An Empirical Analysis of Work Overload, Organizational Commitment and Turnover Intentions among Employees of Banking Sector

The work overload is often considered as the most critical factor which effects the employees’ commitment and turnover intention toward organization, therefore, the current study aims to evaluate effects of Work Overload (WO) on Organizational Commitment (OC) and Turnover Intentions (TOI) of employees. The data was collected from 296 employees of selected banks.  The data was assessed through Pearson Correlation and Regression equation. It was found that work overload negatively influenced organizational commitment while positively affects employees’ turnover intentions. The findings of this study can help the decision makers to effectively manage employees’ workload and to improve organizational commitment and reduce employees’ turnover intentions. Such type of behavioral outcomes has the potential to augment organizational performance

Indian factor in CPEC: prospects and challenges for Pakistan

The One Belt One Road policy of China has given birth to CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor) which is very important for the security and economic situation of China, Pakistan and other neighboring countries. It will connect China to the rest of the world with very short route. One Belt One Road initiative is one of the biggest investments China has ever made. More than $46 billion will be spend in the construction of CPEC. Such a big investment will further expand the relations between China and Pakistan. The position of Pakistan in the foreign policy of China will be given more and more importance. However, CPEC also affects relations between India and Pakistan. The transport corridor between Pakistan and China traverses Jammu and Kashmir, the status of which has been a subject of contention between India and Pakistan since 1947. This constellation would seem to suggest a negative scenario whereby CPEC could place additional strain on India-Pakistan relations. On the other hand, a positive scenario is also conceivable, with a settlement of the Kashmir dispute even becoming possible in the long term. In this paper, the researcher has tried to analyze the importance of Indian factor in CPEC. The paper also addresses whether Indian factor is a threat to CPEC or not. The possible impacts of CPEC on the economies of China and Pakistan are the main theme of the paper along with prospects and challenges caused by Indian factor. Similarly, the security and trade factors of CPEC are also discussed

The narrative of militancy: a case study of Swat, Pakistan

Unlike other faith-based conflicts, the militancy in Swat seems unique, as militants used religion for promoting their agenda and giving voices to the grievances of the poor people through a popular narrative likely without knowing narratology. Using narratives and narratology as a theoretical framework, this qualitative study is an effort to understand the essence of militants' narrative in Swat and the mechanism through which they steered it up until the time it gained verisimilitude. Conducting 73 semi-structured interviews, the study finds that it was a planned strategy of the militants that popularized them in Swat, while they later lost this support due to their atrocities against general populace. The militants used the socially and culturally constructed narrative through FM radio and motivated the masses to follow their ideology and brand of Islamic Sharia. The study concludes that the formulation and popularization of social narratives play vital roles in social movements and conflicts to muster popular support for promoting vested interests that can be used against the state and general public

Organizational Commitment of Teachers and Role of Their Employment Traits in the Context of Higher Education Institutions of Pakistan

Employment traits have been studied having an impact over the organization commitment of the teachers. However, the scholars have inconsistent views regarding the relative strength of different traits groups such as Experience, Education, Type of Organizations, Chairpersonship, Salary and Designation over the commitment. In existing study, Meyer and Allen (1984-1997) “Three Component Model” was employed for collection of commitment profile of 312 both Public and Private faculty members of Institute of Management Sciences of Pakistan. Test of significance both t and ANOVA was applied and results of the statistical test divulge that most of the demographic variable like (experience, education, Salary etc.) causes a variation in the mean of commitment of the faculty members of Higher Education Institutions of Pakistan

The Role of Organization Culture in Predicting Organizational Effectiveness: A Case from Developing Countries

This study aims to extend cross-cultural research in examining the potential influence of organizational culture on organizational effectiveness in the context of higher education institutions of the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. A non-experimental and cross sectional perceptual data was collected using survey questionnaire through the senior faculty members and administrators. Selection of the subjects was made on one of the most efficient probability sampling techniques namely disproportionate stratified random sampling.Further, the measurement instruments based on a competing values framework of renowned scholars in the field were adopted to tape both of the study variables. Grounded on collected data for direct effect of organizational culture on organizational effectiveness was empirically tested via multiple regression analysis. Overall, the resultant information of regression model revealed organizational culture as a significant predictor of organizational effectiveness. Moreover, out of four traits of organizational culture, two traits i.e., clan, adhocracy showed significant positive relationships to organizational effectiveness, while bureaucratic type of culture exhibited as inverse association and seemed in line of prior research.Contrarily, exception is noticed for market type of culture. Discussion of these findings followed by implications, limitations, direction for future research and conclusion are given subsequently in the article.Key words: Organizational culture; Competing Values Framework (CVF); Organizational effectiveness; Higher education institution

