text:
Human data supports bitter orange/ p-synephrine safety in humans: Nutratech
A daily dose of about 100 milligrams of a patented bitter orange extract (Advantra Z, Nutratech), alone or in combination with the other citrus flavonoids naringin and hesperidin did not produce any significant changes in systolic or diastolic blood pressures, blood chemistries or blood cell counts.
"This 60-day study is the longest study with the highest dose conducted to date involving bitter orange extract as a single entity product," wrote the researchers in Food and Chemical Toxicology.
The study was performed by Gilbert Kaats from Integrative Health Technologies, Inc. (San Antonio), Howard Miller from Nutratech Inc. (New Jersey), Harry Preuss from Georgetown University Medical Center (Washington, DC), and Sidney Stohs from Creighton University Medical Center (Omaha).
Nutratech has been very active in supporting science about its patented bitter orange extract Advantra Z, and the New Jersey-based company funded the new study.
Commenting on the study's findings, Bob Green, Nutratech's president, told NutraIngredients-USA: "Most bitter orange safety studies, until now, have been short‑term, often based on a single dose. That's why Nutratech welcomed the opportunity to fund a 60-day study.
"Dr. Kaats' research not only corroborates previous safety studies, it confirms that p‑synephrine dosages (98 mg daily) even higher than those recently supported by Health Canada (50 mg) and Intertek Cantox (60 mg) can be tolerated without negative side effects."
Growing presence in the market
Bitter orange and p-synephrine, the predominant amine in bitter orange, are claimed to increase energy expenditure, facilitate the breakdown of fat and increase glucose uptake by muscles, and is widely used in weight management and sports nutrition supplement.
The ingredient's profile increased following the FDA ban on ephedra in 2004 as it contains similar compounds and was favored by dietary supplements manufacturers as an ephedra substitute.
Some suppliers have also reported a surge in inquiries from manufacturers looking for alternatives to controversial ingredient DMAA in the wake of the FDA's recent crackdown on the stimulant.
P-synephrine is not banned by WADA, the FDA or Health Canada, and the latter recently changed its guidelines and concluded that 1 to 50 mg per day is "not likely to cause any adverse health consequences".
New data
For the new study, Dr Kaats and his co-workers recruited 75 healthy men and women with an average age of 51 to participate in their study. The participants were randomly assigned to receive supplements of the bitter orange extract, or the extract plus naringin and hesperidin, or placebo for 60 days.
The researchers reported no significant changes in blood pressures, blood chemistries or blood cell counts in any of the groups. A small increase in heart rates was observed in the combination group, but this was deemed to be clinically insignificant.
"The lack of cardiovascular effects agree with previous studies where bitter orange extract was administered as a single dose and when it has been used in combination with caffeine and other ingredients that have been administered for varying periods of time," wrote the researchers.
"Longer term studies are required to determine weight loss and the effectiveness of bitter orange (p-synephrine) as well as long term safety," they added.
Source: Food and Chemical Toxicology
Published online ahead of print, 25 January 2013, doi: 10.1016/j.fct.2013.01.013
"A 60 Day Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Safety Study involving Citrus aurantium (Bitter Orange) Extract"
Authors: G.R. Kaats, H. Miller, H.G. Preuss, S.J. Stohs

subset: commoncrawl


text:
24 February 2011 - Lucca (Italy)
Tagetik Caps Off Solid 2010 Year
Growing revenues and major achievements in terms of product development, strategic alliances, and customers portfolio
Tagetik, a global provider of Performance Management, Enterprise Governance, Risk & Compliance and Business Intelligence software solutions, today announced its financial results for 2010 Fiscal Year.
"2010 closed with a double-digit growth for Tagetik," says Manuel Vellutini, EVP Chief Operating Officer at Tagetik. "This great result generated +35% in license revenues, +20% in total consolidated revenues and 65 new customers worldwide. As of December 2010, we reached a total of 80 international customers – not coming from our home region – with an outstanding +120% in international total revenues and 56% of license revenues on new accounts coming from our international operations."
"+30% of 2010 deals were driven or heavily influenced by partners and their precious commitment," adds Bani Brandolini, President International at Tagetik. "Today, a scalable, qualified, highly educated partner network is a key success factor to drive valuable implementations and sustain the Tagetik growth worldwide. This is why we are laying the foundations for a global partner program, accelerating business success with our closest partners".
"We went one step further in establishing strategic partnerships with big system integrators such as Accenture, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Capgemini, BearingPoint and Resources Global Professionals," continues Vellutini. "And we are making exiting, steady progress in the relationship with Microsoft. 'Tagetik 3.0 Enabled by Microsoft SharePoint' software solution leverages a wider, combined product positioning that involves the whole Microsoft stack, a real opportunity to rapidly disrupt the Business Intelligence and Performance Management markets and establish business collaboration."
"We are benefitting from growing links with the Microsoft Business Intelligence product development teams to deepen the integration," explains Marco Pierallini, EVP Chief Development Officer at Tagetik. "2010 was also the year of new, innovative, built-in applications, such as 'collaborative disclosure management' and production cost planning and control as part of the operational planning engine, proving that our solution is well coupled with vertical- and compliance-related processes".
Last, but not least, 2010 saw the welcome of increased customers all over the world, including Platinum Administrative Services, Luminator Technology Group, Kar Auction Services, Bobrick Washroom Equipment, Vinson & Elkins, Propex Operating Company (in US), SNCF, Banque de France, St Hubert, Grand Marnier (in France), Trader Media Group, Keller Group, NMI Group Services, Vestey Group (in UK), Sava Reinsurance, HSE, Zavarovalnica Triglav (in the Adriatic Region), Centrosolar Group, Colexon Energy, Vorwerk & Co., Sersa Group Management, Panalpina, Hoval Management, (in DACH), Docdata, DMG, Grontmij Business Services (in The Netherlands), RCS Mediagroup, Bormioli Rocco, Nestlè Italiana, Seat Pagine Gialle, Beghelli, Postecom, Banca Popolare di Sondrio, Grandi Salumifici Italiani, HSR Fondazione Centro S. Raffaele, Wurth, Fontana, Esaote, Moby Lines, Inver, Seci Real Estate (in Italy).
"What's next? Continue expanding the Tagetik and Microsoft footprint over time while augmenting application stickiness, further enhance collaboration and communication in complex decision-making, and above all execute our mission of delivering a complete 'Collaborative Performance Management' solution with the best implementation services ever," concludes Vellutini.
Request a Demo
Our personalized demo allows you to speak directly with a senior solution specialist and discover the key functionalities of CCH Tagetik.
Would you love to know more about CCH Tagetik?
For more information, please complete the form and a member of our team will reach out to you shortly!


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Here's what they have to say on David Holmberg:
What he needs to improve: Without having a solid stat base yet, I'm going to say fastball velocity. Of course this is difficult to predict and harder to do, but at 6'4″ he should be able to throw harder than the high 80s. Diamond Futures said "Had Holmberg had a fastball that was a few ticks higher than the Hi-80s that he typically throws, he would have been a top half of the first round talent." He has the ability to become a top tier prospect, let's see it.


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I am getting ready to hide my first cache and I want to put it in an ammo box. Can someone recommend where to get an inexpensive ammo box?
I am getting ready to hide my first cache and I want to put it in an ammo box. Can someone recommend where to get an inexpensive ammo box?
Blazing Troll
I got mine at cheaperthandirt.com. They sell 6 of them for $19.97.
For some time, Marden's has had the .30 caliber boxes for $3. Thats where I got the two I camoflauged for the event (shown below for those that didn't make it there to see them). There are also two army surplus stores up here I have bought my larger ones from, one in Newport, and one in Brewer (http://www.mainemilitary.com). They are more expensive, but no shipping is involved. Does anyone know if southern Maine has any other army surplus stores?
Incidently, the cheapest place I have found for the camo paint is Wal-Mart. $2.20 a can IIRC, and works great, on ammo boxes or tupperware or whatever you have. I've found the best way to prepare ammo boxes for the paint is to wipe them down with Acetone (Fingernail polish remover). Hmm, maybe I should post a tutorial here sometime
Yeah I bought 4 of them down in Sanford one time when visiting my son .They were at Mardens too for 3 bux. Where did you get the
geocache stickers for them or was that a stencil or something?
And while you're at it,how do you post pictures and stuff on this page anyway?
The box on the left is a custom stencil I made out of lexan (cardboard would work, too, but I'm a bit of an over-doer). Once you camo the box, just set it on, then paint in, then I offset just a little and use another color, gives a 3-D effect.
The box on the right I used those magnetic letters little kids use on the fridge or wherever. The difference in using thse is you need to paint the areas the letters go the color you want, then stick the letters on and paint around them.
I used bits of local foliage to cover up areas to do the rest of the camo effect.
To post pictures here, the pictures need to be somewhere on the internet. I just upload mine to my web space. Then you just add a link to the picture using the icon on the toolbar in the edit box.
Thanks Dad,your threads always seem to be very informative and your use of links and pictures always make it nice for us non tech types. Thanks for the help
There is one on Maine Mall Road next to Joe Jones Ski and Sport(across from Walmart) called The Army Barracks. There is also another one on Rt.16 north of the light in Conway, N.H. that is pretty good.Originally Posted by brdad
Last edited by Pooh and friends; 07-05-2004 at 12:21 AM. Reason: addition to post
I am happy to say that I have one of brdad's ammon boxes (the one on the left) from the August BBQ. I haven't placed it yet because I am taking the time to make it a really great cache and hiding spot.
