Does employees’ subjective well-being affect workplace performance?

This paper uses linked employer-employee data to investigate the relationship between employees’ subjective well-being and workplace performance in Britain. The analyses show a clear, positive and statistically-significant relationship between the average level of job satisfaction at the workplace and workplace performance. The relationship is present in both cross-sectional and panel analyses and is robust to various estimation methods and model specifications. In contrast, we find no association between levels of job-related affect and workplace performance. Ours is the first study of its kind for Britain to use nationally-representative data and it provides novel findings regarding the importance of worker job satisfaction in explaining workplace performance. The findings suggest that there is a prima facie case for employers to maintain and raise levels of job satisfaction among their employees. They also indicate that initiatives to raise aggregate job satisfaction should feature in policy discussions around how to improve levels of productivity and growth

Technical report on the National Child Development Study and 1970 British Cohort Study 1999-2000 surveys: stability, change and development in the British population

Prepared for the Economic and Social Research CouncilAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:m02/22206 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Vitamin D levels in Indian children with intrathoracic tuberculosis

Please cite as follows: Khandelwal, D. et al. 2014. Vitamin D levels in Indian children with intrathoracic tuberculosis. Indian Journal of Medical Research, 140(4):531-537.The original publication is available at http://www.ijmr.org.in/Background & objectives: Deficiency of vitamin D, an immunomodulator agent, is associated with increased susceptibility to tuberculosis in adults, but only limited studies are available in the paediatric age group, especially regarding association of vitamin D with type and outcome of tuberculosis. We conducted this study to determine the baseline 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels in children suffering from intrathoracic tuberculosis and its association with type and outcome of tuberculosis. Methods: Children with intrathoracic tuberculosis, diagnosed on the basis of clinico-radiological criteria, were enrolled as part of a randomized controlled trial on micronutrient supplementation in paediatric tuberculosis patients. Levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D were measured in serum samples collected prior to starting antitubercular therapy by chemiluminescent immunoassay technology. Results: Two hundred sixty six children (mean age of 106.9 ± 43.7 months; 57.1% girls) were enrolled. Chest X-ray was suggestive of primary pulmonary complex, progressive disease and pleural effusion in 81 (30.5%), 149 (56%) and 36 (13.5%) subjects, respectively. Median serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D level was 8 ng/ml (IQR 5, 12). One hundred and eighty six (69.9%) children were vitamin D deficient (serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D <12 ng/ml), 55 (20.7%) were insufficient (12 to <20 ng/ml) and 25 (9.4%) were vitamin D sufficient (≥ 20 ng/ml). Levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D were similar in all three types of intrathoracic tuberculosis, and in microbiologically confirmed and probable cases. Levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D did not significantly affect outcome of the disease. Children who were deficient or insufficient were less likely to convert (become smear/culture negative) at two months as compared to those who were 25-hydroxy vitamin D sufficient ( p <0.05). Interpretation & conclusions: Majority of Indian children with newly diagnosed intrathoracic tuberculosis were deficient in vitamin D. Type of disease or outcome was not affected by 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels in these children. However, children who did not demonstrate sputum conversion after intensive phase of antitubercular therapy had lower baseline 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels as compared to those who did.Publisher's versio

Next-generation cellulosic ethanol technologies and their contribution to a sustainable Africa

The world is currently heavily dependent on oil, especially in the transport sector. However, rising oil prices, concern about environmental impact and supply instability are among the factors that have led to greater interest in renewable fuel and green chemistry alternatives. Lignocellulose is the only foreseeable renewable feedstock for sustainable production of transport fuels. The main technological impediment to more widespread utilization of lignocellulose for production of fuels and chemicals in the past has been the lack of low-cost technologies to overcome the recalcitrance of its structure. Both biological and thermochemical second-generation conversion technologies are currently coming online for the commercial production of cellulosic ethanol concomitantly with heat and electricity production. The latest advances in biological conversion of lignocellulosics to ethanol with a focus on consolidated bioprocessing are highlighted. Furthermore, integration of cellulosic ethanol production into existing bio-based industries also using thermochemical processes to optimize energy balances is discussed. Biofuels have played a pivotal yet suboptimal role in supplementing Africa's energy requirements in the past. Capitalizing on sub-Saharan Africa's total biomass potential and using second-generation technologies merit a fresh look at the potential role of bioethanol production towards developing a sustainable Africa while addressing food security, human needs and local wealth creation

Production of &#945;-amylase from Streptomyces sp. SLBA-08 strain using agro-industrial by-products

Approximately 1.5 trillion tons are the estimated yearly biomass production, making it an essentially unlimited source of raw material for environmentally friendly and biocompatible products transformed by microorganism, specially fungi and actinomycetes. Several lignocellulosic residues, such as sisal waste and sugarcane bagasse contain starch in their structures which could become important sources for the production of amylases. This study evaluated the production of amylolytic enzymes using Streptomyces sp. SLBA-08 strain, isolated from a semi-arid soil, according to their ability to grow on soluble starch as the sole carbon source. The effect of the carbon source (sisal waste and sugarcane bagasse) on &#945;-amylase production was studied using submerged cultivations at 30 ºC. The highest level of &#945;-amylase activity corresponded to 10.1 U. mL-1 and was obtained using sisal waste (2.7%) and urea (0.8%) in submerged fermentation after 3 days of cultivation. The partial characterization showed the best &#945;-amylase activity at 50ºC and pH 7.0. These results are of great importance for the use of sisal waste as a substrate for biotechnological proposes

Human resource practices, employee attitudes and small firm performance

This article uses the matched employee–employer dataset from the Workplace Employment Relations Study of 2011 (WERS2011) in Britain to empirically examine the direct relationship between human resource management (HRM) practices and small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) performance in the United Kingdom, as well as the potential moderating effect of organisational commitment/job satisfaction on the HRM-performance linkage. We find a positive and direct relationship between the use of certain formalised human resource (HR) practices and SME performance, measured by financial performance and labour productivity. More importantly, we find that the positive relationship between HR practices and financial performance varies between SMEs with high job satisfaction and low job satisfaction, and that the relationship is weakened in SMEs with high job satisfaction. The results suggest that certain HR policies and practices may improve small firm performance, especially within firms with low levels of commitment and satisfaction