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Although there has been significant research on the relationship between alcohol consumption and demographic and psychological influences, this does not consider the effect of social influence among older drinkers and if these effects differ between men and women. One aspect of social influence is social capital. The aim of this paper is to examine whether relational and cognitive social capital are associated with higher or lower risk of alcohol use among adults aged 50 years or older and to assess the extent to which this relationship differs between men and women. To investigate this, data were collected from a cross-sectional questionnaire survey of adults over the age of 50 in the United Kingdom who were recruited from general practitioners. The sample consisted of 9,984 individuals whose mean age was 63.87 years. From these data, we developed proxy measures of social capital and associate these with the respondent's level of alcohol consumption as measured on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-10) scale. In the sample, just over 20 per cent reported an increasing risk or dependency on alcohol. Using two expressions of social capital – relational (social relationships) and cognitive (knowledge acquisition and understanding) – we found that greater levels of both are associated with a reduced risk of higher drinking risk. Being female had no significant effect when combined with relational capital but did have a significant effect when combined with cognitive capital. It is argued that interventions to enhance social relations among older people and education to help understand alcohol risks would be helpful to protect older people from the damaging effects of excessive alcohol consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the role of trust/reputation and parasocial influence in influencing purchase intention among consumers of baby products who frequent Polish parenting blogs. Empirical data was collected by survey (n-1050) of blog readers to construct a model to assess the impact of trust/reputation and parasocial influence. Factor analysis was used to create scores which were then tested using a multiple binary logistic regression model. The research found that while both trust/reputation and parasocial influence were important determinants of consumer purchase intention, trust was significantly more important to baby product consumers than parasocial influence. Additionally, parasocial influence was a more important indicator of purchase intention among younger respondents (under 23 years of age) than those 23 years and older. Additionally, readers who have read blogs for longer are more likely to trust these sources, perceiving them to be reputable. Hence, bloggers should aim to foster long-term relationships with consumers when endorsing products that demand higher trust, such as baby products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: At Kellys Mountain, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, the late Neoproterozoic Glen Tosh formation (a low-grade metapsammite-metapelite unit of the George River Metamorphic Suite) has been intruded by diorite, [...]

This article explores the characteristics, destinations and progression routes of early school leavers--specifically "exceptional entry winter leavers"--in Scotland. Exceptional entry allows students to enter college in the term before their statutory school leaving date--such young people attend college while formally remaining the responsibility of their school. Such arrangements represent an innovative model of supporting transitions to further education among a specific, potentially vulnerable client group, while also offering lessons for the development of school-college collaboration in other areas. Based on an analysis of official data, new survey research with schools and colleges, and in-depth case studies, this article identifies how schools and colleges work in partnership to support these early school leavers. We find that schools and colleges have developed a range of innovative approaches to engaging with winter leavers, and that the majority complete their programmes or achieve other positive end-of-year outcomes. However, the most disadvantaged young people remain least likely to progress. The article concludes by identifying lessons for good practice in school-college partnership-working and considering implications for policies to prevent young people from finding themselves not in employment, education or training. (Contains 2 tables and 4 notes.)

The Atlantic Geoscience Society (AGS) undertakes a wide range of communication and educational activities and projects, one of which is the publication of the Geological Highway Map of Nova Scotia. [...]

In this paper the grades awarded in the subject level review process that ran in England between 1995 and 2001 are examined. These grades have subsequently been used to sustain most published league tables and are often cited in debates about institutional quality. However, the grades were never subject to any moderation, either at the time of the individual visit or subsequently. Accordingly, there are substantial variations between subjects and marked grade inflation over time. This paper considers how to control for these effects and, once this is done, what the impact on the published league tables would be. The difference between the adjusted and unadjusted scores are significant and this further calls into doubt both the validity of the original process and the uses to which the outputs have subsequently been put. This serves as a warning to other quality assurance agencies who have used or are considering using audits based on subject review. (Contains 3 figures and 1 table.)

In the southeastern Cape Breton Highlands Neoproterozoic plutonic and metamorphic rocks outcrop in upland areas whereas Carboniferous sedimentary rocks are found in the river valleys and coastal lowlands. Detailed analysis of the contacts between these two groups of rocks including mapping, geometric constructions of the contact relations, structural geological investigations, petrographic analysis and geophysical map interpretations show that the basement rocks were emplaced by a thrust fault that extends at least from the Baddeck River valley to North River, and possibly includes klippen south and east of the highlands. The thrust fault transported a slab of rock with minimum thickness of 200 m a distance of at least 8 km over Horton and Windsor group rocks. East-directed translation of the thrust block likely occurred during the Alleghanian orogeny, and appears to mirror movement previously identified in the northern and western Cape Breton Highlands, implying that much of the upland geology is allochthonous, but likely rooted in the central highlands as positive flower structure. Dans les hautes-terres du cap Breton du Sud-Ouest, on trouve des affleurements de roches metamorphiques et plutoniques du Neoproterozo'ique dans les hautes terres, alors que des roches sedimentaires du Carbonifere se trouvent dans les vallees des rivieres et les terres basses cotieres. L'analyse detaillee des contacts entre ces deux groupes de roches, y compris la cartographie, des constructions geometriques des relations de contact, des etudes geologiques structurales, une analyse petrographique et des interpretations des cartes geophysiques, montrent que les roches du socle ont ete mises en place par une faille de chevauchement qui setend au moins depuis la vallee de la riviere Baddeck jusqu'a la riviere North, et comprend peut-etre la klippe au sud et a lest des hautes terres. La faille de chevauchement a transporte un bloc de roche d'une epaisseur minimum de 200 m sur une distance d'au moins 8 km au-dessus des roches des groupes de Windsor et Horton. La translation de la nappe de chevauchement en direction est sest probablement produite lors de lorogenese alleghanienne et semble refleter le deplacement constate precedemment dans les hautes-terres du cap Breton du Nord et de l'Ouest, ce qui donne a penser qu'une bonne partie de la geologie des terres hautes est allochtone mais quelle a, selon toute probabilite, ses racines dans les hautes terres centrales comme structure en fleur positive. [Traduit par la redaction], INTRODUCTION The southeastern highlands of central Cape Breton Island rise to an altitude of 300 m forming a plateau of Late Neoproterozoic basement rocks adjacent to lowland valleys and a [...]

