A Survey of Municipal Winter Road Maintenance in Maine

This report presents the results of a survey sent to municipalities in Maine to gather information on municipal winter road maintenance. It was part of a broader research project by the University of Maine in cooperation with the Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT) to examine winter roads with regard to maintenance practices, changing winter weather patterns, environmental impacts and costs, and winter road safety

Product Stewardship in Maine

This report examines the growing trend of recycling through product stewardship programs. Product stewardship programs attempt to keep potentially harmful products out of the waste stream, reduce pressure on landfills, and encourage manufacturers to reduce waste

Tutor Experiences with Facilitating Interprofessional Problem-Based Learning

Background: This article describes tutors’ experiences with facilitating interprofessional problem-based learning (iPBL), a topic rarely discussed in the literature. We examined tutors’ perceptions of what it was like to tutor iPBL, including the rewarding and challenging aspects. We also reported differences between new and experienced tutors.Methods and Findings: The data presented in this article were collected using three versions of a paper-and-pencil survey (N = 77, N = 99, and N = 97 for each version of the survey, respectively) and six focus groups. Surveys were completed at the conclusion of iPBL modules. Both quantitative and qualitative results indicated that tutors found the experience of facilitating iPBL to be rewarding and encountered few challenges. Tutors felt the training they received prepared them well to tutor. They also felt that facilitating iPBL increased their knowledge in the topic area of the iPBL module and of other professional roles, that it enhanced their skills as facilitators, and that they enjoyed observing students learn. New tutors reported significantly more learning and skill development than experienced tutors.Conclusions: Four lessons were derived from our research: 1) use iPBL to offer IPE; 2) invest in tutor training and support; 3) help tutors trust the process; and 4) consider tutor recruitment and retention strategies

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

Evaluation of an Interprofessional Problem-based Learning Module on Care of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS

Background: Interprofessional education (IPE) holds great promise in continuing to reform the management of complex chronic conditions such as HIV/AIDS, and Problem-based Learning (PBL) is a suitable format for IPE. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a large scale, compulsory interprofessional PBL module on HIV/AIDS education. In 2004, 30 physical therapy and 30 medical students at the University of Saskatchewan engaged in the HIV/AIDS PBL module. By 2007 over 300 students from seven healthcare programs were involved.Methods and Findings: The module was evaluated over the years using student satisfaction surveys, focus groups, self-assessments, and in 2007 with written pretest/post-tests. Students rated the learning experience about both HIV/AIDS and about interprofessional collaboration, at 4 or 5 out of 6 and effect sizes fell between d = .70 and 3.19. That only one pre-test/post-test study was conducted at a single institution is one of the limitations of this study.Conclusions: Students generally thought highly of the interprofessional PBL module on HIV/AIDS and learned a considerable amount. Although more research is needed to substantiate the self-assessment data, establish what and how much is being learned, and compare PBL to alternative methodologies, PBL is a promising approach to IPE

Tutor Experiences with Facilitating Interprofessional Problem-Based Learning

Background: This article describes tutors’ experiences with facilitating interprofessional problem-based learning (iPBL), a topic rarely discussed in the literature. We examined tutors’ perceptions of what it was like to tutor iPBL, including the rewarding and challenging aspects. We also reported differences between new and experienced tutors.Methods and Findings: The data presented in this article were collected using three versions of a paper-and-pencil survey (N = 77, N = 99, and N = 97 for each version of the survey, respectively) and six focus groups. Surveys were completed at the conclusion of iPBL modules. Both quantitative and qualitative results indicated that tutors found the experience of facilitating iPBL to be rewarding and encountered few challenges. Tutors felt the training they received prepared them well to tutor. They also felt that facilitating iPBL increased their knowledge in the topic area of the iPBL module and of other professional roles, that it enhanced their skills as facilitators, and that they enjoyed observing students learn. New tutors reported significantly more learning and skill development than experienced tutors.Conclusions: Four lessons were derived from our research: 1) use iPBL to offer IPE; 2) invest in tutor training and support; 3) help tutors trust the process; and 4) consider tutor recruitment and retention strategies

