The Changing Face of Public Adoption Practice

ABSTRACT

A study analyzing the workload of California's public adoption workers revealed how much adoption practice in the public sector has changed in recent years. Using focused discussion groups, this study found that compared to practice of an earlier time, (1) children available for placement come from more problematic families and are more difficult to place; (2) some decisions traditionally with the domain of adoptions are now being made by other social workers; and (3) increased oversight by the judicial system has had several unanticipated consequences, including adoption work taking on a “paralegal” quality and judges making traditional casework decisions.     

Influence of urban landscape structure on bird fauna: a case study across seasons in the city of Valencia (Spain)

Studies on bird fauna of urban environments have had a long history, but the potential of studies mapping the distribution of birds in cities probably has not fully developed. The bird fauna of the municipality of Valencia (Spain) was studied to determine the influence of urbanization on bird species richness and abundance. Birds were censused during winter and the breeding season of years 1997–1998 in 197 squares measuring 49 ha each from a rural and an urbanized area. Across seasons the number of species decreased around 40% in the city compared with the rural landscape surrounding it. Such pattern could be attributed to the low number of farmland species capable to use the habitats inside the city, and the limited ability of urban parks in attracting woodland species. In the urban landscape, the influence of the dimensions and spatial arrangement of habitat patches was outweighed by the amount of each habitat per square. Bird richness and the abundance of most species were negatively related with the amount of built-up habitat per square and positively with the amount of urban parks, and of habitat diversity. Conversely, bird fauna was largely independent of mean park size per square especially during winter, indicating that at the landscape scale even small patches of habitat could play an ecological role. Conservation of urban bird diversity could benefit of two complementary strategies: (i) the protection of the surrounding rural landscape from urban development; (ii) habitat enhancement within the city. Particularly, a proper design and habitat management of urban parks could improve their suitability for urban bird fauna.     

理性习惯偏好与居民消费行为

 经济体制改革以来，随着经济的持续快速增长中国城镇居民已经习惯于生活水平不断提高。在这样的环境中，如果一个家庭当年消费的数量和上一年相同，其幸福感就会打折扣；另一方面，消费还具有外部性，如果与他人相比自己的消费水平降低了，消费者的效用也会受到损失。因此，理性消费者的决策目标是保持消费长期稳定增长而不仅仅是消费在各个时期的均匀分配。利用1978-2008年中国26个省（直辖市）的城镇住户调查数据得到的实证分析结果显示：消费者的习惯偏好与制度环境有关。受传统计划体制影响，1990前中国城镇居民的习惯偏好具有明显的“短视”特征。1990-2008年的估计结果则支持了理性习惯形成假设。即内部习惯形成导致了边际消费倾向明显下降，并且消费攀比是理性的。     

Linking aggregate production planning with marketing pricing decisions

In this paper, we link production planning decisions to marketing decisions that involve the price of product groups. The focus of this paper is the development of a closed-loop procedure for aggregate production planning and pricing. We seek to satisfy uncertain demand while minimizing total costs that include material, labour, and inventory holding costs. The procedure is useful for variable demand to update short-term aggregate plans.     

Friendships Between Older Women: Interactions and Reactions

SUMMARY

The purpose of this study was to examine specific interactions between older women and multiple members of their close friend network. Ninety-four women, 65 years of age and older, described their interactions with 182 close friends. The women reported substantial social and emotional involvement with their close friends. Almost all of the women reported getting together with their close friends “just to talk.” For women with multiple close friends, the topics of these conversations differed depending on which friends the women described. Perceptions of equity and inequity in their relationships influenced the way in which the women described their friends and the feelings they expressed about their friendships.     

树立新观念 探索新措施──当代学校规划设计面临的问题与对策

学校规划没计要适应时代要求，既要符合新的教育思想与观念，还要注意其安全性、先进性、实用性、民众参与性、传统的关联性和可持续发展性．     

企业信息化战略规划的一种新的分析框架模型

对已有的企业信息化战略规划方法进行了评述.基于业务流程的价值分析和变革性分析,提出了一种新的企业信息化规划的分析框架模型.模型强调对价值链设计的快速响应能力,着力体现信息基础设施与应用的动态一致性,同时希望具有较强的支持高层决策的能力.     

大宗物资集中采购的调运计划研究

大宗物资调运问题是一个受多因素影响的复杂问题,一般来讲,其调运数量大、地域跨度大、时间紧。如何协调供需以及运输能力,保证物资采购部门的经济利益是本文所要研究的问题。本文首先给出了大宗物资集中采购的调运模式,然后针对采购部门在大宗物资调运过程中遇到的困难,为采购部门提出了以获取数量折扣、准时采购、降低库存成本和协调运输能力为准则的调运计划模型。数值计算表明应用本文所建模型编制调运计划能够达到降低采购费用、协调运输能力的目的,为大宗物资调运计划的编制提供了一种较为有效的方法。     

Families and Inheritance Decisions: Examining Non-Titled Property Transfers

This study examines the transfer of personal possessions, which is a dimension of inheritance decision making from which few families are exempt but which largely has been ignored by researchers and educators. The qualitative analysis of a purposeful sample of individual family members who had experienced a transfer of non-titled personal possessions suggested the influence of six key themes. These included: (a) a sensitivity of the issue, (b) lack of goal discussion, (c) different perceptions of fairness, (d) different meanings of objects, (e) lack of awareness of distribution options and consequences, and (f) potential for conflict. The themes identified reinforced that inheritance is not simply an economic or legal issue but one with complex emotional and family relationship dimensions. The findings provide the foundation for further research agendas and for developing educational resources to help family members communicate about and make more informed decisions regarding the transfer of non-titled property.     

现代市场条件下的城市规划思路探析

现代市场条件下,城市规划工作在观念、编制及管理方面都发生着深刻的变革。本文旨在探析在市场运作中实现合理利用土地与环境资源、调整和完善城市功能的规划思路,提出：规划工作需着眼于面向市场的价值观,借助于新型的管理机制,依托于一系列科学而具有较强可操作性的规划编制技术支持,如挖潜土地价值、环境有偿享用;回收环境区“外泄收益”、卸载周边“外排成本”;以合理的规划创造高价值区位;深化近远期规划成果,通过阶段性公共绿地的“换位”酝酿城市发展潜力;制定“未来旧城改造计划”以切实转变外延式城市发展模式等。使城市发展始终处于经济、社会、环境协调发展的有序的目标控制之中。