Search

Diaries always make for a fascinating read; and Gregory Tardi’s Anatomy of an Election is no exception. Subtitled Canada’s Federal General Election of 2019 Through the Lens of Political Law, the bo...

Given recent large-scale reform of school leadership and management policy with implications for leadership preparation, the Republic of Ireland is an interesting context in which to explore leadership preparation. Although policy reforms have influenced the preparation and development of school leaders at all levels in the system, there is little available research on principals’ perceptions of their preparation to lead schools in the contemporary policy context. Addressing this gap in the research, in this study 12 recently appointed, novice primary and post-primary principals’ perceptions of their preparation to become a school leader and the reformed policy context are documented and analysed. Thematic analysis of principals’ accounts exposes a range of dualities they must navigate owing to recent reforms. Their accounts also paint their diverse pathways towards the principalship, illuminate challenges and complexities on this pathway and in their current position. Their perspectives inform a more dynamic framework of leadership preparation than that of the leadership pipeline, a common metaphor in leadership preparation, with relevance for many actors in the system, including policy-makers, researchers, practitioners and those involved in selection and appointment. Implications are drawn for the Irish context but may also be relevant to other jurisdictions considering or implementing reform of school leadership preparation.

Background Secretion of extracellular vesicles (EV) and associated micro-RNAs (miR) is altered during cellular stress and may serve as biomarkers of organ injury. We hypothesized that measuring changes in urinary levels of EV and miR will predict the onset of acute kidney injury in cardiac surgery patients. Methods In this predictive accuracy biomarker study performed in the cohort of the REVAKI-2 trial, urine samples were collected before and 24 hours after the procedure from 93 cardiac surgery patients. Urine EV concentrations and size distribution were assessed using NanoSight. EV derivation and levels were measured using flow cytometry. Samples from 10 selected patients were sequenced to detect differentially expressed miR. Verification was performed with advanced TaqMan assays in samples from all patients. Results Urine EV concentrations significantly increased in patients with AKI after surgery, with the percentage of EV positive for aquaporin-2 and β1-integrin also increasing. Pre-surgery podocalyxin-positive EV were significantly lower, and β1-integrin EV were higher in patients with AKI. The levels of the former correlated with the severity of the injury. miR-125a-5p was expressed at higher levels in urine from patients with AKI stage 2/3. Levels of miR-10a-5p decreased after surgery in AKI patients; its levels correlated with the severity of the injury. Preoperative levels of podocalyxin EVs and miR-125a-5p had moderate AKI predictive value and, in a logistic model together with ICU lactate levels, offered good (AUC = 80.9%) AKI prediction. Discussion Urine EV concentrations and miR expression offer excellent predictive accuracy when combined with commonly measured biomarkers.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review and generate themes evident in research on primary and post-primary (secondary) school leadership in the Republic of Ireland (Ireland) from 2008 to 2018. Design/methodology/approach This paper follows the steps of a systematic review and thematic synthesis. Findings Following the review, six themes are identified and described, summarising the most current school leadership research in Ireland. Practical implications Potential future directions of research are identified. Originality/value No review of research on school leadership in Ireland is currently available and this is timely given the policy context’s recent focus on school leadership. The steps taken to conduct the review are clearly outlined.

ObjectiveThis study aimed to systematically review the effects of declared and undeclared conflicts of interest on randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of patient blood management (PBM) interventions.DesignWe performed a secondary analysis of a recently published meta-analysis of RCTs evaluating five common PBM interventions in patients undergoing major surgery.Data sourcesThe databases searched by the original systematic reviews were searched using subject headings and Medical Subject Headings terms according to search strategies from the final search time-points until 1 June 2019.Eligibility criteriaRCTs on PBM irrespective of blinding, language, date of publication and sample size were included. Abstracts and unpublished trials were excluded. Conflicts of interest were defined as sponsorship, funding or authorship by industry, professional PBM advocacy groups or blood services.Data extraction and synthesisThree independent reviewers extracted the data and assessed the risk of bias. Pooled treatment effect estimates were reported as risk ratios (RRs) or standardised mean difference with 95% CIs. Heterogeneity was quantified using the I2 statistic.ResultsThree hundred and eighty-nine RCTs totalling 53 635 participants were included. Thirty-two trials (8%) were considered free from important sources of bias. There was reporting bias favouring PBM interventions on transfusion across all analyses. In trials with no declared author conflicts of interest, the treatment effect on mortality was RR 1.12 (0.86 to 1.45). In trials where author conflicts of interest were declared, the treatment effect on mortality was RR 0.84 (0.69 to 1.03), with significant reporting bias favouring PBM interventions. Trials with declared conflicts linked to professional PBM advocacy groups (five studies, n=977 patients) reported statistically significant reductions in mortality RR 0.40 (0.17 to 0.92), unlike other groups.ConclusionsLow certainty of the evidence that guides PBM implementation is confounded by evidence of reporting bias, and the effects of declared and undeclared conflicts of interest, favouring PBM on important trial outcomes.