E-Health System: A Study of Components and Practices in Developing Countries

E-health systems used in different health setups are rare in developing countries but they consist of the computerization of patient records in hospitals and clinics, document delivery through Internet, information exchange and communication, e-Cards for patient ID, electronic scheduling system, hospital labs and hospital admission, computerized diagnosis and support for treatment. It also provides advanced decision-making and sophisticated use of diagnostic laboratories. Every e-health system establishes a basic ‘infrastructure’ of computers, networks, communications and a technical department filled with IT professionals to continuously uphold and improve the infrastructure, give training to  the doctors & physicians and other medical staff and continuously provide technical support as and when required by them. Given the uncontrollable nature of technical support for e-health systems, developing countries like Pakistan are facing issues in creating full-bodied infrastructural facilities that are both competitive with the external environment and compatible with the internal user requirements. This piece of writing is an effort to highlight some of the main issues in developing countries in connection with adoption and use of e-health systems. Also this study intends to identify some of the prospects for IT-applications in healthcare organizations in countries like Pakistan just for the reduction of their sense of isolation in the world by connecting the doctors’ community online through internet facilities to learn, and do business and carry out organizational processes effectively. Keywords: ICTs, E-health systems, components (e-health) and practices (e-health)

2-(2-Methyl-5-nitro-1H-imidazol-1-yl)ethyl 2-nitro­benzoate

In the title compound, C13H12N4O6, the mean plane through the nitro­benzene forms a dihedral angle of 37.38 (15)° with the plane through the imidazole ring. The crystal packing is stabilized by weak inter­molecular C—H⋯O and C—H⋯N inter­actions together with π–π stacking inter­actions between nitro­benzene rings [centroid–centroid distance = 3.788 (3) Å] and between imidazole rings [centroid–centroid distance = 3.590 (2) Å]

A new approach of weighted gradient filter for denoising of medical images in the presence of Poisson noise

Predlažemo ponderirani stupnjevani filtar za otklanjanje Poissonova šuma na rendgenskim slikama. U unaprijed definiranom prozoru izračunat je gradijent središnjeg piksela. Za izračunavanje vrijednosti gradijenta primijenjen je Gaussov ponderirani filtar. Predložena metoda je primijenjena na biomedicinske rendgenske slike, a zatim na različite uobičajene slike LENE i paprika. Rezultati pokazuju učinkovitost i bolju jasnoću slika uz primjenu ponderiranog stupnjevanog filtra. Uz to, predložena metoda je računalno vrlo učinkovita i brža od Non Local Mean (NLM) filtra koji predstavlja unaprijeđenu metodu za otklanjanje Poissonova šuma. Rezultati predložene metode su također bolji u odnosu na parametre za mjerenje performanse t.j. korelacije, Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR), Maximum Structural Similarity Index Measure (MSSIM) i Mean Square Error (MSE) nego uobičajeni Median, Wiener i NLM filter.We propose a Weighted Gradient Filter for denoising of Poisson noise in medical images. In a predefined window, gradient of the centre pixel is averaged out. Gaussian Weighted filter is used on all calculated gradient values. Proposed method is applied on biomedical images X-Rays and then on different general images of LENA and Peppers. Recovery results show that the proposed weighted gradient filter is efficient and has better visual appearance. Moreover, proposed method is computationally very efficient and faster than Non Local Mean (NLM) filter which is an advanced technique for Poisson noise removal. Proposed method results are also better in terms of performance measures parameters i.e. correlation, Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR), Maximum Structural Similarity Index Measure (MSSIM) and Mean Square Error (MSE) than the conventional Median, Wiener and NLM filter

Spectroscopic Analysis of Au-Cu Alloy Nanoparticles of Various Compositions Synthesized by a Chemical Reduction Method

Au-Cu alloy nanoparticles were synthesized by a chemical reduction method. Five samples having different compositions of Au and Cu (Au-Cu 3 : 1, Au-Cu 2 : 1, Au-Cu 1 : 1, Au-Cu 1 : 2, and Au-Cu 1 : 3) were prepared. The newly synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by electronic absorption, fluorescence, and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD). These alloy nanoparticles were also analyzed by SEM and TEM. The particle size was determined by SEM and TEM and calculated by Debye Scherrer’s equation as well. The results revealed that the average diameter of nanoparticles gets lowered from 80 to 65 nm as the amount of Cu is increased in alloy nanoparticles. Some physical properties were found to change with change in molar composition of Au and Cu. Most of the properties showed optimum values for Au-Cu alloy nanoparticles of 1 : 3. Cu in Au-Cu alloy caused decrease in the intensity of the emission peak and acted as a quencher. The fluorescence data was utilized for the evaluation of number of binding sites, total number of atoms in alloy nanoparticle, binding constant, and free energy of binding while morphology was deduced from SEM and TEM

Anaerobic digestion and gasification of seaweed

The potential of algal biomass as a source of liquid and gaseous biofuels is a highly topical theme, with over 70 years of sometimes intensive research and considerable financial investment. A wide range of unit operations can be combined to produce algal biofuel, but as yet there is no successful commercial system producing such biofuel. This suggests that there are major technical and engineering difficulties to be resolved before economically viable algal biofuel production can be achieved. Both gasification and anaerobic digestion have been suggested as promising methods for exploiting bioenergy from biomass, and two major projects have been funded in the UK on the gasification and anaerobic digestion of seaweed, MacroBioCrude and SeaGas. This chapter discusses the use of gasification and anaerobic digestion of seaweed for the production of biofuel