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.

Five Reasons to Consider Phytophthora infestans a Reemerging Pathogen

Abstract: Phytophthora infestans has been a named pathogen for well over 150 years and yet it continues to "emerge", with thousands of articles published each year on it and the late blight disease that it causes. This review explores five attributes of this oomycete pathogen that maintain this constant attention. First, the historical tragedy associated with this disease (Irish potato famine) causes many people to be fascinated with the pathogen. Current technology now enables investigators to answer some questions of historical significance. Second, the devastation caused by the pathogen continues to appear in surprising new locations or with surprising new intensity. Third, populations of P. infestans worldwide are in flux, with changes that have major implications to disease management. Fourth, the genomics revolution has enabled investigators to make tremendous progress in terms of understanding the molecular biology (especially the pathogenicity) of P. infestans. Fifth, there remain many compelling unanswered questions.

Influence of Gender on Parental Socialization of Children's Sadness Regulation

Abstract: Mothers' (N = 60) and fathers' (N = 53) perceptions of and desire for change in their 6- to 11-year-old daughters' (N = 59) and sons' (N = 54) sadness regulation behaviors (i.e., inhibition, dysregulation, coping) were examined in addition to parental responses to children's hypothetical sadness displays. Results of multivariate analyses of variance and regression analyses suggest that parental perceptions of and desired change in children's sadness behavior differ as a function of parent gender, child gender and child age (younger (grades 1, 2), older (grades 4, 5)), and predict the likelihood of contingent responses to children's sadness behavior. Overall, fathers reported being likely to respond to sadness with minimization whereas mothers reported being likely to respond with expressive encouragement and problem-focused strategies. These parent-reported socialization response tendencies, however, were more fully explained by the interaction between perceptions of children's sadness regulation behaviors and satisfaction with these behaviors. These findings highlight the need to include parent gender and parental cognitions as important variables in emotion socialization research.

Applying evolutionary biology to address global challenges.

Abstract: Two categories of evolutionary challenges result from escalating human impacts on the planet. The first arises from cancers, pathogens and pests that evolve too quickly, and the second from the inability of many valued species to adapt quickly enough. Applied evolutionary biology provides a suite of strategies to address these global challenges that threaten human health, food security, and biodiversity. This review highlights both progress and gaps in genetic, developmental and environmental manipulations across the life sciences that either target the rate and direction of evolution, or reduce the mismatch between organisms and human-altered environments. Increased development and application of these underused tools will be vital in meeting current and future targets for sustainable development.

Teacher Efficacy, Supervision, and the Special Education Resource-Room Teacher

Abstract: The Gibson and Dembo Teacher Efficacy Scale was modified for use in the special education resource-room context. A factor analysis of the modified instrument resulted in a factor structure comparable to one based on regular-education teachers, as reported in prior research. The relation between instructional supervision and teacher efficacy among these teachers was also examined. With sex, age, resource-room tenure, and job satisfaction held constant, the perceived utility—but not frequency—of supervision was significantly related to teacher efficacy. The implications of these findings for both research and practice in the special education context are considered.

Meta-Analysis of the Impact of Research Methods on Findings of First-Mover Advantage

Abstract: A long-standing hypothesis is that firms that enter a market early ("first movers") tend to have higher performance than their followers ("first-mover advantage"). Recently, researchers have begun to argue that the statistical tests that support this relationship are limited in their applicability. That is, it is suggested that because of the methods used, these tests show the relationship only for certain subsets of firms, markets, and types of performance. We performed a meta-analysis to determine whether the findings are in fact sensitive to the methods used. We discovered that tests using market share as their performance measure were sharply and significantly more likely to find a first-mover advantage than tests using other measures (such as profitability or survival). Also significantly more likely to find an advantage were tests that sample from individually selected industries and those that include no measures of the entrants' competitive strength. Conversely, we found little evidence that "survivor bias" (the exclusion of nonsurviving entrants from the sample) affects a test's findings.The data further suggest that tests that use none of the questioned research practices will find a first-mover advantage no more often than can be accounted for by random statistical error alone.