In the Republic of Ireland, school leadership policy adopts a distributed leadership model nationally. Given that this is a relatively recent policy development, research conducted on distributed leadership to date has highlighted that there are particular challenges for school leaders in enacting this model in practice and, more significantly, that principals have signalled their need for further leadership development in its enactment. In this study, we contribute to the growing national research on this leadership model. We chart the development of this policy and, drawing on primary school principals’ perspectives, also explore opportunities and challenges in this context at school and system levels, illustrated richly through two participant vignettes and more generally in the discussion. We argue that constructive-developmental theory, a theory that acknowledges developmental diversity and richly theorises professional growth and development, offers school and system leaders a nuanced, differentiated, and transformative approach through which leadership development activities are led at school and system levels can support principals to enact distributed leadership in practice. We conclude by describing developmental supports for leaders and considerations for system leaders and policymakers, which are also likely to be of interest beyond the Irish context given the rise of distributed leadership internationally.

Brexit is an unforeseen consequence of the global economic crisis. It is driven by neoliberal fantasy and populist doctrines of the heartland, boorish towards periphery in all its complexities. This article examines the idea of the periphery. It considers the legacy of the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland and a broken projector in the Red Room where the author teaches Critical Theory as platforms for inquiry. It looks to the Red Room as a principle to challenge the wider ramifications of Brexit. At root, it is to imagine durable forms of resistance within conditions of severe confusion, doubt and despair.

Time’s up for claiming privilege on UK government legal advice and Brexit may be the catalyst.Amid the utter confusion surrounding negotiations for the United Kingdom’s possible departure from the ...

We analyse determinants of an enterprise’s decision to offshore R&D activities using a novel dataset for enterprises in Ireland over the period 2001–2006. Our results suggest that, on average, other things equal, enterprises integrated in international production and innovation networks, and enterprises which used information and communication technologies more intensively were more likely to offshore R&D. Furthermore, characteristics of the import source region had an important influence on enterprise offshoring behaviour, with offshoring to regions outside of the advanced European Union’s economies being less likely.

Summary Background The INTERVAL trial showed that, over a 2-year period, inter-donation intervals for whole blood donation can be safely reduced to meet blood shortages. We extended the INTERVAL trial for a further 2 years to evaluate the longer-term risks and benefits of varying inter-donation intervals, and to compare routine versus more intensive reminders to help donors keep appointments. Methods The INTERVAL trial was a parallel group, pragmatic, randomised trial that recruited blood donors aged 18 years or older from 25 static donor centres of NHS Blood and Transplant across England, UK. Here we report on the prespecified analyses after 4 years of follow-up. Participants were whole blood donors who agreed to continue trial participation on their originally allocated inter-donation intervals (men: 12, 10, and 8 weeks; women: 16, 14, and 12 weeks). They were further block-randomised (1:1) to routine versus more intensive reminders using computer-generated random sequences. The prespecified primary outcome was units of blood collected per year analysed in the intention-to-treat population. Secondary outcomes related to safety were quality of life, self-reported symptoms potentially related to donation, haemoglobin and ferritin concentrations, and deferrals because of low haemoglobin and other factors. This trial is registered with ISRCTN, number ISRCTN24760606, and has completed. Findings Between Oct 19, 2014, and May 3, 2016, 20 757 of the 38 035 invited blood donors (10 843 [58%] men, 9914 [51%] women) participated in the extension study. 10 378 (50%) were randomly assigned to routine reminders and 10 379 (50%) were randomly assigned to more intensive reminders. Median follow-up was 1·1 years (IQR 0·7–1·3). Compared with routine reminders, more intensive reminders increased blood collection by a mean of 0·11 units per year (95% CI 0·04–0·17; p=0·0003) in men and 0·06 units per year (0·01–0·11; p=0·0094) in women. During the extension study, each week shorter inter-donation interval increased blood collection by a mean of 0·23 units per year (0·21–0·25) in men and 0·14 units per year (0·12–0·15) in women (both p0.0001 for tests of linear trend by inter-donation intervals) other than a higher reported frequency of doctor-diagnosed low iron concentrations and prescription of iron supplements in men (p

