37 research outputs found
Report of the Task Force on Enhancing technology use in agriculture insurance
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) is a flagship scheme of the Government of India to
provide insurance coverage and financial support to farmers in the event of failure of any of the
notified crops, unsown area and damage to harvest produce as a result of natural calamities, pests
and diseases to stabilise the income of farmers, and to encourage them to adopt modern agricultural
practices. The scheme is a considerable improvement over all previous insurance schemes in India
and is heavily subsidised by the state and central governments. The scheme aims to cover 50 percent
of the farming households within next 3 years.
During its implementation in the last one season, several challenges relating to enrolment, yield
estimation, loss assessment, and claim settlement were reported by farmers, insurance companies
as well as the state governments. It was also noted that several technological opportunities existed
for possibly leveraging support to the Indian crop insurance program for enhanced efficiency and
effectiveness. NITI Aayog of the Government of India, therefore, constituted a Task Force to deliberate
on this subject and identify such potential opportunities. This report summarises the recommendations
of the Task Force.
The Task Force constituted to address the issue of technology support to crop insurance comprised
the following 5 sub-groups: (1) Remote Sensing & Drones; (2) Decision Support Systems, Crop
Modelling & Integrated Approaches; (3) IT/ICT in Insurance; (4) Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs); and
(5) Technologies for Livestock and Aquaculture Insurance. Each sub-group had several discussions
with experts in the respective areas, and submitted draft reports. More than 100 experts related to
professional research agencies, insurance industry, banks, and the government contributed to these
discussions. Technological options available in the country and abroad were considered by all groups.
The Task Force together with the sub-groups then deliberated on key issues and formulated its
recommendations as presented in this report. During the discussions it was realised that there were
many administrative and institutional issues that needed to be addressed in PMFBY. However, the
focus of the Task Force was on its main mandate, technology use in crop insurance. We hope these
recommendations would help the Indian crop insurance sector take full advantage of the technological
options suggested so as to increase its efficacy and effectiveness leading to reduced agrarian distress
in the country
Effect of Ultrasonic-Assisted Blanching on Size Variation, Heat Transfer, and Quality Parameters of Mushrooms
The main aim of this work was to assess the influence
of the application of power ultrasound during blanching
of mushrooms (60 90 °C) on the shrinkage, heat transfer, and
quality parameters. Kinetics of mushroom shrinkage was
modeled and coupled to a heat transfer model for conventional
(CB) and ultrasonic-assisted blanching (UB). Cooking value
and the integrated residual enzymatic activity were obtained
through predicted temperatures and related to the hardness and
color variations of mushrooms, respectively. The application
of ultrasound led to an increase of shrinkage and heat transfer
rates, being this increase more intense at low process temperatures.
Consequently, processing time was decreased (30.7
46.0 %) and a reduction in hardness (25.2 40.8 %) and
lightness (13.8 16.8 %) losses were obtained. The best retention
of hardness was obtained by the UB at 60 °C, while to
maintain the lightness it was the CB and UB at 90 °C. For
enhancing both quality parameters simultaneously, a combined
treatment (CT), which consisted of a CB 0.5 min at
90 °C and then an UB 19.9min at 60 °C, was designed. In this
manner, compared with the conventional treatment at 60 °C,
reductions of 39.1, 27.2, and 65.5 % for the process time,
hardness and lightness losses were achieved, respectively.
