Grant Aid Research Articles

The UK CFC State Aid Saga: Chronicle of a Death Foretold

The purpose of this article is to outline the key issues raised in the UK controlled foreign companies (CFC) case which is currently being litigated before EU Courts. This case involves the alleged grant of unlawful State aid by the United Kingdom to certain multinational companies via the group financing exemption included within CFC rules. This article describes the state of play in this ongoing State aid saga and argues that the ECJ should follow the Opinion of Advocate General Medina and conclude that State aid was not granted.

ORGANIZATIONAL PRINCIPLES OF EXTENSION OF GRANT AID FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL AREAS

The article is devoted to developing and substantiating the critical elements of the mechanism for developing and submitting an application for grant funding for developing a rural community or an agrarian business entity. It is substantiated that there is a need to significantly expand the involvement of external funding sources for the formation and development of human capital in rural areas. It was determined that the reserve of such funding is to increase rural communities' access to grant programs of international organizations and partner countries. It was determined that in expanding grant aid for developing rural areas in Ukraine, especially in wartime conditions, it is essential to consider the main reasons for the grantors' refusal to provide financial support. The most relevant reasons include violation of requirements for the form and content of documents, lack of convincing justification of the social utility of the project and reasoned calculation, inconsistency between the purpose of the grant program and the goals of the project, incompatibility of the nature of the program and the application, violation of requirements regarding the target audience, bad reputation of the applicant, lack of of the detailed project budget, as well as the inconsistency of the formulation of project tasks with the basic methodological principles of construction (SMART analysis). An organizational mechanism for developing and applying for grant funding for developing a rural community or an agrarian business entity is proposed. This mechanism has methodological value because it focuses on the most critical stages of the process of development and submission of an application for grant financing of the project, determines the approximate circle of stakeholders of the grant process, emphasizes the conditions and factors that help to count on success in the grant competition. In contrast to the existing approaches, it highlights the phasing, as well as the list and content of measures during the development and submission of an application for the project's grant funding.

Aid and developing regional integration

This paper examines megatrends and interdependence of the loan aid-capital investment links across developing regions. Theoretically, it contributes to the existing studies by providing a novel theoretical framework with a dual-objective donor-giving grant (driven by a benevolent objective) and loan aid (profitability motive), as well as a public–private partnership-like investment structure and multi-region feedback mechanism. Empirically, this paper adds to the literature by allowing for cross-heterogeneity and interdependencies across regions of loan aid-capital investment link. We estimate a panel structural VAR model of grant aid, loan aid, private consumption, and aggregate capital stock using data from nine developing regional country blocs covering the 1961-2017 period. Amidst a generally weak aid-investment link, we find loan aid to Granger causes capital accumulation, and among African regions, it is the most (least) productive – in terms of within- and spillover effects – in the IGAD (ECOWAS) region. In addition, our results suggest deeper regional integration between the Sub-Saharan African regions than the collective Latin American & Caribbean regions and the two Southern Asian regions (Southeast Asia and South Asia) examined.

Interactions Between Carotid Arterial Stiffness, Amplitude of Cerebral Blood Flow Oscillations, and Cerebral Tissue Oxygenation During Simulated Hemorrhage in Humans

