Feeling unsure: Quit or stay? Uncovering heterogeneity in employees\u27 intention to leave in Indian call centers

Employee turnover remains to be one of the biggest human resource problems facing the Indian international call center industry. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive study of how the attitudes of call center employees toward different aspects of their work affect their intention to leave. Our specific contribution to the literature is in understanding the heterogeneity among employees and how this affects meaningful inference in studying employees\u27 intention to leave. To achieve this goal, we compare and contrast between traditional ordinary least squares regression models that have been used in the extant literature with latent class analysis. Latent class analysis suggests the presence of three distinct groups of employees, thus confirming the heterogeneity present in the data. The three groups can be represented as the two polar groups, one keen on staying and the other keen on leaving, and a significantly large third group of employees who are unsure. We also find that the impact of different attitudes vary between groups in terms of both economic significance (magnitude of coefficients), and statistical significance. This study throws important light on the research on turnover and has significant research and practical implications. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

Endogeneity and dynamics of innovation and firm performance

Technological and innovation capabilities play an important role in determining the performance of firms, especially in knowledge intensive industries. Despite the plethora of studies testing the relationship between innovation capabilities and firm performance, little consensus has been achieved on the veracity of the theoretical claims. In this paper, we argue that the lack of consensus could be on account of the failure to take into account the endogeneity that arises from the decision process that underlies the relationship between development of technological capabilities and its impact on firm performance. We address both these issues and demonstrate that alternative empirical designs can help provide greater external validity. © 2014 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd

Innovation capabilities and international performance of firms: A quantile regression approach

This study examines the relationship between various dimensions of a firm\u27s technological innovation capabilities and its international performance. We use panel data with multiple indicators of firm level technological capabilities including generation, dissemination, strength and speed of innovation. We employ a quantile regression analysis which allowed us to test the impact of innovation capability on international performance of high, average and poor performers. Our empirical findings indicate significant disparity between the ordinary least square and quantile regression results. Copyright © 2012 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd

Resource Estimation for Large Scale, Real-Time Image Analysis on Live Video Cameras Worldwide

Thousands of public cameras live-stream an abundance of data to the Internet every day. If analyzed in real-time by computer programs, these cameras could provide unprecedented utility as a global sensory tool. For example, if cameras capture the scene of a fire, a system running image analysis software on their footage in real-time could be programmed to react appropriately (perhaps call firefighters). No such technology has been deployed at large scale because the sheer computing resources needed have yet to be determined. In order to help us build computer systems powerful enough to achieve such lifesaving feats, we developed a model that estimates the computer resources required for an experiment of that magnitude. The team is creating an experiment to demonstrate the feasibility of analyzing real-time images in a large scale. More specifically, the experiment aims to retrieve and analyze one billion images in 24 hours. Preliminary study suggests that this goal is attainable. This experiment will study the accuracy and performance of state-of-the-art image analysis solutions and reveal directions for future improvement

Endoscopic Management of Epistaxis in Lumbini Medical College

Introduction: Epistaxis is one of the commonest Ear Nose Throat (ENT) emergency. Proper guidelines for its management are lacking; on the other hand, the management is mostly done by the junior health service providers which has invited non-standardized practice of epistaxis management. Thereby this study was much inclined towards assessment of the effectiveness of endoscopic management of epistaxis.   Methods: This prospective study included patients above 16 years who were diagnosed with idiopathic epistaxis visiting Out Patient of ENT Department or in the Emergency Department of Lumbini Medical College from 1st of July 2014 to 30th of June 2015. ENT examination was done to find the cause and site of bleeding. Thereafter different epistaxis management interventions were done depending on the bleeding condition. The data were collected, entered and then analyzed using SPSS version 21. The descriptive statistics were applied.   Results: Of the total 116 patients, 53 (45.69%) were male and 63 (54.31%) were female showing no gender preponderance with epistaxis in our study. Majority (49%) of the patients were managed with cauterization with silver nitrate or electrocautery in out-patient clinic. Second most common (18%) procedure was endoscopic sphenopalatine artery cauterization. Nasal packing was done only in three cases with zero posterior pack.   Conclusion: Endoscopic intervention of epistaxis seems to be safe, simple, fast, and effective for the management of epistaxis with low rates of morbidity and complications. Thereby it can be preferred over the conservative nasal packing and considered as immediate second-line management

