Search results for: generational turn-over

Authors: J. Fryt, K. Pietras, T. Smolen

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Intergenerational similarities in values may be effect of value transmission within families or socio-cultural trends prevailing at a specific point in time. According to salience hypothesis, salient family values may be transmitted more frequently. On the other hand, many value studies reveal that generational shift from social values (conservation and self-transcendence) to more individualistic values (openness to change and self-enhancement) suggest that value transmission and value change are two different processes. The first aim of our study was to describe similarities and differences in values of young women and their parents. The second aim was to determine which value similarities may be due to transmission within families. Ninety seven Polish women aged 19-25 and both their mothers and fathers filled in the Portrait Value Questionaire. Intergenerational similarities in values between women were found in strong preference for benevolence, universalism and self-direction as well as low preference for power. Similarities between younger women and older men were found in strong preference for universalism and hedonism as well as lower preference for security and tradition. Young women differed from older generation in strong preference for stimulation and achievement as well as low preference for conformity. To identify the origin of intergenerational similarities (whether they are the effect of value transmission within families or not), we used the comparison between correlations of values in family dyads (mother-daughter, father-daughter) and distribution of correlations in random intergenerational dyads (random mother-daughter, random father-daughter) as well as peer dyads (random daughter-daughter). Values representing conservation (security, tradition and conformity) as well as benevolence and power were transmitted in families between women. Achievement, power and security were transmitted between fathers and daughters. Similarities in openness to change (self-direction, stimulation and hedonism) and universalism were not stronger within families than in random intergenerational and peer dyads. Taken together, our findings suggest that despite noticeable generation shift from social to more individualistic values, we can observe transmission of parents’ salient values such as security, tradition, benevolence and achievement.

Keywords: value transmission, value change, intergenerational similarities, differences in values

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Authors: Aneela Sheikh

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Private higher education institutes are challenged for their resilience and competitive edge in the globalized knowledge-based economy in the 21st century. Faculty retention plays an important role as a catalyst for addressing the current mega-developmental phenomenon in higher education institutes faced by developing countries. This study intends to explore the influence of servant leadership practice on faculty retention through the intervening role of job satisfaction towards minimizing the high faculty turnover in private higher education institutes, with the mediating role of job satisfaction. A sample of 341 faculty members from ten private higher education institutes in Lahore city of Pakistan, was selected through a stratified proportionate random sampling technique. A descriptive survey research approach was employed to collect data from 341 faculty members by administering a close-ended questionnaire based on a seven-point Likert scale as a self-administered research instrument. The study was conducted under the domain of the Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory. The mediating role of job satisfaction was measured by bootstrapping technique. The results revealed that servant leadership has a statistically significant influence on faculty retention, with a statistically significant mediating role of job satisfaction, in private higher education institutes in Pakistan. Further, up to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first systematic and empirical study on faculty retention conducted against the backdrop of servant leadership in an Eastern context, particularly in Pakistan.

Keywords: servant leadership, faculty retention, job satisfaction, higher education institutes

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Authors: A. Ashraff

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The increasing importance of the web as a medium for electronic and business transactions has served as a catalyst or rather a driving force for the introduction and implementation of recommender systems. Recommender Systems play a major role in processing and analyzing thousands of data rows or reviews and help humans make a purchase decision of a product or service. It also has the ability to predict whether a particular user would rate a product or service based on the user’s profile behavioral pattern. At present, Recommender Systems are being used extensively in every domain known to us. They are said to be ubiquitous. However, in the field of recruitment, it’s not being utilized exclusively. Recent statistics show an increase in staff turnover, which has negatively impacted the organization as well as the employee. The reasons being company culture, working flexibility (work from home opportunity), no learning advancements, and pay scale. Further investigations revealed that there are lacking guidance or support, which helps a job seeker find the company that will suit him best, and though there’s information available about companies, job seekers can’t read all the reviews by themselves and get an analytical decision. In this paper, we propose an approach to study the available review data on IT companies (score their reviews based on user review sentiments) and gather information on job seekers, which includes their Psychometric evaluations. Then presents the job seeker with useful information or rather outputs on which company is most suitable for the job seeker. The theoretical approach, Algorithmic approach and the importance of such a system will be discussed in this paper.

Keywords: psychometric tests, recommender systems, sentiment analysis, hybrid recommender systems

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Authors: A. Myrzabekova, D. Nurmukhamed, K. Nurumov, A. Zhulbarissova

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It is widely believed that stress can affect teachers’ intention to change the workplace. While existing research primarily focuses on the intrinsic sources of stress stemming from the school climate, the current attempt analyzes educational policies as one of the determinants of teacher’s intention to leave schools. In this respect, Kazakhstan presents a unique case since the country endorsed several educational policies which directly impacted teaching and administrative practices within schools. Using Teaching and Learning International Survey 2018 (TALIS) data with the country specific questionnaire, we construct a statistical measure of stress caused by the implementation of educational policies and test its impact on teacher’s intention to leave through the logistic regression. In addition, we control for sociodemographic, professional, and students related covariates while considering the intrinsic dimension of stress stemming from the school climate. Overall, our results suggest that stress caused by the educational policies has a statistically significant positive effect on teachers’ intentions to transfer between schools. Both policy makers and educational scholars could find these results beneficial. For the former careful planning and addressing the negative effects of the educational policies is critical for the sustainability of the educational process. For the latter, accounting for exogenous sources of stress can lead to a more complete understanding of why teachers decide to change their schools.