There's a surplus store on Congress Street in down town Portland as well. Plus a Marden's on outer Brighton Avenue in Portl


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A bowl game for Illinois? With a shrug and a confident smile, freshman Arrelious Benn said he expected nothing less. Winning, he said, was all he knew.
A bowl game for Illinois? With a shrug and a confident smile, freshman Arrelious Benn said he expected nothing less. Winning, he said, was all he knew.
Well, J Leman could tell Benn a few stories about losing.
The fifth-year senior linebacker has been around campus so long he's about to get his master's degree. Heck, he's been around so long, he probably owns squatter's rights on The Quad. So he could tell his young teammate about 11th-place finishes in the Big Ten, about 53-point defeats and about never having beaten Northwestern. That's right: 0-4 vs. Northwestern!
Leman also could tell Benn what it means to want something desperately, only to be left wanting -- over and over and over again.
For four-plus years, Leman kept telling himself to be patient because the Fighting Illini's time would come. The toughest part was believing his own words.
"To say I never had doubts would be a lie," Leman said. "I've been here for five years and I have eight wins. That's some pretty tough sledding."
Actually, eight was Illinois' victory total in his first four seasons. Leman and his fellow fifth-year seniors -- guys like Kevin Mitchell and DaJuan Warren and Martin O'Donnell and Chris Norwell -- have a good chance to match or even top that total in 2007.
With Saturday's 28-17 victory over Ball State, Illinois improved to 6-3 and became eligible to play in a postseason game. Yes, for the first time in six years, the Illini will be going bowling.
"For all of us -- especially those who came here five years ago -- to see the success we're having is really special," said Leman, one of the country's best linebackers and leaders.
"Watching this program turn around, helping it turn around, it's tough to express what that means. Seeing where we were and now where we are ... it didn't happen overnight, that's for sure. It was little by little. It hasn't been easy."
Fittingly, Saturday's victory over a Mid-American Conference team wasn't easy, either.
A loss would have been devastating to a program that had followed huge victories over Penn State and Wisconsin with bubble-bursting defeats at the hands of Iowa and Michigan.
And there were more than a few nervous folks at Memorial Stadium when Ball State drove inside the 5-yard line with a chance to take a fourth-quarter lead. But the defense stopped the Cardinals, and the offense then went 80 yards to score, the big play being Juice Williams' 56-yard pass to Benn.
One of the nation's top freshmen and one of many outstanding youngsters brought into the program by third-year coach Ron Zook, Benn always won in high school. He said he wouldn't have trekked from Washington, D.C., to Champaign if he didn't believe his winning ways would continue.
"I came here to help turn around this program, so to be bowl eligible in my first year feels real good," he said. "All of us freshmen came here to play in the big games. We came here with big goals. We knew what we were doing."
It's too early to tell how good Illinois will be under Zook. He keeps saying there is plenty of room for improvement, and he certainly is right. With Williams and 1,000-yard tailback Rashard Mendenhall, the Illini run the football better than most. But they're in trouble if they have to pass and their defense is a work in progress. For all of his recruiting acumen, Zook also has much to prove as a college coach.
"You're judged on wins and losses -- period -- and close isn't good enough," Leman said. "So after those years of struggles, it feels great knowing we're finally good enough to win our share of games.
"Coach Zook came in with great energy and vision. He kept bringing in talented players and us older guys kept getting better. And now, we have a great mix of vets and fresh talent. Our success was going to be determined by how well we meshed together, and we've meshed real well.
"We're a hybrid, baby! It's a new day for Illinois football!"
Mike Nadel (firstname.lastname@example.com) is the Chicago sports columnist for GateHouse News Service. Read his blog, The Baldest Truth, at www.thebaldesttruth.com.


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Just a few minutes ago, I passed through my home without one thought of you but somewhere between washing the days grime from my face and passing through the kitchen still lingering with the evening dinner aromas, my mind flickered, a faint memory, a night of which I have barely spoken…my night with you, the way I had longed for it and the way it went horribly wrong.
I'm not romantic by nature but there is something fascinating about the way these things happen, they way one look, one touch or how something as harmless as an invitation to dinner can change forever what you thought you would…or would not do. How quickly we can get lost, lose our footing and stumble into something we were in no way ready for…my night with you, that night…I let myself stumble and I spend more time than I care to admit thinking about it.
I have wanted you for as long as I can remember, thought about touching you, having your scent envelop me, have my breath smell of you, feel your power overtake me and feel myself softening beneath your weight. I had let my mind spin a wondrous stories about how it may happen, where we would be, who might be with us, when I would know, know the second it was about to happen…when you were ready to surrender, open up and let me take you in.
To harbor such desire for so long, to let your mind play while your body is unable to..only makes the flame hotter, makes the longing more deliciously painful, even thinking of those years before that night, make me wish I could go back there…pay closer attention, know what I wanted more, know what part of you I might linger over the longest…would I spend my, much ached for seconds hovering over you…taking deep lung filling smells, let your aroma seep deep inside of me, saturate me….or would I let my tongue be my memory, let your taste spread all over me and be the one that I would measure all others against? Flashes, fantasies, seconds, minutes, hours…all you, they all belonged to you, and it was all lost, in one night.
Have you ever wanted someone so bad that you quiver at the very thought of it, have a physical reaction to the mere idea of being close enough to smell their hair, taste the salt on their skin, dreamed of that first second when your lips touched…the way your heart pounds and breathing gets more labored and desperate…now what if you had no idea it was them?
My issue? Blind tastings.
Now there has been all kinds of chatter on the internets about bloggers, wine critics and credibility as of late, and one thing that keeps flashing before my skimming of the chatter eyes…."the only way to truly judge a wine fairly is to taste it blind" and to that I have to say bullshit, or sort of bullshit. To remove the acquisition aspect of some wines is like making love to that person you have been wanting for years…with the lights off. Would it mean as much if you had no idea who it was? It may not change the actual physical feeling but part of the pleasure is in the "having" of it…with them. So okay, you just made love to someone, it was nice…maybe not the best you have had, but viola, you turn on the lights and it's Angelina Jolie…change anything….would it change anything if the lights were on BEFORE?! Okay, I'm being sexist, for the ladies lets imagine Denzel Washington or George Clooney…although speaking as a hetero female, Angelina…just sayin'.
I was invited to a dinner a couple of years ago, the wines were tasted blind and we were given a check off sheet, with almost all the questions being ones that had you looking for flaws, we ran through the wines….rather quickly as I recall, checking off all the less than nice things we found in the wines, only after we had completed our "sheets" were we able to see what we were tasting….Comte de Vogue Burgundy…multiple vintages.
Now had we not been led to pick the wines apart, had we seen what it was that we were tasting I think the actual "reviews" would have been truer…..and more honest. We weren't looking for anything lovely, or subtle. We were blind tasting red wines with a scorecard of "how much of this yucky stuff did you find"…it was retarded and lives in infamy as one of the longest most crushing nights of my life. Part of it is I am a Burgundy lover, had I known what I was tasting I might have been paying more attention, if I had been given like a few positive things to look for I may have had different answers and the biggest part was being surrounded by passionless people that seemed to relish in ripping these wines, (even blindly) a new one…ick, boo and hiss.
If only I had known….known it was…you.


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Xubuntu is a complete GNU/Linux based operating system with an Ubuntu base. It is lighter on system requirements and tends to be more efficient than Ubuntu with GNOME or KDE. It uses the Xfce desktop environment, which makes it ideal for old or low-end machines, thin-client networks, or for those who would like to get more performance out of their hardware.
Xubuntu is shipped with top quality packages from the Ubuntu archives. Xubuntu will use, as far as possible, GTK2 applications, ensuring maximum efficiency. If you wish, you can install any KDE or GNOME application on your Xubuntu desktop system, as it shares the Ubuntu main and universe package selection.
Xubuntu is released regularly and predictably; a new release is made every six months.


text:
Illinois Budget 11.27.09
Here are the top Illinois stories coming today from GateHouse News Service. Stories are available at www.gatehousenewsservice.com. Please check www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/news in the evening for changes to story lineup, including breaking news.
If your paper has a story, digest item, opinion piece or standalone photo to share, please e-mail it to firstname.lastname@example.com.
Casey Laughman: (217) 816-3343, email@example.com
Casey Laughman: Tips for covering a weird holiday season
Top 50 GateHouse Media Web sites for Oct. 2009
Galesburg couple's son found after going adrift in Pacific
GALESBURG – In the darkest hours, Jim and Beth Harmon found themselves standing the hallway just inside their front door, staring at framed photographs of the son they thought they lost to his abiding love. Blond-haired, 25-year-old Luke was independent and daring from the day he was born. The ocean was his love — first love, really. Now Luke was lost in a 24-foot-boat somewhere in the Pacific. By Tom Loewy of the Galesburg Register-Mail.
State Briefs. News from around the state. Will be posted this evening.
For the weekend:
STATEHOUSE INSIDER: Doug Finke is off this week.