First Line Treatment of Meniere’s Disease

Introduction: There is no consensus on the first line medical treatment of Meniere disease to produce symptomatic improvement and slow the disease progress. Dietary salt restriction, diuretics, and vasodilators like betahistine are among the first line drugs that have been used for long. There is lack of evidence due to paucity of quality studies to support their effectiveness and advocate their use. This study is done to evaluate the effectiveness of three first line treatment of Meniere disease i.e. salt restriction, oral diuretics, and betahistine. Methods: Double blind randomized controlled trial was carried out in out-patient clinic of Ear Nose and Throat department of Lumbini Medical College Teaching Hospital. Cases were randomized into three groups; dietary salt restriction, diuretics as amiloride and furosemide, and vasodilator as betahistine. Pre and post treatment evaluation was done in terms of number and severity of vertigo, tinnitus, and hearing outcome. Results: There were a total of 97 cases with F:M ratio of 1.1:1. Mean age of patients was 47.86 yr (SD=12.7). Twenty-nine (30%) were treated with dietary sodium restriction alone (Group A), 35 (36%) were treated with diuretics (Group B) and the rest 33 (34%) were treated with vasodilator (betahistine, Group C). There was no significant difference in hearing outcome in any group. Tinnitus was significantly improved in Group B. Number of vertigo attack was significantly decreased in Group B and Group C. Severity of vertigo was significantly decreased in Group B. Conclusion: Dietary salt restriction alone was not effective in controlling any aspect of the disease whereas diuretics were effective in reducing tinnitus and number and severity of vertigo. Betahistine was effective in reducing the number of vertigo attacks but not effective on other aspects of the disease

Psychological Distress in Patients having Globus Pharyngeus

Introduction: Globus sensation is described as a constant feeling of a lump or foreign body in the throat in absence of pain and dysphagia. It is a common complaint in Ear Nose and Throat clinics. Etiology of this condition remains multifactorial and unclear. Psychiatric disorder has been described as one of the cause of globus. The objective of this study is to evaluate the occurrence of psychological distress in patients complaining of globus sensation in throat coming to our centre. Methods: A case-control study was done. Patients coming to Outpatient of Ear Nose and Throat Department of Lumbini Medical College Teaching Hospital with complain of globus and not having an organic explanation of the condition were included. Age, sex and socio-economic condition matched control group was selected from healthy visitors (patient parties). Validated Nepali version of GHQ-12 was used to assess the psychological distress. Results: Psychological distress was present in 72.69% of the cases and 39.91% in the control group. The difference was statistically significant. Conclusion: Psychological distress was significantly higher in the patients with globus pharyngeus compared to the control group. It was also present in a larger fraction of the controlgroup. The patient who present with Globus should undergo psychiatric evaluation after organic causes have been ruled out. We recommend a national policy to evaluate the population for their psychiatric health

Essential Palatal Myoclonus

Introduction: Palatal myoclonus is a rare condition presenting with clicking sound in ear or muscle tremor in pharynx. There are two varieties: essential and symptomatic. Various treatment options exists ranging from watchful observation to botulinum toxin injection. We have not found any reported case of palatal myoclonus from our country. Here we present a case of essential palatal myoclonus managed with clonazepam. Case report: A young female presented in Ear Nose and Throat clinic with complain of auditory click and spontaneous rhythmic movement of throat muscles for eight months. On examination, there was involuntary, rhythmic contraction of bilateral soft-palate, uvula, and base of tongue. Neurological, eye, and peripheral examination were normal. A diagnosis of essential palatal myoclonus was made. It was managed successfully with clonazepam; patient was still on low dose clonazepam at the time of making this report. Conclusion: Essential palatal myoclonus can be clinically diagnosed and managed even in settings where MRI is not available or affordable

Tracheal Resection and Anastomosis for Postintubation Tracheal Stenosis

Introduction: Tracheal stenosis is one of the dreaded complication of tracheal intubation. Tracheal resection and anastomosis is an established definitive treatment for stenosis more than one cm. Here, we present a case of postintubation tracheal stenosis managed by resection and anastomosis, first of its kind in our centre. Case Report: We present a case of 26-year female who underwent tracheal intubation during her treatment of tubercular meningitis. Two weeks later, she returned with respiratory difficulty. A diagnosis of post-intubation tracheal stenosis was made. Tracheal resection and anastomosis was done. Recovery was uneventful and she was discharged on 14th post-operative day. Conclusion: Post-intubation tracheal stenosis is still a dreaded complication even after the introduction of high volume low pressure cuff. They can be successfully managed. Care personnel in intensive care unit (ICU) should perform to prevent this complication

Is Real-Time Mobile Content-Based Image Retrieval Feasible?

Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) is a method of searching through a database of images by using another image as a query instead of text. Recent advances in the processing power of smart phones and tablets, collectively known as mobile devices, have prompted researchers to attempt to construct mobile CBIR systems. Most of the research that has been conducted on mobile CBIR has focused on improving either its accuracy or its run-time, but not both simultaneously. We set out to answer the question: is real-time CBIR with manageable accuracy possible on current mobile devices? To find the answer to this question, we ran tests using a compiled database of 930 high-resolution images on both a desktop computer and a Nexus 7 tablet. These tests examined the relationship between image resolution, matching method, and image descriptor type on match time and accuracy. By scaling down the images before matching them, we were able to achieve a run-time on Android of less than 10 seconds while maintaining 60% accuracy on average. These results suggest that a mobile CBIR system can be developed with current technology that can sufficiently balance accuracy and run-time