BackgroundThe association between student characteristics and depression among students attending women’s colleges (single-sex institutions of higher education that exclude or limit males from admission) is poorly understood. Our objective was to estimate the prevalence of depression and determine behavioral and social characteristics associated with depression among students attending a women’s college.MethodsWe administered a cross-sectional Internet-based survey between April and May 2012 to students (n = 277) enrolled at a private women’s college in the southeastern US. Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 21 (DASS-21) instruments measured self-reported depression. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression methods were used to estimate adjusted associations.ResultsPrevalence of depression measured by CES-D and DASS-21 instruments was 26.3% (95% confidence interval [CI] 20.8-32.3%) and 26.0% (95% CI 20.4-32.3%), respectively. After adjusting for confounders, absence of strong social support (prevalence odds ratio [OR] = 4.3, 95% CI 1.4-13.7), history of mental health disorder (OR = 4.8 95% CI 1.9-12.4), and poor sleep hygiene (OR = 2.8, 95% CI 1.3-5.8) were associated with depression.ConclusionsThis cross-sectional survey identified absence of strong social support, history of mental health disorder, and poor sleep hygiene as potential predictors of depression among students attending a women’s college. Further investigation of these factors may inform depression interventions for students attending women’s colleges and other undergraduate student populations.

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This paper introduces a propellant-free approach to mobility of an inspection or servicing vehicle. The approach is suitable for motion near the surface of non-ferromagnetic, conductive objects in orbit. This work considers the specifics of eddy-current interactions between a translating permanent magnet and the aluminum surfaces of spacecraft. Such an actuator moves within the body of an inspection vehicle, requiring that its motion remains limited if the vehicle is to continuously interact with the client spacecraft. Experimental verification on a low-friction air track verifies a model for attraction–repulsion dynamics at millimeter-scale initial separations in one dimension. Results show good agreement between the simulated and tested conditions and motivate extension of the model to more general cases. To bound the design space and relative distances at which this actuator is effective, this work identifies the required size, mass, and trajectories for repulsion that restores the actuator to its initial configuration. Results support the utility of eddy-current actuation for microsatellites at separations of millimeters to centimeters from their conductive clients. For such clients the actuator may enable relative mobility and achieve other objectives key to proximity operations.