369 research outputs found
Factors related with the university degree selection in Spanish public university system. An structural equation model analysis
The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11135-014-0008-9Students take into account different factors in their choice of university studies
and college. Some are global, as the quality of the degree (ratio available places/firstchoice
places in, cut-off grade, etc.), and others are subjective factors (e.g.: my friends are also taking
this degree). In this work we present a partial multivariate model that takes into account the
weight of the different variables shown by different works linked to this decision. We have
studied three samples (n = 372 from the Universidad Pablo de Olavide; n = 2,244 from the
Universitat Politécnica de Valencia, and n = 543 from the Universitat de Barcelona) from
several degrees in the 2010 2011 and 2011 2012 academic years, all of them new students,
coming from high school, and who had choosen these universities as first choice. The global
effect shows that the structural model fits reasonably well in the three universities studied.
Similarly, university and specialty models show different intensity effects, and we found that,
in the case of Universitat Politécnica de Valencia (UPV) and Universitat de Barcelona (UB),
they show higher intensity than in Universidad Pablo de Olavide (UPO). This makes us think
that in most urban universities with a clear and regular offer of degrees (engineering in the
case of UPV, and Health and Social Sciences in the case of UB), personal and social factors
are more important than in the case of universities, as is the case of UPO, with an offer and
dimension not yet completely defined.Guàrdia Olmos, J.; Peró Cebollero, M.; Hervás Jorge, A.; Capilla Lladró, R.; Soriano Jiménez, PP.; Porras Yañez, M. (2014). Factors related with the university degree selection in Spanish public university system. An structural equation model analysis. Quality and Quantity. March(2014):1-19. doi:10.1007/s11135-014-0008-9S119March2014Baker, S., Brown, B.: Images of excellence: constructions of institutional prestige and reflections in the university choice process. Br. J. Sociol. Educ. 28(3), 377–391 (2007)Browne, M.W., Cudeck, R.: Alternative ways of assessing model fit. Sociol. Methods Res. 21, 230–258 (1992)Capilla, R.: Análisis estratégico de los estudios TIC en la Universidad Politécnica de Valencia. Tesis Doctoral no Publicada. Valencia: Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia. (2009). http://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/5767 . Retrieved 11 Mar 2014Ford, D.Y.: The underrepresentation of minority students in gifted education: problems and promises in recruitment and retention. J. Spec. Educ. 31(1), 4–14 (2008)Guàrdia, J., Peró, M., Hervás, A., Capilla, R., Soriano, P.P., Porras, M.: Factores asociados con la decisión de cursar estudios universitarios de Psicología. Una aproximación mediante modelos de ecuaciones estructurales. Anuario de Psicologia 42(1), 87–104 (2012)Guerra, C., & Rueda, E.M.: Estudio longitudinal de los jóvenes en el tránsito de la enseñza secundaria a la universidad: orientación, expectativas, toma de decisiones y acogida de los nuevos estudiantes en la universidad. Dirección General de Universidades. Estudios y Análisis (2005)Hu, L., Bentler, P.M.: Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Struct. Equ. Model. 6, 1–55 (1999)Huang, Sh, Fang, N.: Predicting student academic performance in an enginnering dynamics course: a comparison for four types of predictive mathematical models. Comput. Educ. 61, 133–145 (2013)Leppel, K., Williams, M.L., Waldauer, C.: The impact of parental occupation and socioeconomic status on choice of college major. J. Fam. Econ. Issues 22(4), 373–394 (2001)Maringe, F.: University and course choice Implications for positioning, recruitment and marketing. Int. J. Educ. Manage. 