The Association Between Coping Strategies, Resilience, and Flourishing Among Students at Large U.S. University During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed Methods Research Study

Background: Mental illness indicators increased among U.S. university students in recent years; COVID-19 associated disruptions presented additional mental health challenges for students. Aim: This research aimed to assess the relationship between coping strategies identified by university students and scores on resilience and flourishing scales and to identify additional themes that described student experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: An online survey was administered to students at a large public Midwestern University. Quantitative data were assessed using nonparametric tests for association and qualitative data were analyzed using cycles of open coding. Results: Most of the 3,473 respondents were female (76.5%) and white (83.6%), with a mean age of 24.67 years (SD = 8.08). The most frequent coping strategy was physical activity participation (n = 712), followed by socializing (n = 507). The highest resilience and flourishing scores were associated with compliance to COVID-19 associated recommendations or spiritual activities. Qualitative themes included the value of focusing on controllable aspects, the need to be strong for others, and the experience of academic overload during transition to online learning. Conclusions: Universities should endeavor to provide ongoing availability of counseling during university disruptions. Universities might also consider proactive efforts to guide students toward proficiency in strategies that improve coping skills, including some that do not center around technology

High resolution measurements of carbon monoxide along a late Holocene Greenland ice core: evidence for in situ production

We present high-resolution measurements of carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations from a shallow ice core of the North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling project (NEEM-2011-S1). An optical-feedback cavity-enhanced absorption spectrometer (OF-CEAS) coupled to a continuous melter system performed continuous, online analysis during a four-week measurement campaign. This analytical setup generated stable measurements of CO concentrations with an external precision of 7.8 ppbv (1σ), based on repeated analyses of equivalent ice core sections. However, this first application of this measurement technique suffered from a poorly constrained procedural blank of 48 ± 25 ppbv and poor accuracy because an absolute calibration was not possible. The NEEM-2011-S1 CO record spans 1800 yr and the long-term trends within the most recent section of this record (i.e., post 1700 AD) resemble the existing discrete CO measurements from the Eurocore ice core. However, the CO concentration is highly variable (75–1327 ppbv range) throughout the ice core with high frequency (annual scale), high amplitude spikes characterizing the record. These CO signals are too abrupt and rapid to reflect atmospheric variability and their prevalence largely prevents interpretation of the record in terms of atmospheric CO variation. The abrupt CO spikes are likely the result of in situ production occurring within the ice itself, although the unlikely possibility of CO production driven by non-photolytic, fast kinetic processes within the continuous melter system cannot be excluded. We observe that 68% of the CO spikes are observed in ice layers enriched with pyrogenic aerosols. Such aerosols, originating from boreal biomass burning emissions, contain organic compounds, which may be oxidized or photodissociated to produce CO within the ice. However, the NEEM-2011-S1 record displays an increase of ~0.05 ppbv yr⁻¹ in baseline CO level prior to 1700 AD (129 m depth) and the concentration remains elevated, even for ice layers depleted in dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Thus, the processes driving the likely in situ production of CO within the NEEM ice may involve multiple, complex chemical pathways not all related to past fire history and require further investigation

Bigraphical Refinement

We propose a mechanism for the vertical refinement of bigraphical reactive systems, based upon a mechanism for limiting observations and utilising the underlying categorical structure of bigraphs. We present a motivating example to demonstrate that the proposed notion of refinement is sensible with respect to the theory of bigraphical reactive systems; and we propose a sufficient condition for guaranteeing the existence of a safety-preserving vertical refinement. We postulate the existence of a complimentary notion of horizontal refinement for bigraphical agents, and finally we discuss the connection of this work to the general refinement of Reeves and Streader.Comment: In Proceedings Refine 2011, arXiv:1106.348

High resolution measurements of carbon monoxide along a late Holocene Greenland ice core: evidence for in situ production

We present high-resolution measurements of carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations from a shallow ice core of the North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling project (NEEM-2011-S1). An optical-feedback cavity-enhanced absorption spectrometer (OF-CEAS) coupled to a continuous melter system performed continuous, online analysis during a four-week measurement campaign. This analytical setup generated stable measurements of CO concentrations with an external precision of 7.8 ppbv (1σ), based on repeated analyses of equivalent ice core sections. However, this first application of this measurement technique suffered from a poorly constrained procedural blank of 48 ± 25 ppbv and poor accuracy because an absolute calibration was not possible. The NEEM-2011-S1 CO record spans 1800 yr and the long-term trends within the most recent section of this record (i.e., post 1700 AD) resemble the existing discrete CO measurements from the Eurocore ice core. However, the CO concentration is highly variable (75–1327 ppbv range) throughout the ice core with high frequency (annual scale), high amplitude spikes characterizing the record. These CO signals are too abrupt and rapid to reflect atmospheric variability and their prevalence largely prevents interpretation of the record in terms of atmospheric CO variation. The abrupt CO spikes are likely the result of in situ production occurring within the ice itself, although the unlikely possibility of CO production driven by non-photolytic, fast kinetic processes within the continuous melter system cannot be excluded. We observe that 68% of the CO spikes are observed in ice layers enriched with pyrogenic aerosols. Such aerosols, originating from boreal biomass burning emissions, contain organic compounds, which may be oxidized or photodissociated to produce CO within the ice. However, the NEEM-2011-S1 record displays an increase of ~0.05 ppbv yr−1 in baseline CO level prior to 1700 AD (129 m depth) and the concentration remains elevated, even for ice layers depleted in dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Thus, the processes driving the likely in situ production of CO within the NEEM ice may involve multiple, complex chemical pathways not all related to past fire history and require further investigation.This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by the author(s) and published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. The published article can be found at: http://www.climate-of-the-past.net/home.html