Late 20th Century Hydrologic Change in Western North America: Regional Impacts and the Role of Climate

Hydroclimatic variations and change directly impact the freshwater supplies in western North America. Streamflow in this region has shown increased variability of annual flow volumes and increasing synchroneity in the largest basins in the west towards the end of last century. As land-use change seems to play a lesser role, the PI will study the sensitivity of the western North American winter precipitation and related streamflow to El Nino-Southern Oscillation variations. The PI will use observations and multi-model ensemble integrations to study the decadal variations. The broader impact of this project will be an increase of the scientific knowledge required in water resources management

The Path to Sustainable Water Resources Solutions

Water is essential both to human survival and to the ecosystems on which people depend. Although Maine is blessed with abundant water sources, managing them is crucial for both short and long-term uses. The authors describe the varying time and spatial scales involved in managing water resources, pointing out that policy decisions made at one time can have far-reaching consequences. They provide illustrations of water-resource projects from Maine’s Sustainability Solutions Initiative, ranging in size from Sebago Laketo vernal pools on individual properties

Nonstationarity in seasonality of extreme precipitation: A nonparametric circular statistical approach and its application.

Changes in seasonality of extreme storms have important implications for public safety, storm water infrastructure, and, in general, adaptation strategies in a changing climate. While past research on this topic offers some approaches to characterize seasonality, the methods are somewhat limited in their ability to discern the diversity of distributional types for extreme precipitation dates. Herein, we present a comprehensive approach for assessment of temporal changes in the calendar dates for extreme precipitation within a circular statistics framework which entails: (a) three measures to summarize circular random variables (traditional approach), (b) four nonparametric statistical tests, and (c) a new nonparametric circular density method to provide a robust assessment of the nature of probability distribution and changes. Two 30 year blocks (1951–1980 and 1981–2010) of annual maximum daily precipitation from 10 stations across the state of Maine were used for our analysis. Assessment of seasonality based on nonparametric approach indicated nonstationarity; some stations exhibited shifts in significant mode toward Spring season for the recent time period while some other stations exhibited multimodal seasonal pattern for both the time periods. Nonparametric circular density method, used in this study, allows for an adaptive estimation of seasonal density. Despite the limitation of being sensitive to the smoothing parameter, this method can accurately characterize one or more modes of seasonal peaks, as well as pave the way toward assessment of changes in seasonality over time

Road Salt in Maine: An Assessment of Practices, Impacts and Safety

This report presents the results from a research project by a team from the University of Maine, in cooperation with the Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT), that examines the use of road salt in Maine for winter travel safety. It summarizes winter maintenance practices, changing winter weather patterns, environmental impacts and costs, and winter road safety

Coordinated river infrastructure decisions improve net social-ecological benefits

We explore the social, ecological, economic, and technical dimensions of sustainable river infrastructure development and the potential benefits of coordinating decisions such as dam removal and stream crossing improvement. Dam removal is common practice for restoring river habitat connectivity and ecosystem health. However, stream crossings such as culverts are often 15 times more abundant than dams and may pose similar ecological impacts. Using multi-objective optimization for a model system of 6100 dams and culverts in Maine, USA, we demonstrate substantial benefit-cost improvements provided by coordinating habitat connectivity decisions. Benefit-cost efficiency improves by two orders of magnitude when coordinating more decisions across wider areas, but this approach may cause inequitable resource distribution. Culvert upgrades improve roadway safety and habitat connectivity, creating cost-effective opportunities for coordinating and cost-sharing projects between conservationists and safety managers. Benefit-cost trends indicate significant overlaps in habitat and safety goals, encouraging flexible stakeholder collaborations and cost-sharing strategies

Strengthening the role of universities in addressing sustainability challenges: the Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions as an institutional experiment

