bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The 1989 Research Selectivity Exercise: A Statistical Analysis of Differences in Research Rating between Universities at the Cost Centre Level
Authors: Johnes Jill , Taylor Jim
Published: August 2007

This paper reviews the outcomes of the 1988/9 UFC research selectivity exercise and uses these as a basis for recommendations to those undertaking the 1992/3 exercise. Attention is drawn to disparities between subjects which may result in inefficient allocations at institutional level. Of eight factors incorporated into a statistical model only size of cost centre is consistently associated with research selectively score. The only other variable that influences an individual cost centre's score in the majority of subject areas is that institution's score in other subjects ‐ thus suggesting a ‘halo’ effect. Surprisingly, research expenditure per member of staff is not strongly associated with reseach selectively rating.
The Potential Effects of Wider Access to Higher Education on Degree Quality
Authors: Johnes Jill
Published: August 2007

Against a background of rapidly increasing enrolment, both actual and planned, and the improbability of increasing resources, this paper explores the relationship between degree results and entry qualifications amongst students in all sectors of higher education.
A New Approach to Quality Assurance for Higher Education
Authors: Tannock James D. T.
Published: August 2007

This article describes the Engineering Professors’ Conference (EPC) approach to quality assurance for Higher Education Institutions, which is currently the only formalized alternative to British Standard 5750 ‘Quality Systems’. The EPC approach is based on principles of quality assurance and Total Quality Management which have been developed in industry. These ideas are briefly outlined, and an opinion expressed on the interpretation and application of BSS7S0 for HE. The EPC model is explained, illustrated with example elements taken from the EPC Specification and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Higher Education. A top‐down approach to the development of an institutional quality system is described, based on a quality policy statement. Areas of activity which have an important impact on the quality of education are identified, emphasising the quality assurance requirements of academic departments. Supporting and administrative quality system requirements are also described, as these also play an important role in the quality of education. Formal quality procedures and documentation in key areas are proposed.
Are Professors Professional?
Authors: Piper David Warren
Published: August 2007

Can university teaching be counted a profession? The work of academics is examined against four criteria associated with professional life: members share a body of knowledge; professional identity is for life; professionals are accountable for the effects of what they do rather than for the actions they take; professional bodies restrict access and enforce codes of practice. The conclusion is that academics form a Janus‐faced profession in which their professionalism is more evident in respect of the subjects they teach than in respect of their academic duties of teaching and examining. Professional training is recommended as the appropriate treatment for this lop‐sided condition.
Managing Professionals and Professional Autonomy
Authors: Kennerley J. A.
Published: August 2007

Professionals have concerns about their freedom and autonomy, particularly when they work within organisations. Managers have corporate goals to achieve and have few sources of power with which to direct the professionals. This paper argues that given a high calibre of managerial leadership it is possible to manage the professionals. The reasons for the tensions between the two groups are examined and related to respective values and cultures. It is argued that in most organisations there is sufficient consonance between the aims of the two groups for a shared vision and shared values to be established once potential leaders have been identified. A point is made about the methods of achieving this.
Research, Teaching and Scholarship in an Expanding Higher Education System 1
Authors: Elton Lewis
Published: August 2007

It is argued that, basically, academics engage in three activities: teaching, research and scholarship, and that the activity of scholarship must be recognised and separately funded. The concept of scholarship is derived from its historical roots, according to which it supports both teaching and research, but is extended to support all activities in which academics engage. This makes it possible to develop an expanding system of higher education in which all academic activities are appropriately recognised and rewarded and which can operate with significantly lower unit costs than has been the case in the past. However, the need to provide funding for scholarship puts a lower bound to acceptable unit costs.
The ‘American System’ and the Modern University
Authors: Tribe Keith , University Keele
Published: August 2007

This article takes as its starting point the remarks of Max Weber on the German and American university systems of organisation. It goes on to examine these more closely and in particular to see the differences in characteristics between the two systems as aspects of organization of knowledge and learning as well as of institutions. The development of the structure of the British University system is considered in the light of the German and American experience and, in conclusion, Weber's comments are seen as a framework within which modern concerns can be usefully analysed.
Ethnic Group Data and Applications to Higher Education
Authors: Taylor Paul
Published: August 2007

This paper presents findings from the ethnic group data collection exercise carried out by UCCA. The collection of data on ethnic origin is very recent in the admissions systems for higher education and this paper represents the first detailed study of this data for UCCA. The main finding is that acceptance into universities varies according to ethnic origin. Key patterns of application are discussed which explain only some of the discrepancies in acceptance rates. The findings indicate the importance of effective monitoring of admissions and the need to enquire into acceptance criteria that are applied in institutions.
Research Management for Selectivity and Concentration ‐ With What Effect?
Authors: Williams Bruce
Published: August 2007

