Crisis Management to Controlled Recovery: The Emergency Planning Response to the Bombing of Manchester City Centre

Fuelled by terrorist attacks on urban areas, emergency planning responses to manmade disasters is a growing area of critical debate within the field of urban management. The response of a major British city--Manchester--to the 1996 bombing of its commercial core, is examined in this paper. It focuses on the transformation of the emergency planning response from dealing with the immediate crisis during the first week, to a stage of controlled recovery that still continues. The response to the devastation caused by the bomb was co-ordinated by the city council, which developed a range of short- and long-term initiatives, but the re-opening of the city centre could not have happened so quickly had the council not worked in collaboration with other key organisations and agencies. Working partnerships were crucial to the immediate response and subsequent recovery, with such capacity for organisational learning built upon existing co-operative arrangements within the city, which had developed over the previous decade.     

Social and ecological influences on activity budgets of vervet monkeys,and their implications for group living

Summary Activity patterns were documented over a 20-month period in six groups of vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops) in Amboseli National Park, Kenya. Group size varied both among groups and within groups through time. The home ranges of two groups were located in Acacia xanthophloea habitat whereas those of four adjacent groups were located in A. tortilis habitat. Repeated measures analysis of variance, three-way analysis of variance, and meta-analysis of group size effects were carried out on feeding, moving, resting, scanning, allo-grooming, and other behavior. Time spent feeding varied seasonally, peaking during periods when A. tortilis seeds were eaten. However, time spent feeding did not vary within or among groups, or between habitats, males and females, or dominants and subordinates. Males spend more time scanning and less time allo-grooming than females, and high-ranking individuals of both sexes spent more time scanning than low-ranking individuals. Among females, subordinates spent more time moving, whereas among males, dominants spent more time moving. Groups living in A. xanthophloea habitat spent more time moving and allo-grooming than groups in A. tortilis habitat but this may have been confounded by the fact that these two groups were on average larger than the others. Significant differences in activity budgets among groups demonstrate that activity patterns observed in one group are not always readily generalized to other groups even when they come from the same population. Group size analyses examined potential costs and benefits of group living. Increased intragroup competition, measured by time spent moving and feeding, was only weakly evident in larger groups. Individuals in larger groups allo-groomed more than individuals in smaller groups. Self-grooming also increased in larger groups. Individuals in larger groups spent less time scanning than individuals in smaller groups, but there was more scanning per group in larger groups than in smaller groups. Correspondence to: L.A. Isbell     

Improved protection for children in forward-facing restraints during side impacts

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to determine the potential for improved child occupant protection in side impacts that can be obtained using rigid and semi-rigid anchorage systems and the addition of energy-absorbing padding in the side structures of child restraints. METHODS: This study uses a comprehensive set of simulated side impacts to evaluate the potential for improved side impact protection in forward-facing child restraints. Factors investigated included methods of anchoring the restraint to the vehicle, energy-absorbing materials in the side structure of restraints, and design features of the restraints such as side wing geometry and seat belt routing. RESULTS: The results show clearly that completely rigid lower attachment of restraints offers the potential for great reductions in head injury risk, which anchorage systems employing a combination of a rigid anchorage bar and webbing attached to a child restraint cannot match. The addition of energy absorbing material in the side structure of restraint systems is effective when the head is fully contained within an adequately designed side wing structure. For restraints anchored by seat belts and loop style semi rigid anchorage straps, belt routing has the potential to significantly affect occupant head excursion. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that current child restraint standards and consumer testing protocols do not adequately encourage best practice design of child restraints for side impact protection.