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In recent decades, both India and Vietnam have successfully expanded access to schooling to near-universal levels and have shifted their focus to quality-oriented policy reform. Yet, international and national evidence shows strongly contrasting learning profiles for children within the two systems. Simple indicators of numeracy suggest similar learning levels in both countries for 5-year-olds, but data suggest that, by the time they are 15, Vietnamese pupils outperform those in many OECD countries, while many pupils in India fail to master even the most basic skills. This article examines evidence from the Young Lives longitudinal surveys for Vietnam and the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh on the diverging learning profiles of children in the light of their socioeconomic, cultural, and educational contexts. It considers various explanations for this divergence, including recent education policies, and highlights potential areas for cross-country policy learning.

Due to the rarity of longitudinal data, evidence on the benefits of education across the life-course is relatively sparse in developing countries. Young Lives is the only comparative dual-cohort study to combine data collection using mixed-methods at child, household, school and community levels, following 12,000 children in two cohorts across four countries since 2002. This article outlines the conceptual and analytical framework and the key methodological features of the Young Lives study, and the unique potential of the data for analysis of educational trajectories, and of the influences that shape them. It discusses the challenges associated with a cross-country interdisciplinary study of children, their families and schools and examines how these were addressed. These include the logistical, epistemological and ethical challenges of ensuring the integrity of the panel data and cohort, maintaining an appropriate degree of consistency across countries in terms of design and measurement, without compromising policy relevance at the national level, and balancing the sometimes competing demands for cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence.

The growth and increasing popularity of 'low-fee' private schooling across many parts of India has attracted much research and policy attention. This paper broadens the discussion by drawing attention to the increasing heterogeneity of the educational landscape in many communities. Our specific focus is on the consequences for school choices made by households across rural and urban Andhra Pradesh. The paper draws on longitudinal data for two cohorts comprising approximately 3,000 children, collected as part of Young Lives research, together with a qualitative sub-study involving a purposively selected sample of Young Lives parents and children. Trends in school choice are discussed, as well as the factors that underlie the schooling decisions that households make as they navigate the complex school hierarchies within their communities. The paper offers new evidence of an increasing trend for households to make successive choices of school for their children, as household circumstances change and school options are re-evaluated. Household survey data from 2009 show that 16% of a sample of eight-year-olds had moved school at least once during the early grades of primary school, an increase from 5% of a comparable sample of eight-year-olds in 2002. The consequences of a dynamic and more market-driven school system are explored, and implications discussed.

This paper informs debates about the potential role for low-fee private schooling in achieving Education for All goals in India. It reports "Young Lives" longitudinal data for two cohorts (2906 children) in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Eight year olds uptake of private schooling increased from 24 per cent (children born in 1994-5) to 44 per cent (children born in 2001-2). Children from rural areas, lower socioeconomic backgrounds and girls continue to be under represented. While some access gaps decreased, the gender gap seems to be widening. Evidence on risks to equity strengthen the case for an effectively regulated private sector, along with reforms to government sector schools. (Contains 5 tables and 3 figures.)

Single crystals of tris(2,3,4,6,7,8,9,10-octahydropyrimido[1,2-a]azepin-1-ium) tri-μ2-iodido-bis[triiodidobismuth(III)], (C9H17N2)3[Bi2I9], were prepared by a solvothermal method, heating a mixture of BiI3, KI, 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]-undec-7-ene (DBU) and ethanol at 443 K for six days. The asymmetric unit of the title compound, which crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21/c, contains one [Bi2I9]³- anion and three protonated DBUH+ moieties. The dinuclear [Bi2I9]3- anions, which are composed of face-sharing BiI63- octahedra, are packed in columns parallel to the [010] direction, and separated by protonated DBUH+ moieties. The optical band gap of (C9H7N2)3Bi2I9 is 2.1 eV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single crystals of tris(2,3,4,6,7,8,9,10-octahydropyrimido[1,2-a]azepin-1-ium) tri-μ2-iodido-bis[triiodidobismuth(III)], (C9H17N2)3[Bi2I9], were prepared by a solvothermal method, heating a mixture of BiI3, KI, 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]-undec-7-ene (DBU) and ethanol at 443 K for six days. The asymmetric unit of the title compound, which crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21/c, contains one [Bi2I9]³- anion and three protonated DBUH+ moieties. The dinuclear [Bi2I9]3- anions, which are composed of face-sharing BiI63- octahedra, are packed in columns parallel to the [010] direction, and separated by protonated DBUH+ moieties. The optical band gap of (C9H7N2)3Bi2I9 is 2.1 eV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: A retrospective study over a three-year period at University Hospital of Wales (UHW) of the incidence of atypical cranial grade II meningioma both pre and post 2016 revision of The World Health Organisation (WHO) classification of tumours of the central nervous system. Subjects: All available histology from January 2015 to December 2017 of patients with cranial meningiomas. Method: Institutional online reporting system Welsh Clinical Portal to identify patients and view histology reports. Results: Overall 164 patient histology results were analysed (median age 59, age range 23-82, 74% females). There were 55 patients in 2015: 69.1% grade I, 29.1% grade II and 1.8% grade III. There were 109 patients in 2016/17; 68.8% grade I, 29.4% grade II, 1.8% grade III. Discussion: There is significant variability in the reported incidence of grade II meningioma, likely due to variation in local interpretation of diagnostic criteria. Neuropathologists at our institution have reported brain invasion as grade II prior to 2016. This was due to compelling published evidence that brain invasive meningiomas have recurrence and mortality rates similar to that of grade II meningioma as defined using other criteria. The new 2016 WHO criteria now recognise this specifically. As other institutions adapt to the amended 2016 guidelines we anticipate that there will be a greater consensus in line with our incidence rates of grade II meningioma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This collection of scholarly essays reflects on transformations of policing that have become evident since the publication in 1983 of a four-volume study entitled Police and the People in London (PPL hereafter). The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) commissioned the work in 1979 and it was undertaken by a team of researchers from the Policy Studies Institute (PSI) led by David Smith, one of the two editors of this book. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]