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General Student Senate Minutes, September 2, 2025
No full textThe 1588th Meeting of the General Student Senate was called to order on September 2nd, 2025, in the Bangor Room at 6:02 pm. There were 14 Senators in attendance
UWill 24/7 Mental Health Support
No full textWe know college life can be exciting, challenging, and sometimes overwhelming — but you don’t have to go through it alone.
The UMaine provides free, immediate access to teletherapy through UWill, so you can connect with a licensed counselor on your schedule — day, night, or weekends — by video, phone, chat, or message
Important Employee Notices from the University of Maine System Office of Equal Opportunity
No full textThis Week at the Wilson Center : The Tree of Contemplative Practices! and the New Rainbow Justice Quoir
No full textWe are really looking forward to the Dialogue part of the D&D tomorrow night as Yadina Clark will be bringing information about the Tree of Contemplative Practices and helping to guide us through a process to discover what our practices really reveal about us! The FREE dinner should be amazing too
Characterizing the Collaborative Dynamics of the U.S. Geological Survey Cooperative Research Units Program
No full textAs conservation challenges grow more complex, collaborative approaches to natural resource science and management have become increasingly important. Research institutions must remain responsive to the evolving information needs of diverse partners, including government agencies, universities, and the public. This dissertation evaluates the structure, function, and adaptability of collaborative science within the U.S. Geological Survey’s Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units (CRU) Program, a long-standing program that supports research, graduate education, and technical assistance through formal partnerships with federal, state, university, and non-governmental entities.
In the first analysis, we used bibliometric methods to assess the research output, impact, and co-authorship networks of CRU scientists from 2000 to 2019. Results show a doubling of publication output over two decades, stable citation rates, and growing decentralization in collaboration networks. Emerging research themes increasingly emphasized ecosystem-level impacts and climate change, suggesting the program’s continued adaptability and relevance to shifting conservation priorities.
To understand the broader institutional context in which CRUs operate, we analyzed nearly 2 million archived web pages from 43 state fish and wildlife agency websites spanning 2000 to 2024. Topic modeling and content analysis revealed gradual but significant shifts in messaging, particularly increases in content related to public engagement and non-consumptive recreation, and a decline in traditional management topics. Regional differentiation in communication strategies increased over time, and a trade-off emerged between messaging breadth and consistency, highlighting the dynamic communication environment within which state agencies and CRU partnerships operate.
Building on this context, we evaluated the collaborative structure of the CRU program using survey data from Unit scientists, who serve as key intermediaries between partner organizations. Ego-network analysis revealed complementary but distinct relationship patterns across cooperator types: state agencies maintained strong ties across most dimensions; universities were central to mentoring but constrained in funding and hiring; and federal partners, particularly when disaggregated into regions, showed moderate and geographically structured engagement. Mixed-effects modeling confirmed that structural features of cooperation were relatively consistent across Units, with most variation explained by cooperator role rather than Unit-specific dynamics. Scientists identified chronic underfunding as the primary barrier to collaboration yet also demonstrated adaptive strategies to maintain productive partnerships.
Finally, we examined how CRU scientists perceive their effectiveness in fulfilling core program functions. Principal component analysis identified three underlying dimensions of perceived effectiveness: Academic-Scientific Functions, Public Engagement and Outreach, and Collaborative Relationship Quality. Scientists rated themselves highly in education, research, and technical communication, but reported lower effectiveness in mass media outreach, public engagement, and work across local or international scales. The perceived collaboration quality was consistently strong, underscoring the importance of trust and shared goals in sustaining long-term partnerships. These results suggest that while the CRU program is well aligned with traditional research and management priorities, there is room to grow in public-facing and cross-scale engagement to meet emerging expectations for inclusive, actionable science.
