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The Recovery Act provided the NIH with the ability to create the Challenge Grant, a funding opportunity to support research on topic areas that address selected scientific and health research priorities. The NIH received more than 20,000 applications, making funding for this opportunity extremely competitive. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council will review the Challenge Grants applications at its September meetings and the NHLBI anticipates awarding the most meritorious of them by September 30, 2009.
Due to the uniqueness of the Challenge Grant, percentiles for them cannot be compared to percentiles from previous review rounds of other grant mechanisms. The NIH has posted more information about the Challenge Grant and Review Award process at http://grants.nih.gov/recovery/faqs_recovery.html#IId1.
NIH has received new funds for Fiscal Years 2009 and 2010 as part of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), Pub. L. No. 111-5. The NIH has designated at least $200 million in FYs 2009 – 2010 for a new initiative called the NIH Challenge Grants in Health and Science Research.
This new program will support research on topic areas that address specific scientific and health research challenges in biomedical and behavioral research that would benefit from significant 2-year jumpstart funds.
The NIH has identified a range of Challenge Areas that focus on specific knowledge gaps, scientific opportunities, new technologies, data generation, or research methods that would benefit from an influx of funds to quickly advance the area in significant ways. Each NIH Institute, Center, and Office has selected specific Challenge Topics within the broad Challenge Areas (PDF 1.8 MB) related to its mission. The research in these Challenge Areas should have a high impact in biomedical or behavioral science and/or public health.
NIH anticipates funding 200 or more grants, each of up to $1 million in total costs, pending the number and quality of applications and availability of funds. In addition, Recovery Act funds allocated to NIH specifically for comparative effectiveness research (CER) may be available to support additional grants. Projects receiving these funds will need to meet this definition of CER: "a rigorous evaluation of the impact of different options that are available for treating a given medical condition for a particular set of patients. Such a study may compare similar treatments, such as competing drugs, or it may analyze very different approaches, such as surgery and drug therapy." Such research may include the development and use of clinical registries, clinical data networks, and other forms of electronic health data that can be used to generate or obtain outcomes data as they apply to CER.
The application due date is April 27, 2009.
Note: Those marked with an asterisk (*) are the highest priority topics; however, applicants may apply to any of the topics. Please note also that the published topics reflect the Institute's views regarding priority areas that should be funded through the RC1 mechanism. It is possible, however, that an application focusing on a topic outside the listed priority areas will be found to be so compelling that the Institute will consider funding it.
For the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the Challenge Topics are:
(01) Behavior, Behavioral Change, and Prevention
In the area of risk factors, tools and measures are needed to assess dietary habits, physical activity, and psychological stress. Current approaches mostly rely on self-report and are, therefore, of limited reliability and validity while also being costly and imposing a high respondent burden. In the area of clinical outcomes, tools and measures are needed to assess early contributions to health care disparities and patient and provider adherence to medical regimens.
Contact: Lawrence Fine, M.D., 301-435-0305, firstname.lastname@example.com
(02) Bioethics
Following completion of the Human Genome Project, genome-wide association studies, candidate gene studies, and sequencing studies have proliferated and are now providing significant, clinically-relevant, and sometimes actionable, findings for study participants. However, investigators are at a loss with respect to ethical and practical issues to consider in providing results to study participants. Research is needed to inform the development of guidelines that could be followed by investigators who confront the issues of who, what, when and how genetic research results should be provided to study participants.
Contact: Dr. Paul Sorlie, 301-435-0456, firstname.lastname@example.com
Advances in biotechnology and biomedical science raise novel ethical, legal, and social issues. Research in this area is needed to understand the unique ethical concerns related to emerging technologies (e.g. biotechnology, tissue engineering, nanomedicine, and synthetic biology). These include issues such as dual use research, privacy, safety, intellectual property, commercialization and conflict of interest, among others. Research is also needed to assess how these novel issues are addressed under current oversight and regulatory structures and identify where there may be gaps and/or need for revised or new oversight approaches.
OD(OSP) Contact:Abigail Rives, 301-594-1976, firstname.lastname@example.com; NHLBI Contact: Dr. Gail Weinmann, 301-435-0233, firstname.lastname@example.com
Research is needed to assess the under-representation in biomedical and clinical research of U.S. minority populations, underserved populations, and populations who may be vulnerable to coercion or undue influence, to identify barriers to participation in research and to develop approaches for overcoming them. Additionally, studies are needed to assess the impact and ethical considerations of conducting biomedical and clinical research internationally in resource-limited countries.
OD(OSP) Contact:Abigail Rives, 301-594-1976, email@example.com; NHLBI Contact: Dr. Patrice Desvigne-Nickens, 301-435-0515, email@example.com
The development of an electronic health information infrastructure and the sharing of health information for patient care and research offer enormous promise to improve health care and promote scientific advances. However, the broad sharing of such data raises numerous ethical issues that may benefit from additional studies (e.g. those related to privacy and confidentiality). Examples include studies to assess risks associated with health information technology and the broad sharing of health information for research, and novel approaches for mitigating them. Examination could also include analysis of current oversight paradigms and suggestions for enhancements, as well as assessments of how privacy risks may change in the future.
OD(OSP) Contact: Abigail Rives, 301-594-1976, firstname.lastname@example.com; NHLBI Contact: Dr. Dina Paltoo, 301-435-0513, email@example.com
Genetics and genomics have great promise for the development of personalized medicine, yet the ethical, legal and social implications of both the research and application of genetic and genomic knowledge and technology are far reaching. Studies are needed to better understand the factors that influence the translation of genetic information to improved human health and the associated ethical issues. Examples of studies include those to address ethical issues related to broad sharing and use of new genetic information and technologies for research to improve human health, human subjects protection in genetic and genomic research, the identifiability of genetic/genomic information and how our understanding of identifiability is evolving, return of research results and incidental findings to subjects, alternative models of informed consent for broad data sharing for research, and the impact of intellectual property (IP) issues on development of new technologies.
OD(OSP) Contact: Abigail Rives, 301-594-1976, firstname.lastname@example.com; NHLBI Contact: Dr. Dina Paltoo, 301-435-0513, firstname.lastname@example.com
The distinction between clinical practice and research is growing less clear, a trend that may be more pronounced with respect to genetic information and medical records research. Studies are needed to better understand the ethical issues associated with this trend. Examples of studies include those to identify how this blurring in roles affects traditional human subjects protections, including, for example, essential practices such as informed consent, conceptions of the doctor/patient and investigator/subject relationship, and privacy protections.
OD(OSP) Contact: Abigail Rives, 301-594-1976, firstname.lastname@example.com; NHLBI Contact: Dr. Carol Blaisdell, 301-435-0219, firstname.lastname@example.com
(03) Biomarker Discovery and Validation
Treatment paradigms have evolved from studies of patients who, despite similar presentations, may have experienced disparate environmental exposures or clinical courses and may have varied underlying pathobiologies. As a result, patients who appear to be similar because of their clinical characteristics often demonstrate substantially different morbidity, mortality, and responses to drugs. Identification and validation of biomarkers from cell culture to animal models and human studies that can be efficiently and reproducibly quantified in a clinical setting could be used to determine the most effective care for individual patients and identify more precisely those who are most likely to benefit from specific interventions for prevention or treatment.
Contact: Dr. James Kiley, 301-435-0233, firstname.lastname@example.com
Every organ appears to display a unique signature or molecular address ("zip code") on the luminal surface of its blood vessels that can serve as a target for agents such as peptides, small molecules, or nanoparticles. Such agents could be used as carriers to transport drugs, genes, or imaging markers to diseased tissues/organs while sparing normal tissues.
Contact: Dr. Stephen Goldman, 301-435-0560, email@example.com
Development of new tools for: the measurement of culturally-shared mental phenomena (e.g., representations, scripts, prejudices); studying mechanisms by which these phenomena are transferred and adapted across individuals; and advancing research on the distribution and transmission of cultural phenomena within populations.
OBSSR Contact: Christine Bachrach, 301-496-9485, firstname.lastname@example.com; NHLBI Contact: Dr. Catherine Stoney, 301-435-6670, email@example.com
Develop, using finger-stick dried blood spots, novel high-throughput biomarker assays, to identify lipids, proteins, metabolites, and genetic information to expand the array of available biomarkers for use in large community-based biosocial surveys.