There have been three research assessment exercises in British universities in 1986, 1989 and 1992. Average scores have risen over the period which is usually interpreted as showing how research performance is improving. However, it also means that universities with the highest ratings progressively receive a smaller share of the total research funds available. In 1992 over a hundred additional institutions were included in the exercise and this further diluted the research allocations.
Anatomy of a Merger
Authors: Arbuthnott J. P. , Bone T. R.
Published: August 2007

The 1993 merger between Jordanhill College of Education and the University of Strathclyde is analysed by the Principals of the two institutions. They examine such factors as the nature of the merger itself, the importance of the timing of the proposal, the influence exercised by prior experiences, and the attitude of the key players ‐ Senate, Academic Board, Court and Governors, students, academic and non‐academic trade unions, the Funding Council and the Scottish Office Education Department. The authors then proceed to compare their merger with mergers which have occurred in higher education in the Netherlands and in Australia. While there was a major difference, in that there was no government pressure to merge, there were other significant ways in which the process was similar. Many of the lessons learned in those countries apply equally in the UK.
Franchising: The Quiet Revolution
Authors: Woodrow Maggie
Published: August 2007

The rapid spread affranchising activity by universities over the last few years has been a quiet revolution ‐ revolutionary in its speed and radical nature, but so quiet that its significance has yet to be assessed. Publications on franchising, and there are only a few, are investigative and informative, rather than analytical or policy‐oriented. This is perhaps because there has been no major national policy lead on franchising. Government departments and national bodies have contributed at best encouragement and recognition; at worst suspicion and obstruction. In the tradition of revolutionary activity, franchising has been a bottom‐up initiative, institution‐led, and at a speed which, ‘In a sector not known as a quick‐change artist is breathtaking’. This paper examines the origins, nature and implications of this quiet revolution.
Mission Impossible? Access and the Dash to Growth in British Higher Education
Authors: Smith David N. , Scott Peter , Mackay Lesley
Published: August 2007

Access is a central issue in the debate about the future shape and characteristics of the post‐binary system of higher education. It is seen as crucial to the shift towards a more open, mass system. This paper examines commitments to access in the contents of institutional missions and strategic plans. The results of our analysis suggest a widespread concern to be involved in the access process. However, we also reveal substantial differences in emphasis between the older universities, ex‐polytechnics and colleges that comprise the post‐binary system. On the basis of present institutional planning it would appear that access is frequently seen as an addition to, rather than a replacement of, the commitments of the binary era. Our evidence suggests that a fundamental shift of ethos within the system as a whole may be some way off.
The White Paper and Academic Research
Authors: Collins Peter
Published: August 2007

This paper reviews the recent White Paper Realising our potential: a strategy for Science, Engineering and Technology (Cm 2250) from the point of view of academic research. It deals particularly with ownership of the White Paper process, with the main policy thrusts of the White Paper and with instruments for implementation.
The Restructuring of Higher Education in Economics
Authors: Ayres Ron
Published: August 2007

The changing structure of higher education in economics is discussed in the context of the dual elements of control exerted through the Universities Funding Council (UFC) research assessment exercises and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) recognition exercises. The evidence points to a major restructuring taking place within the old university sector with the majority of economics departments making up a second ‘mixed’ tier while the new universities are primarily but not exclusively ‘teaching’ institutions. On the whole ‘research’ tier departments have achieved overall excellence but there are a few cases where a departments position is based on a specialist niche in the subject. While departmental size is linked to research output there is evidence of research excellence throughout the Higher Education (HE) sector and the paper argues against a severe rationalization of research funds. The significance of the changes for course delivery are briefly discussed.
Assessment and Productive Research
Authors: Kogan Maurice
Published: August 2007

This paper discusses the ways in which institutions and academics might creatively determine their plans for research, in the light of the assessment exercises.

It is difficult to know how to be systematic and optimistic about generating and completing research; most of the best efforts come from individuals’ own initiatives rather than from the proddings of an assessment machine or a quality industry. That does not mean, however, that we should not try to think about research in a systematic fashion but the system does little to help us do so.

The second problem is that the policies underlying the assessment exercises are largely wrong, and designed to be purgative rather than developmental, reductionist rather than a contribution to creating a larger and more useful scientific base in this country.

