Competitive Grants Program Research Articles

Strange Bedfellows: A Local Insurer/Physician Practice Partnership to Fund Innovation.

Despite an unprecedented urgency to control healthcare costs while simultaneously improving quality, there are many barriers to investing in quality improvement. Traditional fee-for-service reimbursement models fail to reward providers whose improved processes lead to decreases in billable clinical activity. In addition, providers may lack the necessary skills for improvement, or the organizational infrastructure to conduct these activities. Insurance firms lack incentives to invest in healthcare delivery system improvements that lead to benefits for all patients, even those covered by competitors. In this article, we describe a novel program in its sixth year of existence that funds ambulatory care improvements through a collaborative partnership between a local academic healthcare delivery system and an insurance firm. The program is designed as a competitive grant program and the payer and healthcare organization jointly benefit from completed improvement projects. Factors contributing to the ongoing success of the program and lessons learned are discussed in order to inform the potential development of similar programs in other markets.

Leaders of school technology innovation

PurposeThis paper aims to describe a construct validation study of the Change Facilitator Style Questionnaire (CFSQ), an instrument designed to measure the leadership style of school principals as change facilitators.Design/methodology/approachParticipants included 614 K‐12 teachers across the state of Florida involved in the Enhancing Education Through Technology competitive grant program. Teachers completed the CFSQ to assess their overall perceptions of their principals in supporting a technology integration initiative. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed and carried out to verify the instrument factor structure. Five models were developed based on theory and practice, and were tested using CFA.FindingsThe results showed the evidence of the CFSQ's reliability and validity.Research limitations/implicationsFurther research was recommended based on the results and limitations of this study.Originality/valueLittle research has connected principal style to classroom technology adoption. The researchers conducted the reliability and validity testing on the CFSQ, an instrument designed to measure the leadership style of the school principal as a change facilitator. This study provides important validity evidence for the broader implementation of the CFSQ in future research studies. It could shed light on the design and development of a rigorous instrument in educational research. It can promote more research on technology‐supported education and student learning outcomes considering the need for more reliable and valid instruments in this field.

Relationship between psychosocial indicators and adoption of farm and garden activities and local produce in early childcare

Farm to Preschool Programs link farmers with early childcare centers (ECC) to increase local fruits and vegetables (LFV) used. To target nutrition and food safety education, it is important to identify factors related to adoption of farm and garden (FG) activities and LFV use in ECCs. An online survey was sent to 600 random ECC in MA and NH, with 118 educator (E) responses. Psychosocial factors related to LFV (benefits, barriers, self‐efficacy) were rated 1–5. FG activities and % of produce served as LFV were self‐reported, and related to psychosocial factors. Half of E did not know if FV were local and of those that did know, over half reported < 25% LFV. Most E perceived benefits of LFV and few barriers; however >;40% E perceived that LFV are too expensive. Overall self‐efficacy was low, with only 21% of E agreeing that they can get most of the LFV they want all year. About half of the sites had taken children on farm field trips and planted a garden; over 30% had used LFV in snacks or taste tests; few had invited a farmer to the ECC or held a harvest festival or farmers market. Perceived benefits and self‐efficacy were related to % of LFV served. Fewer barriers and higher benefits were related to more classroom FG activities. Nutrition education should thus address ways to increase perceived benefits, decrease barriers and improve self‐efficacy to LFV. Food safety education should address issues of FG visits, gardens, snacks and tasting LFV.Grant Funding Source: This project is supported by The National Integrated Food Safety Initiative (NIFSI) Competitive Grant Program from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Award 2011–51110‐30996.

Enzyme‐synthesized highly branched maltodextrins have slow glucogenesis at the mucosal α‐glucosidase level and are slowly digestible in vivo

For starch digestion, α‐amylase first hydrolyzes starch to produce α‐limit dextrins, followed by complete hydrolysis to glucose by the mucosal α‐glucosidases in the small intestine. It is known that α‐1,6 linkages in starch are hydrolyzed more slowly than α‐1,4 linkages. Here, to create designed slowly digestible carbohydrates, the structure of waxy corn starch (WCS) was modified using a branching enzyme alone (BE) and an in combination with β‐amylase (BA) to increase further the α‐1,6 branching ratio. Enzyme‐modified products (BE‐WCS and BEBA‐WCS) had increased percentage of α‐1,6 linkages (WCS: 5.3%, BE‐WCS: 7.1%, and BEBA‐WCS: 12.9%). Hydrolysis by human pancreatic α‐amylase resulted in an increase in the amount of branched α‐limit dextrin from 26.8% (WCS) to 56.8% (BEBA‐WCS). The α‐amylolyzed samples were hydrolyzed by the individual α‐glucosidases and glucogenesis decreased as the branching ratio increased. This result showed that hydrolysis rate of the mucosal α‐glucosidases was limited by the amount of branched α‐limit dextrin. When samples were gavaged to rats, the level of postprandial blood glucose at 60 min from BEBA‐WCS was significantly higher than for WCS or BE‐WCS. Thus, highly branched glucan structures modified by BE and BA had a comparably slow digesting property both in vitro and in vivo. Such highly branched α‐glucans show promise as a food ingredient to control postprandial glucose levels.Grant Funding Source: USDA AFRI competitive grant program

