Handbook on implementing a time-based water distribution: for WUA hydrotechnicians in Central Asia with examples from the Sokolok Distributory off the Aravan-Akbura Main Canal in Osh Province, Kyrgyzstan

Water distribution / Irrigation scheduling / Handbooks / Water requirements / Crop production / Irrigation canals / Water users / Central Asia / Kyrgyzstan

Irrigated agriculture responds to water use challenges

Presented at Irrigated agriculture responds to water use challenges - strategies for success: USCID water management conference held on April 3-6, 2012 in Austin, Texas.Includes bibliographical references.Water sector during the soviet period has been protected from the financial and political uncertainties due to overwhelming state presence in the sector. The firm trademark of Soviet water management was technology-technical oriented, hierarchical institutions in the sector which are centrally controlled by communist party and water sector ministries. Ideological and political protectionist policies of the soviet government have been crucial on shaping water sector policies. The water management decisions at the different levels were not contested by any of involved parties (different republics, sectors, territories) due to integrated economic structure and strong presence of the state in everyday politics, including in water management. However, collapse of the Soviet Union has brought many uncertainties, political and economical changes, and decline in social infrastructure into former republics. The water sector became playground for multiple actors at the different levels and arenas, making water management a socio-political process. This paper is an attempt to describe how three different dimensions of water management in Central Asia are interacting and shaping each other: local, national and inter-state

Institutional reforms at main canal level and their water allocation and yield impacts : A case from South Ferghana Canal, Uzbekistan

Institutional development / Organizational change / Water users associations / Irrigation management / Canals / Water allocation / Water distribution / Irrigated farming / Cotton / Wheat / Yields / Uzbekistan / South Ferghana Canal

The Socio-Technical Aspects of Water Management: Emerging Trends at Grass Roots Level in Uzbekistan

In Soviet times, water management was presented generally as a technical issue to be taken care of by the state water bureaucracy. Due to structural changes in agriculture in the two decades post-independence, irrigation water management has become an explicitly political and social issue in Central Asia. With the state still heavily present in the regulation of agricultural production, the situation in Uzbekistan differs from other post-communist states. Water management strategies are still strongly ‘Soviet’ in approach, regarded by state actors as purely ‘technical’, because other dimensions – economic, social and political – are ‘fixed’ through strong state regulation. However, new mechanisms are appearing in this authoritarian and technocratic framework. The application of a framework for socio-technical analysis in some selected Water Users’ Associations (WUAs) in northwest Uzbekistan’s Khorezm region shows that the WUAs are becoming arenas of interaction for different interest groups involved in water management. The socio-technical analysis of Khorezm’s water management highlights growing social differences at grass root level in the study of WUAs. The process of social differentiation is in its early phases, but is still able to express itself fully due to the strict state control of agriculture and social life in general

Risk Management as a Basis for Integrated Water Cycle Management in Kazakhstan

Integrated Water Cycle Management (IWCM) aims to bring together a diversity of social, environmental, technological and economic aspects to implement sustainable water and land management systems. This paper investigates the challenges and opportunities facing Kazakhstan as it its efforts to move towards a more sustainable approach to managing its finite and highly stressed water resources. The use of a strategic-level risk governance framework to support a multi-disciplinary Kazakh-EU consortium in working collaboratively towards enhancing capacity and capability to address identified challenges is described. With a clear focus on addressing capacity building needs, a strong emphasis is placed on developing taught integrated water cycle management programmes through communication, stakeholder engagement and policy development including appropriate tools for managing the water issues including hydraulic models, GIS-based systems and scenario developments. Conclusions on the benefits of implementing an EU-style Water Framework Directive for Central Asia based on a risk management approach in Kazakhstan are formulated

A Modern View of the Pathogenesis of Allergy with Drug Etiology

Nowadays many diseases are associated with a high risk of drug allergy, and this risk can vary greatly depending on the type of disease. With the progression of disease in HIV-infected patients is increased IgE and decreased the number of CD4+ T-cells. In this case violated the ratio of interferon-gamma-producing (Th1 type) clones of CD4+ T-cells and IL-4 - producing (Th2 type) clones of CD4+ T-cells. In HIV-infected patients, there is the high risk of developing allergies in the form of skin rashes and temperature, and severe skin syndromes Stevens-Jones (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) in 6%-10% of cases. CD4+ T cells secrete cytokines, for instance Interleukin (IL-5), Gransim and Eotaxin involve eosinophils to be grown and differentiated. Studies on the antigenicity of antibiotics demonstrated the potential relevance of both categories of drug allergy: hapten and p-i models. In patients with allergic reaction to piperacillin, this medication acts as the hapten, with the formation of the immunogenic conjugate piperacillin - albumin, which stimulates the drug-responsive T-cells. Immunogenetic factors have been identified as risk indicators for the development of hypersensitivity reactions to the representatives of many classes of drugs, such as Abacavir and Nevirapine, Carbamazepine and Allopurinol, etc. Thus, considering the huge genetic polymorphism in systems of drug metabolism in the body and in the systems contributing immune response to the resulting products of conjugation of hapten-protein, evident is the need to further study the role of these systems in the occurrence of adverse reactions to drug therapy, in particular, in the development of allergic complications

