Industrial Energy Development Decouples Ungulate Migration from the Green Wave

The ability to freely move across the landscape to track the emergence of nutritious spring green-up (termed ‘green-wave surfing’) is key to the foraging strategy of migratory ungulates. Across the vast landscapes traversed by many migratory herds, habitats are being altered by development with unknown consequences for surfing. Using a unique long-term tracking dataset, we found that when energy development occurs within mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) migration corridors, migrating animals become decoupled from the green wave. During the early phases of a coalbed natural gas development, deer synchronized their movements with peak green-up. But faced with increasing disturbance as development expanded, deer altered their movements by holding up at the edge of the gas field and letting the green wave pass them by. Development often modified only a small portion of the migration corridor but had far-reaching effects on behaviour before and after migrating deer encountered it, thus reducing surfing along the entire route by 38.65% over the 14-year study period. Our study suggests that industrial development within migratory corridors can change the behaviour of migrating ungulates and diminish the benefits of migration. Such disruptions to migratory behaviour present a common mechanism whereby corridors become unprofitable and could ultimately be lost on highly developed landscapes

Evaluating the Feasibility and Impact of a Well-being Retreat for Physicians and Advanced Practice Providers

Introduction: Work stress experienced by physicians and advanced practice providers (APPs) can have a detrimental psychological and physical impact. Targeted interventions that focus on self-awareness, peer connection, and intentional self-care may reduce stress and improve well-being and professional fulfillment. Methods: This is a summative program evaluation of a two-day well-being retreat for physicians and APPs employed at a healthcare system headquartered in Florida. Led by mental health professionals in May 2022, this retreat combined facilitator-led workshops and experiential practice activities with opportunities for peer connection and designated time with family members. The retreat objectives were to facilitate social support, improve knowledge in areas of self-care, and build reflection skills that lead to intentional changes in well-being. Data collection occurred immediately before and after the intervention in May 2022. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Tests were conducted to examine pre-post differences in the outcomes of self-reflection and insight, mindful self-care, anxiety, perceived stress, and professional fulfillment. Post-program feedback was collected, synthesized, and described. Results: Twenty-one clinicians attended the retreat, and a self-selected sample of twelve attendees participated in the evaluation portion of the project. Perceived stress significantly decreased (19.00 vs. 15.92; p = 0.01), and professional fulfillment significantly improved (15.50 vs. 17.50; p = 0.04) following the retreat. Participants reported the following benefits of the retreat: a reminder to focus on self-care, motivation for healthy behavior change, and an opportunity to self-reflect. Conclusion: Findings suggest that the retreat intervention met its objectives, and there is preliminary evidence that it may be a feasible approach to improve well-being and reduce stress in physicians and APPs. While significant changes in the practice environment are necessary to address the causes and consequences of work stress, individual-level programs remain important and relevant to the protection of well-being. This project builds upon the literature about interventions with diverse modalities

Ambipolar diffusion in superfluid neutron stars

In this paper we reconsider the problem of magnetic field diffusion in neutron star cores. We model the star as consisting of a mixture of neutrons, protons and electrons, and allow for particle reactions and binary collisions between species. Our analysis is in much the same spirit as that of Goldreich & Reisenegger (1992), and we content ourselves with rough estimates of magnetic diffusion timescales, rather than solving accurately for some particular field geometry. However, our work improves upon previous treatments in one crucial respect: we allow for superfluidity in the neutron star matter. We find that the consequent mutual friction force, coupling the neutrons and charged particles, together with the suppression of particles collisions and reactions, drastically affect the ambipolar magnetic field diffusion timescale. In particular, the addition of superfluidity means that it is unlikely that there is ambipolar diffusion in magnetar cores on the timescale of the lifetimes of these objects, contradicting an assumption often made in the modelling of the flaring activity commonly observed in magnetars. Our work suggests that if a decaying magnetic field is indeed the cause of magnetar activity, the field evolution is likely to take place outside of the core, and might represent Hall/Ohmic diffusion in the stellar crust, or else that a mechanism other than standard ambipolar diffusion is active, e.g. flux expulsion due to the interaction between neutron vortices and magnetic fluxtubes.Comment: Paper changed to incorporate comments from referee. To appear in MNRA

Craft Academy Solar Powered Racing (CASPR) Team

The ultimate goal of the CASPR team is to build a solar powered car to race in the solar car for the Solar Car Challenge Classic Division, and race in a cross-county race or at the famous Texas Motor Speedway. The car must have taillights, blinkers, headlights, and extra suspension. For the fall semester of 2021, we researched different parts and other solar cars to see what would be the best fit most beneficial. We were able to find all the parts needed for the construction of the car. The Solar Car Challenge website provides some resources to make finding parts easier. During the spring semester we have been focusing on building a frame with wheels so we can start to put the car together.https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/celebration_posters_2022/1025/thumbnail.jp