Although intergroup contact can reduce prejudice, opportunities to experience such contact are often constrained by systems of segregation. Work on this problem has focused on divisions entrenched within institutions of residence, education and employment. Our research employed a complementary approach, which treated segregation as the outcome of individuals' movements over time within everyday life spaces. Taking as a case study Catholics' and Protestants' use of public environments in north Belfast, we used GPS tracking technology, combined with GIS analytics, to explore the time geography of residents' activity space use over a two-week period (Study 1). We also conducted a field survey to explore how psychological factors shaped their willingness to use activity spaces beyond their own communities (Study 2). Analysis based on around 1000 hours of raw movement data revealed that north Belfast is marked by high levels of segregation, expressed via residents' limited use of public spaces, facilities and pathways located in outgroup areas. However, use of shared spaces is also common, with Catholics spending more time in such spaces than Protestants. Structural equation modelling suggested that residents' self-reported willingness to use activity spaces outside their own communities was associated with both negative and positive intergroup contact-relationships partially mediated by realistic threat, symbolic threat, and anxiety over interaction across sectarian lines. Both kinds of contact and realistic threat were also associated with the time residents actually spent in spaces beyond their own communities. Opportunities for integrating psychological and geographic research on contact and segregation are highlighted.
Malaria in India, while decreasing, remains a serious public health problem, and the contribution of submicroscopic and asymptomatic infections to its persistence is poorly understood. We conducted community surveys and clinic studies at three sites in India differing in their eco-epidemiologies: Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Nadiad (Gujarat), and Rourkela (Odisha), during 2012–2015. A total of 6,645 subject blood samples were collected for Plasmodium diagnosis by microscopy and PCR, and an extensive clinical questionnaire completed. Malaria prevalence ranged from 3–8% by PCR in community surveys (24 infections in Chennai, 56 in Nadiad, 101 in Rourkela), with Plasmodium vivax dominating in Chennai (70.8%) and Nadiad (67.9%), and Plasmodium falciparum in Rourkela (77.3%). A proportional high burden of asymptomatic and submicroscopic infections was detected in community surveys in Chennai (71% and 71%, respectively, 17 infections for both) and Rourkela (64% and 31%, 65 and 31 infections, respectively). In clinic studies, a proportional high burden of infections was identified as submicroscopic in Rourkela (45%, 42 infections) and Chennai (19%, 42 infections). In the community surveys, anemia and fever were significantly more common among microscopic than submicroscopic infections. Exploratory spatial analysis identified a number of potential malaria hotspots at all three sites. There is a considerable burden of submicroscopic and asymptomatic malaria in malarious regions in India, which may act as a reservoir with implications for malaria elimination strategies.
exposure dating (SHED): Calibration procedures, new exposure age data and an online calculator. Quaternary Geochronology, 44, 55-62. https://doi.Abstract 5 Recent research has established Schmidt Hammer exposure dating (SHED) as an effective method 6 for dating glacial landforms in the UK. This paper presents new data and discussion to clarify and to 7 evaluate calibration procedures. These make a distinction between Schmidt Hammer drift following 8 use (instrument calibration), and variation between both individual Schmidt Hammers and between 9 user strategies when utilising age-calibration curves (age calibration). We show that while test anvil 10 methods are useful for verifying that Schmidt Hammers maintain their standard R-values, they are 11 inappropriate for instrument calibration except for the hardest natural rock surfaces (R-values: ≥ 12 70). A range of surfaces were tested using 3 N-Type Schmidt Hammers, which showed that existing 13 anvil calibration procedures led to consistent overestimation of R-values by up to 17.9%. In contrast, 14 new calibration procedures, which are based on the use of a calibration point which lies within the 15 range of R-values measured in the field [Dortch et al. 2016, Quat. Geochron., 35, 67-68], limit 16 variance to maximum of 4.4% for surfaces typically tested by Quaternary researchers (R-values: 25 -17 60). Moreover, these new calibration procedures are more appropriate for age calibration as they 18 incorporate operator variance through choice of sampling location. New calibration procedures are 19 used to compile an updated age-calibration curve based upon 54 granite surfaces (R 2 = 0.94, p < 20 0.01) from across Scotland, NW England and Ireland. The inclusion of a further 29 terrestrial 21 cosmogenic nuclide (TCN) exposure ages extends the calibration period to 0.8 -23.8 ka, covering 22 the entire post-Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) history of the British-Irish Ice Sheet. To facilitate 23 comparison between studies, an online calculator is made available at http://shed.earth for Schmidt 24Hammer instrument and age calibration and SHED exposure age calculation. The SHED-Earth 25 calculator provides a rapid and accessible means of exposure age calculation to encourage wider and 26 more consistent application of SHED throughout the British Isles. 27 28
Link to publication record in Manchester Research Explorer
Citation for published version (APA):Tomkins, M., Dortch, J., Hughes, P., Huck, J., Stimson, A., Delmas, M., Calvet, M., & Pallas, R. (2018). Rapid age assessment of glacial landforms in the Pyrenees using Schmidt Hammer exposure dating (SHED). Quaternary Research, 90(1), 26-37. https://doi.
ABSTRACT 22Schmidt Hammer (SH) sampling of 54 10 Be dated granite surfaces from the Pyrenees reveals a clear 23 relationship between exposure and weathering through time (n = 52, R 2 = 0.96, p < 0.01) and 24 permits the use of the SH as a numerical dating tool. To test this 10
The visibility of natural greenness is associated with several health benefits along multiple pathways, including stress recovery and attention restoration mechanisms. However, existing methodologies are inadequate for capturing eye-level greenness visibility exposure at high spatial resolutions for observers located on the ground. As a response, we developed an innovative methodological approach to model and map eye-level greenness visibility exposure for 5 m interval locations within a large study area. We used multi-source spatial data and applied viewshed analysis in conjunction with a distance decay model to compute a novel Viewshed Greenness Visibility Index (VGVI) at more than 86 million observer locations. We compared our eye-level visibility exposure map with traditional top-down greenness exposure metrics such as Normalised Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI) and a Street view based Green View Index (SGVI). Furthermore, we compared greenness visibility at street-only locations with total neighbourhood greenness visibility. We found strong to moderate correlations (r = 0.65-0.42,
p
< 0.05) between greenness visibility and mean NDVI, with a decreasing trend in correlation strength at increasing buffer distances from observer locations. Our findings suggest that top-down and eye-level measurements of greenness are two distinct metrics for assessing greenness exposure. Additionally, VGVI showed a strong correlation (r = 0.481,
p
< 0.01) with SGVI. Although the new VGVI has good agreement with existing street view based measures, we found that street-only greenness visibility values are not wholly representative of total neighbourhood visibility due to the under-representation of visible greenness in locations such as backyards and community parks. Our new methodology overcomes such underestimations, is easily transferable, and offers a computationally efficient approach to assessing eye-level greenness exposure.
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