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Functional Consequences Of Cytosine Methylation In Mitochondrial Dna Catalyzed By Dna Methyltransferase 1, Lisa Shock

Theses and Dissertations

Cytosine methylation of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was first described several decades ago, but neither the mechanism generating this modification nor its functional significance was known. Because mitochondrial dysfunction is a hallmark characteristic of numerous human diseases, including neurological and cardiovascular disease, aging and cancer, this dissertation addressed whether epigenetic modification of mtDNA regulates mitochondrial function. We show that mtDNA contains not only 5-methylcytosine (5mC), but also 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), suggesting that previous reports likely underestimated the degree of epigenetic modification within the mitochondrial genome. We questioned how these modifications were generated by looking for mitochondrial isoforms of the nuclear-encoded DNA methyltransferases. …

Development Of Novel Copolyoxetanes: Antimicrobial Agents, Allison King

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on solution antimicrobial effectiveness for copolyoxetanes with quaternary ammonium and PEG-like side chains. Ring opening copolymerization of 3-((4-bromobutoxy)methyl)-3-methyloxetane (BBOx) and 3-((2-(2-methoxyethoxy) ethoxy) methyl)-3-methyloxetane (ME2Ox) yielded random copolymers with 14-100 (m) mole% BBOx designated P[(BBOx-m)(ME2Ox)]. Reaction of P[(BBOx-m)(ME2Ox)] with dodecyl dimethylamine gave the corresponding quaternary P[(C12-m)(ME2Ox)] polycation salts, designated C12-m. Mole ratios and molecular weights were obtained from 1H-NMR and end group analysis. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies showed Tg’s between 69 and -34 °C. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa showed MIC decreasing with increasing C12 mole% reaching a minimum between …

Genetic Manipulation Of The Relapsing Fever Spirochete Borrelia Hermsii Permits Novel Investigation Into The Role Of Factor H Binding In Borrelial Virulence, Lindy Fine

Theses and Dissertations

Borrelia hermsii, an etiologic agent of tick-borne relapsing fever, binds negative complement regulator factor H (FH) via its FhbA protein. Direct demonstration of the role of FhbA in the disease process has been hindered by the lack of genetic manipulation systems for the relapsing fever Borrelia. Here, we demonstrate successful generation of a B. hermsii strain YOR fhbA deletion mutant (Bh YORΔfhbA) that constitutively produces green fluorescent protein (GFP). Genetic manipulation did not affect growth rate or plasmid composition. Bh YORΔfhbA lost factor H-binding and C3b-inactivation capabilities, but retained resistance to killing in human serum and infectivity in mice. Stable …

Embedded Foundations: Advancing Community Change And Empowerment, Paula Allen-Meares, Larry Gant, Trina Shanks

The Foundation Review

· Embedded funders are foundations that have made long-term commitments to the communities in which they are located or work.

· Foundations have a long history in funding community development, often with few concrete results.

· Political conditions, the increasing divide between rich and poor, inaccessibility of education, lack of housing, and continued segregation and racial discrimination are issues that need be addressed concurrently and resources need to be drawn from a variety of sources, particularly the neighborhoods themselves. This complexity has created an impetus for embedded philanthropy.

· Embedded funders work participatively with the community and frame evaluations in …

Beyond The Grant: How The W. K. Kellogg Foundation Went Beyond Grantmaking To Contribute To A Major Early Childhood Initiative, Stephen Greeley, Beth Greeley

The Foundation Review

· The seven-year SPARK (Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids) initiative, created by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), aimed at systemically linking the pre-K and kindergarten worlds as a way to position vulnerable children for greater success in the early grades.

· At the foundation, the initiative served as a departure point for WKKF to move from its traditional grantmaking role to a changemaker role.

· To create change, a foundation must articulate – and commit to – a point of view about how change can occur. A theory of change can be a powerful tool to guide ongoing …

Executive Summaries

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Funding Cultural Adaptations To Promote Effective And Efficient Mental Health Service Provision, Lynda E. Frost, Rick Ybarra

The Foundation Review

· Given the changing demographics of the U.S. and documented racial and ethnic health disparities, behavioral health service providers must look at adapting their services to better meet the needs of their diverse client populations.

· Grantees implemented three types of cultural adaptations: sociocultural/organizational, structural/ service delivery, and clinical.

· Most adaptations were not directly related to the specific evidence-based practice and would be relevant in many service-provision settings.

