Empirical Data Study from Higher Education Sector about Improving Productivity of Employees via Job Involvement

Productivity of employees is one of the major management issues receiving much study from many scientists and was regarded as the primary mechanism for improving the performance of organisations. To guarantee long-term success, it is important to be aware of the main variables that affect productivity. This research analyses the impact of job involvement on higher education productivity of employees. In order to achieve this goal, a sample of 242 staff from public institutions in Northern Malaysia gathered primary data through an online survey technique utilising a survey tool. SPSS and AMOS Structural Equation modelling were used to evaluate the data obtained. The findings showed that commitment to work has a substantial beneficial impact on the productivity of employees. This research also shows the substantial beneficial impacts on employee productivity of all aspects of the workforce, namely energy, commitment and absorption

Ras signaling enhances the activity of C/EBPalpha to induce granulocytic differentiation by phosphorylation of serine 248

The transcription factor C/EBPa regulates early steps of normal granulocyte differentiation since mice with a disruption of the C/EBPa gene do not express detectable levels of the G-CSF receptor and produce no neutrophils. We have recently shown that C/EBPa function is also impaired in acute myeloid leukemias. However, how the transcriptional activity of C/EBPa is regulated both in myelopoiesis and leukemogenesis, is not fully understood. The current study demonstrates that activated Ras enhances the ability of C/EBPa to transactivate the G-CSF receptor promoter and a minimal promoter containing only C/EBP DNA binding sites. Ras signaling activates C/EBPa via the transactivation domain, because it enhances the transactivation function of a fusion protein containing a Gal4 DNA binding domain and the C/EBPa transactivation domain, and does not change C/EBPa DNA binding. Ras acts on serine 248 of the C/EBPa transactivation domain, as it does not enhance the transactivation function of a C/EBPa serine 248 to alanine point mutant. Interestingly, serine 248 of C/EBPa is a PKC consensus site, and a PKC inhibitor blocks the activation of C/EBPa by Ras. Ras signaling phosphorylates C/EBPa on serine 248 in vivo. Finally, mutation of serine 248 to alanine obviates the ability of C/EBPa to induce granulocytic differentiation. These data suggest a model where Ras signaling enhances the activity of C/EBPa to induce granulocytic differentiation by phosphorylation of serine 248

Enzymatic Synthesis of Palm-Based Ferulate Ester as Sunscreen Agent

The invention of modifying palm oils to produce sunscreen agent, ferulate ester (RBD-FE) had been investigated through transesterification reaction of RBD palm olein with ferulic acid (4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-cinnamate, FA) by enzymatic synthesis. Ferulic acid is a natural substance which has free radical scavenging effects and helps to prevent damage to our cells caused by UV light. However, incorporation of ferulic acid into cosmetic compositions is problematic due to its instability in aqueous solution and limited solubility in water in oil emulsions. Besides, currently used sunscreen agent in 90 percent of all sunscreen products throughout the world; octyl methoxycinnamate (OMC) is reported could be toxic to human skin. This process has been studied as one approach in order to overcome these problems to provide a natural cosmetic ingredient with enhanced efficiency and stability. It combines the ultraviolet-absorbing properties of a cinnamate (ferulic acid) with the water-insoluble properties of a lipid (RBDPO) resulting in ultraviolet-absorbing lipids (RBD-FE) made from all natural ingredients under mild, solvent-free conditions to ensure a safe, clean and cosmetically acceptable product. Enzyme screening revealed Novozym 435 to be the most efficient biocatalyst for the reaction and was chosen for optimization studies. The important parameters that may affect the synthesis of RBD-FE had been investigated. The corresponding optimal conditions for the transesterification reaction was time, 96 h; temperature, 40 °C; mole ratio of ferulic acid: RBDPO, 1:3; and amount of enzyme used, 0.10 g resulting in highest percentage of conversion (24.51%) to ultraviolet-absorbing lipids (RBD-FE) that works as a sunscreen agent. Identities of product were verified using TLC, gas chromatography (GC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), GC-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectroscopy analyses. Thermal and oxidative stability of the RBD-FE were also evaluated. Later, palm-based ferulate ester was also formulated into cosmetic formulations to evaluate it as sunscreen agent followed by Sun Protection Factor (SPF) analysi RBD-FE showed higher thermal stability and better oxidative stability. Besides, it became an active ingredient in sunscreen formulation which acted as a broadband sunscreen agent which covers both UVA and UVB rays. It showed a wider light absorption peak between 290 and 400nm.

