Pre-apprenticeship training for young people: Estimating the marginal and average treatment effects

This paper evaluates traineeships, a voluntary programme of work placement and preparation that aims to help young unemployed people in England compete for jobs and apprenticeships. Applying the method of local instrumental variables to administrative data, we estimate the marginal treatment effects on apprenticeship take-up and employment. The heterogeneous impacts are then aggregated to form an estimate of the average impact of treatment for all participants. The results suggest that, among younger trainees, participation increases the probability of becoming an apprentice and that this holds across the distribution of unobserved heterogeneity. For older trainees, we find no significant effect on the probability of becoming an apprenticeship on average but some evidence of a negative effect among those more resistant to participating. We find no effects on employment for either age group

Interpreting Customary Rights Orders under the Foreshore and Seabed Act: The New Jurisdiction of the Maori Land Court

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Repeated, Short Cold-Water Immersions are Sufficient to Habituate to the Cold, but Do Not Lead to Adaptations During Exercise in Normobaric Hypoxia

Cold and hypoxia naturally exist together, yet it is unknown if habituation to the cold can lead to improved exercise in hypoxia. PURPOSE: To assess the effects of repeated cold-water immersions (CWI) on pulmonary, metabolic, and sympathoadrenal responses to graded exercise in hypoxia. METHODS: 16 (2 female) participants (age: 21.2 ± 1.3 years; body fat: 12.3 ± 7.7 %; body surface area 1.87 ± 0.16 m2, VO2peak: 48.7 ± 7.9 mL/kg/min) underwent 6 CWI in 12.0 ± 1.2° C. Each CWI was 5 minutes, twice daily, separated by ≥4 hours, for 3 consecutive days, during which metabolic data were collected. The day before CWIs began, and the day after they ended, participants ran in normobaric hypoxia (FIO2 = 0.135) for 4 minutes at: 25%, 40%, 60%, and 75% of sea level VO2peak. RESULTS: CWI had no change in VO2 (p\u3e0.05), but reduced the VE (CWI #1 – 27.1 ± 17.8 vs CWI #6 – 19.9 ± 12.1 L/min)(pT (CWI #1 – 1.3 ± 0.4 vs CWI #6 – 1.1 ± 0.4 L)(pE:VO2 (CWI #1 – 53.5 ± 24.1 vs CWI #6 – 41.6 ± 20.5)(pE, VT, VE/VO2) or metabolic (VO2, SmO2, SpO2) variables across all workloads during hypoxic exercise pre-CWI compared to post-CWI. CONCLUSION: CWI habituated participants to cold water, but this did not lead to adaptations during exercise in normobaric hypoxia

Empirical research on youth transitions to and within the labour market

The research project aimed to provide research outcomes on the magnitude of youth transitions, the main drivers and barriers of youth transitions and potential long-term outcomes (‘scarring’) on people’s subsequent employment trajectories. This report summarises the evidence obtained by making use of a range of individual-level data sets and methods, in particular: • An analysis of Labour Force Survey (LFS) data creating pseudo-cohorts to examine long-term education and labour market trends affecting 16-to-24 year olds from 39 different birth cohorts and subsequent employment trajectories. • An analysis of the ‘Ad Hoc module’ of 2009 from the European Labour Force Survey (EU:LFS) on ‘Youth Transitions’ on individual long-term outcomes of particular youth labour market transitions. • An analysis of various cohort studies (National Child Development Study [NCDS], British Cohort Study [BCS], Youth Cohort Study [YCS], Longitudinal Study of Young People in England [LSYPE]) comparing the episodes young people experience when making transitions into the labour market in youth and early adulthood. This study uses sequential analysis for individual monthly panel data to describe biographies of young people until the age of 25 (based on BCS and NCDS) and until the age of 19 (for YCS and LSYPE). • An analysis of the transition from secondary schooling to further destinations using a recent cohort of School Leavers National Pupil Data (NPD) merged to records of National Client Casework Information System (NCCIS) on young people’s activities after the end of compulsory education including econometric models on drivers and barriers of particular transitions

Traumatic Brain Injury Induces Alterations in Cortical Glutamate Uptake without a Reduction in Glutamate Transporter-1 Protein Expression