The paper spends some time on these uncertainties, because they inevitably affect what academic groups just coming to terms with the research mission can and should do. It then discusses ways in which academics can build up their own academic mandates.
University Autonomy: The ‘80s and After
Authors: Eustace Rowland
Published: August 2007

British institutions and individual academics have in recent years suffered large losses, perceived and real, in their autonomy; either to a hostile State or to managers within the institutions. This paper looks at recent research evidence, to see which autonomies may have survived and how important they are. Signs are found that the culture of autonomy in Britain is still strong, that managers are under pressures to enlist scholarly support and that political ideologies do not always retain some significant control of their own values.

Some basic British assumptions, mainly historical, about administration and about the state here and in Europe are then looked at, where it seems that misunderstandings may contribute to the current crisis, perhaps collapse, of confidence within the universities. If these understandings could be seen in a wider context, the crisis itself might become more manageable.
An Exploratory Study of Stress in a British University
Authors: Daniels Kevin
Published: August 2007

This paper reports an exploratory study of stress and psychological well‐being in British University staff. Unlike previous studies of stress in University staff, this study examines stress not only in relation to lecturing staff, but also research and support staff. Principal components analysis of a fifteen item stressor scale revealed two orthogonal dimensions, relating to quantitative overload stressors and role stressors respectively. Both were found to be related to a measure of psychological well‐being. Differences in these stressor factors were found between the various types of university employee; academic staff were found to report more work load and managerial stressors, but reported fewer role stressors.
Enterprise in Higher Education: Nice Work, or Ivory Tower Versus Exchange & Mart?
Authors: Prickett Stephen
Published: August 2007

Enterprise in Higher Education and related programmes are having an increasing influence upon the curriculum and practice of undergraduate teaching, yet there has been a curious lack of a detailed critique of their underlying principles. Two forms of justification can be found for Enterprise in Higher Education: the ideology of the marketplace, and individual self‐development. The tension between these two justifications lies at the root of the problems with the scheme.
Higher Education Participation of Northern Irish Students 1
Authors: Cormack Robert , Osborne Robert
Published: August 2007

Higher education in Britain displays a diversity of patterns of participation and provision. The establishment of funding councils for England, Scotland, Wales; together with the advisory body the Northern Ireland Higher Education Council (NIHEC), for Northern Ireland, will further increase this diversity. As these councils go about their work, a valuable exercise might be conducted by recording the patterns of participation in the early 1990s. Each council confronts a different tradition, with different levels of participation, and with somewhat different issues on their policy agenda. The NIHEC oversees a small two university system, with a high Northern Irish age participation index, and where affirmative action and equal opportunity measures have a particular prominence.
Higher Education and Unemployment
Authors: Williams Bruce
Published: August 2007

Graduates from HEIs play key roles in process and product innovations which generate growth in output per worker and incomes. Some innovations increase and some reduce the demand for labour over time, and population growth apart, the net effect has been labour saving ‐ life hours of work have fallen considerably. An important part of that reduction has been later entry to the labour force. While HEIs and their students respond to the manpower needs of employers, a more important response is that of employers to the great social change from elite to mass higher education. Post employment education and training is increasing and in the most dynamic economies the role of the business sector in FE&T is likely to increase relative to that of the education sector.
Proposals for an Associate Degree ‐ the search for the ‘missing link’ of British higher education
Authors: Robertson David , Moores Liverpool John
Published: August 2007

This paper revisits debates about the place of an intermediate qualification in British higher education and suggests that arguments can be revitalised to meet the criticisms of earlier proposals. The paper maintains that a suitably defined interim award remains necessary for the establishment of a national qualifications framework facilitating student choice and progression, and as a vehicle to deliver the next stage of expansion in higher education and beyond. Support for an ‘Associate Degree’ is likely to depend on characteristics which offer advantages to students and their employers, making it different from previous proposals and other international versions.
The Australian Vice‐Chancellors' Committee: From Gentlemen's Club to Political Lobby
Authors: Marshall Neil
Published: August 2007

During the mid 1980s the Australian Vice‐Chancellors’Committee functioned as an informal but influential interest group in the higher education policy arena. With the introduction of the government's reform program of 1987–88 the committee found itself placed in a weakened and ineffective position. Since that time it has fought back to become an impressive and powerful political lobby. This article explores how the vice‐chancellors went about rebuilding their organization, the way in which it now interacts with government, and the extent of its impact on policy development. Discussion concludes with an examination of the internal problems still besetting the committee.
Quality Judgements and Quality Improvement
Authors: Fry Heather
Published: August 2007

This paper considers the quality movement in English higher education through an examination of four quality techniques, those of Total Quality Management, assurance of systems, assessment and audit. A heuristic device is used to further understanding through examination of judgements concerning association of the four techniques with a range of purposes, criteria and methods of evaluation. An emphasis throughout is the connections between improvement and evaluation; teaching and learning are the focus of the discussion. Some of the conclusions are linked to possible ways forward for the next phase of assessment, including the need to reduce emphasis on external evaluation and measurement and facilitate the development of a culture more aligned to improvement.
Edging Towards the Twenty First Century: Oxford and the North Commission of Inquiry
Authors: Tapper Ted , Salter Brian
Published: August 2007

