“I Am Becoming More and More Like My Eldest Brother!”: The Relationship Between Older Siblings,Adolescent Gambling Severity,and the Attenuating Role of Parents in a Large-Scale Nationally Representative Survey Study

The present study examined the association between having older siblings who gamble and adolescent at-risk/problem gambling and how parents (i.e., parental knowledge of their whereabouts) and peers might moderate such effects. Data were drawn from the ESPAD^®Italia2012 survey (European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs) comprising a nationally representative Italian sample of adolescents. The analysis was carried out on a subsample of 10,063 Italian students aged 15–19 years (average age = 17.10; 55 % girls) who had at least one older sibling and who had gambled at some point in their lives. Respondents’ problem gambling severity, older gambler sibling, gambler peers, parental knowledge, and socio-demographic characteristics were individually assessed. Multinomial logistic regression analyses including two- and three-way interactions were conducted. The odds of being an at-risk/problem gambler were higher among high school students with older siblings that gambled and those with peers who gambled. Higher parental knowledge (of who the adolescent was with and where they were in their leisure time) was associated with lower rates of at-risk/problem gambling. There was also an interaction between gamblers with older siblings and parental knowledge. The combination of having siblings who gambled and a greater level of parental knowledge was associated with lower levels of problem gambling. The present study confirmed the occurrence of social risk processes (older siblings and peers who gambled) and demonstrated that gambling among older siblings and peers represents an important contextual factor for increased at-risk/problem gambling. However, parental knowledge appears to be sufficient to counterbalance the influence of older siblings.     

The dragon is not always red: the extreme right and ultra-nationalism in Wales

By focusing on the ultra-nationalism of the recently defunct Welsh Defence League (WDL), which in turn had a direct influence on the formation of its more infamous relation the English Defence League, this paper re-examines the long-entrenched discourses of competing nationalisms in Wales. By doing so, it highlights a tendency to emphasise only left-leaning cultural and linguistic nationalist types in that country's historiography, as opposed to the more violent, albeit minority, racist/new racist varieties to be found amongst recent extreme right groupings. Such extreme right antipathy in Wales is not Anglophobic but is directed rather at the ‘substantial numbers of immigrants and minorities … [who] have arrived as a result of empire and its postcolonial aftermath’, particularly those who are Islamic. By taking this new perspective on a heretofore generally ignored, but by no means insignificant Welsh subaltern group, this work further underlines the theoretical difficulties in understanding nationalism(s) generally. More importantly, the paper concludes by tracking the newer and smaller far right groups to have emerged in Wales in the wake of the WDL's collapse. It argues that these derivative groups and the far right ideology which they represent are likely to remain marginalised but still need to be monitored closely.     

Environmental and socioeconomic determinants of neonatal mortality in a northern Italian city in the early nineteenth century

Population and Environment - The research explores the effects of the environment on neonatal mortality in the early nineteenth century, controlling for social and economic factors. Individual...     

Modelling activity times by hybrid synthetic method

Uncertain (manual) activity times impact a number of manufacturing system modules: plant and layout design, capacity analysis, operator assignment, process planning, scheduling and simulation. Direct observation cannot be used for non-existent production lines. A hybrid direct observation/synthetic method derived from Method Time Measurement available in industry is proposed. To determine accurate activity times required by heuristics and metaheuristics optimisation, manufacturing system modules are modelled by MILP and operator efficiency parameters are used for time standardisation. Among human factors considered are skill and ergonomics. Application to the sterilisation of reusable medical devices is extensively described. Experimental data taken from observation on the field and a worst-case date have shown the model direct applicability for professionals also to non-manufacturing cases.     

A reweighting approach to robust clustering

An iteratively reweighted approach for robust clustering is presented in this work. The method is initialized with a very robust clustering partition based on an high trimming level. The initial partition is then refined to reduce the number of wrongly discarded observations and substantially increase efficiency. Simulation studies and real data examples indicate that the final clustering solution has both good properties in terms of robustness and efficiency and naturally adapts to the true underlying contamination level.     

Family Composition and Remarriage in Pre-Transitional Italy: A Comparative Study

It is well known that timing and intensity of remarriage were strictly dependent upon demographic, socio-economic, cultural and legislative factors specific to each community. Thus, the aim of this paper is to compare the extent to which such factors may affect the remarriage patterns of three pre-transitional Italian populations that were different in many respects. By using micro-level data of the sharecropping communities of Casalguidi and Madregolo and the Alpine village of Treppo Carnico, we highlighted similarities and differences in the respective remarriage patterns, in particular, the far lower intensity in the mountain community with respect to the sharecropping ones. Our findings show that along with differences in the demographic system, household structure and land tenure, normative elements concerning widows and the dotal system could in part explain the differentials we found.

Attachment Representations and Time Perspective in Adolescence

This study examines the relationship between attachment to parents and peers, time perspective and psychological adjustment in adolescence. 2,665 adolescents (M age = 17.03 years, SD = 1.48) completed self-report measures about parent and peer attachment, time perspective, sympathy and self-determination. Subjects were divided into four groups based on their parent and peer attachment scores: high parent and high peer attachment, low peer and low parent, high parent and low peer, low parent and high peer. Higher levels of negative past of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory were revealed, by post hoc analyses, in the group with low attachment to parent and peer. Unlike adolescents with low attachment to parents, adolescents who reported a secure attachment to parents had higher scores on positive past, hedonistic present, and future. Adolescents with high attachment to parent and peer and adolescents with high parent but low peer attachment had the highest scores on competence and authonomy.     

Evaluating the human resource related soft dimensions in green supply chain management implementation

Because of increased carbon emissions, environmental protection initiatives have gained significant attention at global level. One of the major initiatives taken by the industrial sector to minimize the negative environmental effect of the value chain activities is Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM). In industry, soft (human resource-related) dimensions influence the implementation of GSCM process greatly. In the literature, relatively less discussion is provided on assessing the significance of soft dimensions in efficient GSCM acceptance in industry. The present work is an attempt to construct a structural framework for assessing the significance of the soft dimensions in adopting GSCM concepts by taking a case of automotive company in India. A hybrid approach of Best Worst Method (BWM) and Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) approach is employed in this work. BWM is used to prioritize the GSCM oriented soft dimensions, and DEMATEL is employed to extract interrelationships among them. The result shows that ‘Top management commitment’, ‘Employee involvement’, ‘Organizational culture’ and ‘Teamwork’ are the highly prioritized causal soft dimensions in efficient GSCM adoption. This research work would help industry managers and practitioners to decide where to concentrate for GSCM concepts in context of soft dimensions for sustainable business development.