Relationship Between Work-Family Conflict, Job Embeddedness, Workplace Flexibility, and Turnover Intentions

The present study seeks to propose and test a research model that investigates job embeddedness as a mediator and workplace flexibility as a moderator of the effect of family-work conflict on turnover intentions. This study uses a survey method and a structured questionnaire to collect data from 187 nurses working in various hospitals in Islamabad, Pakistan. The results showed that on-the-job embeddedness partially mediated the effect of work-family conflict on nurses\u27 turnover intention. Furthermore, workplace flexibility moderated the relationship between work-family conflict and turnover intention. Management of the hospitals should take decisive steps to establish and maintain a supportive and flexible work environment because such an environment would help nurses to balance their work (family) and family (work) roles and lead to increased job embeddedness. Otherwise, it would be very difficult to retain high performing nurses in the workplace. The current study contributes to the existing knowledge base by testing job embeddedness as a mediator and workplace flexibility as a moderator of the impact of work-family conflict on turnover intentions of nurses

Stroke in Pakistan

Stroke is the most common cause of disability and a leading cause of mortality world wide. Though the incidence is falling in West but probably is rising in Asia. The burden of stroke risk factors in Pakistan is enormous e.g. by 2020 Pakistan will be 4th most populous country in terms of diabetic patients. Similarly every 3rd person above age of 45 years has hypertension. Ironically a great majority of these patients are unaware of their diagnosis. This is further complicated by the fact that most of diagnosed patients have uncontrolled hypertension, as a result of poor compliance on patients part and poor updated knowledge on physicians part. Data on stroke incidence and prevalence from Pakistan is scarce, however, there are several reported case series in literature highlighting significant differences in terms of stroke epidemiology, risk factors and stroke subtypes/patterns. Considering a high population, absolute number of stroke in our country would be in millions. Its consequences are myriad ranging form physical disability to death, to psychologic, social and economic consequences. These consequences do not only affect the individual or his/her family but also society as a whole. We reviewed available literature on stroke and its risk factors from Pakistan

Efficient photocatalysis through conductive polymer coated FTO counter electrode in platinum free dye sensitized solar cells

This is the final version. Available on open access from Elsevier via the DOI in this recordPlatinum-free counter electrodes are crucial for developing cost effective solar energy harvesting technology. We describe here the fabrication of efficient platinum free FTO counter electrodes for dye sensitized solar cells based on pristine polyaniline, polyaniline doped with sulfuric acid, ammonuim lauryl sulfate, as well as binary doped with sulfuric acid and ammonium lauryl sulphate. The characteristics of these counter electrodes were analyzed using cyclic voltammetry, photocurrent density–voltage and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements. At optimized fabrication conditions, the counter electrode shows significantly high photoelectric conversion efficiency of 4.54% compared to 4.03% for reference platinum counter electrode. Charge transfer resistance at the interface between electrolyte and counter-electrode is also decreased for the optimized polyaniline based counter electrode. Furthermore, the device presented characteristics of multiple start/stop ability and fast activity. The simple preparation procedure, low cost and improved photoelectric properties permit fabricated counter electrode to be a reliable alternative for dye sensitized solar cells.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, GermanyHigher Education Commission Pakista

Multiple-criteria decision-making in two-sided assembly line balancing: A goal programming and a fuzzy goal programming models

Two-sided assembly lines are especially used at the assembly of large-sized products, such as trucks and buses. In this type of a production line, both sides of the line are used in parallel. In practice, it may be necessary to optimize more than one conflicting objectives simultaneously to obtain effective and realistic solutions. This paper presents a mathematical model, a pre-emptive goal programming model for precise goals and a fuzzy goal programming model for imprecise goals for two-sided assembly line balancing. The mathematical model minimizes the number of mated-stations as the primary objective and it minimizes the number of stations as a secondary objective for a given cycle time. The zoning constraints are also considered in this model, and a set of test problems taken from literature is solved. The proposed goal programming models are the first multiple-criteria decision-making approaches for two-sided assembly line balancing problem with multiple objectives. The number of mated-stations, cycle time and the number of tasks assigned per station are considered as goals. An example problem is solved and a computational study is conducted to illustrate the flexibility and the efficiency of the proposed goal programming models. Based on the decision maker's preferences, the proposed models are capable of improving the value of goals

Biosynthesis, characterization and antimicrobial study of silver nanoparticles (agNPs)

In this paper, biological synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using Syzygium guineenses stem extract with 1mM, 2mM and 3mM AgNO3 concentrations has been presented. The plant extract was prepared with distilled water. The characterization and morphological composition of the synthesized AgNPs were determined by UV-visible spectroscopy and SEM respectively, while FTIR analysis was performed to identify the presence of the possible functional groups in the synthesized nano particles. It was observed from the UV and SEM analyses that the particles formed have diameters in the range of 23.5nm - 89.3nm, which is the range of nanoparticle size. Antibacterial test was carried out on the sample with six pathogenic microbes (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococus aureas, Vancomycin Resistant Entrococci, Staphylococcus aureas, Bacillus sublitis, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) to ascertain the antimicrobial activity of the synthesized AgNPs. Both the characterization and antimicrobial activity test were very successful and could lead to significant economic viability, as well as being environmentally friendly for treatment of some infectious diseases.Keywords: Syzygium guineenses, Green Chemistry, Spectroscopy, Optoelectronics, Biomedical Sensor