Keywords: educational policies, Kazakhstani teachers, logistic regression factor analysis, sustainability education TALIS, teacher turnover intention, work stress

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Authors: Riyadh Jamegh, AllaEldin Kassam, Sawsan Sabih

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In modern trends of market, organizations face high-pressure environment which is characterized by globalization, high competition, and customer orientation, so it is very crucial to control and know the weak and strong points of the supply chain in order to improve their performance. So the performance measurements presented as an important tool of supply chain management because it's enabled the organizations to control, understand, and improve their efficiency. This paper aims to identify supply chain performance measurement (SCPM) by using Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchical Process (FAHP). In our real application, the performance of organizations estimated based on four parameters these are cost parameter indicator of cost (CPI), inventory turnover parameter indicator of (INPI), raw material parameter (RMPI), and safety stock level parameter indicator (SSPI), these indicators vary in impact on performance depending upon policies and strategies of organization. In this research (FAHP) technique has been used to identify the importance of such parameters, and then first fuzzy inference (FIR1) is applied to identify performance indicator of each factor depending on the importance of the factor and its value. Then, the second fuzzy inference (FIR2) also applied to integrate the effect of these indicators and identify (SCPM) which represent the required output. The developed approach provides an effective tool for evaluation of supply chain performance measurement.

Keywords: fuzzy performance measurements, supply chain, fuzzy logic, key performance indicator

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Authors: Swarkar Sharma, Ekta Rai, Ankit Mahajan, Parvinder Kumar, Manoj K Dhar, Sushil Razdan, Kumarasamy Thangaraj, Carol Wise, Shiro Ikegawa M.D., K.K. Pandita M.D.

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Rare disorders are poorly understood hence, remain uncharacterized or patients are misdiagnosed and get poor medical attention. A rare mysterious skeletal disorder that remained unidentified for decades and rendered many people physically challenged and disabled for life has been reported in an isolated remote village ‘Arai’ of Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. This village is located deep in mountains and the population residing in the region is highly consanguineous. In our survey of the region, 70 affected people were reported, showing similar phenotype, in the village with a population of approximately 5000 individuals. We were able to collect samples from two multi generational extended families from the village. Through Whole Exome sequencing (WES), we identified a rare variation NM_003880.3:c.156C>A NP_003871.1:p.Cys52Ter, which results in introduction of premature stop codon in WISP3 gene. We found this variation perfectly segregating with the disease in one of the family. However, this variation was absent in other family. Interestingly, a novel splice site mutation at position c.643+1G>A of WISP3 gene, perfectly segregating with the disease was observed in the second family. Thus, exploiting WES and putting different evidences together (familial histories and genetic data, clinical features, radiological and biochemical tests and findings), the disease has finally been diagnosed as a very rare recessive hereditary skeletal disease “Progressive Pseudorheumatoid Arthropathy of Childhood” (PPAC) also known as “Spondyloepiphyseal Dysplasia Tarda with Progressive Arthropathy” (SEDT-PA). This genetic characterization and identification of the disease causing mutations will aid in genetic counseling, critically required to curb this rare disorder and to prevent its appearance in future generations in the population. Further, understanding of the role of WISP3 gene the biological pathways should help in developing treatment for the disorder.

Keywords: whole exome sequencing, Next Generation Sequencing, rare disorders

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Authors: Elham Dehghan, A. Shirzadi Javid, Mohsen Tadayon

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Labor productivity is very important and gained special concerns among professionals in the construction industry, worldwide. Productivity improvements on labors achieve higher cost savings with minimal investment. Due to the fact that profit margins are small on construction projects, cost savings associated with productivity are crucial to become a successful contractor. This research program studies and highlights the factors affecting labor productivity in Iranian construction industry. A questionnaire was used to gather the relevant data from respondents who involve in managing various types of projects in wide areas in Iran. It involved ranking 57 predefined factors divided into 5 categories: Human/Labor; Financial; Management; Equipments/Materials and Environmental. Total 62 feedbacks were analyzed through the Relative Importance Index (RII) technique. The top ten factors affecting construction labor productivity in Iran are: 1) Professional capability of contractor project manager, 2) skills of contractor’s project management team, 3) professional capability of owner project manager, 4) professional capability of Consulting Project manager, 5) discipline working, 6) delay payments by the owner, 7) material shortages, 8) delays in delivery of materials, 9) turnover power of the owner, 10) poor site management. Recommendations have been made in the study to address these factors. The research has direct benefits to key stakeholders in Iranian construction industry.

Keywords: Iranian construction projects, labor, productivity, relative importance index

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Authors: Issam Jebreen, Eman Al-Qbelat

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Outsourcing software development projects can be challenging, and there are several common challenges that organizations face. A study was conducted with a sample of 46 papers on outsourcing challenges, and the results show that there are several common challenges faced by organizations when outsourcing software development projects. Poor outsourcing relationship was identified as the most significant challenge, with 35% of the papers referencing it. Lack of quality was the second most significant challenge, with 33% of the papers referencing it. Language and cultural differences were the third most significant challenge, with 24% of the papers referencing it. Non-competitive price was another challenge faced by organizations, with 21% of the papers referencing it. Poor coordination and communication were also identified as a challenge, with 21% of the papers referencing it. Opportunistic behavior, lack of contract negotiation, inadequate user involvement, and constraints due to time zone were also challenges faced by organizations. Other challenges faced by organizations included poor project management, lack of technical capabilities, vendor employee high turnover, poor requirement specification, IPR issues, poor management of budget, schedule, and delay, geopolitical and country instability, the difference in development methodologies, failure to manage end-user expectations, and poor monitoring and control. In conclusion, outsourcing software development projects can be challenging, but organizations can mitigate these challenges by selecting the right outsourcing partner, having a well-defined contract and clear communication, having a clear understanding of the requirements, and implementing effective project management practices.

Keywords: software outsourcing, vendor, outsourcing challenges, quality model, continent, country, global outsourcing, IT workforce outsourcing.

