Does attending an English private school benefit mental health and life satisfaction? From adolescence to adulthood

Previous research has shown that there is a small but significant cumulative private school advantage in terms of educational attainment in Britain. However, research on how school type influences non-educational outcomes is more scarcer. This paper aims to identify the extent to which school type influences satisfaction with life and mental health from adolescence to early adulthood. Using Next Steps, a longitudinal study of young people in England born in 1989/90, the authors use multiple variable regression analyses to address the research questions. They find that for this cohort there is no evidence of a difference for mental health and life satisfaction by school type for either men or women in adolescence or early adulthood

Who Chooses Private Schooling in Britain and Why?

Through their social exclusivity, private schools are held to have contributed negatively to social mobility among older generations educated in the 20th century. But with huge fee rises, increased income inequality, increased wealth-income ratios, fluctuating public and private means-tested support for fees, and a greater emphasis in public policy on school choice, there may have been changes in the distribution of participation in private schooling. This paper studies whether there has been a notable evolution over recent decades in the social and economic composition of the children who attend Britain’s private schools. Where possible we have triangulated the description, using data from multiple surveys and aggregate information from censuses. Our main findings are as follows: 1.The proportion of school children from UK-resident families who are at private school has remained fairly constant and now stands close to 6 percent. About one in ten adults had been at private school at some point. 2.Private school fees have trebled in real terms since 1980. Despite rising incomes, the average fee for one child has risen from 20 percent to 50 percent of median income. For most, therefore, fees have become less affordable out of current income. 3. Participation in private school is concentrated at the very top of the family income distribution; however, even in the top five percent of the income distribution, only a minority attend private school – thus raising the salience of understanding parents' motives. 4. Leading motives for parents to choose private schooling are the wish for their children to gain better academic results through smaller class sizes and better facilities, and to mix with a preferred peer group. The peer group motive is masked by social desirability bias when using conventional survey methods, but is revealed through alternative methods. 5. We found no evidence that participation in private schooling has become less socially and economically exclusive in recent decades: - Both in the period 1994-2000, and in the period 2001-2016, just under half of private school families came from families in the top decile of the income distribution. - Between 2004 and 2014, there was no change in the proportion of private school parents who belong to the managerial and professional classes. - The cross-sectional income elasticity of participation is nearly zero across most of the income spectrum, but increases at very high incomes. At the 98th percentile it is estimated to be 2.1; in this sense, for the very rich private schooling is a luxury good. Conditional on income at this percentile, the wealth elasticity is estimated to be 0.57. - There was no significant change in the pattern of intergenerational persistence of school-type between the periods 1996-2005 and 2006-2013

Determinants of private school participation: all about the money?

For those who grew up in Britain in the latter half of the 20th century, there is known to be a strong association between social class or family income and attending a private school. However, increasing private school fees and promotion of school choice in the state sector have potential implications for the predictors of participation in private schooling in the 21st century. In this paper, through analysis of rich, longitudinal data from a recent, representative birth cohort study, we provide new evidence on this issue. Given the high and rising fees required to send a child to private school, one might think that the decision is entirely connected with financial resources. However, while these remain an important factor, we argue that other determinants are also important. In particular, we highlight the importance of parental values and geographical proximity to high-quality state school alternatives: a one standard deviation increase in levels of parental traditional values is associated with 2.5 percentage point higher probability of their child attending a private school, while each minute of additional travel time to the nearest state school judged ‘Outstanding’ by England’s schools inspectorate is associated with a 0.2 percentage point higher probability of attending a private school. We also examine the characteristics of those who ‘mix and match’ state and private schooling, noting their similarity to private school attendees in terms of their values but lower levels of financial resources

Transfer between hospitals as a predictor of delay in diagnosis and treatment of patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer:a register based cohort-study

Abstract Background Lung cancer is the second most frequent cancer diagnosis in Denmark. Although improved during the last decade, the prognosis of lung cancer is still poor with an overall 5-year survival rate of approximately 12%. Delay in diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer has been suggested as a potential cause of the poor prognosis and as consequence, fast track cancer care pathways were implemented describing maximum acceptable time thresholds from referral to treatment. In Denmark, patients with lung cancer are often transferred between hospitals with diagnostic facilities to hospitals with treatment facilities during the care pathway. We wanted to investigate whether this organizational set-up influenced the time that patients wait for the diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, the objective of this study was to uncover the impact of transfer between hospitals on the delay in the diagnosis and treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). Methods We performed a historical prospective cohort study using data from the Danish Lung Cancer Registry (DLCR). All patients diagnosed with primary NSCLC from January 1st 2008 to December 31st 2012 were included. Patients with unresolved pathology and incomplete data on the dates of referral, diagnosis and treatment were excluded. Results A total of 11 273 patients were included for further analyses. Transfer patients waited longer for treatment after the diagnosis, (Hazard ratio (HR) 0.81 (0.68–0.96)) and in total time from referral to treatment (HR 0.84 (0.77–0.92)), than no-transfer patients. Transfer patients had lower odds of being diagnosed (Odds Ratio (OR) 0.82 (0.74–0.94) and treated (OR 0.66 (0.61–0.72) within the acceptable time thresholds described in the care pathway. Conclusion Fast track cancer care pathways were implemented to unify and accelerate the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. We found that the transfer between hospitals during the care pathway might cause delay from diagnosis to treatment as well as in the total time from referral to treatment in patients with Non Small-Cell Lung Cancer. The difference between no-transfer and transfer patients persists after adjusting for known predictors of delay

Transfer between hospitals as a predictor of delay in diagnosis and treatment of patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer:a register based cohort-study

Abstract Background Lung cancer is the second most frequent cancer diagnosis in Denmark. Although improved during the last decade, the prognosis of lung cancer is still poor with an overall 5-year survival rate of approximately 12%. Delay in diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer has been suggested as a potential cause of the poor prognosis and as consequence, fast track cancer care pathways were implemented describing maximum acceptable time thresholds from referral to treatment. In Denmark, patients with lung cancer are often transferred between hospitals with diagnostic facilities to hospitals with treatment facilities during the care pathway. We wanted to investigate whether this organizational set-up influenced the time that patients wait for the diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, the objective of this study was to uncover the impact of transfer between hospitals on the delay in the diagnosis and treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). Methods We performed a historical prospective cohort study using data from the Danish Lung Cancer Registry (DLCR). All patients diagnosed with primary NSCLC from January 1st 2008 to December 31st 2012 were included. Patients with unresolved pathology and incomplete data on the dates of referral, diagnosis and treatment were excluded. Results A total of 11 273 patients were included for further analyses. Transfer patients waited longer for treatment after the diagnosis, (Hazard ratio (HR) 0.81 (0.68–0.96)) and in total time from referral to treatment (HR 0.84 (0.77–0.92)), than no-transfer patients. Transfer patients had lower odds of being diagnosed (Odds Ratio (OR) 0.82 (0.74–0.94) and treated (OR 0.66 (0.61–0.72) within the acceptable time thresholds described in the care pathway. Conclusion Fast track cancer care pathways were implemented to unify and accelerate the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. We found that the transfer between hospitals during the care pathway might cause delay from diagnosis to treatment as well as in the total time from referral to treatment in patients with Non Small-Cell Lung Cancer. The difference between no-transfer and transfer patients persists after adjusting for known predictors of delay

Role of Comorbidity on Survival after Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy for Nonsurgically Treated Lung Cancer