POLITICS ON THE WEB: Republican Jim Ryan asks Facebook fans who they're rooting for in college football. Gov. Pat Quinn touts a new campaign endorsement from his barber. Republican Adam Andrzejewski asks for $20 donations to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. This definitely isn't campaigning for governor in 1980, 1990 – or even 2006. The emergence of the Internet as an every day part of life has political candidates pushing the boundaries of "e-campaigning," from Facebook and Twitter posts to YouTube videos and blogs. Those running for statewide office see the Internet and its new social networking tools as inexpensive, invaluable gateways to reach voters – their way on their own terms. By Ryan Keith of the State Journal-Register. For use in weekend editions.
Companies party smart, not hard this holiday season
ROCKFORD – By Thanksgiving week in a normal year, Kiki Benson's catering calendar would be filled every day through Christmas with private and company bookings. Not so this year. Benson, owner of A Movable Feast and Kiki B's restaurant, said her bookings are considerably down from 2008, when nearly every available date was taken. By Sean F. Driscoll of the Rockford Register Star. To localize: Check with local companies to see how their holiday party plans have changed this year.
A place where everyone can play music
SPRINGFIELD – A Springfield music teacher's techniques for teaching people with disabilities has earned her the attention of prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. Trudy Fleming has been asked to develop and teach the academy's first-ever Violin and Piano Institute for the Visually Impaired next June. By Julie Kaiser of the State Journal-Register.
Brian Mackey: Fear robs children of their 'kingdom'
Have we allowed our fears to deprive kids of experiences that may be critical to their development? Bombarded by news reports of child abuse and abductions — a phenomenon that's statistically about as rare as it's always been, author Michael Chabon says — parents have grown afraid to let their children explore the world.
Quadruple bypass survivor credits his improved health to walking, CHIP diet
HENRY – Daryl Fountain was short of breath on a Sunday afternoon playing with his daughter. He woke up the next day short of breath and asked his wife to make a doctor's appointment for him after work. Days later he was in the operating room at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center undergoing quadruple bypass surgery. That was almost two years ago, and Fountain, a former mayor of Henry, started making some dramatic lifestyle changes, including enrolling in the Coronary Health Improvement Project held at Maple Shade Dental Center. By Clare Howard of the Peoria Journal Star.
Elizabeth Davies: Balancing Santa, Jesus at Christmas
This year, my toughest Christmas decision isn't whether to serve gingerbread cookies or fudge. My greater quandary is over what I want my kids to learn about Christmas. My oldest child is almost 3: What we do this year sets the stage for our family traditions and expectations. So is it Santa or Jesus? Candy canes or angels? Snowmen or a Nativity scene?
BRITT: Britt is off this week.
WOOD ON WORDS: Barry Wood is on vacation.
Michelle Teheux: Give those kids some poker chips
How can we be lamenting dismal school report cards, stretched school budgets and the disastrous state budget and not see the obvious solution to all three? We must immediately legalize gambling for kids. How many tots know how to play blackjack? Roulette? I bet half of the 7-year-olds in this state cannot even play a decent hand of poker. This is very bad, because if we don't get our students hooked on gambling young, I don't know how we'll ever raise enough cash to run our schools and a good portion of state government.
Editorial: A slap on the wrist for Remorseless Roland
Last Friday, the people populating the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee became perhaps the last - outside of Roland Burris himself - to reach the conclusion that Illinois' junior senator had been less than honest with Illinoisans about the path he took to get his current job. An editorial from the Peoria Journal Star.
Editorial: Can't accept some students will be 'lost'
The defensive reaction by some to Associated Press writer John O'Connor's story Monday about how blacks are disciplined disproportionately in Illinois schools was predictable. And unfortunate. To sum it up: It starts in their homes! It's their parents! Black kids misbehave more than whites! It's not racism! An editorial from the State Journal-Register.
Editorial: Beware unsafe toys; make appropriate buying decisions
Most parents know what toys are safe for their kids. Most know whether a toy can be a choking hazard or whether it's so loud it can damage a child's hearing. Yet, despite what most parents know, children were the victims of 235,300 toy-related injuries in the U.S. in 2008. More than 82,000 of those were younger than 5. Nineteen children younger than 15 died. Clearly toy safety needs to be considered as adults head out to shop this holiday season.
INSIDE THE LINES: Peoria Journal Star sports editor Bill Liesse takes an irreverent look at this weekend's NFL games. Will be posted this evening for use Sunday.
SUNDAY QUICK SHOTS: By Matt Trowbridge of the Rockford Register Star. Will be posted this evening for use Sunday.
VIKINGS FEATURE: A look at the Minnesota Vikings in advance of Sunday's Bears-Vikings game. By Matt Trowbridge of the Rockford Register Star. Will be posted this evening.
For Sunday:
BEARS PREVIEW: Preview of Sunday's Bears-Vikings game. By Matt Trowbridge of the Rockford Register Star. Will be posted this evening for use Sunday.
For Monday:
BEARS-VIKINGS: Game story and notebook by Matt Trowbridge of the Rockford Register Star. Kickoff 3:15 p.m.
For Saturday:
ILLINOIS-UTAH: Illinois meets Utah in the Las Vegas Invitational. Tipoff at 9:30 p.m. By John Supinie.
For Sunday.
ILLINOIS-TBA: Illinois meets Oklahoma State or Bradley in the Las Vegas Invitational. Tipoff at either 7 p.m. or 9:30 p.m. By John Supinie.


text:
Department of Health and Human Services
Participating Organizations
National Institutes of Health (NIH), (http://www.nih.gov)
Components of Participating Organizations
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), (http://www.nida.nih.gov)
Title: Drug Abuse, Risky Decision Making and HIV/AIDS (R01)
Announcement Type
Update: The following update relating to this announcement has been issued:
NOTICE: Applications submitted in response to this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for Federal assistance must be submitted electronically through Grants.gov (http://www.grants.gov) using the SF424 Research and Related (R&R) forms and the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
This FOA must be read in conjunction with the application guidelines included with this announcement in Grants.gov/Apply for Grants (hereafter called Grants.gov/Apply).
A registration process is necessary before submission and applicants are highly encouraged to start the process at least four weeks prior to the grant submission date. See Section IV.
Program Announcement (PA) Number: PAS-07-324
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number(s)
Key Dates
Release/Posted Date: February 2, 2007
Opening Date: February 2, 2007(Earliest date an application may be submitted to Grants.gov
Letters of Intent Receipt Date(s): Not required.
NOTE: On time submission requires that applications be successfully submitted to Grants.gov no later than 5:00 p.m. local time (of the applicant institution/organization).
Application Submission/Receipt Date(s): Standard dates apply, please see http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/submissionschedule.htm
AIDS Application Submission/Receipt Date(s): Standard dates apply, please see http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/submissionschedule.htm#AIDS.
Peer Review Date(s): Standard dates apply, please see http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/submissionschedule.htm#reviewandaward
Council Review Date(s): Standard dates apply, please see http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/submissionschedule.htm#reviewandaward
Earliest Anticipated Start Date(s): Standard dates apply, please see http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/submissionschedule.htm#reviewandaward
Additional Information To Be Available Date (URL Activation Date): Not Applicable
Expiration Date: January 3, 2010 (now January 8, 2010 per NOT-OD-07-093)
Due Dates for E.O. 12372
Not Applicable
Additional Overview Content
Executive Summary
Table of Contents
Part I Overview Information
Part II Full Text of Announcement
Section I. Funding Opportunity Description
1. Research Objectives
Section II. Award Information
1. Mechanism of Support
2. Funds Available
Section III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants
A. Eligible Institutions
B. Eligible Individuals
2. Cost Sharing or Matching
3. Other-Special Eligibility Criteria
Section IV. Application and Submission Information
1. Request Application Information
2. Content and Form of Application Submission
3. Submission Dates and Times
A. Submission, Review, and Anticipated Start Dates
1. Letter of Intent
B. Submitting an Application Electronically to the NIH
C. Application Processing
4. Intergovernmental Review
5. Funding Restrictions
6. Other Submission Requirements
Section V. Application Review Information
1. Criteria
2. Review and Selection Process
A. Additional Review Criteria
B. Additional Review Considerations
C. Sharing Research Data
D. Sharing Research Resources
3. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates
Section VI. Award Administration Information
1. Award Notices
2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements
3. Reporting
Section VII. Agency Contacts
1. Scientific/Research Contact(s)
2. Peer Review Contact(s)
3. Financial/Grants Management Contact(s)
Section VIII. Other Information - Required Federal Citations
Part II - Full Text of Announcement
Section I. Funding Opportunity Description
1. Research Objectives
Drug abuse increases the risk of both contracting and transmitting HIV/AIDS. Although it is well known that injection drug use increases the risk of HIV through sharing of contaminated needles, drugs of abuse and addictive behaviors also may increase risk of HIV transmission by affecting decisions to engage in risky sexual behavior. Despite a wealth of anecdotal reports and limited empirical data, there still remains much to be learned about the cognitive, behavioral, emotional and situational processes that mediate interactions between drug abuse, risky decision making and HIV/AIDS and their associated neurobiological substrates.
