Public Perceptions of New Zealand's Environment

Beginning in 2000 Lincoln University has completed biennial surveys of people's perceptions of the state of the New Zealand environment. The surveys use the Pressure-State-Response framework for state of the environment reporting to assess resources such as air quality, native plants and animals, native forest and bush, soils, beaches and coastal waters, marine fisheries, marine reserves, freshwaters, national parks, wetlands, urban environments, and the natural environment compared to other developed nations. They also examine participation in environmentally friendly activities, the most important environmental issues facing New Zealanders and a range of other issues. Individual case studies are also undertaken: in 2000 natural hazards; in 2002 the coastal marine environment, marine recreational fishing and preferences for expenditure on environmental matters; in 2004 freshwater and recreational angling; in 2006 transport and policies to internalise transport externalities. This paper reviews this research programme and its contribution to understanding state of the New Zealand environment and its management.Public perceptions, environment, survey, New Zealand, Environmental Economics and Policy,

Stated Preference Evaluation of Government Budgets

Stated preference approaches are widely used in non-market valuation. However, their potential uses extend far beyond valuation. In particular they can be used to assess efficiency of resource allocations and to design optimal resource allocations. Changes to the government budget were evaluated using a choice experiment. Results indicate potential efficiency gains from reallocation of the budget to items with higher marginal utility. In particular, New Zealand residents want more spending on health, education and the environment, with health spending consistently having the highest marginal benefits. People want less government money spent on income support. The choice experiment was able to identify the impacts of demographic factors. Young people rated spending on the environment and education more highly than other respondents.Choice experiment, public preferences, government budget, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Health Economics and Policy, Political Economy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

New Zealand freshwater management and agricultural impacts

In New Zealand, it is increasingly recognised, including by government, that water resource allocation and water quality are issues of national importance. Agriculture is frequently portrayed by public media as a major user of water and a major contributor to worsening water quality. We outline the water management systems in New Zealand, and the use of water by agriculture. Official reports on agriculture’s impact on New Zealand water availability and quality are summarised. We report how the New Zealand public perceive water, its management, and the roles of agriculture in water issues. Data from a nationwide mail survey were analysed to determine how New Zealanders assess the state of New Zealand lakes, rivers and streams, and aquifers, the performance of three agencies responsible for management of freshwater resources, and willingness to fund stream enhancement. We provide brief explanations for the failures of water resource management in New Zealand and report on options, including community-based responses that might address some of the mounting public, scientific, and government concerns about trends in water quantity and quality. A willingness to pay proposition, concerning riparian areas, included in the nationwide survey provides some evidence that the public are willing to pay for improved waterway management. Relevant non-market valuation studies also indicate that the public places considerable value on preservation values of water in New Zealand.agriculture, environmental economics, perceptions survey, water allocation, water quality, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Priorities for, and preferred approaches to, management of New Zealand fresh waters

Since 2000 six standardised biennial public surveys of the state of the New Zealand environment have been undertaken. A fresh water case study was included in the 2010 postal survey and in an electronic survey. Desirable futures for New Zealand's fresh water resources, sources of damage to freshwater, preferred management approaches, and views about charges for commercial uses of water are reported. Respondents desire high quality water, are not prepared to trade that off for damaging economic gains, and support charges for commercial uses of water. We report public preferences for tools to manage water use.public perceptions, fresh water, New Zealand, economic instruments, management, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, Health Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use,

Energy Spectra of Reactor Neutrinos at KamLAND

The upcoming reactor neutrino experiment, KamLAND, has the ability to explore the Large Mixing Angle (LMA) solution to the solar neutrino problem. Here, we investigate the precision to which KamLAND should be able to measure these parameters, utilizing the distortion of the energy spectrum of reactor neutrinos. Incomplete knowledge of the fuel composition of the reactors will lead to some error on this measurement. We estimate the size of this effect.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures. References added. Minor changes in wordin

A closer look at string resonances in dijet events at the LHC

The first string excited state can be observed as a resonance in dijet invariant mass distributions at the LHC, if the scenario of low-scale string with large extra dimensions is realized. A distinguished property of the dijet resonance by string excited states from that the other "new physics" is that many almost degenerate states with various spin compose a single resonance structure. It is examined that how we can obtain evidences of low-scale string models through the analysis of angular distributions of dijet events at the LHC. Some string resonance states of color singlet can obtain large mass shifts through the open string one-loop effect, or through the mixing with closed string states, and the shape of resonance structure can be distorted. Although the distortion is not very large (10% for the mass squared), it might be able to observe the effect at the LHC, if gluon jets and quark jets could be distinguished in a certain level of efficiency.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure

Plethodon sequoyah

Number of Pages: 2Integrative BiologyGeological Science

Plasma phosphorylated tau181 and neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease

We examined if plasma phosphorylated tau is associated with neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease. We investigated 372 cognitively unimpaired participants, 554 mild cognitive impairment patients, and 141 Alzheimer’s disease dementia patients. Tau phosphorylated at threonine 181, regional cortical thickness (using magnetic resonance imaging) and hypometabolism (using fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography) were measured longitudinally. High plasma tau was associated with hypometabolism and cortical atrophy at baseline and over time, and longitudinally increased tau was associated with accelerated atrophy, but these associations were only observed in Aβ‐positive participants. Plasma phosphorylated tau may identify and track processes linked to neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease

Public perception of the urban environment: comparison of Wellington with national data

The first State of the Environment Reporting (SER) exercise based on a survey of New Zealanders' perceptions of the environment was undertaken in 2000. The survey questionnaire is constructed upon a Pressure-State-Response model. Hughey et al. (2001) provide background and justification for the survey approach used. OECD (1996) and MfE (1997) explain this model, which is used internationally as the basis for environmental reporting. The survey by Hughey et al. was designed to be undertaken biennially and subsequent surveys were undertaken in 2002 and 2004. The main aims of the research are to measure, analyse and monitor changes in New Zealanders' perceptions, attitudes and preferences towards a range of environmental issues, ultimately contributing to improved state of the environment reporting. With regard to the present report, the Wellington Regional Council asked us to compare data - that had been gathered through the survey by Hughey et al. - for the Wellington region (as defined through the respective post codes¹ ) with data for the Rest of New Zealand (excluding Wellington)

Who is in the transition gap? Transition from CAMHS to AMHS in the Republic of Ireland

Objective: The ITRACK study explored the process and predictors of transition between Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and Adult Mental Health Services (AMHS) in the Republic of Ireland. Method: Following ethical approval, clinicians in each of Ireland's four Health Service Executive (HSE) areas were contacted, informed about the study and invited to participate. Clinicians identified all cases who had reached the transition boundary (i.e. upper age limit for that CAMHS team ) between January and December 2010. Data were collected on clinical and socio-demographic details and factors that informed the decision to refer or not refer to AMHS and case notes were scrutinised to ascertain the extent of information exchanged between services during transition