Pharmacists and telemedicine: an innovative model fulfilling Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The lack of access to safe medicines and quality healthcare services in peri-urban and rural areas is a major challenge driving a health system to innovate new models of care. This commentary will discuss the implementation and impact of the “Guddi baji” tele-pharmacy model, a project piloted by doctHERs, one of Pakistan’s leading telemedicine organizations. This innovative model has described the reintegration of women into the workforce by leveraging technology to improve the level of primary health care services and contributes to safe medication practice in a remote area. Our intervention proposed the deployment of technology-enabled, female frontline health workers known as the Guddi baji (meaning The Good Sister) in a rural village. They serve as an “access point to health care” that is linked to a remotely located health care professional; a licensed doctor or a pharmacist within this model

Subcritical Superstrings

We introduce the Liouville mode into the Green-Schwarz superstring. Like massive supersymmetry without central charges, there is no kappa symmetry. However, the second-class constraints (and corresponding Wess-Zumino term) remain, and can be solved by (twisted) chiral superspace in dimensions D=4 and 6. The matter conformal anomaly is c = 4-D < 1. It thus can be canceled for physical dimensions by the usual Liouville methods, unlike the bosonic string (for which the consistency condition is c = D <= 1).Comment: 9 pg., compressed postscript file (.ps.Z), other formats (.dvi, .ps, .ps.Z, 8-bit .tex) available at http://insti.physics.sunysb.edu/~siegel/preprints/ or at ftp://max.physics.sunysb.edu/preprints/siege

Residual Stresses in Alloy IN718 Produced Through Modulated Laser Powder Bed Fusion

Background: Laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) additive manufacturing (AM) is used for building metallic parts layer-by-layer and often generates non-uniform thermal gradients between layers during fabrication, resulting in the development of residual stresses when parts are cooled down. Objective: The impact of modulated laser used during the L-PBF process on residual stresses in Inconel 718 (IN718) material was investigated. The impact of build directions on residual stress is also determined. Methods: The contour method is employed to measure the full-field residual stress component on the cross-section of samples. A complementary residual stress measurement method, incremental hole drilling, was employed for obtaining in-plane residual stress components. Results: The results show that the residual stress distribution is sensitive to the build direction, with a higher magnitude of residual stress in the direction of build than that in the transverse direction. Multiple measurements with the same manufacturing parameters show good repeatability. Conclusion: Residual stresses in the as-built parts are significant and hence a further consideration regarding relieving residual stresses is required when post-thermal treatments are developed

3d polyaniline nanofibers anchored on carbon paper for high-performance and light-weight supercapacitors

In the field of advanced energy storage, nanostructured Polyaniline (PANI) based materials hold a special place. Extensive studies have been done on the application of PANI in supercapacitors, however, the structure–property relationship of these materials is still not understood. This paper presents a detailed characterization of the novel sodium phytate doped 3D PANI nanofibers anchored on different types of carbon paper for application in supercapacitors. An excellent relationship between the structures and properties of the synthesized samples was found. Remarkable energy storage characteristics with low values of solution, charge transfer and polarization resistance and a specific capacitance of 1106.9 ± 1.5 F g$^{−1}$ and 779 ± 2.6 F g$^{−1}$ at current density 0.5 and 10 Ag$^{−1}$, respectively, was achieved at optimized conditions. The symmetric supercapacitor assembly showed significant enhancement in both energy density and power density. It delivered an energy density of 95 Wh kg$^{−1}$ at a power of 846 W kg$^{−1}$. At a high-power density of 16.9 kW kg$^{−1}$, the energy density can still be kept at 13 Wh kg$^{−1}$. Cyclic stability was also checked for 1000 cycles at a current density of 10 Ag$^{−1}$ having excellent retention, i.e., 96%

Reservoir Potential Evaluation of the Middle Paleocene Lockhart Limestone of the Kohat Basin, Pakistan: Petrophysical Analyses

The Lockhart Limestone is evaluated for its reservoir potential by utilizing wireline logs of Shakardara-01 well from Kohat Basin, Pakistan. The analyses showed 28.03% average volume of shale (Vsh), 25.57% average neutron porosity (NPHI), 3.31% average effective porosity (PHIE), 76% average water saturation (Sw), and 24.10% average hydrocarbon saturation (Sh) of the Lockhart Limestone in Shakardara-01 well. Based on variation in petrophysical character, the reservoir units of the Lockhart Limestone are divided into three zones i.e., zone-1, zone-2 and zone-3. Out of these zones, zone-1 and zone-2 possess a poor reservoir potential for hydrocarbons as reflected by very low effective porosity (1.40 and 2.02% respectively) and hydrocarbon saturation (15 and 5.20%), while zone-3 has a moderate reservoir potential due to its moderate effective porosity (6.50%) and hydrocarbon saturation (52%) respectively. Overall, the average effective porosity of 3.31% and hydrocarbon saturation of 24.10% as well as 28.03% volume of shale indicated poor reservoir potential of the Lockhart Limestone. Lithologically, this formation is dominated by limestone and shale interbeds in the Shakardara-01 well. Cross-plots of the petrophysical parameters versus depth showed that the Lockhart Limestone is a poor to tight reservoir in Shakardara-01 well and can hardly produce hydrocarbons under conventional drilling conditions