Research on behavioral, cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms, including studies of interactions between these varied influences, can enhance our understanding of a role for drug abuse and addiction in decision-making processes that contribute to HIV transmission through risky sexual behavior. While progress has been made in identifying risk factors that increase the possibility of HIV transmission, little is known about decision making processes that ultimately lead to risky sexual behavior. For example, we know that unprotected sex and multiple partners are risk factors for HIV transmission, but we have little understanding of the cognitive, emotional or social processes that lead to decisions to engage in these high risk behaviors, or how acute and chronic exposure to drugs of abuse may affect these processes. Thus, studies are needed to determine the influence of drug use, withdrawal, craving and relapse on decisions to engage in risky sexual behaviors. Research supported by this announcement might also evaluate how patterns of drug use affect these decisions as well.
Prior research has shown that individuals addicted to drugs of abuse make decisions that favor immediate, smaller rewards over later, larger rewards, and in some instances, may be insensitive to the negative consequences of their actions. Findings from neurobiological studies in substance abusers implicate disruptions in key neuroanatomical circuits that are involved in executive function, emotional processing and emotional behavior. Experimental observations also suggest that drug abuse affects the way in which individuals monitor or use emotions to guide decisions involving risk. Moreover, other evidence indicates that environmental stimuli associated with drugs of abuse take on potent rewarding properties capable of driving subsequent motivated behavior. Hence, conditioned cues may be responsible for triggering compulsive drug taking behavior and involve circuits that subserve emotional memory. It also appears that central dopaminergic systems, which are activated by drugs of abuse, act to amplify the valuation of natural rewards in the environment. Thus, further characterization of these phenomena, in relation to decisions to engage in risky sexual behavior, would be of interest.
Research is also needed to explore the roles that executive functions, learning, memory and emotions play in decisions about sexual behavior under conditions of uncertainty and risk; and to better understand how once a decision is made, it is later evaluated and used to guide and enact future choices and behaviors. Furthermore, exposure to drugs of abuse, HIV infection, or AIDS and its progression may also affect judgment and impulse control, thus compromising the ability to refrain from high risk behaviors. Addiction and the effects of drug withdrawal are associated with altered perceptions, expectancies, and capacities to control impulses and behavior. Moreover, HIV infection and AIDS have been linked to progressive decrements in neurocognitive function, suggesting that both drug abuse and HIV/AIDS may influence self-constraint and regulation. Research focusing on the self-regulation of emotion and how drugs of abuse affect self-regulation under conditions of sexual arousal would be particularly valuable. Studies that probe the neurobiological mechanisms involved in these cognitive processes are critically important as well.
Despite what is known about global factors that may affect judgment and decision making, it is unclear why individuals with different histories, or the same individual in different situations, might make different decisions about sexual risk behavior. Research, therefore, is needed to study how interactions between individual differences and environmental or social variables influence decisions to engage in sexual risk behavior and how an individual's evaluation of past decisions guides future choices and behaviors. Studies focusing on individual differences might examine age (especially with adolescent populations), gender, allostatic load, drug abuse status and history, past sexual behavior, and psychiatric or treatment status (e.g., co-morbid psychiatric disorders, treatment for drug addiction or HIV/AIDS). A basic understanding of individual variation in decision making and decision evaluation in high risk situations will suggest approaches for preventing high risk sexual behavior to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Experimental designs with human subjects, that are laboratory-based or use remote monitoring in naturalistic settings, will be supported. These approaches should be integrated whenever possible. The proposed research should focus on either (1) drug effects on the processes and mechanisms of decisions that lead to high risk sexual behavior, or (2) effects of environmental or individual variables that influence sexual decision-making in drug abusers. When appropriate, model-driven research should be conducted; thus investigators should use experimental approaches intended to test the operation of specific processes through systematic use of control conditions to rule out alternative interpretations. Studies that include analysis of age, gender and other categorical variables within these experimental designs are also appropriate.
Applicants are encouraged to draw upon recent advances in behavioral- and neuro-economics, social neuroscience and the science of judgment and decision-making in generating hypotheses. Computational models might be developed that can account for complex interactions between emotion, attention and other cognitive factors that influence decisions about risky behavior. Investigators might also consider analogue methods of experimentally studying drug use and sexual risk such as policy capturing techniques, experimental induction of mood states, or computer simulations of conditions that pose risk. In addition, application of conceptual models and research paradigms from other areas of judgment and decision making research may be useful for understanding how decisions about drug use and sexual risk behavior are similar to, or different from, other kinds of complex social decisions.
Applications responsive to this Program Announcement should focus on determining how individual, experiential, neurobiological or environmental variables 1) that influence, 2) are induced by, or 3) are otherwise associated with, acute or chronic exposure to drugs of abuse, affect decision making that leads to high risk sexual behavior. To be responsive to this announcement, prospective investigators must employ experimental approaches that include measurement or manipulation of decisions to engage in, or refrain from, risky sexual behavior in the design of their investigations. The study of decisions to engage in risky sexual behavior must be clearly the central focus of the proposed research. Research may be conducted in populations at elevated risk of HIV acquisition or in people currently living with HIV/AIDS. Study designs that can evaluate health disparities, as well as age, gender and race/ethnicity differences and/or evaluate processes and effects within a developmental context are especially encouraged. Investigators conducting research on the natural history and epidemiology, prevention or services and treatment aspects of drug abuse and HIV/AIDS should refer to the most recent version of NIDA's general Program Announcement on Drug Abuse Aspects of HIV/AIDS (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-04-007.html) or the announcement requesting applications on Non-Injection Drug Abuse and HIV/AIDS (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAS-07-115.html) if appropriate.
Following is a list of research questions that would be appropriate for this announcement, although it is not intended to include all possible topics:
Special Considerations
HIV/AIDS Counseling and Testing Policy for the National Institute on Drug Abuse: Researchers funded by NIDA who are conducting research in community outreach settings, clinical, hospital settings, or clinical laboratories and have ongoing contact with clients at risk for HIV infection, are strongly encouraged to provide HIV risk reduction education and counseling. HIV counseling should include offering HIV testing available on-site or by referral to other HIV testing service for persons at risk for HIV infection including injecting drug users, crack cocaine users, and sexually active drug users and their sexual partners. For more information see https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-DA-01-001.html.
National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse Recommended Guidelines for the Administration of Drugs to Human Subjects: The National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse recognizes the importance of research involving the administration of drugs to human subjects and has developed guidelines relevant to such research. Potential applicants are encouraged to obtain and review these recommendations of Council before submitting an application that proposes research involving administration of compounds to human subjects. The guidelines are available on NIDA's Home Page at www.nida.nih.gov under the Funding, or may be obtained by calling (301) 443-2755.
See Section VIII, Other Information - Required Federal Citations, for policies related to this announcement.
1. Mechanism of Support
This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will use the NIH Research Project Grant (R01) award mechanism.
The applicant will be solely responsible for planning, directing, and executing the proposed project.
Submission of an application under this FOA precludes concurrent submission of any other Public Health Service application containing substantially the same research proposal.
This FOA uses "Just-in-Time" information concepts. It also uses the modular as well as the non-modular budget formats (see https://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/modular/modular.htm).
Specifically, if you are a U.S. organization and are submitting an application with direct costs in each year of $250,000 or less (excluding consortium Facilities and Administrative [F&A] costs), use the PHS398 Modular Budget component provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Package and SF424 (R&R) Application Guide (see specifically Section 5.4, "Modular Budget Component," of the Application Guide).
U.S. applicants requesting more than $250,000 in annual direct costs must complete and submit budget requests using the Research & Related Budget component found in the application package for this FOA. See NOT-OD-06-096, August 23, 2006.
All foreign applicants must complete and submit budget requests using the Research & Related Budget component found in the application package for this FOA. See NOT-OD-06-096, August 23, 2006.
Competing renewal (formally "competing continuation") applications will be accepted for this FOA. Up to two resubmissions (formerly "revisions/amendments") of a previously reviewed R01 application may be submitted. See NOT-OD-05-046, April 29, 2005.
2. Funds Available
Because the nature and scope of the proposed research will vary from application to application, it is anticipated that the size and duration of each award will also vary. Although the financial plans of the Institutes and Centers (ICs) provide support for this program, awards pursuant to this funding opportunity are contingent upon the availability of funds and the submission of a sufficient number of meritorious applications.
The estimated amount of funds available for support projects appropriate for this FOA is $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2007. Given the range of budgets among the mechanisms supported by these three announcements, it is estimated that as few as five, and as many as 25, awards could be made. A reasonable estimate would be 10-12 grants supported.
NIH grants policies as described in the NOT-OD-05-004, November 2, 2004.
All awards are subject to the availability of funds.
Section III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants
1.A. Eligible Institutions
You may submit an application(s) if your institution/organization has any of the following characteristics:
1.B. Eligible Individuals
Any individual(s) with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the PD/PI is invited to work with his/her organization to develop an application for support. Individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups as well as individuals with disabilities are always encouraged to apply for NIH support.
More than one PD/PI, or multiple PDs/PIs, may be designated on the application for projects that require a "team science" approach that clearly does not fit the single-PD/PI model. Additional information on the implementation plans and policies and procedures to formally allow more than one PD/PI on individual research projects is available at https://grants.nih.gov/grants/multi_pi. All PDs/PIs must be registered in the NIH eRA Commons prior to the submission of the application (see http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/preparing.htm for instructions).
