Micromanagement: An Employee’s Adversary

Leadership is the ability of an individual to initiate guidance and influence a group or an organization in order to maximize its performance. Micromanagement leadership is one such form, where the managers closely monitor and direct their subordinates. Although a select few managers and employees could benefit from such a practice, micromanagement, as a leadership style has relatively more negative implications on an employee’s behavior and his engagement towards the work at hand. This creates a sense of perceived stress leading him to behave in a counterproductive manner. In this article, we have intended to develop a theoretical framework by investigating from an employee’s perspective. Thus, highlighting the various implications of micromanaging. Interrelating the concepts of employee disengagement, perceived stress and deviant behavior, our study provides several implications for organizations and managers alike apart from a theoretical literature base for further study. Keywords: Micromanagement, Employee Disengagement, Perceived Stress, Leadershi

Cytotoxic and apoptotic potential of Myristica fragrans Houtt. (mace) extract on human oral epidermal carcinoma KB cell lines

Several studies have revealed that certain naturally occurring medicinal plants inhibit the growth of various cancers. The present study was conducted to evaluate cytotoxicity and apoptotic induction potential of Myristica fragrans Houtt mace extract. The cytotoxic activity of the Myristica fragrans Houtt mace acetone extract was assayed by MTT assay on human oral epidermal carcinoma KB cell lines. KB cells were incubated with different concentration of mace extract ranging from 25 to 125μg/mL for 24hrs. The apoptotic induction potential was also studied by the analysis of Bcl-2 protein and gene expression in mace extract incubated KB cell lines using western blotting technique and real-time polymerase chain reaction. The mace extract exhibited cytotoxicity and anticancer effect against KB cell lines and it also suppressed the growth of cancer cells, therefore growth inhibitory effect was noted in extract treated cell lines. The apoptotic potential of mace extract was accompanied by reduced gene expression of Bcl-2 compared to the untreated KB cells. The mace extract shows the cytotoxic activity and induced the apoptosis through the modulation of its target genes Bcl-2 in the KB cell lines, suggesting the potential of mace as a candidate for oral cancer chemoprevention. This can be further investigated in vivo for its anticancer potential

Shear Strength Behaviour of Clay Reinforced with Treated Coir Fibres

The effect of treated coir fibres on the shear strength behaviour of clay is presented in this study. A series of consolidated undrained test were performed on soil reinforced with untreated, sodium hydroxide treated and carbon tetrachloride treated fibres. The coir fibre content was varied from 0.4% to 1.6%. The results indicated that the deviator stress at failure of the clay and clay with untreated coir fibres can be increased by treatment with carbon tetrachloride and sodium hydroxide. A significant increase was also observed in shear strength parameters of clay reinforced with coir fibres at different percentages. The two parameter dependent hyperbolic models were used for predicting the experimental results. The back predicted stressstrain curve at dierent fibre percentage was found to compare well with the experimental results. The clay reinforced with untreated/treated coir fibres has shown improved strength behaviour, it can be used for short term stability problems

The CRISPR/Cas9 System for Targeted Genome Engineering in Free-Living Fungi: Advances and Opportunities for Lichenized Fungi

Studies using whole genome sequencing, computational and gene expression, targeted genome engineering techniques for generating site-specific sequence alterations through non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) by genomic double-strand break (DSB) repair pathway with high precision, resulting in gene inactivation have elucidated the complexity of gene expression, and metabolic pathways in fungi. These tools and the data generated are crucial for precise generation of fungal products such as enzymes, secondary metabolites, antibiotics etc. Artificially engineered molecular scissors, zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), Transcriptional activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs; that use protein motifs for DNA sequence recognition in the genome) and CRISPR associated protein 9 (Cas9;CRISPR/Cas9) system (RNA-DNA recognition) are being used in achieving targeted genome modifications for modifying traits in free-living fungal systems. Here, we discuss the recent research breakthroughs and developments which utilize CRISPR/Cas9 in the metabolic engineering of free-living fungi for the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, enzyme production, antibiotics and to develop resistance against post-harvest browning of edible mushrooms and fungal pathogenesis. We also discuss the potential and advantages of using targeted genome engineering in lichenized fungal (mycobiont) cultures to enhance their growth and secondary metabolite production in vitro can be complemented by other molecular approaches

