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

Delayed repair of large myelomeningoceles

31st Annual Meeting of the International-Society-for-Pediatric-Neurosurgery -- SEP 14-18, 2003 -- MONACOWOS: 000222404000008PubMed ID: 15148619Introduction: Repair of myelomeningoceles larger than 5 cm in diameter is not easy. We describe a simple technique. Patients and methods: The patients with a large myelomeningocele sac were included in this study. Ten patients with a large myelomeningocele underwent surgical repair using this technique. The skin was incised in the midline proximal to the myelomeningocele sac. The incision was carried caudally and away from the midline to open the sac after identifying the fascia. The incision is carried circumferentially around the neural placode and the skin is saved as much as possible. About a 1-cm-width of the dura mater beneath the skin is left to ease the subcutaneous suturing. The dura is sutured in the midline. The skin is undermined bilaterally in the plane between the muscle and subcutaneous fat and closed with interrupted sutures in the midline. Conclusion: This simple technique is appropriate for the closure of large myelomeningoceles and does not need more extensive and complex procedures.Int Soc Pediatr Neurosur

Dielectric Properties of HDOBAMBC Close to the Smectic A–Chiral Smectic C (AC*) Transition

The temperature dependence of the dielectric susceptibility chi(g) is recalculated by making the elastic modulus K temperature dependent for the chiral smectic C phase in HDOBAMBC. For this calculation, the experimental data for the spontaneous polarization P-S, tilt angle theta and the helical pitch rho are used from literature close to the AC* transition in HDOBAMBC. The temperature dependences of the wave vector of the helical modulation q, the elastic free energy F and the critical electric field E-C are also calculated by using the temperature dependent elastic modulus K for the chiral smectic C phase close to the AC* transition in this ferroelectric liquid crystal

Dielectric Properties of HDOBAMBC Close to the Smectic A-Chiral Smectic C (AC*) Transition

The temperature dependence of the dielectric susceptibility chi(g) is recalculated by making the elastic modulus K temperature dependent for the chiral smectic C phase in HDOBAMBC. For this calculation, the experimental data for the spontaneous polarization P-S, tilt angle theta and the helical pitch rho are used from literature close to the AC* transition in HDOBAMBC. The temperature dependences of the wave vector of the helical modulation q, the elastic free energy F and the critical electric field E-C are also calculated by using the temperature dependent elastic modulus K for the chiral smectic C phase close to the AC* transition in this ferroelectric liquid crystal

Pressure Dependence of Molar Volume near the Melting Point in Benzene

The pressure dependence of the molar volume was at constant temperatures close to the melting point in benzene. The molar volume of benzene was calculated using experimental data for the thermal expansivity for constant temperatures of 25°C, 28.5°C, 40°C, and 51°C at various pressures for both the solid and liquid phases. The predictions are in good agreement with the observed volumes in both the solid and liquid phases of benzene. The predicted values of the molar volume for a constant temperature of 28.5°C in the liquid phase of benzene agree well with experimental data in the literature

Time-optimal production control in a manufacturing system

This study demonstrates the use of control engineering techniques to regulate the product inventory levels of a workshop in a manufacturing system by manipulating the number of machines and the labour time employed during production. The production policy that minimizes the production time is obtained by time-optimal control techniques.Publisher's Versio

gamma-Gruneisen relations close to lambda-phase transitions in NH4Cl

In this study we have correlated the frequency shifts of the acoustic modes to the volume changes by means of our gamma-Gruneisen relations near the lambda-phase transitions in NH4Cl. Using the acoustic frequencies and the length-change data for NH4Cl from the literature, we first calculated the Gruneisen gamma values for the LA modes along the (100) and (110) directions and for the TA mode along the (110) direction. We then predicted the acoustic mode frequencies across the lambda-phase transitions in NH4Cl