First Year Student Success Initiative: Academic Support Services video

Sara Henry, director of Student Accessibility Services discusses the goals of the academic support services working group that is part of the First-Year Student Success Initiative at UMaine. Click the Download button for an English language transcript of this video

Monitoring and Assessing the Use of External Quality Review Organizations to Improve Services for Young Children: A Toolkit for State Medicaid Agencies

Assesses the extent to which states use external quality review organizations in studying the quality of preventive and developmental services for young children enrolled in Medicaid, and provides guidance on determining their scope of work

Ecophysiology and diversity of anaeromyxobacter spp. and implications for uranium bioremediation

Uranium has been released into the environment due to improper practices associated with mining and refinement for energy and weapons production. Soluble U(VI) species such as uranyl carbonate can be reduced to form the insoluble U(IV) mineral uraninite (UO2) via microbial respiratory processes. Formation of UO2 diminishes uranium mobility and prevents uranium-laden groundwater from being discharged into surface water; however, oxygen and other oxidants re-solubilize UO2. Many organisms have been shown to reduce uranium, but variations in microbial physiology change the dynamics of microbial uranium reduction in situ and affect uraninite stability. Anaeromyxobacter dehalogenans is a metal-reducing delta-Proteobacterium in the myxobacteria family that displays remarkable respiratory versatility and efficiently reduces U(VI). The approach of this research was to enhance characterization of A. dehalogenans by identifying unique genetic traits, describing variability within the species, and examining the environmental distribution of A. dehalogenans strains. Genome analysis revealed that A. dehalogenans shares many traits with the myxobacteria including type IV pilus-based motility and an aerobic-like electron transport chain. In addition, the genome revealed genes that share sequence similarity with strict anaerobes and other metal-reducing organisms. Physiological examination of microaerophilism in A. dehalogenans strain 2CP-C revealed growth at sub-atmospheric oxygen partial pressure. Physiological characterization of novel isolates demonstrated that strain-level variation in the 16S rRNA gene coincides with metabolic changes that can be linked to the loss of specific gene homologs. Anaeromyxobacter spp. were present at the Oak Ridge Integrated Field-scale Subsurface Research Challenge (IFC) site and multiplex qPCR tools designed using a minor-groove binding probe gave insights into strain and species differences in the community. Finally, 16S rRNA gene sequences were identified which suggest a novel Anaeromyxobacter species that is responsible for uranium reduction at the Oak Ridge IFC site. This research contributes new knowledge of the ecophysiology of a widely distributed, metal-reducing bacterial group capable of uranium immobilization. The characterization of Anaeromyxobacter spp. helps to elucidate the dynamics of biological cycling of metals at oxic-anoxic interfaces, like those at the Oak Ridge IFC, and contributes to the broader study of microbial ecology in groundwater and sediment environments.Ph.D.Committee Chair: Dr. Frank E. Löffler; Committee Member: Dr. Joseph B. Hughes; Committee Member: Dr. Kurt D. Pennell; Committee Member: Dr. Lawrence J. Shimkets; Committee Member: Dr. Robert A. Sanford; Committee Member: Dr. Thomas DiChristin

Extending our Understanding of Social Belonging: College Students\u27 Use of Technology, Psychosocial Well-Being, and Sense of Community in University Life

Postsecondary education marks a transitional time in the lives of young adults. During this time, traditional-aged college students confront a substantial number of developmental challenges that are extraordinarily diverse and complex (Evans, Forney, & Guido-DiBrito, 1998). Erikson\u27s (1968) theory of psychosocial development posited that the major developmental task of early adulthood is to establish close intimate relationships. The development of mature interpersonal relationships (Chickering & Reisser, 1993) is a critical priority if students are to successfully integrate into their social worlds and persist to graduation. Early theoretical models proposed by both Spady (1970) and Tinto (1975, 1993) linked institutional commitment and persistence to the quality of students\u27 integration into the social environment of the campus, with social integration referring to students\u27 peer relationships and interactions with faculty. Social and academic integration into the college environment and persistence to graduation have been cited as major challenges for this population (Pascarella & Terenzini, 1980; Tinto, 1975, 1993). Social integration, or social belonging, is the central focus of this dissertation given the importance of students\u27 sense of connectedness to others during the college years. Given the seemingly ubiquitous use of technology among college student populations and the potential influence of this use on students\u27 social relationships, this quantitative study explored the associations among students\u27 use of communication technologies, perceived psychosocial well-being, and sense of community in university life. Time spent using communication technologies and motivations for use emerged as predictors of students\u27 psychosocial well-being and sense of community

Accelerating learning for pro-poor health markets

CommentaryBackground: Given the rapid evolution of health markets, learning is key to promoting the identification and uptake of health market policies and practices that better serve the needs of the poor. However there are significant challenges to learning about health markets. We discuss the different forms that learning takes, from the development of codified scientific knowledge, through to experience-based learning, all in relationship to health markets. Discussion: Notable challenges to learning in health markets include the difficulty of acquiring data from private health care providers, designing evaluations that capture the complex dynamics present within health markets and developing communities of practice that encompass the diverse actors present within health markets, and building trust and mutual understanding across these groups. The paper proposes experimentation with country-specific market data platforms that can integrate relevant evidence from different data sources, and simultaneously exploring strategies to secure better information on private providers and health markets. Possible approaches to adapting evaluation designs so that they are better able to take account of different and changing contexts as well as producing real time findings are discussed. Finally capturing informal knowledge about health markets is key. Communities of practice that bridge different health market actors can help to share such experience-based knowledge and in so doing, may help to formalize it. More geographically-focused communities of practice are needed, and such communities may be supported by innovation brokers and/or be built around member-based organizations. Summary: Strategic investments in and support to learning about health markets can address some of the challenges experienced to-date, and accelerate learning that supports health markets that serve the poor.DFI

Inclusion body myositis: from genetics to clinical trials

Inclusion body myositis (IBM) belongs to the group of idiopathic inflammatory myopathies and is characterized by a slowly progressive disease course with asymmetric muscle weakness of predominantly the finger flexors and knee extensors. The disease leads to severe disability and most patients lose ambulation due to lack of curative or disease-modifying treatment options. Despite some genes reported to be associated with hereditary IBM (a distinct group of conditions), data on the genetic susceptibility of sporadic IBM are very limited. This review gives an overview of the disease and focuses on the current genetic knowledge and potential therapeutic implications

Sounding The Trumpet: Educating For Jubilee

Series 7: Altadena, Southern California / Jubilee (2000-2012): English Files, Notebook 8https://digitalcommons.fuller.edu/kinsler-tee/1052/thumbnail.jp