OBSSR contact: Kay Wanke, 301-435-3718, firstname.lastname@example.com; NHLBI Contact: Dr. Catherine Stoney, 301-435-6670, firstname.lastname@example.com
(04) Clinical Research
Sleep Disordered Breathing (SDB) is pervasive among the overweight and elderly; it more than doubles their risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, respiratory problems, diabetes, and all-cause mortality. However, gaps in translational research defining how SDB treatment reduces cardiopulmonary morbidity have led to inconsistencies in whether SDB is treated in the course of usual cardiopulmonary care. Clinical approaches need to be applied to elucidate biomarkers, mechanisms, and clinically relevant pathways from animal models, clinical studies, and/or existing cohorts. Advances are urgently needed to move recent discoveries into practical application and improve cardiopulmonary disease outcomes.
Contact: Dr. Michael Twery, 301-435-0199, firstname.lastname@example.com
Integrative approaches are needed to move beyond the limitations of traditional disease models based on single pathway/gene analyses. Studies are needed to elucidate biologically relevant patterns of cellular pathophysiology as a dynamic process and identify gene regulatory networks that control such processes as normal lung alveolization and development or that contribute to dysregulated vascular cell proliferation in pulmonary hypertension. Data developed through such studies are expected to support the development of molecular models for the study of lung cell interactions, the lung tissue injury cascade, immunophenotypes of lung disease, identification of regulatory and shared "control points" in the systems biology of lung disease, and molecular elements that predict disease susceptibility and therapeutic response.
Contact: Dr. Dorothy Gail, 301-435-0222, email@example.com
The intercellular interface that emerges among leukocytes, platelets, and endothelial cells as a result of inflammation enables transfer of both beneficial and potentially injurious locally generated bioactive molecules. The mechanisms for recruitment, activation and retention of platelets and leukocytes and the associated sequelae on the behavior of endothelium and underlying tissue cells require more in-depth analysis. The identification of the key points controlling such communication may lead to new pharmaceutical interventions for both thrombosis and inflammation.
Contact: Dr. Andrei Kindzelski, 301-402-0658, email@example.com
Numerous data sets have been created from completed and ongoing population-based longitudinal observational studies and clinical trials that include rich data on phenotypes, behaviors, genetic markers, environmental factors, physiological risk factors, subclinical cardiovascular disease, clinical care, and clinical outcomes. Those data sets may be not only be mined further to explore new hypotheses but also combined to increase statistical power and representativeness of the study populations. Selective addition of new data, such as data extracted from medical records of participants or data on costs, has the potential to provide valuable new information to the existing data. Efforts are needed to obtain additional data, combine data sets where appropriate, conduct additional analyses, and disseminate findings of clinical importance. Examples of areas of interest include:
Contact: Dr. Diane Bild, 301-435-0457, firstname.lastname@example.com
The rising epidemic of obesity, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes has placed societies at dramatically elevated risks for atherosclerotic disease. Epidemiologic studies involving global populations exposed to different environmental and genetic risk will improve understanding of the complex clinical and mechanistic links between diabetes and heart disease, and help create the next generation of control measures.
Contact: Dr. Aron Primack, 301-496-1653, email@example.com; NHLBI Contact: Dr. Cristina Rabadan-Diehl, 301-435-0550, email@example.com.
Nearly half of all patients with heart failure have preserved left ventricular systolic function, yet still have a poor prognosis. Commonly used strategies for treating such patients include treatment with diuretics, nitrates, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, and/or beta-blockers, but it is not clear how the agents, or combinations of them, compare with one another with respect to their effect on quality and length of life and health care costs. Projects that address this challenge could include planning projects for large-scale definitive practical trials or sophisticated analyses of existing data registries.
Contact: Dr. Michael Lauer, 301-435-0422, email@example.com
Implantable cardioverter defibrillators and cardiac resynchronization therapy have been shown to improve clinical outcome in chronic heart failure, but they are expensive technologies and have been studied primarily in the context of carefully managed randomized controlled trials. It is not clear how they compare with standard medical therapy in routine clinical practice and among certain patient subsets, such as women, the elderly, and minorities. Projects that address this challenge could include analyses of existing data registries.
Contact: Dr. Michael Lauer, 301-435-0422, email@example.com
Insomnia is common and is associated with poor quality of life at increased risk for clinical events. Available treatment strategies include sedatives, melatonin, and behavioral interventions. However, it is not clear how they compare with one another with respect to their effect on quality and length of life and health care costs. Projects that answer this challenge could include planning projects for large-scale definitive practical trials or sophisticated analyses of existing data registries.
Contact: Dr. Michael Twery, 301-435-0199, email@example.com
Treatment of critically ill patients involves multiple diverse interventions that affect all organ systems. While many have been viewed as merely supportive and comforting, they may in fact have important effects on outcomes. For example, studies of glucose management and sedation practices have shown reductions in hospital time and even mortality. The evidence base for intensive care medicine is improving in recent years, but many aspects of care are not systematically applied and should be compared and studied. Projects that address this challenge could include planning projects for large-scale definitive practical trials or sophisticated analyses of existing data registries.
Contact: Dr. Andrea Harabin, 301-435-0222, email@example.com
Sarcoidosis is a systemic granulomatous disease of unknown origin that affects the lungs in about 90 percent of patients. Management is primarily based on the use of corticosteroids, anti-inflammatory agents, and cytotoxic drugs, such as methotrexate. Depending on the organs involved and the severity of disease regimens vary, although sometimes treatment is maintained for prolonged periods, often for many years. It is not clear which regimens and drug combinations and duration of therapy are most effective in controlling the disease, especially lung disease. Regimens for improving or maintaining lung function, other organ function, quality and length of life, and for reducing costs of health care would be of particular interest. Projects that address this challenge could include planning projects for large-scale definitive practical trials or sophisticated analyses of existing data registries.
Contact: Dr. Hannah Peavy, 301-435-0222, firstname.lastname@example.com
Pulmonary hypertension is a devastating, rapidly progressive disease characterized by progressive elevation of pulmonary arterial pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance that leads to right ventricular failure. Current therapies include prostacyclins, phosphodiesterase inhibitors, and endothelin receptor antagonists. The availability of these agents has improved hemodynamic measures and quality of life, but patient response varies significantly, and deterioration in outcomes is not uncommon. Morbidity and mortality remain high, and it is not known how the agents or, particularly, their combinations compare with each other affect outcome and quality of life. Projects that address this challenge could include planning projects for large-scale definitive practical trials or sophisticated analyses of existing data registries.
Contact: Dr. Dorothy Gail, 301-435-0222, email@example.com
Although many different treatments are efficacious for treating COPD, individuals vary widely in their responsiveness to therapies and few data are available to guide the choice of drug combinations for particular patients. Comparative effectiveness studies are needed to assess both the benefits of combination therapies and to identify individual characteristics that are predictive of treatment responsiveness. Studies that address this challenge area will design and demonstrate feasibility for later studies that will directly test effectiveness of alternative treatment strategies which incorporate substantial stratification of subjects by baseline characteristics, such as biomarkers, genotype, and gene expression profiles.
Contact: Dr. Antonello Punturieri, 301-435-0230, email@example.com
Cardiovascular risk factors – such as hypertension, elevated cholesterol, and obesity – often begin in childhood. There is substantial evidence that these risk factors in childhood will translate to increased risk of disease later in life. However, there are inconsistent recommendations about the clinical utility of screening children for these risk factors or how broad such screening should be. It is unknown, for example, whether universal screening for high blood cholesterol would be beneficial and cost-effective in youth, or whether it would be harmful and wasteful of clinical resources. Nor is it known whether only some children, and not all, should be screened. Projects that answer this challenge could include planning projects for large-scale definitive practical trials or sophisticated analyses of existing data registries.
Contact: Dr. Denise Simons-Morton, 301-435-0384, firstname.lastname@example.com
Traditional clinical trials have provided a powerful evidence base for preventing cardiovascular (CV) events in patients at known high short-term CV risk, but are less suited to addressing the larger problem of preventing or slowing the chronic disease process that creates that risk. Late-stage interventions tend to be resource-intensive, and they come too late for the many persons whose first clinical manifestation of CV disease is a fatal heart attack or stroke. Unfortunately, the duration and sample sizes required for clinical trials employing less intensive interventions in patients whose CV risk lies many years down the road are often prohibitive. The use of modern information technology may provide the means to facilitate more economical large early prevention trials, while preserving patient safety. Projects that answer this challenge could include planning grants for specific large-scale trials comparing strategies of early prevention.
Contact: Dr. David Gordon, 301-435-0466, firstname.lastname@example.com
Promoting guideline development or comparative effectiveness research in pediatrics is limited by the rarity of diseases, small patient populations, and difficulty (logistical, cost, ethical) in performing randomized, controlled trials. These constraints necessitate creative and novel approaches, such as developing new analytic, statistical, or theoretical strategies for evaluating comparative treatment effects of pediatric medications or interventions. Examples include innovative approaches to evaluating extant data ( e.g., making use of administrative databases, or, increasingly, electronic health records to assess, for example, the comparative effectiveness of different medications administered in the cardiac intensive care unit) or development of novel, computational theoretical models or adaptation of existing procedures (e.g., decision analysis to assess, as an example, the comparative effectiveness of incorporating ECG screening into risk assessment of children receiving stimulant medications). These and similar approaches could be developed and tested using existing data sets in a two-year time frame, and could benefit not only pediatrics, but all research into rare diseases.
Contact: Dr. Gail Pearson, 301-435-0510, firstname.lastname@example.com
The prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) is increasing and as a result advances have been made in surgical and percutaneous techniques for revascularization as well as concomitant medical therapy for CAD. The American College of Cardiology Foundation, among other collaborating groups, conducted an appropriateness review of common clinical scenarios in which coronary revascularization is frequently considered. The findings indicate that clinical evidence is insufficient for new interventions for three vessel CAD including disease of the Left Anterior Descending Coronary Artery. It is unknown whether hybrid coronary revascularization using a minimally invasive surgical approach with PCI (hybrid procedure) is associated with improved patient outcomes as compared to PCI with DES alone. A randomized, controlled clinical trial targeting a large segment of the CAD population is needed to answer this important public health question. Without scientific evidence, this question will be answered through clinical practice patterns that may not optimize patient outcomes or be cost effective. Projects that answer this challenge could include planning projects for large-scale definitive clinical trials or development of data registries to collect prospective outcomes information on CAD patients receiving different treatments.
Contact: Dr. Marissa Miller, 301-594-1542, email@example.com
In 2007, 20% of adult Americans were current cigarette smokers, but significant disparities exist by age, race/ethnicity, level of education and socioeconomic status. Smoking is particularly problematic among hospitalized patients; those who continue to smoke after an MI have a 50% higher risk of recurrent coronary events compared to nonsmokers, but the risk for those who quit equals that of nonsmokers after 3 years. Providers are faced with uncertainty regarding optimal and cost-effective strategies to initiate smoking cessation for their hospitalized patients. Options include simple counseling, intensive behavioral interventions, financial incentives, and pharmacotherapy (nicotine replacement, buproprion, and veraclinine). Projects that answer this challenge could include planning projects for large-scale definitive practical trials or sophisticated analyses of existing data registries. Endpoints for comparisons could include safety and effectiveness, quality of life, and cost-effectiveness.
Contact: Dr. Jared Jobe, 301-435-0407, firstname.lastname@example.com
(05) Comparative Effectiveness Research
Atrial fibrillation, the most common acquired arrhythmia in adults, substantially increases risk for stroke and premature death. Percutaneous pulmonary vein ablation and the surgical Cox Maze procedure have been shown to be effective in eliminating arrhythmias, but it is not clear how they compare to standard therapies, such as anticoagulation combined with rate control drugs, with respect to their effect on quality and length of life and health care costs. Projects that address this challenge could include planning projects for large-scale definitive practical trials or sophisticated analyses of existing data registries.
Contact: Dr. Michael Lauer, 301-435-0422, email@example.com
Obstructive sleep apnea is becoming increasingly common as the nation experiences an obesity epidemic. Patients with obstructive sleep apnea are at increased risk for poor quality of life, myocardial infarction, and stroke. Physicians can treat obstructive sleep apnea with certain medications, surgery, or mechanical devices (continuous positive airway pressure), but it is not clear how the strategies compare with one another with respect to their effect on quality and length of life and health care costs. Projects that answer this challenge could include planning projects for large-scale definitive practical trials or sophisticated analyses of existing data registries.
Contact: Dr. Michael Twery, 301-435-0199, email@example.com
Physicians currently choose among three alternative approaches to initiate daily, long term therapy for children with asthma that is not well controlled by intermittent therapy alone; namely, low dose inhaled corticosteroids, combination therapy of inhaled corticosteroids and long acting beta-agonists, and leukotriene receptor antagonist. Yet little data are available to inform the physician's decisions: randomized controlled efficacy trials in children have focused on comparing each drug to placebo rather than directly comparing the three options in children, especially children less than 12 years of age. Large scale, efficient studies are urgently needed to assist physicians in understanding the comparative advantages of the treatments with respect to benefits, risks, and costs. Projects that address this challenge would use existing data bases, e.g., administrative and electronic health records, and distributive data networks to conduct direct comparisons of the three treatments.
Contact: Dr. Virginia Taggart, 301-435-0202, email@example.com
Evidence-based treatment guidelines exist for patients at high risk for a cardiovascular event due to existing clinical disease or risk factors including hypertension, dyslipidemia, obesity, and smoking. Nearly half of all life-threatening cardiovascular disease events occur in previously asymptomatic people, who may have undetected subclinical disease. In addition, many people are at elevated risk for whom evidence-based treatments are not clear; these include people with moderate elevations of multiple risk conditions as in the Metabolic Syndrome. Various technologies exist to detect asymptomatic subclinical disease and predict risk, including global risk scores, inflammatory biomarkers, specific genotypes, and imaging tests. Many intervention strategies to reduce risk also exist, including lifestyle interventions, various medications, combinations of medications, and combinations of lifestyle and medication. However, it is not clear how the existing technologies compare with each other or could be combined or sequenced, or what intensity of intervention is needed, to reduce disease risk. Projects are needed to address this challenge by comparing effectiveness, risks, and cost-effectiveness of various strategies for screening and treatment of moderate-risk and asymptomatic patients. Projects that address this challenge could include planning projects for large-scale definitive practical trials or sophisticated analyses of existing data registries
Contact: Dr. Simons-Morton, 301-435-0384, email@example.com
The long-term effectiveness of revascularization procedures to treat ischemic cardiovascular disease is limited by the risk for thrombotic complications, which may necessitate a second costly procedure, sometimes under emergency conditions, and may even be fatal. Anti-platelet therapy i to offer effective protection against thrombotic complications, though at the cost of increased risk for serious bleeding events, including (potentially fatal) cerebral hemorrhage. Comparative effectiveness trials are needed to determine the best regimens for achieving maximal benefit with minimal risk. Personalized approaches for tailoring the optimal regimen to the particular patient may be of value. Projects that answer this challenge could include planning grants for clinical trials comparing alternative strategies for optimizing anti-platelet therapy in this setting.
Contact: Dr. David Gordon, 301-435-0466, firstname.lastname@example.com
(06) Enabling Technologies
Thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysms (TAA and AAA, respectively) are life threatening conditions that together comprise the thirteenth leading cause of death in the U.S. The most common sources of mortality associated with aortic aneurysms are acute dissections (more common to TAA) and rupture (more common to AAA). For both TAAs and AAAs, close monitoring of aneurysm size is the only way currently available to determine when to intervene with elective surgery or endovascular repair to avoid dissection or rupture. However, size is not a reliable predictor so new technologies are needed, such as noninvasive imaging and biomarkers, that can reliably identify aneurysms that are prone to rupture or dissection.
Contact: Dr. Eser Tolunay, 301-435-0560, email@example.com
Clinical imaging currently provides primarily anatomical and functional information that does not address the underlying pathophysiology. Molecular imaging probes have the potential to provide additional information about the disease process itself by interrogating specific targets such as cell surface receptors and enzymes activity. By detecting specific markers expressed in physiological and pathophysiological states, molecular imaging probes can improve detection and staging of disease. The appearance or disappearance of specific probe targets in response to therapy is likely to provide information on therapeutic efficacy much faster than traditional imaging measurements based on anatomical and functional responses, helping to tailor therapies and dosage to individual patients.
