Puumala Virus (PUUV) Genome Analysis

Puumala Virus (PUUV) Genome Analysis HANTAVIRUS PAPER REVIEW Summary A key concern of any viral vaccine research is the tremendous genetic diversity of the virus Hantaviruses are etiological agents generally known to cause two distinct human diseases: kidney affecting disease and heart affecting disease, haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) sometimes called Nephropaphia epidemica (NE) in Eurasia and Americas hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) respectively. These viruses are heterologous (heterologous transmission from animals to humans (zoonosis)) which belong to the hantavirus genus, family Bunyavidae normally they make up four genera Hantavirus, Orthobunyavirus,   Nairovirus, Phlebovirus and Tospovirus. The genome of hantaviruses consist of three segments which are negative-strand of RNA, small (S) 1821-1830 nucleotides (nt), medium (M) 3682 nt and large (L) 6530-6562 nt encoding for nucleocapsid (N) protein, glycoprotein molecule (GPC) Gn, Gc proteins   and RNA-dependent RNA-polymerase, respectively. This study characterises the full genome of a Russian hantavirus discovered both in infected humans and small animals, Puumala virus (PUUV). PUUV is considered a prime etiological agent of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome sometimes referred to nephropaphia epidemica in Russia and Eurasia. Mostly, all hantavirus diseases in human have a fatality rate ranging from mild to severe with an intriguingly percentage rate from 0.1% up to 50%,   the symptom outcome of the disease   heavily depend on the geographic location of an infected person. Precisely, in the republic of Tatarstan, Russia the strain of Puumala virus has shown significance increase as human pathogens resulting to the acquiring of the status as emerging virus. PUUV in the republic of Tatarstan, Russia, has become a serious life-threatening hantavirus causing HFRS with high fatality rate of up to 12%, especially in the Volga region. The spectrum of illnesses caused by hantaviruses varies with the particular virus involved(Hantavirus infection: a global zoonotic challenge paper). It is reported that the high peak of Puumala virus comes with the high agricultural activities of this region during of which Bank vole mouse (Clethrionomys glareolus) the etiological agent of HFRS rapidly multiply. Normally, hantavirus, Puumala virus (PUUV) is transmitted to human by coming into contact with contaminated materials like faecal matter, blood dropped by an infected rodent and through aerosolised contaminated air and by bite of a carrier infected rodent. In the case of the strain of Puumala virus in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, the strain is dropped by notorious reservoir rodent specie found in the surrounding environment either near homes or in the fields, Bank vole mouse (Clethrionomys glareolus). It has to be noted here that most hantaviruses are transmitted to human by small animals themselves with an exceptional of Andes virus which can be transmitted from human to human. In South America the case of Andes virus has been reported to be transmitted from human to human. Intriguingly, other species of hantaviruses, Dobrava-belgrade (DOBV) virus with its sub-species isolated in Europe, and Tula virus (TULV) are seriously detected and isolated in Russian and know to cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and in Europe the syndrome is called Nephropaphia epidemica. Dobrava-belgrade is known to be associated with yellow naked-mouse (Apodemus flavicollis) this specie is the most life-threatening hantavirus. Other dobrava-belgrade species, DOBV-Af, DOBV-Aa and DOBV-Ap are associated with A. flavicollis (Af), A. agrarious (Aa) and A. ponticus (Ap) respectively. All these species cause HFRS from mild to severe mode of disease. PUUV form distinct phylogenetic leanage, in line with the natural host, bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus). The strain of Puumala virus is heavily isolated in Ufa, Samara,..parts of Russia both in human and small animals, in human as they thrive causing the dangerous form of human disease, hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) Introduction Hantaviruses If you hear a feminine voice thinks of a beautiful lady, what if this time the feminine voice is of a man [1]. Hantaviruses have been limited to the genus hantavirus under bunyaviridae family which give rise to several number of species viruses Puumala virus (PUUV) [2], Dobrava virus (DOBV), Tula Virus, puumala virus (PUUV) Saaremaa virus (SAAV), and Seoul virus (SEOV) are commonly know hantaviruses to be circulating in Europe and Russia [3-5]. However, the agent rodents Hantaviruses are morphologically classified as follows; order rodential, families crecitidae and muridae. Its now a known fact that rodents are not the only hantavirus reservoirs. Researchers have found hantaviruses insects which belong to the lipotyphra order, soriciodae familys and Talpidae[6]. Further, with the recently isolated Bat-borne Hantavirus in China, laibin virus ( LBV) chyroptera order has given a strong predictive assumption that hanataviruses could be found in other animals like cow, [6]. The black bea rd tomb bat hantaviruses isolated in china gave a discrete relation to the previously known hantaviruses. Heavily depending on the geographical location of an infected person, the outcomes of hantavirus infection are well classified human diseases: haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) sometimes referred to nephropathia epidemical mostly in Eurasia and hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS) normally called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in the Americas [7] (dissertation Nina Luteka 2010). [1] As the onset of the diseases advances the changes in the vascular permeability is highly noticed, defects in platelet function and acute thrombocytopenia intrinsically can also be observed which