Prioritization of Factors Impacting on Performance of Power Looms by Using AHP

The purpose of this paper is to identify the critical success factors influencing the performance of power loom textiles, to evaluate their impact on the organizational performance and to find out the effect of these factors on the organizational performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Sholapur (Maharashtra) industrial sector by using AHP. The methodology adopted is factors are identified through the literature survey and finalization of these factors is done by taking the opinion of Experts in the Indian context. By cognitive map the relation between these factors (direct and indirect effect) is determined and cause and effect diagram is prepared. Then these factors are arranged hierarchically and tree diagram is prepared. A questionnaire was designed and distributed among the experts; data is collected. By using Expert choice software data is filled to quantify by pair wise comparison of these factors and are prioritized. The weights demonstrate several key findings: local and global priority reveals that there is a substantial effect of the Human Resource, product style and volume on the organizational performance. The skill and technology up gradation impact on organizational performance. Maintenance plays important role in improving the organizational performances of the SMEs. Overall, the results showed the central role of the operational factors are important. The research is subject to the normal limitations of AHP. The study is using perceptual data provided by Experts which may not provide clear measures of impact factors. However, this can be overcome using more experts to collect data in future studies. Interestingly, the findings here may be generalisable outside Solapur like Ichalkarnji, Malegaon and Bhiwadi (Maharashtra).Solapur power loom SMEs should consider AHP as an innovative tool for quantification of factors impacting on performance and improving operational and organizational performance in today’s dynamic manufacturing environment. The finding suggests the notion that these critical success factors (CSFs) are to be studied carefully and improvement strategy should be developed. Moreover, the study emphasizes the need to link priority of factors to organizational performance and improvement. The study integrates the CSFs of performance and its quantification by using AHP and its effect on performance of power loom textiles. The indirect impact of underling and fundamental factors are considered. Very few studies have been performed to investigate and understand this issue. Therefore, the research can make a useful contribution. Key words: AHP, Factors and sub factors, Prioritization, power loom

Intellectual Capital: A Case Study of Power Loom using AHP

The purpose of this paper is to identify the critical success factors of IC influencing the performance of power loom textiles, to evaluate their impact on the organizational performance and to find out the effect of these factors on the organizational performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Maharashtra using AHP. The methodology adopted is factors are identified through the literature survey and finalization of these factors is done by taking the opinion of Experts in the Indian context. By cognitive map the relation between these factors is determined and cause and effect diagram is prepared. Then these factors are arranged hierarchically and tree diagram is prepared. A questionnaire was designed and distributed among the experts; data is collected. By using Expert choice software data is filled to quantify by pair wise comparison of these factors and are prioritized. The weights demonstrate several key findings: local and global priority reveals there is a substantial effect of the Human capital on the organizational performance. The work related experience contributes 34.21%, which has a greater impact on performance. Operational procedures or practices contribute 52% in order to improve the operational performance and hence organizational performance. Overall, the results showed the central role of the human capital is important. The research is subject to the normal limitations of AHP. The study is using perceptual data provided by Experts which may not provide clear measures of impact factors. However, this can be overcome using more experts to collect data in future studies. Interestingly, the findings here may be generalisable outside Maharashtra, India. AHP as an innovative tool for quantification of IC factors impacting on performance and improving operational and organizational performance in today’s dynamic manufacturing environment. The finding suggests the notion that these critical success factors (CSFs) are to be studied carefully and improvement strategy should be developed. Moreover, the study emphasizes the need to link priority of factors to organizational performance and improvement. The study integrates the CSFs of performance and its quantification by using AHP and its effect on performance of power loom textiles. Very few studies have been performed to investigate and understand this issue. Therefore, the research can make a useful contribution. Keywords: Intellectual capital, RBV, Power looms, Performance, AHP, Maharashtr

Infuence of chemically synthesized copper nanoparticles and cupric ions on oxalate oxidation system in germinating Sorghum grain

58-63We have earlier reported the effects of chemically synthesized copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) on oxalate oxidase (OxOx) activity, extracted from the shoot tissue of germinating grain sorghum i.e. in vitro. Here, we tried to study this effect in vivo and compare it with those of Cu2+. We describe herein, characterization of CuNPs and their effects on oxalate oxidation system i.e. OxOx activity, total oxalate and H2O2 content in vivo i.e. in shoot tissues/leaves of germinating grain Sorghum (Sorghum vulgare L). To achieve it, grain sorghum seeds were grown up to 10 days in laboratory, irrigated with Hoagland’s solution containing either CuNPs (1.0 ppm) or Cu2+ (1.0 ppm) after 4 days of germination. Control were irrigated with Hoagland solution only. The shoot/leaves of the seedling plants were harvested at 4, 6, 8 and 10 day of germination and analysed quantitatively for OxOx activity, soluble protein, H2O2 and total oxalate. The growth of the Sorghum seedling plants supplemented with CuNPs and Cu2+ was decreased significantly (P 2+. CuNPs decreased the activity of OxOx but Cu2+ had no effect at day 10. Both CuNPs and Cu2+ decreased the specific activity of OxOx and H2O2 content but increased total oxalate content at day 10. The decrease in H2O2 content in both CuNPs and Cu2+ supplemented shoot tissues with concomitant increase in oxalate content confirmed the decreased activity of OxOx in CuNPs and Cu2+ supplemented seedling plants

Induction and inheritance of determinate growth habit in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

