Higher Education Authority

BACKGROUND: Multi-organ dysfunction in critical illness is common and frequently involves the lungs and kidneys, often requiring organ support such as invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV), renal replacement therapy (RRT) and/or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). METHODS: A consensus conference on the spectrum of lung-kidney interactions in critical illness was held under the auspices of the Acute Disease Quality Initiative (ADQI) in Innsbruck, Austria, in June 2018. Through review and critical appraisal of the available evidence, the current state of research, and both clinical and research recommendations were described on the following topics: epidemiology, pathophysiology and strategies to mitigate pulmonary dysfunction among patients with acute kidney injury and/or kidney dysfunction among patients with acute respiratory failure/acute respiratory distress syndrome. Furthermore, emphasis was put on patients receiving organ support (RRT, IMV and/or ECMO) and its impact on lung and kidney function. CONCLUSION: The ADQI 21 conference found significant knowledge gaps about organ crosstalk between lung and kidney and its relevance for critically ill patients. Lung protective ventilation, conservative fluid management and early recognition and treatment of pulmonary infections were the only clinical recommendations with higher quality of evidence. Recommendations for research were formulated, targeting lung-kidney interactions to improve care processes and outcomes in critical illness.

Abstract Science has always operated in a competitive environment, but the globalisation of knowledge and the rising popularity and use of global rankings have elevated this competition to a new level. The quality, performance and productivity of higher education and university-based research have become a national differentiator in the global knowledge economy. Global rankings essentially measure levels of wealth and investment in higher education, and they reflect the realisation that national pre-eminence is no longer sufficient. These developments also correspond with increased public scrutiny and calls for greater transparency, underpinned by growing necessity to demonstrate value, impact and benefit. Despite on-going criticism of methodologies, and scepticism about their overall role, rankings are informing and influencing policy-making, academic behaviour, stakeholder opinions—and our collective understanding of science. This article examines the inter-relationship and tensions between the national and the global in the context of the influences between higher education and global university rankings. It starts with a discussion of the globalisation of knowledge and the rise of rankings. It then moves on to consider rankings in the context of wider discourse relating to quality and measuring scholarly activity, both within academia and by governments. The next section examines the relationship and tensions between research assessment and rankings, in policy and practice. It concludes by discussing the broader implications for higher education and university-based research.

This chapter delves into the growing influence and impact of rankings on higher education, as a lens through which to view how the race for reputation and status is changing the higher education landscape, both globally and nationally. The author considers the extent to which rankings are driving policy choices and institutional decisions and the implications of these developments.

In line with the increasing policy emphasis on inclusive education, there is now a greater focus on how best to provide for students special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream schools. However, there is little consensus internationally as to the most equitable way in which to support these students. Despite ongoing evaluations of the existing funding structures, there has been little discussion to inform future changes and ensure an equitable distribution of resources. This paper examines the system of SEN funding in Ireland during a period of policy change. Using data from a National Survey of Schools, we examine the profile and distribution of students across different school contexts to assess the extent to which the existing funding model targets those most in need. Findings show that the current through-put funding system broadly targets students with SEN but in any new model, there is room for greater differentiation in the allocation of funding, particularly within disadvantaged school contexts. The paper highlights the need for further discussion around how we conceptualise special education in mainstream education. We argue for greater emphasis on student outcomes and school accountability where SEN funding is received to support students.

International Higher Education (IHE) publishes insightful, informed, and high-quality commentary and analysis on trends and issues of importance to higher education systems, institutions, and stakeholders around the world.

Internationally and in Ireland, the adoption of inclusive education frameworks have been broadly welcomed, particularly by parents of children with special educational needs (SEN). Mainstreaming these children is generally viewed as positive primarily because of the social factors associated with attending mainstream schools for children with SEN. Despite this commonly held view, there is increasing evidence to show that children with SEN have difficulties participating in mainstream environments. Using data from the Growing Up in Ireland study of 8,578 nine year olds, this paper examines whether peer relations differ among typically developing students and students with different types of SEN. We focus on the quantity and quality of peer relations using data on the child’s number of friends and, using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, the quality of relations with their peers. These measures are examined by controlling for a range of individual, home and school-level factors simultaneously in a regression model. Our findings show that, all else being equal, students with SEN, particularly those with emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD), are more likely to have fewer friends and experience negative peer relationships compared to their peers without any additional needs. Based on these findings, we argue that specific interventions may be needed to promote positive peer experiences for children with SEN in mainstream education.

