National Strategy for Higher Education 2030

Ireland’s higher education system has played a major role in the development of Irish society and the economy, and has an even more critical role to play in the coming decades as we seek to rebuild an innovative knowledge-based economy that will provide sustainable employment opportunities and good standards of living for all our citizens. Its role in enabling every citizen to realise their full potential and in generating new ideas through research are and will be the foundation for wider developments in society. The development of the higher education system in the years to 2030 will take place initially in an environment of severe constraints on public finances. Demand to invest in education to support job creation and innovation, and to help people back into employment is increasing. In the wider world, globalisation, technological advancement and innovation are defining economic development, people are much more mobile internationally as they seek out career opportunities, and competition for foreign direct investment remains intense.

National Strategy for Higher Education 2030 - Summary

Ireland’s higher education system has played a major role in the development of Irish society and the economy, and has an even more critical role to play in the coming decades as we seek to rebuild an innovative knowledge-based economy that will provide sustainable employment opportunities and good standards of living for all our citizens. Its role in enabling every citizen to realise their full potential and in generating new ideas through research are and will be the foundation for wider developments in society. The development of the higher education system in the years to 2030 will take place initially in an environment of severe constraints on public finances. Demand to invest in education to support job creation and innovation, and to help people back into employment is increasing. In the wider world, globalisation, technological advancement and innovation are defining economic development, people are much more mobile internationally as they seek out career opportunities, and competition for foreign direct investment remains intense.

National Strategy for Higher Education 2030 Implementation Plan

The purpose of this plan is to set out in detail the necessary actions to implement the recommendations as described in National Strategy for Higher education in Ireland to 2030; to show where lead responsibility will lie amongst the various actors involved in the higher education sector and to indicate where possible the phasing and timelines of these actions.

National Strategy for Higher Education 2030 Progress Report Q1 2012

The National Strategy for Higher Education was launched in January 2011. In order to ensure effective oversight of implementation of the strategy the Department of Education and Skills has established an Implementation Oversight Group. The Oversight Group is co-ordinating, monitoring and reporting on the implementation of recommendations contained in the National Strategy on an ongoing basis in conjunction with other expertise and stakeholders as required. The Oversight Group has agreed a short to medium term Implementation Progress reporting template that details actions under four broad strategic headings together with a number of supporting objectives. The strategic headings are congruent with the aims of the National Strategy. Each action is the responsibility of a designated organisation. It is the intention of the Department of Education and Skills to report regularly on the implementation of the strategy.

National Strategy for Higher Education 2030 Progress Report Q3 2012

The National Strategy for Higher Education was launched in January 2011. In order to ensure effective oversight of implementation of the strategy the Department of Education and Skills has established an Implementation Oversight Group. The Oversight Group is co-ordinating, monitoring and reporting on the implementation of recommendations contained in the National Strategy on an ongoing basis in conjunction with other expertise and stakeholders as required. The Oversight Group has agreed a short to medium term Implementation Progress reporting template that details actions under four broad strategic headings together with a number of supporting objectives. The strategic headings are congruent with the aims of the National Strategy. Each action is the responsibility of a designated organisation. It is the intention of the Department of Education and Skills to report regularly on the implementation of the strategy.

National Strategy for Higher Education 2030 Progress Report Q4 2012

The National Strategy for Higher Education was launched in January 2011. In order to ensure effective oversight of implementation of the strategy the Department of Education and Skills has established an Implementation Oversight Group. The Oversight Group is co-ordinating, monitoring and reporting on the implementation of recommendations contained in the National Strategy on an ongoing basis in conjunction with other expertise and stakeholders as required. The Oversight Group has agreed a short to medium term Implementation Progress reporting template that details actions under four broad strategic headings together with a number of supporting objectives. The strategic headings are congruent with the aims of the National Strategy. Each action is the responsibility of a designated organisation. It is the intention of the Department of Education and Skills to report regularly on the implementation of the strategy.

Policy Options for New Student Contributions in Higher Education - Report to the Minister

The Government’s Framework for Sustainable Economic Renewal- Building Ireland’s Smart Economy, launched by the Taoiseach in late 2008, establishes Ireland’s ambition to become internationally renowned as an Innovation Island. At the core of achieving this ambition will be our capacity for producing highly skilled graduates and fostering a climate of creative thinking and advanced research and development. This relies on the quality of undergraduate provision right across the sciences, arts and humanities in our third level institutions. The development of a new national strategy for higher education is now underway. The strategy will aim to identify a vision and objectives for the development of the sector over the next twenty years. Leading higher education systems internationally are characterised by wide revenue sources that, in many cases, include a form of direct student contribution through a tuition fee or student loans system. If Ireland’s higher education system is to develop and meet future demands in an environment of increasingly tight public resources, then it is appropriate that the sector’s level of dependence on Exchequer funding should come under review.