is associated with high fever and hemorrhage. However, with the global health threat of hantavirus it has triggered serious research mainly focusing on the vulnerability of the endothelial cells when attacked by hantaviruses. Needless to say, less viral cytopathic effect is observed on the endothelial cells after hantavirus infection. (dissertation Nina Luteka 2010). The mechanism underlying these drastically changes in platelet as the pathogen advances drastically pooling down the immune system and how the hantaviruses trigger interference in the immune system greatly remain futile and poorly understood. hantaviruses have been discovered in insects which acts as the host vector (HO2), hantaviruses in the reservoirs cause asymptomatic completely they do not show any symptom in the natural host. We characterized genome of puumala virus discovered both in human and rodents Diseases Hantaviruses are zoonotic viruses that infect human through rodents contact; in rodents they dont cause diseases but when human come into contact with infected rodent through smelling the excretes or inhalation of infected hair from the rodents induces human diseases known as; Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome found in Europe, the agent viruses for this disease are: Dobrava virus (DOBV)-Belgrade, Puumala, Saaremaa, Sochi, and Seoul virus which is recently reported [8],these viruses are considered to be old world viruses, Bulgaria is one of the country were Hemorrhagic with renal syndrome is endemic but the virus has never been found in the natural rodent reservoir [8] however, Eastern Russia, Korea and China has the highest cases of HFRS caused by HTNV, SEOV, and ASV. Nephropathia epidemical diseases, a rodent disease found in human who gets infected after coming in contact with infected rodents and this disease has the symptoms of the hemorrhageic fever with renal syndrome which makes it to be referred to as same as hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome [2] has continued to be life threatening in the republic of Tatarstan since its first identified in 1997. Epidemiological study on Nephropathia epidemical between 1997 and 2013 in the republic of Tatarstan, Russia gives an account that NE mostly affect male adults due to the agricultural activities during which myodes graleorus (bank vole) the natural reservoir of NE causing agents population increases [9]. It is revealed that the higher epidemic of hantaviruses in the Republic of Tatarstan is due to the supportive mating environment of small animals (bank voles) and increase in agriculture activities. Myodes galeorus shows high population rate during this time of agricultural activities and are a genetic variant prevalence for hantavirus in this region. However, the severity (or the fatality, the outcome) and the kind of disease or the infection involved mainly depends on several factors; The place infection take place The pathogenicity of the agents The genetic makeup (or the genetic predisposition of the host) Diversity of the agents [1] Geographical of the infection acquired Not all known rodent and insect hantaviruses cause disease in human [3] and the treatment for this dangerous hantavirus infection remains futile. The reasons for the variation of severity between virus species/genotypes and in individual patients are not yet known. Diverse determinants concerning virusand patient-specific characteristics may play a role in the pathogenesis. Differences in the use of entry receptors, in the regulation of cytokine response and in viral replication were described to be associated with pathogenicity [8-11]. Studies with genetic reassortants in vitro and in animal models suggest molecular determinants to be responsible for virulence [5, 12]. However, the speciesspecific factors of hantaviruses that are responsible for pathogenicity and clinical picture are not identified so far. Interestingly, the pathogenicity of related viruses of DOBV genotypes differs enormously with case fatality rates (CFRs) between 0.3%-0.9% for DOBV genotype Kurkino and 14.5% for DOBV genotype Sochi [13]. In addition to severe courses that are linked to specific virus species or genotypes, several serious cases were reported for infection with PUUV that usually causes a milder form of hantavirus disease [14, 15]. These infections often involve extrarenal manifestations [16, 17]. From (Clinical characterization of two severe cases of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) caused by hantaviruses Puumala and Dobrava-Belgrade genotype Sochi paper) Hantaviruses evolution Hantaviruses within the family bunyaviridae are different from other member viruses in the sense that they are roboviruses (ROdent-BOrne viruses) signifying that they are hosted by small animals which act as the host reservoirs (vector). Other bunyaviridae virus members are arborviruses (arthropod viruses) transmitted by arthropod to human [10-12] . the circulation of hantaviruses throughout the continent has been triggerd by a number of activities which account for from human movements to the events of the world. These activities also account for the evolution of hantaviruses. However, it is believed that hantaviruses co-evolved together with their reservoirs animal more than 10 million years ago. The genetic diversity of hantaviruses came about by genetic mutation on the genome of the virus producing quasispecies which happened through deletions or insertion of new nucleotides. It is further, shown that the genetic diversity came about by reasortments of the same two viruses genome within the host and by the homologous recombination of the viruses with each other [12-14]. Evolution of hantavirus in the host (rodents) depends on the number of factors which greatly help them to thrive as they live within the host rodents or insects these factors include: the destict environment which act as a life supporting of rodent, there events that are believed to contribute to the evolvement of different kind of rodents, such as glaciations events.   