Beginning with a historical review of Irish education policy since the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, this paper focuses on the issue of investment in education through the lens of the Investment in Education report. Following this historical review, the author explores how the legacy of the past continues to define the ways in which education is structured and delivered in Irish schools. The key achievement of the 1965 report was its success in altering the Irish state's perception of expenditure on education. While this was previously viewed as an expense and an obligation, the report highlighted its longer-term economic value as an investment in the future. While acknowledging the transformative impact of the 1965 report in terms of subsequent trends in the scale of public investment in education, this paper argues that the report's advice in relation to the nature of investment and to the optimal configuration of resources has been largely ignored and neglected in the intervening years. This paper revisits what the Investment in Education authors describe as ‘the question of the existing organisation of facilities’ in an attempt to understand contemporary challenges in Irish education.

This paper develops and expands upon social identity theory as an explanation for gambling among youth engaged in team sport. Analysing longitudinal data for over 4500 20-year-olds from the Growing Up in Ireland study, reveals that online gambling increased from 2.6 to 9.3% between 17 and 20 years in the cohort, with the increase driven by males. A statistically significant positive association is uncovered between playing team sports and regularly gambling, as well as online gambling behaviour, independent of socio-demographic and other risk factors for males but not for females. The findings provide support for a dose-response like effect for males, where a longer period of participation in team sports is associated with a higher likelihood of engaging in gambling behaviour compared to shorter periods. Implications of the findings for policy and practice are discussed.

The UWB antenna research provides design approaches that enable transmission of sub-nanosecond pulses without any distortion. At the same time, advances in communications theory and digital signal processing enable practical ranging systems with precisions below 3 cm with pulse bandwidths of 500 MHz. Thus one could be misled to believe that the UWB antenna research is dead simply because current antenna designs can accommodate bandwidth requirements for years to come. However, this paper points out that with the UWB localization systems entering the stage of mass production, new research challenges associated with the integration of antennas in real systems occur. Using application examples, the paper introduces some of these issues. It also is concludes that antenna designers can substantially contribute towards the precision of UWB localization. To achieve this goal the antennas have to be studied in more complex scenarios and new system-oriented metrics have to be used.

This article illustrates how narrative can be used as a tool to support those of us engaged in academic practice. It stems from a programme conducted with members of the Educational Developers of Ireland Network (EDIN) where the authors used narrative as a framework to critically reflect on our roles and practices as academic developers. Given the rise of managerial values and the drive for sustainability that dominates the current higher education context, this paper argues that academic developers need to find ways to sustain our-selves in our work and to reclaim the emotions and values that define us, even if they are not reflected back to us by our institutions. The process also resulted in very practical outcomes that focused on sustaining and strengthening our network. The authors propose that this approach to narrative not only enhances collegiality and support but can help steer the sustainability of academic development networks like EDIN.

While a great deal of progress has been made towards increasing non-traditional students in Irish higher education (HE), this achievement is tempered by the very low base from which this task commenced. A once elite system of third-level education has evolved into an increasingly diver- sified and flexible network of institutions of mass education. The overall rate of admission has risen from 20% of school leavers in 1980 to 46% in 1998, to 55% in 2004 and to over 60% in 2007 (Byrne et al, 2008, p.33). The gov- ernment (HEA, 2008a) is committed to further increasing participation up to 2015 and in this way address a range of social issues and disadvantage (DES, 2000, 2001; NOEA, 2005, 2007, 2008; Skilbeck and O’Connell, 2000), and the HEA in 2008 set a key national target of 72% entry to higher education by 2020.

This article focuses on how mediation services can be improved to better reflect the culture‐based needs and expectations of Latino litigants. The research on which this article is based was conducted in a court‐attached custody and visitation program in one U. S. community with a large Latino presence. The findings, recommendations, and conclusions are based on the problems, concerns, and general expectations of more recent arrivals to the United States – for the most part mono‐lingual Spanish speaking. The study found that those Latino families have needs in resolving family disputes that differ from those of most Anglo families. The justice system needs to better understand the culture of Latino family life and the ways in which Latinos interact with governmental authority. The Latino families need education, direction and representation in dealing with governmental authority. The mediator can help both the justice system and the Latino family in meeting these needs.

Abstract A major limitation of the boundary element method (BEM) for the solution of electrical potential problems is the long computational time required. However, a large portion of the calculations involved can be viewed as being parallel in nature and can therefore be computed concurrently. This paper makes an effort to increase the efficiency of the BEM process using transputer‐based multiprocessor computing techniques. The algorithms developed may equally well be applied to any multiprocessor system. The application selected to demonstrate the technique is the solution of an electrostatic problem governed by a two‐dimensional Laplace equation. A parallel algorithm for problem setup and field extraction using BEM is designed and implemented on a transputer array. Special attention is directed to the utilization of the parallel processors to achieve maximum efficiency. The analysis in this work concentrates on the communication strategies for passing data between processors as well as a consideration of the workload attributed to each processor. The parallel algorithms were implemented using 3L Parallel Fortran; however, the choice of topology for the overall BEM implementation was limited by the fact that certain parts of the algorithm could only utilize a pipeline configuration of processors. Comprehensive results for the parallel BEM algorithm are given and they are encouraging, indicating that parallel processing has much to offer when applied to the boundary element method.