The decision of whether to apply for a single PD/PI or multiple PD/PI grant is the responsibility of the investigators and applicant organizations and should be determined by the scientific goals of the project. Applications for multiple PD/PI grants will require additional information, as outlined in the instructions below. The NIH review criteria for approach, investigators, and environment have been modified to accommodate applications involving either a single PD/PI or multiple PDs/PIs. When considering multiple PDs/PIs, please be aware that the structure and governance of the PD/PI leadership team as well as the knowledge, skills and experience of the individual PD/PIs will be factored into the assessment of the overall scientific merit of the application. Multiple PDs/PIs on a project share the authority and responsibility for leading and directing the project, intellectually and logistically. Each PD/PI is responsible and accountable to the grantee organization, or, as appropriate, to a collaborating organization, for the proper conduct of the project or program, including the submission of required reports. For further information on multiple PDs/PIs, please see https://grants.nih.gov/grants/multi_pi.
2. Cost Sharing or Matching
This program does not require cost sharing as defined in the current NIH Grants Policy Statement.
3. Other-Special Eligibility Criteria .
Applicants may submit more than one application, provided each application is scientifically distinct.
Section IV. Application and Submission Information
To download a SF424 (R&R) Application Package and SF424 (R&R) Application Guide for completing the SF424 (R&R) forms for this FOA, link to http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/apply-for-grants.html and follow the directions provided on that Web site.
A one-time registration is required for institutions/organizations at both:
PDs/PIs should work with their institutions/organizations to make sure they are registered in the eRA Commons.
Several additional separate actions are required before an applicant institution/organization can submit an electronic application, as follows:
1) Organizational/Institutional Registration in Grants.gov/Get Registered
2) Organizational/Institutional Registration in the eRA Commons
3) Project Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) Registration in the NIH eRA Commons: Refer to the NIH eRA Commons System (COM) Users Guide.
Both the PD/PI(s) and AOR/SO need separate accounts in the NIH eRA Commons since both are authorized to view the application image.
Note that if a PD/PI is also an NIH peer-reviewer with an Individual DUNS and CCR registration, that particular DUNS number and CCR registration are for the individual reviewer only. These are different than any DUNS number and CCR registration used by an applicant organization. Individual DUNS and CCR registration should be used only for the purposes of personal reimbursement and should not be used on any grant applications submitted to the Federal Government.
Several of the steps of the registration process could take four weeks or more. Therefore, applicants should immediately check with their business official to determine whether their organization/institution is already registered in both Grants.gov and the Commons. The NIH will accept electronic applications only from organizations that have completed all necessary registrations.
1. Request Application Information
Applicants must download the SF424 (R&R) application forms and the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide for this FOA through Grants.gov/Apply.
Note: Only the forms package directly attached to a specific FOA can be used. You will not be able to use any other SF424 (R&R) forms (e.g., sample forms, forms from another FOA), although some of the "Attachment" files may be useable for more than one FOA.
For further assistance, contact GrantsInfo: Telephone 301-710-0267, Email: firstname.lastname@example.com.
Telecommunications for the hearing impaired: TTY 301-451-5936.
2. Content and Form of Application Submission
Prepare all applications using the SF424 (R&R) application forms and in accordance with the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide for this FOA through Grants.gov/Apply.
The SF424 (R&R) Application Guide is critical to submitting a complete and accurate application to NIH. There are fields within the SF424 (R&R) application components that, although not marked as mandatory, are required by NIH (e.g., the "Credential" log-in field of the "Research & Related Senior/Key Person Profile" component must contain the PD/PI's assigned eRA Commons User ID). Agency-specific instructions for such fields are clearly identified in the Application Guide. For additional information, see "Frequently Asked Questions – Application Guide, Electronic Submission of Grant Applications."
The SF424 (R&R) application has several components. Some components are required, others are optional. The forms package associated with this FOA in Grants.gov/APPLY includes all applicable components, required and optional. A completed application in response to this FOA includes the data in the following components:
Required Components:
SF424 (R&R) (Cover component)
Research & Related Project/Performance Site Locations
Research & Related Other Project Information
Research & Related Senior/Key Person
PHS398 Cover Page Supplement
PHS398 Research Plan
PHS398 Checklist
PHS398 Modular Budget or Research & Related Budget, as appropriate (See Section IV.6., "Special Instructions," regarding appropriate required budget component.)
Research & Related Budget (required for foreign applications)
Optional Components:
PHS398 Cover Letter File
Research & Related Subaward Budget Attachment(s) Form
Foreign Organizations (Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entity)
NIH policies concerning grants to foreign (non-U.S.) organizations can be found in the NIH Grants Policy Statement at: https://grants.nih.gov/archive/grants/policy/nihgps_2003/index.htm#_Toc54600260.
Applications from foreign organizations must:
Proposed research should provide special opportunities for furthering research programs through the use of unusual talent, resources, populations, or environmental conditions in other countries that are not readily available in the United States or that augment existing U.S. resources.
Applications with Multiple PDs/PIs
When multiple PDs/PIs are proposed, NIH requires one PD/PI to be designated as the "Contact" PI, who will be responsible for all communication between the PDs/PIs and the NIH, for assembling the application materials outlined below, and for coordinating progress reports for the project. The contact PD/PI must meet all eligibility requirements for PD/PI status in the same way as other PDs/PIs, but has no other special roles or responsibilities within the project team beyond those mentioned above.
Information for the Contact PD/PI should be entered in item 15 of the SF424 (R&R) Cover component. All other PDs/PIs should be listed in the Research & Related Senior/Key Person component and assigned the project role of "PD/PI." Please remember that all PDs/PIs must be registered in the eRA Commons prior to application submission. The Commons ID of each PD/PI must be included in the "Credential" field of the Research & Related Senior/Key Person component. Failure to include this data field will cause the application to be rejected.
All projects proposing Multiple PDs/PIs will be required to include a new section describing the leadership of the project.
Multiple PD/PI Leadership Plan: For applications designating multiple PDs/PIs, a new section of the research plan, entitled "Multiple PD/PI Leadership Plan" (Section 14 of the Research Plan Component in the SF424 (R&R)), must be included. A rationale for choosing a multiple PD/PI approach should be described. The governance and organizational structure of the leadership team and the research project should be described, including communication plans, process for making decisions on scientific direction, and procedures for resolving conflicts. The roles and administrative, technical, and scientific responsibilities for the project or program should be delineated for the PDs/PIs and other collaborators.
If budget allocation is planned, the distribution of resources to specific components of the project or the individual PDs/PIs should be delineated in the Leadership Plan. In the event of an award, the requested allocations may be reflected in a footnote on the Notice of Award.
Applications Involving a Single Institution
When all PDs/PIs are within a single institution, follow the instructions contained in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
Applications Involving Multiple Institutions
When multiple institutions are involved, one institution must be designated as the prime institution and funding for the other institution(s) must be requested via a subcontract to be administered by the prime institution. When submitting a detailed budget, the prime institution should submit its budget using the Research & Related Budget component. All other institutions should have their individual budgets attached separately to the Research & Related Subaward Budget Attachment(s) Form. See Section 4.8 of the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide for further instruction regarding the use of the subaward budget form.
When submitting a modular budget, the prime institution completes the PHS398 Modular Budget component only. Information concerning the consortium/subcontract budget is provided in the budget justification. Separate budgets for each consortium/subcontract grantee are not required when using the Modular budget format. See Section 5.4 of the Application Guide for further instruction regarding the use of the PHS398 Modular Budget component.
3. Submission Dates and Times
See Section IV.3.A. for details.
3.A. Submission, Review, and Anticipated Start Dates
Opening Date: February 2, 2007 (Earliest date an application may be submitted to Grants.gov) Letters of Intent Receipt Date(s): Not required.
Application Submission/Receipt Date(s): Standard dates apply, please see https://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/submissionschedule.htm
AIDS Application Submission/Receipt Date(s): Standard dates apply, please see http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/submissionschedule.htm#AIDS
Peer Review Date(s): Standard dates apply, please see http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/submissionschedule.htm#reviewandaward
Council Review Date(s): Standard dates apply, please see http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/submissionschedule.htm#reviewandaward
Earliest Anticipated Start Date(s): Standard dates apply, please see http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/submissionschedule.htm#reviewandaward
3.A.1. Letter of Intent
A letter of intent is not required for the funding opportunity.
3.B. Submitting an Application Electronically to the NIH
To submit an application in response to this FOA, applicants should access this FOA via http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/apply-for-grants.html and follow steps 1-4. Note: Applications must only be submitted electronically. PAPER APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
3.C. Application Processing
Applications may be submitted on or after the opening date and must be successfully received by Grants.gov no later than 5:00 p.m. local time (of the applicant institution/organization) on the application submission/receipt date(s). (See Section IV.3.A. for all dates.) If an application is not submitted by the receipt date(s) and time, the application may be delayed in the review process or not reviewed.
Once an application package has been successfully submitted through Grants.gov, any errors have been addressed, and the assembled application has been created in the eRA Commons, the PD/PI and the Authorized Organization Representative/Signing Official (AOR/SO) have two business days to view the application image.
Upon receipt, applications will be evaluated for completeness by the Center for Scientific Review, NIH. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.
There will be an acknowledgement of receipt of applications from Grants.gov and the Commons. The submitting AOR receives the Grants.gov acknowledgments. The AOR and the PI receive Commons acknowledgments. Information related to the assignment of an application to a Scientific Review Group is also in the Commons.
Note: Since email can be unreliable, it is the responsibility of the applicant to check periodically on their application status in the Commons.
