Perceived Organizational Politics and Employee Morale: Mediating Role of Social Exchange Perceptions in Pakistani Organizations

Politics in organizations is an important aspect of organizational life which has been an interesting research area since last four decades. However, it is still deprived of practical approach due to its inconclusive studies and fragmented arguments. In politicized organizations, morale and motivation of employees depend mostly on their type of exchange relationships. The study in hand is another effort to view these exchange perceptions as intervening between the relationship of perceptions of organizational politics and morale of employees. As a part of larger study, data was collected through self administered questionnaire distributed among master of business administration students who were completing their management degree as part time along with their jobs during day time. All the Pakistani business schools were included in this study and surveys were distributed to 2000 employees during their classes and participation was voluntary ensuring anonymity and compliance with ethical considerations. Overall, 2000 questionnaires were distributed among which 1163 useable surveys were returned after screening and cleaning for unengaged response, left over pages and missing critical information. Thus response rate was 58%. Results of regression analysis indicated that social exchange perceptions was partial mediators in the relationship between perceptions of organizational politics and employee morale  and about 70% of the total effect was mediated by these perceptions which was an important indicator for understanding organizational life. Practical policy implications have also been discussed in discussion sections along with limitation of the study and guidelines for future research

Perceived Organizational Politics and Employee Morale: Mediating Role of Social Exchange Perceptions in Pakistani Organizations

Politics in organizations is an important aspect of organizational life which has been an interesting research area since last four decades. However, it is still deprived of practical approach due to its inconclusive studies and fragmented arguments. In politicized organizations, morale and motivation of employees depend mostly on their type of exchange relationships. The study in hand is another effort to view these exchange perceptions as intervening between the relationship of perceptions of organizational politics and morale of employees. As a part of larger study, data was collected through self administered questionnaire distributed among master of business administration students who were completing their management degree as part time along with their jobs during day time. All the Pakistani business schools were included in this study and surveys were distributed to 2000 employees during their classes and participation was voluntary ensuring anonymity and compliance with ethical considerations. Overall, 2000 questionnaires were distributed among which 1163 useable surveys were returned after screening and cleaning for unengaged response, left over pages and missing critical information. Thus response rate was 58%. Results of regression analysis indicated that social exchange perceptions was partial mediators in the relationship between perceptions of organizational politics and employee morale  and about 70% of the total effect was mediated by these perceptions which was an important indicator for understanding organizational life. Practical policy implications have also been discussed in discussion sections along with limitation of the study and guidelines for future research

Aqueous Extract of Nigella sativa Seeds Suppresses Testicular Steroidogenesis in Mice Leydig Cells in vitro.

10ABSTRACT 11Nigella sativa (black seed) is an important medicinal herb with folkloric use in wide range of diseases. It is 12well studied for its biological activities. However, there is limited information regarding its effect on the 13male reproductive system. This study describes the effect of the aqueous extract of N. sativa (NSE) on 14 testicular steroidogenesis from mice Leydig cells in vitro. Mice testicular cells were incubated in a media 15 containing either no treatment or NSE or LH alone or combination of LH and NSE. Incubations were 16 carried out for three hours in a shaking water bath at 34°C. Testosterone was measured by 17 radioimmunoassay. At all doses, NSE significantly (p \u3c 0.05) inhibited both basal and LH-stimulated in 18 vitro testosterone secretion. At a dose of l000 μg, NSE inhibited 52% of basal testosterone and 97% of 19 LH-stimulated testosterone, compared to control (0.32 ± 0.008 ng/ml) and LH alone (0.33 ± 0.01 ng/ml) 20 respectively. Thus, it is concluded that that both the basal and the LH-stimulated secretion of testosterone 21 from Leydig cells are suppressed significantly in the presence of different doses of NSE in vitro. However, 22 further studies are needed to explore the effect of chronic treatment with NSE in male and its potential to 23 be used as a contraceptive in male

Decision Support Systems for Sustainable Logistics: A Review and Bibliometric Analysis

Purpose: Decision-making in logistics is an increasingly complex task for organizations as these involve decisions at strategic, tactical and operational levels coupled with the triple bottom line (TBL) of sustainability. Decision support systems (DSS) played a vital role in arguably solving the challenges associated with decision making in sustainable logistics. This review is a systematic attempt to explore the current state of the research in the domain of DSS for logistics while considering sustainability aspects. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic review approach using a set of relevant keywords with several exclusion criteria was adopted to identify literature related to DSS for sustainable logistics. A total of 40 papers were found from 1994 to 2015, which were then analysed along the dimensions of publishing trend, geographic distribution and collaboration, the most influential journals, affiliations and authors as well as the key themes of identified literature. The analysis was conducted by means of bibliometric and text mapping tools, namely BibExcel, gpsvisualizer, and VOSviewer. Findings: The bibliometric analysis showed that DSS for sustainable logistics is an emerging field; however, it is still evolving but at a slower pace. Furthermore, most of the contributing affiliations belong to the United States and the United Kingdom. The text mining and keyword analysis revealed key themes of identified papers. The inherent key themes were decision models and frameworks to address sustainable logistics issues covering transport, distribution and third party logistics. The most prominent sustainable logistics issue was carbon footprinting. Social impact has been given less attention in comparison to economic and environmental aspects. The literature has adequate room for proposing more effective solutions by considering various types of MCDA (multi-criteria decision analysis) methods and DSS configurations while simultaneously considering economic, environmental and social aspects of sustainable logistics. Moreover, the field has potential to include logistics from wide application areas including freight transport through road, rail, sea, air as well as inter-modal transport, port operations, material handling and warehousing. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first systematic review of DSS for sustainable logistics using bibliometric and text analysis. The key themes and research gaps identified in this paper will provide a reference point that will encourage and guide interested researchers for future study, thus aiding both theoretical and practical advancements in this discipline