Introduction: Inducing 0.1 Hz (10-s cycle) oscillations in cerebral blood flow attenuates the reduction in cerebral tissue oxygenation during simulated hemorrhage in humans. It is unknown, however, how stiffness of the cerebral feed arteries influences the magnitude of cerebral blood flow oscillations, and/or the protection of cerebral tissue oxygenation. When 0.1 Hz oscillations are induced during simulated hemorrhage, we hypothesize that: 1) arterial stiffness of the internal carotid artery (ICA) will increase from rest; 2) the amplitude of 0.1 Hz oscillations in cerebral blood flow will be higher in individuals with stiffer arteries, and; 3) the reduction in cerebral tissue oxygenation will be smaller with higher amplitude of cerebral blood flow oscillations. Methods: 8 healthy human participants (age: 30.1±7.6 y) underwent a 10-min hypovolemic oscillatory lower body negative pressure (OLBNP) protocol, where chamber pressure oscillated every 5-s between -30 mmHg and -90 mmHg (i.e., 0.1 Hz). ICA beta stiffness index was calculated from measurements of ICA diameter (via ultrasound imaging), and arterial pressure (via finger photoplethysmography). Middle cerebral artery velocity (MCAv) was measured using transcranial doppler ultrasound, and cerebral tissue oxygenation (ScO2) was measured with near infrared spectroscopy. Fast Fourier transformation was used to quantify oscillations in mean MCAv at ~0.1 Hz. Results: While Mean MCAv 0.1 Hz oscillations increased from baseline to OLBNP (N=8, 34.0±33.9 (cm/s)2 vs. 104.7±58.1 (cm/s)2, p=0.01), ICA beta stiffness did not increase (N=5, 6.1±0.7 au vs. 8.2±2.7 au, p=0.21). There was no relationship between baseline ICA beta stiffness and the percent change in mean MCAv 0.1 Hz oscillations (N=5; r=0.44, p=0.46). ScO2 decreased from baseline to OLBNP (N=8, 66.5±2.9 % vs. 64.8±2.9 %, p=0.03), but there was also no relationship between the percent change in mean MCAv 0.1 Hz oscillations and the decrease in ScO2 (r=0.28, p=0.50). Conclusions: Based on these data, 0.1 Hz OLBNP does not affect ICA stiffness, and there is no relationship between ICA stiffness, amplitude of induced 0.1 Hz cerebral blood flow oscillations, and the reduction in cerebral tissue oxygenation during simulated hemorrhage. However, as this analysis was performed retrospectively, and arterial stiffness was not initially an outcome measure, there was limited data available for analysis. This limitation will be addressed in a project currently in progress in our laboratory. American Heart Association Grant in Aid. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2024 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.

Does Aid Matter? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Grant Aid on College Student Outcomes

The College Board reported that, in 2022–2023, about two thirds of $177 billion in U.S. financial assistance awarded to undergraduates through programs sponsored by the federal government, state governments, colleges and universities, philanthropic organizations, and other entities was in the form of grants. While researchers have examined the effects of individual grant aid programs on particular college student outcomes, results have indicated varied effects. Moreover, individual study findings have not been widely synthesized or examined to understand why some programs succeed where others do not. We conducted a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis to provide structure to this varied field and better understand programmatic effects. The results of the systematic searching and screening yielded 86 studies, across seven outcome domains, and the meta-analysis synthesized findings from 709 effect sizes from study samples representing 7,656,062 individuals. The meta-analytic results found small but meaningful positive average effects on college enrollment, credit accumulation, persistence, and completion. We cannot conclude from available studies that grant aid increased academic achievement or postcollege labor market outcomes. We also found that grants had larger positive effects on credit accumulation for studies with samples of students at 2-year institutions and studies that combined samples of 2- and 4-year students than for studies with samples of students at 4-year institutions only. Using a relatively new method called an evidence gap map, we illustrate where researchers should focus on producing new evidence.

Penerapan Pengelolaan Dana Hibah Pengadaan Sarana dan Prasarana di Biro Kesejahteraan Rakyat Sekretariat Daerah Provinsi Jawa Timur

Grant funds have become an important instrument in supporting the development of various sectors, including education and community welfare. The aim of this research is to study the role and influence of grant funds in improving these sectors. In addition, this research explains the process of applying for grant funds from the grant application stage to the grant accountability reporting stage. Domestic Regulation Number 23 of 2011 concerning guidelines for providing grants and social assistance from the APBN states that the aim of managing grants and social assistance is to ensure orderly administration, high accountability and management transparency. The allocation of social welfare spending in provincial and city government budgets in Indonesia is an implementation of social development which aims to reduce poverty not only in terms of income and consumption, but also in terms of social and environmental aspects. It can be seen that the flow of grant aid has a coherent procedure starting from the application to the disbursement process. There is a system that regulates the flow of grant aid so that the application process is easier.