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Authors: B. G. Abiona, A. A. Onaseso, T. D. Odetayo, J. Yila, O. E. Fapojuwo, K. G. Adeosun

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This study determines the perceived effects of work-family balance on employees’ job satisfaction among Extension Agents in the Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) in southwest Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 256 respondents for the study. Data on personal characteristics, work-family balance domain, and job satisfaction were collected. The collected data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square, Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC), multiple linear regression, and Student T-test. Results revealed that the mean age of the respondents was 40 years; the majority (59.3%) of the respondents were male, and slightly above half (51.6%) of the respondents had MSc as their highest academic qualification. Findings revealed that turnover intention (x ̅ = 3.20) and work-role conflict (x ̅ = 3.06) were the major perceived work-family balance domain in the studied areas. Further, the result showed that the respondents have a high (79%) level of job satisfaction. Multiple linear regression revealed that job involvement (ß=0.167, p<0.01) and work-role conflict (ß= -0.221, p<0.05) contributed significantly to employees’ level of job satisfaction. The results of the Student T-test revealed a significant difference in the perceived work-family balance domain (t = 0.43, p<0.05) between the two studied areas. The study concluded that work-role conflict among employees causes work-family imbalance and, therefore, negatively affects employees’ job satisfaction. The definition of job design among the respondents that will create a balance between work and family is highly recommended.

Keywords: work-life, conflict, job satisfaction, extension agent

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Authors: Muhammad Ihsan Andi Dagong, Cece Sumantri, Ronny Rachman Noor, Rachmat Herman, Mohamad Yamin

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Calpastatin involved in various physiological processes in the body such as the protein turnover, growth, fusion and mioblast migration. Thus, allegedly Calpastatin gene diversity (CAST) have an association with growth and potential use as candidate genes for growth trait. This study aims to identify the association between the genetic diversity of CAST gene with some growth properties such as body dimention (morphometric), body weight and daily weight gain in sheep. A total of 157 heads of Thin Tail Sheep (TTS) reared intensively for fattening purposes in the uniform environmental conditions. Overall sheep used were male, and maintained for 3 months. The parameters of growth properties were measured among others: body weight gain (ADG) (g/head / day), body weight (kg), body length (cm), chest circumference (cm), height (cm). All the sheep were genotyped by using PCR-SSCP (single strand conformational polymorphism) methods. CAST gene in locus fragment intron 5 - exon 6 were amplified with a predicted length of about 254 bp PCR products. Then the sheep were stratified based on their CAST genotypes. The result of this research showed that no association were found between the CAST gene variations with morphometric body weight, but there was a significant association with daily body weight gain (ADG) in sheep observed. CAST-23 and CAST-33 genotypes has higher average daily gain than other genotypes. CAST-23 and CAST-33 genotypes that carrying the CAST-2 and CAST-3 alleles potential to be used in the selection of the nature of the growth trait of the TTS sheep.

Keywords: body weight, calpastatin, genotype, growth trait, thin tail sheep

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Authors: Merkouche Wassila, Marchand Alain, Renaud Stéphane

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Organizations are facing competitive pressures constraining them to modify their practices and change initial work conditions of employees, however, these modifications have to sustain initial quality of work and engagements toward the workforce. We focus on the importance of promises in the perspective of psychological contract. According to this perspective, employees perceiving a breach of the expected obligations from the employer may become unsatisfied at work and develop organizational withdrawal behaviors. These are negative counterproductive behaviours aiming to damage the organisation according to the principle of reciprocity and social exchange. We present an integrative model of the determinants and manifestations of organizational withdrawal (OW), a set of behaviors allowing the employee to leave his job or avoid his assigned work. OW contains two main components often studied in silos: work withdrawal (delays, absenteeism and other adverse behaviors) and job withdrawal (turnover). We use the systemic micro, meso and macro sociological approach designing the individual at the heart of a system containing individual, organizational, and environmental determinants. Under the influence of these different factors, the individual assesses the type of behavior to adopt. We provide better lighting for understanding OW using both psychological contract approach through the perception of its respect by the organization and job embeddedness approach which explains why the employee does not leave the organization and then remains in his post while practicing negative and counterproductive behaviors such as OW. We study specifically cynicism as a type of OW as it is a dimension of burnout. We focus on the antecedents of cynicism to try to prevent it in the workplace.

Keywords: burnout, cynicism, job embeddedness, organizational withdrawal, psychological contract

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Authors: Aparna Sengupta

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The paper seeks to find answers to the question as to why India’s disaster management policies have been unable to deliver the desired results. Are the shortcomings in policy formulation, effective policy implementation or timely prevention mechanisms? Or is there a fundamental issue of policy formulation which sparsely takes into account the cultural specificities and uniqueness, technological know-how, educational, religious and attitudinal capacities of the target population into consideration? India was slow in legislating disaster policies but more than that the reason for lesser success of disaster polices seems to be the gap between policy and the people. We not only keep hearing about the failure of governmental efforts but also how the local communities deal far more efficaciously with disasters utilizing their traditional knowledge. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami which killed 250,000 people (approx.) could not kill the tribal communities who saved themselves due to their age-old traditional knowledge. This large scale disaster, considered as a landmark event in history of disasters in the twenty-first century, can be attributed in bringing and confirming the importance of Traditional Environmental Knowledge in managing disasters. This brings forth the importance of cultural and traditional know-how in dealing with natural disasters and one is forced to question as to why shouldn’t traditional environmental knowledge (TEK) be taken into consideration while formulating India’s disaster resilience policies? Though at the international level, many scholars have explored the connectedness of disaster to cultural dimensions and several research examined how culture acts as a stimuli in perceiving disasters and their management (Clifford, 1956; Mcluckie, 1970; Koentjaraningrat, 1985; Peacock, 1997; Elliot et.al, 2006; Aruntoi, 2008; Kulatunga, 2010). But in the Indian context, this field of inquiry i.e. linking disaster policies with tradition and generational understanding has seldom received attention of the government, decision- making authorities, disaster managers and even in the academia. The present study attempts to fill this gap in research and scholarship by presenting an historical analysis of disaster and its cognition by cultural communities in India. The paper seeks to interlink the cultural comprehension of Indian tribal communities with scientific-technology towards more constructive disaster policies in India.

