The Collier Report of U.S. Government Contracting

Sampling of Federal Government Funding Actions/Set Asides

In order by amount of set aside monies.

• $9,633 - Monday the 3rd of December 2012
  Food And Drug Administration
  DEPT OF HHS/FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION
  CLOSELY ASSOCIATED-EPI RESEARCH TO CONTRACT TO SUPPORT COMMUNICATIONS EPI EXPERTISE AND ANNUAL MEETING AGAINST EPI CONTRACT - UNIV OF PENN

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• $93,968 - Monday the 3rd of December 2012
  Veterans Affairs Department
  642-PHILADELPHIA
  IGF::CL::IGF DIAGNOSTIC INAGING SERVICES

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• $917,289 - Wednesday the 27th of June 2012
  Office Of Policy Budget And Administration
  NBC ACQUISITION SERVICES DIVISION
  UNIVERSITY OF PENN

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• $82,751 - Tuesday the 3rd of January 2012
  Veterans Affairs Department
  642-PHILADEPHIA
  DIRECTOR OF POLICY ANALYSIS FOR THE NATIONAL CENTER ON HOMELESSNESS AMONG VETERANS

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• $8,132,297 - Thursday the 27th of September 2012
  Department Of Army
  W6QK ADAP SPT OFF
  OTHER DIRECT COST (ODCS)

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• $800,000 - Friday the 28th of September 2012
  Department Of Army
  W6QK ADAP SPT OFF
  OTHER DIRECT COST (ODCS)

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• $8,000 - Thursday the 15th of March 2012
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  GLENN RESEARCH CENTER
  LEADING AND MANAGING PEOPLE