Ready to Learn White Paper on Early Childhood Education

The purpose of this White Paper is to set out Government policy on all issues relating to early childhood education. An essential starting point is to define what we mean by early childhood education. The Department of Education and Science�s mission is to support the development of a high quality education system which will enable individuals to develop to their full potential as persons and to participate fully as citizens in Ireland�s social and economic development. For many years, it was considered that education began when children went to school and ended when students left the formal education system at the end of first, second or third level. There is growing recognition of the importance of lifelong learning and the idea that children learn from the earliest moment and continue to learn throughout their lives. Education is concerned with all the phases of life, including the very early childhood phase.

Supporting Equity in Higher Education

The rationale for this review centres solely on the need to broaden access to third-level education in order to improve equity and social justice. It is founded on the Government’s social and economic policy objective of reducing and eliminating educational disadvantage, and increasing participation at third level by lower socio-economic groups. The Agreed Programme for Government of June 2002 commits the Government to building a caring and inclusive society and to achieving real and sustained social progress. Similar commitments are reflected in the National Development Plan, the National Anti-Poverty Strategy, the National Children’s Strategy and successive national partnership agreements, including Sustaining Progress. Tackling educational disadvantage is a core principle of social justice. The issues of educational disadvantage and social inclusion, therefore, are key priorities for the Government and, since taking up office, the Minister for Education and Science has emphasised his commitment to improving participation and achievement at every level of education. The need for interventions throughout the education system is well recognised. It is well established that addressing educational disadvantage requires intervention in the context of a continuum of provision from early childhood through to adulthood. Successive governments, of all political persuasions, have recognised this fact and have introduced a range of initiatives at pre-primary, primary and post-primary levels aimed at increasing pupil retention and achievement. These initiatives are currently being reviewed in order to ensure that individuals are enabled to obtain the appropriate supports they require to maximise the benefit they derive from the education system.

Frecuencia de la cesárea en Andalucía: relación con factores sociales, clínicos y de los servicios sanitarios (2007-2009).

BACKGROUND Increasing trend and geographical variations in the use of caesarean section suggest the influence of non-clinical factors. The objective was to describe the use of caesarean section in the Andalusian region in Spain by exploring the role of social, clinical, and health services variables. METHODS A cross-sectional study was carried out using vital statistics. It involves all births occurred in Andalusia during the period of 2007-2009. The dependent variable was the use of caesarean section and the set of covariates were classified into three groups: those with a clinical meaning, those related to the health services organization, and those with a social significance. Multivariate logistic regressions were used. RESULTS In the data set of 293,558 births, the prevalence of caesarean delivery was 24.8%. The multivariate analysis highlights the labour complications as the clinical variable with the highest odds ratio (OR=19.36). Regarding the health services variables, the odds of experiencing a caesarean delivery were 55% higher on weekdays than on weekends. Cádiz was the province with the highest OR for caesarean section (comparison between Cádiz and Almería: OR=1,21) where the ratio between births in public and private hospitals was 3.7. The frequency of caesarean section was 34% higher in women with third level education than those with no education. CONCLUSIONS Labour complication is the most influential variable for caesarean section. Caesarean birth rate is above the accepted standards for all social classes and increases with educational level. Inter-provincial differences reflect different patterns with regard to the use of private medicine.

Estudio de los exitus con diagnóstico secundario de desnutrición en un hospital de tercer nivel.

BACKGROUND: Malnutrition is a major public health problems, according to WHO, is the leading cause of death, when it affects the group of hospitalized patients, making denominating separate entity "hospital malnutrition". OBJECTIVES: The overall objective is to quantify the main diagnoses frequently high, causing exitus, with secondary diagnosis of malnutrition. METHODS: This is a descriptive study, which included all hospital discharges in 2011 and first half of 2012, which have been exitus and whose secondary diagnosis of malnutrition, with the total of 33. We performed a descriptive analysis, effected the Mann-Whitney nonparametric test (p < 0.05). RESULTS: The most frequent main diagnoses among 33 analyzed are high sepsis (12.1%), liver metastases (9.1%), pneumonia (6.1%), acute respiratory failure (6.1%) and renal acute renal (6.1%). CONCLUSIONS: Although the most frequent primary diagnosis of sepsis, by grouping the diagnoses, the most frequent DRG is respiratory disease, so it has to make comprehensive and quality coding to adjust the relative weight of the same reality. It is essential to specify the source of clinical information used for coding, the degree of malnutrition, for greater specificity in the data.

