Center for Economic Development and Administration :

Much of the data for this study has also been collected from various agencies and institutions. The best practical research design for this study was found to be the institution building model developed by Milton Esman. It provides the necessary framework for the orderly collection, classification and analysis of the data for the case study, namely: (a) institution; (b) linkages; (c) transaction.It can be concluded that between 1969 and 1975, CEDA has become established in the sense that it was a growing concern with a program, a staff, a set of clients, an acceptable identity and a stable supply of resources sufficient to enable it to continue. The findings of this study show that institutional leadership is one of the major and crucial factors in institution building and development. It also suggests that the institution builder of Nepal must be concerned with discovering what institutions are already there before making assumptions as to what new or additional institutions may be needed. Thus, it is often much easier to add a new program to an old institution, which is already established, than it is to create a new institution merely to have a new program.The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the roles of the Center For Economic Development and Administration (CEDA) in institution building and development in Nepal. The study was performed by a questionnaire containing a variety of items relating CEDA's present and future roles, its place and position, its programs and objectives, its relationship with government agencies, university, public corporations and private enterprises, was administered to a sample of one hundred in Kathmandu, Nepal. In addition, since formal interviews were difficult to coordinate in Nepal's political environment, informal meetings were also organized

Towards Identifying Contribution of Wake Turbulence to Inflow Noise from Wind Turbines

Downstream turbines in a wind farm often operate under the influence of wakes from upstream turbines. Aerodynamic losses and aeromechanical issues (stochastic loads) associated with such wake-turbine interactions have been investigated before. However, the role such interactions play in the generation of aerodynamic noise has not been evaluated. This paper presents a two-step approach for predicting noise due to wake-turbine interaction. The first step involves an aerodynamic analysis of a wind farm using large eddy simulations. Time accurate data and turbulence statistics in the turbine wakes are obtained from this simulation just ahead of the downstream wind turbines. The second step uses the turbulence information with aeroacoustic models to predict radiated noise in the far field. Simulation results of two simplified model problems corresponding to these two steps are presented in this paper

Word Sense Disambiguation using WSD specific Wordnet of Polysemy Words

This paper presents a new model of WordNet that is used to disambiguate the correct sense of polysemy word based on the clue words. The related words for each sense of a polysemy word as well as single sense word are referred to as the clue words. The conventional WordNet organizes nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs together into sets of synonyms called synsets each expressing a different concept. In contrast to the structure of WordNet, we developed a new model of WordNet that organizes the different senses of polysemy words as well as the single sense words based on the clue words. These clue words for each sense of a polysemy word as well as for single sense word are used to disambiguate the correct meaning of the polysemy word in the given context using knowledge based Word Sense Disambiguation (WSD) algorithms. The clue word can be a noun, verb, adjective or adverb

Indigenous knowledge and phytochemical screening of medicinal chuk from Rhus chinensis, Docynia indica and Hippophae salicifolia in Sikkim Himalaya

250-260Under traditional system of medicine, bhakmilo-ko-chuk (juice extracted from Rhus chinensis fruits) is used to cure diarrhoea, dysentery, diabetes, oral diseases and inflammation; mel-ko-amilo (juice extracted from Docynia indica fruits) for treating diarrhoea, dysentery, stomach disorder, and Achuk (juice of Hippophae salicifolia berries) for lung problems, respiratory infections, high blood pressure, heart disorders, gastric ulcer and digestive disorders. Bhakmilo (Rhus chinensis) is distributed from 300 to 1800 m amsl, Mel (Docynia indica) occurs from 1200 to 2000 m and Achuk (Hippophae salicifolia) within 2700 to 4000 m in the Sikkim Himalaya. These are lesser known underutilized species having high socio-cultural, socio-economic and socio-ecological importance. Phytochemical screening of juice extracted from berries of Hippophae showed moderate concentration of alkaloids, flavonoides, tannins, steroids, amino acids, proteins and carbohydrates. Screening of Docynia fruits showed high concentration of triterpenes and amino acids, and moderate concentration of alkaloids, steroids, proteins and carbohydrates. Rhus fruits showed high concentration of tannins, triterpenes, and carbohydrates, and moderate concentration of steroids and amino acids. The local market price for bhakmilo-ko-chuk was Rs.1000 L-1, mel-ko-chuk was Rs.1500 kg-1 and Hippophaea chuk was Rs.1200 L-1. Economics showed that juice extracted from a matured Hippophae tree berries earn Rs. 10,000-15000 yr-1, a fully grown Docynia tree fruits exchange Rs. 10,000 – 12000 yr-1 and a Rhus tree fruits earned around Rs. 4000 yr-1. Promotion of enterprise-based cultivation, agro-technique development, suitable processing techniques and value addition, and establishment of market linkage can boost household income of marginal farmers

Burden and predictors of hypertension in India: results of SEEK (Screening and Early Evaluation of Kidney Disease) study