Contact: Dr. Denis Buxton, 301-435-0513, email@example.com
An improved ability to track cells in vivo will enhance our understanding of homing, engraftment, cell differentiation, and pathogenesis resulting from abnormal cells trafficking. Understanding the components and kinetics involved in biochemical reactions is key to evaluating and predicting the response of intact organisms to physiological and pathophysiological challenges and drug responses. Although our knowledge of the identity and quantity of proteins and complexes associated with reaction pathways in health and disease continues to advance, direct methods for imaging those reactions in intact systems are lacking. Development of appropriate tools to track cells, image the microvasculature, and image chemical activity in intact systems in real time will have broad applicability to many heart diseases, including myocardial ischemia and reperfusion injury, heart failure, and arrhythmias and lung diseases such as COPD, asthma, pulmonary hypertension, and sleep apnea. Similarly, new non-invasive cellular imaging modalities, capable of differentiating between normal and pathological states, would increase our understanding of the role of the microvasculature in sickle cell disease and thrombotic disorders.
Contact: Dr. Lisa Schwartz Longacre, 301-402-4826, firstname.lastname@example.com
Pulmonary nanomedicine tools (mono- or multi-functional) would be of great value for inhalative delivery of encapsulated, controlled released payloads such as pharmaceuticals, gene therapy vectors, and bioactive molecules; detection of subclinical pathology; real-time, in vivo monitoring of injury/repair and treatment effects; and providing a scaffolding for engineered lung tissue. Targeted delivery methods made possible with nanotools should allow safer and more effective administration of life-prolonging drugs such as prostacyclines for pulmonary arterial hypertension, and nanotube-based scaffolds may allow reproduction of the complex microarchitecture required for regeneration of functional lung tissue.
Contact: Dr. Robert Smith, 301-435-0202, email@example.com
Mouse models offer the advantage of being open to genetic manipulation and can provide data for hypothesis building and pilot intervention studies. Several complex models of inflammation relevant to heart, lung, and blood diseases have been developed, but their effect on the propensity to develop human diseases remains to be determined. Targeted research over short period of time in this area should lead to development of new animal models for chronic inflammation that are relevant to human pathology.
Contact: Dr. Andrei Kindzelski, 301-402-0658, email@example.com
New technologies are needed to eliminate both the infectious and non-infectious complications of blood transfusion and thereby ensure a safe and adequate blood supply. Technologies such as pathogen inactivation/reduction should virtually eliminate transfusion risks from established threats such as HIV and hepatitis and most new or emerging infectious agents including bacterial contaminants. They should also reduce non-infectious complications such as transfusion-related immunomodulation. They and other approaches must be further developed for the treatment of all blood components and research is also needed to determine their safety and efficacy in ameliorating transfusion risks.
Contact: Dr. Simone Glynn, 301-435-0078, email@example.com
The development of new enabling technologies has the potential to significantly enhance diagnostics and therapeutics for heart, lung, and blood diseases. The delivery of drugs and nucleic acid-based therapeutics to disease targets can be significantly enhanced by strategies such as targeting to specific receptors, protection from nucleases and other enzymes, improvement of pharmacokinetics, and directing to the appropriate sub-cellular compartment. The ability to track cell delivery and survival to target tissues would facilitate the optimization of cell-based therapies. Improved surgical tools and procedures for minimally invasive surgery have the potential to decrease patient morbidity and mortality, and improve recovery time and quality of life for surgical patients. The ability to conduct quick and inexpensive assays of environmental risks would greatly enhance investigations of environmental causes of disease.
Contact: Dr. Denis Buxton, 301-435-0513, email@example.com
Much of the complex interplay between genetic and environmental risk factors for disease likely occurs through the interactive regulation of gene expression by both genotype and epigenetic markings of the genome. Epigenetic tags such as cytosine methylation and histone tail modifications, which modulate chromatin structure and function thereby affecting gene expression, are associated with environmental toxicities and are well documented. An integrated analysis of gene expression regulation, with simultaneous consideration of both genetic and epigenetic characteristics and of the interactions between these factors, is essential for understanding the complex pathobiology of chronic heart, lung, and blood diseases. New computational and informatics techniques are needed to allow such analyses.
Contact: Dr. Robert Smith, 301-435-0202, email@example.com
Reagents for studying lung cell biology and disease progression are lacking. Examples include antibodies that recognize specific cells types, promoters that are expressed only in certain cell types and can be used in the generation of conditional knockout transgenic animals, and antibodies that recognize cell surface markers and can be used for FACS sorting different cell lineages in the airway. Such markers would be important not only for understanding the heterogeneity of lung cell types but are also for understanding cellular changes in the lung that emerge with lung disease. They may also be useful as surrogates for progression of lung disease and for dissecting cellular heterogeneity/function of lung cell types.
Contact: Dr. Herbert Reynolds, 301-435-0222, email@example.com
A sensitive nuclear magnetic resonance setup could easily take up a room. This challenge asks to build a small portable and automated device that can function as NMR by combining the NMR and MRI technology with all the advantages of the microfluidics chip. Such a device would enable the application of a metabolomics approach to many disease areas.
Contact: Dr. Weiniu Gan, 301-435-0202, firstname.lastname@example.com
Despite major advances in biotechnology, research and development efforts directed at introducing new and innovative pediatric devices and instruments (of improving the existing ones) for use in critically ill children have been limited. Technologies to assess tissue perfusion, pulmonary function (e.g., gas exchange, airway pressure, lung volumes, ventilation/perfusion ratios, and pulmonary arterial pressures) are needed. Also needing further development are improved systems for respiratory support of children, including non-invasive ventilation and nasal interface for nasal CPAP, improved methods of patient triggered ventilation and synchronization, and improved endotracheal and tracheostomy tubes to decrease nosocomial infection and reduce airleak and airway trauma.
Contact: Dr. Carol Blaisdell, 301-435-0219, email@example.com
New and innovative technologies to improve patient adherence to prescribed medical regimens and utilization of adherence-enhancing strategies in clinical practice would greatly enhance the health impact of efficacious treatments and preventive regimens. This challenge invites the development of new technologies to change patient and provider behaviors to improve adherence.
OBSSR Contact: Lynn Bosco, 301-451-4286, firstname.lastname@example.com; NHLBI Contact: Dr. Susan Czajkowski, 301-435-0406, firstname.lastname@example.com; FIC Contact: Dr. Xingzhu Liu, 301-496-1653, firstname.lastname@example.com
(07) Enhancing Clinical Trials
The practice of conducting RCTs with volunteer samples recruited from patients in clinical or community settings limits the generalizability of results, a critical problem for comparative effectiveness research. Research is needed to develop scientific tools for improving and/or assessing the external validity of RCT results to known populations, including methods for applying probability sampling in the identification and recruitment of RCT participants, measuring biases in RCT participant pools, and accounting for such biases in the analysis of RCT results.
OBSSR Contact: Dr. Ronald Abeles, 301-496-7859, email@example.com; NHLBI Contact: Dr. Peter Kaufmann, 301-435-2467, email@example.com
(08) Genomics
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been successful in identifying high frequency genetic variants of modest effect that are associated with numerous common diseases, but identifying actual disease-causing genetic variants will require large-scale DNA sequencing of individuals from well-phenotyped populations.
Two applications of this approach are needed:
Validation/replication of newly discovered genetic variants from both experimental designs would then have to be undertaken by selective genotyping of well-phenotyped populations, particularly from existing large consortia. This sequential strategy is needed to characterize the complete set of causal variants contributing to disease heritability and etiology.
Contact: Dr. Alan Michelson, 301-594-5353, firstname.lastname@example.com
Considerable resources have been expended in developing 'omics technologies and applying them to heart, lung, and blood studies. However, the diverse 'omics technologies each generate multiple data types. Limitations in our ability to combine and analyze data across various 'omics studies have constrained their use in efforts to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying heart, lung, and blood disorders. To obtain full value from those data will require new and improved tools to:
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have emerged as a powerful tool for identifying genetic variants related to rare diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and Type I diabetes. The emerging all-exon sequencing approach (exome) may also be a useful approach for GWAS of rare diseases. Both GWAS and exome approaches are needed to gain further insight into rare lung diseases. Analysis of well defined clinical phenotypes, especially of the most severe forms of rare lung diseases, should make it possible to reach sufficient statistical power using the existing database and biological samples collections. Case-control, population, cohort, clinical, and family studies for which detailed phenotypic data and DNA samples have already been acquired are all needed.