Synthesis and electrical properties of fullerene-based molecular junctions on silicon substrate

We report the synthesis and the electrical properties of fullerene-based molecular junctions on silicon substrate in which the highly \pi-conjugated molecule C60 (\pi quantum well) is isolated from the electrodes by alkyl chains (\sigma tunnel barriers). Initially, the Si/SiO2/\sigmaC60 architecture was prepared either by sequential synthesis (3 different routes) or by direct grafting of the presynthesized C60-\sigma-Si(OEt)3 molecule. We described the chemical synthesis of these routes and the physico-chemical properties of the molecular monolayers. Then, the second \sigma tunnel barrier was added on the Si/SiO2/\sigma C60 junction by applying a hanging mercury drop electrode thiolated with an alkanethiol monolayer. We compared the electronic transport properties of the Si/SiO2/\sigma C60//Hg and Si/SiO2/\sigma C60//\sigmaHg molecular junctions, and we demonstrated by transition voltage spectroscopy that the fullerene LUMO - metal Fermi energy offset can be tailored from ~ 0.2 eV to ~ 1 eV by changing the length of the alkyl chain between the C60 core and the Hg metal electrode (i. e. from direct C60//Hg contact to 14 carbon atoms tunnel barrier).Comment: Single pdf file including: main text, figures, tables and supporting information

Early Detection of LDoS Attack using SNMP MIBs

Early detection of Denial of Service (DoS) attacks are given more emphasizing due to its adverse effects on disrupting the services of legitimate users. LDoS attack is one among the DoS category which floods the target at ideal rate to keep the connections open for longer duration. Traditional defense measures are inadequate to filter due to its less traffic volume. The current works focus on either empirical studies or signal processing models to capture the behavioural characteristics of LDoS based on TCP’s congestion control and timeout mechanism but none carries out detection at a faster timestamp. Early detection solutions are the main focus as it could scale up the revenue losses in today’s online application issues. Hence our model is based on Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), through which the early detection of LDoS attacks is carried out. The relevant detection metrics are identified through theoretical validation of SNMP MIBs and existing dataset analysis. Experimental simulations illustrate the LDoS detection efficiency and the same has been validated for theoretically

ANTICANCER STUDY OF MYRISTICA FRAGRANS HOUTT. (MACE) EXTRACT ON 4-NITROQUINOLINE-1-OXIDE-INDUCED ORAL CANCER IN RATS

Objective: Oral cancer is the most common forms of malignancy diagnosed in men and women and the mortality rate is very high in the developing countries. Therefore, the study was conducted to evaluate the potential role of Myristica fragrans Houtt (mace) acetone extract (MAE) on experimentally induced oral cancer in rats.Methods: Oral cancer was experimentally induced to rats by administering 4NQO (carcinogenic agent) at a concentration of 30 ppm in drinking water and treated with three different doses of mace extract (100, 250, 500mg/kg body weight) dissolved in water and given orally as a single dose and another group treated with the standard 5-fluorouracil for 14 weeks.Results: All the experimental groups had an incremental weight gain, except NQO alone induced group showed body weight loss and also showed low survival rate denoting the NQO carcinogenic toxicity in them. The exophytic tumor volume showed gradual increase and reached 30 mm3 at the 14 weeks time point. Tumor incidence and tumor multiplicity values of mace extract treatment (100, 250, 500 mg/kg body weight) showed gradual reduction in the size of tumor significantly compared with that of the standard drug. The histopathological examination of oral tumor mucosal tissue illustrated well differentiated squamous cell carcinoma in NQO induced group and also declining the risk of carcinoma changes in MAE treated groups.Conclusions: These experimental results unveil that MAE possesses effective role in curing oral cancer