Use of peer assessment as a method of differentiating between individual students on a group project is examined. A peer appraisal questionnaire and a method for calculating a peer assessment factor from it are presented. The method's use in a large course and some possible modifications are discussed. The questionnaire is appended. (Author/MSE)

ABSTRACT Late Neoproterozoic (680 Ma to 560 Ma) Avalonian rocks in the Mira terrane of southeastern Cape Breton Island have been metamorphosed inhomogeneously, at very low grade to low grade, [...]

This paper examines the association of social networks with the experience of neonatal death and the type of assistance that a woman obtains at childbirth in rural Bangladesh. Data were collected by interviewing 694 women from seven villages using a structured questionnaire. From the use of both social network analysis and statistical methods, we find that the experience of neonatal death and the type of assistance that a woman gets at childbirth are associated with the characteristics of their social networks along with a set of socioeconomic factors that are usually considered to be important. The higher the degree of centrality of a woman in her social network, the less likely it is that she will experience neonatal death, and the experience of neonatal death is significantly associated with the type of assistance she obtained at giving birth. Using a multivariate multinomial logistic regression model to explore the likelihood of using different types of birth assistance, we find that the higher the degree centrality of a woman, the less likely she will be attended by professional assistance. Further investigations reveal that the dominant norm in villages is to use traditional birth attendants and the perception about professional birth assistance is that it is 'not needed'. Moreover, the respondents' network members were also interviewed, and from the sociograms we find that there was an inward connectivity between the same types of assistance users. These findings have implications for norm change interventions among the village women using a network approach and in particular using opinion leaders. Keywords: Bangladesh; Social networks; Normative influence; Birth assistance; Degree centrality; Neonatal mortality

Several models have been created over the years that are used in simulation packages to predict pedestrian speed and flow on sidewalks. However, the predictive power of these models has been weak. In this paper the results of a modeling exercise in the United Kingdom is reported. A number of video surveys of pedestrian movement on sidewalks, which are representative of different levels of service, have been made. These videos have been analyzed to yield data on pedestrian flows and speeds and a variety of other variables. From this data regression models have been constructed and the predictive performance of these models assessed and found to perform reasonably well. The value of the models to designers is then discussed. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9488(2007)133:3(211) CE Database subject headings: Pedestrians; Walkways; Urban areas; Traffic speed; Regression models; Predictions.

This paper reports on a study which has been undertaken using data from the 1989 Bangladesh Fertility Survey (BFS) to determine the significance of influences on the probability of birth in the year preceding the survey. In the survey a total of 11 905 ever-married women of reproductive age were asked a battery of questions relating to fertility aspects of women. Variables selected in this study were grouped into demographic, socio-economic, cultural and decision-making variables. Findings from the study indicate that the mother's age, whether contraception has ever been used, the death of a child at any time, whether the woman has ever worked, religion, region of residence, and female independence are the important covariates for explaining recent fertility in Bangladesh. Models are developed for the probabilities of a woman giving birth in urban and rural areas, dependent on her demographic and socio-economic conditions. Also developed are models for contraceptive use in urban-rural Bangladesh. This modelling contributes to a better understanding of fertility changes in Bangladesh and the differentials between urban and rural fertility. It is indicated that a continued fertility decline is likely. Key words - fertility, variables, logistic regressions, urban-rural, Bangladesh

Data from the 1989 Bangladesh Fertility Survey were used to construct fertility models for urban and rural populations. The number of children ever born was used as a proxy for fertility, while age, age at marriage, religion, education and childhood background were used as explanatory variables. The effectiveness of these variables and the variables used in 1975 to explain fertility in Bangladesh were compared. The results show that the mother's education and childhood background and age at marriage were more important influences on urban fertility in 1989. Moreover, in rural areas, fertility was affected by religion, education and age at marriage.

The effect of varied zone layouts in class based storage on the optimal order picking tour of storage/retrieval (S/R) machines is studied. Tchebyshev's travel theory is used to design zone shapes for S/R machine travelalong a path of optimal width to maximize S/R machine capacity while maintaining storage policies for two zones of fast moving products in a three class storage system. Optimal S/R machine travel time for multi command order picking is based on the number of addresses and rack area.