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This article problematises the place of religion within publicly managed Education and Training Board (ETB) schools in the Republic of Ireland. The study draws on interview data from 43 school personnel across 18 ETB second-level schools, as well as eight interviews with ETB Education/Chief Executive Officers. Having established the legal and historical contexts, the place of religion is explored from the perspective of school life and prescribed curriculum. Across the 18 schools, the prescribed curriculum for Religious Education did not take the form of 'faith formation'. Rather, focus was placed on exploring all world religions. However, this compares with the role of religion within the life of the school; 14 of the 18 participating schools had religious dimensions as part of school life. Half of these schools (n = 7) were Designated Community Colleges, while the remainder were Non-Designated (n = 7). The religious dimension was always Catholic in nature. Bar a few exceptions, the role of religion within the life of the school remained largely unquestioned by school personnel. The article explores the findings in light of the legislative and historical contexts.

Background: Across recent school and policy documentation, the priority afforded to the holistic development of the student is increasingly evident: that is, the moral, social and emotional development of the student. However, it remains unclear as to where these outcomes are realised within the multidimensional role of the teacher and the busy environment of the school.Purpose: This article explores teachers' views on the concept of holistic development. Methods: Semi-structured interviews (n = 43) were carried out, and surveys (n = 126) were administered to school personnel in 18 schools in Ireland. Interview data were analysed qualitatively, using inductive thematic analysis. Descriptive statistics were produced from the survey data. Findings: The findings from the analysis indicate the prioritisation bestowed on holistic development by those surveyed and interviewed, with a focus on students being valued and cared for, developing life skills and feeling happy. However, a tension presents itself through the data in terms of how the prioritisation of the holistic development of the student is achieved in the school environment: that is, via the prescribed curriculum or as a result of the 'goodwill' of the teacher. Conclusion: While curricular and policy documentation acknowledge the centrality of both the business of academic work and the business of holistic development in the work of the teacher, findings from this study suggest that the holistic development of the student occurs in extra and co-curricular settings and is largely dependent on the 'goodwill' of the teacher.

The Sustainable Development Goals set out by the United Nations advocate that all learners will have the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development. Development education, education for sustainable development and global citizenship education are deliberate educational interventions, which all address global justice and sustainability issues. Current research continues to expand our understanding of the field, but there are no recent reviews of the literature addressing the impact of these educational interventions. The objective of this paper is, therefore, to examine the impact of intentional development education, education for sustainable development and global citizenship education. We reviewed 243 abstracts against specific inclusion criteria: 127 from Scopus, 101 from ERIC, and 15 from EBSCO. Of those abstracts, 99 met inclusion criteria and underwent double review, which excluded further studies. Of the final 44 papers included for review, 26 focused on education for sustainable development or environmental educational themes, 12 were global orientated in content, either through development education or global citizenship, and six were intercultural educational interventions. In this paper, we provide an overview of measures of assessment of learning used, review the evidence of the impact on learners, and address some methodological and pedagogical questions arising from the review.

This discussion paper considers the identification and definition of the 'characteristic spirit' of publicly managed schools in the Republic of Ireland. Some international approaches to values in publicly funded schools are introduced along with relevant contextual aspects of Irish education including the cultural diversity and secularisation of modern Irish society. The Irish Education Act (1998) gives ultimate responsibility for school values and 'characteristic spirit' to the school 'patron', a role legally separate from that of school ownership and school management. The underlying values of privately managed faith-based schools are well established. However, the 'characteristic spirit' of publicly managed Education and Training Board schools remains largely undeveloped. Appropriate responses to this challenge are identified and discussed.

In light of cultural and demographic changes in the Republic of Ireland, there is an important and urgent need for research on the articulation of values education in Irish publicly-managed schools. This article reports the findings from a research project on the moral, religious and spiritual values and traditions of staff and students in publicly-managed schools. Data was collected from 18 second-level schools throughout the country, using a mixed methods approach involving the named values of participants' school, as well as the policies and practices employed within the schools to support these named values. Findings show that both teachers and students identify positive values such as respect and well-being, equality and inclusion, and describe values education in practice. However, some differences emerging in the findings highlight the vacuum left by the lack of sectoral guidance. The implications of this vacuum are discussed, as it provides an opportunity for dialogue and consensus-building on values, and also for schools to develop their own context-relevant set of values.