International Programming, Local Development, And Youth: An Experience In Northeast Brazil, Frances Hansford, Andrés Thompson

The Foundation Review

· The W. K. Kellogg Foundation funded a 10-year program of local development work in selected geographic areas in Northeast Brazil from 1997 – 2007.

· This article reports on program achievements and difficulties, and examines the ways in which the practices of the foundation facilitated and obstructed advances in the local development initiatives.

· Two main strategies were used: direct funding granted to organizations in the targeted regions and the creation of a comprehensive support system (e.g., youth projects funds, capacity-building in leadership and evaluation, and transfer of expertise from organizations).

· A team of foundation staff and consultants …

Trends In Global Philanthropy Among U.S. Foundations: A Brief Review Of Data And Issues, Anne C. Petersen, Gail D. Mcclure

The Foundation Review

· International grantmaking has increased dramatically in the past two decades, at a rate faster than domestic grantmaking.

· The increase in international grantmaking, stimulated by increased interest in global issues, was fueled by increased foundation assets and especially by new foundations created since 1990.

· While many of the issues confronting international grantmaking exist with domestic grantmaking, they have special aspects and increased importance because of the global context.

· Many foundations have now accumulated information about how best to work in partnership with other foundations, governments, and business; these lessons would benefit all foundations.

· Thoughtful collective action …

Peer Networking And Community Change: Improving Foundation Practice, Thomas E. Backer, Ralph Smith

The Foundation Review

· This article brings together the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 15 years of experience with peer networking— examining through two research studies the process of peer networking and its impact, both with community-based and funder groups.

· Peer networking helps people with common interests to exchange information, disseminate good practices, and build a leadership structure for work they do together, such as a community change initiative.

· Casey’s research identified 10 good practices for effective peer networking, as well as 10 challenges that can affect its success; a four-level model was created to provide context for these findings.

· The …

Learning From An Adaptive-Consultative Approach: One Foundation’S Experience In Creating Systems Change In Education, Srikanth Gopalakrishnan, Hallie Preskill

The Foundation Review

· This article describes a creative relationship between the Ball Foundation and the Rowland Unified School District. The approach was adopted by the Ball Foundation when they observed that grantees who had a closer relationship with them were more successful than those who had a more traditional relationship with them.

· Based on the concept of “adaptive leadership,” the relationship allows for flexibility and a more collaborative approach between the foundation and grantee.

· This approach requires both the funder and the grantee to be committed to learning and adapting strategies as needed to respond to both results and changing …

Leveraging Social Networks In Direct Services: Are Foundations Doing All They Can?, Katya Fels Smyth

The Foundation Review

· Social networks are critical to physical and mental health, and they shape how people see themselves and their possible futures.

· Social networks represent an under-leveraged resource in social services’ efforts to alleviate poverty and other social challenges.

· Foundations may be unintentionally creating barriers to practice that leverages social networks by incentivizing individually-focused, highly specific services delivered in standardized, replicable ways.

· “Network-oriented” practice can help craft a new way forward that threads the needle between everything-is-different-for-everyone and everything- is-the-same-for-everyone.

· By focusing funding on efforts that build and support social networks, foundations can deepen and sustain the …

Executive Summaries

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Developing Foundation-University-Grantee Collaboratives As A Model For High-Impact Philanthropy, Michelle B. Nayfack, Priscilla Wohlstetter

The Foundation Review

· This article reports on results from the Weingart Foundation’s Urban School Districts Reform Initiative. The goal of the initiative was to improve urban education, and ultimately raise student achievement, by supporting sustainable reforms in school districts educating high numbers of low-income students.

· The Weingart Foundation determined the scale and scope of the effort, and set forth specific goals and timelines; the districts were invited to propose projects that were organic and integrated into their own strategic plans.

· Based on research conducted by an intermediary, potential grantees were identified; six grantees were interviewed about their strategic plan priorities …

Expanding Organizational Advocacy Capacity: Reflections From The Field, Annette Gardner, Sara Geierstanger, Lori Miller Nascimento, Claire Brindis

The Foundation Review

· Organizational advocacy capacity is an increasingly important area of inquiry, raising questions about the opportunities (and limits) for achieving and sustaining policy change.

· The California Endowment implemented the Clinic Consortia Policy and Advocacy Program to expand grantee advocacy capacity to support the policy and operational needs of California’s community clinics.

· In-person meetings with decision-makers and developing working relationships were among the key advocacy activities undertaken by 19 grantees. Grantees secured several policy wins through a variety of strategies, including mobilizing member clinics to be potent advocates.

