Assessing institutional and environmental parameters of agricultural water use in South Asia: evidences from the Indo-Gangetic Basin

River basins / Irrigation water / Water use / Economic aspects / Environmental effects / Corporate culture / Valuation / Case studies / Water market / Wells / South Asia

Valuating agricultural water use and ecological services in agrarian economies: evidences from eastern India

Irrigation water / Water use / Economic aspects / Valuation / Land ownership / India

Environmental services and agricultural water in South Asia: evidence from Indo-Gangetic Basin

Irrigation water / Water use / River basins / Environmental effects / Models / South Asia / India / Pakistan / Nepal / Indo-Gangetic Basin

Economic effects of water use and landholding scale to farming in South Asia: evidences from Indo-Gangetic basin

Agricultural development / Irrigation water / Water use / Water allocation / Land ownership / Economic aspects / River basins / Models / South Asia / Indo-Gangetic Basin

The evolutionary dynamics of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae protein interaction network after duplication

Gene duplication is an important mechanism in the evolution of protein interaction networks. Duplications are followed by the gain and loss of interactions, rewiring the network at some unknown rate. Because rewiring is likely to change the distribution of network motifs within the duplicated interaction set, it should be possible to study network rewiring by tracking the evolution of these motifs. We have developed a mathematical framework that, together with duplication data from comparative genomic and proteomic studies, allows us to infer the connectivity of the preduplication network and the changes in connectivity over time. We focused on the whole-genome duplication (WGD) event in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The model allowed us to predict the frequency of intergene interaction before WGD and the post duplication probabilities of interaction gain and loss. We find that the predicted frequency of self-interactions in the preduplication network is significantly higher than that observed in today's network. This could suggest a structural difference between the modern and ancestral networks, preferential addition or retention of interactions between ohnologs, or selective pressure to preserve duplicates of self-interacting proteins

Toward a rational design of combination therapy in cancer.

By merging computational systems modeling and experimental approaches, we have uncovered treatments reprogramming pro-angiogenic monocytes present in breast tumor into immunologically potent cells capable of mediating an anti-tumor immune response. The unraveled pathways and ligands which underlie monocyte pro-angiogenic activity have a strong predictive value for breast cancer patient relapse - free survival

Research analysis on the effects of agricultural water and landholdings to rural livelihoods in Indo-Gangetic Basin: with emphasis on Bihar State

Agricultural development / River basins / Water use / Irrigation water / Economic aspects / Land ownership / Water allocation / Models / Case studies / Policy / South Asia / India / Indo-Gangetic Basin

A method for the generation of standardized qualitative dynamical systems of regulatory networks

BACKGROUND: Modeling of molecular networks is necessary to understand their dynamical properties. While a wealth of information on molecular connectivity is available, there are still relatively few data regarding the precise stoichiometry and kinetics of the biochemical reactions underlying most molecular networks. This imbalance has limited the development of dynamical models of biological networks to a small number of well-characterized systems. To overcome this problem, we wanted to develop a methodology that would systematically create dynamical models of regulatory networks where the flow of information is known but the biochemical reactions are not. There are already diverse methodologies for modeling regulatory networks, but we aimed to create a method that could be completely standardized, i.e. independent of the network under study, so as to use it systematically. RESULTS: We developed a set of equations that can be used to translate the graph of any regulatory network into a continuous dynamical system. Furthermore, it is also possible to locate its stable steady states. The method is based on the construction of two dynamical systems for a given network, one discrete and one continuous. The stable steady states of the discrete system can be found analytically, so they are used to locate the stable steady states of the continuous system numerically. To provide an example of the applicability of the method, we used it to model the regulatory network controlling T helper cell differentiation. CONCLUSION: The proposed equations have a form that permit any regulatory network to be translated into a continuous dynamical system, and also find its steady stable states. We showed that by applying the method to the T helper regulatory network it is possible to find its known states of activation, which correspond the molecular profiles observed in the precursor and effector cell types

Social networks help to infer causality in the tumor microenvironment.

BACKGROUND: Networks have become a popular way to conceptualize a system of interacting elements, such as electronic circuits, social communication, metabolism or gene regulation. Network inference, analysis, and modeling techniques have been developed in different areas of science and technology, such as computer science, mathematics, physics, and biology, with an active interdisciplinary exchange of concepts and approaches. However, some concepts seem to belong to a specific field without a clear transferability to other domains. At the same time, it is increasingly recognized that within some biological systems-such as the tumor microenvironment-where different types of resident and infiltrating cells interact to carry out their functions, the complexity of the system demands a theoretical framework, such as statistical inference, graph analysis and dynamical models, in order to asses and study the information derived from high-throughput experimental technologies. RESULTS: In this article we propose to adopt and adapt the concepts of influence and investment from the world of social network analysis to biological problems, and in particular to apply this approach to infer causality in the tumor microenvironment. We showed that constructing a bidirectional network of influence between cell and cell communication molecules allowed us to determine the direction of inferred regulations at the expression level and correctly recapitulate cause-effect relationships described in literature. CONCLUSIONS: This work constitutes an example of a transfer of knowledge and concepts from the world of social network analysis to biomedical research, in particular to infer network causality in biological networks. This causality elucidation is essential to model the homeostatic response of biological systems to internal and external factors, such as environmental conditions, pathogens or treatments