The NIH will not accept any application in response to this FOA that is essentially the same as one currently pending initial merit review unless the applicant withdraws the pending application. The NIH will not accept any application that is essentially the same as one already reviewed. This does not preclude the submission of an application already reviewed with substantial changes, but such application must include an "Introduction" addressing the previous critique. Note such an application is considered a "resubmission" for the SF424 (R&R).
4. Intergovernmental Review
This initiative is not subject to intergovernmental review.
5. Funding Restrictions
All NIH awards are subject to the terms and conditions, cost principles, and other considerations described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
Pre-award costs are allowable. A grantee may, at its own risk and without NIH prior approval, incur obligations and expenditures to cover costs up to 90 days before the beginning date of the initial budget period of a new or competing renewal (formerly "competing continuation") award if such costs: are necessary to conduct the project, and would be allowable under the grant, if awarded, without NIH prior approval. If specific expenditures would otherwise require prior approval, the grantee must obtain NIH approval before incurring the cost. NIH prior approval is required for any costs to be incurred more than 90 days before the beginning date of the initial budget period of a new or competing renewal award.
The incurrence of pre-award costs in anticipation of a competing or non-competing award imposes no obligation on NIH either to make the award or to increase the amount of the approved budget if an award is made for less than the amount anticipated and is inadequate to cover the pre-award costs incurred. NIH expects the grantee to be fully aware that pre-award costs result in borrowing against future support and that such borrowing must not impair the grantee's ability to accomplish the project objectives in the approved time frame or in any way adversely affect the conduct of the project. See the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
6. Other Submission Requirements
PD/PI Credential (e.g., Agency Login)
The NIH requires the PD/PI(s) to fill in his/her Commons User ID in the "PROFILE – Project Director/Principal Investigator" section, "Credential" log-in field of the "Research & Related Senior/Key Person Profile" component.
Organizational DUNS
The applicant organization must include its DUNS number in its Organization Profile in the eRA Commons. This DUNS number must match the DUNS number provided at CCR registration with Grants.gov. For additional information, see "Frequently Asked Questions – Application Guide, Electronic Submission of Grant Applications."
PHS398 Research Plan Component Sections
Items 2-5 of the PHS398 Research Plan component are limited to 25 pages. While each section of the Research Plan component needs to be uploaded separately as a PDF attachment, applicants are encouraged to construct the Research Plan component as a single document, separating sections into distinct PDF attachments just before uploading the files. This approach will enable applicants to better monitor formatting requirements such as page limits. All attachments must be provided to NIH in PDF format, filenames must be included with no spaces or special characters, and a .pdf extension must be used.
All application instructions outlined in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide are to be followed, incorporating "Just-in-Time" information concepts, and with the following additional requirements:
Special Instructions for Modular Grant applications
R01 applications from U.S. institutions/organizations requesting up to $250,000 per year in direct costs (excluding consortium F&A costs) must be submitted in a modular budget format. Additional information on modular budgets is available at https://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/modular/modular.htm. When submitting a modular budget, the applicant organization will include only the PHS398 Modular Budget component. See Section 5.4 of the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide for further instructions regarding the use of the PHS398 Modular Budget component.
Foreign organizations may not submit modular budgets. See NOT-OD-06-096.
Special Instructions for Applications Requesting $500,000 (direct costs) or More Per Year
Applicants requesting $500,000 or more in direct costs for any year (excluding consortium F&A costs) must carry out the following steps:
1) Contact the IC program staff at least 6 weeks before submitting the application, i.e., as you are developing plans for the study;
2) Obtain agreement from the IC staff that the IC will accept your application for consideration for award; and,
3) Include the PHS398 Cover Letter component with the application to identify the staff member and IC who agreed to accept assignment of the application.
This policy applies to all new applications, competing renewal (formerly "competing continuation") applications, resubmission (formerly "revised/amended") applications, and revision (formerly "competing supplemental") applications. See NOT-OD-02-004, October 16, 2001.
Applicants must follow the specific instructions on Appendix materials as described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide (See https://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/424/index.htm).
Do not use the Appendix to circumvent the page limitations of the Research Plan component. An application that does not observe the required page limitations may be delayed in the review process.
Note: While each section of the PHS398 Research Plan component needs to be uploaded separately as a PDF attachment, applicants are encouraged to construct the Research Plan component as a single document, separating sections into distinct PDF attachments just before uploading the files. This approach will enable applicants to monitor better formatting requirements such as page limits. All attachments must be provided to NIH in PDF format, filenames must be included with no spaces or special characters, and a .pdf extension must be used.
Foreign Applications (Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entity)
Plan for Sharing Research Data
The precise content of the data-sharing plan will vary, depending on the data being collected and how the investigator is planning to share the data. Applicants who are planning to share data may wish to describe briefly the expected schedule for data sharing, the format of the final dataset, the documentation to be provided, whether or not any analytic tools also will be provided, whether or not a data-sharing agreement will be required and, if so, a brief description of such an agreement (including the criteria for deciding who can receive the data and whether or not any conditions will be placed on their use), and the mode of data sharing (e.g., under their own auspices by mailing a disk or posting data on their institutional or personal Web site, through a data archive or enclave). Investigators choosing to share under their own auspices may wish to enter into a data-sharing agreement. References to data sharing may also be appropriate in other sections of the application.
Applicants requesting more than $500,000 in direct costs in any year of the proposed research must include a plan for sharing research data in their application. The funding organization will be responsible for monitoring the data sharing policy (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/data_sharing).
The reasonableness of the data sharing plan or the rationale for not sharing research data may be assessed by the reviewers. However, reviewers will not factor the proposed data sharing plan into the determination of scientific merit or the priority score.
Sharing Research Resources
NIH policy expects that grant recipients make unique research resources readily available for research purposes to qualified individuals within the scientific community after publication (See the NIH Grants Policy Statement https://grants.nih.gov/archive/grants/policy/nihgps_2003/index.htm#_Toc54600131). Investigators responding to this funding opportunity should include a sharing research resources plan addressing how unique research resources will be shared or explain why sharing is not possible.
The adequacy of the resources sharing plan and any related data sharing plans will be considered by Program staff of the funding organization when making recommendations about funding applications. The effectiveness of the resource sharing will be evaluated as part of the administrative review of each Non-Competing Grant Progress Report (PHS 2590). See Section VI.3., "Reporting."
Section V. Application Review Information
1. Criteria (Update: Enhanced review criteria have been issued for the evaluation of research applications received for potential FY2010 funding and thereafter - see NOT-OD-09-025).
Only the review criteria described below will be considered in the review process.
2. Review and Selection Process
Applications submitted for this funding opportunity will be assigned to the ICs on the basis of established PHS referral guidelines.
Appropriate scientific review groups convened in accordance with the standard NIH peer review procedures (http://www.csr.nih.gov/refrev.htm) will evaluate applications for scientific and technical merit.
As part of the initial merit review, all applications will:
Applications submitted in response to this funding opportunity will compete for available funds with all other recommended applications. The following will be considered in making funding decisions:
The goals of NIH supported research are to advance our understanding of biological systems, to improve the control of disease, and to enhance health. In their written critiques, reviewers will be asked to comment on each of the following criteria in order to judge the likelihood that the proposed research will have a substantial impact on the pursuit of these goals. Each of these criteria will be addressed and considered in assigning the overall score, weighting them as appropriate for each application.
Note that an application does not need to be strong in all categories to be judged likely to have major scientific impact and thus deserve a high priority score. For example, an investigator may propose to carry out important work that by its nature is not innovative but is essential to move a field forward.
Significance: Does this study address an important problem? If the aims of the application are achieved, how will scientific knowledge or clinical practice be advanced? What will be the effect of these studies on the concepts, methods, technologies, treatments, services, or preventative interventions that drive this field?
Approach: Are the conceptual or clinical framework, design, methods, and analyses adequately developed, well-integrated, well-reasoned, and appropriate to the aims of the project? Does the applicant acknowledge potential problem areas and consider alternative tactics? For applications designating multiple PDs/PIs, is the leadership approach, including the designated roles and responsibilities, governance, and organizational structure, consistent with and justified by the aims of the project and the expertise of each of the PDs/PIs?
Innovation: Is the project original and innovative? For example: Does the project challenge existing paradigms or clinical practice; address an innovative hypothesis or critical barrier to progress in the field? Does the project develop or employ novel concepts, approaches or methodologies, tools, or technologies for this area?
Investigators: Are the PD/PIs and other key personnel appropriately trained and well suited to carry out this work? Is the work proposed appropriate to the experience level(s) of the principal investigator(s) and other researchers? Do the PD/PIs and investigative team bring complementary and integrated expertise to the project (if applicable)?
Environment: Do(es) the scientific environment(s) in which the work will be done contribute to the probability of success? Do the proposed studies benefit from unique features of the scientific environment(s), or subject populations, or employ useful collaborative arrangements? Is there evidence of institutional support?
2.A. Additional Review Criteria
In addition to the above criteria, the following items will continue to be considered in the determination of scientific merit and the priority score:
Resubmission Applications (formerly "revised/amended" applications): Are the responses to comments from the previous scientific review group adequate? Are the improvements in the resubmission application appropriate?
Protection of Human Subjects from Research Risk: The involvement of human subjects and protections from research risk relating to their participation in the proposed research will be assessed. See the "Human Subjects Sections" of the PHS398 Research Plan component of the SF424 (R&R).
