Adoption and Implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): An Empirical Study

The study is an attempt to unearth the current state of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) adoption and implementation in both manufacturing and service firms. Drawing on the conceptualization of multiple theories based in technology acceptance and innovation diffusion model, this study examines the above objectives with a particular reference to the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). Following the deductive reasoning approach, we applied a self-administered questionnaire survey and used 235 replies from 255 collected responses, leaving the data affected with missing and un-matched responses. The result is applied using the structural equation modeling via SmartPLS 2, a second generation regression model, for testing hypothesized relationships. Findings reveal that all the hypothesized influences are found significantly linked through the explanatory variables with the endogenous variables at different levels of significance, except the impact of effort efficiency and resistance to change. Policy implications are also proposed for the full adoption and utilization of ERP to achieve sustainable development goals. Furthermore, we recommend future researchers to focus on action research or experimental data for preventing the generalizability of the observed results

Examining the Relationships between Emotional Intelligence and the Components of Transformational Leadership

The purpose of this study is to identify the relationships between emotional intelligence and the components of transformational leadership behavior of the supervisors. Data for this study were collected from 166 subordinates (who rated their supervisors’ emotional intelligence and the components of transformational leadership behavior) working at different organizations around the UK with the help of a structured questionnaire. Results indicated that emotional intelligence positively correlated with all the components of transformational leadership behavior. Implications, limitations, and future research directions are also discussed

Teaching the Structures of Academic Writing through Peer Review: A Study on the Beginners of English Language Courses at BRAC University

Substantial peer feedback of the students through peer review in the context of EFL or ESL can help them become skilled at different structures and strategies of academic writing in English rather than receiving feedback from teachers in the classroom. However, most of the students at English language classes in Bangladesh do not appreciate the significance of following the structures of academic writing from the lectures of the respective teachers immediately. On the other hand, most of the English language instructors in their classes are not used to encouraging their students to provide peer feedback through peer review. Therefore, this paper will be focusing on the issues regarding how peer review can be utilized for the beginners of English language courses in terms of making them aware of the structures of academic writing. Moreover, this paper will make an attempt to find out whether peer review makes them a better writer, a more rational thinker or a more critical appreciator of peers’ writings. At last, this paper will present some recommendations on how peer review can develop the students’ creativity while producing thought provoking and critical comments on their peers’ writing

Exploring the Relationships among Transformational Leadership, Deviant Workplace Behavior, and Job Performance: An Empirical Study

The present study aims to explore the relationships among transformational leadership, deviant workplace behavior, and job performance. Data were collected with the help of a self administered questionnaire from 175 working executives in Bangladesh using convenience sampling technique. Data that have been collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, bivariate correlation, and regression analysis. Results indicated a negative correlation between transformational leadership and deviant workplace behavior while a positive correlation was found between transformational leadership and job performance. It also reported that there is a negative correlation between deviant workplace behavior and job performance. The main implication is that the development of transformational leadership attributes of the executives will ameliorate the job performance and abate the deviant workplace behaviors. The important limitation was in using convenience samples that might limit the generalizability of the results. Future research directions are also discussed

Maternal and fetal outcome among pregnant women following open heart surgery

The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to evaluate the pregnancy outcome following open heart surgery for three years. Group I (n = 37) included pregnancy with history of intracardiac repair except valvular heart disease, while Group II (n = 19) included pregnancy with prosthetic valve received anticoagulation therapy. In total, 78.6% pregnancies ended in healthy live births, and 19.6% pregnancies terminated in abortion (8.1% patients in Group I and 42.1% patients in Group II). 5.3% baby was born with congenital malformation in Group II. Mean birth weight was found 2.8 ± 0.6 kg in Group I and 2.5 ± 0.3 kg in Group II. The mean APGAR score was found 8.5 ± 0.7 in Group I and 8.1 ± 0.7 in Group II. 19.6% patients developed cardiac complications during the pregnancy. Majority of the patients (89.2% in Group I and 63.2% in Group II) was found good health status. Proper antenatal care and early risk stratification are the fundamental measures to improve the maternal and fetal outcome in a patient of open heart surgery

Maternal and fetal outcome among pregnant women following open heart surgery

The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to evaluate the pregnancy outcome following open heart surgery for three years. Group I (n = 37) included pregnancy with history of intracardiac repair except valvular heart disease, while Group II (n = 19) included pregnancy with prosthetic valve received anticoagulation therapy. In total, 78.6% pregnancies ended in healthy live births, and 19.6% pregnancies terminated in abortion (8.1% patients in Group I and 42.1% patients in Group II). 5.3% baby was born with congenital malformation in Group II. Mean birth weight was found 2.8 ± 0.6 kg in Group I and 2.5 ± 0.3 kg in Group II. The mean APGAR score was found 8.5 ± 0.7 in Group I and 8.1 ± 0.7 in Group II. 19.6% patients developed cardiac complications during the pregnancy. Majority of the patients (89.2% in Group I and 63.2% in Group II) was found good health status. Proper antenatal care and early risk stratification are the fundamental measures to improve the maternal and fetal outcome in a patient of open heart surgery