The University of Oxford has established a Commission of Inquiry, chaired by its Vice‐Chancellor, to define the University's role in the Twenty‐First Century. The purpose of this article is to explore the context within which the Commission has emerged and to suggest that it needs to tackle three broad tasks: to define the central purposes of the University, to show how it should be organized to achieve those purposes, and to consider how its activities are to be financed. The article ennumerates the problems that the Commission must tackle while addressing these tasks, and makes suggestions as to its likely recommendations. It concludes by raising the possibility that Oxford's attempt to define its role may help to generate a much needed debate on the future shape of higher education in Britain.
Reform in Higher Education in Canada
Authors: Small James M.
Published: August 2007

Reform in higher education is a topic of great interest world‐wide because of the financial pressures facing institutions and the increasing demand for access. Also there is a perceived reluctance to respond to the political will of governments and the forces of the marketplace. Universities and colleges are accused of being complacent, unresponsive, and more concerned about maintaining their autonomy and self‐interests than in providing service to the public.

Canadian higher education is not immune from such criticism, but the extent to which it is justified is by no means clear. In order to explore the responsiveness of Canadian universities and colleges to the forces of change, two surveys were recently conducted to obtain an institutional perspective. The findings reveal that higher institutions in Canada are in a ferment of change, but the changes described are more in the nature of responses to forces in the social, financial, and political environment than policy‐driven, sustainable, long‐range, system‐wide reforms.

The surveys confirm patterns of change found in other federal nations and reflect a government strategy of self‐regulation blended with fiscal controls. Provincial governments have shown a reluctance to bring about change by legislation, but the threat of legislation is a powerful incentive for reform, without compromising the essentially autonomous nature of the institutions.
Performance Indicators and League Tables: A Call for Standards
Authors: Morrison H. G. , Magennis S. P. , Carey L. J.
Published: August 2007

League tables are weighted combinations of scores on performance indicators. The Times newspaper publishes an annual league table of British universities and the focus of this article is the 1994 table. The scores of ninety‐six universities on fourteen performance indicators are ranked using weights which ‘reflect the interests of students’. The league table is intended as a resource which allows students to compare universities and therefore it is important for both students and universities that valid inferences can be drawn from its use. The table fails to meet any of the technical requirements which would assure its internal construct validity. The educational measurement literature requires that validity inquiry must include consideration of social consequences and it is demonstrated that the technical shortcomings of the Times table could have significant adverse impact, even in the top ten universities. It is argued that universities should forsake their current stance of non‐co‐operation and develop a shortlist of demanding technical standards, linked to the educational measurement literature, which could be referenced in effective attacks upon poorly constructed league tables.
Purchasers and Providers: The Impact of the NHS Reforms on Medical Schools
Authors: Whitchurch Celia M. , Roberts Alun W.
Published: August 2007

The introduction of the National Health Service (NHS) reforms, and more particularly of an internal market for the provision of health care to local populations, is continuing to impact on medical education and research in ways that create considerable challenges for university managers. The lack of an overarching framework of principles at national level means that they are having to negotiate outcomes and develop solutions to problems locally, with no guarantee of consistency across the country. Moreover, the market is not a totally free market, but subject to Government intervention when this is considered politically expedient. University managers’efforts to safeguard the interests of medical education nationally and institutionally may have salutary lessons for other areas of university activity, and provide an indication of future trends.
Teaching and Learning in the University: New Directions for Australian Higher Education
Authors: Kennedy Kerry J.
Published: August 2007

The purpose of this paper is to outline recent changes to higher education in Australia and assess the implications of those changes for teaching and learning in universities. Three main changes have been identified:

1. The meta‐policy context that has transformed a binary system of higher education into a unified national system of universities. This has given rise to the concept of the comprehensive university accompanied by an economic rationalist approach to the funding of higher education. Issues identified are the relativities to be accorded to teaching and research in the new universities and the push for more efficient modes of teaching.

2. Institutional changes that have influenced the traditional character of universities. These changes include the politicisation of Vice‐Chancellors whose peak body is now recognised by the government as the single voice of the university sector, the changing student composition of universities as a result of government policies relating to overseas students and students who have been traditionally underpresented in universities and the introduction of academic staff appraisal. An assessment is made of this broad range of changes on teaching and learning.