The Irish Education Act (Government of Ireland 1998) stipulates that each young person in secondary school in Ireland is entitled to access "appropriate" guidance. It has been argued that this very right has been eroded since Budget 2012, where resource re-allocations in guidance counselling are obstructing the requirement for schools to implement this section of the Act. This qualitative study explored the effects of "educational cutbacks" from the perspective of guidance counsellors. Findings from interviews with guidance counsellors, suggest that the effects of such cutbacks in guidance counselling are far-reaching and ultimately students are the one's losing out. The paper proposes that there is a need to reinstate guidance counselling hours to allow guidance counsellors provide a comprehensive service to young people--which they are entitled to.

The dissonance between the socialisation experiences of student teachers during their own schooling and practicums and university-based teacher education programmes is indicative of the broader theory/practice dichotomy in education. While this dichotomy is of considerable interest to all teacher educators, studies of students' pre- and post-placement professional beliefs are rare. The authors availed of the publication of alternative curriculum pathways for Ireland to investigate the curriculum beliefs of student teachers immediately before and after their final school placement. Important contextual aspects of the study including school and teacher culture and the proposed curriculum pathways are introduced. The stark contrast between student teachers' preferences and their views regarding the feasibility of the various pathways and their commitment to pupil-centred learning are among the main findings of the current study. A positive relationship emerged between respondents' curriculum preferences and their grades in curriculum studies. These emerging themes are considered from the perspectives of student teachers' beliefs about pupil learning, the theory/practice dichotomy and the importance of developing school--university partnerships.

The Sustainable Development Goals set out by the United Nations advocate that all learners will have the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development. Development education, education for sustainable development and global citizenship education are deliberate educational interventions, which all address global justice and sustainability issues. Current research continues to expand our understanding of the field, but there are no recent reviews of the literature addressing the impact of these educational interventions. The objective of this paper is, therefore, to examine the impact of intentional development education, education for sustainable development and global citizenship education. We reviewed 243 abstracts against specific inclusion criteria: 127 from Scopus, 101 from ERIC, and 15 from EBSCO. Of those abstracts, 99 met inclusion criteria and underwent double review, which excluded further studies. Of the final 44 papers included for review, 26 focused on education for sustainable development or environmental educational themes, 12 were global orientated in content, either through development education or global citizenship, and six were intercultural educational interventions. In this paper, we provide an overview of measures of assessment of learning used, review the evidence of the impact on learners, and address some methodological and pedagogical questions arising from the review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This discussion paper considers the identification and definition of the ‘characteristic spirit’ of publicly managed schools in the Republic of Ireland. Some international approaches to values in publicly funded schools are introduced along with relevant contextual aspects of Irish education including the cultural diversity and secularisation of modern Irish society. The Irish Education Act (1998) gives ultimate responsibility for school values and ‘characteristic spirit’ to the school ‘patron’, a role legally separate from that of school ownership and school management. The underlying values of privately managed faith-based schools are well established. However, the ‘characteristic spirit’ of publicly managed Education and Training Board schools remains largely undeveloped. Appropriate responses to this challenge are identified and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SDI4Apps is an EU project that is building a cloud-based Geospatial Linked Open Data platform for data integration, to bridge from the top-down managed world of Geospatial Information to the bottom-up user-driven mobile world of Linked Open Data voluntary initiatives and micro SMEs developing applications using the information. To ensure its success, SDI4Apps has ensured the active participation of user communities in its co-design and validation through the implementation of 6 varied pilots involved in environmental management across Europe. Successful implementation of the SDI4Apps user communities' participation and their social validation is described in this paper. The social validation methodology has included development of specific criteria for measuring the platform's success, methods for multi-stakeholder social participation, analysis for internal and external communities and a clear set of indicators, which are now being measured during the validation process based on structured pilot scenarios. This robust stakeholders' involvement methodology, which is central to SDI4Apps, is not only generating sustainable economic returns through the interface between the users, SMEs, policy makers and scientific communities, but guarantees a solid contribution to the knowledge-driven economy and environmental management across Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Campylobacter is the most common food-borne pathogen in the European Union. In 2018, the crude incidence rate in Ireland was 63.6 per 100,000 population. Chicken is considered an important source of infection for humans. In 2015, the Campylobacter Stakeholders' Group (CSG) was established to reduce Campylobacter contamination levels in Irish broiler flocks., Aims: This work aimed to describe the Campylobacter monitoring programme that was established by the CSG, to analyse the results of this testing between 2019 and 2022, and to assess progress., Methods and Results: This paper describes the monitoring programme that was established by the CSG, which harmonized Campylobacter enumeration testing across all Irish broiler processors and allowed comparability of results for trend analysis. An analysis of the 2019-2022 data is presented here and compared to previous studies of Campylobacter levels in Irish broilers. An analysis of the 2019-2022 data showed a significant reduction in levels in both caeca and neck skin when the results from 2022 were compared to those from 2019 to 2020. Campylobacter spp. were detected in 37% of caecal samples from first depopulation (pre-thin) broilers and 30% of neck skin samples in 2022, with just 4% of carcases (in neck skin samples) with ≥1000 colony-forming units per gram detected in 2022. Campylobacter levels detected in Irish broilers, in the present monitoring programme were less than those reported in previous studies in both caecal and carcase samples, although not directly comparable for statistical significance because of differences in study methods., Conclusions: The cooperation between stakeholders and regulators of the Irish broiler chicken industry over the past decade has facilitated a coordinated approach to monitoring of Campylobacter levels in broilers, and implementation of control measures. This has enabled a steady reduction in the levels of Campylobacter in Irish chicken., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Osteoarthritis is the most common degenerative joint condition, leading to articular cartilage (AC) degradation, chronic pain and immobility. The lack of appropriate therapies that provide tissue restoration combined with the limited lifespan of joint-replacement implants indicate the need for alternative AC regeneration strategies. Differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) into AC progenitors may provide a long-term regenerative solution but is still limited due to the continued reliance upon growth factors to recapitulate developmental signalling processes. Recently, TTNPB, a small molecule activator of retinoic acid receptors (RARs), has been shown to be sufficient to guide mesodermal specification and early chondrogenesis of hPSCs. Here, we modified our previous differentiation protocol, by supplementing cells with TTNPB and administering BMP2 at specific times to enhance early development (referred to as the RAPID-E protocol). Transcriptomic analyses indicated that activation of RAR signalling significantly upregulated genes related to limb and embryonic skeletal development in the early stages of the protocol and upregulated genes related to AC development in later stages. Chondroprogenitors obtained from RAPID-E could generate cartilaginous pellets that expressed AC-related matrix proteins such as Lubricin, Aggrecan, and Collagen II, but additionally expressed Collagen X, indicative of hypertrophy. This protocol could lay the foundations for cell therapy strategies for osteoarthritis and improve the understanding of AC development in humans., (© 2024. Crown.)

