The psychometric impacts of Karasek's demands and control scale on employees' job dissatisfaction

The aim of this study was to provide the reliability and validity of job factors and to analyze its association with Demands-Control Model and job dissatisfaction in two time cross-sectional study of Distribution Companies of Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) in Pakistan. Two times self-reported cross-sectional surveys were conducted, the study samples consisting of 420 respondents at T1 and 388 respondents at T2. Appropriate internal consistencies of the four scales: demands, control, job satisfaction and social supports, were obtained. Zero-order correlation and linear and multiple regressions analysis replicated the theoretically assumed structure of the job factors and job satisfaction construct in men and women collectively. Evidence of criterion validity was obtained from cross-correlations of the scales and from their linear and multiple regression analysis. Finally, all four measures were associated with a highly significant ratio of job dissatisfaction (JD), and the effect was strongest for the JD ratio as predicted by fundamental theory of Karasek. The level of work related to their demands and the level of autonomy and control they enjoy in their work place directly results in satisfaction and wellbeing of employees. Based on the results of this study the four quadrant version of the DCM questionnaire is considered a reliable and valid instrument for measuring psychosocial pressure at work environment. These outcomes and measures are applicable to all services and manufacturing industries

Process Monitoring of Continuous Flow Organic Syntheses by means of Inline Fiber Optical Raman Spectroscopy

The objective of the current study was to investigate the feasibility of the inline optical fiber Raman spectroscopy as a tool for the process monitoring of the continuous flow organic syntheses. The synthesis of 2-bromo-3,4,5- trimethoxytoluene (product) was studied as a model reaction under a set of different conditions. The reaction was carried out under the batch as well as in the multi jet oscillating disc (MJOD) milli reactor. The reaction was varied by doubling the concentration of the substrate; 3,4,5- trimethoxytoluene (0.15M, 0.3M and 0.6M) whereas the concentration of the solvent (acetic anhydride) was kept constant. The Raman instrument was adjusted to record five spectra per minute. The recorded spectral data was then preprocessed employing the second order differentiation to minimize the band overlapping in the spectra. Multivariate data analysis namely, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), was used to evaluate the spectra due to the presence of overlapping bands for the purpose of process monitoring. The measurement system was tested against the possible process disturbances, the oscillator and the feeding pumps. PCA showed that these disturbances had no impact on the measurement system. The Raman instrument successfully monitored the different organic reactions and discriminated them on the basis of the type of variation occurred. The Raman frequencies; 675, 1050 and 550 cm-1 were assigned to the solvent, substrate and the product. The various reactions undergoing any disagreement were differentiated from the normal reactions mainly due to the temperature effect, malfunctioning of the pump, lower conversion of the substrate, lower yield of the product, formation of the intermediates etc. The offline results obtained from the NMR spectroscopy verified the outcomes of Raman measurements. Thus, it was concluded that the optical fiber Raman spectroscopy proved to be a reliable, rapid and sensitive inline analytical method for the monitoring of the organic processes. Raman spectroscopy along with an appropriate chemometric tool could be employed as a Process Analytical Technology (PAT) in the pharmaceutical and fine chemical industry.JMAMN-QALQAL39

Implication of Behavioral Finance in Investment Decision-making Process

Behavioral finance is a structure that supplements some parts of standard finance and replaces other parts. It portrays the behavior of investors and management in decision-making; it illustrates the outcomes of interactions between investors and managers in financial and capital markets. As decisionmaking is an art to undertake complex situations and investors make irrational decisions during their investments. Therefore, it is a unique art to choose a certain alternative from various alternatives available. Although behavioral finance does not claim that every investor would suffer from similar illusion, instead it sheds light on to take necessary initiatives to avoid such illusions, which influence the process of decision-making, particularly while making investments

Développement des techniques de test et de diagnostic pour les FPGA hiérarchique de type mesh