3. Changing conceptions of teaching are discussed with a particular emphasis on the work of Shulman and its implications for teaching in the university.
Labouring to Learn: Students’Debt and Term Time Employment in Belfast
Authors: Leonard Madeleine
Published: August 2007

This paper presents the results of a survey into the labour market experiences of 363 undergraduate students in the Department of Sociology and Social Policy at Queen's University, Belfast. The first pan of the paper will look at the debate surrounding the introduction of the Student Loans Scheme and the associated abolition of welfare benefit entitlements. The second pan of the paper will present the findings of the survey. Particular reference will be made to the financial situation facing undergraduate students and the extent to which term‐time employment presents a solution to their monetary problems.
Entrepreneurship in Universities: Definitions, Practices, and Implications
Authors: Keast David A.
Published: August 2007

Higher education today is faced with a perplexing array of often conflicting demands and pressures. There is continuing debate over a range of important concepts including educational quality, academic freedom, accountability, equity, affirmative action, and accessibility. These concepts reflect fundamental principles which form the basis for policy directions by governments and postsecondary education institutions. Yet, are we clear on what these principles mean and on how they interact? This discussion examines the various facets of the concept of entrepreneurship and the implications of entrepreneurial activities for higher education institutions. It is argued that basic differences exist in culture and values between higher education and the private sector, and that more attention to a clear understanding of the concepts and activities involved in entrepreneurship will reap benefits for higher education in future policy development and strategic planning.
The Quality of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: Evaluating the Evidence
Authors: Sharp Stephen
Published: August 2007

The issue of the quality of teaching in higher education is in the process of becoming a matter of greater public interest than hitherto. This paper concerns the evidence on which quality can be assessed. Drawing on the relevant literature from both the secondary and tertiary sectors of education, it reviews the types of evidence which are available. A critical analysis is offered of the extent to which each isolates teaching quality from distinct variables such as student characteristics and assessment standards. It is argued that quantitative approaches do not currently offer potential to assess teaching quality and are unlikely to do so given the current structure of higher education. The greatest promise lies in the external scrutiny recently instituted by the Higher Education Funding Councils and the Higher Education Quality Council. It is recommended that this scrutiny would be further strengthened by integrating the functions of these two authorities and by phasing out the use of numerical assessment scales in favour of wholly qualitative reporting.
Regional Institutional Evaluation
Authors: Smith Robin N.
Published: August 2007

Since the demise of the CNAA an increased number of universities have been responsible for the external validation and monitoring of courses undertaken at other institutions. This, and HEQC's policy of visiting to audit‘collaborative provision’has given greater significance to, and awareness of, institutional evaluation procedures. This paper outlines the development of institutional audit processes undertaken by one University in relation to those local institutions for which it acts as the validating authority. It presents a regional model for more effective and less costly external oversight of quality assurance within the HE sector, drawing upon the best practices of the CNAA institutional review processes and the strengths of the HEQC audit procedures, whilst overcoming their weaknesses. It concludes that a more regionally‐based national system may well be worth a further consideration in any review of higher education policy in the UK.
Academic Planning and Organizational Design: Lessons From Leading American Universities
Authors: Dill David D.
Published: August 2007

The emerging competitive environment of higher education, both within and between countries, is requiring universities in Europe and other pans of the world to emulate American institutions by becoming corporate entities with an independent capacity to make strategic choices among academic programmes and activities. A number of the leading American universities have developed comprehensive planning processes that offer suggestive guidance for managing in this new environment. These processes have emphasized: clarifying and articulating norms essential to the legimacy of planning; grouping and consolidating functions; promoting reciprocal communication; encouraging the development of a planning capacity within each strategic unit; and increasing direct communication and the sharing of information among members of the academic community. Essentially these universities have conceived of comprehensive planning as a problem of organizational design, systematically seeking means of promoting integration in a highly differentiated organization. The specific mechanisms by which this integration has been accomplished are reviewed.
The Re‐Location of Higher Education
Authors: Tight Malcolm
Published: August 2007

The recent expansion in participation in higher education in England also has a locational dimension, though this is usually overlooked. Three periods of expansion in university numbers may be identified during the twentieth century—in the 1900s, in the 1950s and 1960s, and most, recently, in the 1990s—interspersed by periods of stasis. Colleges of higher education and of further education also currently have an important role in localising study opportunities. The processes behind this expansion have involved both academic drift, the tendency for institutions to aspire to higher status, and ‘academic expurgation’, their tendency to drop lower level work. While the periodic creation of new universities has grabbed attention, much of the‘background’growth in student numbers between times has been part‐time. The distribution of higher education study opportunities across the country remains, however, very uneven, with the rural counties on the northern, eastern, western and south‐western peripheries of the country poorly provided for.
Could ‘Criteria’ used in Quality Assessments be Classified as Academic Standards?
Authors: de Vries Peter
Published: August 2007