Race to the Top and the Exclusion of Welfare Recipients From Educational Policy Discourse

In 2009, President Obama and his administration sought to overhaul the existing educational reform program and launched their initiative titled Race to the Top (RTTT). RTTT, a competitive grant program, comprised six priorities designed to help states reform their current educational systems. Priority five calls for states to evaluate their current adult education programs and explore how they could improve those programs through the collaboration of community and states agencies. States currently support, design, and implement adult education programs under the federal guidelines of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). Although WIA addresses the needs of a targeted population of adult learners, it does not specifically address the educational needs of welfare recipients. Welfare recipients, who are among those considered to be in dire need of education and training, lack the support of policy to access adult education programs. This article explores the tensions that exist between the espoused purpose of RTTT and WIA, using the state of Texas’ adult education policies as a case example. By using critical discourse analysis, we examine the policies in RTTT and WIA at the state level that defines the nature and scope of adult education. This form of analysis provides an opportunity to critically examine and explore the language of these various policies by focusing on not only what is present in the text but also on what is absent from it as well.

Urgent need for a common metric to make precipitation manipulation experiments comparable

Urgent need for a common metric to make precipitation manipulation experiments comparable

Arthur Kelman: Tribute and Remembrance

With the death of Professor Arthur Kelman at age 90, the plant sciences, and particularly the field of plant pathology, lost one of its most influential and effective leaders. His long career involved important positions in the Departments of Plant Pathology at North Carolina State University (1949-1965) and the University of Wisconsin (1965-1989). Recognized not only for his achievements in research and his charismatic influence on his numerous students, Arthur was, most of all, an extraordinary teacher. He and his students made significant contributions in the fields of virulence, ecology, and control of bacterial plant pathogens. In addition, he was extremely active in service to professional societies, including the American Phytopathological Society, and a major force in the development of the International Society for Plant Pathology. In addition, he was an influential member of the Council of the National Academy of Sciences, and, after retirement from the University of Wisconsin, he served for two years as Chief Scientist of the Competitive Grants Program of the US Department of Agriculture. He received numerous awards as a teacher and researcher, and felt an intense sense of duty to his profession. He was one of the most influential plant pathologists of the twentieth century and will be remembered for his great intellect and his humanity.

Stimulating Reform

This article offers an analysis of the origins, evolution, and impact of the Obama administration’s Race to the Top (RTTT) competitive grant program and places it in the broader context of the debate over the No Child Left Behind Act and the shifting intergovernmental relations around education. RTTT is fundamentally about two things: creating political cover for state education reformers to innovate and helping states construct the administrative capacity to implement these innovations effectively. The program has had a significant impact on the national political discourse around education and pushed many states to propose or enact important policy changes, particularly around charter schools and teacher-evaluation processes. However, we should remain realistic in our expectations about what RTTT can accomplish; although the program’s approach may be different from that of earlier federal education programs, many of the political and institutional obstacles to sustaining meaningful reform at the federal and state levels remain largely the same. RTTT will struggle to surmount these obstacles in the short term, even as it hopes to transform them over the longer term.

For Combat Wounded: Extremity Trauma Therapies From the USAISR

Abstract : Our focus here is on the future role of the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research (USAISR) in reducing the morbidity associated with extremity combat wounds. These wounds are the most frequent and debilitating suffered in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). There have been over 40,000 total American combat casualties in OEF and OIF, and of those severely injured on the battlefield, 82% had at least 1 musculoskeletal extremity wound. USAISR is a subordinate command of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC), and since 1947 it has been located at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, TX. The Army Burn Unit has been an integral part of USAISR since 1949. Research on trauma and orthopedics has been a part of USAISR's mission since 1970. The USAISR buildings are contiguous with Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC), which enables the research organization to have a unique in-depth understanding of the combat injuries and the medical challenges faced by the clinicians who treat them. Our mission is to optimize combat casualty care (CCC). In fulfilling this mission, USAISR provides requirements-driven CCC medical solutions and products for injured warriors from self-aid through definitive care. Research is currently organized in 9 Task Areas, i.e., Extremity Trauma and Regenerative Medicine, Damage Control Resuscitation, Pain Control, Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Medical Monitoring, Critical Care Engineering, Clinical Trials, Eye Trauma, Craniomaxillofacial, and Blood (Coagulopathy), to focus on the most critical aspects of combat wound care from the battlefield to upper echelon hospitals. Our core research program is funded and supported by the USAMRMC through 2 complementary Research Area Directorates, CCC and Clinical and Rehabilitative Medicine. We also receive funding from competitive peer-reviewed grant programs and biotechnology companies.

