Politics, Policy and History: History Teaching in Irish Secondary Schools 1922-1970

The teaching of history in Ireland has proved highly relevant to the development of Irish national identity and continues to be politically and culturally significant. Critics of the approach taken to the teaching of history in Irish secondary schools between 1922 and 1970 and of the process of curricular development might suggest that deficiencies in these areas facilitated the propagation of a prejudiced account of Irish history, and contributed to a phenomenon whereby a sense of history was replaced in popular memory with a sense of grievance. This article is an analysis of the social, political, economic and cultural factors that influenced the teaching of history, the content and tone of textbooks, and the development of the history curriculum in secondary schools in the half-century following the inauguration of the Irish Free State in 1922. It charts the evolution of the exploitative relationship between church, state, and history and assesses the costs involved.L’enseignement de l’histoire en Irlande entretient un lien étroit avec le développement de l’identité nationale irlandaise et continue d’être significatif politiquement et culturellement. Les détracteurs de l’approche adoptée dans l’enseignement d’histoire dans les écoles secondaires irlandaises entre 1922 et 1970 et dans le processus de développement du cursus, pourraient avancer que les faiblesses dans ces approches ont facilité la propagation d’un récit préconçu de l’histoire irlandaise, et ont entraîné un glissement par lequel la perception de l’histoire dans la mémoire populaire a cédé la place à un sentiment d’injustice. Cet article comprend une analyse des aspects sociaux, politiques, économiques et culturels qui ont influencé l’enseignement d’histoire, le contenu et le ton des manuels scolaires, et le développement du cursus d’histoire dans les écoles secondaires dans le demi-siècle après l’inauguration l’État Libre d’Irlande en 1922. Il prend aussi en considération l’évolution des rapports de force entre l’Église, l’État, et l’histoire et évalue les implications de ces interactions

Prophylactic Peri-Nephric Drain Placement in Renal Transplant Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Renal transplantation is common worldwide, with >25,000 procedures performed in 2022. Usage of prophylactic perinephric drains is variable in renal transplantation; drains are associated with risks, and there is a lack of consensus regarding benefit of routine drain placement in these patients. This meta-analysis assessed whether prophylactic drainage reduced need for reintervention postoperatively. This systematic review and meta-analysis was carried out using the Preferred Reporting Items in Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis, and prospectively registered on PROSPERO. Summary statistics for outcomes of interest underwent meta-analyses to a confidence interval (CI) of 95% and are presented as Forest Plots for Odds Ratio (OR). A systematic literature search in June 2023 revealed 1,540 unique articles across four databases. Of these, four retrospective cohort studies were selected. Meta-analysis of three studies showed no significant reduction in reintervention rate with pre-emptive drain placement, OR = 0.59 (95% CI: 0.16–2.23), p = 0.44. Meta-analysis did not show a significant reduction in perinephric collections with prophylactic drain insertion OR = 0.55 (95% CI: 0.13–2.37), p = 0.42. Finally, there is not good evidence that drain placement reduces superficial wound complications or improves 12-month graft survival. Further work is needed, including well-designed, prospective studies to assess the risks and benefits of drain placement in these patients. Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42023422685, Identifier PROSPERO CRD42021255795

Investigation into the role of monocyte tumour necrosis factor-alpha converting enzyme as a regulator of the inflammatory response in sepsis

Sepsis consists of both the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and the compensatory anti-inflammatory response syndrome (CARS). How these differential response states are regulated is yet to be fully elucidated. Tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF) is one of the principal cytokines involved in mediating SIRS. TNF is released from cells by tumour necrosis factor-alpha converting enzyme (TACE), this enzyme is responsible for the ectodomain cleavage of a number of other substrates relevant to inflammation including both TNF receptors and the adhesion molecule L-selectin. How TACE contributes to, and functions in, SIRS and CARS is not yet known. My objective was to investigate TACE activity and associated substrate shedding in monocytes, specifically how the enzyme behaved in the context of in vitro models that I designed to induce states of priming and tolerance. I then obtained in vivo samples from critically ill patients to determine whether there were similarities between the TACE activity profiles found in patient cells, and volunteer cells placed in the in vitro models. My aims were: 1) Determine how TACE activity profiles were altered when sequential inflammatory stimuli were utilised in a two-hit model of sepsis designed to induce states of priming and tolerance and 2) To perform a clinical study to investigate TACE behaviour in the context of critical illness. I successfully refined a method of isolating primary monocytes from healthy volunteers and patients that allowed determination of TACE activity profiles. Furthermore, I demonstrated that the LPS-TACE axis was reset in the context of a two-hit LPS model and in sepsis. I found evidence of differential signalling pathway reprogramming in monocytes taken from patients with infectious and non-infectious SIRS. Finally, I demonstrated that the monocyte TACE response to LPS is dependent on cell contact. These data provide new insights into monocyte inflammatory function during the immune response

Cloning and characterization of novel methylsalicylic acid synthase gene involved in the biosynthesis of isoasperlactone and asperlactone in Aspergillus westerdijkiae

Aspergillus westerdijkiae is the main producer of several biologically active polyketide metabolites including isoasperlactone and asperlactone. A 5298 bp polyketide synthase gene ‘‘aomsas” has been cloned in Aspergillus westerdijkiae by using gene walking approach and RACE-PCR. The predicted amino acid sequence of aomsas shows an identity of 40–56% with different methylsalicylic acid synthase genes found in Byssochlamys nivea, P. patulum, A. terreus and Streptomyces viridochromogenes. Based on the reverse transcription PCR and kinetic secondary metabolites production studies, aomsas expression was found to be associated with the biosynthesis of isoasperlactone and asperlactone. Moreover an aomsas knockout mutant ‘‘aoDmsas” of A. westerdijkiae, not only lost the capacity to produce isoasperlactone and asperlactone,but also 6-methylsalicylic acid. The genetically complemented mutant ao+msas restored the biosynthesis of all the missing metabolites. Chemical complementation through the addition of 6-methylsalicylic acid, aspyrone and diepoxide to growing culture of aoDmsas mutant revealed that these compounds play intermediate roles in the biosynthesis of asperlactone and isoasperlactone

Solid state transformers topologies, controllers, and applications: State-of-the-art literature review

With the global trend to produce clean electrical energy, the penetration of renewable energy sources in existing electricity infrastructure is expected to increase significantly within the next few years. The solid state transformer (SST) is expected to play an essential role in future smart grid topologies. Unlike traditional magnetic transformer, SST is flexible enough to be of modular construction, enabling bi-directional power flow and can be employed for AC and DC grids. Moreover, SSTs can control the voltage level and modulate both active and reactive power at the point of common coupling without the need to external flexible AC transmission system device as per the current practice in conventional electricity grids. The rapid advancement in power semiconductors switching speed and power handling capacity will soon allow for the commercialisation of grid-rated SSTs. This paper is aimed at introducing a state-of-the-art review for SST proposed topologies, controllers, and applications. Additionally, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis along with a brief review of market drivers for prospective commercialisation are elaborated

Reviews and contestability: new directions for Defence

Overview: The First Principles Review of Defence is arguably the most significant review of the defence establishment since the 1973 re-organisation led by Sir Arthur Tange. This Strategic Insights brings together a series of contributions to ASPI’s blog The Strategist written by ten experts with long experience and broad knowledge of Australia’s defence bureaucracy. They bring a wealth of different perspectives and point to significant challenges ahead for Defence if the reforms proposed by the First Principles Review are to succeed

Potentiation of latent inhibition by haloperidol and clozapine is attenuated in Dopamine D2 receptor (Drd-2) deficient mice: Do antipsychotics influence learning to ignore irrelevant stimuli via both Drd-2 and non-Drd-2 mechanisms?

Whether the dopamine Drd-2 receptor is necessary for the behavioural action of antipsychotic drugs is an important question, as Drd-2 antagonism is responsible for their debilitating motor side effects. Using Drd-2 null mice (Drd2 -/-) it has previously been shown that Drd-2 is not necessary for antipsychotic drugs to reverse D-amphetamine disruption of latent inhibition (LI), a behavioural measure of learning to ignore irrelevant stimuli. Weiner's 'two-headed' model indicates that antipsychotics not only reverse LI disruption, 'disrupted LI', but also potentiate LI when low/absent in controls, 'persistent' LI. We investigated whether antipsychotic drugs haloperidol or clozapine potentiated LI in wild-type controls or Drd2 -/-. Both drugs potentiated LI in wild-type but not in Drd2 -/- mice, suggesting moderation of this effect of antipsychotics in the absence of Drd-2. Haloperidol potentiated LI similarly in both Drd1 -/- and wild-type mice, indicating no such moderation in Drd1 -/-. These data suggest that antipsychotic drugs can have either Drd-2 or non-Drd-2 effects on learning to ignore irrelevant stimuli, depending on how the abnormality is produced. Identification of the non-Drd-2 mechanism may help to identify novel non-Drd2 based therapeutic strategies for psychosis