Contact between birth parents and children in kinship care in a sample from Spain

Within the context of kinship care, the main objectives of this work are to study the characteristics of contact between foster children and their birth parents, and their relationship with key variables of fostering, the children and their kinship caregivers. The sample included 189 children from Spain and their kinship families. A semi‐structured placement interview and two scales relating to the child–caregiver relationship and child's psychological adjustment were used with the kinship families. The results revealed a significant percentage of foster children who had no family contact. Various visit types, frequencies and durations were described. Kinship care with contact, compared with placements without contact, was frequently characterized by the absence of professional supervision, and an affectionate child–caregiver relationship; moreover, children with contact were perceived to have fewer serious behaviour and socio‐emotional problems and a greater probability of family reunification. The regression analysis showed that the main predictors for how caregivers assessed contact were the children's emotional reaction during visits and the quality of the relationship between the kinship families and the birth parents. These results suggest the need for further research about contact, which will certainly have a major impact on professional intervention with these families.     

农村外出劳动力回流迁移的影响因素和回流效应

文章分析农村外出劳动力回流迁移的影响因素.农村外出劳动力在城市就业、经济收入和社会保障的排斥影响他们的回流,同时回流迁移也受到家庭生活、家庭劳动力状况、家庭农业活动和农地状况等因素的影响.外出劳动力的回流迁移是“被动回流”和“主动回流”相结合的过程、是个体决策和家庭决策的综合过程.文章提出劳动力回流迁移具有“回流效应”,回流带来人力资本的补偿、促进流出地非农经济的发展和带来创业的增长.劳动力回流作为城镇化过程中内生的逆迁移流,构成乡城迁移和劳动力市场平衡的补充机制,与乡城迁移一起促进城镇化和城乡平衡发展.文章提出在城镇化过程中需要支持“迁移效应”和“回流效应”机制共同发挥作用.     

Life pattern of urban trees: A growth-modelling approach

Urban afforestation improves life quality in urban centers providing social and environmental benefits. Understanding growth of urban trees exposed to air pollution will support planning, managing and expanding urban areas. This approach intends to determine growth patterns of urban trees to support future urban planning. Non-destructive samples were collected from trees of Araucaria angustifolia (Bertol.) Kuntze in Araucaria city, Parana State, Brazil. Growth rings were related to pollutant concentrations and meteorological series. Growth reduction was observed except in the border areas of the city. Trees established during or after the period of industrialization incentives were most affected by air pollution, indicating that immature plants are more vulnerable. Sulphur dioxide and nitric oxide significantly affected growth of smaller trees. Those greater than 60 cm dbh did not demonstrate significant correlation with any identified pollutant. As the trees established before accentuated urbanization were less affected by air pollution, it is reinforced the importance of preserving remaining urban trees. We suggest that planning urban afforestation should precede industries placing. When urban planning is impossible, new planted trees should not be expected to grow as in free pollution areas, but they will still present satisfactory diameter increment, contributing to improve local urban environment.     

On algorithmic construction of maximin distance designs

Maximin distance designs are useful for conducting expensive computer experiments. In this article, we compare some global optimization algorithms for constructing such designs. We also introduce several related space-filling designs, including nested maximin distance designs, sliced maximin distance designs, and general maximin distance designs with better projection properties. These designs possess more flexible structures than their analogs in the literature. Examples of these designs constructed by the algorithms are presented.     

在世俗之上:“信仰中国”的认知与实践价值

李向平认为,从辛亥革命开始的现代中国"革命"运动对当代中国的"信仰"变迁及其重建产生了重要而深远的影响,源自于民国初年以"三民主义"为核心的"主义信仰"及其建构渐次成为"主义建构信仰"乃至"主义代替宗教"的政治思潮,深刻制约着现代中国"信仰"的建构与演变趋势。傅有德认为,与西方的信教主体不同,中国的宗教性信仰主体存在着较为普遍的"一人多信"现象,这既与宗教信仰间的兼容甚至合流有关,也与信仰而不必委身的理念有关,还与缺乏终极的精神关怀有关,更与中国人思维方式中"求同存异"的特点有关。任剑涛认为,中国迈上小康之路的这一变化,将四维中国的形象完整地刻画出来:"经济中国"构成中国的基础性物化维度,"政治中国"构成中国的国家—法律物化维度,"文化中国"构成中国的物质生活与精神生活的交叠维度,"信仰中国"构成中国的深刻价值支持维度;四个维度相互支撑,构成完整的、现代的"中国"。     

祛魅、复魅与社会秩序的重建

按照马克斯.韦伯对现代精神特质的概括,现代就是"理性祛除巫魅"。祛魅作为现代处置神性信仰与公共秩序二元化方略的准确反映,长期以来被人们解读为一种反对宗教介入公共生活的现代姿态。其实,这种偏狭的"现代"忽略了信仰对于人类生活的意义,并因此无法完整理解现代生活公私两个世界的互动关系。20世纪50年代开始至今,宗教的复兴运动促使人们在祛魅之外看到由复魅象征着的人类另一种生活模式。由此人们可以认识到宗教之于人心秩序、理性之于社会秩序的高度相关性。宗教的价值就此再获肯定。而掌握世俗权力的人们,也就不再具有以无神论的方式处置有神论问题的理由。     

近代早期意大利经济衰退的原因

意大利是欧洲资本主义萌芽诞生最早的国家,在欧洲的经济发展过程中处于举足轻重的地位。但是,在由中世纪向近代转变的过程中,意大利的经济却逐渐处于衰退的地位,最终被其他新兴的欧洲国家所取代。意大利的经济衰退主要是由于国内经济和国际经济环境因素综合作用的结果。     

充分利用英文电影促进大学英语教学

大学英语教学注重培养学生的英语综合应用能力.利用英文电影进行视听说三位一体的立体式教学可以为学生提供真实语境,激发其学习兴趣,提高学生自主学习能力及语言应用水平.教师在英文电影赏析课程教学过程中必须端正学生的学习态度.与此同时,选择合理影片并搜集相关背景知识,积极构建师生相互交流探讨的课堂合作教学模式,课后安排模仿、背诵、表演等任务进行语言知识的强化训练,有效将英文电影应用于大学英语教学,提高学生跨文化交际的实际能力.     

日本韩国城市化中农地保护的经验及启示

城市化发展加快导致农地紧缺已成全球性问题.日本、韩国分别从法律制度、土地规划、土地管理以及生态保护等方面加强本国城市化进程中农地的保护,并取得了瞩目成就.在新型城镇化建设飞速发展的今天,我国应充分借鉴日韩两国的有益经验,构建系统完善的农地保护法律制度体系,建立有效的土地使用规划配套机制,确立与新形势相适应的土地用途管理机制,并加强农地生态保护建设.     

建设人本化校园文化 提升大学生人格境界

人格的塑造离不开文化环境,健康的校园文化环境,是大学生健康人格培育的必要条件。我们应通过建设一元导向与多元取向相和谐的校园精神文化和全面发展与个性发展相和谐的制度文化,以及建设自然环境与人文景观相和谐的校园物质文化等人本化的校园文化,努力为提升大学生的人格境界创造条件。