The character of determinate plant growth has not been reported for chickpea and has not been observed in the world germplasm collection at ICRISAT, Patancheru, India. A determinate growth habit would be desirable where growing conditions often lead to excessive vegetative growth. We attempted to generate this trait by mutation breeding. Seeds of the cultivar ICCV 6 were exposed to varying irradiation treatments, M1 and M2 populations were raised, and in the latter one plant was detected that showed the determinate growth habit and female sterility. The character of determinate growth segregated in a postulated digenic epistatic 3:13 fashion in the F2 and confirmed its digenic mode of inheritance in the F3 and F4. The symbol cd is proposed for the allele conditioning for determinancy and Dt for the allele expressing the determinate trait. Continued mutation breeding with this and other material may result in identifying fully fertile, determinate plant type

Quantifiable Assurance: From IPs to Platforms

Hardware vulnerabilities are generally considered more difficult to fix than software ones because they are persistent after fabrication. Thus, it is crucial to assess the security and fix the vulnerabilities at earlier design phases, such as Register Transfer Level (RTL) and gate level. The focus of the existing security assessment techniques is mainly twofold. First, they check the security of Intellectual Property (IP) blocks separately. Second, they aim to assess the security against individual threats considering the threats are orthogonal. We argue that IP-level security assessment is not sufficient. Eventually, the IPs are placed in a platform, such as a system-on-chip (SoC), where each IP is surrounded by other IPs connected through glue logic and shared/private buses. Hence, we must develop a methodology to assess the platform-level security by considering both the IP-level security and the impact of the additional parameters introduced during platform integration. Another important factor to consider is that the threats are not always orthogonal. Improving security against one threat may affect the security against other threats. Hence, to build a secure platform, we must first answer the following questions: What additional parameters are introduced during the platform integration? How do we define and characterize the impact of these parameters on security? How do the mitigation techniques of one threat impact others? This paper aims to answer these important questions and proposes techniques for quantifiable assurance by quantitatively estimating and measuring the security of a platform at the pre-silicon stages. We also touch upon the term security optimization and present the challenges for future research directions

Elucidation of the controlled-release behavior of metoprolol succinate from directly compressed xanthan gum-chitosan polymers: computational and experimental studies

The development and evaluation of a controlled-release (CR) pharmaceutical solid dosage form comprising xanthan gum (XG), low molecular weight chitosan (LCS) and metoprolol succinate (MS) is reported. The research is, partly, based upon the utilization of computational tools; in this case molecular dynamics simulations (MDs) and response surface method (RSM), in order to underpin the design/prediction and to minimize the experimental work required to achieve the desired pharmaceutical outcomes. The capability of the system to control the release of MS was studied as a function of LCS (% w/w) and total polymer (LCS and XG) to drug ratio (P:D) at different tablet tensile strengths. MDs trajectories, obtained by using different ratios of XG:LCS as well as XG and high molecular weight CS (HCS), showed that the driving force for the interaction between XG and LCS is electrostatic in nature, the most favourable complex is formed when LCS is used at 15 % (w/w) and, importantly, that the interaction between XG and LCS is more favourable than that between XG and HCS. RSM outputs revealed that the release of the drug from the LCS/XG matrix is highly dependent on both the % LCS and the P:D ratio and that the required CR effect can be achieved when using weight fractions of LCS ≤ 20% and P:D ratios ≥ 2.6:1. Results obtained from in-vitro drug release and swelling studies on the prepared tablets showed that using LCS at the weight fractions suggested by MDs and RSM data plays a major role in overcoming the high sensitivity of the controlled drug release effect of XG on ionic strength and pH changes of the dissolution media. In addition, it was found that polymer relaxation is the major contributor to the release of MS from LCS-XG tablets. Using Raman spectroscopy, MS was shown to be localized more in the core of the tablets at the initial stages of dissolution due to film formation between LCS and XG on the tablet surface which prevents excess water penetration into the matrix. In the later stages of the dissolution process, the film starts to dissolve/erode allowing full tablet hydration and a uniform drug distribution in the swollen tablet

Infuence of chemically synthesized copper nanoparticles and cupric ions on oxalate oxidation system in germinating Sorghum grain

We have earlier reported the effects of chemically synthesized copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) on oxalate oxidase (OxOx) activity, extracted from the shoot tissue of germinating grain sorghum i.e. in vitro. Here, we tried to study this effect in vivo and compare it with those of Cu2+. We describe herein, characterization of CuNPs and their effects on oxalate oxidation system i.e. OxOx activity, total oxalate and H2O2 content in vivo i.e. in shoot tissues/leaves of germinating grain Sorghum (Sorghum vulgare L). To achieve it, grain sorghum seeds were grown up to 10 days in laboratory, irrigated with Hoagland’s solution containing either CuNPs (1.0 ppm) or Cu2+ (1.0 ppm) after 4 days of germination. Control were irrigated with Hoagland solution only. The shoot/leaves of the seedling plants were harvested at 4, 6, 8 and 10 day of germination and analysed quantitatively for OxOx activity, soluble protein, H2O2 and total oxalate. The growth of the Sorghum seedling plants supplemented with CuNPs and Cu2+ was decreased significantly (P <0.1) at all growth stages compared to control. This inhibitory effect of CuNPs was higher than Cu2+. CuNPs decreased the activity of OxOx but Cu2+ had no effect at day 10. Both CuNPs and Cu2+ decreased the specific activity of OxOx and H2O2 content but increased total oxalate content at day 10. The decrease in H2O2 content in both CuNPs and Cu2+ supplemented shoot tissues with concomitant increase in oxalate content confirmed the decreased activity of OxOx in CuNPs and Cu2+ supplemented seedling plants