Peran Biro Kesejahteraan Rakyat Sekretariat Daerah Provinsi Jawa Timur Sebagai Fasilitator Operasional Organisasi Kemasyarakatan

The People's Welfare Bureau has a role in increasing social awareness through policy formulation in the fields of spiritual mental development, basic service people's welfare and non-basic service people's welfare. In implementing the distribution of grant aid, the East Java Regional Secretariat's People's Welfare Bureau is the institution tasked with administering administrative matters. The People's Welfare Bureau is a facilitator for community organizations, one of which is supporting operational vehicles for community organizations. However, in practice, the role as a facilitator still has obstacles in the administration process. The research method used is a qualitative method which aims to determine the role of the People's Welfare Bureau as an operational facilitator of community organizations and to find solutions to the problems mentioned above. The research results show that the flow of submissions, procurement and accountability is quite good. However, there are still obstacles related to the special conditions for applying for grant funds as well as regulations regarding the letter of accountability for the applicant's responsibility to the provincial government, which is a weakness in terms of accountability for the circulation of grant funds. Therefore, the aim of this research is not only to find out the role of the Welfare Bureau as a facilitator but also to find solutions to answer existing problems related to improving disbursement flow, the implications of which can lead not only to administration, but also to increasing effectiveness and efficiency.

PECULIARITIES OF DEBT POLICY AND DEBT SECURITY CRITERIA UNDER MILITARY AGGRESSION

PECULIARITIES OF DEBT POLICY AND DEBT SECURITY CRITERIA UNDER MILITARY AGGRESSION

Управління державним боргом України

The aim of the article is to justify the main tools for reducing the debt burden on the State Budget of Ukraine during the war and in the period of post-war reconstruction, based on the generalization of the world experience of restructuring the state debt and providing grant assistance. The research is based on the hypothesis of the need to develop and approve debt cancellation mechanisms for Ukraine, as well as the orientation of state policy to achieve an increase in the share of grant aid in post-war recon­struction, taking into account world experience, in particular the Marshall Plan (МР). To achieve the specified aim, the research methods were used such as: historical, logical, methods of statistical analysis, synthesis and comparison, generalization. Given the unprecedented nature of the destruction caused and the fall in Ukraine’s GDP, there are reasons to insist on writing off most of Ukraine’s debt to inter­national organizations, including the IMF and the World Bank. The second component of the restructuring program should be the application of discounts to the nominal amount of debt for bond loans of private creditors. It was noted that in the conditions of active military operations in Ukraine, it is expedient to attract as much grant funding and long-term loans at preferential interest rates as possible.

Why do people go to college? The institutional environment and the educational dispositions of community college students

Empirical educational research nearly universally tacitly assumes that people attend college only in order to improve their likely earnings. Thus, it ignores the immense cultural importance ascribed to education (and particularly higher education) in modern culture, or at least proceeds as if this cultural valorization is irrelevant to individuals’ educational decision-making. I first review how an economistic model of action informs all dominant theories of educational decision-making, and then suggest how institutional theory can provide a richer account of the college transition. Drawing on in-depth interviews with first-time, first-year community college students, I illustrate this approach through a ‘thick description’ of individuals’ emerging educational orientations. I find that attending college reflects both instrumental goals and moralized conceptions of educational attainment. The decision to attend community college was informed by conceptions of college costs, a limited understanding of grant aid, and loan aversion. And I identify three educational dispositions among entering community college students which map onto institutionalized organizational pathways through the community college itself.

