Mental health service utilization among students and staff in 18 months following Dawson College shooting

The aim of this study was to investigate service utilization by students and staff in the 18 months following the September 13, 2006, shooting at Dawson College, Montreal, as well as the determinants of this utilization within the context of Canada’s publicly managed healthcare system. Methods A sample of 948 from among the college’s 10,091 students and staff agreed to complete an adapted computer or web-based standardized questionnaire drawn from the Statistics Canada 2002 Canadian Community Health Survey cycle 1.2 on mental health and well-being. Results In the 18 months following the shooting, there was a greater incidence and prevalence not only of PTSD, but also of other anxiety disorders, depression, and substance abuse. Staff and students were as likely to consult a health professional when presenting a mental or substance use disorder, with females more likely to do so than males. Results also indicated that there was relatively high internet use for mental health reasons by students and staff (14% overall). Conclusions Following a major crisis event causing potential mass trauma, even in a society characterized by easy access to public, school and health services and when the population involved is generally well educated, the acceptability of consulting health professionals for mental health or substance use problems represents a barrier. However, safe internet access is one way male and female students and staff can access information and support and it may be useful to further exploit the possibilities afforded by web-based interviews in anonymous environments.

Low Level Jet stream of Asian Summer Monsoon and its Variability

The main objective of the of present study are to study the intraseasonal variability of LLJ and its relation with convective heating of the atmosphere, to establish whether LLJ splits into two branches over the Arabian sea as widely believed, the role of horizonatal wind shear of LLJ in the episodes of intense rainfall events observed over the west coast of India, to perform atmospheric modeling work to test whether small (meso) scale vortices form during intense rainfall events along the west coast; and to study the relation between LLJ and monsoon depression genesis. The results of a study on the evolution of Low Level Jetstream (LLJ) prior to the formation of monsoon depressions are presented. A synoptic model of the temporal evolution of monsoon depression has been produced. There is a systematic temporal evolution of the field of deep convection strength and position of the LLJ axis leading to the genesis of monsoon depression. One of the significant outcomes of the present thesis is that the LLJ plays an important role in the intraseasonal and the interannual variability of Indian monsoon activity. Convection and rainfall are dependent mainly on the cyclonic vorticity in the boundary layer associated with LLJ. Monsoon depression genesis and the episodes of very heavy rainfall along the west coast of India are closely related to the cyclonic shear of the LLJ in the boundary layer and the associated deep convection. Case studies by a mesoscale numerical model (MM5) have shown that the heavy rainfall episodes along the west coast of India are associated with generation of mesoscale cyclonic vortices in the boundary layer.

Characteristics of Upper Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere in Relation to Asian Summer Monsoon

The present work is an attempt to understand the characteristics of the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere over the Asian summer monsoon region, more specifically over the Indian subcontinent. Mainly three important parameters are taken such as zonal wind, temperature and ozone over the UT/LS of the Asian summer monsoon region. It made a detailed study of its interannual variability and characteristics of theses parameters during the Indian summer monsoon period. Monthly values of zonal wind and temperature from the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis for the period 1960-2002 are used for the present study. Also the daily overpass total ozone data for the 12 Indian stations (from low latitude to high latitudes) from the TOMS Nimbus 7 satellite for the period 1979 to 1992 were also used to understand the total ozone variation over the Indian region. The study reveals that if QBO phases in the stratosphere is easterly or weak westerly then the respective monsoon is found to be DRY or below Normal . On the other hand, if the phase is westerly or weak easterly the respective Indian summer monsoon is noted as a WET year. This connection of stratospheric QBO phases and Indian summer monsoon gives more insight in to the long-term predictions of Indian summer monsoon rainfall. Wavelet analysis and EOF methods are the two advanced statistical techniques used in the present study to explore more information of the zonal wind that from the smaller scale to higher scale variability over the Asian summer monsoon region. The interannual variability of temperature for different stratospheric and tropospheric levels over the Asian summer monsoon region have been studied. An attempt has been made to understand the total ozone characteristics and its interannual variablilty over 12 Indian stations spread from south latitudes to north latitudes. Finally it found that the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere contribute significantly to monsoon variability and climate changes. It is also observed that there exists a link between the stratospheric QBO and Indian summer monsoon

A study of occupational aspiration of college students i Ernakulam district as related to their Socio-economic backgrounds

The major objective of the study is to find out how far the differential location in the socio-economic status and the various interests determine the occupational aspirations of the college students in Ernakulum district. The study gives a detailed picture of the influence of caste and community affiliations, rural-urban background, gender differences and academic achievements on the occupational aspirations of college students. The thesis aims to see how far the economic status of the family is associated with the occupational aspirations of the college youth .The study also throws light on the influence exerted by the occupational and educational standards of the parents on the occupational aspirations of the students and brings out the relation between the occupational aspirations and interests of the college students.

