From public offices to the cultural or economic sector. How Dutch nobility kept its elite positions during the 20th century.

Dutch noble families have held more elite positions than high bourgeois families during the 20th century, and this relative advantage hardly changed over several generations. In this paper we test on of the possible explanations of this ‘constant noble advantage hypothesis’, using a sample of members of noble and high bourgeois families born in the 20th century. We assume that Dutch nobility made a strategic shift from the public sector (diplomacy, local government) towards to the private sector (financial or service sector). The analyses confirm a move by the successive generations of Dutch nobility away from public elite positions towards more elite positions in the cultural and business sector. Although this move into elite position in other sectors does not fully compensate for the decline of elite positions in the public sector, it highlights an important part of the explanation of the ‘constant noble advantage’. Dutch high bourgeoisie did not made this move outside the public sector during the same period.nobility; elite; cultural and business sector; constant noble advantage

From public offices to the cultural or economic sector. How Dutch nobility kept its elite positions during the 20th century.

Dutch noble families have held more elite positions than high bourgeois families during the 20th century, and this relative advantage hardly changed over several generations. In this paper we test on of the possible explanations of this ‘constant noble advantage hypothesis’, using a sample of members of noble and high bourgeois families born in the 20th century. We assume that Dutch nobility made a strategic shift from the public sector (diplomacy, local government) towards to the private sector (financial or service sector). The analyses confirm a move by the successive generations of Dutch nobility away from public elite positions towards more elite positions in the cultural and business sector. Although this move into elite position in other sectors does not fully compensate for the decline of elite positions in the public sector, it highlights an important part of the explanation of the ‘constant noble advantage’. Dutch high bourgeoisie did not made this move outside the public sector during the same period

School success in public, Catholic and Protestant secondary education

The educational system in the Netherlands has a large private sector which is state-supported in the same manner as the public sector. I t consists mainly of denominational schools. In this article, a sequel to an article on primary education, the effects of school sector (public, Catholic, Protestant) on students' scholastic achievement are studied within two levels of secondary education. At both levels sector effects on key aspects of school success are found. These are generally small, but tend to cumulate in favour of one of the three sectors. Protestant school students perform best at the top level (VHMO), Catholic school students at the level of ULO. In neither case do public school students manage to do better than their counterparts in the private sector. These results suggest that differences in school sector effectiveness may partly explain the persistence of denominational education in the Netherlands.The educational system in the Netherlands has a large private sector which is state-supported in the same manner as the public sector. It consists mainly of denominational schools. In this article, a sequel to an article on primary education, the effects of school sector (public, Catholic, Protestant) on students' scholastic achievement are studied within two levels of secondary education. At both levels sector effects on key aspects of school success are found. These are generally small, but tend to cumulate in favour of one of the three sectors. Protestant school students perform best at the top level (VHMO), Catholic school students at the level of ULO. In neither case do public school students manage to do better than their counterparts in the private sector. These results suggest that differences in school sector effectiveness may partly explain the persistence of denominational education in the Netherlands

From Phineas Gage and Monsieur Leborgne to H.M.: Revisiting Disconnection Syndromes

On the 50th anniversary of Norman Geschwind's seminal paper entitled 'Disconnexion syndrome in animal and man', we pay tribute to his ideas by applying contemporary tractographymethods to understand whitematter disconnection in 3 classic cases that made history in behavioral neurology.We first documented the locus and extent of the brain lesion from the computerized tomography of Phineas Gage's skull and themagnetic resonance images of Louis Victor Leborgne's brain, Broca's first patient, and Henry Gustave Molaison. We then applied the reconstructed lesions to an atlas of white matter connections obtained from diffusion tractography of 129 healthy adults. Our results showed that in all 3 patients, disruption extended to connections projecting to areas distant from the lesion.We confirmed that the damaged tracts link areas that in contemporary neuroscience are considered functionally engaged for tasks related to emotion and decision-making (Gage), language production (Leborgne), and declarative memory (Molaison). Our findings suggest that even historic cases should be reappraised within a disconnection framework whose principles were plainly established by the associationist schools in the last 2 centuries

