Learning and development of staff in a small fast food restaurant

The research of this small food business reveals how quality customer service can be improved by introducing various learning and development methods for their employees. The aim of the research is to identify suitable and applicable learning opportunities which will help employees to improve their skills, knowledge, and capabilities in effective customer service, safe food handling skills and health and safety training. Qualitative method is used in the research in which the data is collected by using the observations. In observations, primary data is collected by the experiential research at the workplace and secondary data is collected by benchmarking different methods of training and development of same size or type of businesses accessible from online resources. Secondary data in the literature review explain the importance, need, and benefits of training and development programmes for fast food employees. The key results reveal that various factors noticed in the research are helpful in clearly defining the quality of customer service to the staff. It can be analysed from the results how important it is to provide learning and development opportunities in terms of quality customer service as well as to comply with the law and legislation to maintain food safety standards in the restaurant. The research recommends that online training, on the job training, job rotation and mentoring programmes all contribute to enhancing customer service skills. It makes the staff more productive and committed to the organisation to pass better quality service to the customers

Performance of silicon micro ring modulator with an interleaved p-n junction for optical interconnects

Silicon micro ring modulators are critical components in optical on-chip communications. The performance of an interleaved p-n junction micro ring modulator using FDTD solutions has been characterized. In this paper, the model and simulation of a modulator utilizing an interleaved junction with a SiO2 layer with a thickness of 10 µm have been presented. It is demonstrated that a loss of 34.7 dB/cm occurs during transmission. The modulator operates at 1.55 µm wavelength with a VπL of 0.78 V-cm at a voltage of 1 V, which gives figure of merit

Trend and need of Application Virtualization In Cloud Computing

As the variety of applications increases so does the complexity of delivering and managing those applications also increases, many organizations tried to manage that complexity by standardizing on a fixed portfolio of applications in a locked-down configuration. This approach reduces the IT labour costs, but the restrictions involved lead to a frustrating user experience and constraints on flexibility and business agility. Thus This paper presents a better solution that would enable IT to deliver and manage applications at reduced cost while enabling flexibility and agility. Here the concept of application virtualization which is a part of virtualization and how application virtualization is used by cloud computing to deliver application with fast speed, reliability and flexibility shall be discussed

Salivary amylase from Chilo partellus (Swinhoe) — Characterization and mode of inhibition through analysis of double reciprocal, fractional velocity and combination plots

The stem borer Chilo partellus (Swinhoe) is the most devastating pest that causes huge losses to agricultural productivity. Being a herbivorous insect, the starch degrading enzyme, salivary amylase, plays a crucial role in its digestive system. The characterization of salivary amylase and targeting it with potent inhibitors could help in managing the pest by hindering its normal digestive process. Therefore, we have made an attempt to characterize the enzyme and analyze its nature of interaction with organic acids and inorganic salts. The salivary amylase was purified by G-100 column chromatography to 16.02 folds and biochemically characterized. The purified fraction consisted of α-amylase activity with a single isoform of 59.26 kDa. It showed an optimum pH between 6.0 and 7.0. Its optimum temperature was 40 °C and was thermally stable up to 70 °C. Starch was the preferred substrate of salivary amylase. By critical analysis of Lineweaver-Burk, Eadie- Hofstee and Hanes plots, the Km and Vmax values of salivary amylase for starch were confirmed to be 0.49 mg/mL and 1.67 nmoles of reducing sugars formed/min/mL, respectively. Zinc chloride, calcium nitrate, salicylic acid, citric acid and oxalic acid were found to be potent inhibitors of salivary α-amylase activity. From Lineweaver-Burk, fractional velocity and combination plots, it was inferred that citric acid was a pure non-competitive inhibitor of salivary α-amylase while salicylic acid, oxalic acid and zinc chloride caused complete mixed non-competitive- competitive inhibitions. The inhibition of salivary α-amylase with calcium nitrate was of complete mixed non-competitive- uncompetitive type

GENETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY OF TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR 7-LIKE 2 GENE VARIANT AND RISK OF TYPE 2 DIABETES IN ASIAN INDIANS

Background: The variants of transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2) gene have been shown to be associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and its related complications. Objectives: We aimed to explore the possible association of rs7903146 (C/T) variant in TCF7L2 with the risk of T2DM in the North Indian population. Methods: The present case–control study included a total of 638 human subjects (318 T2DM subjects and 320 healthy controls). Various anthropometric, biochemical, and genetic parameters were studies in all the subjects. Genotyping of TCF7L2 gene was carried out using allele-specific polymerase chain reaction method. Results: The results of this study indicate significantly higher values of body mass index, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, and body fat (%) in T2DM subjects than controls (p≤0.001). Dyslipidemia represented by higher levels of triglycerides and reduced values of high-density lipoprotein was more predominant in diabetic subjects compared to healthy subjects. The frequency of risk genotype (TT) frequency was significantly higher in T2DM subjects (16.4%) compared to controls (11.6%). The “T” allele was more dominant in diabetic subjects than controls. Logistic regression analysis of the data revealed a significant association of TT genotype with 2-fold (odds ratio with 95% of confidence interval; 2.09 [1.29–3.42] p=0.003) and CT genotype with 1.7-fold (1.73 [1.23–2.44] p=0.002) increased risk of developing T2DM. Conclusions: The present study demonstrated a significant association of rs7903146 (C/T) variant in TCF7L2 with the augmented risk of T2DM in North Indian population

Relative emergence of fission and quasi-fission in Z=116 superheavy nucleus

331-335The fusion and subsequent decay analysis of Z=116 superheavy nucleus formed via 48Ca+248Cm→296Lv*, 50Ti+244Pu→294Lv*,and 58Fe+232Th→290Lv* reactions is carried out using extended ℓ-summed Wong model and dynamical cluster decay model (DCM), respectively. First of all, the experimentally available fusion-fission (A/2±20) data is adequately addressed for 296Lv* and 294Lv* superheavy nuclei using extended ℓ-summed Wong model and the predictions are made for fusion-fission excitation function of 290Lv* nucleus. It is observed that with decrease in mass-asymmetry (η), the contribution of fusion-fission component decreases. This drop is steeper for 50Ti to 58Fe as compared to that for 48Ca to 50Ti. The calculated values of compound nucleus formation probability (PCN) are highest for 48Ca followed by 50Ti and 58Fe. Finally, the mass distribution of decay fragments is studied for 296Lv*, 294Lv*, and 290Lv* nuclei using DCM at near barrier energies. A valley in ACN/2 region results in asymmetric mass distribution for 296Lv* which becomes relatively symmetric for the lighter isotope 290Lv*

Relative emergence of fission and quasi-fission in Z=116 superheavy nucleus

The fusion and subsequent decay analysis of Z=116 superheavy nucleus formed via 48Ca+248Cm→296Lv*, 50Ti+244Pu→294Lv*,and 58Fe+232Th→290Lv* reactions is carried out using extended ℓ-summed Wong model and dynamical cluster decay model (DCM), respectively. First of all, the experimentally available fusion-fission (A/2±20) data is adequately addressed for 296Lv* and 294Lv* superheavy nuclei using extended ℓ-summed Wong model and the predictions are made for fusion-fission excitation function of 290Lv* nucleus. It is observed that with decrease in mass-asymmetry (η), the contribution of fusion-fission component decreases. This drop is steeper for 50Ti to 58Fe as compared to that for 48Ca to 50Ti. The calculated values of compound nucleus formation probability (PCN) are highest for 48Ca followed by 50Ti and 58Fe. Finally, the mass distribution of decay fragments is studied for 296Lv*, 294Lv*, and 290Lv* nuclei using DCM at near barrier energies. A valley in ACN/2 region results in asymmetric mass distribution for 296Lv* which becomes relatively symmetric for the lighter isotope 290Lv*

Exploitation of endophytic Pseudomonas sp. for plant growth promotion and colonization in rice

The present investigation was carried out to exploit bacterial endophytes associated with root and leaf tissue of rice plant for plant growth promotion (PGP) and colonization study in vitro. Total 10 endophytic bacterial isolates (Pseudomonas sp.) were evaluate for PGP traits like P solubilization, production of Indole acetic acid (IAA), siderophore, ACC deaminase, protease, cellulase, fluorescent pigment, urease and denitrification activity. Out of 10 endophytic bacteria 30 %, 60 %, 20 %, 70 %, 10 % and 10 % were positive for siderophore, protease, cellulase, fluorescent pigment, urease and denitrification respectively. Maximum IAA production was recorded with isolate LRBLE7 (18.8 ?gml-1) followed by LRBRE4 (16.0 ?gml-1) and maximum P-solubilization was recorded with isolate LRBRE4 (5.8 mg 100 ml-1) followed by LRBLE7 (4.4 mg 100 ml-1). ACC deaminase production was recorded with isolate LRBLE6 (O.D=0.352 nm) followed by LRBRE5 (O.D=0.324nm). Three potential isolates (LRBRE4, LRBRE6 and LRBLE7) were selected on the basis of multiple PGP traits and were subjected to colonization study of rice seedling in vitro. Potential bacterial isolates can be exploited for improving growth and productivity in rice under sustainable management system