Keywords: culture, disasters, local communities, traditional knowledge

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Authors: Jiyeon Kang, Yeon Jin Jeong, Hoon Heo

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Purpose: Bullying in nursing workplace has been a serious problem that increases the turnover of nurses. Few studies have examined the effects of communication training on workplace bullying for nurses, and all used a single-group design and a small sample size. Thus, more rigorous research has been needed to evaluate the effects properly. This research was aimed to identify the effects of the mobile type communication training of responses on bullying behaviors among nurses. Methods: A randomized controlled trial was performed. Subjects were 62 critical care nurses working in university hospitals in Busan, South Korea. We developed a mobile phone application to train nurses to deal with bullying situation. This application includes 6 common bullying situations and appropriate empathetic communication (non-violent communication) samples in the form of webtoons. The experimental group used this application for 4 weeks, and we measured interpersonal relationship, workplace bullying, symptom experience, and intention to leave before, post, and 8 weeks after the intervention from both experimental and control groups. The effect of the intervention was analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA. Results: The mobile type communication training developed in this study was effective for decreasing nurses’ intention to leave workplace (F = 5.11, p = .027). However, it had no effect on interpersonal relationship (F = 2.54, p = .116), workplace bullying (F = 2.99, p = .089) or symptom experience (F = 2.81, p = .099). The beneficial effects on intention to leave lasted at least up to 4 weeks after the training. Conclusion: The mobile type communication training can be utilized as an effective personal coping strategy for workplace bullying among nurses. Further studies on the long-term effects of the communication training are necessary.

Keywords: bullying, communication, mobile applications, nurses, training, workplace

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Authors: Hyo-Min Kim, Seokjin Ham, Mi-Joung Yoo, Minseon Kim, Tae-Young Roh

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The gastrointestinal (GI) tract of most animals, including murine, is highly compartmentalized epithelia which also provide distinct different functions of its own tissue. Nevertheless, these epithelia share certain characteristics that enhance immune responses to infections and maintain the barrier function of the intestine. GI tract epithelia also undergo regeneration not only in homeostatic conditions but also in a response to the damage. A full turnover of the murine gastrointestinal epithelium occurs every 4-5 day, a process that is regulated and maintained by a minor population of Lgr5+ adult stem cell that commonly conserved in the bottom of crypts through GI tract. Maintenance of the stem cell is somehow regulated by epigenetic factors according to recent studies. Chromatin vacancy, remodelers, histone variants and histone modifiers could affect adult stem cell fate. In this study, Lgr5-EGFP reporter mouse was used to take advantage of exploring the epigenetic dynamics among Lgr5 positive mutual stem cell in GI tract. Cells were isolated by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), gene expression levels, chromatin accessibility changes and histone modifications were analyzed. Some notable chromatin structural related epigenetic variants were detected. To identify the overall cell-cell interaction inside the stem cell niche, an extensive genome-wide analysis should be also followed. According to the results, nevertheless, we expected a broader understanding of cellular niche maintaining stem cells and epigenetic barriers through conserved stem cell in GI tract. We expect that our study could provide more evidence of adult stem cell plasticity and more chances to understand each stem cell that takes parts in certain organs.

Keywords: adult stem cell, epigenetics, LGR5 stem cell, gastrointestinal tract

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Authors: Kamran Dastafkan, Chuan Zhao

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Improving surface chemistry is a promising approach in addition to the rational alteration in the catalyst composition to advance water electrolysis. Here, we demonstrate an evident enhancement of oxygen evolution on an iron-nickel vanadate catalyst synthesized by a facile successive ionic adsorption and reaction method. The vanadate-modified catalyst demonstrates a highly efficient oxygen evolution in 1 M KOH by requiring low overpotentials of 274 and 310 mV for delivering large current densities of 100 and 400 mA cm⁻², respectively where vigorous gas bubble evolution occurs. Vanadate modification augments the OER activity from three aspects. (i) Both the electrochemical surface area (47.1 cm²) and intrinsic activity (318 mV to deliver 10 mA cm⁻² per unit ECSA) of the catalytic sites are improved. (ii) The amorphous and roughened nanoparticle-comprised catalyst film exhibits a high surface wettability and a low-gas bubble-adhesion, which is beneficial for the accelerated mass transport and gas bubble dissipation at large current densities. The gas bubble dissipation behavior is studied by operando dynamic specific resistance measurements where a significant change in the variation of the interfacial resistance during the OER is detected for the vanadate-modified catalyst. (iii) The introduced vanadate poly-oxo-anions with high charge density have electronic interplay with Fe and Ni catalytic centers. Raman study reveals the structural evolution of β-NiOOH and γ-FeOOH phases during the OER through the vanadate-active site synergistic interactions. Achievement of a high catalytic turnover of 0.12 s⁻¹ put the developed FeNi vanadate among the best recent catalysts for water oxidation.