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• $74,544 - Tuesday the 1st of December 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  ORGANISMS FROM THE DOMAIN ARCHAEA ARE WELL KNOWN FOR THEIR ABILITY TO THRIVE UNDER EXTREME CONDITIONS SUCH AS SATURATING SALT CONCENTRATIONS, VERY ACIDIC OR BASIC PH, AND EXTREME TEMPERATURES. IN PARTICULAR, THE HALOARCHAEA, WHICH THRIVE IN HYPERSALINE ENVIRONMENTS, CAN WITHSTAND HIGH LEVELS OF ULTRAVIOLET AND GAMMA IRRADIATION, AND ARE FOUND IN EXTREMELY COLD ENVIRONMENTS. SINCE HALOARCHAEA CAN TOLERATE MANY OFTHE SAME ENVIRONMENTAL STRESSES THAT ARE PREVALENT ON MARS, BETTER UNDERSTANDING THESE ORGANISMS MAY PROVIDE INSIGHTS INTO THE ADAPTATIONS THAT MIGHT MAKE LIFE ON OTHER PLANETS POSSIBLE. IN RECENT YEARS SOME ADAPTATIONS THAT ALLOW HALOARCHAEA TO THRIVE IN HIGH SALT ENVIRONMENTS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED. FOR EXAMPLE, MOST HALOARCHAEAL PROTEINS HAVE HIGHLY NEGATIVELY CHARGED SURFACES, ALLOWING THEM TO DISSOLVE AND FUNCTION PROPERLY IN HIGHLY SALINE ENVIRONMENTS. IN ADDITION, THE MAJORITY OF SECRETED PROTEINS ARE TRANSPORTED IN A FOLDED CONFORMATION, ENSURING PROTEIN STABILITY IN HIGH SALT EXTRACYTOPLASMIC ENVIRONMENTS. MOREOVER, PROKARYOTES, INCLUDING ARCHAEA, OFTEN LIVE IN SESSILE MULTISPECIES COMMUNITIES SUCH AS BIOFILMS. BIOFILMS BESTOW SEVERAL BENEFITS UPON THE SINGLE-CELLED ORGANISMS THAT INHABIT THEM, INCLUDING INCREASED RESISTANCE TO POTENTIALLY LETHAL HAZARDS SUCH AS ULTRAVIOLET IRRADIATION, DESICCATION, HEAVY METALS AND DETERGENTS. UNFORTUNATELY, LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT THE PROCESSES AND PROTEINS THAT ALLOW ARCHAEA TO ESTABLISH OR PERSIST IN BIOFILMS. THE FIRST STEP IN BIOFILM FORMATION REQUIRES THAT CELLS BIND TO A SURFACE. IN BACTERIA, SURFACE ADHESION INVOLVES AN EXTREMELY VERSATILE CELL SURFACE STRUCTURE, THE TYPE IV PILUS. INTERESTINGLY, OUR RECENT IN SILICO ANALYSES HAVE SHOWN THE TYPE IV PILIN-LIKE PROTEINS ARE HIGHLY CONSERVED IN ARCBAEA AS WELL AS BACTERIA AND THAT TBESE PROTEINS ARE LIKELY TO GIVE RISE TO A DIVERSE ARRAY OFTHESE STRUCTURES IN ARCBAEA. ELECTRON MICROSCOPY HAS CONFIRMED THE PRESENCE OF PILUS-LIKE STRUCTURES ON THE SURFACES OF METHANOGEN AND SULFOLOBUS WE HAVE RECENTLY SHOWN THAT THE HALOARCBAEON HALOFERAX VOLCANII, WHICH HAS A GENOME TBAT CONTAINS SIX OPERONS THAT ENCODE PUTATIVE PILINS, CAN ADHERE TO SURFACES. FURTBERMORE, WE HAVE DEMONSTRATED THAT HFX. VOLCANII SURFACE ADHESION REQUIRES THE PRESENCE OF THE PREPILIN PEPTIDASE, AN KEY ENZYME FOR THE ASSEMBLY OF TYPE IV PILI, INDICATING TBAT, AS IN BACTERIA, THESE STRUCTURES PLAY CRITICAL ROLES IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ARCHAEA IN BIOFILMS. TBE SPECIFIC AIMS OF OUR PROPOSAL ARE TO: 1) IDENTIFY THE SPECIFIC PILUS STRUCTURES INVOLVED IN SURFACE ADBESION; 2) TO CHARACTERIZE THE ARCHAEAL PILUS BIOSYNTHESIS MACBINERY, WHICH APPEARS TO BE SIMPLER THAN TBE WELL-CHARACTERIZED TYPE IV PILUS BIOSYNTHESIS MACHINERY OF GRAM-NEGATIVE BACTERIA; AND 3) TO DETERMINE THE FUNCTIONAL ROLES PLAYED BY TYPE IV PILI NOT INVOLVED IN SURFACE ADHESION. IN BACTERIA, TYPE IV PILI, AND CLOSELY RELATED PSEUDOPILI, ARE INVOLVED IN A WIDE RANGE OF DIVERSE CELLULAR ACTIVITIES, INCLUDING NATURAL COMPETENCE, NUTRIENT ACQUISITION, MOTILITY AND CONJUGATION. THE RESULTS GLEANED FROM OUR STUDIES WILL ALLOW US TO CHARACTERIZE THE INITIAL STAGES OF ARCHAEAL BIOFILM FORMATION. MOREOVER, BY ILLUMINATING THE SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AND AMONG BACTERIAL AND ARCHAEAL TYPE IV PILI, WILL ALSO ALLOW US TO ELUCIDATE THE BIOSYNTHESIS AND FUNCTIONALITY OFTHESE SEEMINGLY ANCIENT, AND UNDENIABLY VITAL, SURFACE STRUCTURES IN AN EXTREMEOPHILE THAT HAS SUCCESSFULLY ADAPTED TO SOME OFTHE SAME HARSH CONDITIONS FOUND IN SOME REGIONS OFTHE MARTIAN SURFACE.

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• $720,395 - Wednesday the 22nd of August 2012
  Defense Threat Reduction Agency
  DEFENSE THREAT REDUCTION AGENCY
  BASE YEAR EXTENSION AND ADD ADDITIONAL TASKS.

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• $69,341 - Monday the 3rd of December 2012
  Veterans Affairs Department
  642-PHILADELPHIA
  CLOSELY ASSOCIATED - RESEARCH SUPPORT FOR THE NATIONAL CENTER ON HOMELESSNESS AMONG VETERANS.

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