The Higher Education Funding Council for England was given responsibility by the government of the day for assessing the quality of higher education institutions in England. It decided to make subject areas the focus of these quality assessments, within an objectives‐based approach to assessment. Assessments are made by peer subject assessors during visits to institutions. The report postulates that criteria‘other’than the aims and objectives of the institutions and subjects areas were used in the assessments. An analysis was done of reports of the assessments done in 1993–94. The study identifies which criteria were used and argues that these could be labelled as academic standards.
The Use of Time by Academic and Related Staff
Authors: Court Stephen
Published: August 2007

This paper reviews surveys of the use of time by academic staff between 1962 and 1994. It reports on the findings of a time diary survey in 1994 of the use of time by academic and academic‐related staff at British‘old’universities during working weeks in term‐time and vacation. The results of the time diary survey are analysed according to respondents’sex, staff grade, type of week, age, type of work, and time when work took place. The results are compared with results of previous surveys, and trends through time are suggested. In conclusion, the paper considers the recent mass expansion of higher education, the effects of this in increasing the workload of university staff, and measures to ameliorate this situation.
Quality Assessment with National Institutional Rankings and Performance Funding: The Australian Experiment, 1993–1995
Authors: Harman Grant
Published: August 2007

This paper provides a case‐study of the Australian quality assurance or quality assessment program which ran for three years from 1993 to 1995. The program was somewhat unusual among recent experiments with quality assurance in OECD countries in that, while it was based on annual academic audits of participating institutions, it also included publication of detailed annual reports on each institution, national rankings of institutions, and performance funding with additional funds coming from a special additional government allocation. In each of the first two years of the program, the most highly rated universities received an amount of additional funding equal to three per cent of their annual government operating grant.
Percutaneous Suture Closure for Brachial Artery Puncture
Authors: KIM ALBERT , FUSMAN BENJAMIN , JOLLY NEERAJ , FELDMAN TED
Published: August 2007

Percutaneous suture closure for femoral artery hemostasis has gained broad use over the last few years since its introduction. The appeal of suture closure is the immediate and definitive hemostasis that it achieves, even in anticoagulated patients. Described is the use of the Perclose Techstar XL 6Fr suture closure device for the management of brachial artery puncture after diagnostic and therapeutic catheterization. A 6Fr Perclose Techstar device was used for hemostasis during ten procedures in eight patients. In addition, 6Fr and 7Fr sheaths were used. Hemostasis was achieved in all but one patient, in whom hemostasis was not achieved and surgical repair was necessary. The Perclose Techstar device is useful for selected patients for achieving brachial arterial puncture site hemostasis. The large excursion of the foot of the new closer device may not be as applicable in arteries as small as the brachial artery. Patients who are obese may be best suited for this approach.
Effectiveness of Cutting Balloon Angioplasty for Small Vessels Less than 3.0 mm in Diameter
Authors: MURAMATSU TOSHIYA , TSUKAHARA REIKO , HO MAMI , YOSHIAKIITO M.D  , HIRANO KEISUKE , NAKANO MASATUGU , MATSUSHITA MASASHIRO
Published: August 2007

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of cutting balloon angioplasty (CBA) in small vessels<3.0 mm in diameter. Included were 166 patients (175 lesions) treated with CBA (CBA group), and 215 patients (240 lesions) were treated with plain old balloon angioplasty (POBA group). No differences were observed in patient backgrounds or lesion characteristics between the two groups. Procedural success rates were similar: 98.3% (CBA) versus 95.8% (POBA). Coronary dissection rates were also similar: 7.4% in the CBA versus 5.8% in the POBA group. Severe dissections (types E and F) occurred in 2.5% of cases in the POBA group, whereas there was none observed in the CBA group. In‐hospital complications occurred in 3.3% in the POBA group, and in only 0.6% in the CBA group. The restenosis rate was 37.5% (CBA group) versus 48.1 % (POBA group); and in vessels<2.75 mm, restenosis was significantly lower in the CBA group than in the POBA group (36.9% vs 62.7%, P<0.05). CBA may be a useful therapeutic strategy for small vessels, given the absence of severe coronary dissection and the significantly lower rate of restenosis compared to POBA.
Choice of Device Size and Results of Transcatheter Closure of Atrial Septal Defect Using the Amplatzer Septal Occluder
Authors: DU ZHONG‐DONG , CAO QI‐LING , RHODES JONATHAN , HEITSCHMIDT MARY , HIJAZI ZIYAD M.
Published: August 2007