Prosedur Permohonan Bantuan Dana Hibah untuk Pembangunan Tempat Peribadatan di Atas 200 Juta di Biro Kesejahteraan Rakyat Sekretariat Daerah Provinsi Jawa Timur

The People's Welfare Bureau was formed with the aim of carrying out activities held by the Pusa Government in the form of grant assistance to educational institutions, community groups and places of worship. The Provincial Regional Government as the provincial government administrator can provide social assistance and grants based on Minister of Home Affairs Regulation Number 32 of 2011 (Permendagri Number 32 of 2011) concerning Guidelines for Providing Grants and Social Assistance sourced from the APBD. The People's Welfare Bureau is a distributor of grant aid for institutions or agencies that have applied. However, in real terms, there are still several related institutions or agencies that are still having problems in their administrative processes. The research method used is a qualitative method which aims to determine the role of the Eastern People's Welfare Bureau for national development in Indonesia, especially the construction of selected places of worship and completing procedures in accordance with the existing system. By using indicators of the characteristics of providing social assistance as stated in East Java Governor Regulation No. 44 of 2021 article 30, namely: selective, meeting the requirements for aid recipients and being temporary and not continuous, unless in certain circumstances it can be sustainable, and in accordance with the intended use. The aim of this research is to explain the procedures and flow of grant application from the initial to the final stages.

ARTIFICIAL CONDITIONS AS AN ABUSE OF RIGHTS IN PUBLIC AID FROM THE COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY

This article presents an issue related to the creation of artificial conditions in order to obtain financial assistance from the Common Agricultural Policy. The occurrence of artificial conditions has been assessed primarily in terms of the occurrence of the abuse of rights. In this respect, the most relevant judgments of the Court of Justice of the EU have been analysed. The legal possibilities of preventing artificial conditions and protecting the financial interests of the EU are also presented. Additionally, an assessment of the occurrence of artificial conditions in the context of the granting of state aid has been made.

A Systemic Review on Fitness and Survival of Salmonella in Dynamic Environment and Conceivable Ways of Its Mitigation.

Gastroenteritis caused by non-typhoidal Salmonella still prevails resulting in several recent outbreaks affecting many people worldwide. The presence of invasive non-typhoidal Salmonella is exemplified by several characteristic symptoms and their severity relies on prominent risk factors. The persistence of this pathogen can be attributed to its broad host range, complex pathogenicity and virulence and adeptness in survival under challenging conditions inside the host. Moreover, a peculiar aid of the ever-changing climatic conditions grants this organism with remarkable potential to survive within the environment. Abusive use of antibiotics for the treatment of gastroenteritis has led to the emergence of multiple drug resistance, making the infections difficult to treat. This review emphasizes the importance of early detection of Salmonella, along with strategies for accomplishing it, as well as exploring alternative treatment approaches. The exceptional characteristics exhibited by Salmonella, like strategies of infection, persistence, and survival parallelly with multiple drug resistance, make this pathogen a prominent concern to human health.

The impact of federal administrative burdens on college enrollment

Government programs impose eligibility requirements to balance the goals of improving welfare while minimizing waste. We study the impact of eligibility monitoring in the context of Federal Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) submissions, where students may be subject to “verification” requirements that require them to confirm the accuracy of the data. Using a matching on observables design we do not find that students flagged for verification are less likely to enroll in college, which contrasts prior research. Verification reduces grant aid received but average changes are small, raising questions about the benefits of this administrative process.

Seeking STEM: The Causal Impact of Need-Based Grant Aid on Undergraduates’ Field of Study

ABSTRACT Increasing the number of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degrees is a national priority and one way to promote the socioeconomic mobility of students from low-income families. Prior research examining why students do not complete STEM majors often points to students’ lack of academic preparation, preferences for non-STEM majors, or lack of information about the value of STEM. This paper uses a randomized experiment to investigate an alternative explanation, that some students lack the financial resources to succeed in demanding majors. In a control group of university students from low-income families, 18.6% of students had declared a STEM major by their third year of college. In a treatment group who were offered additional need-based grant aid upon entering college, 26.5% of students declared a STEM major. Among students who had graduated within six years after entering college, 12.2% of control group graduates had earned a STEM degree compared to 20.2% of treatment group students. Need-based grants thus appear to have the potential to increase the share of low-income students studying and earning degrees in STEM.

