Herd-immunity across intangible borders: Public policy responses to COVID-19 in Ireland and the UK.

The responses to COVID-19 in Ireland and the UK differed, and will have consequences for life in these islands that will extend far beyond the current crisis. Ireland went into lockdown relatively early on 12 March, while after a slow initial response, with plans for herd immunity, the UK started introducing restrictions around 20 March and quickly became a world leader in cases. While the UK has also presented similar responses seen elsewhere in Europe, one further area of note sees the devolved responses in different parts of the UK diverge considerably. These differences cannot be explained purely in terms of epidemiological conditions, as the trajectories of the virus in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are broadly similar. The reality is that the leaders of the devolved governments reached different political judgments from PM Johnson, which may bring further pressure to bear on the UK's constitutional makeup

Osvrt na obilježavanje 90. godišnjice osnutka Zavoda za organsku kemiju

This article surveys institutional experimentation that has emerged internationally in response to the contraction of the traditional model of employment protection. Various initiatives are analysed according to the particular challenges they are designed to address: the emergence of non-standard employment contracts; increasing sources of labour supply engaging in nonstandard work; intensification of exogenous pressures on the employment relationship; the growth of intermediaries that separate the management from the control of labour; and the emergence of entities that subvert the employment relationship entirely. Whereas post-war industrial relations scholars characterised the traditional regulatory model as a ‘web of rules’, we argue that nascent institutional experimentation is indicative of an emergent ‘patchwork of rules’. The identification of such experimentation is instructive for scholars, policymakers, workers’ representatives and employers seeking solutions to the contraction of the traditional regulatory model

Effects of Anacetrapib in Patients with Atherosclerotic Vascular Disease

BACKGROUND: Patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease remain at high risk for cardiovascular events despite effective statin-based treatment of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. The inhibition of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) by anacetrapib reduces LDL cholesterol levels and increases high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels. However, trials of other CETP inhibitors have shown neutral or adverse effects on cardiovascular outcomes. METHODS: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 30,449 adults with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive atorvastatin therapy and who had a mean LDL cholesterol level of 61 mg per deciliter (1.58 mmol per liter), a mean non-HDL cholesterol level of 92 mg per deciliter (2.38 mmol per liter), and a mean HDL cholesterol level of 40 mg per deciliter (1.03 mmol per liter). The patients were assigned to receive either 100 mg of anacetrapib once daily (15,225 patients) or matching placebo (15,224 patients). The primary outcome was the first major coronary event, a composite of coronary death, myocardial infarction, or coronary revascularization. RESULTS: During the median follow-up period of 4.1 years, the primary outcome occurred in significantly fewer patients in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (1640 of 15,225 patients [10.8%] vs. 1803 of 15,224 patients [11.8%]; rate ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.85 to 0.97; P=0.004). The relative difference in risk was similar across multiple prespecified subgroups. At the trial midpoint, the mean level of HDL cholesterol was higher by 43 mg per deciliter (1.12 mmol per liter) in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (a relative difference of 104%), and the mean level of non-HDL cholesterol was lower by 17 mg per deciliter (0.44 mmol per liter), a relative difference of -18%. There were no significant between-group differences in the risk of death, cancer, or other serious adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive statin therapy, the use of anacetrapib resulted in a lower incidence of major coronary events than the use of placebo. (Funded by Merck and others; Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN48678192 ; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01252953 ; and EudraCT number, 2010-023467-18 .)

Trade union influence under austerity in Europe (2018-2016), a study of Greece, Ireland and Belgium.

My PhD thesis concerns trade union responses to austerity in Belgium, Greece and Ireland (2008-2016). It explores the power resources trade unions in Europe have drawn on during these crisis years, and seeks to establish if unions are cultivating new sources of power and influence, as traditional sources wane. My research points to unions being under sustained pressure, but it also presents evidence of effective union revitalisation, including through the formation of new coalitions with civil society actors, through the use of innovative legal approaches to problem-solving, and with unions reaching out to new, often atypically-employed, groups of workers. Notably however, the national level remains the primary concern for unions, and the European Union (EU) level of action remains adjunct to what unions do.Economic Social Research Council (ESRC) University of Cambridge Trust Pembroke College Monica Partridge Award for research in South Eastern Europ

Report on the Survey of Governance and Adaptation to Innovative Modes of Higher Education Provision (GAIHE)

Higher education around the world is undergoing significant change. Globalisation and competition from new modes of provision have sparked a strong debate about how to maintain the efficiency and effectiveness of higher education. These developments challenge the “traditional” model of university education and its future. How does the management of European universities adapt to these innovations? What are the new modes of education provision across Europe? What is the role of university governance and government policy in establishing and regulating innovative modes of education provision? What are the motivations, barriers and drivers for innovative education provision? The definition of innovation used for this project is derived from the OECD’s Oslo Manual, in which innovation is an implemented change with an increased added value. This concept comes from an understanding of innovation from economics that regards knowledge and technology as being responsible for growth, rather than a neoclassical view of growth flowing from capital and labour. In the context of this project, the place of innovation as an intersection between knowledge and technology is especially appropriate