The evolution trend of shrinking feature size and increasing complexity in modern electronics is being slowed down due to physical limits that generate numerous imperfections and defects during fabrication steps or projected life time of the chip. Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are used in complex digital systems mainly due to their reconfigurability and shorter time-to-market. To maintain a high reliability of such systems, FPGAs should be tested thoroughly for defects. FPGA architecture optimization for area saving and better signal routability is an ongoing process which directly impacts the overall FPGA testability, hence the reliability. This thesis presents a complete strategy for test and diagnosis of manufacturing defects in mesh-based FPGAs containing a novel multilevel interconnects topology which promises to provide better area and routability. Efficiency of the proposed test schemes is analyzed in terms of test cost, respective fault coverage and diagnostic resolution.L’évolution tendant à réduire la taille et augmenter la complexité des circuits électroniques modernes, est en train de ralentir du fait des limitations technologiques, qui génèrent beaucoup de d’imperfections et de defaults durant la fabrication ou la durée de vie de la puce. Les FPGAs sont utilisés dans les systèmes numériques complexes, essentiellement parce qu’ils sont reconfigurables et rapide à commercialiser. Pour garder une grande fiabilité de tels systèmes, les FPGAs doivent être testés minutieusement pour les defaults. L’optimisation de l’architecture des FPGAs pour l’économie de surface et une meilleure routabilité est un processus continue qui impacte directement la testabilité globale et de ce fait, la fiabilité. Cette thèse présente une stratégie complète pour le test et le diagnostique des defaults de fabrication des “mesh-based FPGA” contenant une nouvelle topologie d’interconnections à plusieurs niveaux, ce qui promet d’apporter une meilleure routabilité. Efficacité des schémas proposes est analysée en termes de temps de test, couverture de faute et résolution de diagnostique

Industry 4.0 adoption and firm efficiency

Purpose - Industry 4.0 links smart production processes with embedded system production technologies to open the door to a new technological era that fundamentally alters industry value chains and business structures. This study examines the effects of Industry 4.0 on firm efficiency. Methods - Based on a cross-country sample of 1440 firms operating in the top twelve Giants of Asia-Pacific countries and a control sample with another set of 1440 similar-sized firms from non-adopting firms. Findings - The empirical evidence shows that Industry 4.0 positively impacts firm efficiency. Next, the Tobit model is used for the robustness of the main findings. Further, study also examine the mediating role of intangible assets (human capital and firm reputation) for the impact of Industry 4.0 on firm efficiency. Study findings support the hypotheses that intangible assets mediate the Industry 4.0-firm efficiency relationship. Implications - Study findings have managerial implications for production and operation managers on enhancing firm efficiency. Drawing upon practice-based-view theory, this study is the first to explore the mediating role of intangible assets (human capital and firm reputation) between in-Industry 4.0 and firm performance. Originality - This study shed light on the significance of intangible asset congruence in enhancing Industry 4.0 impact

IS JHRM Style Can Be Effectively Implemented In Developing Nations of ASIA (The Case of five Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, Vietnam,)

In this research work Impact of JHRM Japanese Human recourse Management practices were trying to implement on different countries among developing nation in Asian continent. The countries for this research study were Pakistan, Afghanistan .Nepal, Vietnam, and Bangladesh. The reason for selecting these countries among Asian continent is because of their response rate, information in hand from different sources, and most importantly their ranking among developing nation as well as their importance to international community. As all of the above mention countries facing serious threat on its national as well as international front in order to solve these problem we are trying to evaluate the importance of HR from Japanese prospective as the same circumstances were there before WWII but when there concentrate on their HR Japanese become the leading country for other nations. For this purpose we select 20 firms from each countries and data was collected through published material as well as their HDI and HR departments. In order to get more comprehensive data .A well designed questioners was sent to respective department via email. The main concept was derived from (JSM) and it is implemented to all the above mention countries.Chai square test was used for testing the hypothesis. The result shows different attributes after analyzing the data in all of the above mention countries. As in case of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh the major problems in order to implement these JHRM practices  was bureaucratic nature of government, centralized government, top to down decision making style, and institutiolized corruption are the major problem in way of implanting JHRM style. While in case of Vietnam, Bangladesh when JHRM important feature regarding Quality was investigated the results shows that although there is great desire to implement it but the main problem is lack of knowledge and no training & development concept in this regard. Hence from the current research we can conclude that although there is a chance to implement JHRM style in these developing countries but first of all we should removed all the barriers in its effectiveness. Key words; JHRM, Developing nations, Quality, Human Recourse, Asian countries

Inheritance of Plant Height and Other Agronomic Traits in Nine Crosses of Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)

