Hidden in Plain Sight: Making Maine’s Science Leadership Visible

Kate Dickerson reports an innovative strategy to highlight Maine’s science leader­ship and to inspire both current and future generations of Maine’s science leaders by providing a space where they can talk about their work with the public: the Maine Science Festival, where attendees of all ages explore and cele­brate the science happening in Maine

Energy in Maine

Energy in Maine presents a summary of the current state of energy production and use in Maine, and identifies some considerations for energy policy in Maine. The expectation is that this paper will provide a common foundation to assist policy makers as they work to move Maine forward

Quarterly Economic Report: Energy in Maine

Energy is a critical cost factor to Maine people and businesses and to others who may consider relocating here. The Measures of Growth report’s Cost of Energy indicator tracks retail and industrial electricity prices for Maine, both of which have declined in recent years. Nevertheless, Maine’s costs of energy remain high relative to the nation. Further understanding of the issues related to costs, consumption, and production can help inform our decisions as we look to grow Maine’s economy

Potatoes to Plastic

This research project examined the resource and economic viability of Maine potatoes as a source for polylactic acid (PLA) to support InterfaceFABRIC’s manufacturing requirements for use in their bio-based fabrics for commercial interiors

Science in Maine: Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic

The authors discuss the increased recognition by policymakers and the general public of the importance of science in our lives and examine the need for a science center or museum for the state of Maine

Maine Bioproducts Business Pathways

This paper discusses the different processes that can be utilized in a Maine biorefinery to produce ethanol and acetic acid as initial products, with an emphasis on the “nearneutral” process. We also analyze potential investment and production costs for a biorefinery, based upon studies that have looked specifically at this type of evolution, as well as cellulosic biorefineries that are based upon other types of processes

Maine Bioproducts Business Pathways: Ethanol Comparison & Transportation Analysis

This report compares some characteristics of ethanol produced with wood via fermentation versus that by corn. We also identify various means of transport available to Kraft pulp and paper mills in Maine, including pipelines, trucking and rail

Biomass and Biofuels in Maine: Estimating Supplies for Expanding the Forest Products Industry

This paper estimates the renewable energy potential of Maine’s forest resources, and how much energy these resources could potentially provide the state. Using the most recent state-specific data available, and a methodology similar to the Billion Tons Report, we find that ethanol production from Maine’s forest residues could potentially provide 18% of Maine’s transportation (gasoline) fuels with a fermentation wood to ethanol process. Making Fischer-Tropsch diesel (F-T diesel) using forest residues can replace 39% of Maine’s petro-diesel consumption. Actual levels of biofuels that can be produced will depend on conversion factors and forestry residue removals that are subject to uncertainty

Assessing and predicting adolescent and early adulthood common mental disorders using electronic primary care data:analysis of a prospective cohort study (ALSPAC) in Southwest England

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to examine agreement between common mental disorders (CMDs) from primary care records and repeated CMD questionnaire data from ALSPAC (the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children) over adolescence and young adulthood, explore factors affecting CMD identification in primary care records, and construct models predicting ALSPAC-derived CMDs using only primary care data. DESIGN AND SETTING: Prospective cohort study (ALSPAC) in Southwest England with linkage to electronic primary care records. PARTICIPANTS: Primary care records were extracted for 11 807 participants (80% of 14 731 eligible). Between 31% (3633; age 15/16) and 11% (1298; age 21/22) of participants had both primary care and ALSPAC CMD data. OUTCOME MEASURES: ALSPAC outcome measures were diagnoses of suspected depression and/or CMDs. Primary care outcome measure were Read codes for diagnosis, symptoms and treatment of depression/CMDs. For each time point, sensitivities and specificities for primary care CMD diagnoses were calculated for predicting ALSPAC-derived measures of CMDs, and the factors associated with identification of primary care-based CMDs in those with suspected ALSPAC-derived CMDs explored. Lasso (least absolute selection and shrinkage operator) models were used at each time point to predict ALSPAC-derived CMDs using only primary care data, with internal validation by randomly splitting data into 60% training and 40% validation samples. RESULTS: Sensitivities for primary care diagnoses were low for CMDs (range: 3.5%–19.1%) and depression (range: 1.6%–34.0%), while specificities were high (nearly all >95%). The strongest predictors of identification in the primary care data for those with ALSPAC-derived CMDs were symptom severity indices. The lasso models had relatively low prediction rates, especially in the validation sample (deviance ratio range: −1.3 to 12.6%), but improved with age. CONCLUSIONS: Primary care data underestimate CMDs compared to population-based studies. Improving general practitioner identification, and using free-text or secondary care data, is needed to improve the accuracy of models using clinical data

A review of the effectiveness and experiences of welfare advice services co-located in health settings: : A critical narrative systematic review

We conducted a narrative systematic review to assess the health, social and financial impacts of co-located welfare services in the UK and to explore the effectiveness of and facilitators and barriers to successful implementation of these services, in order to guide future policy and practice. We searched Medline, EMBASE and other literature sources, from January 2010 to November 2020, for literature examining the impact of co-located welfare services in the UK on any outcome. The review identified 14 studies employing a range of study designs, including: one non-randomised controlled trial; one pilot randomised controlled trial; one before-and-after-study; three qualitative studies; and eight case studies. A theory of change model, developed a priori, was used as an analytical framework against which to map the evidence on how the services work, why and for whom. All studies demonstrated improved financial security for participants, generating an average of £27 of social, economic and environmental return per £1 invested. Some studies reported improved mental health for individuals accessing services. Several studies attributed subjective improvements in physical health to the service addressing key social determinants of health. Benefits to the health service were also demonstrated through reduced workload for healthcare professionals. Key components of a successful service included co-production during service development and ongoing enhanced multi-disciplinary collaboration. Overall, this review demonstrates improved financial security for participants and for the first time models the wider health and welfare benefits for participants and for health service from these services. However, given the generally poor scientific quality of the studies, care must be taken in drawing firm conclusions. There remains a need for more high quality research, using experimental methods and larger sample sizes, to further build upon this evidence base and to measure the strength of the proposed theoretical pathways in this area