Technical Efficiency of Major Food and Cash Crops in Karnataka (India)

Among the important issues debated in the current phase pertaining to the agricultural sector include the expectations about the next technological phase and the efficiency parameters during the current phase. Growing population as well as income enhances the demand for agricultural products and there is no scope for expanding land frontiers and further there is increasing trend of diversion of cultivable land for nonagricultural purposes (Deshpande and Bhende, 2003). The only option remained to increase agricultural production is through adoption of improved technology and ...cash crops, cotton, crop production, Efficiency, food crops, groundnuts, production economics, production functions, Karnataka

Technical Efficiency of Major Food and Cash Crops in Karnataka (India)

Among the important issues debated in the current phase pertaining to the agricultural sector include the expectations about the next technological phase and the efficiency parameters during the current phase. Growing population as well as income enhances the demand for agricultural products and there is no scope for expanding land frontiers and further there is increasing trend of diversion of cultivable land for nonagricultural purposes (Deshpande and Bhende, 2003). The only option remained to increase agricultural production is through adoption of improved technology and ...cash crops, cotton, crop production, Efficiency, food crops, groundnuts, production economics, production functions, Karnataka

Targeting the PI3K/AKT/MTOR pathway in KSHV-associated cancers

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is linked to three different human cancers: Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) and multicentric Castleman's disease (MCD). We have previously reported that the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway is critical for the survival of KSHV-infected endothelial cells and B cells, and have demonstrated that Rapamycin/Sirolimus, an inhibitor of mTOR, can induce PEL cell death in vitro and in vivo (Sin et al., Blood. 2007. 109(5):2165–73). We have now extended these findings and demonstrate that therapeutic targeting of other members of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signal transduction pathway can also induce cell death in PEL in vitro and inhibit tumor growth in murine xenograft models. Importantly, some of these novel drug candidates have passed clinical trials for other indications and can therefore be tested for efficacy against KS and AIDS-associated lymphomas

Methylated DNA recognition during the reversal of epigenetic silencing is regulated by cysteine and cerine residues in the Epstein-Barr Virus lytic switch protein

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) causes infectious mononucleosis and is associated with various malignancies, including Burkitt's lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Like all herpesviruses, the EBV life cycle alternates between latency and lytic replication. During latency, the viral genome is largely silenced by host-driven methylation of CpG motifs and, in the switch to the lytic cycle, this epigenetic silencing is overturned. A key event is the activation of the viral BRLF1 gene by the immediate-early protein Zta. Zta is a bZIP transcription factor that preferentially binds to specific response elements (ZREs) in the BRLF1 promoter (Rp) when these elements are methylated. Zta's ability to trigger lytic cycle activation is severely compromised when a cysteine residue in its bZIP domain is mutated to serine (C189S), but the molecular basis for this effect is unknown. Here we show that the C189S mutant is defective for activating Rp in a Burkitt's lymphoma cell line. The mutant is compromised both in vitro and in vivo for binding two methylated ZREs in Rp (ZRE2 and ZRE3), although the effect is striking only for ZRE3. Molecular modeling of Zta bound to methylated ZRE3, together with biochemical data, indicate that C189 directly contacts one of the two methyl cytosines within a specific CpG motif. The motif's second methyl cytosine (on the complementary DNA strand) is predicted to contact S186, a residue known to regulate methyl-ZRE recognition. Our results suggest that C189 regulates the enhanced interaction of Zta with methylated DNA in overturning the epigenetic control of viral latency. As C189 is conserved in many bZIP proteins, the selectivity of Zta for methylated DNA may be a paradigm for a more general phenomenon

Management as a factor of production in the semi-arid tropics of rural South India

Using time series, cross-sectional data, the paper describes and explains interfarm variations in managerial performance in the semi arid tropics of rural South India. The study focuses on the consequences of personal characteristics on efficiency as measured by relative productivity differences in net returns to management. Managerial performance is statistically evaluated with respect to farmers in the same village. The study is based on data for five cropping years from 1975/76 to 1979/80 collected from the ICRISAT Village Level Studies. Farming experience was the overriding consideration separating good from bad managers. Older farmers, those born into traditional farming, and those who practised hands-on farming, had significantly higher returns to management. These results emphasize the importance in understanding occupational status by migration interactio

