighbourhood of metropolitan Auckland. Locational access to community resources is comparatively poor in Massey as measured by a community resource accessibility index. The findings provide insights into the impact of such access to services and amenities on neighbourhood social cohesion. We conclude by suggesting planning strategies for strengthening neighbourhood identification and attachment for this population group.     

Resuspension of coal and coal/municipal sewage sludge combustion generated fine particles for inhalation health effects studies

Airborne particulate matter (PM) is an important environmental issue because of its association with acute respiratory distress in humans, although the specific particle characteristics that cause lung damage have yet to be identified. Particle size, acid aerosols, water-soluble transition metals (e.g. Cu, Fe, V, Ni and Zn), polyaromatic hydrocarbons, and particle composition are the focus of several popular hypotheses addressing respiratory distress. All of the above mentioned characteristics are contained in PM generated from the combustion of both pulverized coal, and biomass, including dried municipal sewage sludge (MSS). In this investigation, we report results from collaborative interdisciplinary research on the inhalation health risks caused by particles emitted from the co-combustion of municipal sewage sludge (MSS) and coal. A solid particle resuspension system was implemented to resuspend ash particles. Mice were exposed to resuspended coal and MSS/coal ash particles. Mice exposed to MSS/coal ash particulate demonstrated significant increases in lung permeability, a marker of the early stages of pathological lung injury, while the mice exposed to coal-only ash did not. These results show that the composition of particles actually inhaled is important in determining lung damage. Zinc was significantly more concentrated in the MSS/coal ash than coal ash particles and the pH of these particles did not differ significantly. Specifically, an MSS/coal mixture, when burned, emits particles that may cause significantly more lung damage than coal alone, and that consequently, the use of MSS as a 'green', CO2-neutral replacement fuel should be carefully considered.     

Shallow Applications of Geophysical Diffraction Tomography

Diffraction tomography is the generalization of conventional (X-ray) tomography to applications employing diffracting wave fields such as ultrasound, seismic, and low-frequency electromagnetic waves. One approach to diffraction tomography is the filtered back-back-propagation algorithm that has been suggested as a means for subsurface exploration in the oil industry. In this paper we investigate the influence of a number of factors on the quality of tomographic reconstructions obtained via the filtered backpropagation algorithm. These include the presence of strong scatterers, the approximate generation of plane waves, the attenuation of high-frequency components, the density of receivers, and the quality of the received signal. The objective of this study is the acquisition of information to serve as a basis for the design of field instrumentation and implementation of geophysical diffraction tomography. It is found that the density of receivers limits the size of the smallest features that can be imaged, while the loss of high-frequency components limits the image sharpness. The filtered backpropagation algorithm can yield adequate images with at least moderate noise added to the signal. Errors that can occur as a result of the approximate generation of plane waves can be overcome by an appropriate slant stack procedure. Isolated strong scatterers will be difficult to distinguish from weak scatterers in the reconstruction, and the presence of a strong scatterer could obscure nearby features.     

Who gets to what? Access to community resources in two New Zealand cities

This article explores patterns of access to services, amenities and facilities in two neighbouring New Zealand cities. An area-level indicator of community resource access, based on priorities identified by caregivers of young children, is analysed alongside census data to examine associations with community resource access in each city. Analysis reveals variations in resource access between the two cities that could not be solely explained by population density. Associations were found between resource access and patterns of deprivation, population density, age, and families with children. Of particular note was a positive association between areas of higher levels of resource access and areas of higher levels of deprivation within cities. There were, however, higher overall levels of resource access in the city with a less deprived profile. These findings support action by both central and local government to ensure equitable resource distribution to promote local well-being.