Inclusion of Women, Minorities and Children in Research: The adequacy of plans to include subjects from both genders, all racial and ethnic groups (and subgroups), and children as appropriate for the scientific goals of the research will be assessed. Plans for the recruitment and retention of subjects will also be evaluated. See the "Human Subjects Sections" of the PHS398 Research Plan component of the SF424 (R&R).
Care and Use of Vertebrate Animals in Research: If vertebrate animals are to be used in the project, the adequacy of the plans for their care and use will be assessed. See the "Other Research Plan Sections" of the PHS398 Research Plan component of the SF424 (R&R).
Biohazards: If materials or procedures are proposed that are potentially hazardous to research personnel and/or the environment, determine if the proposed protection is adequate.
2.B. Additional Review Considerations
Budget and Period of Support: The reasonableness of the proposed budget and the appropriateness of the requested period of support in relation to the proposed research may be assessed by the reviewers. The priority score should not be affected by the evaluation of the budget.
Applications from Foreign Organizations: Whether the project presents special opportunities for furthering research programs through the use of unusual talent, resources, populations, or environmental conditions in other countries that are not readily available in the United States or that augment existing U.S. resources will be assessed.
2.C. Sharing Research Data
Data Sharing Plan: The reasonableness of the data sharing plan or the rationale for not sharing research data may be assessed by the reviewers. However, reviewers will not factor the proposed data sharing plan into the determination of scientific merit or the priority score. The funding organization will be responsible for monitoring the data sharing policy. https://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/data_sharing.
2.D. Sharing Research Resources
NIH policy expects that grant recipients make unique research resources readily available for research purposes to qualified individuals within the scientific community after publication (See the NIH Grants Policy Statement https://grants.nih.gov/archive/grants/policy/nihgps_2003/index.htm#_Toc54600131). Investigators responding to this funding opportunity should include a sharing research resources plan addressing how unique research resources will be shared or explain why sharing is not possible.
Program staff will be responsible for the administrative review of the plan for sharing research resources.
The adequacy of the resources sharing plan and any related data sharing plans will be considered by Program staff of the funding organization when making recommendations about funding applications. The effectiveness of the resource sharing will be evaluated as part of the administrative review of each Non-Competing Grant Progress Report (PHS 2590), See Section VI.3., "Reporting."
3. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates
Not applicable.
Section VI. Award Administration Information
1. Award Notices
After the peer review of the application is completed, the PD/PI will be able to access his or her Summary Statement (written critique) via the NIH eRA Commons.
If the application is under consideration for funding, NIH will request "just-in-time" information from the applicant. For details, applicants may refer to the NIH Grants Policy Statement Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart A: General.
A formal notification in the form of a Notice of Award (NoA) will be provided to the applicant organization. The NoA signed by the grants management officer is the authorizing document. Once all administrative and programmatic issues have been resolved, the NoA will be generated via email notification from the awarding component to the grantee business official.
Selection of an application for award is not an authorization to begin performance. Any costs incurred before receipt of the NoA are at the recipient's risk. These costs may be reimbursed only to the extent considered allowable pre-award costs. See Section IV.5., "Funding Restrictions."
2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements
All NIH grant and cooperative agreement awards include the NIH Grants Policy Statement as part of the NoA. For these terms of award, see the NIH Grants Policy Statement Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart A: General and Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart B: Terms and Conditions for Specific Types of Grants, Grantees, and Activities.
When multiple years are involved, awardees will be required to submit the Non-Competing Grant Progress Report (PHS 2590) annually and financial statements as required in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
We encourage your inquiries concerning this funding opportunity and welcome the opportunity to answer questions from potential applicants. Inquiries may fall into three areas: scientific/research, peer review, and financial or grants management issues:
1. Scientific/Research Contact:
Minda Lynch, Ph.D.
Division of Basic Neurosciences and Behavior Research
National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH, DHHS
6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 4282, MSC 9555
Bethesda, MD 20892-9555
Telephone: (301) 435-1322
Fax: (301) 594-6043
Email: email@example.com
2. Peer Review Contact:
Not Applicable.
3. Financial/Grants Management Contact:
Catherine Mills, Grants Management Branch
National Institute on Drug Abuse/NIH/DHHS
6101 Executive Boulevard, Room 270
Bethesda, MD 20892-8403
Telephone: (301) 443-6710
Fax: (301) 594-6849
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Section VIII. Other Information
Required Federal Citations
Use of Animals in Research:
Recipients of PHS support for activities involving live, vertebrate animals must comply with PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/references/PHSPolicyLabAnimals.pdf) as mandated by the Health Research Extension Act of 1985 (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/references/hrea1985.htm), and the USDA Animal Welfare Regulations (http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/legislat/usdaleg1.htm) as applicable.
Human Subjects Protection:
Federal regulations (45 CFR 46) require that applications and proposals involving human subjects must be evaluated with reference to the risks to the subjects, the adequacy of protection against these risks, the potential benefits of the research to the subjects and others, and the importance of the knowledge gained or to be gained (http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/45cfr46.htm).
Data and Safety Monitoring Plan:
Data and safety monitoring is required for all types of clinical trials, including physiologic toxicity and dose-finding studies (Phase I); efficacy studies (Phase II); efficacy, effectiveness and comparative trials (Phase III). Monitoring should be commensurate with risk. The establishment of data and safety monitoring boards (DSMBs) is required for multi-site clinical trials involving interventions that entail potential risks to the participants ("NIH Policy for Data and Safety Monitoring," NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts, https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/not98-084.html).
Sharing Research Data:
Investigators submitting an NIH application seeking $500,000 or more in direct costs in any single year are expected to include a plan for data sharing or state why this is not possible (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/data_sharing).
Investigators should seek guidance from their institutions, on issues related to institutional policies and local IRB rules, as well as local, State and Federal laws and regulations, including the Privacy Rule. Reviewers will consider the data sharing plan but will not factor the plan into the determination of the scientific merit or the priority score.
Access to Research Data through the Freedom of Information Act:
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-110 has been revised to provide access to research data through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) under some circumstances. Data that are (1) first produced in a project that is supported in whole or in part with Federal funds and (2) cited publicly and officially by a Federal agency in support of an action that has the force and effect of law (i.e., a regulation) may be accessed through FOIA. It is important for applicants to understand the basic scope of this amendment. NIH has provided guidance at https://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/a110/a110_guidance_dec1999.htm. Applicants may wish to place data collected under this funding opportunity in a public archive, which can provide protections for the data and manage the distribution for an indefinite period of time. If so, the application should include a description of the archiving plan in the study design and include information about this in the budget justification section of the application. In addition, applicants should think about how to structure informed consent statements and other human subjects procedures given the potential for wider use of data collected under this award.
Sharing of Model Organisms:
NIH is committed to support efforts that encourage sharing of important research resources including the sharing of model organisms for biomedical research (see https://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/model_organism/index.htm). At the same time the NIH recognizes the rights of grantees and contractors to elect and retain title to subject inventions developed with Federal funding pursuant to the Bayh Dole Act (see the NIH Grants Policy Statement. Beginning October 1, 2004, all investigators submitting an NIH application or contract proposal are expected to include in the application/proposal a description of a specific plan for sharing and distributing unique model organism research resources generated using NIH funding or state why such sharing is restricted or not possible. This will permit other researchers to benefit from the resources developed with public funding. The inclusion of a model organism sharing plan is not subject to a cost threshold in any year and is expected to be included in all applications where the development of model organisms is anticipated.
Inclusion of Women And Minorities in Clinical Research:
It is the policy of the NIH that women and members of minority groups and their sub-populations must be included in all NIH-supported clinical research projects unless a clear and compelling justification is provided indicating that inclusion is inappropriate with respect to the health of the subjects or the purpose of the research. This policy results from the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 (Section 492B of Public Law 103-43). All investigators proposing clinical research should read the "NIH Guidelines for Inclusion of Women and Minorities as Subjects in Clinical Research" (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-02-001.html); a complete copy of the updated Guidelines is available at https://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/women_min/guidelines_amended_10_2001.htm. The amended policy incorporates: the use of an NIH definition of clinical research; updated racial and ethnic categories in compliance with the new OMB standards; clarification of language governing NIH-defined Phase III clinical trials consistent with the SF424 (R&R) application; and updated roles and responsibilities of NIH staff and the extramural community. The policy continues to require for all NIH-defined Phase III clinical trials that: a) all applications or proposals and/or protocols must provide a description of plans to conduct analyses, as appropriate, to address differences by sex/gender and/or racial/ethnic groups, including subgroups if applicable; and b) investigators must report annual accrual and progress in conducting analyses, as appropriate, by sex/gender and/or racial/ethnic group differences.
Inclusion of Children as Participants in Clinical Research:
The NIH maintains a policy that children (i.e., individuals under the age of 21) must be included in all clinical research, conducted or supported by the NIH, unless there are scientific and ethical reasons not to include them.
All investigators proposing research involving human subjects should read the "NIH Policy and Guidelines" on the inclusion of children as participants in research involving human subjects (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/children/children.htm).
Required Education on the Protection of Human Subject Participants:
NIH policy requires education on the protection of human subject participants for all investigators submitting NIH applications for research involving human subjects and individuals designated as key personnel. The policy is available at https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-00-039.html.