20(6), 466–479 (2006)Muñiz, J.: Utilización de los test. En J. Muñiz, A.M. Fidalgo, E. García-Cueto, R. Martínez y R. Moreno (Eds.). Análisis de los ítems, (pp. 133–172). Madrid: La Muralla, S.A (2005)Murphy, P.E., McGarrity, R.A.: Marketing universities: a survey of student recruitment activities. Coll. Univ. 53(3), 249–261 (1978)Ory, D.T., Mokhtarian, P.L.: The impact of non-normality, sample size and estimation technique on goodness-of-fit measures in structural equation modeling: evidence from ten empirical models of travel behavior. Qual. Q. 44(3), 427–445 (2010)Palomo, J., Dunson, D.B., Bollen, K.: Bayesian structural equation modeling. In: Lee, S.Y. (ed.) Handbook of Latent Variable and Related Models, pp. 163–179. Elsevier, New York (2007)Perna, L.W., Titus, M.A.: Understanding differences in the choice of college attended: the role of state public policies. Rev. High. Educ. 27(4), 501–525 (2004)Poon, W.Y., Lee, S.Y.: A Distribution Free Approach for Analysis of Two-level Structural Equation Model. Elsevier, New York (1994)Price, I., Matzdorf, F., Smith, L., Agahi, H.: The impact of facilities on student choice of university. Facilities 21(10), 212–222 (2003)Raymond, S.: Predicting academic succes of first-year engineering students from standardized test scores and psychological variables. Int. J. Eng. Educ. 17(1), 75–80 (2001)Turner, C.S.V., Thompson, J.R.: Socializing women doctoral students: minority and majority experiences. Rev. High. Educ. 6, 232–241 (1993)Veenstra, C.P., Dey, E.L., Herrin, G.D.: Is modeling of freshman engineering succes different from modeling of non-engineering succes? J. Eng. Educ. 97, 467–479 (2008)Yurtseven, T.: How does the image of engineering affect student recruitment and retention? A perspective from the USA. Glob. J. Eng. Educ. 6(2), 267 (2002
Measurement of the Relative Branching Fraction of to Charged and Neutral B-Meson Pairs
We analyze 9.7 x 10^6 B\bar{B}$ pairs recorded with the CLEO detector to
determine the production ratio of charged to neutral B-meson pairs produced at
the Y(4S) resonance. We measure the rates for B^0 -> J/psi K^{(*)0} and B^+ ->
J/psi K^{(*)+} decays and use the world-average B-meson lifetime ratio to
extract the relative widths f+-/f00 = Gamma(Y(4S) -> B+B-)/Gamma(Y(4S) ->
B0\bar{B0}) = = 1.04 +/- 0.07(stat) +/- 0.04(syst). With the assumption that
f+- + f00 = 1, we obtain f00 = 0.49 +/- 0.02(stat) +/- 0.01(syst) and f+- =
0.51 +/- 0.02(stat) +/- 0.01(syst). This production ratio and its uncertainty
apply to all exclusive B-meson branching fractions measured at the Y(4S)
resonance.Comment: 11 pages postscript, also available through
http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN
First Observation of the Decays and B^{0}\to D^{*-}p\bar{n}$
We report the first observation of exclusive decays of the type B to D^* N
anti-N X, where N is a nucleon. Using a sample of 9.7 times 10^{6} B-Bbar pairs
collected with the CLEO detector operating at the Cornell Electron Storage
Ring, we measure the branching fractions B(B^0 \to D^{*-} proton antiproton
\pi^+) = ({6.5}^{+1.3}_{-1.2} +- 1.0) \times 10^{-4} and B(B^0 \to D^{*-}
proton antineutron) = ({14.5}^{+3.4}_{-3.0} +- 2.7) times 10^{-4}. Antineutrons
are identified by their annihilation in the CsI electromagnetic calorimeter.Comment: 9 pages postscript, also available through
http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN
A Search for
We report results of a search for in a sample of 9.7 million
charged meson decays. The search uses both and
decay modes of the , and demands exclusive reconstruction of the
companion decay to suppress background. We set an upper limit on the
branching fraction at 90%
confidence level. With slight modification to the analysis we also establish
at 90% confidence
level.Comment: 10 ages postscript, also available through
http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN
First Observation of and Decays
We have observed new channels for decays with an in the final
state. We study 3-prong tau decays, using the and
\eta\to 3\piz decay modes and 1-prong decays with two \piz's using the
channel. The measured branching fractions are
\B(\tau^{-}\to \pi^{-}\pi^{-}\pi^{+}\eta\nu_{\tau})
=(3.4^{+0.6}_{-0.5}\pm0.6)\times10^{-4} and \B(\tau^{-}\to
\pi^{-}2\piz\eta\nu_{\tau}
=(1.4\pm0.6\pm0.3)\times10^{-4}. We observe clear evidence for
substructure and measure \B(\tau^{-}\to
f_1\pi^{-}\nu_{\tau})=(5.8^{+1.4}_{-1.3}\pm1.8)\times10^{-4}. We have also
searched for production and obtain 90% CL upper limits
\B(\tau^{-}\to \pi^{-}\eta'\nu_\tau)<7.4\times10^{-5} and \B(\tau^{-}\to
\pi^{-}\piz\eta'\nu_\tau)<8.0\times10^{-5}.Comment: 11 page postscript file, postscript file also available through
http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN
Production in Two-Photon Interactions at CLEO
Using the CLEO detector at the Cornell storage ring, CESR, we study
the two-photon production of , making the first