Neurocognitive Basis of Repetition Deficits in Primary Progressive Aphasia

Previous studies indicate that repetition is affected in primary progressive aphasia (PPA), particularly in the logopenic variant, due to limited auditory-verbal short-term memory (avSTM). We tested repetition of phrases varied by length (short, long) and meaning (meaningful, non-meaningful) in 58 participants (22 logopenic, 19 nonfluent, and 17 semantic variants) and 21 healthy controls using a modified Bayles repetition test. We evaluated the relation between cortical thickness and repetition performance and whether sub-scores could discriminate PPA variants. Logopenic participants showed impaired repetition across all phrases, specifically in repeating long phrases and any phrases that were non-meaningful. Nonfluent, semantic, and healthy control participants only had difficulty repeating long, non-meaningful phrases. Poor repetition of long phrases was associated with cortical thinning in left temporo-parietal areas across all variants, highlighting the importance of these areas in avSTM. Finally, Bayles repetition phrases can assist classification in PPA, discriminating logopenic from nonfluent/semantic participants with 89% accuracy

School sector variation on non-cognitive dimensions: are denominational schools different?

Denominational schooling makes up an important part of European educational systems. Given its specificity, denominational schooling can be expected to place a greater weight on values teaching and moral education. As such, it may be more effective in bringing about certain attitudes and opinions. It also may be more successful in creating a warm and caring atmosphere, thus helping students to better emotionally connect to the school community. This paper set out to empirically test some of these hypotheses by making use of three waves of data collected in the framework of the Program for International Student Assessment study. We compare public and publicly supported private (as a proxy to denominational) schools on two dimensions, namely the emotional integration with the rest of the school community, and the concern and feelings of responsibility towards the environment. But for Austria, Belgium and Spain, no evidence could be found that the type of the school has any impact on the reported psychological adaptation to the school. In these three countries, publicly supported private schools tend to be more successful in integrating their students. Also students in public and private dependent schools were equally environment oriented, taking into account several student and school characteristics. The lack of schooling sector differences in attaining non-cognitive aims may have at least three causes. First, ecological issues could be salient enough not to necessitate any special religious or moral reinforcement in order to gain traction. Second, public schools may use religious education or ethics just as fruitfully and consequently, they are just as successful in values and norms transmission. Third, it is possible that schools play a minor role in introducing students to environmental dilemmas and concerns, this role being taken over by the family or the media

Systematic review of pre-operative exercise in colorectal cancer patients

The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the evidence for exercise interventions prior to surgery for colorectal cancer resection. The evidence for use of exercise to improve physical fitness and surgical outcomes is as yet unknown. A systematic search was performed of MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED and BNI databases for studies involving pre-operative exercise in colorectal cancer patients. Eight studies were included in the review. There is evidence that pre-operative exercise improves functional fitness, and to a lesser extent objectively measurable cardio-respiratory fitness prior to colorectal cancer resection. There is no clear evidence at present that this improvement in fitness translates into reduced peri-operative risk or improved post-operative outcomes. Current studies are limited by risk of bias. This review highlights the common difficulty in transferring promising results in a research setting, into significant improvements in the clinical arena. Future research should focus on which type of exercise is most likely to maximise patient adherence and improvements in cardio-respiratory fitness. Ultimately, adequately powered, randomised controlled trials are needed to investigate whether pre-operative exercise improves post-operative morbidity and mortality

A large-scale examination of the effectiveness of anonymous marking in reducing group performance differences in higher education assessment

The present research aims to more fully explore the issues of performance differences in higher education assessment, particularly in the context of a common measure taken to address them. The rationale for the study is that, while performance differences in written examinations are relatively well researched, few studies have examined the efficacy of anonymous marking in reducing these performance differences, particularly in modern student populations. By examining a large archive (N = 30674) of assessment data spanning a twelve-year period, the relationship between assessment marks and factors such as ethnic group, gender and socio-environmental background was investigated. In particular, analysis focused on the impact that the implementation of anonymous marking for assessment of written examinations and coursework has had on the magnitude of mean score differences between demographic groups of students. While group differences were found to be pervasive in higher education assessment, these differences were observed to be relatively small in practical terms. Further, it appears that the introduction of anonymous marking has had a negligible effect in reducing them. The implications of these results are discussed, focusing on two issues, firstly a defence of examinations as a fair and legitimate form of assessment in Higher Education, and, secondly, a call for the re-examination of the efficacy of anonymous marking in reducing group performance differences