Background: Hypertension (HTN) is one of the major causes of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The objective of the study was to investigate the burden and predictors of HTN in India. Methods: 6120 subjects participated in the Screening and Early Evaluation of Kidney disease (SEEK), a community-based screening program in 53 camps in 13 representative geographic locations in India. Of these, 5929 had recorded blood pressure (BP) measurements. Potential predictors of HTN were collected using a structured questionnaire for SEEK study. Results: HTN was observed in 43.5% of our cohort. After adjusting for center variation (p < 0.0001), predictors of a higher prevalence of HTN were older age ≥40 years (p < 0.0001), BMI of ≥ 23 Kg/M2 (p < 0.0004), larger waist circumference (p < 0.0001), working in sedentary occupation (p < 0.0001), having diabetes mellitus (p < 0.0001), having proteinuria (p < 0.0016), and increased serum creatinine (p < 0.0001). High school/some college education (p = 0.0016), versus less than 9th grade education, was related with lower prevalence of HTN. Of note, proteinuria and CKD were observed in 19% and 23.5% of HTN subjects. About half (54%) of the hypertensive subjects were aware of their hypertension status. Conclusions: HTN was common in this cohort from India. Older age, BMI ≥ 23 Kg/M2, waist circumference, sedentary occupation, education less, diabetes mellitus, presence of proteinuria, and raised serum creatinine were significant predictors of hypertension. Our data suggest that HTN is a major public health problem in India with low awareness, and requires aggressive community-based screening and education to improve health

Epidemiology and risk factors of chronic kidney disease in India – results from the SEEK (Screening and Early Evaluation of Kidney Disease) study

Background: There is a rising incidence of chronic kidney disease that is likely to pose major problems for both healthcare and the economy in future years. In India, it has been recently estimated that the age-adjusted incidence rate of ESRD to be 229 per million population (pmp), and >100,000 new patients enter renal replacement programs annually. Methods: We cross-sectionally screened 6120 Indian subjects from 13 academic and private medical centers all over India. We obtained personal and medical history data through a specifically designed questionnaire. Blood and urine samples were collected. Results: The total cohort included in this analysis is 5588 subjects. The mean ± SD age of all participants was 45.22 ± 15.2 years (range 18–98 years) and 55.1% of them were males and 44.9% were females. The overall prevalence of CKD in the SEEK-India cohort was 17.2% with a mean eGFR of 84.27 ± 76.46 versus 116.94 ± 44.65 mL/min/1.73 m2 in non-CKD group while 79.5% in the CKD group had proteinuria. Prevalence of CKD stages 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 was 7%, 4.3%, 4.3%, 0.8% and 0.8%, respectively. Conclusion: The prevalence of CKD was observed to be 17.2% with ~6% have CKD stage 3 or worse. CKD risk factors were similar to those reported in earlier studies. It should be stressed to all primary care physicians taking care of hypertensive and diabetic patients to screen for early kidney damage. Early intervention may retard the progression of kidney disease. Planning for the preventive health policies and allocation of more resources for the treatment of CKD/ESRD patients are imperative in India

Shifting the limits in wheat research and breeding using a fully annotated reference genome

Introduction: Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is the most widely cultivated crop on Earth, contributing about a fifth of the total calories consumed by humans. Consequently, wheat yields and production affect the global economy, and failed harvests can lead to social unrest. Breeders continuously strive to develop improved varieties by fine-tuning genetically complex yield and end-use quality parameters while maintaining stable yields and adapting the crop to regionally specific biotic and abiotic stresses. Rationale: Breeding efforts are limited by insufficient knowledge and understanding of wheat biology and the molecular basis of central agronomic traits. To meet the demands of human population growth, there is an urgent need for wheat research and breeding to accelerate genetic gain as well as to increase and protect wheat yield and quality traits. In other plant and animal species, access to a fully annotated and ordered genome sequence, including regulatory sequences and genome-diversity information, has promoted the development of systematic and more time-efficient approaches for the selection and understanding of important traits. Wheat has lagged behind, primarily owing to the challenges of assembling a genome that is more than five times as large as the human genome, polyploid, and complex, containing more than 85% repetitive DNA. To provide a foundation for improvement through molecular breeding, in 2005, the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium set out to deliver a high-quality annotated reference genome sequence of bread wheat. Results: An annotated reference sequence representing the hexaploid bread wheat genome in the form of 21 chromosome-like sequence assemblies has now been delivered, giving access to 107,891 high-confidence genes, including their genomic context of regulatory sequences. This assembly enabled the discovery of tissue- and developmental stage–related gene coexpression networks using a transcriptome atlas representing all stages of wheat development. The dynamics of change in complex gene families involved in environmental adaptation and end-use quality were revealed at subgenome resolution and contextualized to known agronomic single-gene or quantitative trait loci. Aspects of the future value of the annotated assembly for molecular breeding and research were exemplarily illustrated by resolving the genetic basis of a quantitative trait locus conferring resistance to abiotic stress and insect damage as well as by serving as the basis for genome editing of the flowering-time trait. Conclusion: This annotated reference sequence of wheat is a resource that can now drive disruptive innovation in wheat improvement, as this community resource establishes the foundation for accelerating wheat research and application through improved understanding of wheat biology and genomics-assisted breeding. Importantly, the bioinformatics capacity developed for model-organism genomes will facilitate a better understanding of the wheat genome as a result of the high-quality chromosome-based genome assembly. By necessity, breeders work with the genome at the whole chromosome level, as each new cross involves the modification of genome-wide gene networks that control the expression of complex traits such as yield. With the annotated and ordered reference genome sequence in place, researchers and breeders can now easily access sequence-level information to precisely define the necessary changes in the genomes for breeding programs. This will be realized through the implementation of new DNA marker platforms and targeted breeding technologies, including genome editing

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival