Development and Standardization of the Gratitude Scale

Abstract The Gratitude Scale (GS) developed by the authors was administered to 456 adults to determine the psychometric characteristics i.e. reliability and validity. Cronbach’s Alpha of the scale was found 0.91. Content validity of the scale was verified by some experts, academicians, and professionals. For testing multicollinearity and singularity ‘Determinant’ of the R-matrix was estimated and it was greater than 0.00001. The items having factor loading greater than or equal to 0.40 were selected. Total 26 items with five dimensions emerged through Exploratory Factor Analysis explaining 58.14% of the variance, which provided the evidence of factorial/construct validity of the scale. The scale can be used for research and human resource development programs in school/university and organizations. Keywords: Gratitude, content validity, Factor analysis, Multicollinearity, R-matri

Financial Performance of Cement Companies- A Critical Appraisal

The Indian cement industry is the second largest in the world employing in excess of a million people throughoutthe country. It contributes to the Indian economy because the construction industry in India relies heavily on thecement industry. The present paper analyses the financial performance of five major cement companies in India.The data has been collected from the annual reports of the cement companies since 2005-06 to 2014-15 andanalyzed by applying one way ANOVA as the statistical tool. The analysis of the data shows that there is asignificant difference in selected cement companies in India with respect to gross profit ratio, net profit ratio,current ratio, quick ratio, and debt equity ratio.Keywords: cement, cement companies, ratio, ANOVA

Impact of Training on Employee’s Performance in Indian Telecom Industry: A Study of Selected Telecom Companies

Trainingan indispensable strategic tool for enhancing employee performance andorganization competitive advantage. The puroose of this study is to examine theimpact of training on employees’ performance and organization’s competitiveadvantage in Indian telecom industry. A sample of 210 employees from fourtelecom companies has been selected for the study. Data have been collectedthrough questionnaires designed on a five point Likert scale. Simple LinearRegression has been used as the statistical tool to measure the impact oftraining on the performance of employees.Summary of the findings indicates thattraining has a significant impact on employee’s performance in selectedtelecom companies.Keywords: training, development,performance, competitiveness

Determination of body weight from footprint and foot outline breadth anthropometry among Melanau ethnics of Borneo island, east Malaysia for forensic investigation

The crime scene investigators use forensic footprint analysis to obtain vital information to solve crime. These include the estimation of stature, body weight, gender and age. Literature review shows that limited studies were conducted on body weight determination using foot impressions. This study aims to develop body weight determination models for an indigenous Melanau population residing in Borneo Island of east Malaysia from footprint and foot outline anthropometry. Footprint study results showed that breadth measurements provided better result in body weight determination than length measurements. Anthropometric measurements were made from a sample of 210 adults, with equal representation of 105 males and 105 females, following the standard procedure. Informed consent and ethical approval were obtained. The obtained data were analysed with PASW 20 computer software and developed population specific model to determine living body weight from footprint and foot outline breadth measurements. Correlation coefficient (R) values in footprint are found to be higher in the pooled sample (0.592–0.602) when compared with males (0.509–0.527) and females (0.569–0.591) separately. Correlation coefficient (R) values in foot outline are found to be higher in females (0.677-0.681) when compared with male (0.559- 0.641) and the pooled sample (0.642-0.665)

Stature estimation from anthropometric measurements of footprints in Lun Bawang, an indigenous ethnic group of east Malaysia by linear regression analysis

The footprint is a valuable physical evidence encountered in the crime scenes and examination of barefoot impressions is important especially in developing countries like India, Malaysia where the majority of the rural population like to walk barefooted. Most of the foot/foot print studies were conducted on mixed population. But racial and cultural aspects of foot morphology must be considered while conducting such studies. Hence the present study aims to estimate stature from bilateral footprints collected from 230 (115 males, 115 females) consenting adult Lun Bawang ethnics, indigenous groups residing in Sarawak state, east Malaysia. The height of the individuals and footprints were collected following the standard procedure. The data obtained were analyzed with PASW 20 computer software and derived regression formulae to estimate stature from footprint lengths of Lun Bawang ethnics. The investigation revealed that all footprint lengths exhibit statistically positive significant correlation with stature (p<0.001). Correlation coefficient (R) values are found to be higher in the pooled sample (0.862–0.883) when compared with males (0.718–0.760) and females (0.754–0.802). The regression formulae derived for the pooled sample can be used to estimate stature when the sex of the footprint remains unknown, as in real crime scenarios

Estimation of body weight from foot outline length measurements in Melanau population of east Malaysia

Forensic resources use footprint analysis to obtain vital information during specific crime scene investigations. The examination of bare foot impression is important especially in Asian countries like India and Malaysia where some of the rural population still walk barefooted. Literature review shows that countable research work was conducted to estimate body weight from foot outline anthropometry. The researchers cautioned that racial and cultural aspects of foot morphology must be considered while conducting the foot print study. Hence the present study aims to derive population specific equations to estimate body weight from foot outline anthropometry from 200 (100 males, 100 females) consented adult Melanau ethnics of east Malaysia. The collected data were analysed with PASW 20 computer software. There is a positive correlation exists between body weight and foot outline length measurements. Correlation coefficient (R) values are found to be higher in the pooled sample (0.257–0.286) when compared with males (0.158–0.264) and females (0.179–0.247). The regression formulae derived from the pooled sample can be used to estimate body weight from foot outline when the sex of the foot outline remains unknown, as in real crime scenarios

IMPACT OF COVID-19 AND ONLINE EDUCATION ON THE MENTAL HEALTH OF MEMBERS OF EDUCATIONAL SPHERE-A CASE STUDY

Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19), the enormously transmissible disease resulting due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) as the causative agent, instigated a dreadful outcome ensuing worldwide emergency with its rapid spread and greater mortality rate resulting in grievous disruptions. It arose as the greatest substantial world-wide health catastrophe ever since the period of influenza pandemic of 1918, causing more than 3.7 million deaths worldwide. The influence of this pandemic was ascertained in every arena of life on a worldwide level. COVID-19 has devastated many countries, thrashing our health care system besides having a major impact on the academic sector encompassing an enormous number of students, teachers along with staff members. With the implementation of the lock-down the offline classes were substituted for the online mode not only in India but globally. This has chiefly prompted an effect on the mental health of people apart from their physical health. Mental well-being has a vital significance and the spread of pandemic has accelerated a series of mental disorders ranging from anxiety, stress to depressive disorders. This review, based on questionnaires prepared using the perceived stress scale method compiles the response data of how COVID-19 has affected the mental health of students and members of the educational sphere. Not only this but it shows a contrast between the offline and the new tech-friendly online classes. Thus, this survey study reflects on creating a framework for the academic sector to aid in resolving and helping people manifested with mental health issues so as to lead a normal healthy lifestyle

Headspace solid-phase microextraction applied to the simultaneous determination of Sorbic and Benzoic acid in beverages / Hairunnisa Mohd Anas Khan

An alternative method was applied using headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) for simultaneous determination of sorbic and benzoic acid in beverages. The samples were pretreated with NaOH and fitered through 0.45μm membrane filter, placed in 12ml amber vial and heat with the addition with anhydrous sodium sulfate and sulfuric acid. The sorbic and benzoic acid were extracted in the headspace by using 85 μm polyacrylate fiber and further examined by gas chromatography with flame ionization (FID) detector. The sensitivity of the fiber was enhanced through the optimization of extraction and desorption temperature. The linear range of analytes was found to be between 0.2 L g to 1.0 L g with regression coefficient 0.9943 for sorbic acid and 1.000 for benzoic acid. In this analysis, the three concentrated juices were found to be below the Malaysian permitted level of preservatives food act