Employees’ exit from manufacturing organizations: Investigating the consequences

This study explored and analyzed consequences of employees’ turnover at manufacturing organizations of Site area Kotri. This is descriptive and cross-sectional research study using mixed-methods. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews followed by a survey using closed-ended questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were applied for checking the reliability and validity. Sample consists of 342 employees working at 12 different—oil, flour, textile and paper—mills in site area Kotri were randomly selected. Data were analyzed in terms of Descriptive Statistics, ANOVA and Structural Equations Modeling. The results indicate that it will be detrimental to organizations if management remains oblivion to employees’ concerns while assuming that employee turnover is not a problem for organization. Organizations in general and manufacturing organizations of Site Area Kotri in particular need to take a heed towards employees’ turnover as its consequences can be mitigated

Maximum likelihood estimation of exponential distribution under type-ii censoring from imprecise data

Statistical analysis of lifetime distributions under Type-II censoring scheme is based on precise lifetime data. However, some collected lifetime data might be imprecise and are represented in the form of fuzzy numbers. This paper deals with the estimation of exponential mean parameter under Type-II censoring scheme when the lifetime observations are fuzzy and are assumed to be related to underlying crisp realization of a random sample. Maximum likelihood estimate of the unknown parameter is obtained by using EM algorithm. In addition, a new numerical method for parameter estimation is provided. Using the parametric bootstrap method, the construction of confidence intervals for the mean parameter is discussed. Monte Carlo simulations are performed to investigate performance of the different methods. Finally, an illustrative example is also included.Keywords: Type-II censoring, Imprecise lifetime, Exponential distribution, Maximumlikelihood estimation, Bootstrap confidence interva

Inaugural Address

It is with great pleasure that I inaugurate the Eleventh Annual General Meeting of the Pakistan Society of Development Economists. I have noted with satisfaction the contribution this Society has made over the years to add to our knowledge about the importance of development economics, and particularly in comprehending adequately the multi-dimensional character of the development process and for framing fruitful policies to accelerate the rate of economic development. Above all, it has given an institutional shape to the meaningful dialogue between professional economists and policy-makers. I am delighted to see such a large number of distinguished economists from all over the world participating in the Society’s deliberations. Only the best results can be expected to come out of such objective discussions about some of the highly topical economic issues of our time. I wish to extend my appreciation to the Society for providing such an effective platform to economists, demographers, and anthropologists

Blockchain for IoT: The challenges and a way forward

Copyright © 2018 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved Bitcoin has revolutionized the decentralized payment system by excluding the need for a trusted third party, reducing the transaction (TX) fee and time involved in TX confirmation as compared to a conventional banking system. The underlying technology of Bitcoin is Blockchain, which was initially designed for financial TXs only. However, due to its decentralized architecture, fault tolerance and cryptographic security benefits such as user anonymity, data integrity and authentication, researchers and security analysts around the world are focusing on the Blockchain to resolve security and privacy issues of IoT. But at the same time, default limitations of Blockchain, such as latency in transaction confirmation, scalability concerning Blockchain size and network expansion, lack of IoT-centric transaction validation rules, the absence of IoT-focused consensus protocols and insecure device integration are required to be addressed before it can be used securely and efficiently in an IoT environment. Therefore, in this paper we analyze some of the existing consensus protocols used in various Blockchain-based applications, with a focus on investigating significant limitations in TX (Transaction) validation and consensus mechanism that make them inappropriate to be implemented in Blockchain-based IoT systems. We also propose a way forward to address these issues

Estimating the Parameter of Exponential Distribution under Type II Censoring From Fuzzy Data

The problem of estimating the parameter of Exponential distribution on the basis of type II censoring scheme is considered when the available data are in the form of fuzzy numbers. The Bayes estimate of the unknown parameter is obtained by using the approximation forms of Lindley (1980) and Tierney and Kadane (1986) under the assumption of gamma prior. The highest posterior density (HPD) estimate of the parameter of interest is found. A Monte Carlo simulation is used to compare the performances of the different methods. A real data set is investigated to illustrate the applicability of the proposed methods

Antifungal genome mining and genetics in filamentous actinomycete bacteria isolated from local soils

Actinomycetes are gram positive, filamentous bacteria that produce useful antibiotics, antitumor agents, and agricultural products. A series of enrichments were undertaken to isolate actinomycetes from local soils, varying enrichment media, antibacterials, and soil treatments (including heat and CaCO3). Isolates were characterized by 16S rDNA sequencing, phenotypic and morphological observations, and antibiotic production. The genetic tractability of select isolates was analyzed using a panel of integrating vectors derived from ɸC31, ɸBT1, and OzzyJ phage using intergeneric conjugation. Further, a semi-degenerate multiplex PCR assay to detect ɸBT1 genomic integrants was designed and tested for the first time. Finally, PCR screens were used to test if the isolates genetically encode for the production of Polycyclic Tetramate Macrolactams (PTM), a common class of antifungal natural products. We designed and tested PCR screens in silico that probed specific PTM biosynthetic genes in order to predict PTM chemical variability arising from gene cluster diversity. PTM production from positive isolates was assayed using coupled liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Our results indicate that we have isolated a variety of Actinomycetes, many of whom produce antifungal and antibacterial compounds, which are genetically tractable with a subset predicted to produce PTM compounds

An investigation into the problems involved in the implementation of a suggested strategic planning model for schools in Saudi Arabia

Strategic planning at school level is a new concept in the field of education in Saudi Arabia, where the educational system is centralised and directly controlled by the Ministry of Education. The aim of this research was to investigate the consequences of implementing a specially devised strategic planning model in individual schools in Saudi Arabia. Twelve schools of average size were chosen as a representative sample: four elementary, four middle and four secondary schools. Interviews with senior management suggested a general lack of awareness of strategic planning at school level and some resistance to giving more autonomy to schools. The Makhdoom Strategic Planning Model, which has a distinctive vision-led format, was proposed and adopted in the sample schools. Perceived benefits included participants choosing their own vision for the school, sharing views and contributing to the decision- making process. Problems were discovered and discussed during initial interviews, subsequent workshops, and final interviews with school staff: lack of information and resistance to change were identified as the main potential challenges to introducing the Model into schools. Some compromises would be needed to avoid conflict with the central system. Leadership from head teachers and the availability of a facilitator were important factors for success. In addition to extending understanding of the value of strategic planning in the context of the Saudi Arabian education system at school level, this thesis presents an easily applicable, vision-led, 10-step Strategic Planning Model which can be used by managers in many other educational contexts.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

ASU-CNN: An Efficient Deep Architecture for Image Classification and Feature Visualizations

Activation functions play a decisive role in determining the capacity of Deep Neural Networks as they enable neural networks to capture inherent nonlinearities present in data fed to them. The prior research on activation functions primarily focused on the utility of monotonic or non-oscillatory functions, until Growing Cosine Unit broke the taboo for a number of applications. In this paper, a Convolutional Neural Network model named as ASU-CNN is proposed which utilizes recently designed activation function ASU across its layers. The effect of this non-monotonic and oscillatory function is inspected through feature map visualizations from different convolutional layers. The optimization of proposed network is offered by Adam with a fine-tuned adjustment of learning rate. The network achieved promising results on both training and testing data for the classification of CIFAR-10. The experimental results affirm the computational feasibility and efficacy of the proposed model for performing tasks related to the field of computer vision.Comment: 11 pages , 8 figure