Investigation of property taxation in Greece during the economic crisis 2008-20014

162 σ.Αντικείμενο της παρούσας διπλωματικής εργασίας είναι η διερεύνηση της φορολογικής επιβάρυνσης της ακίνητης περιουσίας στην Ελλάδα, τη χρονική περίοδο 2008 - 2014. Στο εισαγωγικό κεφάλαιο γίνεται μια σύντομη ιστορική αναδρομή της φορολογίας των ακινήτων. Ορίζονται οι έννοιες της ιδιοκτησίας και του ακινήτου και πώς αυτές κατοχυρώνονται διαχρονικά μέσω των διαδοχικών συνταγμάτων από συστάσεως του Ελληνικού κράτους και τέλος, καταγράφονται όλοι οι φόροι που βαραίνουν τα ακίνητα στην Ελλάδα σήμερα. Στο πρώτο κεφάλαιο, καταγράφονται και αναλύονται οι ετήσιοι φόροι που καλούνται οι ιδιοκτήτες ακινήτων να πληρώσουν στο χρονικό διάστημα από το 2008 έως το 2014. Στο δεύτερο και τρίτο κεφάλαιο, παρουσιάζονται το φορολογικό σύστημα ακινήτων δύο χωρών της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης, της Γερμανίας και της Αγγλίας. Η αναφορά δεν επικεντρώνεται μόνο στον τομέα των ακινήτων, αλλά παρουσιάζει γενικότερα την φιλοσοφία και τον τρόπο που γίνεται η φορολόγηση των φυσικών προσώπων, των εταιριών, των κεφαλαιουχικών κερδών κ.α. στις χώρες αυτές. Στο τέταρτο κεφάλαιο παρουσιάζεται η εφαρμογή, όπου περιγράφονται τα ακίνητα Α, Β, Γ για τα οποία θα γίνει ανάλυση της φορολογικής επιβάρυνσης. Στην συνέχεια, γίνεται εφαρμογή των νόμων για κάθε ένα από αυτά και για δύο σενάρια. Στο πέμπτο κεφάλαιο, γίνεται σύγκριση των αποτελεσμάτων των φόρων που καλούνται να πληρώσουν οι πολίτες για κάθε ακίνητο χωριστά, και για κάθε σενάριο. Οπτικοποιούνται τα αποτελέσματα αυτά σε διαγράμματα ποσού φόρου ανά έτος και ποσοστό των φόρων ως προς την αντικειμενική αξία των ακινήτων. Τέλος, συγκρίνονται τα ποσά των φόρων για τα ακίνητα στην Ελλάδα, με τα αντίστοιχα ποσά στην Αγγλία και την Γερμανία. Στο έκτο και τελευταίο κεφάλαιο αυτής της εργασίας, παρατίθενται τα γενικά συμπεράσματα, καθώς και προτάσεις για τη βελτίωση της αγοράς ακινήτων στην Ελλάδα.The objective of this diploma thesis is to investigate the tax burden on real property in Greece, during the crisis (2008 – today). This work, has proved that real property in Greece is overtaxed, this is documented through examples. In the introduction a brief historic overview of real property taxation in Greece is made. The concepts of private ownership and real property, and its protection trough the various versions of the constitution since the establishment of the Greek state are given together with a list of the various property taxes implemented today. In the first chapter, the annual real property taxes in the period from 2008 to 2014 are listed. In the next two chapters, the second and third, the tax system of two European Union countries, Germany and England is presented. Our report does not focus only in the field of real estate, but also presents the general philosophy and the manner of taxation of individuals, corporation, capital gains, etc. in these countries. The fourth chapter deals with the application, where specific private properties are selected and the annual property taxes for each of them are calculated. Furthermore, two scenarios are defined and the taxes for them are calculated. The fifth chapter is a comparison of the estimated taxes required for each property separately, according to the first and second scenario. A visualization of the results in charts tax amount per year and the percentage of taxes on the assessed value of the property are given. Finally, a comparison of the property taxes on real property in Greece, with the corresponding figures in England and Germany is made. The sixth and last chapter of this work, presents the general conclusions and recommendations for improving the property taxation in Greece.Μάρκος Β. Ξενάριο