Compilation and analysis of integrated regional input-output tables for NUTS 2 regions in Ireland

In 1966, Roy Geary, Director of the ESRI, noted “the absence of any kind of import and export statistics for regions is a grave lacuna” and further noted that if regional analyses were to be developed then regional Input-Output Tables must be put on the “regular statistical assembly line”. Forty-five years later, the lacuna lamented by Geary still exists and remains the most significant challenge to the construction of regional Input-Output Tables in Ireland. The continued paucity of sufficient regional data to compile effective regional Supply and Use and Input-Output Tables has retarded the capacity to construct sound regional economic models and provide a robust evidence base with which to formulate and assess regional policy. This study makes a first step towards addressing this gap by presenting the first set of fully integrated, symmetric, Supply and Use and domestic Input-Output Tables compiled for the NUTS 2 regions in Ireland: The Border, Midland and Western region and the Southern & Eastern region. These tables are general purpose in nature and are consistent fully with the official national Supply & Use and Input-Output Tables, and the regional accounts. The tables are constructed using a survey-based or bottom-up approach rather than employing modelling techniques, yielding more robust and credible tables. These tables are used to present a descriptive statistical analysis of the two administrative NUTS 2 regions in Ireland, drawing particular attention to the underlying structural differences of regional trade balances and composition of Gross Value Added in those regions. By deriving regional employment multipliers, Domestic Demand Employment matrices are constructed to quantify and illustrate the supply chain impact on employment. In the final part of the study, the predictive capability of the Input-Output framework is tested over two time periods. For both periods, the static Leontief production function assumptions are relaxed to allow for labour productivity. Comparative results from this experiment are presented.

The role of the community service order and the suspended sentence in Ireland: a judicial perspective

Imprisonment is the most severe penalty utilised by the criminal courts in Ireland. In recent decades the prison population has grown significantly despite expressions both official and public to reduce the use of the sanction. Two other sanctions are available to the Irish sentencer which may be used as a direct and comparable sentence in lieu of a term of imprisonment namely, the community service order and the suspended sentence. The community service order remains under-utilised as an alternative to the custodial sentence. The suspended sentence is used quite liberally but its function may be more closely related to the aim of deterrence rather than avoiding the use of the custodial sentence. Thus the aim of decarceration may not be optimal in practice when either sanction is utilised. The decarcerative effect of either sanction is largely dependent upon the specific purpose which judges invest in the sanction. Judges may also be inhibited in the use of either sanction if they lack confidence that the sentence will be appropriately monitored and executed. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the role of the community service order and the suspended sentence in Irish sentencing practice. Although community service and the suspended sentence present primarily as alternatives to the custodial sentence, the manner in which the judges utilise or fail to utilise the sanctions may differ significantly from this primary manifestation. Therefore the study proceeds to examine the judges' cognitions and expectations of both sanctions to explore their underlying purposes and to reveal the manner in which the judges use the sanctions in practice. To access this previously undisclosed information a number of methodologies were deployed. An extensive literature review was conducted to delineate the purpose and functionality of both sanctions. Quantitative data was gathered by way of sampling for the suspended sentence and the part-suspended sentence where deficiencies were apparent to show the actual frequency in use of that sanction. Qualitative methodologies were used by way of focus groups and semi-structured interviews of judges at all jurisdictional levels to elucidate the purposes of both sanctions. These methods allowed a deeper investigation of the factors which may promote or inhibit such usage. The relative under-utilisation of the community service order as an alternative to the custodial sentence may in part be explained by a reluctance by some judges to equate it with a real custodial sentence. For most judges who use the sanction, particularly at summary level, community service serves a decarcerative function. The suspended sentence continues to be used extensively. It operates partly as a decarcerative penalty but the purpose of deterrence may in practice overtake its theoretical purpose namely the avoidance of custody. Despite ongoing criticism of executive agencies such as the Probation Service and the Prosecution in the supervision of such penalties both sanctions continue to be used. Engagement between the Criminal Justice actors may facilitate better outcomes in the use of either sanction. The purposes for which both sanctions are deployed find their meaning essentially in the practices of the judges themselves as opposed to any statutory or theoretical claims upon their use or purpose.

Legislative policy, law and competitiveness: a mysterious and difficult relationship in the EU

The Lisbon Agenda places Europe in a uniquely difficult position globally, most particularly as an example of a social and regulatory experiment which many consider to be doomed to failure. The drive towards economic competitiveness has led to a focus on regulation and its effect on entrepreneurship, productivity and business growth but assessing this relationship is complex for a number of reasons. First, not all regulatory effects can be predicted precisely in relation to behavioural outcomes. Path-dependency scholars have also demonstrated that the regulation will have varying effects depending on context. Second, theoretically it is clear that many non-regulatory factors may contribute to economic and competitive success. Third, there is evidence of internal conflict within the Commission as to the relative importance of the Lisbon goals. Finally, the experience of distinct Member States presents challenges both for assessment and prescriptive remedies. The Commission has estimated that the cost of regulatory compliance obligations on businesses in the EU is between 4% and 6% of gross domestic product and that 15% of this figure is avoidable 'red tape' (the term used specifically to signify unnecessary compliance burdens). This article proposes to assess the likely outcomes of de-regulation as we rapidly approach 2010, the year for attainment of the Lisbon goals.