There is a striking contrast between Canada and the European Union (EU) with respect to the authorities’ ability to search computers and mobile phones – and this contrast invites exploration, compa...

Background: whether a restrictive threshold for hemoglobin level in red-cell transfusions, as compared with a liberal threshold, reduces postoperative morbidity and health care costs after cardiac surgery is uncertain. Methods: we conducted a multicenter, parallel-group trial in which patients older than 16 years of age who were undergoing nonemergency cardiac surgery were recruited from 17 centers in the United Kingdom. Patients with a postoperative hemoglobin level of less than 9 g per deciliter were randomly assigned to a restrictive transfusion threshold (hemoglobin level Results: a total of 2007 patients underwent randomization; 4 participants withdrew, leaving 1000 in the restrictive-threshold group and 1003 in the liberal-threshold group. Transfusion rates after randomization were 53.4% and 92.2% in the two groups, respectively. The primary outcome occurred in 35.1% of the patients in the restrictive-threshold group and 33.0% of the patients in the liberal-threshold group (odds ratio, 1.11; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.91 to 1.34; P=0.30); there was no indication of heterogeneity according to subgroup. There were more deaths in the restrictive-threshold group than in the liberal-threshold group (4.2% vs. 2.6%; hazard ratio, 1.64; 95% CI, 1.00 to 2.67; P=0.045). Serious postoperative complications, excluding primary-outcome events, occurred in 35.7% of participants in the restrictive-threshold group and 34.2% of participants in the liberal-threshold group. Total costs did not differ significantly between the groups. Conclusions: a restrictive transfusion threshold after cardiac surgery was not superior to a liberal threshold with respect to morbidity or health care costs

The brain receives information about the direction of object motion from several types of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). On-Off direction-selective (DS) RGCs respond preferentially to stimuli moving quickly in one of four directions and provide a significant (but difficult to quantify) fraction of RGC input to the SC. On DS RGCs, in comparison, respond preferentially to stimuli moving slowly in one of three directions and are thought to only target retinorecipient nuclei comprising the accessory optic system, e.g., the medial terminal nucleus (MTN).To determine the fraction of SC-projecting RGCs that exhibit direction selectivity, and the specificity with which On-Off and On DS RGCs target retinorecipient areas, we performed optical and electrophysiological recordings from RGCs retrogradely labeled from the mouse SC and MTN. We found, surprisingly, that both On-Off and On DS RGCs innervate the SC; collectively they constitute nearly 40% of SC-projecting RGCs. In comparison, only On DS RGCs project to the MTN. Subsequent experiments revealed that individual On DS RGCs innervate either the SC or MTN and exhibit robust projection-specific differences in somatodendritic morphology, cellular excitability, and light-evoked activity; several projection-specific differences in the output of On DS RGCs correspond closely to differences in excitatory synaptic input the cells receive. Our results reveal a robust projection of On DS RGCs to the SC, projection-specific differences in the response properties of On DS RGCs, and biophysical and synaptic mechanisms that underlie these functional differences.