Deglaciation events triggered the movements of rodents in the northern hemisphere southern hemisphere as the small animals migrated from one place to the other caused mutation to occurred in the host themselves and equally in the strain producing distinct kind of hantaviruses in the end causing permanent genetic variations in the population of the hantaviruses. Needless to say, human do not act as the host range of hantaviruses instead they are dead-end point of hantaviruses. Thereafter, hantaviruses do not evolve after inf ecting human vectors, its either they die together with the an infected body or they are wiped off from the human body.[11] Symptoms PUUV -circulating in Northern and Central Europe, Baltics, the part of Russia Europe and the Alpe- Adrian region; High fever Back pain Renal impairment DOBV- mostly circulating in Balkan countries and Alped-Adrian region has the following symptoms Severe illness Hemorrhage High fever Acute renal failure Dialysis may be required Fatality rate reaches 10% PUUV -circulating in Northern and Central Europe, Baltics, the part of Russia Europe and the Alpe- Adrian region; High fever Back pain Renal impairment Structure (morphology) The new era of elucidating the etiological agent of human disease hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), emerged when the strain of puumala virus was isolated from the Bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus) in Europe 199.., and the discovery of the four canners hantavirus in USA 1996. However, thanks to the famous and prolonged scientific work of Lee at el who isolated the first agent of Korean hemorrhagic fever, hantaan virus, from the autopsy lungs of striped field mice (apodemus agrarius) in 1978 after two decades of work [15]. Hantaviruses virion is lipid enveloped, covered and protected by polymorphic protein membrane nucleoprotein. The virion of hantavirus species are spherical shaped 80-110 nm in diameter [16-19]. Tripartite segmented negative-sense single stranded RNA genome comprising small (S), medium (M) and large (L) [20-22]. Small (S)-segment is the smallest segment and encodes for the nucleoprotein of 1821-1830 nucleotides the protein have 433 amino acids (aa) [22-2 4]. Medium (M)-segment encodes for the glycoprotein, large (L)-segment encodes for the RNA dependent RNA-polymerase (RdRp), of 3682 nt the glycoprotein precursor which covers the medium segment has 1148 amino acid, RdRp have 2156 aa, respectively [22-24] [6-10]. Furthermore, the small (S) segment however, has further an overlapping open reading frame (ORF) with a putative NSs protein of 90 aa [16, 20, 22, 24, 25] The lipid envelope bounded with viral glycoproteins covers nucleocapsids and RNA dependent RNA-polymerase.   Transmission The transmission of hantaviruses is done horizontally in specific human become affected by inhalation contaminated air, smelling of excreta of infected rodents and by direct contact with infected rodents. This can be realized through different situations: first domestication situation were an infected rodent happen to be in the house and leave some excreta, when in habitant come into contact with these materials they become infected, secondly through camping and agriculture this kind of situation amount to 70% of all kind of situation where people become infected. Natural reservoir Puumala virus is known to be harbored by the wild small animal called bank vole, myodes glareolus, DOBV, yellow field mouse; apodemus flavicollis, HTNV and a SAAV striped field mouse, apodemus agrarius (koreae and agrarius, respectively). SOCHV caused by black sea mouse, Apodemus ponticus; ASV Korean mouse field, apodemus penisulae; SEOV Norway rats, rattus norvegicus [3, 8] Hantavirus history Within a century modern world renascence between 1900 and 2000 the world witnessed the two major outbreak of diseases designated hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, sometimes referred to nephropathia epidenmica and cardiopulmonary syndrome all presumably caused by small animal rodents. The outbreak caused global human health threat before its agents where properly defined. It became an emerging potential human biological weapon disease because of its mass infections and its anthropoid vector which lead to the virus to thrive in its host reservoirs, without showing any sign of infection. The health hazardous outbreak led to the discovery of hantaviruses worldwide later categorized into two old and new world hantaviruses. Needless, to claim that hantaviruses evolutionarised only between this period, the signs and symptoms of these etiological agents disease in human hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome where long ago described noticed and can be seen in Chinese literature of 10th century and the Russian archives show the description of the disease as early as 1913 in Vladivastok. Lee et al, while working on the early reported severe or mild form of hemorrhagic fever, isolated the etiological agent believed to have induced high fever called Korean hemorrhagic fever near Hantaan River, Korea in 1978. The initial isolation of the agent of KHF led to the designating name hantavirus derived from the hantaan river the place where it was discovered. The highly published anticipated discovery of 1978 proved the earlier noticed hemorrhagic fever in 1951-1953 and gave the new era in the understanding of etiological agents human disease, HFRS and HPS in the world of health hazardous biological weapon. Needless, to say more than 3000 UN soldiers were diagnosed with high fever in the course of Korean War which lasted for 3- 4 years from 1951-53. Throughout, decades of research these zoonosis viruses were not well known However, afte r thorough research, until late 1981 the virus was known to have its own clade and belonged to bunyaviridae family, unlike other viruses hantaviruses research revealed that they did not have arthropod vector, hence they