Employee Engagement: A Tool for Enhancing Performance Management

Employee engagement is almost a newly concerned term and practiced by many organizations to generate greater output with maximum work satisfaction. Successful performance management is the antecedent when an organization creates the befitting environment and facilitates with resources to its employees. In our study, we depicted the employee engagement model that affects numerous ways on performance management processes. Traditional view of work holism is farther most different from employee engagement. It’s more about behavioral issues than only to physiological attachment, pro human centric than to merely work centrism. Employee engagement is not a miracle it’s about the reality if an organization can relate its’ all concerning term appropriately. In our study we have tried to connect all the major nucleus of an employee engagement model and showed how they affect on performance management. Keywords: Performance Management, employee engagement, performance agreement, behavioral aspect, goal achievement, organizational achievement

How to Leverage the Power of SAR Observations for Forest Monitoring Systems

Earth observations from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) can provide unique observations related to forest structure and condition. Furthermore, SAR has many potential applications in forest monitoring systems, particularly where clouds have impeded optical observations. Currently, there is a reliable, freely-available, provision of SAR datasets, such as Sentinel-1, and there are plans to have more observations in the near- future (NISAR, BIOMASS). Given SARs enhanced earth observation characteristics, there is broad interest in using SAR datasets for decision support systems, such as deforestation early warning systems. However, applications of SAR are still underutilized. What is preventing users from using SAR data in their decision support systems? This study documents the experiences and lessons learned from the SERVIR network on the main limitations of incorporating SAR datasets into existing forest monitoring systems. This research also focuses on the major technical and scientific barriers we experience and best practices to address them. The results of this study are part of the SERVIR- SilvaCarbon collaboration. The primary goal of this collaboration is to build capacity in the applied use of SAR for forest monitoring and biomass estimation. The products of this effort aim to start closing the gap between SAR-science and forest applications. We will also present results to generate applied-ready knowledge for SAR

The roles of teachers and types of questions in the science classroom : A study of communication patterns in high school level biology lessons

Teacher-student communication in the classroom is crucial for effective student learning and a teacher can play different roles by asking related questions. Teachers use of the right questions at the right moment stimulates and invites the students to have a closer look, reinvestigate or revisit the problem. The teachers play various roles while asking the questions to continue the classroom discourse. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate various roles of a high school teacher in a science classroom discourse. The study also pursued how these roles are related to the types of questions asked by the teacher during classroom communication. A framework, constructed by Chen and his colleagues, has been used to categorize types of teachers’ roles to find the relationship between the roles of the teachers and the types of questions asked in a science class.  A case study has been presented in this report with observations from two high school level biology lessons.  Both audio and video recording were deployed to capture the lessons as well as a notebook was maintained. These recordings have been transcribed for a qualitative data analysis. In this study, five types of questions have been observed in two biology lessons: concept, confirmation, remembering, challenging and encouraging. Furthermore, based on Chen and his colleagues Framework, only three roles of the teacher was found: dispenser, coach, and participant. The findings revealed that the concept, confirmation and remembering types of questions are related to the teacher role as dispenser, the challenging types of questions are related to the role as coach and encouraging type of questions are related to the teacher’s participant role. The teacher acted mostly as a dispenser in the classroom discourses. There were some rooms where the teacher might exercise more as a coach and participant to improve the classroom interaction. No connection between the content of the questions and the role of the teachers was found from the observations. Therefore, this study suggests that further research should be continued with a broader scope to analyze the teachers’ questioning roles, its relationship with the content of the questions and its impact to promote student learning

A critical evaluation of different methods of urban climate mapping : a case study of Glasgow City

The urban climate is a modified urban atmospheric phenomenon shaped by urban morphology and land use pattern. Urban Heat Island (UHI) is an emerging urban climatic concern that increases the heat risk likelihood in urban settings together with the global climate change effect. This dissertation has undertaken an urban climate mapping exercise with available climatic, socio-economic, and terrestrial datasets to visualize the urban heat risk (UHR) analysis in a spatial framework for Glasgow city, largely evaluating the methodological processes for several alternative features. With an abductive approach, simple mixed-method research is designed to integrate both qualitative and quantitative secondary data. This study has used nine base indicators for hazard, exposure, and vulnerability components to synthesize UHR with both map algebra and weighted overlay techniques in ArcGIS. The resultant UHR maps identify the climate-sensitive hotspots in the highly built environments including the city center alongside the river Clyde. Moreover, the thesis demonstrates that both GIS techniques provide a similar overarching results, but map algebra gives heterogeneous spatial UHR distribution at a smaller scale. As for two alternative hazard components (Land Surface Temperature and Air Temperature), this study found that LST-based maps give a detailed and pragmatic reading compared to air temperature as air temperature data is coarse and of poor quality. This study infers that the selection of the number and type of indicators and risk components, and spatial analysis technique affect the UHR outputs spatially. It is concluded that climate-cautious priority intervention can be identified through UCM which is further dependent on the mapping’s methodological choices. Thus, the local government should pay careful attention to the mapping methods to attain desired UCM results. As for implication, based on the Urban Climate Planning Recommendation Map, the study recommends to preserve the green spaces that provide cooling benefits and take immediate actions for climate-sensitive hotspots by incorporating urban green infrastructure at both local and city scales

Columbia River treaty renegotiation potential impacts on agriculture, flood risk, hydropower and instream flows in the context of an altered climate

The Columbia River Treaty (CRT), signed between Canada and the United States in 1964 is important for flood control and hydropower generation in the Columbia River Basin (CRB). Starting from 2014, with 10 year notice the treaty can be terminated or modified. With the possibility of renegotiating the terms of the treaty in the horizon, it is timely to assess impacts of possible treaty alternatives on water resources of the region. The CRB region is projected to have increased temperature resulting in earlier snowmelt and shift in the stream-flow timing. Thus the objective of the study is to assess the impacts of possible changes in the CRT on agriculture, flood control, hydropower production and environmental flows under projected climate change. A biophysical modeling system, VIC-CropSyst, a reservoir operation modeling tool, ColSim, and a curtailment model is implemented under two alternative treaty scenarios and ten climate change scenarios in this study. Treaty alternatives consider operation of the treaty storages to augment flow during low flow months. These two treaty alternatives are run separately under two different flood flow targets (13,000 m3 /s and 17,000 m3 /s) at The Dalles. Climate change projections centering 2030s and 2060s show increased flow during spring with a shift in peak supply earlier in the season, greater flood risk, better production of firm hydropower energy, and improved reliability of meeting instream flow targets in most of the reservoir locations compared to the historic period. Future climate is projected to shift agricultural demand earlier in the irrigation season, causing an increase in water rights curtailment beginning of the irrigation season in those locations where the supply shift is occurring faster than the demand shift. The alternative treaty scenarios benefit irrigated agriculture in the future by reducing water rights curtailment. However, in terms of flood risk, hydropower and environmental flows, CRT alternatives result in mixed impacts when considered along with climate change. This study will help in guiding policy makers to provide stable and flexible treaty provisions that consider benefits to numerous water-use sectors in the long-ter

Unusual primary breast cancer – malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor: a case report and review of the literature

Abstract Background Sarcomas are a rare type of breast malignancies and malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors of the breast are even rarer. There are no specific clinical and radiological features for the diagnosis of this tumor and histological features are also reported to be nonspecific. Therefore, immunohistochemistry is required for its diagnosis. A definitive treatment protocol is unavailable because of its rarity. Case presentation We report a case of a sporadic form of breast malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor found in a 16-year-old Asian Bangladeshi girl. She experienced local recurrence and she had multiple left breast lumps four times in a very short period after repeated surgeries. However, she was later managed successfully with chemotherapy and locoregional radiotherapy. A chemotherapy protocol with ifosfamide, vincristine, and actinomycin was used and radiotherapy was given with a total dose of 50 Gy given in 25 fractions of 2 Gy by a 6 MV photon linear accelerator followed by 10 Gy boost given in 5 fractions of 2 Gy by 9 MeV electron energy. With more than 3 years of periodic follow-up, she is still well without any locoregional and metastatic recurrence. Conclusions This report suggests proper immunohistochemical analysis whenever a breast sarcoma is found in order to find a rare histological variety. We believe that malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor of the breast can be managed by total mastectomy followed by adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Long-term meticulous follow-up is required to develop an optimum therapeutic strategy

CHANGES IN LAND USE PATTERN IN BANGLADESH OVER THE LAST TWO DECADES

Based on secondary data of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, an attempt has been made in this paper to evaluate the changes in land use pattern during the period of 1980/81 to 1999/2000. Absolute changes of land use for different purposes during this period as well as trend values and growth rates were estimated. The growth estimates showed that land not available for cultivation and culturable waste land significantly increased at the rates of 2.1% and 4.09% per annum respectively. As a result, net sown area significantly decreased at the rate of .61% per annum. On the other hand, significant increase in total cropped area at the rate of .28% per annum during the period however, compensated the loss of sown area. Further, it was found that land under forest area increased insignificantly during the last two decades. The rate of decrease of current fallow land over the period was also found to be insignificant

Evaluation of the Allelopathic Activity of Aqueous and Methanol Extracts of <i>Heliotropium indicum</i> Leaves and Roots on Eight Cucurbit Crops

Allelopathy, a biological phenomenon where plants release chemicals that influence the growth and development of neighboring flora, offers potential natural alternatives for weed management in agriculture. This study investigated the allelopathic effects of Heliotropium indicum leaf and root extracts on the germination, growth, and biochemical parameters of eight cucurbit crops. Results demonstrated that H. indicum extracts generally inhibited seed germination across all cucurbit species, with aqueous extracts showing a stronger effect than methanol extracts in Lagenaria siceraria at 10.66 ± 0.46% (p Benincasa hispida’s shoot length was significantly reduced, compared to the control, at 2.1 ± 0.14 cm (p Momordica charantia (p L. siceraria p H. indicum extracts as natural herbicides and biostimulants, though their effects are species-specific and dependent on concentration. This research contributes to understanding the complex interactions in plant allelopathy, and highlights the potential of plant-derived extracts in sustainable agriculture