Study on the Conditions for setting Target Prices in Japanese Grant Aid Projects

Japan has been implementing grant aid projects for developing countries for many years, but in recent years, many projects have experienced unsuccessful bidding (i.e., all bid prices are higher than the target price), due to a gap between the project target price and the bid price. For public works contracts in Japan, contracts may not be signed for more than the target price under any circumstances. Therefore, if the bid price exceeds the target price, a tender cannot be completed. The estimation method used for Japanese grant aid projects uses estimation standards developed for domestic construction projects in Japan with some modifications for overseas projects, but it is not possible to fully include the cost of the following risks in the target price; therefore, the difference between the target price and the bid price is assumed to occur. The target price is used as the reference price so that the final contract price may exceed the target price; instead, the price, including the upfront cost, is used as the maximum price for the project. In this way, the rate of unsuccessful bids for Japanese grant aid projects in bilateral contracts may decrease and the discrepancy between the target price and the bid price may disappear.

Vitamin A deficient mice exhibit impaired viral clearance, increased inflammation and altered immune response during respiratory viral infection

Abstract Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is prevalent in developing countries and is associated with increased mortality after respiratory viral infections. Vitamin A can only be acquired through the diet, and millions of pregnant women and young children are deficient; however, the effects of VAD on the immune response are not completely understood. Pregnant C57BL/6 mice were placed on a VAD diet at gestational day five, pups remained on this diet after birth. At 8 weeks of age, control and VAD mice were infected intranasally with a sub-lethal dose of Sendai Virus (SeV), a natural mouse pathogen. Body weight loss in control mice peaked at day 7 post-infection, while VAD mice continued to lose weight until day 11 post-infection. This was associated with delayed clearance of virus, elevated cytokines TNFα, IL-4, and IL-17, and increased numbers of inflammatory cells in the VAD lungs. Flow cytometry showed significantly increased percentages of neutrophils on days 7 and 21, increased NK cells on day 7, increased macrophages on day 7 and increased MHC Class IIhi macrophages on days 7 and 21. In the adaptive response, CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were decreased on day 7 and increased on day 21. CD4+ T cell subsets showed increased CD4+Foxp3+ T cells on day 7 and increased CD4+Tbet+ T cells on day 21. B lymphocytes were lower at all time points. Together, this suggests that VAD affects multiple cell populations in both the innate and adaptive immune responses to viral infection in the lung, Supported by Grants from Sigma Xi Grant in Aid of Research, Saint Louis University College of Arts and Sciences Knoedler Award, and Saint Louis University College of Arts and Sciences Graduate Undergraduate Award.

Prostaglandin D2 receptor expression in the lung and the effect of PPAR-γ, DP1, and DP2 receptor agonist treatment during respiratory viral infection

Abstract Prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) may play an anti-inflammatory role in the lung during respiratory viral infection, but little is known about the expression of its receptors (PPAR-γ, DP1, and DP2) in the lung or its mechanism of action. Adult C57BL/6 mice were infected with Sendai virus (500 pfu /g body weight), a natural mouse pathogen that infects airway epithelial cells. Immunostaining of uninfected lungs showed PPAR-γ protein in epithelial cells of larger airways, but not in the alveolar epithelial cells. After viral infection, PPAR-γ protein was no longer detectable in the lungs. Immunofluorescence showed DP1 present in parenchymal cells as well as in some CCSP+ airway epithelial cells, but levels did not appear to change during infection. DP2 expression increased after viral infection and was predominantly in CCSP+ epithelial cells 24 hours post-infection. DP2 also co-localized with MHC Class II+ cells in the parenchyma on days 3 and 7 post-infection. Viral infection of primary tracheal epithelial cells showed PPAR-γ mRNA expression was increased 48 and 72 hours post-infection. There was no change in DP1 or DP2 expression in vitro. To test the effect of each receptor in vivo, mice were infected and treated with PPAR-γ, DP1, and DP2 agonists, or vehicle every 12 hours. Mice treated with the PPAR-γ agonist were protected from body weight loss and had reduced IFN-γ expression on day 7, suggesting that PGD2 may be acting via PPAR-γ to reduce inflammation in the lung. Supported by grants from Sigma Xi Grant in Aid of Research and Saint Louis University College of Arts and Sciences Brennan Award.