The impact of device size choice on closure results was analyzed in 138 (101 females, 37 males; age 0.5–84.0 years) consecutive patients who underwent transcatheter closure of the secundum atrial septal defect (ASD) using the Amplatzer septal occluder (ASO). The balloon stretched diameter (SD) of ASD was 19.5 ± 7.2 mm in 123 patients with single defects, and 20.4 ± 6.6 mm for the largest defects in 15 patients with multiple ASDs. The difference (Δ) between ASO size chosen for closure and the stretched diameter of the defect was calculated and divided into groups: Δ (Δ<2 mm); B (Δ‐2.0 to ‐ 0.1 mm); C(Δ=0); D (Δ 0.1–2.0 mm) and E (Δ>2 mm). The results demonstrated that immediate and 24‐hour complete closure rates were significantly higher in patients in groups C and D (P<0.001). However, at 6‐month follow‐up, the complete closure rates were similar in patients of groups A‐D, while patients of group E had a lower closure rate of75%. The complication rates were similar in all groups. In conclusion, a choice of a device size identical to or within 2 mm larger than the SD of the defect should be used to maximize the closure rates of ASD using the ASO.
When Zebras Run with Horses: The Diagnostic Dilemma of Acute Aortic Dissection Complicated by Myocardial Infarction
Authors: NALLAMOTHU BRAHMAJEE K. , EAGLE KIM A.
Published: August 2007

In this issue of the Journal, Pinney and Wasserman1 describe the case of a patient who survives acute aortic dissection complicated by occlusion of the left main coronary ostium and anterior myocardial infarction (MI), due in part to the fortuitous presence of an anomalous left circumflex artery. The case illustrates the challenges of diagnosing aortic dissection, even in the current era of accurate and rapid aortic imaging, in individuals with concurrent acute MI. These comments are focused in this comment on two key aspects of the case: (1) How commonly do acute aortic dissections lead to myocardial ischemia and MI? and (2) When should clinicians consider ruling out acute aortic dissection in the setting of acute MI?
More Happenings in Ireland
Authors: Crawford V. M.
Published: August 2007

Out of the pall of gloom that hangs over Ireland to-day there has emerged a gleam of light. The Archbishop of Tuam, in weightiest words, has urged a Truce of God : a cessation on both sides of shooting and raiding in order that, in an atmosphere of calm and peace the foundation of an understanding between the two nations may be laid. On both sides of the Channel the idea is being eagerly canvassed, and men have at last been brought to see that a truce of some kind is an urgent necessity unless murder and violence and ruthless destruction of property are to be prolonged with ever-increasing bitterness, Somehow moderate men in either camp must be got together in spite of Dublin Castle on one side and the Irish Republican Forces on the other. But how? At the moment of writing, in Dublin, amid daily shootings, raids, arrests, and re-arrests, the prospect would appear utterly black were it not that the very intensity of the evil compels men to seek desperately for a solution. .

Readers of Blackfriars (Nov.) have already been given by an able pen all the main features of the situation. Nothing has changed since then save an intensification of the horror. There is little to be gained by summarizing here the melancholy events of the last few weeks. It is more to the purpose to try and put before English readers something of the mentality of the Irish people in this crisis of their history.
The Church in Action in America
Authors: Maynard Theodore
Published: August 2007

In many respects the rapid growth of the Catholic Church in the United States is the most remarkable spiritual phenomenon since apostolic times. The adequate account of that astonishing achievement has yet to be written ; but I can flash a light upon it by saying that in a little over a hundred years Catholic America has increased its dioceses from one to a hundred, and its membership from practically nothing to twenty millions of souls.

I have been staggered by what I have seen, for though I have generally small faith in the efficacy of efficiency, I was profoundly impressed by the kind of organization I found established. Catholic high schools were familiar enough ; but Catholic colleges managed by nuns were portents. Yet there are a very great number of these, and their success may be estimated from the fact that the Sacred Heart Order alone has produced in the late Louise Imogen Guiney the best woman poet America can claim, and in Agnes Repplier the best American essayist since the passing of the great New England literary group.