Summary Background Limits on the frequency of whole blood donation exist primarily to safeguard donor health. However, there is substantial variation across blood services in the maximum frequency of donations allowed. We compared standard practice in the UK with shorter inter-donation intervals used in other countries. Methods In this parallel group, pragmatic, randomised trial, we recruited whole blood donors aged 18 years or older from 25 centres across England, UK. By use of a computer-based algorithm, men were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to 12-week (standard) versus 10-week versus 8-week inter-donation intervals, and women were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to 16-week (standard) versus 14-week versus 12-week intervals. Participants were not masked to their allocated intervention group. The primary outcome was the number of donations over 2 years. Secondary outcomes related to safety were quality of life, symptoms potentially related to donation, physical activity, cognitive function, haemoglobin and ferritin concentrations, and deferrals because of low haemoglobin. This trial is registered with ISRCTN, number ISRCTN24760606, and is ongoing but no longer recruiting participants. Findings 45 263 whole blood donors (22 466 men, 22 797 women) were recruited between June 11, 2012, and June 15, 2014. Data were analysed for 45 042 (99·5%) participants. Men were randomly assigned to the 12-week (n=7452) versus 10-week (n=7449) versus 8-week (n=7456) groups; and women to the 16-week (n=7550) versus 14-week (n=7567) versus 12-week (n=7568) groups. In men, compared with the 12-week group, the mean amount of blood collected per donor over 2 years increased by 1·69 units (95% CI 1·59–1·80; approximately 795 mL) in the 8-week group and by 0·79 units (0·69–0·88; approximately 370 mL) in the 10-week group (p

Murphy G. and Siedschlag I. Human capital and growth of information and communication technology-intensive industries: empirical evidence from open economies, Regional Studies. This paper examines the effect of human capital on the growth of information and communication technology (ICT)-intensive industries using data from a sample of open economies over the period 1980–1999. The econometric analysis suggests that value added and employment in ICT-intensive industries grew relatively faster in countries with a higher ex-ante human capital stock and in countries with a fast improvement in human capital. Further, in countries with fast human capital accumulation, labour productivity in ICT-intensive industries grew faster. The results are robust to controls for other determinants of industry growth and country characteristics affecting industry specialization and to using alternative human capital measures.

If Canada’s Competition Bureau gets its way, there will be greater competition in the residential real estate brokerage business, commission rates will fall and the public will have enhanced access to the Multiple Listing Service. To this end, the Bureau announced on 8 February 2010 that a notice of application would be filed with the Competition Tribunal challenging the way the Canadian Real Estate Association conducts business. The association filed its response six weeks later. Regardless of the ultimate outcome of this action, it is safe to say that the face of Canadian residential real estate brokerage services will never be the same. Commonwealth Law Bulletin editorial advisory board member Gavin Murphy explains.

Welcome to volume 44 number 4 of the Commonwealth Law Bulletin. Established in 1974, the CLB is the flagship publication of the Rule of Law Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat and is published...

The scope of legal professional privilege (LPP) in EC competition law remained unchanged after the European Court of First Instance (CFI) ruled on 17 September 2007 that the privilege would not be ...

This article provides an overview on the structure and guiding principles of the new Law Commission of Ontario and considers the present state of law reform at the provincial level. The author suggests that the establishment of the Ontario agency continues a trend that started about a decade ago with provincial governments reversing earlier decisions to either close down or cut funding to agencies. 1 He indicates that the launch of the Law Commission of Ontario is a positive development and could signal further interest and renewed support for provincial law reform in Canada. The article also examines the history, mandate and work of the Scottish Law Commission and concludes that the challenges it faces are similar to those confronting Canada’s provincial law reform agencies. 1 Gavin Murphy, ‘The Rise, Decline and Current Status of Canada’s Law Reform Agencies’ (2004) 30 CLB 900.

Premier Foods was successful in becoming the UK's largest grocery supplier in early 2007 after the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), the UK competition authority, approved its £1.2 billion purchase of RHM. The merger means that iconic brands often found in British kitchens, such as Hovis breads, Lyons cakes, Bird's custard, Branston pickle, and dozens of other well‐known products, will now be manufactured by the same food group. * This is a revised version of an article that first appeared in the European Competition Law Review [2007] ECLR 433. Reprinted with permission of Sweet & Maxwell and the author. ** Gavin Murphy, Legal Counsel, International Development Group, Department of Justice of Canada, Ottawa. Mr. Murphy worked at the Office of Fair Trading in the 1990s. He is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Commonwealth Law Bulletin. Gavin Murphy examines the OFT's merger assessment.