Role of the median preoptic nucleus in the development of chronic DOCA-salt hypertension

Lesions of the anteroventral third ventricle (AV3V region) are known to prevent many forms of experimental hypertension, including mineralocorticoid (DOCA-salt) hypertension in the rat. However, AV3V lesions include the organum vasculosum of the lamina terminalis (OVLT), portions of the median preoptic nucleus (MnPO), as well as efferent fibers from the subfornical organ (SFO), thereby limiting the ability to define the individual contribution of these structures to the prevention of experimental hypertension. We have previously reported that the SFO does not contribute to the chronic hypertensive response to DOCA-salt in rats, and yet the OVLT plays a significant role in the development of DOCA-salt hypertension. Since efferent fibers of the OVLT project to and through the MnPO, the present study was designed to test the hypothesis that the MnPO is necessary for DOCA-salt hypertension in the rat. Male Sprague-Dawley rats underwent unilateral nephrectomy followed by a week of recovery, and subsequent SHAM (n=5) or electrolytic lesion of the MnPO (MnPOx; n=7). Throughout another week of recovery and during the experimental protocol, rats consumed a 2% NaCl diet and 0.9% NaCl drinking solution. 24-hour mean arterial pressure (MAP) was recorded telemetrically 5 days before and 21 days after DOCA implantation (100 mg/rat; SQ). No differences in the 5-day average control MAP were observed between groups (MnPOx: 104 ± 1 mmHg; SHAM: 107±2 mmHg). The chronic pressor response to DOCA was attenuated in MnPOx rats by day 11 of treatment and continued such that MAP increased 25±3 mmHg in SHAM rats by day 21 of DOCA compared to 14±3 mmHg in MnPOx rats. These results support the hypothesis that the MnPO is an important brain site of action for the pathogenesis of DOCA-salt hypertension in the rat. University of Minnesota Grant In Aid #546839 This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2023 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.

From research to health policy: The Noguchi story in the past, present and next 25 years

The Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) is a semi-autonomous institute of the College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon. Founded in 1979, the Institute was built with a grant aid from the Government of Japan as a gift to the people of Ghana in memory of the renowned Japanese medical scientist, Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, who died from Yellow fever infection while conducting research on the disease in Ghana. The Institute has a three-pronged mandate to conduct health related research, build human capacity and provide specialized diagnostic and disease monitoring services in support of the Ghana Health Service. Over the past 40 years, the Institute has grown to be a leading biomedical research institute in the African region. It has strong and long-standing collaborations with scientists and institutions in Africa, Japan, Europe, Australia and North America on several projects on diseases of public health importance. The Institute also hosts several regional and national centres such as Regional Influenza laboratory. The Institute’s research activities are relevant to the control and prevention of infectious diseases in Ghana, particularly, HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Buruli ulcer, Polio, Malaria and emerging infectious diseases. The Institute also plays a technical/advisory role to government through collaborations with disease control programmes and has since inception provided the country with needed critical evidence in support of health policy as well as laboratory diagnostic services among others. Going forward, the Institute seeks to expand and consolidate its activities in areas of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), clinical trials, genomic surveillance and academic programs and in the next 25 years, NMIMR hopes to approach every research area using the one health approach.