formed their own genus of hantavirus in the family bunyavidae and they exclusively maintained their residing reservoir rodents. Hence the new zoonotic Hantavirus emerged and was restricted to the old world viruses. This was proved wrong in 1993, the world experienced the outbreak of hantaviruses related diseases which triggered the malfunction of the respiratory system, high fever and severe heart damage in the unfortunate patients infected with hantaviruses. This lead to the conviction of world researchers that hantaviruses are actively circulating in the region earlier than there isolation in 1993, in the four corners of the Americas. Seoul virus transmitted by rat-borne mouse in Asia was described, an etiological agent specie of hantavirus causing HFRS in 1980 after the description of hantaan virus from striped field mouse (Apodemus agrarius) which started in 1976. This pioneered discovery came after a carefully long research and isolating the virus from the rat-borne mouse captured in the demilitarized battle field of Korea. The etiological agent of nephropaphia epidemical characterized in Europe was termed puumala virus, isolated from a bank vole striped field mouse initially called clethrionomys glareolus and later renamed myodes glareolus. 25 years later, the etiological agent of human disease hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome, Hantaan virus was identified from†¦..after the four corner outbreak in the united state in 1993 and this led to the discovery of another hantavirus specie called no name virus later renamed Sin Nombre virus. It is estimated that there hantavirus cases yearly go beyond 1500000 gl obally, with almost half of these cases occurs in the peoples republic of china. Since the definition of hantaviruses more than 22 species of hantaviruses known to be pathogen in humans have been clearly categorized and accepted by the international Committee of Virus Taxonomy. With the suspicions of been engineered spread the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warn of hantaviruses to be possible potential biological weapons. The world health organization   in 1983 initiated the use of HFRS to represent all etiological symptomatic diseases believed to cause HFRS restricted in the Eurasia later called old world. Mostly, HFRS displayed symptoms such as chills, headache, high fever, generalized myalgia, back and abdominal pain and hemorrhagic presentation. Because of its epidemiological and worldwide distribution, hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome initially had several names before 1983. Most terms used were epidemic hemorrhagic fever, Korean hemorrhagic fever and the alike symptomatic disease was called nephropathia epidemica in china, Korea and (USSR, Scandinavia and Europe) respectively. Hantaviruses clinical presentation Normally incubation of Hantaviruses human infection takes 2 to 3 weeks. The results of infection are the two distinct severe or mild forms of diseases: hemorrhagic renal with renal syndrome (HFRS) in the Eurasian countries and Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in the American Countries. HFRS and Nephropaphia Epidemical are the severe form of hemorrhagic fever developed when infected with Euraisan kinds of Hantaviruses, patients present kidney failure, high fever, and internal bleeding as the main symptoms which results to the death of the patient[7]. Apart from kidney failure and high fever, affected humans present symptoms which include chills, vomiting, headache, dizziness, nausea, non-productive cough, gastrointestinal symptoms. A half percent of the patients display prolonged diarrhea, malaise and lightheadness, other presentations include back pain, arthralgias, abdominal pain, and shortness of breath, tachiypnea, tachycardia and fever. However, the main cause of death is the develo pment of disseminated intravascular congulation and internal bleeding. Table 1.   Clinical manifestation of Hemorrhagic Fever with renal syndrome [HemorrhagicFeverwithRenalSyndrome:PathogenesisandClinicalPicture Hong Jiang 1, HongDu1, LiM.Wang2, PingZ.Wang1* and XueF.Bai 1*] Incubation period takes 2-3 weeks HFRS Phase 1. Febrile Hemorrhage Flushing Headache Conjuctival injection Backache Albuminuria Azotema Present of antibodies IgM Eye pain Platelet decreased Petechial rash Immune complexes Fever Flushing Chills Conjuctival injection Myalgia Albuminuria Malaise Present of antibodies IgM Phase 2. Hypotension Kinin Complement activation Nausea Disseminated intrascular congulation Vomiting Vascular leakage Bleeding Acute shock Phase 3. Oliquric Disseminated intrasecular congulation (DI) Hypervolemia Kidney failure Pneumonia Phase 4. Diuretic Improved renal function Pulmonary complication Shock Death or improvement Phase 5. Convalescent Recovery period Table 2. Bunyavidae family classifications Common Reservoir Host Genus Common Species Country endemic Animal vertebrate bunyavirus Bunyamwera virus La Crosse virus Tahyna virus Akabane virus Oropouche virus Animal vertebrate Hantavirus Hantaan virus Sin Nombre virus Andes virus Puumala, Dobrava Americas Eurasia Animal vertebrate Nairovirus Dugbe virus Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus Nairobi sheep disease virus Eurasia, Africa Animal vertebrate Phlebovirus Rift Valley fever virus Rift Valley fever virus Sandly fever-Sicilian virus Plants Tospovirus Tomato spotted wilt virus Tomato spotted wilt virus Table 3: Hantaviruses genus classification Virus(serotype) Endemic area and reservoir distribution Disease Rodent vector Mortality (%) Puumala (PUUV) Eurasia (Old World) HFRS/NE Bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus) 0.1-1 Dobrava-Belgrade (DOBV) South and East Europe, Balkan countries and the middle East (Old World) HFRS Yellow naked-mouse (Apodemus flavicollis) 9-12 Dobrava (DOBV) Central, East and north of Europe (Old World) HFRS Striped field mouse (Apodemus agrarius) Low Hantaan (HTN) Central, East and north of Europe, Eastern