Paper de l’ Haemophilus influenzae en les exacerbacions de la Malaltia Pulmonar Obstructiva Crònica (MPOC): tipificació molecular i factors de virulència

Objetivos: 1.-Identificar los factores clínicos y microbiológicos que ayuden a predecir la aparición de exacerbaciones en la EPOC. 2.-Diagnóstico y cuantificación de las especies bacterianas aisladas en esputo (fase de exacerbación y estable) .3.- Tipificación genotípica secuencial de las cepas de H. influenzae y P. aeruginosa. 4.- Impacto del tratamiento antibiótico en la aparición de resistencias en estos patógenos. 5.- Diseño: Estudio prospectivo (3 años). Ámbito del estudio: Hospital Universitario de tercer nivel. Pacientes con EPOC grave atendidos en la Consulta Monográfica de EPOC del Servicio de Neumología. Métodos microbiológicos: Cuantificación de la carga bacteriana en muestras respiratorias en fase estable y en exacerbación. Estudio de la sensibilidad “in vitro”. Tipificación molecular (PFGE y MLST) de H. influenzae y P. aeruginosa. Estudio de los genes de virulencia de H. influenzae mediante PCR. Resultados: Desde Febrero de 2010 a Julio de 2011 se han incluido 77 pacientes. Los microorganismos más frecuentemente aislados en fase de exacerbación fueron: P. aeruginosa (29.3%), H. influenzae (15.92%), M. catarrhalis (12.74%), S. pneumoniae (10.19%) y S. aureus (5.10%). En los 88 episodios por P. aeruginosa se detectaron 38 genotipos diferentes. En los 41 episodios por H. influenzae se detectaron 39 genotipos diferentes. El 10% de los episodios fueron polimicrobianos. Los episodios de EAEPOC y de fase estable tuvieron una distribución de microorganismos similar. Sin embargo, cuando se cuantificaron las cargas bacterianas fueron mayores en EAEPOC (intervalo 4x107 -2x108) que en fase estable (intervalo 2x105 -4x107). Conclusiones: El genotipo de las cepas de P. aeruginosa y H. influenzae aisladas en EAEPOC difieren de un paciente a otro, sin embargo la mayoría de los episodios de cada paciente están causados por un genotipo único.

Multiscale determinants of tree frog (Hyla arborea L.) calling ponds in western Switzerland

A tree frog (Hyla arborea L., 1758) metapopulation in western Switzerland was studied during spring 2001. All potential calling ponds in an area of 350 km(2) were searched for tree frog calling males. Twenty-nine out of 111 ponds sheltered between 1 and 250 callers. Most ponds were occupied by less than 12 males. Pond parameters were measured at three different levels using field analysis and a Geographical Information System (GIS). The first level was water chemistry and pond-associated measures. The second level was the surrounding land use in a 30 m buffer around the pond. The third level consisted of landscape indices on a broader scale (up to 2 km). Logistic regression was applied to identify parameters that can predict the presence of calling males in a pond. Response variable was the presence or absence of callers. Four significant parameters allowed us to explain about 40% of the total deviance of the observed occupational pattern. Urbanization around the pond had a highly negative impact on the probability of presence of calling males. Hours of direct sunlight on the pond was positively correlated with callers. Higher water conductivity was associated with a lesser probability of species presence. Finally, the further the closest two-lane road, the higher the probability of callers presence. Our results show that presence or absence of callers is influenced by factors acting at various geographical scales.

Hand-disinfectant alcoholic vapors in incubators

Objective: To analyze the atmosphere inside incubators regarding alcoholic solvent such as isopropanol or ethanol which are commonly used in hand disinfecting solutions. Design: Observational. Setting: The third level neonatal unit of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland. Patients: Nine neonates with median (range) gestational age of 29 4/7 (25 5/7-39 0/7) weeks and birth weight of 960 (550-3050) grams. All neonates were inside incubators. Interventions: Alcoholic vapors inside incubators were directly and cumulatively measured by photoionisation and gas chromatography respectively after absorption on a charcoal sampling tube. Results: Eleven studies (mean study time: 230 ± 19 minutes) were performed. Highly variable isopropanol/ethanol concentrations profiles were found inside incubators. Peak value for isopropanol was 1982 part per million and for ethanol was 906 part per million. Conclusions: Incubators' inner atmosphere can be highly polluted by alcohol vapors. To reduce them staff should respect long evaporation time between hands disinfection and manipulations inside incubators. The use of an ethanol-based disinfecting solution, because of its short evaporation time, could be favored. As alcohol vapor toxicity for neonate remains largely unknown, further studies could be welcome.

Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-γ and the ubiquitin-proteasome system in colorectal cancer.

Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-γ (PPARγ), a transcription factor of the nuclear receptor superfamily plays a significant role in colorectal cancer pathogenesis. In most experimental systems PPARγ activation has tumor suppressing effects in the colon. PPARγ is regulated at multiple levels by the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS). At a first level, UPS regulates PPARγ transcription. This regulation involves both PPARγ transcription specific factors and the general transcription machinery. At a second level UPS regulates PPARγ and its co-factors themselves, as PPARγ and many co-factors are proteasome substrates. At a third level of regulation, transduction pathways working in parallel but also having interrelations with PPARγ are regulated by the UPS, creating a network of regulation in the colorectal carcinogenesis-related pathways that are under UPS control. Activation of PPARγ transcription by direct pharmacologic activators and by stabilization of its molecule by proteasome inhibitors could be strategies to be exploited in colorectal cancer treatment.