Lone Parents and Civil Law: Their Experience of Problems and Their Advice-seeking Behaviour

The percentage of dependent children living in lone‐parent families has more than tripled in Britain over the last 30 years. Though there is much diversity within this lone‐parent population, there are common experiences and characteristics. Lone‐parent families tend to be headed by women, to be poor, on benefits and experience problems with ill health and disability. This paper examines lone parenthood in the context of the experience of justiciable problems (problems for which there is a potential legal remedy), drawing upon a large‐scale survey of 5,611 people representative of the population of England and Wales. The survey included 223 lone parents, who were likely to be female, to be living in rented accommodation, to be on a low income, to be economically inactive and to be in receipt of benefits. Lone parents were significantly more likely than others to have experienced a justiciable problem. Lone parents sought advice for their problems more often than others, particularly from solicitors, even after controlling for problems experienced. Lone parents were more likely than others to receive legal‐aid funding. Lastly, lone parents found trying to resolve problems particularly stressful, though they tended to believe that their life had improved as a consequence of doing so.     

城市大气中污染物扩散的施密特数研究

借助反问题方法对风洞实验工况选取不同施密特数进行数值模拟试验,分析比较了不同施密特数时街道峡谷内各个观测点的数值模拟数据和风洞实验数据.研究结果表明,城市街道内大气污染物扩散的施密特数为0.7～0.8.     

The National Health Service — Can it Survive?

The National Health Service is valuable. It is also expensive. Its promise of universal health care, free to all at the point of delivery, is a source of pride and some comfort, and is also perhaps the greatest achievement of the welfare state. But with demands on it rising, and a population that lives longer into expensive old age, can it possibly be sustained? Should there be rationing? Must the funding be changed? Nigel Edwards examines the dilemmas.     

Child Welfare Services in Russia

SUMMARY: This is an account of a visit to Moscow in May 1994 to assess the possibilities for collaboration in developing child welfare services in Russia. The authors argue that the present situation is a critical one for millions of children, and that there is an urgent need for practical and theoretical assistance from Britain.     

Influence of vegetation composition on runoff in two simulated green roof experiments

Despite the fact that green roofs are based upon living systems, the majority of published research literature contains little specific information on the contribution of plants to the various functions and properties of green roofs. Furthermore, there has been little investigation of the influence of the composition of vegetation on the physical properties of a green roof system. This paper reviews previously published material that throws light on the role of vegetation composition on green roof function, with particular regard to rainwater runoff. Two experiments at the University of Sheffield, UK, are considered in detail: (a) An outdoor lysimeter experiment that investigated the quantity of runoff from trays containing 100 mm of growing medium and combinations of grasses and forbs, together with bare substrate, and (b) a greenhouse experiment using simulated rainfall to estimate the amount of rainfall intercepted by different vegetation types. In both cases the vegetation ranged from simple monocultures of forbs and grasses through to complex mixtures of both. In both cases, the composition of the vegetation was found to significantly affect both the amount of water retained and released from the system.     

Current Constraints and Future Directions for Risk Adapted Land-Use Planning Practices in the High-Density Asian Setting of Ho Chi Minh City

The need to integrate adaptation efforts into land-use planning policies has been only recently recognized in Ho Chi Minh City. The city's latest planning guidance addresses both flooding resilience and mitigation of urban heat. This paper outlines the development contexts and the current barriers for adapted land-use planning within the city. The key challenge for land-use planning is communicating the important functions and services of open and natural urban spaces and effectively guiding the mainly individual developer-driven development. As the realization of non-structural adaptation measures is in strong contrast to the current market-driven private and short-term developer interests, the main development trajectories are questioned and synergies identified.     

From Maria Colwell to Victoria Climbié: reflections on public inquiries into child abuse a generation apart

This paper compares and contrasts the Maria Colwell and Victoria Climbié Inquiry Reports. It argues that rather than concentrating on the similarities, it is more important and challenging to consider the differences as exemplars of the changing contexts of child protection in England over the past 30 years. The differences are analysed in terms of: the inquiries themselves; globalization and identity; expert knowledge; systematic care, responsibility and accountability; managerialization; trust and uncertainty; and the legislative contexts. The overall impression is one of increased complexity, where the responsibilities of agencies have both broadened and intensi?ed at the same time. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.