USDA Programs to Support Development and Use of Biobased Industrial Products

Abstract Nonfood, nonfeed uses of agricultural and forestry materials offer the best opportunities to realize the full economic potential which agriculture and forestry can play, beyond the traditional food, feed, and fiber markets. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a portfolio of programs that support research, development, and commercialization of biobased lubricants as well as other industrial products that can replace petroleum-based products, such as plastics, paints, coatings, and adhesives. The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) administers competitive grant programs to support basic and applied research through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, and pre-commercialization research is supported through the Small Business Innovation Research program www.nifa.usda.gov. NIFA collaborates with the Department of Energy through joint solicitations for the Biomass Research and Development Initiative, which supports developmental research and demonstration projects. USDA is the lead Federal agency for implementing the BioPreferredSM purchasing program. Many products, including lubricants, have been officially designated as biobased and must be given first preference for purchase by Federal agencies, thus creating a tremendous market pull for new products through the purchasing power of the Federal government. This program will allow agencies to meet their environmental goals with products that can also meet performance requirements and are cost competitive. (www.biopreferred.gov). Through partnerships with industry, Academia and other Federal agencies, these programs are making a significant contribution to the development and adoption of alternative technologies to increase energy independence and to open new opportunities for agriculture.

Impacts of land-use change and best management practice implementation in a Conservation Effects Assessment Project watershed: Northwest Arkansas

A study was conducted to quantify land use and management changes and their effects on water quality as part of an effort to evaluate the effects of best management practices under the Conservation Effects Assessment Project. This study was focused on the Lincoln Lake watershed, a primarily pastured watershed in northwest Arkansas and one of the water- sheds funded under the Conservation Effects Assessment Project competitive grants program. As with a number of other Conservation Effects Assessment Project watersheds, this water- shed has undergone substantial land-use change over the past few years. These changes have occurred concurrently with best management practice implementation. Thus, the need has arisen to determine their impacts on watershed water quality. Land-use analyses covering a 12-year period revealed a rapidly changing landscape, with the various land uses experienc- ing gains and losses at different times. Furthermore, a systematic trend for pastured areas to be replaced by urban land uses was identified, with pastures experiencing a net decline of about 12% during the analyses period. With regard to water quality, downward trends were observed under base and storm flow conditions in the upper reaches (Upper Moores Creek) with significant changes in total phosphorus and total suspended solids (p-values = 0.0153 and 0.0135, respectively). Significant increases in flow and nitrate-nitrogen (p-values = 0.0465 and 0.0927, respectively) were observed in the lower reaches (Lower Moores Creek), while no appreciable changes were observed in one part of the watershed. We conclude that the concurrent implementation of best management practices served to protect water quality from otherwise adverse effects that might have occurred due to a rapid urbanization in the watershed.

Development and evaluation of the University of Michigan's Practice-Oriented Research Training (PORT) Program.

We describe the development and evaluation of a clinical research training program designed specifically for such health professionals as occupational and physical therapists. Outcomes of program success included trainees' self-rating of research skills before and after the program, as well as submission of a formal grant application to a grant competition for program participants. At program completion, participants reported improvements in their research skills, with the most gain in formulating research questions and writing a testable hypothesis and the least gain in understanding statistics. Of the 21 participants, 43% submitted a grant proposal to a competitive intramural grant program. In the next year, grantees of the program will continue to be mentored by the program mentors while conducting their research projects. Given the initial successes, this program represents a promising model for providing research training to practicing clinicians.

NSF Turns Math Earmark on Its Ear to Fund New Institute

The National Science Foundation has quietly folded a recent earmark into a competitive grants program, eliminating what seemed to be one state's advantage.

NIST Grants Help Schools Build for Tomorrow's Research

Last week, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced the 12 winners in the second and final round of a $180 million competitive construction grants program.

Agricultural Science Gets More Money, New Faces

After decades of flat funding, agricultural research seems to have caught the attention of U.S. policymakers, as Congress gave a 30% boost to the main competitive grants program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), raising it to $263 million for 2010.

Antagonism of the Sphingosine 1-Phosphate (S1P) Signaling Pathway in Pregnant Ewes Alters Placentome Architecture, Amino Acid Transport, and Fetal Growth.

