Relationship of Job involvement with Employee Performance: Moderating role of Attitude

Job involvement was considered very important in the previous literature for increasing the performance ofthe employees. It is hypothesized that involved employees exert considerable efforts for achieving the goalsand objectives of the organization. These kinds of employees are highly productive and produce betterresults as compare to the employees who are not involved with their job. These employees work for theorganization with their hand, head and heart. Several studies examined the relationship of job involvementwith employee performance and claimed that there is a positive relationship between these two variables. Inthis paper we try to further explain the construct of job involvement and combined the results of differentstudies in this context. This paper also tries to explain the controversies between the results of differentstudies and propose to make more construct valid measure for job involvement. Further we alsoconceptualize the relationship of employee attitude in this connection.Keywords: Job involvement, Employee performance, Attitude, Empowerment, Knowledge, Informatio

MULTIDISCIPLINARY MANAGEMENT OF METASTATIC NEUROENDOCRINE TUMOURS

A 65-year-old man presented to his GP with right upper quadrant abdominal pain and weight loss. Abdominal ultrasound showed multiple gallstones and some ill-defined liver lesions. Computer tomography scan diagnosed a terminal ileal lesion causing cicatrisation of the terminal small bowel but does liver abnormality. The patient was worked up with serum gut hormone profile and magnetic resonance imaging of the liver which demonstrated multiple liver lesions and biochemical suspicion of neuroendocrine tumour (NET). The patient underwent a right hemicolectomy and excision/ ablation of 44 liver metastases. He made a good post-operative recovery and remains disease free after 18 months. We also present a brief literature review regarding advances in the management of metastatic NET.Key words: Neuroendocrine tumours, Hepatic metastases, Radiofrequency ablation, Computer tomography, Magneticresonance imagin

Expatriate Performance in the Host Country: How to Maximize the Cultural Adjustments?

In today's era of globalization, companies from different nationalities are trying to capture new markets and proving their presence all over the globe the value of expatriates increase substantially. Every global organization is trying to maintain a department of cosmopolitan managers that can be used to achieve the required degree of globalization. However, the history evident that the success ration of expatriates is very low and lot of efforts had been done on this area to incorporate new ideas and dimensions to minimize the failure of expatriates. The significant impediment of expatriate's success in the host country is the cultural adjustment. This paper specifically proposes a model to increase the probability of expatriate's cultural adjustments in the host country. After reviewing different previous studies on this topic, we propose that three variables are very important for the adjustment of expatriates. These variables are cultural training, international experience and cultural distance. Keywords Expatriate, Culture, Cultural Training, Experience, Host Culture, Cultural Adjustmen

MICROFACIES STUDIES OF THE JURASSIC TAKATU FORMATION, WESTERN SULAIMAN FOLD-THRUST BELT, PAKISTAN

Takatu Formation is well exposed in the western Sulaiman Fold- Thrust Belt, Pakistan. It has an unconformable upper contact with Sembar Formation which is marked by oxidized surface and lower contact with Triassic Wulgai Formation. The Takatu Formation contains a wide variety of limestones, which are fine to coarse grained, palatal, lumpy, skeletal, micritic, nodular, oolitic, and intraclastic. The Takatu Formation is mainly carbonate-litho package with minor siliciclastic content interbedded as shale and marls. The petrography of limestone allowed the differentiation and demonstrated of four major and sub microfacies types. These includes, Mudstone, Wackestone, Packstone and Grainstone microfacies, which are further sub-divided into five microfacies such as, Bioclastic wackstone, Calcispheric packstone, Peloidal packstone, Ooidal grainstone, and Lithoclastic grainstone. These microfacies were compared with standard microfacies and standard zones for their possible depositional environments. On the bases of our studies, it is interpreted that Takatu Formation was deposited in diverse environment ranging from the marginal shallow shelf, upper slope and in deeper parts of the shelf

Phytotoxic characterization of crude methanolic extract of Periploca aphylla

Periploca aphylla is traditionally used in the treatment of various ailments. Phytotoxic activity of crude methanolic extract of P. aphylla was tested on the germination of wheat seeds and on the growth of the germinated seedlings. In both the field and plate studies, the extract showed inhibitory effect on the germination of the growth of root and shoot of the seedlings. The inhibition was found to be dose dependent. The higher concentration of 1000 μg/ml showed maximum inhibitory effect on the growth of root and shoots in the studies of plate as well as on fresh and dry weight of wheat plant. Similarly, the herbicidal activity is also dependent on the concentration of extract. In this study, it was found that inhibitory potential of methanolic extract of P. aphylla increased as 1000 >100 >10 μg/ml.Keywords: Phytotoxic activity, herbicidal activity, germination, plates and field studies, Perifloca aphyll

PROGNOSTIC POWER OF INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE SCORING SYSTEMS IN PERIAMPULLARY PANCREATIC CANCER: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Introduction: Assessment of systemic inflammatory response forms the basis of several scoring systems that attempt to prognosticate patients with periampullary pancreatic carcinoma (PPC). We assessed the validity of three of these scoring systems for patients’ prognosis following intervention for PPC: Glasgow prognostic score (GPS) and its modified version (mGPS), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR).Methods: EMBASE and MEDLINE databases were searched for all published studies until September 2018 using comprehensive text word and MeSH terms. Meta-analysis of observational studies in epidemiology guidelines was followed. All identified studies were analysed and relevant studies were included in the review.Results: Three studies which assessed the role of GPS, four studies that evaluated the use of NLR and three that assessed the role of PLR in patients with PPC were identified. None of these studies demonstrated any value in the pre-operative assessment of patients with PPC. The limited number of studies available precluded further statistical analysis.Conclusions: Based on available evidence, GPS, NLR and PLR do not appear to be useful scoring systems to predict prognosis of patients with PPC. Larger studies are warranted before the application of inflammatory scoring systems could be recommended in patients with PPC.Key words: Periampullary cancer, Glasgow prognostic score, modified Glasgow prognostic score, platelet-lymphocyte ratio, neutrophil-lymphocyte rati

