The Post-Secondary Decision-Making Process for At-Risk Students in Ontario

An important body of research examines the role of student decision-making on stratification and post-secondary transitions. In an era of expanded options, students often have to draw on personal, family and institutional resources to make informed decisions that fit with their academic background and personal interests. For students from low income households and neighbourhoods, the difficulty of making sound decisions is compounded by their lack of access to high status ties and cultural capital which can help them capitalize on such interactions. This sandwich dissertation examines the role of social and cultural capital in the decision-making process for at-risk students, using alignment theory to help evaluate the types of decisions students make over time. Using a longitudinal qualitative framework, students are interviewed at three time points to explore how these various types of capital interact with their decision-making. The first chapter focuses on the role of social capital, particularly institutional agents in helping students align their decision-making, prior to the college and university application deadlines in Ontario. The second chapter focuses on interviews with students after they have made their decisions for the fall, examining how their individual habitus orientations interact with the institutional habitus of school personnel; changes to decisions from their first interviews are also explored. The last chapter explores the theoretical affinity between rational actor theory and habitus, using alignment as a bridging theory to assess student decision-making and transitions over a 15 month period. While institutional agents were found to help students make informed decisions at various time points, the quality and duration of those ties, as well students’ early aspiration formation and academic background, were all critical for early alignment and successful post-secondary transitions

Social Capital and Post-Secondary Decision-Making Alignment for Low-Income Students

How is post-secondary decision-making influenced by the types of social capital students access? This study draws from interviews with 30 students in a low-income neighbourhood to examine who they turn to for post-secondary advice during the application process. Interactions with different ties and their influence on decision-making alignment, misalignment or uncertainty are explored. I find that students who report relying more on bonding (family and friends) social capital over (bridging) ties with school personnel demonstrate more misalignment in decision-making. In contrast, those who rely more on ties with school personnel exhibit more decision-making alignment. Many students whose proposed choices demonstrated alignment also lacked overall ‘fit’ and had unrealistic aspirations, except for a select few who reported close and consistent relationships with institutional agents. These findings contribute to the social capital literature examining the potential of institutional agents to help low-income students circumvent social stratification processes

Attenuation of seismic waves

The aim of this project is to calculate the attenuation of seismic waves passing through the Earth's core by using given elastic constants and methods developed earlier and to see how we can interpret the crystallization of iron in that area by these results as well as a look at how sound waves propagate in solid and liquid substances, how the elastic properties of a material can affect the waves and how we can relate these to the attenuation. The attenuation inside Earth will also be described.Syftet med detta projekt är att beräkna dämpningen av seismiska vågor som passerar genomjordens kärna genom att använda givna elastiska konstanter och metoder som utvecklatstidigare och för att se hur vi kan tolka kristalliseringen av järn i det området med dessaresultat samt en titt på hur ljudvågor sprids i fasta och flytande ämnen, hur de elastiskaegenskaperna hos ett material kan påverka vågorna och hur vi kan relatera dem tilldämpningen. Dämpningen inuti jorden kommer också att beskrivas

Attenuation of seismic waves

The aim of this project is to calculate the attenuation of seismic waves passing through the Earth's core by using given elastic constants and methods developed earlier and to see how we can interpret the crystallization of iron in that area by these results as well as a look at how sound waves propagate in solid and liquid substances, how the elastic properties of a material can affect the waves and how we can relate these to the attenuation. The attenuation inside Earth will also be described.Syftet med detta projekt är att beräkna dämpningen av seismiska vågor som passerar genomjordens kärna genom att använda givna elastiska konstanter och metoder som utvecklatstidigare och för att se hur vi kan tolka kristalliseringen av järn i det området med dessaresultat samt en titt på hur ljudvågor sprids i fasta och flytande ämnen, hur de elastiskaegenskaperna hos ett material kan påverka vågorna och hur vi kan relatera dem tilldämpningen. Dämpningen inuti jorden kommer också att beskrivas

Attenuation of seismic waves

The aim of this project is to calculate the attenuation of seismic waves passing through the Earth's core by using given elastic constants and methods developed earlier and to see how we can interpret the crystallization of iron in that area by these results as well as a look at how sound waves propagate in solid and liquid substances, how the elastic properties of a material can affect the waves and how we can relate these to the attenuation. The attenuation inside Earth will also be described.Syftet med detta projekt är att beräkna dämpningen av seismiska vågor som passerar genomjordens kärna genom att använda givna elastiska konstanter och metoder som utvecklatstidigare och för att se hur vi kan tolka kristalliseringen av järn i det området med dessaresultat samt en titt på hur ljudvågor sprids i fasta och flytande ämnen, hur de elastiskaegenskaperna hos ett material kan påverka vågorna och hur vi kan relatera dem tilldämpningen. Dämpningen inuti jorden kommer också att beskrivas

STUDIES ON INTESTINAL HELMINTHIASIS IN, NORTH-EAST OF IRAN

Prevalence of various intestinal helminthiasis has been established among the population of 42 villages in Gonbad Kavus in the north-east of the Caspian Littoral during a longitudinal health survey undertaken in this area. Stool examination by formaline ether technique been performed among 1240 randomly selected population. Surprisingly and contrary to most other areas in Iran; very low infection rate With Ascaris (0.2%), Trichostrongylus (1.2%), hookworm (2.4%) and Trichuris (0.2%) were foundt among the population. Prevalence of infection with Hymenolepis nana was rather high (overall prevalence. of 12.5%). Significant variation has only been observed in the prevalence of Hymenolepis nana in various age groups. Simultaneous infection with two or more helminths has been found in 16.5% of people and 9.6% were infected with one, worm. Infection with all helminths except Hymenolepis was very low in 20 villages where 20 or more people were examined. Strongyloides stercoralis with a maximum rate of infection of 4% was found among the population of 5 out of 20 villages. Dicrocoelium dendriticum was also found in 7 persons. Reasons for low prevalence of helminthiasis and its reverse correlation with the high incidence of 4 esophageal cancers in that area are discussed

Effect of 4 weeks of Pilates on the body composition of young girls

Background. There is a need to find ways to increase the physical activity levels and improve the body composition and blood pressure of girls. Methods. Thirty 11-year-old girls were recruited from two after school programs in Houston Texas in Spring 2005. Participants from one program (16) were randomly assigned to intervention, the other (14) served as controls. BMI, BMI percentile, waist circumference and blood pressure were assessed before and after the intervention. Pilates classes were provided free of charge for an hour per day at the intervention site, 5 days a week, for 4 weeks. Four participants wore heart rate monitors during every session and completed enjoyment and perceived exertion questionnaires. Repeated measures analysis of variance with time (within) and group (between) as factors was performed. Results. Mean attendance was 75%, mean heart rate 104 bpm, mean perceived exertion 5.9(1-10 scale) and enjoyment 4.4 (1-5 scale). There was a significant (P = 0.039) time by group interaction for BMI percentile. Graphs indicated that this difference was influenced by large reductions in the BMI percentile of healthy girls. Conclusions. Girls enjoyed Pilates, and participation for 4 weeks lowered BMI percentile. Pilates holds promise as a means of reducing obesity. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved