One-dimensional simulation of temperature and moisture in atmospheric and soil boundary layers

Meteorologists are interested in modeling the vertical flow of heat and moisture through the soil in order to better simulate the vertical and temporal variations of the atmospheric boundary layer. The one dimensional planetary boundary layer model of is modified by the addition of transport equations to be solved by a finite difference technique to predict soil moisture

Influence of Mineralogical Nature of Aggregates on Acid Resistance of Mortar

Cement-based materials being alkaline in nature are often subjected to rapid deterioration on exposure to the aggressive acidic environments. Acids penetrate into the cement matrix causing calcium leaching and deterioration of phases leading to alteration in the microstructure. Currently, there are hardly any codes or standards available for evaluating the durability of materials to acid attack. Moreover, the literature addressing the material resistance is quite inconclusive. This paper aims to evaluate the influence of mineralogical nature of aggregates on the degradation kinetics of cement mortar when exposed to inorganic and organic acid solutions by performing a static accelerated leaching test. Cement mortar (1: 3) specimens of size 10 × 10 × 60 mm were prepared using Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), using limestone (calcareous) aggregates and siliceous aggregates with a water to cement ratio of 0.40. After 28 days of initial curing in saturated lime water, the specimens were exposed to various concentrations of sulphuric (1 % and 3 %) and acetic acid solutions (0.25 M and 0.5 M) for a testing period of 4 months. The acid solution was replenished on a periodic basis to maintain the aggressiveness of the solution. The degradation kinetics was investigated by measuring mass changes, thickness changes, changes in pH of the acid solution and imaging using X-ray micro-tomography. Additionally, periodic abrasive action applied manually (using soft nylon brush) was used to accelerate the degradation process in case of sulphuric acid exposure and its effect was compared with the testing without the abrasive action. An attempt was also made to evaluate the changes in compressive strength and changes in dynamic modulus of elasticity of cylindrical mortar specimens (25 mm diameter and 50 mm height) on exposure to the acid solutions. The test results indicate that the performance of limestone aggregates is better on exposure to sulphuric acid and worse in case of acetic acid when compared to siliceous aggregates

Remote Onboarding Effectiveness in Indian it Industry During the Pandemic

Purpose: The outbreak and impact of COVID-19 has definitely caused the most drastic and rapid shift to the global workforce. The Information Technology (IT) industry was amongst early responders who adopted a remote working model. The aim of this study was to understand the effectiveness of remote onboarding experience in the IT companies.   Design/methodology/approach: The perceived benefits of remote working such as creating valuable opportunities for cost saving and greater flexibility for staff has caused many businesses to understand it is a beneficial model of working in the future and hence adopt it. Now that remote working is here to stay, this research studied the experience of the employees who were recruited in the years 2019 and 2020 into various IT organisations. A survey was circulated to understand this effect and a total of 126 employees participated from 21 IT Companies across India. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire was verified and the data was analyzed using SPSS V22.   Findings: The results indicated that there is a significant difference in the joining experience between the two groups. The findings showed that the physical joining experience worked better as it helped in a higher employee satisfaction and hence helped learning the job faster. While the remote induction process seemed effective, the gaps pertain to lack of a structured onboarding process, knowledge transfer and supervisor interventions that are relevant for the remote working world.   Research, Practical & Social implications: Organizations should understand the importance of making a good first impression with the new joiners. They should ensure smoother interventions that could enhance the culture immersion and knowledge transfer process.    Originality/value: Most Indian IT companies have always allowed employees to work remotely. However, even these employees were required to be physically present for the onboarding process. Remote onboarding as a process did not exist prior to the pandemic and hence this study touches upon a lesser researched topic. The research recommendations provided in our study could help bridge the gaps and provide a better employee remote joining experience

The Relationship Between Stress and Remote Working in Indian Information Technology Companies

Purpose: While remote working is a common practice in Information Technology organization, it was mostly confined to a small percentage of employees. The COVID-19 pandemic forced several companies to swiftly adapt to a near 100 percentage remote working model. The aim of this study was to understand the relationship between Stress and Remote Working in the Indian IT companies.   Design/Methodology/Approach: With multiple waves of infection, several companies are yet to return back to office. It is by now clear that, remote working is going to be way of life. Most companies are looking at a hybrid work model even after the pandemic era. However, it is important to realise that implementation of remote working is a much broader subject. Employees have been complaining of stress and fatigue while working from home. NASSCOM data has shown an increase in attrition across IT organizations.  We decided to adopt the survey approach for studying work stress while working from home and the impact on the intent to stay amongst employees working in IT organizations. We followed the snowball sampling method and a total of 181 employees participated from IT Companies across India. A model was created to explore the relationship between Autonomy, Emotional Demands, Work Pressure, Work Engagement, Recognition, Intent to Leave and Stress. A PLS-SEM model was created and the relationships were analyzed.   Findings: A total of six hypotheses were tested and the result was conclusive. The result corroborated with the fact that working from home is stressful and identified the factors that influence the stress. While remote working continues to be a preferred option, the concerns raised by the employees were valid and hence stress induing. We also spoke to a group of HR Managers to understand and solution some of the problems that surfaced in our survey. Together, we arrived at recommendations that could help address these concerns. As remote working is going to be a part of future work strategy, it is important to bring about these changes to immediately reduce the increasing attrition in Indian IT organizations.   Research, Practical & Social implications: Organizations should understand that remote working is the future way forward. With more clients being open to have employees working from home it is important for the organizations to ensure that they provide a stress free work environment to their remote workers. While there could be other external factors that could induce stress, it is the responsibility of the organization to focus on the controllable factos.    Originality/Value: While working from home is not new to Indian Indian IT companies they have allowed only a small percentage of their workforce to operate remotely. Most employees are allowed to work from home on a need basis. However, permanent work from home is generally discouraged. Remote working by majority workforce was uncommon before the pandemic and hence this topic was rarely researched. The recommendations provided based on our research study could help bridge the gaps and help organizations reduce the stress levels of their employees

Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior toEnd-User Training and Learning

In this paper, we used the theory of planned behavior as the premise to conduct a laboratory study to examine whether the beliefs and expected benefits of using a particular computer system can serve as motivational factors to improve training outcomes. Our results showed that while learning outcomes were not significantly improved, subjects left the training sessions with enhanced motivation to use the system

In wild tobacco, Nicotiana attenuata, variation among bacterial communities of isogenic plants is mainly shaped by the local soil microbiota independently of the plants' capacity to produce jasmonic acid

The phytohormone jasmonic acid (JA) plays a central role in defense against necrotrophic pathogens and herbivores in Nicotiana attenuata. Recently Santhanam et al.(1) showed that JA does not have a major role in shaping the root- and shoot associated bacterial communities, though a few taxa differed among control (empty vector, EV) plants and plants impaired in their capacity to produce JA (irAOC). In this addendum, we provide additional data showing that the composition of the plant bacterial communities is mainly shaped by tissue type. The qualitative data analysis revealed that at the order level, 5 bacterial OTUs formed a core community found in all tissues irrespective of genotypes, while 9 OTUs were different among roots and shoots. The heterogeneity among individual plants was high masking the potential genotype effect on bacterial communities. Using a culture-dependent approach, 3 of 18 bacterial taxa retrieved either only from one of the genotypes or from both had a growth promoting effect on EV and irAOC seedlings. The data suggest that the local soil niche in which the roots grows is a major driver of the variability in root bacterial communities recruited by different individuals, and the plant growth-promoting effects of some taxa are independent of the genotype

Effect of Dietary Protein Quality on the Biochemical Adaptation to High Altitude

The usefulness of a particular type of dietary protein for a quicker acclimatization to simulated high altitude stress was investigated in albino rats, by studying the changes occurring in the levels of urea cycle enzymes in liver. A good quality protein in (egg) and a commonly used dal protein (arhar dal, Cajanus cajan) were studied.Liver arginase levels increased on starvation in the two groups of rats fed with egg and dal diets, the increase being less and gradual in the dal diet fed group. Exposure to the simulated altitude stress for various periods further increased the enzyme levels, greater changes being seen in egg diet fed group only. Similar observations were made with liver ornithine transcarbamylase which is a mitochondrial enzyme. Urea cycle enzymes were affected more in the exposed animals maintained on the egg diet than those on the dal diet. Moreover, the enzymic parameters of the latter group tended to return to the normal level much earlier than the former. It is, therefore, suggested that not-so-well-balanced dietary proteins may be well suited to overcome the initial problem of metabolic adaptation faced by subjects exposed to high altitude stress

Association of serum magnesium deficiency with insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes mellitus

INTRODUCTION: Type 2 Diabetes mellitus is the most common metabolic disorder currently on rise. The main cause of type 2 diabetes mellitus is insulin resistance and beta cell dysfunction. Among various risk factors like obesity, physical inactivity, ethinicity, demography and polygeneic inheritance. Magnesium (Mg) is primarily found within the cell, where it is a metallic cofactor for over 300 enzymatic reactions involved in protein and nucleic acid synthesis and in energy metabolism. It is necessary for glucose transportation between membranes, glucose oxidation, all reactions involving phosphorylation and energy exchange, and it is essential for insulin action, since it is a cofactor of tyrosine kinase activity. Patients with hypomagnesemia are found to have higher insulin resistance than non-diabetic and diabetic patients with normal magnesium level. So, insulin resistance and association with hypomagnesemia is need to be evaluated for post receptor insulin resistance. OBEJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between serum magnesium levels and insulin resistance and to suggest magnesium deficiency as a factor in insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia. METHOD OF STUDY: The study was conducted in 100 patients in Government Rajaji Hospital on out patient basis on diabetic and non – diabetic patients. Patients were tested for fasting blood sugar, serum magnesium, serum fasting insulin level, urea and creatinine. Insulin resistance is assessed by HOMA .These parameters were compared between the two group. Data were analysed by SPSS software. Mann–Whitney U-test and Pearson’s correlation coefficient were applied and p value were obtained. RESULTS: The most common finding was increased fasting insulin level in diabetic patients than non -diabetic. Accordingly the HOMA range and serum magnesium were below normal than control groups with p value <0.05 showing statistically significant association. CONCLUSION: There was significant hypomagnesium in diabetic patients with significant insulin resistance. So decreased magnesium level may be one of the factors in type 2 diabetes mellitus causing insulin resistance. So assessing magnesium level in diabetics is to be made routine and supplementation of magnesium in diabetics needs further evalution