Spherical and Rod-shaped Gold Nanoparticles for Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

Raman Spectroscopy offers an in-situ, rapid, and non-destructive characterization tool for chemical analysis of diverse samples with no or minimal preparation. However, due to the inherent weak signal of conventional Raman spectroscopy, surface plasmon resonance features of noble metal nanoparticles have been utilized to conduct Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) in detecting trace label contaminants in foods and foodstuffs. In this effort, we synthesized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) by reduction of chloroauric acid (HAuCl4) with sodium citrate dehydrate. We prepared different sizes of AuNPs at a fixed temperature (100 oC) but with varying pHs of 4 and 8. The as-synthesized AuNPs were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM). FE-SEM micrographs revealed spherical AuNPs with an average diameter of approx. 55 nm and rod-shaped AuNPs with an average length of approx. 170 nm for sample synthesis at pH 8 and 4, respectively. The effectiveness of the as-prepared AuNPs for SERS is tested by detecting Rhodamine 6G diluted at a trace level. This study suggests that plasmonic nanoparticles coupled with SERS have great potential for broad applications in detecting other trace amounts of hazardous chemicals in foods and foodstuffs.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Proximate chemical composition of sea grapes Caulerpa racemosa (J. Agardh, 1873) collected from a sub-tropical coast

Background: Nutritional fact study has prime importance to make the species edible and commercially viable to the consumers. Proximate chemical composition and amino acid profile were investigated to understand the nutritional value and protein quality of an edible algae Caulerpa racemosa. Methods: Samples were collected randomly by hand from the intertidal zone of the sub-tropical coastal Island St. Martin’s Island from February 2013 to May 2014. Samples were preserved using standard methods for chemical analysis. Proximate composition was determined using standard methods, Kjeldahl method for protein, Soxhlet method for crude lipid, H2SO4 (0.3 N) and NaOH (0.5 N) for dietary fibre, muffle furnace method for moisture content, ion-exchange chromatography for amino acid and statistical package used for validating the data. Results: The result of the study reveals that C. racemosa contains higher amount of proteins (19.72±0.77%), crude lipid (7.65±1.19%) and fibre (11.51±1.32%) compared to other green and brown algae. The higher concentration of aspartic acid (12.7±0.2%) and glutamic acid (9.2±0.7%) were observed in C. racemosa, while histidine (2.6±0.7%), methionine (1.4±0.4%) and tyrosine (3.8±0.2%) were the limiting amino acids. Lysine (6.6±0.2%), leusine (6.9±0.6%), glycine (6.5±0.4%), arginine (6.4±0.3%), alanine (7.6±0.6%) and threonine (6.2±0.5%) were obtained at a higher percentage of total amino acids. Conclusion: This study suggests that C. racemosa could be potentially used as a nutritious and functional food item for human consumption. Further studies on this edible species should be focused on fatty acid composition, vitamins, non-starch polysaccharide constituents, trace elements and sensory perceptions in order to depict safer and versatile utilization

Solid-state Synthesis of Phase Pure CuBi2O4 by Sequential Ball Milling

Bismuth-based metal oxides are an intriguing class of photoelectrode materials that can potentially enable large-scale solar hydrogen production via photoelectrochemical (PEC) water-splitting. For realizing such PEC devices, Kusachiite (copper bismuth oxide) is one of the most promising photocathode materials for high solar to hydrogen efficiency. Here we attempt to synthesize phase pure copper bismuth oxide (CuBi2O4) nanopowders using a facile solid-state reaction technique subsequently sintered at 750 0C for 4 h in air. These CuBi2O4 (CBO) powders have been further sequentially ball milled (SBM) up to 25 h to elucidate the milling duration effect on the optical bandgap of the ball milled CuBi2O4 (SBM-CBO). The structural, optical, and Raman studies suggest that phase pure tetragonal CBO could be grown from raw CuO and Bi2O3 powders. The variations in morphology and chemical composition of CBO with increasing milling hours were examined using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) microanalysis, respectively. The optical bandgap was measured in the range of 1.70 - 1.85 eV from the UV-VIS-NIR Diffuse reflection data of SBM-CBO powders. The CBO photocathode materials with variable structural and optical properties could be a promising candidate for self-sustained PEC generation of hydrogen fuel.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, 2022 4th International Conference on Sustainable Technologies for Industry 4.0 (STI