Moderating effect of social support on personal financial constraints and job stress relationship

The aim of this paper is to examine the moderating effect of social support (which may be supervisory, friends, family and relatives) on the relationship of personal financial constraints and job stress relationship. Sample consists of 294 respondents from randomly selected 28 branches of 22 banks located across all major cities of Pakistan. Moderated regression analysis has been used to test the hypothesized relationships. Personal financial constraints enhance job stress and social support moderates this relationship. Job stress increases when an employee faces financial constraints but decreases in the presence of social support. Practical and theoretical implications are drawn. This research is conducted in banking industry, so its results can’t be generalized to other industries. This paper is the first which examines the impact of a non-work related variable, personal financial constraint on job stress along with buffering role of social support. Its findings have great implications for employers for increasing productivity of employees.Job stress, personal financial constraints, social support, moderating, banking, Pakistan

Power Imbalance Detection in Smart Grid via Grid Frequency Deviations: A Hidden Markov Model based Approach

We detect the deviation of the grid frequency from the nominal value (i.e., 50 Hz), which itself is an indicator of the power imbalance (i.e., mismatch between power generation and load demand). We first pass the noisy estimates of grid frequency through a hypothesis test which decides whether there is no deviation, positive deviation, or negative deviation from the nominal value. The hypothesis testing incurs miss-classification errors---false alarms (i.e., there is no deviation but we declare a positive/negative deviation), and missed detections (i.e., there is a positive/negative deviation but we declare no deviation). Therefore, to improve further upon the performance of the hypothesis test, we represent the grid frequency's fluctuations over time as a discrete-time hidden Markov model (HMM). We note that the outcomes of the hypothesis test are actually the emitted symbols, which are related to the true states via emission probability matrix. We then estimate the hidden Markov sequence (the true values of the grid frequency) via maximum likelihood method by passing the observed/emitted symbols through the Viterbi decoder. Simulations results show that the mean accuracy of Viterbi algorithm is at least $5$\% greater than that of hypothesis test.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, accepted by IEEE VTC conference, Fall 2018 editio

Investigating The Combined Effects of Replacing Cement with Sugarcane Bagasse Ash and Coarse Aggregate with Ceramic Tile Waste in Concrete Production

The aim of this study is to elevate the effects of combine inclusion of Sugarcane Bagasse Ash (SCBA) as cement and ceramic tile waste (CTW) as coarse aggregate replacement on concrete properties. However, SCBA is a waste material and having good pozzolanic properties. The importance of sustainability and recycling has become increasingly recognized and understood in academia and industry over the last several decades. Besides that, the recycling construction waste and debris is one of many avenues that provide a great opportunity to reduce the construction industry reliance on decreasing natural resource supplies. In order to optimize the percent replacement of cement by SCBA, the cement has been partially replaced by SCBA constant, the ceramic waste is replaced at the dosages 10%, 20% and 30% by weight of coarse aggregates. The various outcomes of replacement by SCBA and CTW have been analyzed through evaluation of different properties like workability and compressive strength for 7 days and 28 days. The results further revealed that the workability decreased with the inclusion of SCBA and CTW. The compressive Strength of concrete mix was relatively higher at 10% replacement of cement by SCBA and 10% replacement of CTW, after which it decreased beyond 10% replacement. The maximum compressive strength was observed as 26.57 N/mm2 SCBA in proportion of constant 10% by weight in concrete mixes. It was deduced from the outcomes of this study that 10% SCBA and 10% CTW replacement by cement and coarse aggregates respectively could be considered as optimum replacement

Evolving Role of the Information Center: Challenges and Directions

Abstract The paper provides a critical review of the development of information center through different phases, transformation of the information center in response to the inter-disciplinary imperatives of information and knowledge management, IT imperatives, trends in the areas of content, services, management, and personnel, and future possibilities and prospects. An extensive review of literature was made in order to discern trends and analyze the current situation in pertinent areas focused in this paper. It was noted that the information center has changed through different phases. Information and knowledge management have made a distinct impact on the dynamics of the center. Changes in resources and services, IT applications, user community, and management practices are most evident. These factors have been critical in shaping the identity and substance of the information centers. Based on this analysis, challenges facing the information centers have been elaborated. Best practices in specific areas in the developed nations have been highlighted. Future of the information center is projected to be dynamic, enterprising, and challenging. This review is useful for taking strategic cues for planning and managing the information centers

Maize in the Rainfed Areas of Pakistan: An Analysis for Production Sustainability

The turning issue in agriculture of this era is sustainability and self reliance. There are several definitions of sustainability described by various scientists. Broadly, it means that the improvement in agriculture should be long lasting in view of changing environmental and socio-economic conditions. The high yielding technology available today is not fully adopted because of high cost and changing price structure of the important inputs. Under the present circumstances, the need arises to tailor the production practices according to the need of the farmers for long-term adoption. Sustainable agricultural systems are those that rely on lower inputs of energy and agricultural chemicals to achieve long-term productivity and environmental compatibility. However, Balanos (1998) concludes that the low input systems are low in productivity. Firebaugh (1990) mentioned the proposals given by J.F. Pars and colleagues that the ultimate target of the farmers in sustainable agriculture is to increase productivity and profitability. He also added that we should get benefit from germplasm which can survive over a long period of time

OCCURRENCE OF LANCEFIELD GROUP C STREPTOCOCCAL SPECIES IN STRANGLES CASES OF FOALS IN PUNJAB, PAKISTAN

Three equine rearing districts of Punjab, Pakistan including Sargodha, Okara and Faisalabad were surveyed. The occurrence of strangles was highest in foals during February to the start of May compared to winter and summer seasons. Strangles-inflicted foals showed inability to eat, strangled breathing with roaring sounds, swollen submandibular and submaxillary lymph nodes, abscessation in the lymph nodes, hyperthermia and anorexia with general debilitating conditions. Morbidity and case fatality rates were 78 and 2%, respectively. Pus samples were collected from 70 foals showing burst lymph node abscesses and processed on blood agar. Typical growth showing pinpoint mucoid colonies, with beta hemolysis and catalase negative characteristics were subjected to API Strep 20 system. The isolates of streptococcus recovered from pus samples include S. equi subspecies equi (54%), S. equi subspecies zooepidemicus (11%), S. dysgalactia subspecies equisimilis (11%) and mixed isolates of S. equisimilis and S. equi (23%). Streptococcus species were found sensitive to Penicillin and Cefotoxime, whereas Gentamycine and Tetracycline were ineffective