Optogenetics is a rapidly advancing technology combining photochemical, optical, and synthetic biology to control cellular behavior. Together, sensitive light-responsive optogenetic tools and human pluripotent stem cell differentiation models have the potential to fine-tune differentiation and unpick the processes by which cell specification and tissue patterning are controlled by morphogens. We used an optogenetic bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling system (optoBMP) to drive chondrogenic differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). We engineered light-sensitive hESCs through CRISPR-Cas9-mediated integration of the optoBMP system into the AAVS1 locus. The activation of optoBMP with blue light, in lieu of BMP growth factors, resulted in the activation of BMP signaling mechanisms and upregulation of a chondrogenic phenotype, with significant transcriptional differences compared to cells in the dark. Furthermore, cells differentiated with light could form chondrogenic pellets consisting of a hyaline-like cartilaginous matrix. Our findings indicate the applicability of optogenetics for understanding human development and tissue engineering., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Crown Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Developmentally, the articular joints are derived from lateral plate (LP) mesoderm. However, no study has produced both LP derived prechondrocytes and preosteoblasts from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC) through a common progenitor in a chemically defined manner. Differentiation of hPSCs through the authentic route, via an LP-osteochondral progenitor (OCP), may aid understanding of human cartilage development and the generation of effective cell therapies for osteoarthritis. We refined our existing chondrogenic protocol, incorporating knowledge from development and other studies to produce a LP-OCP from which prechondrocyte- and preosteoblast-like cells can be generated. Results show the formation of an OCP, which can be further driven to prechondrocytes and preosteoblasts. Prechondrocytes cultured in pellets produced cartilage like matrix with lacunae and superficial flattened cells expressing lubricin. Additionally, preosteoblasts were able to generate a mineralised structure. This protocol can therefore be used to investigate further cartilage development and in the development of joint cartilage for potential treatments., Competing Interests: No, there is no conflict of interest. My manuscript contains the following statement: "The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.", (Copyright: © 2023 Smith et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

