Salient Aspects of the Growth Story of Indian Railways 1981-82 through 2007-08

This paper makes an attempt to provide a broad overview of the salient aspects of the growth story of Indian Railways (IR) since independence. More specifically, the study aims to analyse the trends of output and employment for the period 1981-82 through 2007-08. The entire study period is divided into three sub-periods - Period I (1981-82 to1991-92);PeriodII(1992-93-2002-03);PeriodIII(2003-04to2007-08). Inaddition, the study also looks at the 'turnaround' story of IR. The output of IR is categorised as freight (NTKM) and passenger (PKM) outputs. Labour is divided into three categories - skilled management personnel (group A&B), semi-skilled employees (group C) and unskilled employees (group D). The data on freight output reveal that while the average annual growth rates of NTKM declined in the second period over the first period, high average annual growth rates of freight output were registered in the third period. The rate of growth of PKMs increased over the study period across IR. The employment scenario across IR shows that the percentage share of the skilled management personnel (group A&B) remained more or less the same over the entire study period, while the percentage share of the semi-skilled labour (group C) increased from around 51 percent in the first period to nearly 63 percent in the third period. The percentage share of the unskilled labour (group D) registered a decline from the first period to the third period (from nearly 49 percent to 36 percent respectively). The rate of growth of labour productivity registered an increase in all the three periods over IR. The contribution made by the skilled management personnel to output is more when compared to the semi-skilled labour. The turnaround story tells us that the high growth rates of output and earnings on IR were made possible through the implementation of various strategies already in place.India, railroads, output, Employment

A Subset of Latency-Reversing Agents Expose HIV-Infected Resting CD4⁺ T-Cells to Recognition by Cytotoxic T-Lymphocytes

Resting CD4⁺ T-cells harboring inducible HIV proviruses are a critical reservoir in antiretroviral therapy (ART)-treated subjects. These cells express little to no viral protein, and thus neither die by viral cytopathic effects, nor are efficiently cleared by immune effectors. Elimination of this reservoir is theoretically possible by combining latency-reversing agents (LRAs) with immune effectors, such as CD8⁺ T-cells. However, the relative efficacy of different LRAs in sensitizing latently-infected cells for recognition by HIV-specific CD8⁺ T-cells has not been determined. To address this, we developed an assay that utilizes HIV-specific CD8⁺ T-cell clones as biosensors for HIV antigen expression. By testing multiple CD8⁺ T-cell clones against a primary cell model of HIV latency, we identified several single agents that primed latently-infected cells for CD8⁺ T-cell recognition, including IL-2, IL-15, two IL-15 superagonists (IL-15SA and ALT-803), prostratin, and the TLR-2 ligand Pam₃CSK₄. In contrast, we did not observe CD8⁺ T-cell recognition of target cells following treatment with histone deacetylase inhibitors or with hexamethylene bisacetamide (HMBA). In further experiments we demonstrate that a clinically achievable concentration of the IL-15 superagonist ‘ALT-803’, an agent presently in clinical trials for solid and hematological tumors, primes the natural ex vivo reservoir for CD8⁺ T-cell recognition. Thus, our results establish a novel experimental approach for comparative evaluation of LRAs, and highlight ALT-803 as an LRA with the potential to synergize with CD8⁺ T-cells in HIV eradication strategies.United States. National Institutes of Health (AI111860

Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor Romidepsin Induces HIV Expression in CD4 T Cells from Patients on Suppressive Antiretroviral Therapy at Concentrations Achieved by Clinical Dosing