Contact: Dr. Sandra Hatch, 301-435-0222, firstname.lastname@example.com
Resources are lacking for imputation of existing SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) or for the assessment of CNVs (copy number variants) and their relation to disease in individuals of African ancestry. Existing statistical software and models involved in SNP imputation should be assessed by examining genotype data for African Americans, creating imputed maps, and genotyping or sequencing the regions of interest that will help to refine both the resulting imputed map and the statistical models used in imputing. Also needed are efforts to identify meaningful CNVs, i.e., CNP (Copy Number Polymorphisms), by accurately measuring copy level, location, and frequencies in established African-American cohort(s). An examination of the association of discovered CNPs between affected and unaffected individuals for a disease measure within a cohort will greatly aid investigators in their understanding of CNVs and their subsequent impact on human disease.
Contact: Dr. Paul Sorlie, 301-435-0456, email@example.com
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of large population sample sizes have been successful in identifying a number of genetic variants of moderate effect for complex diseases; even larger sample sizes will be needed to discover genes of small effect or to assess gene by gene and gene by environment interactions. To meet this challenge, the NHLBI proposes to support infrastructure and logistics of consortia of over one hundred thousand research participants focused on in-depth analysis and data mining coupled with highly focused follow-up genotyping and resequencing in specific domains (e.g., cardiovascular, pulmonary, sleep, blood disease, obesity, metabolic syndrome). Consortia would have expertise in phenotyping, genotyping, sequencing and analysis, would leverage our investment in GWAS and maximize scientific output from shared data sets.
Contact: Dr. Paul Sorlie, 301-435-0456, firstname.lastname@example.com
Research is needed to develop analytic methods, systems science approaches, or computational models designed to address the interactions among individual behaviors, social and physical environments and genetic/epigenetic processes during critical developmental periods and over time. This research is essential to incorporating the dynamic complexity of behavior and environments in the study of gene-environment interactions in health. OBSSRcontact: Kay Wanke, 301-435-3718, firstname.lastname@example.com; NHLBI Contact: Dr. Peter Kaufmann, 301-435-2467, email@example.com
(09) Health Disparities
The purpose of this challenge is two fold: first, to develop new measures of early determinants of disparities; and second, to develop and test interventions to reduce health and healthcare disparities. Multidisciplinary research studies across entities such as healthcare, education, and housing to improve built environment, neighborhood structures, and health education, for example, would create unique opportunities to mitigate differences in health outcomes at the population level. The focus of both should be on the patient, social and community context as well as the healthcare setting and provider characteristics.
Contact: Dr. Lawrence Fine, 301-435-0305, email@example.com
(10) Information Technology for Processing Health Care Data for Research
Advances in this area will address two important barriers to research on comparative treatment effects:
The first could be addressed by creating an interoperable electronic health record (EHR)-based research platform that assures privacy and confidentiality while allowing questions to be addressed that could not be by using data from only one clinical practice, health plan, or health system; the second by developing new methods to address confounding when attempting to use observational data to compare treatment effects, e.g., instrumental variables, innovative quasi-experimental designs, facilitating ecologic analyses of clinical data using linkages of geographic and clinical data. Such approaches would increase the credibility and value of observational analyses of huge integrated EHR databases in identifying optimal treatment practices for cardiovascular, lung, and blood diseases with multiple available treatment options.
Contact: Dr. Michael Lauer, 301-435-0422, firstname.lastname@example.com
(11) Regenerative Medicine
Cell-based therapies for cardiovascular, lung, and blood diseases offer a new paradigm for advancing and transforming patient care. Translational and early-phase clinical research has demonstrated that cell-based therapies may improve left ventricular function, reduce myocardial ischemia, and lead to improved lung function. Reconstitution of normal hematopoeisis using modified stem cell graft sources has great potential for treating specific genetic blood disorders. However, a number of significant challenges and barriers must be overcome to move the field forward toward broad clinical application. We encourage further research to determine the characteristics of the most promising target patient population, the best cell type and number of cells to use, the optimal methods and timing of delivery, and other preclinical parameters.
Contact: Dr. Sonia Skarlatos, 301-435-0477, firstname.lastname@example.com
(12) Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education
For this RFA, there is no NHLBI-specific Challenge Topic in this Challenge Area.
(13) Smart Biomaterials - Theranostics
For this RFA, there is no NHLBI-specific Challenge Topic in this Challenge Area.
(14) Stem Cells
Large-scale profiling of RNA, proteins, and metabolites derived from normal and disease tissues has been instrumental in identifying the molecular etiologies of numerous disorders, but the applicability of this approach has been limited by the availability of relevant biological materials. Cell-based models of disease generated from stem cell technologies could be readily profiled with available high-throughput methods. Such studies could be undertaken on small numbers of control and affected individuals or on a larger population that would more broadly sample human genetic variation and thereby allow statistical associations to be established among genotypes, clinical traits, and molecular signatures that may elucidate causal mechanisms underlying complex diseases.
Contact: Dr. Alan Michelson, 301-594-5353, email@example.com
Stem cells have the potential to serve as a virtually unlimited source of all blood cell lineages for use in transfusion medicine, other cellular therapies, and tissue regeneration. Generation of blood cells of the required lineages and in the required numbers, and tissue regeneration uses spatial cues and tissue topography not reproduced in simple cell culture systems. Advances in stem cell technology and blood cell signaling networks have led us to the point that new bio-models and scaffolds can be developed to regenerate tissues and increase blood cell production to levels needed for clinical applications.
Contact: Dr. John Thomas, 301-435-0065, email@example.com
(15) Translational Science
Implantable blood-contacting medical devices such as stents, prosthetic heart valves, vascular grafts, and circulatory support devices, are widely employed therapies that have benefited many people. They are also, however, often a site for thrombosis, inflammation, and infection. Improved biocompatible surfaces for such devices could reduce thrombosis, inflammation, and infection and thereby significantly reduce patient morbidity and mortality.
Contact: Dr. Martha Lundberg, 301-435-0513, email@example.com
MicroRNAs (miRNA) are involved in regulating gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. About 500 human miRNAs have been discovered. Initial evidence suggests that they play significant roles in endothelial cell migration, proliferation, vascular and airway inflammation and fibrosis and remodeling, and in the airway response to cigarette smoking, all of which are key mechanisms in atherosclerosis and thrombosis and chronic lung disease. Research is needed to improve our understanding of the miRNA network and its function related to heart, lung and blood diseases and to develop new targets and therapeutic strategies including gene therapy based on MiRNA technology to treat them.
Contact: Dr. Pothur Srinivas, 301-435-0550, email@example.com
Most deaths among patients with CAD are due to ventricular fibrillation and other tachyarrhythmias. Contemporary approaches to prevent sudden cardiac arrest and subsequent deaths SCA/D continue to be limited. Although implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) in primary prevention of SCA/D are life-saving, as currently applied they are also inefficient and costly. Traditional antiarrhythmic drugs have not reduced mortality and in some cases, are proarrhythmic. Failed pharmacotherapy may be due to the gathering of preclinical data from inappropriate animal models, and to the clinical dissociation between prevention of premature ventricular depolarizations and SCA/D. Fundamental electromechanical studies of living human cardiac tissues will fill the gaps left by animal studies and lead to optimal diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of potentially fatal arrhythmias.
Contact: Dr. Dennis Przywara, 301-435-0506, firstname.lastname@example.com
The development and progression of lung diseases are strongly influenced by the behavior of immunological defense mechanisms in the airways, and a major contributor to individual immune phenotypes is the microorganisms that establish themselves in a person immediately after birth and subsequently throughout life. Very little is known about the respiratory tract microbiome or the relationship of lung disease to microbes in the respiratory tract or in other parts of the body, particularly the gut. Investigations of the relationships between individual microbiomes and lung diseases will not only provide important insights into the causes and mechanisms of lung diseases such as asthma, COPD, and pulmonary fibrosis but also offer great potential for rapid translation of research results into improved approaches for lung disease prevention and treatment.
Contact: Dr. Hannah Peavy, 301-435-0222, firstname.lastname@example.com
Because of the great cellular diversity and environmental exposure of the lung, pulmonary diseases are often highly complex, involving many molecular pathways, varied clinical manifestations, and multiple therapeutic targets. Single chemical, laboratory, or physiological measures are often inadequate for properly characterizing the presence, severity, and phenotype of lung disease. Metabolomic analyses are of particular interest for lung diseases because they may capture the behavior of the pulmonary system as a whole. Metabolomic analyses of exhaled breath, sputum, blood, and/or urine offer great promise for characterization of patients with complex pulmonary conditions; and exploratory studies of metabolomic profiles in lung diseases will likely yield discoveries that are of great importance for early diagnosis, clinical phenotyping, and therapeutic stratification of lung diseases.