Keywords: gas bubble dissipation, iron-nickel vanadate, low-gas bubble-adhesion catalyst, oxygen evolution reaction

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Authors: Divya Vohora, Md. Jamir Anwar

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Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs)-induced adverse consequences on bone are now well recognized. Despite this, there is limited data on the effect of anti-osteoporotic therapies on AEDs-induced bone loss. Both phenytoin (PHT) and sodium valproate (SVP) inhibit human aromatase enzyme and stimulate microsomal catabolism of oestrogens. Estrogen deficiency states are known to reduce the deposition of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β3), a bone matrix protein, having anti-osteoclastic property. Thus, an attempt was made to investigate the effect of raloxifene, a selective oestrogen receptor modulator, in comparison with CVD supplementation, on PHT and SVP-induced alterations in bone in mice. Further, the effect of raloxifene on seizures and on the antiepileptic efficacy of AEDs was also investigated. Swiss strains of female mice were treated with PHT (35 mg/kg, p.o.) and SVP (300 mg/kg, p.o.) for 120 days to induce bone loss as evidenced by reduced bone mineral density (BMD) and altered bone turnover markers in lumbar bones (alkaline phosphatase, tartarate resistant acid phosphatase, hydroxyproline) and urine (calcium). The bone loss was accompanied by reduced serum estradiol levels and bone TGF-β3 content. Preventive and curative treatment with raloxifene ameliorated bony alterations and was more effective than CVD. Deprived estrogen levels (that in turn reduced lumbar TGF-β3 content) following PHT and SVP, thus, might represent one of the various mechanisms of AEDs-induced bone loss. Raloxifene preserved the bony changes without interfering with their antiepileptic efficacy, and hence raloxifene could be a potential therapeutic option in the management of PHT and SVP-induced bone disease if clinically approved.

Keywords: antiepileptic drugs, osteoporosis, raloxifene, TGF-β3

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Authors: Suraj Muke, Vikas Mankumare, Sadhana Sathaye

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Osteoporosis is the most common metabolic bone disease which affects an estimated 25 million people worldwide, leading to 1 million fractures, 40,000 annual deaths and health costs of billions of dollars. It is estimated that about 80% of total osteoporosis patients are women, amongst which majority are above the age of 45 years. Postmenopausal osteoporosis is associated with lack of intestinal calcium absorption, increasing pro-oxidant and inflammatory mediators. Lawsonia inermis is a biennial dicotyledonous herbaceous shrub is reported to possess a high flavonoid, high phenolic and Inhibitors of osteoclastogenesis like Daphneside and Daphnorin. The present study aimed to screen osteoprotective effect of methanolic extract of Lawsonia inermis (LIM) in rat model along with its antioxidant activity. LIM shows phenolic content 146.3Milligrams of Gallic acid equivalent present per gram of extract and 19.8 Milligrams of rutin per gram of extract of Total flavonoid content with IC50 value 42.99μg/ml. bilateral ovariectomized rat model in which Healthy female wistar rats were used for screening. Treatment with LIM was carried out using graded doses of 25mg/kg, 50mg/kg and 100mg/kg for period of 28 days. The negative control group comprised of ovariectomized rats along with saline treatment for four weeks whereas sham operated rats were used as positive control.LIM showed a decrease in bone turnover by preventing loss of urinary calcium and phosphorous moreover it decreased the alkaline phosphatase levels and loss of bone density is prevented by LIM suggesting decrease in osteoclast activity.

Keywords: antioxidant, osteoclast, osteoporosis, ovariectomized

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Authors: Nnadi Ezekiel Ejiofor

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The construction industry plays a decisive role in the healthy development of any nation. Not only large but even small construction projects contribute to a country’s economic growth. There is a need for good management to ensure successful delivery and sustainability because of the plethora of risks that have resulted in low-profit margins for contractors, cost and schedule overruns, poor quality delivery, and abandoned projects. This research reviewed Capitalization on Sustainable Risk Management. Questionnaires and oral interviews conducted were utilized as means of data collection. One hundred and ninety-eight (198) large construction firms in Nigeria form the population of this study. 15 (fifteen) companies that emanated from merger and acquisition were used for the study. The instruments used for data collection were a researcher-developed structured questionnaire based on a five-point rating scale, interviews, focus group discussion, and secondary sources (bill of quantities and stock and exchange commission). The instrument was validated by two experts in the field. The reliability of the instrument was established by applying the split-half method. Kendall’s coefficient of concordance was used to test the data, and a degree of agreement was obtained. Data were subjected to descriptive statistics and analyzed using analysis of variance, t-test, and SPSS. The identified impacts of capitalization were an increase in turnover (24.5%), improvement in the image (24.5%), risk reduction (20%), business expansion (17.3%), and geographical spread (13.6%). The study strongly advocates the inclusion of risk management evaluation as part of the construction procurement process.

Keywords: capitalization, project delivery, risks, risk management, sustainability

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Authors: Zelalem Markos Borko

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Work-related stress is a reaction that occurs when the work weight progress toward becoming excessive. Therefore, unless properly managed, stress leads to high employee turnover, decreased performance, illness and absenteeism. Yet, little has been addressed regarding work-related stress and its predictors in the study area. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess stress prevalence and its predictors in the study area. To that effect, a cross-sectional study design was conducted on 281 employees from the Ethiopian Federal Bureau of Investigation by using stratified random sampling techniques. Survey questionnaire scales were employed to collect data. Data were analyzed by percentage, Pearson correlation coefficients, simple linear regression, multiple linear regressions, independent t-test and one-way ANOVA statistical techniques. In the present study13.9% of participants faced high stress, whereas 13.5% of participants faced low stress and the rest 72.6% of officers experienced moderate stress. There is no significant group difference among workers due to age, gender, marital status, educational level, years of service and police rank. This study concludes that factors such as role conflict, performance over-utilization, role ambiguity, and qualitative and quantitative role overload together predict 39.6% of work-related stress. This indicates that 60.4% of the variation in stress is explained by other factors, so other additional research should be done to identify additional factors predicting stress. To prevent occupational stress among police, the Ethiopian Federal Bureau of Investigation should develop strategies based on factors that will help to develop stress reduction management.