Calcium-Activated Potassium Channels BK and IK1 Are Functionally Expressed in Human Gliomas but Do Not Regulate Cell Proliferation

Gliomas are morbid brain tumors that are extremely resistant to available chemotherapy and radiology treatments. Some studies have suggested that calcium-activated potassium channels contribute to the high proliferative potential of tumor cells, including gliomas. However, other publications demonstrated no role for these channels or even assigned them antitumorogenic properties. In this work we characterized the expression and functional contribution to proliferation of Ca2+-activated K+ channels in human glioblastoma cells. Quantitative RT-PCR detected transcripts for the big conductance (BK), intermediate conductance (IK1), and small conductance (SK2) K+ channels in two glioblastoma-derived cell lines and a surgical sample of glioblastoma multiforme. Functional expression of BK and IK1 in U251 and U87 glioma cell lines and primary glioma cultures was verified using whole-cell electrophysiological recordings. Inhibitors of BK (paxilline and penitrem A) and IK1 channels (clotrimazole and TRAM-34) reduced U251 and U87 proliferation in an additive fashion, while the selective blocker of SK channels UCL1848 had no effect. However, the antiproliferative properties of BK and IK1 inhibitors were seen at concentrations that were higher than those necessary to inhibit channel activity. To verify specificity of pharmacological agents, we downregulated BK and IK1 channels in U251 cells using gene-specific siRNAs. Although siRNA knockdowns caused strong reductions in the BK and IK1 current densities, neither single nor double gene silencing significantly affected rates of proliferation. Taken together, these results suggest that Ca2+-activated K+ channels do not play a critical role in proliferation of glioma cells and that the effects of pharmacological inhibitors occur through their off-target actions

Regulation of volume-sensitive chloride channels by cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator and epidermal growth factor receptor

Effectene-mediated transient expression of wild-type (WT) human cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) in HEK293T cells resulted in a 3- times decrease of the amplitude of steady-state volume-sensitive outwardly rectifying (VSOR) chloride current, Expression of the CFTR ΔF508 mutant, which cannot be translocated to the plasma membrane， failed to mimic the CFTR effect on the VSOR Cl- current, suggesting that plasma membrane expression of CFTR protein is necessary for its regulatory effect on the VSOR Cl- channel. Expression of the G1349D mutant of CFTR, which impairs ATP binding to the NBD2 domain of CFTR protein， failed to inhibit VSOR Cl- currents．D1370N and K1250M mutations in NBD2 domain, which impair ATP hydrolysis， were also ineffective in down-regulating VSOR C1-currents．In contrast, expression of G551D mutant， which impairs ATP binding to the NBDl domain， mimicked the effect of WT- CFTR．Thus， I conclude that plasma membrane expression of an ATP- hydrolysable conformation of the NBD2 domain of CFTR is essential for its down-regulatory action on the volume-sensitive chloride conductance in HEK293T/CFTR cells．In mouse mammary gland C127 cells， in contrast, VSOR Cl- currents were up- regulated by stable expression of CFTR mediated by bovine papillomavirus （BPV)， a carrier for CFTR gene transfection， by around 3-fold．Also， BPV- mediated expression with CFTR ΔF508 mutant produced a similar up-regulating effect on VSOR Cl- currents．BPV expression is known to constitutively activate receptors to platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and epidermal growth factor （EGF)．Application of a PDGF peptide or a specific inhibitor of PDGF tyrosine kinase， tyrphostin AGl296， had no effect on VSOR Cl-currents．In contrast， application of an EGF peptide enhanced VSOR Cl-currents in Cl27 cells, but not in Cl27 cells treated with BPV(Cl27/BPV cells)．A specific inhibitor of EGF- receptor tyrosine kinase， tyrphostin B46， profoundly suppressed VSOR Cl-currents in Cl27 and Cl27/BPV cells．Thus， I conclude that VSOR Cl-channels are enhanced by an EGF receptor tyrosine kinase signaling and that BPV-induced up-regulation overrides CFTR-induced down-regulation of VSOR Cl-channels in Cl27/CFTR cells．Since inhibitors of phospholipase Cγ(PLCγ)， phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) and MAP kinase kinase (MEK) failed to affect the VSOR Cl-channel activity， it might be possible that the VSOR Cl- channel is regulated by some signaling pathway, other than those involving PLCγ，PI3K and MEK, which is downstream to the EGF receptor tyrosine kinase