Contact: Dr. Weiniu Gan, 301-435-0202, email@example.com
Quantitative and predictive models of effects of climate change on disease burden and health outcomes are needed. Approaches may include statistical, spatial or other modeling methods to quantify the current impacts of climate on a diversity of communicable or non-communicable diseases, or project impacts of different climate and socio-economic scenarios on health. For example, new and innovative approaches to develop projections of changes in disease burden in specific regions or populations will facilitate public health planning. Existing databases on population and environmental variables, such as air quality and climatologic episodes should be used to test the utility of these models where possible.
Contact: Dr. Joshua Rosenthal, 301-496-1653, email@example.com; NHLBI Contact: Dr. Lawrence Fine, 301-435-0305, email@example.com
For general information on NHLBI's implementation of NIH Challenge Grants, contact:
Carl Roth, Ph.D., LL.M.
Associate Director for Scientific Program Operation
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
National Institutes of Health
For Financial or Grants Management questions, contact:
Ryan Lombardi
Office of Grants Management
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
National Institutes of Health
Last Updated September 4, 2009
Other Important Links


text:
August 1, 2014
To find the tee times for the second day of the Golf Classic, please visit www.wsaw.com/sports/golfclassic and click on the Tournament Scoring Image.
You will find a Drop Down menu on the right hand side of the scoring page, and please select "Championship Division." Select the "Info" tab on the tournament, and choose Round #2 Pairings for your tee times.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Find the Support You Need for Your All in One:
Contact Brother by Email, Chat or Phone
Get the Latest Drivers, Software Updates, Manuals, FAQs, Videos and More!
Locate a Brother Authorized Service Center to provide support on your Brother products.
Print, copy, scan, fax with this feature-packed Professional Series Inkjet All-in-One. Make an impression for less with the MFC-J5910dw. Conveniently print 11" x 17" documents while keeping your cost down with super high yield replacement ink cartridges. This powerful business inkjet All-in-One offers built-in auto duplex (two-sided) printing up to 11" x 17" and built-in wireless 802.11b/g/n and Ethernet networking. 1.9" TouchScreen Color LCD Display plus Touch Panel provides easy menu navigation.
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Brother™ Enhances Business Smart™ Series Inkjet All-in-Ones with Faster Print Speeds,...
'Fortune' and Fame Bring Contestant One Step Closer to Starting Her Own Business


text:
Computer Science Program Faculty
Computer Science faculty are located in the Arts & Sciences Building, Room 301.
|Faculty Member
|Louise Paquette
|(517) 483-1959
|Jun Wu
|(517) 483-9822
Before starting a degree program in Computer Science, talk with one of our faculty members to answer your questions and make sure you are on the right path. Or, if you have general questions about courses and prerequisites, contact our Math and Computer Science department office.
Mathematics and Computer Science Department Office
Mathematics and Computer Science Department
Arts & Sciences Building, Room 301
Phone: (517) 483-1073
Additional contact information »


text:
GullNet Help
If you forget your GullNet username or password, the procedure is to bring a picture ID to either the IT Help Desk in College Hall or Kent Barclay's office, AC015 in the Wax Center to receive your username /password information in person. We CANNOT give it out through either email or phone call/voice message.
Getting Started with GullNet - Including Logging In, Accessing Your Courses and Uploading Handouts
Click on the GullNet link on the Endicott Home Page, this will take you to the GullNet login screen where you can enter your username and password in the upper left.
After you login, you'll see the following opening GullNet Disclaimer Screen.
Read the disclaimer and click on "OK". This will bring you to the GullNet Home Page. You'll notice there are three tabs at the top, "Academics", "Student Life" and "My Pages". These tabs are sometimes called "Contexts".
There are three ways to access course information and course sites. One is the "My Courses" link on the left hand menu. This link is only available if you are teaching or taking a course in the current semester.
The second way allows access to your current courses as well as your courses that are not registered for the current semester. You can use this to access your past, present or future courses. Click on the "Find Courses" tab at the top
Your next screen will have two "Portlets" called "All My Courses" and "Course Search". The default view of the "All My Courses" portlet shows all the courses you are currently teaching or taking.
You can also select "Past" or "Future" courses from the drop down menu. Click on the course name to link to that course site.
This takes you to the Main Page of that course. You can click on the "Course Information" link on the left to get more detailed information about the course.
Then you can click back on "Main Page" to return.
Also on this page is the "Course Search" portlet which allows you to search for any course site using the faculty member's name, course title or course number. *(Note: Unless the faculty member has opened up the permissins to allow you full access to their course, you will only be able to see the basic course information page.)
The third way is to Start by clicking on the "Academics" tab at the top.
Then click on the "Courses" link in the left hand menu and follow the steps as described above.
From the Main Page, click on "Handouts" to post any handout material for your class.
The "Handouts" screen will look like this. Notice that the default header for any handouts is "Ungrouped Items". You may change the name or create new groups to organize your handouts.
You can click on either the "Manage" button for a drop down that will allow you to add or edit and organize, or you can click on the " " to add handouts or the to edit and organize groups.
A look at the "Handouts" drop down menu.
When you click on "Add a Handout" or the icon, you'll see this screen. Click on "Browse" to open your own set of folders to find the file you want to upload. Select your file, give it a name, type in a description of the file if you like, select the set you want to add it to and click on "Save" to complete the upload.
This will get you started, watch this space for more tutorials covering different GullNet topics.


text:
Reason Foundation
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Today's Top Topics
Reason - Rupe Public Opinion Survey
Recent Research and Commentary
Taxing the Rich or a Flat Tax for All?
Explaining the apparent inconsistency in Americans' preference for both policiesJune 27, 2014
Reason-Rupe national telephone surveys find about two-thirds of voters consistently support tax hikes on upper-income households. But the most recent Reason-Rupe poll finds a similar share, 62 percent, favor a flat tax in which everyone would pay the same percentage of their income in taxes. So what explains the apparent inconsistency between implementing a flat tax and raising taxes on the rich?
Public Disagrees with California's Nanny-state Laws
Politicians should stop trying to ban everythingJanuary 10, 2014
From trans fats to poker to plastic bags to e-cigarettes, politicians are out of touch.
When it comes to telling people what they can and cannot eat, drink, smoke, play and do, California and New York seem to be in a race to outdo each other and to ban everything. It was illegal to light your own fireplace in San Francisco this Christmas, while horse-drawn carriage rides soon will be a thing of the past in New York City, if new Mayor Bill De Blasio gets his way.
But, as lawmakers are busy banning everything from plastic bags to tanning beds, the latest Reason-Rupe poll finds most Americans just want to be left alone to make their own choices.
Reason-Rupe Poll: Americans Want to Go Back to Previous Health Care System, Disagree With President Obama on Size and Power of Government
Americans say Obama administration is not transparent, they�ve lost confidence in government and Congress doesn�t understand health careDecember 11, 2013
At a recent event, President Barack Obama said the health care law is here to stay and vowed, "We aren't going back." But 55 percent of Americans say they'd prefer to go back to the health care system that was in place before the Affordable Care Act, while 34 percent prefer the current health care system.
The latest Reason-Rupe national telephone poll finds the Affordable Care Act's troubled launch has made 47 percent of Americans less confident in government's ability to solve problems. Forty-one percent say the troubles have made no difference and 11 percent say the health care law's launch has given them more confidence in the government.
"This is the most transparent administration in history," President Obama has declared. However, 57 percent of Americans tell Reason-Rupe that the Obama administration is not the most transparent administration in history, while 37 percent agree with the president's statement.
A majority of Americans, 52 percent, say they disagree with President Obama's views about the proper size and power of government, while 38 percent agree with the president.
Reason-Rupe Poll: Just 32 Percent Say President Obama Is Handling Foreign Policy Better Than President George W. Bush Did
74 percent of Americans say strikes on Syria would be "unwise" and half of Americans believe the "D.C. establishment" wants war more than the public doesSeptember 10, 2013
As the country debates launching airstrikes on Syria, President Barack Obama's standing on foreign policy has taken such a hit that the latest Reason-Rupe poll finds 64 percent of Americans, including 68 percent of independents and 41 percent of Democrats, believe President Obama's handling of foreign policy is worse than, or the same as, former President George W. Bush's handling of foreign policy. Just 32 percent of Americans say President Obama is handling foreign policy better than Bush did.