As the magnitude, complexity, and urgency of many sustainability problems increase, there is a growing need for universities to contribute more effectively to problem solving. Drawing upon prior research on social-ecological systems, knowledge-action connections, and organizational innovation, we developed an integrated conceptual framework for strengthening the capacity of universities to help society understand and respond to a wide range of sustainability challenges. Based on experiences gained in creating the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions (Mitchell Center), we tested this framework by evaluating the experiences of interdisciplinary research teams involved in place-based, solutions-oriented research projects at the scale of a single region (i.e., the state of Maine, USA). We employed a multiple-case-study approach examining the experiences of three interdisciplinary research teams working on tidal energy development, adaptation to climate change, and forest vulnerability to an invasive insect. Drawing upon documents, observations, interviews, and other data sources, three common patterns emerged across these cases that were associated with more effective problem-solving strategies. First, an emphasis on local places and short-term dynamics in social-ecological systems research provides more frequent opportunities for learning while doing. Second, iterative stakeholder engagement and inclusive forms of knowledge co-production can generate substantial returns on investment, especially when researchers are dedicated to a shared process of problem identification and they avoid framing solutions too narrowly. Although these practices are time consuming, they can be accelerated by leveraging existing stakeholder relationships. Third, efforts to mobilize interdisciplinary expertise and link knowledge with action are facilitated by an organizational culture that emphasizes mutual respect, adaptability, and solutions. Participation of faculty associated with interdisciplinary academic programs, solutions-oriented fields, and units with partnership-oriented missions hastens collaboration within teams and between teams and stakeholders. The Mitchell Center also created a risk-tolerant culture that encouraged organizational learning. Solutions-focused programs at other universities can potentially benefit from the lessons we learned

Virtual screening of natural compounds as combinatorial agents from indian medicinal plants against estrogen positive breast cancer

Facing worldwide challenges associated with multifactorial etiology of breast cancer, designing of combinatorial therapies using natural compounds is currently the emergent way of treating several cancers including breast cancer in a synergistic way, which may mitigate several problems associated with multiple receptor targeting. In this research, Estrogen receptor positive breast cancer was taken as prototype and several key receptors associated with this particular disease were targeted by virtual screening of natural compounds found in Indian originated medicinal plants using Computer aided Drug Designing (CADD) strategies. We found the combination of Carpusin, Paulownin Cornigerine, Nororientaline, Oryzalexin B, Romucosine H and Colchicine as effective against six potential receptors i.e. FGFR2, ESR1, PIK3CA, PIK3CB, PIK3CD and AR in Estrogen receptor positive breast cancer with their binding energies in the range of ∆G ≤ -8.0 Kcal/mol as well as significant number of common amino acid binding residues as compared with binding sites of receptors. Thus this research holds significant implications for the designing of combinatorial therapeutic agents against breast cancer which can be further tested in-vitro and in-vivo to prove their synergistic efficiency

Evaluation of Incidence of Gallbladder Content Spillage and Factors Leading to it During Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

Background: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy has replaced open cholecystectomy in the treatment of cholelithiasis. However, with the increase in the number of laparoscopic operations performed, there has also been a noticeable increase in the frequency of gallbladder (GB) content spillage and its complications Objectives: Aim of this study is to evaluate the incidence of gallbladder spillage during laparoscopic cholecystectomy and factors affecting it.Materials and Methods: Cross- Sectional study conducted at General Surgery department of Saraswathi Institute of Medical Sciences, Hapur, UP. Data was collected preoperatively and intraoperatively from 126 patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy for cholelithiasis from Oct 2019 – Oct 2020.Results: Among total 126 patients, gallbladder spillage occurred in 16 patients. Dissection of gallbladder from hepatic fossa found to be major technical factor responsible for spillage. Distended gallbladder/ multiple stones/ peri GB adhesions found to be most common patient related factor responsible for spillage.Conclusion: During Laparoscopic cholecystectomy, gallbladder content spillage can occur in significant number of patients at multiple steps of the procedure due to interactive role of both patient related factors and technical factors and it can be a source of morbidity. So, every attempt should be made to prevent it rather than managing it afterwards