University of Maine

About: University of Maine is a education organization based out in Orono, Maine, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Ice sheet. The organization has 8637 authors who have published 16932 publications receiving 590124 citations. The organization is also known as: University of Maine at Orono.

Nature of the “occluded” low-density fraction in soil organic matter studies: A critical review

Abstract: Density separations show great promise in elucidating the progression of organic matter decomposition and mineral association in soils. We review the literature on these separations, with a focus on the low-density material released by sonication, the so-called “occluded”, “aggregate-protected” or mineral-associated low-density fraction (m-LF). This fraction accounts for up to half of the total C in surface soils. A commonly cited model explains this material as an intermediary (between mineral-free LF and high-density fractions) during the progressive decay of plant detritus accompanied by mineral association. However, the great variance in m-LF compositions (e.g. unusual aliphaticity, high C:N, variable mean residence time) shown in the literature implies a separate genesis for some of the organic matter in this fraction in some soils. Aspects of organic particle size and lipid composition of original plant sources deserve more attention. We propose a revision of the current model that allows f...

A Year in the Life: Two Seventh Grade Teachers Implement One-to-One Computing.

Abstract: Maine was the first state to put laptops in the hands of an entire grade of students. This interpretive case study of two middle school science-math teachers was driven by the general question: Given ubiquitous computing, how do teachers use computers in constructing curriculum and delivering instruction? Specifically, the researchers sought to examine the facilitators and barriers for teachers in using laptops in the classroom. Using qualitative methods, the researchers collected data during the first year of the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI). Differential effects of one-to-one computing on each teacher were found along two dimensions: the effect of technical technological issues, and the educational effect of technology policies. For both teachers, the effects were deeply altered by the teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning, which in turn affected their ultimate choices of how their time (and their students’ time) was spent. This empirical study offers a preliminary analysi...

Remote Monitoring of Fish in Small Streams: A Unified Approach Using Pit Tags

Abstract: Accurate assessments of fish populations are often limited by re-observation or recapture events. Since the early 1990s, passive integrated transponders (PIT tags) have been used to understand the biology of many fish species. Until recently, PIT applications in small streams have been limited to physical recapture events. To maximize recapture probability, we constructed PIT antenna arrays in small streams to remotely detect individual fish. Experiences from two different laboratories (three case studies) allowed us to develop a unified approach to applying PIT technology for enhancing data assessments. Information on equipment, its installation, tag considerations, and array construction is provided. Theoretical and practical definitions are introduced to standardize metrics for assessing detection efficiency. We demonstrate how certain conditions (stream discharge, vibration, and ambient radio frequency noise) affect the detection efficiency and suggest that by monitoring these conditions, exp...

Interleukin-6 Interweaves the Bone Marrow Microenvironment, Bone Loss, and Multiple Myeloma.

Abstract: The immune system is strongly linked to the maintenance of healthy bone. Inflammatory cytokines, specifically, are crucial to skeletal homeostasis and any dysregulation can result in detrimental health complications. Interleukins, such as interleukin 6 (IL-6), act as osteoclast differentiation modulators and as such, must be carefully monitored and regulated. IL-6 encourages osteoclastogenesis when bound to progenitors and can cause excessive osteoclastic activity and osteolysis when overly abundant. Numerous bone diseases are tied to IL-6 overexpression, including rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, and bone-metastatic cancers. In the latter, IL-6 can be released with growth factors into the bone marrow microenvironment (BMM) during osteolysis from bone matrix or from cancer cells and osteoblasts in an inflammatory response to cancer cells. Thus, IL-6 helps create an ideal microenvironment for oncogenesis and metastasis. Multiple myeloma (MM) is a blood cancer that homes to the BMM and is strongly tied to overexpression of IL-6 and bone loss. The roles of IL-6 in the progression of MM are discussed in this review, including roles in bone homing, cancer-associated bone loss, disease progression and drug resistance. MM disease progression often includes the development of drug-resistant clones, and patients commonly struggle with reoccurrence. As such, therapeutics that specifically target the microenvironment, rather than the cancer itself, are ideal and IL-6, and its myriad of downstream signalling partners, are model targets. Lastly, current and potential therapeutic interventions involving IL-6 and connected signalling molecules are discussed in this review.