'I just want a job' : what do we really know about young people in jobs without training?

Over recent years, a central concern of policy has been to drive up post-16 participation rates in full-time education and address the needs of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET). As a result, young people who enter work which is classified as 'without training' at 16/17 have largely been ignored. However, the decision to Raise the Participation Age (RPA) for continuing in learning for all 17-year olds from 2013 and for all 18-year olds from 2015 in England, together with a growing unease about the impact of the current recession on youth unemployment rates, have revived interest in the 'jobs without training' (JWT) group. This paper draws on the findings from two studies: first, a qualitative study in two contrasting local labour markets, of young people in JWT, together with their employers and parents; and second, an evaluation of the Learning Agreement Pilots (LAP), which was the first policy initiative in England targeted at the JWT group. Both studies reveal a dearth of understanding about early labour market entrants and a lack of policy intervention and infrastructure to support the needs of the JWT group throughout the UK. From this, it is concluded that questionable assumptions have been made about the composition and the aspirations of young people in JWT, and their employers, on the basis of little or no evidence. As a consequence, a policy 'quick fix' to satisfy the RPA agenda will not easily be achieved. If the decision to raise the participation age is adopted also by the Welsh and Scottish parliaments, similar challenges may have to be faced

Tonic inhibition of accumbal spiny neurons by extrasynaptic 4 GABAA receptors modulates the actions of psychostimulants

Within the nucleus accumbens (NAc), synaptic GABAA receptors (GABAARs) mediate phasic inhibition of medium spiny neurons (MSNs) and influence behavioral responses to cocaine. We demonstrate that both dopamine D1- and D2-receptor-expressing MSNs (D-MSNs) additionally harbor extrasynaptic GABAARs incorporating α4, β, and δ subunits that mediate tonic inhibition, thereby influencing neuronal excitability. Both the selective δ-GABAAR agonist THIP and DS2, a selective positive allosteric modulator, greatly increased the tonic current of all MSNs from wild-type (WT), but not from δ−/− or α4−/− mice. Coupling dopamine and tonic inhibition, the acute activation of D1 receptors (by a selective agonist or indirectly by amphetamine) greatly enhanced tonic inhibition in D1-MSNs but not D2-MSNs. In contrast, prolonged D2 receptor activation modestly reduced the tonic conductance of D2-MSNs. Behaviorally, WT and constitutive α4−/− mice did not differ in their expression of cocaine-conditioned place preference (CPP). Importantly, however, mice with the α4 deletion specific to D1-expressing neurons (α4D1−/−) showed increased CPP. Furthermore, THIP administered systemically or directly into the NAc of WT, but not α4−/− or α4D1−/− mice, blocked cocaine enhancement of CPP. In comparison, α4D2−/− mice exhibited normal CPP, but no cocaine enhancement. In conclusion, dopamine modulation of GABAergic tonic inhibition of D1- and D2-MSNs provides an intrinsic mechanism to differentially affect their excitability in response to psychostimulants and thereby influence their ability to potentiate conditioned reward. Therefore, α4βδ GABAARs may represent a viable target for the development of novel therapeutics to better understand and influence addictive behaviors

The Makapansgat Limeworks grey breccia: hominids, hyaenas, hystricids or hillwash?

Main articleThe question of the origin of the Makapansgat Limeworks grey breccia is here considered from two viewpoints: (a) the accumulation of bones within a catchment area; and (b) the possible concentration of the bones in their final resting place. The potential role of hyaenas and porcupines as bone-accumulating agents is investigated. Nine categories of hyaena damage to bone surfaces could be distinguished on collections of bone taken from a series of recent hyaena breeding dens. All nine categories can be demonstrated in identical form on fossil bones from the grey breccia. It is concluded that carnivores have played a more substantial role as accumulators of the bones in this breccia than has previously been acknowledged. Porcupines are excluded as major contributors to the grey breccia bone assemblage on the basis of the low percentage of porcupine-gnawed bones present compared with recent porcupine accumulations. Furthermore, the pattern of damage observed on porcupine-collected skeletal elements does not resemble that documented for the grey breccia. A 3-dimensional computer plot of the topography of the Limeworks travertine floor shows the presence of two larger and two smaller basins separated from each other by floor "highs". A floor "high" around the grey breccia is demonstrated and may have been a significant factor in bone concentration. Sedimentation within separate basins need -not necessarily have been synchronous or equivalent, and the practice of equating Members from one part of the cavern to another is questioned. Stereographic projections of the dip and strike orientations of the long axes of a number of in situ grey breccia bones in two separate areas indicate orientation patterns and imbrication. The results of the projections suggest that a combination of water current action and gravity may have been responsible for the present configuration of the bones.Non

A study of the social and physical environment in catering kitchens and the role of the chef in promoting positive health and safety behaviour