Angiogenesis is a critical factor in the process of placentation. In ruminants, angiogenesis occurs primarily in placentomes, formed by interdigitation and branching morphogenesis of placental cotyledons and maternal endometrial caruncles, which supply hematotrophic nutrition to the developing conceptus. We hypothesized that the lysosphingolipid sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) stimulates angiogenesis within developing sheep placentomes through activation of the S1P receptors (S1P1-S1P5) and that their antagonism would alter placentomal angiogenesis and subsequent uteroplacental nutrient exchange during early to mid pregnancy. In Study 1, passage 4-5 primary ovine uterine artery endothelial cells (oUAEC) from 3 late pregnant sheep were seeded as monolayers onto three dimensional (3D) collagen matrices containing angiogenic growth factors and S1P. S1P dose-dependently (1–1000 nM) enhanced endothelial cell invasion compared to VEGF and FGF2 alone. Using RT-PCR to detect S1P1-S1P5, only S1P1 and S1P3 receptors were found to be expressed in oUAEC. Antagonism of these receptors with FTY720 and VPC 23019 blocked S1P-induced endothelial cell invasion in vitro. In Study 2, we examined potential physiological mechanisms for actions of endogenous S1P in the control of ovine placental angiogensis. Ewes with a single fetus were given daily intravenous injections of FTY720 (n=6; 1.5 mg/day) or vehicle (n=5) from Days 30 to 60 prior to collection of tissues on Day 60. FTY720 treatment altered the histoarchitecture of the placentome as evidenced by decreased stromal area of caruncular crypts and diminished thickness of connective tissue forming the placentomal capsule. Concomitant with these effects on interdigitation of uterine and placental tissues, the total volume of cotyledonary tissue per placentome was greater in FTY720-treated ewes. Immunofluorescence localization of the intermediate filament proteins, cytokeratin and vimentin indicated no overt change in synctial epithelia, whereas stromal tissue thickness and density were decreased with FTY720 treatment. Immunofluorescence localization of alpha-smooth muscle actin and the endothelial marker, von Willebrand Factor, in placentomes revealed that FTY720 treatment increased diameter of the lumen, thickness of the tunica muscularis of vessels, but decreased the total number of vessels in caruncles as compared to controls. FTY720 treatment also affected transport of amino acids across the placentae and fetal development as evidenced by decreases in methionine levels in allantoic fluid (P<0.05), aspartate and glutamate levels in amniotic fluid (P<0.005), and crown-rump length of fetuses (P<0.05), however, total fetal weight was not affected (P>0.05). Results of this study indicates that antagonism of the S1P signaling pathway using FTY720 interfered with placentomal development, including angiogenesis, transport of micronutrients from the uterus to the placenta and fetal growth. We conclude that S1P is a key regulatory molecule responsible for mediating development of the angiogenic network in placentomes of sheep that provide hematatrophic support for the developing conceptus. (Research supported by National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program, Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, USDA award 2008-35203-18830 to KAD and AHA Scientist Development Grant #053020N to KJB) (poster)

USDA Competitive Grants Program

USDA Competitive Grants Program

Commentary on Domestic Animals in Agricultural and Biomedical Research: An Endangered Enterprise

Commentary on Domestic Animals in Agricultural and Biomedical Research: An Endangered Enterprise

Ectomycorrhizal fungi from Alaska and Pennsylvania: adaptation of mycelial respiratory response to temperature?

Ectomycorrhizal fungi from Alaska and Pennsylvania: adaptation of mycelial respiratory response to temperature?

Editorial: “Brain drain” and loss of resources jeopardize the continued use of domestic animals for agricultural and biomedical research1

Research on cattle, swine, sheep, goats, poultry, horses, and aquatic species (domestic species) at US land grant institutions is integral to maintaining an abundant, safe, affordable, and high quality supply of meat, dairy products, and eggs, which are important components of most human diets. Research on domestic species is also necessary to maintain global competitiveness of US animal agriculture and to find solutions to complex animal and human diseases. Nevertheless, a recent publication in the Journal of Animal Science (JAS; Ireland et al., 2008) documents the rapid erosion of federal and state budgets, years of inadequate and declining funding from the USDA for the National Research Initiative competitive grants program (the major agricultural competitive grants source), significant reductions in farm animal species and numbers at land grant institutions, and declining enrollment for graduate studies in the animal sciences. The article also emphasizes that as a consequence of these lost resources, recruitment of top-notch scientists who use such large-animal models to conduct research relevant to animal agriculture and biomedicine at land grant institutions is in significant jeopardy. Perhaps most notable in the JAS article is the documentation that despite the high annual economic value of US animal agriculture (~$110 billion), less than 0.04% of the USDA’s $93 billion budget is currently committed to competitive funding of animal agricultural research. Disappointingly, the recently passed 2008 Farm Bill, which created a National Institute for Food and Agriculture and authorized expansion of the USDA’s competitive grants program [110th CONGRESS, 2d Session, H. R. 6124, http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/get