Russia,Tien Shan Mtns Caucasian,   China, north and south Korea (Old World) HFRS Striped field mouse (Apodemus agrarius) 10-15 Seoul (SEOV) World Wide (Old World) HFRS Rattus norvegicus and rattus 3-15 Tula (TUL) Europe (Old World) HFRS/? Microtus arvalis Low Amur Eastern Russia, Eastern Asia and Siberia (Old World) HFRS Korean field mouse (Apodemus peninsula) Low Andes (ANDV) South America (Argentina, Uruguay, Chile) (New World) HPS Oligoryzomys longicaudatus 35-56 Sin Nombre (SN) USA, Canada (New World) HPS Peromyscus maniculatus grassland 40-60 Prospect Hill(PH) (New World) USA, Canada HPS/? Mricrotus pennsylvanicus (Meadow vole) New York (NY) (New World) USA, Canada HPS Peromyscus   leucopus low Khabarosk (KHB) Russia , Asia (Old World) HFRS/? Microtus fortis (reed vole) low Thottapalayam (TPM) India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Japan (Old World) HFRS/? Suncus murinus (musk shrew) Monongahela USA, Mexico, Canada (New World) HPS Peromyscus maniculatus (Deer mouse) low Black Creen Canal (BCCV) USA, Venesuala, Peru, (New World) HPS Sigmodon hispidus low Bayou   (BAYV) USA (Louisiana), (New World) HPS Oryzomys palustris Sigmodontinae (Rice rat) low Araraquara (ARAV) South America (Brazil) (New World) HPS Bolomys lasiurus low Muleshoe USA (New World) HPS Sigmodon hispidus Low Lechiguanas South America (Argentina), Brazil

German Indian Partnership for IT Systems Essay

Very good morning to all of you and a warm greetings on behalf of Centre for infrastructure, Sustainable transportation and urban Planning (CiSTUP), Indian Institute of Science and National Academy of Science and Engineering Germany (ACATECH).. Today we have guests of honour Mr. Rolf Saligmann, German General Consul, Bangalore, Mr. Subir Hari Singh IAS, Addl. Chief Secretary, Govt. of Karnataka, Dr. Christian Aulbach, Science and Technology Counselor, German Embassy, Delhi, Dr. A. Ravindra IAS, Advisor to Chief Minister, Govt. of Karnataka. We also have on the dias Prof. Dr. Otthein Herzog, Executive Board member, National Academy of Science and Engineering, Germany who is the main brain behind this event. We also have Prof. B.N. Raghunandan, Divisional Chair, Earth and Environmental Sciences, IISc who will preside over the function. Warm welcome to other dignitaries off-the dias, Guests and Invitees, press and TV persons, my dear colleagues and students, Ladies and Gentlemen. A warm welcome to all of you from CiSTUP which is started in 2009 with a generous support from Govt of Karnataka in particular BMTC, KSRTC, BDA and NERTC. In about 2 years, we have started a masters programme in transportation and infrastructure engineering, carried out many research and consultancy projects for the Govt of Karnataka and others, organized many conferences, symposium, brain storming sessions and round table meetings to address issues related with our cities in particular urban issues. CiSTUP has grown into a full fledge centre having more than 50 scientists/researchers and students associated with the centre carrying out many important research projects which is of interest to our city, state and the country in the areas of infrastructure, transportation and urban planning. We are organizing a Symposium and a workshop as part of German Indian Partnership for IT Systems (GRIP IT) on the 19th (today) and 20th May (tomorrow) respectively, The symposium is on – ‘Smart Mobility and Energy Concepts for Megacities’. The GRIP IT Workshop on Smart cities is planned  for 20th May 2011 at the Institute and it is restricted to selected and invited participation from industry and academicians. GRIP IT project is planned to act as a catalyst for future research and development collaborations between India and Germany by bringing together the German and Indian partners from the world of academics and industry and to provide a platform for networking. The focus of the initiatives are around the theme ‘Smart Cities’ – the various topics, technologies and the potential research and development potentials in and around the theme. The objective of the workshop is to further deepen our initiatives towards establishing a joint team of German and Indian research and industry partners to pursue high potential research topics of common interest to both countries and to explore possibilities of submitting joint proposals under the EU research framework programme. Towards the objective of identifying the right topics for a potential joint research initiative, we have initiated two studies – one on mobility and the other on energy. The results of the study would be presented at the workshop tomorrow to help focus on the right topics and to work on the next steps towards joint research proposals. It gives me great pleasure to welcome the dignitaries on the dias and off the dias to this Inaugural function of â€Å"Symposium on – ‘Smart Mobility and Energy Concepts for Megacities’. This is a joint initiative of CiSTUP and ACATECH, Germany. It is a great occasion for CiSTUP, IISc and ACATCEH to come together to start a joint collaborations in the area of smart cities. We would like to take this opportunity to express our hearty welcome, on my behalf and on our Institute’s behalf, to Honorable Consul General Rolf Saligmann for honoring our invitation to be the chief guest of this function and inaugurate the symposium. German Consular General is very supportive for such activities leading to large scale indo-german colloborations. We extend a warm welcome and present a bouquet of flowers to Mr. Rolf Saligmann, Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany. We also welcome Mr. Subir Hari Singh IAS, Addl. Chief Secretary, Govt. of  Karnataka and commissioner BMRDA, who is always supportive for such developmental initiatives and for accepting to grace this function and deliver his address. We present a bouquet of flowers to Mr. Subir Hari Singh. A warm welcome to Dr. Christian Aulbach, Science and Technology Counselor, German Embassy, Delhi, for this function. We present a bouquet of flowers to Dr. Christian Aulbach. A warm welcome to Dr. A. Ravindra IAS, Advisor to Chief Minister, Govt. of Karnataka, who is always supportive for such initiatives in CiSTUP and at the institute, we thank him for accepting to grace this function and deliver his address. We present a bouquet of flowers to welcome Dr. A. Ravindra. 