Vocational Higher Secondary Education in Kerala: A Status Study of Students, Pass Outs and Training Components

This study analyses the socio-economic backgrounds and entrepreneurial profiles of the students and pass outs of the Vocational Higher Secondary Education in Kerala and the academic achievements of the Vocational Higher Secondary students and pass outs in Kerala in terms of their performance in the examinations. The study also analyses the quality and availability of the various training and support facilities of the Vocational Higher Secondary Schools in Kerala, nature and rate of employment and higher studies among the pass outs of the Vocational Higher Secondary Education in Kerala and the awareness of students, pass outs, teachers and principals regarding the goals and objectives, mode of implementation, apprenticeship training and higher study and employment opportunities of the programme of the Vocational Higher Secondary Education in Kerala.

Value orientation of professional students in kerala

The present study is on value orientation of professional students•and as such the theoretical value is inherent and implied. Variation on this value is likely to be limited among the subjects. The relevance of the present study is with particular reference, to management as a profession. In organisational settings motivation plays an important role. According to McClelland's theory of needs, achievement, power, and affiliation are the three important needs that help in understanding motivation. Achieve~ent need may be defined as the drive to excel, to achieve in relation to a set of standards, and to strive to succeed. Some people have a compelling drive to succeed. They have a desire to do something better or more efficiently than it has been done before. McClelland found that high achievers differentiate themselves from others by their desire to do things . better. Considering this fact, 'achievement' is included as one of the values for the study

Local Hadley circulation over the Asian monsoon region associated with the Tropospheric Biennial Oscillation

The Tropospheric Biennial Oscillation (TBO), a major interannual variation phenomenon in the Indo-Pacific region, is the result of strong ocean-atmosphere coupling over the Asian-Australian monsoon area. Along with other meteorological and oceanographic parameters, the tropical circulation also exhibits interannual oscillations. Even though the TBO is the result of strong air–sea interaction, the circulation cells during TBO years are, as yet, not well understood. In the present study, an attempt has been made to understand the interannual variability of the mean meridional circulation and local monsoon circulation over south Asia in connection with the TBO. The stream function computed from the zonal mean meridional wind component of NCEP=NCAR reanalysis data for the years 1950–2003 is used to represent the meanmeridional circulation. Mean meridional mass transport in the topics reverses from a weak monsoon to a strong monsoon in the presence of ENSO, but in normal TBO yearsmean transport remains weak across the Northern Hemisphere. The meridional temperature gradient, which drives the mean meridional circulation, also shows no reversal during the normal TBO cycle. The local Hadley circulation over the monsoon area follows the TBO cycle with anomalous ascent (descent) in strong (weak) monsoon years. During normal TBO years, the Equatorial region and Indian monsoon areas exhibit opposite local Hadley circulation anomalies

A generalization of Student’s t-distribution from the viewpoint of special functions

Student’s t-distribution has found various applications in mathematical statistics. One of the main properties of the t-distribution is to converge to the normal distribution as the number of samples tends to infinity. In this paper, by using a Cauchy integral we introduce a generalization of the t-distribution function with four free parameters and show that it converges to the normal distribution again. We provide a comprehensive treatment of mathematical properties of this new distribution. Moreover, since the Fisher F-distribution has a close relationship with the t-distribution, we also introduce a generalization of the F-distribution and prove that it converges to the chi-square distribution as the number of samples tends to infinity. Finally some particular sub-cases of these distributions are considered.

Comparing european and asian studies : towards the renewal of curriculum programmes. 'Comparación de estudios europeos y asiáticos : hacia la renovación de los programas de estudio'.

Publicación financiada por el Programa Asia-Link de la Comisión Europea. - Notas a pie de página.