Keywords: work-related stress, Ethiopian federal bureau of investigation, predictors, Addis Ababa

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Authors: Masa Popovac, Philip Fine

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Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have altered our social environments, and young people in particular have immersed themselves in the digital age. Despite countless benefits, younger ICT users are being exposed to various online risks such as contact with strangers, viewing of risky content, sending or receiving sexually themed images or comments (i.e. ‘sexting’) as well as cyber bullying. Parents may not be fully aware of the online spaces their children inhabit and often struggle to implement effective mediation strategies. This quantitative study explored (i) three types of online risks (contact risks, content risks and conduct risks), (ii) cyber bullying victimization and perpetration, and (iii) parental mediation among a sample of 689 South African adolescents aged between 12-17 years. Survey data was also collected for 227 of their parents relating to their perceptions of their child’s online experiences. A comparison between adolescent behaviors and parental perceptions was examined on the three variables in the study. Findings reveal various online risk taking behaviors. In terms of contact risks, 56% of adolescents reported having contact with at least one online stranger, with many meeting these strangers in person. Content risks included exposure to harmful information such as websites promoting extreme diets or self-harm as well as inappropriate content: 84% of adolescents had seen violent content and 75% had seen sexual content online. Almost 60% of adolescents engaged in conduct risks such as sexting. Eight online victimization behaviors were examined in the study and 79% of adolescents had at least one of these negative experiences, with a third (34%) defining this experience as cyber bullying. A strong connection between victimization and perpetration was found, with 63% of adolescents being both a victim and perpetrator. Very little parental mediation of ICT use was reported. Inferential statistics revealed that parents consistently underestimated their child’s online risk taking behaviors as well as their cyber bullying victimization and perpetration. Parents also overestimated mediation strategies in the home. The generational gap in the knowledge and use of ICTs is a barrier to effective parental mediation and online safety, since many negative online experiences by adolescents go undetected and can continue for extended periods of time thereby exacerbating the potential psychological and emotional distress. The study highlights the importance of including parents in online safety efforts.

Keywords: cyber bullying, online risk behaviors, parental mediation, South Africa

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Authors: Tan Swee Liang

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This paper estimates bank and stock market efficiency associations with real per capita GDP growth by examining panel-data across three different regions using Panel-Corrected Standard Errors (PCSE) regression developed by Beck and Katz (1995). Data from five economies in ASEAN (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, and Indonesia), five economies in Asia (Japan, China, Hong Kong SAR, South Korea, and India) and seven economies in OECD (Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom U.K., and United States U.S.), between 1990 and 2017 are used. Empirical findings suggest one, for Asia-5 high bank net interest margin means greater bank profitability, hence spurring economic growth. Two, for OECD-7 low bank overhead costs (as a share of total assets) may reflect weak competition and weak investment in providing superior banking services, hence dampening economic growth. Three, stock market turnover ratio has negative association with OECD-7 economic growth, but a positive association with Asia-5, which suggest the relationship between liquidity and growth is ambiguous. Lastly, for ASEAN-5 high bank overhead costs (as a share of total assets) may suggest expenses have not been channelled efficiently to income generating activities. One practical implication of the findings is that policy makers should take necessary measures toward financial liberalisation policies that boost growth through the efficiency channel, so that funds are efficiently allocated through the financial system between financial and real sectors.

Keywords: financial development, banking system, capital markets, economic growth

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Authors: Francesco Ceresia

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Workplace aggression is broadly recognized as a main work-related risk for healthcare organizations the world over. Scholars underlined that nonfatal workplace aggressions can be also produced by Type II workplace aggression, that occur when the aggressor has a legitimate relationship with the organization and commits an act of hostility while being served or cared for by members of the organization. Several reviews and meta-analysis highlighted the main antecedents and consequences of Type II verbal and physical workplace aggression in the healthcare sector, also focusing on its economic and psychosocial costs. However, some scholars emphasized the need for a systemic and multi-factorial approach to deeply understand and effectively respond to such kind of aggression. The main aim of the study is to propose a qualitative model of Type II workplace aggression in a health care organization in accordance with the system thinking and multi-factorial perspective. A case study research approach, conducted in an Italian non-hospital healthcare organization, is presented. Two main data collection methods have been adopted: individual and group interviews with a sample (N = 24) of physicians, nurses and clericals. A causal loop diagram (CLD) that describes the main causal relationships among the key-variables of the proposed model has been outlined. The main feedback loops and the causal link polarities have been also defined to fully describe the structure underlining the Type II workplace aggression phenomenon. The proposed qualitative model shows how the Type II workplace aggression is related with burnout, work performance, job satisfaction, turnover intentions, work motivation and emotional dissonance. Finally, strategies and policies to reduce the strength of workplace aggression’s drivers are suggested.

Keywords: healthcare, system thinking, work motivation, workplace aggression

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Authors: Babar Rasheed

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The organizations are in continuous effort to increase their yield and to retain their associates, employees. Technology is considered an integral part of attaining apposite work practices, work environment, and employee engagement. Unconsciously, these advanced practices like work from home, personalized intra-network are disturbing employee work-life balance which ultimately increases psychological pressure on employees. The smart work practice is to develop business models and organizational practices with enhanced employee engagement, minimum trouncing of organization resources with persistent revenue and positive addition in global societies. Need of smart work practices comes from increasing employee turnover rate, global economic recession, unnecessary job pressure, increasing contingent workforce and advancement in technologies. Current practices are not enough elastic to tackle global changing work environment and organizational competitions. Current practices are causing many reciprocal problems among employee and organization mechanically. There is conscious understanding among business sectors smart work practices that will deal with new century challenges with addressing the concerns of relevant issues. It is aimed in this paper to endorse customized and smart work practice tools along knowledge framework to manage the growing concerns of employee engagement, use of technology, orgaization concerns and challenges for the business. This includes a Smart Management Information System to address necessary concerns of employees and combine with a framework to extract the best possible ways to allocate companies resources and re-align only required efforts to adopt the best possible strategy for controlling potential risks.