2 Hearty welcome to Prof. B.N. Raghunandan for accepting our invitation to be with us today as a President of the function. We welcome him and present a bouquet of flowers to Prof. B.N. Raghunandan. We miss amongst us our beloved Director Prof.P. Balaram and Associate Director Prof. N. Balakrishnan, who are very supportive for such activities, who are unable to be here with us today due to other engagements. Hearty welcome to Prof. Dr. Otthein Herzog, Executive Board member, National Academy of Science and Engineering, Germany who has spent lot of time with me in coordinating this event. We extend hearty welcome and present a bouquet of flowers to Prof. Dr. Otthein Herzog. We have many distinguished professors, academicians and leading persons from germany and India. Also we have leading persons from R&D groups and Industry amongst us. Hearty welcome to all the speakers from Germany, India and also Officers of ACATECH and Dr. Ulrich Golgzback, Mr. mathew Joseph, Project manager at ACATECH. Special welcome to all the dignitaries off the dais and Invitees from the Govt of Karnataka, BMTC, BDA, KSRTC, DULT and Indian Institute of Science for taking the time off from their busy schedule to grace this function. We welcome press, TV persons, and officers of our institute, my colleagues from the centre and department, students and other invitees. Once again I extend hearty welcome to all of you for this inaugural function of the Symposium. ONCE AGAIN I EXTEND A WELCOME TO YOU ALL. Sitharam =========================== Prof. T.G. Sitharam, Ph.D.(Canada), FIGS, FIE; Chairman, Centre for infrastructure Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning (CiSTUP) and PROFESSOR Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore – 560012, INDIA Tel.No.+91-80-23602261 / 22932919 ; Fax no. 080 – 2360 2261 (phone/fax) / FAX no. 0802360 0404 (dept) email: sitharam@civil.iisc.ernet.in (preferred) / proftgs@gmail.com. web URL: http://civil.iisc.ernet.in/~sitharam ; mobile: 9448273751

Organizational Culture And Employee Engagement Essay

Organizational Culture and Employee Engagement I work for CFET S.A. which is a private Human Resource and Development firm created in October 1988. We pride ourselves in being one of the very few organizations with comprised of a mix set of shareholders making up 50% women and a ration of 9 women to 7 men at our headquarters. The firm primarily specializes in recruitment, human resources outsourcing, organizational development as well as learning and development. We also provide technical assistance in the areas of individual and group empowerment. I was attracted to CFET at a time when I wanted to desperately leave Unicef where I started my career in development thinking that I would contribute to making the world a better place, particularly in Haiti. My experience left me extremely disappointed, disillusioned and jaded. I became interested in CFET, because I wanted a change of perspective, it was a private for profit enterprise which had a social mission to build the capacity of communities so they are able to take the lead in their own development. I begin my career at CFET as a Recruitment Manager and was promoted soon after to the position of Recruitment and Outsourcing Contract Manager given my keenness for effective quality control, my knowledge of Haitian labor laws and my ability to maintain great relationships with clients. I am currently transitioning into the consulting department of the organization with the hope of overseeing and implementing new services inShow MoreRelatedEmployee Engagement, The Hertzberg Theory, And Organizational Culture Essay1669 Words   |  7 Pagesintriguing were employee engagement, the Hertzberg theory, and organizational culture. As a working individual, these three concepts are factors I deal with on a daily basis. This class has shaped my mindset that we are all capable of making a difference within our workplace. Employee Engagement This course emphasized the concept of employee engagement in the workplace. Employee engagement is critical for many reasons, it is necessary to understand and help organizations lower employee turnover, increaseRead MoreIntroduction Incorporated in 1994, Crescent Point Energy is an intermediate sized conventional oil1100 Words   |  5 Pagesemployees across various operational accounting departments. Literature Review 1. Employee Retention for Sustainable Development Varaprasad Goud (2014) commenced this article by acknowledging that the â€Å"worldwide retention of skilled employees has been of serious concern to managers in the face of ever increasing high rate of employee turnover† (p.10). In today’s competitive business environment, the loss of a skilled employee has the potential to expose an organization to multiple setbacks, which canRead MoreThe Crisis Management Of Philippines Essay894 Words   |  4 Pagesforeign values, and the â€Å"disconnects† between national culture and local articulation have resulted in the â€Å"adulteration† of Philippine management culture. This culture gap might have been the responsible for the country’s slower pace of development. The adulteration being referred to is the stark between Asian traditions and Western practices. Hechanova’s (2012) journal article was published by Philippine Journal of Psychology entitled: Employee Readiness for Change through the Lens of the CulturalRead MoreOrganizational Behavior That Affect The Organization And Employee Performance1495 Words   |  6 PagesExecutive Summary The current report focuses on the organizational behaviour that affect the organization and employee performance. Organizational behaviour