NEET in Essex: A Review of the Evidence

This report reviews the published research evidence on the factors and processes that lead some young people into becoming ?Not in Employment, Education or Training? (NEET), and the policy interventions that are deemed to prevent this. It also includes a previously conducted Latent Class Analysis (LCA) of the 2009 Essex NEET cohort, which is analysed alongside the more general published evidence. The literature reviewed was generated from wide rage of bibliographic search engines, academics, policy makers and practitioners working in this field The review will contribute towards the development of more effective policy interventions, and provide an initial foundation for the development of a possible multi-method research project. A primary research project will be able to provide more robust inferences on the causes and processes of becoming NEET and on the interventions designed to prevent this. This will enable Essex County Council to better target and implement effective policy interventions, ultimately reducing the social and economic costs of youth unemployment in Essex

Quality control of microelectronic wire bonds

Report evaluates ultrasonic bonding of small-diameter aluminum wire joined to ceramic substrates metalized with thin-film and thick-film gold. Quick testing technique for nondestructive location of poor wire bonds is also presented

Double Injustice, Double Trauma: The effects of acquittal of offenders upon the families of victims of homicide

Based on in-depth interviews with members Justice After Acquittal - a self-help and campaign group formed by the families of victims of homicide where offenders are seen to have been unjustly acquitted - this study describes and analyses the issues, problems and injustices that the families? experienced at each stage of the criminal justice process, from initial police investigations though to the trial and beyond. The families craved information about what had happened to the victim and what would subsequently happen in response, and they understandably became preoccupied with the details of the police investigation and court case. In order to help them comprehend the homicide and adapt to their trauma, families developed narratives in an attempt to understand the events and individuals surrounding the case. They drew their knowledge from what they knew about the deceased and their lives, the details they had gleaned about the events surrounding the homicide itself, and often also what they knew about the moral character of the suspected offenders. Acquittal, however, smashed those narratives. Families? outlooks were once again shaken, exacerbating their trauma. This forced them to examine and re-examine the police?s initial investigation, the trial, and the main participants that had acquitted, or aided the acquittal of the defendants, and it lead them to lose all faith in the criminal justice system

Space applications of Automation, Robotics And Machine Intelligence Systems (ARAMIS). Volume 3, phase 2: Executive summary

The field of telepresence is defined, and overviews of those capabilities that are now available, and those that will be required to support a NASA telepresence effort are provided. Investigation of NASA's plans and goals with regard to telepresence, extensive literature search for materials relating to relevant technologies, a description of these technologies and their state of the art, and projections for advances in these technologies are included. Several space projects are examined in detail to determine what capabilities are required of a telepresence system in order to accomplish various tasks, such as servicing and assembly. The key operational and technological areas are identified, conclusions and recommendations are made for further research, and an example developmental program leading to an operational telepresence servicer is presented

Space Applications of Automation, Robotics and Machine Intelligence Systems (ARAMIS), phase 2. Volume 1: Telepresence technology base development

The field of telepresence is defined, and overviews of those capabilities that are now available, and those that will be required to support a NASA telepresence effort are provided. Investigation of NASA's plans and goals with regard to telepresence, extensive literature search for materials relating to relevant technologies, a description of these technologies and their state of the art, and projections for advances in these technologies over the next decade are included. Several space projects are examined in detail to determine what capabilities are required of a telepresence system in order to accomplish various tasks, such as servicing and assembly. The key operational and technological areas are identified, conclusions and recommendations are made for further research, and an example developmental program is presented, leading to an operational telepresence servicer

Space Applications of Automation, Robotics and Machine Intelligence Systems (ARAMIS), phase 2. Volume 2: Telepresence project applications

The field of telepresence is defined and overviews of those capabilities that are now available, and those that will be required to support a NASA telepresence effort are provided. Investigation of NASA' plans and goals with regard to telepresence, extensive literature search for materials relating to relevant technologies, a description of these technologies and their state of the art, and projections for advances in these technologies over the next decade are included

Prevalence of vertebral fractures on chest radiographs of elderly African American and Caucasian women.

The prevalence of vertebral fractures on routine chest radiographs of elderly Caucasian women was only 1.3 times higher than in African American (AA) women, a difference considerably smaller than reported in population studies. AAs with medical problems may have higher risk of vertebral fractures than previously suspected.IntroductionEarlier studies noted a 1.9- to 3.7-fold higher prevalence of vertebral fractures in Caucasian (CA) compared to African American (AA) women. These studies, however, may have suffered from selection bias. We reported that among women referred for bone density testing, the prevalence of vertebral fractures in AA was the same as in CA women. Suspecting that the latter might have been due to a referral bias, we examined the racial difference in the prevalence of vertebra fractures on chest radiographs of patients seeking general medical care, not selected for osteoporosis.MethodsConsecutive chest radiographs (N = 1,200) of women over age 60 were evaluated using Genant's semi-quantitative method. Patients' race and the presence of diseases or medications associated with increased fracture risk were ascertained from the electronic medical records.ResultsAmong 1,011 women (76% AA) with usable radiographs, 11% had moderate or severe vertebral fractures. The prevalence of vertebral fractures was 10.3% in 773 AA and 13% in 238 CA women (p = 0.248 for difference between races). The lack of difference persisted after controlling for age, smoking, use of glucocorticoids, or presence of cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, organ transplantation, and end-stage renal disease. Among all subjects, CA women were more likely to be diagnosed and treated for osteoporosis (p <0.001).ConclusionAmong subjects seeking medical care, the difference in the prevalence of vertebral fractures between AA and CA women is smaller than previously suspected. Greater attention to the detection of vertebral fractures and the management of osteoporosis is warranted in AA women with medical problems