Common Features and Contrasts in Labor Relations in the Semiarid Tropics of India

The main objectives of this paper are (1) to document and explain labor market arrangements in different agroclimatic and socioeconomic zones on the basis of intensive survey data; (2) to explore linkages of transactions in labor markets with transactions in other markets such as those for credit, draft power, and outputs, as well as linkages between caste status and type of labor performed; and (3) to characterize, as far as possible, the changes, if any, in labor relations over time

Common Features And Contrasts In Labor Relations In The Semiarid Tropics Of India

'I he niaitt ohjcctivcs of this paper are (I) to document and explain labor market arranpcnients in tlifl'ercnt agroclimatic and socicwonomic zones on the basis of intensive survey data; (2) to explore linkages of transactions in labor ninrkets \rith transactions in other mnrkets such as those for credit. dral't po\sfer, ant1 outpitt~a. s well as linkages bctween caste status and type of labor perfornied: and (3) to characterize. iIS far as possible. thc changes. if any, in labor relations over time

Multivariable control of a grid-connected wind energy conversion system with power quality enhancement

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of the following article: Kaddour Fouad, Houari Merabet Boulouiha, Ahmed Allali, Ali Taibi, and Mouloud Denai, ‘Multivariable control of a grid-connected wind energy conversion system with power quality enhancement’, Energy Systems, Vol. 9 (1): 25-57, February 2018. The final publication is available at Springer via: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12667-016-0223-7This paper proposes the design of a multivariable robust control strategy for a variable-speed WECS based on a SCIG. Optimal speed control of the SCIG is achieved by a conventional PI controller combined with a MPPT strategy. DTC-SVM technique based on a simple Clarke transformation is used to control the generator-side three-level converter in the variable speed WECS. The flow of real and reactive power between the inverter and the grid is controlled via the grid real and reactive currents and the DC link voltage using multivariable H∞ control. The overall WECS and control scheme are developed in Matlab/Simulink and the performance of the proposed control strategy is evaluated via a set of simulation scenarios replicating various operating conditions of the WECS such as variable wind speed and asymmetric single grid faults. The power quality of the WECS system under H∞ control control approach is assessed and the results show a significant improvement in the total harmonic distorsion as compared to that achieved with a classical PI control.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Methylation-Dependent Binding of the Epstein-Barr Virus BZLF1 Protein to Viral Promoters

The switch between latent and lytic Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection is mediated by the viral immediate-early (IE) protein, BZLF1 (Z). Z, a homologue of c-jun that binds to AP1-like motifs (ZREs), induces expression of the BRLF1 (R) and BRRF1 (Na) viral proteins, which cooperatively activate transcription of the Z promoter and thereby establish a positive autoregulatory loop. A unique feature of Z is its ability to preferentially bind to, and activate, the methylated form of the BRLF1 promoter (Rp). To date, however, Rp is the only EBV promoter known to be regulated in this unusual manner. We now demonstrate that the promoter driving transcription of the early BRRF1 gene (Nap) has two CpG-containing ZREs (ACGCTCA and TCGCCCG) that are only bound by Z in the methylated state. Both Nap ZREs are highly methylated in cells with latent EBV infection. Z efficiently activates the methylated, but not unmethylated, form of Nap in reporter gene assays, and both ZREs are required. Z serine residue 186, which was previously shown to be required for Z binding to methylated ZREs in Rp, but not for Z binding to the AP1 site, is required for Z binding to methylated Nap ZREs. The Z(S186A) mutant cannot activate methylated Nap in reporter gene assays and does not induce Na expression in cells with latent EBV infection. Molecular modeling studies of Z bound to the methylated Nap ZREs help to explain why methylation is required for Z binding, and the role of the Z Ser186 residue. Methylation-dependent Z binding to critical viral promoters may enhance lytic reactivation in latently infected cells, where the viral genome is heavily methylated. Conversely, since the incoming viral genome is initially unmethylated, methylation-dependent Z activation may also help the virus to establish latency following infection