The Impact of Socio-Emotional Intelligence Training on Teacher's Performance

Researchers and practitioners suggest acquisition of socio-emotional intelligence skills and competencies for the teacher in the age of stresses, individualism, and materialisms; to improve teacher’s effectiveness and performance and to raise a socially and emotionally intelligent child. The study contains an investigation of the impact of socio-emotional intelligence training on teacher performance and productivity. Results indicate that socio-emotional intelligence has a positive correlation with teacher performance. Results show positive impacts of Socio-emotional intelligence training on teachers’ performance and productivity. Data were analyzed for gender and qualification variable using SPSS, Cronbach Alpha was calculated, and descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. Researchers and practitioners suggest acquisition of socio-emotional intelligence skills and competencies for the teacher in the age of stresses, individualism, and materialisms; to improve teacher’s effectiveness and performance and to raise a socially and emotionally intelligent child. The study contains an investigation of the impact of socio-emotional intelligence training on teacher performance and productivity. Results indicate that socio-emotional intelligence has a positive correlation with teacher performance. Results show positive impacts of Socio-emotional intelligence training on teachers’ performance and productivity. Data were analyzed for gender and qualification variable using SPSS, Cronbach Alpha was calculated, and descriptive statistics were used for data analysis

Pharmacodynamics and Biodistribution of Single-Dose Liposomal Amphotericin B at Different Stages of Experimental Visceral Leishmaniasis.

Visceral leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease that causes significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Characterization of the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of antileishmanial drugs in preclinical models is important for drug development and use. Here we investigated the pharmacodynamics and drug distribution of liposomal amphotericin B (AmBisome) in Leishmania donovani-infected BALB/c mice at three different dose levels and two different time points after infection. We additionally compared drug levels in plasma, liver, and spleen in infected and uninfected BALB/c mice over time. At the highest administered dose of 10 mg/kg AmBisome, >90% parasite inhibition was observed within 2 days after drug administration, consistent with drug distribution from blood to tissue within 24 h and a fast rate of kill. Decreased drug potency was observed in the spleen when AmBisome was administered on day 35 after infection, compared to day 14 after infection. Amphotericin B concentrations and total drug amounts per organ were lower in liver and spleen when AmBisome was administered at the advanced stage of infection and compared to those in uninfected BALB/c mice. However, the magnitude of difference was lower when total drug amounts per organ were estimated. Differences were also noted in drug distribution to L. donovani-infected livers and spleens. Taken together, our data suggest that organ enlargement and other pathophysiological factors cause infection- and organ-specific drug distribution and elimination after administration of single-dose AmBisome to L. donovani-infected mice. Plasma drug levels were not reflective of changes in drug levels in tissues

Titanium hardware extrusion following pediatric cranioplasty

Aging pediatric cranioplasty patients with titanium implants are a population at risk for scalp breakdown and implant extrusion. Complications from titanium use in adult cranioplasty patients are well documented in the medical literature. Reports of complications focused on pediatric populations are sparse. In this case series, we report two examples of negative sequelae associated with titanium utilization in infant cranioplasty and discuss our treatment strategy for each case

Alignment of liquid crystal/carbon nanotube dispersions for application in unconventional computing

We demonstrate the manipulation of single-walled carbon nanotube/liquid crystal composites using in-plane electric fields. The conductivity of the materials is shown to be dependant on the application of a DC bias across the electrodes. When the materials are subjected to this in-plane field, it is suggested that the liquid crystals orientate, thereby forcing the SWCNTs to follow in alignment. This process occurs over many seconds, since the SWCNTs are significantly larger in size than the liquid crystals. The opportunity for applying this material to unconventional computing problems is suggested

Persistent homology for fast tumor segmentation in whole slide histology images

Automated tumor segmentation in Hematoxylin & Eosin stained histology images is an essential step towards a computer-aided diagnosis system. In this work we propose a novel tumor segmentation approach for a histology whole-slide image (WSI) by exploring the degree of connectivity among nuclei using the novel idea of persistent homology profiles. Our approach is based on 3 steps: 1) selection of exemplar patches from the training dataset using convolutional neural networks (CNNs); 2) construction of persistent homology profiles based on topological features; 3) classification using variant of k-nearest neighbors (k-NN). Extensive experimental results favor our algorithm over a conventional CNN

Computing with carbon nanotubes: optimization of threshold logic gates using disordered nanotube/polymer composites

This paper explores the use of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT)/poly(butyl methacrylate) composites as a material for use in unconventional computing. The mechanical and electrical properties of the materials are investigated. The resulting data reveal a correlation between the SWCNT concentration/viscosity/conductivity and the computational capability of the composite. The viscosity increases significantly with the addition of SWCNTs to the polymer, mechanically reinforcing the host material and changing the electrical properties of the composite. The electrical conduction is found to depend strongly on the nanotube concentration; Poole-Frenkel conduction appears to dominate the conductivity at very low concentrations (0.11% by weight). The viscosity and conductivity both show a threshold point around 1% SWCNT concentration; this value is shown to be related to the computational performance of the material. A simple optimization of threshold logic gates shows that satisfactory computation is only achieved above a SWCNT concentration of 1%. In addition, there is some evidence that further above this threshold the computational efficiency begins to decrease