· The “return on investment analysis” indicates that grantees secured policymaker …

Assessing Nonprofit Networks Prior To Funding: Tools For Foundations To Determine Life Cycle Phase And Function, Patricia Zerounian, Janet Shing, Kristi D. Hanni

The Foundation Review

· Foundations and other funders can use life cycle analysis tools to determine a nonprofit network’s stage of development and functional characteristics as a precursor to funding network activities. Characteristics that determine a network’s readiness for funding include network cohesion (trust and communication), cooperation (mutual purpose and goals), and capacity for externally focused action.

· Network Mindset Survey analysis can help determine a network’s readiness for funding by measuring members’ understanding of the power and utility of networks; degree of membership engagement; identification of specific, common concerns; and readiness for productive action.

· Three networks that received foundation support for …

Exposing Real World Philanthropy To The Next Generation Of Social Work Leaders, Yoko Crume, Edgar Villanueva

The Foundation Review

· This article describes a method for instructing social work students in the art of enhanced collaboration with foundations, shifting the focus from “writing a winning proposal” and “finding alternative funding sources” to “developing collaborative partnerships for sustainable community development and social change.”

· The program consists of four major steps: charitable foundation review and case presentation, self-guided review of real-world proposals, mock grant proposal development, and side-by-side proposal review.

· Student proposals were rated similarly by the instructor and the foundation program officer, even though different criteria were used, suggesting that well-written proposals are also likely to clearly address …

Lessons (Not Yet) Learned, Marilyn J. Darling, Jillaine S. Smith

The Foundation Review

· Despite a significant influx of charitable dollars over the last 10 to 20 years, solutions to complex social problems remain elusive, while philanthropy has been facing growing pressure to account for its tax-free dollars; to demonstrate, replicate, and scale success; and to be transparent about failed social investments.

· When foundations and their nonprofit partners ignore a failure and move on, whether it is to protect their own reputation or the reputations of valued partners or simply because of the pressure to keep going, it is too easy to toss out the baby with the bathwater – to toss …

Promoting Community Leadership Among Community Foundations: The Role Of The Social Capital Benchmark Survey, Doug Easterling

The Foundation Review

· Faced with increased competition for donors and calls for measurable impact, many community foundations (CFs) are adopting a more proactive, strategic approach to philanthropy – one that has come to be known as "community leadership."

· Community leadership has proven challenging for many CFs. In theory, community assessment is a useful tool allowing CFs to identify strategic issues where leadership activities are warranted. This article examines the effect of a large, coordinated assessment project, the 2000 Social Capital Benchmark Survey (SCBS), conducted by Robert Putnam and the Saguaro Seminar at Harvard University.

· Of the 34 CFs that participated …

Community Philanthropy: How The Delta Region Revives, Embraces, And Promotes The Spirit Of Giving, Charlotte L. Williams, Sherece West, Joanna Klak

The Foundation Review

· Community philanthropy is the giving of time, talent, and treasure that when invested locally is characteristic of positive change and lasting development.

· This article reports on a survey of 31 small Arkansas communities of 5,000 to 15,000 in population using open-ended descriptive questions. Responses were compared across communities to assess variation in giving/fundraising, civic engagement, and leadership.

· Data confirm that giving/fundraising was substantial, particularly in communities with populations of 8,000 or less.

· Findings show that people are giving not only their money, but also their services, time, and skills – especially in times of emergency response. …

The Best Of The Humanistic And Technocratic: Why The Most Effective Work In Philanthropy Requires A Balance, Paul M. Connolly

The Foundation Review

· As a more technocratic approach to philanthropy has emerged over the past 15 years, it has been seen as the opposite of humanistic philanthropy.

· Rather than a dichotomy, these approaches are on a continuum.

· The best tools from each approach can and should be brought to bear, including the wellthought out and disciplined strategies and results orientation of technocrats and the values base, intuition, responsiveness, and flexibility of the humanists.

· Staff and board leaders at foundations should articulate the humanistic-technocratic blend they desire, deliberately distill it into the organizational culture and everyday practices, and hire staff …

Voices From The Field Iii: Lessons And Challenges For Foundations Based On Two Decades Of Community-Change Efforts, Anne Kubisch, Patricia Auspos, Prudence Brown, Emily Buck, Tom Dewar

The Foundation Review

· Building upon a previously published volume on Comprehensive Community Initiatives, this article focuses upon the implications for foundations of what has been learned about CCIs.