The impact of the Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) on cognition have been subject to much clinical investigation, but environmental modifiers of disease expression have not yet been systematically investigated. The aim of this paper is to determine the role of demographic and environmental factors such as age, sex, socioeconomic status, parental NF1 status and neurological complications on the cognitive, behavioural and academic outcomes in NF1. Participants included 206 children aged 4-18 years seen within the Manchester clinical research NF1 service. Multiple linear regression models were used to study the effect of the hypothesized predictor variables on cognitive, behavioural and academic outcomes. Relative to population norms, 80% of the NF1 sample demonstrated significantly lower scores in at least one cognitive, behavioural or academic domains. Family history of NF1 and lower SES were independently associated with poorer cognitive, behavioural and academic outcomes. Neurological problems such as epilepsy and hydrocephalus were associated with lower IQ and academic skills. Cognitive and behavioural phenotypes emerge commonly via a complex interplay between genes and environmental factors, and this is true also of a monogenic condition such as NF1. Early interventions and remedial education may be targeted to risk groups such those with familial NF1, families with lower SES and those with associated neurological comorbidities., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To assess the changes in balance function in children with cerebral palsy (CP) after two weeks of daily training with personalized balance games., Methods: Twenty-five children with CP, aged 5 to 18 years were randomly selected for experimental or control groups. Over a period of two weeks, all participants received 8-9 game sessions for 15-20 minutes, totaling 150-160 minutes. The experimental group used personalized balance games available from the GAmification for Better LifE (GABLE) online serious gaming platform. Children from the control group played Nintendo Wii games using a handheld Wii Remote. Both groups received the same background treatment. Recorded outcome measures were from a Trunk Control Measurement Scale (TCMS), Timed Up & Go Test (TUG), Center of Pressure Path Length (COP-PL), and Dynamic Balance Test (DBT)., Results: After two weeks of training in the experimental group TCMS scores increased by 4.5 points (SD = 3.5, p< 0.05) and DBT results increased by 0.88 points (IQR = 1.03, p< 0.05) while these scores did not change significantly in the control group. Overall, TUG and COP-PL scores were not affected in either group., Conclusion: This study demonstrates improvement of balancing function in children with CP after a two-week course of training with personalized rehabilitation computer games.

Simulation is one teaching strategy that health educators use to promote active learning, however, evidence to support whether students utilising simulations develop skills in critical thinking and appraisal in their academic literacy, is lacking. This study explored the impact of embedding a desktop simulation about the hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN) in a first-year, undergraduate nursing course on students' acquisition of knowledge, self-confidence, and development of critical thinking in academic writing. The study used a quasi-experimental, two-group, and pre-test-post-test design. After using the simulation, students reported i. a positive learning experience, ii. an increase in their self-confidence to critically appraise a case study, and iii. greater student success in two assessments for student's participating in the simulation compared to students who only used lecture notes as a study tool. The findings support the use of simulations to promote active learning, knowledge acquisition and opportunities to develop self-confidence and critical thinking in academic writing., (Crown Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The craniofacial developmental disorder Burn-McKeown Syndrome (BMKS) is caused by biallelic variants in the pre-messenger RNA splicing factor gene TXNL4A/DIB1. The majority of affected individuals with BMKS have a 34 base pair deletion in the promoter region of one allele of TXNL4A combined with a loss-of-function variant on the other allele, resulting in reduced TXNL4A expression. However, it is unclear how reduced expression of this ubiquitously expressed spliceosome protein results in craniofacial defects during development. Here we reprogrammed peripheral mononuclear blood cells from a BMKS patient and her unaffected mother into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and differentiated the iPSCs into induced neural crest cells (iNCCs), the key cell type required for correct craniofacial development. BMKS patient-derived iPSCs proliferated more slowly than both mother- and unrelated control-derived iPSCs, and RNA-Seq analysis revealed significant differences in gene expression and alternative splicing. Patient iPSCs displayed defective differentiation into iNCCs compared to maternal and unrelated control iPSCs, in particular a delay in undergoing an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). RNA-Seq analysis of differentiated iNCCs revealed widespread gene expression changes and mis-splicing in genes relevant to craniofacial and embryonic development that highlight a dampened response to WNT signalling, the key pathway activated during iNCC differentiation. Furthermore, we identified the mis-splicing of TCF7L2 exon 4, a key gene in the WNT pathway, as a potential cause of the downregulated WNT response in patient cells. Additionally, mis-spliced genes shared common sequence properties such as length, branch point to 3' splice site (BPS-3'SS) distance and splice site strengths, suggesting that splicing of particular subsets of genes is particularly sensitive to changes in TXNL4A expression. Together, these data provide the first insight into how reduced TXNL4A expression in BMKS patients might compromise splicing and NCC function, resulting in defective craniofacial development in the embryo., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared.