These results suggest that the CT could be considered as an
interesting alternative to CB in order to reduce the processing
time and improve the overall quality of blanched mushrooms.The authors acknowledge the financial support of Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas and Universidad Nacional de La Plata from Argentina, Erasmus Mundus Action 2-Strand 1 and EuroTango II Researcher Training Program and Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (SPAIN) and the FEDER (project DPI2012-37466-CO3-03).Lespinard, A.; Bon Corbín, J.; Cárcel Carrión, JA.; Benedito Fort, JJ.; Mascheroni, RH. (2015). Effect of Ultrasonic-Assisted Blanching on Size Variation, Heat Transfer, and Quality Parameters of Mushrooms. Food and Bioprocess Technology. 8(1):41-53. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11947-014-1373-zS415381Aguirre, L., Frias, J. M., Barry-Ryan, C., & Grogan, H. (2009). Modelling browning and brown spotting of mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus) stored in controlled environmental conditions using image analysis. Journal of Food Engineering, 91, 280–286.Anantheswaran, R. C., Sastry, S. K., Beelman, R. 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Loss of Function of the Cik1/Kar3 Motor Complex Results in Chromosomes with Syntelic Attachment That Are Sensed by the Tension Checkpoint
The attachment of sister kinetochores by microtubules emanating from opposite spindle poles establishes chromosome bipolar attachment, which generates tension on chromosomes and is essential for sister-chromatid segregation. Syntelic attachment occurs when both sister kinetochores are attached by microtubules from the same spindle pole and this attachment is unable to generate tension on chromosomes, but a reliable method to induce syntelic attachments is not available in budding yeast. The spindle checkpoint can sense the lack of tension on chromosomes as well as detached kinetochores to prevent anaphase onset. In budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, tension checkpoint proteins Aurora/Ipl1 kinase and centromere-localized Sgo1 are required to sense the absence of tension but are dispensable for the checkpoint response to detached kinetochores. We have found that the loss of function of a motor protein complex Cik1/Kar3 in budding yeast leads to syntelic attachments. Inactivation of either the spindle or tension checkpoint enables premature anaphase entry in cells with dysfunctional Cik1/Kar3, resulting in co-segregation of sister chromatids. Moreover, the abolished Kar3-kinetochore interaction in cik1 mutants suggests that the Cik1/Kar3 complex mediates chromosome movement along microtubules, which could facilitate bipolar attachment. Therefore, we can induce syntelic attachments in budding yeast by inactivating the Cik1/Kar3 complex, and this approach will be very useful to study the checkpoint response to syntelic attachments
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Not AvailableEggless cakes were developed using composite flour (CF) of wheat, malted fingermillet,
sprouted soy and amaranth and egg-replacers (banana (T1), chia (T2) and
soy milk powder (T3)) and were analyzed for physical, textural, rheological,
nutritional and organoleptic properties and compared with egg cakes with refined
wheat flour (C1) and CF (C2). T1 cake showed no significant difference for batter
physical and textural properties with C1. In rheological studies, no significant
difference was found for Casson-plastic viscosity, flow-behavior index and
consistency-index among T1 and C1 batter. T1 cake had higher volume
(437.1 cm3) as compared to T3 (404.4 cm3) and T2 (359.4 cm3). C2 showed
highest protein (g/100 g) (14.3) and fat (27), while T3 and T1 cakes contained
significantly higher iron contents. On 9-point hedonic scale, T1 cake scored
significantly higher values among T cakes. Therefore, CF was a good replacement
for refined flour and banana was the best egg-replacer for cake developed.Not Availabl
Not Available
Not AvailableComposite flours (CF) using cereals, legumes, millets,
soy-protein isolate, dairy ingredient and fruit without
refined flour were used for preparing multi-nutrient biscuits.
Dough and biscuits were evaluated for physical, nutritional
and textural properties, particle size, colour and sensory evaluation
and compared against refined-flour biscuits (C). Effect
of malting and sprouting on biscuit quality were also analyzed.
The highest volume of particles for CF was 140 μm
higher than C flour. CF biscuits had significantly (p≤0.05)
lower spread ratio and % weight loss compared to C. The
hardness, stickiness and cohesiveness values of CF doughs
were significantly (p≤0.05) lower than C resulting in lower
cutting strength and increased hardness of CF biscuits.
Sprouting further decreased hardness of CF dough. Nutrient
content of CF biscuits (sprouted and unsprouted) were significantly
(p≤0.05) higher than C biscuits. Sensory evaluation
showed CF biscuits especially with sprouted flour had higher
acceptability and were superior to C.Not Availabl
Not Available
Not AvailableNutrient dense instant porridge was prepared with flours from corn, whole wheat, malted finger millet, sprouted whole green gram, soy protein isolates, unsalted roasted peanuts, dairy whitener and dried papaya in different ratios to make the multi-nutrient mix. Processing parameters viz. Flour Concentration (FC):10-20%, Sugar Concentration (SC): 50-75% and Cooking Time (CT): 1-5 min were optimized for development of porridge from multi-nutrient mix. Significant (p<0.05) second order model predicted the optimized condition for the porridge as FC: 17.9%, SC: 69% and CT: 1.8min. The water absorption index (2.5 g/unit g sample) and water solubility index (20.8%) was higher for multi-nutrient flour mix as compared to wheat flour (2.3 g/unit g sample and 8.3%) indicating better porridge forming ability.Response surface methodology showed that FC, SC and CT significantly affected the organoleptic quality, textural and rheological propertiesof porridge. Among the three process parameters, FC and CT had the most significant effect on evaluated porridge quality parameters. Fat and protein content of optimized porridge (OP) was significantly higher and particle size significantly lower than the control wheat porridge (CWP) indicating an improved capacity of the nutrients to be absorbed by the body. Porridges showed shear-thinning behavior and apparent viscosity values at all shear rates were higher for OP than CWP. From rheological studies it was observed that mean apparent viscosity and yield stress was lower for OP due to significant difference in the particle size and particle size distribution of the two samples. Both the porridge samples were comparable on account of storage modulus, loss modulus and complex viscosity.Not Availabl
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Minimal Residual Disease (MRD) Testing in Newly Diagnosed Multiple myeloma (MM) Patients: A Prospective Head-to-Head Assessment of Cell-Based, Molecular, and Molecular-Imaging Modalities
Abstract
*Equally Contributed
Introduction: Recent studies show better progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) for newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (NDMM) pts achieving MRD negativity by multicolor flow cytometry (MFC) or next-generation sequencing (NGS). Here, we report on the comprehensive assessment of MRD in a uniformly treated cohort of 45 MM patients (Korde et al. ASH 2013).