Keywords: employees engagement, management information system, psychological pressure, current and future HR practices

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Authors: Farshad Kalantari

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Tourism industry has gained a progressive trend within the past years, which affect the cultural exchange among different nations. It is obvious that each country has its own culture, heritage and history, which can be manifested in the population lifestyle and pattern of living. the lifestyle can be considered as an indicator for health status, as the culture may affect way of living, which known as lifestyle and its components, including dietary pattern, physical activity status and other social behaviours. As a result, it seems that each culture can transfer the lifestyle to other societies by international communications. Moreover, different regions and countries may benefit from natural resources, which can be a leading cause for tourist attraction, in the other words, natural resources and culture, can affect the tourist turnover in a region, and as a result, it can be hypothesised that it may affect the exchange of lifestyle including dietary pattern and physical activity. In the positive way, this can make a region to health pole for other nationalities to gain benefit from that culture in order to improve their quality of life and health status. In this paper has aimed to assess the effect of culture and heritage on tourism rate and the effect of natural resources along with cultural lifestyle on public health and international exchange between other regions. It was hypothesised that by using culture in a positive manner, positive aspect of lifestyle, including ancient physical activity patter, can be transfer and exchange with other regions, which can improve health status as a result. Moreover, it was focused on how to design and recruit strategies to improve the way of gaining benefits from resources and lifestyle in order to improve tourism industry and its rate, which may bring beneficial outcomes, including financial, cultural and health outcomes.

Keywords: toursim, health, culture, sport, lifestyle

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Authors: Martha Lilia Del Rio Duque, Michelle Bonatti, Katharina Loehr, Marcos Lana, Tatiana Rodriguez, Stefan Sieber

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Nowadays, most agricultural practices can reduce the ability of ecosystems to provide goods and services. To enhance environmentally friendly food production and to maximize social and economic benefits, sustainable land use systems (SLUS) are one of the most critical strategies increasingly/strongly promoted by donors organizations, international agencies, and policymakers. This process involves the question of how SLUS can be scaled out also large-scale landscapes and not merely isolated experiments. As SLUS are context-specific strategies, diffusion and replication of successful SLUS in Colombia required the identification of main factors that facilitate this scaling out process. We applied a case study approach to investigate the scaling out process of SLUS in cocoa and livestock sector within peacebuilding territories in Colombia, specifically, in Cesar and Caqueta region. These two regions are contrasting, but both have a current trend of increasing land degradation. Presently in Colombia, Caqueta is one of the most deforested departments, and Cesar has some most degraded soils. Following a qualitative research approach, 19 semi-structured interviews and 2 focus groups were conducted with agroforestry experts in both regions to analyze (1) what does it mean a sustainable land use system in Cocoa/Livestock, specifically in Caqueta or Cesar and (2) to identify the key elements at the level of the following dimensions: biophysical, economic and profitability, market, social, policy and institutions that can explain how and why SLUS are replicated and spread among more producers. The Interviews were coded and analyzed using MAXQDA to identify, analyze and report patterns (themes) within data. As the results show, key themes, among which: premium market, solid regional markets and price stability, water availability and management, generational renewal, land use knowledge and diversification, producer organization and certifications are crucial to understand how the SLUS can have an impact across large-scale landscapes and how the scaling out process can be set up best in order to be successful across different contexts. The analysis further reveals which key factors might affect SLUS efficiency.

Keywords: agroforestry, cocoa sector, Colombia, livestock sector, sustainable land use system

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Authors: Mandeep Kaur, Jitendra K. Bera

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The search for atom-economical and green synthetic methods for the synthesis of functionalized molecules has attracted much attention. Metal ligand cooperation (MLC) plays a pivotal role in organometallic catalysis to activate C−H, H−H, O−H, N−H and B−H bonds through reversible bond breaking and bond making process. Towards this goal, a bifunctional N─heterocyclic carbene (NHC) based pyridyl-functionalized amide ligand precursor, and corresponding dearomatized iridium complex was synthesized. The NMR and UV/Vis acid titration study have been done to prove the proton response nature of the iridium complex. Further, the dearomatized iridium complex explored as a catalyst on the platform of MLC via dearomatzation/aromatization mode of action towards atom economical α and β─alkylation of ketones and secondary alcohols by using primary alcohols through hydrogen borrowing methodology. The key features of the catalysis are high turnover frequency (TOF) values, low catalyst loading, low base loading and no waste product. The greener syntheses of quinoline, lactone derivatives and selective alkylation of drug molecules like pregnenolone and testosterone were also achieved successfully. Another structurally similar iridium complex was also synthesized with modified ligand precursor where a pendant amide unit was absent. The inactivity of this analogue iridium complex towards catalysis authenticated the participation of proton responsive imido sidearm of the ligand to accelerate the catalytic reaction. The mechanistic investigation through control experiments, NMR and deuterated labeling study, authenticate the borrowing hydrogen strategy.

Keywords: C-C bond formation, hydrogen borrowing, metal ligand cooperation (MLC), n-heterocyclic carbene

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Authors: Swati Tomar, Sunil Kumar Gupta

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The start-up of anammox (anaerobic ammonium oxidation) process in hybrid reactor delineated four distinct phases i.e. cell lysis, lag phase, activity elevation and stationary phase. Cell lysis phase was marked by death and decay of heterotrophic denitrifiers resulting in breakdown of organic nitrogen into ammonium. Lag phase showed initiation of anammox activity with turnover of heterotrophic denitrifiers, which is evident from appearance of NO3-N in the effluent. In activity elevation phase, anammox became the dominant reaction, which can be attributed to consequent reduction of NH4-N into N2 with increased NO3-N in the effluent. Proper selection of mixed seed culture at influent NO2-/NH4+ ratio (1:1) and hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 1 day led to early startup of anammox within 70 days. Pseudo steady state removal efficiencies of NH4+ and NO2- were found as 94.3% and 96.4% respectively, at nitrogen loading rate (NLR) of 0.35 kg N/m3d at an HRT of 1 day. Analysis of the data indicated that attached growth system contributes an additional 11% increase in the ammonium removal and results in an average of 29% reduction in sludge washout rate. Mass balance study of nitrogen indicated that 74.1% of total input nitrogen is converted into N2 gas followed by 11.2% being utilized in biomass development. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation of the granular sludge clearly showed the presence of cocci and rod shaped microorganisms intermingled on the external surface of the granules. The average size of anammox granules (1.2-1.5 mm) with an average settling velocity of 45.6 m/h indicated a high degree of granulation resulting into formation of well compacted granules in the anammox process.