Persistent latent reservoir of replication-competent proviruses in memory CD4 T cells is a major obstacle to curing HIV infection. Pharmacological activation of HIV expression in latently infected cells is being explored as one of the strategies to deplete the latent HIV reservoir. In this study, we characterized the ability of romidepsin (RMD), a histone deacetylase inhibitor approved for the treatment of T-cell lymphomas, to activate the expression of latent HIV. In an in vitro T-cell model of HIV latency, RMD was the most potent inducer of HIV (EC50 = 4.5 nM) compared with vorinostat (VOR; EC50 = 3,950 nM) and other histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors in clinical development including panobinostat (PNB; EC50 = 10 nM). The HIV induction potencies of RMD, VOR, and PNB paralleled their inhibitory activities against multiple human HDAC isoenzymes. In both resting and memory CD4 T cells isolated from HIV-infected patients on suppressive combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), a 4-hour exposure to 40 nM RMD induced a mean 6-fold increase in intracellular HIV RNA levels, whereas a 24-hour treatment with 1 μM VOR resulted in 2- to 3-fold increases. RMD-induced intracellular HIV RNA expression persisted for 48 hours and correlated with sustained inhibition of cell-associated HDAC activity. By comparison, the induction of HIV RNA by VOR and PNB was transient and diminished after 24 hours. RMD also increased levels of extracellular HIV RNA and virions from both memory and resting CD4 T-cell cultures. The activation of HIV expression was observed at RMD concentrations below the drug plasma levels achieved by doses used in patients treated for T-cell lymphomas. In conclusion, RMD induces HIV expression ex vivo at concentrations that can be achieved clinically, indicating that the drug may reactivate latent HIV in patients on suppressive cART

Analysis of Productivity Trends on Indian Railways

A large number of technological advancements have taken place on Indian Railways in recent times. Technological changes resulting in fuel and labor efficiency increase productivity and thereby reduce the cost of production on Indian Railways. To assess the productivity performance on Indian Railways, two outputs and three inputs are considered for the period from 1981-82 to 2002-03. During this period, there was large structural change in capital stocks, especially with respect to rolling stock and equipment. Embodied new technology in terms of diesel and electric engines was added. The study clearly shows that technological progress must have been a very important factor leading to higher productivity

The Estimation of Indian Railway Cost Function

Analysis of the cost structure of Indian Railways yields reasonable estimates of technical change, scale and substitution analysis. Technological advancements reduced fuel and labour services and increased capital services. Price elasticity of demand indicates that the own price elasticities of the inputs have negative sign. The cross price elasticities of demand are positive between labour and capital and so is the case with capital and fuel. The elasticity of substitution between the labour and fuel indicate complementarity and the elasticity between the labour and capital shows substitutability. The results show that fuel and capital are substitutes

Analysis of Productivity Trends on Indian Railways

A large number of technological advancements have taken place on Indian Railways in recent times. Technological changes resulting in fuel and labor efficiency increase productivity and thereby reduce the cost of production on Indian Railways. To assess the productivity performance on Indian Railways, two outputs and three inputs are considered for the period from 1981-82 to 2002-03. During this period, there was large structural change in capital stocks, especially with respect to rolling stock and equipment. Embodied new technology in terms of diesel and electric engines was added. The study clearly shows that technological progress must have been a very important factor leading to higher productivity

Salient Aspects of the Growth Story of Indian Railways 1981-82 through 2007-08

This paper makes an attempt to provide a broad overview of the salient aspects of the growth story of Indian Railways (IR) since independence. More specifically, the study aims to analyse the trends of output and employment for the period 1981-82 through 2007-08. The entire study period is divided into three sub-periods - Period I (1981-82 to1991-92);PeriodII(1992-93-2002-03);PeriodIII(2003-04to2007-08). Inaddition, the study also looks at the 'turnaround' story of IR. The output of IR is categorised as freight (NTKM) and passenger (PKM) outputs. Labour is divided into three categories - skilled management personnel (group A&B), semi-skilled employees (group C) and unskilled employees (group D). The data on freight output reveal that while the average annual growth rates of NTKM declined in the second period over the first period, high average annual growth rates of freight output were registered in the third period. The rate of growth of PKMs increased over the study period across IR. The employment scenario across IR shows that the percentage share of the skilled management personnel (group A&B) remained more or less the same over the entire study period, while the percentage share of the semi-skilled labour (group C) increased from around 51 percent in the first period to nearly 63 percent in the third period. The percentage share of the unskilled labour (group D) registered a decline from the first period to the third period (from nearly 49 percent to 36 percent respectively). The rate of growth of labour productivity registered an increase in all the three periods over IR. The contribution made by the skilled management personnel to output is more when compared to the semi-skilled labour. The turnaround story tells us that the high growth rates of output and earnings on IR were made possible through the implementation of various strategies already in place.India, railroads, output, employment

ORGANIZATION, POVERTY AND WOMEN: Andhra Pradesh in Global Perspective

WP 2011-13 April 201