Maine’s Winter Roads: Salt, Safety, Environment and Cost

This report summarizes key findings from a yearlong study of the issues and practices in winter maintenance of Maine’s roads

Work-family life courses and metabolic markers in mid-life: evidence from the British National Child Development Study

Background Previous studies have found generally better health among those who combine employment and family responsibilities; however, most research excludes men, and relies on subjective measures of health and information on work and family activities from only 1 or 2 time points in the life course. This study investigated associations between work-family life course types (LCTs) and markers of metabolic risk in a British birth cohort study. Methods Multichannel sequence analysis was used to generate work-family LCTs, combining annual information on work, partnership and parenthood between 16 and 42 years for men and women in the British National Child Development Study (NCDS, followed since their birth in 1958). Associations between work-family LCTs and metabolic risk factors in mid-life (age 44-45) were tested using multivariate linear regression in multiply imputed data. Results Life courses characterised by earlier transitions into parenthood were associated with significantly increased metabolic risk, regardless of attachment to paid work or marital stability over the life course. These associations were only partially attenuated by educational qualifications, early life circumstances and adult mediators. The positive association between weak labour markets ties and metabolic risk was weaker than might be expected from previous studies. Associations between work-family LCTs and metabolic risk factors did not differ significantly by gender. Conclusions Earlier transitions to parenthood are linked to metabolic risk in mid-life

Work-family life courses and markers of stress and inflammation in mid-life: evidence from the National Child Development Study.

Background This study investigated associations between work-family life courses and biomarkers of inflammation and stress in mid-life among British men and women. Gender differences in these associations were also explored. Methods A novel statistical method-multi-channel sequence analysis-defined work-family life courses between the ages of 16 and 42 years, combining annual information on work, partnership and parenthood. Associations between work-family life courses and inflammation [C-reactive protein (CRP), fibrinogen and von Willebrand factor] and cortisol at age 44/45 years were tested using multivariate linear regression using multiply-imputed data on almost 6500 participants from the National Child Development Study 1958 British birth cohort. Results Compared with those who combined strong ties to paid work with later transitions to stable family lives ('Work, later family' group), 'Teen parents' had higher CRP [40.6% higher, 95% confidence interval (CI): 5.6, 87.0] and fibrinogen (7.8% higher, 95% CI: 2.3, 13.5) levels, and homemakers ('No paid work, early family') had raised fibrinogen levels (4.7% higher, 95% CI: 0.7, 9.0), independent of childhood health and socioeconomic position, adult socioeconomic position, health behaviours and body mass index (BMI). Those who combined later transitions to stable family ties with a career break for childrearing had higher post-waking cortisol than the 'Work, later family' group; however, no associations were seen for other work-family types, therefore suggesting a null finding with cortisol. No statistically significant gender interactions in associations between work-family types and inflammatory or cortisol outcomes were found. Conclusions Work-family life courses characterised by early parenthood or weak work ties were associated with a raised risk profile in relation to chronic inflammation

Orientation dependent modulation of apparent speed: psychophysical evidence

AbstractWe report several experiments showing that a Gabor patch moving in apparent motion sequences appears much faster when its orientation is aligned with the motion path than when it is at an angle to it. This effect is very large and peaks at high speeds (64°/s), decreases for higher and lower speeds and disappears at low speeds (4°/s). This speed bias decreases as the angle between the motion axis and the orientation of the Gabor patch increases, but remains high for curvilinear paths, provided that element orientation is kept tangential to the motion trajectory. It is not accounted for by decision strategies relying on the overall length and duration of the motion sequence or the gap size (or spatial jump) between successive frames. We propose a simple explanation, thoroughly developed as a computational model in a companion paper (Seriès, Georges, Lorenceau & Frégnac: “Orientation dependent modulation of apparent speed: a model based on the dynamics of feedforward and horizontal connectivity in V1 cortex”, this issue), according to which long-range horizontal connections in V1 elicit differential latency modulations in response to apparent motion sequences, whose read-out at an MT stage results in a perceptual speed bias. The consequences of these findings are discussed