Policy may jeopardize safety

An informed community is a safe community, according to Public Safety Police Lt. Alan Stormann, but recent actions suggest the campus police are only willing to go so far in keeping the community informed. In 1996, seven forcible rapes were reported in the university\u27s annual safety and security information report. The definition of forcible rape includes forcible fondling, non-forcible incest and statutory rape. Of the seven reported forcible rapes, according to Lt. Stormann, three were actual rapes, one was an attempted rape, two involved offensive touching and the last one involved a man masturbating on a woman. Of the seven cases, one was sent to judicial affairs, four are still active and two had charges brought against two men

Homophobic attack prompts third civil rights suit

The Maine Attorney General\u27s office announced yesterday that it has filed another civil rights lawsuit against a University of Maine student. Kirk R. Daigle, 26, has been accused of threatening a fellow student based on his minority status

Restraining order settles Belanger case

The Attorney General\u27s Office reached an agreement late last week with Casey Belanger, the University of Maine student accused of sending threatening e-mail to several folders on the FirstClass computer system. Both Belangers and the judge have signed a consent judgement, permanently restraining him from harassing anyone of the minority status, according to Assistant Attorney General Stephen Wessler

African-American churches: Women feeling the Spirit take some by surprise

When Cheryl Townsend Gilkes was a little girl, she leaned over to her mother in their normally sedate, traditional New England church one day to ask why Mrs. Sinclair was shouting. She feels the Spirit, her mother explained in a whisper. Gilkes marveled at the older woman\u27s curious behavior at the time, but now smiles in understanding

Observing King\u27s legacy

Article from the University of Maine student newspaper The Maine Campus regarding a Faculty Senate vote on the University observing Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a school holiday

An Exploration of Atypical Recovery from Pediatric Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI)

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a significant public health concern, particularly for children and adolescents. Existing research suggests that pre-injury and injury-related factors influence recovery. The current study simultaneously considered variables relevant to recovery from pediatric mTBI, including pre-injury diagnoses, symptom burden, neuropsychological and emotional functioning, performance validity, and medical service utilization in an archival sample of children referred to a multidisciplinary concussion clinic. Consistent with a broad literature, female sex and initial symptom burden predicted referral for neuropsychological evaluation. Initial symptom burden also predicted neuropsychological performance and service utilization. A meaningful proportion of the sample reported clinically significant symptoms of anxiety and/or depression, which negatively influenced neuropsychological functioning. After excluding patients with suspect performance validity, the rate at which individuals obtained impaired neuropsychological scores status-post injury decreased. Finally, this research documented rates of medical service utilization in a sample of children experiencing prolonged recovery from concussion. On average, participants in this sample completed approximately 9 medical visits related to their injury, and initial symptom burden predicted increased service utilization. The current study provides further evidence for the biopsychosocial model of recovery from mTBI and underscores the importance of considering symptom reporting and emotional functioning, as well as routinely assessing performance validity in pediatric mTBI sample

A Statistical Examination of Impaired Performances Across Concussion Screening Instruments

It is well documented that healthy individuals routinely obtain impaired scores on neuropsychological tests, which confounds the differential diagnosis process. Relatively little is known regarding the rates at which healthy individuals obtain impaired scores on measures that are used to detect cognitive symptoms associated with sports related concussion (SRC). The current study generated expected rates of impaired performance on the Standardized Assessment of Concussion (SAC), the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics Sports Battery (ANAM), Immediate Post-Concussion and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT), and Axon Sports (Axon) neurocognitive measures by conducting Monte Carlo analyses using data obtained from a large normative sample of amateur athletes. Consistent with a broad literature, approximately 20% of a non-injured sample would obtain at least one impaired score on these neurocognitive measures. Further, actual rates of impaired performance on the respective measures were investigated by stratifying an additional sample by estimated intellectual ability. Individuals with Above Average intellectual ability achieved impaired scores at a lower rate than individuals with Below Average intellectual functioning. This study elucidates the psychometric properties of commonly-used concussion screeners and should be considered when making return-to-play decisions

Belanger tells story behind FirstClass threats

The penalties levied by the University of Maine against a student accused of issuing a violent threat on FirstClass [the University\u27s email system] have been set, but an investigation by UMaine\u27s Public Safety continues. Casey Belanger, 19, of Caribou, has been ordered by UMaine to serve 30 hours of community service over two semesters. The university has also suspended his FirstClass account and placed him on probated suspension. The punishment sought by the state, however, is potentially more severe

Slurs bring civil suit against UM student

The Maine Attorney General\u27s Office filed a civil suit yesterday against a University of Maine student who allegedly used the FirstClass [email] computer system to make threatening statements directed at gays, lesbians and bisexuals. The suit claims Casey Belanger, 19, of Orono, violated the Maine Civil Rights Act... Bias motivated threats of violence have absolutely no place anywhere in society, including our universities and colleges, Attorney General Andrew Ketterer said

Application of multivariate data analysis in biopharmaceutical production

EngDIn 2004, the FDA launched the Process Analytical Technology (PAT) initiative to support product and process development. Even before this, the biologics manufacturing industry was working to implement PAT. While a strong focus of PAT is the implementation of new monitoring technologies, there is also a strong emphasis on the use of multivariate data analysis (MVDA). Effective implementation and integration of MVDA is of particular interest as it can be applied retroactively to historical datasets in addition to current datasets. However translation of academic research into industrial ways of working can be slowed or prevented by many obstacles, from proposed solutions being workable only by the original academic to a need to prove that time invested in developing MVDA models and methodologies will result in positive business impacts (e.g. reduction of costs or man hours). The presented research applied MVDA techniques to datasets from three scales typically encountered during investigations of biologics manufacturing processes: a single product, dataset; a single product, multi-scale dataset; a multi-product, multi-scale, single platform dataset. These datasets were interrogated in multiple approaches and multiple objectives (e.g. indictors/causes of productivity variation, comparison of pH measurement technologies). Individual project outcomes culminated in the creation of a robust statistical toolbox. The toolbox captures an array of MVDA techniques from PCA and PLS to decision trees employing k-NN. These are supported by frameworks and guidance for implementation based on interrogation aims encountered in a contract manufacturing environment. The presented frameworks ranged from extraction of indirectly captured information (Chapter 4) to meta-analytical strategies (Chapter 6). Software-based tools generated during research ranged from translation of high frequency online monitoring data as robust summary statistics with intuitive meaning (Appendix A) to tools enabling potential reduction in confounding underlying variation in dataset structures through the use of alternative progression variables (Chapter 5). Each tool was designed to fit into current and future planned ways of working at the sponsor company. The presented research demonstrates a range of investigation aims and challenges encountered in a contract manufacturing organisation with demonstrated benefits from ease of integration into normal work process flows and savings in time and human resources.Lonza Biologics in Slough