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Research Fund (research + fund)
Selected AbstractsEQUALITY, INFANCY AND EFFICIENCY IN ALLOCATING INTERNAL RESEARCH FUNDS TO FACULTY MEMBERSECONOMIC PAPERS: A JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECONOMICS AND POLICY, Issue 2 2003AMNON LEVY First page of article [source] Evaluating the Performance-Based Research Fund; Framing the Debate , Edited by Leon Bakker, Jonathan Boston, Lesley Campbell and Roger SmythHIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 3 2007Ian McNay First page of article [source] The Global Governance of Communicable Diseases: The Case for Vaccine R&DLAW & POLICY, Issue 1 2005DANIELE ARCHIBUGI Fighting communicable diseases such HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB, and malaria has become a global endeavor, with international health authorities urging the development of effective vaccines for the eradication of these global pandemics. Yet, despite the acknowledged urgency, and given the feasibility of effective vaccine development, public and private research efforts have failed to address a response adequate to the magnitude of the crisis. Members of the academic community suggest bridging this gap by devising research pull mechanisms capable of stimulating private investments, confident that competition-based market devices are more effective than public intervention in shaping scientific breakthroughs. With reference to the economics of innovation, the paper argues that, whilst such an approach would lead to a socially suboptimal production of knowledge, direct public intervention in vaccine R&D activities would represent a far more socially desirable policy option. In recognition of the current financial and political fatigue affecting the international community towards communicable disease control, the paper resorts to the theories of global public goods (GPGs) to provide governments, both in the North and in the South, with a powerful rationale for committing to a cooperative approach for vaccine R&D. The paper encourages the creation of a Global Health Research Fund to manage such exercise and proposes enshrining countries' commitments into an International Health Treaty. The paper ends by providing a number of policy recommendations. [source] Can the Mediterranean diet prevent prostate cancer?MOLECULAR NUTRITION & FOOD RESEARCH (FORMERLY NAHRUNG/FOOD), Issue 2 2009Catherine Itsiopoulos Abstract Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men worldwide. Despite the global importance of this cancer, until recently little was known about risk factors apart from the well-established factors: age, family history and country of birth. The large worldwide variation in prostate cancer risk and increased risk in migrants moving from low to high risk countries provides strong support for modifiable environmental factors. We have based our review on the findings of a systematic review undertaken by an expert panel on behalf of the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research, and new data since then, linking identified foods and nutrients with prostate cancer. Evidence indicates that foods containing lycopene, as well as selenium and foods containing it, probably protect against prostate cancer, and excess consumption of foods or supplements containing calcium are a probable cause of this cancer. The expert panel also concluded that it is unlikely that ,-carotene (whether from foods or supplements) has a substantial effect on the risk of this cancer. A recent review on environmental factors in human prostate cancer also found that there were protective effects of vitamin E, pulses, soy foods and high plasma 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D levels. The Mediterranean diet is abundant in foods that may protect against prostate cancer and is associated with longevity and reduced cardiovascular and cancer mortality. Compared with many Western countries Greece has lower prostate cancer mortality and Greek migrant men in Australia have retained their low risk for prostate cancer. Consumption of a traditional Mediterranean diet, rich in bioactive nutrients, may confer protection to Greek migrant men, and this dietary pattern offers a palatable alternative for prevention of this disease. [source] The IPAA/University of Canberra Public Administration Research FundAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 4 2002Roger Wettenhall A report issued in 1996 commemorated the 10th Anniversary of this Fund, outlining its origins and purpose, briefly identifying the 21 recipients of grants from the Fund up to that time, and describing the projects for which the grants were awarded and outcomes of those grants (IPAA/UC 1996). The Fund has now run for more than another five years, and it is appropriate to report again on its activities; the Management Committee is grateful to the editors of AJPA for making space available for this report. [source] Antioxidants reduce diabetic damage in bovine lenses in cultureACTA OPHTHALMOLOGICA, Issue 2009A DOVRAT Purpose Background: There are several theories regarding possible mechanisms leading to diabetic cataract. Few of them include oxidation stress. Aims: Investigation of the mechanisms of cataract formation under diabetic conditions, and examination of the effects of N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC), (which is a precursor of glutathione and an anti-inflammatory agent) and derivatives of Desferrioxamine (DFO)(which is an iron chelator and reduces oxidative stress) on diabetic cataract. Methods The experiments included 78 bovine lenses. The lenses were divided into eight different treatments including controls and lenses incubated with high glucose levels (450 mg %) with or without each one of the antioxidants. The intact lenses were incubated for a period of two weeks in our special organ culture conditions. Lens optical quality was analyzed every 24 hours. At the end of the culture period, oxidation