Strategic Human Resource Management: Three-Stage Process and Influencing Organisational Factors

A three-stage model for the process of strategic human resource management is developed in this paper. The three stages cover strategy formulation, implementation and evaluation. The inter-linkages in this dynamic model have been explored. The organisational factors that have enabling or deterring influence on the success of each of these three stages have been discussed. The paper highlights the key role played by HR professionals in these three stages.

Development and evaluation of Formula Editor (a tool-based approach to enhance reusability in software product line model checking) on SAFER case study

Although model checking is extensively used for verification of single software systems, currently there is insufficient support for model checking in product lines. The presence of commonalities within the different products in the product line requires that the properties and the corresponding specifications for these properties be verified for every product in the product line. Specification and management of properties for every product in a product line can incur high overhead and make the task of model checking very difficult. It is hence essential to exploit the presence of commonalities to our advantage by providing reusability in model checking of product lines. Since different products in the product line need to be checked for same or similar properties, reuse of properties specified for one product for other products within a product line will significantly reduce the overall property specification and verification time. FormulaEditor is a property specification and management tool for enhancing the reusability of model checking of software product lines. The core of the technique is a product line-oriented user interface to guide users in generating, selecting, managing, and reusing useful product line properties, and patterns of properties for model checking. The previous version of the FormulaEditor tool supports Cadence SMV models, but not the typical CMU-SMV models. This work extends the FormulaEditor tool to allow verification of models written in CMU-SMV. The advantage of providing support to another model checker is twofold: first, it enhances the tool\u27s capability to check design specifications written in different models; and second, it allows users to specify the same design in different modeling languages to detect problems

Evidence-based defect assessment and prediction for software product lines

The systematic reuse provided by software product lines provides opportunities to achieve increased quality and reliability as a product line matures. This has led to a widely accepted assumption that as a product line evolves, its reliability improves. However, evidence in terms of empirical investigation of the relationship among change, reuse and reliability in evolving software product lines is lacking. To address the problem this work investigates: 1) whether reliability as measured by post-deployment failures improves as the products and components in a software product line change over time, and 2) whether the stabilizing effect of shared artifacts enables accurate prediction of failure-prone files in the product line. The first part of this work performs defect assessment and investigates defect trends in Eclipse, an open-source software product line. It analyzes the evolution of the product line over time in terms of the total number of defects, the percentage of severe defects and the relationship between defects and changes. The second part of this work explores prediction of failure-prone files in the Eclipse product line to determine whether prediction improves as the product line evolves over time. In addition, this part investigates the effect of defect and data collection periods on the prediction performance. The main contributions of this work include findings that the majority of files with severe defects are reused files rather than new files, but that common components experience less change than variation components. The work also found that there is a consistent set of metrics which serve as prominent predictors across multiple products and reuse categories over time. Classification of post-release, failure-prone files using change data for the Eclipse product line gives better recall and false positive rates as compared to classification using static code metrics. The work also found that on-going change in product lines hinders the ability to predict failure-prone files, and that predicting post-release defects using pre-release change data for the Eclipse case study is difficult. For example, using more data from the past to predict future failure-prone files does not necessarily give better results than using data only from the recent past. The empirical investigation of product line change and defect data leads to an improved understanding of the interplay among change, reuse and reliability as a product line evolves

Arthroscopic decompression and debridement for the treatment of anterior cruciate ligament ganglion cyst in a 45-year-old female

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) cysts are infrequently encountered in clinical practice, with limited reported cases. These cysts usually present with chronic knee pain and clinical examination is usually unremarkable except for knee tenderness. Due to the lack of characteristic symptoms and deficiency of precise clinical techniques to diagnose the condition, timely diagnosis requires a high index of suspicion, supported by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Hence management of ACL ganglion cysts poses unique challenges for healthcare providers. We present a case study of a 45-year-old female with an ACL ganglion cyst successfully treated with arthroscopic decompression and debridement. This article outlines the clinical presentation, diagnostic workup, surgical intervention, and post-operative outcomes of this case, providing insights into the effective management of this uncommon condition. Furthermore, we provide a comprehensive review of the existing literature on ACL ganglion cyst, emphasizing findings and treatment outcomes reported in previous studies. This case underscores the importance of considering ACL cysts in the differential diagnosis of knee pain and discomfort. Early identification and appropriate management, such as arthroscopic cyst excision, can lead to favorable outcomes and complete recovery

Issues and Concerns in the Implementation and Maintenance of HRIS

The paper looks at the issues and concerns faced by nine Indian organisations in implementing and managing HRIS. The organisations are diverse in terms of size and sector that they belong. The critical success factors and weaknesses in various stages of implementing an HRIS are explored in the paper. The problems are rooted in mainly two factors. One is the fact that HR department lacks knowledge about HRIS and hence is not able to clearly elucidate the requirements of the system. Poor need assessment is a continuation of this problem. Second is the lack of importance given to HR department in the organisations. The spectrum of cases covered shows the clear variation in terms of the success of implementation. In poorly managed implementations, the potential of HRIS has been under-utilised. Only a few modules have been implemented and at best HRIS’s role is that of a centralised database. Very high dependence is placed on the vendors without having a clear idea about how to select vendors or a proper process or contract to ensure vendors’ accountability. Another area of concern is that level of cooperation needed across various functions and divisions of the organisation for proper implementation of HRIS is also lacking. User satisfaction is low because there is minimal user involvement in the implementation project and the implemented package is not user-friendly.