Moreover, the practical spirituality of American Catholicism is proved by the huge crowds flocking to the Sacraments week by week. And while the methods of a New York parish may strike an easy-going Englishman as a trifle bureaucratic, they no doubt are necessary to a people accustomed to clockwork regularity.
The Sword of Pizarro
Authors: Keable Robert
Published: August 2007

Madrid is a very modern city. There are, doubtless, ancient things in it, and certainly its palaces, its churches, and its squares are harshly called modern by a colonial visitor. But for all that, Madrid is, I repeat, a modern city. You feel it so. True, you have not to wait long to see an ox-cart pass across the Puerto del Sol and block the traffic of electric cars and automobiles, and there are folk in the Buen Retiro whose souls plainly belong to mediaeval Spain ; but still for all that Madrid is modern. You may be very lonely in Madrid, and that is the real hallmark of a modern city. I do not see how anyone could feel lonely in Toledo or Cordoba, for their very stones cry out, and there are thin ghost voices in the wind, and their bridges and walls are haunted. But it is not so in Madrid. Therefore shall I go to Madrid again for but two things and a third : to visit the Prado once more ; to feast my eyes on the sword of Pizarro ; and to leave with speed for Toledo, Cordoba, and the warm-scented South.

Now of the Prado I do not find that I can write. It is, of course, one of the great European galleries, and I love Spain. Moreover, it is a homely picture-gallery, and there are sixty-seven Velasquez pictures admirably and chronologically hung in one room. But enough : Cook’s Handbook of Spain is written so.
Race and Religion
Authors: Walker Leslie J.
Published: August 2007

It has long been recognized that there is a psychology not only of individuals, but also of groups. As with the hypothetical units of physics— electrons and atoms—so with the real units of the animal kingdom and of the human race, the group has a definite constitution and definite laws expressing its behaviour which are not the same as those which express the behaviour of the individuals of which the group is composed. Man is not merely an intelligent animal : he is also essentially a social animal, and, if the human race is to make progress, it is of supreme importance that the factors in social life which make for progress or for deterioration should be analysed out and critically discussed in their concrete historical setting.

This is the main aim of Professor McDougall’s latest work, The Group Mind., a book no less interesting than the other psychological works which Prof. McDougall has given us, and no less provocative of thought. It purports, in fact, to be the continuation of his Social Psychology, and assumes that the factors and principles of social life, as there laid down, are already familiar to the reader. These it now discusses from the point of view of the group. In the First Part the characteristics of different kinds of groups are set forth, notably those of the crude group or crowd and those of the most highly organized group—the army. Then there is a discussion of the group spirit, of the interrelation and interaction of groups, and of the peculiarities of certain types of group.
The Poetry of Walter Dela Mare
Authors: King R. W.
Published: August 2007

In his recently published lecture, Rupert Brooke and the Intellectual Imagination, Mr. de la Mare tells an amusing story by way of showing how in 1916 his reputation as a poet stood “in the great eye of America.” He went one day to pay his respects to a friend of Rupert Brooke’s in New York. “A graceful coloured lift-girl inquired who the caller was. I told her. Whereupon she exclaimed, with a smile all radiant gold and ivory, ‘Gee whiz ! What a name !’”

It is to be hoped that the poet’s diffidence made him underestimate his fame in the United States ; even Mr. Kipling could not expect to be as well known by name to a lift-attendant as the latest cinema hero : “One star differeth from another in glory,” or at least in conspicuousness. Yet it is scarcely to be disputed that something remains to be done before the readers of Mr. de la Mare’s poetry, on both sides of the Atlantic, are as numerous as they should be. The poet of Motley and The Listeners will certainly never be as popular as Miss Mary Pickford ; he would disclaim any such ambition. He will probably never be as well known even as Mr. Kipling, or the friend whom he praises so generously in the essay from which we have quoted. Nevertheless, his work ought to be, and, we hope, when his Collected Poems have made their due impression, will be much more widely read and discussed than it is at present.
A Glimpse of the Past
Authors: Britten James
Published: August 2007

The recently published Life of Sister Mary of St. Philip who at her death in 1904 had for nearly fifty years been the moving spirit of the great work of the Notre Dame Training College at Liverpool, has been described as “incidentally the history of Catholic education in this country from the days of Catholic Emancipation.” In his Introduction, the late Archbishop of Liverpool illustrates this by saying that

“the Training College alone has sheltered beneath its roof thousands of teachers who, during half a century have gone forth to build up temples ‘not made with hands’ in the souls of the Catholic children of England”; and he thanks God for Sister Mary’s help in the crisis created by the Education Act of 1870, “when the future of the Church in England was in the balance.”

It is not, however, on the book as a record of Catholic education that these lines are written ; they are limited to its introductory chapters. These contain much that is of interest concerning the life of English Catholics during the period between Catholic Emancipation (1829) and the Restoration of the Hierarchy (1850)—five years before Sister Mary of St. Philip began her great work; and this notice, like the chapters on which it is based, may be regarded as introductory to the biography itself.

It is essential to remember at the outset that . . . just as in material affairs, things that are the merest commonplaces of daily life or have already become obsolete, were then unheard of and unknown, so two of the most important factors of English Catholic life as we now know it were in 1829 practically non-existent.