was followed in the lens epithelial cells with dichlorofluorescein assay and lens proteins were analyzed by SDS and 2D gel electrophoresis. Results High levels of glucose in the culture medium caused optical damage to bovine lenses, increased lens volume due to swelling, increased oxidation of lens epithelial cells, and caused changes in lens beta crystallin. The anti-oxidants reduced this damage. NAC and Zn-DFO protected the lenses better than DFO. Conclusion Antioxidants can protect the lens from high glucose damage. This study was supported in part by a grant from the Esther and Chaim Coppel Trust and by the Guzik Ophthalmology Research Fund [source] Unto Every One That Hath Shall Be Given: The Subject Areas Under The HEFCE FormulaFINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY & MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2000Geoffrey Whittington The Higher Education Funding Council for England and Wales (HEFCE) has recently revised its formulae for the distribution of teaching and research funds between universities. The new formulae are intended to increase the transparency of the allocation process and reduce the reliance on historical patterns of allocation. Analysis shows that the coefficients (costs and prices) on which the formulae depend are estimated from historical data, so that reliance on historical patterns has not been eliminated. Moreover, the process by which the coefficients were derived is not transparent and the data used are not necessarily the most appropriate. Thus, the new formulae, which lead to significant shifts in the allocation of funds between subject areas, cannot be shown to have the transparency and sound empirical basis to which HEFCE aspires. [source] Hypothesis: Research in Otolaryngology Is Essential for Continued Improvement in Health Care,THE LARYNGOSCOPE, Issue 6 2002Robert H. Mathog MD Abstract The present report, in the form of a research proposal, is based on the hypothesis that research in otolaryngology is essential for continued improvement in health care. Examples of advances in otolaryngology as a result of research are noted, but for continued success, otolaryngology must maintain and find better ways to train clinically directed researchers. Traditional methods of training such as hands-on experience, courses in the basic principles of research, protected time, and mentoring are discussed and evaluated. Barriers to success such as age, time, and debt are noted. Potential solutions are presented with an emphasis on integration of the research and clinical training. Success of faculty will continue to depend on laboratory and financial support, technical assistance, protected time, salary equivalent to other faculty, and accessibility of research funds. For research to gain support and enthusiasm and to keep it strong and productive, cost-effectiveness and value must be recognized. [source] Research engagement and outcomes in public health and health services research in AustraliaAUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 3 2009Armita Adily Abstract Objectives: To retrospectively explore research outcomes in Australian public health research and their relationship to full engagement with potential research users during the research process. Methods: A self-administered survey of all principal investigators (PIs) receiving research funds from one of three well-known research funding agencies. ,Research value' and ,research utility' were self-reported using fixed response sets. Associations between outcomes and ,full engagement' were examined. Results: Our response rate (75.1%) yielded data for 187 research projects. For just over one-quarter (26.7%), ,research value' was rated ,very important' in terms of knowledge generation. The most common ,research utility' was ,continuing education' (27.3%) followed by ,policy formulation' (25.7%). While 66 (35.3%) projects engaged at least one potential research user group throughout ,full engagement', such an intertwined relationship between researchers and research users was not associated with research value (,2=0.46, 1df, p=0.5) or research utility (,2=2.19, 1df, p=0.14). There were no predictors of ,full engagement'. In just over a third of projects (34.8%), both part of the awarded grant and additional funding had been spent to promote research use. Conclusions and Implications: This snapshot demonstrates patchy research engagement between researchers and research users. Other academic groups were the most common partner for full engagement. In an evidence-based era, innovation in health research funding policy should be evaluated. As NHMRC embarks upon its ,Partnerships initiative' in 2009, we recommend a prospective approach to evaluation. [source] WHEN SPEED TRULY MATTERS, OPENNESS IS THE ANSWERBIOETHICS, Issue 7 2009ANTONIO MARTURANO ABSTRACT In this paper I analyse the ethical implications of the two main competing methodologies in genomic research. I do not aim to provide another contribution from the mainstream legal and public policy perspective; rather I offer a novel approach in which I analyse and describe the patent-and-publish regime (the proprietary regime) led by biologist J. Craig Venter and the ,open-source' methodologies led by biotechnology Nobel laureate John Sulston. The ,open-source methodologies' arose in biotechnology as an alternative to the patent-and-publish regime in the wake of the explosion in computer technology. Indeed, the tremendous increase in computer technology has generated a corresponding increase in the pace of genomics research. I conclude this paper by arguing that while the patent-and-publish method is a transactional method based on the exchange of extrinsic goods (patents in exchange for research funds), the free and open-source methodology (FLOSS)1 is a transformational method based on a visionary ideal of science, which leads to prioritizing intrinsic goods in scientific research over extrinsic goods. [source] | ||||||||||||||||