Together, these studies provide a comprehensive evaluation of the CRU program’s structure, outputs, and enabling environment. By integrating bibliometric, textual, and survey-based methods, this dissertation offers new insights into how collaborative science programs evolve alongside the conservation landscape and highlights opportunities to strengthen institutional adaptability, strategic communication, and partnership effectiveness in natural resource governance
Impact of Ambulation on Reducing Hospital Length of Stay and Improving Functional Recovery
No full textProlonged immobility after cardiac surgery is a significant contributor to postoperative complications, extended hospital stays, and delayed recovery. Early ambulation has been proposed as a strategy to mitigate these risks, although its definition varies across the literature. The posed question is, in adult post-cardiac surgery patients, does early ambulation initiated within 48 hours compared to delayed ambulation or usual care reduce hospital length of stay and improve functional recovery? In this literature review, ten peer-reviewed studies published after 2020 on early ambulation in post-cardiac surgery patients were included. Using PubMed and ScienceDirect, the focus was on studies of adult post-cardiac surgery populations. They found early ambulation was typically initiated within 24 to 48 hours of surgery and was consistently reported as safe and feasible. Exclusion criteria included pediatric patients, non-cardiac conditions, and articles published before 2020. Benefits to early ambulation included reduced hospital length of stay, improved mobility scores, greater independence at discharge, and better long-term functional outcomes. No significant increase in complications were reported, though variability in definitions, protocols, and patient-level barriers such as anxiety and fatigue limited the ability to draw uniform conclusions. Overall, evidence indicates that early ambulation should be considered a key component of post-cardiac surgery care, with potential to improve recovery and reduce hospital burden. Improving physical function and capacity through early ambulation and mobility is also associated with decreased readmission rates and a higher survival rate after cardiac surgeries. Future research should focus on standardizing protocols and identifying strategies to overcome barriers to implementation
Determining the Mechanisms of Interaction Between Influenza Spike Protein Hemagglutinin and Host Cell Phosphoinositides by Super-Resolution Imaging and Molecular Dynamics Simulations
No full textInfluenza A virus is a recurring problem every year that causes significant morbidity and mortality in the human population. The vaccine is chosen to optimize protection against all strains, but the effectiveness varies due to the high mutation rate of the virus. On average, about 8% of the world’s population is infected annually. The need for a universal vaccine is crucial to fight all strains of the flu, as it has already developed resistance to some of the existing drugs. Investigating the viral life cycle to gain knowledge about how viral proteins interact with host cell components such as lipids and proteins will lead to the development to new antiviral drug targets. The influenza virus A spike protein hemagglutinin (HA) is crucial for viral attachment, entry, and fusion. HA forms high density clusters on the plasma membrane (PM) of infected cells, which lead to clusters in the viral envelope, and which are necessary for viral replication. HA also contains a cytoplasmic tail domain (CTD) which contains certain features that are highly conserved across all known HA subtypes. There are 3 cysteines known to be palmitoylated and 1-2 basic amino acids that remain conserved despite a high mutation rate in HA overall. Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) is a minor lipid found in the PM which plays an important role in numerous cellular functions. It has been shown that HA and PIP2 co-localize at the PM, suggesting that they are interacting, but the mechanism of interaction is unknown. Using
molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and super-resolution microscopy, we observe an increase in the density of PIP2 around wild-type HA (HAwt) compared to various HA mutants that change the charge of the CTD, presence of palmitoylation, or both, suggesting that the mechanism of interaction is both electrostatic and hydrophobic. The greatest changes were observed between HAwt and RREQ, which changes the net charge of the TCD from positive to negative. In the MD simulations there was a depletion of PIP2 around the CTD of HA and in the super-resolution FPALM images there is a decrease in the amount of free PIP2 around HA clusters. In addition, we show that there are other highly conserved amino acid motifs like in the CTD of HA in other viral spike proteins. These motifs could mediate PIP2 interactions with other viral spike proteins in a similar way. From MD simulations we show that PIP2 clusters more strongly around the CTD of influenza B HA compared to influenza A HA. We also find that PIP2 may not be the only phospholipid interacting with the CTD of HA. Phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate (PI4P) is a minor lipid component found mainly in the Golgi and the PM, but FPALM results show that the PI4P-binding protein P4C co-localizes with HA inside of the cell, and MD simulations reveal that PI4P is found around the CTD of HA at a higher density than PIP2. This could lead to new antiviral targets to interrupt the viral life cycle
Silviculture of Diseased American Beech (Revised; NHRI Leaflet)
No full textAmerican beech is a foundational northern hardwood species challenged by the lethal or debilitating Beech Bark Disease (BBD) and the emerging threat of Beech Leaf Disease (BLD), caused by a foliar nematode. Effective beech silviculture aims to conserve BBD-resistant and tolerant trees, which are valuable for timber potential and critical hard mast production, while preventing the prolific regeneration of beech.
Four key principles guide effective management: I. Identify and retain smooth-barked BBD-resistant trees, protecting them from heavy release and herbicide backflash. II. Use silvicultural systems reliant on advance regeneration, such as continuous cover irregular shelterwood, maintaining approximately 70% shade to favor species like sugar maple. III. Prevent harvested beech trees from vigorously resprouting from root suckers or stumps. This is achieved efficiently and cheaply using targeted herbicide applications, such as the cut-stump method (applied within four days) or the highly productive Drill and Fill (D&F) stem injection technique. IV. Eliminate the existing lethal low-shade layer of beech saplings before shelterwood cutting. D&F is the most efficient method for removing this understory layer.
Practices like patch clearcutting are generally ineffective for regenerating shade-tolerant hardwoods, often resulting in pioneer species and beech suckers. Although BLD, combined with BBD, will likely reduce beech vigor, managers should not assume the disease will solve the “eech problem.” Continuing proactive control, including eliminating the understory, is hypothesized to reduce host foliage and potentially limit BLD severity on retained BBD-resistant trees.
Note: This article is a written synthesis of a presentation given at the spring, 2025 NESAF meeting on this topic (https://youtu.be/fBkyZ4QXgHM?si=gN9c8CpxqTyKdL6u), as it appeared in The Leaflet, the Northern Hardwood Research Institute\u27s quarterly newsletter. The earlier review with the same title is an amalgamation of 8 individual articles that appeared in Maine Woodlands and includes details of practices and examples not included in this article