Employee Privacy at Workplaces: Some Pertinent Issues

Employee privacy at the workplace is an issue of debate worldwide. With data security and other organizational interests becoming paramount, the employee rights for privacy and freedom is curtailed. This paper explores the underlying factors that contribute to violation of workplace privacy, the factors that affect how workplace privacy is defined, and debates on how privacy notions change based on cultural differences. We also try to understand the relevance of employee privacy nuances in the Indian context. The paper poses pertinent questions on definition of workplace privacy, and the balance of managing the employee and employer interests.

Concept of ‘Snehasaro Ayam Purushaha’ and its assessment through examination of Akshi and Karna

Shareera is considered as the essence of Sneha. Also the importance of Snehabhava for proper functioning of the Shareera is well known. A proper functioning of Jataragni, Dhatwagni and Dhatu Parinama results in optimal amount of Snehabhava in the Shareera. Functioning of Jataragni can be assessed by examination of Purisha, assessing Jarana Shakti etc., whereas for assessing the functioning of Dhatwagni and the condition of other internal environment, we need to have a close examination of other Shareera Malas, where in Mutra Pareeksha is considered to be an excellent choice. But due to practical difficulties it is impossible to conduct the same on a daily basis on all the patients. This paper aims at a complete literary review in understanding the concept of Shareera and Kleda and showing importance of the examination of other Malayanas like Akshi and Karna for understanding the overall condition of the Shareera. For the same, regular examinations in the Eye and ENT OPDs like general eye examination, otoscopy etc. and investigations like tear osmolarity can be used judiciously. These examinations can give a general idea about the functioning of Dhatwagni and thus the status of Sneha in Shareera, which can further be used for selection and administration of treatment modalities

Development of 3D Angle-Interlock Woven Preforms for Composites

The advent of three dimensional (3D) reinforcements has been mainly to overcome the issue of delamination and improve upon the damage tolerance properties by introducing fibres in the thickness direction for advanced composite applications. 3D preforms can be developed using various techniques. Angle-interlock weaving is one of them. This paper details about the efforts being put at CSIR-NAL for developing angle-interlock woven preforms. Four types of angle-interlock structures viz., layer-to-layer and through thickness (both with and without stuffer yarns) were developed using 6K, 400 Tex TC-33 grade Carbon tows on a custom designed handloom. The preforms without stuffer yarns had 4 layers of warp and were of 1.5± 0.2 mm thick. Preforms with stuffer yarns had 6 layers of warp (including 2 stuffer yarn layers) and were of 2.3±0.1 mm thick. Thermoset composites were prepared from these preforms using EPOLAM 2063 (an epoxy based resin system) by RTM process. The fibre weight fraction for these composites ranged from 0.53 to 0.58 and they were subjected to mechanical tests such as tensile, flexural and interlaminar shear strength. Test results showed improved response (in the warp direction) with respect to shear properties while the tensile and flexural properties were equivalent to that of the plain woven composites

A multi-fingered micromechanism for coordinated micro/nano manipulation,"

ABSTRACT Micromanipulators for coordinated manipulation of microand nano-scale objects are critical for advancing several emerging applications such as microassembly and manipulation of biological cells. Most of existing designs for micromanipulators accomplish either primarily microgripping or primarily micropositioning tasks, and relatively, only a very few are capable of accomplishing both microgripping and micropositioning, however, they are generally bulky. This paper presents conceptualization, design, fabrication and experimental characterization a novel micromanipulation station for coordinated planar manipulation combining both gripping and positioning of micro-and nano-scale objects. Conceptually, the micromanipulation station is comprised of multiple, independently actuated, fingers capable of coordinating with each other to accomplish the manipulation and assembly of micron-scale objects within a small workspace. A baseline design is accomplished through a systematic design optimization of each finger maximizing the workspace area of the manipulation station using the optimization toolbox in MATLAB. The device is micromachined on a SOI (silicon-oninsulator) wafer using the DRIE (Deep Reactive Ion Etching) process. The device prototype is experimentally characterized for the output displacement characteristics of each finger for known input displacements applied through manual probing. An excellent correlation between the experimental results and the theoretical results obtained through a finite element analysis in ANSYS software, which validates both the design and the fabrication of the proof-of-the-concept, is demonstrated

Ultrasound-guided out-of-plane (OOP) adductor canal continuous catheter placement compared to in-plane (IP) placement in total knee arthroplasty: a randomized, single blinded, pilot clinical trial

Background: Adductor canal continuous catheters (ACCCs) have largely replaced femoral nerve continuous catheters for providing analgesia after total knee arthroplasty. Both have similar analgesic efficacy, but ACCCs preserve quadricep strength and facilitate patient mobility more quickly. We hypothesized that placing the ACCC using an out of-plane (OOP) technique would decrease pain scores and opioid use due to parallel alignment with the saphenous nerve when compared to the in-plane (IP) technique. Methods: Sixty-nine patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty were randomized to either the IP or OOP technique for ultrasound-guided ACCC. The primary outcomes of the investigation were hospital length of stay, total opioid consumption, and average post-operative pain score. Secondary outcomes included total ondansetron consumption, total acetaminophen consumption, and the incidence of anti-emetic drug use. Results: There were no significant differences between the IP and the OOP groups for any of the measured variables: hospital length of stay, pre-operative pain score, average post-operative pain score, total opioid consumption, total ondansetron consumption, total acetaminophen consumption, and the incidence of anti-emetic drug administration. Conclusion: The OOP ACCC technique did not provide superior analgesia or decrease opioid consumption when compared to the IP ACCC technique. Both techniques can be used interchangeably for analgesia status-post TKA