We hypothesize that the primary mechanism for removal of glutamate from the extracellular space is altered after traumatic brain injury (TBI). To evaluate this hypothesis, we initiated TBI in adult male rats using a 2.0 atm lateral fluid percussion injury (LFPI) model. In the ipsilateral cortex and hippocampus, we found no differences in expression of the primary glutamate transporter in the brain (GLT-1) 24 h after TBI. In contrast, we found a decrease in glutamate uptake in the cortex, but not the hippocampus, 24 h after injury. Because glutamate uptake is potently regulated by protein kinases, we assessed global serine-threonine protein kinase activity using a kinome array platform. Twenty-five kinome array peptide substrates were differentially phoshorylated between LFPI and controls in the cortex, whereas 19 peptide substrates were differentially phosphorylated in the hippocampus (fold change ≥ ± 1.15). We identified several kinases as likely to be involved in acute TBI, including protein kinase B (Akt) and protein kinase C (PKC), which are well-characterized modulators of GLT-1. Exploratory studies using an inhibitor of Akt suggest selective activation of kinases in LFPI versus controls. Ingenuity pathway analyses of implicated kinases from our network model found apoptosis and cell death pathways as top functions in acute LFPI. Taken together, our data suggest diminished activity of glutamate transporters in the prefrontal cortex, with no changes in protein expression of the primary glutamate transporter GLT-1, and global alterations in signaling networks that include serine-threonine kinases that are known modulators of glutamate transport activity

Glutamate Neurotransmission in Rodent Models of Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability in people younger than 45 and is a significant public health concern. In addition to primary mechanical damage to cells and tissue, TBI involves additional molecular mechanisms of injury, termed secondary injury, that continue to evolve over hours, days, weeks, and beyond. The trajectory of recovery after TBI is highly unpredictable and in many cases results in chronic cognitive and behavioral changes. Acutely after TBI, there is an unregulated release of glutamate that cannot be buffered or cleared effectively, resulting in damaging levels of glutamate in the extracellular space. This initial loss of glutamate homeostasis may initiate additional changes in glutamate regulation. The excitatory amino acid transporters (EAATs) are expressed on both neurons and glia and are the principal mechanism for maintaining extracellular glutamate levels. Diffusion of glutamate outside the synapse due to impaired uptake may lead to increased extrasynaptic glutamate signaling, secondary injury through activation of cell death pathways, and loss of fidelity and specificity of synaptic transmission. Coordination of glutamate release and uptake is critical to regulating synaptic strength, long-term potentiation and depression, and cognitive processes. In this review, we will discuss dysregulation of extracellular glutamate and glutamate uptake in the acute stage of TBI and how failure to resolve acute disruptions in glutamate homeostatic mechanisms may play a causal role in chronic cognitive symptoms after TBI

Using Research Tools to Improve Language in the Early Years: Evaluation report and executive summary

The URLEY programme—Using Research Tools to Improve Language in the Early Years—trains teachers to improve children’s language and social-behavioural outcomes in nursery and reception year (ages 3 to 5). Early years teachers take part in five-day-long professional development workshops in which they are introduced to a set of evidence-based language learning principles, taught how to use research tools (primarily the Environment Rating Scales, ‘ERS’) to assess their practice, and provided with strategies for refining practice. Mentors supported teachers to implement the approach in their schools using face-to-face and distance (skype/phone) sessions. A follow-up workshop in the third term was offered to review progress, consolidate learning, and plan next steps. One hundred and twenty primary schools from the West Midlands, Liverpool, and Manchester participated in this efficacy trial from October 2016 to July 2018; 1,978 children were included in the evaluation. The programme was evaluated using a randomised controlled trial, testing the impact of the URLEY programme on children’s language development over two years—compared to business as usual in control schools—using a composite language assessment. Children’s social-behavioural development and the quality of practice in the participating settings were also assessed. The intervention was developed and delivered by a team from Oxford University, University College London (UCL) Institute of Education, and A+ Education. Interviews, case studies, and a survey were conducted to explore how the programme was implemented and to obtain feedback from participants