is one of the segments existing in the business process, which is certain to change. It can be added that study of organizational behaviour relates to the desired behaviour of an individual in the organization. Organizational behaviour consists of people, approach, technology, work culture and other significant elements. The current report focusesRead MoreHow Employee Engagement Can Single Handedly Make Or Break An Organization843 Words   |  4 Pagescomponents in managing a successful organization; this subject being employee engagement. Employee engagement can single handedly make or break an organization and hinder its relationship with its customers, but before understanding the cause and effects of employee engagement, one must first understand what employee engagement is, what it means to the employer, and what it means to the employees. What is employee engagement? Employee engagement is the relationship between an organization and its employeesRead MoreOrganizational Leadership Essay1265 Words   |  6 Pagescapital must be a critical component of their strategy to acquire and sustain a competitive advantage in today’s global marketplace (Lyte, 2016). Therefore, in an effort to increase employee engagement and maximize employee contributions to the organization group projects, virtual teams, self directed learning, and employee autonomy has become more prevalent and a handful of innovative and daring companies have elected to dismantle the traditional leadership hierarchy, eliminate leadership positionsRead MoreStarbucks s Organizational Culture And Its Impact On Organizational Success1210 Words   |  5 Pages Preston Lindsay Assignment 1: The Starbucks Strategy MBU 516: Managing People and Performance Dr. Stanley Randolph The Effectiveness of Starbucks’ Organizational Culture and its Impact on Organizational Success in Global Economy It is thoroughly clear that since 1990 The Starbucks Company had a major impact on, first the American, then the global coffee shop market. In the US alone, America housed just under 200 â€Å"freestanding† coffee houses, today, there are well overRead MoreThe Influence Of Transformational Leadership On Employee Engagement?1214 Words   |  5 Pages(2013) stated that the well-being of an employee is not considered as a priority, so it was determined that employee engagement would be one of the ways to develop the banking sector. Transformational leadership style is an important factor to increase engagement amongst employees with specific impact on employee attitudes and behavioral outcomes. Raja (2012) found that transformational leadership has an influence on higher levels of employee engagement in the workplace with its multiple attributesRead MoreEmployee Engagement Is A Two Way Street Essay1465 Words   |  6 PagesPaul Dadosky Econ 202-67K 26 September 2015 Employee Engagement is a Two-way Street An organization is like a tree full of monkeys, all on different limbs at different levels. The monkeys at the top look down and see a tree full of smiling faces. The monkeys on the bottom look up and see nothing but assholes. The unknown author of this metaphor provides a descriptive analogy on the view of the executives who are at the top of the organizational chart which is completely opposite of the viewRead MoreHow Performance Management Systems Are Used For Dual Purposes1286 Words   |  6 PagesAccording to the OPM Performance management is the systematic process by which an agency involves its employees, as individuals and members of a group, in improving organizational effectiveness in the accomplishment of agency mission and goals. Performance Management is the means through which managers ensure that employees activities and outputs are congruent with the organization s goals. According to Aubrey Daniels, often called the â€Å"father of performance management† and the originator of the

Whats the Appropriate Drinking Age - 1256 Words

What’s the Appropriate Age? Alcoholism has been a major problem in the world for hundreds of years. Most people that deal with alcoholism became alcoholics because they needed a quick and easy way to de-stress. After long days at work or arguments with family and friends, the first thing they do is start drinking to make their stress go away. No one wakes up and decides, â€Å"I’m going to become an alcoholic today.† No one wants to be an alcoholic but bad things happen. If you are not careful with alcohol then you can easily become an alcoholic. Alcoholics around you also affect the way you look at alcohol. If you are in a group of friends and all of them are drinking you will be pressured into drinking or you might feel like you have†¦show more content†¦Engs.,† The legal drinking age should be lowered to about 18 or 19 and young adults allowed to drink in controlled environments such as restaurants, taverns, pubs and official school and university functions† (Why Drinking). Professor Ruth is the Applied Health Sciences professor at Indiana University. She writes in her article that she believes that the legal drinking age should in fact be lowered but, only in controlled environments. She believes that if a teenager drinks in a controlled environment with parents and other older adults then they can learn how to drink responsibly and not just go out and get drunk. When children are told all of their lives that they are not allowed to drink, it makes them want to because it makes them feel cool or rebellious. The United States has, in the past, tried to get rid of alcohol because of all of the negative effects. The laws trying to ban alcohol were overturned because they could not stop alcohol from being smuggled around and the general public was angry. Saying that people are not allowed to drink does nothing because they will still find a way to get it. (Why Drinking) Drinking in college is becoming more and more of a problem though. College students are starting to ditch class because they are hung-over more regularly. Certain nationality groups