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Previous studies have investigated whether inflammatory cytokines in maternal circulation are associated with preterm birth. However, many have reported inconsistent results, and few have investigated cytokine trends through gestation, particularly with respect to subtypes of preterm birth. We explored levels of 15 inflammatory cytokines and growth factors in plasma and serum collected in the second (17–23 weeks, timepoint 1 (T1)) and third (28–32 weeks, timepoint 2 (T2)) trimesters with respect to subtypes of preterm birth: spontaneous preterm labour (sPTL), preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM), and medically indicated preterm birth (mPTB). The change in TNFα levels over time (T2/T1) significantly classified mPTB from term birth with an AUC of 0.79. While elevated sICAM-1 levels were significantly associated with sPTL, sICAM-1 was not an effective biomarker for prediction. While statistical differences in some biomarkers, such as TNFα and sICAM-1 were found, these are likely not clinically meaningful for prediction. These results did not reveal a relationship between spontaneous labour and circulating maternal inflammatory biomarkers, however, do suggest distinct inflammatory profiles between subtypes of preterm birth.

Vocational education often is ignored during discussions of secondary education reform even though it accounts for between 25 percent and 79 percent of upper secondary enrollment in the former centrally-planned countries of the European Union. Based on information, data, and feedback from most of these countries, this paper develops a set of propositions about vocational education reform, not with a view to prescribing a detailed “one-size-fits-all” strategy, but rather it derives some principles that continued reform of vocational education could take into account, to the benefit of fiscal efficiency.

This paper summarizes the experiences to date of the new EU countries (the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia—the EU8) in the reform of higher education systems in a period of growing demand; changing patterns of access; rapid expansion and increased participation rates; and an apparent dilution of average quality. The study discusses the growing experience with a variety of financing mechanisms in EU8 countries, drawing on detailed country case studies, and seeks to develop some useful lessons from experience, mindful that each country will continue to develop its own solution based on national priorities.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the operation of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland's (ICAI) complaint process from the complainant's perspective. The findings are interpreted drawing on key elements of Parker's private interest model of professional accounting ethics, particularly the private interest roles of professional authority and professional insulation. The primary evidence used is drawn from numerous sources. These include: extensive \"private\" documentation comprising original correspondence between the complainant in the case examined (or his advisors) and various representatives of the ICAI spanning a five-year period; detailed supporting documentation included with this correspondence; Independent Experts' Reports on the complaints submitted; and in-depth interviews with the complainant prior to, during, and post the examination of the documentary evidence. The paper reveals how high levels of professional authority and professional insulation worked in tandem to prevent complaints entering the complaint process and deny the complainant reasons for decisions taken. It demonstrates how a key structural barrier in the complaint process, the screening role of the professional accounting body's secretary, created a complainant impression of a process concerned primarily with protecting members' interests. Subsequent to complaint process changes, an erosion of professional insulation is unveiled. However, this proves fleeting and, in response to persistent complainant challenges to heightened demonstrations of professional authority, the degree of professional insulation intensifies further. Research limitations/implications - The paper focuses on a specific case where the complainant was dissatisfied with the ICAI's procedures. It reveals the extent to which complainants using professional body complaints procedures may, often by virtue of the structures in place, feel that profession protection motives are overriding purported concerns for society protection. The paper extends and advances the literature examining professional accounting body disciplinary and complaint procedures. Prior research investigating the operation of these procedures has neglected to examine complaint processes in depth to inform their evaluations, particularly from the perspective of potential users of these processes. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the operation of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland's (ICAI) complaint process from the complainant's perspective. The findings are interpreted drawing on key elements of Parker's private interest model of professional accounting ethics, particularly the private interest roles of professional authority and professional insulation.Design/methodology/approach – The primary evidence used is drawn from numerous sources. These include: extensive “private” documentation comprising original correspondence between the complainant in the case examined (or his advisors) and various representatives of the ICAI spanning a five‐year period; detailed supporting documentation included with this correspondence; Independent Experts' Reports on the complaints submitted; and in‐depth interviews with the complainant prior to, during, and post the examination of the documentary evidence.Findings – The paper reveals how high levels of professional authority and professional insulation worked in tandem to prevent complaints entering the complaint process and deny the complainant reasons for decisions taken. It demonstrates how a key structural barrier in the complaint process, the screening role of the professional accounting body's secretary, created a complainant impression of a process concerned primarily with protecting members' interests. Subsequent to complaint process changes, an erosion of professional insulation is unveiled. However, this proves fleeting and, in response to persistent complainant challenges to heightened demonstrations of professional authority, the degree of professional insulation intensifies further.Research limitations/implications – The paper focuses on a specific case where the complainant was dissatisfied with the ICAI's procedures. It reveals the extent to which complainants using professional body complaints procedures may, often by virtue of the structures in place, feel that profession protection motives are overriding purported concerns for society protection.Originality/value – The paper extends and advances the literature examining professional accounting body disciplinary and complaint procedures. Prior research investigating the operation of these procedures has neglected to examine complaint processes in depth to inform their evaluations, particularly from the perspective of potential users of these processes.

This paper aims to advance understanding of the disciplinary decision-making process underpinning the professional ethics machinery employed by professional accounting organizations, using elements of francophone organizational analysis to examine the influence of the key formal organizational components established by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI) to administer its disciplinary decision-making process up to Dec 1999. This paper uses evidence gathered from a series of in-depth interviews with members of the ICAI disciplinary and investigation committees. This paper illuminates the internal tensions and conflicts permeating the disciplinary decision-making process of the ICAI and the influence key organizational components have on resolving these conflicts through their encouragement of decision making driven by a preferred reasoning or logic of action.

The primary aim of this study is to examine the descriptive power of the private interest model of professional accounting ethics developed by Parker in 1994. This examination is undertaken over an extended time period in the Irish context. It develops prior research which concluded that the operation of the professional ethics machinery of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (CAI) facilitated private interest motives on the part of the ICAI. The paper draws on evidence regarding three critical events occurring outside the disciplinary process of the ICAI but impacting directly on its operation as well as on perceptions from within the process. The discourse surrounding the disciplinary process from 1994 to 2001 is examined using media coverage and ICAI pronouncements. This is augmented with in-depth interviews held with members of the ICAI disciplinary committees. The analysis provides evidence of pockets of support for the descriptive power of Parker's model but also illustrates how the rigid and static nature of the separate roles depicted within the model can often fail to capture the complexity of the various changes occurring over the period examined. The study presents evidence which challenges the proposed interrelationships between the various private interest roles depicted in the model and makes some suggestions for the modification of the model, particularly the interrelationships depicted therein. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

[The editor] brings together, in one accessible source, current education reforms in 16 countries, written and analyzed by experts in the field. This book offers: education reform in a wide range of countries selected to represent diverse societies and education systems; a unique analysis of how education reformers respond to rapidly changing societies and increased demand for education in the face of limited resources; case studies showing the difficult tradeoffs countries make as they attempt to implement change, all in the context of historical antecedents, values, and political structures that facilitate or constrain their reform efforts; a book that goes beyond myths and stereotypes and describes how countries address global pressures, immigration patterns, and increasing gaps in socioeconomic levels; description of political and economic pressures that determine a country's policies concerning equality of educational opportunity, access to higher education, student testing and tracking, teacher accountability, decentralization, school choice, and innovation; an invaluable resource for policymakers, faculty, students, and the general public who are interested in how decisions made about the education system will ultimately affect the quality of education, educational access, and social justice. (DIPF/Orig.).

Ubiquitination provides a means of rapidly and irreversibly eliminating an unwanted protein from the cell, and is therefore a potentially effective tool for regulating cellular behaviour. Ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis is involved in such diverse physiological functions as growth control, cell signalling, differentiation and the immune response. The aim of this research has been to investigate its role in Drosophila embryogenesis. Protein ubiquitination is a stepwise process carried out by three classes of enzyme known as E1s, E2s and E3s. The E1 (ubiquitin-activating enzyme), generates a thiolester linkage with a ubiquitin cysteine residue. The activated ubiquitin is then transferred to an E2 (ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme) which, with the help of an E3 (ubiquitin-protein ligase), recruits the substrate protein which is to be degraded. I examined the embryonic expression patterns of several known and novel genes encoding each type of ubiquitinating enzyme. The E2 UbcD4 is transcribed during early to mid-embryogenesis in a variety of tissues, with specific germcell expression in stage 10 embryos. This suggested a possible role for UbcD4 in germ cell migration towards the somatic gonadal precursors. UbcD4 mRNA was also abundant in git and nervous system during germband retraction and dorsal closure. I screened for UbcD4 - interacting proteins using the yeast two-hybrid system, and identified several putative substrates for, as well as ancillary factors involved in, ubiquitination by UbcD4. These included a novel E3 of the Hect-domain family. In an attempt to examine the function of UbcD4 directly, I used RNA interference to disrupt UbcD4 function. The results suggest a post-germband retraction requirement for UbcD4.