Methods: 45 NDMM pts were treated with 8 cycles of combination therapy (carfilzomib, lenalidomide and dexamethasone) followed by 2 years of maintenance lenalidomide. Median potential follow-up was 17.3 mos. All patients were evaluated by NGS by LymphoSIGHT™ method. Briefly, using universal primer sets, we amplified immunoglobulin heavy and kappa chain (IGH and IGK) variable, diversity, and joining (VDJ) gene segments from genomic DNA obtained from CD138+ BM cell lysate or cell free bone marrow (BM) aspirate at baseline. A MM clonotype was defined as an immunoglobulin rearrangement identified by NGS at a frequency >=5%. MRD assessment by NGS, MFC and PET was repeated when patients achieved a complete response (CR) or completed 8 cycles of therapy. In a subset of patients, we performed NGS in peripheral blood (plasma) at baseline and after 2 cycles of treatment.
Results:
40/45 (89%) of pts achieved VGPR or better after combination therapy. At least one clonal rearrangement was identified in 31/34 (91%) of BM CD138+ cell samples and in 34/45 (76%) of cell free BM aspirates; overall clonal rearrangement was detected in 37/45 (82%) bone marrow aspirates at baseline. Repeat MRD assessment at CR or the completion of 8 cycles in 32 pts show residual disease in cell free BM aspirates by NGS in 18 (56% of pts tested and 40% of the total study population). Estimated 12-mo and 18-mo PFS for MRD neg vs. pos by NGS was 100% vs 94% and 100% vs 84%, respectively (p=0.025). MFC testing for MRD was feasible in 43/44 pts (98%). PFS probabilities at 12-mo and 18-mo for flow neg vs pos was 100% vs 79% and 100% vs 63%, respectively (p=0.0022). Among pts assessed by both MRD methods (n=31), 23 samples were concordant (9 pos and 14 neg); among 8 discordant cases, all were positive by sequencing and negative by flow (p=0.0078). Abnormal PET scans were noted in 38/45 (84%) of pts at baseline. 24/43 (56%) pts at CR or after 8 cycles of CRd had a neg/dec PET response and 19/43 (44%) pts had a pos/partial PET response. At 12-mo and 18-mo, PFS by a neg/dec PET response vs pos/partial PET response was 100% vs 89% and 92% vs 89%, respectively (p=0.54). Furthermore, in 14 pts, we performed NGS in peripheral blood samples collected at baseline. At least one MM clonotype identified in baseline BM was detectable in corresponding plasma sample in 13/14 pts. Number of myeloma-specific molecules per million diploid genomes in the plasma was 3-log fold lower than in the BM (median 252 vs 730,950 MM specific clonal molecules per million diploid genomes). After 2 cycles of CRd treatment, 12/13 pts were still pos by serum electrophoresis and/or immunofixation while only 1 had detectable myeloma clonotypes in the plasma.
Conclusions: This prospective evaluation of MRD testing in MM has several key findings: 1. Detection of myeloma-specific clonotypes by NGS of the Immunoglobulin VDJ segments in the BM is feasible in majority of pts with NDMM. 2. MRD detection by NGS compares favorably to MFC since all pts with residual disease by MFC are also MRD positive by sequencing; an additional 8 pts who were MRD negative by flow MFC were MRD positive by sequencing. 3. MRD negativity by MFC and NGS are both associated with significantly better PFS. 4. Detection of myeloma-specific clonotypes by NGS of the immunoglobulin VDJ segments (i.e. cell free DNA) in the peripheral blood plasma is feasible in NDMM pts at diagnosis; however, since tumor load in the plasma is >2000-fold lower than in the BM; using standard volumes of peripheral blood (plasma), the levels of myeloma-specific clonotypes were too low to be quantified already after 2 cycles of combination therapy. This was true despite presence of positive serum electrophoresis and/or immunofixation. Additional studies to understand the dynamics of the myeloma clonotype level in peripheral blood plasma are necessary to determine optimal MRD testing regimen.
Disclosures
Faham: Sequenta, Inc.: Employment, Equity Ownership, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Moorhead:Sequenta, Inc.: Employment