Precursor-of-Anomaly Detection for Irregular Time Series

Anomaly detection is an important field that aims to identify unexpected patterns or data points, and it is closely related to many real-world problems, particularly to applications in finance, manufacturing, cyber security, and so on. While anomaly detection has been studied extensively in various fields, detecting future anomalies before they occur remains an unexplored territory. In this paper, we present a novel type of anomaly detection, called \emph{\textbf{P}recursor-of-\textbf{A}nomaly} (PoA) detection. Unlike conventional anomaly detection, which focuses on determining whether a given time series observation is an anomaly or not, PoA detection aims to detect future anomalies before they happen. To solve both problems at the same time, we present a neural controlled differential equation-based neural network and its multi-task learning algorithm. We conduct experiments using 17 baselines and 3 datasets, including regular and irregular time series, and demonstrate that our presented method outperforms the baselines in almost all cases. Our ablation studies also indicate that the multitasking training method significantly enhances the overall performance for both anomaly and PoA detection.Comment: KDD 2023 accepted pape

Flow equations in commercial gas piping system

There are various types of flow equations in commercial gas piping system and this thesis will covered about the comparison of Cox and Pole‟s method. FORTRAN 90 software was used to validate the manual calculation of both equations and a comparative study was made. The analytical solutions of the resulting differential equations are obtained in the form of Cox and Pole‟s equations. The equations give functional relationship between flow rate, inlet pressure and outlet pressure, as well as pressure drop at any given length. The effect of pressure drop per segment on gas flow rate is presented. Both of the equation was calculated manually from the commercial area gas piping route and the syntax generated from the equations were compiled and executed in F90 with no errors. The Cox‟s method was found more economically with smaller pipe size but allowable pressure drop in each section, compared to Pole‟s method. The equations considerably enhance gas pipeline design in terms of both ease of usage and accuracy. A simple computer program in FORTRAN 90 is developed to handle these calculations

Individual and parental factors associated with preschool children’s foreign language anxiety in an EFL Setting

The present study aims to examine individual and parental factors that affect young children’s foreign language anxiety (FLA) in an EFL setting. Subjects include 453 mothers of young children aged 3 to 5 years old and of these participants, 217children attended regular kindergarten and 236 children attended English immersion institution. Both individual (child’s age, gender, temperament) and parental (parent’s educational attainment, household income, mother’s beliefs about early English education) factors were collected with mother’s self-report questionnaire. Children’s foreign language anxiety, however, was measured with both mother’s and teacher’s assessment. Results reveal that children’s age and temperament had significant effects on their level of foreign language anxiety. Older children were more prone to having a higher level of foreign language anxiety and children with a higher tendency for impulsiveness and harm avoidance were also more likely to show a higher level of foreign language anxiety. As for the parental factors, children of mothers with more concerns for early English education and stronger beliefs in cognitive benefits of early English education were more likely to show a higher level of foreign language anxiety. Future directions and implications will be discussed

Ureteral obstruction by an aberrant renal artery: A case report

The ureter is a muscular tubular structure that carries urine from the kidney to the urinary bladder. It is usually about 20–25 cmin length and 3–5 mm diameter. The upper half lies in the belly and the lower half in the pelvic area. A ureteral obstruction is ablockage of either unilateral or bilateral ureters that carry urine from the kidneys to the urinary bladder. Ureteral obstruction canbe curable. However, if it is not treated, symptoms can quickly move from mild pain, fever, and infection to severe including lossof kidney function, sepsis, and death. Here, we report the case of an upper ureteral obstruction by an aberrant artery. The arterywas originating from the right renal artery, supplying the right psoas muscle, and causing gross proximal hydroureteronephrosisin a 24-year-old male patient. The patient was diagnosed using contrast-enhanced computed tomography through the abdomenexamination

Bis(acetylacetonato)nitrosyl Cr(I)

28