The Effect of Coloring on Perceived Stress Levels of Hospital Nurses: A Quasi-Experimental Pilot Study

Hospital nurses experience stress specific to their occupation, due to shift work, intense workload, and unsupportive management. Current literature suggests coloring offers a holistic approach to stress management, but most workplace wellness programs focus primarily on physical health. The purpose of our research is to describe the effect of coloring on perceived stress levels of hospital nurses. In this empirical, quasi-experimental pilot study, four female participants completed Perceived Stress Scale surveys (PSS-10), stress meter ratings (using visual analog scales) and responded to a brief journal prompt following individual coloring sessions over the course of two weeks. Through quantitative and qualitative data analysis, we discovered coloring has short-term stress management benefits; however, we could not confirm long-term stress reduction over the study period. We conclude coloring is an easy and cost- effective short-term stress management intervention for hospital nurses that needs more research. Future research should include a longitudinal study to investigate long-term effects of coloring as a holistic stress management technique for workplace wellness

Cosmic rays in galaxies: a probe of star formation

Cosmic-ray energy densities in central regions of starburst galaxies, as inferred from radio and gamma-ray measurements of, respectively, non-thermal synchrotron and neutral pion decay emission, are typically U_p = O(100)eV/cm3, i.e. typically at least an order of magnitude larger than near the Galactic center and in other non-very-actively star-forming galaxies. We first show that these very different energy-density levels reflect a similar disparity in the respective supernova rates in the two environments, which is not unexpected given the supernova origin of (Galactic) energetic particles. As a consequence of this correspondence, we then demonstrate that there is partial quantitative evidence that the stellar initial mass function (IMF) in starburst nuclei has a low-mass truncation at ~2M_sun, as predicted by theoretical models of turbulent media, in contrast with the much smaller value of 0.1M_sun that characterizes the low-mass cutoff of the stellar IMF in `normal' galactic environments.Comment: MNRAS, in press. 9 pages, no figures. Several typos correcte

The ALMA Phasing System: A Beamforming Capability for Ultra-high-resolution Science at (Sub)Millimeter Wavelengths

The Atacama Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Phasing Project (APP) has developed and deployed the hardware and software necessary to coherently sum the signals of individual ALMA antennas and record the aggregate sum in Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) Data Exchange Format. These beamforming capabilities allow the ALMA array to collectively function as the equivalent of a single large aperture and participate in global VLBI arrays. The inclusion of phased ALMA in current VLBI networks operating at (sub)millimeter wavelengths provides an order of magnitude improvement in sensitivity, as well as enhancements in u-v coverage and north-south angular resolution. The availability of a phased ALMA enables a wide range of new ultra-high angular resolution science applications, including the resolution of supermassive black holes on event horizon scales and studies of the launch and collimation of astrophysical jets. It also provides a high-sensitivity aperture that may be used for investigations such as pulsar searches at high frequencies. This paper provides an overview of the ALMA Phasing System design, implementation, and performance characteristics.Comment: Accepted to PASP; 23 page