California, Los Angeles Drowning in a Sea of Taxes, Regulation, and Debt
Public Knows Burdensome Regulations Are Sending Jobs to Other Cities and StatesDecember 3, 2012
Business owners certainly know it, and it appears the general public knows it as well: Burdensome state and local taxes and regulations are hindering economic growth and opportunity in Los Angeles and throughout the state.
Banks Viewed Twice as Favorably as the Federal Government, Reason-Rupe Poll Finds
Survey examines how Ron Paul, Sarah Palin, Michael Bloomberg and Gary Johnson could do as third-party presidential candidates and asks Americans which federal agencies they�d cutDecember 20, 2011
The Occupy Wall Street movement tapped into anger about bank bailouts, crony capitalism and corporate welfare, but it turns out that most Americans are mad at the federal government and not their banks. A new Reason-Rupe Poll finds 76 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of their banks and just 15 percent view them unfavorably.
In contrast, only 32 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of the federal government. Sixty-two percent of voters rate the federal government unfavorably, according to the national Reason-Rupe poll of 1,200 adults on cell phones and landlines.
Forty-nine percent of Americans approve of the job President Obama is doing, with 47 percent disapproving. Only 13 percent approve of the job Congress is doing, 80 percent disapprove.
Fifty-four percent of Americans also say they are more worried that the federal government will do something to make the economy worse, while 40 percent are more worried that the government will fail to take action on the economy.
State governments are more popular than the feds, but only half of all Americans view them positively. As you get closer to home, 58 percent of Americans have positive views of their local governments and the same number look upon their local school districts favorably.
The survey finds people feel a lot better about private businesses. For example, 88 percent of Americans have a positive view of their grocery stores; 73 percent look favorably upon their cell phone makers; and 69 percent say they view their Internet service providers favorably.
Three-Quarters of Americans Support a Federal Government Spending CapMay 17, 2011, 10:06pm
The recent Reason-Rupe national telephone survey of 1,200 adults found that over 74 percent of Americans say the federal government should have spending cap that prevents it from spending more than it takes in during a fiscal year. Sixty-four percent of Democrats support implementing a spending cap, as do 76 percent of independents and nearly 85 percent of Republicans.
Cutting the Debt Is Important to 96 Percent of Americans and 74 Percent Want a Government Spending Cap
Tired of red ink and politics as usual, 80 percent say they�d consider voting for a third-party or independent presidential candidate in 2012May 3, 2011
As the federal government rapidly approaches the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, 96 percent of Americans say it is important to reduce the national debt, according to a new Reason Foundation-Rupe poll. Of those surveyed, 69 percent believe reducing the national debt is "very important."
With the debt piling up, it is also clear that taxpayers do not trust the federal government to live within its means. In fact, the Reason-Rupe survey finds 74 percent of Americans support implementing a spending cap that would prohibit the government from spending more money than it takes in during a fiscal year. Only 19 percent oppose a government spending cap.
The most popular policy prescription for reducing the national debt is spending cuts: 45 percent of people say Congress should bring down the debt by reducing spending without raising taxes. Another 16 percent favor reducing the debt primarily through spending cuts, but are open to some tax increases; 14 percent prefer an equal emphasis on spending cuts and tax increases; 8 percent want to reduce the debt primarily through higher taxes with some spending cuts; 4 percent say current spending levels should be maintained and taxes should be raised as needed; and 1 percent of Americans say we shouldn't do anything about the debt.
The Reason-Rupe poll included several open-ended questions that allowed respondents to voice concerns and share their own ideas. When asked to name the biggest problem facing America today, 30 percent say the economy, 23 percent emphasize jobs and unemployment, and 10 percent cite government spending, debts and deficits.
When given the opportunity to name any government program they'd like to spend less money on 22 percent of Americans suggest cutting military and defense spending.
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- Taxing the Rich or a Flat Tax for All? (6/27)
- Public Disagrees with California's Nanny-state Laws (1/10)
- Reason-Rupe Poll: Americans Want to Go Back to Previous Health Care System, Disagree With President Obama on Size and Power of Government (12/11)
- Reason-Rupe Poll: Just 32 Percent Say President Obama Is Handling Foreign Policy Better Than President George W. Bush Did (9/10)
- California, Los Angeles Drowning in a Sea of Taxes, Regulation, and Debt (12/3)
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Superb Cuisine & Ambiance At This Foggy Bottom Restaurant
Dining is delightful at the F Street Bistro, the relaxing DC wine bar and restaurant located in the
State Plaza Hotel
. This bistro is a haven for diplomats, professors, and high-powered executives who want to escape the bustling federal and business districts. Stop in for a cocktail at this Foggy Bottom hidden gem and enjoy our lively happy hour in the evenings with moderately priced drinks. Or take a seat at a cozy table on our outdoor Terrace and survey the creative menu choices, lovingly prepared with the freshest ingredients. The options are limitless at this American-style Foggy Bottom restaurant, with a savory menu and enticing features.
American Style Cuisine
, offering an array of breakfast, lunch, dinner, and buffet favorites
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View amenities at our DC hotel accommodations.
Stop By This DC Wine Bar For Our Nightly Happy Hour
Discover affordable all-suite living coupled with uncompromising service at the State Plaza Hotel.
Book your downtown Washington DC hotel reservations online today for preferred rates.
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text:
Quote:Good to know it's visible. I'd like to try for it next week at the first opportunity. I've also got 6 open clusters in Ori and Mon I'd like to try for. I'm working through the AL Deep Sky Binocular. Another 3 later this winter in Pup and then I'll have them all.
Quote:Hope it's clear tomorrow so I can see it next to M 36. Time for the GO Signature 15x70.


text:
Puerta Del Mar is a luxury and new condominium built on the top of a cliff 300´ above the sea level so you will enjoy spectacular ocean views and sunsets. Enjoy our stair free unit which is also perfect for seniors, handicapped and familes. Our contemporary decorated condo has all you need to enjoy your vacations. Fully equipped kitchen and dinning room to prepare your favorite meals. Living room with a queen sofa bed, family room with a confortable leather sectional sofa, 42' plasma TV, Blue Ray DVD and cable TV. The master suite have a huge king size bed with plasma TV/cable TV and private bathroom. The second room with full size bunker beds accomodates up to 4 persons. This unit have three ceiling fans and air condition in all areas for your confort. The unit also have wireless internet and ipod dock to enjoy your favorite music. The balcony overlooks the Desecheo island and the ocean. Here you and your family will enjoy the best sunsets and greatest moments to remember.
Puerta del Mar is a brand new condominium with spectacular views and gardens. This complex have a huge infinity pool that overlook the Aguadilla Bay and famous and cristal waters Crash Boat Beach which is just 3 minutes drive from the condo. Next to the infinity pool is the gazebo area with bathrooms, BBQ area and an ice maker machine for your convinience. The complex also have another and more private pool and a small park for the little ones.
At Crash Boat Beach you will find a small fish market and lots of water activities like jet ski, banana boat, scuba dive, fishing, paddle boars, kayak and sunsets tours. Puerta del Mar is very close to many surfing beaches and close to Borinquen Golf Course, Las Cascadas Water Park, Aguadilla Skate Park and Ice Park. You also will enjoy a great gastronomic experience. For suggestions and directions, please ask us!!!
We also have another unit in this same complex: Home away property 336102.
We are a young couple with two girls. We are lawyers with residence and law firm in Ponce, PR. We bought this apartment because we love the west side of the island and its beautiful beaches. We like sports and love to travel. We are open to home exchanges.
I love the views from balcony, gardens and infinity pool. One of the assets of this apartment is that is just 5 minutes drive to my favorite beach, Crash Boat and to many restaurants and grocery stores.
Puerta Del Mar Complex is located In Aguadilla, a town known as the 'Garden of the Atlantic.' This town is internationally known for its world-class surfing beaches. Aguadilla's most popular surfing beaches are Gas Chambers and Wilderness. Crash Boat Beach, directly below the condo, is famous for its quiet, crystal clear waters and scuba diving. Crach boat also have a fresh fish market. Aguadilla also have a water park,,an ice skating center and a skate park. You can also visit the "Punta Borinquen Golf Course', an affordable course located on cliffs overlooking the Aguadilla Bay and only a 10 minute drive from Puerta del Mar Villas. Restaurants, shopping (includding an Outlet Mall 1 hour drive), horseback riding, SCUBA diving, snorkeling, and many other tourist attractions and activities are nearby.
|Rate Period
|Weekend Night
|Monthly *
My Standard Rate
3 night minimum stay
|Cleaning fee
|Refundable damage deposit
|Tax Rate
|Rates are subject to change until reservation was made and contract sign. First come, first serve policy.
