Barriers to Youth Connections to Work: The Case of Young People in the Low-Income Neighborhood of Caju in Rio de Janeiro

This paper takes advantage of an unusually detailed family and youth survey conducted by the Institute for the Study of Work and Society (IETS) in Rio de Janeiro in the low-income community of Caju close to downtown Rio. It describes the weak educational background of Caju youth and some of the reasons for that weakness. The results emphasize the precarious nature of low-income youth's educational achievements and their attachment to the job market. They also demonstrate the wide variance in youth characteristics even in a single low-income neighborhood

Thermal stress-induced charge and structure heterogeneity in emerging cathode materials

Nickel-rich layered oxide cathode materials are attractive near-term candidates for boosting the energy density of next generation lithium-ion batteries. The practical implementation of these materials is, however, hindered by unsatisfactory capacity retention, poor thermal stability, and oxygen release as a consequence of structural decomposition, which may have serious safety consequences. The undesired side reactions are often exothermic, causing complicated electro-chemo-mechanical interplay at elevated temperatures. In this work, we explore the effects of thermal exposure on chemically delithiated LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2 (NMC-811) at a practical state-of-charge (50% Li content) and an over-charged state (25% Li content). A systematic study using a suite of advanced synchrotron radiation characterization tools reveals the dynamics of thermal behavior of the charged NMC-811, which involves sophisticated structural and chemical evolution; e.g. lattice phase transformation, transition metal (TM) cation migration and valence change, and lithium redistribution. These intertwined processes exhibit a complex 3D spatial heterogeneity and, collectively, form a valence state gradient throughout the particles. Our study sheds light on the response of NMC-811 to elevated temperature and highlights the importance of the cathode's thermal robustness for battery performance and safety

‘Workers’ Educational Association: A Crisis of Identity? Personal Perspectives on Changing Professional Identities.

This work is concerned with how the State’s general educational policy affects the structure, identity and practices of the informal adult education sector. The poster focuses on the Workers’ Educational Association, a voluntary movement established over one hundred years ago to provide purposeful education for the working class -and which today is the largest voluntary provider of adult education. However, regardless of the organisation’s expansion, there are fears for the WEA’s future as it increasingly relies upon government funds and processes which tend to promote and enforce the re-structuring of state education. It is this wholesale political re-structuring of education which is believed to be eroding the WEA’s distinctive identity and contribution to transformative adult education (Doyle, 2003). The Worker’s Educational Association has, however, always been a contested site of struggle; a struggle for existence, an ideological struggle against the State and other independent working class educational organisations and a methodological struggle to deliver really ‘useful knowledge’ to the disadvantaged. This qualitative research uses a broad critical realist approach to investigate the validity of this present struggle, looking at it over time through the personal lens of six long serving WEA Tutor Organisers. These men and women drawn from the Midlands and the North, give their own highly personalised, differentiated and reflexive perspectives of the WEA and reveal it to be an organisation that has to continuously renegotiate itself. Yet, past reflections of the whole cohort single out human agency as a defining WEA characteristic, one that informed personal, professional and organisational identity and it is clear from the narrative analysis that this has been compromised. Using Archer’s ‘morphogenetic’ insights (Archer, 1995) has allowed an analytical framework to be used to understand just exactly what is taking place in this multi-faceted crisis of identity

Seroepidemiology of <i>Trichomonas vaginalis</i> in rural women in Zimbabwe and patterns of association with HIV infection

Serological assays using dried blood spots from 5221 women in rural areas of eastern Zimbabwe were used to assess the epidemiology of Trichomonas vaginalis infection, and its association with HIV. Antibodies to T. vaginalis and to HIV were detected by enzyme immunoassays. Behavioural and demographic data were collected by confidential questionnaires. In total, 516 (9.9%) women were seropositive for T. vaginalis and seroprevalence increased with age among younger women. Divorced, widowed and single women were more likely to be seropositive. After controlling for age, seropositivity was significantly associated with being sexually active, having multiple sex partners, having a partner who had multiple sex partners, and having a new sex partner in the past year. Seropositivity was associated with a recent history of genital discharge. Overall, 208 (40.3%) T. vaginalis-positive samples were also positive for HIV, compared with 1106 (23.5%) T. vaginalis-negative samples (age and sex adjusted OR 2.11, 95% CI 1.74–2.55, P&lt;0.001). There was increased risk for being HIV-positive amongst T. vaginalis-seropositive women regardless of residence, employment or education. In a logistic regression controlling for common risk factors, the association remained significant. T. vaginalis-seropositive young women with a history of genital discharge were much more likely to be HIV-positive than women who were T. vaginalis-seronegative and had no history of discharge (OR 6.08, 95% CI 2.95–12.53). Although a causal relationship cannot be assumed, detection and treatment of trichomoniasis may be important in strategies to reduce HIV transmission through sexually transmitted infection control

Picture this: researching child workers

Visual methods such as photography are under-used in the active process of sociological research. As rare as visual methods are, it is even rarer for the resultant images to be made by rather than of research participants. Primarily, the paper explores the challenges and contradictions of using photography within a multi-method approach. We consider processes for analysing visual data, different ways of utilising visual methods in sociological research, and the use of primary and secondary data, or, simple illustration versus active visual exploration of the social. The question of triangulation of visual data against text and testimony versus a stand-alone approach is explored in depth

New Zealand regions, 1986-2001: Labour market aspects of human capital

This paper provides an analysis of labour force participation, full and part-time work and unemployment, over the 1986 – 2001 period. Using a non-conventional estimation technique devised for this paper, the paper also looks at discouraged worker effects. It points to growth in regional inequality and the worrying impact of negative labour market effects on ages 30- 44 years that are central to both the economic and family life of the nation. Using a custom designed method to assess “discouraged worker” effects, this paper shows that such effects are probably higher than the levels shown in official statistics that are constrained by narrowly defined criteria

Detection of filaggrin gene mutation (2282del4) in Pakistani Ichthyosis vulgaris families.

The aim of this study was to detect an 811 bp filaggrin (FLG) gene fragment known to carry a mutation 2282del4 which causes ichthyosis vulgaris. Seven clinically examined ichthyosis vulgaris families were included in this study. An 811 bp FLG gene fragment was targeted in the genomic DNA of all the members of the seven families by PCR amplification using known primers RPT1P7 and RPT2P1. Successful amplification of an 811 bp FLG gene fragment in all the families suggested the possible role of the 2282del4 mutation in causing ichthyosis vulgaris in Pakistani population

When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2004 Homicide Data

The Violence Policy Center (VPC) today released "When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2004 Homicide Data". This annual report details national and state-by-state information on female homicides involving one female murder victim and one male offender. The VPC releases the study each year to coincide with Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October. In 2004, according to the most recent data available from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's unpublished Supplementary Homicide Report, firearms were the most common weapon used by males to murder females (811 of 1,663 homicides or 49 percent). Of these, 72 percent (582 of 811) were committed with handguns. In cases where the victims knew their offenders, 62 percent of female homicide victims (966 of 1,563) were wives or intimate acquaintances of their killers. Alaska ranks first in the nation in the rate of women killed by men. Ranked behind Alaska are: New Mexico, Wyoming, Louisiana, Nevada, South Carolina, Georgia, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Tennessee (see chart below). Nationally, the rate of women killed by men in single victim/single offender instances was 1.29 per 100,000.VPC Legislative Director Kristen Rand states, "These numbers should serve as a wake-up call to the states with the highest rates of female homicide that more needs to be done to protect women.