observation of . We present the
cross-section for as a function of
the center of mass energy and compare it to that predicted by
the quark-diquark model.Comment: 10 pages, postscript file also available through
http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN
Genetic variation in insulin-like growth factor signaling genes and breast cancer risk among BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers
Abstract Introduction Women who carry mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 have a substantially increased risk of developing breast cancer as compared with the general population. However, risk estimates range from 20 to 80%, suggesting the presence of genetic and/or environmental risk modifiers. Based on extensive in vivo and in vitro studies, one important pathway for breast cancer pathogenesis may be the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signaling pathway, which regulates both cellular proliferation and apoptosis. BRCA1 has been shown to directly interact with IGF signaling such that variants in this pathway may modify risk of cancer in women carrying BRCA mutations. In this study, we investigate the association of variants in genes involved in IGF signaling and risk of breast cancer in women who carry deleterious BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations. Methods A cohort of 1,665 adult, female mutation carriers, including 1,122 BRCA1 carriers (433 cases) and 543 BRCA2 carriers (238 cases) were genotyped for SNPs in IGF1, IGF1 receptor (IGF1R), IGF1 binding protein (IGFBP1, IGFBP2, IGFBP5), and IGF receptor substrate 1 (IRS1). Cox proportional hazards regression was used to model time from birth to diagnosis of breast cancer for BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers separately. For linkage disequilibrium (LD) blocks with multiple SNPs, an additive genetic model was assumed; and for single SNP analyses, no additivity assumptions were made. Results Among BRCA1 carriers, significant associations were found between risk of breast cancer and LD blocks in IGF1R (global P = 0.011 for LD block 2 and global P = 0.012 for LD block 11). Among BRCA2 carriers, an LD block in IGFBP2 (global P = 0.0145) was found to be associated with the time to breast cancer diagnosis. No significant LD block associations were found for the other investigated genes among BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers. Conclusions This is the first study to investigate the role of genetic variation in IGF signaling and breast cancer risk in women carrying deleterious mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2. We identified significant associations in variants in IGF1R and IRS1 in BRCA1 carriers and in IGFBP2 in BRCA2 carriers. Although there is known to be interaction of BRCA1 and IGF signaling, further replication and identification of causal mechanisms are needed to better understand these associations
Asymmetric Genome Organization in an RNA Virus Revealed via Graph-Theoretical Analysis of Tomographic Data
Cryo-electron microscopy permits 3-D structures of viral pathogens to be determined in remarkable detail. In particular, the protein containers encapsulating viral genomes have been determined to high resolution using symmetry averaging techniques that exploit the icosahedral architecture seen in many viruses. By contrast, structure determination of asymmetric components remains a challenge, and novel analysis methods are required to reveal such features and characterize their functional roles during infection. Motivated by the important, cooperative roles of viral genomes in the assembly of single-stranded RNA viruses, we have developed a new analysis method that reveals the asymmetric structural organization of viral genomes in proximity to the capsid in such viruses. The method uses geometric constraints on genome organization, formulated based on knowledge of icosahedrally-averaged reconstructions and the roles of the RNA-capsid protein contacts, to analyse cryo-electron tomographic data. We apply this method to the low-resolution tomographic data of a model virus and infer the unique asymmetric organization of its genome in contact with the protein shell of the capsid. This opens unprecedented opportunities to analyse viral genomes, revealing conserved structural features and mechanisms that can be targeted in antiviral drug desig
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