Damage deposit of $300 is fully reimbursable upon satisfactory inspection of unit upon departure.
Please ask for holidays rates.
* Approximate monthly rate. Actual rate will depend on the days of the month you stay. Payment is usually accepted in the quoted currency (USD) unless the currency and the amount is specifically agreed in advance with the owner / advertiser.


text:
The Kill Team
March 27, 2011
How U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan murdered innocent civilians and mutilated their corpses – and how their officers failed to stop them. Plus: an exclusive look at the war crime photos censored by the Pentagon | Full Story »
About The Story
Donald Rumsfeld Weighs In
Calls the revelations 'much worse' than Abu Ghraib, because 'people were actually killed'
Rolling Stone Editor Unveils the Kill Team InvestigationEric Bates says Army officers could have stopped the killing but chose to look away
Glenn Beck's Insane Rolling Stone Conspiracy TheoryIt's all a plot to undermine the Libya intervention
President Hamid Karzai Condemns 'Kill Team' War CrimesSays world has to 'finally wake up'
Pentagon Apologizes for PhotosIn wake of RS report, promises to 'relentlessly pursue the truth, no matter where it leads'
Comments & Opinions
While it cannot be denied that this is an atrocity, it should be noted that most soliders I know are not this cruel, heartless and vile. I work closely with mostly cadets. Every one of them is kind, patriotic and respects Army protocol. These men's actions donnot in any way reflect the whole of our troops. We would be dumb to not condemn these men and fix the system, but let us be careful not to stereotype our entire military.
Elizabeth Garcia
via RS Comments
As a veteran, I can tell you that these weren't soldiers. They were murderous thugs wearing a uniform. A court-martial and a 24 year prison sentence is too light.
Michael Allen Powell
via Twitter
To call this reprehensible is an understatement. There is never an excuse for intentionally killing innocent civilians. But almost as tragic as this is all of the good things that our troops have done are wiped away by the actions of a few fools.
Ted Sumrall
via RS Comments
So this is how we "get Bin Laden?" No --this is how we make two, three...many Bin Ladens. Time to get out of Afghanistan. We've inflicted enough revenge 9-11's on innocent people. This is how American moral stature in the world is destroyed. This is a national disgrace.
Time Machinist
via RS Comments
The U.S. Military has these soldiers on 2-4 tours of duty. We have turned [them] into killing machines without remorse. Many have become psychotic. Up to 33%... are on painkillers, antidepressants and more. Up to 35% are returning with PTSD and/or TBI. Our military has been broken and command and control is falling apart.
Mark O'Brien
via email
I don't know what's more disgusting -- what this rogue band of murderers did, or all the people defending their actions. What they did is so barbaric and wrong, that to defend it is to give up one's humanity.
Vivek Saxena
via RS Comments
King David's War
Gen. Petraeus has a new plan to end the war – with cash, killing, and plenty of spin
The Runaway General
The Rolling Stone profile of Stanley McChrystal that changed history
Arms and the Dudes
How two stoner kids became big-time arms dealers – until the Pentagon turned on them
Another Runaway General
How the Army deployed psy-ops on U.S. senators
Inside the Taliban
A 2008 journey into insurgent-controlled Afghanistan
Osama's Prodigal Son
From Tora Bora to a Syrian strip club, the dark, twisted journey of Omar bin Laden
The Insurgent's Tale
Rolling Stone's 2005 profile of a jihadist reconsidering the cause
Plenty of Hell
As the war began, Evan Wright embedded with the troops in Afghanistan


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Strategies to protect communities from fraud and cyber crime.
Over £21 million lost to social engineering scams since the beginning of the year
The NFIB is warning about an investment fraud
Elderly and vulnerable Londoners are being warned against falling victim to courier fraud
The City of London Police's National Fraud Intelligence Bureau is using millions of reports of fraud to identify serial offenders, organised crime gangs and established and emerging crime types.
This intelligence is helping law enforcement catch criminals and society make itself more resistant to the fraud threat.


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Welcome to the UsingEnglish.com shop. You can browse our ESL category list in the left menu, or search for books, courses, software, video, DVD, dictionaries, reference books and much more besides. We have regional shops for America and the United Kingdom to allow you to order as locally as possible, and more locations will be added soon.


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Mini Glass Candy Jar (Set of 6) • Mini version of vintage candy jar with a screw-on metal lid. • Fill up with bite sized candies. Cute! • Jar Size: 2.75" x 1.75". • Candy not included. • Case contains 6 of Miniature Glass Candy Jars. Grandma used larger versions of these jars to hold candy, cookies and treats. Now available in a miniature version, these vintage glass jars give you so many things in one. Serve as a cute container for your treats, they're personalized and guests can use them for so many different things long after your event has passed - storing candy, nuts, chocolate, spices, loose tea, etc. The re-usable glass container comes with a screw on metal lid.
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The Jewish Heritage Museum of Monmouth County will present a children's program, "Make a Menorah" in celebration of Hanukkah. It is scheduled for Thursday, November 29, 2012 from 4:30-6:00 pm at Around the Corner Art Center, 290 Mounts Corner Drive, Freehold Township, NJ. The fee per child is $10.00, which includes all supplies and a Hanukkah goodie bag. Reservations are suggested.
For further information and tickets, please call the museum at 732-252-6990, or visit www.jhmoc.org.


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"Being Behan," through April 14 in the Irish Classical Theatre Company's Andrews Theatre. ★★★½
From the review: "It is a treat to witness this production, another full-circle collaboration that celebrates the connectedness between two sets of two brothers, and two countries, that are joined, every few years or so, on the stage. What a view." --Ben Siegel
Michael Blasdell, Luther Nelson, Maria Droz and Jimmy Janowski star in Buffalo United Artists "L'Imitation of Life."
"L'Imitation of Life," through April 6 in the Buffalo United Artists Theatre. ★★★★
From the review: "The latest Janowski-Warfield camp-tasia is perhaps the greatest achievement in the eye-roll-inducing, pun-laden, innuendo-ridden brand of camp that BUA and Janowski have been honing for much of the past two decades. I don't think there was a two-second stretch during the entire production during which the sold-out opening night crowd did not sound like a particularly exasperated Hollywood laugh track." --Colin Dabkowski


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Two men fish in the water in front of a barge on Treasure Island in San Francisco, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013. The barge is one of three mysterious floating structures that have sparked online speculation. The secretive structures, two in San Francisco and one Portland, Maine, are registered with a Delaware corporation as BAL0001, BAL0010, BAL0011 and BAL0100. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Internet giant Google says it is exploring using a large barge as an interactive learning center.
A statement released Wednesday from Google's press center may help end weeks of speculation about the purpose of structures on two barges, one being built in the San Francisco Bay, another off Portland, Maine.
PHOTOS: Mystery Google Barge on San Francisco Bay
"Google Barge ... A floating data center? A wild party boat? A barge housing the last remaining dinosaur? Sadly, none of the above,'' says the statement. "Although it's still early days and things may change, we're exploring using the barge as an interactive space where people can learn about new technology.''
Google did not specify in the statement if it was referring to both barges or, if just one, which one, and the firm did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Google has been building a four-story structure in the heart of the San Francisco Bay for several weeks, but managed to conceal its purpose by constructing it on docked barges instead of on land, where city building permits and public plans are mandatory.
Until now, city officials responsible for land use and state officials responsible for the bay have said they didn't know what was being built there. Coast Guard inspectors who visited the construction sites could not discuss what they saw. Lt. Anna Dixon said non-disclosure agreements were signed, but that those were not necessary, and that the Coast Guard, as a practice, doesn't share proprietary information it sees during inspections.
MORE: Coast Guard Pays Visit to Google Barge
If Google wants to operate an on-barge interactive learning center in the San Francisco Bay, the firm will eventually need to get permission from the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission.
The East Coast barge, built in New London, Conn., harbor in July was recently towed to Maine.
Last year Google proposed building a land-based "Google Experience Center'' which would operate as a private museum and demo space as part of new $120 billion Googleplex headquarters it is building in Mountain View, Calif., where it is headquartered.