Background: Given that the ultimate academic goal of many education systems in the developed world is for students to graduate from college, grades have a considerable bearing on how effective colleges are in meeting their primary objective. Prior academic performance informs predominantly the selection and retention of teacher candidates. However, there remains a dearth of evidence linking academic performance with outcomes in teacher preparation or the workplace., Aim: This study examined pre-service teachers' trajectories of academic growth during teacher preparation., Sample: The sample comprised 398 pre-service teachers - 282 (70.8%) males and 116 (29.1%) females., Method: Academic growth was measured across eight time points over the course of 4 years. Pre-service teachers' academic growth was analysed using linear and nonlinear latent growth models., Results: Results indicate that academic growth was quadratic and, over time, decelerated, with no evidence of the Matthew effect or the compensatory effect. There was evidence of a connection between prior academic attainment and current grades., Conclusion: Greater attention to academic growth during the college years, and particularly among pre-service teachers, may enable greater achievement support for students., (© 2017 The Authors. British Journal of Education Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.)

The effect of the Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP) ELISA status on test-day milk performance of cows from Irish herds enrolled in the pilot national voluntary Johne's disease control program during 2013 to 2015 was estimated. A data set comprising 92,854 cows and 592,623 complete test-day records distributed across 1,700 herds was used in this study. The resulting ELISA outcome (negative, inconclusive, and positive) of each cow within each year of the program was used to allocate the cow into different scenarios representing the MAP status. At MAPscenario 1 , all cows testing ELISA nonnegative (i.e., inconclusive and positive) were assigned a MAP-positive status; at MAPscenario 2 only cows testing ELISA-positive were assigned a MAP-positive status; at MAPscenario 3 only cows testing ELISA nonnegative (inconclusive or positive) and gathered exclusively from herds where at least 2 further ELISA nonnegative (inconclusive or positive) cows were found were assigned a MAP-positive status; at MAPscenario 4 only cows testing ELISA-positive that were gathered exclusively from herds where at least 2 further ELISA-positive cows were found were assigned a MAP-positive status. Milk outputs based on test-day records were standardized for fat and protein contents (SMY) and the effect of MAP ELISA status on the SMY was estimated by a linear mixed effects model structure. The SMY mean difference recorded at test day between cows with a MAP-positive status and those with a MAP-negative status within MAPscenario 1 was estimated at -0.182 kg/test day; the mean difference was -0.297 kg/test day for MAPscenario 2 ; for MAPscenario 3 mean difference between MAP-positive status and MAP test-negative cows was -0.209 kg/test day, and for MAPscenario 4 , the difference was -0.326 kg/test day., (The Authors. Published by the Federation of Animal Science Societies and Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).)

Objective: The purpose of this 3-year longitudinal study was to examine pre-service teachers' personality trajectories as measured by the IPIP Big-Five factor markers during teacher preparation. The relationship between students' personality traits, social desirability, and prior academic attainment was also examined. Method: This 3-year longitudinal study invited participants from the first year of a 4-year undergraduate (UG) pre-service teacher education program, the class of 2017. The sample consisted of 305 students. Results: The results suggest that extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience were best represented by a non-significant longitudinal change in means. Results also suggest that social desirability predicts agreeableness and emotional stability with small to moderate effect sizes. Conclusion: The study concludes that no value is added to pre-service teachers' personality traits during 3 years of tertiary education. Furthermore, the data presented does not support the view that academic attainment is a good predictor of personality traits. Implications for educational research, theory, and practice are considered.