Keywords: anammox, hybrid reactor, startup, granulation, nitrogen removal, mixed seed culture

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Authors: Gunay Imanguliyeva

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Burnout is one of the concerning issues in education. The present paper aimed to explore the concept of burnout among program directors and faculty working in three higher education institutions (HEIs) in Azerbaijan and identify the factors contributing to burnout and the possible consequences of this syndrome on research participants’ professional and personal life. The researcher believed that if the concept of burnout was defined precisely and explored among more faculty, administration, and educational institutions, university leadership may have looked for the ways to support program directors and faculty, which would increase job satisfaction and decrease turnover. An exploratory qualitative research design was chosen for this study. The conceptual framework of this study was based on the Maslach Burnout Inventory. The instruments of the research were semi-structured interviews, observation, and document review. Three EFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) instructors and three program directors of the English Language Department working in three higher educational institutions in Azerbaijan participated in this study. The major findings of this study showed that both program directors and faculty suffered from burnout. Though they were aware of the factors that caused burnout, they did not know how to deal with this feeling. While research participants had high feeling of Emotional Exhaustion and Depersonalization, they had a low feeling of Personal Accomplishment. The researcher suggests that further research is important to measure the level of burnout and to enable HEIs to increase the productivity of program directors’ and faculty’s work as well as decrease the rate of retention in future. Also, in order to help program directors and faculty to cope with burnout, the research recommends the university leadership to meet their psycho-social needs, emotional-physical needs, and personal-intellectual needs. Keywords: burnout, emotional exhaustion, factors, well-being, higher education

Keywords: burnout, well-being, higher education, factors

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Authors: Patricia Girrbach

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Currently, our society is facing a new and incremental upheaval technological revolution named digitalization. In order to face the relating challenges organizations have to be prepared. They need appropriate circumstances in order to cope with current issues concerning digital transformation processes. Nowadays digitalization emerged as top issues for companies and business leaders. In this context, it is a pressure on companies to have a positive, productive digital culture. And indeed, Organizations realize that they need to address this important issue. In this context 87 percent of organizations quote culture and engagement as one of their top challenges in terms of any change process, but especially in terms of the digital turn. Executives can give their company a competitive advantage and attract top talent by having a strong workplace culture that supports digitalization. Many current studies attest that fact. Digital-oriented companies can hire more easily, they have the lowest voluntary turnover rates, deliver better customer service, and are more profitable over the long run. Based on this background it is important to provide companies starting points and practical measurements how to reach this goal. The major findings are that firms need to make sense out of digitalization. In this context, they should focus on internal but also on external stakeholders. Furthermore, they should create certain working conditions and they should support the qualification of employees, e.g. by Virtual Reality. These measurements can create positive experiences in terms of digitalization in order to ensure the support of stuff in terms of the digital turn. Based on several current studies and literature research this paper provides concrete measurements for companies in order to enable the digital turn. Therefore, the aim of this paper is providing possible practical starting points which support both the education of employees by digitalization as well as the digital turn itself within the organization.

Keywords: digitalization, industry 4.0, education 4.0, virtual reality

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Authors: Magdy Abouzeid

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Introduction: Physical activity has been shown to have a positive effect on bone mineral density (BMD) and bone mineral content (BMC) among children, adolescents, and adults. Sports characterized by little or moderate weight bearing or impact have a low osteogenic effect. However, the action of such sports on bone turnover remains unclear. Swimming, as a non-weight-bearing sport, has been considered to be insignificant in the maintenance of bone mass. Purpose: To examine this issue we measured (BMD) and(BMC) of the lumbar spine, proximal femur via dual energy x-ray absorptiometry in the group of elite male swimmers, and determine the effect of swimming training on bone health and compared the results with matched controls group in age, body weight and height. Materials and Methods: Twenty-five male swimmers (age 20.7+/-0.8 years) training for 12-15 hours/week; and the controls group consisted of 25 non-active male (age 21.3 +/-1.3 years) were studied BMD and BMC of lumbar spine, femur were assessed via (DXA) absorptiometry. Results: There was significant difference between swimmers and control group in BMD and BMC, BMD of Swimmers was significantly greater than controls at all sites. The lumbar spine (1, 08 +/-0.202 vs., 0717+0.57 gxcm (-2), right proximal femur (1, 02 +/-, 044 vs., 771+/-, 027 gxcm (-2), and left proximal femur (1.374+/-0.212 vs. 1.01 +/-0.141 gxcm (-2). Swimmers were significantly taller, and had greater BMC and BMD compared to the controls group (P<0.001). Conclusions: These results suggest that swimming training may be beneficial in the prevention or therapy of OSTEOPENIA, and may lead to increased (BMD) and (BMC) for male swimmers. Swimming may be an effective non-pharmacological intervention for the adults and adolescent. Further research with younger athletes of another type of aquatics sport is warranted to better identify the periods of BMD development during which Aquatics sport has the greatest impact on bone health.

Keywords: bone mineral density, lumbar spine, femur, swimming, DXA absorptiometry

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