Akt signal transduction dysfunction in the 3xTg-AD mouse model of Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an incurable neurodegenerative disorder, accounting for over 60% of all cases of dementia. The primary risk factor for AD is age, however several genetic and environmental factors are also involved. The pathological characteristics of AD include extracellular deposition of the beta-amyloid peptide (Aβ) and intraneuronal accumulation of neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) made of aggregated paired helical filaments (PHFs) of the hyperphosphorylated tau protein, along with synaptic loss and neuronal death. There are numerous biochemical mechanisms involved in AD pathogenesis, however the reigning hypothesis points to toxic oligomeric Aβ species as the primary causative factor in a cascade of events leading to neuronal stress and dyshomeostasis that initiate abnormal regulation of tau. The insulin and IGF-1 receptors (IR, IGF-1R) are the primary activators of PI3- K/Akt through which they regulate cell growth, development, glucose metabolism, and learning and memory. Work in our lab and others shows increased Akt activity and phosphorylation of its downstream targets in AD brain, along with insulin and insulin-like growth factor-1 signalling (IIS) dysfunction. This is supported by studies of AD models in vivo and in vitro. Our group and others hypothesise that Aβ activates Akt through IIS to initiate a negative feedback mechanism that desensitises neurons to insulin/IGF-1, and sustains activation of Akt. In this study the functions of endogenous Akt, IR, and the insulin receptor substrate (IRS-1) were examined in relationship to Aβ and tau pathology in the 3xTg-AD mouse model, which contains three mutant human transgenes associated with familial AD or dementia. The 3xTg-AD mouse develops Aβ and tau pathology in a spatiotemporal manner that best recapitulates the progression of AD in human brain. Western blotting and immunofluorescent microscopy techniques were utilised in vivo and in vitro, to examine the relationship between IIS, Akt, and AD pathology. I first characterised in detail AD pathology in 3xTg-AD mice, where an age-related accumulation of intraneuronal Aβ and tau was observed in the hippocampal formation, amygdala, and entorhinal cortex, and at late stages (18 months), extracellular amyloid plaques and NFTs, primarily in the subiculum and the CA1 layer of the hippocampal formation. Increased activity of Akt, detected with antibody to phosphoSer473-Akt, was increased in 3xTg-AD mice compared to age-matched non-transgenic mice (non-Tg), and in direct correlation to the accumulation of Aβ and tau in neuronal somatodendritic compartments. Akt phosphorylates tau at residue Ser214 within a highly specific consensus sequence for Akt phosphorylation, and phosphoSer214-tau strongly decreases microtubule (MT) stabilisation by preventing tau-MT binding. PhosphoSer214-tau increased concomitantly with this in the same age-related and region-specific fashion. Polarisation of tau phosphorylation was observed, where PHF-1 (tauSer396/404) and phosphoSer214-tau both appeared early in 3xTg-AD mice in distinct neuronal compartments: PHF-1 in axons, and phosphoSer214-tau in neuronal soma and dendrites. At 18 months, phosphoSer214-tau strongly colocalised with NFTs positive for the PHF- 1 and AT8 (tauSer202/Thr205) phosphoepitopes. IR was decreased with age in 3xTg-AD brain and in comparison to age-matched non-Tg, and this was specific for brain regions containing Aβ, tau, and hyperactive Akt. IRS-1 was similarly decreased, and both proteins showed altered subcellular distribution. Phosphorylation of IRS-1Ser312 is a strong indicator of IIS dysfunction and insulin resistance, and was increased in 3xTg-AD mice with age and in relation to pathology. Of particular note was our observation that abberant IIS and Akt signalling in 3xTg-AD brain related to Aβ and tau pathology on a gross anatomical level, and specifically localised to the brain regions and circuitry of the perforant path. Finally, I conducted a preliminary study of the effects of synthetic Aβ oligomers on embryonic rat hippocampus neuronal cultures to support these results and those in the literature. Taken together, these novel findings provide evidence for IIS and Akt signal transduction dysfunction as the missing link between Aβ and tau pathogenesis, and contribute to the overall understanding of the biochemical mechanisms of AD.

Skin and bone: the face in the archaeological imagination

Thirteen unique archaeological countenances from Ireland were produced through the Manchester method of facial reconstruction. Their gaze prompts a space for a broad discourse regarding the face found within human and artefactual remains of Ireland. These faces are reminders of the human element which is at the core of the discipline of archaeology. These re-constructions create a voyeuristic relationship with the past. At once sating a curiosity about the past, facial reconstructions also provide a catharsis to our presently situated selves. As powerful visual documents, archaeological facial reconstructions illustrate re-presentations of the past as well as how the present can be connected to the past. Through engagment with Emmanuel Levinas’s (1906- 1995) main philosophical themes, the presence of the face is examined in a diachronic structure. The ‘starting point’ is the Neolithic period which has been associated with the notion of visuality with a reconstruction from the early Neolithic site of Annagh, Co. Limerick. The following layer of analysis appears with attention to intersubjectivity in the early medieval period with facial reconstructions from Dooey, Co. Donegal and Owenbristy, Co. Galway. Building upon the past concepts, the late medieval period is associated with the notion of alterity and paired with faces from Ballinderry, Co. Kildare and a sample of males from Gallen Priory, Co. Offaly. The final layer of examination culminates with the application of response and respons-ibility to the post-medieval Irish landscape with facial reconstructions from the prison on Spike Island, Co. Cork. These layers of investigation are similar to the stratigraphical composition of both the archaeological landscape and the skeletal/soft tissue landscape of the face. The separation of the neglected phenomenon of the face from the overwhelming embrace of the field of craniometrics is necessary. Through this detachment a new manner in which to discuss the face and its place within the (bio)archaeological record is possible. Encountering the faces seen in mortuary contexts, material culture, and archaeological facial reconstructions, inform and shape the archaeological imagination.