The USSR is the world leader in production of sunflower seeds harvesting about 4 to 4.5 million hectares per year with production remaining fairly stable since 1960. The US and Argentina rank second and third having planted about 1.6 and 1.3 million hectares during 1981 respectively. Spain, China, Romania, Bulgaria, Australia, and Canada follow in importance. The total amount of land devoted to sunflower production in the world increased from 8.4 million hectares in the 1960\u27s to more than 11.6 million in 1981. Sunflower became a commercial crop· in the US during the late 1960\u27s. Production during the 1970\u27s increased from a few thousand to 2.1 metric tons due to the establishment of markets in Europe and also the development of hybrids, which were higher in yield and oil content. Sunflower is commercially important because it produces more oil per unit land than any other crop in many areas. The crude mea1 obtained after removal of the oi1 has a protein content of 38-40%, making it a valuable protein supplement for poultry, sheep, swine, and cattle. The hulls and heads which remain after the seed is removed can be processed to yield pectin. Some large seed is used whole and roasted seed much like peanuts, whereas some seed is dehull ed and the kerne1s so1d as confectionary nuts . Smaller whole seed is used in rations for pet birds and small animals, as well as in home feeders for wild birds. Breeding programs should be based on sound genetic principles. Estimates of genetic variability and heritability type of gene action, and the number of genes associated with a trait provide useful guidelines to determine the value of source populations and appropriate procedures to use in a breeding program. Genetic variation of characters associated with plant growth, morphological or physiological differences may serve as a basis for development of inbred lines and hybrids with improved agronomic traits. Variability of traits such as plant height, flowering, and maturity can be particularly useful because it allows for development of types adapted to an array of environments and agronomic regions. Plant height is an important characteristic in sunflower production. Yields of tall hybrids can be reduced due to lodging. Lodging as high as 80% was observed in a test of 56 hybrids planted at White, South Dakota, in 1983, emphasizing the importance of short hybrids. Early hybrids can also overcome yield losses caused by flowering during hot dry weather and early frost. Variation among other traits; such as leaf number and internode length, seems to have less apparent value. This research was conducted to study the mode of inheritance of plant height, leaf number, internode length, flowering, and their relationship in crosses of two short inbred lines of sunflower selected from PI 386323 and PI 386316 with a number of inbred lines commonly used in production of sunflower hybrids

Determination of Yearly Wind Energy Potential and Extraction of Wind Energy Using Wind Turbine for Coastal Cities of Baluchistan, Pakistan

04 March, 2019 Accepted: 24 April, 2019Abstract: Wind energy assessment of Ormara, Gwadar and Lasbela wind sites which are located in provinceBaluchistan is presented. The daily averaged wind speed data for the three sites is recorded for a period of four yearsfrom 2010-2013 at mast heights 7 m, 9.6 m and 23 m. Measured wind data are extrapolated to heights 60 m (Ormara),80 m (Gwadar) and 60 m (Lasbela). Yearly averaged wind speeds are modeled using a two parameters Weibullfunction whose shape (k) and scale (c) parameters are computed using seven well known numerical iterative methods.Reliability of the fitting process is assessed by employing three goodness-of-fit test statistics, namely, RMSE, R2 and χ2tests. Tests indicate that MLE, MLM and EPFM outperformed other Weibull parameter estimation methods for a betterfit behavior. Yearly Weibull pdf and cdf are obtained and Weibull wind characteristics are determined. Wind turbinesEcotecnia 60/1.67 MW and Nordex S77 1500 kW are used to extract wind energy on yearly basis. Estimated yearlyWeibull power densities are in the range 623.00 - 700.13 W/m2, 276.04 – 307.55 W/m2 and 66.85 – 75.93 W/m2 forOrmara, Gwadar and Lasbela respectively. Extracted wind energy values for Ormara and Gwadar using wind turbinesare reported as ca. 8623 kWh and ca. 4622 kWh, respectively

Theorizing Beta Thalassemia Major: an Overview of Health Sociology

This research focuses on specific models of health and illness, explored by many researchers across the world. The sequential variations and critic of each model is summed up by researcher and the relevant theoretical orientations of beta thalassemia major have been tried to integrate. Beta thalassemia major is a common genetic disorder, due to abnormalities in human globin (alpha or beta). The highest prevalence rate of disease has been seen in Saudi Arabia, Jordon, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, due to repeated cousin marriages, strong beliefs of cultural and traditional practices and lack of knowledge for the prevention and management of beta thalassemia major. The focus of epidemiologists remained on genetic causes and ignored the social, cultural, religious and psychological factors which preponderate over biological aspects of health. The academician and health experts lacked to focus the theoretical orientations of beta thalassemia major, this paper elucidates the models of health and illness and provides and logical theoretical itinerary for beta thalassemia major