· CCIs can demonstrate increased community capacity and improved outcomes for some residents in their target neighborhoods, but they cannot demonstrate population-level change in key indicators of well-being.

· Five key questions about the role of funders and how they engage in community change are posed and discussed.

· Deep engagement in the community; thoughtful collaboration among funders of various types and sizes; the willingness to use other resources, capacities and tools in addition …

Finding The Fix: Embracing Philanthropy’S Role In Transforming An Urban Education Landscape, Kristen L. Mcdonald

The Foundation Review

· Education funders have historically used a “demonstration project” approach to funding, designed to lever change by demonstrating a new program and providing technical assistance to foster broader adoption.

· Despite demonstrating success with many of its grants, the Skillman Foundation’s education reform initiatives were derailed and undone by the instability of the district leadership, political landscape shifts, and disintegrating neighborhoods.

· A complete turnaround model must address the many issues facing a failing school, including culture, curriculum, school leadership, professional development, and classroom instruction. The stability of the central administration must also be considered.

· The new look at …

Executive Summaries

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Developing A Master Data Sharing Agreement: Seeking Student-Level Evidence To Support A Collaborative Community Effort In Education, Neil E. Carlson, Edwin Hernández, Chaná Edmond-Verley, Gustavo Rotondaro, Eleibny Feliz-Santana, Susan Heynig

The Foundation Review

· A private foundation, a public school system, and a state university joined forces to address a difficult, long-standing challenge: closing the academic achievement gap between urban and suburban students.

· All parties agreed that sharing of longitudinal, student-level data was required to drive and evaluate multiple efforts to close the gap, but significant technical, regulatory, and political obstacles stood in the way.

· The parties worked through multiple challenges and forged a Master Data Sharing Agreement (MDSA) that will facilitate both daily intelligence for program staff and powerful post-hoc research capacity.

· This MDSA text has been released online …

What Is A Family Foundation?, Michael Moody, Allison Lugo Knapp, Marlene Corrado

The Foundation Review

· Family foundations are important institutions, making up a significant portion of the foundation universe and having both local and global impact. Yet we have no shared definition of this diverse and evolving category. Clarifying the definition will help challenge persistent misconceptions, get perspective on the diversity, and improve foundations’ understanding of their own family dimensions.

· This article surveys the different definitions of family foundation that are, and have been, used by key organizations in the field and by researchers. It also reviews examples of the variations and complicating factors that make answering the title question difficult.

· A …

The Family Difference? Exploring The Congruence In Grant Distribution Patterns Between Family And Independent Foundations, Jasmine Mcginnis, Shena Ashley

The Foundation Review

· Using a broad group of family and independent foundations from a representative sample of Georgia foundations, the authors examined differences in giving patterns between family and independent foundations.

· Findings confirm the result of previous work that studied large foundations.

· There are no substantial differences between family and independent foundations’ preferences even when controlling for a nonprofit’s location and size.

· These findings are relevant for discussions about the role of non-family members on boards.

A Hedgehog Moment: The Roles And Pitfalls Of Strategic Philanthropy For Family Foundations And Donors: Book Review, Charles H. Hamilton

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

I'M Not Rockefeller: Implications For Major Foundations Seeking To Engage Ultra- High-Net-Worth Donors, Katherina M. Rosqueta, Kathleen Noonan, Miriam Shark

The Foundation Review

· This article describes how a group of 33 ultrahigh- net-worth philanthropists (UHNWPs) approach their giving.

· A few key areas dominated their giving priorities: education; health; poverty and social welfare; and children/youth initiatives each were a priority for more than a quarter of participants – with education expressed as an interest of 55 percent.

· A third of the 24 who responded to the question spent less than 10 percent of their full working time devoted to philanthropy, and 13 dedicated less than 20 percent of their working time.

· UHNWPs view their peers as their most trusted information …

Imitation Or Improvement? The Evolution Of Shareholder Derivative Litigation In The United States, United Kingdom, Canada, And Australia, Ann M. Scarlett

All Faculty Scholarship

Shareholder derivative litigation is a target of constant criticism within the United States (U.S.). Many scholars advocate for its abolition and others propose strict limitations on its use. If shareholder derivative litigation were universally disfavored, one would expect countries to be abandoning such litigation through legislative enactments or judicial rulings. Instead, many countries are expanding shareholder derivative litigation.

This Article compares the shareholder derivative action as developed in the U.S. with such actions in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. The U.S. has the most recognized and frequent uses of shareholder derivative actions, whereas such actions are rare in the …