Intrinsic psychosocial stressors and construction worker productivity: impact of employee age and industry experience

This paper aims to study the impact of employee age and industrial experience on intrinsic psychosocial stressors of construction workers. Using an integrated theoretical approach, this study examines the intrinsic (top management, career development, social support, motivation and work stress) psychosocial stressors that influence the productivity of Pakistani construction contracting firms workers having varied ages and industry experiences. Data were collected through a postal questionnaire survey. A comparative analysis of these data was undertaken for employees of varied ages and industrial experiences. Findings show that employees of varied ages did not concur over several top management, career development, social support, motivation and work stress related psychosocial stressors, whereas employees of varied industrial experience were in disagreement over some work stress related psychosocial stressors. Due to the need to overcome intrinsic psychological stresses, firm support is direly needed, especially for the less-experienced employees that are more susceptible to demotivation, mental stress and health and safety risks at the sites. The study provides valuable insights into worker productivity by showing how employee varied age and diverse industry experience are associated with the intrinsic psychosocial stressors that influence worker productivity. This study will help regulatory bodies to deal with the critical psychosocial stressors and devise such policies that improve the worker productivity of their construction contracting firms

PESTE DES PETITS RUMINANTS: AN OVERVIEW AND A CASE REPORT FROM PAKISTAN

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is an acute or subacute viral disease of goats and sheep characterized by fever, necrotic stomatitis, gastroenteritis, pneumonia, and sometimes death. The virus also affects several wild small ruminant species. Cattle, buffalo, and pigs are only sub clinically infected. People are not at risk. The disease is of heavy economic significance in small ruminant industry and ranks among the top ten diseases affecting small ruminants. Isolation and quarantine measures, slaughtering of positive animals, proper disposal of infected materials, proper disinfection of utensils and other items of flock are crucial for control of PPR. PPR leads to heavy economic setbacks to the farmers. With the aims and objectives to flourish small ruminant farming and maximizing profit, a few key points should be rigorously adopted

On the accuracy of CO/H2 kinetic mechanisms:for prediction of syngas non-premixed flames characteristics

Gasification is a widely used thermo-chemical route for conversion of biomass and coal, yields fuel gases rich in carbon monoxide and hydrogen (called syngas or producer gas). Due to the toxic nature of CO, an accurate kinetic mechanism is required for the prediction and control of its emission from gasification based combustion devices (domestic and commercial scale biomass-based cooking devices, stationary gas turbines, industrial furnaces etc.). CFD simulation results from earlier studies clearly depict the incapability of available kinetic mechanisms for the prediction of the Sandia-ETH Zurich turbulent syngas jet diffusion flames characteristics. The two main reasons for this inaccuracy are, (1) modelling of turbulence-chemistry interactions, (2) optimization of kinetic mechanism rate parameters. To check the accuracy of kinetic rate parameters of available CO/H2 kinetic mechanisms (5 detailed and 3 short kinetic mechanisms) for syngas non-premixed flames, a simplified canonical configuration namely; laminar jet diffusion is studied both experimentally and computationally. The flame height comparison of 6 different compositions of CO/H2 laminar jet diffusion flames showed that none of the mechanisms is capable of accurately predicting experimental flame height and thus highlight a need for a new optimized kinetic mechanism for Syngas combustion

A Survey on Security Issues and Attacks of Fog Computing

There is a link between the cloud and the Internet of Things (IoT). The layer that makes up the dispersed network environment is exactly what it is. Cloud computing is brought out to the edge of the network through the type of networking topology referred as fog computing. Users can benefit greatly from fog computing. Fog's primary role, similar to cloud computing, is to allow people mobility. Fog computing is becoming more and more popular, whereas at the same time, security dangers are growing every day. Users' identification & verification are crucial. The fact of fog computing cannot effectively utilize the security and privacy solutions provided by cloud computing must be emphasized. The risks, issues, and solutions linked to security in fog computing are outlined throughout this study. The poll then includes information on ongoing research projects as well as open security and safety concerns for fog computing

A Survey on Blockchain-based Intrusion Detection Systems for IoT

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a contemporary concept that unifies the Internet and physical objects across various domains, such as home automation, manufacturing, healthcare, and environmental monitoring. This integration enables users to leverage Internet-connected devices in their daily routines. Despite its numerous advantages, IoT also presents several security challenges. As the popularity of IoT continues to grow, ensuring the security of IoT networks has become a critical concern. While encryption and authentication can enhance the security of IoT networks, protecting IoT devices against cyber-attacks remains a complex task. A successful cyber-attack on an IoT system may not only result in information loss but also potentially cripple the entire system. Intrusion detection systems (IDS) are instrumental in identifying malicious activities that could compromise or disrupt network performance. Consequently, there is a pressing need for effective IDS solutions to safeguard IoT systems. Blockchain, an emerging technology, bolsters security systems to counter modern threats. In this paper, we provide an extensive review of state-of-the-art blockchain-based intrusion detection systems for IoT applications. Additionally, we present recent advancements in addressing security concerns in a tabular format. Lastly, we identify open challenges and current limitations that warrant further exploration

The Effects of Water Friction Loss Calculation on the Thermal Field of the Canned Motor

The thermal behavior of a canned motor also depends on the losses and the cooling capability, and these losses cause an increase in the temperature of the stator winding. This paper focuses on the modeling and simulation of the thermal fields of the large canned induction motor by different calculation methods of water friction loss. The values of water friction losses are set as heat sources in the corresponding clearance of water at different positions along the duct and are calculated by the analytical method, loss separation test method, and by assuming the values that may be larger than the experimental results and at zero. Based on Finite volume method (FVM), 3D turbulent flow and heat transfer equations of the canned motor are solve numerically to obtain the temperature distributions of different parts of the motor. The analysis results of water friction loss are compared with the measurements, obtained from the total losses using the loss separation method. The results show that the magnitude of water friction loss within various parts of the motor does not affect the position of peak temperature and the tendency of the temperature distribution of windings. This paper is highly significant for the design of cooling structures of electrical machines

Effect of Biochar and Compost Addition on Mitigating Salinity Stress and Improving Fruit Quality of Tomato

To overcome food security, sustainable strategies for reclamation and the subsequent utilization of salt-affected soils for crop production are needed. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the impacts of compost and biochar addition on the growth and fruit quality of tomato under salinity stress. For this purpose, the soil was spiked with analytical grade sodium chloride to achieve a 6 dS m−1 salinity level for a pot experiment. After 30 days of spiking, the compost (2%) and biochar (2%) were added in selected pots. After the seedling transplant, recommended doses of NPK were added to fulfill nutrient requirements of tomato plants. Plants were harvested after 90 days of seedling transplantation. Results revealed that the salinity caused a significant reduction of 28.4% in SPAD value, 23.5% in Ft, 22.6% in MSI, 12.1% in RWC, 18.3% in Chl. a, 13.7% in Chl. b, and 16.5% in T. Chl. as compared to the un-amended non-saline control in physiological attributes of tomato plants. Similarly, a significant decrease of 26.9–44.1% was obtained in growth attributes of tomato as compared to the non-saline control. However, in saline soil, the addition of biochar and compost (alone or together) demonstrated a significant improvement in plant growth (i.e., up 45%) over the respective un-amended control. Moreover, the combined application of compost and biochar significantly reduced the sodium (Na+) in shoots and roots of tomato plants by 40% and 47%, respectively, over the respective control. Our findings suggest that the combined application of biochar and compost could be useful to reduce salinity, alleviate salinity-induced phytotoxicity, and subsequently improve plant growth and productivity in salt-affected soil