Human Embryonic Stem Cells (hESC):
Criteria for federal funding of research on hESCs can be found at http://stemcells.nih.gov/index.asp and at https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-02-005.html. Only research using hESC lines that are registered in the NIH Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry will be eligible for Federal funding (http://escr.nih.gov/). It is the responsibility of the applicant to provide in the project description and elsewhere in the application as appropriate, the official NIH identifier(s) for the hESC line(s) to be used in the proposed research. Applications that do not provide this information will be returned without review.
NIH Public Access Policy:
NIH-funded investigators are requested to submit to the NIH manuscript submission (NIHMS) system (http://www.nihms.nih.gov/) at PubMed Central (PMC) an electronic version of the author's final manuscript upon acceptance for publication, resulting from research supported in whole or in part with direct costs from NIH. The author's final manuscript is defined as the final version accepted for journal publication, and includes all modifications from the publishing peer review process.
NIH is requesting that authors submit manuscripts resulting from 1) currently funded NIH research projects or 2) previously supported NIH research projects if they are accepted for publication on or after May 2, 2005. The NIH Public Access Policy applies to all research grant and career development award mechanisms, cooperative agreements, contracts, Institutional and Individual Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards, as well as NIH intramural research studies. The Policy applies to peer-reviewed, original research publications that have been supported in whole or in part with direct costs from NIH, but it does not apply to book chapters, editorials, reviews, or conference proceedings. Publications resulting from non-NIH-supported research projects should not be submitted.
For more information about the Policy or the submission process, please visit the NIH Public Access Policy Web site at http://publicaccess.nih.gov// and view the Policy or other Resources and Tools, including the Authors' Manual.
Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information:
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued final modification to the "Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information", the "Privacy Rule", on August 14, 2002. The Privacy Rule is a federal regulation under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 that governs the protection of individually identifiable health information, and is administered and enforced by the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
Decisions about applicability and implementation of the Privacy Rule reside with the researcher and his/her institution. The OCR website (http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/) provides information on the Privacy Rule, including a complete Regulation Text and a set of decision tools on "Am I a covered entity?" Information on the impact of the HIPAA Privacy Rule on NIH processes involving the review, funding, and progress monitoring of grants, cooperative agreements, and research contracts can be found at https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-03-025.html.
URLs in NIH Grant Applications or Appendices:
All applications and proposals for NIH funding must be self-contained within specified page limitations. For publications listed in the appendix and/or Progress report, Internet addresses (URLs) or PubMed Central (PMC) submission identification numbers must be used for publicly accessible on-line journal articles. Publicly accessible on-line journal articles or PMC articles/manuscripts accepted for publication that are directly relevant to the project may be included only as URLs or PMC submission identification numbers accompanying the full reference in either the Bibliography & References Cited section, the Progress Report Publication List section, or the Biographical Sketch section of the NIH grant application. A URL or PMC submission identification number citation may be repeated in each of these sections as appropriate. There is no limit to the number of URLs or PMC submission identification numbers that can be cited.
Healthy People 2010:
The Public Health Service (PHS) is committed to achieving the health promotion and disease prevention objectives of "Healthy People 2010," a PHS-led national activity for setting priority areas. This FOA is related to one or more of the priority areas. Potential applicants may obtain a copy of "Healthy People 2010" at http://www.health.gov/healthypeople.
Authority and Regulations:
This program is described in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance at http://www.cfda.gov/ and is not subject to the intergovernmental review requirements of Executive Order 12372 or Health Systems Agency review. Awards are made under the authorization of Sections 301 and 405 of the Public Health Service Act as amended (42 USC 241 and 284) and under Federal Regulations 42 CFR Part 52 and 45 CFR Parts 74 and 92. All awards are subject to the terms and conditions, cost principles, and other considerations described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
The PHS strongly encourages all grant recipients to provide a smoke-free workplace and discourage the use of all tobacco products. In addition, Public Law 103-227, the Pro-Children Act of 1994, prohibits smoking in certain facilities (or in some cases, any portion of a facility) in which regular or routine education, library, day care, health care, or early childhood development services are provided to children. This is consistent with the PHS mission to protect and advance the physical and mental health of the American people.
Loan Repayment Programs:
NIH encourages applications for educational loan repayment from qualified health professionals who have made a commitment to pursue a research career involving clinical, pediatric, contraception, infertility, and health disparities related areas. The LRP is an important component of NIH's efforts to recruit and retain the next generation of researchers by providing the means for developing a research career unfettered by the burden of student loan debt. Note that an NIH grant is not required for eligibility and concurrent career award and LRP applications are encouraged. The periods of career award and LRP award may overlap providing the LRP recipient with the required commitment of time and effort, as LRP awardees must commit at least 50% of their time (at least 20 hours per week based on a 40 hour week) for two years to the research. For further information, please see: http://www.lrp.nih.gov/.
Weekly TOC for this Announcement
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices
Office of Extramural
Research (OER)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
9000 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, Maryland 20892
Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS)
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text:
6 Environmental Contaminants
Cherokee County - Kansas
Tailings impoundment,
Crestline Subsite, Cherokee County, KS. Jan. 30, 2004. Photo taken by John Miesner/USFWS
After 150 years of mining and smelting, chat piles, tailings
sites, development and waste rock piles, and
subsidence ponds
(collapses of underground mined areas) are prominent features
of the landscape in the four counties of the district.
Much of the total volume of surface mine wastes has been
removed over the last few decades to provide materials for
building and roads. Approximately 94% of Kansas wastes
have been removed; however, thousands of acres of wastes still
remain on the ground surface. Much of this waste is
highly contaminated with hazardous substances, including
cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), and selenium
(Se). Of these, cadmium, lead, and zinc are the main
contaminants at the site because of their relative volume,
concentration, or
Because of threats posed to human health and the environment
by mining-related releases of hazardous substances, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Superfund Program
included mining-impacted areas in all three states on its
National Priorities List (NPL) in 1983. The Cherokee
County Superfund site has been divided into seven mining areas:
Baxter Springs,
Badger, Lawton, Waco, and Crestline. EPA has pursued
and implemented remedies for some of the identified operable
units while
others are still in process.
Links to more information
Photo Gallery
If you have any questions or comments related to the Cherokee
County NRDA, contact us via email or telephone:
John Miesner- Contaminants Specialist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 785-539-3474 ex.103
Mountain-Prairie Region
Environmental Contaminants Home Page
National Environmental Contaminants Program
Home Page
USFWS Region 6
Home PageUSFWS National Home


text:
Sunday, July 22, 2012
The Brandons
Oh, and what to do about Belt? The poor guy is looking worse by the day. He's swinging and missing stuff, not even getting weak contact. I hope he can turn it around, the Giants really need him to produce. This lineup is a lot of little parts adding up to something good, and everyone has to pull their weight. When Brandon Crawford makes you look bad, that's bad.
3 comments:
Brandon Belt, Joaquin Arias, Gregor Blanco, Nate Schierholtz. These guys all seem streaky and slumpy. When you get a couple of them in a slump at once, it is noticeable. Nate has looked great lately, two home runs yesterday, but not too long ago looked pretty much the same as Belt does now. That is, horrid at the plate to the point that he is unable to put the bat on the ball when he needs to. Arias and Blanco, hot as could be for awhile, then cold as could be. What you wind up with is guys batting .230, .240 or so. Belt has looked wonderful, hit with power, been selective and piled up hits, and but not lately. Of course, the press is all about how Sabean might make a trade for help at first. In Sabean's most recent statement about Belt, he said that the Giants were committed to his development. That was just a couple days ago. Belt is young (24y, 187 AB, 2011). Arias, Blanco and Nate are not as young in age or service time (Arias, 27y, 257 AB, 2006 - 2011; Blanco 28y, 710 AB 2008 - 2011; Nate 28y, 922 AB 2008 - 2011). You have to believe that Belt has potential to be more consistent but wonder if these other guys have reached their potential, and will remain streaky. I don't put Pagan in this category, because you know he will come out of his funk. Nor do I include Burriss, as I do not believe him capable of going on a hitting streak with any meaning, although he has contributed from time to time. If Bochy could catch Belt, Nate, Arias and Blanco through their hot streaks and sit them when cold, then we will be alright. Big if.
- Mon Jul 23, 09:03:00 AM PDT
- Brother Bob said...
We have a lot of AAAA talent on the roster. Some of these guys are never going to amount to much. Burriss in particular has had many chances to show his worth. He'll never be anything more than a role-player, someone who can play on Sundays and pinch run, etc.
Bochy seems to do a good job of juggling his lineups, keeping everyone involved.
It was sweet to see Nate put his money where his mouth is, following up his public complaint about playing time and then hitting 2 jacks. He's the one guy I'd love to see turn it on more often.
- Mon Jul 23, 10:23:00 AM PDT
- M.C. O'Connor said...
Yeah, I think the Giants are committed to Belt and Schierholtz both, neither of them are going anywhere. Nate's glove makes him valuable in the OF mix, just like Blanco, even when the bats aren't there. And any player who is happy in a sub role is not a guy you want around. They should all be unhappy when they aren't starting.
Belt is too young to give up on, but man is he frustrating to watch. If the Giants look for help I hope it is a bench/role player, not a starter. They could use a RH power bat off the bench who could play the IF corners.
- Mon Jul 23, 02:51:00 PM PDT