We determined the recommendations for preparing and scoring constructed-response (CR) test items in 25 sources (textbooks and chapters) on educational and psychological measurement. The project was similar to Haladyna's (2004) analysis for multiple-choice items. We identified 12 recommendations for preparing CR items given by multiple sources, with 4 of these given by at least half of the sources; and 13 recommendations for scoring CR items given by multiple sources, with 5 given by at least half of the sources. Many recommendations received minority support or were unique to individual sources. Research is needed both on the effect of the recommendations for measurement properties and the extent to which the recommendations are adopted in practice.

Introduction: Allogeneic red blood cell (RBC) transfusion in cardiac surgery patients increases the risk of pulmonary and renal morbidity. These associations are attributable to the ‘storage lesion’ - accumulation of metabolites in the RBC supernatant that includes pro-inflammatory lipids, cell-free hemoglobin and energy depletion. Hypothesis: Storage lesion components trigger different events that lead to organ injury. Reducing storage lesion by RBC washing or rejuvenation will reduce organ injury. Methods: Samples from 60 cardiac patients participating in a randomized controlled trial of RBC washing prior to transfusion versus standard care were analysed for inflammatory markers. In a complementary experiment, 4 groups of pigs received crystalloid infusion or 14-day old RBC that were left untreated, washed or rejuvenated (Rejuvesol, Citra Labs, IN). Inflammatory markers, free hemoglobin and iron were measured in blood. Leukocyte invasion was determined by immunohistochemistry. The results were verified and further analysed in an in vitro inflammatory model. Results: Transfusion of stored RBC (~22 days) into humans or pigs was associated with leukocyte activation, and attenuated by washing. That was attributed to oxidised lipids on transfused RBC derived microvesicles that activated monocytes and platelets, as revealed in depletion experiments. Unexpectedly, transfusion of washed RBC increased kidney injury, which correlated with higher free haemoglobin levels, oxidative stress (confirmed by HMOX-1 levels and protein carbonylation), and endothelial injury in washed RBC recipients. Oxidative stress triggered non-standard endothelial activation defined by expression of VLA5 and fibronectin retention. Either pathway was reduced when rejuvenated blood was transfused. Conclusion: Monocytes/platelets and endothelium are activated by oxidized lipids/MV and reactive free haem, respectively, and can be alleviated by RBC rejuvenation.

We analyse determinants of an enterprise’s decision to offshore R&D activities using a novel data set for enterprises in Ireland over the period 2001-2006. Our results suggest that, on average, other things equal, enterprises integrated in international production and innovation networks, and enterprises which used information and communication technologies (ICT) more intensively were more likely to offshore R&D. Furthermore, characteristics of the import source region had an important influence on enterprise offshoring behaviour, with offshoring to regions outside of the advanced European Union’s economies being less likely.

Free and open competition is a good thing, but anti‐competitive behaviour is a bad thing. Anti‐competitive activities such as conspiracy, bid‐rigging and abuse of a dominant position are detrimenta...

The creation of laws is the most direct and powerful legislative tool available to governments to fulfill their political mandate. Not surprisingly, the drafting and enactment of legislation in many Commonwealth countries often follow the same general pattern as that established by the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, each country adds a sprinkling of local flavour and custom to its own practices. What follows is an overview of the legislative process in the People's Republic of Bangladesh, highlighting the various distinct stages involved in the making of laws-such as developing policy, drafting legislation, presenting proposed laws to Parliament, final approval by the president, and publication in the Official Gazette. Comparisons are also made with the Canadian and United Kingdom legislative drafting experience where appropriate.

by Allan C Hutchinson, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2012, 318 pp, £19.99 (paperback), ISBN 978-1-107-66276-6 Allan Hutchinson’s Laughing at the Gods: Great Judges and How They Made the Co...

(2004). The rise, decline and current status of Canada's law reform agencies. Commonwealth Law Bulletin: Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 900-921.