Bioenergy recovery analysis from various waste substrates by employing a novel industrial scale AD plant

In this novel industrial scale case study, the bioenergy recovery based on sole and mixed cow-buffalo (CBM) and potato waste (PW) substrates has been analyzed in real time, i.e., on-site on a full-scale operational anaerobic digestion (AD) plant. The plant employed in this study is a novel design, consisting of tri-digesters connected via an underground upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) type lagoon allowing it to function as a continuous-flow reactor. The system has been further equipped with CSTR, microwave heating, gas scrubbers, compression, and storage systems. The highest energy recovery readings were 123.9 m3/1,000 kg, 77 m3/1,000 kg, and 151.6 kWh/1,000 kg in terms of biogas, bio-methane, and electricity generated, respectively, with 75:25 ratio of CBM:PW. Operating with 100% CBM, yields of 79.9 m3/1,000 kg, 47 m3/1,000 kg, and 95 kWh/1,000 kg were obtained. The percentage of recovery in bio-methane production increased on using the mixed substrates, but it was the lowest with a 25:75 ratio of CBM:PW. The electrical power generation efficiency was found to be significantly increased, but not distinctively with the plant aggregate power rating that was probably associated with the variable quality of biogas which was fed to the power generator. A linear regression analysis had shown a significant and positive correlation between the rate of VS removal and biogas yield

Nigella sativa provides protection against metabolic syndrome

The seeds of Nigella sativa have been used in folk medicine all over the world. The plant has been of interest due to its low degree of toxicity and beneficial pharmacological properties like antihypertensive, hypoglycemic, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antihistaminic, antioxidant, along with significant anti-neuplastic activities. The present clinical study was undertaken to ascertain the adjuvant effect of Nigella seeds on various clinical and biochemical parameters of metabolic syndrome. After final diagnosis and considering inclusion and exclusion criteria, one hundred and fifty nine patients were enrolled in this study. Patients were divided into two groups. In Group I (standard group), patients were advised to take simvastatin 10 mg once a day, metformin 500 mg twice a day, Enalapril 10 mg once a day, Atenolol 50 mg once a day and clopidagrel 75 mg once a day for a period of six weeks. In Group II (Nigella seeds group), patients were advised the above standard medication plus Nigella seeds 250 mg twice daily for a period of six weeks. Blood sugar both fasting and postprandial, fasting lipid profile and different parameters of obesity were recorded before therapy and after completion of therapy. It was found that the addition of Nigella seeds provide beneficial effects in all the clinical and biochemical parameters for the adult’s treatment panel-III of metabolic disorders especially in fasting blood sugar, low density lipoproteins and high density lipoproteins. No sign of toxicity of the plant appeared in the Group II. Improvement in all other parameters like blood pressure, circumference of waist and serum triglyceride was also observed. Thus, Nigella seeds were found to be effective as an adjuvant therapy in patients of dyslipidemia and hyperglycemia.Keywords: Nigella sativa, toxicity, hyperglycemia, adjuvant, antihistaminic, antioxidant, patient

Design, analysis and validation of a microstrip patch antenna with enhanced coupling for leaf moisture sensing: an IoT approach

An innovative IoT-based system utilizing a modified slotted microstrip patch antenna with enhanced coupling is presented for precise measurement of leaf moisture content. The antenna employs a rectangular slot above the feed point with an advanced coupling technique to enhance sensitivity. The antenna, fabricated on a 0.8 mm F4B substrate, is designed to resonate within the 2.40 to 3.0 GHz range under unloaded conditions. A parametric analysis focusing on leaf permittivity ranging from 20 to 30 is conducted to determine the antennas’ sensitivity. Experimental measurements of the reflection coefficient (S11) with respect to resonant frequency shift are performed with leaf samples as the samples under test (SUT). Experimental results reveal that the proposed patch antenna’s sensitivity is significantly enhanced, ranging from 0.57 to 1.67 times greater than that of traditional patch antennas for the five leaf samples tested. The antenna exhibits a sensitivity of 0.06 GHz and 0.02 GHz for the modified and enhanced coupling designs, respectively. The mean relative error between predicted and measured moisture content values is low at 0.038. The findings highlight the antenna’s increased sensitivity in detecting leaf moisture content and illustrate the potential of the proposed IoT-based system for real-time agricultural monitoring, marking an advancement in precision farming practices. The study validates the microstrip patch antenna’s capability as a moisture sensor through detailed sensitivity analysis, frequency shift measurements, and regression modeling

Latest research trends in gait analysis using wearable sensors and machine learning: a systematic review

Gait is the locomotion attained through the movement of limbs and gait analysis examines the patterns (normal/abnormal) depending on the gait cycle. It contributes to the development of various applications in the medical, security, sports, and fitness domains to improve the overall outcome. Among many available technologies, two emerging technologies that play a central role in modern day gait analysis are: A) wearable sensors which provide a convenient, efficient, and inexpensive way to collect data and B) Machine Learning Methods (MLMs) which enable high accuracy gait feature extraction for analysis. Given their prominent roles, this paper presents a review of the latest trends in gait analysis using wearable sensors and Machine Learning (ML). It explores the recent papers along with the publication details and key parameters such as sampling rates, MLMs, wearable sensors, number of sensors, and their locations. Furthermore, the paper provides recommendations for selecting a MLM, wearable sensor and its location for a specific application. Finally, it suggests some future directions for gait analysis and its applications