BACKGROUND: Comorbidity, such as diseases of the cardiovascular, pulmonary, and other systems, may influence prognosis in lung cancer and complicate its treatment. The performance status of patients, which is a known prognostic marker, may also be influenced by comorbidity. Due to the close link between tobacco smoking and lung cancer, and because lung cancer is often diagnosed in advanced ages (median age at diagnosis in Denmark is 70 years), comorbidity is present in a large proportion of lung cancer patients. METHODS: Patients with any stage lung cancer who did not have surgical treatment were identified in the Danish Lung Cancer Registry. Danish Lung Cancer Registry collects data from clinical departments, the Danish Cancer Registry, Danish National Patient Registry, and the Central Population Register. A total of 20,552 patients diagnosed with lung cancer in 2005 to 2011 were identified. Comorbidity data were extracted from the Danish National Patient Registry, which is a register of all in- and outpatient visits to hospitals in Denmark. By record linkage, lung cancer patients who had previously been diagnosed with comorbid conditions were assigned a Charlson comorbidity index. Initial cancer treatment was categorized as chemotherapy, chemoradiation, radiotherapy, or no therapy. Data on Charlson comorbidity index, performance status, age, sex, stage, pulmonary function (forced expiratory volume in 1 second), histology, and type of initial treatment (if any) were included in univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazard analyses. RESULTS: Treatment rates for chemotherapy and chemoradiation declined with increasing comorbidity and in particular increasing age. Women received treatment more often than men. In a univariable analysis of all patients combined, stage, performance status, age, sex, lung function, and comorbidity were all associated with survival. Apart from excess mortality among patients with unspecified histological subtypes (hazard ratio), there was no clear difference between the specified subtypes. When adjusting for the other factors, particularly age, sex, performance status, and stage proved to be robust while risk estimates for comorbidity were attenuated somewhat. When grouped by the three types of cancer treatment or no treatment, there was no influence of comorbidity on radiation therapy and modest influence on survival after chemotherapy and chemoradiation. In contrast, age remained a strong negative prognosticator after multivariate adjustment as did stage and performance status. CONCLUSION: Comorbidity has a limited effect on survival and only for patients treated with chemotherapy. It is rather the performance of the patient at diagnosis than the medical history that prognosticates survival in this patient group

Migration Along Orthodromic Sun Compass Routes by Arctic Birds

Flight directions of birds migrating at high geographic and magnetic latitudes can be used to test bird orientation by celestial or geomagnetic compass systems under polar conditions. Migration patterns of arctic shorebirds, revealed by tracking radar studies during an icebreaker expedition along the Northwest Passage in 1999, support predicted sun compass trajectories but cannot be reconciled with orientation along either geographic or magnetic loxodromes (rhumb lines). Sun compass routes are similar to orthodromes (great circle routes) at high latitudes, showing changing geographic courses as the birds traverse longitudes and their internal clock gets out of phase with local time. These routes bring the shorebirds from high arctic Canada to the east coast of North America, from which they make transoceanic flights to South America. The observations are also consistent with a migration link between Siberia and the Beaufort Sea region by way of sun compass routes across the Arctic Ocean

TO KNOW IT IS TO LOVE IT? A Psychological Discussion of the Mere Exposure and Satiation Effects in Music Listening

Den vel nok mest oplagte grund til at lytte til musik er den glæde, aktiviteten bringer. Men hvad bestemmer, hvilken musik vi kan lide? En væsentlig faktor vises her, med evidens fra psykologisk og neurovidenskabelig forskning, at være musikkens grad af bekendthed. Jo bedre vi lærer en melodi at kende, desto bedre kan vi lide den – op til et vist punkt, hvorefter den subjektive vurdering flader ud eller daler. Årsagen til denne udvikling skal sandsynligvis findes i musikkens indvirkning på lytterens biologiske arousal niveau. Ukendt musik medfører en over-arousal hos lytteren, mens særdeles velkendt musik derimod resulterer i understimulering. Imellem disse yderpoler findes et optimalt punkt, hvor musikken forekommer lytteren bekendt, men uden at være totalt forudsigelig

On higher-dimensional loop algebras, pseudodifferential operators and Fock space realizations

We discuss a previously discovered [hep-th/9401027] extension of the infinite-dimensional Lie algebras Map(M,g) which generalizes the Kac-Moody algebras in 1+1 dimensions and the Mickelsson-Faddeev algebras in 3+1 dimensions to manifolds M of general dimensions. Furthermore, we review the method of regularizing current algebras in higher dimensions using pseudodifferential operator (PSDO) symbol calculus. In particular, we discuss the issue of Lie algebra cohomology of PSDOs and its relation to the Schwinger terms arising in the quantization process. Finally, we apply this regularization method to the algebra of the above reference with partial success, and discuss the remaining obstacles to the construction of a Fock space representation.Comment: 6 pages, LaTeX, requires espcrc2.sty and amsfonts.sty. Contribution to the proceedings of the 30th Int. Symposium Ahrenshoop on the theory of elementary particles, Buckow, Germany, August 27-31, 199