This is the account of a mixed method study of chefs and their kitchens in order to identify the nature of their workplace and how this affects their ability to manage health and safety in the kitchen. It included extended periods of observation, monitoring of physical parameters, analysis of records of reported accidents, and a series of reflexive interviews. The findings were integrated and then fed back in a smaller number of second interviews in order to test whether the findings fitted in with the chefs' understanding of their world. Major factors identified included survival in a market environment, the status of the chef (and the kitchen) within organisations, marked autocracy of chefs, and an increasing tempo building up to service time with commensurate heat, noise, and activity. In particular during the crescendo, a threshold shift in risk tolerance was identified. The factors, their interplay, and their implications for health and safety in the catering kitchen are discussed

Atmospheric Pressure Plasma-Synthesized Gold Nanoparticle/Carbon Nanotube Hybrids for Photothermal Conversion

In this work, a room-temperature atmospheric pressure direct-current plasma has been deployed for the one-step synthesis of gold nanoparticle/carboxyl group-functionalized carbon nanotube (AuNP/CNT-COOH) nanohybrids in aqueous solution for the first time. Uniformly distributed AuNPs are formed on the surface of CNT-COOH, without the use of reducing agents or surfactants. The size of the AuNP can be tuned by changing the gold salt precursor concentration. UV–vis, ζ-potential, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy suggest that carboxyl surface functional groups on CNTs served as nucleation and growth sites for AuNPs and the multiple potential reaction pathways induced by the plasma chemistry have been elucidated in detail. The nanohybrids exhibit significantly enhanced Raman scattering and photothermal conversion efficiency that are essential for potential multimodal cancer treatment applications

The tropospheric gas composition of Jupiter's north equatorial belt (NH3, PH3, CH3D, GeH4, H2O) and the Jovian D/H isotropic ratio

The gas composition of the troposphere of Jupiter in the clearest regions of the North Equatorial Belt (NEB) was derived from the Voyager 1 IRIS data. The infrared spectrum for this homogeneous cloud free region was modeled to infer altitude profiles for NH3, PH3, GeH4 and H2O. The Profiles for NH3 and PH3 were found to be depleted in the upper troposphere but otherwise in agreement with their solar values at the 1 bar level. The mole fraction for CH3D was determined to be 3.5(+1.0 or -1.3) x 10 to the minus 7th power. The GeH4 mole fraction of 7+ or -2 x 10 to the minus 10th power at the 2 to 3 bar level is a factor of 10 lower than the solar value. The H2O mole fraction is approximately 1 x 0.00001 at the 2.5 bar level and is increasing to approximately 3 x 0.00001 at 4 bars where it is a factor of 30 lower than solar. Using IRIS infrared values for the mole fractions of CH3D and CH4 a value of D/H = 3.6(+1.0 or -1.4)x 0.00001 is derived. Assuming this Jovian D/H ratio is representative of the protosolar nebula, and correcting for chemical galactic evolution, yields a value of 5.5 - 9.0 x 0.00001 for the primordial D/H ratio and an upper limit of 1.8 to 2.4 x 10 to the minus 31st power cu cm for the present day baryon density

Offenders' Crime Narratives across Different Types of Crimes

The current study explores the roles offenders see themselves playing during an offence and their relationship to different crime types. One hundred and twenty incarcerated offenders indicated the narrative roles they acted out whilst committing a specific crime they remembered well. The data were subjected to Smallest Space Analysis (SSA) and four themes were identified: Hero, Professional, Revenger and Victim in line with the recent theoretical framework posited for Narrative Offence Roles (Youngs & Canter, 2012). Further analysis showed that different subsets of crimes were more like to be associated with different narrative offence roles. Hero and Professional were found to be associated with property offences (theft, burglary and shoplifting), drug offences and robbery and Revenger and Victim were found to be associated with violence, sexual offences and murder. The theoretical implications for understanding crime on the basis of offenders' narrative roles as well as practical implications are discussed

Assessing the sociology of sport: On race and diaspora

© The Author(s) 2014 On the 50th anniversary of the ISSA and IRSS, a key foundational scholar on the intersection of race and sport, Ben Carrington, reflects on the field as a whole and the notion of “diaspora” in understanding race and sport. In considering the trajectory of the sociology of sport, questions are raised about whether a coherent field has ever existed. Noting relative failures in getting “mainstream sociology” to take sport seriously, the challenges ahead are for a field that is necessarily a “multifaceted” entity, and one that ironically has never been more impactful while at its weakest institutional moment. Noting the paradox between the relative little consideration given to sport in the main sociology journals in the US and UK in contrast with the sociology of sport having successfully established self-reproducing and self-referencing spaces of critical enquiry, a key challenge for the field continues to be in its search for a “scholarly place;” it is less than clear whether the banner of “the sociology of sport” continues to resonate in the face of the neo-liberal assaults on critical scholarship within higher education. The concept of “diaspora,” surprisingly ignored in the study of sport, will be increasingly important in the future as it will enable critical race scholars to problematize the often Eurocentric and teleological underpinning of globalization theory in relation to sport; considerations of diaspora will fuel more meaningful accounts of how sport reconnects geographically dispersed groups and changes identities and subjectivities in hostile circumstances