Medical education in Ireland has undergone significant recent reform. The entire continuum from undergraduate, postgraduate and independent practitioner has been included in this reform process. This article looks at these changes within the Irish medical education system and what impact these changes are likely to have on the future training and practice of medicine within the country.

Dónal P. O'Mathúna, PhD, lecturer m ethics and philosophy in the school of nursing at Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland, has degrees in pharmacy and Pharmacognosy, as well as m theology, focused on bioethics. He lectures on and is widely published in bioethics and alternative medicine. He attends Dublin West Community Church, where he helps to organize outreach events.Figure

Abstract The nonlinear global optimization methods developed so far can be divided into deterministic methods and stochastic methods. Various approaches proposed recently in which chaos, which is a probabilistic phenomenon and is generated by a deterministic dynamical system, is used to solve nonlinear global optimization problems. Chaos is used in these methods because fluctuations away from the local solution and global optimal solution can be searched without trapping into the local solution. the method of unconstrained global optimization proposed here uses intermittency chaos. In this proposed method, the time history of a discrete dynamical system containing the return map, which generates the intermittency chaos, is simulated and during convergence (nonperiodically) to the local optimal solution, the global optimal solution is searched without trapping into the local optimal solution. the validity of the proposed method is confirmed by applying it to a standard test problem.

O presente trabalho apresenta reflexões em torno das relações de gênero atrelado às feminilidades, vistas por meio da perspectiva de ação feminista, ainda que em diferentes contextos. De um lado, o parto tradicional como um campo de significados e práticas que resistem às colonialidades e suas formas de controle, por outro lado, as reflexões sobre os corpos que fazem parte desse processo, em especial, corpos femininos e com útero, respeitando a diversidade do ser mulher. A partir de uma revisão de literatura recente sobre a temática, nas geografias feministas, em especial, observamos que tanto as parteiras como o parto tradicional podem ser interpretados como um movimento de resistência às colonialidades e ao controle de corpos, sobretudo o de mulheres, que experimentam uma vivência a partir de complexas e múltiplas hierarquias.

International Higher Education (IHE) publishes insightful, informed, and high-quality commentary and analysis on trends and issues of importance to higher education systems, institutions, and stakeholders around the world.

In the years preceding the COVID-19 pandemic, surveys of top US business schools revealed an increasing trend in adoption and provision of experiential learning courses, particularly as part of MBA programs. Experiential learning within management education, refers to the application of business concepts, ideas, and theories in solving real-world problems, through the use of real-world learning projects. According to business school surveys conducted during 2020, COVID-19 brought with it a reversal of this trend, with a sudden lowering of reliance on experiential learning offerings and an increased emphasis on flipped classrooms. Schools that opted to continue with experiential programs did so amidst an environment of ongoing uncertainty. Program educators had to shift the paradigm in which they operated, revising and re-creating structure in the absence of predictability, and stimulating learning motivation in the absence of traditional learning spaces. This research draws attention to how management educators have grappled with supporting students and their learning under such uncertain conditions and considers the theoretical and practical implications for experiential learning theory. Findings from this empirical study, which includes graduate student and educator interviews, point to a greatly increased focus on planned and enhanced educator interventions. The results reveal that experiential learning during times of uncertainty fosters both resource-seeking and learning-opportunity seeking behaviors among students. Keywords: Experiential learning, Interventions, Resource-seeking, Learning- opportunity seeking

Abstract This article describes a clinical case where an Advanced Brief Strategic Therapy Model (Gibson and Boardman, ; Gibson et al., ; Nardone and Watzlawick, ) was used with a woman presenting with presumed Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). In the world of therapy, the process of change can often be hard to predict at the best of times and extremely unpredictable during the worst. It can be difficult for the curious therapist to know how and what to look for as indicators of change when the larger picture may appear to remain unchanged in a client's life. I am curious about those therapy cases which present with great difficulties attached to them and which often drain much of our energy, vim and vigour as psychotherapists with often little apparent return on the investment we make. That is, if we measure that return in terms of reported change by the client, as opposed to privileging therapeutic disposition. Practitioner points This article explores how an Advanced Brief Strategic Therapy Model was used with a client diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder I critique the often misunderstood idea of embodied cybernetics as an interpretation of the therapeutic process Drawing on clinical practice, I describe some of the challenges in working with a client who often dispensed with rationality and employed non‐ordinary logic in her modus operandi