carry themselves better with alcohol. To Italians or the French it is very normal for everyone to drink at most meals. The children growShow MoreRelatedIntroduction. Alcohol Has Manifested Its Place In Most1612 Words   |  7 Pagesgovern-ments try to protect children and young people by enforcing a minimum legal drinking age mostly between 16 and 18 years, in some places even 21 years. While from a scientific view-point this law is more than justified, many young people reaching a certain age do not see the need for it nor do they find it necessary to respect this law. How can governments set a fair age for alcohol consumption? At what age are we responsible enough to receive the right to drink alcohol? While the law is madeRead MoreThe Debate Over A Proper Legal Drinking Age1243 Words   |  5 Pagesover a proper legal drinking age has been ongoing for decades. Some people believe twenty-one is the right age for legally consuming alcohol, while others believe twenty-one is too old. There are many supporters of an age limit of eighteen on alcohol consumption, but it has not been enough to sway Congress away from their set age of twenty-one. One major advocate for the age of twenty-one is the organization MADD, or â€Å"Mothers Against Drunk Driving†. This organization supports the age of twenty-one, becauseRead MoreCausal Argument Essay1357 Words   |  6 PagesArgument: Will Lowering the Drinking Age Solve the Problem of Binge Drinking among College Students? Research has supported the observation that young people in America consume alcohol regularly; this prevalence of use increases rapidly during adolescence, as well as a few years afterward (Wagenaar and Wolfson 37). This has come to be a problem among college students. It has been shown through extensive quantitative and qualitative research that those under twenty-one years of age are able to obtain alcoholRead MoreIncrease in the Legal Drinking Age870 Words   |  3 PagesAnother reason why the legal drinking age was changed is because of the fact that the adolescent brain is not fully developed; it is supposed that â€Å"excessive alcohol intake causes brain damage† in teens. However, in order for damage to occur, the drinking has to be extremely excessive. If there are only a few of these extreme bingeing â€Å"episodes,† they do no harm to the adolescent brain (Minimum Drinking Age). David J. Hanson, a professor at the University of New York at Potsdam, state s, â€Å"There’sRead MoreWomen s Rights And Responsibilities Of Adulthood Essay1710 Words   |  7 PagesAt the divine age of eighteen, one acquires the rights and responsibilities of adulthood. Whether that may be moving out, joining the military, voting, buying tobacco products, possessing firearms, and even legal documentation of marriage. All of these can be done without a parent or guardian’s consent. Thus, this age advancement not only grants freedom to young adults, but legally one is expected to make and be held accountable for adult their decisions, as well. Yet, the idea of allowing one belowRead MoreLowering The Drinking Age Of The Age981 Words   |  4 PagesHowever, there are those who remain persistent in their requests to drop the drinking age to a slightly lower option. Opposition to the legal drinking age of twenty-one has shown to have some support from mostly younger groups of people, without much validation as to why a lowered drinking age would be beneficial to our country as a whole. Yet, there are still some interesting arguments for those in favor of dropping the age at which it is legal to drink to eighteen. Consider how many young adults chooseRead MoreAlcohol Is Bad, But Prohibition Is Worst848 Words   |  4 Pagesalso it can be part of a religion. Drinking is fun, but it should be considered to do it in moderation. Alcohol drinking age limit should be lowered to the age of 18, because having a high age limit can cause many problem thinking that they’re actually being solved. The law of 21 and over drinking is seemed as a useless law, because the average American starts drinking under the age of 21. Most teenager’s drink alcohol as an act of rebellion, because as a young age alcohol is seen as the â€Å"forbiddenRead MoreThe Legal Drinking Age Should Be 18957 Words   |  4 Pages On the topic of the appropriate legal drinking ago, I stand firm on the belief that the legal drinking age should be 18. In every other aspect in America, an 18 year old person is considered an adult, legally and morally. So why aren’t these adults allowed to legally drink? 18 year old adults are permitted live on their own, vote, gamble, purchase cigarettes, and fight in a war. There is not denying the fact that teenagers are exposed to drinking prior to their 18th birthday, and many drinkRead MoreStudy Analysis: Memory Associations Between Negative Emotions and Alcohol on the Lexical Decision Task Predict Alcohol Use in Women771 Words   |  3 Pages78 female participants over the age of 18, all native English speakers, with no history of dyslexia. The sample was ethnically diverse with a mean age of 19.4 years and no demographic variables found of any significant correlation with drinking outcomes. The measures that were used were the demographic questionnaire, The Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV (used for diagnosing disorders), The Alcohol Expectancies Questionnaire-Revised, Inventory of Drinking Situations, and a Timeline FollowRead MoreThe Legal Drinking Age Of The United States1270 Words   |  6 PagesThroughout the world, the age when a child becomes an adult is at the age 18. Most people gain the right to vote, start to work for themselves, drive in certain countries. All of this being said, an additional privilege is the ability for one to be able to legally drink. The United States is one of the only countries who ´s legal drinking age is separate from the declared age of an official adult under the law. The idea of putting restrictions on a â€Å"legal† adult, makes the issue more complicated